Various Ways of Knowing
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“Embodied knowledge and other knowledge systems are reconcilable and like sound waves in relation to light waves, are truths and knowledge of different orders, but nonetheless, equally valuable.” Often times knowledge is used in relationship to power. How does one acquire knowledge? Are there different “ways of knowing” or is there a procedure to follow? Unit Two discusses how Afro- Diasporians know about their history, their ancestors, and themselves, considering what truth is what reality is, and what kinds of knowledge are considered reliable and or important. There are various ways of knowing including being told and taught, investigate/research, observation, experience, feeling, and embodied knowledge all of which is described throughout this essay.
In this society that thrives upon concrete information, meaning for something to be considered knowledgeable it most often has to written in a literary text wrong or right in ADW this is called Eurocentric truth. Those who practice and strongly believe in this truth have tendencies to look down upon other “ways of knowing” because some argue that it no value if it cant physical be proven, and other ways of knowing arent as socially accepted. An African tradition that is still being practiced today is the oral tradition of stories being passed on to others. Being told and/or taught information is one way of knowing whether it is a folktale, folklore, or speech. The novel Sundiata written by D.T. Naine is a story that was once told solely by as oral tradition. In the African culture something written has no higher value than something orally spoken. In fact verbal transportation of knowledge is the quickest, easiest, and the most popular way of communicating throughout the African culture because it is the one common ground that people respect and trust. The griot is an example of oral tradition through the stories they tell about the history and outcomes of the royal familys lives. Through wisdom