OS mel KNOWLEDGE LTT Lena Rotenberg Nita =iToie OXFORDeal=e) same) KNOWLEDGE Developed with the IB, this course book closely supports the 2013 syllabus. itis Authors Lele ee Ea CA Te a ica ak ose Nace as ee and critical thought. It covers the eight ways of knowing and the eight areas of Lena Rotenberg pO a eu e ka Ca eee tis Tate eee ene Pere Oxford course books are the only resources developed with the IB. Stuer UU uCuS ea Etat eau ea ols ese ee a Written by expert and experienced IB examiners and teachers Pe RE ene CCS et ae ited ic eae a URS ae cure meel ante eae man Te eat Ast Red ce i Se crn tea) re eee ee tes pheno cic oer eee pie eee Ce aad SUE CLae! Theory of oe Cer 38,09 EUR neo ee te Cenc ten I Romoser tet tet | Theory of Knowledge Course Book: Oxtr A ahs bar EtEy13. BUEN til OC Tats aN = ol Pa en You cannot look at this picture without some degree of interpretation, even in recognizing phat 1s at : Why da you think soz Takea moment to write down your interpretation before moving on in. ‘his book. You will sce and interpret anocher picture at the end of the chapter: We return, after cight chapters, 1o the same spot on the map. Do you recall that at the end of chapter 4 we promised we would do so that we would take a giant loop to visit each of the eight ways of knowing in turn, but return to the questions we had been discussing at that point? ‘Again, we are back on the high hill, looking out across the broad contours of kriowledge ~ but you bring with you increased awareness of our different ways of knowing and many human factors involved in the knowledge exchange. Areas of Knowledge At the end of chapter 4, we were introducing huge knowledge questions that we have been exploring in different ways ever since: How do ways of knowing contribute to personal knowledge and shared knowledge? * How do ways of knowing provide justifications for knowledge claims? ‘These same questions, accompanied by others, wil take us into the next phase of our journey, into the areas of knowledge that we have constructed, With all the thinking and discussing you've been doing of ways of knowing, it time to drop some formality and call them by more familiar names. Surely, by now {i culturally appropriate for us all 10 do so! So, just as we refer to Theory of Knowledge as TOK, in this chapter we wall refer to “ways of knowing” as WOK. In anticipation of even greater intimacy 10 come, we will cal ‘areas of knowing’ as (you guessed it!) AOK, So in our present chapter of transition, we will make sure that WOK and AOK interact in a friendly fashion, so that your onward journey will be an amicable one, First, we'll look back on how we've seen them connecting already, as a summary and review. ‘Then we'll look ahead to the different forms ofrelationships they enter in different forms of shared knowledge. From our high hill, we'll look out over the busy landscape below: 1, WOK interact with each other 2. WOK interact within a context, within a perspective 3. AOK give us knowledge of WOK 4. WOK build AOK: classification and concepts 5. WOK build AOK: methodology 6. WOK and AOK interact within a context, within a perspective 1. WOK interact with each other As we introduced you to the ways of knowing in chapter 4, we presented the list of eight to you as a useful simplification. Taking these eight as distinct “ways of knowing” is immensely helpful for identifying significant components of our process of knowing and for disentangling them to consider their characteristic features. Every one of them individually presents us with knowledge questions valuable to explore. Together, they provide a set of excellent pathways into the central question, “How do we know?” As we will see increasingly as we enter areas of knowledge, itis extremely useful 1 identily specific paths into topics of complexity and to establish a common vocabulary. First we pin down where we want to go and what we mean, and then swe can put our ideas more effectively into play! By now, you will be able to talk together as a class, with a shared understanding of what you mean when you say “sense perception”, or “intuition”, or “faith”, and will be able to use these concepts for further discussion of knowledge questions - as you will be doing as you treat the TOK areas of knowledge. By now, too, you will appreciate more fully certain features of the model of the WOK wheel that we have been using. The perimeter of the circle and the crossbars of the wheel join up every way of knowing to every other, with a large zone of exchange in the centre. where all of them can ‘meet. This idea is certainly familiar to you by now: that our ways of knowing intersect with each other, and interact. You will also recognize that a el can be held still for examination, but that its features blur together when it spins in active use. Puree ei ‘The WOK wheel is not static but dynamic. Even while we have disentangled the ways of knowing as much as we could for separate consideration. we have also recognized, time and time again, how they interact. Simply think back to the small child trying to recognize and name “doggies” early in the chapter on reason, with numerous ways of Knowing in play, or to the role of sense perception and language in trying to pin down exactly what “emotion’ is as a way of knowing, Recall the dual- system cognition of intuition and reason and how it affects sense perception and memory. Do you remember, too, the uncertainties that surround eyewitness reports, involving sense perception, memory, and emotion — at the very least? How did ‘Ou respond to questions on the intersection of faith with all of our other ways of knowing, or to the questions on imagination as it draws on other ways of knowing to create a new connection oF fusion? Before moving on, we suggest that you undertake the activity “Just a minute! Talk WOK.” for a quick review — and for fun, 2. WOK interact within a context, within a perspective When we use our ways of knowing, we use them somewhere in the world, in a real context alive with different perspectives. We use them, interactively, yes, but in different blends and balances within different circumstances and different cultural backgrounds Again, this idea should be familiar to you. Think of the concept of “perspectives” that we raised in chapter 1 particularly for cultural and political views, and have been using ever since, with references back to our guide to analysis (page 28). The cultural, political, religious, and other perspectives that make up our worldviews affect how we use all of our ways of knowing, Do you remember from the chapter on sense perception, for instance, the little story of Mrs. Ngo and the cultural choice of stairs, or the discussions involving the Deaf community on medical and cultural models of deafness? You are likely to recall the strong suggestions, as we treated emotion, that ‘what emotions we fee! in particular situations, and how we act on those feelings, are affected by our cultures. You are aware, t00, of the convergence of sense petception and emotions with memory, and how deeply affected that blend can be by personal and collective experience of the world, hugely influenced by our social contexts iesJust a minute! Talk WOK. - 1-_Divide your class into small groups of 34 students. Each group needs two sheets of Leavy paper, different colours. 2 Within your group, cut each sheet into eight equal rectangles, to create two sets of “cars”. Eor each set, write the names of the eight TOK ways of knowing. Place both stacks with the names face down and sit ina circle around them. 3. You will be playing several rounds. For each round, you will haye a timekeeper. a speaker, and a judge, with each role moving each turn to the person on the left 4 To play, pick your first speaker. He or she ‘will pull one card from each stack and tum it ‘over ~ to hold two ways of knowing, (If the same WOK comes up from bot piles, put ‘one of them hack and pull again. ) ‘Timekeeper, be ready! You will be counting seconds. A timing device like a watch or mobile phone'is useful. Speaker, you have only 20 seconds of preparation time, and must speak for ONE Language, of all ways of knowing, is probably most obviously rooted in culture, but so, too, may be faith ~ how we conceptualize this way of knowing and what role we give it in our lives. Similarly, even the interaction of emotion and imagination in empathy ~ that capacity that in turn motivates how we use our ways of knowing further ~ is alfected by how we develop within our home and interact. ‘MINUTE on how your two ways of knowing Speak clearly and nar-siop! ‘+ Give a5 many ways.as vou can in which your —~ two. wayS are interconnected in knowing, not just listing them but explaining what you mean (eg. how one ‘influences the other, 4 ‘opposes or helps the other. explains the other~ in either diréction — or how they work together * toward particular goal), * Give at least one example of their interaction from an area of knowledge (e.g. one of your TB subjects). * Give atleast one example of their interaction from personal observation of everyday life. Judge, you must listen closely and be ready to sive a score out ofa maximum of 10: + 2 points for each connection the speaker makes between the ways of knowing if itis distinct and clear + 2 points for each of the examples if they are lear | * I point for speaking non-stop, with pauses no. longer than about 5 seconds bonus point if you think the speaker has been lively or funny, You must award your score within 20 seconds of | the end of the speaker's turn. Do not hesitave to give the full 10if the conditions are met. Scramble: Everyone in the group should now quickly add any further ideas that come to mind on the speaker’s WOK combination. ‘Then the cards are shuttled back into the others and play moves on to the left. Who wins? Everyone! ‘educational contexts in different places around the world. (Indeed, a consideration of the impact of context on how we develop and use our ways cof knowing often confronts us with a significant ongoing question of research and theory: To what extent ate We as human beings affected by nature/heredity, and to what extent by nurture/ environment?)Before moving on, read the “Voices” contribution here from Sylla Cousineau, a multi-lingual 1B Diploma history teacher, speaking of first learning Japanese as a young man. in it, he is sharing his personal experience of entering a language and a culture, But when you've read what he says of the experience, consider the following questions: 4 was a grown individual, aged 24, when | earned Tapanese, but even acquiring the language at that point of relative maturity, a6 an outsider, {oud tat it did over time end up mediating my ‘inking, Pechaps i has rot changed the fiters ‘rough which | see reality, butt has modified them, In Tapan traditionally one was never determined by the self a8 an individual, but always as a member of a group, and #he language has been shaped by ‘hat. In learning Sapanese, (had to come to a nem Understanding of myself, and of hierarchy and group, and the language forced me to internalize ‘his new understanding, partly intellectually, partly organically. Tapanece is constructed in a way that offen makes it difficult to know what might be expressed until the very end of the sentence. This structural aspect as well as the fact that it is a supremely situational language has made me,a much better listener than | used to be, more attuned to. winat others might mean, and \ess prompt to préject ‘my understanding onto their expressed mearing Sylla Cousinea ‘had previously assumed that sincerity was something that one saw on someone's face, that ‘ruth could and should be read into someone's Sila Cqusineay, 8 Diam teacher f History, is curently atthe LiPo Chun Unies Word Colege in Hong Kong Ela ae *» What ways of knowing does he seem to be using as he leams the language in Japan? What more is necessary for speaking the language than simply knowing how to position and utter the words? From your own experience learning languages that are not your mother tongue. what ways of knowing have you found interacting when you are speaking it within a living context? f{26. Not anymore. In Tapan, the prescribed body language is such that insistent personal expression: makes one fee! quirky. It is rough, confrontational, ln Tapanese society, truer feelings are not displayed - but intimated; itis traditionally not a culture of representation of the self but of representation by consent, In Tapan, one generally deals with people completely in their eocial roles, where everything is codified, and smooth, with the support of the expecied: one always knows what to do or to say. For these reasons, the Tapanese have often been thought of in the West a6 hypocritical, but in a certain way, they are less so than people in the ‘weet, because no one is fooling anyone else. | find this more honest, The mask isa lie—but it a socially true lie, inthe west we also wear masks, but we pretend it is our real self. tn fact, we have a “representational neurosis” —enhanced by television, movies and other media wito their emphasis on faces—uhereby people are acting their own lives “Lfeel joy. | feel anger. Can't you see it on my face?” This being said, with the advert of mobile ohones first and smart phones later, there has been a sea change in attitudes in Tapan over the last few years. Tapanese cocieny has become more atomized and ‘he old codes are bring eroded by the prevalence of mobile electronic communication (especially texting) ‘hat have led to a breakdown of conventions and have forced their users into linguistic iioeyneracy Sylla Cousineaut* What background knowledge does Sylla Cousineau bring to the experience of language learning, and what does he take out of it? From your own experience, what areas of knowledge contribute to your gaining the most from your experience? Is an understanding of sociology, politics, psychology, history, or any other area valuable? 3. AOK give us knowledge of WOK We have learned a great deal about how our ways of knowing work through studies within our AOK, many of which actively investigate them. You may Senses and Anthropological Sensibilities by Thomas Hylland Eriksen } how does the use of the senses differ cross- £ culturally, how can smell, touch and sound | be explored ethnographically, and what } methodological problems arise from the variations? A certain visual bias is evident in many — } probably most— ethnographic writings. Descriptions of field settings usually concentrate on spatial organisation, buildings, plants and generally what meets the eye. Sounds, tastes and smeils tend to be conspicuously absent, as noted by Mary Louise Pratt (1986). Constance Classen (1995) remarks that the Ongee of the Andaman £ Islands live in a world ordered by smell, and links the “olfactory decline of the West” with {the growth of scientific rationalism. Whereas a rose was associated with smell in antiquity and in medieval times, by the eighteenth century its main purpose had become “to divert the eye and thereby divert the mind” (Classen 1993, p. 27). Paul Stoller has argued along similar lines (1989), indicating that the senses have + been subject to a lot of scattered-attention, but little systematic treatment, in anthropology. Stoller’s work on the senses in society and culture range from embodied memories to the classification of smell, while David Howes (2003, 2004) is concerned equally with cross-cultural rkson, TH. 2010, Smal ares L New Yre Ptr Press, Pp ues An Inaduction to Socal and uh have noticed in the recent chapters how often we have brought in recent research. Even the basic undersianding of our key concepts that weave through our discussion of the WOK relies on what others have learned before us. If you glance back, you'll recognize that the treatment of perspectives in chapter I. for instance, owes ‘much to the fields of cultural