kristopher's hierarchy of knowledge

just as the quest for fulfillment of needs led to the postulation of maslow's hierarchy of needs, my thirst for mindless trivia has led me to put forward my hierarchy of knowledge. since i have only one claim to fame so far (and approximately 5 people know about it, including myself), this is also another (hopefully better received) claim to fame. this also being the first piece of philosophy that actually bears my name it its title, it should also make my name more popular - it's currently ranked 392, down from 134 when i was born :(

btw google's current acknowledgment of my existence is limited to corrections of my (easily misspelled) name. thanks to saurabh's bubble-bursting postulate, that isn't a very good thing in any case. it'll be great if google associates me with something nicer, like "metaphilosophical absurdities" or "deranged ranter" or... (insert choicest derogatory adjectives with geekish connotations here)

ah, i get distracted easily. not again.

so, back to the hierarchy of knowledge. in the same vein as maslow's hierarchy, you could arrange it as a typical pyramid. and now for the exciting climb to the peak:

• level one: awareness

  
  this is when you know what something is. at this stage you should be able to identify it with some reasonable degree of confidence, either by its characteristics, behaviour or any creative means of identification you can think up (i for example, can identify my cellphone by the crunching sound it makes when i sit on it. hence, i have attained level 1 knowledge about my cellphone.



• level two: functionality

  
  this is when you know how to use the thing. this obviously doesn't imply that you should know *all* uses of the thing (for example, i consider myself a level 2 paper cup user, but i never knew that it could be used to boil water over a flame - and since this is my theory i've decided to refer to it as a characteristic rather than my ignorance). this is also restricted to primary functionality (refer aforementioned characteristic vs ignorance principle). a more esoteric functionality may be substituted for the primary functionality, but it should be related to its primary functionality (eg, burning stuff using a projector and a magnifying glass qualifies, but using a mousetrap as a means of projectile propulsion does not)



• level three: aesthetics

  
  this is when you know enough of something to be able to customize it to your likes and dislikes, and hence use it exactly the way you feel like, possibly combining the primary functionality with other secondary functionality



• level four: the knowledge equivalent of self actualization

  
  this is a level that my vocabulary and sense of expression/creative naming hasn't reached yet, as the title suggests. this is when you gain knowledge that neither helps you gain additional functionality, nor does it add to it's aesthetics. this is what i regard the supreme peak of knowledge, usually characterised with a feeling of geekish nirvana (not to be confused with the buddhist one, but close enough to not be able to tell the difference :P)

damn...this is just a couple of screens!!! i hope it's long enough to get me famous...do your work, people!!! link here if you can!!! :D