Jan Szczepanski said:
> The 'Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Hierarchy' is an
epistemological
> system
> usually associated with Russell Ackoff (Ackoff, 1989) although
elements
> of it are
> prefigured in the work of Milan Zeleny (1987), and in more poetic form
> in T.S.
> Eliot (above) and in the lyrics of a song by Frank Zappa[1] <#_ftn1>.
>
> http://poeticsofthought.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/the-data-information-
> knowledge-wisdom-hierarchy/
I don't see anything in that hierarchy that disagrees with what I said.
Specifically, I see:
"Knowledge - this is, essentially, information which has been
internalised by the person such that they might put it to use."
"information and data may reside in texts, objects, and events"
This is essentially what I said. So I think that this hierarchy
actually supports my position. Knowledge is the analysis, understanding,
and ability to use information. What we provide is information. We may
also try to _help_ the user internalize it, turning into knowledge, but
knowledge is internal. We are in the information business, providing
information so that users can develop their own knowledge.
Steve McDonald
Steve.mcdonald_at_tufts.edu
Received on Wed Jun 30 2010 - 10:05:26 EDT