76 - Prior Knowledge is the information you have personally turned into knowledge through a lifetime of learning. It is the knowledge you use for creative problem solving with the knowledge cycle. There are two paths of acquisition for prior knowledge, represented below by A and B.
This web represents the body of knowledge out there.
The first pathway A involves specializing, working your way towards the edge of the current body of knowledge before working on expanding it (research, theorizing, etc).
The second pathway B is the process of starting from the basics in every area of knowledge and slowly expanding your knowledge base. This is essentially what a generalist would do. This is what Farnam Street calls “most useful knowledge is a broad-based multidisciplinary education of the basics”. It is the approach you take until you get to college and start to specialize.
Prior Knowledge in Public Information