Write 5 page essay on the topic Theory of knowledge.Download file to see previous pages... These also paved the way for the classification by which individuals can identify and acquire knowledge. This

Write 5 page essay on the topic Theory of knowledge.

These also paved the way for the classification by which individuals can identify and acquire knowledge. This is where the expert and the ordinary individuals diverge, in the way they form their opinion, then acquire and interpret knowledge. Who is an Expert? According to Christine Hogan (2000), “an expert is a person with a high level of intelligence, skills or knowledge in a particular sphere, reinforced by publicity and honours by others, by research and publications” (57). A more complicated definition was posited by Kurz-Milcke and Gigerenzer (2004), who stressed that an expert is a social figure in the distribution of knowledge – those who, in comparison to most, not only have more knowledge, but also are able to manage knowledge transfers (42). The authors further explained that an expert can only become an expert by way of his or her performances wherein he or she translates and integrates knowledge into popular meaning systems (42). And so, a learned person who has merely acquired knowledge but has not displayed or demonstrated his learning cannot be considered one. Society will not accord him or her the status of an expert unless a work or several works were published that would support his being so. No one can claim such title or role without the explicit consent of many individuals, institutions and organizations. It is, hence, easy, based on the previous two definitions, to identify whether one is interacting with an expert. An expert is someone who has previous knowledge or expertise on the subject and also he or she is known to have demonstrated those characteristics, one who built his reputation, translating it into a status and recognition from the society he belongs. An individual will know that he is talking with an expert if that person speaks authoritatively, especially basing from his specialized skills and experiences in addition to the credibility he has earned in the society. The society reinforces this with recognition since its institutions value performance and contributions to the continuing search for knowledge. The above definitions also reveal an important variable - why an expert’s opinion is valuable and this is demonstrated in several areas of knowledge. The most obvious is science. Discovering knowledge in this area calls for methodology and a high degree of precision that requires expertise, skills and experience. For instance, it would be unthinkable to have a painter as a resource person in an experiment investigating nuclear fission. While such individual can infer based from his senses and perceptions – as he does in his artistic endeavors - his previous artistic knowledge, his skills on the canvas and creative experiences are not enough to significantly contribute anything of value to the entire undertaking. Or, that this paper, will not be credible if I have not supported my arguments with statements from experts on the subject. I will be merely expressing an opinion, and that was that – it will have no bearing whatsoever in the academic community, never taken seriously, since my points would be one-sided and could probably qualify as a rant. A key concept here is “credibility.” If a person is an expert, then he has all his knowledge, skills, status and recognition to support whatever opinion he will make. People will know that his inferences are not mere figments of his imagination but valid points taken from facts that he knows.