CZ:Cold Storage/Knowledge creation

Basic Definition

Knowledge creation is simply creating new knowledge. New knowledge is knowledge that never existed before anywhere in the world. This means that, aside from the knowledge creator, no one on earth has this knowledge in storage in the human brain, in paper, or in a computer or other media, anywhere in the world.

New knowledge is created by individuals, not by society. Knowledge creation can seem occur in a group effort, for example, in a brainstorming session. But ultimately individuals in the group create the knowledge, and the group must accept that to incorporate it into their group (e.g., company) knowledge base. Methods like brainstorming simply facilitate the three components/steps required for social advance.

Three Components of Social Advance

The delivery of new knowledge by individuals to society or some segment of society, and its subsequent acceptance, is social advance. There are three components required for social advance to occur:

1) An individual(s) creates and stores new knowledge in his or her brain, in paper, or in a computer or other media.

2) The individual expresses this knowledge to society.

3) Society, or a segment of society, or a social group, accepts the new knowledge and stores it in the social mind or social systems.

Create, express, and accept...It takes all three of these components for society to advance.

For example, if you are missing:

• Create - The individual fails to create the new knowledge, so society cannot advance. Or, the individual creates the knowledge, but fails to write it down or store it, and 'forgets' it. The knowledge is subsequently lost and society is not advanced. Unless the new knowledge is both created and stored by individuals, society cannot advance.

• Express - The individual stores the knowledge, but chooses not to express it. The individual is silent and the knowledge is 'tacit.' Until that knowledge is delivered to society, society cannot advance.

• Accept - The individual delivers the new knowledge to society, but society fails to accept that knowledge for any number of reasons. Or, society accepts the new knowledge, but fails to store it. Unless the new knowledge is both accepted and stored by society, society cannot advance.

It is also important to note that new knowledge that is not stored permanently can be lost at any time. For example, if a person creates new knowledge and then dies, the knowledge could be lost.

The Tacit Knowledge Fallacy and Questions

Michael Polanyi popularized the term tacit knowledge with his saying "We know more than we can tell." Polanyi concluded that there was a kind of knowledge that preceeded logic that was difficult to express.

In reality, all knowledge is explicit, logical, and structured. We know this because everything we know can be categorized. If categories are not clear, logic is not clear, and the knowledge is questionable.

What Polanyi was missing was the concept of the question. A question is a perceived lack of knowledge structure. Questions exist in an antithetical, yin and yang structural relationship to knowledge. They call attention to any lack of logical structure, anywhere in the individual or social knowledge base.

Questions are not explicit and cannot be easily expressed, like knowledge can. It is the questions that are 'tacit,' not the knowledge. Questions are often mixed into knowledge making it difficult to differentiate the two, but true knowledge is always logical, structured, and categorical.

Knowledge Creation and the Two Question Types

There are two types of questions, learning questions and knowledge creation questions.

Learning questions are questions asked by a learner about knowledge that already exists and is stored somewhere in the social knowledge base. For example, a physics novice may question various concepts that already exist.

Knowledge creation questions are questions about knowledge that is on the cutting edge of the social knowledge base. The cutting edge is simply the line between the known and the unknown. In the perceivable unknown, we find knowledge creation questions. When these questions are answered, individually or collectively, new knowledge is created. Answering questions applies order and logic to that which is not yet structured and, as Polanyi might put it, difficult to express.

Knowledge Creation Confusion

Terms and definitions related to both knowledge working and knowledge creation are commonly confused. It is important to understand these terms and definitions accurately or the resulting confusion can hide the concept of knowledge creation.

Common Confusion

• A brain is a biological storage capacity, not intelligence, while a hard drive is a computer storage capacity.

• Intelligence is knowledge stored and retrievable in a brain or in a computer. An intelligent person may never create new knowledge.

• The global brain is the cumulative knowledge storage capacity of society, not it's cumulative intelligence.

• The global intellect is the cumulative knowledge stored and retrievable in social knowledge base. The term global brain is routinely used to mean the global intellect.

• Artificial intelligence or AI is knowledge stored and retrievable artificially, for example, in any computer system today. By this definition, we already have achieved artificial intelligence as a society, with the onset of the computer. In contrast, Artificial knowledge creation or AKC is knowledge created artificially, for example, in a computer system. The latter term is rarely used today, but more accurately reflects many different kinds of AI efforts.

• Genius is high volume knowledge creation. A genius is not always intelligent and an intelligent person is not always a genius.

• Creativity, creative problem solving, invention, innovation, and ideation are all variants of the same knowledge creation cycle (see next section). Some of these terms refer to divergent knowledge creation and some refer to convergent knowledge creation. But whether knowledge is diverging (rational) or converging (scientific), it is always created through the same knowledge creation cycle.

• Learning is knowledge extracted from existing knowledge in the social knowledge base. Knowledge creation creates new knowledge. Knowledge creation adds knowledge to society, learning extracts it from society.

• Knowledge creation is the driver of social advance, not intelligence. Intelligence is the result of social advance.

The concept of knowledge creation has been literally hidden for centuries. It has been hidden because it has been dissected and absorbed into other concepts, attributed to 'mystery or a divine gift,' or simply ignored.

The Knowledge Creation Cycle

Knowledge creation is the conversion of questions or fields of question into knowledge structure. This process is cyclical and consists of five basic steps:

1. Definition/Solution/Structure (Knowledge Context).

2. Question/Problem.

3. Logical Operation (connects/structures/defines).

4. Result: Advanced Definition/Solution/Structure.

5. Return to step 1.

Knowledge creation is additive and as such new knowledge is built upon existing knowledge context (by answering knowledge creation questions at the cutting edge). Intelligence in a given area, or knowledge stored and retrievable in that knowledge area, is required to create new knowledge. All knowledge is created by this cyclical process of building new knowledge at the continually expanding cutting edge.

Knowledge vs. Knowledge Products

Knowledge is not products, but products do require knowledge to produce. Industry is the 'science of making things.' In industry, we make new products (and services) from knowledge capital by designing, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing these products.

Knowledge is needed to create products, but again, these products are not equal to knowledge and products are not required to create new knowledge.