Layers of Knowledge

Ever wonder why people believing in different knowledge systems often disagree?

Mathematics is the most abstract and rigorous form of knowledge. Physics is neither that abstract nor rigorous. But the number of questions it answers in the realm of physical world is much more than mathematics does.

Like this in the above list, as you move from top to bottom the rigor increases and the solutions for problems in a higher layer decreases.

For example we may not know every physical action involved in a chemical reaction. But the rules of chemistry can pretty well explain the chemical reaction in such a way that you can use the result in any other chemical reaction.

In biology we may not know every chemical reaction involved in the process of evolution. But the rules of biology can explain that process very well.

Likewise you can see the same effect as you move further right.

If you are looking for an explanation for a very complex natural system like life, you’ll have an easy answer that will serve your need from an upper layer of knowledge.

Why this is happening? The role of patterns is very important in the way we process knowledge. This kind of a grouping is evolved to make this pattern based thinking more comfortable,

One danger in such a grouping is, as you goes up in these layers, the possibility to make a wrong postulate increases exponentially. It is solely because we don’t care why it is that way.

Religion is the topmost in the series. It is one of the oldest forms when we never had any idea about most of the simpler phenomena like, planets, stars, earth, day and night etc.

It tried and succeeded to explain everything people can see and can’t see at their times. When people could gather more abstract knowledge about such things, those became obsolete.

Then why most of the people still depend on religion? Before answering that, we will see another situation.

Suppose you are physicist. You are working with all those edges of theoretical physics like inertia, fields, velocity of light, gravity, quantum mechanics etc. You are familiar with lot of postulates where no one knows why it is so. But you are convinced well and appreciate the beauty of the physical processes based on those postulate.

Suppose the day came when you no longer have to use physics to organize knowledge, and Mathematics is pretty good at it, how easy for you to get rid of the way you appreciated the fact? Will you be able to appreciate the new way as the mathematician do?

The same way centuries old religions which took centuries to become in today’s fashion still succeeds in its own ways to reach younger and younger generations.

But one necessary thing is you need to update the upper layer of knowledge as the lower levels are updated. Other wise lower levels may get advanced enough to make the upper one unnecessary.

The topper most one is more prone to collapse and need to be updated more. The strange thing is it the one with most reluctance to update.