The difference between knowing and knowing

[fdeck]

Maybe you're just experiencing the cognitive changes that we all experience as we grow older.

Maybe your heart is supplying less oxygen to your mind.

 

[TOOL460002]

It's really the difference of understanding and knowing. You can understand something without living it, truly knowing it. I know that's nit-picking, but that's how I see it. I know what my spiritual beliefs are, and how I should live my life, but until I really know it and apply it to my daily life, it's just information in my head.

 

[UncleFluffy]

We can know something intellecually but not be able to apply it to our own lives. Kind of like a psychiatrist who is really good at helping people but can't get over his/her own phobias.
Thoughts? Experiences?

It (and the CS Lewis book I'm reading on your recommendation) reminds me of the old story about the guy who manages to arrange a visit to Heaven and to Hell.

He goes to Hell and sees a long table stacked with full bowls of rice and people sat down to eat. But they can't eat and are starving because the chopsticks are six feet long and they can't get the food in their mouths.

He goes to Heaven and sees exactly the same setup - long table, rice, 6-foot chopsticks, everything. The only difference is that they're all fat and happy because they're all feeding the person opposite them.


(Yeah, cheesy, but these kind of stories always are...)

 

[geeza]

We can know something intellecually but not be able to apply it to our own lives. Kind of like a psychiatrist who is really good at helping people but can't get over his/her own phobias.
Thoughts? Experiences?

I suspect that this is true of about half the population. The other half CAN apply abstract knowledge to their own lives.

 

[St Drogo]

The difference between understanding and knowing is an important one to make imho. It's the gut vs the brain. The rookie vs the old fart. One can know every text and had every thought possible about a certain subject, but that vast amount of knowledge doesn't necessarily translate to understanding. It's all about getting a 'feel' for things.

I see it as a way of looking at things. Not so much what you know of something, but rather how you process it. It's like that little girl that didn't do well in school because she never could sit still and people were wondering what was wrong with her, but she turned out to be a dancer at heart and went on to have a great ballet career. She just approached dancing without thinking about it, but with a deep understanding.
Same goes for great musicians or people in any field really who pickup a skill very quickly. They simply approach the world in a certain way that 'clicks' with a certain activity. Which isn't to say understanding could not be aquired through experience if necessary.

I've always had a problem with maths and numbers. Languages seemed to come more easily to me. But I've had friends who were the opposite. They had a certain way of viewing and processing the world that made maths instinctive to them.

And imho understanding is still different from wisdom, which represents more of an insight in getting your priorities straight. Knowing what ultimately does and doesn't matter, through life experience.

 

[P. Aaron]

Youth is wasted on the young.

 

[bluesblaster]

trust your gut, it knows more than your mouth does.

 

[slobake]

trust your gut, it knows more than your mouth does.

Well said

 

[Unrepresented]

trust your gut, it knows more than your mouth does.

A book probably has an edge on either body part in most cases.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

trust your gut, it knows more than your mouth does.

Well said

Not so much.

My brain does all my knowing for me.

 

[bluesblaster]

gut, brain......... its the metapyhsical instinct as opposed to the ego

 

[fraublugher]

Don't kill your ego , you'll need it later when your soul gets crushed .

 

[bluesblaster]

F**k it, when in doubt, just google it then.