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Most of what you need to know, right here: Fascinating conversation; just keeps getting better. This blog post about wine-tasting is filled with ‘earthy’ language (in other words, obscenity and profanity) but it does suggest some interesting TOK questions. I’m not really sure whether it is an invention or a discovery. I believe that perhaps there were things that didn’t make sense and when you look at it in a mathematical way everything starts to come together and it provides answers that were unknown. Without humans though would maths still be there? If there was no humans maths wouldn’t be solved so therefore maths waiting to be solved and has always existed! I guess it’s more of a discovery as living in a world without maths is almost unimaginable. In my point of view, like science and other subject related with statistics and probability math is discovered by human. First, math somehow underlies the physical world, generates it. Or second, math is a human description of how we describe certain regularities in nature, and because there is so much possible mathematics, some equations are bound to fit. Nobel laurea said that mathematics is both invented and discovered,” but he thinks “it’s mostly discovered.” Mathematics, he says, “is the process of taking axioms, definite sets of assumptions, and drawing out the consequences. So, devising axioms is invention, and drawing out the consequences is discovery.” Nowadays, there are a lot of area using math and last week we discussed about how math invented or discovered by humans. i think math is discovered and developed by the human just like a gemstone. We never say that human invented gemstone but human can change it’s shape or uses by processing. So we can say that people discovered math and invented the way of using math. Science, History and other areas of kowledge are related to the real world. They are the studies that draw off some rules or theories from observation on real world, therefore meaning that they have been discovered. However, Mathematics is quite different from those areas of knowledge. As we all have come across with imaginery number, we are able to find most of the stuffs and knowledge in Mathematics just exist in concepts but not in a real world. Well, some of us may argue that there are lots of circular-shaped or triangular-shaped objects around us and that Mathematicians have simplified those objects into Mathematic shapes. However can you determine there is a perfect triangle or a circle in the real world? If Mathematics is discovered shouldn’t there be at least one example that satisfies the terms of Mathematics perfectly?Even the term that we call a straight line doesn’t exist in real world since the line that you have drawn with a ruler is just a wobbling line when you magnify it with a microscope. What’s more, Mathematicians develop their axioms and definitions of the terms into new theories and equations. For instance, there is a term “addition”. Mathematicians developed this term into a new term called “multipication” since adding up same numbers again and again was an onerous work. They have also developed “multiplication” into “index” as well. Not only that, the term, index, has also lead to the term “log” so that it would be easier to find the value for index. This indicates that Mathematic terms derives from each others and that they have been created by Mathematicians who are just too lazy to do some calculatings. Furthermore, have you seen Mathematicians wandering around streets to see if there is a shape that has not yet been discovered? Well, obviously Mathmaticians do not look for new equations or theories through observations. They use their logics to reach new theories. For example, an area of a triangle is 1/2 x bc sinA. That’s because the area of an triangle is 1/2 height (a) x the base (b) and since sin A is a/c you can get the value for a, the height, when you multiply c to sin A. Thus, I once more stress that Mathematic theories are invented by Mathematicians through their logics. In conclusion, Mathematics is invented though there are some overlaps with the real world. However, what is important is that they are concepts only existing in our mind, not in tangible forms since its knowledge has been acquired through circulation of logic and mathematic prooves. In my view, I believe mathematics is invented.The definition of Mathematics is a subject that use symbolic language to investage concepts such as volume, structure, change and space. I think maths is a method that human created to solve the questions in the world. People found some special phenomenon or questions in their normal life, then, they want to solve these question and think and use lots of ways to solve, after long time ponder and lots of people investigate, people find a way to solve these question, they created maths and better understand about the world. After a long period of development, posterity develop new and different methods to solve same kind of questions and develop symbolic language to solve questions more efficiency, then, mathematical theory become more and more completely. We can have a example to support my idea, π. At the past, ancients want to find the perimeter of a circle, and they use methods like cyclotomic method, then they find the number is a irrational numbers, almost 3.14, then they decide this is π and work out the formula to calculate the permeter and area of circle, then, maths method of circule formula was been created. So, I think mathemathic is invented. Mathematics is both discovered and invented. It is discovered because the basic mathematical concepts are and have always been there, in the universe. We discover the basic concepts of math from observations. And we give names to the discoveries that are made. So the language that we use to present these mathematical concepts and the application of these concepts are invented. For example, if we say that math is purely invented, then before math was invented, if an apple fell from the tree and another apple fell from the tree onto the ground, does math have to be invented first in order for there to be two apples on the ground? We only invent the language to describe the mathematical concepts that already exist. On the other hand, we can’t say that math is purely discovered either because there are also things that we cannot observe or find in nature, like imaginary numbers, which we invented because they can be useful for us to solve problems. Therefore, mathematics is both discovered and invented.
