The word count for a TOK Essay is usually between words in length including the conceptual title. On the other hand, suspension of disbelief may also become a serious impediment to progress in natural sciences. At this ib theory of knowledge essay in mathematics, being sceptical would become rather counter-productive since it would deprive us of the ability to proceed any further. Notify me of new comments via email. Next Entry Overview: TOK Presentation.
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Theory of Knowledge or TOK, forms not just part of the inner core of the International Baccalaureate Diploma but is fundamental in developing your critical thinking skills whilst in Sixth Form, a programme uncomparable with any other core UK curriculum. A flagship course, as a student it will ensure that the learning you develop across your IB Diploma subjects is pulled together and will help you develop the ability to question the validity of knowledge. Unlike the rest of the IB Diploma, TOK doesn't have a clear curriculum, with a checklist to be memorised for an end of course exam. Instead, you will craft a wide-ranging essay and presentation which will draw on the key ideas you have developed throughout the Theory of Knowledge course.
For those who have already embarked upon their TOK course, we have taken three of our student essays, all A graded to give you an example of just some of the questions you might explore as part of IBDP TOK. Being one of the art forms, theatre almost always requires both the audience and the cast to abandon realism and rather use ib theory of knowledge essay, because believing in an invented, unreal situation is completely necessary for a successful performance to bring enjoyment. Such a deliberate acceptance of something based on implicit belief, with no cogent evidence, is what we call suspension of disbelief. This phenomenon appears to be an integral part of the arts as a whole, since the expressive function of art as a means of conveying ideas and ib theory of knowledge essay could not be fulfilled without overlooking the scepticism.
However, claiming that suspension of disbelief is essential in all Areas of Knowledge AoKs and that it is thus absolutely crucial to the core of their nature is a very radical position. Personally, I believe that this concept can be applied effectively outside the Area of Knowledge of arts, however, it does not necessarily lie at the heart of identity of all the other AoKs. For instance, there is a widely accepted conception that mathematics and natural sciences, ib theory of knowledge essay, in contrast to arts, provide us with objective knowledge which requires a constant search for justification; as a result, the inherent nature of suspension of disbelief in terms of these AoKs is questionable.
In order to commence my discussion which will be focused on the aforementioned AoKs, I have formulated the following knowledge questions KQs : To what extent do the natural sciences and mathematics rely on unjustified belief? In addition, how far is it possible to remain sceptical when it comes to these AoKs? The method of meticulous proof that is peculiar to mathematics implies that mathematical knowledge needs to be strongly justified in order to be accepted as reliable. Being grounded in deductive reasoning, this AoK seems to be exclusive of the "unfounded believing" concept. One then may be led to endorsing an idea that suspension of disbelief is an extraneous element in the field of mathematics, since whenever disbelief arises, so does the absolute necessity to challenge the dubious idea.
If and only if a justification is provided, then the disbelief will be dissipated. It is now important ib theory of knowledge essay emphasise that dissipated does not mean suspended. Abandonment of scepticism and critical thinking appear to contradict the methodology of this AoK. Despite its expected impossibility, ib theory of knowledge essay, this idea has been developed using various methods e. Cesaro summation by different mathematicians and consequently became a part of mathematical knowledge Encyclopedia of Mathematics, The resulting statement brings on the rise of disbelief but it is only a solid justification that makes us accept it, as distinct from theatrical experience where no proof is required.
From this it follows that the methodology of mathematics does not leave room for unjustified belief and requires a constant presence of scepticism and reason. However, if we consider the actual nature of mathematical knowledge, what we find is that this field is largely grounded in axiomatic systems. Therefore, in order to have a solid base for proving, we have to choose certain starting points. These fundamental statements, that are assumed to be true and do not have to be proved, are called axioms. At this point in mathematics, being sceptical would become rather counter-productive since it would deprive us ib theory of knowledge essay the ability to proceed any further.
For example, the mathematical theory of probability is based on a specific axiom system proposed by Kolmogorov Lim, As a result, almost everything that is mathematically true of probability is a consequence of only three axioms of probability Stark, However, ib theory of knowledge essay, if we refused to accept one of the axioms, ib theory of knowledge essay, e. the first axiom stating that the probability of any event is nonnegative, due to the absence of proof, we would not be able to derive further claims, e. that the probability of an event occurring is the probability of an event not occurring subtracted from one.
From the above it can be seen that the role of suspension of disbelief in mathematics can actually be described as "essential" in regard to the way this word was defined before. It is crucial to the nature of this AoK, even though its influence becomes less significant as we proceed further in the body of mathematical knowledge. As a mathematics student, I had to encounter the phenomenon of suspension of disbelief myself throughout the process of knowledge acquisition. A great amount of formulas and theorems that I was taught were not provided with any valid mathematical proofs due to their complexity.
