Everyone's coming over to watch the big game. You've got beer, a giant high-definition television, and a well-deserved reputation for serving wings hotter than Dante's eighth circle of hell. Unfortunately, you are pressed for time. Wouldn't it be great if a machine like Rosey from The Jetsons could quickly prepare them? Maybe you could even pass off the dish as your own!

Then again, maybe not. Would Rosey's version taste like yours, or would her rendition expose your duplicity? Could she cut the chicken into the right size parts and ensure your friends don't choke on bone chips? Would Rosey know when the chicken pieces hit the ideal state of crispiness without being raw inside? Most importantly, could she discern when the spice Rubicon was crossed? These questions all revolve around one issue: Can Rosey can acquire tacit knowledge?

Contemporary discussions of tacit knowledge owe a debt to Michael Polanyi, a scientist and philosopher who famously observed: "We know more than we can tell." Use chopsticks? Go mushrooming or fly-fishing? Know how to pick the right bottle of wine, or how to be a charming dinner guest who tells the right jokes and not mortify your host? These skills use tacit knowledge. It's what enables us to appreciate what something means, given context.


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This essay was co-written with Evelyn J. Kim