At last Friday TOK lesson , our group read and discuss the article called “Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change”. The article said Conservatives win the vote and decided to change the contents in the history textbooks, they want to stress the superiority of American capitalism, question the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and present Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. Some group of people disagree and criticize them, these group of people think Conservatives can’t change the history, they need to show and respect truth,but Conservative said they are adding banlance, the history has changed too far to the left already, they need to change back and balance it. Different groups of people’s point made us confusing, we don’t konw which group of point is right, however, there is one information we can get from the text, that is the history can be changed for any reasons like government politicy, education. People can change the history for what they want. This is the weakness of history. History is just a story and written by person, so, people will put their views into the history and make the truth confusing, even through ecognized history, there are still some doubts that historians can not work out. History can be changed just like Texa Conservatives did, change the textbook, change the truth to show some fake things to build up false confidence. So, we can not believe it, it will misleading people to the wrong side. Contrary to the viewpoints of many of my peers, I believe mathematics is invented rather than discovered. The cause of this confusion is a matter of definition. Maths can be described as a universal code that dictates omnipotently (Platonistic maths). It can also describe the way we try to define our universe and its behavior based on our perception (Formalistic maths). The key difference is that Formalistic maths are based off of postulates. These postulates, based on our limited perspective, are invented as the basis of maths. As we ourselves are not omnipotent, we cannot possibly believe that our assumptions are unwavering proof. As our formalistic maths are based off of assumptions and built upon, we are not “discovering” the true platonistic mathematics. Given this uncertainty, I argue that mathematics are invented.
I believe mathematics is discovered, but it always have been there. Many famous mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euclid, Fibonacci, and Newton left us with lots of maths concepts, but they discovered these. Long before human existence, maths has existed. So we are discovering maths that was already there. We can also see maths applied in the nature. For example, in flowers wee can see fibonacci numbers, which is described by the 13th-century Italian mathematician known as Leonardo Fibonacci. The sum of two numbers add up two the next number in a fibonacci sequence. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and so on. The flowers of many plants that shows a spiral growth pattern often have fibonacci number of petals. There is a tendency for buttercups to have 5 petals, bloodroots 8, fireweeds 13, asters 21, common field daisies 34, and Michaelmas daisies 55 or 89. Mathematicians did not design the flowers to have fibonacci numbers of petals. What we really invented is the units and names we have given to mathematical principles. However, maths is a human discovery, who knows what the next discovery of maths will be. Math has been invented not discovered. We invented the concept of maths and have learned to apply it to understand the world around us. We as a society now have become so comfortable with using math to explain everything that it is hard to imagine that math wasn’t always there. Some people argue that maths has always been there and things such as gravity is proof of that and that the math has always been there. Gravity has always been there, not the math, we invented the maths in order to understand the gravity. Although i think math is invented, and also believe it can be discovered. We invented the overall concept of maths and have discovered more maths within that, therefore expanding our knowledge of maths allowing us to further apply it and understand our world. I believe that math is discovered. Of course, math symbols such as +,-,/,* etc. are invented so as to understand math easier; Math symbols and numbers are language in math. However, basic concepts of math are not created by human. Pythagora’s theorem is defined as “ In any right-angled triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle).” Pythagoras did not create the right-angle triangle to be like that. Pythagora discovered that in right- angle triangle, square of hypotenuse equals to sum of squares of adjacent and opposite sides. That is what he found. Furthermore, people did not create how to add, subtract, divide and multiply. People learned how to do four fundamental arithmetic operations by experience. There is an apple on the table. If someone puts another apple next to the apple, there would be two apples on the table. If I write that example in mathematical expression, it is 1+1=2. People found out that when one more thing is added, there would be two of those things. Thus, I believe that Math is discovered. I believe that the concept of maths in our lives is discovered. However, though we do not invent the concepts of math, we do invent the ways to communicate the concepts in an understandable fashion to others; we’ve invented the mathematical language. Finding a mathematical explanation for a certain circumstance is a discovery, because no one actually creates a new concept; they merely explain something and roughly demonstrate the things that are in our world. Theories can be created, hypotheses about mathematical concepts can be created, but ultimately they are just explaining the concept, putting (perhaps new) words and symbols to it, and not really forming a concept that hasn’t been pre-existing