Saturday, September 21, 2013
It's Raining KQs
With apologies to The Weather Girls, put away your umbrella and go sing and dance in the knowledge. As part of our continuing preparation for the TOK essays, select a real world situation (local, global...) and extract three distinct Knowledge Questions. After explaining the situation, identify the ways of knowing and areas of knowledge inherent to each KQ. You might even use the song from the link--either way, it's due Tuesday before classes begin.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-dispute.html?ref=nuclearprogram&_r=0
ReplyDeleteOver the past few weeks an issue regarding Iran's nuclear weapons has been a real world situation. The Iranian government has been disputing with the United Nations over their nuclear program. "Iran has asserted that its program of uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes, denying assertions from the West and Israel that it is developing the capability to make nuclear weapons." The Iranian government has supposedly had diplomatic efforts for public relations but Israel does not currently trust their intentions.
Whenever dealing with the issue of nuclear weapons everything is taken very seriously. Things need to be perfectly understood because in this case a misunderstanding could lead to millions of deaths if not more. The Middle East in currently the center of most of the world's problems. All of our attention is focussed on fixing the problem. Diplomacy is the act of working things out through peaceful discussions. If this is an option it would be foolish not to go for it. Israel has a point though...because in another article it said that it may be a trap. Like previously stated nuclear weapons are not to be played with and so all sides in this situation are taking extreme precautions.
Knowledge Questions:
http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/ways-of-knowing/
To what extent can one be sure of someone else's intentions? - I think that intuition is greatly involves with this KQ because to judge someone else we need to know a little about them. Based on that, we are able to form judgements.
To what extent is diplomacy the only peaceful way to solve an issue like this? - Language is a big part of the idea of diplomacy. How we understand and hear one another will determine whether there will be a positive resolution.
To what extent are humans only looking for the good in others? - Reason. I believe that everyone wants to be liked no matter the situation. Emotion plays a huge role because relationship are based on different forms of reason. This KQ is about how you interact with others and why we as humans think so much of how others view us.
Side note: Something that I realized the other day was that since the crisis in Syria I have not heard a thing about the drug wars in Mexico or any illegal immigrant issues.
This song is one of my absolute favorites. As I watched the video the first time, I only sat there and sang along. The second time I watched it, I looked at it as if there were a hidden meaning. I watched it twice this way and found what I believe to be the overall hidden meaning of the song. This may not even be the actual intention of the artists, they may just have really wanted a boyfriend and changed the ssaying from raing cats and dogs to raining men. However the meaning that I found was about perseverance and determination. Within the song the character of Mother Nature “took on the heavens and did what she had to do”. This character, did not let anything stand in the way of what she wanted. She took control of her own life, did not allow anybody else to bring her down, and she made things happen for herself. She did not let things occur as they normally would have, let’s be honest how many times has it actually rained men…? Someone who is pretty determined had to have made that happen!
ReplyDeleteFor my real world event, I went to the New York Times. At first I was not sure if I wanted to look at local, national or international news. Whenever my mom and I read the paper together we first jump straight to the obituaries; one to make sure that we are not in there, and two, to learn about the stories of the lives of the people that may have changed the lives of the ones around them. So that’s what I did, I jumped to the obituary in today’s (September 23, 2013) New York Times paper. I found that Bonita Spence, at 52 years old, passed away on September 15, 2013. It is suggested that she committed suicide, however that is just an accusation. Throughout Bonitas life she changed the rules of Basketball. Bonita was a referee for the N.C.A.A, she was also one of the first women to contribute in the all women officiated men’s professional basketball game. Since 1982, when she set the program records for assists in one season, she has been making positive check points for women, in basketball. She gave clinics in basketball for youth organizations, and encouraged everyone, of every size to peruse whatever they wanted. Tjust because yo are not “big and tall” does not mean that you cannot professionally play basketball. She also encouraged the same outlook to those who did not believe that they were good enough, or deserving enough to make it where they wanted to go.
KQ: To wha extent should one know when to push for what they want and when it is better to wait for the perfect moment?
This knowledge question can be associated with the area of knowing of intuition. Most situations that would cause for this KQ to arise, may usually be a time when the only person who can answer the question is you, with out even realizing that you have.
KQ: To what extent are we in control of how successful we are?
This knowledge question is within the areas of emotion and reason. You know when you are proud of your job or your situation, you also know when you are happy and when you are just pushing through because you are being paid. Success is not based on the money that you produce but how happy you are with your situation.
KQ: To what extent do our surroundings result in our ability to take control of a situation?
