Explain the meaning and classification of knowledge. Illustrate how knowledge can be validated with examples.

of events. Many events and processes in nature occur the same way over and over t again. For instance, iron rusts, chicken lays eggs, lightening is followed by thunder; cats catch mice and the Sun rises in the east. Nature does contain regularities. We are interested in regularities not because we enjoy contemplating them for their own sake, but because we are interested in prediction and control over events. Most of the regularities that we find have many exceptions. They are not invariants. For example, chickens lay eggs, but how many eggs they do lay and at what intervals is extremely variable. The scientific enterprise consists in searching for genuine invariants in nature, for regularities without exceptions so that we can say, “whenever such and such conditions are fulfilled, this kind of thing always happens”.

Some scientific statements make assertions about unique events. For example, ‘This egg smells rotten’; ‘This baby has a temperature of 105°F’. Such assertions are termed singular statements. Other scientific statements offer generalizations about relationships between concepts i.e. they are statements about classes of events. For example, ‘curdling of milk can he brought about by the action of bacteria’; ‘Aspirin usually reduces fever symptoms’. Such assertions are termed general