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

http://writersforensicsblog.files.wordpress.com/

            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

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

            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

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

            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]

Title: Freud’s Theories
Date: 6 October 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

            Freud claimed that each individual had three personalities which he called the id, the superego and the ego. The id indicates the person’s natural pleasure zone, the superego is always battling with the id and the ego is what the person shows to the public. However, this concept remains as a theory because this cannot be proven with today’s technology and studies. How does one test the subconscious mind? Is mathematics and science enough to gain this knowledge about our mind [Connection to mathematics and science as an area of knowledge]? How reliable is this claim? What makes this theory plausible? [Knowledge Issues]

            What particularly interests me is the ego. This relates to the idea of knower’s perspective and the observer effect. Freud is claiming that the way people appear to others is not the same as their true self. Yet, how does one know which is the true self if the ego is simply a mask? [Knowledge Issue] Another issue that can be raised is, does the ego always remain the same or does it change according to the situation given? Does the ego change depending on the number of people watching the person? [Connection to the observer effect/ Wonderings] Freud makes this claim even though his claim is dubious. This reinforces the statement that claims do not necessarily need to be true.

Title: Rorschach Test
Date: 6 October 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://www.crosswordfiend.com/

            Psychologists usually utilize the Rorschach test to diagnose someone with a psychotic illness. This test is created by putting paint on the fold on a piece of paper. These images are already created and thus, the psychologists show these images to the patients and ask him/her what the result of the fold, produces. However, how reliable is the information suggested by the results of this test? [Knowledge Issue] Psychologists usually associate this test with the patient’s sexual desires. They claim that the images contain sexual references and if the person is able to indicate this, they contain a psychotic illness pertaining to their id (their pleasure zone).

            The problem with this test is that it is subjective. As everyone has different perspectives, it’s difficult to diagnose someone based on the “normal” responses. However, who decides what is considered to be “normal”? How many people must have this response for it to be considered as being normal? Is this test then discouraging different perspectives if people are being labeled as being mentally sick if they do not state the normal responses? [Knowledge Issues] Another problem is that the psychologists wait until the person makes sexual connections to the image. Having tried this test, I felt that this is not an effective method as I was inclined to think of different ways in which the image was able to be interpreted while taking the test. If I was with a psychologist while taking this test, I may have been diagnosed with something because of one answer, rather than the overall variety of answers I gave. Another way to look at this problem is that these people have reason to diagnose me with an illness. Am I then, simply being in denial of the illness that I possess? Does it even matter if I know or not? [Wonderings/Different perspective] I feel that the label that the mental sickness gives, causes the patient to be mistreated and discriminated in that he/she could be scrutinized in terms of their actions, even if his/her actions would have been considered to be normal before this diagnosis. Is it then ethical for the psychologists to diagnose these people based on unreliable methods such as the Rorschach test if it means these people may be treated and looked upon in a different manner? [Connection to ethics as an area of knowledge/Wondering]

Title: Volleyball Tournaments
Date: 6 October 2011
Category: Outside of Class

http://www.beachvolleyballpedia.com/

             Today our High School volleyball teams participated in a city tournament. While contemplating about the ranking of the schools after the tournament, I began to wonder about the reliability on these ranks in determining the best team. [Wondering] We had played according to the round-robin system in which the team who had won the most out of their pool would be considered as the best in their pool. Although many sports tournaments adopt this system, it contains several flaws that limit the reliability of this method.

