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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?

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 had a coffee with Bill Kyzner and Bob Scheer and we unpacked the 2023 May Title 2: For artists and natural scientists, which is more important: what can be explained or what cannot be explained? Discuss with reference to the arts and the natural sciences. Questions that arose included: When does one become an “artist” or “scientist”? What does it mean to “explain”? Important for the artist/scientist to do what? So many different questions and ideas came up as we talked, I hope this gives you some food for your TOK thought!

Guests:  Bill Kyzner, Bob Scheer

That which can or cannot be explained: 2023 TOK Essay Title 2

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

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Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?

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