This is the first in a series exploring the TOK Exhibition Prompts. In these episodes, I don't intend to answer the questions, but rather explore them and get you thinking. I hope you enjoy and find it stimulating!

To explore Prompt 1: What counts of knowledge, it was helpful to think about the following Types of Knowledge: 
Factual
Conceptual
Procedural
A Posteriori knowledge - from personal experiences
A Priori knowledge - from reason
Expert knowledge - deep knowledge from a discipline
Empirical Knowledge - from senses alone
Encoded Knowledge - knowledge encoded in symbols
Personal 

Thank you to Vyvienne Schapel for her quick piano keys today!

What Counts As Knowledge?

This is the second episode in a series exploring the TOK Exhibition Prompts. Today I’m joined by Adam Walker, expert and teacher of Theatre. We get together and discuss TOK Exhibition Prompt 2: Are some types of knowledge more useful than others? 

We’re both teachers of the Arts, so our conversation focuses heavily around the arts. It would be interesting to sit down with a physicist, architect, astronomer or statistician and have a similar conversation! 

Another thank you to Vyvienne Schapel for the quick little piano riffs taking us in and out of the podcast!

For links to some of the theatre references discussed, visit www.TOKTalk.org

Guest: Adam Walker

Is Some Knowledge More Useful Than Others?

Prompt 11: Can new knowledge change established values and beliefs?

I know this will likely bother anyone who is interested in order and logic, but I've decided to break the order of prompts so I can publish them as I record them. Turns out the most interesting topics to those around me are not necessarily in the order the IB has given them. Who knew? Anyway...

Today I’m joined by Theatre Teacher, Bob Scheer. We get together and discuss TOK Exhibition Prompt 11: Can new knowledge change established values and beliefs? Bob has also created the harmonies for music on today’s podcast, they’re really beautiful. Enjoy!

Links & fact checks can be found on www.TOKTalk.org

Guest: Bob Scheer

Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?

In this episode, I sat down with DP Design Teacher Donna Gee and DP Global Politics Teacher Bill Kyzner to discuss TOK Exhibition Prompt 5: What counts as good evidence for a claim. It really got me thinking about the significance of this question in my own personal knowledge about myself and the world, but also in a bigger sense about claims being made in today’s very heated political world. We stayed focused in this talk about evidence and claims within Design and Global Politics, but I cannot stop thinking about how perspectives play a very significant role in just how much evidence is enough to be “good” enough, and the implications this has on all kinds of knowledge communities. There really is so much more to be said about this prompt. I’m gearing up to do a reflection episode, so if you have comments or things you’d like to add, please send me a message via the contact page at www.TOKTalk.org.  

And thank you thank you thank you to Bernard Wun for his lovely guitar licks on this track!

Guests: Donna Gee, Bill Kyzner

What counts as good evidence for a claim?

Today I’m joined by Liu Yu, aka Mr. LY, teacher of Chinese Humanities and Assistant Principal at ISF Academy in HK. We discuss Prompt 6: How does the way we organize or classify knowledge affect what we know? We explore Confucian values in China as a way of organizing knowledge (and by extension society) within Chinese culture. We also consider language and culture as ways we organize knowledge, and explore how in our personal experiences we’ve been able to step outside our own individual cultures in order to understand more about the world. 

We also really get into the challenge of language as a way we know about the world, and the complexities of translation, as well as how having more varieties of language allows us to become more aware of the nuances of our experiences around us. 

Thanks again to Bernard Wun for the guitar that brings us in and out of this one!

Links for further investigation on www.TOKTalk.org

Guest: Liu Yu 劉宇老師

How Does The Way That We Organize Or Classify Knowledge Affect What We Know

Today I sat down with Jim Faherty, an experienced University Guidance Counsellor here in Hong Kong to exchange views on Exhibition Prompt 7 What are the implications of having or not having knowledge? Because of his background in university applications and guidance, we discussed this question in relation to how having knowledge within this realm expands and helps to refine options for future choices in a young person's life. We go beyond this, and discuss the implications of having knowledge, one of those being the responsibility to share knowledge with others. We consider the reliability of sources, which is not only relevant to university choices but to all aspects of knowing about the world. We also explore what responsibility might come with having knowledge, and the relationship of money, power and knowledge.

We discuss the implications of not having knowledge as well again in light of having access to education (and therefore certain forms of knowledge) as well as the war in Ukraine and the race for a vaccine for Covid. We begin to think about knowledge as a resource, and only begin to ponder the problem of how we could better manage this resource on the internet. I hope you enjoy this episode and think again about the implications of having or not having knowledge.

