Towards an Archaeology of ‘Know-How’

This article explores the relation between experience and ‘know-how’ as a ‘tacit’ form of knowledge and the role of enthusiasm in the production of ‘know-how’, and engages with the problem of the transmission of ‘know how’. Why is the transmission of ‘know-how’ a problem? If ‘know-how’ is a tacit form of knowledge, then there are difficulties imagining how it is transmitted through the media without becoming an ‘explicit’ form of knowledge.The author turns his attention to the humble ‘how to’ article, as its primary purpose is the transmission of ‘know-how’. He teases out the way ‘know-how’ is developed through experience and then suggests that instead of transmitting ‘know-how’ itself, the ‘how to’ article presents the conditions of experience through which a reader or viewer can develop ‘know-how’.