IB Theory of Knowledge - an ongoing list of interesting finds

With a thorough exploration of Oppenheimer's background, influences, anxieties and motivations, this feature explores the effects of nuclear weaponry. In the piece, Oppenheimer is likened to notable scientists who, in an attempt to prevent further war or further destruction, utilize science.  Like the others listed in the passage below, however, he is unable to to so. An excerpt: " The distressing human predilection for the occasional blood-feast did, of course, impede man’s progress toward these ever-appealing ends. Alfred Nobel had hoped that his invention of dynamite, which enhanced exponentially the possibilities for battle carnage, would put people off war forever; it didn’t happen. Albert Einstein, equally peaceable but more discerning, said of the weaponry developed before the First World War — machine guns, massive artillery — that entrusting human beings with modern technology was like putting a meat ax in the hands of a psychopath. The flower of Wilhelmine chem...

A post from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History that outlines "issues that arise at the crossroads of science and religion, particularly in relation to the scientific accounts of evolution and human origins..."  As the Smithsonian's Committee points out, "Cultural divides in the United States over the acceptance of evolution and scientific understandings of human origins make this interchange relevant. They also offer an opportunity to inspire a positive relationship between science and religion. "  (February 8, 2016) For a biting scientific retort to Creationism, check out: Scientific American's relatively scathing "15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense"  (July 1, 2002). Dr. Dave Hone's " Why creationists are out of time with history and science " (April 27, 2016). Alternately, Answers in Genesis' website offers counter arguments and further explanation to central Creationist theories and the potential overl...

A few articles to get you started on looking at this Real Life Situation.  Proponents for intelligent design (Creationist theory) battle for space in the science curriculum and in educational textbooks. The scientific community is adamant that intelligent design is not a scientific branch as it lacks falsification . In fact, this is not simply a current event - these battles have been ongoing since Darwin published his Evolutionary theory.  In 1925, teacher John Scopes was convicted and fined $100 for teaching evolution in his Dayton, Tenn., classroom (PBS' "Scopes Trial"). Today, the metaphorical war is "fought" in small battles, and continuous debates arise in terms of who should have the decision-making power as to what is included or excluded from curriculum. Below are links to articles addressing this ongoing controversy, with specific focus on recent battles in Texas, USA. “ Creationism and intelligent design .” BBC: Religions. Online. 2009-06-02. ...

A look at the discovery of the DNA "fingerprint," the evolution of its use in immigration, forensics, and touches on the ongoing controversial (disturbing?) debate surrounding the creation of a DNA database of citizens with no criminal history. DNA fingerprinting Further Reading: " Is it ethical to have a national DNA database ?" Debate.  yourgenome.com.

Source: New York Times Excerpt from  “A Family Consents to a Medical Gift, 62 Years Later.” New York Times. August 7, 2013. Henrietta Lacks was only 31 when she died of cervical cancer in 1951 in a Baltimore hospital. Not long before her death, doctors removed some of her tumor cells. They later discovered that the cells could thrive in a lab, a feat no human cells had achieved before. Soon the cells, called HeLa cells, were being shipped from Baltimore around the world. In the 62 years since, her cells have been the subject of more than 74,000 studies, many of which have yielded profound insights into cell biology, vaccines, in vitro fertilization and cancer. But Henrietta Lacks, who was poor, black and uneducated, never consented to her cells’ being studied. For 62 years, her family has been left out of the decision-making around [and financial benefits of] that research. Excerpt from "A New Chapter in the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." National Geograph...

Have a look at the role of serendipity in a variety of contexts using the links below.  The Atlantic -  The Accidental Discovery of LSD New Humanist - famous accidental discoveries American Physical Society - Becquerel Discovers Radioactivity National Science Foundation - Chance Discoveries: Safety Glass Popular Mechanics - 10 Awesome Accidental Discoveries Business Insider - 15 Amazing Science Discoveries Inspired By Complete Accidents

This 2013 piece looks at motivations provided to human scientists in the USA and how these reward systems, while producing science that is innovative and "cutting edge," do not provide consistency or help to establish accuracy in the human sciences.  This bias, called the "US-effect" does not adhere to the central beliefs of what science should be: "Science should be about doing good, precise studies. Not necessarily about getting exciting new results every time." The introduction:   "Scientists who study human behaviour are more likely than average to report exaggerated or eye-catching results if they are based in the United States, according to an analysis of more than 1,000 research papers in psychiatry and genetics. This bias could be due to the research culture in the US, authors of the analysis said, which tends to preferentially reward scientists for the novelty and immediate impact of a piece of work over the quality or its long-term contrib...

A short audio clip that looks at the viability or reliability of forensic evidence in legal proceedings from a scientific perspective. Podcast

Quite an interesting read that addresses the role of perception in first impressions. Once again, the study in question centered on males only, with specific reference to specific elements of facial structure that previous studies suggested indicated perceptions of higher testosterone, aggression and strength. Still, an interesting look at how we are not only influenced by facial expressions at first glance, but also by the physical form of individuals. An excerpt: "A newly published series of experiments by cognitive neuroscientists at New York University is reinforcing the relevance of facial expressions to perceptions of characteristics such as trustworthiness and friendliness. More importantly, the research also revealed the unexpected finding that perceptions of abilities such as physical strength are not dependent on facial expressions but rather on facial bone structure." Bone Structure

This piece explores the idea that there might be a price to pay for empathy and that too much awareness of others' emotional states could bring on an increased level of personal stress.  While the study in question centers specifically on emotional intelligence in males, it does raise some interesting questions about the extent to which we need to emphasize empathy to strengthen relationships and where the metaphorical line needs to be drawn in order to avoid stress on ourselves. An excerpt: "In students who were rated more emotionally intelligent, the stress measures increased more during the experiment and took longer to go back to baseline. The findings suggest that some people may be too emotionally astute for their own good..." Further, the piece discusses "dark side of emotional intelligence," suggesting that those who  are more "emotionally astute"  can utilize this strength in order to manipulate or take advantage of people, or fall victim ...

Mental health expert Tori Rodriguez explores why avoiding or suppressing negative emotions can have a lasting effect on our understanding of the world and ourselves.  She touches on the insights we can gain from negative emotions, such as vital clues about our personal health or the strength of our relationships with others. Rodriguez writes that "In my psychotherapy practice, many of my clients struggle with highly distressing emotions, such as extreme anger, or with suicidal thoughts. In recent years I have noticed an increase in the number of people who also feel guilty or ashamed about what they perceive to be negativity. Such reactions undoubtedly stem from our culture's overriding bias toward positive thinking. Although positive emotions are worth cultivating, problems arise when people start believing they must be upbeat all the time." Negative Emotions

"We understand the English and Americans think highly of Pocahontas. We appreciate that it brings an interest to our tribe, but we just sit back and figure: if people want to worship a myth, then let them do it." Circa 1600, Pocahontas, the American Indian princess who saved the life of  John Smith, the English adventurer on two occasions.  (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) [Getty Images]  This feature article combines mythology, history and current shared knowledge .   Pocahontas is one of the best known and most-beloved Native Americans; in many cases, one of the only known Native Americans. Disney has retold a version of her story, historical documents suggest she did much to help entice English to settle in the New World, and became 'the poster child of a "civilised savage."' Her tribe today suggests that she does not hold the same significance for them as she does for mainstream Americans, that the history/mythology surrounding her mig...

This article sparked quite a bit of controversy in TOK teacher groups with arguments centering on supporting the artistic license to revise or adapt historical events for artistic purposes, and others criticizing the blatant revision of historical fact and presenting an alternate version of events than what has already been documented in detail. Either way, the piece is critical of a film that essentially retells the partition during India's liberation from British rule, basing part of the condemnation on the fact that many still have living memory of what actually happened and therefore oppose the point of view the director has taken, and highlighting that the "sin" of the film is that it takes "breathtaking liberty with the historical record; " diminishing it to "fake history." To what extent are artists or artistic representations obliged to accurately depict historical fact? How might a misrepresentation of history become dangerous, or in thi...

A counterargument for those who deem algorithms and "big data" to be an asset to everyday lives. While the columnists acknowledge some positive elements of data collection and use, it also stresses "anarchy" - or rather, our ability to explore options and choose for ourselves; relying on instinct or serendipity rather than going along with what an algorithm suggests we should try or purchase.  Their argument?   "Data-driven technocracy is threatening to overwhelm innovation and democracy. This outcome should be avoided at all costs. Decentralised decision-making is crucial for the enrichment of society." Article

In this piece, columnist Nabil Al-Khowaiter argues that humanity will have a communication revolution in the next 5-10 years. This barely acknowledged revolution, which is likely to change the entire course of human history in a few short decades, is the rise of Artificial Intelligence-enabled, fully fluent live audio translation of conversations between humans of all ethnicities. We are not just talking about the literal translation of English or French into Russian or Chinese, but the translation of the subtle meanings wrapped in cultural allegories that even fluent but non-native speakers of a language often miss. Al-Khowaiter presents both positive and negative results of this revolution - from ease of daily communication to potential migration issues.  An interesting read. Artificial intelligence will delete nationalism

Delving into topics such as President Trump's tweets, personal knowledge, objectivity/subjectivity and faith, this radio program offers insight into whether we can truly "know" things as "facts." What is a fact?  

In this excerpt from his novel  The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Guide to Living A Good Life , author Mark Manson explores the notion of paradigm shifts with specific reference to personal knowledge .  He argues that people should simply assume they're wrong, about everything, because: Knowledge is an eternal iterative process. We don’t go from “wrong” to “right” once we discover the capital-T Truth. Rather, we go from partially wrong to slightly less wrong, to slightly less wrong than that, to even less wrong than that, and so on. We approach the capital-T truth, but never reach it. Mark Manson

Danielle Dufault creates artistic renderings of creatures that roamed the Earth millions of years ago. Who says art and science don't mix? Not Danielle Dufault, a Toronto illustrator who is one of only a handful of people around the world called on to create artistic renderings of the mysterious creatures that roamed the Earth millions of years ago.  "I really take a lot of pleasure in trying to reconstruct these lost worlds," Dufault told CBC News. "And there's a lot of imagination that can be applied to that." Using photos of a fossil, paleontological illustrator Danielle Dufault came up with this drawing of  Hallucigenia, a prehistoric worm-like sea creature that lived 500 million years ago.  (Illustration by Danielle Dufault, photo by Jean-Bernard Caron, Royal Ontario Museum) CBC News

Inspired by Liora's and Jana's recent presentation, this video animation accompanies a recorded conversation between an astrophysicist and a BBC correspondent explaining what science knows, hypothesizes and is just plain uncertain about with regards to the universe. Video

This article explores what is known as "perception bias" - the idea that "our views and beliefs can cloud the way we perceive things."  Perception bias can take on many forms and can be influenced by a variety of factors, including preconceptions and personal experience. An interesting look at how our eyes can "lie" to us and how our brains can be deceived. Science & Technology - Perception Bias