Language of Faith

Okay so in class a week ago some people in our 5th hour TOk class got into a discussion about the word faith verses the word belief. To use an authority we decided to look this up in a dictonary to see if anyone's justifications were correct. I neever saw this before, before listening to my classmates; it is very surpriing how much you can learn if you listen to what people have to say but any ways in the dictonary the word faith and believe are almost interchangable, this taking into account was a very old dictonary that I asked a Science teacher to use. What do you think of this? Take a look at your dictonary at home and see if it has anything to say about them being similar. Then tell what you think it means personally, is faith and believe have the meaning to be switched?

Gun Control

Today in seventh hour, we got into a discussion concerning gun control in he US, in relationship to Pragmatic Theory. It was suggested that both sides to the argument (for and against) were justifiable through all three theories, and so there is no clear side. Like Hegel's theory, this creates a thesis and an antithesis. My question is, how do you (the TOK student) justify this controversial subject? How can you apply these theories to this, to properly justify your true beliefs so that you know something? Can two different people discussing the same topic know two completely different things? What other areas or topics of discussion can this apply to?

Ugliness

In San Francisco, persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street. This is a true law. If you are, as I asked my Business Law teacher, you would be arrested.

My first reaction was that this law was absolutely ridiculous. I understand laws to keep the city beautiful (recycling, air pollution prevention) but to this extent?

What kind of scale is this judged upon? So far in my life experience I've never heard of an 'ugly scale.' I feel its relative to every person: after all, isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder? Or is that just a stupid outdated notion disproved by the media again and again today?

Now, its definitely constitutional because it doesn't violate the first amendment: what does it violate? How would you feel if you were told you classified as ugly and were arrested and fined?

Just Words

I got into an interesting discussion the other day about the power of words. I was thinking about how the same words, said at different times, can have two totally different effects. My question is this: Do words in and of themselves have power, or does the power lay in the emotion that we invest in them?

Laughter in the Classroom

So, I've begun to notice how, in my classes outside of the IB world, that students show an increasing amount of disrespect towards teachers. I would never dream of this, but many of them laugh at, talk over, and make fun of their teachers in class, specifically when the teacher is talking. Why? These men and women are adults, older, wiser, and in charge. Perhaps these students feel that they no longer need to act like good little children, but respect is still necessary. So, what do you all think? Is there anyway to justify the behavior? What does this suggest of the morals of the new generation? What does this mean for future generations?

As much as I hate bringing MySpace into this...

There is something that has been really getting under my skin at an increasing level. This irksome problem I speak of is the content of the posts on the Poudre Myspace forum. It seems that 95% of these posts consist of students “arguing” back and forth about politics and ethics. I placed arguing in quotations because what they do is closer to pre-pubescent boys shot full of testosterone squabbling over who sucks more. Insults are hurled back and forth and are filled with disgusting slurs that would make the biggest bigot proud and spelling and grammar that would make even a fifth grade teacher cringe. These people seem to think it’s OK, actually not OK, but cool, to toss around profanities, threats, and slurs without a second thought. I’d like to think that they don’t understand the seriousness of what they’re saying, but intuition tells me otherwise which makes me seriously concerned about the state of their moral character.

The intensity of hate that I witness on the boards seriously concerns me as well. These threats, slurs, and profanities are coming from people who are 18 and younger. How can someone have so much hate inside them at such a young age? Have they been raised to act/think like that? Has something truly awful happened to them to change their point of view? Or have they just adopted that persona to fit in, and if that’s the case, when did hate become cool? Doesn’t anyone realize that if a serious politician read what they were writing they’d be deeply ashamed and quite possibly horrified?



(This is the abridged version of what I initially wrote because I felt like I should cut some things out because they didn’t really pertain to TOK.)

What Determines A Legacy?

The recent passing of the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti who has greatly influenced and exposed Italian opera to the world, has awoken a new question inside me. What determines a legacy? Is it influence? Is it brilliance? or what?

Talking Nonsense

So, as I was re-reading Crime and Punishment I came upon this passage that I thought could be applied to tok.

