TOK Lesson   6/12/2016                 Reason

Deductive reasoning: starts with a general theory, statement, or hypothesis and then works its way down to a conclusion based on evidence

(ex. Suppose that you wanted to find a fruit to eat. You look through the refrigerator and find a celery stick, a Granny Smith, and a cup of beans. You know that neither celery nor beans are fruits. You also know that all apples are fruits, and a Granny Smith is an apple. Therefore, the Granny Smith has to be a fruit)

Inductive reasoning: starts with a small observation or question and works it's way to a theory by examining the related issues

(ex. The cost of goods was $1.00. The cost of labor to manufacture the time was $.50. The sales price of the item was $5.00; so, the item always provides a good profit)

Core Intuitions: Core intuition is the gut feeling you have about certain things. A natural sense of knowledge for something

(ex. it is your core intuition that 1+1=2 because it is inherent that 2 of 1 thing add together to make 2 things)

Subject-specific intuitions: This is similar to core intuition but it is more specific to certain areas of familiarity and expertise

(ex. it is a subject-specific intuition that the tree will support your weight because you have climbed many trees and feel that the proportions of the tree are suitable)

Social intuitions: This is the interpretation of other people. Their face expressions, body language and own intentions

(ex. it is your social intuition that somebody does not want to attract attention because of their reserved body posture, hidden and emotionless face expression and their silent behavior) 

                                   What is love?

Today we watched a TedEd video on what love actually is. Love is never really defined by most people and only ever explained relatively (love is like....., more important than......). Love is largely influenced by external influences which all contribute to the individual's personal feelings of love. On a biological standpoint, love is said to be a neurological brain function that attract's a person to others in  order to reproduce. Although, the most socially accepted standpoint is that love can be defined as a combination of experiences, feelings, brain chemistry and cultural expectations.

                       Quote on emotion and reason

Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. (Oscar Wilde)

With this quote the author intended to say that humans are able to survive and prosper through their rational capabilities but do not comply with rational thought when it is prioritized above their emotions. Personally, I agree with this statement. The duality of mankind is something that has allowed us to reach great developmental heights but it is also responsible for our downfalls. The truth of this is that we like to perceive everything on a rational basis when it does not effect us. It becomes difficult to comply with rational thought when something personally effects us as we become emotional to prioritize our safety and well being.

James Lange Theory 

The James Lange Theory is a counter theory to the conventional response theory. This theory states that biological response occurs after the emotion of happiness and fear (fear = increased heart rate, etc.). The James Lange theory states that emotions such as fear and happiness are the response to a biological occurrence (increased heart rate, etc. = fear response). The theory shows how emotions are strongly influenced by biology and it has been hard to disprove.

 Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is ‘emotional intelligence’ an oxymoron?

      Feelings can have a rational basis if they are an instinctual emotion derived from an actual fear or concern. We would be worse off since most emotions are the cause for irrational behavior which is often the cause for an uncontrolled situation. Feelings are essential to our survival but emotions are only an evolutionary trait which we need to nurture in order to maintain a psychological balance.

Can there be ‘correct’ or ‘appropriate’ emotional responses? Is it ‘correct’ to be horrified by accounts of torture?

      There can be no correct emotional response or appropriate one, there can only be a normal response which is defined by the way the majority reacts. It is considered normal to be horrified by accounts of torture.

Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?

It is very common to feel an emotion that cannot be expressed in language. This is because many emotions are too complex to be conveyed through a limited means of communication. Many emotions are shaped by language since it is a form of communication that everybody relates too. The definition established by language is often the way we personalize an emotion.

Is the knowledge gained from emotional responses influenced by culture? Are concepts such as patriotism and racism examples of collective emotions? What does it mean to be responsible for our emotions? Can emotions be classified as ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Do emotional responses emanate from cultural influences?

Knowledge is empirical and cannot be gained from emotion but we can develop empathy which is a form of understanding. Collective emotions are a common way people feel towards something. A common love or hate are strong examples of this. To be responsible for our emotions is to be held accountable for the and realize their influences and consequences. Emotions themselves cannot be classified as good or bad directly since they are relative concepts, however, they can be classified as self or other oriented. Emotional responses probably don't vary due to culture but are interpreted differently.


Does emotion reside in the realm of private knowledge in the sense that it cannot be verified by others? Is all private knowledge necessarily some form of emotion? Is physical pain or hunger an emotion? Can people be wrong about their own emotions? Do people have, in some sense, exclusive access to their emotions or can others lead them to recognize previously unknown emotions?

