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Q1- Does the study of history prevent us from repeating past mistakes? How? Give examples. (Times of India article)

This question is rather Debatable. History stands as evidence for events that took place before us. Multiple mistakes were made by superpowers, leaders, economics, politicians and socialist groups. History can be used as a way to avoid what happened in the past, a real life example for this is the Ukraine and Russia war. Although it is an ongoing conflict, the Ukraine and Russia war is progressing without interference by any other super power, which is bad because a country is facing major problems. However, when taking inspiration from history, super powers interference led to global conflict, like during world war 2, but that is being avoided here, So to some extent History can be taken as an evidence.

This statement is also challenged when the discussion on the Nirbhaya case comes forward. Post such a heinous crime, today, almost 14 years later, a similar crime took place. No change was made in the rape laws back then, and now there's another issue.

In conclusion, Overall history does have some significance and can be used as reference to avoid mistakes, however, it also has it's own flaws

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Biases in history textbooks influencing our understanding of national identity and the portrayal of historical figures- Aryan

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Biases in history textbooks influencing our understanding of national identity and the portrayal of historical figures- Aryan

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Biases in history textbooks can shape our understanding of national identity by highlighting events or figures that align with a nation's specific narrative, for example a country could glorify their achievements however intentionally could exclude or downplay any darker moments.

When it comes to historical figures, biased portrayals can either make them have a hero status or vilify them based on what the historian wishes to do. As a student this might influence your judgement of these figures, which could lead to people putting the wrong people on their pedestal.

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Biases in history textbooks can influence ones understanding of events and historical figures by highlighting certain events or figures while downplaying or diminishing others, such as glorifying a countrys founding leaders and ignoring their involvement in colonialism. Textbooks could have selective portrayal which shapes how we percieve historical figures or the series of events in history. Although facts arent exactly altered, the perception and interpretation of those facts are centralized around cultural and personal biases. For example: US history books celebrate Christopher Columbus while glossing over the impact of his actions on indigineous communities.

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Does the study of history orevent us from repeating past mistakes? How? Give real life examples- Aryan 

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Does the study of history orevent us from repeating past mistakes? How? Give real life examples- Aryan 

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Learning about the past can help us avoid making the same mistakes again. We can recognise identical patterns and stay away from repeating past mistakes by learning from what was not done before, or improving on what had already been done to come up with a more effective situation.For example the great depression in the 1930's taught governments about the risks and the importance of economic management, which is why during the great depression in 2008, governments were a lot more prepared with more effective solutions in order to not allow the situation to get as bad.

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Biases in history textbooks can shape a student's understanding of national identities and historically important figures, by focusing on certain narratives while also downplaying or omitting others. Some textbooks from certain regions may glorify certain figures, for that matter, even the use of certain diction, vocabulary, etc. will end up influencing how students view their country and its leaders, forever influencing their perspectives. Presenting history in a completely unbiased way is not very easy, as every historian brings their own perspective and even during the time of issuing a history textbook, biases are inevitable. Even with the use of AI, biases are bound to wound up in those responses, as those pieces of information did originally come from human sources. The scope of this is that history is continuously updated and very dynamic as an AOK, and biases have the potential to be avoided through cross-referencing and maintaining a balanced, un-bias perspective as much as possible.

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As an student,how might biases in history textbooks influence your understanding of national identity and the portrayal of historical figures? Consider whether it is possible to present history in a completely unbiased way

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As an student,how might biases in history textbooks influence your understanding of national identity and the portrayal of historical figures? Consider whether it is possible to present history in a completely unbiased way

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NEW DELHI: The " wrong portrayal" of heroes of the freedom struggle should be corrected in school books, which should be free from biases, a parliamentary panel that looked in to the issue of textbook reform has felt.
The panel also felt that school books should not give unequal representation to different periods and dynasties and also to the contribution of women in different fields.

The report of the standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe was presented in the Parliament on Tuesday.
The report titled - Reforms in Content and Design of School Books - comes at a time when National Curriculum Framework is going to be revised after the announcement of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The panel spoke to officials from CBSE, NCERT and organisations working in the field of education to come up with a detailed list of observations and recommendations.
Wrong portrayal of historical figures
The panel noted that many of the historical figures and freedom fighters of Indian freedom struggle have been portrayed "in an incorrect manner as offenders". Therefore, the Committee is of the view that wrong portrayal of our heroes of freedom struggle should be corrected and they should be given due respect in our history

textbooks.
"It should also be ensured that books are free of biases. The textbooks should instill commitment to values enshrined in the constitution and should further promote national integration and unity," the panel has recommended.
There is a need for discussing and reviewing, with leading historians, the manner in which Indian freedom fighters, from various regions or parts of the country and their contributions get place in history textbooks, it said.
Unequal representation to dynasties
The committee also held that the NCERT should take a relook at the guidelines for the writing of the history textbooks so that equal weightage and importance is given to the various eras, periods and events in the history textbooks.
Similarly, it was observed that school textbooks do not give adequate coverage to some of the great Indian empires like that of Vikramaditya, Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Gondwana or that of Travancore and Ahoms of North-Eastern region, whose contributions in expansion of India's standing on the world stage cannot be ignored.
Equal importance to women heroes
The committee was of the view that there should be an appropriate comparison of the portrayal of women heroes like Rani Laxmi Bai, Zalkari Bai, Chand Bibi etc vis-a-vis their male counterparts. The Committee observes that the women heroes from different regions and eras should be given equal weightage highlighting their contributions in the history textbooks, the report said.
The panel felt that notable women in all fields, and their contributions, like that of Ahilyabai Holkar, Abala Bose, Anandi Gopal Joshi, Anasuya Sarabhai, Arati Saha, Aruna Asaf Ali, Kanaklata Deka, Rani Ma Guidinglu, Asima Chatterjee, Captain Prem Mathur, Chandraprabha Saikini, Cornelia Sorabji, Durgavati Devi, Janaki Ammal, Mahasweta Devi, Kalpana Chawla, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Kittur Chennamma, M S Subbulakshmi, Madam Bhikaiji Cama, Rukmini Devi Arundale, Savitribai Phule and others have not found adequate mention in NCERT textbooks.
Importance to history of the North-East
The panel emphasised on providing equal representation to the North-East Indian States and their history. It was suggested that developmental models and economic policies should have sections dealing with and talking about the complex realities and demographics of the North-East along with the history of civilizations and tribal communities of the North-eastern region.
Sikh and Maratha history
The committee observed that there is also a sentiment in the public about poor representation of Sikh and Maratha history in the School textbooks. It called for their due representation in the history textbooks.
Information about Vedas
The panel observed that in respect of NCERT History syllabus, it was proposed that brief information regarding other three Vedas i.e. Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, Bhagvad Gita, as also Agam Literature should also be included along with Rigveda as they are also important sacred books. Further, some of the important teachings of all religious scriptures should also be adequately included in the text books.
In many countries abroad, there are full fledged university departments for religious studies while in India, we have ignored this discipline for whatever the reason. It may also be pointed out here that at the University of Tehran, Iran, Upanishad is taught as a subject but in India, very few universities teach the same, it said.
No internal mechanism to deal with mistakes
The committee in its discussions with the NCERT and Department of School Education and Literacy observed that there is no internal mechanism to verify mistakes, erroneous and debatable facts in the text books by NCERT. It sought that errors should be investigated thoroughly and rectified at the earliest.
Unsung heroes
The panel called for highlighting the lives of hitherto unknown men and women from different states and districts who have "positively influenced our national history, honour, and one-ness".
Ancient knowledge: CERT and SCERT should incorporate the ancient wisdom, knowledge and teachings about life and society from Vedas and other great Indian texts. "Contributions of ancient India in the fields of Philosophy, Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Ayurveda, Epistemology, Natural sciences, Politics, Economy, Ethics, Linguistics, Arts, etc may also be included in the textbooks. The traditional Indian knowledge systems should be linked with modern science and presented in the contemporary context in NCERT textbooks," the panel has said.
Among other things, the panel has called for sufficient emphasis on India's connect with South-East Asia. It has also asked that the NCERT should carefully study how other ancient civilizations and countries teach their own histories to their respective citizens through textbook content, and areas of emphasis. The panel also suggested that text books should warn children about the ill effects of evils like drug addiction, and even modern malaises like internet addiction.

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Free text books of biases, wrong portrayal of heroes: Parliament panel in report | India News - Times of India

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India News: NEW DELHI: The "wrong portrayal" of heroes of the freedom struggle should be corrected in school books, which should be free from biases, a parliament.

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Skim through the following research paper and reflect on how empathy & differing perspectives can hinder knowledge production in History?​

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Skim through the following research paper and reflect on how empathy & differing perspectives can hinder knowledge production in History?​

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Does empathy have any role to play in History? ​

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Does the study of History prevent us from repeating past mistakes?​How? Give Real life examples

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Does the study of History prevent us from repeating past mistakes?​How? Give Real life examples

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History repeats itself, including the good, bad and ugly. This oft repeated line comes from Spanish-American author George Santayana's famous quote - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Studying history is necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes."
Applying the Santayana-test, was the anger among Muslims over the alleged 'blasphemous" depiction of Prophet Mohammed in cartoons in January 2015 by French news weekly 'Charlie Hedbo' a repetition of history? The media house paid a bloody price for professing right to free speech, albeit in a questionable and hurtful manner for the Muslim religious sentiments.

Two Islamic radical brothers barged into its office and gunned down 12 members of its staff.
Five years later, a teacher did not learn the lesson. He showed the same cartoons to his students, may be in routine exercise of precious right to free speech or in defiance to the intolerance that is sweeping the world in various forms, mostly religious.
The teacher was taught a lesson, his last. A Muslim young man decapitated him. The killing did not evoke anger among the followers of Islam, but resurfacing of the cartoons rekindled it in Islamic countries. This anger spread like wildfire. It also found a voice in pockets of India. Is this a repetition of history"?

