Without application in the world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished.

Consider this

claim with respect to two areas of knowledge.

One of the most frequently asked questions, emerging in my life is When will we use

this knowledge in our lives? I think of it quite often that what I study in school might have no

practical application in the real world, but I think it is just a matter of time. Knowledge gained

during high school will definitely help us during university. Furthermore, knowledge gained in

university will have its contribution when we work. That is what I believe. I also think that

several knowledges like the process of making biodiesel, is developed to be applied on our real

lives, which will either directly or indirectly support our lives to be better. The realization of this

knowledge could change peoples view on the knowledge compared to when it is not applied.

Therefore, practical applications could have some impacts on how people view whether the

knowledge is important or not.

The significance of knowledges existence or its value is necessary to maintain the

knowledge itself because it could be lost if its value is diminished, since people will prefer to

learn and maintain the valuable knowledge and not those without value. However, different

people will have different interpretation of the value; they have their own opinion or judgement

based on their perspective. A scientist may think knowledge in Religious Knowledge is useless

and vice versa. Stephen Hawking, a well-known physicist, does not even believe in the presence

of God1. Meanwhile, in the late 18th century, the development of science was inhibited by the

churches at that time. For example is Nicolaus Copernicus who was beheaded for his

astronomical heliocentric theory about the revolution of the planets (including the Earth) against

1
Matyszczyk, C. (2014). Stephen Hawking makes it clear: There is no God. CNET. Retrieved 1 March 2016, from
http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-makes-it-clear-there-is-no-god/

1
the sun as the center, which contradicts with the churchs belief at that time2. However, some

scientists also greatly appreciate religious knowledge, such as Albert Einstein who said science

without religion is lame, religion without science is blind3. Those different opinions of the

people toward the knowledges application will lead to different value interpretation. This

subjective thinking of each person gives me an insight to investigate In what ways does

subjectivity determine the value of knowledge?

When knowledge is applied, it could bring different implications to different parties,

allowing the subjectivity of each party to differently interpret the value based on what they

experience. In the past during World War 2, the American government used the atomic bomb to

bring huge explosion on Japan, specifically in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The major or over 95%

of the casualties caused by this atomic bomb incident is Japanese civilians4. However, this same

atomic bomb also brought Japan to surrender and ended the World War 2. Based on Just War

Theory, Distinction of Jus in Bello, in Ethics, the incident of atomic bomb by America

government should not be done as it kills a lot of people including civilians. However, based on

theory of Prioritarianism in Ethics, this incident was advantageous as it contributed to ending the

World War 2. These different perspectives give out different interpretations of this application of

atomic bomb. Through intuition, each perspective immediately interpreted the same incident

differently based on their mind which was shaped through past experiences and the

understanding of the situation based on their own perspective, while ignoring any further

2
Ismail, F. (2013). Perkembangan Korelasi Agama dan Ilmu Pengetahuan [The Development of the Correlation
between Religion and Science]. KOMPASIANA. Retrieved 28 February 2016, from
http://www.kompasiana.com/fauzan.ismail/perkembangan-korelasi-agama-dan-ilmu-
pengetahuan_552fde146ea834c7568b45c4
3
Godandscience.org,. (2011). Famous Scientists Who Believed in God. Retrieved 1 March 2016, from
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html
4
Hudson, K. (2013). Hiroshima - the truth about the bombing. Cnduk.org. Retrieved 3 March 2016, from
http://www.cnduk.org/cnd-media/item/1725-hiroshima-the-truth-about-the-bombing

2
justification. Those who are favored from the situation will immediately appreciate the

knowledge and vice versa. Japanese people will immediately look down on its value as they

suffer big loss, while American military will appreciate the knowledge because it allows their

victory.

Meanwhile, some knowledge needs time for its recognition by the society to have its

value respected. At first, Gregor Mendels study about the patterns in pea plants inheritance was

not highly appreciated because society thought that it was more to breeding and not to genetics

which it was actually applicable to every species5. After being recognized, through inductive

reasoning, this study on pea plants inheritance was predicted to be a universal phenomenon

which could occur on other species. Scientists develop hypothesis based on the Mendels results

and conducted experiment to prove whether the hypothesis was correct or not. As most of them

were correct and some discrepancies could be scientifically explained while still following the

rules proposed based on Mendels study on peas, Mendels work then finally got greater

appreciation and a developed into Law of Segregation, Law of Independent Assortment and Law

of Dominance6 in Biology. Moreover, deductive reasoning from these laws helped the scientists

in several genetic related cases, such as when associated with genetic disease or cross breeding to

get advantageous organisms. The aforementioned laws became the basis in predicting the

outcomes from genetic disease and cross breeding to obtain the desirable result, where

experiment could barely be conducted due to some circumstances, such as a very long time when

testing the human genetic disease. The recognition and appreciation of the values from this study

were because the great impact on the study itself towards the world. In this case, through
5
Weem, M., Talbot, C., & Mayrhofer, A. (2014). International Baccalaureate Biology (4th ed., p. 273). Melton:
IBID Press.
6
Updegraff, E. Explanation of Mendel's Three Laws Through the Discussion of Meiosis. Education.seattlepi.com.
Retrieved 9 March 2016, from http://education.seattlepi.com/explanation-mendels-three-laws-through-discussion-
meiosis-3838.html

3
reasoning, there was a shift in the subjective opinions of the scientists toward this study because

they realized the great impact Mendels study on pea had brought on broader issues, therefore

allowing the study to be more appreciated.

