I think that emotions are something that we learn. Emotions cannot be a biological part of us because if it is, we would all be the same, there would be no difference between everyone and we wouldn't be who we are.
A little girl at the age of 3 needed to go to the toilet at night, still awake as she only went into bed not long ago. She couldn't reach the switch and went in the dark. Having not been taught or experiences anything bad yet or seen horror movies or thrillers, she didn't have these haunting visions in her memory to scare her so she didn't feel scared or feared the dark.
A major percentage of the world are scared of the dark, and a main contribution to this are the fantasies we've been taught. The media nowadays are a major influence and this includes horror movies and thrillers. A human's brain processes this and under a simliar circumstance, we tend to remember this and fear it. This emotion cannot be "biological". It is learned. Although the reaction of it is linked to biological factors, the emotion itself isn't. Without being taught the scary things, it would be very hard, but not necessarily impossible to feel fear.
Fear could also be of losing a person, losing a game or even phobias. Fear of losing a person and a game is 'cause of what experiences you've been through and learnt from them. A phobia is due to extreme experiences we've had before which we don't necessarily remember therefore with this shadow in our memories, it could develop into a phobia. Yes, this is biologically related but without learning from the experience, the phobia itself wouldn't have developed.
Although I've only given examples of one emotion, I still strongly believe that emotions are gained from learning and experiences rather than biologically. I mean, how would you explain that the little girl wasn't scared due to biological reasons? I know for a fact that the brother of the girl is scared of the dark being 10 already. It's definately not biological. Emotions are learned.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Emotion - Robert Win
I believe that we are born with the basic emotions which allow us to communicate our feelings to other people from the start, but we gradually learn new emotions as we mature and develop the basic ones. An example would be that a baby would cry when he/she is hungry and uncomfortable, or after being told off by their parents, which is the expression of the emotion of sadness. These emotions are then developed as we grow older, from our experiences and education as well as our general environment. Evidence to support this is that everyone is psychologically unique, as no two people are able to think, feel, do, say the exact same things, all at the same time.
We are born like a memory stick, a blank piece of hardware with only the basics installed. As we mature and increase in experience, the memory stick gains more and more data, the data being anything we absorb during our lives experiences, including emotions, giving us a wider range and variety of emotions to feel or to choose from. Each memory stick would also gain different data in different orders to other memory sticks, making each one unique.
We are born like a memory stick, a blank piece of hardware with only the basics installed. As we mature and increase in experience, the memory stick gains more and more data, the data being anything we absorb during our lives experiences, including emotions, giving us a wider range and variety of emotions to feel or to choose from. Each memory stick would also gain different data in different orders to other memory sticks, making each one unique.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Emotion- Ming
Emotions are innate. From the very day we were born, we would weep and feel sad when we were hungry, sick, uncomfortable. We would feel happy, when our parents play with us, watch TV, amused by objects or beings. We smile and laugh, since when we were babies.
However, when we grow up, mature, we learn other feelings of this society, like guilt, ashamed, disgusted of what we have done. This can only be known when we have something to compare to, what is good or bad to do. Also, many of these emotions, we learn how to express them more effectively. Example, when we're sad, we do not only cry, but invent ways expressing our feelings, this maybe singing, become silent, speechless and even stoned. Of course, we can learn not to show our emotions, for example not to shout, scream, tremble when we are scared. . Therefore, emotions are innate, but some are learnt from other people and how to filter and express their emotions.
However, when we grow up, mature, we learn other feelings of this society, like guilt, ashamed, disgusted of what we have done. This can only be known when we have something to compare to, what is good or bad to do. Also, many of these emotions, we learn how to express them more effectively. Example, when we're sad, we do not only cry, but invent ways expressing our feelings, this maybe singing, become silent, speechless and even stoned. Of course, we can learn not to show our emotions, for example not to shout, scream, tremble when we are scared. . Therefore, emotions are innate, but some are learnt from other people and how to filter and express their emotions.
Emotions: ZOHA
Some may argue that emotions are in us from birth. Hence, they believe that expressing emotion is a completely biological process. If emotions are something we feel inside shouldn’t this be related to something un-physical? If one is saying that emotions are innate then we’re simply interpreting how we feel as psycho-chemical reactions in our brain.
Therefore “love” should be our reaction to hormones, and “fear” is just the result of high blood pressure and the release of adrenaline into the blood. It has been argued that if emotions weren’t innate how could a baby cry at birth.