Links for further investigation found on www.TOKTalk.org

Guest: Jim Faherty

What Are The Implications of Having, or Not Having, Knowledge?

TOK Exhibition Prompt 4: On what grounds might we doubt a claim?

To unravel this question, I met with Sarah Rodgers (DP Chemistry & MYP Science Teacher) & Alice Brookes (DP Bio & MYP Science Teacher). Together, we talk about a range of reasons we might doubt claims that are made about knowledge, and conversely what might make knowledge claims more trustworthy. We touch upon a variety of criteria, and discuss issues related to science, doubt in the time of Darwin when religion ran the world, the conflicting information about nutrition, as well as the current political climate in areas around the globe. It’s always fascinating to talk with people from different areas of the world, especially international teachers because we see things from both our own culture, our host culture, and sometimes a third global perspective as well. 

Are we immune from the challenge of doubting the norm? Should we really doubt everything? Should we question everything? Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? These are important questions to consider and I hope you take some time to think about the things you take for granted and where you’ve developed “cognitive ease” around what you believe.

Find links to episode references on www.TOKTalk.org

Once again, thank you Bernard Wun for music to bring us in and out of today’s discussion.

Guests:  Alice Brookes, Sarah Rodgers

On What Grounds Might We Doubt A Claim?

Today I met with Dr. Rachel Oser, (Science Teacher) & 孫秀東 Xiudong Sun, (Chinese Literature and TOK Teacher) to talk about Exhibition Prompt 8:  To what extent is certainty attainable? 在何種程度上確定性是可以達到的？This was a really interesting episode for me firstly, because we begin by contrasting the idea of certainty in Religious knowledge and Science… This is something I find very delicate to explore through the lens of TOK. Secondonly, the episode was especially interesting because it was my first English & Chinese bilingual episode! I hope to do more of these in the future. I have added a translation of some of the sections where I thought clarity would help. I hope I have translated well enough to keep the integrity of Sun’s ideas, as well as to make it understandable to an English listener.


Some key quotes and ideas from this episode include:
Benjamin Franklin: “Nothing is certain but death and taxes”
Similar to “我唯一确定的事情是什么都不确定” The only thing of which I can be certain is that I’m not certain of anything.

"There are a thousand hamlets in a thousand people's eyes" in relation to Shakespeare… which brought up a discussion of Hamlet through a Taoist lens, and how this brings up the problem of lenses and certainty. We discuss certainty in the Arts in relation to good and bad interpretations.

Later we talk about issues that pertain to certainty have to do with our perspectives, replicability, tools and the limits of our human experience, raising the question Why do we need certainty? What is the role of doubt?

Key Chinese words I learned from our conversation:
物种起源 Darwin's Origin of Species
怀疑论者 skeptic
不可知论准 agnostic

Once again, thank you Bernard Wun for bringing us in and out of this episode with your guitar!

Guests: Dr. Rachel Oser, 孫秀東 Xiudong Sun

To What Extent Is Certainty Attainable?

Today I enjoyed tea and Talked some TOK with Kevin Hoye (IB English Literature and TOK Teacher) about 2023 TOK Essay Title 5: Are visual representations always helpful in the communication of knowledge? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and mathematics. We talked a lot about different ways into understanding this question.. 

Links to several examples discussed can be found on www.TOKTalk.org

Thank you to the random street Shanghai musician, once again for the music bringing us in and out of this track.

Guest: Kevin Hoye

Visual Representations: 2023 TOK Essay Title 5

Prompt 9: Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?

In this episode, I met with one of my favourite teachers here in HK, Anastasia Stitch. She is a DP History teacher & examiner, and she holds a Masters of International and Public Affairs from University of Hong Kong, and was a DP History student herself. Looking through a Historical lens, I was really interested to hear what she had to say about Exhibition Prompt 9: Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others? 

We explore the beauty of history, literature and arts as being constantly open to interpretation, and try to dig into what kinds of knowledge might not be as open to interpretation, even in these areas. We talk about the key methods of historiography, and how that plays a valuable role in interpretation of historical events, as well as the role of the historian in removing the subjective “I” and to consider a range of contrasting evidence to get a sense of what took place. We get in deep in this one about the nature of knowledge in history and the role of interpretation. Hope you enjoy it and it gets you thinking a little more about the history you know!