studies and political science, and that the treatment of truth in chapter 3 owes much to philosophy. Most of the fallacies of argument that we have presented in the “Thinking Critically” interchapters also have a long history, and comparisons and the cultural specificity of the senses as social and cultural phenomena in particular societies. In the pioneering monograph Sound and Sentiment, Steven Feld (1982) describes a people in New Guinea, the Kaluli, for whom sound and music are central cosmological categories. The Kaluli classify birds not only according to their appearance, but also according to their song. Indeed, Feld shows how sounds function as a symbolic system of meaning in Kaluli society. Song and music, thus, are considered highly important among the Kaluli Speaking more generally, Walter Ong (1969; see also Stoller 1997) argues that oral societies, unlike literate ones, tend not to “picture” the world and thus do not, in a strict sense, have a “world-view”, but rather “cast up actuality in comprehensive auditory terms, such as voice and harmony”. Classen, comparing three oral societies, the Tzotzil of Mexico, the Ongee of the Andaman Island and the Desana of Colombia, finds that they all have distinct ways of making sense of the world: “the Tzotzil order the cosmos by heat, the Ongee by smell, and the Desana by colour’ (Classen 1993, p. 122). In other words, the visual/aural dichotomy is too simple, but at least it points out the importance of studying the social use of the senses ~ and of reflecting critically on ethnography’s over-reliance on sight and visual metaphors (Salmond 1982).? | ral nthropolegy, 3rd edn, London andversions of most of them also besr, in other contexts, Latin names two millennia old. As we develop personal knowiedge of concepts central to TOK, we are drawing on the shared knowledge trom times past. Our contemporary understanding of how we know has been influenced considerably by research in the cognitive sciences — an interdisciplinary study of how the mind works, We have encountered the cognitive sciences again and again, for instance in the debates on how language is learned (chapter 8), or in current ideas of the dual-system cognition of intuition and reason (particularly chapters 7 and 12), or in the heuristics and cognitive biases that affect how we reach conclusions through ways such as sense perception and memory. Included within the cognitive sciences are neuroscience (biology, chemistry, and others), psychology, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, and artifical intelligence, They share knowledge on the very process of thinking and knowing. Clearly, our AOK give us greater understanding of our WOK, Before moving on, we suggest that you pause to read one example of AOK doing so, in the extract presented here entitled “Senses and anthropological sensibilities”. When you have read it. consider the questions below: © What do we learn about cultural influences on human use of sense perception from studies mentioned in Eriksen’s summary ~ even though he makes no generalizations universally applicable to all societies? Did you notice Eriksen’s extensive use of other anthropologists as he surveys the literature? ‘To what extent does his point in this short piece depend on anthropology being not personal knowledge but knowledge shared through publication? Eriksen expresses concem about what he sees as a bias in “ethnographies” — that is, the records that anthropologists write of cultures. Why is the method of study - the methavology of a discipline ~ important in making and recording observations? What is the role in any AOK of critical reflection on shortcomings in methodology? 2kef 6.1987, Women, Fe ond Dangerous Tings. Chicage Uiversty of 4. WOK build AOK: classification and concepts The relationship between WOK and AOK goes much further, though. We construct our areas of knowledge using our ways of knowing. Our observations of the world, our emotions, our Intuitions and reasoning, our faith, memories, imaginations, and our languages all provide the ways through which we gain knowledge. The areas of knowledge accepted in academic contexts are specializations of our everyday knowledge, using WOK as they take certain subject matter within their scope and develop appropriate methods of study. One of the most important elements of knowledge, everyday or academic, is the way we dlassify our world and our thoughts. We generalize and name, and in the process lay down the paths that much of the rest of our knowledge will follow. This idea is already familiar to you — perhaps notably from the chapters on reason (generalization), language (naming), and emotion and faith (importance of defining concepts). As we will increasingly see throughout Part 3, how we classify our ideas in language -- that is, how we establish our concepts ~ has a major impact on how we build our different areas of knowledge Categorization is nota matter to be taken lightly, There is nothing more basic than categorization to our ‘thought, perception, action and speech, Every ime ‘we see something 2s 2 kind of thing for example, a ‘tee, we are categorizing Whenever we reason about kinds of things — chairs, nations, illnesses, emations, any kind ofthing atall we are emplouing categories. And any time we either