gpw
gpw
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read
Knowing (facts), knowing (people; subject matter — integral grasp), and in-between: Semi-knowing

To Know about, to know and grasp fully, and to semi-know (head & heart)

Of a place, an event or procedure, or of a person, piece of music, film or writing there are varieties of knowing. The two biggest contrasts come in languages other than English with its all-purpose ‘know’ whether it is a surface fact or a deep relationship of familiarity. Conocer (to know a person or subject deeply) and Saber (to know facts and distinctions) both translate in English as ‘know’ and yet how different the boundaries and depth of meaning between the qualities and the quantities that separate the two kinds of meaning. Thinking of the town away from my language and culture where I have lived and worked at different times these past 33 years, certainly there are small parts of time and place that have personal meaning, memory places, or sufficient familiarity with the language and society of Japan in recent generations to know the meaning of the place (what this shop sells, what that farmer is doing during this season, how to go about finding answers to a particular problem). And yet despite years of routines and experiences and knowledge building, still I remain an outsider to most things happening in people’s lives around this Japanese town.

So in addition to (1) knowledge about a place, time, society and (2) unspoken, operational knowledge that is an extension of one’s own self (to know the place or the people in the sense of personal familiarity), there is a kind of knowledge that is in-between these two; a semi-knowledge in which you have abundant fact about the subject and also you have some operational, proficiency in using that knowledge in ways that branches out from one’s own self. This semi-knowledge is different to spectator expertise of facts and figures and also is different to native-speaker, all-in, taken-for-granted experience of the subject as an intimate part of all things familiar and known to one’s years of experiences.

The example of a skier on a mountaintop illustrates these different experiences of the place. The first is the all-in, fully present alpinist who confidently masters the slope and negotiates the features in a way that best suits her or his skill level, finally reaching the foot of the mountain exhilarated. This corresponds to “knowing in body and spirit” (Conocer in the Spanish given earlier). The next is the person atop the mountain who is very knowledgeable of the weather, snow properties, equipment, method of skiing, but mostly preoccupied with the information more than the experience. This person also successfully reaches the foot of the slope, possibly exhilarated, too, but dwelling in the world of ideas more so than the engagement bodily with the mountain. This corresponds to “knowing in one’s head” (Saber in the Spanish given earlier). The third way, what I am calling semi-knowing, would be a bit of both: the skier is engaged in the slope in both ways simultaneously — partly an experience of body and the physics of friction, gravity and velocity and light/shadow, but partly an experience reflecting on the meaning of the mountain in geologic time, in the local economy, and in the lives of the others who also are enjoying a day outdoors.

Taking another example, semi-knowledge is like the in-between, limbo-like status of a cultural anthropologist or fieldworker who writes an ethnography of an event or situation going on: at once the person is semi-participant, caught up in the moment and strategizing the next actions or replies, in a hurry to get ready for the next decision and reaction; but also semi-observer who is partly detached from the scrum and left with enough breathing space to reflect and record some of the observations close to the scene of action. This participant-observer status is sometimes written about in books about fieldwork methods or in personal memories from that special time when one is semi-conversant with the people and events and language of a place and time, while at the same time being an outsider. So, in conclusion, maybe it is time for a new word: to know about, to know familiarly, and then this in-between position that has some of each type of knowing; a position of being semi-knowledgeable.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade