Ib Tok Essay
TOK Essay – Final draft
By: Sakshi Khanna 13B
Word count: 1413 “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” – Christopher Hitchens. Do you agree?
“Seeing is believing.” Evidence can clarify doubts in certain areas of knowledge and can bring about conclusions. These assertions and dismissals can be driven by emotion and bias, while some individuals prefer to choose reason and logic over emotion in coming to asserting something, that is, they tend to assert something with concrete evidence. Therefore, this raises a question to whether opinions and arguments are subjective or objective, and what real-life situations, theories or historical events can support Hitchens’ quote. The question is interesting as in that it gives insight into what drives a person to assert something without evidence or dismiss it. While it is important to believe in one’s own principles about something, it is equally important to consider something that is supported by evidence. However, it finally depends on everyone’s perspective as he or she decides what should be asserted and what shouldn’t. What can be dismissed without evidence and who can dismiss this evidence? To what extent does perception matter in what should be asserted and what shouldn’t? There are a number of significant points that arise from Hitchens’ quote and can be answered by examples in AoKs though there is no certain answer at the end of it.
Theories are a combination of evidence and refutation. When individuals create theories, they either have empirical evidence or they are just stating their belief of something. For example, Russian psychologist Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky strongly believed that social interaction, culture and language play a significant role in a child’s cognitive development. While people may apply his theory to real life situations, many researchers disregard Vygotsky’s theory simply because there is a lack of empirical support for his ideas. This shows
By: Sakshi Khanna 13B
Word count: 1413 “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” – Christopher Hitchens. Do you agree?
“Seeing is believing.” Evidence can clarify doubts in certain areas of knowledge and can bring about conclusions. These assertions and dismissals can be driven by emotion and bias, while some individuals prefer to choose reason and logic over emotion in coming to asserting something, that is, they tend to assert something with concrete evidence. Therefore, this raises a question to whether opinions and arguments are subjective or objective, and what real-life situations, theories or historical events can support Hitchens’ quote. The question is interesting as in that it gives insight into what drives a person to assert something without evidence or dismiss it. While it is important to believe in one’s own principles about something, it is equally important to consider something that is supported by evidence. However, it finally depends on everyone’s perspective as he or she decides what should be asserted and what shouldn’t. What can be dismissed without evidence and who can dismiss this evidence? To what extent does perception matter in what should be asserted and what shouldn’t? There are a number of significant points that arise from Hitchens’ quote and can be answered by examples in AoKs though there is no certain answer at the end of it.
Theories are a combination of evidence and refutation. When individuals create theories, they either have empirical evidence or they are just stating their belief of something. For example, Russian psychologist Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky strongly believed that social interaction, culture and language play a significant role in a child’s cognitive development. While people may apply his theory to real life situations, many researchers disregard Vygotsky’s theory simply because there is a lack of empirical support for his ideas. This shows
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