Kaleab Mebratu Gebreigziabher TOK Essay

How do our expectations impact our interpretations? Discuss with reference to

two areas of knowledge.

How does expectation impact our interpretation? As stated in the question, this piece

of essay is designed to tackle the impact of expectation on our interpretation. There

are three fundamental and key terms in the question and they are defined

accordingly. Expectation is a firm belief that something will occur or be the case and

interpretation is the action of elucidating the meaning of a scenario. (Google

dictionary). Impact is the outcome of an action and an impact can either be positive,

negative, or neutral. To help address this question, two AOKS, natural and social

science, will be employed. In this essay, I will showcase the negative and positive

impact of expectation on interpretation in the two AOKs and which AOK is affected

the most by it. Prior to this, there are other alternatives in place of the main terms

and some other TOK concepts which will be discussed in greater detail using real-life

situations and finish off with an all-inclusive and non-dangling conclusion.

Expectation affects our interpretation in many of the AOKs. To tackle this, I have

adopted natural sciences and social sciences as my AOK. To start with how the role

of expectation is played in the natural sciences, expectations can have either a

positive or a negative impact on the way we perceive certain things. First of all, let us

deal with how expectation negatively impacts the interpretation of the Davson-

Danielli model of the plasma membrane structure. These two scientists were the first

to propose the famous clearly outlined structure of membrane structure. Although the

major part of their discoveries appeared right there was one diminutive blemish that

led to the falsification of the theory which is the part where they affirmed that the

phospholipid bilayer was sandwiched by pairs of protein layers. This was not the

circumstance. Utilising their preceding experiences with how the electron microscope

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functions, that whenever a black line appears on the microscope it is interpreted as

protein. This expectation has resulted in a consequential misinterpretation. This

signifies that when researchers are ambivalent about something they instinctively

rely on their prior experience or inference to optimise behaviour and use this

information to guide their decision.

On the other hand, expectation is not always the determinant that can pave the way

for misinterpretation. There could be other external factors that might greatly

influence the way we believe something is right. We invent instruments that magnify

our senses. Instruments are reliable when it comes to detecting things that are

beyond our senses although sometimes we are overly reliant on observations

obtained from instruments. For example, this fault could arise not from our

preconceived assumption but a technical quandary caused by a lack of high-level

technology. In the case of Davson-Danielli model of the membrane structure even

though expectation plays an immense role it was lack of progressive technology

which prompted great misunderstanding. In actuality, this was the foremost rationale

why they turned out to be erroneous. The implication here is in natural sciences

expectation is not as an influential element as it is in social sciences to set about

discoveries but rather inconsequential systematic errors caused by equipments.

In human sciences, expectation to a large extent affects the way we interpret things.

This is because human sciences deal with how humans behave to live in a certain

society and we rely so much on our brains to make judgments and are always bound

to our perceptions. Besides, humans anticipate a whole range of things to survive

amongst themselves whether good or bad. These expectations potentially arise from

past experiences and prior beliefs. For example, let us cite the scenario of the

placebo effect. The placebo effect is defined as a phenomenon in which some

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people experience a benefit after the administration of an inactive "look-alike"

substance or treatment (Cherry, 2020). These medicines do not affect the person’s

wellbeing but patients are inclined to believe that it gets the job done because they

are equipped with that expectation that whenever they are inoculated with one they

will feel better. The implication is, we only see what we expect to see no matter the

case and we cling on our expectation to the point where we disregard anything that

refutes it.

In natural sciences, it is unusual to encounter expectations and assumptions getting

in the way of scientists. However, scientists are just like us and they possess

emotions and can sometimes be biased based on their prior beliefs and paradigms

accumulated throughout their lives. For instance, back in time of ancient Greeks,

Aristotle posited the idea of spontaneous generation. Though he was not a certified

scientist or someone who does experiments to authenticate the compatibility of his

theories, he still had a hypothesis. His hypothesis was based on manifold

observations he made regarding the issue of life arising from non-living things. His

sense-perception duped him and he did not try to verify it. From this, we learn that

even well-recognized scientists like him can be deceived by their expectations

leading to misinterpretations if a scientific approach is not obeyed. Also, this brings

up the topic of confirmation bias meaning that we detect what goes along with our

expectation and we do not pay heed to what counters them.