Someone, who had taken historical wrongs on his stride, had said "today's events are tomorrow's history". The Supreme Court in ' Adi Visheshwara of Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi' case in March 1997 had quoted history to record its repetitional nature.
"In the year 1193, when one of the lieutenants of Mohd Ghori, namely, Kutubud-din Eibak completely destroyed Lord Shiva's Temple, the Priest (Mahant) concealed the Idol of Lord Vishwanath from being defiled and destroyed."

"The temple construction was undertaken in a big way in 1585 by Raja Todar Mal, the Finance Minister of Akbar... (and who) then was Governor of Jaunpur. The Temple was constructed accordingly on a large scale consisting of Central Sanctum (Garba Griha) surrounded by eight mandapas or pavilions."
"Aurangzeb again destroyed the Temple of Lord Shiva in 1669, when again the then Priest (Mahant) removed the idol of Lord Shiva so us to prevent it from being defiled and destroyed. Thereafter, it was again restored in the year 1777, by Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar, who had built the present Temple and installed the present deity. Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1859, had renovated it, covering the dome with gold plates weighing 22 tons of gold."
History is witness to destructions of thousands of premier temples in India during six centuries of Muslim and Mughal rules. The temples, which withstood the destructive onslaught, saw defacement of the deities and walls engraved with sculptural marvels. Thousands of mosques were constructed over the temple ruins.
Would it be appropriate, or condone, as a mere symbolic repetition of history when in December 1992 a Hindu mob destroyed the Babri Masjid, a mosque believed to have been constructed over a destroyed temple that is dear to Hindus as the sacred birthplace of Lord Ram, who enjoyed a status among Hindus equal to that of Prophet among Muslims?
The SC, which has been quite vocal and zealous in protecting the sanctity of the right to freedom of speech and expression, had famously said in the Ayodhya land dispute verdict that courts cannot correct historical wrongs. It does not sync well with the adages - 'history repeats itself' and 'today's events are tomorrow's history', and raises the question who will correct it?
Even if one could sheepishly align with the illogical demolition of the Babri Masjid as a reaction to destructions of thousands of temples hundreds of years ago, what defies even sheepish logic is the use of field guns and mortars by Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 to reduce to smithereens the ancient and world famous tall rock-cut standing statues of Buddha, the apostle of peace and goodness.
A cartoon seamlessly sent waves of outrage among Muslims across the world irrespective of the country they lived in. They poured out on the streets to protest against it. We do not remember waves of protest across the world for fanatical cold-blooded destruction of world heritage Bamiyan Buddhas. The secularistic silence was deafening when famous artist M F Hussain painted Goddess Saraswati nude. The same eerie silence pervaded the intelligentsia inhabited niche houses of the society when Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' was banned in India.
The alleged wrong portrayal of Shivaji in James W Laine's book "Shivaji - Hindu King in Islamic India" enraged the Sambaji Brigade so much that their members "ransacked Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), Pune, and destroyed a large number of books and rare manuscripts." Destruction is easy. But, who will give back those rare manuscripts?
How should the effect of a cartoon, or depiction of a historical hero or for that matter a allegedly blasphemous article be gauged? SC has followed the time tested advice of Justice Vivian Bose, who in a 1947 judgment had said, "That the effect of the words must be judged from the standards of reasonable, strong minded, firm and courageous men, and not those of weak and vacillating minds, nor of those who scent danger in every hostile point of view."

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Who will stop historical wrongs from repeating itself? | India News - Times of India

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India News: History repeats itself, including the good, bad and ugly.

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write reflections based on the task given in class. 

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Political Cartoon: students to create a political cartoon that illustrates their opinion on the ethical implications of Oppenheimer's involvement in the Manhattan Project. The cartoon should use visual symbolism and humor to convey a message about the topic.

OR

Protest Poster: students design a protest poster advocating for or against the use of atomic weapons, inspired by the ethical concerns raised by Oppenheimer's work. Encourage them to use powerful imagery and persuasive slogans to convey their message.

OR

Character Sketch: students to create a character sketch of Oppenheimer (role play), portraying him in a way that reflects their interpretation of his personality, motivations, and ethical principles. They can use various artistic techniques such as drawing, painting, or digital art to bring the character to life.

make sure your works are connected with ethics, perspectives and tools in the context of scientific knolwedge.

You could visually show some of the ethical dilemmas faced by Oppenheimer and his colleagues. Did Oppenheimer and his team consider the potential consequences of their actions?

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The recently released Christopher Nolan movie "Oppenheimer" proves to be a phenomenal movie that deserves being watched on screen. Despite its 3 hours length, "Oppenheimer" is an intriguing portrayal of a genius, albeit somewhat narcissistic character, who - in the second half of the movie - seemingly regrets being involved in the development and deployment of the atomic bomb. "Oppenheimer" is much more than a biography of a memorable scientist; it's a tale of the complex relation between science and politics, and the complexity of moral decision-making in an uncertain world faced with unprecedented suffering and cruelty. It provides insights into how the political climate in the "era of ideologies" (Karl Dietrich Bracher) could make it difficult for scientists to have left-leaning views, while pursuing successful scientific careers in the US. Those times and experiences are worth recollecting, also for ongoing discussions about censorship and academic freedom.

The movie itself does not provide a definitive stance on the question of the moral quality of Oppenheimer as a person, which is a great strength of this monumental portrayal. Arguably, one of the biggest mistakes one could make in quest for a definitive moral judgement - and one that Oppenheimer himself seems to have fallen trap to - is to reduce this question to the moral justifiability of dropping the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would mean, as we shall argue, to arbitrarily end the history of atomic weapons with their deployment in 1945 and reduce his involvement to his contribution to their development, neglecting his wavering and the uncertainties in the early phases of the war and his work after.

It is the dropping of the bombs that brings Oppenheimer in greatest moral distress. His underlying assumption that those actions were gravely morally wrong, is opposed by only few philosophers nowadays who defend the droppings of these bombs mainly in utilitarian spirit. A great majority of philosophers doubt that - even if we accepted a moral theory that allows for the aggregation of lives and the drawing of conclusion that those action that saves most lives are the ones that are permitted - that droppings were in fact the actions that saved most lives. Many commentators believe that the War could have been over after the Potsdam Conference had the American conceded immunity to the Japanese emperor and many believe that even the continuation of the war would not have been quite as devastating as, for instance, Henry Stimson, Secretary of War assumed. This, then - if one were to follow the aggregationst assumptions - had been the better courses of action.

Of course, the justifiability of the droppings will have to be considered in light of the knowledge that was ready at hand at the time and not after the fact and one will never know how certain one could have been at the time about the number of people that will be saved and killed.

But an answer to this question of justifiability, if one would want to pursue it in this way, of course, presumes much more than such knowledge (assumptions about probabilities of deaths and success rates): Namely that the weighing of lives (civilian and non-civilian) or their suffering is at all a morally acceptable basis for military decision-making. Given its possible implications such conviction is clearly one that is in need of a careful defense.

The empirical question is furthermore complicated when considering the long term development - the history of the a-bomb after the droppings of August 1945: Here, one would have to speculate whether such weapons were never used again after Nagasaki and Hiroshima, because this single time they were deployed has been the best deterrent and gravest warning to everyone after. The immediate effect on the stalemate between the Soviets and the US on European soil, that might have otherwise quickly escalated, cannot be underestimated either, but must remain equally speculative. Additional counterfactuals would come into play.

Let us assume - for the sake of argument - that the bombings were morally wrong and blameworthy. It seems then obvious that given Oppenheimer's known contribution to the project, this taints him in some way - despite Truman's insistence that he might overplay his role significantly ("You think anyone in Hiroshima or Nagasaki gives a shit who built the bomb? They care who dropped it. I did. Hiroshima isn't about you."). His causal contribution is undeniable and so his character must be tainted by those deaths. However, a mere causal contribution does not suffice for blame as responsibility theorists will readily point out - what about his foreknowledge and intentions?

That will require looking at the story from the beginning rather from the end: The original decision, the intent behind getting involved in the first place, aside from prestige and being flattered to be leading this operation - was to win the war against Germany, as expressed in his own words: "It's not your people they're herding into camps! It's mine!", as he explains to Ernest Lawrence. Furthermore, several moments in the movie show that Oppenheimer continues to naively assume that he might impact the deployment decision of the bomb in a later stage - a central naivety that might be -a key moral flaw of the movie's protagonist. In a meeting, in which he senses how pointless his interventions are, he nevertheless insists that there are no suitable military targets in Japan, still being illusory about the idea that the bombs might be dropped on cities. Stunned and disappointed, Groves later makes him aware in a conversation after the Potsdam Conference, where several scientists including Oppenheimer consider the deployment of a bomb somewhere in the countryside merely to deter from further military action or to use it on, how others in contrast see his role: "Robert, we've given them an ace. It's for them to play the hand."

He has contributed to the development and deployment of these bombs, but not with this intent in mind, and he had limited control, albeit trying to exert so that the bombs are not used. Does this absolve him? Perhaps, while this is the one most often evoked, that is not real question that the movie wants us to explore. It might be rather this: Is his response - the remorse and guilt that he feels - fitting? This fittingness is not completely determined by his responsibility. Moral regret might be genuine, yet unfounded and it might be absent, yet actually morally expected. It is this intertwinement of the question of responsibility with the question about the fittingness of his moral sentiments that makes this movie ethically interesting and the biographic portrayal captivating.

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Guest Post: Oppenheimer - Not The Morality Of The bomb | Practical Ethics

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Written by Martin Sand & Karin Jongsma The recently released Christopher Nolan movie "Oppenheimer" proves to be a phenomenal movie that deserves being watched on screen.