produce or understand any utterance ofa reasonable length, we are employing | dozens if not hundreds of categories: categories of ‘speech sounds, of words, of phrases and clauses, as well as conceptual categories. Without the ability to categorize, we could not function atall,etherin the Physical world orin our social and intellectual ives. An understanding of how we categorize is central to an understanding of what makes us human.” George LakoffClassification game A In advance, designate one person to collect 12. objects with as much diversity as possible. These should be placed om a surface so that everyone ‘an see them, Get into groups of 3 people- Each group’s mission is to classify those 12 ‘objects into categories. Theseare the rules: Rule 1: Create three or four categories that will accommodate all the objects. Describe each category with the label “Things that are [._.]". Rule 2: Each category must have two or more ‘objects (no orphans orempty categories!) Rule 3: Fach object must bene toone, and Only one category, Rule 4 Be as creative as you ean. Goins are encouraged to handle the objects order to get creativity flowing. ‘When ready probably. 15-20 minutes of discussion}, each group should describe their What difficulties did you encounterin reatitig your categories? If rule 3 was.the most difficult. why do you think that would that be? Is this rule necessary for a useful classification scheme? As you put objects and people into categories in everyday life, : ‘you often find that they do not ft neatly into categories? How might you be classified by your school’s. database, your doctor's office, your county's military, or manufacturers of products such as. ‘Jeans of mobile phones — just as examples? In each of these categories, does tule 3 apply? a tree from a bush, Some major undertakings in knowledge have tried to classify our world following the inclusive rule 1 and the exclusive rule 3 of our game. Take, for example, Carl Linnaeus in the 1730s, starting to develop his impressive Species Plantartim and Systema Naturae (kingdom/phylum/class/order‘family/genus? species). He aimed to classify all the elements of the natural world. But what should his criterion of classification be? Weight, colour, density, texture, shape, symmetry, or even smell - any of these could have qualified as important distinguishing features of the vast array of elements he meant to classify. Over a period of 35 years, Linnaeus continually revised his system, including new plant and animal species. He had a significant insight about what features were important when, in the 10th edition, he decided to classify whales as ‘mammals instead of as fish.ee ee ie Implications of classifications ‘trivial. others carry significant implications for understanding and action. Consider the : ee class. What are the ‘ow + What is meant b ee See =the implications for His Species Plantarum (1753) listed approximately 8,000 plant species from around the world, while his Systema Naturae (12th ed., 1758) includes some 4,378 animal species.” Significant to the classification that Linnaeus constructed is how he used the ways of knowing. We can conjecture that he used imagination ~ how could he not have done so? It's likely that intuition took him to some of his categories, and that emotion, memory, and faith were all involved in the process. Yet, as we regard his classification scheme, the backstory disappears. In his scientific results, what we recognize are sense perception (observation), reason, and (in sophisticated binomial nomenclature) language Significant, too, is the way that Linnaeus’ classification scheme was open to change. Not only did he revise it himself as he worked, but others since him have modified the classification What are the roles played in classification by hasty generalization and confirmation bas? What are the differences between a generalization, a stereotype, and a caricature? How does each influence how we think? 3 crisis by this word place any: es as they did further investigation. Does a virus, for instance, belong in a category of living things? Tt was demoted in 1935 to a “package of complex biochemicals” « When their subject matter seems to have fewer observable regularities than the natural world, areas of knowledge construct classifications that may not be able to follow inclusive rule 1 of the game (accommodate all in a category) or exclusive rule 3 (place in only one category). Complex ‘material often eludes precise categorization in the human sciences and history as they deal with human thought and behaviour (present or pasty, the arts as they deal with produats of creativity, and ethics as it deals with morality. The human sciences and history, moreover, study the way that human beings construct their categories. These areas of knowledge often deal with our “social constructs” ~ that is, the Classifications that we do not observe in the world but instead invent socially or culturally. We don’t Usually give such categories much thought if we fit the systems, and they benefit us. But, have you ever had to fill out a form, only to find that you didn’t fit its categories in a way that enabled you to answer the questions? Do names always have one “surname” and more than one “given name"? Are the given names (sometimes called “first