already. Take the classical example of a point. Euclid’s definition of a point is “that which has no part”, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever in our physical, 3D world. We cannot recreate something that has no part; then it technically doesn’t exist! However, in order for this to make sense to us, we denote a ‘point’ as a specific location marked by a ‘dot’. In this case, we’ve represented a mathematical concept with a poor replication of what would make sense in our eyes and be easier to communicate. While math is not created, a mathematical language used in order to apply these mathematical concepts easily in our life, is created. I believe that math is discovered. What I mean my math are the rules, like the rule of gravity or Pythagoras, these are things that already existed before us. It existed when humans lived in caves and t will still exist in 2000 years (I think..). Therefore I believe that math id discovered. It still existed before humans discovered it. Yet, humans did invent the theories and the names of all these rules we have. For example, Pythagoras’s rule sais that if there is a straight angle triangle, then the longest side(c) will be equal to (a) and (b), only when all the sides are to the power of 2. This rule existed before Pythagoras discovered, yet he invented the name. In my opinion, math is definitely invented by people but not discovered. I am so sure to say that because we cannot touch math, it doesn’t naturally exist. Be more specific, math is only and idea that formed in our minds.
Take the example of number; we cannot say number exists by itself. Actually, we create number and develop it into laws, theories and rules. There is no any substance called “0” or “1”, but there is a method to assume that there can be “0” or “1” in our minds. What does it mean? Well, if you want some coffee, you may say, “I want one cup of coffee”, because you need a unit to tell others how much coffee you want. To be truth, I think the invention of math is for people to communicate and interact more easily, especially in our normal life. Basically, math is some thoughts appeared in people’s minds a long time ago, and we name it and play with it. In this area, many mathematicians discover new short ways to use the math, but all the laws are based on an imaginary method, which is math itself.
I know it sound ridiculous and freaky, but it is the way we see and use math. Our brain creates it, and we discover new rules to play with it. Just like playing chess, we invent different roles (King or Queen), and then we set the rules and find strategies to win. I think that math may be discovered and invented, but it depends on the area of math, since we can invent math as an engineer and we discover in physics. This can be argued by a ton of mathematicians. If we would take the opinion of a Platonism we would only discover math and never invent it, since math is in another dimension and waits to be discovered by mathematicians. On the other hand other people would say that we couldn’t discover and only invent it. With these arguments people can argue it, but would they find an answer to it? Who knows?
I don’t know, since as the example given to us on Wednesday with hyperbolic shapes. Lobachevsky “discovered” hyperbolic shapes a long time ago, but a women found a way in 1993 to create an image of hyperbolic shapes by the usage of crochet. Would this example show how we can create and discover math
In TOK, IB students learn many different areas of knowledge. Mathematic is one of them. Some people say that mathematics is invented while other say that it is discoverd. The definition of invent is ’to originate or create as a product of one’s own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance’ and the definition of discover is ‘to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of (something previously unseen or unknown)’. I think mathematics is invention and creation, because mathematics theories did not exist until the first mathematician defined them. For example, Venn diagram is created by John Venn. Before he made the diagram and named after him, the concept of Venn diagram did not exist. Discover means that find out something that existed but unseen before, so we cannot say he discovered Venn diagram. He actually created. Like this, all or most of mathematics theories did not exist before one or more mathematicians claimed that as new theories, so we cannot say that mathematics is discoverd. Mathematics is invented. Also, there is nothing wrong in mathematics if mathematicians make that as a new theory. For example, we commonly think that one plus one equals two. However one plus one also equals ten in base 2 arithmetic. The mathematician, who created the idea of base 2 arithmetic, thought something that is not in accordance with common sense and created new mathematics world. Therefore mathematics is created rather than discoverd. Personally, I think that mathematics is discovered. Discovered means find something unexpectedly or in the course of a search. Whereas, invent implies create or design something that has never existed before. Hence, mathematics is discovered, since math has always existed. In the TED video, the hyperbolic shape has always existed on earth. Since it is the shape of a sea slug and some vegetables such as lettuce. These objects or things were not discovered earlier, so mathematicians might think they invented it. However, that wasn’t the case, it was just that humans didn’t discover them yet. Look at nature and all the species that reign in it, and you will see that math is all around you. Its been around since before our grandparents, since before Jesus, before the Romans, the Greeks, before we even knew what the answer to two plus two. It has always been there, humans have only discovered it. Humans do however, have to be given some credit, as we have invented the tools to practice and perform math and to discover new formulae that exist within our world.
