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

an original podcast talking about Theory of Knowledge for teachers and students of TOK and other curious people...

New tracks tagged #THeory of knowledge