The process of knowlege acquisition, but most importantly of acquiring wisdom, is a pretty constant one that depends not just on physical and physiological processes, but also on emotional processes and on the experiences that a person goes through and that he or she reflects upon, builds upon, corrects daily and uses daily, to also impact his or her environment and the knowledge process of others.
Knowledge acquisition would be then the first process in this continuous and sometimes life-long journey. In order for a person to acquire knowledge, he or she must come in contact with data, which is basically informationt that is taken up by the senses and relayed to the brain for processing. This data, stimulates different areas of the brain that are responsible for processing, analyzing, and producing the correct responses to the data acquired by our senses. When this process is completed, and the data in in our brains, being processed, we have gone through two of the first steps, knowledge acquisition (exposure to data through the senses) and knowledge processing (our brains make sense of the data and analyzes it, taking the best steps to use such data).
The next two steps, knowledge generation and dissemination come from when our brains combine not just the data acquired, but also previous knowledge on a matter (in the form of memories and sensations), and continues gathering further information through the senses. This process cements the understanding, the comprehension on a matter, which is basically the analysis which our brain did on all the information gathered on an issue. Then, the person begins to observe more, provide more info, seek sources that will provide more information on a matter, and this information is processed and stored by our brain. Dissemination comes when a person, who has acquired enough knowledge on a matter, begins to share it with other people. This process is very important because it also helps a person to gather feedback on his own knowledge processing and will ensure constant correction, or improvement in his knowledge base.
The final step is wisdom, which is when knowledge becomes a stepping stone to impact our own lives and that of others through our knowledge. We are able to use what we have learned for the best of ourselves and others.
Examples on these steps for practice would be like this: knowledge acquisition and processing: learning about how to treat wounds in a patient (given by classes, observation of the process done by others, and books). Then, processing all that data in the brain and conjugate it with previous knowledge and further experiences, to generate correct responses once I come in contact with a wound and its treatment. Then, I will further observe others´ ways of treating, read further books on the matter to keep up-to-date, learn more from teachers and professionals. When all this is finally assimilated and cemented, I can go ahead and share my knowledge and experiences with others who are in the same process (dissemination). Finally, wisdom comes when this knowledge on wounds is so internalized that I can help others in their process to make the best decisions regarding how to treat not just wounds, but also other factors that affect a wounded patient (wisdom).