"I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Thought error you come to the truth! I am a man because i err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen. And a fine thing, too, in it's way; but we can't even make mistakes on our own account! Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I'll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's. I the first case you are a man, in the second you're no better than a bird. Truth won't escape you, but life can be cramped. There have been examples. And what are we doing now? In science, development, thought, invention, ideals, aims, liberalism, judgement, experience and everything, everything, everything, we are still in the preparatory class at school. We prefer to live on other people;s ideas, it's what we are used to! Am I right, Am i right?"(Crime and Punishment 202-203)

I was wondering what other people thought of Razumihin's drunken ravings, for I personally found that I agreed with a majority of it.

9/11's Around the corner...

So everyone who's been keeping their eyes on the calendar knows that 9/11 is right around the corner. Normally this day is used to improve nationalism and to unite our country in an effort to protect itself and honor those who lost their lives six years ago.

However this year, activist groups are taking a different look at this day. Marches are going to be held on Washington DC, people are encouraged to speak out against this war. 9/11 is supposed to be a day without school, work, buying or anything. We are encouraged to 'Hit the Streets'.

I'm still trying to make up my own mind on how I feel about this event, but I figured I had a huge resource of ideas and opinions within IB. What do you guys think about using this day to pose a strike and to have this particular month filled with various protests, etc.? I know that one can claim that it's not ok to use this particular day to protest the war, but is it really ok to use this day to encourage it? If it's the lives of those lost that we're trying to honor, then why are we sacrficing more in this 'Endless War'?

While looking this stuff up, I came across quite a few outraged editorial authors who commented on Congress' recent decision to allow Bush the power to montior and 'wiretap without a warrent for 6 months.' We learned while reading Anthem, I believe, that Liberty/Freedom and Safety are in a constant tug-of-war. What do you guys think about this? About the fact that our freedoms are disappearing for 'safety'... and even that 'safety' is questionable.

So... I don't know if I'll be in school on Tuesday or not, but I want to know your opinions.

What's On the news

I saw a news story on CNN that I though was a joke at first, but it was real. It made me think about what is covered on the news, and what do the stories say about our culture and it's morals? I tried to provide a link to the video. What do you think?

Creative Limits?

Throughout my educational career, I have noticed astounding similarities in both literature and artwork. So, very simply, my question is this: Are there limits to creativity?

Illusion or Reality?

Are there such things as illusion and reality? Or are they two different ways of looking at one side of a coin? If so, what's the other side?

Truth through Art

How can one express truth through art? (Art in the sense of visual works such as paintings, sculptures, or drawings)

1. Who decides what makes art good or bad? Can art be good even if its technically poor but has a strong emotion, feeling or message attached?
2. Is art a personal experience where the viewer gets to decide what it means through their own rationalizations or is it determined through authority, and societal consensus?

Stereotypes and how to avoid/analyze using TOK

When researching how stereotypes occur, I found a startling piece of information. It seems that it takes just 2.5 seconds before one has a first impression, and in turn has the first stereotype.

So, feel free to choose any of the following questions, and analyze (to the best of a TOK student's knowledge using AOKs, Reasoning behind beliefs, etc.)

1) How does one avoid stereotypes? Even if you have them, how do you eliminate them?
2) What would happen if there was a world without stereotypes? Would it be better/worse?
3) Why do you assume that it takes only 2.5 seconds before one already has made a (most likely) false assumption about someone else?

A Generation of Voyeurs?

In the past 15 years, the Internet has allowed every person with a web cam and a mic to truly claim their 10 seconds of fame. Whether it is lipsynching to a Backstreet Boys song or to an obscure, Turkish pop hit, across the world everyone has been searching for the silicon spotlight. While this instinct to fame has always been a natural and present one in humanity, why in this modern day and age are we so open to watching each other complete these embarrassing, ridiculous escapades. In Hollywood, where it seems every woman under 25 has gone utterly crazy, the rest of the country eagerly watches to see the fate of Britney's hair or Paris's prison time. The other day, while browsing the Internet, I came across a website created by a Yale Philosophy graduate, which features several individuals who literally live their entire lives in front of a live broadcast web camera. No privacy. Over 5,000 viewers at a single time. For those interested, though the concept sounds raunchy, they are strictly PG rated existences: http://www.justin.tv/ijustine

So, my question is......why, particularly our generation, are we so entranced with the daily lives and troubles of others? Why is privacy growing to gradual extinction in our society today, and what do YOU think about it's departure, and its possible impact upon future society?


