TOK
“There are only two ways that humankind can produce knowledge: through passive observation or through active experiment” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
To begin with, we need to specially define several key words in the statement. From my point of view, “produce knowledge” means the creation of new knowledge, including both personal knowledge and shared knowledge; “passive observation” refers to accepting and perceiving the incidences happened without active response; “active experiment” represents engaging in a scientific process to test a hypothesis or make a discovery. Therefore, the question is asking us to discuss whether passive and active learning through scientific method are the only ways to produce knowledge.
From my point of view, I partially agree with the statement since these two methods do produce knowledge, but other ways may also play a similar role. The knowledge questions I would like to address in this essay are “ Are there other ways to produce knowledge in addition to active experiment and passive observation?” and “How important is passive observation and active experiment to the production of knowledge?” In the following paragraphs, I will connect these knowledge questions with different ways of knowing and areas of knowledge.
First of all, admittedly, sense perception is one way of knowing that adopts both active and passive learning. Basically, there are two main models of human sensory perception, in which one of them is “top down” constructivism and another one is “bottom-up” direct ecological model. On one hand, the former one, to some extent, refers to active experiment since a more voluntary confessant engagement exists in the perceptual process. Specifically, top-down processing is the development of pattern recognition through the use of contextual information1. For example, when we need to read a paper in bad handwriting, it is easier for us to comprehend the idea of the paper if we read the entire paper,
To begin with, we need to specially define several key words in the statement. From my point of view, “produce knowledge” means the creation of new knowledge, including both personal knowledge and shared knowledge; “passive observation” refers to accepting and perceiving the incidences happened without active response; “active experiment” represents engaging in a scientific process to test a hypothesis or make a discovery. Therefore, the question is asking us to discuss whether passive and active learning through scientific method are the only ways to produce knowledge.
From my point of view, I partially agree with the statement since these two methods do produce knowledge, but other ways may also play a similar role. The knowledge questions I would like to address in this essay are “ Are there other ways to produce knowledge in addition to active experiment and passive observation?” and “How important is passive observation and active experiment to the production of knowledge?” In the following paragraphs, I will connect these knowledge questions with different ways of knowing and areas of knowledge.
First of all, admittedly, sense perception is one way of knowing that adopts both active and passive learning. Basically, there are two main models of human sensory perception, in which one of them is “top down” constructivism and another one is “bottom-up” direct ecological model. On one hand, the former one, to some extent, refers to active experiment since a more voluntary confessant engagement exists in the perceptual process. Specifically, top-down processing is the development of pattern recognition through the use of contextual information1. For example, when we need to read a paper in bad handwriting, it is easier for us to comprehend the idea of the paper if we read the entire paper,
References: "Top-Down VS Bottom-Up Processing." Top-Down VS Bottom-Up Processing. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <https://explorable.com/top-down-vs-bottom-up-processing>. "James-Lange Theory of Emotion." James-Lange Theory of Emotion. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/james_lange_emotion.htm>. "AS Psychology." AS Psychology. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.holah.karoo.net/schachter.htm>.