In particular, when I was introduced to the fundamental theorem of algebra stating that every polynomial equation of degree n has n roots, I had a deep doubt about its validity because it ib theory of knowledge essay my prior knowledge which did not include the concept of imaginary numbers Weisstein, While not being capable of applying some advanced tools in order to prove the theorem, I had to overlook my scepticism and take the statement for granted in order to solve mathematical problems as required by the syllabus, ib theory of knowledge essay.
Thus, the implications are that the role of suspension of disbelief increases greatly when personal perspective is concerned. The essentiality of suspension of disbelief is more controversial in the field of natural sciences due to the fact that whereas mathematics is based upon certain premises which remain unchanged in every separate system, scientific claims tend to have a provisional character. Consequently, in natural sciences, the need for suspension of disbelief arises in the actual methodology of the area, as new scientific ideas have to be put forward in order to stimulate development.
However, some of those ideas may not fit the generally accepted theories and therefore appear to break or push the scientific conventions. Construction of a novel hypothesis may thus require the use of imagination which leads to overlooking one's scepticism. As Albert Einstein said, "The greatest scientists are artists as well" Kaplan, This quote reveals the similarity between arts and natural sciences and may direct towards thinking that the abandonment of objectivity is sometimes as necessary in the latter area as it is in the former. This point could be well illustrated by Barry Marshall's remarkable discovery of the causes of gastric ulcers, for which he was awarded the Nobel prize Ib theory of knowledge essay, According to the physician's theory, the disease was caused by a special type of bacteria, in contrast to the mainstream idea of that time that ulcers are brought on by stress.
While not being able to provide any solid evidence supporting the theory, Marshall was trying to convince other scientists on the basis of his unjustified belief. This firm conviction led him to conducting a dangerous experiment on himself: Marshall ingested the harmful bacteria and, as a result, was taken ill with gastritis Weintraub, The common misconception was thus broken ib theory of knowledge essay medical community finally acknowledged the new theory. However, if only Marshall had not withstood the scepticism, he would have given up his hypothesis without running any hazardous tests.
From this example, it can be seen that scientific advancement does rely on unjustified belief in some cases. On the other hand, ib theory of knowledge essay, suspension of disbelief may also become a serious impediment to progress in natural sciences. When the ideas are put forward, it is important for scientists to ib theory of knowledge essay look for the ways of proving them wrong since the essence of scientific method lies in critical thinking. A blind belief in theories results in the tendency to only find evidence that supports them and this is what we call confirmation bias. If scientists only relied on their belief and aimed to discover what they expected to discover, then any contradicting facts would have been neglected or misinterpreted. This is how homeopathic pseudosceince has emerged: due to various flaws in the methodology of experiments conducted by the researchers who were already certain about their idea, the data presented appeared to confirm the hypothesis Farnam Street, n.
These findings were disproved later on; no cogent evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathy has been found to present day and it was called a "therapeutic dead-end" Fenton, However, there are still supporters of this alternative medicine in the modern world that try to prove their theory by carrying out numerous tests. As a result, the unjustified belief makes scientific progress difficult as it turns out to be misleading. Therefore, ib theory of knowledge essay, it is possible to come to a conclusion that it is crucial for scientists to adhere to scepticism at a certain stage of knowledge production. From the above, it can be contemplated that suspension of disbelief ib theory of knowledge essay definitely important in both mathematics and natural sciences which makes me reconsider my initial response to the question.
The objectivity of these AoKs does not imply a complete exclusion of unjustified belief and permanent application of scepticism, ib theory of knowledge essay. This phenomenon appears to be essential in mathematics as it is significant at the very roots of this AoK; in the area of natural sciences it must always be accompanied by a certain doubt. However, in both cases suspension of disbelief cannot be applied extensively as it is only crucial for belief but not the knowledge itself. This implies if we are to ever reach ib theory of knowledge essay knowledge, other ways of knowing such as reason should be applied. Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge. Another excellent essay from one of BioMed IB graduates.
This essay will argue that disinterestedness is valuable and desirable, especially when interpreting results, ib theory of knowledge essay, however it can be very difficult to remain completely neutral towards a topic area. When undertaking research, a dispassionate approach to interpreting results is the most desirable one. Scientists regularly publish controversial and sometimes wrong findings because of personal bias, economic or egotistical incentives 3. It is difficult to interpret results objectively if you have something to lose or gain from the outcome, and there are incentives to publish as quickly as possible. Page 2 of 8 Psychiatrist Erick Turner reported in his paper4 that companies only published the positive results they found when researching antidepressants, making the drugs appear to work much better than they actually did.
This is a global problem, with many possible reasons, but the main issue seems to be a lack of disinterestedness affected by how studies are funded and the bias of individuals. In Natural Sciences, an example of a flawed study that made it into publication is the MMR Vaccine and its link with Autism6. Not only was the link proved unfounded, it was later found that Andrew Wakefield had patented an alternative vaccine to the one he found fault with in his study7 and that two years before he published the study, he had received payment from a lawyer fighting a case against MMR. Wakefield was not a dispassionate scientist, but the resulting public outcry caused a reduction of the number of children vaccinated8.
