Every diamond has the ability to shine when there is someone to recognize its good facets and inhibit its flaws.
Flaws are a necessity; without them we would not be who we are today, so appreciate them.
Prescribe Essay Titles
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
-Albert Einstein
I completely and undeniably agree with this statement/quote. I feel as if this quote really expresses who I am as a person overall. I like to be creative and be imaginative ever since I was little and I still am. I feel as if imagination gives you a leeway to think of anything you could think of whereas knowledge limits you to the facts and reality. Imagination has no boundaries and it helps to reflect who you are. It helps the mind relax and escape from reality which is good considering that you can go and think of anything that makes you happy. Imagination is important to all ages, not just the young. Normally when we hear the word ‘imagination’ we think that that’s what children do and like to do; however, it should and could be in adults as well. Who is to say you’re too young to imagine? The best ideas in life come from imagining and letting your mind wonder. Imagination is based on knowledge to some extent. It is calming and soothing and lets the mind be satisfied.“Variety is the spice of life,” so why just stick with knowledge, when you can imagine greater things.
The quote really interests me and I cannot find a better way to put it. To me it is all true and I love it because it expresses who I am. I love the thought of having a wild mind and just letting it wonder instead to being held back by knowledge. Knowledge is limited and is to some extent. Imagination is limitless and lets the mind sail free. It gives me a lot of ideas of why imagination is so great. I feel as if I can connect with this quote and I cannot see anyone disagreeing with it. I feel that Albert Einstein has an interesting point being the great man he is. We are all destined for greatness but we must let down the barriers that prevent us from getting there such as knowledge. For instance, if you want to become the President of the United States then go for it. Do what makes you happy and do let knowledge get in the way of that. Imagination is good for everyone and you never know where it may lead you to.
Thought Log #4 [Reason]
Can reason minimize mistakes?
I believe that you can use reason to minimize mistakes. You can use reason for just about anything. We use it when arguing and trying to prove a point. Or use it to defend ourselves. For instance, in court, people use reason to justify that they are right and the other person is wrong. The judge and juries use reason and logic to figure out the right from wrong. We use reason to make a fair decision. However, we use reason in the wrong way and it may or may not backfire on us. Reason is the way we perceive something to be. If we use reason to make a choice…it may not be the same as other people in the same situation. Reason is different for all of us. Reason and logic go hand and hand, and because of this, every individual’s reason and logic are different. We can merely agree or disagree with someone else’s reason and logic and propose our reason.
When would you use reason, logic and facts to minimize mistakes and when would you not?
I would use reason, logic, and facts to minimize mistakes when I get in trouble for doing something I was not suppose to which is related to defending ourselves. When I get in trouble by my parents, I explain my side of the story and have it to make sense so that they will believe and my mistake will seem more reasonable. I get them to see from my perspective and have them agree with me; this can minimize my mistake. However, I would not use it if I know I am totally wrong and I would not try to be sneaky and talk my way out. If I know for 100% that I am wrong, I will own up to that mistake and accept my punishment. But if I have a reason for making that mistake, I will justify it and put in facts to support my reason.
Reason can bring certainty, but what are the costs and trade-offs for trying to know knowledge claims in this way?
Indeed, reason can bring certainty. The cost and trade-offs is that you have to make a good and solid statement and other information that will support it. If you do not have these parts then your reason will not make sense to other people, therefore they will not buy it. For instance, if I get in trouble for coming home late, my reason would be that there was an accident which caused traffic; therefore I got home late. I would not say I came home late because it was hot outside. The weather being hot does not support my argument; therefore it is not solid or valid.
Again, reason has to do with perception. Your reason may not necessarily agree with someone else’s reason. “Knowledge is power,” we just have to use it wisely. If we use it in an incorrect way, then it makes it seem as if we do not have knowledge and we are just merely saying the first thing in our heads with no filters whatsoever. Giving a reason, we must support it and add things to it to make it stronger so that people will have less to criticize about. In school, we lean to support our statement in papers and essays. This is a skill that can be useful in a lot of situations.
Thought log #3 Perceptions and Mistakes
Many mistakes occur due to our perceptions. Everyone has a unique way that they perceive the world. Many factors can hinder our decision making and influence our thoughts. Beliefs can influence our perceptions. For instance, what we believe in may impact the way we express ourselves. The environment can also affect perception and it may or may not change. Our individual experiences can also change perception. I believe that there is a linkage between focus and senses.
