KNOWLEDGE
The following terms and their respective definitions describe knowledge as an emergent (and relatively abstract) property of the relatively physical processes which occur inside the hardware of a sufficiently complex information processing agent. Note that the following definitions might not pertain to their respective terms used outside the scope of this website (i.e. the website named Karlina Object dot WordPress dot Com).
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physical : hardware :: abstract : software.
physical : low_level :: abstract : high_level.
low_level : electron_pattern :: high_level : integer_value.
DATA.abstraction_level < INFORMATION.abstraction_level < KNOWLEDGE.abstraction_level.
DATA: (singular: datum) phenomena which can be non-ambiguously represented as finite sequences of binary digits such that, when those sequences of binary digits are transmitted from one information processing agent to some other information processing agent, both information processing agents interpret those transmitted sequences of binary digits as symbolically representing the exact same phenomena.
An example of a datum is the integer value five (5) occurring as an int type data value within a C++ program runtime instance (at the software level) and, at the hardware level, as a pattern of binary digits (represented physically as a pattern of “high voltage” (1) and “low voltage” (0) signals (which is represented even less abstractly as a pattern of electrons which are stored inside of an electronic computer’s circuitry)).
INFORMATION: a collection of data which are organized in a particular spatial and temporal configuration such that those data collectively refer to some piece of knowledge which neither one of those data could wholly represent by itself.
An example of a piece of information is a JavaScript array named dictionary comprised of some finite number of JSON objects such that each one of those JSON object consists of exactly one term and exactly one corresponding definition).
// The following line of code is a JavaScript array definition.
// Each element of the array represents a particular key-value pair.
let dictionary = [
{ "ZERO" : "0 := 0 + 0." },
{ "ONE" : "1 := 0 + 1 = 1 + 0." },
{ "TWO" : "2 := 1 + 1." },
{ "THREE" : "3 := 1 + 2 = 2 + 1 = 1 + 1 + 1." }
];
KNOWLEDGE: an emergent property which occurs as a result of a sufficiently complex information processing agent subjectively interpreting some piece of information such that the resulting interpretation is not wholly communicable.
It could be said that what is transmitted between multiple information processing agents is information and what each of those information processing agents subjectively experiences is knowledge (which means that, unlike information and data, knowledge is a solipsistic phenomenon).
An example of knowledge is karbytes’ mental model of reality (and karbytes is the sole author of this website).
Each of the words, images, and sounds which have been encoded as sequences of computer-readable binary digits and stored as files inside of web servers and which comprise this website were consciously selected to be included in this website by karbytes instead of any other pieces of information due to the fact that those pieces of information which karbytes selected were the first to trigger specific neuronal firing patterns in karbytes’ brain which indicated that those pieces of information fit sufficiently well into the puzzle which is karbytes’ mental model of reality (and that mental model of reality contains more information than what this website contains).
For karbytes, this website is metaphorically a set of terms which have corresponding definitions inside of the dictionary which is karbytes’ mental model of reality. When karbytes views a web page within this website, a (relatively physical) cascade of electrical impulses occurs inside of karbytes’ brain which causes karbytes to experience a (relatively abstract) reconstruction of memorized information associated with the (finite, static, and verbatim digitized) content which is displayed on that web page.
This web page was last updated on 10_JULY_2023. The content displayed on this web page is licensed as PUBLIC_DOMAIN intellectual property.