“When there is a storm and you stand in front of a tree, if you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you see its stability.” (The Revenant, 2015, 20th Century Fox)
No matter how much formal knowledge we accumulate, without cultivating an active open mind, our knowledge can count for nothing. Our personal qualities are important, but we must be open to the personal qualities of others, and what they can teach us, to survive and thrive. In other words, we must build a strong trunk, and this can be achieved by embracing the four types of knowing.
There is a theory of four types of knowing, outlined below
Procedural-knowing what to do, what procedure to follow
Propositional- knowledge of facts
Perspectival-being able to examine a situation from a vantage point
Participatory- how to fit yourself into a situation to get the most out of it
(Drawn and traced from Vervaeke and Ferraro, 2012)
Years ago, I wrote parts of this article on another blog, which I’ll re-examine through the four types of knowing. As the opening quote suggests, the previous article was about what is needed for a human being to survive a metaphorical storm, and drew from the film, The Revenant. The protagonist, Charles Glass survives horror, as I summarised below
“Hugh Glass survives a vicious Grizzly attack, and is left for dead by his colleagues in freezing, arctic conditions after witnessing his son murdered. Torn to pieces, freezing, grieving and hungry, Glass makes his way across miles of snowy wasteland…”
I went on
“…it is obvious Glass has huge reserves of mental strength…Glass also has expertise in survival, and high tolerance for pain as he manages to not just endure his injuries”
We can identify that Glass drew from procedural and propositional knowledge. Glass knew basic facts on how to survive and what procedures to follow-where to shelter and how, how to begin caring for his wounds.
And further I argued
“…perhaps the most important factor in his survival is a chance encounter, when Glass is near death, with a Pawnee Native American who is travelling alone”
Glasses procedural and propositional knowledge had reached their limits, he could no longer go on alone.
“The Pawnee feeds Glass carries him on his horse, and heals his wounds. This chance encounter, cemented with shared grief, provides Glass with a huge slice of luck necessary to survive”
It is true that Glass got lucky with the above encounter, however, I made far too much of it in the previous article, in the role of luck. Once luck had occurred, the Pawnee used his procedural and propositional knowledge to heal Glass. They shared their grief, exchanged their perspectival knowing. The two men participated with each other and enriched a bleak situation, becoming better fitted to the environment.
Quite often we focus on what we know and what we can do. As picked up in the previous article on this blog, this focus, taken too far, can lead to a defensive approach which shuts down active open mindedness. Focusing too much on procedural and propositional knowledge can pit our knowledge against the knowledge of others.
To make sure we survive, and then thrive, we need to take a lesson from the story of Glass. We need the perspectives of others to enrich us and deepen our understanding of the world. Deeper understanding allows us to better fit ourselves to emerging situations, to gain an “optimal grip” (Merlot Ponty, 1945).
No one can survive alone. Keeping in mind the four types of knowing makes sure that we are making the most of sharing our lives with others and avoiding unnecessary competitions and conflicts. It helps us build a strong trunk and survive storms.
“When there is a storm and you stand in front of a tree, if you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you see its stability.” (The Revenant, 2015, 20th Century Fox)
This article is dedicated to my friend, Chris Lund.
Reading
Vervaeke, J and Ferraro, L, (2012) ‘Relevance, Meaning, and the Cognitive Science of Wisdom’ in in Michel Ferrari and Nic Westrate (eds) The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom: From Contemplative Traditions to Neuroscience, pp. 21-51, Springer.
Merlot Ponty, M. (1945) Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge
