Custom «Personal Privacy in the Internet Age» Essay Paper Sample

There exist several explanations about how knowledge is generated. Basically, knowledge is generated through the interaction of both critical and creative thinking. This statement has been received dividedly among scholars and therefore has often stirred debate. Scholars believe that the source of knowledge depend on ones perspective in argument with regards to the theories of knowledge. The most common theories of knowledge that have found themselves in the midst of this argument are the Arts and the Sciences. This paper provides an evaluation of the statement that “knowledge is generated through the interaction of both critical and creative thinking” from the Arts and Science theories of knowledge (Cooper, 2009).

From an Arts perspective, knowledge can be generated through creativity. Normally, Art is presented in different forms such as dance, film, painting, literature and theatre performances among other forms. Each of this form in Art is a product of an individual’s creativity in thought and deed. The interpretation of art is however highly varied between individuals and here therefore arises the controversy of the reliability of Art as a source of knowledge Davidson et al. 2011). According to Arts scholars, art can be interpreted by anyone in their own perspective. Art could have negative or positive emotional or theoretical impacts. In this understanding therefore, Art as a source of knowledge is left upon individual’s interpretation and verification of the truth in their perspective.

In order to strike a universal meaning behind a piece of Art and perceive it as a credible source of knowledge, it is important to look at the artist behind the art. In looking at the artist, a scholar seeks to understand and analyze the artist’s situational context. By understanding the artist’s situation in terms of environment and events taking place, then it is easy to develop a more universally acceptable interpretation of the work of art. Understanding an artist’s intention and motivation for his creativity makes it easy to understand the meaning and message in the art product. However, an artist’s creativity in presenting his or her views artistically could influence his or her own intent. For example, an artist could draw a cartoon to address a serious political view while his or her audience only sees the cartoon as a source of humor and therefore failing to get the intended message. Therefore, creativity in Art can be viewed as a credible and reliable source of knowledge but cannot single handedly be regarded as the sole source of knowledge (Lee 2005).

As mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this paper, creativity and critical thought are the can be regarded as true sources of knowledge. Critical thinking comes in under science as a theory of knowledge. Critical thinking, unlike creative thinking is involved with a particular way of doing things. Knowledge from critical thinking is not based on established ways of measurement and calculations (Kwok 2011). Knowledge in the science theory is highly objective, empirical and verifiable (Holley, 2008). For these reasons, knowledge from critical thought is a reliable source of scientific knowledge.

However, despite the credibility and reliability of science as a true source of knowledge, it also has its downsides. For instance, scholars from the creative Arts camp argue that not all human issues are quantifiable and therefore accurately measurable. Of course, these claims are true and real. For instance, the emotional level cannot be accurately measured with figures and therefore can only be best captured creatively, using art. Just like creative thinking in the Arts therefore, critical thinking in science in generating knowledge therefore succeeds and fails in some ways. In conclusion, a more acceptable source of knowledge to consider would therefore be the combined interaction that exists between critical and creative thinking. For this reason, this paper is justified to draw a conclusion that indeed, knowledge is generated through the interaction of both critical and creative thinking.