names") customarily placed first in use? We have untinstite. Order fem Choos: Linnaeus Dsposes, The serch fora netural classification scheme. hip: Mhuntbot andrew cmu.edu/HIBD/ Echibitions/Orefremthsos/pges/02Linnae Villares, LP Deceiober 2004," uses Alva? Scientific American p./nwusclemifesmerican.comiarici.tm?id-areinuses-lve- 2004PART 2 ‘multitudes of cultural systems and conventions of classification like this one ~ along with scores of ways of-categorizing people (e.g.class or caste, gender roles) and measuring the world (e.g. distance, size, direction). To the question “Is this classification accurate?” that we applied to observations of the natural world, then, we have to add, “Who developed this classification?” and “For what purpose and for whose benefit?” After all, Gur categories carry implications for how we think and possibly how we act in the world, Classifications of gender and race are particularly socially potent. since the way they are imposed and interpreted involves social power. What we claim that we know about categories of people affects their destinies. Scientific study of race, for instance, tells us that it has no biological reality, and that racist categorization has fixed on certain human variables among many and attached to them value judgments and emotions? And yet ~ this social construction of meaning and value has significantly affected the history of the world This kind of classification often resists change, as it is entrenched in the prejudices of society. As social analysts Ella Shohat and Robert Stam remark, “Racism often travels in gangs, accompanied by its buddies sexism, classism, and homophobia Systems of social stratification thus get superimposed on one another...”* In dassification, clearly, we are dealing not just with objects but ‘with concepts, As we build our knowledge, we need to examine closely the concepts we use, for what ‘we assume or accept along with them. In treating areas of knowledge ahead, we will have reason to give attention to the categories they use for analysis, and the kinds of language they employ. We leave this topic with a final question of how ‘we categorize our concepts. through using other concepts: “Is the definition clear?” As anyone following debates over *multi-culsuralism” will be keenly awate, little knowledge is exchanged when the participants in discussion are talking about entirely different things!” As we will see regarding AOK, how we classify our ideas in language - that is, how we name and define our * Shohat,Eand Stam, 1986 Unthinking Euracentrism, Lond concepts - has a significant impact on the way we investigate and exchange ideas. Indeed, as we turn to the knowledge framework that will structure our discussions, you will find /anguage and con a major conceptual category itself pts to be 5. WOK build ADK: methodology Clearly, our ways of knowing interact to give us much of our everyday knowledge as we classif and give us much of our academic knowledge as ‘we develop conscious classifications systems or study socially constructed ones in the different areas of knowledge. As we grow aware of how those categories affect us, and try not to be drawn. into errors or pre-judgments, we are exercising our capacity to think critically, We are taking a giant, step down the road toward conscious and careful methods of study. How we use our ways of knowing in the different areas of knowledge is dependent upon their subject matter and their goals. What are these areas all about, and what do they want to do? The arts will not use the same balance or blend of WOK as the natural sciences, nor will either of them usc WOK in the same manner as in religious knowledge. These AOK talk about different things, for different purposes, and therefore employ their WOK differently in their methods. Our AOK may lie along a spectrum in their goals, from subjectivity to objectivity (Overview pl08} As you will see increasingly through Part 3 of this book, such a spectrum allows only fuzzy categorization; all areas involve subjectivity, so differences are a matter of its role and degree. Moreover, the WOK used in the creation of knowledge are not necessarily the same ones as are evident in its communication (as we noted with Linnaeus) or its evaluation. Yet, despite the fuzziness and patchiness of this spectrum, we can see its usefulness in drawing distinctions between the goals and methods of different AOK. The works of art that we celebrate across our histories do tend to stir our sense perceptions, emotions, and imaginations, as well as ideas in our minds, They lie towards the subjective end of our spectrum. And the works of science “interview wth Jonathan Mats”, Race, the Pawer ofan lusion, PRS. p/w pbs.ogaes/000 Abow002 04-beehground-OL OB.hmm New York, Roulcge. P22. * Ings, C1995 "Muticutualsm: New Paley Responses to Diversity Management f Socal onsfemmatians [MOST Ailable online at hp/in.unesca.crgmesvped.Ntnsclanticstan SEO, Picy Paper Ne.EE Sunlight on the Garden: language in sciences and poetry ‘The Sunlight on the Garden The sunlight on the garden Hardens and grows cold, ‘We cannot cage the minute’ ‘Within its nets of gold, When all is told ur freedom as Iee lances ae Gee Beet oro But glad to have sat under ‘Thunder and rain with you, ‘And gratefultoo For sunlight on the garden. ‘Louis