We need to look at new information differently for it to make a positive impact on our lives.

Time to create a new Knowledge Bucket. Our motivation to acquire knowledge is an important attribute to being human. We thrive on learning about ourselves and our universe. Knowledge allows humans to adapt and create. All kinds of things that never existed before: tools, automobiles, buildings, airplanes, spaceships, toys, art, literature, music. These all exist because of our creative quality. We adapt in the most amazing ways. We live in dwellings that protect us from the outside environment (cold, hot, rain, or wind) and tools that allow humans to go way beyond our physical limitations.

“It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.” – Epictetus

In Only Human: Guide to our internal Human Operating System (iHOS) and Achieving a Better Life, I discuss two key characteristics regarding knowledge, three types of knowledge (the Knowledge Pie), and how we store acquired knowledge (or information).

The three types of knowledge:

• the stuff we know
• the stuff we know we do not know (don’t know)
• the stuff we do not know we do not know (don’t know don’t know)

For the information we know and don’t know (such as language, driving a car, mathematics, etc.), we have Knowledge Buckets. For the stuff we know, we have Knowledge Buckets filled with information (some partially, some overflowing). For the stuff we don’t know, we have empty Knowledge Buckets waiting for us to someday learn and fill (I still want to learn how to play drums). Empty Knowledge Buckets exist because we know that these subjects exist.

Now the biggest piece of the Knowledge Pie, the stuff we don’t know we don’t know. As of now, you have no clue that this information even exists. However, the moment we learn of its existence, the critical issue is how we store any of this new information. We have two choices, find an existing Knowledge Bucket closely related and stick it in there, or create a new Knowledge Bucket because it doesn’t fit any existing Knowledge Buckets, or we want to treat it special.

Creating a new Knowledge Bucket, or deciding which one to fill with new information, may be driven by our identity issues or our personal biases (“I already know about that”), so be aware.

Each time we learn we have the opportunity to view new information as unique, to create new Knowledge Buckets, when necessary, and to allow new knowledge to affect our lives in new ways.

To get the most out of the study of our internal Human Operating System (iHOS), we need to create a new Knowledge Bucket for it. If we do not and you drop it into some existing bucket of religion, philosophy, or medical science, you will miss the unique distinctions it presents and miss the potential for understanding our human nature and how to create positive changes (growth) in your life.