The biological responses correlating to certain emotions can be recorded but the intricate details of the feeling cannot. Private knowledge is not necessarily a form of emotion but it can be when connected with personal feeling. Pain and hunger are biological responses which catalyze and emotion which becomes associated to this feeling. People can only re-evaluate their emotions or feel differently about the same thing since emotions are subjective. Emotions can obviously be influenced by others but they can't be specifically shaped since nobody knows the details of someone's emotions.

Is there any kind of knowledge which can be attained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?

No knowledge can be attained solely through emotion, only a personal understanding of facts and information. Knowledge is empirical. Many of these categorizations can influence people's emotional response to a situation since they have been confronted with different situations due to these attributes.

Is emotion an essential ingredient of scientific or artistic knowledge? Can there be creativity without emotion?

Emotion is definitely not an essential ingredient for the empirical part of science but it is important for an ethical balance. Artistry is a form used to express thoughts and emotions. Art is strongly connected with emotions and it is an essential part. Creativity cannot exist without emotion since it is a product of imagination and not pure logical thought. 

Lesson 3/11/2016              Primary Emotions

Can you recognize these emotions on the faces below?

I can recognize the general feeling of the emotion and what could potentially catalyze such a reaction but I cannot specifically discern what the individual is feeling.

Which other, perhaps more complete, emotions can you think of?

More complete emotions are simple ones that are very general and do not require a specific mimic. a simple smile shows happiness while a frown usually implies annoyance or sadness. These are very simple and often reoccurring which is why they seem more complete.

Are your emotions innate or rather a product of the knowledge community you belong to? How do other ways of knowing influence your emotion and vice versa?

Emotions are mostly more of a product of the knowledge community that an individual is exposed to. There are some innate attributes which stem from a natural response but most of it is social promotion and avoidance. For example, a society that sees pain as a test of endurance will have most people eager to engage in activities of pain and tend to relish it more as it garners social acceptance. In modern societies it is seen as signs of harm and strictly avoided or treated instantly with melancholic compassion.

In your culture, is it ok to show your emotions?

In culture 100 years ago, it used to be unfitting and socially frowned upon to show your emotions as composure and stoic expression was well seen and deemed 'classy' which was what everybody aspired to. With modern social elements and the rise of a free expression movement, showing emotions and accepting openness has become the new public agenda and is considered brave and admirable.

Lesson 1/11/2016                   The meaning of emotion

During this lesson we watched a video on defining emotion and specifying what it is/does and useful for. In the video it said that emotion was a complex biological response to certain stimuli (ie. dark outside, silence and foot steps behind you promotes the emotion of fear). Scientists are still trying to specify it but are able to narrow it down to psychological, expressive and conscious behavior). These emotions are natural responses which allow us to learn and survive even if they are not generally well seen in our society.

The way we can divide an event and the response is with the first and second claim. The first claim would be the factual event (ie. a man loses all of his money in a gambling event). This can be recorded and clear evidence can be found. The second claim is the reflection on the event. Depending on how it affects you, these physical/experienced occurrences can promote a certain reaction which we describe as emotion (ie. the wife of the man now does not have enough money for her child's birthday present due to the husband's actions and feels despair, sadness and anger).

Lesson 20/10/2016                          What is Language?


How do we define language?

Officially, language is defined as the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of such a system


Is it simply a pattern of symbols and sounds that communicate meaning?

Language in its basic form is a pattern of symbols and sounds but it is the way they are utilized, changed, and extended upon by the people that use a language which allows it to evolve and suite the needs of communication that these people have throughout time.


Is it still a language if no one speaks it? What if one person speaks a language but no one else understands. Is it still a language?

It is by definition, still a language if no one or only one person speaks it. However, it is regarded as a dead language since it is no longer in use and doesn't evolve. If the language is not tied into an utilized system (ie. Latin is predominant in the judiciary system), then it soon becomes outdated and forgotten, to the point where nobody knew it ever existed. That is when it is no longer a language but a forgotten concept.


Do we need to know a definition of a word in order to understand its meaning?

The meaning of the word is something more personally oriented while the definition of a word is a general description. It is up to the user to try to match the word with the proper definition to what he means.


Do words have meanings or do we give them meanings?

Words are just noises emitted by our mouths. We give a pattern of these noises meaning by associating them with a definition that is perfected by continuous use and improvement


What do they mean when they claim young people no longer use language properly? 

