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The problem of knowledge…

The problem of knowledge…. ToK. Contradictions…. Astronomy vs. astrology Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago vs. dinosaurs and humans lived simultaneously Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 vs. images were faked Masterpiece vs. junk Capital punishment right vs. wrong

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The problem of knowledge…

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  1. The problem of knowledge… ToK

  2. Contradictions… • Astronomy vs. astrology • Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago vs. dinosaurs and humans lived simultaneously • Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 vs. images were faked • Masterpiece vs. junk • Capital punishment right vs. wrong • Belief in God vs. claim that “God is dead”

  3. What is true? • Changes over time • Depends on context • May be beyond human comprehension

  4. Common sense… “The map is not the territory.” - Alfred Korbyski

  5. The Mercator Projection

  6. The Hobo-Dyer Projection

  7. Discussion Questions • Where do our mental maps come from? • How accurate are they? • Can we do without them?

  8. The Treason of Images - Magritte

  9. Certainty… • I know that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. • I know that strawberries are red. • I know that if a is bigger than b and b is bigger than c, then a is bigger than c. • I know that murder is wrong.

  10. Ways of knowing… • Language – how much can we trust what other people say to us? • Perception – how much can we rely on our senses? • Reason – how good at logical reasoning are we and therefore how reliable are the conclusions that we draw? • Emotion/Intuition – how reliable are our (gut) feelings? • Memory – how reliable are our memories? • Faith – how trustworthy are our beliefs?

  11. Which is bigger?

  12. Radical doubt… • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3gI9ms8Fdc

  13. Relativism… “All truth is relative.”

  14. The Flat Earth Society • http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?wwwRedirect

  15. The Weekly World News

  16. 8 Weekly World News Headlines that Turned Out to be True • http://mentalfloss.com/article/52255/8-weekly-world-news-headlines-turned-out-be-true

  17. Solutions? • Take ToK…duh! • Develop good judgment • Be open minded

  18. Uri Geller – mentalist • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLXdLAzYIsQ • “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” – Carl Sagan

  19. How well do these claims fit with what we already know? • http://www.fpp.co.uk/ • http://www.amazon.com/9-11-big-Thierry-Meyssan/dp/2912362733

  20. Authenticity “The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates

  21. Freedom of belief… • Salem witch trials • Cigarette smoking • Heaven’s Gate cult • Racism • Sexism

  22. Conclusion “There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything, or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.” - Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950)

  23. Reference • van de Lagemaat, R. (2011). Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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