Emotions for Decision Making

Ways of Knowing: Emotion

Another way of knowing is through emotions. In the Theory of Knowledge course, emotion can be defined as a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Emotions are a part of a person’s mental state, and they are usually a major influence on how a person perceives the world around them. Emotions can also be seen to influence and work together with reason and logic, as some people need emotions to drive their reason, although this is not the case with everyone. This was shown in the film Twelve Angry Men as the lawyer’s reasoning for the boy’s innocence or guiltiness were due to both emotional and logical factors.

Emotions can also be seen as a “universal language” to some extent because many people have either experienced something similar, or seen such emotions. An example of this is emotion expressed through art. In music for example, if someone listens to a very cheerful and exciting song, many people will be able to recognize the type of emotion that is expressed, and might say that it resembles happiness, and joy. However, there are certainly limitations to this, as there are certain emotions that cannot be expressed and/or described in words.

Even though our emotions work together to give us meanings, and further allow people to acquire knowledge, I still believe that at times, there are certainly some limitations to them, and therefore, it is questionable whether or not we can always rely on our emotions. One of the limitations is that some emotions can cause people to either focus or reject certain aspects of reality. Furthermore, I believe that emotions can also sometimes stunt a person’s ability to learn and think. For example, if a person feels emotionally distressed or is in a state of depression, that person may reject and/or dislike everything that is presented to them. Such emotions can then cause the person to not be totally open to new ideas or information, which ultimately limits their ability to gain knowledge, and think.

Overall, I think that I am more emotionally based rather than logic, as many of the things I do are mostly due to emotional factors. An example of this is that whenever I have to buy something, whether its clothes, shoes, or games, most of the times, I mostly focus on how I feel about somethings, and according to that make my decisions on what to buy.

Is there such thing as false knowledge?

Is there such thing as false knowledge?

In the theory of knowledge course, the term “knowledge” is defined as a “justified true belief”. This often means that as long as someone is able to provide a logical reason and justification for their knowledge, it can be considered as truth. Although there is no concrete definitions for the term “truth”, I think that it refers to the “quality or state of something being true”. Furthermore, I think that the claim that one is reasoning about can only be either true or false, and not both.

Whether or not there is such thing as false knowledge is debatable. Some people may argue that there isn’t such thing as false knowledge, and may further explain that all knowledge is true. On the other hand, there are those who believe that there is such thing as false knowledge. The people that support the existence of false knowledge may believe that if something isn’t justifiable, then it cannot be considered as truth, and hence would become false knowledge.

In my opinion, I believe that there is such thing as false knowledge. This is because if someone isn’t able to provide a logical reason, and/or a justification for the knowledge claim, then it cannot be considered as truth. In addition, I also think that knowledge can be replaced with new information, causing the some of the previous knowledge regarding the subject to become false. An example of this is when humans believed that the world was flat. Previously, perceiving the world to be flat was completely reasonable, and many people had provided various justifications to support this knowledge claim, which caused it to be “true”. However, overtime, this knowledge was replaced with new information, which further provided evidence that the world is a spherical shape, which caused any of the old knowledge regarding the world being flat to become “false” knowledge.  Furthermore, there are also other cases in which false knowledge could exist. When a person purposely lies, knowing that they are not telling the truth, it can be considered as “False” knowledge.

As a student who takes chemistry, it has come to my attention that the extent to which something is true or false in the sciences is a big part. This is because, for something to be considered as truth in the sciences, it would have to be tested numerous times, and many people would have to come to an agreement. On the other hand, if something had not been tested sufficiently, and there is almost nothing to validate the theory, then it cannot be considered as truth, and would rather be considered to be false knowledge.

Fallacy

The term “fallacies” is often used in everyday language to describe any kind of misinformation or error of thinking. In addition, with reference to logic, the word “fallacy” receives a more exact definition. In the theory of knowledge course, “fallacy” is often defined as an argument that uses an invalid form of reasoning. These are then divided into two different types of fallacies, which are formal and informal fallacies. Formal fallacy is the invalid reasoning found in syllogisms. These are typically errors in logic that can be seen in the argument’s form, arrangement, and/or technical structure. Contrary to this, informal fallacy is one in which the reasoning is wrong, rather than the structure (formal). Some types of fallacies are:

Ad Hominum: This is a type of fallacy, which transfers the attention from the argument itself to the person presenting the argument.

Ad Populum: This is when people justify their arguments to be true because many people believe it.

Slippery Slope: This is a type of fallacy that is often used when the a person supports and/or justifies their argument by claiming that their position must be preferred over the other because the other position will lead to a chain on events leading to undesirable consequences. In addition, most of the times, these events with negative consequences are often highly unlikely to take place.

Prior to the last lesson, I was sort of unclear as to what was meant with fallacies, and found it quite difficult to understand the ideas. However, what I found really interesting was that after learning about it, I began to realize that informal fallacies are always being used around us. A very common type of informal fallacy that is always used in school is the Ad Populum fallacy, which is when people justify their arguments to be true because many people believe it. An example of this in the daily lives of students at the Dubai American Academy is when students justify their tardiness to class by saying that “everyone comes late to class” so it is fine. After a bit of reflection, I have also come to a conclusion that I also use fallacies all the times, and now, whenever I speak with others, it is fascinating to be able to tell how and when others use fallacies.

