Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 Beliefs or knowledge that we have today can sometimes be biased or based

on our culture. In order to have knowledge that is independent of culture and bias, there must be a new way to share knowledge and gain knowledge, therefore a new way of knowing where Perception, Reason, Language and Emotion cannot achieve. Perception has a limitation where a perception of one person is counteracted by the perception of another. Reason also has the problem where rational choice is considered to be the best choice. Language is limited by the ability to express something with only the words present in a specific language. Emotion has a limitation where a strong sense of one emotion can control a persons conclusion of a subject matter. In order to counteract these limitations of the current four ways of knowing, I propose a new way of knowing that allows information to be presented independently of culture. I propose a new way of knowing called Information Technology. Information technology allows a new frontier or a medium for people to communicate, gather and analyze information on a global scale. Information Technology is not meant as a concrete meaning regarding Technology as hardware, but relies more on collectively describing or portraying the advancements, abilities, creations, undertaking, views and knowledge of human kind shared on an online database. This proposes a knowledge issue: To what extent does information shared on a global scale benefit society as a whole? Today Information technology allows the ability to share opinions around the world to create a globally accepted opinion, which was not available twenty years ago where shipping a letter that takes sometimes a month to ship was the norm. This means that information technology allows us to share various opinions that come from various perspectives in order to analyze or agree upon by other people from other countries at a much faster rate than before. In this sense, information technology links the variety of knowledge available from different cultures and allows a new source of knowledge. For example, a website called Angies list allows for users of the website to review or comment upon everything from a hired gardener to a respected whole seller. This means that people who have hired a person to work for a project they need help with can state if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with their work on Angies list. Not only does this provide a new source of knowledge where people are able to make smart decisions based on reviews from other people, but also it allows for workers of a particular field to have an incentive to work harder in order to increase there business. In a way this new way of knowing in the field of business allows for a faster rate of creating development and modernization. This means that this new way of knowing creates advances in the filed of information that we have today to create profound effects on what we do and can know on a global scale. However, a counter argument can be said stating that Information Technology is knowledge and knowledge is what the four main ways of knowing allows us to gain, therefore Information Technology cannot be a new way of knowing. It is true that the existing ways of knowing allows us to gain knowledge from different fields of information, however information technology holds a different type of knowledge not present in the four ways of knowing. This is the

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 change in knowledge being an object to a series of networks and flows. It is not anymore in a sense where knowledge is produced in the minds of individuals, but in the interactions between people. So far information technology allows us to have a connection with various cultures and the ability to share our opinions that are globally viewed and agreed upon. However, information technology can also change users conception of reality and what users perceptions and biases are toward reality. This brings another knowledge issue: To what extent can information technology alter out perceptions on reality? This states that Information technology thus alters perception, one of the four ways of knowing that we have today, and promotes an interdependency state that accelerates globalization. This brings up a logical fallacy that can occur called Reductio ad absurdum. Reductio ad absurdum is the nature of concluding on something that is assumed to be true such as inference. (sasoc) However, information technology solves bias by having various perspectives on information, which shifts inference by reasoning from the small and general scale to the large and specific scale. This is supported by a quote Akio Morita the co-founder of Sony said: You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people sometimes logic has to take a back seat to understanding. (Amy, 22) This suggests the constant categorizing and arrangement of information available, which changes knowledge and thus changes perception and logic of an individual all-together, which supports the fact that information technology solves the presence of bias when various perspectives and cultures meet to agree upon a globally accepted source of information. An example of this is Wikipedia. Wikipedia allows a database of information shared by people who have knowledge of a particular topic, which can propose an argument stating that false or bias information may be present. However, the existence of bias or false information is altered when the nature of a wiki, where people are able to edit and add freely, allows for the many alterations of information present until a result that is accepted globally or by the audience is made. The change of perception and logic over information can relate to all Areas of Knowledge where science, math, English, economics, etc all reach a shared opinion. This may create a counter argument where if there were a globally accepted source of information, that any new advancement in an area of knowledge would be shut down and dismissed. However, this is not true since all information in an area of knowledge is globally accepted without bias and false information, the ability to categorize and recognize many of what is missing in the areas of knowledge becomes visible promoting the incentive to search for additional information, which is supported by a way of knowing reason. In this sense Information Technology links all of the areas of knowledge and allows for a systematic use of the ways of knowing in order to accelerate globalization, modernization and overall human advancement. I constantly use many different mediums of information technology, such as a mobile phone, social networks or various media sources to gain information and

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 knowledge about what is currently happening around the world and around a social group. The use of a social network such as Youtube allows for the sharing of opinions, knowledge and skills across the entire world in a video format. Youtube allows me to understand information that has been added or is needed in a new method of learning. When compared to a typical news website where all news is written in text form, a persons preference in the way they want to receive information, either in text, audio, video or other formats allows the ability for information to be understood by all types of people with different ways of learning since information is present in all different formats due to the existence of information technology. The ability for me to access information rapidly in different formats, allows me to have a better understanding of knowledge present in the world and a better understanding of culture all together. When learning at school, the use of the internet for sources rather than traditional books or periodicals allows for an almost infinite source of information that have different perspectives and conclusion that allow for a overall better understanding of a certain type of information. In this way through the use of a new way of knowing, information technology, we are able to understand, categorize and reach a globally accepted opinion on a source of information that is shared in different formats to promote the understanding of an individual. This in turn will shift the perception and logic of a person to a more globally accepted state, meaning that the presence of culture changing beliefs or knowledge that may be present in some sources of information is eradicated. Ultimately this allows us to communicate; share and network the information present and gain knowledge that is independent of a specific culture, but accepted by a variety of cultures. (Word Count: 1414) Works Cited:
amyscott.com. "Problems of Knowing and Linking Questions." 2013. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://www.amyscott.com/WAYS%20OF%20KNOWING%20LInking.pdf>. Sasoc Moodle. "What is a logical fallacy?." 2013. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://sasoc.saschina.org/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=90113>.