The crying of a baby at birth isn’t an expression of “sadness” whatsoever but a reflex action. A baby doesn’t learn to cry due to “sadness’ or ‘anger’ until a certain age where he/she acquires that emotion. Before this, the act of crying is an exercise of vocal cords and the means of communication, a baby may cry because it’s hungry or thirty are these emotions? If one placed a nervous system into a robot who could then express laughter, crying, fear, sadness one would then have to support the idea that the robot is human.
Emotions are what makes us human and distinguishes us from animals. We don’t see a crying dog, or a laughing cat even though they have a nervous system too. Sure, one may argue that they express their emotions in another manner but it is scientifically proven for now that animals don’t have emotions. Therefore I would have to say that emotions are something we learn through experience and the environment.. As we get older we forget the last time we did something for the first time. For example if you’ve never touched snow would you know what it feels like?
Therefore “love” should be our reaction to hormones, and “fear” is just the result of high blood pressure and the release of adrenaline into the blood. It has been argued that if emotions weren’t innate how could a baby cry at birth.
The crying of a baby at birth isn’t an expression of “sadness” whatsoever but a reflex action. A baby doesn’t learn to cry due to “sadness’ or ‘anger’ until a certain age where he/she acquires that emotion. Before this, the act of crying is an exercise of vocal cords and the means of communication, a baby may cry because it’s hungry or thirty are these emotions? If one placed a nervous system into a robot who could then express laughter, crying, fear, sadness one would then have to support the idea that the robot is human.
Emotions are what makes us human and distinguishes us from animals. We don’t see a crying dog, or a laughing cat even though they have a nervous system too. Sure, one may argue that they express their emotions in another manner but it is scientifically proven for now that animals don’t have emotions. Therefore I would have to say that emotions are something we learn through experience and the environment.. As we get older we forget the last time we did something for the first time. For example if you’ve never touched snow would you know what it feels like?
Monday, December 17, 2007
Emotion: Yixia Gu
Emotion, I believe is something that a human is equipped with, and can be expressed from birth. Take a neonate for example: it greets the unfamiliar and quite intimidating world with a cry- an obvious emotion which also functions as a biological check to see if the vocal chords are is working properly. The baby had already knows how to cry without the influence of the environment. Many emotions also involve the brain triggering a response, as in the response to anger or sadness. In addition, certain parts of the limbic structure such as the Amygdala is responsible for production of negative, fear emotions, whilst the Insula is important in producing feelings of disgust, which contribute the notion that emotions are innate and biological.
Nevertheless, as we grow and learn from others around us, we begin to imitate different emotions and thus are shaped by the surrounding environment. According to the Social learning theory, we are incipient of the emotions modeled by people we come in contact with so we reproduce them, and this is also the time when we ‘acquire’ new emotions such as anxiety in precarious situations, and embarrassment when we do something out of the social norm.
Thus, the emotions we have are through a mixture of what our body is programmed with and also through the way were nurtured and other environmental factors.
Emotion: Chloe Chan
I think we learn the physical side of emotions from observing models but we have innate emotions. I think that the common idea that people who have never experienced sadness and therefore will never be sad is untrue. I believe all individuals will feel sad in some point in their life, but they either don’t know how to express it or they don’t recognize the feeling as sadness.
In more detail, emotions such as sadness are learned in the way that we can see emotions expressed physically and therefore we can imitate and express sadness ourselves. But in order to be able to express our emotions we must be able to relate it to the right physical expression. This is where the structure and wiring of the brain also comes in. Perhaps one brain maybe more able to relate to a certain emotion than another. Therefore, if someone has a growing tumor in an area of the brain that is supposedly responsible for a certain emotion, the emotion will become disordered.
In more detail, emotions such as sadness are learned in the way that we can see emotions expressed physically and therefore we can imitate and express sadness ourselves. But in order to be able to express our emotions we must be able to relate it to the right physical expression. This is where the structure and wiring of the brain also comes in. Perhaps one brain maybe more able to relate to a certain emotion than another. Therefore, if someone has a growing tumor in an area of the brain that is supposedly responsible for a certain emotion, the emotion will become disordered.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
WoK#4 - Emotion - Hey Tou Chiu
Responding to the ‘nature-nurture’ question, I believe that our emotions are both learned and in us from birth (innate). I think that emotions are within us when we are born, however when we express these emotions i.e in what situation, are learnt socially. I read Jason’s post, and I find myself agreeing with him. The fact that new born babies cry when they leave their mother’s womb is strong evidence to support how emotions are within us. The child has no environmental influence and yet, they show emotions right from the beginning of their life.
