Chapter 10 — Knowledge

Definition of Knowledge

In STLR, learning and knowledge are closely related, but they are not the same.

Learning is the process of forming Tags and Hard-Linking related Tags.

Knowledge is the resulting group of related, Hard-Linked Tags.

STLR calls such a group an island of knowledge.

An island may contain Tags about the attributes of something, Tags about how to use it, or both.

One Island of Knowledge

Consider the addition of two numbers.

A person’s addition island may contain Tags for:

the plus sign
the meaning of addition
combining two quantities
the meaning of a sum
examples such as 1 + 1 = 2
methods for adding larger numbers
ways to check an answer
common mistakes

These Tags contain different parts of the person’s knowledge of addition. Their Hard-Links allow the related content to be activated and processed together.

The complete group is one island of knowledge.

Knowing What It Is and How to Use It

Some Tags in the addition island help explain the concept.

They may contain the meaning of addition, the plus sign, and examples showing that two quantities are being combined.

Other Tags contain knowledge about how to perform addition. They may contain remembered answers, calculation methods, or step-by-step instructions.

The steps are content stored in Tags. The operations performed while following those steps are processes using the knowledge. The steps and operations are not the island itself.

The island is the entire group of related Tags and Hard-Links.

Chapter 17, “How Step-by-Step Knowledge Can Be Stored,” examines ordered knowledge in greater detail.

Knowledge Grows Through Continued Learning

A knowledge island does not have to be complete when it first forms.

A beginning addition island may contain only a few examples and a simple meaning of addition.

Continued learning can add more examples, explanations, methods, corrections, and ways to check an answer. New Hard-Links can connect these Tags with the knowledge already there.

Learning therefore builds and expands the island. The resulting knowledge becomes larger and more useful.

When a sufficiently different concept is learned, a separate island may form. Adding two fractions, for example, can form its own island because it has its own meanings, examples, rules, and step-by-step knowledge.

From One Island to Many Islands

Knowledge does not need to exist as one enormous group.

One concept can form one island, while another concept forms a different island. The islands can remain separate while still Referencing and using one another.

The next chapter uses mathematics to show how many separate knowledge islands can work together.