Furthermore, when we are incapable to supply the right evidence for our theory

people tend to neglect it and think of it as an unimportant piece of work. For

example, the transition from geocentrism to heliocentrism was a tough paradigm shift

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Kaleab Mebratu Gebreigziabher TOK Essay

as the first theory has been predominating for so long that people will not stop

believing in it. Geocentrism claims that the whole universe orbits around the earth

making earth the centre of the enormous universe. Heliocentrism states that the

universe revolves around the sun. Copernicus’s heliocentric model was taken for

granted until Galileo and Kepler rendered more tangible proof. This is because

during the shift people were religious about it meaning life is only feasible in earth so

God has made this earth habitable for living-things and also people did not

experience the earth rotation around the sun. This implies that we normally

acknowledge what supports our expectations and we do not notice what counters

them and also as a WOK when we have an unflinching faith about a particular thing

or so no matter what the evidence is we still hold on to the previous ideology.

In the modern scientific world, expectation has almost no use as scientists have

become fully aware of what it does to the way they think about their investigations.

Another way scientists can classify their biases is by being careful observant and by

deliberately suspending their expectations to see what is there and not what they

anticipate to see and this however can sometimes negatively impact the scientists'

propensity that can serve them well. For example, Louis Pasteur is the first French

scientist who did a scientific investigation to falsify spontaneous generation by

devising an experiment dubbed swan-neck experiment. Although he had his

hypothesis he was completely unbiased about it and he obtained reproducible

results. This shows that if our methodologies are free of expectations and biases, our

interpretation will not be affected by them.

It is not that common to witness the purpose of expectation in human sciences but

some human scientists sometimes are not fain to depend on their expectations to

make sense of a given scenario. The same way natural science investigations are

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carried out, the human sciences can also follow that approach. For instance, the

Hoyt model is a model proposed by the economist Homer Hoyt and it manifests the

distribution of lands in urban areas. He was thorough and scientific about his

methodologies. Thus, the point I am trying to make is that it is not always that social

scientists solely depend on their expectations but rather on a highly reliable method.

To some extent, I must say that even if these AOKs are classified as sciences, there

are a lot of disparities between them. To commence with their methodology, it is

worth noting that when it comes to method natural sciences are more rigorous and

thorough than social sciences. These characteristics make it arduous for them to

completely rely on expectations meaning they inhibit the effect of expectations since

it is one of the weaknesses they should avoid in order to become free of prejudices.

On the other hand, we cannot claim assuredly that the social sciences encourage

their researchers to depend on their expectations but if they have to, they are

permitted because it is difficult to imagine social sciences without expectations as

most of the theories postulated are assumptions. It is indispensable in a general

sense if expectations influence interpretations because expectations are the

reference point for the whole journey and it is what gives the scientist the go-ahead

to embark on a novel investigation.

To conclude, as I have aforementioned in my essay I think expectations are the

pivotal factor that affects our interpretation. This takes place in many of the AOKs.

The effect it has on interpretation can be either positive or negative. In natural

sciences, it is mostly negative impacts since it leads to the downfall of the whole

investigation and scientists avoid it. Somehow, in social sciences expectations are

beneficial to interpretation of a phenomenon. It gives scientists the ability to sense

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the world around them in their lenses and incorporate their beliefs, experiences,

assumptions, and perceptions into one productive interpretation.

Word Count 1572

Work Cited

1. “Paradigms and Perception.” 3.1.3 Paradigms & Perception,

www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/instruct/natsci/science/brill/sci122/Programs/p3/p3.h

tml.

2. Klosowski, Thorin. “How Your Expectations Mess with Your View of the

Present.” Lifehacker, 2 Dec. 2015, lifehacker.com/how-your-expectations-

mess-with-your-view-of-the-presen-1685353419.

3. “Sense Perception TOK Questions - Theory of Knowledge.” Google Sites,

sites.google.com/site/mbhstheoryofknowledge/ways_of_knowing/sense_perc

eption

4. Cherry, Kendra. “The Placebo Effect Causes, Examples, and Research.”

Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 13 Jan. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-

the-placebo-effect-2795466.