A Brief Reflection On Epistemological Shifts

A Brief Reflection on Epistemological Shifts Name Institutional Affiliation A Brief Reflection on Epistemological Shifts The pursuit of knowledge has long been one of the core drivers of humanity. The strong desire to understand more about the world, different societies, and cultures, or even oneself has long inspired many into the pursuit of knowledge. While this is important, it is more important to understand how individuals take in, understand, and process knowledge. An epistemological shift is essentially a complete transformation of the way in which individuals take in knowledge (Redmond, Pombo, & Nepomuceno, 2016). While this might sound simple, it has profound and far-reaching implications for the perceptions, actions, and even behaviors of individuals. Epistemological shifts, though often considered positive, have been a cause of concern for many philosophers. This is purposely because such shifts tend to affect the entire way in which individuals live their lives, and as such, this concern is correctly placed. Knowledge is essentially responsible for directing how individuals act and how they engage with others and with the environment around them (Smeyers, Depaepe, & Keiner, 2013). In this respect, any change in the knowledge conferred, or the manner in which it is taken in is bound to affect how the individual in question will act eventually. A good example of this would be how people access information. If students, for instance, primarily access academic information from websites on the internet as opposed to printed books, they are more likely to unknowingly take in false information or even conjecture along with some correct knowledge. The absence of legislation regulating the publication of academic information online as opposed to publication of the academic information in print easily facilitates such problems. By taking in false or inaccurate information, such students are likely to unknowingly apply the same information in class or in any other relevant setting. If left uncorrected, such students will continue to spread and rely on false information, which has unimaginable consequences. Along the same line, the way in which one takes in knowledge also changes over time. While many factors may contribute to this, the most influential of them is the environment in which one exists. This has undoubtedly also changed the way I take in knowledge as an individual. The modern world has fully embraced technology, and one of the most impactful ways in which this embrace has been manifested is the internet (Smeyers et al., 2013). This has greatly affected how I perceive and take in knowledge. Fo...