Our knowledge must thus begin with some form of contact with or direct awareness of reality, building step by step on that foundation. In other words, our knowledge is a hierarchical structure.  

The first level of knowledge, therefore, must lie in the most immediate connection between our consciousness and reality—that is, in our sensations. Our senses pass us a stream of raw data from reality. Those data tell us that something is out there, but not what that something is. Further mental integration will be required to convert the data into true information.    

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