How does one look at their knowledge? Remembering the distinction between data, information, and knowledge; how should one go about utilizing what they’ve processed and integrated into their lives? This is a thought experiment along such a path, a way of looking at knowledge as a tree that grows versus a book that is opened and closed. Is knowledge something that one adds to continuously? Are the actions in their daily life constantly growing this tree? Or is knowledge simply a means to an end, an integrated tool to picked up and added to as time goes on?

If someone uses their knowledge like a tree, they are constantly tucking away bits of knowledge they have processed in various places that they can easily access should the time come. A good example of this are web users who carry large numbers of bookmarks around with them, without these bookmarks to quickly find some interesting article that they have processed they only have a vague idea of how to run across the data again and reintegrate it (thanks Google). Well read people with their own personal library also come to mind, though this also tends to be true of most people in teaching positions. After consuming data and processing it into information, these people mark this data as relevant to their interests and keep it in a place where they can find it should they ever need it again. This knowledge is generally not turned into “wisdom” unless it is frequently accessed or extremely pertinent to someone’s life.

On the other hand, utilizing knowledge like a book, a person is stores a chunk of knowledge they can access quickly and easily mentally. These people tend to have very good, wide, and open memories that relies heavily on quickly processing data and only moving the most relevant data into the book. This system works very well for those who focus generally on the “local” aspect of life. It also focuses heavily on practical knowledge, what can be utilized in the here and the now. A good example of this would be a comparison with the former, “book” people generally have an edge in conversation as the former does not have access to a good portion of their knowledge.

Through the handy scope of introversion and extroversion, both types utilize both types of knowledge utilization but are predisposed to using one type over the other. Introverts tend to delegate most knowledge to their tree then maintain the key parts that interact / define with their “inner world” as the book. Extroverts maintain their books carefully and utilize fringe knowledge via a tree should need arise. The important distinction for both types is how closely their book resembles “reality”, the scope of their book in relation to reality defines them.