Degree of Language

Title: Degree of Language
Date: 28 November 2011
Category: Outside of Class

http://www.desmogblog.com/

            A very common question is “What is your favorite color?” or “What is your favorite hobby?” or “What is your favorite subject at school?” In all these questions, the idea of favoritism is being brought up. Most people answer these questions in a rather simple manner: “pink”, “volleyball”, “English” etc. However, the importance of the degree of each word has struck me recently. To me, the degree of the term “favorite” is similar that of the term “love”. However to other people, this term “favorite” may be equivalent to “like a bit more than the other options”. If the same word contains different meanings to different people, how accurate is language as a way of knowing? On a wider scale, how do I know if I’m accurately conveying the message I want to convey? [Knowledge Issues/ Wondering] Linking this to a real-life situation, language can cause misunderstandings. When facing a misunderstanding, people still choose to “talk it out”. [Connection] It seems quite ironic seeing as though the people want to resolve the issue by language even though the problem was caused by language in the first place. Nevertheless, since language is a way of knowing, I think that people are able to settle their differences and have a mutual understanding by communication. However, again the same knowledge issue can apply. How can we know whether we have the mutual understanding? Or to better reword it, how do we know whether the mutual understanding is of the same degree in seriousness and sincerity? Will we ever know? Even through explanation, can one be sure? For example, will person A consider the word “sorry” to be as deep and sincere as person B? Even if person A says “I’m really sorry”, how does person B know that the degree of the term “really” and “sorry” are the same as the degree person B places on these terms? [Knowledge Issues/ Wondering]

Analyzing

Title: Analysis
Date: 28 November 2011
Class: IB English HL
Category: Other Classes

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            Throughout the year, during English literature class, we have analyzed prose and poetry. Recently, we have looked at poems by Sylvia Plath. Her poems contain lots of allusions to myths and legends; contain a lot of content based on suicide attempts and torture, and link directly to her personal life. Although my English teachers have always told “there is no right and wrong answer in English”, we still make assumptions and guesses on what we think the writing is trying to convey. If the quotation mentioned above is true, then how do English teachers mark essays based on analysis, and give students appropriate grades? Whose interpretation do we base the “answer” on? Who decides and how does this person decide whether an interpretation is unsuitable for the passage or poem, especially since everyone thinks differently and has different viewpoints? [Wondering/Knowledge Issues] I remember a couple classes ago, I interpreted a ‘Lady Lazarus’ by Sylvia Plath as being about rape, while the other students thought it was about her numerous suicide attempts and her desire to seek revenge on her husband. [Connection] Can there really be more than one interpretation? Would the author or poet have intended both meanings? Did the writer intend any of the meanings at all? How do we know if we are interpreting the work in the correct manner? How will we ever know if we were right, if the writer is no longer living? Does it matter whether the interpretation was intended by the writer or not, given that the reader learns something from it? Who gets the power to judge whether the interpretation is valid or not? [Wondering/Knowledge Issues]

Memory & Dreaming

Title: Memory & Dreaming
Date: 28 November 2011
Category: Outside of Class

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            For a university supplement essay, I had to answer to this prompt: “Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote, “Between living and dreaming there is a third thing. Guess it.” This prompt was inspired by Jill Hampshire, a student at the university. I answered this question by stating that memory was the third thing. By living, we create memories, which affect what we dream during our sleep. Thinking about this point of view has however, led me to several knowledge issues attacking this claim. How do we know that our real life is not a memory from the past life? Our real-life now, or the memory, both could be déjà vu of our previous life that we have not come to realize. [Knowledge Issue/ Wondering] This idea can be linked with the movie “Inception” where we live in multiple layers of dreams, and the concept of the brains in a vat, in which we create illusions of the world around us, while in reality, we don’t exist; only our brain exists. [Connections]

            I could attempt at explaining the reasons why I don’t believe in this. For instance I could ask why is it that I keep facing the same lifestyle with the same people, same surrounding and the same place for countless times if it was just memories in my head, don’t memories fade over time?  However, this question can be explained by another question: couldn’t it be that you’re constantly living in the memory, never getting out of it? The dreams, the thoughts, the things that you perceive, the process of you falling asleep and waking up, all could all be the components making up the memory. [Wonderings/ Counterclaims] If this was true, then what would be the point of living the “real” life? How do we distinguish reality from memory and dream? Who decides what is what? Does it matter if we don’t know what state we are living in? Does it only matter whether we are living or not? If we were constantly living a memory, would living be equivalent to dreaming and wondering, since we’re not really doing anything active? But wouldn’t dreaming and wondering count as being active in the mind? How will we ever know which state we are in and what “real” life is? [Knowledge Issues/ Wondering]