In my opinion maths is discovered because we are using laws and formulas to things that already exist in the world around us. Inventing to me is when you come up with a whole new concept from scratch and it comes from one inventor. We’ve always used maths. Ever since the beginning of time. Maybe it wasn’t referred to as maths at the time but it’s the same concept. Instead of using maths back then to calculate the angle of a triangle, they used maths to count, add, subtract and maybe multiply. It’s natural and it’s always been used and so therefore it’s not invented and we are simply discovering new components all the time to something that is already in place and already exists. Is maths invented or discovered?
Maths has always been in our world. For example the simple 1 + 1 = 2, where two sticks put next to each other equalled two. Maths has never been invented because the concepts have always been there, waiting for someone to come and realize they are there for them to be discovered. No body has the right to claim they are the originators of mathematics, they can only say that they discovered it. Once discovered, new ways can be invented and applied to the concept that was found out. For example the concept of 1 +1 = 2 was discovered, but then 1 x 2 = 2 was invented, because it started with that 1 + 1 = 2 that had been discovered previously. In TOK class, we read an article about a Japanese who have taken history from both Japan and Australia. He realizes that in Japan, a huge part of history is left out, especially the period when Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of Nanjing. Japanese history only focuses on the success of Japan, which is a great difference than the world history. This leads to a question, is there a history or histories? I think as this example shows, there are histories and not a history. History is the study of the significant events in the past, but it is not the same as the past. There is of course only one truth, but different people can tell different versions of the past, which makes it histories. For example, Japanese government took out a huge section of world history, so that Japanese students know a history that is different than people who learned history in other countries. This can be seen as one of the weaknesses of history. Not only that we do not know whether the history we are learning is the truth, what actually happened; there are also different interpretations of history. Even if they are telling the same stories, they can each end up telling slightly differently making them sound like completely different stories. For example, if a country is defeated in a war, historians might fine so many reasons to explain this, and there is no real answer for it. The sources that historians use if also a great factor in our histories. Historians might have used some sources that are biased or inaccurate. Since usually governments give these sources, they are likely to be biased because they usually change some parts to make people to agree with them. This cause the history that we are learning today to be inaccurate as well. There is no way to know what exactly happened in the past, however as a student, we can try to investigate each source and see if it is valid In recent classes we have been doing a lot of discussion about history and whether or not there is just one main history or histories. It seems that many people have very different views on this, judging by the people i have talked with inside and outside of class. We read an article last class that i think showed that there is not a one set history. The article had interviewed a professor or something in china and he said that they cannot always tell the whole truth because it would hurt the people. This i think shows that theres no only histories but also different versions of histories. There was another part in the article about the Chinese accusing the Japanese of not telling the ‘right’ history. Personally I believe that there are histories and not just a history. The different stories of history will have changed over time and different sides will have different perspectives of what really or what didn’t happened. I guess it is impossible to be 100% of what really happened in the past that has resulted in history. Different nations and different people will have their own histories. I think a lot of it comes down to the historians and how they portray the events in history. And I think that although there are different histories they all intertwine in a way and i think this is easily showen through comparing two different countries’s history. History does not equal to the past”, to what extent do you believe it? Well, in my opinion, history is a part of past, but it is more likely a sharing experience among many people, while past can be defined as an individual’s happened event. That’s, history is a study of human being’s common past.
