Philosophers break knowledge types into buckets. Some have identified knowledge types that number more than 10. A simpler approach is to consider three: Theoretical, Factual and Experiential knowledge.

Let’s look at just the facts vs the experience types of knowledge here. When preparing for a trip you may have experiential knowledge of having been on other trips but very little if not zero experiential knowledge of the place or trip you're going for the first time. Therefore, you need to rely heavily on factual knowledge when planning and packing.

Factual knowledge is about affirming an affirmation. For example, Bozeman has mountains to its south. Therefore, when we go there we’ll be in the mountains. That affirmation can then have logical conclusions. For example, there are a slew of mountain things that might come up like: you’ll be up high and O2 will be lower, it’ll get cool in the evenings, it might rain in the afternoons for just a bit, etc. But you’ve yet to experience it yourself.

I have two topics I’d like to assess here under this experiential vs factual lens. They come from a recent trip and have everything to do with a camera lens and a fishing net.

The wide angle lens

I was recently shopping for a camera and was impressed by the facts and the quality of the picture that I’d be able to get with the camera body (Sony A7 Mark 4) and a prime lens (85mm). I opted to get just one lens. I left the wide angle lens out of the cart when I ordered. I was thinking of it as just more money and I thought I’d just get by with what I had and learn. I got by and learning is what I’ve done.

I found myself on a trip hunting sunsets and sunrises with an 85mm, amazing, prime lens. It’s stunning for what I bought it for… great near and mid distance shots. However, it just is not designed to show a landscape to you or the camera without post production stitching.

I now “know” in two ways what a wide angle lens does for you… because I did not have it along. I know through experience what that real world value is, not just the cart value, of that lens.

Oh! “I get it.”

The trout fishing net

I’ve seen these things in photos of folks fishing rivers. It looks like an extra meh kind of thing to bring along. It’s relatively big, it’s clunky, etc. I’ve also seen these in fly shops recently. I opted to leave them in the shops vs. buy one and bring it along. This is even though I know for a fact that many others find use for them despite their size. I figured I’d get by.

Jump forward 5 or so hours from the last one I could have purchased and I’m standing in a river with my first river trout on line. It’s fast. It’s faster when it’s swimming downstream in the current. I’m getting close enough to land it with the hand over hand on the line tactic. I’m sorta OK at it. However, I now know in two ways that having a net will make a big difference in the speed and joy of landing the next trout I catch.

“I get it, now.”

After you have the experience you “know” the consequences of the facts. In the case of the mountains you’ll not only know by fact that you’ll be up high and O2 will be in short supply but you’ll have the experience of having been without your inhaler to assist you in making decisions to pack them in next time. The facts about elevation did not change but the experiential knowledge of being elevated without an inhaler will have influence on your future decision making from both a factual and experiential stance. So also with the wide angle lens and trout net. Queue the UPS guy. It’s time to act on some knowledge.

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