TOK Exhibition

11. Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?

As values and beliefs are so personal to each individual, it cannot be determined how the individual interprets this
knowledge. It depends on how strong this impact is on the already existing values and beliefs and if they can be
changed or not.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/aug/23/mona-lisa-stolen-from-louvre-archive-23-august-1911
As my first object, I have chosen the stealing of the famous painting the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, painted in
1503. It is considered by many to be the best painting in the world and it lies in the Louvre museum in Paris.
Gioconda as its other known name is a beauty by itself, and a symbol of the Italian Renaissance. Without question
the painting is very good, but how is it possible that it would acquire this much fame? Well, there is a very simple
answer to this question and it is because of the accumulation of events that it has gone through including the fact
that it was stolen.
I have chosen this object because I believe it resonates with the chosen prompt. There is no doubt that the Mona
Lisa is a masterpiece but its history is what makes her so memorable. When the painting was robbed from the
Louvre in 1911, the masterpiece started to draw a lot of attention all around the world. Circumstances like this, make
normal people that considered the painting to be an average portrait, change their perception and belief towards
such and as a result give her more importance. To understand this better I will give you an example, let’s say you
have a toy that you don’t use and never give much attention to, then 2 of your best friends say that they want that
specific toy and that they would like to use it. Suddenly there is much importance around this toy. Thus, the value
you previously attributed to the toy increased and you will use it more because your surroundings have high
importance for it. For Gioconda, it happened the same. When the whole world is talking about the theft of Leonardo
da Vinci’s masterpiece, citizens will start taking interest in the painting and hold more value for it.

This painting in the first part of the 20th century became a sort of declarative/propositional knowledge, considering
what happened to the painting. Why was it stolen? Where was it headed? The painting is linked to the AOK of
knowledge in the arts. The value the audience gives to this inanimate object is what makes it so unique, the context
of the art is what attracts the spectator, and this new knowledge can maybe change established values and beliefs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/vDn91YroQr-CC4OpxxEtDw

As my second object, I have chosen this representation of the object “salt” and its usage in ancient times and how it
affects us today. Salt has played a significant role in the history of the planet, it has integrated into many ancient
civilizations. Salt has had its importance put on by many different civilizations. It was used as part of Egyptian ritual
sacrifices and was a crucial item in commerce between the Phoenicians and their Mediterranean empire. Our daily
lives are still impacted by the history of salt. The word "salt" was the source of the term "salary” because soldiers of
the great Roman Empire were paid in blocks of salt. Salt was traditionally employed as a medium of exchange and a
form of currency because it was highly valued, this is because It helped eliminate dependence on the seasonal
availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances, also because it was difficult to obtain
making the price higher.

I have chosen this object because it represents and exemplifies the prompt chosen. Beyond the household, the
usage of salt has made itself important throughout history because of its utility. Gold has it's recognized for being the
strongest reserve of value as it was used to pay for things and it was considered to be valuable till this day. Salt on
the other hand was only useful for its usage, which is a valid reason for being so valuable, but when substitutes were
found salt took a downturn that made it lose value. The point is that people when new knowledge is found about
something, their established values and beliefs change. In this example because salt loses value people's values
and beliefs change from having a high value for salt to only being a household item. It can be said then that most
items have value because of their utility.

With this stated it can also be said that people that experienced this change have suffered experiential and
propositional knowledge. This means that they have the experience to say that the utility is what made salt valuable.
This object is linked to the AOK of history which studies human affairs in the past and how it connects to us today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man
For my third object, I have chosen a photo of a replica of the bomb “Fat Man” which was 1 of the 2 bombs that were
used to put an end to the second world war. The USA were having difficulties defeating the Japanese in the pacific
war, so they put on scientists to create a weapon that would scare enough the Japanese so that they would
surrender. They created what is called a nuclear weapon, it is an explosive device that derives its destructive force
from nuclear reactions, producing a nuclear explosion. From that, they made “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” with the
objective to drop bombs on Japanese territory in order to scare them and make them surrender. This plan worked.
Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki and Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. In the next two to four months, the
effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000 and 80,000
people in Nagasaki.

I believe that the dropping of the bombs illustrates excellently the prompt chosen. This example also answers in a
certain way the question, of the new knowledge that the bombs create I would say that for most people in that time
period their established values and beliefs about warfare changed. The whole logistics of a battle change when you
know that nuclear weapons exist. This can be shown in the cold war as there was no conflict only tension because
both sides knew that if nuclear weapons were used then the world would be destroyed. The creation of atomic
weapons is a pivotal point in human development in this world as it is the first time that mankind has created a
weapon that could destroy the whole world in hours.
In most cases, new knowledge depends on how strongly it impacts a person’s values and beliefs and it depends on
the person whether this is true or not, but in this case, I can confidently say that the creation of nuclear weapons has
changed values and beliefs in every person that knows the true power of these. This event can be linked to the AOK
of human sciences and natural sciences as it studies both human events and events that happen to the physical
world.