An example of how perceptions can help or hinder mistakes from being made would be giving advice. When you give an advice to someone in a situation that you were similarly in, then it would prevent that person from following your footsteps. This is where experience steps into play. When we experience something bad, we share our story so that others would learn from it. This can help mistakes to be made. One can learn through experience or observation. In this case, perception can help someone else not make the same mistake you have made previously. Our sense can help us and others prevent a mistake from happening. For this reason, our sense are extremely important. Not only do you learn yourself, but you teach others about it as well.
Our decision making and thoughts all come from our perceptions. It is very important to keep building on our knowledge from these perceptions. Another example is using our senses to perceive things. We use our senses in order to hinder mistakes. In addition, we could use our language and the ability to communicate to prevent mistakes from being made. For instance, if we saw a crime happening, we can report what we saw and heard to help prevent it from happening again. Another example applies in school or at your job; if something isn’t right we can report or correct it. In school, we are constantly forced to use our sense to learn in order to not make mistakes on the test.
Perception is like water; it can be destructive or obstructive. There is positive and negative things about everything. The reason why mistakes often happen is due to our perceptions; on the contrary, perceptions have help prevent many mistakes from occurring. It is human nature to use our perceptions to judge things and make choices out of it. We teach kids to use their perceptions; therefore, it is only reasonable that they grow up and make choices based on their perceptions. It may be good or bad. It depends on how it is shaped.
Anything can influence our perceptions. For instance, experiences, observations, and the environment. Mistakes can be made from false observations; for example, we see something and perceive it differently. A real life example would be seeing your significant other talking to someone of the opposite sex. immediately, we assume and imagine the worst possible thing in our mind. It is the result of us perceiving it differently. In actuality, that person may just be an old friend or even a sibling. Perceptions can lead us into getting in trouble but in other cases it helps us analyze and think.
Thought log #2 [Mistakes]
The American Life retracts Mike Daisey’s Apple Factory story and found that it was all false. Mike fabricated the event and made it seem so realistic that audiences and listeners were astounded. His story consists of workers of the factories that make Apple products being poisoned and are in awful conditions. In addition, TAL claimed that he lied about the name of his interpreter. Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz reports “I’ve interviewed these workers so I knew the story. And when I heard Daisey’s monologue on the radio, I wondered: ‘How’d they gte all the way down to Shenzhen? It seemed crazy, that somehow Daisey could’ve met a few of them during his trip.’ This proves that Daisey lied and exaggerated about the whole thing. This mistake was one that could have been prevented. However, Mike Daisey claimed that “…I had it on your show as journalism, and it’s not journalism. It’s theater.’ This means that he did that so the audience would have a good show and he would become more famous.
I think that Mike Daisey is at fault for this huge mistake. He deliberately told this lie to get more viewers, be more successful and well known. Even though he did admit the mistake he made, he then added that it was not journalism. This was an attempt to cover up this mistake and make it seem as if he was not his fault. I think that he could have prevented this and just told the truth from the start. Knowing this I begin to wonder if what anyone says is the truth. I guess there is always some truth to a lie and some lie to the truth. After this incident, I would not trust Mike Daisey’s stories since I know now that he exaggerates and twist the truth so that it sounds more interesting; and this is not what I need. I think viewers would much rather want to hear the truth than a lie even if it sounds more interesting. No matter how boring the truth may seem, I rather hear that than an embellished lie. The only thing a lie can do is entertain and that is what Mike Daisey meant when he said ‘it’s theater’. He did so for his sake and for the audiences’ sake.Mike mixed facts with fiction and fabricated everything. Another explanation is that it was TAl’s fault and Mike Daisey was not wrong.
At first I thought TAL was at fault since it could have been a misunderstanding. However, when I thought about it more and after listening to class discussions, I conclude that Mike Daisey is the ‘wrong’ one. Being an outsider however, how do I know if anything is certain or true? When you hear something, how do you know it’s true or false? Can you believe everything you listen to, see, or feel? Mistakes are often made because of our emotions. In psychology, we learn that we should not always trust what we think or remember. We learn that our brain can make false memories which can affect the way we think. So how can you prevent a mistake from happening? I think the best way to is to try our best to tell the truth; therefore we can live with no regrets. Everyone make mistakes but if we do not correct it than we are wrong. As long as we try to not make the same mistake and learn from it, I think mistakes are sometimes a good thing. We often see a mistake as a bad thing; but the way I see– it’s an opportunity to learn and grow.