And again, thank you Bernard Wun for the intro/outro music!

Guest: Anastasia Stitch

Are Some Types Of Knowledge Less Open To Interpretation Than Others

Today I’m joined for another session by Ms. Virginia Voigt, Psychology teacher and we discussed TOK Exhibition Prompt 12: Is Bias inevitable in the production of knowledge? Since we’re human (and we're biased even when we try to be aware of our own biases), and knowledge is made by and for humans, the logical deduction here would be that yes, bias is inevitable. We don’t stop with this though, we unpack this question through the lens of Psychology, a field that strives to be as aware as possible and remove bias through stringent measures. 

Our conversation today reminds me very much of Thoreau’s quote I have on my refrigerator “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see”. I’m left wondering that if bias is inevitable to some extent, is bias necessarily a bad thing? Or, if it is unavoidable, what can we do about this? Another topic we discuss is the bias of language, and the fact that we’re holding this conversation in English, and the problems that come along with this.

Kudos (my favorite granola bar as a kid) to Bernard for the music once again. Seriously, if I can find a kudos bar, it’s yours. Thank you.

Link from our discussion can be found on www.toktalk.org

Guest: Virginia Voigt

Is Bias Inevitable In The Production Of Knowledge?

Recently I met with Naomi Chevannes who teaches Design Technology here in Hong Kong. We discussed TOK Exhibition Prompt 15: What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge? Breaking this down we discussed constraints such as access, tools, time, language, personal experience, motivation, perspectives, funding… We found possible divisions of these constraints such as inner and outer constraints, as well as an elegant distinction between constraints to the pursuit of knowledge which are within or without our control. We talked about knowledge as a buffet, and contrasted that with a famine (we may have gotten a little carried away with our food metaphor, as we were meeting just before lunch!! I really enjoyed this conversation, so thank you so much to Naomi for taking time out of a busy day to sit down and talk TOK with me.

Guest: Naomi Chevannes

Constraints On Pursuit Of Knowledge

In this episode, I met with Bill Kyzner (IB Teacher of Global Politics) and Garrett McKee (IB Teacher of Design Technology) to discuss Prompt 10: What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge? We explored the relationship between the communicator, the message, and the audience along with the challenges raised in each of these stages. We first unpacked the assumption that there will be misinterpretation: what is said is not what will be received. Some of the many challenges we discussed include: the layered meaning of words, translation, media of dissemination, perspectives that shape our understanding, language, expectations, context (everything is relative to the context!). We also discuss the challenges when a message requires action on the part of the listener: convenience or desire to act, fatigue and lack of tools or methods to act upon a message, lack of a singular clear authority, not knowing who to trust, vetting sources, knowing what knowledge is valid when faced with conflicting information or ideas, especially when they go against existing beliefs. We agreed that it is always a challenge (though absolutely necessary) to set our own perspective aside in order to develop sincere understanding.

We also discuss when less is more to make a message clearer and less open to interpretation, but also in a very Orwellian way, how this can also go entirely wrong. What authorities supersede our own independent search for truth? From a Global Politics perspective, an important idea raised was that “just because the more powerful perspective dominates the landscape doesn’t mean that the less powerful perspective is less meaningful.” From a Graphic design perspective, to communicate messages, raise awareness, what is the best way to communicate so that it is not misinterpreted? How can we avoid adding to misinformation? What are the basics of communication to begin with? This was a challenging question and (as many knowledge questions) we ended with even more questions than we started with! Thanks for listening, I hope you found it thought provoking.

Host: Emily Osann
Guests: Bill Kyzner, Garrett McKee
Music: Emily Osann

Challenges raised by communication of knowledge

你為什麼會覺得某種存在很美？美感的根源和本质是什么？美感是个人、某种文化所特有的、还是整个世界共有的？帶著這些問題，我們特意邀請了王紅櫻老師、賀瑜老師、吳玥老師參與了這一期的知識論清談。期間老師們對於藝術與美的討論有趣有深刻，期待大家收聽。能夠完成這一話題的討論與後期製作，離不開Ms OSANN、苗曉龍老師的大力支持。鞠躬、致謝。

In this Mandarin episode of TOK Talk, Mr. Sun invited Mandarin Language Teachers Mr. Wang, Ms. He, and Ms. Wu to discuss important questions about beauty: Why do we think certain things are beautiful? What is the origin and nature of a sense of beauty? Is this sense specific to the individual or to the culture, or is it universal? A profound discussion on art and beauty The discussion and post-production of this topic cannot be completed without the strong support of Ms Osann and Miao Xiaolong. 

