Thought Log #1
Being a knower means that I have experience, knowledge, thoughts about and beliefs over at least some of the many topics in our world. The knowledge I possess, however, is not all factual and much of it is based off of my opinions biases and personal experiences. Also, what I know as a knower can be categorized into three separate categories, which are thoughts, beliefs and facts.
ToK helped to sort out some of this by providing me with the information which lets me know, how I know that something is truly a fact. According to ToK, a fact is a ‘justified true belief,’ meaning that everything can start out as nothing more than an opinion. Then, after evidence is found to support the opinion, it becomes justified and if the evidence is correct than it is then that a fact is born.
Throughout my experiences, opinion, beliefs, etc. I have encountered many things that I thought had been facts, but now I know more about how I can analyze them to see whether they fit the role of a ‘justified true belief.’ One example of this is something that we had discussed in class and that was whether we exist or not. If you ask this question to an ordinary person than the answer you would receive would most like be a solid yes, however, when you look at this question through the eyes of a ToK student than you might not be so sure. What exactly is there, that proves that we exist?
According to ToK there are several things required in order to prove that something exists and these requirements are, emotion, perception, language, reason, history, human sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, ethics and the arts. But even then, this only covers the existence of something living. You can’t go so far as to say a rock or a piece of paper has emotion, reason, or language and so what you’re left with is still an unanswered question, ‘Do we exist?’.
I do have ‘justified true beliefs’ however, and many of them at that. What I learn in school every day and what I learn from my personal experiences can fit the requirements of a justified true belief. History, for example teaches us about what has happened in the past. Past events, such as wars, can all be ‘justified true beliefs.’ There is evidence to support their existence and this evidence can be found from various different sources. Science too can easily be a justified true belief because you can look through a microscope to see the cells, molecules, and atoms that make something up. You can have the evidence and truth right in front of your eyes.
ToK makes you think much more deeply into subjects, it pushes your mind to places where it hasn’t been before. It doesn’t ask you a question with one solid answer. What it does ask is for you is to find or make up your very own answer.
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