What the mean by that is that young people are changing the definitions of words to suit what they mean to communicate. This change of the language is unfamiliar to older people who have a different meaning/definition connection to the same words.

Are other systems of communication language?

Yes, as long as there is a system behind it that the target group of people are able to understand and apply, it can be considered a language as it is a form of communication (ie. sign language, braille, etc.).

Is body language actually a language?

Body language is not an established form of communication with a variety of options to express oneself. It can only convey basic emotions or common courtesy based on  the standards of a society or how well an individual knows you. In order to become a language, it needs to reach a higher word amount in order to express more complicated ideas.

What about music and math? Computer code?

Music is a form of emotional expression. There is no way for a composer to convey their exact intention without some context in a language people understand. Without the lyrics, there is only the feeling of the song without explanation. Math is set on explaining universal rules in terms of numbers and quantity. It is not designed to express things of human complexity that do not follow a set of rules. Computer code is based on the conventions of the English language, but it is still just a group of base words used to create a system. All the context is written in a pre-established language.

What distinguishes language from a more general idea of communication?

What separates a language from more general communication is the establishment of rules for the form of communication that introduce set definition, clarity and an established basis to further
the language with more words and linguistic choices. Organized complexity is what this could be described as.

Lesson 18/10/2016                  Ways of Knowing: Language


For today's lesson, we looked at what makes a language. On what thinking structure are languages created. To find this out we had to create our own, using words and symbols to convey a message. The language should not be connected to English or any other existing language in any way. We worked in groups of 2-3 to create a new language and try to effectively communicate with the class. My group did pretty well because we used very common movements and hand motions that everybody could associate with but for the groups who decided to go for speech, this was a bit more difficult.

I think I have realized why this new language (not connected to any existing language) failed to communicate an idea without the help of gestures. It was so disconnected from the sounds and letters we know in our language that it was impossible to properly interpret with the thinking we do in our languages. Everything about them was unfamiliar and we tried to associate factors from it to our own languages which prevented proper understanding. For a language to function, you require a large period of time for its users to gain mastery of it. With this element of time and specialization, we are able to communicate effectively in our communities.

Lesson 11/10/2016          Memory Contaminates Perception


This lesson we read an article in The Guardian about how memory contaminates perception. I was introduced to the topic of visual working memory which stores repeated everyday tasks visually and prompts the mind to repeat these behavioral patterns when confronted with the same visual stimuli. Essentially, it is a form of self mental programming to assist us with everyday tasks and to complete them with mechanical efficiency in order to provide consistent repetition which usually aides us in these tasks. One example would be driving a car. The brain compares the current visual stimuli with that of previous iterations and causes the person to instinctively perform habits such as adjusting the mirror or fastening the seat belt.

One potential problem for this is the way it affects our perception. Even though it is designed to perfect everyday physical patterns to a consistent standard, it limits our perception of new ways or information. It works in a predictive way that causes the mind to premeditate images based on previous stimuli. This was shown in the 2 tests taken from the article, where people judged multiple dot movements based off of the primary one that they were expected to focus on. This limits our ability to instantly cope with new information that defies a certain pattern or associated task. It makes us less directly visually aware but relies heavily on memory associated with visual stimuli. This can make people slower to react in events of sudden change such as road accidents or other standard defying events.

Lesson 10/6/2016              Perception of color

This lesson we explored deeper into the human sense of sight, particularly color. Color is a a part of our vision enabled by the cone cells in the back of our retinas. These allow us to to distinguish details in the light that is reflected back to our eyes. By being able to see parts of the visual spectrum, we can garner more details and information from our vision and are better able to distinguish similarities and differences. As was seen in the Vsauce video, electronics are able to adjust their LED output to match wavelengths, which allows our brains to see a certain hue of color and witness the full scope of our visual sense in an electronic device.

However, our sense of sight can be deceived since our brain processes color based off of a system. If we are able to use that in a certain way or alter its exposure, we can trick it into distinguishing things that are not actually real. This was seen in the printed image video and the ocular illusion one. The printed images reflected the the exact wavelengths to trick the brain into perceiving a sense of volume  and depth which we are regularly exposed to with 3D objects in our every day lives. The ocular illusion video set up color in a way that our brain was fooled into perceiving movement or another image at a second glance.

