How well do you know what you know? How do you evaluate mastery of concepts within the context of your own personal knowledge?
As I came to the end of a months-long intellectual wander, I found that I didn't have the best answer to this question.
After a little back and forth with my new best friend ChatGPT, we drew from concepts such as Bloom's Taxonomy, the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition and The Four Stages of Competence and came up with this 10 point list for self-evaluation of personal knowledge, ranging from blissful ignorance to full mastery:
1. Unconscious incompetence (I don't know what I don't know): You're unaware of your lack of knowledge about a concept.
2. Conscious incompetence (I know what I don't know): You recognize your lack of knowledge about a concept and become aware of the need to learn.
3. Conceptual / high-level awareness (I get the gist of it): You have a basic understanding of the concept but haven't directly experienced or applied it.
4. Direct experience (I've seen it with my own eyes): You've encountered the concept in a real-life situation, which helps deepen your understanding.
5. Partial recall / comprehension (I kind of get it): You can remember the concept with limited prompting or external references, but your understanding may not be complete.
6. Full recall / comprehension (I get it): You can remember the concept, its details, and underlying principles without prompting or external references, demonstrating a complete understanding.
7. Application (I can do stuff with it): You can directly apply the concept or knowledge to solve problems or achieve desired outcomes in various contexts.
8. Verbal communication (I can talk about it): You can effectively explain or discuss the concept with others in conversation.
9. Written communication (I can write about it): You can organize, synthesize, and clearly express your understanding of the concept in written form.
10: Teaching (I can teach it): You can effectively convey your understanding of the concept to others, adapting your explanations to different learning styles and addressing questions or misconceptions.
What do you think?
Is the ability to teach a concept the ultimate level of mastery? Or is it the ability to apply a concept IRL?
How much does personal experience influence knowledge of a concept?