Thanks, TOK.

I’ve learned that basically all things in the world are different depending upon who you ask.  People’s experiences change and affect their perceptions, and perceptions are one of the ways that we determine what we know.  Therefore, we all may know different things about the world because we make different discoveries perceive them differently.  Similarly, we may be introduced to the same information, but because of our perceptions, we take different approaches to assess it and ultimately come to different conclusions.  Then how can we even know that what we think we know is true?

We can’t know.  It’s impossible to prove almost anything in the world to absolute certainty.  Even in sciences, where all paths lead to logical explanations, there is always a certain amount of uncertainty.  We think that the sky is blue because of the ozone layer and the way it refracts light from the sun, but the only reason we think this is because people predominantly see the sky as blue.  People who are colorblind might see the sky in a different color, but maybe they’re actually correct?  We tell them the sky is blue, therefore they might begin to doubt themselves.  But how can they doubt what they see with their own eyes?  It completely falsifies the statement, “I won’t believe it until I see it,” if you can’t even believe it when you do see it.  And so, I’ve also learned that I can’t be sure about anything that I think I know.  Especially history....who knows how stories changed, both because different primary sources will have different accounts of events, and because once word of mouth travels it’s bound to lose itself somewhere.

TOK has basically given me more of a reason to be a cynic.

Also, TOK hasn’t helped me accept emotions as a basis for decisions, but it’s helped me understand why and how people feel that they’re reasonable enough, and why certain people follow them more than reason.  Well....it kind of helped me learn that.  I’m still really distraught by illogical teenagers that act on a whim because of their emotions, but I’m starting to understand why they are like that.

Further, I’ve begun to understand the differences that languages create in perception.  Japanese is a much more eloquent language, where the way that they say things are based highly upon family and honor.  To them, our American language can sound rude, abrupt, brash, etc.  But we don’t mean to be that way, it’s just that the differences in our languages makes us perceive words and expressions differently.  Also, I can’t say I’ve never felt condescended when spoken to by a person with a European accent of some sort or other.  But, it’s just because we’re not used to it, and so we perceive it differently.

I’ve learned how knowledge is based upon interpretation, and therefore it’s almost impossible to know one universal truth, the reasons for emotionally based decisions and the effects of emotions on people, and the ways in which languages affect how we communicate.