Hosts: 孫秀東 Mr. Sun 
Guests:  王紅櫻老師、賀瑜老師、吳玥老師
Music: 王美婷老師

美感的根源和本质 Origin & Essence of Beauty

Today we talked about TOK Exhibition prompt 14: Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers? This is a good one with links to religious knowledge, and secret knowledge only shared by communities… We discuss the idea of preserving some knowledge, why some knowledge does (and perhaps should?) only belong to particular communities, and the blurry line where protecting knowledge becomes gatekeeping. This is a really good one, and left me with a lot more questions than answers. An interesting link to this year’s TOK Essay titles too!

Guest: Dr. Rachel Oser
Music: cover of Taylor Swift Love Story from Grade 9 students around a campfire.

Does Some Knowledge Belong to Communities Of Knowers?

May 2024 TOK Essay Title 6 Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge. 

Be careful here with this title that you’re really talking about evidence and not the interpretation of evidence in the form of theories! This one is worth a listen just for how we talk about ways to approach TOK Essay Titles in general, nearer to the end.

One more word about the arts after further consideration: recent evidence could be uncovered in the arts in many ways, for example the use of x-ray can uncover new evidence about artists’ intentions, techniques and processes. Check out the Art News article linked below.

Links from our discussion: 
Scientific American Article about Neutrinos https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/particles-found-to-travel/
Einstein theory of relativity & the eclipse that proved his ideas: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/total-solar-eclipse-100-years-ago-proved-einsteins-general-relativity-180972278/
Infinite Monkey Cage Podcast talking about Covid Science happening in real time: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001f4lp
Art News article about x-rays and underpaintings https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hidden-paintings-x-ray-2176965

Guest: Rhodri George
Music: sounds recorded on the beach in Pak Lap and a random bass line from Garage Band... I need more music!

Recent Evidence: 2024 TOK Essay Title 6

May 2024 TOK Essay Title 3 Nothing is more exciting than fresh ideas, so why are areas of knowledge often so slow to adopt them? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge. 

What is the difference between an idea and knowledge? What is slow or fast in terms of ideas? What contexts affect the timeframe? Slow for what? Who?
What does it mean to “adopt” an idea? How is that different from acceptance? When does an idea become a theory or law? What makes an idea fresh? What about the possibilities they represent is both exciting and causes disciplines to pause before adopting them?

Guests: Brett Fisher and Garrett McKee
Sounds from rice fields in Bali

Nothing more exciting than fresh ideas? 2024 TOK Essay Title 3

I met with Jon Rees, another TOK Teacher (as well as teacher of Human Technologies and IB English) here in Hong Kong, and we discussed TOK Exhibition Prompt 23: How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?

It was a fascinating discussion! Students, you need to be careful in this question about the difference between producing knowledge and producing things. While there is a connection (knowledge is needed to produce things), it is not an obvious connection so an exploration of the knowledge being produced (not just the thing) is required here. I think it would be very hard to argue that material tools (and conceptual tools by extension?) are not essential - and yet there’s room for exploration as you can hear from our conversation. I hope to talk with Mr. Rees again soon, as it was a very interesting and thought provoking conversation. 

Books & Resources that we referenced and discussed in relation to this talk (for links to all of these, check out www.TOKTalk.org):

‘Sapiens’ by Yuval Noah Harari - this book is essentially an exploration of the role of material tools in the development of humankind, but is especially interesting when he talks about “fictional realities”.  

‘Techno Feudalism’ by Yanis Varoufakis - he does a great job from a Marxist perspective explaining how his father taught him the concept of historical materialism, how technological development creates the tools/conditions for the advancement of the socio-cultural context. Then who controls the means of production, power/authority. 

‘How to Understand E= MC2’ by Christophe Galfard

‘The Sane Society’ by Eric Fromm - criticism of our focus on consumption in a nuclear age where we can annihilate ourselves 

‘Song of the Cell’ by Siddhartha Mukherjee - deep exploration of our understanding of biology - the first chapters are specifically focused on development of the microscope and its influence on the entire field of microbiology and beyond

‘Guns Germs Steel’ by Jared Diamond outlines the theory of geographic determinism, and thus the access to materials and the tools we can therefore make are everything in the development of humankind

‘Knowledge Illusion’ by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach - the illusion of explanatory depth, mistaking shared knowledge for our own

Justice with Michael Sandel 

Little Museum of the World in Chai Wan - A time machine for building peace

‘The Vanishing Face of Gaia’, by James Lovelock - essential wake-up call for humankind

‘Donut Economics’ by Kate Raworth - a hopeful perspective! Nibbling away what we need (not beyond our planetary boundaries)

Special Guest: Jon Rees
Music from the ISF Student Brass Band playing outside the school gate one morning in December 2023

How important are Material Tools?