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How can the concept of "scientist-citizen" be applied to Oppenheimer's case? Should scientists be solely focused on research, or do they have a wider societal responsibility? - connect to the Prometheus myth

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How can the concept of "scientist-citizen" be applied to Oppenheimer's case? Should scientists be solely focused on research, or do they have a wider societal responsibility? - connect to the Prometheus myth

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So what is missing from silicon valley and the tech industry? What is missing from our hyper-capitalist system that relies so heavily on technology? One answer lies in the story of Prometheus. Prometheus is often used as a metaphor for the tech world.

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After discussing the article  "Doctors’ 'gut feeling' should not be ignored" by British Medical Journal, do you think - medical teaching explicitly should incorporate intuition- the concept of "gut feeling" as a valid diagnostic sign, and how might this impact the training and practices of future healthcare professionals?

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After discussing the article  "Doctors’ 'gut feeling' should not be ignored" by British Medical Journal, do you think - medical teaching explicitly should incorporate intuition- the concept of "gut feeling" as a valid diagnostic sign, and how might this impact the training and practices of future healthcare professionals?

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Doctors who experience a gut feeling about serious illness when treating a child in primary care should take action upon this feeling and not ignore it, a study published today on bmj.com suggests.

Serious infection can easily be missed in young children and making a diagnosis has been described as "like finding a needle in a haystack". A clinician's intuitive feeling that something is wrong, even after examination that suggests otherwise, appears to have diagnostic value, even greater diagnostic value than most symptoms and signs. Studies have suggested it should be seen as highly important in its own right but there is lack of understanding about whether it can be seen as useful.

Researchers from Oxford and Belgium therefore carried out an observational study on 3890 children between the ages of 0-16 years who presented in primary care in Flanders, Belgium in 2004. They wanted to see what added value gut feeling provides to a diagnosis. Factors recorded included the doctor's overall impression and whether gut feeling suggested something more serious was wrong. Gut feeling was defined as "intuitive feeling that something was wrong even if the clinician was unsure why".

Out of the 3369 children assessed as having a non-severe illness at the time of consultation, six (0.2%) were later admitted to hospital with a serious infection. Results show that acting on gut feeling had the potential to prevent two of the six cases being missed at the cost of 44 false alarms, but that these were not "unmanageable". The probability of a serious infection decreased from 0.2% to 0.1% when gut feeling was absent.

In fact, 21 out of the 3890 children were eventually admitted to hospital with a serious infection and nine were not referred at first contact. However, in four of the nine children, the doctor had a gut feeling that something serious was wrong.

The feature most strongly associated with gut feeling was a history of convulsions and the child's overall appearance and breathing.The authors also found that gut feeling is strongly influenced by parental concern that the illness is different. Finally, less experienced clinicians reported it more frequently than their more senior counterparts. However, the diagnostic power of gut feeling was no better in experienced than non-experienced clinicians.

The authors recommend that medical teaching should make clear that an "inexplicable gut feeling is an important diagnostic sign and a very good reason for seeking the opinion of someone with more paediatric expertise or performing additional testing". They say that gut feeling should make three things mandatory: conducting a full and careful examination; seeking advice from a more experienced clinician and providing the parent with safety netting advice. They conclude that clinicians should not ignore gut feeling and use it in decision making.

Contact:
Ann Van den Bruel, Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, UK
Tel: +44(0)1865 289300
ann.vandenbruel@phc.ox.ac.uk

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Doctors' "gut feeling" should not be ignored

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Doctors who experience a gut feeling about serious illness when treating a child in primary care should take action upon this feeling and not ignore it, a study published today on bmj.com suggests. Serious infection can easily be missed in young children and making a diagnosis has been described as "like finding a needle in a haystack".

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How the scientific community should approach and utilize data tainted by unethical practices. What ethical responsibilities do scientists have when conducting research with potentially destructive outcomes?

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How the scientific community should approach and utilize data tainted by unethical practices. What ethical responsibilities do scientists have when conducting research with potentially destructive outcomes?

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The Tobacco Industry’s Bad Science and Unethical Testing

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As well as mobilizing doubt in order to create confusion about the link between smoking and lung cancer, the tobacco industry has a long history of obfuscating the science showing how tobacco harms, often using unethical animal testing.

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Q1. What are the potential dangers of relying too heavily on technology for our
knowledge?

Q2. How can we develop and use technology in a way that enhances our knowledge
and understanding of the world?

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Provide examples from your personal experiences where you have found language both enabling and limiting your understanding (Sept)

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Provide examples from your personal experiences where you have found language both enabling and limiting your understanding (Sept)

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Activity

Do a search for ‘knowledge, power and politics’ and find entries for three or four different topics on that search. You will note that ‘knowledge, power and politics’ may refer to issues concerning the governance of a country or party politics but also to various other topics including policies related to the environment, immigration, food aid programmes and support for sports. Create a one slide presentation on how your examples are concerned with ‘knowledge, power and politics’.

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Narratives can be changed or warped based on a writer's individual beliefs. For example, a textbook might glorify national achievements while downplaying or ignoring controversial episodes or vice versa, such as colonialism or human rights abuses. Additionally, the compilers may interpret the words of the writer in a unintended manner. This can cause the potential for true meaning to become distorted in the quest to collate data into limited space. This creates a skewed understanding of history, where readers may develop a distorted view of their nation's past, seeing it through a lens that reinforces national pride or cultural superiority while neglecting the experiences and contributions of minority groups. Thefore, this can lead to a narrow and biased perception of history that fails to highlight the intricate nunces.

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Ruhan - Reflection on Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” 

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Ruhan - Reflection on Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” 

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Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is a text laden with metaphors. It’s a short story of how there are prisoners inside the cave who are chained and can only see their shadows, or the shadows of fellow prisoners from the fire inside the cave. They can only see shadows since they’re not “moving their heads.” The prisoners are released, and one walks out of the cave, and into the “light”, into the world. He’s blinded by it, and once he returns to the cave, he tries to convince the prisoners still inside to what he saw. None of them believe him, as none of them have taken the courageous step of leaving the cave. The cave represents the world that we’re in, the limitations of our imagination, the way our imagination is limited to what we “see” when our heads aren’t moving, bound by the chains. When the prisoner leaves the cave, it’s a metaphor for the fact that he is being “enlightened”. Limited light is limited knowledge, not 100% of the information. When everyone’s knowledge is “limited” in that way, when you are “enlightened” and have been exposed to the “light” no one would believe you. Such as Copernicus, Galileo and several renowned astronomers. They were executed, excommunicated, placed under house arrest and called “heretics”. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is therefore representative of humans and the world, our perceived reality and the “real” reality.

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Rohit Ravi - Reflection on Plato's, 'Allegory of the Cave'

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Rohit Ravi - Reflection on Plato's, 'Allegory of the Cave'

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Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is a symbolic tale. It portrays prisoners confined in a cave, chained and only able to see shadows from a fire. One prisoner is liberated, ventures into the blinding world outside, and returns to enlighten the others. The cave symbolizes our limited perception, while the freed prisoner represents enlightenment. When he tries to share his newfound knowledge, he's met with skepticism, echoing the challenges faced by historical figures like Copernicus and Galileo. In essence, the allegory highlights the gap between our perceived reality and the true reality.

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Maneesh Gowda - Reflection on Plato's ''Allegory of the Cave'' 

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Maneesh Gowda - Reflection on Plato's ''Allegory of the Cave'' 

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Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" illustrates prisoners chained in a cave, only perceiving shadows. One escapes, discovers a brighter reality, but is met with disbelief upon returning. This allegory symbolizes the limits of human perception, the contrast between perceived and true reality, and the resistance to enlightenment in society.

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Sept - What did you assume and why did you assume so? Reflect on the need for knowers to have a nuanced and well-rounded understanding of the world.

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Sept - What did you assume and why did you assume so? Reflect on the need for knowers to have a nuanced and well-rounded understanding of the world.

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Reflect and note down your own experiences with epistemic inequality. Have you ever
felt like you were not being given the same opportunities to learn as others? Have you ever felt like
your knowledge was not being valued?

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This week I'm doing something a little different on ------------------------------------- Philosophy Unleashed and releasing a lecture I gave last week to Year 12 students at a Sixth Form interdisciplinary conference on the theme of inequality held at an independent school in the UK.
When talking about inequality it might seem strange that I have chosen to talk about inequality in the area of knowledge. That's what the 'epistemic' means in the title to this talk - epistemology is a theory of knowledge - and I didn't put that in the lecture description because I wanted to give a small example of epistemic inequality right there at the start: those of you who know what 'epistemic' means and those who don't. Because even knowing now that this lecture is about knowledge inequality it might still seem reasonable to ask why should we care about inequalities in knowledge? Don't we, after all, know there are inequalities in knowledge? Not just between those who know what 'epistemic' means and those who don't. You lower-sixth students, for example, will have more knowledge in certain subjects than those students currently studying the in Year 7. I, with a PhD, a Masters degree and a Bachelors degree in Politics and Philosophy, will likely have more knowledge about those things than some other people do. People are more likely to have knowledge if they are educated, or if they have the resources to buy books or other means to gain new knowledge, or if they live in a country where those books and schools are common. And due to inequalities in education, economics, and global equity in general, access to knowledge faces all the same hurdles which lead to inequality everywhere else. Of course knowledge isn't equal. Why worry about it?

I worry because I'm not talking only about inequality in the amount of knowledge one might have, but inequality in what counts as knowledge in the first place. Inequality in who gets to define knowledge. Knowledge is supposed to be something which isn't subject to the same sort of whims, biases and motivations that lead to inequality in so many other areas of human life. Knowledge is supposed to be objective. Truth. Facts. Not just opinion or belief - both of which are subjective and flawed lesser states - but KNOWLEDGE. Information out there waiting in the world to be found by anyone. It shouldn't matter if you are rich, poor, male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, trans, black or white - if you search for knowledge then there should surely be no barriers to discovering such information.

