“That Which Is Accepted as Knowledge Today Is Sometimes Discarded Tomorrow.” Consider Knowledge Issues Raised by This Statement in Two Areas of Knowledge.

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“That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.” Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge. Before 1590, people believed in Aristotle’s saying that the falling speed of objects was proportional to their weight. But in 1590, after Galileo did the Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment, Aristotle’s theory was proved to be wrong. Galileo threw two objects from the Pisa Tower and then found them touching the ground at the same time. After this, people agreed that despite air resistance, falling objects’ speed was not dependent on their weight. How do people determine whether to discard knowledge found in the past? This question should be considered in two aspects. When a majority of people discard knowledge, there might be a small group of counters who don’t agree with them. Secondly the replaced knowledge might lead humans away from truth. It is hard to tell whether the new knowledge would be discarded. I will discuss this topic in history and natural science with reason and emotions as the ways of knowing. To deal with this topic, we need to define what discarding knowledge means. Discarding knowledge basically means that knowledge might be replaced by another. It could happen if there exist a new knowledge in which there are less counters and reasoning are more acceptable. Also, it could happen if old knowledge was proved to be away from truth, though, it might be hard to determine whether the “truth” is a real truth. Historians might have different opinions on knowledge about the same event based on their different nationalities, religions and even gender. Using the Long March as an example, elder Chinese historians mostly agree that the Long March is a demonstration of the success of the Chinese Army. But in recent reports, some historians and scholars argue that the Long March was also an example of

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