MacNetce y 5 Language in the sciences © Physics students, what is light? How would. you describe it in physics? * Chemistry students, how would you describe gold? What is it on the periodic table? * Biology and environmental systems students, what is a yarden— or an ecosystem? What is the reaction of plants to light in the process of photosynthesis? Can you give a formula? Why is it important to dassify our concepts using language. and to share a common definition in naming? What is the artitude in the sciences towards ambiguity in definitions? Knowledge questi the Kind of language it uses and the fow do the subject matter and goals of an area of knowledge affect not able to make his point Is vour interpretation of the tell vou it was written in 193 foresaw war in Europe? Did: the “Iron sirens” are aie raid 4 poem. like a song. cam gather per associations which add to its personally. Does it surprise you that Diploma Programme students have w songs with this poem as the #e ways in Which it draws on subjectivity and objectivity? Zsa es 215.ie Discussion Activity Interpret the picture ‘What is going on in this picture? On what do you base your interpretation? First write down what you think, and then compare Your impressions with Hose of classmates. Relresh your memory on how you and your classmates interpreted the picture at the beginning of the chapter. As the visual perspective on the three people shifts, do ‘you gaint any new information relevant 1: an interpretation? What is the role of intuition in this activity? ‘What isthe tole of other ways of knowing? ‘What does the activity of interpreting both pictures suggest metaphorically about perspectives in the context of TOK? What do variable interpretations sugzest about the role and value of methodologies of observation in the human sciefces? that we value ~ and have not discarded so far in the development of the discipline ~ are ones that demonstrate close observation and reasoning, shared in a particular kind of language. They lie towards the objective end of our spectrum. Take a moment here to discuss “Sunlight on the Garden” and to consider how. the subject matter and goals of an AOK affect the language it uses and the ways in which it draws on subjectivity and objectivity Clearly, our AOK are characterized by features of their own: they consider different subject matter and do not always take the same goals. They use their ways of knowing in dissimilar balances, as a result, drawing variably on subjectivity and objectivity. After all, how we study depends on what we study: AOK have to construct appropriate methods of gaining knowledge. As they develop as disciplines, they are typified, to a great extent, by their methodologies, We will return to this point more fully in the kriowledge framewo chapter, in the next 8. WOK and AOK interact within — a context, within a perspective ‘As we tecognize how ways of knowing actually ‘create our areas of knowledge. the relationship between WOK and AOK becomes downright intimate! How can we even separate them? Indeed, placing WOK and AOK into categories ~ deciding what the categories will be, and how many is simply another kind of classification. It is one that we have constructed, and one that could be done otherwise. WOK and AOK don't exist as physical entities in reality; they are concepts. Indeed, ‘ways of knowing” and “areas of knowledge” gain their meaning as concepts only within a particular approach to discussing knowledge, and within TOK what is included within WOK and AOK has changed with shifts in the course. Our classification of WOK and AOK is a tool for thought, nothing more, But, significantly, it is noting les. Conceptual tools help us to share our thoughts and to build and reflect upon knowledge together. And who uses these tools? In talking of “ways of knowing” and “areas of knowledge”, we are abstracting them artificially [rom the people who create and exchange knowledge in all the living contexts of this world, Let us, as we conclude this section of our exploration of knowledge, step back into the social world. We will end with the comments of journalist Manini Chatterjee as she both uses ways of knowing and observes others also doing so, within a cultural context with which she is deeply familiar, Read “Journalism in cultural context” and consider how the WOK and the AOK, of our TOK classifications interact in knowledgeae Interview Journalism in cultural context Manini Chatterjee, IB Diploma graduate 1981. Mantinti Chatterjee is a writer and journalist based in New Delhi. She is author of Do and Die, The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 (Penguin Inala 1999; Picador 2010). She is currenily Editor, National Affairs, of The Telegraph, a newspaper published from > As journalist, you work with language as a way of gaining and communicating knowledge, But to what extent do you have to be aware of other “ways of knowing" in order to work effectively with language? Asa journalist, I use words to tell a story. But that is only the last link in the chain, so to speak. In order to tell a story, one has to first understand its various dimensions, many of which fall outside the domain of language, strictly speaking. Most good stories are about ordinary people — What they think and feel, what moves them. to