1.) "Ice cream is good." Using emotion, I know that ice cream is good because of the happy and satisfied feeling I get from eating ice cream.
2.) "Women in burqa are suspicious and untrustworthy." Burqas are clothing that cover a woman entirely leaving only slits in the front for the eyes. Burqas are used by Islamic women. Islam has come under suspicion and mistrust in the last few years due to Muslim jihadists. The knowledge construct would be that since women in burqas are Muslim and Muslisms are "terrorists" then out of fear and ignorance, people would deduce that women in burqa must be suspicious and untrustworthy, since they cannot know who exactly is underneath the burqa or their intentions.
3 & 4.) Yes, there can be correct and appropriate emotional responses. But they will depend on the cultural traditions, historical and religious backgrounds. Thus, the correctedness of emotional responses will vary by where the person is from. For example, if I heard about a woman who was circumcised, I would be absolutely apalled and a feeling of complete disgust would come over me, an appropriate emotional response based on my culture. However, if an Ethiopian heard the same thing, he would not think too much about it. If he did feel something it would be an appreciation of the continuation of his tradition and possibly a feeling of satisfaction that the woman did her role in society and prevented herself from any sexual or immoral feelings. Both responses are correct in their societies. However if the Ethiopian man responded to the same statement here in the US, his response would be considered incorrect and inappropriate and if I was in Ethiopia and had my response, I would be considered incorrect and inappropriate. In further response to question 4, patriotism and racism are emotional products of culture. During WWII American were taught to hate on Germans, so the sight of a German or anything German, strong opposing emotional responses were manifested in Americans .This concept can be applied to patriotism. Americans have been taught to love, fight and die for their country. So when an American soldier loses his life in war, Americans would consider him a hero.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Logical Fallacies
(a) Poisoning The Well
This logical fallacy means that negative information is presented about a person so that whatever they do or say will be disregarded.
Example: She is such an attention seeker! She only starts crying to be the center of attention.
(b) Appeal to Novelty
This logical fally means that it presents an idea as better or correctly just because it is new.
Example: This car must be the best. It is the latest model with all the updated technology.
(c) Appeal to Authority
This logical fallacy means that a statement is considered correct simply because someone claiming to have authority on the subject says so, even though they might not be qualified to make a such a statement.
Example: Hitler said Jews were the cause of World War 1. Since Hitler is the Chancellor of Germany then it must have been the Jews that started the First World War.
In this image there is appeal to fame (I came up with this on my own). Appeal to fame is the logical fallacy meaning that the person who is claiming the idea is famous or holds some sort of celebrity status which then means that what they are saying is true. In this case we see Beyonce endorsing the White Diamonds fragrance for Armani. Because she holds celebrerity satus and is quite famous then it must mean that the perfume smells good.
This logical fallacy means that negative information is presented about a person so that whatever they do or say will be disregarded.
Example: She is such an attention seeker! She only starts crying to be the center of attention.
(b) Appeal to Novelty
This logical fally means that it presents an idea as better or correctly just because it is new.
Example: This car must be the best. It is the latest model with all the updated technology.
(c) Appeal to Authority
This logical fallacy means that a statement is considered correct simply because someone claiming to have authority on the subject says so, even though they might not be qualified to make a such a statement.
Example: Hitler said Jews were the cause of World War 1. Since Hitler is the Chancellor of Germany then it must have been the Jews that started the First World War.
In this image there is appeal to fame (I came up with this on my own). Appeal to fame is the logical fallacy meaning that the person who is claiming the idea is famous or holds some sort of celebrity status which then means that what they are saying is true. In this case we see Beyonce endorsing the White Diamonds fragrance for Armani. Because she holds celebrerity satus and is quite famous then it must mean that the perfume smells good.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Race Result: Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for European American compared to African American.
Native Result: Your data suggest little or no association between White Am. and Native Am. with Foreign and American.
1. For the race results, I was not surprised about it whatsoever. I did not have much of a reaction because I felt that it was an appropriate representation of my views. Similarly, for the native result, I was not surprised either. I also felt that it was an accurate result and thus I did not have much of a reaction.
2. I don't think either test raised any flags for me. For the race test, the only one that was not neutral, was not much of a reflection of me as a person but how American society has influenced me in the perception of African Americans. So it is not so much that it says something about myself but rather about society as a whole.
3. I thought both of my results were valid. I accepted them as accurate right away and felt that they reflected my thoughts and feelings correctly.
4. One example is the belief that people from the Northern states or Western States, more specifically, the Northeast, are smarter, more talented, more successful, open minded and generally better than those from the South, more specifically, the Deep South. These generalizations can be considered stereotypes because although they although they have basis in some truth, they don't accurately portray the people from the South. In order to distinguish generalizations from stereotypes, the generalizations have to be true and they have to represent the people accurately so that they can be applied to most Southerners and have it be true whether these generalizations be good or bad.