Half-abortion vs. Selective reduction

Title: Half-abortion vs. Selective reduction
Date: 28 November 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

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            In class, we were assigned to read from a selection of articles on an ethical issue. I read an article regarding the issue of abortion written by Ruth Padawer. It presented an anecdote of a 45-year-old woman named Jenny, who had artificially created twins. She stated that because she did not have them naturally, she didn’t have a big problem with having an abortion of one child. Personally, I found her response to the issue quite ironic. She had stated that she had for a large period of time, tried to consume a baby through this artificial manner. Jenny’s reasoning for her decision seems to be based on emotions. She used her emotion of fear and worry of not being able to raise the second child as well as she would like to, due to her lack of financial resources. [Emotion as a WOK] Nevertheless, as I read the article, I felt that she should have been grateful for both lives that she was given, rather than being overwhelmed by having twins. By having this abortion, she is in a way, wasting a valued egg from the egg donor. Is it fair for Jenny to have this abortion when the egg donor may not be able to have children anymore? Is Jenny responsible for having and raising the children that the donor was supposed to have, or is this claim unfair? In having this abortion, how does the doctor choose which child to erase? Does the mother have any say in this? Would it even matter? Is Jenny’s reasoning enough to justify her erasing another child’s life? Is it fair for the child to have his/her mother determine whether he/she will live or die? [Knowledge Issues/Wondering]

Art as an Area of Knowledge

Title: Art as an Area of Knowledge
Date: 28 November 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://artlinefurniture.com/

            Art is an area of knowledge. However, to what extent is this claim and commonly accepted truth, valid? How do we justify art as being an area of knowledge? [Knowledge Issues] In our society, art is seen everywhere of different quality, style and use. Some may consider their antique dinner table as being an artwork, being that it was carved with the upmost precision and care. Others however, may view this as simply being a piece of furniture. How do people decide what should be considered as art? Who has a say in this? Does art favor those who have a reputation? By this I mean to ask, would Picasso’s doodle be considered as art just because it was drawn by Picasso? Would a street artist receive the same acknowledgement? [Knowledge Issues/ Wondering]  I guess that this will not be the case. Why is it that people give more merit to the works of artists who has attained a reputation? Who decides which artist is worthy of a reputation as an artist? Is one success enough to make the following works of art valuable? How is “success” determined? I personally feel that the monetary value of the work reflects the artist’s work. However, other knowledge issues and wondering arises from this perspective. Who places a price on the work and do the artists always agree? Does it even matter? How are the prices chosen? If one exhibition sells a work for $10 and another sells the same work for $200, does it mean that the second exhibition board values the work more? Or is it simply their way of hoping to raise profit?

This question can be linked with ethics as an area of knowledge. [Connection to ethics as an AOK] A person may buy the work of art simply because they can, not necessarily because the artwork speaks to him/her. For this person, the collection of art may be a way to show off his/her wealth. If this person went to the first exhibition mentioned in the example above, would this person buy the art piece, given that it’s only worth $10? Would this person buy the art piece in the second exhibition then, at a higher price? Is it fair to make judgments for other people about what they should value? Is it fair to price highly on someone else’s work in order to raise more profit, even if the artist may disagree? How do we decide?[Knowledge Issues/Wondering]

Math as an Area of Knowledge

Title: Math as an Area of Knowledge
Date: 28 November 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://www.ingeniosus.net/

      In class we watched a TED talk regarding math as an area of knowledge (AOK). The speaker was a French mathematician, giving the sense that he is a reliable source for information (Appeal to authority). During his talk, he explored the two questions of whether math was invented or discovered and whether math is a reliable area of knowledge. I found his latter exploration to be quite fascinating. He used fractals found in nature (specifically cauliflowers) to reason that math was discovered. He stated that by cutting bits of cauliflower, these bits resembled the shape of the cauliflower of the whole. Therefore, an obvious geometric pattern could be observed. By observing and making claims about math as an area of knowledge, he used sense perception to reason his claim as being valid.

            However, his claim brings about several knowledge issues. Many have placed the title that geometry is a part of math. However, who decides what is and should be considered as math? How do they determine this? [Knowledge Issues] I feel like in the past, people did not necessarily have a name for “math”. I think that people used counting systems, and this was the only necessary form of math. If this hypothesis is correct, when did this simple counting system branch into other forms such as calculus and statistics? [Wondering] In the modern day, people can major in mathematics, and mathematics is a core subject for education from elementary to university education. How did people decide that math was so important that it should be taught so frequently and consistently? On a broader scale, how did people decide what is important enough to be taught as a core subject? Who has a say in this? Why is it that this is universally agreed upon? [Knowledge Issues/Wondering]