Shared Knowledge Essay

The quote “None of us is as smart as all of us” by Eric Schmidt literally means that no individual possesses the same amount of knowledge that a group of people possess. The amount of knowledge that a group of people will contribute to a discussion will always be much more than what a single person would contribute and hence we are always better off as a group.

But what is this “knowledge”? The dictionary defines knowledge as “facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.”1 However, the whole idea of knowledge differs from person to person. In todays world, knowledge is of many types and is very complex and variable. The two main types of knowledge are Personal Knowledge and Shared Knowledge. Personal knowledge refers to the knowledge one acquires by acquaintance and first hand experience. It is gained through practice, personal involvement and observation and is influenced by one’s circumstances, values and interests. One’s perspective is both influenced and contributes to one’s personal knowledge. On the other hand, Shared knowledge refers to the knowledge possessed by more than one person. It is clearly structured as it is a product of many people and has been agreed upon by many people. It is also influenced by the diverse cultures present within the communities and reflects the attitude of the society towards the different areas of knowledge.

According to me, the claim that shared knowledge is better than personal knowledge does hold true for majority of the time because no matter how smart one person is, a group of people would always have more knowledge to contribute than one person would. Since shared knowledge is possessed by many peopl...

... middle of paper ...

...ysics.” Although he did possess some personal qualities and knowledge that enabled him to look at things differently and allowed him to answer many difficult questions in the 20th century, without any help from other scientists modern physics would look very different from what it looks like right now. His views and ideas had to conform with previously established principles, had to be logically valid and had to go through a review process before being accepted as a part of the discipline of physics. This shows how strong personal knowledge led to advances in an area of knowledge and in shared knowledge.

In conclusion, although I strongly believe that shared knowledge has much more advantage over personal knowledge, the above example of Albert Einstein clearly shows how it is important that there is a correct balance of shared and personal knowledge in the society.