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. 

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.

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...

We should all know that memory can be unreliable - influenced by our own perspectives, selection, interpretation and emotions, it can be difficult to be "certain" of our powers of recollection.  But "false memory"? Delve briefly into this concept via the links below to explore the ways in which memory can not only be problematic , but also wrong.  Resources : Bryce, Emma. " False memories and false confessions: the psychology of imagined crimes ." WIRED.  July 22, 2017.  " False memory syndrome ." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. July 18, 2013. " Elizabeth Loftus and Eye Witness Testimony ."  BBC Sounds. Interview. Web. April 17, 2011. Fraser, Scott.  " Why eyewitnesses get it wrong ."  TEDxUSC. TED. May 2012. Hogenboom, Melissa.  " Why does the human brain create false memories? "  BBC Science & Environment.  September 29, 2013. Loftus, Elizabeth. " How reliable is your ...

Interestingly, following our discussion last class about the ethics surrounding the "study" of nomadic tribes, National Geographic has published a feature article this month addressing some of the same difficult topics raised. The feature presents quite a detailed look at the influence of modern societies/technology on indigenous tribes in both Peru and Brasil, delving into where the two worlds either overlap or collide.  The pictures in the piece show a very rural, indigenous lifestyle, but the feature also makes mention of tribes having access to smartphones and guns, or offering their expertise as armed "guardians" of their territory. Quite an engaging look at a very complex ongoing controversy.

A viral photo of a crying Honduran girl didn't tell the whole story. Does it matter? A powerful image of a young Honduran girl detained at the U.S.-Mexico border has come to symbolize the separation of families by border officials. But the girl and her mother were not separated, as many came to believe.  A look at the powerful effects of media images and how the narrative can shift or change in meaning or context because of the "viral" nature of the web.

No one told James Fallon he was a psychopath.  Or maybe they had. When he was young, he'd heard again and again from people in positions of authority – a priest, a professor, a friend's father – that there was something off about him. Something dark that they couldn't quite name. But Fallon brushed it off each time. Many years later, as a professor of psychiatry at the medical school of the University of California, Irvine, Fallon discovered his psychopathic mind for himself.  James Fallon, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, describes himself as a ‘pro-social’ psychopath. (Daniel Anderson) A witty and light look at one man's path to self-discovery and self-control, one that also delves into the nature versus nurture debate , looking at whether   we are a product of our environments. Are we subject to imbalance due to our biological makeup?  Where do the lines between the natural sciences and the human sciences blur...

'It’s hard to tell what the rules are anymore,' - Parker Molloy, a senior writer for Upworthy.  Following the recent racist Tweet from sitcom TV star, Roseanne Barr, and the subsequent cancellation of the namesake TV show, this piece seems aptly timed to discuss the evolving styles of language used in the world of media today.  In the piece entitled, " Roseanne, Twitter and racism: Why acceptable language is up for debate in the age of Trump ," two journalists ask a poignant question -  What are the boundaries — or lack thereof — for acceptable speech?

"Every day millions of people ask Google life’s most difficult questions...." An in-depth look at what makes the Mona Lisa so fascinating and so famous .   The piece tackles some of the better-known justifications, such as DaVinci's (apparent) use of "golden ratio," and the focus on his style and technique.  It also, though, poses an interpretation on the "smile" justification which is a different take on other theories I've read in the past.  Definitely an interesting perspective for those art lovers out there. Or for those who continue to ask what or who determines what is "good art." People look at the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci at its new home in the Louvre museum, in Paris. Photograph: Lydie/EPA

This article from BBC Magazine presents a question that has come up several times in our own class during the past year - to what extent can artificial intelligence truly comprehend knowledge? In this case, ethical knowledge. Note:  Included in the article is the widely-used "trolley" philosophy problem (so much so, in fact, that it should be considered cliché when it comes to your TOK assignments!).   Also included in the article is a link to the BBC Radio 4 program where this issue is discussed in detail.  Both the article and the radio program present an interesting and detailed look at this ongoing debate.

Consider every time you've tried to explain something to someone, but couldn't quite find the right word to illustrate what you were feeling.  Sometimes it seems more appropriate to describe a feeling because there just isn't a word in the English language that will communicate exactly  what you want to say. https://goo.gl/kRbSAe Here are a series of links to words that illustrate just that - sometimes, the word that we are looking for simply cannot be easily translated. Cachero, Paulina, Keira Edgett and Shani Tsur. " An untranslatable word for pure joy ."  BBC Culture. Web. July 21, 2017. Lomas, Tim. ' The Magic of "Untranslatable" Words .' Scientific American. Web. July 12, 2016.  Macdonald, Fiona. " Eleven untranslatable words ." BBC Culture. Web. October 21, 2014.  Oxenham, Jason. CEO. " 20 of the World's Most Beautiful Untranslatable Words ." Rocket Languages. Blog. November 27, 2016.  Robson, D...