Ways of Knowing: Reason and Logic

Another “way of knowing” is through reason and logic. In the theory of knowledge course, the term logic is defined as reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity. These set of principles are often understood everywhere in the world, and as a result can be seen as a “universal language”. On the other hand, reason is a justification for an action or event. These two concepts are often interconnected as reason can be seen as the development of an argument, which is based on logic. There are two main forms of reasoning that are discussed in the theory of knowledge course, which are Deductive Reasoning and Inductive Reasoning.

Deductive reasoning is an argument that involves starting out with a theory or general statement, then moving towards a specific conclusion. Contrary to this, inductive reasoning takes a series of specific observations and tries to expand them into a more general statement.

Deductive Reasoning

Example: “I am a human, All humans are mortal, Therefore I am mortal”

Inductive Reasoning

Example: “In my life the sun has risen everyday for 17556 consecutive times, therefore it will rise again tomorrow.”

In the theory of knowledge course, both of these approaches are very different from each other. In addition, it is important to understand that both inductive and deductive reasoning can end up in providing false statements. These false statements, and/or theories are often not logical.

Sensory Perception: Eye Witnesses

Sense Perception: Color Changing Card Trick

Sense Perception: Selective Attention Test

Ways of Knowing: Sense Perceptions

During the past couple of lessons, we began to discuss what is meant by the different “ways of knowing”, and specifically began to explore one of the ways of knowing which is sense perception. Everything that humans know is based upon the sensory perception. To be more precise, every human is born with five senses, which are sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. As human beings, we are very dependent of these senses and are constantly relying on these to acquire knowledge and develop an understanding of the world around us. In addition, sensory perceptions work together to give us meaning, and without them, there would be no real way that we can get information. All of this falls under a concept known as “empiricism” which is the theory that advocates that all knowledge is derived from sense experiences. I had always been aware of the fact that sense perceptions were important to humans, however, the application of the senses to how humans can “know” things is something that I had never considered in the past.

Even though the sense perceptions work together to give us meanings, and further allow people to acquire knowledge, I still believe that at times, there are certainly some limitations to them, and therefore, it is questionable whether or not we can trust our senses. An example of this is the video entitled “selective attention test”. In this test, the audiences were asked to watch a video consisting of a group of people wearing black or white shirts, and then asked to count how many times the people wearing white shirts pass around the basket ball. After the activity had been done, the final answer to the question was revealed. However, what most people might have not seen in the video was a gorilla walking across the screen. This could possibly be explained because humans have evolved in such way to only concentrate on one thing at a time.

Another example that further supports the limitations of the sense perceptions is when it comes to eyewitnesses. After watching several videos in class, it has come to my attention that the majority of eyewitnesses, typically after a crime scene are not very reliable. This is often due to the visual sense perception as some people might make themselves believe that they had seen something even though they aren’t entirely sure.

In my opinion, the most important sensory perception is the visual perception, as it allows me to interpret and see the world, and environment around me. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to gain much knowledge and understand many things, and the world would just be black because I wouldn’t be able to see anything.

In conclusion, although sensory perceptions have a very significant role in the different “ways of knowing”, I think that one must draw a clear line between the sense perceptions and its usage as a way of knowing.

Knowledge Issues

Understanding Knowledge Issues

After the introductory lessons regarding Theory of Knowledge had finished, we began to learn about some of the core topics, including “Knowledge Issues”. The term “Knowledge Issues” is central to the theory of knowledge (TOK) course and its assessments. As a result, being able to effectively identify and understand this concept will be a significant advantage to the students in assessment tasks. Knowledge issues are basically issues about knowledge, and may apply to any aspects of knowledge. These knowledge issues may range from extremely general (My uncle went to an acupuncturist), to the specific (What is it about a scientific explanation that makes it convincing or unconvincing?). In this journal entry, I will be selecting knowledge claims form three different Areas of Knowledge, and will be going through the different stages to develop highly focused knowledge issues from my real life experiences.

Area of Knowledge: Psychology

Real-life situation: Intelligence can be genetically inherited

Not a knowledge issue: Genetic inheritance and intelligence

Poor: Can intelligence be genetically inherited?

Intermediate: How can we decide if intelligence can be genetically inherited or not?

Good: What is it about a scientific explanation that makes it convincing or unconvincing?

Area of Knowledge: Chemistry

Real-life situation: In a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed.

Not a knowledge issue: Chemistry, The Law of Conservation of Mass.

Poor: Is The Law of Conservation of Mass correct?

Intermediate: How can we use theories and/or models to predict chemical equations?

Good: Why should we believe that a general scientific law is true without testing it?

Area of Knowledge: English

Real-life situation: Using swear words may offend some people.

Not a knowledge issue: English and Taboo

Poor: Why do some swear words offend people?

Intermediate: How can we know the effects that taboo words have on others?

Good: To what extent does ethics play a role in communication?