Some channels of shared knowledge

TOK

Internet

• Find two articles from the internet: one that you believe and one that you don’t. Give your reasons.

• What criteria would you use for distinguishing generally trustworthy websites from generally untrustworthy ones?

Internet

• Some possible problems with the internet– Lack of quality control– Superficiality– Filter bubbles: situations

in which we surround ourselves with information that confirms our pre-existing knowledge

Cultural tradition

• How would you characterise your own cultural identity?

• According to research familiarity breeds fondness– How can this be seen in

your cultural identity?

Cultural tradition

• Should we always try to preserve our cultural tradition?– What pros and cons lie in

preserving our cultural traditions?

Cultural tradition

• Some possible problems with cultural traditions– Tradition can narrow

peoples freedom– Tradition can distort truth

in the form of false belief systems

– Tradition can prevent progress and lead to stagnation

School

• Group work: design your ideal education programme with complete curriculum for students aged 15 to 19

School

• How does your ideal school compare to the IB programme and it’s curriculum?

School

• Some possible problems with education– Danger of indoctrination– Spurious balance: giving

equal weight to both sides of alleged controversy when the evidence strongly suggests that one side is wrong

Experts

• When should we trust experts?– Credentials?– Evidence?– Corroboration?– Track Record?– Neutrality?

Experts

• Richard Feynman (1918–1988):– ’I believe that a scientist

looking at non-scientific problem is just as dumb as the next guy’

The news media

• Compare and contrast the way two or three different newspapers cover a major news story

• How easy is it to distinguish between fact and opinion in order to establish the truth?

The news media

• Some possible problems with the news media– (1) Agenda setting: which

stories are selected and considered important?

– (2) Framing: how the selected stories are treated and presented?

The news media

• Sensationalism bias: tendency to focus on sensational news stories

• Bad news bias: tendency to focus on bad news rather than good news

• National bias: tendency to view global events through national interest

Summary

• And once again!– Who should you trust?– What criteria do we have

for distinguishing more and less reliable sources?

CARS checklist

Picture Sources

• http://www.mymerhaba.com/Internet-in-Turkey-4592.html

• http://click-accenture.com/monetising-big-data-information-age/#.VeQDbLSPftA

• https://studentaffairscollective.org/meninsa-all-identities-come-with-privilege/

• https://studentaffairscollective.org/meninsa-all-identities-come-with-privilege/

Picture Sources

• https://studentaffairscollective.org/meninsa-all-identities-come-with-privilege/

• http://images-pictures.org/school-building-clip-art-photo-and-pictures.html

• http://www.yis.ac.jp/page.cfm?p=763• http://worldofdtcmarketing.com/time-to-

eliminate-fair-balance-on-dtc-ads/fda/

Picture Sources

• http://the-uptimizers.be/fr/ask-an-expert-workshops/

• http://earthsky.org/human-world/earthsky-22-richard-feynman-is-still-awesome

• http://smileandmobile.com/2015/08/23/• http://ourtowntustin.com/2015/05/20/on-

the-agenda-of-the-not-so-special-tustin-city-council-meeting-may-20-2015/

Picture Sources

• http://dougfunniesjournal.tumblr.com/post/3693309482/episode-21-part-2-dougs-big-news

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140825135605-169269010-building-executive-trust-in-three-easy-steps

• van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 69