However, different countries can view some historical events differently. Take the case of Japanese history lessons, they do not teach much about the Second World War (that Japanese invaded lots of nations), instead, Japanese put more time and effort on the recent events, such as the evolution in economy. One reason that the authorities of Japan don not tell many details of history to the young generation is they want to keep their people be proud of country. It seems that the government can manipulate the people more easily, but it makes ordinaries have no idea about their bad relationship with their neighbors (China, Korea). On the other hand, since I had been studied in Chinese school for three years, I have pretty much understanding about Chinese history classes. During that three years, I spent one year studying the recent 150 years in China: how badly the foreign armies invaded China (especially Japanese), how successfully the communist took over the country and how great achievements we got in later years, etc. China has almost more than 5000 years’ history, but we use one year to study the rest, another one year to study the world history (most are blaming the democracy). However, the study of invasion by Japanese and other countries is very detailed. We need to remember the time, place, and even the name of person that led the wars.
By comparing these two countries, it’s so obviously how different can a same historical event be seen or taught by different countries. Undoubtedly, there is only one history in the world, but it can be more “histories” among countries. So, to what extent can we judge the “right” history? Well, who knows? In a recent TOK lesson, my group focused on the article “China’s Textbooks Twist and Omit History”, by the NYTimes in 2004. What I found very interesting was comparing the article which was written 9 years ago, to how it is in todays China (or what we know of todays China). The article spoke about the censorship in textbooks and how professors and teachers are unable to tell the truth as it’s simply not allowed or possible. Today, we still have censorship in China, though I feel that it’s starting to let go more and more as it will soon become impossible to censorship everything with the fast development of technology. Everyone today has a VPN and can easily go around the censorships and access Facebook and YouTube without major problems and so can the Chinese. Easily. We can also look at the amount of Chinese people that are traveling out of China compared to the amount in 2004. In 2004, it was much harder for Chinese people to get visas and travel as they please, while now it’s becoming easier and easier, meaning that Chinese people travel more. This leads to the realization of what the world actually looks like behind all the censorships that China puts on it’s people. But they have to let go of the censorships for development reasons. They can’t just stay an isolated country. It won’t benefit anyone. However, you can defend China and it’s censorship in the way that China has a long history with A LOT of people. The most populated country in the world (for now at least). Without some sorts of restrictions and censors for its people, China could become chaotic with too many people with too many opinions. A question that came up frequently at our table was the if there is a history or many histories. I think there are histories. China’s history will be different from all perspectives and this makes a ton of histories and there is no way of knowing which one is the best or most accurate one. It’s in the past. It’s already happened. We can’t go back and check which one is the most accurate and so we are just going to have to make up our own minds based on what we know. In this way, there can’t possibly be one single history as there are so many interpretations. The thing that is worrying, however, is when there is censorship and the newer generations are taught to hate and have certain views towards certain things, just because this is the way that they have been taught. They are being programmed to think a certain way. This is not giving freedom to people and I think this is morally incorrect. Recently in ToK we have been reading articles based on countries like China and Japan censoring their past and even modern issues from their citizens. Although I do think people should be able to explore the internet freely etc and I think that people have the right to know what kind of country they are from, I don’t think the idea is all bad. The fact China is censored isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sure there is a few details missing, but I actually find it rather refreshing. There are a lot of ways to look at it though… Censorship in China is largely seen as a measure to maintain the rule of the Communists. Censorship helps prevent unapproved reformist or religious ideas, peaceful or otherwise, from organizing themselves and spreading. Additionally, censorship prevents Chinese citizens from discovering or learning more about past and current failures of the Communist Party that could create or inflame anti-government sentiment. I mean yes it sounds pretty bad that the government is so overpowering but China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world so surely these censorships haven’t done them any injustice! In fact it’s probably shielded them from all sorts of horror. I think it’s nice that Chinese families grow up without hearing about traumatic things that have happened to their countries. Is there such a problem with a country trying to prevent political and social