of facts and mesofacts. knowledge and its nots/knots.

 Of Facts and mesofacts. Knowledge and its nots/knots.


.
Knowledge, then, is less a canon than a consensus in a state of constant disruption. Part of the disruption has to do with error and its correction, but another part with simple newness—outright discoveries or new modes of classification and analysis, often enabled by technology.


In some cases, the facts themselves are variable. For example, the height of Mount Everest changes from year to year, as colliding continental plates push up and erosion wears the mountain down. The mountain even moves laterally at a rate of about six centimeters a year, thus making both its height and location a "mesofact"—a slowly changing piece of knowledge.



thus making both its height and location a "mesofact"—a slowly changing piece of knowledge.
Science, Mr. Arbesman observes, is a "terribly human endeavor." Knowledge grows but carries with it uncertainty and error; today's scientific doctrine may become tomorrow's cautionary tale. What is to be done? The right response, according to Mr. Arbesman, is to embrace change rather than fight it. "Far better than learning facts is learning how to adapt to changing facts," he says. "Stop memorizing things . . . memories can be outsourced to the cloud." In other words: In a world of information flux, it isn't what you know that counts—it is how efficiently you can refresh.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324894104578113590368047244.html