IB Theory of Knowledge - an ongoing list of interesting finds

Elizabeth Loftus, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, is the most influential female psychologist of the twentieth century ( New Yorker feature article ) "Her work helped usher in a paradigm shift, rendering obsolete the archival model of memory—the idea, dominant for much of the twentieth century, that our memories exist in some sort of mental library, as literal representations of past events. According to Loftus, who has published twenty-four books and more than six hundred papers, memories are reconstructed, not replayed." Also, check out this interview with Loftus from the American Psychological Association, where Loftus discusses  how our recollections of events and experiences may be subject to manipulation. 

The Smithsonian published this engaging review of a recent publication entitled  Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology .  Explore the myths surrounding many female monsters from ancient Greek and Roman tradition.  "M onsters reveal more about humans than one might think. As figments of the imagination, the alien, creepy-crawly, fanged, winged and otherwise-terrifying creatures that populate myths have long helped societies define cultural boundaries and answer an age-old question: What counts as human, and what counts as monstrous?" Caravaggio,  Medusa , 1595  

A feature article on how one particular group is mitigating the ongoing natural crises of flooding and fires throughout Australia.  "What’s the solution to mitigating these disasters? More technology, more fire fighters, more flood-proofing? Those may sound like reasonable, modern fixes, but many believe the answer really lies in the past. Indigenous communities in Australia have dealt with wildfires for millennia using natural technology, namely fire itself." Photographed by Talei Elu.

The Guardian reports on knowledge at risk as language disappears.   "Knowledge of medicinal plants is at risk of disappearing as human languages become extinct, a new study has warned. Indigenous languages contain vast amounts of knowledge about ecosystem services provided by the natural world around them. However, more than  30% of the 7,400 languages on the planet are expected to disappear  by the end of the century, according to the UN." Amazonian herbal remedies on sale at Ver-o-Peso market in Belem, Brazil.  Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence have been featured in the news lately.  Of specific note were the ways in which AI is able to bring to life digitized "people" - both complete creations as well as, say, old photographs.  The rise of "deepfakes" has been a source of amusement as well as significant alarm.  While the moving pictures in Harry Potter might've prepared me somewhat for the "Deep Nostalgia" AI, there is still something a little haunting about the realism each example.  Consider the questions that may arise within each of these RLSs about knowledge.  Consider TOK course concepts such as certainty, values, and responsibility as well as links to secondary factors like sense perception and reliability.   Example 1 :  ARTICLE - Lyu, Siwei.  " Deepfakes and the New AI-Generated Fake Media Creation-Detection Arms Race ". Scientific American. July 20, 2020. Example 2 :  ARTICLE - Lyons, Kim.  "New AI ‘Deep Nostalg...

"Tank Man" by Jeff Widener, 1989. On the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests (1989), authorities in China continue to go to great lengths to censor knowledge of what happened that day, where "hundreds, possibly thousands, had been shot dead."  To test the extent of the censorship, here is a video of a BBC reporter walking the streets of Beijing to find out how many people recognize the most iconic image of the protests, that of "Tank Man" - a lone man standing in front of a line of tanks a day after the massacre at Tiananmen Square.  In a testament to the strength of censorship in China, most of those interviewed claimed not to recognize the image, even if they were old enough to remember the tragic outcome of the protests.

For those who have enjoyed some of the discussion of art as representational of history and of the attempt to convey history when it is out of living memory, here is a focused piece that explores exactly that - how we can continue to "experience" history via the arts, even when we cannot have experienced it ourselves. This would link quite well to the controversial "Ada.Stories" narrative being released on Instagram - a Holocaust narrative that tells the events to a social media generation.

"Letting an athlete compete with too much of an inbuilt biological advantage feels unfair to their rivals; stopping someone competing as the woman she naturally is feels monumentally unfair to her. There is no way of resolving the moral dilemma without someone ending up wronged." There is much to debate in terms of the ongoing controversy surrounding 800m Olympic champion  Caster Semenya's high testosterone levels and apparent unfair advantage in her race category.  Here is an opinion column that looks at the ethics behind the decision-making process , weighing the various perspectives (utilitarian, consequentialist, relativist, etc.) that are at the core of this RLS. Public opinion is quite divided, with many suggesting this is a gross injustice while others argue the ruling is necessary to preserve the integrity of the sport.

How do you keep a story "alive" when those who experienced it have passed?  In a decision that has received quite a bit of praise, but also quite a lot of criticism, an Israeli tech executive and his daughter have created an Instagram account entitled "Eva Stories" to coincide with the start of Israel’s annual Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. "In 70 short episodes, a British actress playing Eva takes followers along on her Holocaust journey: a happy bourgeois prewar existence interrupted by the Nazi invasion of her hometown in what was then Hungary; her family’s forced move into the cramped chaos of the ghetto; and the packed train that ultimately transports her to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp from which she never returns." (Kershner)  A relevant and refreshing attempt to educate today's youth on the trauma and tragedy, or a "trivializing and cheapening the Holocaust" ? Resources : Associated Press. " Hol...

The idea of a "mind's eye," or powerful visualization skills, is often seen as being at the centre of artistic creativity and can lead to a misconception that, without this ability, one cannot be creative. What happens, then, when some of the most creative minds in film today suffer from a condition called Aphantasia - the inability to visualize mental images? How can some of the chief artists and animators in the Pixar / Disney franchise create such powerful works of art with "blind mind's eye"?

Alex Rosenberg, a philosopher of science and a writer of historical fiction, "does not deny that stories can be wonderful as art and effective at eliciting emotions that then push action... but stories also lull us into a false sense of knowledge and fundamentally limit our understanding of the world." In this interview transcript , see how Rosenberg explains the impact of stories from a neuroscience perspective and encourages us to seek a balance between an engaging historical narrative and more factual / accurate retelling of events.

"(A)s artificial intelligence evolves and eventually perhaps reaches or surpasses human level intelligence, what will this mean for human artists and the creative industries in general?"   Through discussions of creativity, artificial intelligence and expressions of human experience, the article questions whether works of art produced by AIs are more than just "creative problem-solving" and the mimicking of patterns. 

For those interested in the "anti-vaxxer" debate, here is an article about parents in Ontario who have received judicial support to refuse immunization , even citing an anti-vaccination 'expert.' And in an ironic twist, the subheading reads:  "While the case was being heard, both children contracted whooping cough, one of the diseases covered by standard childhood vaccinations."  The article also contains a comprehensive infographic illustrating vaccination trends in Canada as well as comparative immunization rates against other countries. 

Languages around the world are dying, and dying fast .  "The grimmest predictions have 90 percent of the world's languages dying out by the end of this century. Although this might not seem important in the day-to-day life of an English speaker with no personal ties to the culture in which they’re spoken, language loss matters." National Geographic's page entitled " Enduring Voices " is a great resource to learn more about endangered languages.

Economist Keith Chen realized that there are innate differences in how he speaks in Chinese and in English.  He began to ask questions like "Is there a connection between language and how we think and behave? In particular, he wanted to know: does our language affect our economic decisions?" So he designed a study to look at how language might affect individual’s ability to save for the future. According to his results, it does — big time. Have a look at this blog post that explores Chen's ideas and also provides several examples of what research shows about the link between language and both psychology and behavior.

The death blow preserved at one particular site.  EXCERPT:  "New research released Friday captures a fossilized snapshot of the day nearly 66 million years ago when an asteroid smacked Earth, fire rained from the sky and the ground shook far worse than any modern earthquake. It was the day that nearly all life on Earth went extinct, including the dinosaurs. The researchers say they found evidence in North Dakota of the asteroid hit in Mexico, including fish with hot glass in their gills from flaming debris that showered back down on Earth. They also reported the discovery of charred trees, evidence of an inland tsunami and melted amber." Current controversy stems from the fact that access to the site is highly restricted and that, aside from the current researchers, the knowledge discovered has not and cannot be verified by other scientists or other experts.

Why we have to forget to remember "When we forget something, it often feels like a failure. But according to psychologist Oliver Hardt, if we lost the ability to forget, we might also lose the ability to remember."

"Scientists in India have hit out at speakers at a major conference for making irrational claims, including that ancient Hindus invented stem cell research. Some academics at the annual Indian Science Congress dismissed the findings of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Hindu mythology and religion-based theories have increasingly become part of the Indian Science Congress agenda. But experts said remarks at this year's summit were especially ludicrous...." An Indian scientist said that Albert Einstein (pictured) was wrong and that gravitational waves should be renamed "Narendra Modi Waves"

Have a look through some of the following pieces to explore why the discovery of a previously unknown sketchbook by the famous artist has led to widespread controversy.  Addressing issues of consistency and authenticity, but also tackling the ever-difficult-to-explain role of intuition, the controversy illustrates the fierce battles that can ensue when one's personal knowledge of art, meaning or style is called into question.  Resources : Cain, Abigail.  " 'Unprecedented' Van Gogh Sketchbook Controversy, Explained. "  Editorial. Artsy.com.   November 16, 2016. " Found Sketchbook With Drawings Is Not By Van Gogh, According To Van Gogh Museum ."   The Van Gogh Museum.  Press Release.  November 15, 2016. Siegal, Nina.  " Sketchbook Attributed to van Gogh Pits Scholars Against a Museum ."  New York Times: Art & Design.  November 15, 2016.  " Van Gogh: Dispute over sketches book ."  BBC News: Ent...

Obviously still a highly contested concept, the idea that our genetics do not support common perceptions of race or racial divides is one that can be uncomfortable on various levels.  Geneticist and author Adam Rutherford tackles the science behind "race" in his 2015 article " Why racism is not backed by science " - touching also on issues of evolution of language and controversial theories on race.  He acknowledges in another piece, " Why scientific truth may hurt ," that his ideas on the biological non-existence of “race” prompted anger and online abuse from readers, however continued to focus on the idea that: Modern genetics has unearthed a treasure trove of information about humans that was previously veiled or indecipherable, one of which is that some sets of genetic signatures broadly correlate with large land masses, especially ones bound by oceans. But these are neither exclusive nor essential associations with the way we use the term “ra...