anger or despair, to hope or joy. And these emotions are not always conveyed in clear- cut sentences. Often, the tone of what is said is important; the pauses and silences and sighs convey volumes; and the use of idiom draws on lived experience, inherited memories, historical tradition and folklore In India, particularly, where we have a muhiplicity of languages, culty nd histories, a journalist Puan, has to be acutely aware of “context” that goes beyond the verbal in order to understand a situation and then convey it through words. T write in English, but the people I speak to seldom know the language. So we are translating fcom spoken Hindi (or Bengali or any of the many “vernacular” languages) in our reports. Buta literal translation does not always work. Moreover, in India, where literacy levels are still very low, people often refer to myth and legend, to characters and situations in our two great mythological epics - the Ramayana and Mahabharata — to convey something seemingly quotidian but actually quite profound, What [am saying is that we often use language without being aware of how embedded it is in so many different ways of knowing and communicating. This is much more explicit in non-western cultures where the oral tradition — or the non-literal tradition to be precise ~ til recently, was the principal mode of transmission of knowledge from one generation to another. Under the Indian caste system, only the upper castes were allowed to read and write and regarded themselves as the sole custodian of “knowledge and culture” But though the rest of the population may have been illiterate, they were not devoid of knowledge Weavers and potters, wandering bards and folk singers, actors and artists were also both gatherers and disseminatots of knowledge, using their mediums to tell stories from the past and about the present. Asa journalist, [ am —as indeed we all are - aware of how words are only one way of giving expression to the world around us and how inadequate they can be. It is a constant struggle lo convey the myriad shades of experience and meaning and knowledge through the written word ‘> Whatkinds of background knowledge do you find important for interpreting what you observe as a journalist? Let me give you one example of the need for background knowledge. I have done all kinds of writing and reportage as a newspaper journalist but Tam essentially a political journalist and have covered Indian polities for decades now. But more than meeting the country’s top politicians and reporting on Parliament proceedings, what I enjoy most is field reporting during elections ~ that is, Geestravelling to remote villages in India at election time to talk to the ordinary voter to find out which ‘way the political wind is blowing. Tos In the state of Bihar, one of India’s biggest and most backward provinces, the local ruling party headed by a charismatic leader had been ruling for 15 years. His primary political base was among a caste called the Yadavs. Members of this caste traditionally rear cows, buffaloes and sundry cattle. The election symbol of this ruling party was a lantem, (In rural India, where many villages still don’t have electricity, kerosene oil lanterns are used extensively as the only source of light after sunset.) When I was covering the elections in this state in 2005, I came across a man sitting atop a buffalo, and he confirmed that he belonged to the Yadav caste. Iasked him whether the lantern was shining brightly this time. His cryptic reply was: “When kerosene is selling at more than Rs 30 a litre, how do you expect me to light a lantern?” On the face of it, it was a simple reply to a simple question. But it was redolent with political meaning because the lantern denoted both a political party and the state of the people’s wellbeing. Since my interlocutor belonged to the caste that usually voted for the local party, his answer indicated that the party was in bad trouble this time. When the results came out, I was proved right. The party lost the election, An outsider, who did not know the layers of meaning behind a simple set of words, would not hhave caught the nuances of what was said or what was actually happening on the ground. Questions for discussion: “Journalism in cultural context” ® In this interview, Manini Chatterjee speaks of gaining and communicating knowledge. What ‘ways of knowing, other than language, does she | comment on using? Would you add any others that she seems to use but does not mention? * What background knowledge is evident in. Ms Chatterjee’s responses to the interview questions? Which of the following might be | relevant to her observations and interpretation, even in her brief comments: knowledge of folklore, culture, languages, the arts, psychology, sociology, politics, and history? WOK, AOK, and TOK As we look out across the landscape of knowledge for the last time in this part of the book, we offer you these final questions. In the chapters ahead we will be using extensively the concepts that we have established in our model: © What are the advantages to discussion of knowledge gained by identifying and using ight “ways of knowing” and eight “areas of knowledge”? © What are the advantages to discussion of, knowledge gained by recognizing that our WOK and AOK are simplified models?