Theory Of Knowledge 2016 Second Session Wrap Up

The second set of Theory of Knowledge classes for the 2016 cohort wrapped up today.  Students spent the last part of this session getting familiar with the strengths and limitations of language as a way of knowing.  As one of the dominant ways humans come to know stuff, language is very important to our ability to communicate knowledge. We examined potential problems with relying on language for our knowledge of reality, how understanding is lost during the process of translation, the importance of context in determining the meaning of words, the strengths and limitations of labels, the negative impact of stereotyping, and how language influences thought.

Today we started looking at sense perception as a way of knowing.  We looked at various optical illusions and discussed how our vision is not just a passive receptor of external reality, that reality can be very different from what we perceive, and that our intention can change what we perceive.  We will continue with sense perception when we come together later this month.