conflicts? Also, it’s nice to have a break from all the media reporting daily on all the things wrong with our own countries. Back home, on the news all you would hear was all the terrible things happening, however in China it’s nice that the media isn’t used so tediously to report things that let’s face it are heartbreaking to hear. Maybe China has got it right, all I know is that it doesn’t have to be so one sided. Just because it’s communism, and just because it’s not the democracy we’re used to! Something must be right here, with Britain, Europe and America in such financial and political mess’ maybe it’s time to look at China. A country that, let’s be honest will one day, most likely be the most powerful country in the world. In recent TOK lessons, we are talking about history. Last TOK lesson, I read an article ‘What Japanese history lessons leave out’. When I first saw the title of the article, I was interested to read, because it is about the history that Japanese schools teach to their students and I knew that they often distort their history. The article is written by a Japanese who went to school in Australia and explained what she or he felt about two different education in Japan and Australia. After reading this article, I chose a question, ‘Is there a history or are there histories?’ to answer with references of the article. I think there are histories, not a history. This is mainly because everyone has different perceptions to see one historical event. In the article, the author mentioned “comfort women”, which happened while Japan ruled Korea and China until 1945. I, as a korean, heard about this issue often on the Internet. Korea and China claim that korean and chinese women were forced to work as sex slaves for the Japanese army during the period. However Japan asserts that those women were paid prostitutes. Like this, even with one event, they are interpreting in different ways. Most of people are likely to understand or interpret one event in their own favor and if they are involved in the event, it is really hard to be objective. Therefore, there are lots of interpretations about one events, so we should say ‘there are histories.’ All IB students are required to choose one or two subjects in group 4. Group 4 contains subjects related to science such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Design and Technology. I think this is basically because science subjects are important in our life in many ways. Firstly, by studying science, students learn some skills that they can apply in other subjects. Science always require observation and well-ascertained facts with reasoning. By having training in observation and reasoning, it makes student be objective and logical. These skills help students to think about one thing in many different perceptions without any biases, which will help them succeed even in other subjects. In addition, science is a really important thing in our life and it makes students have various range of knowledge. I am taking biology as my group 4 subjects in IB diploma. As I learn more and more about science, I realize that almost everything in our life is related to science, even some things that do not seem like scientific. The knowledge of science is related to our life and it is useful to know about it to live in the world. People can choose not to take science subjects when they enter an university which means there is no more opportunity to learn science after graduation of high school unless you major in a field related to science. Even though you are not going to major in science, it is important to know some basic knowledge of science to live in this world, and I think high school education, which includes IB, can give the knowledge to students. Recently in TOK class we were spilt into groups and each group got an article to read all relating to History. The article I read was about how history is taught selectively in Japan. How Japanese history lessons only teach the success of Japan’s history and minimal information about its failures or defeats. How the Japanese people were not taught some parts of the world history, which is now leading to some Japanese people not able to understand some history events. Such as the Nanjing Massacre or Rape of Nanjing because these events weren’t taught in detail, it was only a one page brief description and when these events were taught in other countries there was more information. Leading to a question ‘Is there a History or are there histories?’ in this case there are histories since in different countries there are different facts on what happened. For example: In the article it stated “There is controversy over what has happened. The Chinese say 300,000 were killed and many women were gang-raped by Japanese soldiers……I learned that some in Japan deny the incident altogether.” In Japan many people denied the Nanjing Massacre but the Chinese people said it happened so who is correct? Is there one history or are there histories? Hence, I think that there are histories since there are different stories for each history event. Some say that ‘History is not heritage’ however this case it is. Some people in China mostly the older generations still dislikes Japanese people or have a grudge because of the Nanking Massacre which happened 75 years ago. I guess history is heritage for Japanese people, because they have to carry on this baggage for what their country did in the past. History is heritage because it is passed on from one generation to another, told from one person to another so it will stick on to you and follow you no matter whether you disagree or not.
