Essay On Gain Of Knowledge

I have always been fascinated by the fact that most of the knowledge present in our society today was not deemed as ‘known knowledge’ a decade ago or even just a few months ago. Humans have one thing in common: we seek knowledge. We never seem to be satisfied with the amount of knowledge we possess. We crave to know more about our solar system, our planet, our environment and even our friends. I came to realize, with much certainty that this constant expansion of knowledge in our society today has a lot to do with doubt. However, If one doubts too little, that person might be missing out on the opportunity to gain new knowledge, same scenario happens when one doubts excessively, questioning every scientific or religious claim therefore rejecting the opportunity to gain new knowledge. Hence, one can pose a more precise question ‘ To what extent does doubt actually contribute to the gain of knowledge?’

Knowledge can be defined in many ways, Plato, a great philosopher once described knowledge as ‘justified true belief’. The word belief here is open to many different interpretations, but it is reasonable to say that one has to be able to justify their claim

Coming from a Chinese family, the older generation including my grandparents tends to have very little faith in Western medicine and often exhibit great doubt when forced to visit a doctor. They are often quick to judge and would doubt everything the doctor says including the doctor’s ability to prescribe the right drugs. Unlike me, my grandmother would then ask me multiple times if the pill she is about to swallow is actually the same pill the doctor prescribed. Her paranoia, which often evolves from unnecessary doubt, leads to situations like this of complete paralysis in her daily life. It is situations like this that demonstrates how doubt is certainly not the key to knowledge and rather the key to