Knowledge Comprehension Application (KCA)

Whether in the field of abstraction (such as logic = T as in MBTI) or in the field of survival (FP = Feeling Perceiving),  there are three stages in increasing order of ability. T = Thinker.  F= Feeler. 

1. Understanding something - as in ability to recognize it and provide a theoretical definition. This is equivalent to having a knowledge (K) of that thing. 

2. Know it well enough to predict its behavior. This is akin to having comprehension (C) of that subject.

3. Understand its behavior so well that when faced with a requirement to get something done we are able to pick that subject up as the right tool and use it with the right parameters and successfully finish our endeavor. This step is akin to an application problem (A). One knows not only how to do something, one also knows how to fix something that has gone awry.

If we want to take this 3-stage KCA to a T example, we can consider Vlookup in Excel. 

1. We know what a Vlookup is. We can explain with an example to show how Vlookup works. This is K.

2. When given a complex problem (large Excel table or array ) and we are asked to determine some value using Vlookup, we are able to formulate the expression correctly. Or when a complex Vlookup formula is given, we are able to evaluate the expression correctly. This is C.

3. We are given multiple excel sheets with some related data. We are asked to evaluate something. We correctly figure out that Vlookup, among hundred other formula like Match, Sumifs), needs to be used and create the Vlookup with the right parameters and get the desired value. Or we are shown what an amateur has done who got a wrong result. We are able to figure out where he went wrong. This is A.

We can create similar examples in any other field - For an Electrician, Carpenter, Financial Advisor, Cook, Surgeon...

Let's now apply it to people.

If I know my husband is very reserved, doesn't talk to my father when he visits us,  very even tempered, very affectionate towards my children - that is knowledge (K) about my husband. 

If my sister asks me how my husband will react if her husband talks to him about planning for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, I would tell her that he would prefer to contribute monetarily but he would prefer not to be involved in much else. That is predicting behavior. And comprehension (C) about my husband's nature. 

My husband loves my maternal uncle. Hence asking my uncle to request my husband to just be with him (uncle) while my uncle does all the things for my parents' anniversary and hence avoid tongues wagging in my family is an example of Application (A). I solved the husband problem by figuring out a solution involving my uncle.

KCA levels exist in abstract things as well as in survival (FP) things. Some people are at A level in abstract things while some others are A level in FP things.  Still others might be at C or K level in these things.

When we are at A level, we use our S2 - meaning our conscious thought process. S2 is used both, typically at A level,  for abstract and for survival purposes. The abstract people at A level think poorly of the survival people's ability to use S2. And interestingly, vice versa.

Surprisingly both survival and abstract people evaluate others in terms of ability to use S2. Einstein was one of the few people who believed that S2 should be the slave and S1 should be the master. Meaning that we shouldn't go overboard because we are strong S2 users.

Intelligence is encapsulated in S1. This certainly doesn't mean that if we use S1 almost exclusively we become intelligent. Intelligence is a result of lovely interaction between S1 and S2.

We use S2 only for things that we care deeply about,  S2 being a precious and rare commodity. Our core competence is that area which consumes the highest level of S2. If only we could develop a test which could record when we use S2 and what triggered the use (just like apps in Android determine which apps drains battery the most), we could perhaps find out what our core competence is. And when we do find what it is, are we in for a surprise or shock? 

When we bring MBTI into the picture, we might tend to believe that T people use S2 while F people largely use F1. This belief is incorrect. Both T, F use S2. Except as explained earlier T use it for abstract purposes while F use it for survival purposes.