Personal Knowledge And Shared Knowledge

In order to discuss this topic we must first clearly define the terms “shared knowledge” and “personal knowledge”. Shared knowledge is facts that people agree with such as math or biology. These kinds of topics are usually developed by people that are experts in these subjects such as scientists and as a result those facts are usually accepted by the public. On the other hand personal knowledge is one’s own opinions, beliefs, imaginations, ideas and experiences which are developed by him and that’s the reason why personal knowledge may be subjective to the public. An example could be art since it is developed by someone’s own imagination. So, in the following paragraphs we will discuss how shared knowledge can shape personal knowledge, or how can personal knowledge shape shared knowledge and whether these two ways of knowledge may be inseparable or even the same thing. This will be done by reference to two areas of knowledge which are Art and the Natural Sciences physics and biology.

Economics is a social science that studies the economic activity in a specific country or in the world. Economics is a subject that can shape personal knowledge and understanding in order to apply this knowledge in the real world. Take for example the concept of Demand, which I learned in class recently. Demand is defined as the quantity of goods that consumers are willing and able to buy at any given price over a period of time. The law of demand states that ceteris paribus, price and quantity demanded is inversely related. This is shared knowledge. So, by learning that I now know that in case I want to buy something, such as sunglasses I will wait until the demand is low in order to buy it more cheaply. Since people usually buy sunglasses in the summer, I would buy the sunglasses in a period where the demand is low, such as in the winter. So, economic theory which is primarily shared knowledge shaped my personal knowledge in order to get my sunglasses in the optimum price.

What I believe is that both personal and shared knowledge shape one another, meaning that there are times where shared knowledge is dominant over personal and times when personal knowledge is dominant over shared. In the case of Art we can see in a lot of pieces of art that these ways of knowing can be bidirectional. In order to interpret a painting you need the social knowledge for the interpretation, for example things you have studied about impressionism in class. However, you also need your personal experience and imagination in order to break down this