There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge

This concept came to my attention the other day, and got me to thinking how it applies to our present society.

Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer through written or spoken methods. Some examples are throwing a ball, playing an instrument, recognizing someone's face, or kneading dough. Many, but not all examples of tacit knowledge involve physical activities or modes of expression.

Since I have recently been trying to learn to identify edible plants, and to identify trees by their bark, I  find that words just can't cut it sometimes, and when it comes to eating a foraged plant, I darn sure want to walk the woods a few times with a pro until I finally see the essential differentiators of the plant, even if I find it hard to put in to words.

In the past, tradesmen, craftsmen, artisans took on apprentices, and over time, their knowledge was transferred, but was very difficult to codify.

In our ( at least in modern western countries) economies and social networks, things have become very written and oral and much less face to face or involve mind body coordination. Petabytes of information scurry around the world, as humans communicate and conduct commerce, but what is this doing, what has it done to our psychological makeup?

How does it affect our ability to empathize, to have a grounded feel for what might be true? The subtleties that abound in perfecting any new skill help one realize that sometimes the truth is too hard to capture on paper, and that maybe there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophies?

Are our brains being stretched to the limits by so much of one kind of learning , but much less of another? Why are those skills that involve kinesthetic intelligence or hands on craft abilities less prestigious or remunerated in our society?

The future I see is one where tacit knowledge transfer will regain prominence and will supplant the current mode of explicit knowledge transfer. In fact, further, the types of skills that are considered tacit knowledge will become much more important as muscle power and local economies slowly replace our fossil fuel driven economy.

Our education system has for a long time been losing its way, and not preparing our young for the real world they will have to navigate and earn a living in. Many are sensing that now, but how will the transition happen?