7/24/2019 TOK Ways of Knowing Essay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tok-ways-of-knowing-essay 1/2

Bam 13A

“We see and understand things not as they are but as weare.” Discuss this claim in relation to at least two ways ofknowing.

Every human being is a unique individual, we have our own

minds that allow us to think, judge and “see” for ourselves !irst, were"eive the information, then using our ways of knowing# self$%er"e%tion, emotion, language and reason, to understand and"on"lude something as “truth” &he "laim, '(e see and understandthings not as they are but as we are” shows that %eo%le "hose theirway of thinking in two ways (e understand things, as 'they are) iswhere we "hoose to think that there is a 'reason) behind it (hile,we understand things as 'we are) are how we "hoose to follow our'emotions) to judge it

“Emotion” is a strong feeling, for e*am%le, ha%%iness or anger+ome de"isions in life are so "om%li"ated for %eo%le# therefore, they"ame to rely on their intuition“eason” is a term that is used a lot in di-erent ways, for e*am%le,'these %ri"es are very reasonable), 'she a"ted reasonably), or 'therewas no reason why she did that) eason is de.ned as a "ause,e*%lanation or justi."ation, good or obvious "ause to do somethingand what is right 1 &hings, de.ned as a %hysi"al obje"t, an idea or a"on"e%t are no longer seen as they are /uring the %ro"ess of ourunderstanding, we add our on o%inion or subje"tivism in it +u"h asour abilities, "ulture and e*%erien"e

“As things are” are only what they are in "onte*t to what we are Amonkey may see a ro"k, while we see a diamond, however, it doesnot mean we did not see the diamond as it is +eeing what we needto see or what we see without looking for it is "alled the0"on"e%tual0 way of knowing, whi"h begins with the 0a"quisition of knowledge0 oreover, someone who "onsider themselves as bad atmath, would assume that the subje"t is uninteresting and boring,they would then turns it into emotions, su"h as hatred towards thesubje"t 2owever, math is a"tually useful and "onvenient in ourdaily lives, whi"h "ould be the reason

ulture refers to many "hara"teristi"s of a grou% of %eo%le, in"ludingattitudes, behaviors, "ustoms and values that are "onveyed fromone generation to the ne*t4 ultures throughout the world sharemany similarities, but are also unique in their own and show manydi-eren"es !or e*am%le, while %eo%le of all "ultures e*%erien"esha%%iness, how this feeling is e*%ressed varies from one "ulture tothe ne*t hinese %eo%le, in large restaurants, understand thatshouting a"ross tables is normal and a""e%table (hilst for 5a%anese

1 htt%677wwwtheoryofknowledgenet7ways$of$knowing7reason74 htt%677%sy"hologyabout"om7od7bran"hesof%sy"holog17f7"ross$"ulturalhtm

7/24/2019 TOK Ways of Knowing Essay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tok-ways-of-knowing-essay 2/2

Bam 13A

%eo%le, shouting in restaurants is seen as rude and im%olite ordisres%e"tful 2owever, who we are "an be more than the "ulturalsettings that we are a""ustomed to (ith understanding and res%e"tfor others, individuals "an a""e%t di-erent %ra"ti"es by other"ultures !oreigners may even embra"e them and enjoy the lo"al

(ith referen"es to the so"io$"ultural %sy"hology, there are 'in$grou%)and 'out$grou%), the 'in grou%) is when %eo%le are assigned in agrou% 'we) are the 'in grou%), while 'out grou%) is the 'other) grou%'+tereoty%es) is a mental re%resentation of a so"ial grou% and itsmember, and '%rejudi"e) is the "ultural attitude that rests onnegative stereoty%es about individuals or grou%s be"ause of their"ultural, religious, ra"ial or ethni" ba"kground !or e*am%le, in thestereoty%es of Ameri"an high s"hool, there are di-erent so"ialgrou%s, su"h as the "heerleaders, footballers, nerds, musi"ians andthe emo Ea"h of the so"ial grou%s is an in$grou%s and would thinkthat the others are the out$grou%s &he "heerleaders, whi"h are the%o%ular, would judge the nerds, whi"h is not like them, and is less%o%ular &herefore, they use their emotions on judging them, su"has seeing the nerds as boring and would develo% loathing towardsthem 2owever, the nerds might have a reason behind their a"ts, fore*am%le, how they are raise or the for"e of their %arents to enroll ina %arti"ular university

 &herefore, with an o%en$mind, we "an see things as “whoothers are,” or sim%ly what it is, instead of who “we” are