I've noticed a new fad on youtube recently. A number of people have taken photographs of themselves or other people in the same position every day over a number of years and posted them as time-lapse movies. It does give a very different perception of the passage of time:
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Does our perception depend on our expectations?
I copied this article from the website jeffbridges.com. Its a good example of how we seem to be pre-programmed in terms of how we respond to certain things based on our expectations (and prejudices?).
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After three minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A three-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly..
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. A few people had stopped to listen and one woman thanked him and may in fact have recognised him. The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before this, he sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised:
*In a common place/environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.
How many other things are we missing?
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After three minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A three-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly..
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. A few people had stopped to listen and one woman thanked him and may in fact have recognised him. The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before this, he sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised:
*In a common place/environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.
How many other things are we missing?
Friday, May 20, 2011
The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins is a former Oxford professor of the public understanding of science and author of the 2006 best-selling book 'The God Delusion'. In it he contends that a belief in the existence of God is contrary to all evidence and is therefore a fallacy, and argues that religion is the root of many evils. He has been described as a 'fundamentalist atheist'.
The book has divided opinion. In Turkey for example Dawkins' website was banned. A number of books have been published in defense of religion, rebutting his arguments. If you trawl through the internet its also obvious that he has developed a cult following, but has also to some extent become demonised. Over the last few years he has started to travel, debatating the issues on global television. He has appeared on televised debates in Mexico and the US, and even dropped in to the Bill O'Reilly Show on Fox News.
In 2007 he produced a two part documentary series on British television (Channel 4). I've copied youtube links for the first episode below if you are interested in seeing it. Remember that it's his personal opinion. It's interesting to analyse his language when he talks respectively about science and religion, and he does tend to come across as occasionally arrogant and condescending, depending on your point of view:
The book has divided opinion. In Turkey for example Dawkins' website was banned. A number of books have been published in defense of religion, rebutting his arguments. If you trawl through the internet its also obvious that he has developed a cult following, but has also to some extent become demonised. Over the last few years he has started to travel, debatating the issues on global television. He has appeared on televised debates in Mexico and the US, and even dropped in to the Bill O'Reilly Show on Fox News.
In 2007 he produced a two part documentary series on British television (Channel 4). I've copied youtube links for the first episode below if you are interested in seeing it. Remember that it's his personal opinion. It's interesting to analyse his language when he talks respectively about science and religion, and he does tend to come across as occasionally arrogant and condescending, depending on your point of view:
Monday, April 11, 2011
Arguments in favour of the existence of God
William Lane Craig (born August 23, 1949) is an American evangelical Christian theologian and philosopher. He is currently a research professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola, a private Christian university in southern California. He is a good speaker and is well known for appearing in debates championing the existence of God. In this youtube clip he sets out his arguments. Some of them could be taken straight out of a TOK textbook while I feel that others are rather circular arguments and have premises based in his own faith. I do, however, think this clip makes a nice starting point for a discussion on this topic, whatever your own position is:
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Prescribed Essay Titles 2011-2012
Here are the TOK essay titles as published on the IB website. Your essay will be marked according to the assessment criteria. Remember to centre your essay on knowledge issues and, where appropriate, refer to other parts of your IB programme and to your experiences as a knower. Always justify your statements and provide relevant examples to illustrate your arguments. Pay attention to the implications of your arguments, and remember to consider what can be said against them. Include a word count and your list of references using the Harvard System.
Please see my other posts under "writing an essay" for help and advice. Examiners mark essays against the title as set, using the TOK essay criteria. Please make sure you are familiar with the criteria before starting your essay. Respond to the title exactly as given; do not alter it in any way. Your essay must be between 1200 and 1600 words in length. Remember also that your TOK presentation and essay must be submitted in the same language.
1. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this statement in two areas of knowledge.
2. Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one more area of knowledge.
3. Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
4. When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
5. What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
6. ‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known rather than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would agree with this claim?
7. ‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with references to different areas of knowledge.
8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the TOK diagram.
9. As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
10. ‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as-well supported as those provided in mathematics’. To what extent would you agree?
And the same titles in Spanish:
1. La interacción entre el pensamiento crítico y el creativo genera conociemiento. Evalúe esta afirmación en relación con dos áreas de conocimiento.
2. Compare y contraste el conocimiento que se puede expresar con palabras y con símbolos y el conocimiento que no se puede expresar de estas formas. Considere CAS y una o varias áreas de conocimiento.
3. Examine la afirmación de que es posible adquirir conocimiento a pesar de los problemas de parcialidad y selección en historia y al menos otra área de conocimiento.
4. ¿Cuándo deberíamos descartar explicaciones que son intuitivamente interesantes?
