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Tacit Knowledge

21 points by chistev

by wduquette

0 subcomment

Fascinating. When I was a kid and was having difficulty with some task, my grandfather would say, "You didn't hold your mouth right." Many years later, I realized that he was talking about tacit knowledge (and probably most specifically about one's embouchure when playing a wind instrument). There are vital aspects to most skills that are simply not evident to the casual observer.
I had not heard the phrase "tacit knowledge" until today; I'm glad to have a word for it.

by goodmythical

1 subcomments

This is related to the "p-zombie" (philosophical zombie) question, no?
The idea that a being that if there were a being without access to tacit knowledge, you couldn't really prove that they don't have access because they'd struggle to communicate it in exactly the same way a person with access to their feelings would.
Like "describe the color red" -> it is hot/warm vs it is lucky or romantic or "blue" -> it is cold vs it is suffocating like the ocean vs it is free like the sky.

by mickelsen

0 subcomment

Reminds me of this small post, which I found here on HN, and someone suggested the author was trying to define the concept.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230926225119/https://www.koopu...

by saulpw

0 subcomment

For a good exploration, see "Tacit Knowledge, Weapons Design, and the Uninvention of Nuclear Weapons" (1995).
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2782506