Math
by John, on April 27th, 2012
Today in TOK we talked about math and how we can perceive it in different ways. To some people math can represent the purest form of knowledge, but to others it can be very subjective or seem irrelevant to real-life situations. I personally don’t like math. I see math as a mostly separate entity from the world we live in. I know some theoretical physicists would explain how mathematical equations can serve to define the universe we live in – but I don’t really care about it. Following the conversations about math in TOK today was hard because it seemed that, at times. everyone was talking about completely different things that they found difficult to explain with language. Math seems to be a kind of language in its own right, but I would rather just stick to more tangible ideas.
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Important Dates Y12 Orals: May 22, May 31, June 5, June 7.
June 11: Y12 TOK Day
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"The arts, ideas, natural beauty, and good conversation provide lasting pleasure."
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"The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it."
—Werner Vogels
Your Daily Chinese Character
Comments . . . . . . are open only to students of the class, but if you are a non-student and would like to comment you can email Mr. MacKnight at ericmacknight AT mac DOT com.
Is TOK a Philosophy Course? YES, in the sense that the name of the course itself is in any dictionary effectively synonymous with "epistemology."
NO, in the sense that IB-specific ToK has many philosophical elements, but is not just philosophy. ToK is at root an interdiscipinary course that allows students to become aware of how the six subject-groups on the corners on the Diploma hexagon overlap and integrate. The interdisciplinary aspect is the crucial thing . . . .
—Bruce Bartlett
Le Collège français
Toronto, Canada
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"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
—Steven Wright
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Webs & Chains Natura in reticulum sua genera connexit,
non in catenam: homines non possunt nisi
catenam sequi, cum non plura simul
possint sermone exponere.
Nature knits up her kinds in a network, not
in a chain; but men can follow only by
chains because their language can’t handle
several things at once.
—Albrecht von Haller (tr. Howard Nemerov)
[Epigraph to Nemerov's poem, "The Dependencies"]
About This Blog Until June 2011, this TOK blog was managed solely by Eric MacKnight. Beginning in the fall of 2011, its name changed to "DCSZ TOK Class Blog", and since then it has been used by all TOK students at Dulwich College Suzhou. The lead teacher is Julie Connah, assisted by Alan Connah and Eric MacKnight. Content posted before August 2011 was written by Eric MacKnight and his students at Suzhou Singapore International School. In August 2012 John Fitzgerald replaced Alan Connah in the DCSZ TOK team.
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Poets are people who enjoy playing with words. Mathematicians are people who enjoy playing with numbers.
I have heard it said, too, that mathematicians enjoy ‘retreating’ to a kind of alternative world that avoids the messiness of the human world. On the other hand, the usefulness of mathematics in the real world is undeniable.
Here’s my question after reading your post, John: why does math bug you so much? ;^)