September 23, 2024

Agenda

• Starter: 9/23

  • Perspective: A way or form of viewing the world; a mental outlook or point of view.

    • What are the key things that determine your perspective?

    • Rank these in terms of how much they shape your understanding of the world.

  • Please write for the full five minutes (let the quiz time out).

• Activity: Where Did My Viewpoint Come From?

  • Directions: Think about a viewpoint for which you feel most strongly. Using the worksheet below, investigate where this viewpoint came from for both you and society.

  • Worksheet

  • Example

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TOK Journal Prompts

• Cultural Knower

  1. In your TOK journal, draw a circle to create a pie chart. Define yourself culturally as a knower.

  2. Divide the pie chart into your own cultural values - what you are ‘made of’ or what you consider your identity to be composed of

     • Ex: 15% Muslim, 15% Manchester United fan, 30% traditional values, 40% technology enthusiast

  3. The point is not to get a precise answer, but to reflect on yourself and your own biases.

• Cultural Knower Reflection

  • How can these cultural values create bias in your personal knowledge?

  • How influenced are you by what you are made of?

  • Are there parts of your pie chart, and therefore your identity, you might not be aware of?

  • Which part of your pie chart influences your perspective the most?

• Why Are Biases a Problem?

  • List the key problems caused by bias identified in this animation. How does it help you add to your last answer?

  • Can you think of any other problems?

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• Activity: 20 Key Biases

  • With a partner, read through the 20 key biases.

  • Choose 2 biases that you want to find out about, and cut and paste them onto your research sheet.

  • Using the Business Insider infographic, write a short explanation of your biases, upload an image to represent them, and explain how they can be exploited (check out this site to help you with this).

  • When you’ve finished your two biases, find out about all the other ones, transferring information onto your research document.

• Reflection: 20 Key Biases

  • Which of the biases do you think are most widespread?

  • Which of the biases do you think you are most vulnerable to?

  • Can you suggest any strategies to overcome these biases?

• Video: Be an Outsider

  • What does Julia Galef mean by “looking at a problem as an outsider”?

  • How can this help us overcome unconscious biases?

• Assignment: The knower and the web of knowledge

  • The TOK course is, in part, about you as a knower considering how your own perspectives, assumptions, and biases influence your own personal knowledge, and how this can be both positive and negative.

    The following task is very personal. You are focusing on the acquisition of knowledge, how we shape our own belief on knowledge, and how this can cause problems for knowledge. Please be respectful to the beliefs of others.

    View the worksheet and consider one example of knowledge you receive from each of the sections on the web of knowledge. Think of each category in terms of ‘certain’ and ‘valuable’ knowledge.

  • Reflect:

    • Which input has the biggest impact on creating your perspective / values / personal knowledge / beliefs?

    • Which input provides the most reliable/certain/trustworthy knowledge?

    • Which input provides the least reliable/certain/trustworthy knowledge?

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Related exhibition prompt:

To what extent is objectivity possible in the production or acquisition of knowledge?