The final video shown was the TED talk where probably the most was explained in terms of color (how it helps us and how it can be deceived). He explained how it allows us to detect things and its relation to other senses (ie. sound). He also explained how context was important for our vision and how it makes clarity of the visual information we receive to provide us with a means of interacting with our physical world.






This image is the classic '2 faces or 1 chalice' optical illusion where shifting the color of the context allows us to see 2 different items. It provides insight into the way our brain works to distinguish things depending on their surroundings.

Lesson 4/10/2016                       Perception and Reality

I think that our perception is limited by our senses to the extent that we are not willing or considering improving our other methods of perception. Ie. our sense of sight is probably the most developed sense and provides most of the information and detail to form our perception. This means that we automatically neglect the perfection or improvement of other senses since they are inferior and not necessary to improve what we have already attained through sight. If the sense of sight is taken away from us, then we are forced to compromise and invest into developing our other senses, most commonly touch and sound to provide us with the necessary information. All of our other senses must be honed and heightened to try and replace the functionality of our primary and most dominant sense.

Human senses are also limited in themselves. We only have 5 scientifically observable senses. Sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. All of our perception is limited to information gained through these five senses, We are unable to understand and comprehend any form of experience outside of these five possibilities. Additionally, the fact that these senses are so evolved and dominant in us hinders the chance to learn or evolve a new sense. Essentially, the human race is limited to its 5 senses until we are artificially able to create a new one and synchronize it with our brains.

Date: 27/8/20167

During this period we discussed and offered our thoughts on the connection between perception and reality. Educational points were the processes the brain goes through based on senses to store something as information. More interactive activities were how we can see 'non existent shapes' and the Hermann Grid to provide more direct forms of learning and comprehending. There were questions asked such as 'how can one hear their name across the hall?' and 'how do tasters know all the tastes without better/more taste buds'. The answers to that are all gained from understanding that senses are enhanced due to repetitive exposure of the same stimuli. This allows us to identify our name in a crowed since we hear it so often in our lives and associate it with matters concerning ourselves. WIne tasters are also able to differentiate from all the wine types because their taste buds have been repeatedly been exposed to different wines combined with memorization and critical information. This emphasis on certain events belonging to certain senses is a natural adaptation process that allows us to learn and improve in areas we utilize more often (probably originate from survival instinct and adaptation).

The question that was asked was "What are the main points of perception and knowledge of the world?". The brain processes information and categorizes it as knowledge once all the sensory data has been made sense of using the 5 points of the mental construction of reality (Previous Experience, reason, Expectation, Emotion; Preconceived Ideas). Once we have analysed something based on these 5 points, you are able to apply it to the world to help comprehend something or provide an explanation of any other form.

Date: 22/9/2016

In today's lesson of ToK, we discussed the Theory of Knowledge and what it means to us. We were given a list of statements and presented with 3 questions, starting by asking if the statements have the same process of knowing. They do not have the same process of knowing since each statement was based on a different way of knowing (belief, faith, logic, observation, etc). These cannot be answered by the same criteria. The second question was if these are just language differences or if the go deeper. I think that the difference of these statements goes much deeper, since they all are pretty different comprehensible constructs. 2 + 2 = 4 is an easy construct to grasp but something as emotionally complex of love is different to measure or know for certain. I think these statements are not equally verifiable since you can in no way prove that god loves you, while knowing how to ride a bike is based off of personal experience and understanding. Verifiability matters a lot, in order to determine what actually is knowledge. Allowing something to be considered knowledge while it has no evidence seems pretty foolish. This was my reaction and interpretation for the questions provided and i believe i have regarded them skeptically

Introduction to Theory of Knowledge

From the first lesson of ToK until prior to the Eid holiday, we were introduced to the subject, its style of teaching and just a general feeling of what we will be learning and discussing. We started off by learning about the areas of knowledge and how they can provide evidence for our ways of knowing. We did a but of class work and interpretive activities to realize how we see things or classify the difference between fact and belief. We categorized different bits of information into the ways of knowing and listed things that we know are true just to get an understanding and familiarize with how categorize information. Additionally, we watched a video on the differences and influences of both conscience and emotion to show how these both affect our thinking.

All in all, I am looking forward to learning and interacting more in this class in order to improve my critical and recognition skills which i can see myself applying to my other subjects or generally just to the flow of information in my daily life. I personally would be more interested in how we scientifically or ultimately decide something to be a fact and what properties it must require to make it absolutely irrefutable.