Tok Exhibition

Tok Exhibition

Janiya Young

How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?

Think

Knowledge, belief, and opinion are established constructs that have shaped human perception and understanding of the world. It also influences how individuals perceive the world.

Belief - Art 1: Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminine Body, Mind, and Spirit by Queen Afua

Let’s use a book as our first example. When you read the book Sacred Woman, it fits into all three categories; knowledge, opinion, and belief. Even though it does, it is more from a belief standpoint. The book dives deeper into holistic well-being through African spirituality. Although it does contain a lot of factual information, it is told from the author's point of view. !

Belief V.2

Although the question is to differentiate between the three. I often find myself asking a question. How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief, and opinion; when an opinion and belief are the same thing?

Opinion - Art 2: Taylor Swift and Kanye West 2009 VMAS

The infamous incident at the 2009 VMAs. Taylor Swift was up against Beyonce for Album of the Year and won. It caused a lot of controversy when Kanye ran up on stage and took the award. Expressing his opinion on why Taylor did not deserve that award. It sent the world into an uproar, but why? I mean it is just an opinion and something that someone truly believes, right?

There is always a lot of controversy when it comes to someone's opinion due to diverse perspectives. Including values, experiences, thoughts, etc. What differentiates an opinion from belief and knowledge is the fact that an opinion is from a personal view. Not like the book Sacred Women; although it’s from the author's point of view. It can also be factually proven and it is truly believed.

Opinion V.2 r

Knowledge - Art 3: A map of the world

As we get to knowledge, let's think about what knowledge is. Knowledge is based on facts, evidence, and information that can be verified and proven true. Knowledge is acquired by a person or through the experience of education. It’s the theoretical awareness of facts. We know that it is a map of the world because this is what we're taught. If we go to any continent on this map we will be at what the words say.

So what's the difference

Belief

Knowledge

Opinions

Knowledge is information that can be justified and proven to be true. With knowledge, it can make it easier for people to believe something.

An opinion comes more from a personal view/ judgment. An opinion can occur rather than the information being true or not. An opinion is also subjective to people based on their beliefs and personal experiences.

Belief is the concept of accepting something as true or real without any factual evidence or proof. This can be used with faith and religion.

Conclusions

So....

How do we use belief, knowledge, and opinion in our real-world lives?

In the final analysis, beliefs involve accepting something without factual evidence. Knowledge is based on true and justifiable information and opinions are subjective perspectives. With that being said, this is how to distinguish between knowledge, belief, and opinion.

Let’s think academic-wise. In the academic world, belief can play a role in science. Such as when it comes to forming a hypothesis. Knowledge in academics can be required through intense research and practice. Like with math and social studies. Opinions in academics are also more subjective. Like when it comes to art or something in that aspect. .’

- Janiya

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