With great difficulty did i finally pick out 5 things that I was absolutely sure about:
1) My fingers are typing out this post
2) We can see better during the 'Day' rather than the 'Night' (as we know them to be now).
3) My parents have been alive for a longer time than me.
4) DAIMUN 2007 is a MUN held in Dhirubhai Ambani International School this year.
5) I am a girl.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Five things I am certain about:
The five things I am certain about are:
1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
2. India lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup 2007.
3. I can't speak in French (because i don't know French)
4. If I sit in a car I will get off from the same car.
5. India is the second most populated country in the world.
1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
2. India lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup 2007.
3. I can't speak in French (because i don't know French)
4. If I sit in a car I will get off from the same car.
5. India is the second most populated country in the world.
Five things I am certain about:
The five things I am certain about are:
1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
2. India lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup 2007.
3. I can't speak in French (because i don't know French)
4. If I sit in a car I will get off from the same car.
5. India is the second most populated country in the world.
1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
2. India lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup 2007.
3. I can't speak in French (because i don't know French)
4. If I sit in a car I will get off from the same car.
5. India is the second most populated country in the world.
Knowledge & Belief...
Knowledge v/s Belief
According to the conversation, the main distinction between belief and knowledge lies in the validity of the claim. Therefore, while belief can be debatable and controversial, knowledge stands to be irrefutable. Belief therefore can be true or false i.e. people may choose to agree or disagree with a proposed belief, however knowledge is universally accepted. In that sense, knowledge can be defined as universally accepted belief, which therefore makes it indisputable.
This distinction is important when considering conviction. Although personal beliefs could make a man convinced they are not enough to convince all people. People with knowledge however can lead to influencing other people and convincing them of the same by providing empirical evidence. Conviction based on belief often lacks evidence and stems mainly from personal opinion which may not be shared universally. For e.g. Scientists believe that the universe was created by the big bang, however others believe it was created by God. An e.g. of knowledge would be that all matter is made up of molecules, as this is a claim that no one would refute.
Conviction based on belief would include hopes such as "I believe that India will win the ICC t-20 World Cup", and would combine aspiration to form this form of feverous conviction. Given the nature of this conviction it is unlikely that many would choose to dispute it considering the strength of conviction; this however cannot be considered to be conviction based on knowledge.
Conviction based on knowledge would be less emotionally inclined, relating to things like "I know that the school has 1000 students", as this can be easily supported by the statistics and registration figures from the school. Although people may be tempted to argue these figures, the empirical evidence provided would make it quite an insoluble argument.
The problem that lies with conviction based on belief is psychological by nature. People with strong belief will refuse to be convinced of any other form of argument regardless of whether there is substantial evidence, and often their arguments may be based on purely emotional grounds. This form of conviction often makes other arguments null and void because of the fervour with which they are expressed and have the power of influencing a large number of people. An example of this lies in the now common belief that stemmed from the attacks of 9/11 that all Muslims are terrorists. Although this is conviction based on belief, it has no knowledge involved in it, except for the fact that the man behind the attacks was a Muslim. Despite this, the conviction with which this belief was expressed resulted in a large part of the global audience becoming convinced of the same.
Alternatively conviction based on knowledge can alter conviction based on belief, as knowledge is constantly evolving and changing. Often, two pieces of knowledge may contradict each other and could effectively destroy any opinion that an individual may formulate. E.g. India won a string of cricket matches under the captaincy of Ajay Jadeja. Alternatively, Jadeja was found to be guilty of match fixing. This is where a knowledge based argument may break down, and introduce the circular argument as to whether India really did "win" those matches, again, knowing what the definition to "win" is. This form of conviction can also therefore be erroneous if the complete knowledge about the issue in question remains unknown. In this sense, conviction based on partial or incomplete knowledge may be as misleading as conviction based on belief.
According to the conversation, the main distinction between belief and knowledge lies in the validity of the claim. Therefore, while belief can be debatable and controversial, knowledge stands to be irrefutable. Belief therefore can be true or false i.e. people may choose to agree or disagree with a proposed belief, however knowledge is universally accepted. In that sense, knowledge can be defined as universally accepted belief, which therefore makes it indisputable.
This distinction is important when considering conviction. Although personal beliefs could make a man convinced they are not enough to convince all people. People with knowledge however can lead to influencing other people and convincing them of the same by providing empirical evidence. Conviction based on belief often lacks evidence and stems mainly from personal opinion which may not be shared universally. For e.g. Scientists believe that the universe was created by the big bang, however others believe it was created by God. An e.g. of knowledge would be that all matter is made up of molecules, as this is a claim that no one would refute.
Conviction based on belief would include hopes such as "I believe that India will win the ICC t-20 World Cup", and would combine aspiration to form this form of feverous conviction. Given the nature of this conviction it is unlikely that many would choose to dispute it considering the strength of conviction; this however cannot be considered to be conviction based on knowledge.
Conviction based on knowledge would be less emotionally inclined, relating to things like "I know that the school has 1000 students", as this can be easily supported by the statistics and registration figures from the school. Although people may be tempted to argue these figures, the empirical evidence provided would make it quite an insoluble argument.