This American Life
Fountain Project update
We finished building the fountain the other day and today we started on covering it with tiles. Alex was cutting the tiles with the machine and Roman and Perry were doing the measurements. We did not finish; however we got most of it done. Getting the machine to work was very time consuming since it was our first time. In addition, the measurements were not exactly all perfect but it’s coming along fine. We should be able to finish it up this weekend and make sure it is presentable. One of our main problems is bringing it to school. We are unsure of how to do it or where to put it. We are thinking about either the courtyard or front lobby. Wherever it may be, it will be presented to all with an explanation of our vision and view of the ToK course.
Fountain Project
My group decided to build a fountain for our Theory of Knowledge class. We want to base this fountain on the ToK diagram. The fountain will consist of the Areas of Knowledge and Ways of Knowing flowing into the Knower. The fountain will have a base that resembles a bathtub with another two layers on top representing the AoK & WoK. We had many discussions as to how we wanted it to look and finally we agreed on something. The design would have water flowing out from the top, going into The AoK, then to the WoK, and finally into the knower. These different areas would be represented by different colored tiles. The only thing now is to start building it. Our problem now is to figure out where to put it when we are finished. During the process, I will be taking picture of the progress and have a slideshow to show the class. This project will take more than one day which means we would have to meet up over the weekend to have the whole day to work on it. In addition, we will be writing a description to describe and explain the concept of it. Also, we will answer the question and main point of it. Our idea is to have a visual aid for everyone to see and understand the diagram how we interpret it which is the AoK & WoK flowing into the Knower since a knower is always learning and absorbing information. Hopefully the project will go well and be able to be finished on time.
Thought Log #1 [knower]
Knowledge has many sources; it can come from experience, observing, or simply being taught to us. We can obtain it from these sources and it can be anywhere whether it is in school, at home or wherever we may travel to. I believe that we learn something each day whether it is something big or small. We gain this knowledge and take them with us wherever we go and share our knowledge with others. I am the type of knower that likes to listen in order to obtain knowledge. Knowing, believing, and thinking are all connected to each other; however, they are slightly different. For instance, I know that without memory, knowledge could not be possible. I believe that memory is important to everyone and I think that each individual should appreciate it. Knowing something has to have evidence or justified truth; believing something is more internal and may have personal emotions with it in which it can be based on knowing; thinking comes from the mind and can be more of an opinion. I learn that memory holds information and there is evidence to back it up; therefore it is something I know. There is also evidence to show that memory is important to everyone since there is medicine to help disorders involved with memory and I have strong feelings to go with that belief; therefore it is something I believe. In my opinion, I think that everyone should appreciate it but they do not have to and some do not. It is something I think because it is just an idea that I thought of and it came from knowing and believing. All three things are related to each other and are all linked. However, as I learned in Psychology, memory cannot be a reliable source. The mind can create false memory which may lead us into thinking that we know something when in actuality, we do not.
As knowers, we use our mind and prior knowledge to learn new things. Knowing something does not necessarily mean it has to come from books. If we trace back to ancient times, we can see that even cavemen obtain their knowledge from first-hand experience. They did not have books or were taught things and yet they were able to learn that some things were dangerous and others were not. This applies to this present day; we not only learn from books, but by experiencing and sharing what we learn to others. This is justified true belief since it can be proven. However, some people may become skeptics and start questioning the facts learned from the past and argue about the definition of knowing, believing and thinking. The concept of knowing, believing and thinking is allowing ourselves to analyze and reflect on ourselves.
Theory of knowledge is a course that focuses on how we obtain what we know rather than what we know. We may find ourselves questioning more than getting the answers. From what we went over in class, I can apply to my own life. Whatever I see, taste or smell, I can question every detail of it and reflect as to how I achieve the knowledge. Justification is important to any thought or idea. Even when we are in school, we can only trust that we are being taught the right things. We can only believe what the book says.
Simplicity is Bliss 