~Jordan C.

Sexism

The second sentence of the wikipage I feel adequately describes the intent of the Feminist movement: "Feminism is also described as an ideology focusing on equality of the sexes."

I am going to make a huge generalization here, but I imagine by that definition everyone here is a Feminist. I hope that that is the case.
However, as much as you may claim you are a feminist, I ask you girls: Have you ever asked a guy out? Would you, before this listing, have thought of proposing to a man? When I googled "Woman proposes to man" it blessed me a total of NINE finds.

Several of the ladies I know have attributed this to a fear of rejection that they for some reason think we are immune to. Some even said that guys wouldn't appreciate it, if the girl asked. I, personally, would have no problem with it.

So the questions are:
Girls: Why don't you ask people out?
Guys: What would you think of a girl asking you out?
All: Is anyone a feminist if they refuse to accept true equality, down to the social aspects of dating? Isn't it sexist to put all of that pressure on one half of the population?

Truth

Is there really such thing as actual truth or is everyone's ideas of truth different? Is there something that is universally accepted as true and do things need to be accepted to be true? Can one person's truth be untrue to someone else?

What is TRUTH?

American role models

Before starting any serious questions, i just want to know what people think of this girl being Miss Teen USA since she is supposed to be a role model to young women.
Of course, the only reason she really is such an influence is because of the media exposure, but what does this say about our country?

The Un-Raw Carrot

To continue with another somewhat general topic, let us migrate towards the discussion of hope. In specific, your reaction(s) to the following quote, and also how it differs from your idea of what hope is.

"Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it."

Personally, I took this quote to mean that when you have hope, you are blinding yourself to reality. In connection to the Allegory of the Cave, I saw the light as not reality, but as hope. It lights the darkness, but leaves shadows in its wake, and those shadows are what we fear, because they are the unknown. The darkness is reality, and the only way to face reality is to look away from the light. Thus, they are no more shadows, they are a part of the darkness. The quote goes on, latter, to say that we need to take the carrot away and walk with our eyes open. Hope is not going to save us, hope will do nothing, and if we follow the carrot, we'll be following it until we realize how we've wasted away.

That's how I took the quote in a nutshell. What do you think?

~Kari~

The Meaning of Life

Ok, I will kick off the TOK year with a very broad topic, one as mysterious as it is intriguing. What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist? Countless generations of human beings have long pondered this bottomless question and have reached their own conclusions. What is yours?

"We sit here, the mountain and I, until only the mountain remains." -Li Po

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice"- Cherokee Proverb

War and Peace

“War cannot be justified as a means of maintaining ideals if our ideals are based on peace” –Unknown

So in English we were looking at quotes and I chose this one to analyze. I posted it on the English blog but I thought that with the nature of the quote it would also be relevant here, this is what I wrote about it.

This quote is made powerful by the simplistic phrasing of an eloquent idea. It has relevance to a present day situation, making it more powerful, as people can relate to it by opinion and emotion. It is a call to justice, stating that we need to take a different action for war if we are truly at war to maintain peace. The word justify implies that the war needs justification, but because of the two contradicting words, it is implied that the justification is faulty, and needs a new one. The words “ideals” and “peace” have become important words in our society, as have freedom, liberty, and happiness; which are contained within American ideals. The quotes main statement is how hypocritical “we” are by using the war as an excuse to maintain ideals, when in fact, we state that our ideals are based on peace.The fact that “ideals” is used twice makes us connect the two action words together. Peace and war are paradoxical, and therefore the reader is forced to look at how exactly they are being connected. Simplifying the quote by taking out the connecting “ideals”, it becomes “War cannot be justified as peace”. A more direct statement of what the author is trying to portray. In this quote the wording is vital to how it is perceived. It is short and to the point. Without the comparison the author makes with his contradicting words and the repetition of “ideals” to enhance the comparison, the quote would not have the same meaning or effect.

