What is Epistemology And How Does It Apply To Content Marketing?

In January 2016, more than two thousand years after Greek astronomer Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth, singer and television personality Tila Tequila opened a computer small enough to fit into the palm of her hand and explained in a series of tweets why the Earth was actually flat. She also declared that she was a robot and complained that her arm was falling off. Despite her meltdown, rapper B.o.B was soon joining her, declaring the moon landings a fake and demanding explanations of his failure to see curved horizons in his vacation snaps.

The reaction gave both of them publicity, of course, and caused some general bemusement, but how many of us could reproduce Eratosthenes’ mathematics or explain what led astronomers to speculate that the Earth is spherical, not disc-shaped? We can point to the achievements that knowledge has brought us — moon landings, orbiting satellites, jet lag — but none of us has been to the moon, seen a satellite, or sat with the pilot as a plane flew halfway around the world. And yet we believe, we know, that the Earth is round even though we ourselves cannot prove it.

For philosophers, the way in which we acquire and hold knowledge, and the difference between that knowledge and belief, is the realm of epistemology. They divide knowledge into three types — “knowledge that,” “knowledge how,” and acquaintance knowledge” — then branch off into the more esoteric areas of epistemology, exploring the lines between truth and belief, empiricism, idealism and relativism. They explore what it means to know that the Earth is round even if we don’t know how it is round or know a mathematician who can prove it to us.

It’s a fascinating area of philosophy but what does epistemology have to do with content marketing?

Content Strategists Turn Brands Into Sources Of Knowledge

One response to B.o.B.’s refusal to accept the shape of the world came from Neil deGrasse Tyson who engaged the singer in a rap battle. Most of us would think twice before taking on an astrophysicist in an argument about astrophysics but the rapper’s willingness to call out the Harvard, Columbia and Princeton-educated astronomer showed that he placed no trust at all in science and its methods. It’s that trust that underlies our knowledge. We might not know how to prove the Earth is round but we know that people with a better grasp of geometry can prove it, and we trust their authority.

That authority must be the ultimate goal of every content strategist. Whenever we promote a brand, the knowledge that we deliver must be so authoritative, so trustworthy, so vital to the lives of our audiences that they accept it and rely on it for the information they need to make smart decisions. Whether they’re looking for healthcare, financial advice or the ability to differentiate between brands of mobile phone, our content has to be so credible and so reliable that it’s the first place our audiences turn for the knowledge they need.

In the next series of posts, we’ll explore the source of authority and trust, how to build authority through content, and what the power of that authority can achieve. Assuming, of course, that we don’t fall off the edge of the world first.

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