Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

hoope's picture

i found both readings

i found both readings interesting. In the reading on Tacit knowledge, i'm not sure i agree with plato's statement that you cannot find anything if you don't know what you're looking for.
but i really liked the idea that sometimes becoming aware of the first term can ruin our understanding of the second. i sometimes notice this happening in my life, especially in the context of the ability to perform skills. if i think really hard of all the little, unnoticed things i do when playing soccer, then forget how to play. but when it comes to understanding, i think it is possible to both understand the minute details and have an understanding of the whole, like in the example he gave of an engeneer.
i also wondered how the scientists mentioned found volunteers for their shock experiments.

the experiments actually reminded me of something i learned in biology that i found really interesting. there is a species of worm that can be put in a T shaped tube and trained to always turn left by putting food in the left side and an electric shock in the right side. once trained, the worm will always turn left even when the food and shock are removed. then if you kill the worm and cut it into little pieces and feed it to other worms of the same species, they will always turn left too.

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
6 + 1 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.