ways of knowing essay

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Naman Jain 12 D Dubai International Academy Theory of Knowledge Essay #1 “Ways of Knowing” 1

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Theory of Knowledge IB Essay

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Naman Jain 12 DDubai International Academy

Naman Jain 12 DDubai International Academy

Theory of Knowledge

Essay #1

Ways of Knowing

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing.

Complete rationality is only a theoretical possibility; that is a stipulation humankind will have to come to terms with sooner or later. Still, human behavior, for example with reference to economics or government, is studied with the assumption of a rational man. Some argue, that this would be a smarter, simpler and more efficient being. Some argue that he would be less creative and much less able to co-exist with one and another. Who is to say that either is wrong?

Logical reasoning is a function through which we can deduce, induce and derive new information from pre-existing information or data. The epitome of intelligence, a completely rational agent is said to maximize expected utility from his reasoned knowledge. Reasoned knowledge refers to only facts that we can establish and derive through scientific experimentation and methods. This technical approach to decision making aims to ensure a certain expected outcome. There is a lack of distorted information since pure reason is free of the forces of hearsay, connotative meaning, illusory imaging and emotional intuition.

Reason is the only way of knowing through which such volumes of knowledge can be derived through a universal scientific method. It is pretty convenient that we can use the same way of knowing to solve physics problems in class and to win a game of rock, paper, scissors. As a cognitive process, rational decision making ensures that maximum and most efficient work is done towards achieving the pre-supposed goal. Reason is seen as the only most definite way of knowing, where the shades of grey separate into black and white, right and wrong. If we left shades of grey behind the laws of physics, for example, we would effectively leave ourselves incapable of using any of them to operate and construct any of the appliances and technologies that we use today; from the wheel to the laptop on which I type this essay.

The objectives of using a rational decision making model, in other words relying on reason as a way of knowing, are to weigh up all the alternatives, possible consequences and requirements of each decision. Rational agents can intelligibly pick the most suitable option from a range of possibilities through careful evaluation of the scenario itself. A presumed stipulation for the use of reason is complete knowledge of the scenario. Anyone who has tried to solve an algebraic equation with two unknowns would understand the importance of always looking for more information. Therefore, those employing reason will always be inclined to search for information in all directions. And, as is always pointed out, maximum information accounts for a more open-minded outlook. An open-minded outlook would ensure the preparation for all possible outcomes. It is the use of reason within modern meteorology and epidemiology that has enabled the level of security of whole populations in the rationalized societies of the West through greater information and preparedness arising from a rational focus on making decisions.

One of the greatest developments in rational decision making models is that of game theory. The advent of game theory itself represents the strength of reason as a way of knowing. The fact that one can use basic background data on a situation to determine the utility of different strategies within the scenario for multiple players purely through manipulation of information and logical derivation in scenarios ranging from evolutionary biology to a game of poker reflects the utility in universality of this way of knowing.

Rationality is an impossibility, as mentioned before primarily as a result of three inherent properties of our world and these form its greatest weaknesses. Firstly, the definition of pure reason as stated above renders its use impossible since distortive influences will always be ever-present due to the existence of the hypothalamus as a natural emotional trigger. The fact that human behavior will involve elements of irrational due to the primal core effectively deems any rational study of our beings to be redundant. Unfortunately, some of the greatest strengths of reason can turn into its greatest limitations. The fact that rational decision making assumes complete knowledge and unlimited cognitive abilities renders it impossible to standardize reason as a way of knowing. Yet, as per definition the infinite amount of information that complete knowledge can never be attained and since humans are in no way homogenous products, it would be disastrous to promote reason as the universal way of knowing.

Our inability to understand human behavior can largely be accredited to this over-reliance on reason as a way of knowing. Not one of the best economists in the world, those with access to a myriad of consumer and producer data of decades of existence, could to the best of their abilities predict the most recent financial crisis. This was reflected in their inability to determine how consumers would react to the advertising of sub prime housing loans for one, which is now seen as the generator of the eye of this financial storm.

I can advocate reason as a mathematically inclined student. But, if Vincent Van Gogh would have been asked to rationalize and optimize his decisions one of two things would have happened: his art would not have been celebrated due to the limitations of reason during the creative process or his decisions would have been the product of a fallacy of reason due to the employment of rationalized logic as a result of incorrect, inadequate information being provided to a naturally impulsive being. The

For example, in political and military scenarios, one can not imagine impulsive and faith motivated reactions would be ignored when preparing strategies. Some of our greatest victories happen when we get passionate about our cause. Passion transcends reason. There is no logic behind having faith in your team winning when you are down by 2 goals with a minute to go in a football match. But, people have won from these situations, I have won from such a situation and illogical as it may seem, I felt good about it. Any revolutionary to have brought change has kept faith and fought against the probable odds and against reason to reach a step closer to achieving their goal. This could be attributed to both Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King.

The rational perspective to life condenses our thought process to the time from when the individual is born the time of death. The objective of rationality is value, thereby generating a scenario where each individual works towards creating value for oneself. If I have artificially high intelligence and am unaffected by any distortive influence, there is nothing stopping me from breaching the rules of society through alienation in my attempts to achieve my goal. Now, if everyone did this there would be no society! We would all be on our own, and without collaboration we would become extinct over generations.

Loyalty is irrational, but does that mean it is inherently bad? In the recent past society has been going through a process of rationalization wherein the ideologies of nationalism and patriotism now play a relatively smaller role in our daily lives (in most parts of the world) today. It is said that nationalism was a fallacy of reason whereby excuses are made; our group is better than the other group or Our own soldiers take care of the poor families; the enemy rapes them'. Yet, looking at the utility of our current model of society, it could also be argued that although international wars that sprung from the influences of language and emotion (in particular) civilians were not involved in conflicts the way they are today. The year 2011 itself has seen protest and anarchist movements in more 15 countries around the world including the United States and the United Kingdom. As reason triumphs over human connection within a society, the society itself becomes dysfunctional. Without the irrational sense of belonging, we have societies where self interest and animalistic competition is more rife than ever. If we reason too much we will never be able to trust. Trust is the glue of humanity.

Only time will tell whether the rationalized model of society works better than previous models. And maybe evaluating the use of the different ways of knowing in society at a later period in time will give a better or at least more definite judgment on reason. All that we know for now is that while the scientific method is the best way to predict outcomes, the best way to attain holistic knowledge is to consider its limitations and thus work towards finding a way around them through the employment of the other ways of knowing.

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