One particular event this week helped to clearly illustrate the powerful driving force of media and social media. Donald Trump, during a late-night inspiration, decided he was going to comment via Twitter on recent frustrations.  Unfortunately, his post left quite a bit up to the imagination... What immediately followed was a flurry of activity that began with confusion and concern, quickly moving onto humour and ridicule.  Check out the highlights posted on The Guardian: " What is covfefe? The tweet by Donald Trump that baffled the internet ." (The Guardian Online, May 31 2017). The New York Times article, " What's a 'Covfefe'? Trump Tweet Unites a Bewildered Nation " also explored the immediate confusion with a humourous twist - that which confuses the heck out of a nation, also unites them.   CNN, in their article entitled " 'Covfefe' tells you all you need to know about Donald Trump ," interviewed people to see what they tho...

An emotional and though-provoking feature article that explores the efforts of Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem ("A Memorial and a Name"), who, since 1954, have been working to recover the names of all the victims, and to date has managed to identify some 4.7 million. Dr Alexander Avram, director of Yad Vashem's Hall of Names and the Central Database of Shoah [Holocaust] Victims' Names states that "Every new name we can add to our database is a victory against the Nazis, against the intent of the Nazis to wipe out the Jewish people. Every new name is a small victory against oblivion." The Hall of Names is a haunting memorial to those who were lost during the Holocaust - a literal collection of names, facts and stories about individuals who perished.  A daunting task as much is based on memory and piecing together of information, and yet is highly symbolic in terms of what it represents.  The memorial and the efforts behind it beg the question ...

Thanks to Liora for this suggestion - Dan Brown's thriller Angels and Demons  combines history, science (although both are somewhat distorted at times) and religion in this exploration of the apparent and ongoing controversy between religion and science. The text is an entertaining read - it takes place around a "24-hour" style action-packed life-and-death scenario.  Science threatens religion, which threatens science.  With a few ironic turns of events, the main characters, educated and well-respected members of the historical and scientific communities, find themselves working with the Catholic Church and the Vatican to solve the mystery and save key religious figures from the figure who has decided to use science as a weapon against faith. A controversy surrounding the novel is that, while Brown is creating a work of fiction and thus to a degree is awarded "artistic licence," the liberties he has taken with presenting historical or scientific information ...

On Earth Day this past weekend, demonstrations were held around the world in defense of science. An idea that many find absurd in its necessity, but in many major cities across the globe, scientists and science-advocates rallied together to take a stand against seemingly perpetuating ignorance. Central knowledge questions that arise surrounding this event are: In what ways can the WOKs faith and emotion cause significant and ongoing controversy surrounding widely accepted scientific theories?  In what ways are the natural sciences irreconcilable with specific AOKs or WOKs?  Explore the following articles to gain a sense of the purposes behind, and the sudden necessity for, a unified front in the face of things like "alternate facts" and "fake news." Also take note of the witty and inspiring signs that were the highlight of the mass demonstrations. " 21 of the best March for Science protest signs ." Resources : Burdick, Alan. " The Use...

"But reviving a dying language is not easy. One main challenge is that Kristang is mostly a spoken language and has rarely been recorded. There is no standardised spelling or pronunciation system - one word can have dozens of variations. The word for four, quartu, can be spelt and pronounced in 20 different ways. And because it has been in decline for so long, it has huge gaps in its vocabulary... To solve this problem, his group invented new words with mash-ups of Kristang's root languages." This article raises questions about the efforts required to revive a language that so few speak today. With significant ties to heritage and culture, the question of whether a language in its "dying days" so to speak is a futile effort, or an attempt at cultural revival. How to revive a 500-year-old dying language

Have you ever felt a little mbuki-mvuki – the irresistible urge to “shuck off your clothes as you dance”? Perhaps a little kilig – the jittery fluttering feeling as you talk to someone you fancy? How about uitwaaien – which encapsulates the revitalising effects of taking a walk in the wind? These words – taken from Bantu, Tagalog, and Dutch – have no direct English equivalent, but they represent very precise emotional experiences that are neglected in our language. And if Tim Lomas at the University of East London has his way, they might soon become much more familiar. ‘Untranslatable’ emotions

"Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we're wrong about that? 'Wrongologist' Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility." Why do we get stuck inside this feeling of being right and why is this such a problem ? An entertaining talk drawing on our own insecurities and fallibility.

New York art world bitterly divided over ‘ cultural appropriation ’ of 1955 photograph of murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till "It is one of the most powerful images to emerge from the racism that infected the southern states of America in the 1950s – the photograph of a badly beaten 14-year-old boy, lynched after being falsely accused of flirting with a white woman, lying in a funeral casket. Now protests over a painting based on the photograph, included in a New York museum show, are dividing the city’s art world amid claims of racist exploitation and censorship. At the centre of the battle over cultural appropriation is artist Dana Schutz’s expressionist painting Open Casket (2016), a gruesome depiction of Emmett Till, lynched in Mississippi in 1955. The painting, on display at the Whitney Biennial exhibition, initially drew swift condemnation from critics who claimed Schutz, who is white, was taking advantage of a defining moment in African American history." Ar...

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...