5. In order to combat jumping to false conclusions, we as a society have to combat all forms of ignorance. By educating ourselves about other types people, whether we approve of them or not, we will began to understand and those conscious thoughts will sear into our minds and become unconscious thinking. Since humans can't help make rapid cognition, through education and the fight against ignorance, our rapid cognition will lead us to accurate conclusions rather than false ones.
Native Result: Your data suggest little or no association between White Am. and Native Am. with Foreign and American.
1. For the race results, I was not surprised about it whatsoever. I did not have much of a reaction because I felt that it was an appropriate representation of my views. Similarly, for the native result, I was not surprised either. I also felt that it was an accurate result and thus I did not have much of a reaction.
2. I don't think either test raised any flags for me. For the race test, the only one that was not neutral, was not much of a reflection of me as a person but how American society has influenced me in the perception of African Americans. So it is not so much that it says something about myself but rather about society as a whole.
3. I thought both of my results were valid. I accepted them as accurate right away and felt that they reflected my thoughts and feelings correctly.
4. One example is the belief that people from the Northern states or Western States, more specifically, the Northeast, are smarter, more talented, more successful, open minded and generally better than those from the South, more specifically, the Deep South. These generalizations can be considered stereotypes because although they although they have basis in some truth, they don't accurately portray the people from the South. In order to distinguish generalizations from stereotypes, the generalizations have to be true and they have to represent the people accurately so that they can be applied to most Southerners and have it be true whether these generalizations be good or bad.
5. In order to combat jumping to false conclusions, we as a society have to combat all forms of ignorance. By educating ourselves about other types people, whether we approve of them or not, we will began to understand and those conscious thoughts will sear into our minds and become unconscious thinking. Since humans can't help make rapid cognition, through education and the fight against ignorance, our rapid cognition will lead us to accurate conclusions rather than false ones.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Symbols
1. The origin of this symbol is 1970s when it started being used in medical bulletins, prescriptions, and drug (medical) catalogues. There is no specific country of origin, but it's most likely to be Western, either European or American.
2. The symbol means danger for habituation, which is representative of amphetamines (drugs that stimulate the central nervous system) and drugs with the opposite effect, such as morphine, heroin and similar narcotics.
3. The symbol is both emotive and ambiguous. It stands for dangerous substances so when the symbol is detected it evokes a feeling of danger and warning and "keep out". It is also ambiguous since it is a symbol for two types of drugs that have opposite effects on the body.
4. Problems of knowledge include misunderstanding the meaning because of its ambiguity or not knowing the meaning at all and not realizing the hazardous significance of the drug.
Source:
http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/28/2816.html
Friday, March 26, 2010
Save the Enets (Tundra) Language
Enets ChildrenLanguage: Tundra Enets Language
People & Culture:
The Enets (Tundra) language is spoken in the Taimyr Autonomous Territory, Northern Russia in the lower parts of the Yenisei River near the arctic circle. The language is from the Uralic language family from which also comes Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian. This language is also considered to be a sister language to the Forest Enets Language spoken south of the Tundra Enets people. The nomadic Enets are hunters and fishers who are known for raising reindeer.
Why Save Enets?
The Enets people have been suppressed by the collectivisation policies under the USSR and only recently have they been able to transcribe their oral language into writing. By saving the language we can learn the process of the transition from oral to written and the development of a newborn literary language which are extremely valuable to linguists and anthropologists. Moreover these people have lived in some of the most northern parts of the world and their legends and stories provide excellent insight into how human beings migrated and survived in the extreme north.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra_Nenets_language
http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/enets.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enets
People & Culture:
The Enets (Tundra) language is spoken in the Taimyr Autonomous Territory, Northern Russia in the lower parts of the Yenisei River near the arctic circle. The language is from the Uralic language family from which also comes Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian. This language is also considered to be a sister language to the Forest Enets Language spoken south of the Tundra Enets people. The nomadic Enets are hunters and fishers who are known for raising reindeer.
Why Save Enets?
The Enets people have been suppressed by the collectivisation policies under the USSR and only recently have they been able to transcribe their oral language into writing. By saving the language we can learn the process of the transition from oral to written and the development of a newborn literary language which are extremely valuable to linguists and anthropologists. Moreover these people have lived in some of the most northern parts of the world and their legends and stories provide excellent insight into how human beings migrated and survived in the extreme north.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra_Nenets_language
http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/enets.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enets
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Me as a Knower
The way of knowing that reflects me the most is sense perception. All other ways of knowing (language, reason and emotion) essentially come from sense perception. I rely on what I feel and what I sense using my 5 senses and even if I cannot explain it using words I still acquire knowledge from my surroundings. For example, the taste of water cannot be expressed linguistically yet I know what water tastes like and I can tell when a drink is too "watery". I can also taste the differences in water and I can tell one water from the other without being able to explain it. For example, when I go to Florida I can tell that brand Zephyrhills has a different taste than that of Poland Springs yet it is difficult to explain the differences. Yet I KNOW that there is a difference even if I can't say what they are. I also rely on sense perception to know beyond what language or verbal communication can tell me. It is said that 93% of communication is nonverbal. Even though this claim is still being challenged most experts agree that well over 50% of communication is nonverbal which includes tone of voice, facial microexpressions, body language and gestures. For example, when I ask someone how they are and they respond "I'm fine" but in an angry or solemn way, I know that they are not, in fact, fine. If I know that their dog recently died, only then can I use reason to figure out why they are not fine. I used sense perception during the TOK activity where Dr. Gilligan claimed she could guess correctly who was "it" in the class. I looked at specific facial expressions and reactions each student gave as she passed by each one in order to see if she was using the same skill as I was. Even though I was wrong and she used a student to tell her the answer, my experiment worked because most of the time the student who was "it" showed small changes in behavior whether in body language or microexpressions that I picked up. Thus, sense perception defines me because I rely on it to know beyond what language and reason and emotion can tell and because without sense perception I wouldn't be able to use the other ways of knowing.
Video: Nonverbal Communication in a scene from a silent movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBZZNs6pNE
The area of knowledge that reflects me the most is natural sciences. Everything we look at is science in one way or another. When I look in the mirror, it's the science of light or when I boil water on the stove, it's the science of heat, touching the table is the science of the brain because the nerve endings on the tip of my fingers sense the table and relay that information to the brain which is then interpreted to tell me if the table is smooth or rough, wooden or metal. Because of this I feel that the natural sciences reflect me the most because
I try to see the science in a lot of things. For example in IB Biology HL we were trying to determine a reason for the fall of the great Russian Empire and we used genetics in order to explain it. We found that the mystic Rasputin and his involvement with the Tsar and Tsarina helped bring their empire down, because he was so disliked. In order to explain this we showed through Punnett squares and pedigrees how the Tsar's son Alexei was born with haemophelia and hence the appearance of Rasputin who helped the boy with his disease. By using science we were able to explain a historic event, two subjects which seem to be total opposites. I consider natural sciences to be the area of knowledge that represents me the most because science is nearly everywhere and everything and I use it to explain and understand more of the world around me whether it be in history or other areas of knowledge.
TOK Terms:
-way(s) of knowing
-sense perception
-language
-reason
-emotion
-linguistic expression
-verbal and nonverbal communication
-tone of voice
-facial microexpressions (barely detectable facial expressions such as a quiver of the lip)
-body language
-area of knowledge
-natural sciences
-history
Bibliography:
"Albert Mehrabian -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 21 Feb. 2010..
"Taste of Water." Spring Hill Web Page. Web. 21 Feb. 2010..
Video: Nonverbal Communication in a scene from a silent movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBZZNs6pNE
The area of knowledge that reflects me the most is natural sciences. Everything we look at is science in one way or another. When I look in the mirror, it's the science of light or when I boil water on the stove, it's the science of heat, touching the table is the science of the brain because the nerve endings on the tip of my fingers sense the table and relay that information to the brain which is then interpreted to tell me if the table is smooth or rough, wooden or metal. Because of this I feel that the natural sciences reflect me the most because
I try to see the science in a lot of things. For example in IB Biology HL we were trying to determine a reason for the fall of the great Russian Empire and we used genetics in order to explain it. We found that the mystic Rasputin and his involvement with the Tsar and Tsarina helped bring their empire down, because he was so disliked. In order to explain this we showed through Punnett squares and pedigrees how the Tsar's son Alexei was born with haemophelia and hence the appearance of Rasputin who helped the boy with his disease. By using science we were able to explain a historic event, two subjects which seem to be total opposites. I consider natural sciences to be the area of knowledge that represents me the most because science is nearly everywhere and everything and I use it to explain and understand more of the world around me whether it be in history or other areas of knowledge.TOK Terms:
-way(s) of knowing
-sense perception
-language
-reason
-emotion
-linguistic expression
-verbal and nonverbal communication
-tone of voice
-facial microexpressions (barely detectable facial expressions such as a quiver of the lip)
-body language
-area of knowledge
-natural sciences
-history
Bibliography:
"Albert Mehrabian -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
"Taste of Water." Spring Hill Web Page. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.
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