Knowledge and Understanding, many people get them confused, or use them interchangeably, but there is a distinct difference between the two, for example if you look up 'what is knowledge' this is the first thing you see "Information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject." and if you look up understanding you will see this "The ability to understand something; comprehension", They both basically mean the same thing, and when people wonder what knowledge or understanding is, they usually just accept the first definition that they see, but those two definitions aren't really explaining enough, it isn't really clear what these two things actually are, so in order to better explain them, I'll elaborate on my theory of what I believe them to be, as well as my theory on self actualization .
Knowledge is collection of thoughts ideas, and memories in your mind that merge together to form a more complex thought with a distinct meaning in your perception of reality that is commonly accepted or can be proven to be or have been. For example, the earth is shaped like sphere, it exists in space, it is also roughly seventy percent water, that water is made up of molecules, those molecules are made up three atoms, two hydrogen and one oxygen, those atoms of made up of protons, neurons and electrons, these subatomic particles are made up of baryons which are made of quarks and anti-quarks, and so on, that is considered knowledge because much it (up to subatomic particles such as protons) is accepted as valid information to most people in developed countries, or educated developing countries; all of it is accepted beliefs within specific groups, like chemists and yet the average person, cannot prove any of it. The shape of the earth, atoms, protons, none of that can proven on the street with a stranger, without a microscope, or telescope or spaceship, its just accepted thoughts and believes that are commonly accepted as a reality within the perception of reality of a specific group.
Then there is knowledge that can be proven easily, like snow is cold, mountains are big, and if you jump you will come back down because of gravity. None of this has to be experienced though, you can simply observe or be taught these thoughts, ideas and beliefs, that is knowledge. You know these things, simply because you were told them. Fire will burn you, getting burned hurts, common knowledge; Now, say a five year old has the knowledge that fire will burn you, and getting burned hurts, and has seen his mother get burned so he has a good idea of what that means, he has that knowledge, but what does that really mean? he knows what getting hurt means, he has fallen, scrapped his leg, he is familiar with pain, and he knows what hot is, and that burning is related to heat. So by combining heat and pain, in his mind, that is how he sees the word burn, but why? well because those are two things he
understands, the knowledge doesn't carry a real meaning without the understanding, getting this gist of something, but to truly know what the word burn really means, that five year old, filled with curiosity and desperation to achieve this higher level, this mental state greater than knowledge, he wants to understand what he knows, so he touches the fire with his finger, and boom, it clicks, burn is no longer just 'heat' and 'pain' merged together; 'Burn' carries a distinct meaning, when someone says 'burn' he understands what that means, that specific pain of which they speak, he relates to it, he connects more with the people talking about, not because of knowledge, but the understanding of it.
So what is it that makes understanding distinct from knowledge?
Experience, to understand something, one must experience it. So then one might ask, well do you need knowledge to have understanding? No, you can understand an emotion like say, happiness, but what is it? define happiness, prove it exists, without applying experiences to it, and without trying to help people 'understand it'. We understand what the number 5, but try to explain what it is, try to combine your understanding of happiness, or the number 5, with the knowledge of what it is so that it can be taught.
Knowledge with understanding, that is actualization, and in the truest since, it would be all perceived knowledge from Reality, and understanding the Actuality of a subject, the connection between perception of reality, and actuality, thus making it perception or perceived actuality. Though perceiving actuality would be impossible in most instances, because to perceive actuality would take away its objectivity, which is what makes Actuality, different from Reality and perceived reality, so then how can actualization exist? I believe the only actualization perceivable by humans is Self Actualization, which is a state of being, this is not only knowing your self, and it is not understanding yourself, it is both, which then translates into your perception, but the only reason I belief you can actualize yourself, is because you are perceiving the world you perceive, in other words, it is the knowledge and understanding of your perception of reality, seeing, how you see, which is in my theory possible, and thus, you can actually see the aspect of actuality that is yourself, the only world we see is our own, but when can see the actuality of our world, every aspect of it is obtainable, so, achieving self actualization is key to unlocking the mysteries and wonders of worlds we can perceive, because we are aware of how they are being interpreted, and therefore, we are able to see all that we can about a given phenomena.