However, why do we show certain emotions in certain situations? Why do we smile when we are happy? Why do we cry when we are sad? We learn to do this through the environment we are in, and the people around us. In psychology, this is referred to as ‘Social Learning’. Albert Bandura claimed that our behaviour is learnt and that we first observe a model, and then we imitate them. So for example, a child may see her mother breaking her favourite plate and sees her mother starting to cry. The child would then understand that her mother is sad because she has lost something she treasures a lot. The child will therefore also cry in the same situation i.e when the child is unhappy or sad. This example shows how the child learns when to cry - when the child experiences something unpleasant or feels unhappy.
I think that the way we acquire emotions is something that cannot be explained by only one side of the ‘nature-nurture’ questions. Our emotions are related to the environment and are also in-born.
However, why do we show certain emotions in certain situations? Why do we smile when we are happy? Why do we cry when we are sad? We learn to do this through the environment we are in, and the people around us. In psychology, this is referred to as ‘Social Learning’. Albert Bandura claimed that our behaviour is learnt and that we first observe a model, and then we imitate them. So for example, a child may see her mother breaking her favourite plate and sees her mother starting to cry. The child would then understand that her mother is sad because she has lost something she treasures a lot. The child will therefore also cry in the same situation i.e when the child is unhappy or sad. This example shows how the child learns when to cry - when the child experiences something unpleasant or feels unhappy.
I think that the way we acquire emotions is something that cannot be explained by only one side of the ‘nature-nurture’ questions. Our emotions are related to the environment and are also in-born.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
WoK 4: Emotion - Jason
In response to the 'nature-nurture' question. I believe that our emotions are both innate and learnt through experience. We'll take an example, a new born baby. When babies are first delivered from their mother's womb, they will usually be crying because they are uncomfortable (sadness). From the fact that they were just delivered from their mother's womb, there were no nurturing in the process. This suggests that some emotion such as sadness is innate(rationalism).
New born babies cry when they are hungry or uncomfortable. My brother showed happiness, sadness and joy in his first few years. He cried when he was hungry or uncomfortable. As he grew up, I notice that he began to show other emotions such as anger and fear and learned how to use those emotions that he showed from his early age. Now, he does not cry when he is hungry or when he feels uncomfort. With nurturing from the day he was born, he was able to learn how to use emotions. This suggests that emotions are also learnt through experience(empiricism).
Immanuel Kant once said, "Intuitions without concepts are blind, concepts without intuitions are empty".This basically means that you cannot grasp the truth without using both experience and intuition. How this quote can help support my view is that without nurture, you would not be able to learn how to use your innate abilities; and without innate abilities, experience itself alone would be nothing.
New born babies cry when they are hungry or uncomfortable. My brother showed happiness, sadness and joy in his first few years. He cried when he was hungry or uncomfortable. As he grew up, I notice that he began to show other emotions such as anger and fear and learned how to use those emotions that he showed from his early age. Now, he does not cry when he is hungry or when he feels uncomfort. With nurturing from the day he was born, he was able to learn how to use emotions. This suggests that emotions are also learnt through experience(empiricism).
Immanuel Kant once said, "Intuitions without concepts are blind, concepts without intuitions are empty".This basically means that you cannot grasp the truth without using both experience and intuition. How this quote can help support my view is that without nurture, you would not be able to learn how to use your innate abilities; and without innate abilities, experience itself alone would be nothing.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Emotion
I think that we are born with emotion and its not something you can actually control for example outbursts, they just happen you cant "learn to have an outburst", that just sounds ridiculous. I do agree that our emotions are deep within us and our life experiences bring them out of us all differently maybe even depending on the people around us. I also think emotion is very vital for us to have because without it life would be pretty blunt and boring and I also believe certain people only fit in with certain other people because of simularities in their emotional personalities and types.