It can be seen that there could be a shift in a partys opinion because of a deeper

understanding in application of the knowledge itself. Furthermore, different experience of some

parties leads to different opinions toward the application of knowledge. The impact of the

knowledge could determine its value interpretation, where negative impact tends to yield

negative interpretation and vice versa. This has built an interest for me to explore to what

extent does knowledges application impact its value?

A knowledge being applied will not always yield only one result, but some implications

may also happen. What one experienced may differ from another, but empathy could drive one

to feel a worse result from a certain issue and therefore does not appreciate the knowledge that

causes the issue, and vice versa. Abortion brings many issues related to human rights. Based on

the universal human rights, everyone has equal chance to live, including the fetus which is

further protected by the fetal rights. The abortion has violated the human rights to live and it has

always been refused by those who support the pro-life, who believe that we as human being have

the same right to live. On the other hand, some people may claim that abortion is necessary when

the woman is not ready to be a mother, and the right of the mother to choose what she wants

should be respected. However, it should be noted that abortion, besides taking the lives of the

baby, also shows some side effects on the mother. Ashtons study showed that the mothers,

within 8 weeks after their abortions, 55% expressed guilt, 44% complained of nervous

disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and

4
11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor7. Based on theory of

Proportionalism in Ethics, abortion can be considered a wrong action due to the bad

consequences that it produces. The empathy on the unborn babies and emotional feeling of the

mothers who regret the abortion triggered the pro-life faction to further refuse the abortion.

Therefore, emotion plays role in driving ones opinion on knowledge.

Our senses to interpret this physical world are limited to gain its understanding and some

possible benefits. To overcome these, some technology has been developed. Depending on its

aim and possible side effects, the usage of technology could be hindered. If the side effect is not

very significant while the aim is a very important one, the technology will be keep being used.

For example is the development of CT Scan to help overcome the inability of our sense of sight

to diagnose some disease inside our body by visualizing the components in our body. It is done

by bombarding our body with x ray beams, which unfortunately could cause mutation on our

DNA8 and increase the risk of getting cancer by chance approximately 1 in 2,0009. Despite its

side effect, CT Scan is still commonly used because it could help us determine where the exact

location on our body that a surgical operation needs to be performed to cure the disease. The

implication of the knowledges application was insignificant compared to the possible benefit

arising from it, which therefore does not greatly reduce its value.

The application of knowledge could sometimes bring advantages and disadvantages to us.

When an application of knowledge is overall advantageous for the humanity, where its benefit

surpasses its cost, it could still be viewed to be significant. However, if it is overall

7
Ashton, J. (1980). The Psychosocial Outcome of Induced Abortion. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology, 87(12), 1115-1122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1980.tb04483.x
8
Storrs, C. (2013). How Much Do CT Scans Increase the Risk of Cancer?. Scientific American. Retrieved 27
February 2016, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-ct-scans-increase-risk-cancer/
9
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (August 2009). What are the Radiation Risks from CT? Retrieved March 2,
2016.

5
disadvantageous, where the cost surpasses its benefit, it could be considered insignificant.

However, ones view toward certain knowledge, its application and implication, could be

affected by the viewers subjectivity which is influenced by his perspective. Furthermore, the

subjectivity itself could experience some shift, resulting in different value interpretation.

The application of knowledge could have different interpretations, which could cause

opposite judgement on its value. This makes the absence of the application to possibly cause the

value to be greater than when it is applied. Subjectivity of each person also plays role in

interpreting the value. A shift in the subjectivity of the same perspective could occur, causing a

different value interpretation. It could be concluded that the value of knowledge is not an

absolute concept and will keep changing based on our understanding on how to apply it

effectively.

6
References

Ashton, J. (1980). The Psychosocial Outcome of Induced Abortion. BJOG: An International Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 87(12), 1115-1122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-
0528.1980.tb04483.x

Godandscience.org,. (2011). Famous Scientists Who Believed in God. Retrieved 1 March 2016,
from http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html

Hudson, K. (2013). Hiroshima - the truth about the bombing. Cnduk.org. Retrieved 3 March
2016, from http://www.cnduk.org/cnd-media/item/1725-hiroshima-the-truth-about-the-
bombing

Ismail, F. (2013). Perkembangan Korelasi Agama dan Ilmu Pengetahuan [The Development of the
Correlation between Religion and Science]. KOMPASIANA. Retrieved 28 February 2016, from
http://www.kompasiana.com/fauzan.ismail/perkembangan-korelasi-agama-dan-ilmu-
pengetahuan_552fde146ea834c7568b45c4

Matyszczyk, C. (2014). Stephen Hawking makes it clear: There is no God. CNET. Retrieved 1
March 2016, from http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-makes-it-clear-there-is-no-
god/

Storrs, C. (2013). How Much Do CT Scans Increase the Risk of Cancer?. Scientific American.
Retrieved 27 February 2016, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-ct-
scans-increase-risk-cancer/

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (August 2009). What are the Radiation Risks from CT? Retrieved
March 2, 2016.

Updegraff, E. Explanation of Mendel's Three Laws Through the Discussion of Meiosis.

Education.seattlepi.com. Retrieved 9 March 2016, from http://education.seattlepi.com/explanation-
mendels-three-laws-through-discussion-meiosis-3838.html

Weem, M., Talbot, C., & Mayrhofer, A. (2014). International Baccalaureate Biology (4th ed., p. 273).
Melton: IBID Press.