Chris Macrae, 10-Aug-04 @ 09:51AM

what is enlightenment - I realise that Westerners like me dont know as much as we should

I'm aware that enlightenment can mean a world of spiritual and cultural views, but where I start is authenticity. Be the light is a 300+ year tradition of the Quakers Movement in Britain. It means both know what your own deepest context is and what that of the community around you is. Get rid of fear and ego enough to love all the people who are linkedin to the same lot as you. Respect the open space opportunities of conversations when large groups of people meet. Do not stage such communal meetings with a podium and some hierarchy but inj a circle where the person who has the deepest insight to the issue concerning the community is listened to with deepest respect. Each person compounds a spirit of experienec - one lifetime's opportunity to make a difference. What is ungodly on this earth is to block such happiness and freedoms of eavch of us getting on with each other every way we can.

In all these regards I am especially interested at the moment on the wisdom that families bring (nurture over time) to changing what conflicts may happen around the communities they know or care about most - Gandhi's family is clearly one movement that I imagine any of us coould learn some courage from.

I would also invite people to bring enlightenment to our emerging open catalogue of 30000 actionable projects to save the world of poverty

Mohd Khairul Azizi Mohd Razali, 10-Aug-04 @ 04:59AM

A good article for a beginner

Hi, I am new in this KM and this board and this might be the first post of mine. I like this article and it has given me a lot of useful start-up information about KM.

I thought the level is only four which are, DATA> INFORMATION > KNOWLEDGE > WISDOM.

What is ENLIGHTENMENT suppose to do in the rank? Anybody?

Anoop G Kumar, 06-Dec-03 @ 06:46AM

Knowledgebase and database

Hi,
I was just browsing my way through the internet and found this article so i just thought I should add some thing that i know here.
Database:-

1) A database contains information only and no Control strategy in other words in database we dont have procedures to find/modify/add/delete data.
2) A database is expanding but has constraints you cant simply insert information without following these constraints
3) Database cant by itself overcome its sheer size
Knowledgebase:-
1) it has data as well as the control strategies to manipulate those data.
2) No constaraints, gains information with each situation it encounters, very bulky and to solve simple intelligent tasks you need a very knowledge
3) Knowldege uses its self to overcome it volume.

Thank you
Regards
Anoop

Andrey Kryshtafovich, 10-Mar-03 @ 13:44PM

The Differences between Information and Knowledge

Hi Rene Stach!

My principle positions I contemplate these terms:
1. The using them in decision making, i.e. from point of view a management science.
2. Data, information and knowledge existed before appear computer.

Let’s from this position consider your example.
Data (from your point of view) like “$” “0.54” and “coffee” this is definitions which exist in my brain and in computer as well.
You say “Coffee $0.54” is information and if you now have this information in your brain and you somehow process it like "Hmm, $0.54 for a coffee is a good price, at Dennis Diner I have to pay $2” it is knowledge. But if you will read on the monitor “$0.54 for a coffee is a good price, because at Dennis Diner you have to pay $2” what it will be information or knowledge?
From my point of view if you have been at Dennis Dinner, you can know that it is good information or not. So you can say: “I know that $0.54 is a good price”.
Let’s go ahead. I think my personal details is first of all useful information for you because you have used it for decision making – to comment my views. If you have commented at first and then took a look at my personal details the information was useless for you because you didn’t used it for decision making.
As regards the question “Is that information good or bad?” you can only presuppose that it is good because there is no one from seven reasons for the supplier of information (me) to give bad information (about existed reasons of bad information supply you will be able to write in my article “The Questions of KM development”. But you can know that one part from my personal details (E-mail) is a good information because you checked it using one of four methods (about existed methods of checking information you will be able to write in my article “The Questions of KM development”. So from my personal details you can know (your knowledge) only my E-mail.
Next, the knowledge can not be good or bad. We can say that you know or you don’t know about something. That is all!
Now about KNOWLEDGE AND DATABASE. My position is as follows. It doesn’t matter what kind of words we use for designation of something. What has the significance is what the word means. The other words we can talk about storage knowledge in ABCbase. My principle position is the knowledge can exist in the brain, in the book, in the computer. How to storage knowledge in the ABCbase and what is the difference between DATABASE and KNOWLEDGEBASE I explain in my article.
At last about your example with the bike. I think you will be have the knowledge if you have read my instruction and remember it (we suppose that it is good instruction (information)). But you have no the skills to ride the bike. May be you remember how you learned to drive the car. You knew what you should to do but instead (for example) the brake pedal you pushed the accelerator pedal because your had no skills but had the knowledge what to do.