Alyssa
Alyssa
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Norbert - WoK Emotion
To expression our emotions, i.e. whether we are happy or sad, we look at others, and ‘copy’ how they express their emotions. It is scientifically proven that people often copy what others do, then act the way others do appropriately. However, how we feel (our emotions) are felt deep within us, and that is affected by our upbringing and experience. This is why parents are very important to a child’s upbringing. Parents guide them on how the child should think, and how to FILTER the physical raw data we are given everyday. It could also be innate. When you see a situation, everyone reacts differently, regardless of your upbringing and experience, and has different feelings and emotions. This could be different depending on your genetic layout.
WoK3: Emotion
In our first lesson, we operationalised a working definition of emotion -- i.e "reactions or responses related to sense perceptions, internal states, thoughts, or beliefs about things or people, real or imagined" (Dombrowski et al., 2007: 50) -- by
- responding to the viewing of Aerosmith ('Sweet Emotion') and MadTV (Tickle me Elmo/Emo); and
- exploring the physical sensations we experienced in response to 'core' or 'basic' emotions identified by behavioural psychologists Paul Ekman and Robert Plutchik: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, curiosity, acceptance and joy.
Alchin (2006: 102) notes that emotions can be:
- either instinctive (e.g. anger, love)
- or social (e.g. guilt, shame); and
- either inward-looking (e.g. fear) -- i.e. 'drawn into ourselves'
- or outward-looking (e.g. wonder) -- i.e. drawn 'out of ourselves'.
Problematising our initial responses and explorations, we then used a BBC article (Generosity 'may be in the genes') to consider the 'nurture-nature' guiding question: Are emotions learned (i.e. acquired through interactions with the environment and others) or innate (i.e. genetic and pre-programmed into us at/from birth)?
Building on this first lesson's classwork, you are now to blog a one-paragraph:
- post that responds to the 'nurture-nature' guiding question -- Do you believe that emotions are learned or in us from birth? What evidence can you offer to support your claims? Be sure to craft your paragraph so that it includes a connected series of statements intended to establish your position... convince us through evidence and inductive/deductive reasoning; and
- comment to someone else's post that either supports or challenges their claims/conclusions (and, of course, explains why or why not).
Please post your response by Monday, 17 December; your comment to someone else's post by Wednesday, 19 December; and use your first name in your post's title.
If you so feel inspired and want to learn more about your own 'emotional intelligence', then consider completing the on-line EQ test and reflecting on the results. It's free to do and receive the abridged results.
References
Alchin, N. (2006). Theory of knowledge (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Murray.
Dombrowski, E., Rotenberg, L. & M. Bick (2007). Theory of knowledge: Course companion. Oxford: OUP.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
WoK3 Puzzles #1 & #4 - Robert Win
Puzzle #1: The man who lives on the tenth floor of the building is short, too short to reach the 10th floor button in the elevator, that is why he when he returns to his apartment, he presses the button of the highest floor button he can reach (seventh floor) and then walks from that floor. He is able to take the elevator all the way down from his tenth floor apartment because the ground floor button is at the very bottom, which he is able to reach.
Puzzle#4: The man in the snorkeling kit was swimming in the nearest lake, when a fire fighting helicopter came and swooped some water from the lake along with the man who was snorkeling, to place it on the forest fire. The water (and the snorkeler) were dropped onto the forest fire. The man was killed sometime during the event, either by drowning, or by falling from a height.
Puzzle#4: The man in the snorkeling kit was swimming in the nearest lake, when a fire fighting helicopter came and swooped some water from the lake along with the man who was snorkeling, to place it on the forest fire. The water (and the snorkeler) were dropped onto the forest fire. The man was killed sometime during the event, either by drowning, or by falling from a height.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
WoK : Reason - Jason
Puzzle #1:
The text never told us that he took the elevator from the 10th floor. So i assume that the elevator only goes up to 7 floors.
Puzzle #5:
As there Cleopatra and Mark Anthony was not poisoned, and there were no mark on either of the bodies. I assume they died from starvation, the broken bowl signifies that there was nothing to eat.
The text never told us that he took the elevator from the 10th floor. So i assume that the elevator only goes up to 7 floors.
Puzzle #5:
As there Cleopatra and Mark Anthony was not poisoned, and there were no mark on either of the bodies. I assume they died from starvation, the broken bowl signifies that there was nothing to eat.
Puzzles
Puzzle #3: Looking at the situation, it seems to have died without anything else interfering. An explanation would be the package fell out of a cargo aeroplane and hitting the man on the head unluckily. Another one might be, he went to the field to suicide, and the unopened package was for his and family and friends to look at when they found out what happened.
Puzzle #4: It seems impossible for a deep sea diver to have died in a forest. It must be a very odd occasion to have a deep sea diver, or rescuer to have accidentally fallen out of a helicopter when travelling to its destination. Another explanation might be he got scooped up from the sea when water is needed for saving bush fire. Ultimately leading to him falling and dying in the forest.
Puzzle #4: It seems impossible for a deep sea diver to have died in a forest. It must be a very odd occasion to have a deep sea diver, or rescuer to have accidentally fallen out of a helicopter when travelling to its destination. Another explanation might be he got scooped up from the sea when water is needed for saving bush fire. Ultimately leading to him falling and dying in the forest.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Puzzles.
I found it very difficult to anaylze and try to understand these puzzles although i am happy to say i had a go.
Puzzle 1 and 2.
Puzzle 1 - I think the man was a short man, so as he went down he could press ground floor button but when he went up the 10th floor button is very high in the lift so he cannot reach.
Puzzle 2- This could be because the man through a rope over and had someone pulling him up therefore he could hang himself.
Cole Pamuk
Puzzle 1 and 2.
Puzzle 1 - I think the man was a short man, so as he went down he could press ground floor button but when he went up the 10th floor button is very high in the lift so he cannot reach.
Puzzle 2- This could be because the man through a rope over and had someone pulling him up therefore he could hang himself.
Cole Pamuk
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Norbert-Reason (1 and 5)
Frankly, I am absolutely hopeless, but I will try my best to attempt to solve these puzzles. To me they are sort of tricks. There are many different answers, and you may argue that there’s more to it.
I think I know the answer to the 5th puzzle. I think A and C have both drank the contents that was originally in the bowl; they could have thought it is some sort of medicine, but in fact it is poison. They drank it, they faint, they drop the bowl, they drop, and they die.
The answer to number 1 I think is that he isn’t tall enough to reach to 10th floor button in the lift. So when he leaves, he needs to press the ground floor button, which is usually at the bottom. When he returns, he tries to reach for 10, but could only manage 7.
As you might be able to see, I wasn’t sure whether I solved them correctly. But I gave out reasons, to why I think my answer is correct, and hoping you will be persuaded that my answer is correct.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
WoK3: Puzzle #5
Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die?
WoK3: Puzzle #4
Deep in the forest was found the body of a man who was wearing only swimming trunks, snorkel and face mask. The nearest lake was eight miles away and the sea was 100 miles away. How did he die?
WoK3: Puzzle #3
A man is lying dead in a field. Next to him there is an unopened package. There is no other creature in the field. How did he die?
WoK3: Puzzle #2
Not far from Madrid, there is a large wooden barn. The barn is completely empty except for a dead man hanging from the middle of the central rafter. The rope around his neck is ten feet long and his feet are three feet off the ground. The nearest wall is twenty feet away from the man. It is not possible to climb up the walls or along the rafters. The man hanged himself. How did he do it?
WoK3: Puzzle #1
A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to go to work or go shopping. When he returns, he takes the elevator to the seventh floor and walks the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He hates walking so why does he do it?
Friday, November 30, 2007
WoK3: Reason
Rationalism comes from the Latin ratio, meaning 'reason'. While our sense perception, language, and emotion provide us with some valid ways of knowing, each has their limitations. As a result, philosophers often turn to reason as a rational attempt to find logically persuasive ways of knowing. Rationalists, in fact, believe that reason plays the main role in understanding the world and obtaining knowledge -- and they seek to prove their ‘knowledge’ through reasoned arguments.
From our viewing of Monty Python's 'Argument Clinic', we learned that an argument:
- is an intellectual process;
- is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition; and
- involves supporting claims and judging those of others.
In short, an argument = a set of statements which is such that one of them (the conclusion) is supported or implied by the others (the premise). In lesson 2, we will explore the two main types of arguments –- i.e. deductive and inductive.
In preparation for next lesson, I would like you to attempt the puzzles #1-#5. To do so successfully, you will be testing your lateral thinking skills – i.e. solving problems by employing unorthodox and apparently illogical means, so that the usual thinking patterns are challenged and restructured.
Please have a go at least two of the five puzzles above... and post your solution as a comment to your attempted puzzles by Tuesday, December 4th.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Romeo & Juliet -- Cole
1.
