TOK Topics

A Theory of Knowledge Site

Author: Mr. Lakhaney

TOK Teacher

Pet micro pigs? Chinese biotech firm says it will sell very small swine

October 20, 2015

This article offers us another example of the ceaseless advancement of new and innovative applications of genetic engineering. With all this advancement come more questions about the ethics of such techniques.

“What rules should apply to gene editing is an increasingly pressing question for not just agencies such as the FDA but also scientists and medical ethicists as the technique moves from the animal world to the human realm. Although gene editing holds the promise of significant medical breakthroughs, it also could open a Pandora’s box of eugenic-like applications.”

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-micropigs-20151005-story.html

Mark Zuckerberg and the End of Language

October 19, 2015

“These strategies for circumventing language are examples of what the philosopher Slavoj Zizek has called the ‘crisis of symbolic efficiency.’ Somehow, words no longer seem trustworthy or adequate as ways of representing experience. They don’t grasp the truth firmly enough; they slip and slide around. Best to find some more reliable way of communicating  experiences between one brain to another.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/silicon-valley-telepathy-wearables/404641/?mc_cid=af192e18ce&mc_eid=34e2887073

What is wrong with the way we think?

October 19, 2015

“A Q&A with social psychologist Richard Nisbett, who researches the processes of reasoning and decision-making.”

Today, the notion of “smart-thinking” is ubiquitous. This huge publishing field was prefigured by the work of social psychologist Richard Nisbett who in 1977 published an empirically researched article that showed that many of our choices and preferences are influenced by factors outside our conscious awareness. This was ground-breaking and it became one of the most cited articles of the decade. Nisbett, who is Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished Professor of social psychology and co-director of the Culture and Cognition programme at the University of Michigan, has published numerous books over his long career. The latest is Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking. Here, he discusses some of his ideas.

https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/4923/what-is-wrong-with-the-way-we-think?mc_cid=af192e18ce&mc_eid=34e2887073

Why Scientists and Scholars Can’t Get Their Facts Straight

October 19, 2015

“The ongoing dispute over the authenticity of a scrap of papyrus from the ancient world highlights a larger question of how history is established.”

“Both sides are looking at the same credit-card-sized scrap of papyrus, with the same words in the same hand in the same ink. Both sides are represented by members of the same academic community—those who continue to push for the authenticity of the GJW are highly respected scholars, as are those who are calling it a forgery. Yet the two sides are approaching the papyrus from completely distinct angles, and getting completely different results.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/why-scientists-and-scholars-cant-get-their-facts-straight/404254/?mc_cid=af192e18ce&mc_eid=34e2887073

Earlier article on the same subject

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/the-curious-case-of-jesuss-wife/382227/

How to speak without bias, according to the ‘Bias-Free Language Guide’

October 14, 2015

How does the language we choose affect the way things are perceived? When is it necessary for us to reevaluate the words and phrases we find acceptable as a society? What do the changes mentioned here actually accomplish?

Why would you want to change the word “rich” to the phrase, “people of means”? Does the shift in language more accurately describe a particular situation or reality? Does it simply shift words around without actually adding or accomplishing anything? Does the word “rich” have a negative connotation that you want to avoid?

This video would be funny if it were meant as a joke but this was a serious attempt at discussing the use of language. Looking at it in a TOK context is instructive and gives us a lot to consider.

“After attracting attention from conservative blogs last week, the University of New Hampshire has taken down its ‘Bias-Free Language Guide’ from its website.”

List of Logical Fallacies or Fallacies in Argumentation

October 14, 2015

“There are different kinds of logical fallacies that people make in presenting their positions. Below is a list of some of the major fallacies.  It is a good idea to be familiar with them, so you can point them out in a discussion, thereby focusing the issues where they belong while exposing error.

“It is true that during a debate on an issue if you simply point out to your “opponent” a logical fallacy that he/she has just made, it generally gives you the upper hand. But then, merely having the upper hand is not the goal: truth is. Nevertheless, logical fallacies hide the truth, so pointing them out is very useful.”

https://carm.org/logical-fallacies-or-fallacies-argumentation

Researchers find greater incidence of cancer in tall people

October 7, 2015

Here is an interesting story about research that found a correlation between height and incidence of cancer. Generally I despise health news covered by television news because they generally butcher the science or oversell the conclusions that are appropriate based on the research. What I like about this story is that if you listen carefully there are elements here relevant to our class.

  • This study is valid because it followed 5.5 million people over a long period of time. Large sample size and longer time give the study more weight.
  • The experts say that there isn’t an understood cause just yet simply a correlation between height and incidence of cancer.
  • They go on to speculate about how height might cause increased risk but they acknowledge that they don’t know. Is it because you have more cells in your body that can go bad? Is it because you have more skin exposed to the sun? Growth hormone? Maybe. They don’t know that any of those theories are true but they seem to have found a correlation in a study in one country. When doing scientific research, especially about health, skepticism is important.

One last thing to think about is whether a study done in Sweden can be applicable to people in general. Is there something unique about the environment there? Diet? Genetics? Would these results still be true if done in a country that gets more sunlight year round?

Considering all these factors should illustrate to you why it’s so hard to come to conclusions about human health.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/10/05/researchers-find-link-between-height-and-cancer/?intcmp=hpbt4