            For example, the term “better” is ambiguous. [Knowledge Issue] It suggests multiple meanings: better in strategy, technique, communications, cooperation etc. For example, if one team had better volleyball strategies (using a 3-hit play) but makes more mistakes which causes them to lose the game, does it mean that the opposing team was better than them overall even if this other team was playing a 1-hit play? I feel that this is unfair as the team playing 3-hits has a higher chance of making mistakes as it involves 3 people, than the other team. Thus, the manner in which the teams are awarded seem to be biased in only looking at the scores (whether these points were deserved or underserved by the winning team). For example, a school we played against received 2 points because we missed our serves. Is this fair even though they didn’t need to do anything? If this is a method of punishing the serving team for not making their serves, shouldn’t points be deducted instead? [Wonderings] In addition, I feel that the best team should be the team who shows the best in all the categories mentioned above (strategy, technique, communication and cooperation). If a team is best at technique and the other team is best at communication, who decides which team is better? [Knowledge Issue]

            With these flaws, is the reputation of being “championship” merely a motivation for people to play volleyball or does it really reflect the excellent level of the play of the team? [Wondering]

Title: The concept of death
Date: 5 October 2011
Class: IB English HL 
Category: Other Classes

In our class, we read a poem by Philip Larkin called ‘Aubade’ and discussed the theme of death presented in the poem. In this poem, Larkin describes the thought of being nothing as horrible and frightening, yet in our discussions, we found that most people were afraid of the process of dying rather than having no existence. Death will always be an enigma. No one has ever returned from death, or if they have, no one seems to believe them.

At church, I remember seeing a video of a man who claimed to say he had gone to hell and come back. He stated that hell was a horrifying place, and that God had sent him back to Earth so that he can share his experiences in hell and convince people to start or continue to believe in God. [Connection] Thus, one point of view could say that after we die, we are judged by God, a superior being, and sent to either heaven or hell. Yet, how do we know if he’s telling the truth? Could this be his imagination? What would motivate him to say this if he was an atheist before? Is hell the same for everyone, or does it depend on our individual fears and sins? [Knowledge Issues] In our English class discussion, we found that other people (who were atheists) believed that death meant the end of our journey, and that we simply decompose like all other organisms in this planet. [Different perspectives] A particular person stated that religion was simply one’s imagination, and an excuse to feel special and be optimistic. I felt that this person was using his/her imagination as well to state that we decompose (since life after death is undefined), and that this person was creating an excuse too – to dismiss the thought of being judged. [Counterclaim of a point of view]

There appears to be no proof in someone dying and being re-born again literally. Thus, if no one is capable of experiencing it and sharing this with other people, how reliable are the claims people make about death? Would this be knowledge or opinion or imagination? [Knowledge Issues]

Stanford Prison Experiment

Title: Stanford Prison Experiment
Date: 30 September 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In class

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by a professor at Stanford University – Philip Zimbardo. He was interested in seeing how people would react in a negative, forceful situation. The results were shocking. When given an indirect choice to go through with their actions, most people chose to go through with it. Perhaps it was the point that this choice was not clearly indicated to them; however I believe that everyone has a choice even if they may need to make sacrifices in doing so. This is where the idea of ethics is significant [Connection to area of knowledge]. If the person felt that ethics was important enough, the person would have possibly put him/herself in danger of violence, risk, or a form of abuse. Nevertheless, this is simply a possibility. Yet, no one was willing to think about sacrificing their safety and comfort for that of someone else. Although the results prove to be quite cynical, the reliability of the results can still be analyzed.

I believe the Stanford Prison Experiment showed signs of the observer effect [Connection to TOK terms]. The students who were involved in this experiment were college students who were paid to participate. This shows that these people felt obliged to carry out their tasks. In addition, because the person conducting the experiment was a professor (a person of high authority), they may have felt pressured once again. The students were aware that professor Zimbardo was watching the results of this experiment, which meant that the observer effect was put in place. Perhaps because the students wanted his experiment to be successful (as it could lead to future benefits such as the prevention to another incident similar to the Holocaust, or the increase in awareness of the value of morals), they acted differently to how they would have reacted if this was not an experiment but rather a real-life situation. With this, knowledge issues can be raised such as, how do we know which reaction reflects the student? If the student is being threatened to do something while people observe them, would their reaction be caused by the observer effect or their emotion of fear and panic [Connection to emotion as a way of knowing]? 

Calorie Count: What is it?

