Understanding
From Free net encyclopedia
Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as, person,situation and message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object.
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Examples
- A person understands the weather if he/she is able to predict and to give an explanation of some of its features.
- A psychiatrist understands another person's anxieties if he/she knows that person's anxieties, their causes, and can give useful advice on how to minimise the anxiety.
- A person understands a command if he/she knows who gave it, what is expected by the issuer, and whether the command is legitimate.
- One understands a reasoning, an argument, or a language if one can consciously reproduce the information content conveyed by the message.
Is understanding definable?
It is difficult to define understanding. If we use the term concept as above, the question then arises as to what is a concept? Is it an abstract thing? Is it a brain pattern or a rule? Whatever definition is proposed, we can still ask how it is that we understand the thing that is featured in the definition: we can never satisfactorily define a concept, still less use it to explain understanding.
It is more convenient to use an operational or behavioural definition, we can say that somebody who reacts appropriately to X understands X. For example, I understand Swahili if I correctly obey commands given in that language. This approach, however, may not provide an adequate definition. A computer can easily be programmed to react appropriately to simple commands. For most people, this would be stretching the notion of understanding to claim that under an operational definition such a computer understands the language.
Another definition
Functional definition related to a perceived information: to be able to reconceptualise, to explain and to use received information (TOGA Meta-theory).
Also: Some people believe knowledge is the simple awareness of bits of information. Understanding is the awareness of the connectedness of this information. It is understanding which allows knowledge to be put to use. Understanding represents a higher level than simple knowledge.
The concepts of comprehension, thought and understanding are also used in the short science fiction story Understand by Ted Chiang.
See also
fr:Compréhension it:Comprensione nl:Verstehen ru:Понимание simple:Understanding th:ความเข้าใจ