Truth?

We commenced the lecture with the explanation of how the word truth is a complex and problematic term with different connotations, to add further detail to this Mr Tomalin shared with us one of his experiences. While in a wine testing trip in Mendoza, Argentina, he was asked to share his opinions regarding the smell of a particular wine which he could smell as many times as he wanted. However, he was reluctant to say what he could smell since “it could be wrong”, it could not be what the guides could actually smell. Evidently, when they compared what each one of them could smell, all opinions were different but they explained him that there was no wrong or right answer. This lead us to the conclusion that truths based on sensory perceptions depend on the individual person, hence, there is no false or true statement. 

Furthermore, we discussed the two types of propositions.  Analytic proposition is that whose predicate concept is contained in its subject. An example for this is, 

"All bachelors are unmarried", this proposition is right since being unmarried is part of the definition of bachelor. The other type of proposition is synthetic, this is a proposition whose predicate concept is not contained in its subject concept. "All bachelors are unhappy" is an example of this, since being unhappy is not part of the definition of  bachelor, hence, this proposition is wrong since there can be lots of bachelors that are not unhappy. In addition, when we were given time to consider another example of analytic proposition, I struggled to make a right proposition since I was assuming concepts that were not in the word’s definition. This proves how one must be extra careful when making analytical propositions.

Moral relativism was another topic that we discussed which states that absolute truths and values are socially constructed, this means that they depend on the cultural background of each person. However, for me this was controversial since I asked myself  if imposing values on others is justifiable to get an universal truth, or if that meant that other values were not right. On the other hand, cognitive relativism states that there are no universal truths whatsoever, consequently there are no methods for getting the truth that are better than others. This relativism ask questions such as, why is science superior to others methods of gaining knowledge like witchcraft? And states that judgments are true depending on your perspective and it is up to you to choose which method is better but you have to be aware it was YOUR choice. 

These two relativisms made me analyze up to what point we decide what we believe. Everyday we are bombarded with information at school that was chosen for us to learn, that is said is going to help us to study a career, to get a job, “to live”. But to what extend do we have an option to choose? Or to even go against this? Nowadays’ society compels us to study, to work in order to gain money; we are forced to believe this is the right way to live. But is it?

Classification! Do you stereotype?

Ms Briggs introduced this lecture topic which was classification. First of all, she explained that this topic not only comes up in biology but in other subjects too. Then she proceed and defined this term:  "arrange in classes with shared characteristics". Afterwards, several  pictures were displayed and we were asked to classify them: first, in one main category in which all the items would fit with their characteristics, secondly, in three or four categories with a minimum of two items in each and finally one single category for each item. For our group it was easy to create the main category: objects that are tangible. Then for the three or four categories, we had similar categories than another group. Furthermore, we were asked to reflect why we classify. Peers opinions were heard saying that it help us remember, or that it help us organise objects by their appearance. 

The history of classification was also explained. Carl Linneus designed it but his classification only depended on the appearance of objects. Therefore, nowadays, there has been a reclassification according to the organisms' DNA in order to be more precise. In addition, I wonder when was the first time that classification was useful for humans? This must have been a really long long time ago, was it when humans started looking for food? Anyways we will never know the answer for this.

We discussed how classification is interpretative: our brain makes the association to group our experiences; and how classification can be influenced by the culture of the person, by how the person perceives the object, and by the need or relevance in the society the person lives in. However, there is a risk with classification. It can become racism, or even sexism. For example, through history there has been various situations where black and white people were classified as completely opposite people, hence, could not do the same things. Therefore, we have to be careful when we classify because it can be an essential way of knowing as long as we are using it adequately.

In addition, we were shown a web page in which we could test ourselves to know if we stereotype people more than we think and we were told that we could be really impresses with the results. Consequently,  I'm eager to try this test, to partially understand how I make decisions based in classification, to know a little better how my brain works.

Reason!

This lecture our topic was reason, Mr Tomalin commenced by explaining that this same word has more than one connotation. He continued explaining that there are two types of reasoning:  inductive and deductive.  Deductive reasoning get to a logical conclusion based in premises. For example, 1. All humans have two legs. 2. I have two legs. 3. Therefore I am a human.  In addition, we have to consider two aspects when using this type or reasoning: its validity and whether the premise is true or false. Validity refers to the pattern or logical path to get to the conclusion, so one must ask oneself: am I taking the right path to get to my conclusion? And with the premises one must always consider if it is true or false.

The other type of  reasoning is inductive reasoning, this reasoning uses specific instances to get to a general conclusion. To explain this we were shown different pictures of swans, all being white. Then we were asked what color swans were, and obviously we answered that all swans are white. This is an example of this type of reasoning. However, these two types of reasoning have problems, it does not matter how extensive your reasoning is, it can not get to an absolute certainty since you are using generalization. In deductive reasoning, I know I'm a human, however I only have one leg because of a landmine. Therefore, this type of reasoning does not work for me because there is no way I can't be a human. In inductive reasoning, there's a type of swan that is black and only exists in Australia, however, I've never been to Australia. So in my first trip to Australia I'll find out that my previous conclusion "all swans are white" is wrong. In addition, we discussed how useful this reason could be as a way of knowing, taking into account we use this reasoning every day for our decisions.