Title: Calorie Count: What is it?
Date: 6 October 2011
Category: Outside of Class

http://www.healthtipsguides.com/

             We consume food every day, gradually increasing our calorie intake in a day. More and more people are becoming obsessed with the idea of eating a “well-being” diet (especially in Korea) which causes them to control the amount of calories of consumption per day. Yet is this method effective? Why are calories often viewed upon as being negative? What do calories really represent? [Wonderings]

            Through media, we’re able to see food products being marketed with phrases similar to either “reduced fat” or “no extra sugar added”. This way of advertising is misleading as it doesn’t state by how much the calorie or fat is reduced [Connection to vagueness] However, once we look at the information regarding its nutrients, the number usually appears to be around 100. How can one determine what is considered as high or low calorie foods? Who decides this standard and how did they decide? How do we know if the number of calories truly represents the amount of energy in the food? How do the nutritionists derive the calorie number? [Knowledge Issues]  Is the calorie simply the sum of the individual ingredients relative to the amount of the ingredient used? [Connection to reductionism] Does the calorie consumption give the same amount of energy to all types of people – young, old, male, female? How can we test this? [Wonderings]

            The number of calorie in the product is calculated through the conversion 1 calorie = 4.184 joules. This is standardized. However, who decided this conversion rate? How did the scientists measure the number of calorie and the number of joules to formulate this conversion? Is it reliable? Can we assume that they did not make any mistakes in their calculations, observations or experiments? If numbering a human-made concept, what does the number of calories represent in the non-human-made world? [Knowledge Issues]

Profile: Hwang Woo-Suk

Title: Profile: Hwang Woo-Suk
Publication Info: BBC News
Date: 11 September 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/

         

            In this article, it talks about a Korean scientist, named Hwang Woo-Suk who claimed to have cloned a human embryo for the first time. However, after investigation, it was declared that his results had been changed and that he had used unethical manners to conduct his experiment, violating two of Robert Merton’s scientific norms of disinterestedness and communalism. [Connection] His previous successes had given him authority and trust in the scientific field as he had cloned animals [could have provoked appeal to authority - fallacy], but due to this incident, he was deprived of fame, wealth, and credibility.

            He stated that he had been deceived by his staff members. However, no one believed him and thought he was covering his act up. How do we know that he was lying? [Knowledge Issue] It was said that the female researchers had supplied the eggs for the experiment. Perhaps they were lying about this, but because this seems so horrible and provokes emotion of anger, pity, and shock, the people are more inclined to believe the female researchers rather than Hwang Woo-Suk who may or may not have been telling the truth. If this was the case, then there was a case of [appeal to emotion – another fallacy]. Do people believe this point of view because BBC is a renowned news broadcasting organization? [Appeal to authority –fallacy] If these fallacies were all taken into account, then how guilty is Hwang Woo-Suk? Would he still be punished as he broke the scientific norms? Was he punished because he broke the scientific norms or because he was charged with practicing unethical methods? [Wonderings]

Title: Thought vs. Action
Date: 11 September 2011
Class: IB English HL
Category: Other Classes

http://www.pathguy.com/

            In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Hamlet faces the internal conflict of thought vs. action. He must put on the role of the avenging son, yet his moral values cause him to hesitate and delay action. Because he doesn’t have the personality of an avenging son, Hamlet tries to act like one, thus bringing up the main theme of the play: appearance vs. reality. What is the difference between appearance and reality? Is there a difference? If we start to believe appearance is reality, does appearance really become reality? What is reality? [Wonderings/Knowledge Issue] Perhaps Hamlet is putting on the act of not being courageous and bold because he knows it’s ethically wrong to murder. Can we manipulate our identity to suit our practical needs? [Wonderings] Hamlet may be too religious and too moral-driven that he is mentally unable to perform this revenge. However, Hamlet could think that by killing Claudius, he is obeying his father and thus, is not sinning. If this was the case, Hamlet would be religious and the avenging son. The play brings up the conflict between obligation and moral values. Which is more important? I feel that the person undergoing this struggle is likely to reason out their emotion. With obligation, they may feel fearful by not obeying whereas with moral values, they may feel guilty by going against their ethics. With both having an emotion associated with it, is emotion always a reliable way of knowledge? [Wonderings]

Who Are You?

