Tacit Knowledge

Have you ever known how to do something but could not explain it in words? Like riding a bike — you cannot just tell someone move your balance two inches, you just know it. That is called silent knowledge. It is stored in your hands and your heart, not just your dictionary. It is a secret you keep with yourself that makes you special. You learn it by doing, not just by reading.

A secret you keep with yourself that makes you special. The master potter cannot tell you how much pressure to use. She can only show you. And even then, your hands must learn it for themselves. The most important things in life cannot be written down. Love, balance, timing, touch — all tacit. All silent. All stored in the body. The book can give you information. Only your hands can give you knowledge.

Tacit knowledge: knowledge difficult to transfer by writing or verbalizing, acquired through experience and practice. The knack that separates novice from master. Highlights the limitations of formal language and the power of experiential truth. The most profound truths are lived and felt rather than debated. We know more than we can tell. The hand knows more than the hand can say.

SOUND: The specific clack of a Lego piece snapping into place: rightness you can hear.

SMELL: A kitchen where a master chef is guessing spices: knowledge that has no recipe.

TASTE: A soup that tastes just right without a recipe: wisdom on the tongue.

TOUCH: The exact pressure needed to crack an egg without making a mess: calibration that lives in the wrist.

SIGHT: The slight change in color of wood when it is perfectly sanded: seeing what only experience teaches.

BODY: Balancing on a log across a stream: knowledge your body has but your mouth cannot explain.

Music: Love Like This by Ben Rector

Music: I Like to Move It by Reel 2 Real

Part of Craft & The Hand — ART — Education Revelation