Pandelis Karasavvas

Theory of Knowledge

Who knows better what is gravity an expert in theoretical physics or an

astronaut?
Theoretically, both of these people must have a pretty good idea about gravity is and
how it works. In my opinion though, the astronaut knows better or actually in more
depth than the theoretical physicist. This decision is based on the fact that there are
eight ways that people know things: Language, Sense perception, Emotion, Reason,
Imagination, Faith, Intuition and Memory. Out of these the theoretical physicist has
come to know gravity mostly through Language, Reason and Faith whereas the
astronaut knows gravity through those three but also Sense perception, Memory and
Intuition. Even if the astronaut has less theoretical knowledge, he still has way more
experience with its power and the way it works. This is a clear example of theory vs
practice though in this case it is more theory vs less theory and practice, so to me
the answer is clear. You can’t teach a theoretical physicist what an astronaut has
come to discover about gravity because he hasn’t lived through it and may never
come to a true understanding of what the astronaut felt. Also, the astronaut has gone
through training and does have some knowledge of theoretical physics. Overall it is
clear to me that the astronaut knows gravity better than the theoretical physicist a
key factor of this being personal experience.