Title: Who are you?
Date: 11 September 2011
Category: Outside of Class

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

A couple days ago, I was talking with my close friend, about whether we knew who we were as a person. She claimed she knew who she was, and wasn’t scared to show it. I, on the other hand, told her I still didn’t know who I was and felt lost. How do we know who we are? How do we define ourselves? [Knowledge Issues] Is it based on other people’s perspectives? Is it based on your preferences and dislikes? Is it who you want to be? [Wonderings] People say “High School is really about finding out who we really are”. The question is then, how?

When asked, she stated that it’s obvious when people are acting fake. She reasoned that some people are so caught up with the idea of trying to fit in with the crowd, that they seem unnatural. She claimed that if I wasn’t scared of being different and knew how I was different from other people and wasn’t hiding this, I was comfortable with who I was. By being comfortable with myself meant that I was able to know who I was and just “be me” without acting like anyone else. This reminded me of the popular TV show “Glee”. [Connection] Throughout the episodes, the underdogs of the High School student body try to prove that they are not scared to be themselves. “Being me”. What does this mean? Both my friend and the story behind “Glee” appeared to be telling me basically to act like myself and no one else. However, how can we know whether we are acting or not? [Knowledge Issue] I consider myself to be an outgoing person; however, how do I know that I’m not acting this way? I could believe that I’m outgoing, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the character O’Brian states that we could believe 2+2 = 5 if we convinced ourselves hard enough. [Connection] If this is true, then everything we believe could just be in our heads, not reality (if there is such thing as “reality” at that). Some may reason that the other people’s perceptions are a reliable way to know who we are. However, how do we know that they are stating the truth? [Wondering] Could it not be that they have also convinced themselves of who we are, and thus created a false image in their heads of who we are? With this said, how reliable are other people’s opinions and thoughts? [Knowledge Issue]

Can we ever know who we really are? Does it even matter who we are, as long as we’re content with how we’re understood by others? Is there such a thing as identity, or is it simply a concept in our minds? [Wonderings] For me, I feel that it doesn’t matter whether we know who we really are, as long as we like who we are, and stay committed to that persona. Perhaps this way, that character can become you, and thus become your identity. [Knower’s perspective]

Connotations aside, many names can be nice

Title: Connotations aside, many names can be nice

Author: Brandon Rogers
Date: 26 May 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

            An article assigned by my TOK teacher was called “Connotations aside, many names can be nice” by Brandon Rogers. In this article, he explored word’s connotations and its pronunciation and sound. He stated that many words with negative connotation could be pleasing to the ears such as “Chlamydia” or “militia” etc. He claimed that he could have named his children using these names if he was only evaluating the sound of the names. With this, he asked the question of, “Do words have to mean pretty things to sound pretty?” (Rogers, par.2).

            Personally, I think words can sound pretty without meaning pretty. For example, although the word “halcyon” has a positive meaning, I do not find this word to sound pretty. [Connection] Instead, this word reminds me of the character, Hulk, from the movie. These words sound similar to the ears; however they have completely different connotations. One implies peace, whereas the other draws an image of a green monster. Another example could be of the word, “Chlamydia”. Although this word refers to a sexually transmitted disease (STD), I believe it is pleasant to the ears. While reading this article, I did not know what this word “Chlamydia” was referring to. This made me think of the foreigner’s reactions. I began to think, [Knowledge Issues] how would a foreigner be able to distinguish a word of positive connotation to another of a negative one? Do all people have the same “gut feeling” or “sense” of which word is positive and which is negative, regardless of race and nationality? [Connection] When preparing for the SAT, people tell me to use my gut feeling when determining the fill-in-the-blanks for the vocabulary section. In other words, I had to decide the word with the appropriate connotation. [Knowledge Issues] However, seeing that I thought the words “Chlamydia”, “militia”, “Artillery” and “Citronella” and many more to have positive connotations, are my gut feelings reliable to determine which words have positive or negative connotations? Is it fair and right for people to tell others to rely on your senses to complete the SAT fill-in-the-blank questions? Who decides what is considered as having a positive connotation and which is to have a negative connotation?