The problem that lies with conviction based on belief is psychological by nature. People with strong belief will refuse to be convinced of any other form of argument regardless of whether there is substantial evidence, and often their arguments may be based on purely emotional grounds. This form of conviction often makes other arguments null and void because of the fervour with which they are expressed and have the power of influencing a large number of people. An example of this lies in the now common belief that stemmed from the attacks of 9/11 that all Muslims are terrorists. Although this is conviction based on belief, it has no knowledge involved in it, except for the fact that the man behind the attacks was a Muslim. Despite this, the conviction with which this belief was expressed resulted in a large part of the global audience becoming convinced of the same.
Alternatively conviction based on knowledge can alter conviction based on belief, as knowledge is constantly evolving and changing. Often, two pieces of knowledge may contradict each other and could effectively destroy any opinion that an individual may formulate. E.g. India won a string of cricket matches under the captaincy of Ajay Jadeja. Alternatively, Jadeja was found to be guilty of match fixing. This is where a knowledge based argument may break down, and introduce the circular argument as to whether India really did "win" those matches, again, knowing what the definition to "win" is. This form of conviction can also therefore be erroneous if the complete knowledge about the issue in question remains unknown. In this sense, conviction based on partial or incomplete knowledge may be as misleading as conviction based on belief.
5 THINGS I'M CERTAIN ABOUT
1] MY NAME IS AASHNA
2]I AM STUDYING IN DAIS.
3] INDIA WON THE TWENTY20 2007 WORLD CUP.
4]YUVRAJ SCORED 6 6S IN ONE OVER AGAINST ENGLAND IN TWENTY 20.
5]I GAVE MY ICSE BOARD EXAMS IN 2007.
2]I AM STUDYING IN DAIS.
3] INDIA WON THE TWENTY20 2007 WORLD CUP.
4]YUVRAJ SCORED 6 6S IN ONE OVER AGAINST ENGLAND IN TWENTY 20.
5]I GAVE MY ICSE BOARD EXAMS IN 2007.
5 things I'm certain about...
5 things i am certain about:
1. Manchester United won the 2006-07 season of the English Premier League (sigh!!!!)
2. INDIA ARE TWENTY-TWENTY CRICKET WORLD CHAMPIONS (hurray!!!)
3. I have my French oral on Thursday, 27th september.
4. Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the Solar System.
5. Hutch is now Vodafone.
-adwait
NB: This was posted by Adwait as a comment to my post, so I'm reposting it as a proper Blog Post.
1. Manchester United won the 2006-07 season of the English Premier League (sigh!!!!)
2. INDIA ARE TWENTY-TWENTY CRICKET WORLD CHAMPIONS (hurray!!!)
3. I have my French oral on Thursday, 27th september.
4. Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the Solar System.
5. Hutch is now Vodafone.
-adwait
NB: This was posted by Adwait as a comment to my post, so I'm reposting it as a proper Blog Post.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Five Things I Am Certain About
These are 5 things that i am certain about:-
1) My name is Ramya Ramnath.
2) India is part of the Indian sub-continent
3) A country called America does not exist and it is in fact the United States Of America
4) India won the twenty20 world cup!
5) India did not win the 2006 world cup
1) My name is Ramya Ramnath.
2) India is part of the Indian sub-continent
3) A country called America does not exist and it is in fact the United States Of America
4) India won the twenty20 world cup!
5) India did not win the 2006 world cup
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I am certain about a lot of things and here are 5 things which I am absolutely certain about:
1. The moon revolves around the Earth and is hence classified as a satellite of the Earth.
2. My Theory of Knowledge teacher is a person who is known as Mr. Nicklin.
3. Drinking water satisfies my thirst and eating food satisfies my hunger under current "definitions" of "thirst" and "hunger".
4. The Head of State of India is the President.
5. Yuvraj Singh became the first cricketer to hit six sixes in an over in the ICC T-20 World Cup.
1. The moon revolves around the Earth and is hence classified as a satellite of the Earth.
2. My Theory of Knowledge teacher is a person who is known as Mr. Nicklin.
3. Drinking water satisfies my thirst and eating food satisfies my hunger under current "definitions" of "thirst" and "hunger".
4. The Head of State of India is the President.
5. Yuvraj Singh became the first cricketer to hit six sixes in an over in the ICC T-20 World Cup.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
5 things I'm certain about
1. If I throw a piece of cork into the sea, or any water body for that matter, it will begin to float.
2. India was ruled by a dynasty of rulers now known as the Mughals
3. India defeated Australia in the semi-final of the 2007 ICC20-20 Cricket World Cup
4. Frances Hodsgon Burnett was the author of the novels "A Little Princess" and "Little Lord Fauntleroy"
5. Both Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee are actors in the Indian film industry, and have won at least one filmfare award each.
2. India was ruled by a dynasty of rulers now known as the Mughals
3. India defeated Australia in the semi-final of the 2007 ICC20-20 Cricket World Cup
4. Frances Hodsgon Burnett was the author of the novels "A Little Princess" and "Little Lord Fauntleroy"
5. Both Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee are actors in the Indian film industry, and have won at least one filmfare award each.
