1. Shared Knowledge
TOK

2. TASK Shared knowledge comes to us ’second hand’ from other people
Who should you trust?

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

4. 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?

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

6. TASK
Watch the video found in the link below concerning conformity and groupthink
Where have you encountered conformity and groupthink?

7. 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

8. TASK ’Julian Assange Defends leaking Government Secrets’
How can knowledge be abused by those in power?

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

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

11. Summary

12. Picture Sources

13. Picture Sources

14. Picture Sources
van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 53