The two families of Romeo and Juliet, are sworn enemies, therefore, it is forbidden that Romeo and Juliet are together, So Romeo decides to hide outside Juliets window in the hedges as he overhears Juliet confessing her love for Romeo and how she wishes He could change his name so that it would be okay for them, surprisingly he agrees to this.
We can relate this to our lesson on what language is because although this play was written a very long time ago, all the same purposes were intended, they are trying to express themselves and we all use language to communicate and express ourselves and our thoughts and feelings and this is exactly what they are doing. We know our language and the way we speak it is dependant on our culture and hthis is why the passage has different way of being spoken and language has changed to create more moderness or simplicity.
As we know, language is a skill, words are tools of the skills, since we know our mother tongue language comes from our culture etc, we know how to speak it but nevr ponde the question why? why? why is a dog called a dog?, Why is a horse called a horse? Why dont we change it, and what does it mean, and where does it come from? This is the exact problem, we all use words to communicate but the six billion and more of us in the world all speak different languages due to our cultures which creates many complications due to our communicative sustainability. Therefore we need to try to influence the new people in this world to speak a union, a universal language.
Cole Pamuk 6U1
The two families of Romeo and Juliet, are sworn enemies, therefore, it is forbidden that Romeo and Juliet are together, So Romeo decides to hide outside Juliets window in the hedges as he overhears Juliet confessing her love for Romeo and how she wishes He could change his name so that it would be okay for them, surprisingly he agrees to this.
We can relate this to our lesson on what language is because although this play was written a very long time ago, all the same purposes were intended, they are trying to express themselves and we all use language to communicate and express ourselves and our thoughts and feelings and this is exactly what they are doing. We know our language and the way we speak it is dependant on our culture and hthis is why the passage has different way of being spoken and language has changed to create more moderness or simplicity.
As we know, language is a skill, words are tools of the skills, since we know our mother tongue language comes from our culture etc, we know how to speak it but nevr ponde the question why? why? why is a dog called a dog?, Why is a horse called a horse? Why dont we change it, and what does it mean, and where does it come from? This is the exact problem, we all use words to communicate but the six billion and more of us in the world all speak different languages due to our cultures which creates many complications due to our communicative sustainability. Therefore we need to try to influence the new people in this world to speak a union, a universal language.
Cole Pamuk 6U1
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Romeo & Juliet -- Karriena
1.Retell in one or two sentences what's going on, in terms of the central issue for Juliet and what Romeo is prepared to do.
Well basically just before this scene Romeo and Juliet met at a party hosted by the Capulets which is Juliets family. They meet on the bases of complete strangers until the end of the party where they find out that they arent allowed to be together because both their families have had a history and they dont get along. But as Romeo and Juliet realise that what they have is something special, Romeo finds his way back to Juliets house after the party, whilst Juliet is thinking about her situation with Romeo. She realises that this is true love and nothing should get in the way of it.
2. Relate this passage to our introductory class activities/discussion on language.
In this passage Juliet says What's Montague? its nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part, Blonging to a man" this relates to what we are studying which is language because Juliet is implying that Montague is just a name it doesnt change the way it is same if you change the name of the rose it will still smell sweet. We have discuss the language is a main element in our lives because it helps with communication, creates who you are, for entertainment, gives your perspective on the world, emotions, relationships, sign language/body language. In my opinion without language there would be no point on living because without these elements of the language you wouldnt know who you are and you wouldnt be able to communicate with anyone or wouldnt be able to do anything in life.
3.Reflects what its taught you about 'language' and 'words', in particular.
From this scene it has taught me that things are the way they are and to put a name infront of it doesnt change the object or person. This also ties in with some of the points made above.
By: Karriena s Wadwani
Well basically just before this scene Romeo and Juliet met at a party hosted by the Capulets which is Juliets family. They meet on the bases of complete strangers until the end of the party where they find out that they arent allowed to be together because both their families have had a history and they dont get along. But as Romeo and Juliet realise that what they have is something special, Romeo finds his way back to Juliets house after the party, whilst Juliet is thinking about her situation with Romeo. She realises that this is true love and nothing should get in the way of it.
2. Relate this passage to our introductory class activities/discussion on language.
In this passage Juliet says What's Montague? its nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part, Blonging to a man" this relates to what we are studying which is language because Juliet is implying that Montague is just a name it doesnt change the way it is same if you change the name of the rose it will still smell sweet. We have discuss the language is a main element in our lives because it helps with communication, creates who you are, for entertainment, gives your perspective on the world, emotions, relationships, sign language/body language. In my opinion without language there would be no point on living because without these elements of the language you wouldnt know who you are and you wouldnt be able to communicate with anyone or wouldnt be able to do anything in life.
