People Are Not Sponges: Information vs. Knowledge

Image from booksamillion

In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid (2002) distinguish between mere information and learning—or knowledge, asserting that humans are not mere sponges. They say that if information, alone, equates knowledge, bots might indeed replace the need for human involvement toward prosperity. Yet, they assure that this is not the case.

Learning is a human response to information—it entails a knower and it requires processing, understanding, and internalizing of information.

Information stands alone.

Brown and Duguid develop this idea as follows: “In general, it sounds right to ask, ‘Where is that information?’ but odd to ask, ‘Where’s that knowledge?” (p. 119).

“People treat information as a self-contained substance. It is something that people pick up, possess, pass around, put in a database, lose, find, write down, accumulate, count, compare, and so forth. . . . You might expect, for example, someone to send you or point you to the information they have, but not to the knowledge they have.” (p. 120).

"Knowledge is something we digest rather than merely hold. It entails the knower’s understanding and some degree of commitment. Thus while one person often has conflicting information, he or she will not usually have conflicting knowledge. And while it seems quite reasonable to say, ‘I’ve got the information, but I don’t understand it,’ it seems less reasonable to say, ‘I know, but I don’t understand,’ or ‘I have the knowledge, but I can’t see what it means.’ “ (p. 120).

Learning is constructive assimilation.

As an individual selects information to process and further internalizes and learns that information, he/she constructs or molds the core of his/her being.

You might like to read more of my summaries of points made in this book:


Are Machines Replacing People?

Don't Stamp Out the Stand-Outs

Vintage Dr. Dolittle - An Old Book Treasure

Image from the Wikipedia article: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

Not long ago, I noticed an old, 1922 edition of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, resting on one of the shelves in our library. The book was scuffed and bland—certainly not as flashy as many of the books published now. Nothing about the book called out to passersby; and it had not been circulating. Like a lonely, little onion in a petunia patch, the old, gray book just sat—waiting. Perhaps, it was waiting for me. On that particular day, it certainly seemed that way.

As I pulled the book from the shelf, I got a sour-sweet whiff of old-book smell. I rubbed my fingers across the heavy, granular cover [with corners missing--revealing layers of curled cardboard] and also through the brittle-thick, yellowed pages. In a matter of seconds, I was 50 years younger—back in the dusty, little farm community and the dark, musty library, where I first discovered books.

The significant thing about my reaction that day is that it had very little—perhaps nothing—to do with the stories inside the book. Hugh Lofting’s writing and illustrations are treasures that I discovered long after my childhood. My reaction to the old masterpiece was provoked by the book itself—and not by the subject matter within the book. The old book reminded me of The Bobsey Twin books that I actually did read as a child. The old book carried me back home—if only for a moment.

There is no way to digitize this type of experience.

In the library world, the question is often asked: Are Libraries Going All Digital—Are Traditional Books a Dying Breed? In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid offer an answer to that question. They talk about the value of books, as physical objects. According to these experts, there are numerous reasons that libraries must not consider going all digital; but they further assert that numbers indicate that this is not an actual threat. In the current landscape of rampant technology and mass digitization, book sales are surprisingly up—not down.

As far as I am concerned, this is great news!

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle received the Newberry Medal in 1923. An interesting, open blog project, on all the Newberry Winners is located at the following site: http://newberryproject.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Voyages%20of%20Doctor%20Doolittle

Incidentally, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle can be read free online at the following site: http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Hugh_Lofting/The_Voyages_of_Doctor_Dolittle/

I warn you, however, compared to my old, 1922 volume of the book, the digitized version is just a bunch of words.

Vintage Raggedy Ann & Andy Online Free

I just found a treasure that I'd like to share--an old Raggedy Andy book online. Both the images and the text are clear. This is a gem.

Click On This Text to View the Entire Raggedy Andy Book