knowledge / Understanding

Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed

Be what you is not what you what you ain’t
Location
Central NY
How are understanding and understanding similar. How do they differ?

Knowledge is precise and calculated. like numbers.

Understanding may be referenced as feelings, a hunch or intuition. Understanding is sensed not factual information.
 

I think this falls into the category of understanding.

My intuition tells me the 1st. sentence would make more sense if asked like this.

Are understanding & knowledge similar or do they differ?

Then see what responses are posted.
 
If you had a perfect memory you could recite a book chapter word for word but would you be able to express what you read in your own words?
One could study the largely unknown then draw conclusions from it and those conclusions would differ from those of others that studied the same material.
 
When learning English literature, we had to read a book (which gave us knowledge of the story), and then write an essay on our understanding of the intentions of the author.
Knowledge is knowing facts, understanding is using your intellect to make sense of the facts.
We also have intuition, which enables us to understand something without full knowledge of the facts.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Are understanding & knowledge similar or do they differ?
Click to expand...
Knowledge;
Learning, being taught facts
How things work

Understanding;
Knowing why things work
Savvy
common sense helps

One can have knowledge with little or no understanding

One cannot have understanding without knowledge


Had the pleasure of working alongside an older gentleman by the name of Moshofski
He had the knowledge......aaaaaand.....the understanding
Heavily degreed
And had the savvy to back it up
With a pencil, a sketch, a few soft words of logic
accompanied with sweeping gestures of his pencil/wand,
depicting thrust, while sketching something as simple as a tiny radius
molded into the inside of a 90° corner of the leg of a golf cart design

A very simple kindly quiet gentleman
with the ability to break down his genius for the common man

He saved our little company a quarter million dollars in fifteen minutes of his time

These types have no need to belittle, to talk down, to put the subject under a microscope
No, they just kindly, gently, quietly show what they know
Then smile
Looking up at yer face, hoping to read understanding in the furrows of yer brow

Life is enjoyable around these folks

I had the displeasure of managing a gaggle of engineers
The ones with mostly knowledge could not (for the life of 'em) break down their synopsis of a design into common language
They lacked the understanding
 
Knowledge comes first which is the act of gaining or acquiring information.

Understanding assumes a comprehension or mental grasp of that knowledge.

But I think this is actually triad and there needs to be a third step to complete the concept.

Application. Being able to USE that knowledge and understanding in the world around us.

In my life I’ve stumbled upon people who have knowledge of a subject, and a presumed understanding too, and they may even degrees on their wall or letters after their name. But they are incapable of actually using that information or knowledge in any real life situation.

I believe fervently in that last...in the application of their learning, because at the end of the day I’ll take that actual demonstration of their competence over just a degree in the subject.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Give it a go,

Are understanding & knowledge similar or do they differ?

Then see what responses are posted.

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I'm glad you changed the way the question was framed. Copying & pasting the part of my post #2 got responses. There are quite a few really excellent responses. I have nothing to offer that could compare to those.
 
Knowledge is virtually useless without understanding. A lack of understanding skews people's judgement. Plus, when it comes to practicality, you can know a lot but you can't use what you know if you don't understand it.
 
Knowledge is achieved through rote learning. Understanding is about why things are the way they are.

A current example is the shooting near Atlanta a few days ago. We have knowledge of the who, what, and where of the the shooting, but not a full understanding of the why. And once investigators figure out the why, they'll have an understanding and it will be reported, but a large segment of the population will still fail to understand.

It's like wearing facemasks. Everybody knows that we're supposed to wear a facemask while the pandemic is still raging, yet some people still don't understand why even though it's been reported on every major news media outlet. Knowledge vs. understanding. Some people perhaps are incapable of understanding; others simply don't want to because it violates their world view.
 
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