Some channels of shared knowledge TOK

Internet Find two articles from the internet: one that you believe and one that you don’t. Give your reasons. What criteria would you use for distinguishing generally trustworthy websites from generally untrustworthy ones?

Internet Some possible problems with the internet – Lack of quality control – Superficiality – Filter bubbles: situations in which we surround ourselves with information that confirms our pre-existing knowledge

Cultural tradition How would you characterise your own cultural identity? According to research familiarity breeds fondness – How can this be seen in your cultural identity?

Cultural tradition Should we always try to preserve our cultural tradition? – What pros and cons lie in preserving our cultural traditions?

Cultural tradition Some possible problems with cultural traditions – Tradition can narrow peoples freedom – Tradition can distort truth in the form of false belief systems – Tradition can prevent progress and lead to stagnation

School Group work: design your ideal education programme with complete curriculum for students aged 15 to 19

School How does your ideal school compare to the IB programme and it’s curriculum?

School Some possible problems with education – Danger of indoctrination – Spurious balance: giving equal weight to both sides of alleged controversy when the evidence strongly suggests that one side is wrong

Experts When should we trust experts? – Credentials? – Evidence? – Corroboration? – Track Record? – Neutrality?

Experts Richard Feynman (1918–1988): – ’I believe that a scientist looking at non-scientific problem is just as dumb as the next guy’

The news media Compare and contrast the way two or three different newspapers cover a major news story How easy is it to distinguish between fact and opinion in order to establish the truth?

The news media Some possible problems with the news media – (1) Agenda setting: which stories are selected and considered important? – (2) Framing: how the selected stories are treated and presented?

The news media Sensationalism bias: tendency to focus on sensational news stories Bad news bias: tendency to focus on bad news rather than good news National bias: tendency to view global events through national interest

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

CARS checklist

Picture Sources Turkey-4592.html data-information-age/#.VeQDbLSPftA all-identities-come-with-privilege/

Picture Sources all-identities-come-with-privilege/ clip-art-photo-and-pictures.html eliminate-fair-balance-on-dtc-ads/fda/

Picture Sources workshops/ 22-richard-feynman-is-still-awesome the-agenda-of-the-not-so-special-tustin-city- council-meeting-may /

Picture Sources /episode-21-part-2-dougs-big- news building-executive-trust-in- three-easy-steps van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 69