5. ¿Qué es lo que hace que las teorías en las ciencias humanas y las ciencias naturales sean convincentes?
6. 'Es más importante descubrir nuevas formas de pensar sobre lo que ya sabemos que descrubrir nuevos datos o hechos'. ¿En qué medida está de acuerdo con esta afirmación?
7. 'Nuestro vocabulario no solo comunica nuestro conocimiento: da forma a lo que podemos saber'. Evalúe esta afirmación con referencia a diferentes áreas de conocimiento.
8. Analice las fortalezas y limitaciones de utilizar la fe como fundamento para el conocimiento en religión y en un área de conocimiento del diagrama de TdC.
9. Como alumno del IB, ¿cómo ha contribuido su aprendizaje de literatura y ciencias a su comprensión de los individuos y las sociedades?
10. 'Mediante diferentes métodos de justificación, en la ética podemos llegar a conclusiones tan bien fundametades como en las matemáticas'. ¿En qué medida está de acuerdo con esta afirmación?
Please see my other posts under "writing an essay" for help and advice. Examiners mark essays against the title as set, using the TOK essay criteria. Please make sure you are familiar with the criteria before starting your essay. Respond to the title exactly as given; do not alter it in any way. Your essay must be between 1200 and 1600 words in length. Remember also that your TOK presentation and essay must be submitted in the same language.
1. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this statement in two areas of knowledge.
2. Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one more area of knowledge.
3. Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
4. When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
5. What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
6. ‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known rather than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would agree with this claim?
7. ‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with references to different areas of knowledge.
8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the TOK diagram.
9. As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
10. ‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as-well supported as those provided in mathematics’. To what extent would you agree?
And the same titles in Spanish:
1. La interacción entre el pensamiento crítico y el creativo genera conociemiento. Evalúe esta afirmación en relación con dos áreas de conocimiento.
2. Compare y contraste el conocimiento que se puede expresar con palabras y con símbolos y el conocimiento que no se puede expresar de estas formas. Considere CAS y una o varias áreas de conocimiento.
3. Examine la afirmación de que es posible adquirir conocimiento a pesar de los problemas de parcialidad y selección en historia y al menos otra área de conocimiento.
4. ¿Cuándo deberíamos descartar explicaciones que son intuitivamente interesantes?
5. ¿Qué es lo que hace que las teorías en las ciencias humanas y las ciencias naturales sean convincentes?
6. 'Es más importante descubrir nuevas formas de pensar sobre lo que ya sabemos que descrubrir nuevos datos o hechos'. ¿En qué medida está de acuerdo con esta afirmación?
7. 'Nuestro vocabulario no solo comunica nuestro conocimiento: da forma a lo que podemos saber'. Evalúe esta afirmación con referencia a diferentes áreas de conocimiento.
8. Analice las fortalezas y limitaciones de utilizar la fe como fundamento para el conocimiento en religión y en un área de conocimiento del diagrama de TdC.
9. Como alumno del IB, ¿cómo ha contribuido su aprendizaje de literatura y ciencias a su comprensión de los individuos y las sociedades?
10. 'Mediante diferentes métodos de justificación, en la ética podemos llegar a conclusiones tan bien fundametades como en las matemáticas'. ¿En qué medida está de acuerdo con esta afirmación?
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The King's Speech
I recently watched this film, and I thought it deserved all the plaudits and its success at the Oscars (the most boring of all awards ceremonies). At its heart I think it's a commentary about the power and importance of language. This becomes particularly obvious when Bertie is sitting watching a film of Hitler speaking and mesmerizing his audience.
The monarch's job then, as now, is to be a talking head. As Bertie's father George V (Michael Gambon) shouts at one point "This family has been reduced to that basest of all creatures - we've become actors!". The film explores what it must be like to be forced to become a public speaker and effectively be unable to speak.
I also came across a radio interview in which Colin Firth discusses the film and the real George VI. He is incidentally an excellent speaker, and is managing to make a career out of gracious awards acceptance speeches at the moment:
The monarch's job then, as now, is to be a talking head. As Bertie's father George V (Michael Gambon) shouts at one point "This family has been reduced to that basest of all creatures - we've become actors!". The film explores what it must be like to be forced to become a public speaker and effectively be unable to speak.
I also came across a radio interview in which Colin Firth discusses the film and the real George VI. He is incidentally an excellent speaker, and is managing to make a career out of gracious awards acceptance speeches at the moment:
Monday, October 25, 2010
Have we lost sight of everyday wisdom?
Barry Schwartz is an American pyschologist, author and professor of social theory and social action. In this TED Talk he makes a passionate call for practical wisdom as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy.