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Science

The case for a multiverse

February 29, 2012 Mr. MacKnight Leave a comment

A rejoinder to Andy Fletcher’s argument, here:

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/02/a-brief-history-of-the-multiverse.ars

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Recent Comments

  • Rainy on History as an AOK: “It is true that we cannot directly know or even don’t know whether the history is true or not. I…” May 20, 00:09
  • Rainy on Anh Tai Trang – History: “Could you explore your quotation more deeply? Like could you change a direction to explain or start with quotation itself–What…” May 19, 23:24
  • Alli on History: “do you think that we can learn new things from history as well as just learning from past experiences?” May 19, 23:19
  • Alli on History- Angelina Blacklaws: “I like how you added a real life example into your post because I found that it makes it easier…” May 19, 23:16
  • Tony on Storytelling WinsyFang: “when the children get the bad eductaion and know the opposite side of the history, will the world change a…” May 19, 23:09
  • Tony on History: “have you ever think about why those people want to cheat on history??” May 19, 22:59
  • Tony on history: “i also agree with your opion , story really can helps to shape the personality of the next generation,but i…” May 19, 22:38
  • Tony on history: “i am disagree with your opinion that”economist can collect the data like GDP, and to predict future economy. ” as…” May 19, 22:18
  • Anh Tai on history: “I agree! But what if all the evidences show the whole story of history?” May 19, 22:06
  • Tony on History: “i agree with your opion, history will never be changed, but people will always believe what they see is real.…” May 19, 21:33
  • Andrea on History- Angelina Blacklaws: “I agree with you, and i liked how you gave an example based on like a real life situation. I…” May 19, 20:17
  • Andrea on History as an area of knowledge: “I think you are absolutely right, we would never know for sure if the history that we learn actually happen…” May 19, 20:14
  • Andrea on History: “I think that you are right and history does help us understand how society works, because history is mostly based…” May 19, 20:10
  • Isaac on History – Josefa: “I think your post was really good and you took both points of view of history beig reliable or not,…” May 19, 19:37
  • Isaac on History as a AOK: “I think that if you used specific examples it would be much stronger. You have a lot of good points,…” May 19, 19:34
  • Isaac on History as an Area of Knowledge: “At the start of the paragraph, you talk about history being 100% about knowing, but then later you talk about…” May 19, 19:30
  • Josefa on history: “I agree with you History being the most important WOK but how can we be so sure something we are…” May 19, 19:29
  • Josefa on history: “How have so many past events have been taught to us but some are not very documented or has no…” May 19, 19:27
  • Isaac on History as a Reliable Source: “Don’t read this one, I mixed it up, the good one is the other one from me” May 19, 19:24
  • Isaac on History as a Reliable Source: “If history is reliable, why do we get sources that end up being false that previously we thought were legit?…” May 19, 19:23
  • Josefa on History as a Reliable Source: “What do you think about historic events that don’t have enough evidence? do you think that the story has been…” May 19, 19:21
  • Isaac on History as a Reliable Source: “If history is reliable, why do we get sources that end up being false that previously we thought were legit?…” May 19, 19:19
  • Isaac on history: “Why do you think that history is the most important way of knowing and why is history what people have…” May 19, 19:11
  • Isaac on history: “I really liked your first paragraph about the history and about the recording of it. Do you think that it’s…” May 19, 19:08
  • Adala on History: “I feel like you could have expanded this a lot more because you had a strong start and seemed to…” May 19, 15:12
  • Adala on History as an area of knowledge: “I thought your example of history being like watching a fiction movie was very interesting. Although history may not be…” May 19, 15:10
  • Adala on history: “Do you think we will ever have a way of knowing if history is true or false?” May 19, 15:07
  • Adala on History- Angelina Blacklaws: “I think you have a good start and good ideas they just need to be expanded and explained more. But…” May 19, 15:01
  • Will B on History as an area of knowledge: “I don’t agree that history is like watching a fiction movie. Sure, some of it might not be entirely true,…” May 19, 13:54
  • Will B on history: “Why do you think that history is the most important way of knowing?” May 19, 13:47
  • Will B on History as an Area of Knowledge: “what are some ways that you think history could be biased?” May 19, 13:45
  • Will B on history: “how can we know that survived evidence, especially written evidence, is not fake or made up?” May 19, 13:42
  • Will B on History: “Do you think that history is always written by the winners?” May 19, 13:38
  • Angelina on History as an Area of Knowledge: “I agree with you saying that every story has 2 sides and no one has really talked about that yet…” May 19, 12:18
  • Angelina on History- Angelina Blacklaws: “yes of course” May 19, 12:16
  • Angelina on History as a Reliable Source: “I see your point in the response but more or less you are talking about facts. I would like to…” May 19, 12:13
  • Eloise on History-Will R.: “I agree that winners write more about what happened but I also find that the other side does get an…” May 19, 11:12
  • Eloise on History as an AOK: “Do you think we’ve handles it the exact same way as other pandemics? I think we have way better technology…” May 19, 11:03
  • Eloise on History- Angelina Blacklaws: “Do you think we might not learn from some events because of only getting partial information? For example do you…” May 19, 10:40
  • Eloise on History: “Do you think there’s a reason for simplifying the slave trade? Im not saying it’s a good thing, but as…” May 19, 10:24
  • Eloise on History as a Reliable Source: “Do you think we will continue to see larger events repeating, or do you think we will learn from our…” May 19, 10:14
  • Maxim on Uncertainty and unreliability of historical records: “a) “Humanitarian science” is a synonym for “human science” or “humanistic social science” b) An example of a certain AOK…” May 19, 00:53
  • Maxim on history: “What’s your take on how we should assess history, if the historical events are tampered with by “authorized men”?” May 19, 00:43
  • Maxim on History as a Reliable Source: “If your claim that history is a ‘reliable knowledge’ is axiomatic, how would a method of analysis of two historical…” May 19, 00:35
  • Maxim on History: “You are saying that a biography is “a detailed description of a person’s life, which can naturally apply for record…” May 19, 00:30
  • Maxim on History: “You’re saying different stated having different books and knowledge is ‘weird’, but many schools (even public schools) have different textbooks,…” May 18, 23:57
  • Yifan on History: “I don’t think there are upside of the history, since it’s a very objective form of story, different perspective exist…” May 18, 20:26
  • Yifan on History: “I do agree with your opinion, history is all about facts, objective and telling story, it shouldn’t even be judged…” May 18, 20:23
  • Yifan on history: “I do agree that not all the historical event are reliable, but for instance, there are so many documentary, newspaper…” May 18, 20:08
  • Will R on History: “I agree with you when you said that students should be told the facts of history, because it is better…” May 18, 20:04
  • Will R on History: “I agree with you when you say we make the same mistakes we did before. it seems like no matter…” May 18, 19:58
  • Kevin on History – Josefa: “How could you make sure that the history you read is reliable, how can you know it’s a truth. People…” May 18, 19:52
  • Will R on history: “how do you know that people are trying to conceal the truth in textbooks?” May 18, 19:50
  • Will R on Uncertainty and unreliability of historical records: “I agree with you when you said that one way to prove the reliability of a source is to compare…” May 18, 19:47
  • Erica on History: “I agree with you that although we acknowledge that history is important, and we study it, in fact we learn…” May 18, 19:32
  • Erica on Uncertainty and unreliability of historical records: “Your post is very detailed and convincing. I strongly agree with you that every historical events has its different perspectives.…” May 18, 19:13
  • Erica on History: “I agree with you that upside of history is not good, but how do we know whether it is upside…” May 18, 19:09
  • Kevin on history: “I agree with you that history is another way of storytelling, but in my opinion, I don’t think history is…” May 18, 19:08
  • Kevin on history: “I agree your point of “Those survived evidences usually were not complete story, even more, untrue. ” History are usually…” May 18, 19:02
  • Daniela on History- Andrea: “How can we know that through the historians, the information has not been modified over the years, and that the…” May 18, 14:09

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  • Uncertainty and unreliability of historical records  May 15, 2020
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  • Human Sciences: Reliable? -Kelvin M.  March 28, 2020
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TOK Links to Other Subjects

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Useful Links

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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

-----------------------------

"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."

—Steven Wright
-----------------------------

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

This TOK blog features work by IB Theory of Knowledge students at Dulwich College Suzhou and at Suzhou Singapore International School, in Suzhou, China, from 2009 to 2015, and at Brookes Westshore School beginning in 2019.

Michel de Montaigne, 1533-92

Montaigne's question, "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?") embodies the spirit of TOK.

Bertrand Russell on Skepticism

Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or of ignorance. . . . Instead of saying "I know this," we ought to say "I more or less know something more or less like this."

—Unpopular Essays (1950)

Steven Wright

"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."

Doubt, certainty, ignorance, and knowledge

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.”

—Voltaire, Letter to Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (1770)

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge.”

—Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers (1983)

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