The Way of Discovery
“The meaning of humanity is, as Polanyi says for himself, “to seek the truth and to state our findings”. This calling places upon us an enormous responsibility to join with a Society of Explorers in a venture that is endless and hazardous… The acceptance of this choice, the response to what appears as the invitation of the cosmos, remains, however, a tacit feat of comprehension that is like faith. It is the integration of particulars into a comprehensive understanding. It is a grasp of parts into a whole where the parts are present, but the whole means much more than its parts.” –Richard Gelwick
I understand a society of explorers as a group on individuals eager to discover and understand the universe. They are anxious to embark on the adventure of human knowledge and they understand the risk they have to accept, and the responsibility that lies on their shoulders. They are not only willing to learn about a specific subject; they want to connect the parts into the whole. They want to see the world and the universe, as a whole, as a network of interacting parts. Because of these, their thought is not fragmented; by this I mean that they understand that there are no sharp boundaries between the branches of knowledge. They see human knowledge in a holistic way, in the sense, that everything connects with everything.
A core value in the society of explorers is the individual awareness of one’s work and everyone else’s. They work independently and interdependently at the same time. They understand that everyone has the potential to discover significant and hidden connections, and that those connections can be significant in humanity and in their independent project as well. It’s a community of co-learners that are helping each other. They are all willing to seek the truth responsibly and publish their findings in order to push the human race forward. I really think that publishing is the most important aspect of the pursuit of truth because without publishing, how would the rest of humanity would know about a discovery? How would others build upon it or connect it with their own research? How would we advance in human knowledge?
What fascinates me more about the society of explorers is their spirit of wanting to pursue the path of adventure and discovery of truth. It’s outstanding the commitment and responsibility they have and their passion and eagerness to solve a problem. They are the ones who risk and hold themselves accountable for their findings; they do this for the sake of human knowledge.
A core value in the society of explorers is the individual awareness of one’s work and everyone else’s. They work independently and interdependently at the same time. They understand that everyone has the potential to discover significant and hidden connections, and that those connections can be significant in humanity and in their independent project as well. It’s a community of co-learners that are helping each other. They are all willing to seek the truth responsibly and publish their findings in order to push the human race forward. I really think that publishing is the most important aspect of the pursuit of truth because without publishing, how would the rest of humanity would know about a discovery? How would others build upon it or connect it with their own research? How would we advance in human knowledge?
What fascinates me more about the society of explorers is their spirit of wanting to pursue the path of adventure and discovery of truth. It’s outstanding the commitment and responsibility they have and their passion and eagerness to solve a problem. They are the ones who risk and hold themselves accountable for their findings; they do this for the sake of human knowledge.
"What we have accustomed to call knowledge is like the peak of the iceberg, and we have neglected the greater part of knowledge itself because it is hidden from our direct view when we are using it".
- There's more knowledge under the peak of the iceberg.
- The tacit dimension (what we can't express in words) is always there.
"...We have to take the risk of trusting the clues that have been given to us in order to have knowledge. There is no way to avoid this risk; we can only try to act responsibly with universal intent".
- Subsidiary awareness: Clues in our subconscious, we are not truly focused on them, we are dimly aware of them. We can say that this awareness is under the iceberg.
- Focal awareness: The specific task/problem we are trying to solve. We are focused on a problem and we attend it.
- The two kind of awareness are integrated by the individual.
"When we rely upon clues, we interiorize and dwell in them as the proximal terms of our existence".
- The clues are linked, there's a "Eureka Moment".
- Our knowledge is integrated (articulable and tacit) and this is the process that guides us to any knowledge at all.
"...One of the ways that the subsidiary particulars become a part of knowledge: they appear in the knowledge itself".
- Integration is rooted in tacit knowledge.
- We recognize a pattern and that's when we have the "Eureka Moment".
- Sediments of previous knowledge appear.
"...Shows a discrimination between the appearance of pattern and the meaning of pattern which underlines again the distinctive contribution of the individual in all knowing".
- Different persons may see the same pattern but not give them the same meaning.
- Meaning cannot exist without an individual. A person is required to integrate clues into coherent patterns to find/create meaning.
- Meaning belongs to a structure of comprehending relationships...
"...Our integrations are toward things that are universal".
- We want to reach universal truth, that's why we respect the responsibility that lies on our shoulders.
- "We are not free to do as we please but called to respond to the clues and problems that can be ascertained by us and other competent persons. Our satisfaction is not pleasing ourselves but in our contact with aspects of reality that can be found by others and offer prospect of further discovery".
- We care about reality because we want to push humanity forward.
Favorite quotes
"...Intense effort of the individual pioneer who makes the great breakthrough. But it also images the social roots and ties that surround the seemingly individual triumph".
"Discovery is the point within science itself that leads to a truer understanding of knowledge and ourselves as persons".
"We all started with being interested in the whole world; it's the only genuine interest we can have" - Michael Polanyi
"Discoveries are made by the efforts of persons who believe in their work, but the acceptance of discoveries also requires a readiness to believe within the scientific community".
"...Scientific research is more like an art, the art of making certain kinds of discoveries".
"In the acknowledgement of our personal responsibility for all of our knowledge and in the recognition of the adventure that knowing involves..."
"...A whole network of ideas is involved in a a scientific theory". - Irving M. Copi
"...Imagination is guided toward reality by following clues from its own personal intuition".
"We, as the whole structure of tacit knowing shows, are the instruments of exploration in the universe".
"The capacity to invent, to create, and to discover again and rebuild the world could only be done by persons".