SAT Scores & Evaluating WOKs

Title: SAT Scores & Evaluating WOKs

Date: 28 May 2011
Category: Outside of Class

http://www.sattesting.org/

                 SAT scores were posted today by the Collegeboard organization. As I saw my grade, I was disappointed as I had not received the score I had hoped and prayed for. I felt discouraged and angry. I had worked so hard to do as many practice questions as I could in the time I had, and had dedicated myself to learning 20 vocabularies each night. I thought to myself, “maybe I didn’t pray hard enough” and “maybe I didn’t study hard enough”. My friends seemed to get high scores. I tried to comfort myself by telling myself that it was my first time. My mom couldn’t help but show her disappointment in me. I could tell she had wanted more from me by the tone of her voice, and her facial expressions [Language as a WOK]. She was quieter, and she looked sad with her eyes drooping down a little. [Knowledge Issue] Is this analysis accepted universally? I began to be grow more disappointed at myself for not having been able to measure up to her standards. I began to think, “How am I going to go to a university with a score like this?” etc.  My disappointment began to develop into anger. With anger, I began to question the accuracy of the SAT. These questions may have aroused from anger, however I believe these questions are valid knowledge issues.

Why is it that most universities are heavily influenced by our SAT scores when making admission decisions? [Knowledge Issues]  Are SAT scores reliable in determining our future opportunities? How valid are the conversions from the number of questions we get correct to the scores themselves? Who determines how the number is converted? Is it fair that we must depend on this idea, proposed by this person of authority, for the stability of our future? Evaluating my emotion at the time, if I had faced a different emotion, would I have thought of different knowledge issues? For example, if I was happy with the SAT score that I received, I may be inclined to think that the SAT scores are really accurate in determining our success. Because of this, I may be restricted from asking the accuracy of this test, or evaluating how reliable it is. Instead I may ask, “How do the Collegeboard derive questions to accurately measure our intelligence in our reasoning?” etc. However, if I received a low score, I would want to believe that SAT scores are unreliable. In this way, our emotion allows us to have a different point of view [Emotion as a WOK].

Blindness in Perception & Gender of Colors

Title: Blindness in Perception & Gender of Colors

Date: 24 May 2011
Class: Chemistry IB HL
Category: Other Classes

http://www.wpclipart.com/

            During a recent chemistry class, my classmates and I were conducting an experiment. We had to add a solute (unknown) into a solvent (water). After we dissolved this solute, we encountered a color change in the substance from clear to blue. I knew I had added a substance to the water which had caused this change in color, but I could no longer see the substance that had been added. I could not see the solutes floating about in the water; the particles had all dissociated.  I realized with this simple experiment that our perceptions could easily deceive us. [Knowledge Issue] If this is the case, then why do we rely on our sense perceptions as a way of knowledge in our day to day lives? Should our sense perception be our primary source of knowledge? What other ways of knowing are more reliable? Is it OK for us to rely on only one way of knowing or is it necessary to use all the ways of knowing to fully understand the idea?

            Focusing on the color change from clear to blue, I came to think of this topic. Blue is accepted to be a masculine color, similar to pink being referred to as a feminine color. I asked my partner, Sang Yeon, “Why do you think blue is considered to be masculine?” She replied with a simple, “I don’t know.” [Knowledge Issues] Why is it that gender is designated to a color? Is it because studies have shown that boys like blue more than girls? What if the statistics for this study changed due to the change in generation? Would the gender still stick with the color or would it change? Who has the authority to change this? [Connection] This idea of a color being either feminine or masculine is so powerful in our society today, that it has influenced social discrimination. For example, men wearing pink are sometimes referred to as being gay just because of the color they are wearing. Why is this issue so important as to limit the colors that we can and cannot like and use?