I have added a new page to the blog where you can find quotations particularly relevant to TOK. You can click on this link http://ericmacknight.com/ibtok/?page_id=6018 to see it, or use the linkbar underneath the photo. In our discussion last Friday, we read an article from the New York Times, “China’s Textbooks Twist and Omit History.” In this discussion, we always came back to the question, “Is there a history or are there histories?” In this article it talks about how Chinese textbooks are censored to fit with what China wants the people to be taught. This makes it China’s history. China wants to be remembered a certain way, so teaching students one way will mean that they will grow up to think of their country’s background a certain way. For example, in textbooks it states that China was only ever in war for self-defense, making Japan look quite bad. This is China, but when I read the the previous article from BBS News, “ What Japanese history lessons leave out,” the Japanese only included in one-lined footnotes how it was their fault of certain events. Japan also censors many things, so the younger generations learn the “right way” of history. That is Japan’s history. So in this case, I think that there can be histories rather than a history. Everyone has different views on history. The Japanese and the Chinese have a set view on their own past. This affects the younger generations because when they get older and interact with the other country, they will begin to get confused seeing as each of them thinks differently of the past. A weakness of history is be the creating of it. Textbooks are how the knowledge of history is passed onto the world. History is created when the actual events happen but you can recreate history when you modify it. The Chinese version of history in the textbooks would be wrong, because whoever wrote it has created it differently (changing it to set it how China wants to be seen/remembered). But then, history has always been modified since such events happened, therefore I think that no one knows the actual history.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/apr/04/nightmare-west-memphis-three/?pagination=false From the New York Review of Books, a real-life situation filled with TOK issues and juicy quotations. Human science, which I think is more complex than normal science (chemistry, physics, biology), has a significant impact on our lives. Probably because we are living in a society, we have to depend on others sometimes. Therefore, we desire to understand and study other human kinds. However, it’s too hard to study ourselves, just like operating on ourselves, it’s impossible. Why? Because there are too many exceptions and bias, which means the knowledge is flexible. Take the case of Nacirema, the first time I read the text, I felt weird to the culture. I just thought it was a strange religious article. More deeply, it may compare the gap between the developed society and the traditional one. Everything seems to be valid. However, when teacher asked us to reverse the word ”Nacirema”, which is American, I was astonished and felt tricked. Well, I have to say it is really a huge jump from an unknown culture to the familiar one. What’s more, the article is still able to read when we change the subject. And it seems to be more accessible and acceptable. Bathroom, basin and dentist are all fine to understand, but it can be confused when we use language to vague the meanings. Actually, that’s the power of human science. Nothing is always right, and it can be easily overthrown by any reasons. No one can judge things totally fairly, because there is no criterion to say which is right or wrong.
Although we know what economists say may not happened exactly, we still want to listen to them. Perhaps human science is just a way we comfort us and give ourselves a relief to rely. This satirical anthropology essay highlights the effect of bias on research in the human sciences. By using words that portray a primitive society the author creates a crude picture in our mind of this “foreign” culture. Upon rereading the essay we realize that the Nacirema reflect our own modern society. Through the authors use of loaded language and our own predetermined bias of tribal groups, we scrutinize our own actions. Of all our TOK sessions, this must have been among my favorites. We as society are reluctant to acknowledge our own problems, but as soon as we view a group foreign to us our minds flood with judgement. I will remember this essay the next time I make an assessment in economics or political science. During TOK class today we read a news article about anthropology, this is the study of humankind including behaviour and reaction of humans. After we finished reading it, the first thought that came to my mind was how abnormal that society or village was. Moreover, how people would allow the ‘holy-mouth-man’ to operate on their teeth made it sound so dangerous and strange. Throughout the article I found many weird things that people would do in that place or society and at numerous parts when Mrs.Connah was reading I would think ‘how is that even possible?’ and ‘why would people torture themselves like that?’