This shows that disinterest can be incredibly important. politics Page 3 of 8 of results, and research is usually incentivised by money, power or ego5 which can result in a lack of objective interpretation. Martine Rothblatt retrained in the field of biotechnology when her daughter was diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension. In order to try and find a cure, Rothblatt started a drug company that makes life-saving medicines for rare diseases including the drug that saved her daughter. Neutrality is important for progress and accuracy, but in every day life it is a rarity. As humans, it has been argued that it is in our nature to be inherently biased9. This need to achieve perhaps results in an inherent bias. It is 9 Moskowitz, G Are we all inherently biased? html Page 4 of 8 also possible that our personal experiences can affect the way we perceive things.
Therefore, is true objectivity even possible? Objectivity in Art has been the topic of debate for centuries. The philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that to judge art, one must be disinterested. Marina Abramović is a performance artist who sat for 6 hours and allowed members of the public to use 72 different items on her as they wished The public can kill you. This is what I wanted to see. htm 12 Kant, I date unknown published in Critique of Judgment by Werner S. Page 5 of 8. Although it is difficult to remove bias entirely, there are ways of making sure that outcomes are interpreted correctly.
In the Natural Sciences, this is primarily achieved through the use of The Scientific Method This involves scientific studies being observable, testable, repeatable and falsifiable The first experiment was inbut it has been replicated thousands of times over the last century. In Art, neutrality is important when evaluating skills, for example the examination of artwork for the Visual Arts IB qualification.
critique essay example
In other areas, enquiry such as those cannot be inspected in a laboratory. For example in the study of history, where evidence is so often fragmentary and ambiguous, different techniques of enquiry have to have been applied. It means making a plan and taking the time to think about what we do, why we do these things, how things worked out, what we learned, and what we should change. It helps to confirm or challenge our own knowledge and skills. Artistic expression such as music also creates knowledge in some listeners, some artists for example Eminem bring forward their life struggles and stories, whilst some songs have messages to raise awareness for certain problems occurring worldwide.
For example, in India the congress party ruled the nations for years and the result at the end was exactly what Karl Marx has predicted: the rural area population got poorer and the urban citizens became richer. How did he attain this theory? Reflection could be the source of knowledge. Marx could have looked back upon countries before to attain this theory, he reflected on past accomplishments and failures as an intuitive, even instinctive process, and reasoned based on that. We almost assume that because we are thinking about something, we are also acting upon the results of that thinking. But thinking about something and adding more ideas is only the start of reflection. Reflection is a systematic process by which reflective thoughts are captured, so that they can be analysed in the future, is the basis for reflection that leads to continuous improvement, hence attaining knowledge.
Another real life situation is looking at another area of knowledge which can be looked at is Mathematics, in calculus for example it is one thing to learn the formula which comes through passive observation but another thing is to know how to apply that formula which is produced through active experimentation to enhance our knowledge. In this particular circumstance observation and experimentation is an essential form to attaining knowledge. Studies show that violence on television does have an adverse affect on children and the way they think and act, but some recent studies indicate that watching violence on television can even impact adults.
We know that children learn from experience or role modelling. This then creates a chemical change in the brain, as if enough violence is viewed the brain reacts as if the person viewing is being abused. Children are psychologically affected by having less empathy, and hence with more TV violence, they are more likely to use aggressive strategies to solve problems. Children hence tend to be more reactive than proactive to solve frustrations. Humans can also use computers to learn by identifying patterns that our senses are too slow interpret. But only men can reason. Logic teaches us how to derive a previously unknown truth from the facts already at hand. Logic teaches us how to be sure whether what we think is true is really true as its the avenue for intellectual truth.
To conclude, I do believe that human kind can produce knowledge through passive observation and active experimentation however there are also other ways which knowledge can be attained for example, reasoning or reflection. Nuha Gouse is the Co-founder of Tutopiya and is equipped with a first class honours Math degree from Imperial College, London. Her mission is to provide personalized individual lessons online where students from around the world can learn at their own pace and convenience. See author's posts. Your email address will not be published. Sign Up. Learner guide. Tutor guide. IGCSE Tuition. IB Tuition. PSLE Tuition. SIngapore O Level Tuition. Singapore A Level Tuition. SAT Tuition. Privacy policy. info tutopiya.
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Nuha Ghouse Nuha Gouse is the Co-founder of Tutopiya and is equipped with a first class honours Math degree from Imperial College, London. Subscribe to our Newsletter! You can also find examples of TOK essay titles and read about how the IB sets deadlines for TOK. You may also be interested in the other components of the DP core: creativity, activity, service CAS and the extended essay. Learn more about TOK in a DP workshop for teachers. Our course selection guidance contains subject briefs for both standard and higher level, including information about core requirements, aims and assessment. We use cookies on this site. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our use of these cookies.
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