How might being aware of the 12 key concepts help us to think objectively about the world?

1. Link the story to the TOK themes & AOKs

2. Identify one ‘type 1’ question (what we know), and one ‘type 2’ question (about how we know and produce knowledge)

difference between

knowledge, opinion,

and belief? (A minimum of a couple sentences per EACH of Opoinion, Knowledge, and belief)

• Refer to the ideas from this lesson to answer this question.

• For example, think about what kind of context might persuade you to believe or reject something - particularly if you were biased towards it already.

• Which objects could help to illustrate your answer?

Minimum of 150 words

• Culture​

• Absolute truth​

• Moral rules & social customs​

• Right​

• Ethnocentric - imposing your set of rules on other cultures​

• Examples - bullfighting, ancient Rome, Nazi Germany

• Refer to the ideas from this lesson to answer this question.​

• For example, think about how our interactions can have both a positive (intelligent discussions) and negative (arguments over nothing) on our ability to acquire knowledge about the world. ​

• Which objects could help to illustrate your answer?

• (75-100 words and Integrate THREE Key Concepts)

• Refer to the ideas from this lesson to answer this question.​

• For example, think about the deeply entrenched belief that technology such as WhatsApp, emojis, etc., are dumbing down language, and whether drawing on McWhorter’s ideas can change this attitude.​

• Which objects could help to illustrate your answer?

• What the story deals with​

• Key terms from the article​

• The insights it provides us about language and knowledge

• Which language does Your article focuses on?​

• Which power is keen to prevent this from happening?​

• What does this reveal about how some people view: a) the relationship between culture and language; b) the nature of language in terms of change and stability?​

  
  

Overall, do you believe that language needs ‘preserving’?

Terminology Key Words-

• preserve – keep something safe

• culture – traditions and way of life

• identity – who people are

• change – become different

• power – people or groups who control decisions

• language loss / extinction

• Which language does your article focus on?

  • The article focuses on the language called …

  • This language is spoken in …

• Which power is keen to prevent this from happening?

  • The group/person/government that wants to prevent this is …

  • They are trying to stop this because …

• What does this reveal about views on culture and language?

  • This shows that some people believe language and culture are …

  • It suggests that language should / should not change because …

• Do you believe language needs preserving?

  • I believe language does / does not need preserving because …

  • In my opinion, preserving language is important because …

1. Steal​

2. Compound​

3. Blend​

4. Functional shift​

5. Back formation​

6. Making words from acronyms (my word!)

• Refer to the ideas from this lesson to answer this question.​

• For example, think about the the way we draw on our imagination to come up with metaphors, and how metaphors activate our imagination in helping us to visualize and understand ideas and concepts.​

• Which objects could help to illustrate your answer?

2. Are some types of knowledge more useful than others?

3. What features of knowledge have an impact on its reliability?

4. On what grounds might we doubt a claim?

5. What counts as good evidence for a claim?

6. How does the way that we organize or classify knowledge affect what we know?

7. What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

8. To what extent is certainty attainable?

9. Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?

10. What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge?

11. Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?

12. Is bias inevitable in the production of knowledge?

13. How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge?

14. Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?

15. What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge?

16. Should some knowledge not be sought on ethical grounds?

17. Why do we seek knowledge?

18. Are some things unknowable?

19. What counts as a good justification for a claim?

20. What is the relationship between personal experience and knowledge?

21. What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?

22. What role do experts play in influencing our consumption or acquisition of knowledge?

23. How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?

24. How might the context in which knowledge is presented influence whether it is accepted or rejected?

25. How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?

26. Does our knowledge depend on our interactions with other knowers?

27. Does all knowledge impose ethical obligations on those who know it?

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

29. Who owns knowledge?

30. What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?

31. How can we judge when evidence is adequate?

32. What makes a good explanation?

33. How is current knowledge shaped by its historical development?

34. In what ways do our values affect our acquisition of knowledge?

35. In what ways do values affect the production of knowledge?

Knowledge Claim 1: Personal experience shapes what we accept as knowledge, even when it conflicts with shared knowledge.

Knowledge Claim 2: Knowledge gained through personal experience is emotionally powerful but not always reliable.

Knowledge Claim 3: Personal experience limits knowledge by restricting understanding to a single perspective.

●Read through the quotes padlet, and find:

○A quote that surprises you.

○A quote that you find challenging.

○A quote that you think best sums up the nature of knowledge

James Clerk Maxwell

[Science is about ] farting around in the dark. 

Stuart Firestein

• How does these quotes suggest a different approach to the scientific method?  Write one paragraph to answer this question in the comment section below

• How do their own life experiences and ambitions explain their adherence to the flat-earth theory?

• How does our understanding of this belief change when we consider the human perspective that drove it? Offer a nuanced response to this question!