Atomic Model of Knowledge

Atomic Model of Knowledge and its Tacit-Explicit Duality

Figure 1: Atomic structure of an iron atom (Hicks 2001)

What is knowledge?

The following "Atomic Model of Knowledge" defines knowledge as a system of compared, connected and viable "knowledge atoms" (so-called "k-atoms").
This definition is a slight modification of Kant's definition (Kant 1781, A97) where Kant's term "Vorstellung" (cognitive unit) is substituted by the new term "knowledge atom".

A k-atom is the result of  cognitive activities and the basic building block of cognition. 

A k-atom can bond together with other k-atoms to create k-elements, k-molecules, k-networks and other aggregates.

A k-atom is composed by two subatomic parts:  a tacit part and an explicit part (Polanyi 1958). 

a) the tacit part of a k-atom

• results from unaware cognitive activities (perceiving, thinking, etc.): thus this part is like hidden in a cloud or behind a veil.

b) the explicit part of a k-atom

• results from aware cognitive activities (perceiving, thinking, etc.). Due to the limits of cognitive awareness the explicit part is also limited: it is so to say only the shadow of the tacit part.

The amount of the tacit part can vary in a continuum which goes from 100 % (a fully tacit k-atom) to 0% (a fully explicit k-atom). Along the continuum between these 2 extremes a k-atom displays a tacit-explicit duality (the normal case). 

Figure 2: Table

Example: k-atom "table"

• tacit part "table": our experiences of  tables that constitute our concept of a "table" but of which we are unaware. 
• explicit part "table": our experiences of  tables of which we are aware and thus able to express in language (or by other means), for instance in terms of a definition like this: "a table is a piece of furniture that consists of a flat top supported by legs" [source: Oxford Learner's Dictionary].

This atomic model of knowledge provides a fundamental insight into the "TACIT-EXPLICIT DUALITY OF KNOWLEDGE": that the building blocks of knowledge, the k-atoms, have a twofold nature, combining in one unit a tacit part and an explicit part.

By the way: human beings can use both the explicit and the tacit part of k-atoms, AI only the explicit part!

References:

• Hicks, J. (2001) Welded Design, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/iron-atom
• Kant I. (1781/1787) Kritik der reinen Vernunft, Riga, ed. A (1781), ed. B (1787), I. Heidemann (ed.) (1966), Stuttgart: Reclam. Translated by N. K. Smith (1929) Critique of Pure Reason, London: Macmillan & Co.
• Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal Knowledge: "Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. University of Chicago Press, Chicago