Constructing Knowledge Believing and Knowing

Thinking Activity Stages of Knowing

Thinking Activity Thinking Critically about your belief Thinking critically about evaluating evidence

Thinking Activity Using Perspective Taking to achieve Knowledge

Thinking Activity Beliefs Based on indirect experience

Believing & Knowing The beliefs you develop help you explain why the world is the

way it is, and they guide you in making decisions.

But all beliefs are not equal. Some beliefs are certain (“I believe that someday I will die”). Some are less certain (“I believe that life exists on other planets”.

As you form and revise your beliefs, based on your experiences and your reflection on these experiences, it is important to make them as accurate as possible.

The more accurate your beliefs are, the better you are able to understand what is taking place and to predict what will occur in the future.

Believing & Knowing This distinction between “believing” and “knowing” can be illustrated

by replacing the word believe with the word know in statements. For example:

1. I know that I will die.2. I know that there is life on other planets.3. I know that working hard will lead me to a happy life.4. I know that the earth is flat.

The only statement with which most people would agree it clearly makes sense to use the word know is the first one because there is conclusive evidence that this belief is accurate. In the case of statement 2, we might say that, although life on other planets is a possibility, there does not seem to be conclusive evidence at present that supports this view. In the case of statement 3, we might say that, although for some people working hard leads to a happy life, this is not always the case. Statement 4 expresses a belief that we “know” is not true

Thinking ActivityEVALUATING THE ACCURACY OF BELIEFS State whether you think that each of the following beliefs

is Completely accurate (so that you would say, “I know this is

the case”) Generally accurate but not completely accurate (so that you

would say, “This is often, but not always, the case”) Generally not accurate but sometimes accurate (so that

you would say, “This is usually not the case but is sometimes true”)

Definitely not accurate (so that you would say, “I know that this is not the case”) After determining the degree of accuracy in this way, explain why you have selected your answer.

Thinking Activity Example: I believe that if you study hard, you will

achieve good grades. Degree of accuracy: Generally, but not completely,

accurate.Explanation: Although many students who study hard achieve good grades this is not always true. Sometimes students have difficulty understanding the work in a certain subject, no matter how hard they study. And sometimes they just don’t know how to study effectively. In other cases, students may lack adequate background or experience in a certain subject area (for example, English may be a second language), or they may have a personality conflict with the instructor.

Questions

1. I believe that essay exams are more difficult than multiple-choice exams.

2. I believe that longer prison sentences discourage people from committing crimes.

3. I believe that there are more people on the earth today than there were 100 years ago.

Stages of Knowing The road to becoming a critical thinker is a

challenging journey that involves passing through different Stages of Knowing in order to achieve an effective understanding of the world.

Stage 1: The Garden of Eden Stage 2: Anything Goes Stage 3: Thinking Critically

Stages of Knowing Stage # 1 Garden of Eden

- See the world in black and white, right and wrong- To determine what is right or wrong is based on authorities- There is no possibility of compromise or negotiation- Anyone who disagrees with the authorities must be wrong.- How do they determine what is right, what to believe? The

“authorities” tell them.- Ordinary people can never determine the truth for themselves; they

must rely on the experts. If someone disagrees with what they have been told by the authorities, then that person must be wrong. There is no possibility of compromise or negotiation.

- Who are the authorities? Parents Teachers

Stages of Knowing Stage # 2 Anything Goes

- Go to the opposite extreme and believe that anything goes.

- To reject the authoritarian framework.- Reasoning : If authorities are not infallible/un-

failable and we can't trust their expertise, then no one point of view is ultimately any better than any other

- There is no way to determine which way is better

Stages of Knowing Stage # 3 Thinking Critically

- People at this level of understanding; recognize that some viewpoints are better than other viewpoints, not simply because of authority say so, but because there are reasons to support these viewpoints.

- People are open-minded towards other viewpoints, especially those that disagree with theirs. 

Thinking Activity WHAT STAGE OF KNOWING are you in?

1 . Create a diagram to illustrate the three Stages of Knowing.

2. We all know people who illustrate each of these three Stages of Knowing.Think about the people in your life—professionally and personally—and identify which stage you think they mainly fall into and why.

3. Consider carefully your beliefs in each of the following areas, and evaluate in which of the three Stages of Knowing you predominantly think. education professional area of expertise science religion

Thinking Activity Example:- My beliefs in the area of my academic classes tend to be Stage 1. I have always trusted the experts, whether they are my teachers or the textbooks we are reading. That’s how I see the purpose of education: to learn the facts from those who know them.” - Or “My beliefs in my area of special interest, health, are Stage 3. When confronted with a set of symptoms, I consider all of the possible diagnoses, carefully evaluate the relevant evidence, get a second opinion if necessary, and then develop a plan that involves holistic and nutritional approaches as well as standard medical treatments.