This knowledge question could be considered in the area of sense perception. Consider a child playing with their toys. How does the child know which character to use as the captain or the “top dog”. These choices are choosen, by random selction or by considering the evets of their lives so far and reinacting them to understand what happened in their own ways.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/sports/ncaabasketball/bonita-spence-a-referee-who-drew-cheers-dies-at-51.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
Real world situation:
ReplyDeleteLast night Sara Tsou mentioned during the hall meeting that the Mountain Day is coming in the next few weeks. After that, rumors about the Mountain Day immediately spread out on my hallway, and many people came to ask me or the other seniors whether or not Mountain Day is tomorrow. I thought that was very interesting to see how a rumor could spread so quickly, but I did not pay much attention to that. After that, I went back to my room, and get ready for bed. Suddenly, a message poped up on my cell. When I checked it, it was a senior last year who was asking me if tomorrow is Mountain Day because she was “forced” by a junior to do that. I was very surprised because I did not think it as a very big deal, but obviously many people did care about that a lot; they desperately wanted to know the answer. Nevertheless, this incident helped me to find my real world situation and extract three knowledge questions from it.
Knowledge questions:
To what extent can hearing rumor be a way of gaining knowledge?
I think it relates most to sense perception and emotion. Rumors needed to be heard by ears and spread by mouth. Also, emotion is very important because it affects how a rumor is transferred to other people. It can be in any area of knowledge.
To what extent does scarcity mean value?
I think this one is connected to all four ways of knowing - emotion, reasoning, language, and sense perception. A person’s emotion can decide whether or not something is valuable to him/her, but in other cases, reasoning can logically help the person to analyze the value of scarcity. When I think about language, it sometimes reminds me of different cultures; thus, scarcity can be different things for different cultures, and affects the way of knowing. Also, sense perception certainly has an impact on a person whether or not something scarce is valuable. I often see scarcity in the areas of arts and natural sciences (art works, fossils, etc. ).
To what extent is saying no a way of giving knowledge to other people?
This knowledge relates to sense perception, emotion, and reasoning. Sense perception and emotion determine how the rejection is delivered and interpreted emotionally. Also, reasoning can be used to interpret the “no”, and thus may extract some message from that. I think this knowledge question can belong to mathematics and ethics. Saying no can be seen as getting the wrong answer in mathematics, while saying no can be a way of teaching in an ethical sense.
About a week and a half ago my dad was keeping me company in my hospital room with the evening news playing in the background. We were talking and watching the news out of the corner of our eyes when an image flashed on the screen and caught our attention. The camera showed a video of the New Jersey boardwalk burning. The boardwalk was Seaside Heights, an iconic stretch of tourist attractions and games. The boardwalk had been almost completely destroyed in Hurricane Sandy and the process of rebuilding had been almost completed when the fire started, transforming the park into a smoldering inferno within hours. This image caught our attention because we often visited Seaside Heights when I was younger. My grandfather, a New Jersey native, would take us to ride the rides or watch fireworks whenever we visited him. My father also lived in the area from adolescence onwards. As we watched the boardwalk be destroyed for the second time within a year, we pointed out places we recognized. "That was my first roller coaster!"
ReplyDelete"Yes it was. I can still hear your screams. See that building that says cafe?"
"Yup, why?"
"I worked there for a summer."
We continued like this for some time, reminiscing about the time we spent there.
This incident led me to discover several knowledge questions:
How does our immediate environment affect the way we receive knowledge and how we feel about said piece of knowledge?
This knowledge question requires the use of sensory perception as a way of knowing in order to discern one's environment. I don't think it requires emotion as a way of knowing, because we don't use emotion to find out what emotions we're having. I think, if anything, one would also use intuition in this knowledge question. Areas of knowledge relevant to this question would include the natural sciences but more generally would affect the acquisition of knowledge.
How much can something develop or be rebuilt before it is considered a new entity? In order to consider this knowledge question, one would make use of reason, to decide logically whether or not something had progressed. This knowledge question might be connected to history, the human sciences, and religious knowledge systems.
While thinking of a third knowledge question, I began wondering about the cause of the fire. It was recently released that an electrical failure was to blame for starting it, which got me thinking. On the one hand, an electrical failure is a man-made problem. However, a fire which turns into an uncontrollable wild fire is sometimes classified a natural disaster because man can no longer contain it. I know that in this case, it will be qualified a man-made disaster as opposed to a natural disaster, but I started thinking about what we can, in this day and age, consider natural. What is natural? As human society progresses, so does the level of catastrophe, natural of purely man made. No disaster can be said to have been created independently, without absolutely any influence, however minimal, from man. In order to address the question "what is natural?" one would use sensory perception and reason as ways of knowing. This knowledge question might involve areas of knowing such as history, natural and human sciences, religion, and ethics.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/23/world/asia/china-bo-xilai/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
ReplyDeleteBo Xilai was an advocate and pursuer of Red, Communist China. He created legislations and led crackdowns on and arrests of gangsters, he committed millions of dollars to social housing and challenged the economically liberal and reform-orientated CCP. However, he was involved in a scandal. His wife murdered British businessman Neil Heywood and it began to unravel that Bo Xilai was connected with corruption, embezzlement and taking bribes as his lavish and elite lifestyle became known. Bo Xilai was recently sentenced to life in prison.
KQ: In what ways can the truth be defined?
This can be answered through faith, reason, emotion or sense perception. Throughout his trial and even after, Bo has claimed his innocence and claims he would never disgrace his family, who were notable members of Mao’s China. Can you trust him? Is this a way for the other members of the CCP to get rid of him since their interests are not his?