This is one that I could discuss endlessly. Who doesn’t love imagination? I actually recorded this (and a few more episodes) nearly a year ago and have been waiting for the right time. Now seems like the right time for this one, especially as we’re talking about the role of imagination in allowing us to understand and empathize with circumstances outside of our own world.

We did go down a little LOTR rabbit hole in this one, let me know if you agree with what we said! But to bring it back to TOK, we talked about imagination in arts, literature, science, history... But we also just discussed the nature of imagining - how do we all imagine differently? Is your imagination a blank canvas? An audio box? Is it a recreation of senses in your mind? How much does it infiltrate your daily narrative? What is imagination? How is it different from reasoning or brainstorming? Are logic and imagination different versions of a similar way of thinking? Is it enough that imagination plays the role of fun and entertainment in producing knowledge about the world? Does it just make things more real and more fun?

I really enjoyed this conversation and am immensely grateful for my guests on this (and all episodes) as well as the musicians that help me to put these together. If you’re interested in joining me, please contact me via www.toktalk.org and fill out the contact form.

Links we discussed can be found on www.toktalk.org

Guests: Brett Fisher, Monica Wahl
Music: Hilary Ng playing in the hallway at school

Role of Imagination!

Prompt 29. Who owns knowledge?

LY’s first response: “Those who study, those who learn, those who share” is not a bad start. I wish this were the world we lived in, but somehow I think the answer is far more complicated and often influenced by power (for good and for bad) more than we care to acknowledge.

What is ownership? That it ‘belongs’ to you? Can knowledge even be owned? 

Pioneers, inventors, artists, discoverers of new knowledge - do they own the knowledge they produce, create or discover? If whoever was first gets the credit, does that mean they own the knowledge? Once knowledge is shared, does it belong to other knowers that know it too? What knowledge belongs to the common good? Is knowing something the same as owning it? This discussion raised Issues of social responsibility that comes with creating and sharing (or not sharing) new knowledge.

After we think about the question: Who owns knowledge? So many other important questions get raised: What do we do with it? How do we care for it?  …LY asks but “so what”? We discussed the ways we value original ideas in different cultures. Zooming out, thinking about the implications of ownership and access, but also the responsibility for protection and upkeep that comes with ownership. Is the onus on the creator or user of knowledge? In a sense, are both ‘owners’? 

Links in this talk can be found at www.TOKTalk.org

Guests: Donna Gee, Liu Yu 
Music: Hilary Ng playing in the hallway at school

Who Owns Knowledge?

不同的信仰体系如何影响我们的知识?
In this bilingual podcast, we explore the complex relationship between belief systems and our understanding of the world. We examine various belief frameworks, including the Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions, to explore if it is even possible to fully recognize the extent to which our underlying beliefs influence what we know and how we act. Join us as we delve into a short, sweet, yet deep conversation about our value systems and understanding how they shape our knowledge about others and the world. We hope this gets you thinking as you go about your day, and give you a chance to consider: How do your values influence your knowledge?

Guests: Dr. Bill Mak, Sun Laoshi

How do differing belief systems influence what we know? 不同的信仰体系如何影响我们的知识?

2025 TOK Essay Title 5: To what extent do you agree with the claim “all models are wrong, but some are useful” (attributed to George Box)? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
Guest: Rob Bradshaw 
Sounds: Sri Lankan street musicians


Models are Wrong

2025 TOK Essay Title 6: Does acquiring knowledge destroy our sense of wonder? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge
Guest: Bob Scheer
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest at midnight

Sense Of Wonder

2025 TOK Essay Title 2: Is our most revered knowledge more fragile than we assume it to be? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge

Guest: Janka van Jaarsveld
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest in the morning

Fragile & Revered Knowledge

2025 TOK Essay Title 1: Do historians and human scientists have an ethical obligation to follow the directive: “do not ignore contradictory evidence”? Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.
Guest: Quinn Fontaine
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest in the morning

Do not ignore contradictory evidence

2025 TOK Essay Title 3: How can we reconcile the relentless drive to pursue knowledge with the finite resources we have available? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge
Guest: Kevin Hoye
Sounds: Hong Kong Birds and Traffic in the morning

Finite Resources, Relentless Drive

Title 4: Do the ever-improving tools of an area of knowledge always result in improved knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge

Guest: Dr. Simon Griffin
Sounds: Lamma beach


Ever Improving Tools

Welcome to TOK Talk, a new podcast about Theory of Knowledge. What's that you say? Well listen to my first podcast to get a basic understanding, and stay tuned for more podcasts coming soon!

