Theory of Knowledge

"Only seeing general patterns can give us knowledge. Only seeing particular examples can give us understanding." This statement restricts the factors which can give the knower knowledge to general patterns exclusively and similarly restricts the knower's understanding to particular examples. The scope of the investigation of this statement can be divided into two ideas: the contrast between general patterns and particular examples; and the comparison of knowledge and understanding. General patterns can be defined as being a consistent number model where variables replace the numbers. On the other hand, particular examples are instances which are explicitly set forth, in other words, definite. Knowledge and understanding possesses real differences, however these distinctions are blurry. Knowledge can be defined as facts, information, and skills which are acquired by an individual through experience or education. Understanding is the capacity to apprehend general relations of particulars. What one knows isn't as open to argument as what one understands. Examples of knowledge are fact-based and can be phrased in a sentence while the examples for understanding would require longer statements and those statements may even need further explanations themselves. The areas of knowledge which will be investigated with association to the prompt are natural science, mathematics and history. Reason will be the way of knowing connecting with science and mathematics, and perception will be the way of knowing relating to history

When looking at the phrase "general patterns can give us knowledge", one area of knowledge which can be considered is natural science because it explains how one achieved knowledge through the recognition of general patterns. An aspect that demonstrates how science uses general patterns to gain knowledge is the fact that science employs inductive reasoning, at least in earlier times when science was more primitive. Inductive reasoning is analysis of a specific case and deriving a general rule. It draws inferences from observations in order to make generalizations. This means that a scientist begins by observing and classifying information and then examining patterns that can explain the theory. An example in history of this is Newton's first law. They reasoned that any object which moves does so under the influence of an external force exerted on it by some other object. However, this was discovered by gathering data and formulating a hypothesis, which shows understanding from small details such as frictional forces; and then found Newton's first law, which is knowledge from general patterns. However, as a counterclaim to the statement that science employs the logic that "general patterns can give us knowledge", meaning science makes use of inductive reasoning, one can argue that deductive reasoning is more appropriate for science. In contrast to inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning starts with a general case and a specific case is then deduced. Science has advanced and now the scientists have realized that theories require research by deductive reasoning. The scientist must generate a testable hypothesis and design an experiment to observe collected data, and suggest a conclusion to the theory. An example of such a case is the J.J. Thompson's Cathode Ray-Experiment which adopted the process of deductive reasoning, where he had a thought on electron behaviors and generated theories about their nature.

Another area of knowledge which can be considered when in view of the phrase "general patterns can give us knowledge" is mathematics. From recognizing number patterns, one can determine the rules which can be applied in calculus. A great example of a number theory which follows the previous assertion is the Rabbit Puzzle that Fibonacci wrote. The Fibonacci Number Series was brought up first when Fibonacci investigated the breeding of rabbits in ideal circumstances. The question which he asked himself is: how many pairs will there be in one year? He found that the number of pairs of rabbits followed a pattern where the number increased to a value that was equal to the addition of the preceding two numbers (the beginning of the pattern: 0,1,2,3,5,8,13...). The Fibonacci sequence