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> 3. Mark Baker wrote: "There is a fundamental difference between
> tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, and the way they are
> gained. The tacit knowledge that informs human performance in so
> many areas of life is developed not by the study of theory but by
> love and diligent application."
>
> Yet, one of the primary goals of technical communication is to
> transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.
No. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what tacit knowledge is. Tacit
knowledge is precisely what the brain gains from experience. It is not
expressible in formulas and cannot be learned from books. The purpose of
technical communication is to support performance by supplying explicit
information as and when it is needed.
A growth of tacit knowledge will result from the performance of the tasks
for which technical communication provides explicit information, but tacit
knowledge is fundamentally different from explicit knowledge and one cannot
be transformed into the other.
It is a fundamental error (a reductio ad absurdum) to believe that, because
we are able to achieve greater explicit knowledge through study and to
improve performance through the application of explicit knowledge, that
tacit knowledge, formed through diligent application of the individual mind
and body, can be eliminated as the wellspring of human achievement. Theory
can supplement experience, it can never replace it or obviate the necessity
of acquiring experience through diligent application.
---
Mark Baker
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com
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