TOK Journal
To avoid misunderstanding, the electronic blog is a super-journal, but this does not remove the need for you to keep a 'hard-copy journal' which should include all the handouts and hand-written items from the lessons. You should also keep an independent soft copy of everything to do with your TOK work in case anything goes wrong with the blog, and a hard copy version for your 'hard-copy journal'.
Here is the section with the gaps filled in, to avoid confusion:
There are many sources of knowledge - our parents, our schools, our religious leaders, our sports coaches and music teachers, our friends, others in our society, the media, our own experiences and thoughts:
Ways of Knowing
1. perception
(Our senses give us our observations about the natural world and people)
2. reasoning
(Our own thinking helps us to classify, generalize, and predict)
3. language
(Our language gives us the beliefs and knowledge of our speech community.)
4. emotion
(Our feelings give us self-knowledge and understanding of others.)
How do our ways of knowing lead us to "KNOWLEDGE"?
When you look at the 'things people know' as they are posted on the blog, you can analyse them in terms of these different meanings of the word 'know'. ENGLISH provides distinctions different from those made in many other languages, for example :
· “I KNOW ABOUT... [the French ‘je suis au courant de…’] many things which I do not believe. Information or data is important as justification for well-founded beliefs, but it is not itself KNOWLEDGE
· I KNOW HOW... ! [the French ‘je sais’] to swim, to cook, to use a computer, to get along with others, to think critically... This kind of knowing is SKILL, whether intellectual or practical:
· I KNOW THAT... this is so. [the French ‘Je sais QUE’] This kind of knowledge is PROPOSITlONAL KNOWLEDGE. It consists of knowledge claims which, expressed in language, can be examined and tested for justification and truth.
· I KNOW THIS PERSON OR PLACE... [the French ‘je connais’] This kind of knowing is DIRECT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, whether of feelings or people or...
One standard definition of KNOWLEDGE is "justified true belief” - and includes ONLY propositional knowledge ("I know that..") It takes the form of claims that can be scrutinized publicly.
1. I believe that...": The claim is accepted, whether with mild indifference or passionateconviction. The strength of the emotion is not what makes a belief into knowledge. ‘Subjective Certainty is no guarantee of objective accuracy’
3. "My belief is true." In this definition of knowledge, the claim must be able to be tested for truth via correspondence, coherence, and pragmatic tests.
2. "My belief is justified.": in this definition of knowledge, only public forms of justification,such as evidence and reasoning, are accepted. The claim can't just be "true belief -sometimes just a lucky accident of guessing right!
"KNOWLEDGE" DOES NOT MEAN "ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY." OUR JUSTIFICATIONS AND TRUTH TESTS ARE NOT PERFECT.
There are many sources of knowledge - our parents, our schools, our religious leaders, our sports coaches and music teachers, our friends, others in our society, the media, our own experiences and thoughts:
Ways of Knowing
1. perception
(Our senses give us our observations about the natural world and people)
2. reasoning
(Our own thinking helps us to classify, generalize, and predict)
3. language
(Our language gives us the beliefs and knowledge of our speech community.)
4. emotion
(Our feelings give us self-knowledge and understanding of others.)
How do our ways of knowing lead us to "KNOWLEDGE"?
When you look at the 'things people know' as they are posted on the blog, you can analyse them in terms of these different meanings of the word 'know'. ENGLISH provides distinctions different from those made in many other languages, for example :
· “I KNOW ABOUT... [the French ‘je suis au courant de…’] many things which I do not believe. Information or data is important as justification for well-founded beliefs, but it is not itself KNOWLEDGE
· I KNOW HOW... ! [the French ‘je sais’] to swim, to cook, to use a computer, to get along with others, to think critically... This kind of knowing is SKILL, whether intellectual or practical:
· I KNOW THAT... this is so. [the French ‘Je sais QUE’] This kind of knowledge is PROPOSITlONAL KNOWLEDGE. It consists of knowledge claims which, expressed in language, can be examined and tested for justification and truth.
· I KNOW THIS PERSON OR PLACE... [the French ‘je connais’] This kind of knowing is DIRECT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, whether of feelings or people or...
One standard definition of KNOWLEDGE is "justified true belief” - and includes ONLY propositional knowledge ("I know that..") It takes the form of claims that can be scrutinized publicly.
1. I believe that...": The claim is accepted, whether with mild indifference or passionateconviction. The strength of the emotion is not what makes a belief into knowledge. ‘Subjective Certainty is no guarantee of objective accuracy’
3. "My belief is true." In this definition of knowledge, the claim must be able to be tested for truth via correspondence, coherence, and pragmatic tests.
2. "My belief is justified.": in this definition of knowledge, only public forms of justification,such as evidence and reasoning, are accepted. The claim can't just be "true belief -sometimes just a lucky accident of guessing right!
"KNOWLEDGE" DOES NOT MEAN "ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY." OUR JUSTIFICATIONS AND TRUTH TESTS ARE NOT PERFECT.
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