There are more forms of knowing something. So far, I am differentiating between superficial knowledge, which is mostly cognitive, and internalised knowledge, which is both emotional and behavioural. But am I correct?
I realised this during a walk home from work when I was stroke by the fact that in that day I learned a lesson I already knew. And if I knew about it, why did it feel that this time I knew it better?
In the last couple of years, I had many epiphanies. Most of them meant knowing something I had already known at a deeper level. For instance: people are unique, while similar. OK, so? Well, it took me some time to understand that despite the similarities, people have different ways in which they react, they need to be approached in a personal, individual manner and there is no one solution fits all. So, yes, I knew this. But then, why did it strike me as new to learn that while being polite is interpreted by some as a sign of good education, other interpret it as weakness, or that while some thrive in a calm, peaceful, warm environment, others thrive in a conflicting one?
Another example: more important than the reality of a situation is how people perceive the respective reality of the situation. Is not what’s objectively real that will make people behave the way they do, but that how they subjectively perceive the objective reality will influence behaviour. There is a rule in Sociology to this matter and when I’ve learned it, there were countless examples I found to support it.
But when in happens in daily life, when you see people describing a slightly different reality one wonders: do they lie on purpose? No, as it turns out, is what they actually understood and is what will influence their decision making and behaviour. How much sense does it make to correct their view and clarify? It depends on the situation.
It seems that, life will teach us some lessons over and over again. To really understand them, we need to go through more layers. What’s important to us will be learned after all. Or will it?
Make today count!