Ratio Working Papers
No 140:
Knowledge Flat-talk: A Conceit of Supposed Experts and a Seduction to All
Daniel B. Klein ()
Abstract: Articulate knowledge entails the triad: information,
interpretation, and judgment. Information is the reading of the facts
through a working interpretation. Much of modern political economy has
miscarried by discoursing as though interpretation were symmetric and
final. This move has the effect of flattening knowledge down to information
– here dubbed “knowledge flat-talk.” Economic prosperity depends greatly on
discovery, but discovery is often a transcending of the working
interpretation, not merely the acquisition of new information. Models
typically assume that the modeler’s working interpretation is common
knowledge. But often the sets of relevant knowledge of the relevant actors
do not approximate the common knowledge assumption. We need better
understanding and appreciation of asymmetric interpretation and its
dynamics.
Keywords: knowledge; information; interpretation; judgment; common knowledge; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: A10; D80; (follow links to similar papers)
20 pages, September 21, 2009
Published in The Independent Review
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