Knowledge = Theory + Information

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Knowledge and its descriptive formula "Knowledge = Theory + Information," is a core principle of Knowledge Science (based in part on the work of Carl Sagan and John Sowa), advanced and proposed by Richard L. Ballard, Ph.D., between 1987-1993. The premise of Ballard's agrument is that knowledge is anything that decreases the uncertainty of questions. This occurs through a "speed of thought" process involving theory (conditional reasoning power), and information (the facts of situations and circumstances). When combined through an a priori and/or analytical reasoning process, uncertainty is decreased and replaced with a state of knowingness. Lessons learned from the application of theory to solve questions are then spontaneously applied to other situations and circumstances. Knowledge can be captured from documents, drawings, illustrations, forms, spreadsheets, books, contracts, policies and procedures, reference sources and from the very minds of people through a methodology called Knowledge engineering. Knowledge engineering work products are called editforms. Editforms are feed into theory-based semantic publishing tools that are used to automate complex decision-making or to transfer job knowledge, among other uses.

Theory represents more than 85% of knowledge. Theory is “a priori” (known before the fact). It is the element that gives meaning to concepts, ideas and thought patterns, and the conditional reasoning power required to answer our "How," "Why" and "What if" questions. Learned through enculturation, education and life experience, theory shapes our behavior and the way we understand our world. Well-justified theories such as those proven most successful by science, engineering and business, are most valuable. Theory is predictive and considers all possibilities. Once it is learned it is used for decades, centuries and millenniums. Most of the core theories that shape our communial social behavior, for example, were conceived 24,000 to 40,000 years ago, passed down through the generations. Much of our financial theories, such as "buy low, sell high," or "the principles of interest," were conceived and put into use by our ancestors millenniums ago. Modern theories, such as underlying the internet, were conceived and put into practice in the 70's. Circumstances and situations may change rapidly, but the underlying theory that gives them meaning, do not.

Information represents approximately 15% of knowledge content and is the instances of anything that exists in time and space that can be processed by the senses, measured and counted. Information is the facts of circumstances and situations. Information is “A posteriori (known after the fact). It is the "who," "what," "when," "where" and "how much" instances of circumstances and situations. Conventional information technologies are designed to store and transport facts, but these systems require people to use the theory in their brains to understand and apply those facts for useful ends.