SHARED KNOWLEDGE TOK LAJM

TASK Shared knowledge comes to us ’second hand’ from others Who should you trust? What kind of sources are trustworthy?

Some dangers with shared knowledge (1) Authority worship Uncritically accepting something as true simply because an authority says it is true

TASK Can you point situations where you have fallen into authority worship? When, if ever, would you be willing to trust the authority of other people rather than the evidence or your senses?

Some dangers with shared knowledge (2) Groupthink Phenomenon in which members of a group suppress their own dissent in the interest of group consensus

TASK Watch the video found in the link below concerning conformity and groupthink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds3-ljxTRvo Where have you encountered conformity and groupthink?

Some dangers with shared knowledge (3) Power distortion Vested interest: an ulterior motive for claiming that something is true or false E.g. governments may alter data about the state of military operations or economy

TASK ’Julian Assange Defends leaking Government Secrets’ How can knowledge be abused by those in power? Go online and find examples of power distortion that are related to knowledge

Some dangers with shared knowledge (4) Fragmentation Focusing more on the parts and not understanding the whole

TASK Try find ways to fight against fragmentation of knowledge How can you have breadth of knowledge in addition to depth of knowledge?

GROUP WORK What are the pros and the cons of shared knowledge? Form five groups Do the assignments designated by the teacher Compile a short presentation and prepare to present your conclusions to others

TASK And once again! Who should you trust? What criteria do we have for distinguishing more and less reliable sources?

CARS checklist

Summary

TASK What kind of knowledge questions can you create based on what you have learned from shared knowledge? Trustworthiness, authority, power, breadth and depth of knowledge etc.

Picture Sources Rock climbers <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140825135605-169269010-building-executive-trust-in-three-easy-steps> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Cartman <http://www.radioinsights.com/2015/08/nielsen-cartman-moment-respect-my-authority.html> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Speaker in front of a group <http://webmasterformat.com/blog/build-authority-site> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Groupthink 1 and 2 <http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/10/12/the-trouble-with-physics-another-branch-of-science-captured-by-groupthink/> Accessed 1st of September 2015.

Picture Sources Julian Assange 1 <http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jul/14/julian-assange-whistleblower-wikileaks> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Julian Assange 2 <http://hongkongreporting.com/2013/10/27/when-noble-ideals-collide/> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Aristotel quote <http://blog.audiocodes.com/webrtc-connectivity-solution-with-focus-on-quality-and-scale/> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Blackboard <http://www.sustainability.com/blog/what-s-the-big-idea#.VePuubSPftA> Accessed 1st of September 2015. Internet pipeline <http://click-accenture.com/monetising-big-data-information-age/#.VeQDbLSPftA> Accessed 1st of September 2015.

Picture Sources CARS checklist. van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 69 Summary of personal and shared knowledge. van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 53. Knowledge questions <https://tok-a-journey.wikispaces.com/Knowledge+Questions> Accessed 25th of September 2017.