TOK.. What's that!?

In this episode, I sat down and talked with my oldest daughter, who graduated last May from an IB school in Shanghai and is now studying Art at Parsons in New York. We discussed her experience as an IB student and she shares her perspective about TOK, CAS and IB in general. She also shares some honest advice in general about getting through IB and applying for Universities, as well as her experience and challenges as a Third Culture Kid in University. We share some good laughs in this episode, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. Credit to Leah Osann and Xoai David for their beautiful vocal harmony, and Xoai on the guitar in their interpretation of No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen (hope the Boss won’t mind…)

Guest: L Osann

Interview with an IB Graduate

Joining me today are Dr. Rachel Oser: a Research Scientist & Teacher, Mr. David Fenwick: a Physics, Mathematics and Engineering Teacher, and Mr. Kevin Hoye, an English and fellow TOK Teacher. The prompt is this year’s essay Title 6:
​
“Avoiding bias seems a commendable goal but this fails to recognize the positive role that bias can play in the pursuit of knowledge”
 
Questions we discuss:
* Why might avoiding bias be a commendable goal in the discipline you teach? What are some of the measures taken to avoid these biases in your discipline?
* The title seems to imply that it isn’t possible to avoid bias – do you agree? Are some biases therefore fundamental? In what ways?
* What positive role(s) might it play in the pursuit of knowledge in your discipline?

I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope this gets you thinking about your own biases as well as the positive and negative roles they have in the disciplines you study.

Original music by Emily Osann

Guests: Dr. Rachel Oser, David Fenwick, Kevin Hoye

The Roles of Bias in the Pursuit of Knowledge

Today’s topic is a previous TOK Essay title:  “Do good explanations have to be true?” To help me explore this question, I am joined by four fellow IB & TOK Teachers: Mr. Bill Kyzner representing Political Science, Mr. Francis Wynne, representing the Classics, including Latin Language & Greek Mythology, Mr. Jordan West-Pratt representing Natural Sciences, and today I’ll be representing the Arts.

Questions we discuss in relation to Natural Sciences, Political Science, Classics and the Arts: What does each discipline seek to explain? What might a “good” explanation look like (as opposed to a “bad” one)? Are there some explanations in your subject that are good but not necessarily true? What is the role of truth in each discipline?

Three things that stand out to me after this conversation:

1.  I was really struck by Mr. Wynne’s example of explanations in Greek Mythology that he argues are “good” and metaphorically true, but not literally true. I like this idea of different layers and kinds of truth.

2. Mr. West-Pratt’s distinction of the role of truth in Natural Science - that truth in philosophy of science being different than the practice of science… For a practicing scientist, there is no distinction between a good explanation and a true explanation - they are one and the same. Whereas philosophers of science are not necessarily truth seekers but model builders.

3. I was disturbed by the idea that truth may be irrelevant in Political Sciences. However, upon reflection, I think this is very much because of our overly liberal use of the word “truth” as a word to describe one’s understanding of reality in this discussion. I do still think there is room for further exploration of the role of truth, perhaps especially as it comes to description of facts and how this then translates into interpretations in different political lenses. Certainly, there is a danger as accepting anyone’s perspective as “subjective” truth, especially in today’s political climate.

​Finally, I still am left wondering about the relationship of truth to the goodness of an explanation, and how that might differ depending on the audience of the explanation - who is the explanation for? what is its’ purpose? and does that determine what makes it good rather than its truth quality? There’s still much to be considered here. A title like this one seems so simple, and yet so complex once we start to unpack it.

No matter if you’re a TOK student, teacher or knowledge enthusiast, I hope that our discussion got you thinking about the relationship of good explanations and truth in your areas of interest or expertise. Tune in again next time for the next episode of TOK Talk.

Thank you to the random street performer in Shanghai for the intro and outro music.

Guests: Bill Kyzner, Francis Wynne, Jordan West-Pratt

Do good explanations have to be true?

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