Essay on Knowledge Quality, Acceptance, and Influencing Factors

This essay examines the relationship between the quality of knowledge and the extent to which it is accepted by individuals. The author argues that factors such as language complexity and emotional resonance significantly influence knowledge acceptance. The essay explores differing viewpoints, including the impact of language on understanding and the role of emotions in accepting new information, using personal experiences and referencing various scholars like Allen, Broad, and Popper. The author contends that the number of people who accept knowledge reflects its quality, emphasizing that for knowledge to be useful, it must connect emotionally with people. Ultimately, the essay concludes that the interpretation and acceptance of knowledge are subjective and influenced by individual factors like language, emotions, and thought processes.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
The quality of knowledge is best measured by how many people accept it
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
As opined by Allen1, knowledge is any kind of information which can not only help in
the process of mental as well as the personal development of the individuals. For example, it
is seen that the different kinds of knowledge which has we emerged in the present times have
contributed in a substantial manner to improve the quality of lives of the people. However, at
the same time it is seen that the quality of different kinds of knowledge depends to a greatly
on the extent to which it is being accepted by the people. Jahn et al.2 are of the viewpoint that
this can be explained on the basis of the fact that if the people are not being able to
understand the meaning or the significance of a particular kind of knowledge then the
usefulness or the effectiveness of the same is of no use to them. Furthermore, there are
various factors like reason, logic, emotion and others which affect the acceptance of different
kinds of knowledge by the people. For example to be effective as well as useful, it has to be
in synchronicity with the logic, reasoning, language and the thought process of the people.
This essay will argue the fact that the quality of any kind of knowledge is dependent to a
large extent on the number of people who accept it.
As opined by Broad3, language is one of the majority factors which not only
determines to extent to which a particular knowledge will be accepted by the people but at the
same time the number of people who would accept it. For example, it is seen that if the
language which is being used by the authors for the formulators or the propounder of the
concerned knowledge is a complex one then it is more likely that it will not be readily
accepted by the people4. More importantly, this is also likely to affect the number of people
who are likely to accept it. In this regard, mention needs to be made regarding the knowledge
1 Allen, Barry. Knowledge and civilization. Routledge, 2018.
2 Jahn, Katharina, Oliver Heger, Henrik Kampling, Krzysztof Stanik, and Björn Niehaves. "Designing For
Knowledge-Based Familiarity, Trust, And Acceptance: The Case Of Affective Technology." (2017): 3224.
3 Broad, Charlie Dunbar. The mind and its place in nature. Routledge, 2014.
4 Cohen, Patricia Cline. A calculating people: The spread of numeracy in early America. Routledge, 2016.

2KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
of robotics, which although have much simplified as well as improved the quality of life of
the human beings yet is not being readily accepted by a vast number of people5. This can be
explained on the basis of the fact that the language which is being used to propound the
various theories or concepts related to this genre of knowledge is often in complex
mathematical or scientific which the common people are unable to understand. I am of the
viewpoint that language is indeed one of the major factors which influences not only the
understanding of a particular knowledge but at the same time the number of people who
would accept it. Human beings have a psychological tendency to reject the things which not
have complex meaning but also are written in complex language6. The net of this is the fact
that even though some of the knowledge or concepts which can actually prove helpful for the
human beings are being rejected by the people.
Kaplan7, on the other hand, has argued that the quality of knowledge and also its
acceptance by the people is not at all determined by the number of people who accept it. As
opined by Lehrer8, the quality of any knowledge should be determined by the contribution
that it has made to improve the condition of the human beings rather than on the extent to
which it is being understood or accepted by the people. In this regard, it needs to be said that
although the technology or the knowledge of robotics is being used by the different
individuals and has simplified as well as improved the quality of life of individuals yet it is
being rejected by the people. This can be explained on the basis of the fact that not everyone
has the sample kind of intelligence level or educational training for that matter and it is not
possible for everyone to understand the complex processes behind the knowledge related to
5 Allen, Barry. Knowledge and civilization. Routledge, 2018.
6 Habermas, Jürgen. Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. John
Wiley & Sons, 2015.
7 Kaplan, Abraham. The conduct of inquiry: Methodology for behavioural science. Routledge, 2017.
8 Lehrer, Keith. Theory of knowledge. Routledge, 2018.

3KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
robotics9. In this regard, I would like to say that I disagree with this fact since I am of the
viewpoint that if I am not being able to understand a particular theory or concept then it is
likely to have very less significance for me. More importantly, I believe that this is also likely
to reduce the number of people who would accept that particular knowledge as useful since it
is not possible for people to use or appreciate any kind of knowledge if they are not being
able to understand its basic working principle. Furthermore, I would also like to say that this
has nothing to do with the basic understanding of the knowledge or the quality of the
knowledge rather it has to do with the language which has been used to articulate the working
mechanism of the concerned knowledge.
Popper10 is of the viewpoint that emotion is an important aspect which not only
dictates the principle actions of the human beings but at the same time affects their thought
process as well. In this context, mention needs to be made of the fact that the human beings
have a tendency to reject the things or concepts which are not in synchronicity with their
emotional beliefs or emotions for that matter11. As opined by Rouse12, the emotions of the
individuals in turn are dictated to a large extent by the kind of past experiences, knowledge,
up-bringing and other aspects of their life. The net result of this is the fact that the human
beings always tend to analyze any new information or knowledge on the basis of their past
experiences or emotions. More importantly, it is generally seen that if these individuals are
being able to correlate with these knowledge or information of the basis of their past
9 Machlup, Fritz. Knowledge: its creation, distribution and economic significance, Volume I: Knowledge and
knowledge production. Vol. 741. Princeton university press, 2014.
10 Popper, Karl. Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. routledge, 2014.
11 Jahn, Katharina, Oliver Heger, Henrik Kampling, Krzysztof Stanik, and Björn Niehaves. "Designing For
Knowledge-Based Familiarity, Trust, And Acceptance: The Case Of Affective Technology." (2017): 3224.
12 Rouse, Joseph. Engaging science: How to understand its practices philosophically. Cornell University Press,
2018.

4KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
experiences or knowledge then it is being accepted by them or otherwise rejected13. I
personally believe the emotions of individuals are a pivotal factor in determining whether the
concerned knowledge would be accepted by them or not. This will become more apparent
from one of my own personal experiences which I faced a while back. I would like to say in
this regard that a while back I was reading an article about the stem cells and also the manner
in which they could be used to make the human beings immortal. However, that new piece of
knowledge was rejected by me on the basis of the fact that they were not I synchronicity with
my emotional beliefs. For example, I have been brought up as per the strict dictums of
Christianity in which God is supposed to be the creator of human beings. However, this new
piece of knowledge by challenging by existing emotions related to God articulated that the
human beings have gained the knowledge to create similar living beings like them. This was
one of the major reasons why this particular piece of knowledge was rejected by me although
it could prove to be very beneficial for mankind in future.
Shusterman14, on the contrary, argue the fact that emotions are a very subjective entity
and differ from people to people. For example, it is generally seen that the emotions of an
individuals are dependent on a plethora of factors and these factors differ from individuals to
individuals. The net result of this is the fact that not everyone had the same understanding of
the different kinds of knowledge which are conveyed to them. However, at the same time, it
needs to be said that the emotions of the individuals should not be the solely determining
factor of the quality of the knowledge or for that matter the number of people who would
accept it15. On the other hand, the sole determining factor the quality of a particular
13 Psouni, Elia, Simona Di Folco, and Giulio Cesare Zavattini. "Scripted secure base knowledge and its relation
to perceived social acceptance and competence in early middle childhood." Scandinavian journal of
psychology 56, no. 3 (2015): 341-348.
14 Shusterman, Richard. Practicing philosophy: Pragmatism and the philosophical life. Routledge, 2016.
15 Machlup, Fritz. Knowledge: its creation, distribution and economic significance, Volume I: Knowledge and
knowledge production. Vol. 741. Princeton university press, 2014.

5KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
knowledge and also the number of people who would accept it rather the contribution made
by the concerned knowledge towards the improvement of the human beings should be sole
determining factor16. As mentioned in the particular context of the knowledge of stem cells
and the manner in which this knowledge can be used to improve the condition of human
beings the sole determining factor is emotions and not its quality. In this regard, it can be said
that this knowledge can be used to medically empower the human beings and cure various
diseases. However, I personally disagree with this fact since I believe that for knowledge to
be useful it has to connect emotionally with the people.
To conclude, knowledge is a very subjective and its interpretation varies from people
to people. More importantly, it is seen that one particular kind of knowledge which has
proved useful for one individual can prove to be destructive for other individuals.
Furthermore, it is seen that the factors like emotions, language, thought process and others
determine to a great extent whether a particular kind of knowledge would be accepted by the
people. Moreover, it is also seen that in the recent times the quality of a particular kind of
knowledge is determined to a large extent on the basis of the fact that whether the people are
able to connect with it emotionally or understand its language or not. Furthermore, the
number of people who accept the concerned knowledge also determines to a great extent the
quality of that knowledge.
16 Lehrer, Keith. Theory of knowledge. Routledge, 2018.

6KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
References
Allen, Barry. Knowledge and civilization. Routledge, 2018.
Broad, Charlie Dunbar. The mind and its place in nature. Routledge, 2014.
Cohen, Patricia Cline. A calculating people: The spread of numeracy in early America.
Routledge, 2016.
Habermas, Jürgen. Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and
democracy. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Jahn, Katharina, Oliver Heger, Henrik Kampling, Krzysztof Stanik, and Björn Niehaves.
"Designing For Knowledge-Based Familiarity, Trust, And Acceptance: The Case Of
Affective Technology." (2017): 3224.
Kaplan, Abraham. The conduct of inquiry: Methodology for behavioural science. Routledge,
2017.
Lehrer, Keith. Theory of knowledge. Routledge, 2018.
Machlup, Fritz. Knowledge: its creation, distribution and economic significance, Volume I:
Knowledge and knowledge production. Vol. 741. Princeton university press, 2014.
Popper, Karl. Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. routledge,
2014.
Psouni, Elia, Simona Di Folco, and Giulio Cesare Zavattini. "Scripted secure base knowledge
and its relation to perceived social acceptance and competence in early middle
childhood." Scandinavian journal of psychology 56, no. 3 (2015): 341-348.

7KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ACCEPTANCE
Rouse, Joseph. Engaging science: How to understand its practices philosophically. Cornell
University Press, 2018.
Shusterman, Richard. Practicing philosophy: Pragmatism and the philosophical life.
Routledge, 2016.