And yet, as we will see, there are. It turns out that knowledge is a deeply unequal business indeed, because knowledge, as philosophy shows us, is not an objective, value-free, thing out there in the world, waiting to be discovered, at all. Knowledge is a theory. A construct. What counts as knowledge and what doesn't is subject to conceptual gatekeeping. And such gatekeeping inevitably keeps some people out.

For instance - you all have exams coming up next year which, we have all agreed as a society, tell us whether you sufficiently know your chosen A-level subjects or not. Even though much of what you will be asked to do is really about memorisation and recall of certain arbitrary pieces of information that many of you will not be able to recall a month, let alone a year, after examination, rather than any meaningful metric of knowledge, you will always be able to say you have an A-level, and therefore knowledge, in your subject. And future employers will take that A-level seriously, despite the fact that it is highly likely someone who does not have the qualification might actually know far more than you do about that subject once your education is over. The self-taught autodidact who actually knows something about your subject but does not possess the socially agreed symbol - the academic qualification - has their knowledge dismissed even as someone with the A-level, but without any real knowledge, is given a place at university, or a job, on the assumption they possess some knowledge they no longer do.

This is what I really want to talk about today when it comes to the issue of epistemic inequality. The dismissal of knowledge and how decisions about who knows what, and who is capable of knowing anything at all, are all areas in which knowledge construction has been historically, and continues to be, unequal.

In 2007, philosopher, Miranda Fricker, coined the term 'epistemic injustice' in her book of the same name, to 'bring to light certain ethical aspects of two of our most basic everyday epistemic practices: conveying knowledge to others by telling them, and making sense of our own social experiences.' (Fricker, 2007). Fricker made the argument that there are two types of epistemic injustice - 'testimonial injustice' and 'hermeneutical injustice' - which both leave some individuals or groups, usually those like women, members of 'ethnic minorities', or members of certain social classes who have historically suffered from power inequalities in society (and more so those who meet at the intersection of several of these identities, such as being a poor woman from an 'ethnic minority'), less likely to be given the social status of 'knower' compared to more dominant individuals or groups, such as powerful white men.

The first injustice - testimonial injustice - has as its paradigmatic case a police officer not believing testimony from a black person about what they were doing that they would have otherwise believed had it come from a white male. But this type of injustice should also be familiar to any of you who have ever had your words dismissed simply because of your age. When a teacher or parent ignores what you have to say simply because you are too young to know what you are talking about, you are experiencing testimonial injustice. We adults have denied you the possibility of having knowledge simply because of your age.

As well as criminal injustices stemming from testimonial injustices, testimonial injustice has been the cause of significant social injustices and inequalities in areas of medicine too. For years, women and people of colour had their own first-hand testimonies of what they were experiencing in their own bodies - especially around the issue of pain - dismissed by doctors who believed they knew better and discounted important testimony which could have improved treatments and medicine for many.

Even a phrase I have been using in the last few minutes - 'ethnic minority' - could be an example of testimonial injustice. Speaking globally, as Rosemary Campbell-Stephens has pointed out, these so-called 'minorities' are, in fact, the global majority...making up 80% of the world's population. (Campbell-Stephens, 2020). But we frame our conversations about race by excluding global voices and objective facts and focus only on the dominant white voices in Europe whose words count as 'knowledge'. Say 'ethnic minority' and people understand what you mean. Say 'global majority' and your claim to knowledge, despite it being factually accurate, will likely be ignored.

Returning to the paradigmatic case of racist testimonial injustice, what Fricker was doing in 2007 was giving name to something my subject - Philosophy - has systematically done throughout history. Just as much as Fricker's archetypal racist cop not listening to a black man, or, in another common example, a sexist husband not believing the testimony of his wife simply because she is a woman, we have, as a discipline, excluded the voices of non-white people and women from the canon of what counts as philosophical 'knowledge' since that canon's first construction. Philosophy, so the familiar story goes, begins in Ancient Greece. Usually, Thales is noted as the first philosopher, with his suggestion that everything is ultimately made of water, and after the famous pre-Socratics we get to the traditional tryptic of Socrates; his student, Plato; and Plato's student, Aristotle. However, this narrative of philosophy's origins is simply not true. Philosopher, Lea Cantor, notes how this story of Philosophy originated much later than the Ancient Greeks themselves, who never claimed to have invented Philosophy, in the 'problematic, and in some cases manifestly racist, eighteenth-century historiography of philosophy'. (Cantor, 2022). Scholar, Kehinde Andrews, takes this criticism of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment even further: 'The Enlightenment emerged,' Andrews tells us, 'at a time when Europe had laid waste to much of the world through genocide and slavery and was asserting its dominance through colonial expansion...The 'great thinkers' found themselves on top of the world as a result and theorized about their apparent supremacy...to provide the justification for the genocide, slavery and colonialism that was utterly indispensable to Western progress.' In essence, 'the whole basis of the Enlightenment is that rational thought is the sole possession of the White man. Even the idea of bringing light to the world - that Europe is the beacon to shine its torch on the dark and savage concerns of the globe - is instructive.' (Andrews, 2021) Importantly, Andrews tells us, 'imperial violence created the blank slate, the intellectual terra nullius (empty land) from which the Enlightenment thinkers emerged with their claims to a unique form of rationality and understanding'. One which completely ignored the non-European history of philosophy that had occurred in other parts of the world both in parallel with European thought, and long before it. For instance, Egyptian philosophy, maths, science, and medicine, which preceded the Ancient Greeks, was erased from the European Enlightenment narrative, and most subsequent histories of thought. (Allais, 2016; Schuringa, 2020).

Today, on the AQA A-level in philosophy that I teach, there are no named philosophers on the specification who are not white or European. While we are asked to teach the ideas of slave owners like George Berkeley and John Locke, who used their work in epistemology and political philosophy to explicitly justify the slave trade, and other racist philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, who once shockingly claimed the black skin of an African was all the proof he needed that the person was unintelligent, we have not been asked to teach the work of a single philosopher whose existence on the specification would disprove the despicable claims of these canonical Enlightenment thinkers.

Historically, the testimonial injustice non-white philosophers faced, by denying them the status of 'knower' (alongside all the other human rights they were denied), prevented them from entering that formal 'canon' of 'great' works in philosophy. Denied the status of 'knower', non-white philosophers were not given access to Western universities or intellectual circles. Their work was not published widely and discussed at great literary gatherings, but was produced and disseminated by alternative means, outside of dominant systems of academia - maybe orally, maybe in literature, maybe in languages never translated into English - and their ideas were extinguished. Something philosopher Boaventura de Sousa Santos has termed 'epistemicide'. The murder of knowledge. (Santos, 2016). As de Sousa Santos' reminds us 'the understanding of the world far exceeds the Western understanding of the world' but those living in the global South 'are the educators with the fewest credentials in the world' whose 'bodies and...lives are the squandered knowledge of the world.'

Even our discussion of epistemic injustice so far has, within it, an example of epistemic inequality. White, Western, philosopher, Miranda Fricker is commonly credited with coining the idea, including in this talk. But long before Fricker's work, in the 1980s, Indian scholar, Gayatri Spivak, wrote an influential essay entitled 'Can the Subaltern Speak?' which similarly described how the voices of non-Europeans - especially non-European women - are excluded from academic discussion of those very people, with European thinkers speaking for non-Europeans instead of letting non-Europeans speak for themselves. (Spivak, 1988 in Morris, 2010). Long before Spivak, and Fricker, in 1892, the Black American thinker, Anna Julia Cooper, wrote about the silencing of black female voices in public discourse and wrote 'there is a feminine as well as a masculine side to truth', which are 'complements in one necessary and symmetric whole'. (Cooper, 2022). With a woman's 'strongest vindication for speaking' being 'that the world needs to hear her voice' if it is interested in a full picture of knowledge instead of only a limited, male-centric, view.

Fricker's significant and important work in epistemic injustice, and her name being well-known in philosophic circles today, is a vast improvement from the historic epistemic injustice women have received as 'knowers' in philosophy. While the AQA specification I teach has no non-white philosophers on its reading lists, it's number of women is only marginally better. Women make up only a fifth of the thinkers named on the specification. Despite the existence of many excellent women working in philosophy, both now and historically, none of the women who made it onto the AQA specification have their own theories looked at purely in their own right. They are all included mainly in the capacity of the commentary they have made on the theories of men. The men of the 'canon'. And sadly, this is common practice in a world of epistemic inequality. Just as the 'canon' of greats in English literature centre around white men like Shakespeare and Dickens, and events of historical importance taught in your History lessons centre around great white men at war, when white men are the ones producing the 'canons' they tend to produce canons that resembles themselves.

As philosophers, Lisa Whiting and Rebecca Buxton, reported in the introduction to their excellent book from 2020, The Philosopher Queens, while looking at recent philosophy books in their local bookshop, 'In Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers only two women feature...In The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Turing, no women made the cut. Each chapter in that particular book was written by a contemporary philosopher, all of whom were also men. At the time of writing, a newly published book by A. C. Grayling, boldly titled The History of Philosophy, includes no sections on women philosophers.' (Buxton and Whiting, 2020). That same A.C. Grayling book came under fire this year from another female philosopher, Regan Penaluna, when she saw it too. As she reports after seeing the Grayling book and asking 'how could this still be' in the 21st century: 'It's not that there have been no women' in philosophy, 'It's not that no one has cared. Many people have. Some men have...women philosophers weren't exactly forgotten; they were just never integrated into the canon...' (Penaluna, 2023).

As I said at the start - the question to keep in mind is why should we care about inequalities in knowledge? Well, because if construction of knowledge itself has historically been both sexist and racist, then in its embedded prejudice we will continue to leave problematic epistemic blind-spots in what we believe that we know. In the words of black feminist, Audre Lorde, 'what does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow perimeters of change are possible and allowable.' (Lorde, 2019). Or, as philosopher, Sara Ahmed put it more recently: 'if those with privilege are those who philosophize, so much material will be missing'. (Ahmed, 2023).