Cultural Death Ceremonies

Okay the title is very morbid, but I have always been curious about this subject. How come different cultures have differents ways of seeing of the dead?

For example, in Mexico death is more of a celebration of the loved ones lives, instead of being extremely dark and gloomy. They even have celebrations such as the Day of the Dead to not only bring them back, but also to celebrate and appreciate their lives.

In the United States, funerals take on a different role, and it is meant to remember, rather than celebrate a life well-lived. Funerals are usually very solemn and rarely festive, like the Mexican culture.

How can you explain these differences? How do other cultures, say "goodbye"?

This may be volatile...AIM

I know this could potentially turn into a "lets bash AIM" post, but I genuinely am interested in what people think. (This is about senior AIM for me, but I want to know what junior AIM is like as well).
Today for example, my class was asked what we wanted to get out of the class and so we answered with ideas like college prep time, homework time, food, team building activities (like the ropes course) and the like. Immediately after we had finished the discussion, we were told that the teacher did not see anything that we wanted out of the class. He saw ways we were trying to avoid the class. However, he had not told us the purpose of senior AIM, and then critiqued us without actually knowing what he had wanted us to come up with.
How is this logical?
This class was supposed to be implemented in order for us to make the "transitions", but how can you make the transitions without actually graduating high school (hence the homework time), or applying to colleges (hence the college prep time), or the team building (since the IB kids "run around in packs throughout the school"). However, when we had tried to make the class work for us, we were immediately shot down with "you guys aren't even trying to use the potential this class has". When authority talks to people like this, i believe they lose some of that authority because they lose respect as well.
So, why do we have AIM?
What is going on in other classes? (I know this isn't exactly ToK, but our class isn't exactly the most open to the "IB kids"). Why do people gravitate into cliques when in a class thats meant to break that?
Why do people automatically reject something thats new (think allegory of the cave), or is it when the new thing is forced upon people? (Or do we reject it because we lost late start in our sophomore year?)
-Also (from AIM) can a place (location) be important to someone or is it the event or memory of something that happpened there the true importance?

Insane Tv Ad

"Eat all you want and still loose weight. And we couldn't say it on TV if it wasn't true!" O.K. so I know that TV is famous for outrageous claims. Why do you think that people believe these ads? Its not as if they are an authority or anything, so why does it work?


-Caitlin A.

What do you believe?

What is a belief that you hold dear and why? How do you justify this belief?

Truth?

What is something that you thought to be true but later learned was not?
(go beyond Santa Claus... link it to an AOK or personal experience)

You as a Knower

What is on epiphany you had when writing your Knower Autobiography or since, when considering what you know about personal and proper justifications?

Allegory of the Cave

When considering "Allegory of the Cave", how is it possible that some people can believe in illusion and accept it as reality? Give examples.

Knowledge in your Classrooms

What is an example of "knowledge" that you have struggled accepting based on authority in any of your academic courses? Why has it been difficult? What is it about YOU that possible has influenced this?

Please discuss subject matter, NOT teachers or teaching styles.

IT LIVES!

Alas, I am lacking a link to this article I had found. Sorry.

So, being the tech-savvy man I am I was reading an article about College and the internets the other day. Specifically those fancy-pants essay writing companies. My question relates to the students involved in this, who claim that the fancy-pants plagerism checks are a breach of honor, and should no longer be used, and they are in fact suing the company in charge for some millions of dollars of copy-right infringement.

So I ask, who is right?

~Wolf

Also, if you find the article please link.

A list worth Checking twice.

Personally I want to be able to continue using the Blog Next year.
So I am writing a post for people who want to continue use to comment on.

So I'll start By saying keep me on!

NO MORE TOK!!!!!!!!!!!!

how many genders are there?

think outside the traditional two, which don't include transgendered (spell check is telling me to write it trans gendered) or transvestites.

We are Unblocked!

I know that it may be too late for many of you, but I want to thank all of you that helped build this TOK blog. Because of your ability to use this blog in a professional, educational, and serious manner, the district has seen the educational value of what we are trying to do.

