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Testimony as Knowledge: Can we "know" what we have been told?,…

- - - - Come on, I know where I was born- my parents told me, I've seen my birth certificate.
        
        :red_cross:
        No, you believe what you have been told about where you were born, but you do not "know" it. #
        
        Ok, that's a weird view, as we can't know anything that we haven't perceived for ourselves.
- - - - No, it must be true, and the informant must know it to be true.
    - - :confetti_ball:
        Place of birth
      - :pencil2:
        Liberal Education
      - :checkered_flag:
        Directions to the train station
      - :silhouettes:
        Everyday communication
    - - If the informant has contributed partial knowledge, then the collective effort can still be trusted.
        
        :recycle:
        Wikipedia
        
        :checkered_flag:
        Building an automobile
      - If the informant is passing along true information despite their own skepticism, then it is still possible for knowledge to transfer.
        
        :!:
        Teaching evolution
        
        :fire:
        The peaceful transition of Presidential power
        :fire:
- - - - Perception # # # #
        
        Builds on past, general experiences
        
        Parents are generally trustworthy, birth certificates are sufficient evidence for government documents.
        
        :confetti_ball:
        I know where I was born.
        
        Get rained on every time you take the local weather report to heart?
        
        :smiley:
        Other sensory nodes should take precedent in your decision-making, and bring an umbrella!
      - Memory # # # #
      - Inference # # # #
    - - Conditional
        
        In this specific situation, do we know the person providing testimony?
        
        No.
        
        Do we have a reason to distrust, or otherwise suspect this person?
        
        No
        
        Then consider the testimony as it corresponds to your own sensory perception and reasoning.
        
        1 more item...
        
        Yes
        
        :red_flag:
        Unlikely to acquire knowledge. Move along.
        
        Yes.
        
        My mother gave birth to me, and my father witnessed it.
        
        :explode:
        I know where I was born.
- - - - Unlikely to be true.
    - - :question:
        Fits with our own perceptions, inference, and memories?
        
        No.
        
        Unknown, further investigation necessary.
        
        Yes.
        
        :check:
        Not literally knowledge, but very likely to be true!
        "We receive it as easily, and build as firmly upon it, as if it were certain knowledge," (John Locke; in Nagel, p. 75).
        
        :fire:
        There is a high-probability of truth that I can believe my parents about my place of birth.