Which brings us to the second of Fricker's forms of epistemic injustice: 'hermenutical injustice'. Put simply, hermeneutics are methods of interpretation and, in this case, Fricker is talking about the resources we have to interpret - and thus know - the world in which we exist. Imagine, for example, simply being dumped in a school for the very first time and no-one having explained to you what a school is, what a teacher is, what a class is, what a bell signifies, how a timetable works. You would simply experience all these things happening to you, and have no way of properly understanding what it all means. We need to have concepts in place to be able to explain and make sense of our experiences.

As Fricker puts it, 'relations of unequal power, can skew hermeneutical resources so that the powerful tend to have appropriate understandings of their experiences ready to draw on as they make sense of their social experiences, whereas the powerless are more likely to find themselves having some social experiences...with at best ill-fitting meanings to draw on in the effort to render them intelligible', leading to epistemic inequalities. (Fricker, 2007) The paradigmatic case here is something like sexual harassment in a time before things like the #MeToo or #TimesUp movements gave women the epistemic tools to name the violence that was happening to them for what it was. Before such movements, sexual harassment and sexual abuse in the workplace from those in positions of power against those without it was happening, but when it happened it was, shamefully, simply considered an unfortunate part of 'how things are'. Women were being harassed, made uncomfortable, forced out of workplaces, physically attacked, and rightly felt that the way they were being treated was wrong, but were denied the status as 'knowers' of what was happening to themselves because the conceptual language wasn't there to describe what was happening, either to themselves, or to others, as harassment.

We see this too with examples of structural racism. When the dominant knowledge paradigm tells people racism is the sort of thing only individuals can do to you, there are no tools for knowledgably interpreting the persistent structural disadvantages experienced by people of colour - people from the 'global majority' - that don't come from any one individual, but are experienced nevertheless. Such people had to develop the hermeneutics of recognising systemic and structural racism, and the conceptualisation of white privilege, to be able to properly have knowledge of their own life experiences.

Today, we are seeing active attempts at continuing to deny victims of such structural disadvantage knowledge of their own experiences through bans on the teaching of things like critical race theory in schools and even, in this school, being told not to use phrases such as 'white privilege' to you students for fear it may be triggering. Such a phrase can only be triggering if you don't understand it properly - and you won't understand the concept properly if you are not taught it; a further form of hermeneutical injustice to protect white fragility at the expense of epistemic equality and justice for victims of structurally racist systems.

When I ask 'why should we care about inequalities in knowledge today?', I am asking us, specifically, in this room, in the context of this school. Why should we care about the voices and people denied their status as 'knower' 'knowledge' or their ability to know? I am asking because education has a massive role it could play in overcoming epistemic inequality rather than perpetuating it. Yet schools continue to be sites of epistemic inequality. Not only in the way we routinely dismiss the status of young people as 'knowers', but in failing to provide all the epistemic tools to give students - you - the proper hermeneutics to navigate your world.

Educators are in a bind - we need to prepare you for the world that's out there, but by doing so we often repeat norms without questioning if their status as norms came as a result of prior epistemic injustices. Philosopher, Cris Mayo, for instance, reminds us how 'social categories of gender shaped the supposedly scientific story of the active sperm and the passive egg, bypassing entirely the activity of the cilia in the Fallopian tube that moves the sperm along.' Embedded cultural beliefs about the supposed aggression and activity of males and passivity of females meant scientists holding those beliefs see only what they were expecting to see when they make their supposedly objective observations. Meanwhile, 'feminist analyses of biology have long noted the tendency for observation to be skewed by expectations about what sex/gender an aggressive animal must be (male) and what sex/gender two animals must be if they are engaged in sexual behaviour, missing entirely the aggression of female animals and same-sex behaviour'. (Mayo, 2022). Even supposedly objective and neutral scientific observation can end up being loaded with values and biases which make the so-called knowledge it constructs an incomplete and inaccurate story.

As philosopher, Sally Haslanger, puts it: 'If we take such existing gender differences as evidence for the different 'natures' of men and women, and so structure social arrangements to accommodate these natures, then we simply reinforce the existing gendered social roles...what appeared to be a 'neutral' or 'objective' ideal - namely, the procedure of drawing on observed regularities to set constraints on practical decision making - is one which will, under conditions of gender hierarchy, reinforce the social arrangements on which such hierarchy depends'. (Haslanger, 2012).

My hope with this brief talk, therefore, is that, by shining a light on just a few examples of epistemic inequality embedded within our society and, yes, within your own school, at least your education - your privileged, private, and inherently unequal education - has at least, today, started to give you particular students hearing this lecture just a few tools to recognise, call out, and begin to remedy some epistemic inequalities that, until this talk, you might not even have had the hermeneutic tools to know were there. That you'll now be able to answer the question 'why should we care about inequalities in knowledge?' because you have started to see how those inequalities make our collective understanding of the world limited, dimmer, and further from the truth than real knowledge should be.

I'll close now with one other reason that we should care. With the words of queer theorist, Jack Halberstam, who reminds us that 'the social worlds we inhabit...are not inevitable; they were not always bound to turn out this way, and what's more, in the process of producing this reality, many other realities, fields of knowledge, and ways of being have been discarded' (Halberstam, 2011). We should care about inequalities in knowledge because there is so much that we don't know as a result of those inequalities, and what we don't know might be so much better than the current reduced and prejudiced distorted picture of reality we have been taught is all there is to know.

- Ahmed, S. 2023. The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. Allen Lane.

- Allais, L. 2016. Problematising Western philosophy as one part of Africanising the curriculum. in South African Journal of Philosophy. 35:4.

- Andrews, K. 2021. The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World. Allen Lane.

- Buxton, R and Whiting, L (eds). 2020. The Philosopher Queens. Unbound.

- Campbell-Stephens, R. 2020. Global Majority; Decolonising the language and Reframing the Conversation about Race. (accessed: 24/06/23. https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/schools/school-of-education/final-leeds-beckett-1102-global-majority.pdf.)

- Cantor, L. 2022. Thales - the 'first philosopher'? A troubled chapter in the historiography of philosophy. in British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 30:5.

- Cooper, A, J. 2022. The Portable Anna Julia Cooper. Penguin.

- Fricker, M. 2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford University Press.

- Halberstam, J. 2011. The Queer Art of Failure. Duke University Press.

- Haslanger, S. 2012. Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique. Oxford University Press.

- Lorde, A. 2019. Sister Outsider. Penguin.

- Mayo, C. 2022. Gender Diversities and Sex Education. in Journal of Philosophy of Education. 56:5.

- Morris, R. 2010. Can the Subaltern Speak? Reflections on the History of an Idea. Columbia University Press.

- Penaluna, R. 2023. How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind. Grove Press.
Author: DaN McKee (he/him) , is out everywhere now on paperback and eBook. You can order it or from places like . If you liked this post and appreciate what I do here at Philosophy Unleashed and want to buy me a coffee or cool philosophy book to say thank you, feel free to send a small donation/tip my way . My other book - AUTHENTIC DEMOCRACY: An Ethical Justification of Anarchism - is available , from the publisher, and from all good booksellers, either in paperback or as an e-Book. Listen to me on The Independent Teacher podcast . Read my Anarchist Studies journal paper on Anarchism and Character Education . Listen to me on the Philosophy Gets Schooled podcast . For everything else DaN McKee related:
- Santos, B. 2016. Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide. Routledge.

- Schuringa, C. 2020. On the Very Idea of 'Western' Philosophy. Medium. (accessed: 24/06/23. https://medium.com/science-and-philosophy/on-the-very-idea-of-western-philosophy-668c27b3677)

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160. EPISTEMIC INEQUALITY - Why Should We Care About Inequalities in Knowledge? - Philosophy UNLEASHED

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Epistemic inequality and epistemic injustice lecture by Dr DaN McKee. Great for AQA Philosophy students. Anarchist Atheist Punk Rock Teacher: A Memoir of Struggle, Grief, Philosophy and Hope is out now on Earth Island books.

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 Relationship between knowledge, politics, and the media. (Sept)

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 Relationship between knowledge, politics, and the media. (Sept)

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The role of the media in society: How does the media shape our understanding of the world? How does the media influence public opinion?

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When did you notice the word "migrant" start to take precedence over the many other terms applied to people on the move? For me it was in 2015, as the refugee crisis in Europe reached its peak. While debate raged over whether people crossing the Mediterranean via unofficial routes should be regarded as deserving candidates for European sympathy and protection, it seemed as if that word came to crowd out all others. Unlike the other terms, well-meaning or malicious, that might be applied to people in similar situations, this one word appears shorn of context; without even an im- or an em- attached to it to indicate that the people it describes have histories or futures. Instead, it implies an endless present: they are migrants, they move, it's what they do. It's a form of description that, until 2015, I might have expected to see more often in nature documentaries, applied to animals rather than human beings.

But only certain kinds of human beings. The professional who moves to a neighbouring city for work is not usually described as a migrant, and neither is the wealthy businessman who acquires new passports as easily as he moves his money around the world. It is most often applied to those people who fall foul of border control at the frontiers of the rich world, whether that's in Europe, the US, Australia, South Africa or elsewhere. That's because the terms that surround migration are inextricably bound up with power, as is the way in which our media organisations choose to disseminate them.

The people I met during the years I spent reporting on the experiences of refugees at Europe's borders, for my book Lights in the Distance, were as keenly aware of this as any of us. There was the fixer I was introduced to in Bulgaria, a refugee himself, who was offering TV news crews a "menu" of stories of suffering, with a price range that corresponded with the value the media placed on them. Caesar, a young man from Mali I met in Sicily, told me he was shocked to find that Italian television would usually only show images of Africa in reports about war or poverty. Some refugees' stories, he felt, were treated with more urgency than others because of what country they came from. Or there was Hakima, an Afghan woman who lived with her family in Athens, who confronted me directly: "We keep having journalists visit, and they want to hear our stories, but, tell me, what can you do?" Often, people I met were surprised at the lack of understanding, even indifference, they felt was being shown to them. Didn't Europe know why people like them were forced to make these journeys? Hadn't Europe played an intimate role in the histories and conflicts of their own countries?

