Knowledge Issues Keila Ching, Kelsey Baehrens and Lance Nakano What is a knowledge issue? •A knowledge issue is a question/problem involving the gathering of knowledge, the quality of knowledge or the application of knowledge •Knowledge issues are preferably openended and about (relatively) broad topics. Belief •Belief is the willingness to accept something as "true". Simply knowing about it doesn't verify it in a person's mind, they have to believe it to be true. •Acceptance of truth is 2 parts: awareness and belief •Belief is subjective: a shirt can be believed to be black and believed to be blue by two different people •Especially since belief is subjective people defend beliefs very strongly •People hold many beliefs, some of them unconscious It sure looks like a trend to me... Justification •Justification is the proof that something is true, how we back a belief •Usually based off evidence from one or more of the areas of knowledge •Knowledge is justified true belief. Something is, we accept that it is, and we have things to back it up. •Justification can also mean how or why one knows something. •Arguments are a way to present justification •Belief without justification is worthless in academics and decision making. Information • Knowledge gained through study, • • communication, research, instruction. Enters your head without the aid of experience Information is NOT automatically knowledge. One has to believe it and justify it, and it can't be fake. For example, if a commander gets information that the enemy will make a certain move, he can choose whether to believe it or disregard it. Culture • "Intellectual default settings" • Provides us with categories for our • • knowledge (good vs. bad, humor vs. oddity, food vs. friend) Assigns reactions to various types of knowledge we absorb Its boundaries both hinder and help In General... Knowledge Issues involve belief, justification, or veracity And/or one of the ways of knowing (logic, emotion, reason, perception or language). They can be on one of the areas of knowledge but NOT on a specific facet/subject in that area. Good Knowledge Issues • "Is it justifiable for one culture to impose its own values on standards on another?" • "How do we measure knowledge?" • "What roles do reason and emotion play in deciding what is an appropriate punishment for a given crime?" • How do different societies balance the knowledge of the individual with the knowledge of the collective? • How justifiable are rigid ideologies in today's world? • Why are appeals to emotion so effective to the human mind? Bad/Not Knowledge Issues • Do computers only know what they are • • • • • programmed to know? (Yes/No question) How does sunscreen work? Why is "x" news organization considered biased? Who started the field of psychology? Why do arguments on the internet tend to be shallow and flawed? Why do I have to consider knowledge issues for TOK? Audience participation time! • Try tell us some good knowledge issues and bad knowledge issues. • Be sure to say why it's bad, not just "Oh, I'm not feeling it from this one." or "it's good/bad just because it is" >_<