René Stach, 10-Mar-03 @ 10:51AM

Knowledge = experience?

Hi John,

I have the following remark to your comment: When I want to avoid that people think KM is about technology, I don't use the word "knwledge" but I use the word "experience" instead. Maybe experience is the ability to put information into a context; maybe.

Most people understand that experience is closely related to people whereas many people still think that knowledge can be captured in databases.

René

John Castleford, 08-Mar-03 @ 17:10PM

Knowledge and its place on the spectrum

This is an interesting discussion.

For me, the interest is not so much in the definition of individual components, but how they relate to one another. It is interesting that the various definitions offered by contibutors are necessarily dependent upon context.

Data = raw values, meaningless without a context e.g: 10

Information = data with meaning - e.g. $10 price tag for a book

Knowledge = applying knowledge - e.g. Local bookstore has the book for $9

Perhaps there is room for more stations on the continuum - Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom > Enlightenment ??

John Castleford
www.altius.org.uk

René Stach, 12-Sep-02 @ 10:21AM

Re: Differences between data, information and knowledge

Hi Andrey Kryshtafovich!

I have read your comment and seen that you have a different understanding about data, information and knowledge than I have. I contemplate these terms from a point of view an engineer has or a computer scientist. I see simple chars like oefefeC054,$ that can be sorted und become data like $ and 0,54 and Coffee. Depending on how this data is processed (syntax rules) it become information like "Coffee $0,54". This tells you something, there is information in it. If you now have this information in your brain and you somehow process it like "Hmm, $0,54 for a coffee is a good price, at Dennis Diner I have to pay $2" you are quite close to knowledge as you use information in your brain and link it to other information pieces. That is the definition that I prefer.

Let's come back to your definition: I like your point of view but I have a question. In your last paragraph you say: "P.S. The information about me you can find on www.knowledgeboard.com". I wonder (following your definitions) if that is good information, bad information or useless information!?

If it is good (high quality) information is is knowledge (you say). I doubt that your personal details are knowledge. So it is either bad or useless. You decide :-)

Furthermore, following your definitions it should be possible to store knowledge in a database. KNOWLEDGE in a DATAbase. I doubt that. You cannot store knowledge. You can store data and information (using syntax rules). But knowledge is in our heads. Anything else is information. Example: You know how to ride a bike. Please write down how it works. Even if you succeed, do you think I have the same knowledge after I have read your instructions? I don't think so.

René

Andrey Kryshtafovich, 09-Sep-02 @ 07:05AM

Differences between data, information and knowledge

I am with great pleasure acquainted with your publication “Knowledge management for beginners”. I like how you define the main ideas of KM and the style of the article – clear and laconic. However I couldn’t agree with positions stated in the section “Difference between data, information and knowledge.”

On my point of view the similarities and differences between data, information and knowledge are as follows.

Similarities:
Data and knowledge are in essence information (the forms of information).

Differences:
Data is crude information, i.e. information that is needed to transform for decision making. For example, if it needs to make decision about the taxation any person in dependence from his annual income, the month income and the quality of month that it needs to take into account will be data. The annual income as result of data processing will be information.

Knowledge is useful and high quality (good, checked) information. I will explain using example. The name Sultan Kermally in a database is also information what says to us that there is a man with such name. He is male. But it is useless information, i.e. it can not be use for decision making – to establish special relationship with Sultan Kermally.
Sultan Kermally is a regular customer of our products is useful information. However it can be misinformation or presuppose or forecast information. In these cases this information will not be knowledge.

In general information has complete structure. With position of management (decision making) I divide information on three classes: - good, bad and useless. Each class in turn includes number kinds of information.

I research the problems of using information in decision making a long time – more than 10 years and it is interesting for me to have your opinion as one of the best specialists in KM on the my conclusions. With this purpose I send you the thesis of my study - "The quality of information for effective decision making (elements of information management theory)".

I am looking forward to hear from you at your earliest convenience.

With best wishes, Andrey Kryshtafovich

P.S. The information about me you can find on www.knowledgeboard.com