Consciousness and the Natural Order of Knowing

Imagine learning a new language by diving straight into complex grammar rules without ever having listened to native speakers or practiced conversation. It would be like trying to understand a painting solely through its color palette without ever seeing the completed image. In much the same way, our human capacity for knowing unfolds in stages — from raw, embodied experience to abstract, propositional thought — because our brains are built to operate in a particular sequence. Drawing on a framework of human consciousness that emphasizes homeostasis, error correction, subconscious processing, and the dynamic construction of the self, we can see why knowing progresses through four essential stages: participatory, perspectival, procedural, and finally, propositional knowing.

Stage 1: Participatory Knowing — The Groundwork of Experience

At the most basic level, human knowing begins with participatory knowing. This is the immediate, embodied interaction with the world that our brains orchestrate even before we form explicit thoughts. Just as the body constantly works to maintain homeostasis — ensuring our internal environment remains stable — the brain relies on participatory engagement to anchor us in reality.

• Embodied Engagement: Our senses and motor actions allow us to perceive and act upon our environment. This is learning by doing, where the brain’s error-correcting mechanisms operate in real time, adjusting our actions and perceptions to maintain equilibrium.
• Example in Language: When a child hears a language spoken around them, they begin by absorbing its rhythms, sounds, and intonations — not by learning grammar rules, but through the sheer act of participation. The raw sensory experience creates the substrate for all later learning.

Without this foundational layer, abstract ideas would have no connection to the lived reality that our brains are designed to manage. The immediacy of participatory knowing ensures that knowledge is rooted in the practicalities of survival and interaction.

Stage 2: Perspectival Knowing — Forming a Subjective Viewpoint

Building on the bedrock of participatory knowing, our brains gradually develop perspectival knowing. Here, the raw experiences are organized into a subjective narrative — a “view from here” that situates us within our world.

• Constructing the Self: As our brain integrates the continuous flow of bodily signals, it begins to form an imagined self — a cohesive identity that sees the world from a particular vantage point. This perspective is crucial for contextualizing our experiences and distinguishing our inner life from the external world.
• Example in Language: In learning a language, perspectival knowing emerges as learners start to understand not only the sounds but also the context in which language is used. They learn how tone, facial expression, and situational cues influence meaning, thereby anchoring the language within a lived experience rather than a collection of isolated sounds.

This stage is essential because it organizes and makes sense of participatory input. It transforms unstructured sensory data into a coherent narrative that the brain can work with, setting the stage for skill acquisition.

Stage 3: Procedural Knowing — Mastering the How

Once a solid subjective perspective has been established, the brain moves into procedural knowing — the realm of “knowing how.” Here, the repeated engagement with the environment hones our abilities, turning abstract patterns into embodied skills.

• Skill Through Practice: Procedural knowing is built through repetition, where the brain’s error-correcting processes refine motor and cognitive patterns. Much of this learning happens beneath our conscious awareness, as the brain’s subconscious machinery tweaks and perfects our interactions with the world.
• Example in Language: Consider language fluency. A learner who has participated in conversations and observed language use will, through practice, develop the ability to respond fluidly in real-time. They learn to form sentences, adjust intonation, and comprehend subtle shifts in meaning — skills that arise from the practical, embodied use of the language, not merely by memorizing rules.

Procedural knowing transforms participation and perspective into automatic, efficient behaviors. It is the stage where our brains “internalize” what has been experienced and contextualized, enabling rapid, error-corrected responses in everyday situations.

Stage 4: Propositional Knowing — Abstract Thought and Explanation

Only after the robust foundations of participatory, perspectival, and procedural knowing are laid does the brain engage in propositional knowing — the ability to articulate knowledge in abstract, declarative statements.

• From Tacit to Explicit: Propositional knowledge involves knowing that something is the case, often expressible in words, symbols, or formalized rules. This stage allows us to analyze, explain, and theorize about our experiences, but it presupposes that the underlying, embodied experiences have already been established.
• Example in Language: A student might eventually learn the grammatical rules of a language or understand its syntax, but such propositional knowledge is meaningful only if it is grounded in prior participatory experience, contextual understanding, and practiced fluency. Without the foundation provided by the earlier stages, grammar rules remain abstract and disconnected from actual communication.

This final stage represents the brain’s capacity for abstraction and reflection. However, because it is built upon the solid structure of embodied and practiced knowledge, attempting to reverse the order — starting with abstract rules without the necessary experiential background — often leads to shallow understanding.

Why the Reverse Order Falls Short

Reversing this sequence — attempting propositional knowing before participatory, perspectival, and procedural stages — is like trying to build a skyscraper without a foundation. For instance, trying to become fluent in a foreign language by solely studying grammar and vocabulary rules ignores the brain’s natural, embodied pathways for learning:

• Lack of Embodied Experience: Without participating in real conversations, the learner’s brain does not have the necessary sensory and motor experiences that anchor language in reality. The abstract rules lack the error-correcting feedback and practical context that make them meaningful.
• Disconnected Perspectives: Without a developed subjective perspective on how the language is used in various contexts, the rules remain sterile and divorced from real-world applications.
• Ineffective Skill Acquisition: Procedural fluency — knowing how to use the language fluidly — cannot emerge from mere memorization. It requires repeated, embodied practice that fine-tunes the brain’s automatic responses, a process that propositional learning alone cannot foster.

Thus, the natural order — beginning with participation and moving through perspective and procedure to abstraction — is not arbitrary. It mirrors the brain’s own construction of consciousness: from the ground-up, it builds a unified self through direct experience, contextual integration, practiced action, and finally, reflective abstraction. Each stage is a necessary step in transforming raw data into meaningful knowledge.

Conclusion: The Necessity of Order in Human Knowing

Our journey through the stages of knowing — from participatory to perspectival to procedural to propositional — reflects the intricate design of our conscious minds. This order is essential because it mirrors the brain’s evolution from immediate, embodied experience to higher-order abstraction. Just as our brains maintain homeostasis and correct errors through direct interaction with the world, so too does our capacity for knowing develop from hands-on experience and gradually build towards abstract reasoning.

By recognizing this natural progression, we appreciate why trying to shortcut the process — such as learning a language solely through grammar rules — is doomed to be less effective. Our cognitive architecture is optimized for learning in a specific order, one that ensures that abstract knowledge is always anchored in the rich soil of lived experience. In embracing this order, we honor the sophisticated design of human consciousness and the dynamic processes that allow us to know the world in all its depth and complexity.