Europe's refugee crisis, or more properly, a disaster partly caused by European border policies, rather than simply the movement of refugees towards Europe, was one of the most heavily mediated world events of the past decade. It unfolded around the edges of a wealthy and technologically developed region, home to several major centres of the global media industry. Scenes of desperation, suffering and rescue that might normally be gathered by foreign correspondents in harder-to-access parts of the world were now readily available to reporters, news crews, filmmakers and artists at relatively low cost.

The people at the centre of the crisis were, at least for a time, relatively free to move around once they had reached safety and to speak to whoever they pleased. This gave certain advantages to the kind of media coverage that was produced. Most of all, it allowed quick and clear reporting on emergency situations as they developed. Throughout 2015, the crisis narrative was developed via a series of flashpoints at different locations within and around the European Union. In April, for example, attention focused on the smuggler boat route from Libya, after the deadliest shipwreck ever recorded in the Mediterranean. A month or so later focus shifted to Calais, where French and British policies of discouraging irregular migrants from attempting to cross the Channel had led to a growing spectacle of mass destitution. By the summer, the number of boat crossings from Turkey to Greece had dramatically increased, and images and stories of people stepping on to Aegean shores, or of piles of orange lifejackets, came to dominate. Then came the scenes of people moving through the Balkans, and so on, and so on.

Kara Tepe refugee camp on Lesbos in Greece. The men, mostly Syrians, are anxiously waiting for registration papers, July 2015. Photograph: Jillian Edelstein

In all of these situations the news media were able to do their basic job in emergency situations, which is to communicate what's happening, who's affected, what's needed the most. But this is usually more than a matter of relaying dry facts and figures. "Human stories" have the greatest currency among journalists, although it's an odd term if you think about it.

What stories aren't human? In fact, it's most commonly used to denote a particular kind of human story; one that gives individual experience the greatest prominence, that tells you what an event felt like, both physically and emotionally. It rests on the assumption that this is what connects most strongly with audiences: either because it hooks them in and keeps them watching or reading, or because it helps them identify with the protagonist, perhaps in a way that encourages empathy, or a particular course of action in response. As a result, the public was able to easily and quickly access vivid accounts and images of people's experiences as they attempted to cross the EU's external borders, or to find shelter and welcome within Europe.

The trade-off was that this often fit into predetermined ideas about what disasters look like, who needs protection, who is innocent and who is deserving of blame. Think, for example, about the most recognisable image of the refugee crisis in 2015: the picture of a Turkish police officer carrying the lifeless body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi away from the water's edge on a beach near Bodrum.

As the Dutch documentary Een zee van beelden - A Sea of Images - (Medialogica, 2016) asked: why did this image in particular strike such a chord? After all, many news editors see images of death on a daily basis, yet for the most part decide to exclude them. The documentary showed how the apparently viral spread of the Alan Kurdi photograph on social media was in large part the result of a series of decisions taken by senior journalists and NGO workers.

Refugees after landing on Lesbos, July 2015. Photograph: Jillian Edelstein

First, a local photo agency in Turkey decided to release the image to the wires because they were so fed up with the lack of political response to the crisis on their shores. The image was shared by an official at a global human rights NGO with a large Twitter following, and retweeted by several prominent correspondents for large news organisations. Picture editors at several newspapers then decided, independently of one another, to place the photo on the front pages of their next editions; only after that point did it reach its widest circulation online. The image gained the status it did for a mix of reasons - political, commercial, but also aesthetic. One of the picture editors interviewed in the documentary commented on how the position of the figures in the photo resembled that of Michelangelo's Pietà, an iconography of suffering and sacrifice that runs deep in European culture.

But if this way of working has its advantages, it also has its dark side. News media that rush from one crisis point to another are not so good at filling in the gaps, at explaining the obscured systems and long-term failures that might be behind a series of seemingly unconnected events. To return to the idea of a "refugee crisis", for example, this is an accurate description in one sense, as it involved a sharp increase in the number of people claiming asylum in the European Union; from around 430,000 in 2013, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, to well over a million in 2015 and 2016 each. In global terms this was a relatively small number of refugees: the EU has a population of over 500 million, while most of the world's 68.5 million forcibly displaced people are hosted in poorer parts of the world. But the manner of people's arrival was chaotic and often deadly, while there was a widespread institutional failure to ensure that their needs - for basic necessities, for legal and political rights - were met. To stop there, however, risks giving the false impression that the crisis was a problem from elsewhere that landed unexpectedly on European shores.

This impression is false on two counts. First, Europe has played a key role, historically, in the shaping of a world where power and wealth are unequally distributed, and European powers continue to pursue military and arms trading policies that have caused or contributed to the conflicts and instability from which many people flee. Second, the crisis of 2015 was a direct effect of the complex and often violent system of policing immigration from outside the EU that has been constructed in the last few decades.

In short, this has involved the EU and its members signing treaties with countries outside its borders to control immigration on its behalf; an increasingly militarised frontier at the geographical edges of the EU; and an internal system for regulating the movement of asylum seekers that aims to force them to stay in the first EU country they enter. This, cumulatively, had the effect of forcing desperate people to take narrower and more dangerous routes by land and sea, while the prioritising of border control over safe and dignified reception conditions compounded the disaster. How well, really, did media organisations explain all this to their audiences?

The effect, all too often, was to frame these newly arrived people as others; people from "over there", who had little to do with Europe itself and were strangers, antagonistic even, to its traditions and culture. This was true at times, of both well-meaning and hostile media coverage. A sympathetic portrayal of the displaced might focus on some of those images and stories that matched stereotypes of innocence and vulnerability: children, women, families; the vulnerable, the sick, the elderly.

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Negative coverage, meanwhile, might focus more on the men, the able-bodied, nameless and sometimes faceless people massed at fences or gates. Or people from particular countries would be focused on to suit a political agenda. The Sun, one of Britain's most widely read newspapers, for example, led with a picture of Alan Kurdi on its front page in September 2015, telling its readers that the refugee crisis was a matter of life and death, and that the immediate action required was further British military intervention in Syria. A few weeks later it gave another refugee boat story the front page, but in contrast to the earlier one the language was about "illegals" who were seeking a "back door". This time, the refugees were from Iraq, and they had landed on the territory of a British air force base in Cyprus, which legally made them the responsibility of the UK.

The fragmented and contradictory media coverage of the crisis left room for questions to go unanswered and myths to circulate: who are these people and what do they want from us? Why don't they stop in the first safe country they reach? Why don't the men stay behind and fight? How can we make room for everyone? Are they bringing their problems to our shores? Do they threaten our culture and values? The problem is made worse by those media outlets that have an active desire to stoke hostility and misunderstanding.

One of the first people I met in the course of my reporting was Azad, a young Kurdish man from northern Syria, in a hastily constructed refugee camp in Bulgaria at the end of 2013. At the time, the inability of Bulgarian and EU authorities to adequately prepare for the arrival of a few thousand people - the camp, at Harmanli in southern Bulgaria, marked the first time Médecins sans Frontières had ever set up emergency medical facilities within Europe - seemed like an unusual development. Everyone was new to this situation, and the camp's inhabitants, largely Syrians who had fled the war there but decided that Syria's neighbouring countries could not offer them the security they needed, were shocked at what they found. Several of them told me this couldn't possibly be the real Europe, and that they would continue moving until they found it. Azad was friendly and wanted to know lots about where I came from, London, and to find out what he could about the other countries in Europe, and where people like him might find a place to settle.

I went back to meet Azad several times over the next two years, as he and his family made their way across Bulgaria, and then central Europe, to Germany. During that time, the backlash against refugees grew stronger, a fact Azad was keenly aware of. In Sofia, in the spring of 2014, he pointed out places in the city centre where homeless Syrians had been attacked by street gangs. Later that year, in eastern Germany, we walked through a town where lampposts were festooned with posters for a far-right political party.

An Afghan refugee, Hassan, who collapsed after landing with his family near Skala, Lesbos, July 2015. Photograph: Jillian Edelstein

By the autumn of 2015, Azad and his family were settled in Germany's Ruhr area, and he was much warier of me than he had been in our early meetings. He could see that hostility ran alongside the curiosity and welcome that had greeted the new arrivals to Europe; and he knew how giving too many details away to journalists could threaten what stability people in his situation had managed to find. Within a few months, a series of events - the Islamic State attack in Paris in November 2015, the robberies and sexual assaults in Cologne that New Year's Eve - had provided the excuse for some media outlets to tie well-worn stereotypes about savage, dark foreigners and their alleged threat to white European purity to the refugees of today.

The most brazen of these claims - such as the Polish magazine wSieci, which featured a white woman draped in the EU flag being groped at by the arms of dark-skinned men, under the headline The Islamic Rape of Europe - directly echoed the Nazi and fascist propaganda of Europe's 20th century. But racist stereotyping was present in more liberal outlets too. The Süddeutsche Zeitung, in its coverage of the Cologne attacks, prominently featured an illustration of a woman's legs silhouetted in white, with the space in between taken up by a black arm and hand. Racism is buried so deep in European history that at times like these it can remain unspoken yet still make its presence clear.

Now, several years on from the peak of the refugee crisis, we are faced with a series of uncomfortable facts. The EU has tried to restore and strengthen the border system that existed before 2015 by extending migration control deep into Africa and Asia. The human rights of the people this affects, not least the many migrants trapped in horrendous conditions in Libya, are taking a back seat. Far right and nationalist movements have made electoral gains in many countries within the EU, and they have done this partly by promising to crack down on migration, to punish refugees for daring to ask for shelter from disasters that Europe was all too often the midwife to. Politicians of the centre are being pulled to the right by these developments, and a dangerous narrative threatens to push out all others: that European culture and identity are threatened by intrusions from outside. If we come to view culture in this way - as something fixed and tightly bounded by the ideologies of race and religion, or as a means for wealthy parts of the world to defend their privilege - then we are headed for further, greater disasters.

The irony is that you can only believe in this vision if you ignore not only Europe's history, but its present too. Movement, exchange, new connections, the making and remaking of tradition - these things are happening all around us, and already involve people who have been drawn here from other parts of the world by ties not just of conflict but of economics, history, language and technology. By the same token, displacement is not just a feature of the lives of people from elsewhere in the world; it's been a major and recent part of Europe's history too. And what has kept people alive, what has preserved traditions and allowed people to build identities and realise their potential, is solidarity: the desire to defend one another and work towards common goals.

If there is a failure to recognise this, then the way people are represented by our media and cultural institutions has to be at fault, and setting this right is an urgent challenge. This isn't only in terms of how people are represented and when, but who gets to participate in the decision-making; who gets to speak with authority, or with political intent, or with a collective voice rather than simply as an individual.

All too often, the voices of refugees and other marginalised people are reduced to pure testimony, which is then interpreted and contextualised on their behalf. One thing that constantly surprised me about the reporting on refugees in Europe, for instance, was how little we heard from journalists who had connections to already settled diaspora communities. Immigration from Africa, Asia or the Middle East is hardly new to Europe, and this seems like a missed opportunity to strengthen bridges we have already built. Though it's never too late.

Any meaningful response to this has to address the question of who gets to tell stories, as well as what kinds of stories are told. The Refugee Journalism Project, a mentoring scheme for displaced journalists, based at London College of Communication - disclosure: I'm on the steering committee, and it is supported by the Guardian Foundation - focuses not only on providing people with a media platform, but helping them develop the skills and contacts necessary for getting jobs.

All too often the second part is forgotten about. But although initiatives like these are encouraging, we also need to rethink the way our media organisations are run: who owns them, who makes the decisions, who does the work. This reminds me of what I heard Fatima, a women's rights activist originally from Nigeria, tell an audience of NGO workers in Italy in 2016: "Don't just come and ask me questions and sell my story or sell my voice; we need a change."

The more those of us who work in media can help develop the connections that already exist between us, the more I think we can break down the idea of irreconcilable conflict over migration. Because, really, there is no "over there" - just where we are.

Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, or sign up to the long read weekly email here.
This is adapted from an essay in Lost in Media: Migrant Perspectives and the Public Sphere (Valiz), a project of the European Cultural Foundation edited by Ismail Einashe and Thomas Roueché

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How the media contributed to the migrant crisis

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Disaster reporting plays to set ideas about people from 'over there'. By Daniel Trilling

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THEORIES TASK SPECIFICATION (PPT's, Mindmaps, Charts, Classboards, Posters, Infographics, Padlet Points)

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THEORIES TASK SPECIFICATION (PPT's, Mindmaps, Charts, Classboards, Posters, Infographics, Padlet Points)

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•Through collaboration the following school of thought should be explored: Pragmatism, Intuitionism, Social Constructivism, Postmodernism

•Each group to discuss and analyse the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of their assigned theory and most important - Examples of how the ideas in the theory can be seen applied to real-world situations and contexts.

•Critically discuss the following questions:

“How does this theory explain the acquisition of knowledge?”

“What are the limitations of this theory in understanding different areas of knowledge?"

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Q2: What lessons did the mystery object challenge teach you about the theory of knowledge?

answer 2: Knowledge is simply defined as something we know, or learn over a period of time. The mystery object challenge made me realize that there are multiple ways in which our brain thinks in order to reach a conclusion. We mostly used our senses, learnings and memories to communicate our opinions and perspectives on the same.

Q3: list down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from?

answer 3:

1) I know that there are only 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 as numerals and the rest are made using these numbers (area of knowledge - Maths)

2) yellow is a primary colour (area of knowledge - Visual arts)

3) The solar system consists of 8 planets, not 9 (area of knowledge - space studies)

4) water is represented as H20 (area of knowledge - Chemistry)

5) anxiety has multiple branches (area of knowledge - psychology)

Q4: Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth. Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

answer  4: Something that truly influenced my intellectual growth was the cursive writing books my parents got for me when I was younger. I used to write C the opposite way and wouldn’t understand the difference between the alphabet “b” and “d.” The writing book really helped me in terms of my writing and intellectual growth. My parents were also extremely important in this journey since they taught me how to speak.

Q5: Have you ever had moments when your views or understanding on a certain topic change? Describe these experiences.

answer 5: Recently during Bridge course, I was strongly against death penalties, mostly cause it isn’t practically and against the law. However, when we had the debate in class, people presented views in terms of emotional connection to the situation and how punishing murder with death wasn’t fair and I truly felt like to some extent, the death penalty should be an option for extreme cases and punishments.

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

Answer 3:
1) I know gravity exists because I learnt it in my physics class
2) I know about atoms, protons, and electrons because I learnt them in my chemistry class
3) I know about the circulatory system because I learnt it in my biology class.
4) I know about Mesopotamian civilization because I learnt it in my history class
5) I know about HTML coding language because I learnt it in my design class.

4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth. Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

Answer 4:

My earliest memory of learning for me was when I learnt a few elements from the periodic table, which made me want to learn more about chemistry.

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q2-What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?
-i learnt how to identify different things without one of the most integral senses, sight. we were forced to give more importance to the other senses and use our memory of prior items we have interacted with to identify the object

q3-List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers
-I know that the water is clear and reflects the colour of the sky in order to appear blue. I know this because I read it on a website.
-I know that mammals are vertebrates because of a biology chapter in the third or fourth grade.

q4-"THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.
-My parents had the most influence on my learning and my earliest memories. They taught me different languages, basic subjects that were required in school as well as the foundation of our (my family's) morals and beliefs.

q5-Have you ever had moments when your views or understanding of something changed? Describe these experiences.
-I definitely have. I have had certain views on events such as current events that are showcased in the news as it is very simple to take a stand with a lack of information, however once I had the chance to educate myself more and not blatantly believe what was being shown to me, my views changed or I had a stronger standpoint on my initial view

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.-Geethana

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.-Geethana

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One of my memories that influenced my intellectual growth is my mom making me read the chicken soup which showed the perspective of so many different people and kind of shaped me as a person

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers-Geethana

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers-Geethana

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1.I know that DDT is harmful because of the book silent spring by Rachel Carson.
2. I know that Vasco da gama discovered India due to history
3.I know that there are 4 factors of production through my economics teacher
4.I know that a linear equation is a straight line in a graph cause of math
5.I know that Clocks are wrong in Indus when I compare it with a different source

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Without sight, one of the most important senses, I learned how to distinguish between various objects. We were compelled to prioritise our other senses and rely on our memories of previously encountered objects to correctly identify the object.

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

One of my earliest memories of learning was going to Kumon (Math and English tuition) and practiced writing numbers. I was three years old, and I remember following dotted lines or attaching one object to another while tracing the number.

One thing that has had a significant impact on my knowledge and beliefs is social media. I was never really addicted to social media until lockdown hit, and after it did I was obsessed. Social media became the new news. Everyone shared BLM posts, and talked about various injustices in the world. Mental health was also largely discussed about with a message to always be yourself and to not overwork yourself especially in a time like lockdown. Ever since then, social media has always been my primary mode of contact. I always use it for learning new things (through the various online communities), reading about recent news, and also to simply communicate with my friends.

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

1. I know that all states of matter in our world reflect on the kinetic energy of atoms through Chemistry and physics classes throughout MYP
2. I know my strengths and weaknesses through thinking about my personality traits and categorizing whether they can be an advantage or disadvantage in my daily life.
3. I know that the majority of the clocks in Indus don't align with the time correctly due to comparing the time on my laptop to the time shown on the clock.
4. I know how to type through technology classes in Kindergarten which set my foundation.
5. I know how to dance through firstly observing, then applying dance moves I see in choreographies.

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a) The Earth orbits the Sun: this knowledge comes from astronomy and scientific observations made by astronomers over centuries.
b) William Shakespeare is a famous playwright and poet: knowledge comes from literature and historical records about William Shakespeare's life and works.
c) The capital of India is Delhi: this knowledge comes from geography and general knowledge acquired through education and personal cultural exposure.
d) Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy: This knowledge comes from biology and scientific research on plant physiology taught in my chemistry and biology classes.

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

My earliest memory of learning is probably learning numbers in pre-school. MYP studies have had a significant impact on my intellectual growth, as I got to participate in numerous class discussions and debates which have helped me understand different perspectives and learn concepts beyond the syllabus. Videos and other forms of content have influenced the way I think and understand concepts.

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

1. I know that plants are classified into monocots and dicots. This knowledge comes from scientific research and examination which I learnt through my biology classes in MYP.
2. I know that plastic is an organic compound. This knowledge comes from scientific research on chemical reactions and analysis of structures of compounds which tells that plastic has carbon. I learnt this information through my chemistry teacher in grade 10.
3. I know that opposite charges attract. This comes from the study of atomic structures under physics. I learnt this through my science classes in grade 6.
4. I know that water is liquid at room temperature. This knowledge comes from field of chemistry from observations of the physical properties of water at room temperature. I learnt this through observation and my classes in MYP.
5. I know that oil is hydrophobic. This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry from observations and understanding of bonds. I learnt this through my chemistry classes in MYP.

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Question: What lessons did the mystery object challenge teach you about the theory of knowledge

The Mystery object challenge exhibited the significance of memory and perception. It showcased how each individuals prior knowledge played a role in unveiling the object, whether it be visual memory, recognizing smell, or identifying a similar description for the object. The activity also demonstrated the limitations of knowledge and how this questions knowledge we aquire and our judgement.

