When we come to know something, we are not creating an original thought, but rather we are recognizing an existing fact. For example, I know that I am white. My knowledge of this fact did not make me white; I would be white whether I knew it or not. This can be taken further, stating that we are entirely dependent on our surroundings for all of our knowledge. Knowledge, then, can only come through interaction with the world.

So, knowledge is external. But, how do we get it? I think one can only attain knowledge through firsthand experience. I know my keyboard has 26 letters on it because I just counted them. I experienced this, so I know it. You might say, however, that I could know it without experiencing it. I could know it if, say, my brother told me that there are 26 letters. However, I would not really know that there are 26 letters, instead I would only know that Shane SAID there are 26 letters. I can trust him and believe and be totally sure of that fact's verity, but I still do not really know it.

This explains why we could not "convince" you in class the other day that our mothers loved us. We have experienced our mother's love, so we know of it. However, no many how many times we tell you about that love, you cannot experience it, so you can only know that we claim that our mother's love us.

In summation, I would say to know something is to experience it in reality.