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Theory of knowledge

4: That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.
Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge.

Azza Abdulla
Candidate number: 001368-0008
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That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.
Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge.
As the saying goes, out with the old and in with the new. The title asserts that
things that we label as knowledge are sometimes disposed; this could allow us to
imagine what we could find out tomorrow. These things can be methodologies or
even entire belief systems. I agree with the notion that we, as a species evolve around
change. Bear in mind, the title does not say always, as not all knowledge is
discarded. Some things we are 100% certain with like the grass is green, the sun is our
source of light, but what if we find out that color is relative or there are other sources?
This would mess with the whole system set up in our minds. The title does have some
ambiguity though; it does not have a standpoint itself. The people who accept this
knowledge are not mentioned. The definition of discarded is also unclear, as it could
be lost or ignored. The areas of knowledge being explored are human sciences and
ethics. These two areas of knowledge dont always see eye to eye, so itll be
interesting to change outlooks on the subject.
Things are always being re-interpreted, more advanced theories are constantly
being made, as the world develops around us. In the film Harry Potter, the main
character is wholly astounded when he finds out the wizard world exists and this
changes everything hes ever known. This relates to how the world is becoming
increasingly modern and with that comes the abandonment of past beliefs, values and
ways of thinking. This is an interesting discussion topic because this is something
people deal with constantly in their lives- what is the truth and can we trust it?
Especially as this issue can be easily related to even something on a smaller scale like
a personal perspective of someone, which is a way of knowing and can change like
the seasons.
A knowledge issue to ponder over is the role of traditions and religious beliefs
in the movement; does breaking away from traditional and cultural norms initiate a
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change in information? If everyone is thinking the same through traditional/religious
scopes then a fresh outlook on the situation may sprout some information that is
beneficial. Real life situations of this are for e.g. how slavery was seen as a social
norm and abandoning female babies to die in China was also seen as a social norm, in
contrast to how they are perceived now. What we deem morally decent changes
greatly through the ages. There are old accepted theories about differences discarded
in the light of new research about the differences between male and female brains.
There was also a time when people were psychologically manipulated by the Kony
2012 campaign.
Another knowledge issue is to what extent does personal knowledge need
revision as we age? Hence, when you age you start to realize things that you never
deliberated before. When a child is young their parents might give them a simpler
explanation of something, something that they would understand at their age. Once
the child grows older, he/she will understand things in more depth and a wider
context. Through this, everything they once thought they knew is deserted as theyve
replaced the past knowledge with more concrete knowledge. Our beliefs as humans
are disoriented when a new piece of information unfolds and threatens all we thought
we knew. For e.g. perhaps we find that mammoths, which are extinct now, looked a
lot different from what we learned when we were small, that would change our
perception of mammoths entirely. No one learns something new and then holds it
entirely independent of what they already know. We incorporate it into the little
edifice of personal knowledge that we have been creating in our minds our entire
lives (Arbesman). This will cause people to be insecure of their beliefs.
Thomas Malthus proposes that as population grows exponentially, resources
grow arithmetically and there will come a point where the population passes resources
and humans will have no resources left to live on. Malthusians advocate restraints on
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population growth (e.g. Chinas one child policy). Malthus was right in that there has
been a population explosion but he was not completely correct. Now if the world
continued to follow his ideologies, we might miss some people that have the potential
to change the world and the way we do things forever. This is Boserups theory,
Boserup argued that the changes in technology allow for improved crop strains and
increased yields (Thinkgeo).
A further knowledge issue is Are behavioral mannerisms view subject to
change through the ages? This question could be interpreted through how
homosexuality is rapidly becoming more accepted. Just like how it was seen as a
curse to be of color in the past, now with viewpoints developing, people see that the
pasts perspective was based on ignorance. In the novel, To kill a mockingbird Tom
Robinson, a black man, was falsely accused of rape; the revelation discarded all
previous perceptions of him, breaking stereotypical boundaries. Added by Boo
Radleys heroic actions that changed everything they once thought to be fact about
him. This raises another significant question of whether prejudice gets in the way of
obtaining valid information.
Additionally, How can we know if change is constant? as throughout the
ages, religions have become popular and abandoned; also, how the theory of
evolution shook Victorian society. New ideas always seem crazy, crazy, and then
suddenly obvious. There needs to be a highlighted distinction between knowing and
thinking you know. One needs a new fold of knowledge to come and challenge our
thoughts and knowledge so that we can reevaluate things around us. Discoveries
cannot be predicted. Knowledge needs to be reviewed because things are constantly
changing. This way humanity will push forward faster as with new information comes
new innovation. If we can understand the order of how knowledge changes that can
help one to understand everything surrounding us.
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A counter argument is that knowledge is not discarded but developed, like
everything around us. In the past they thought cancer was a deadly disease without
cure; now with treatments people can survive some types of cancer. My mother
completed her degree in general medicine in 1995, she learned a lot of things about
medicine that have drastically changed since then. It was a fairly established fact that
people with diabetes inherited it but now it is evident that this is not the only way to
the disease. We would constantly keep our house disinfected as bacteria brought
illness and no one wanted that. Later it was found that actually we need contact with
bacteria. One needs to get sick so that the immune system can become stronger and
protect the body. A body will have no defenses, if individuals have no contact with
bacteria. All doctors need to keep up with new findings and research, as following
their outdated knowledge is ultimately dangerous. Their knowledge has an expiration
date, is medical knowledge getting outdated faster than ever? If doctors didnt know
that smoking was bad for us for decades, we worry about what else doctors are also
wrong about today (Arbesman).
There is also ethical involvement in the theories of education and learning and
how theyve been developed and discarded over time. Teachers used to be allowed to
beat children to discipline their learning; this would act as motivation through threat.
This technique has been abandoned in most areas and in some a teacher can now be
jailed for such an offense. Whats considered healthy is constantly changing and how
to take care of babies, if they should sleep on their stomachs or backs. Facts change as
our surroundings change, with Internet speeds faster than ever, technology plays a
huge role in the distribution of facts, so why would it not play a role in the alteration
of them?
As humans we have all have a sense of curiosity, we are the dominant
intelligent species, surely we with our sophisticated brainwork can work out or have
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all the answers? Unfortunately this is not the case; humans must come to terms with
the fact that there are restrictions with what we can know and label as truth. What
the title means to me is that we could all be in a large-scale Truman Show, in a world
where everything is strategically placed to manipulating you into thinking/believing
in something. Our world is constantly changing, shouldnt our knowledge be too?

Word Count: 1,443





















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Works Cited
Arbesman, Samuel. The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration
Date. New York: Current, 2012. Print.
"Thinkgeogwiki - Malthus vs Boserup." Thinkgeogwiki - Malthus vs Boserup. N.p., n.d. Web.
11 Dec. 2013.

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