The 6 Kinds of Knowledge

Have you ever wondered why the story your neighbor told you about his chihuahua wearing a
tutu is more memorable to you than the names of all the soldiers on a memorial for a past
war? Considered how the anecdotal story of a person not receiving healthcare at a hospital
seems more convincing than the facts listed in a news source that has done its due-diligence
to report accurately the reality of hospital patient denials? This in part is due to the type
of knowledge it is. Each type of knowledge has different standards for how we embrace the
reliability of that knowledge and its own effectiveness in being used to convince others of
the truth. Knowing the type of knowledge you’re dealing with not only helps you to be more
persuasive, but allows you to be more discerning when taking in information as well.

There are different categorizations of types of knowledge — for example, Justin Sung’s PACER framework is
another good attempt at classifying it. But here’s the framework I find most useful for
everyday life.

Factual

The precise facts of a topic (4 + 4 = 8; a right angle is 90 degrees; George Washington
was the first United States President).

Procedural

How to do something (like how to build a server, prompt AI for a specific result, or how
to remove a tutu from a chihuahua).

Conceptual

An overarching understanding of a topic that allows one to understand how something should
or does work (how data traverses the different layers of the OSI model, how the basic cell
creates energy for replication).

Theoretical

Knowledge supported by evidence and reasoning but not provable beyond all doubt (what
caused the Roman Empire to fall, what is the best diet or half marathon training program, or
how the end times will look).

Experiential

The unique personal experience of an individual or knowledge that comes from experiencing
things first-hand in a way that would be difficult to convey to another person (what a
specific food tastes like, the way a specific color looks, or the way a favorite painting
evokes emotion).

Ethereal

Knowledge of or from the divine that is not verifiable or repeatable (a man praying for
direction in life and experiencing a sense of peace, calm and confidence in a specific
calling on his life, a teen asking for God to confirm he is real and receiving an answer to
that prayer).

Different Knowledge, Different Evidence

Each type of knowledge has its own level of evidence required to determine the
truth/accuracy of the knowledge. For factual knowledge, we can use logic and evidence to
prove that something is or is not true. If I have 3 apples and 2 oranges I can count to
verify that I have 5 fruits. But for experiential, there is no way for us to accurately
measure or deny the accuracy of a truth claim as in “This bowl of cereal reminds me of one of
my favorite paintings and tastes delicious.” There is no way for us to verify that the
cereal tastes delicious or that the speaker is reminded of their favorite painting when
eating that cereal.

When a Bear Is Chasing You

In our daily lives we regularly encounter many of the different types of knowledge (if not
all) on a regular basis and we rarely stop to think about what type of knowledge we’re
encountering.

If I were being chased by a bear because it smelled that I had some beef jerky in my
backpack, I’m not likely to stop and ask about whether the bear is operating on experiential
or factual data or whether the danger is theoretical or factual. But I am likely to respond
to that information accordingly.

Even if I don’t have beef jerky in my bag I may take it off and lay it down calmly as I
back away from the bear slowly because it’s a fact, bears are bigger than humans and have
sharp claws and teeth.

Slowing Down — The Ice Cream Test

But when you slow down and are considering a problem and trying to think thoroughly
through a problem, it is helpful to break the problem down into parts, consider the types of
knowledge you are dealing with, and begin to evaluate whether or not you’re expecting a
higher level of proof than is required for the type of knowledge — or whether or not you’re
confusing the category of knowledge and thus operating inappropriately.

(For more on how to think through problems systematically, see How to
Evaluate Ideas: 16 Essential Steps.)

For instance, if I believe that I have factual knowledge that the ice cream at shop A is
more delicious than at shop B, my wife’s favorite ice cream shop, I may be willing to get
into a fight with my spouse about which shop we’re going to go to. But if I recognize that
her experience is different than mine, I might be willing to drive to both to help us both
enjoy our favorite ice cream because I realize it is experiential knowledge.

When an Amish Neighbor Asks You to Prove It

The same is true for historical facts vs. scientific facts. If we wanted to verify that
Israel once had a king named David, we would look through time-period texts to seek out
eye-witnesses claiming to have interacted with this king or financial records of foreign
nations mentioning trade with such a king and an apparent boost to their economy. But if we
wanted to test if oxygen really is flammable, we might isolate a small amount of it and use a
spark to test whether flame erupts (using proper personal protective equipment of course)!
If we want to verify Jesus’ resurrection happened, we don’t use the scientific method, we
instead use the same test we would with verifying King David existed (witnesses, documents,
and consequences).

So What?

How do you use this? Like I stated earlier, don’t dissect the type of knowledge in those
moments when a spur of the moment decision is needed (drop the jerky and keep an eye on the
bear!). Instead try these three things:

Before you get into an argument with someone close to you, ask what you are

fighting about. Is it something factual, procedural, or experiential? If it’s

experiential don’t make a big deal out of it. If it’s factual or procedural, then ask the

question of how important it is. If it’s a serious issue, then maybe it’s worth fighting

over. Otherwise, strive for unity and peace.
Before clicking share on that social media post (this is a conceptual

post, so feel free to click share on this one!), ask what kind of information it

is. If it is someone sharing a story of how the coffee is always bad at a local

coffee shop, your trust level of this kind of post should be a little different than an

independent investigative report that surveyed local residents of their experience at the

local coffee shop. Question the type of knowledge, the reliability of the source, the level

of evidence provided and then decide if it is worth sharing.
Before you doubt your own faith because a skeptic asked for “proof,” ask: what

kind of proof is acceptable? Some knowledge of God is factual and historical

(Scripture, the resurrection). Other knowledge can be experiential (the warmth a local church

showed you that you can’t find elsewhere), or ethereal (the peace in prayer and seeing

clearly an answer to prayer). Demanding lab-experiment level proof for the ethereal part is

the wrong tool. A courtroom witness statement doesn’t prove a chemistry equation any more

than the equation proves how beautiful a painting is. Use the right tool for the right kind

of knowledge.

If you found this useful, you may also like Learning To Learn — a
companion post on how to actually absorb and use what you take in.

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Truth & Tech