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 Unpacking Notes: 1. Can we have beliefs or knowledge which are independent of our culture? a. Yes through the use of sharing information with people around the world in order to reach a globally accepted opinion i. AOK: 1. All AOKs ii. Examples: 1. Wikipedia 2. Angies List 3. Information Technology 4. The Internet 5. Various social networks iii. WOK: 1. All WOK but perception, emotion, language and reason have limitations 2. A new WOK should be suggested: Information Technology iv. Action Terms: 1. Can we? 2. Beliefs 3. Knowledge 4. Culture v. Knowledge Issues: 1. To what extent is information restricted or alter our understanding because of information being influenced by culture? 2. To what extent is information influenced by culture? 3. To what extent can information technology solve bias? vi. Arguments: 1. Information technology is knowledge 2. Existing WOKs is helping Information Technology 3. Bias cannot be solved vii. TOK Terms: 1. Knowledge 2. Belief

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 2. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. a. TOK Terms: i. Theorize ii. Data b. Action Terms i. Mistake ii. It is c. Knowledge Issue i. To what extent is theory limited by lack of data? ii. To what extent can we make theories without the presence of data? d. Examples: i. Conspiracy Theories ii. Theory of infinity iii. Infinite Universe e. Arguments: i. Theories are theories and do not require data ii. Data is nothing without evidence to its relation to the theory f. AOK: i. Science ii. History g. WOK: i. Reason ii. Perception 3. Imagination is more important than knowledge. a. TOK Terms: i. Imaginations ii. Knowledge b. Action terms: i. More ii. Important c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent is imagination more important than knowledge? ii. To what extent can knowledge be based on imagination? d. Examples: i. Sci-Fi stories ii. Existence of Aliens e. Arguments: i. Imagination is not important compared to knowledge f. AOK: i. Science g. WOK: i. Perception ii. Reason iii. Emotion

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 iv. Langauge 4. What counts as knowledge in the arts? a. TOK Terms: i. Knowledge ii. Arts b. Action terms: i. Counts ii. What c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent is art a source of knowledge? d. Examples: i. Art made by various people who have disabilities e. Arguments: i. Art is not knowledge f. AOK: i. Drama ii. Art iii. Film g. WOK: i. Emotion ii. Perception iii. Language 5. Habit is stronger than reason a. TOK Terms: i. Habit ii. Reason b. Action terms: i. Stronger ii. Than c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent is habit stronger than reason? ii. To what extent can reason dictate habits? d. Examples: i. A daily routine ii. A constant need to be in the box e. Arguments: i. Reason is stronger than habit f. AOK: i. Physical Education g. WOK: i. Reason 6. The ultimate protection against research error and bias is supposed to come from the way scientists constantly re-test each others results. To what extent would you agree with this claim in the natural sciences and human sciences? a. TOK Terms: i. Bias

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 ii. Extent iii. Agree iv. Claim b. Action Terms i. Agree ii. Would you c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent does repetition solve bias or experimental errors? d. Examples: i. Various scientific experiments that may have experimental errors present e. Arguments: i. There is never a way to avoid experimental errors f. AOK: i. Human Sciences ii. Natural Sciences g. WOK: i. Reason ii. Perception 7. The which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. To what extend do you agree with these assertions? a. TOK Terms: i. Asserted ii. Evidence iii. Dismissed b. Action Terms: i. Agree? c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent can certain subject of knowledge be asserted without substantial proof? d. Examples: i. Various Conspiracy Theories ii. Theory of gravitational lensing iii. Dismissing the ability to reason with threats e. Arguments: i. Factual truth vs theories ii. Seek other things such as justice, comfort, safety, trust iii. Ad infinitum iv. Blind Faith f. AOK: i. Sciences ii. Politics iii. Religion g. WOK: i. Reason

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 8. In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences? a. TOK Terms: i. Disagreement ii. Pursuit iii. Knowledge b. Action terms: i. Disagreement ii. In what ways iii. Aid c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent does disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge? d. Examples: i. Experimental Errors e. Arguments: i. No way to avoid experimental errors f. AOK: i. Science ii. Natural sciences iii. Human sciences g. WOK: i. Reason ii. Perception 9. The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may rise in two area of knowledge. a. TOK Terms: i. Ways of knowing ii. Intuition iii. Memory iv. Imagination v. Knowledge Issues vi. Knowledge b. Action Terms: i. Indicates ii. Propose iii. Explore c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent can intuition propose a new way of knowing? ii. To what extent can imagination propose a new way of knowing? iii. To what extent can memory propose a new way of knowing? d. Examples: i. Intuition is rapid though process

Alec Williams MOCK TOK ESSAY 2013 ii. Multiple choice tests iii. Fast reactions e. Arguments: i. Current WOK is enough f. AOK: i. Science ii. History iii. Human Science iv. Psychology g. WOK: i. New one Intuition ii. Imagination iii. Or iv. Memory 10. Cen we know when to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Consider history and one other area of knowledge? a. TOK Terms: i. Emotions ii. Knowledge iii. Area of knowledge b. Action Terms: i. Know ii. Trust iii. Consider c. Knowledge Issue: i. To what extent can we trust out emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? d. Examples: i. Emotions controlling behavior e. Arguments: i. Other WOKs allow us to pursue knowledge when emotion is not available ii. AOK: 1. History 2. Science iii. WOK: 1. Emotion 2. Perception 3. Reason