KQ: To what extent is a governing body poisonous to society?
This can be answered through emotion or reason. With corruption becoming apparent in many and several social and economic issues left unresolved, one might question to what extent is a governing body even necessary? Does it do more good than bad?
KQ: What is essential to an orderly and functioning society?
This can be answered through reason, faith, memory and imagination. Going off of the preceding KQ, can there be an orderly and functioning society? Or is that just imaginary?
As I was skimming through the internet and doing some extra research for my persuasive essay about recycling urine, I came across a video which explained the benefits of recycling urine in space.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.space.com/20867-astronauts-drink-urine-and-other-waste-water-video.html
The water obtained from recycled urine is actually purer than the water we drink on a daily basis, yet we shy away from implementing this process here on earth, even though we can reclaim 93% of the water we consume and basically wipe out world hunger. The three knowledge questions I extracted from this real-world situation are:
1- At what point does survival instinct overcome stigma?
This knowledge question requires the use of sense perception as extreme physical conditions may prompt humans to take action which they might not have taken otherwise. For example, a human may consider drinking his own urine if he is dying of thirst and can find no other immediate water source. Reasoning is also vital to this knowledge question. Its existence and absence are simultaneously important. One can claim that it is the absence of logic which leads people to take action they otherwise would not have, while another can claim that only when we consciously and reasonably abandon any stigma associated with an action or object can we logically exploit it to serve our own interests. Furthermore, emotion ties in, because stigmas are tied to strong emotional reactions of disgust, shame, or anger. Our emotions may be preventing us from taking action which could be considered beneficial. This knowledge question relates to biology and psychology as it deals with the physical state of our bodies, and the mental states of our mind.
2- To what extent can recycling be considered a way to “cheat” nature by minimizing the rate of entropy?
I admit that minimizing the rate of entropy does not prevent it from occurring. However, human ingenuity prompts new ways of reducing the rate of entropy; perhaps not in terms of energy consumption, but in terms of resources and other possible venues. Is it possible that eventually, we will reduce it to such an extent that it becomes negligible (Limits! Limits! Limits!)? And if so, then have we found a way to cheat nature? The one essential way of knowing for this knowledge question seems to be reasoning as this is a question which requires judgment and asks the reader to form an opinion by assessing whatever evidence he or she may have accrued. This knowledge question relates to physics as it deals with entropy, one of the laws of thermodynamics.
3- How is it in our best interest to aid others? Do all benevolent actions have negative repercussions?
This knowledge question deals mostly with emotion and reasoning. We like to help out others because it makes us feel good. However, in order to make others feel good, we have to sacrifice. I need to sacrifice chocolate. Others need to sacrifice time and energy. Even if we don’t feel as though we are negatively impacted by actions which we do not take for our own self-interest, doesn’t it negatively impact us in some way? When I think about it logically, I would not like to solve world hunger because I would be required to make some sort of sacrifice such as consuming less food than I normally do. However, when I think about it emotionally, I would like to ease the suffering of starving humans around the world, even if it means making a sacrifice. What makes one more valid than the other? This once again relates to psychology as it deals with the inner workings of the mind and our emotions. However, I also found this to connect to political science as political leaders often have to make the choice between logic and emotion, which Machiavelli explored with his famous statement that the “ends justify the means.” Logically, yes. Emotionally, no.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57604169/unaids-hiv-infection-rate-down-33-percent-worldwide-since-2001/
ReplyDeleteThis article reports that since 2001 the number of people diagnosed with HIV has decreased by 33%, and more significantly in children at a decrease of 52%. Even with the dramatic decrease in numbers 35.3 million people were living with HIV in 2012, and 2.3 million got infected that year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that as many as 1/5 people may NOT know they are HIV positive.
This statistic made me think of the idea that if person B is infected with HIV and unknowingly gives it to person C, would person B be responsible for person C having HIV or would person A who gave person B HIV in the first place? So this brought me to my first knowledge question, can the responsibility of the unknown knowledge be placed on the person that is not aware of it or the person that is aware of it and does not make the unknowing person aware? Is it that person’s responsibility to make the unknowing person aware? This question is very contextual, but placing this question in the area of health, I think that this question requires reason, emotion, and intuition.
The article mentioned that “violence prevention against women and girls and making sure that people who have HIV are treated with respect is still lacking”, and this prejudice is a new type of discrimination that I had never seen before. This brought me to my second knowledge question. Is it nature that encourages prejudice or is it how a person is nurtured that passes along prejudice from one generation to the next? Depending on what the prejudice is related to we almost always have to look back in history and figure out the source of the dissatisfaction that caused it.
A report from the article said that "mid-term reviews identified declining support for social-behavioral HIV prevention programmers”, with many different ways of thinking functioning in their different societies to their different extents around the world, is it possible to find one similarity between every social group to connect us intellectually? Human interaction defines a lot about a way of people, so this is interpreted using our language, senses, emotions, and reason.