You are now able to access this Blog (and post) from PSD computers.

Thanks again for all of the hard work you have done.

What were they thinking: Arcadia

The chaos theory states that in the complete disorder of the world there is order as described through fractals within Arcadia. The name chaos though implies complete catastrophe and strife rarely do I personally think of chaos as a good thing, which brings me to my point. Why name it that to me it compares to renaming the death penalty "killing people," or Chinese capitalistic politics "baby labor." This is a distinct language issue that they should really clear up

Automatons

So, in Arcadia it is said by Chloe that "Sex is the attraction newton left out."
Imagine a very very complicated machine. Complicated to the point it seems as magic to us. Could that robot ever actually feel sexual attraction? of would the attractions it felt be governed by it's programming? if the latter, wouldn't it still (more or less) follow Newton?

the end

How can you tell it's the end of the school year?

Okay, pretend that you're an observer rather a participant of high school. If you ignored the summer component, and you knew that the school year cycled, how could you track the beginning and end of each school year? How do you know? What is the chain of events? How would your conclusions be limited by the fact that you're an observer, not a participant?

Huh.

"All truth is profound."



True (no pun intended) or false?

TOK Blog Survey

Help Me Out...

Soon, I'll be giving a survey to all of the TOK students to help me evaluate the blog this year. Overall, I've been happy with what I've seen but considering the blog is still in its infancy, I'm looking to get feedback as to what has worked and what hasn't so that I can figure out what I want the survey to look like.

My goal is for it to be a forum for discussion between classes as well as schools in the future. I love the idea but it isn't there yet. It's been great at times, inconsistent others. It's provided a place to discuss but hasn't generated the discussion that it could. So what I would like from you, at least those of you that still surf occasionally...

What has worked? What hasn't?
How could it be improved?
How could we build a stronger online community?
How could it be better utilized?
Any other suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

NYC Condom Campaign

So, we had a presentation in our class on Thursday for the IA about the NYC condom campain. After seeing the presentation or looking into the topic, I was wondering what everyone thought about this campain and then why do you think this?

Time-Why and How?

So, I have recently been pondering the element of time. How it impacts our lives and why man felt the need to develop this concept. But is that a truth for man-does time actually exist or is this something which is subject to change for any of us? What has society done to make it either acceptable or not to feel the need for this idea of time itself?

If you would like a little distraction, check out this link:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Wikipedia.com - Ethics

Skim the BBC article about Wikipedia.com.

From the information, Ryan Jordan seems to have committed an unethical action by creating a false identity. His made up PhD allowed him to edit articles more freely and gave him the authority to “arbitrate disputes between authors.” But what if his motive was to educate? BBC mentions he researched what he posted (I.E. Catholicism for Dummies – though this was actually meant to undermine his authority). Would this assumed ‘educational’ motive justify his actions?

OR

Can forging an identity ever be justified? Recall the ethics presentation we had a while back, where a police officer impersonated an attorney in order to capture a murderer.

Emotion/Ethics in Awakenings

Since we all watched the movie Awakenings in our TOK class, I have a question regarding ethics and emotion in the movie. So, to what extent does Dr. Sayer use emotion in justifying what he believed was an ethical decision to give Leonard an overdosage of the revival medication? Also, why would one think that he was so deeply committed to the one patient, Leonard?

Science and Philosophy

In modern physics, much of the research being done is on extreme conditions. The result is more and more strange and hard to believe theories. One of the hardest to understand is the theory of Quantum Mechanics. What is the role of the scientist to look into the implications of science? My question is does a scientific theory need a philosophy explaining the science, or should science be seperate from philosophy. Mainly the idea of the quantum wave function, since the wave function has to be collapsed but currently there is no theory of why quantum wave functions are collapsed.

