It is appalling to see the distorted view of knowledge that the world has come to believe in. Knowledge, unfortunately, is beginning to be likened to the understanding of where the information, regarding what you want to know, resides. You could anyway wiki and google the stuff as long as some literature on the same is available on the web!
Fortunately (or unfortunately) though, knowledge does not exist unless it can be applied. And it can be applied only if the subject in question is understood. The subject can only be understood when the information about it is interpreted. In the absence of all this, it is only information.
To elucidate the point, it amuses me to hear the term or phrase, knowledge repository. You can have an information repository, not a knowledge repository. Even if it is information on how something works or the proof of a hypothesis or a working instruction or a procedure or even a ‘how to do’ list, it still is only information till it is interpreted, understood and ready for application.
You also come across knowledge management frameworks anywhere and everywhere. And what is masqueraded is, in fact, an information management framework in the guise of knowledge management. Apply the simple qualifiers of the previous two paragraphs to what is really being managed and the truth is revealed!!
Nice post Murali. In fact that is the reason why one meaning of the word Upanishad means the knowledge born out of the mantras or sounds when interpreted (obviously correctly!) and not the mantras as text or sound per say. The text and sound are only information.
ReplyDeleteI too have been hearing about knowledge management from early 2000 but i guess it is a nice buzz word that industry likens.