. Afterwards, it all became clear, who knew that if you flip ‘nacirema’ it would be American. After knowing that it was American, everything became clear and understandable. The author uses metaphors for daily things, for example ‘inserting a small bundle of hogs hair into the mouth’ when you read this you would be shocked and disgusted, but this was a metaphor for humans brushing their teeth, which I find very interesting. As I mentioned previously about the ‘holy-mouth-man’ this was a metaphor for the dentist, doesn’t it make more sense now? Also we discussed about how this article was a judgement of the society and not evaluating the society. Since, evaluating is more vague and neutral whereas judging is more precise and there is a opinion to it. Anyways, I found this article very amusing and interesting, the metaphors used to describe our daily routines were very unexpected. Today in TOK class, we just moved on to slightly different subject which is Anthropology. This study is about mankind or human society. I got a paper and this was talking about a weird society with shrine, holy mouth men and listener. It was so interesting but weird and the society looks like lack of freedom or the people are manipulated by the social rules. The most shocking thing is that actually the nacirema is the reversed version of ‘America’. And after we got the secret, the weird society works so well. It is really fit into out modern community! Therefore I think this Anthropology is quite interesting subject. Pierre smiled, Natasha began to laugh, but Nicholas knitted his brows still more and began proving to Pierre that there was no prospect of any great change and that all the danger he spoke of existed only in his imagination. Pierre maintained the contrary, and as his mental faculties were greater and more resourceful, Nicholas felt himself cornered. This made him still angrier, for he was fully convinced, not by reasoning but by something within him stronger than reason, of the justice of his opinion. —from Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace” Long story, short, yes, I believe science should be mandatory in IB. If one were to consider the range provided when it comes to actually choosing what is deemed a science within the IB curriculum, even to the most science-rejecting student out there, the options will inevitably include at least one subject that is at least a little bit more enticing than the others. I’d just like to note that I’m not insulting subjects such as Computer Science and Design Technology, because they are legitimate studies. These two subjects actually further bolster my opinion. Since the IB Sciences aren’t solely restricted to the “hard” sciences such as Physics, Biology, and Chemistry, it’s more than reasonable to have Science to be a required subject. Society is always on the search for the “well-rounded” individual, the “Renaissance man”, and, on a completely practical aspect (disregarding the actual student enjoyment at the moment), it just makes sense for an IB student to have a science in their arsenal of studied subjects. Ultimately, it makes them look more attractive to the world on the whole. It’s how life works, so we might as well just do a science. For the most part, students who do take a science are at a more of an advantage than their non-science-taking counterparts. Student indecisiveness is also a factor. Being a teenager is hard. Whoever decided to hinge an entire person’s future on their teenage achievements is a pretty huge dolt. Most of the times, teenagers don’t really know what they want to do in life yet. And that’s totally fine. Do we ever really? However, since there’s nothing a student can really do about this particular situation at the moment, experimenting in subjects is always a great way to see whether you like it or not, and you never know until you try. Those who feel strongly about a certain career are more likely to already know which subjects they have to take (and they’re always extra sciences and higher math classes), so mandatory sciences don’t particularly affect them, as they have to do them anyway. And if a student vehemently hates all offered Science subjects, at least they’ll know that they do. Though it’s a bit more work, having science as a required choice in IB helps not only the student’s future, but also perhaps where the student’s future moves towards as well.
Currently every IB student is taking a science course. Some students may disagree with this claiming that they’re not going to have anything to do with science in their future. Personally i think that a science should be required in the IB course. Science provides us with knowledge and understanding about the world and i think that is essential for us if we are to live and succeed in this world. Yes, all IB students should learn science. Students can learn a lot of useful knowledges and skills from science; students can learn about body system of human, space, chemical compound. Science requires observing and processing skill. Some peopl may think that science is not necessary for them if they are not going to have a job realated science. However, in my opinion, that statement is not true. People use science knowledge everyday. For example, people learn that living things need to ingest nutrition evenly; it is not good to only eat sugar or fat. People require protein, carbohyrate, etc. as well. Eating is what people do everyday. There are more subjects people learn in science that is common in people’ life including nutrition. In particular, the goal of IB is to make students creative and intellectual. By learning useful knowledge in science can help making students intellectual. In addition, the method of science inculdes hypothesing idea by observing and processing. This process can make students to think a lot about how world works. Thus, I think all IB students should take science class. For IB diploma, students must take one of the subject in science section. It can be hard science subjects like physics, chemistry, biology or fusion science like computer science and design technology. I think the biggest reason is that science is helpful for student to think more logically or rationally like mathematics. Student might not recognize that the learning system but I think how the science prove the theory or do experiment to prove the hypothesis or to make formula are the differences from other subjects like language, art or music. The other reason is that the science subjects are related to other many studies. For example, biology is related to psychology. Also actually some of scientific knowledges are just common sense in the society. Therefore the science subject is required for every IB students. |
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