Ethics in Awakenings

Hey all! So in a last ditch effort to post on ethics, I decided to talk about ethics in the movie Awakenings, which we're currently watching in class. I thought the conversation between Dr. Sayer and the previous neuropsychologist who had worked with these patients was really interesting, especially when the first psychologist said that they cannot be thinking, because that would destroy his sense of morality *ie, he wouldn't be able to live with that knowledge, which then informed his ethics in how he treated those patients; he made it ethically permissable to avoid treating them at all. Another ethical dilemma raised is the dosage of l-dopa that he gave to the patient; this far exceeded what his supervising doctor allowed, and what he legally had permission from the mother to give, but because he morally felt compelled, thinking it would help, he administered it anways. It will be interesting to see how this plays out through the film, and what further ethical issues are raised, along with seeing how others will treat him *ie- will he be punished?* when he acts on morality, rather than ethics.

Fermat's Last Problem

Hey, this is actually Michael. I can’t post on my own account, so I am posting on Kyle's.
I don’t know how many classes other than Malone’s watched the movie about the proving of Fermat’s Last Problem, but I wanted to post on it anyways. I just thought it was interesting that the people in the movie were just so much more immersed and knowledgeable in mathematics, that it went over all of our heads, and the we thought it was funny the way they talked about and interacted with math. We had no idea what they were talking about for most of the time, and the mathematicians talked about the math as simple and elegant, when the class had no idea what was going on. So this leads me to my question: How does each area of knowledge create its own culture?

Ethikos

Should the data gathered from the Nazi Death Camp Experiments be allowed to be used?

I say yes.
1. Data has no ethics in and of itself. Apples are red has no moral implications, no matter how many apples you threw at people to convice them that they are red. The data gathered from the experiments, although from undeniably evil means, are amoral and cannot be held to any moral standards as it is just a peice of information.
2. Although some of the data may be skewed, there is no way we can get other data to prove that it is skewed. This is the basis of all scientific theories. They can never be true, they can only be disproven. As soon as the data from the experiments is disproven then it can be discounted. Currently it is the best data we have, so we need to deal with it.
3. It does not set a precedent. All that we say by using the data is that we need data. There is no condoning of the Nazis in using their data anymore than touring their death camps is equivalent to reopening them.
4. The data has already saved lives.

Argue away!

South African Plays

In theatre class lately, we have been talking about African theatre, and one of our units was on South Africa. I found it interesting that after apartheid was ended, there was a dryspell of theatric material. It seems as though every playwright in South Africa had been writing out against apartheid, and now that it was over, they had a lack of material to write with. I guess my question is this: How much can an piece of art: be it a painting, a book, or a play, affect a culture's ideas and understandings?

Censorship

So in the "Censorship and its Progeny" packet we just read it talked about a controversial art show in Anchorage Alaska. It focused on Dread Scott's piece "What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?". In this piece there is a U.S. flag lying on the floor and a comment book on the shelf above it. But to leave a comment as to What is the proper way to display a U.S. flag? a person must step on the flag. My question to you is would you walk on the flag, and what comment would you write in the comment book? I know what I would write.
I would say: To me the flag symbolizes the United States (that part is obvious). But to me it is the 50 stars in the corner of blue that truly represent the concept. By having the stars close like that it represents the closeness of the United States. However, because of this I have preminitions about having the flag high on a mast. Although I understand that this is displaying the symbol of America proudly for everyone to see, to me it makes the united states seem unattainable. Like it is something we strive for but never quite reach. As if it is in our dreams, but can never quite come true. One example for this view is the division between red and blue states. It is always a contest to see how many red and blue. Thus we are never fully united. By putting the flag on the ground it brings the dream of being fully united much closer to me, and everyone. For that reason as I write this comment I am standing right on the stars so that I can feel connected to everyone in every state through the stars.
So although this is a really long entry I would love to hear what everyone else would do and say.

Is there a fundamental difference between the male and female brain?

Can we claim that, in general, men are inherently better at math and science, or is the disparity between numbers of men and women in scientific fields due only to cultural bias?
If it's only because of cultural bias, then why did that bias develop in the first place?

______________________________________________

I think this issue is interesting, and I can think of several good arguments for both sides. However, I've noticed that those arguments are based mostly on emotion-- the main premise behind most of the points is that the arguer wants their point of persuasion to be true. For example, I would really like to think that men and women are intellectually equal in all areas. I based my decision on what I wanted to be true, and only found supporting evidence afterwards. When responding, try to see if you're doing the same thing.