2.

Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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Coursework Title
Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural selection. How
useful is this metaphor?

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2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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Theory of Knowledge Essay Title Number 2

Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural selection. How
useful is this metaphor?

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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Exam Session: May 2016

Word Count:
No. of Pages:

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural selection.

How useful is this metaphor?

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best
manage change. Leon C. Megginson1
This metaphor clearly implies that the knowledge that is developed in an area of
knowledge is termed as relevant on the basis of how it fits into the disciplines of the society and
how strong is the knowledges explanatory power. Knowledge cannot survive in the world if its
not useful and satisfactory to the nature and its members. According to Charles Darwins theory
of survival of the fittest, only the fittest creature survives. Similarly, the knowledge that is the
fittest, survives in the society. The nature has its own type of selection depending upon the
subject and the existing knowledge in it. For example a newly developed subject would readily
1 http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/survival-of-the-fittest 24/9/2015 20.52pm

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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accept knowledge so as to lay the foundation of the subject, while in a subject like math it would
take a lot of time so as to see that the knowledge is valid and supports all the theories that are in
the past with valid evidences. The nature determines the value of the knowledge on the basis of
its validity, reliability and its explanatory capability. Knowledge is often developed in the form
of personal knowledge or due to personal satisfaction or curiosity but its position in the society is
determined by how fit, relevant, reliable and useful it is to the society at that point of time or
later. Therefore my knowledge question is, To what extent does knowledge survives on the basis
of its usefulness? In this essay I will be exploring on the agreement and disagreement of the
knowledge question within Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In the areas of knowledge that I
am investigating on, the knowledge in both the fields takes time to define its relevancy and for
the nature to accept it . In the 1675, Sir Isaac Newton proposed the corpuscular theory which
states light travels in the form of corpuscular or particles. This theory and the reliability on Sir
Isaac Newtons theories were so high that it was easily accepted in the society. Four years later,
Christian Huygens proposed that light also travels in the form of a wave. Though the theory was
a success it wasnt accepted in the society. This was due to natural selection. There were two
reasons to this: First, the theory wasnt useful to the world of physics at that time and second that
the reliability on Newton and his theory was trusted on a wide basis. Again after 100 years,
Young proposed the same theory and it was accepted because this theory was useful for the
development of the knowledge of Physics and that is why it was accepted in the society by
discarding Newtons corpuscular theory. This clearly proves the theory of natural selection as to
how knowledge is developed by natures selection.

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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I firmly believe that the development of knowledge depends on the natures selection. I
will be elaborating this thesis with the help of Natural Science and Mathematics.
For knowledge to be accepted, it needs to be valid and must have a strong proof. Until the
20th century, everyone believed that it is impossible for any bacteria to survive in the stomach
with a PH of 2 and that ulcers was caused due to spicy food and stress But later it was the
discovery by Barry J. Marshall that a bacteria like H .Pyroli can exist in the stomach which
causes peptic ulcer. The theory was accepted by everyone as it was experimentally proved by
them that bacteria like H. Pyroli cause ulcers which caused a paradigm shift in the field of
medicine. The theory was valid and was proven too and thus nature accepted it. The reason for
Marshall was to prove the world wrong and make a paradigm shift and he did that by his
research. Thus the need of a strong proof and the validity of knowledge is highly essential for the
society to believe in that knowledge and accept it.
The acceptance of knowledge often depends upon the way it is presented. The theory of
geocentrism is a perfect example for this counter-claim. The theory that the Earth is in the center
and all other celestial bodies revolve around it was considered true for end number of years.
Though this theory wasnt true the way it was presented by the Church who were termed to be
the most superior power at that time led people to believe in Geocentrism. Atheism was
considered as a crime and thus people had no option other than to accept the theory.
Knowledge does not need to have the strong explanatory power to survive in the society.
Knowledge is often accepted to bring about a revolution, a change, though its not that
explanatory. Sigmund Freud was an Australian neurologist who proposed various theories.

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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Though his proposed theories were vague and didnt make that much sense they still got famous
and were accepted in the society for the development of psychology. Much of the work today is
predicted on many of his original insights. As psychologist and Freud critic John Kihlstrom
himself admits, More than Einstein or Watson and Crick, more than Hitler or Lenin, Roosevelt
or Kennedy, more than Picasso, Eliot, or Stravinsky, more than the Beatles or Bob Dylan, Freud's
influence on modern culture has been profound and long-lasting. 2 This statement clearly proves
that knowledge is often accepted to lay the foundation of a research though it may not be true.
Its the first step to bring a change.
Knowledge needs to be explanatory for a change in the area of knowledge. The
Keynesian model of economics is a true example for this counterclaim. The Keynesian theory
gave a proper proof of how spending takes place in the economy and its effect on output and the
inflation of the economy. The knowledge was so reliable and applicable to the real world that is
discarded the neoclassical theory which stated that if aggregate demand falls, low wages would
let firms induce more workers, leading to economic growth and employment.
Language plays a key role in the development of knowledge. According me to, a well
presented theory with precise terms would be accepted more easily rather than a theory which
has meaning but isnt presented well. When I was around 10 years old my mom always used to
take me for buying vegetables. I used to just stand beside her and watch her select the vegetables.
I noticed that mom would only select the tomatoes that were pure red and have a shine. Though
they had pesticides injected to look good mom would prefer them over the green ones which did
2 http://io9.com/why-freud-still-matters-when-he-was-wrong-about-almost-1055800815

2. Knowledge within a discipline develops according to the principles of natural

selection. How useful is this metaphor?
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not have a shine. We can relate this to language as the shine in the tomatoes. The theory that
supports more by a good language is easily accepted though with loop holes inside it just like the
chemicals in the tomatoes.