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Geethana.    2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

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Geethana.    2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

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we tried to guess the objects while blindfolded.It shows that senses, prior knowledge and memory are a big part in guessing. Familiarity also plays a key role.This answers how do you know? what you know?

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The Mystery Object challenge taught me how I have to be active everywhere no matter what am I doing I have to be alert and it also made me realise how important our senses are

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The mystery object challenge involved using our touch, smell, taste and hearing senses in order to identify the object. It also required us to use other techniques such as; memory, familiarity and other connections to other external objects.

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2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

It made me think about why people tested the mystery objects the way they did and how they tested it. I understood that prior knowledge plays a major role in perception.

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Q2: 2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

Ans2: Your prior “knowledge” can be very important in unfamiliar situations. That you have to question your “knowledge” to understand what might already be established. It showed me how your senses can be used to guess the object. Not just senses but also your guesses, since that’s what helps you navigate your way to the right object. It’s a way of using your senses and knowledge to identify objects in an unfamiliar situation.

Q3: 3. List down five things you “know” and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

Ans3:

List of things that I “know”:

1. Gravity exists (Source of Knowledge: Physics)

2. Water is a polar covalent compound (Source of Knowledge: Chemistry)

3. The Munich Conference in which the Czech “sundentenland” area was “given” to Germany as appeasement was broken by The Third Reich (Source of Knowledge: History).

4. In an equilateral triangle, all the three sides and angles are equal. Source of Knowledge: Mathematics

5. In the E flat minor scale, you have the notes E-flat, F, G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, C-flat and D-flat. Source of Knowledge: A piano.

Q4: 4. “THE KNOWER” Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

Ans4: One of the most mind boggling things I’ve ever come across is the Fermi paradox. This was proposed by Enrico Fermi. Fermi’s idea that there’s a great “barrier” between civilisations in the universe. That every planet with intelligent life has to go through and overcome to be able to survive. In essence it’s basically an argument between why potentially there should be more advanced civilisations in the universe, yet how we lack empirical concrete evidence of said civilisations. For some it’s frightening at the possibility of how we could be totally unaware of civilisations that made it through the barrier or not, if our own’s going to make it past the barrier or not.

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2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

The mystery object challenge helped us understand the usage of prior knowledge in making decisions in identifying the object. Using different senses and techniques, by utilizing familiarity and memory we could draw connections and identify the object.

3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)

3. I know that Pi is a irrational number due to mathematical research and learning through classes in my junior years.
I know that the alphabet has 26 letters due to learning it from my early school teachers and general knowledge.
I know that Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system due to enquiring from the internet when I was curious.
I know that anything to the power of 0 is 1 due to mathematics classes in my middle years.
I know how to solve a rubiks cube through exploring the internet and learning the methodology for it.

4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth. Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

4.
Earliest memories of learning for me would likely be the many classes that I attended such as mathematics classes. These were extremely significant as it helped me a lot with school later on and gave me strong fundamentals for building knowledge.

5.

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The use of prior knowledge in combination with the 4 other senses were used to derive an understanding of the object without every glancing at it. It shows the power of the brain and how not just 1 part of this combination would be enough

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2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

The mystery object challenge allowed us to apply our prior knowledge and question how we were able to apply our prior knowledge while identifying the mystery objects.
The mystery object challenge tested our senses in relation to our prior knowledge - whether an object felt, smelled, or even tasted familiar.

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The mystery object activity taught me a lot about application of prior knowledge and knowledge disparities and gaps. I.e. a couple of students couldn't identify the mystery object due to lack of knowledge and exposure.

5 things I know and how that makes me a knower and the place where that knowledge came from.

1. I know that plants are green because of chlorophyll, I know this because of prior knowledge taught in 6th grade biology.
2. I know that PEDs (personal electronic devices) all have lithium ion batteries which is what makes them rechargeable.  I know this from IDU and chemistry classes
3. I know that Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft, I know this through the internet and my own personal reading.
4. I know that the Eras tour took place in Singapore and it sold out, I know this through word of mouth (my cousins).
5. I know that you start counting from 1 because of early years and the knowledge I gained from then.

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5. Have you ever had moments when your views or understanding of something changed? Describe these experiences.

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5. Have you ever had moments when your views or understanding of something changed? Describe these experiences.

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The Mystery Object challenge showed me how we use our different senses along with applying our prior knowledge in identifying the object that we had in our hands.

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

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3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

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Q2. What lessons did the mystery object challenge teach you about the theory of knowledge?

Answer -> The mystery object challenge taught me that from past experiences and education help us build upon our theory of knowledge therefore we can identify why and how we know what we know.

Q3. List down five things you "know" and identify where this knowledge came from. EXAMPLE: I know that “Water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)”• Source of Knowledge: This knowledge comes from the field of chemistry and scientific research and my science classes through my teachers

Answer -> 1) Every colour has another colour that can cancel the first colour out. This knowledge comes from the colour wheel that is from the field of visual arts.

Q4. 4. "THE KNOWER" Think about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

Answer -> One of my mom earliest memories of any significant educational experience is of when I was in kindergarten and we were taught the IB learner profile attributes and golden words. All these topics are the core values that I have learned acquire over the course of time.

One book that has been a complete inspiration for helping me decide what my dream job is the book "Basher Science - The Human Body". This book was what created the start of a spark of the massive amounts of passion I have to become a doctor. Even today, whenever I have doubts and feel discouraged, reading the book brings back all the passion I have for learning biology and becoming a doctor.

Q5. MYSTERY OBJECT ACTIVITY REFLECTION & ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

Answer ->
1) If I were to be blindfolded, I would've been very scared and unsure of my surroundings therefore leaving me in fear of thinking about what would happen next.

2) No, I was not able to see the entire truth as I could only rely on my senses and past memories. Although all our senses are together used to get to know the world, they cannot be the only source of information to rely on as they might not entirely be accurate due to our senses being
based on our own interpretation of things.

3) In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, prisoners are chained inside a cave and can only see the shadows of objects projected on the cave wall. These shadows are their only reality, as they have never seen the outside world. When one of the prisoners is freed and brought out of the cave into the sunlight, he experiences the true reality and comes to understand that the shadows were mere illusions.

The blindfolded activity can be related to this allegory in the sense that the person blindfolded represents the prisoners in the cave. The blindfold restricts their vision, much like the prisoners' chains restrict their perception. When blindfolded, individuals are limited to their other senses to identify objects, similar to how the prisoners can only perceive the shadows on the cave wall. This activity highlights how our perception of reality is often limited by our senses and experiences, and it can serve as a way to discuss philosophical questions about what is real and how we come to know the world around us.

In both cases, the central themes involve the idea that our perception of reality might be incomplete or distorted, and that there might be more to the world than what we can directly experience.

4) The blindfolded experience affect your perception as
of the objects, as while being blindfolded, your tactile senses  get stronger and collaborate more with your brain to identify the object.

5)Here's how each sense contributes to shaping our understanding of the world:

1. Vision: Vision is one of the most dominant senses for humans. It provides us with a vast amount of information about the shape, color, movement, and spatial relationships of objects. Our visual perception allows us to navigate our surroundings, identify objects, and understand the environment's layout.

2. Hearing: Hearing enables us to perceive sounds, including speech, music, and environmental noises. Auditory information helps us understand the direction and distance of sound sources and contributes to our awareness of our surroundings and potential dangers.

3. Touch: The sense of touch allows us to feel textures, temperatures, and pressures. Through touch, we gather information about the physical properties of objects, such as whether they are smooth, rough, hard, or soft.

4. Taste: Taste helps us distinguish between different flavors and detect the basic qualities of food and other substances. It's closely linked to our sense of smell, contributing to our enjoyment of food and our ability to identify potential dangers (such as spoiled food).

5. Smell: Smell is strongly tied to memory and emotions. Our olfactory senses help us identify different odors, and these odors can trigger powerful associations and reactions based on past experiences.

6. Proprioception: Proprioception is the sense that allows us to perceive the position and movement of our own body parts without needing to see them. It's what allows you to touch your nose with your eyes closed or walk without constantly looking at your feet.

7. Equilibrium: The sense of equilibrium, also known as the vestibular sense, helps us maintain balance and a sense of spatial orientation. It relies on the inner ear's receptors and contributes to our ability to move and navigate.

6) Truth is something we acknowledge, not something we're able to sense. Our senses provide us with quite precise information; we simply need to know how to use it. On the other hand, we frequently interpret such data incorrectly. Hence it is important to also know facts so we can use our senses to understand the world even more efficiently.

7) Questioning our perceptions and considering multiple perspectives are crucial aspects of the pursuit of knowledge for several reasons such as challenge confirmation bias, uncover hidden assumptions, enhance critical thinking, encouraging empathy and understanding and discovering as well as adapting to new information.

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think  about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

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4. "THE KNOWER" Think  about your earliest memories of learning and any significant educational experiences that have influenced your intellectual growth.Consider how people, books, media, or experiences have had a strong impact on your knowledge and beliefs.

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 5. MYSTERY OBJECT ACTIVITY REFLECTION & ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

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 5. MYSTERY OBJECT ACTIVITY REFLECTION & ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

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2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

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2. What lessons did the Mystery Object Challenge teach you about the Theory of Knowledge?

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Question 2:
To identity the mystery objects the participants use their prior knowledge and use their sense except for their vision. This experiment allowed people to smell, touch, sound, taste and use prior knowledge to find out the object. This experiments uses the memory of the brain and it tests and individual knowledge and memory.

Question 3:
We can never really know anything for sure, everything can be questioned or changed.

Question 4:
People and media help influence knowledge and beliefs. Knowledge and beliefs are influence and changed accordin  to the most widely accepted social opinion.