Knowledge is collection of thoughts ideas, and memories in your mind that merge together to form a more complex thought with a distinct meaning in your perception of reality that is commonly accepted or can be proven to be or have been. For example, the earth is shaped like sphere, it exists in space, it is also roughly seventy percent water, that water is made up of molecules, those molecules are made up three atoms, two hydrogen and one oxygen, those atoms of made up of protons, neurons and electrons, these subatomic particles are made up of baryons which are made of quarks and anti-quarks, and so on, that is considered knowledge because much it (up to subatomic particles such as protons) is accepted as valid information to most people in developed countries, or educated developing countries; all of it is accepted beliefs within specific groups, like chemists and yet the average person, cannot prove any of it. The shape of the earth, atoms, protons, none of that can proven on the street with a stranger, without a microscope, or telescope or spaceship, its just accepted thoughts and believes that are commonly accepted as a reality within the perception of reality of a specific group.
Then there is knowledge that can be proven easily, like snow is cold, mountains are big, and if you jump you will come back down because of gravity. None of this has to be experienced though, you can simply observe or be taught these thoughts, ideas and beliefs, that is knowledge. You know these things, simply because you were told them. Fire will burn you, getting burned hurts, common knowledge; Now, say a five year old has the knowledge that fire will burn you, and getting burned hurts, and has seen his mother get burned so he has a good idea of what that means, he has that knowledge, but what does that really mean? he knows what getting hurt means, he has fallen, scrapped his leg, he is familiar with pain, and he knows what hot is, and that burning is related to heat. So by combining heat and pain, in his mind, that is how he sees the word burn, but why? well because those are two things he understands, the knowledge doesn't carry a real meaning without the understanding, getting this gist of something, but to truly know what the word burn really means, that five year old, filled with curiosity and desperation to achieve this higher level, this mental state greater than knowledge, he wants to understand what he knows, so he touches the fire with his finger, and boom, it clicks, burn is no longer just 'heat' and 'pain' merged together; 'Burn' carries a distinct meaning, when someone says 'burn' he understands what that means, that specific pain of which they speak, he relates to it, he connects more with the people talking about, not because of knowledge, but the understanding of it. 
So what is it that makes understanding distinct from knowledge? Experience, to understand something, one must experience it. So then one might ask, well do you need knowledge to have understanding? No, you can understand an emotion like say, happiness, but what is it? define happiness, prove it exists, without applying experiences to it, and without trying to help people 'understand it'. We understand what the number 5, but try to explain what it is, try to combine your understanding of happiness, or the number 5, with the knowledge of what it is so that it can be taught.
Knowledge with understanding, that is actualization, and in the truest since, it would be all perceived knowledge from Reality, and understanding the Actuality of a subject, the connection between perception of reality, and actuality, thus making it perception or perceived actuality. Though perceiving actuality would be impossible in most instances, because to perceive actuality would take away its objectivity, which is what makes Actuality, different from Reality and perceived reality, so then how can actualization exist? I believe the only actualization perceivable by humans is Self Actualization, which is a state of being, this is not only knowing your self, and it is not understanding yourself, it is both, which then translates into your perception, but the only reason I belief you can actualize yourself, is because you are perceiving the world you perceive, in other words, it is the knowledge and understanding of your perception of reality, seeing, how you see, which is in my theory possible, and thus, you can actually see the aspect of actuality that is yourself, the only world we see is our own, but when can see the actuality of our world, every aspect of it is obtainable, so, achieving self actualization is key to unlocking the mysteries and wonders of worlds we can perceive, because we are aware of how they are being interpreted, and therefore, we are able to see all that we can about a given phenomena.
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