Afterwards, Mr Tomalin asked when is it reasonable to use this type of logic? One friend said that when time is limited, which in my opinion makes sense. We were also explained that inductive reasoning causes stereotypes so we were told to avoid making generalizations and to be aware whenever we say "all". In addition, we discussed how useful this reason could be as a way of knowing, taking into account we use this reasoning every day for our decisions.

Profanity

The whole class was asked to divide in small groups and was given a sheet of paper. This sheet contained 5 different profanity scenarios which we had to discuss our opinion regarding what was proposed on the scenario. As soon as we were allowed to discuss I could hear lots of opinions already coming out from people’s mouths, everyone was eager to share what they thought.

For the majority of the class my group and I discussed scenario 2. It described that in the year 2035 rules concerning profanity in the media have all disappeared then it asked if morally, this was a progress or regress? Half of my group said it was progress and the other half contradicted them. According to one opinion, this was progress due to the fact that since profanity is not prohibited anymore, people would not get offended with the words that used to be really offensive. This change is because these words are will be commonly used thus people will not take them as a taboo or as an offense anymore.

The other half agreed with this statement, but added that since words that used to offend people do not offend them anymore, new words would be created that would be offensive. However, both opinions kept disagreeing and did not reach a conclusion. Despite this disagreement, I understood the way my peers reason and the arguments they were bringing into the discussion.

Emotion or feeling?

Today’s lecture was based on emotions and feelings. To commence the lecture we were asked to do a list of the emotions and feeling we could think of. And therefore, got to the conclusion that the difference between the two of them is that feelings are in a way more physical, such as hunger and feeling cold, whereas emotions are happiness, excitement, sadness, etc. We discussed how emotions have been classified in various ways, as basic emotions and then a mixture of these create the rest.

In addition, we questioned if the physical condition comes before emotions or vice-versa. Ms Briggs showed us a video of Phineas Cage, a man who experienced a terrible accident. A pole came in his eye trough his brain at an incredibly speed, however, he did not died in this accident, he was taken into a hospital and continued his life. Nevertheless, his family members said he was never the same after that accident; he had a completely different personality. Consequently, we got to the conclusion that people with damaged parts of the brain have drastic changes on either how they reason or how they behave. Therefore physical conditions come first? But what about what happens when we are afraid? Adrenaline is produced! Those are questions that we can argue for a long period of time.

In my opinion, the topics we are discussing about in TOK are very controversial which gives an added interest on the class. Emotions are part of our daily routine and they are the ones that affect how we choose to make our decisions.

Swe@ring

The class was divided into two groups. Mr Tomalin was in charge of my group. At the beginning of the lesson some classmates were late, and obviously he got upset because of this. As soon as they came in the classroom, Mr Tomalin swore in front of the whole class. Everyone was dumbfounded, not a word was said, a complete silence took over the class. Suddenly, Mr Tomalin started laughing and asked why everyone had that reaction, if that was not the first time we saw someone swore.

Hands went up and opinions such as “ because you are expected to be role model to us” or “because in school property swearing is prohibited” were heard, opinions which I completely agree since my reaction was the same. Afterwards, he told us that was the topic for the day, swearing.

Throughout the class we read an extract of the book “Mother Tongue” by Bill Bryson which brought a new perspective on the topic. It described insults form all over the world as well as the most commonly used swear words and how they differ in every country. We discussed how every person fells swear words are harsher when they are in their mother tongue, in contrast on how they feel when they hear them in languages learned later on in their lives. In addition, how the same word had different connotations depending on the cultural background of the person. For example, in China being called a turtle is the worst possible taunt, however, in Colombia it means that you are performing your actions really slowly. Insignificant details for some that make the same word have completely different meanings. 

The extract also described the origin of some words and how they changed its meaning over time. This really got me thinking about the swear words I hear the most in a daily basis, and where they come from; the origin of the majority of them is still unknown to me. However, this lesson made us all laugh and discuss why we use certain words that do not even have a particular meaning. A discussion we have never had since we do not really analyze why we use this type of words, which in my opinion, was a really interesting and entertained lesson.

From Senses to Reason

Our first TOK lesson consisted on how people depend on their senses to reason. 

To begin the lecture, Ms Briggs asked us about what the weather was like the day before. No one hesitated and said their opinion, they knew they could not be wrong, they had experienced it. According to the opinions given, it was cold and rainy, no one disagreed. This demonstrates that people get to conclusions according to what they have felt, herd or saw. As defined by the oxford dictionary reason is: “the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic.” However, this process of logic relying only on the senses was an idea I had never thought before, which really got me thinking.

As the lecture proceed, we discussed how even thought we all have the same senses, we do not respond in the same way to the same stimulus. This was demonstrated by how every person in the class remembered a different detail of a picture that was shown to us for some seconds. In addition, we talked about how for some people letters and sounds have different colors when they see them or listen to them. These are called synesthetes, they have a neurological condition in which their senses are combined. I was really impressed when I saw the video of a synesthete who has three senses combined, taste, sight and hearing. I also noticed that my classmates were just as dumbfounded as I was.

I really enjoyed the lecture because it got me thinking and analyzing ideas I would not have thought by myself. It made me ask myself if we take for granted our senses and if so, why does this happen if they are so useful for every single thought we have?

Theory of Knowledge Diagram

My first post is the Theory of Knowledge diagram showed in class.