Things I know

During the creation of this blog I mockingly chose the title of “Things I Know”, playing with the idea that at UBC we come to learn, to gain Knowledge with that capital “K”. Knowledge creation is a challenging issue, both in popular culture as well as academia. Where Knowledge is created or comes from is often unquestioned and assumed. Without critical examination of knowledge, we risk ignoring the structural context that shapes not just what we know, but also how we think about it.
The ideologies that surround and encompass our society go unquestioned, but they shape how we think. This is the aspect that I seek to unpack here. Whether the ideology is Science, Feminism or Capitalism, each provides a way to look at the world, and often when submerged within a particular ideology, one is unable to interpret without utilizing that particular framework.
If we take the ideology of Science, Knowledge creation arises from utilizing a value-free and unbiased scientific methodology, grounded in empiricism. Researchers seek to remain distanced from the subject that it studies. How do we enact social change if we seek only to observe society rather than engage with it? This ivory tower methodology has recently come under attack, but still there remains the issue of value-free research.
Back to the reflection of Knowing and the search for Knowledge, it seems a bit naive to think that knowledge only comes in the form of a neatly packaged education, but it remains the only means of knowledge accreditation.