But as humankind has advanced, the value of more precise knowledge has increased. A roadbuilder confronting the same boulder may well want to take some quick measurements before deciding whether to push it aside or blow it up. And a prospector determining the value of the platinum ore in the rock will want to make very careful measurements before deciding whether to break it up for ore. Observe, however, that Berkeley was thinking solely in terms of knowledge. Knowledge allows us to appreciate what the world is, but understanding lets us appreciate how it works.
Knowledge answers questions with simple numbers.
Thus, understanding constitutes a completely different kind of mental process than knowledge. The central idea of Berkeley's dictum is that quantification of knowledge propels us into a higher level of knowledge. Therefore, quantification of understanding should propel us into a higher level of understanding. Quantified understanding is really nothing more than the use of mathematics. To express an idea in quantitative terms, we must understand it at a deeper, more profound level.