Half of the world’s languages under threat

Title: Half of the world’s languages under threat

Author: Paul Holmes
Publication Info: Published by Reuters-Paris
Date: 26 May 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/

                This article addresses the disappearance of languages in our society. The article supports the claim made by Professor Stephen Wurm that the decline of languages is directly related to the diminution of their speakers. This theory is supported by him making a reference to the disappearance of aboriginal languages in Australia due to the fall in numbers of the native Australian population. This is comparable to that of the United States. Today, the language spoken in America is accepted as being English rather than the native languages of the Navajos, Cherokees, and Iroquois etc. This suggestion makes sense because if all the Koreans were to disappear, the language becomes of no use and thus forgotten among the people. Although I am in favor of this argument, there seems to be many knowledge issues that can be addressed regarding this topic.

            [Knowledge Issues] How accurate is this study? Could it be that the speakers are all dispersed in other countries and thus are multilingual? [Observation] The article does not state the procedure used to carry out this study and so this initiates a sense of doubt to the readers. The procedure is very significant because it allows us to evaluate the accuracy of the study. For example, if this was carried out in an internet-based survey, there is a high possibility that people may choose to take it as a joke and state false information. Also, internet-based surveys usually only allows us to click on one option; thus what happens to the multi-language speakers? Another example could be visiting random people and asking them face-to-face. The problem of lying also applies to this. For example, if a random person asked me what languages I speak, I may not want to give him the correct information seeing as I do not know who he is and what he is capable of doing, and thus I may give him false information, which he would then take to be valid information. Also, a problem caused by this method is that there are so many people in the world that we cannot possibly ask each and every person. [Knowledge Issues] How would we know who to ask? How would we know that a certain person(s) is capable of representing the majority? Because the method is not described in the article, the article’s claim is vulnerable to doubt and disbelief. 

Shhhh, China’s secret female language

Title: Shhhh, China’s secret female language

Author: Jaime Tong
Publication Info: Published on September 27, 2004 by www.trentu.ca
Date: 26 May 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

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             In TOK class, we were assigned to read the article “Shhhh, China’s secret female language” by Jaime Tong. This article was about a secret language of the Chinese women in the Hunan province. This language of NuShu had been passed on by generations and was the language of voice, read by singing and written in like a poem. By having their own language that was idiosyncratic to these women (of this province) alone, they created their own community and formed a sense of unity between each other. Unfortunately, the language of NuShu is very rare in our generation due to the growing population of women attending university. Nevertheless, NuShu will forever remain intact as a significant part of the Chinese culture.

            [Wonderings] Although NuShu will stay as an important aspect of Chinese history, how significant is this language of NuShu if only a few people know how to use it? [Knowledge Issue] If only a few people know how to use it, how effective is it in communication? Of course, within the speakers, it may be very convenient seeing as they will be able to isolate themselves (whenever needed), express ideas and thoughts freely with increased rights to privacy etc. [Knowledge Issue] However, if NuShu was the only language that a person could speak, how well could this person communicate with others? I would be limited to communicate with solely the NuShu speakers. [Knowledge Issue] Does this mean then, that the language one is able to speak determines the number of people one is able to address and communicate with? Does it mean that because there are more English speakers in the world than that of Vietnamese, that if I learn to speak English, I will have a greater number of people I could talk with? [Knowledge Issues] If this is the case, then how would one justify the communication made by body language? Would body language have been created, or have become as popular as it is today if there was only one language spoken by the whole population in the first place? Which is more significant, unity and freedom, or better means of communication and thus the access to freedom from the restriction imposed by the limited number of speakers?