3.Reflects what its taught you about 'language' and 'words', in particular.
From this scene it has taught me that things are the way they are and to put a name infront of it doesnt change the object or person. This also ties in with some of the points made above.
By: Karriena s Wadwani
Romeo and Juliet - Jason
This is the scene after the capulet mansion party, where Romeo sneaked into the Capulet's orchard trying to see Juliet again. It started of with Juliet's monologue, describing her frustrations and fear that she can never see Romeo again because he is a Montague and she is a Capulet. When Romeo interupted Juliet, he said he is willing to drop his 'Montague' title in order for them to be together.
The Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet is written nearly 6 centuries ago. So it can be understood why the english it uses is so different from the english we use today. When Mrjabal first shown us the scene from the 'Modern' movie version which i didnt understand clearly at first. After reading it several times, it does kind of resemble to 'modern english'. It is still 'english' but the changes are significant. I think it is partly because societies and enviroments are becoming more civilised which lead to people change in style and world.
Language is used for communication and expressing our emotions in a society. Culture is the key reason why we have different mother tongue and first language. Our background and external influence also has an effect on how you communicate through language.
The Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet is written nearly 6 centuries ago. So it can be understood why the english it uses is so different from the english we use today. When Mrjabal first shown us the scene from the 'Modern' movie version which i didnt understand clearly at first. After reading it several times, it does kind of resemble to 'modern english'. It is still 'english' but the changes are significant. I think it is partly because societies and enviroments are becoming more civilised which lead to people change in style and world.
Language is used for communication and expressing our emotions in a society. Culture is the key reason why we have different mother tongue and first language. Our background and external influence also has an effect on how you communicate through language.
William Wong : Romeo and Juliet, ACTII, SCENE II
Scene II of the second act in one of Shakesphere's most famous plays is set in the Capulet orchard. Romeo has sneaked in and is waiting under Juliet's window hoping to see her. Juliet goes out onto the balcony and, thinking she is alone, speaks. While proclaiming her love, she wishes Romeo was not a Montague and that she was not a Capulet, “What’s Montague? It is not hand, nor foot nor arm nor face, nor any other body part … So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d retain that dear perfection which he owes” Romeo then speaks out and agrees to change his name for her. Juliet is surprised and is worried that he will be discovered. However Romeo does not care and longs to stay longer but time is running out. The couple then agrees to marriage.
In this scene, Juliet wonders what a word is. However I believe that a word is a tool to communicate ideas and expressions. A group of people should have to know what a word sounds like, how it is written and what it means to able to communicate with each other. It is possible to have an established word mean something else then what it is. For example, a stone does not have to be defined as the hard substance, formed of mineral matter and can mean a pen. This is why it is possible to have different languages. A language is simply a set of words and can even include gestures made with our hands.
During the Stone Age is when scientists think Homo sapiens were first developing language and because of many factors, humans have travelled and lived in different areas across the world creating several different communities. As these communities developed and evolution taking place, the difference between humans has become greater. Different sets of words, language, have been created. This allowed us our civilization and societies to become ever some complex. Humans until recently have been thought to be the only animal to communicate with languages. This is perhaps why humans by far have the most advanced civilization.
In this scene, Juliet wonders what a word is. However I believe that a word is a tool to communicate ideas and expressions. A group of people should have to know what a word sounds like, how it is written and what it means to able to communicate with each other. It is possible to have an established word mean something else then what it is. For example, a stone does not have to be defined as the hard substance, formed of mineral matter and can mean a pen. This is why it is possible to have different languages. A language is simply a set of words and can even include gestures made with our hands.
During the Stone Age is when scientists think Homo sapiens were first developing language and because of many factors, humans have travelled and lived in different areas across the world creating several different communities. As these communities developed and evolution taking place, the difference between humans has become greater. Different sets of words, language, have been created. This allowed us our civilization and societies to become ever some complex. Humans until recently have been thought to be the only animal to communicate with languages. This is perhaps why humans by far have the most advanced civilization.
Romeo And Juliet - Ming
In the Scene, Juliet stands on her balcony talking to herself. Then Romeo comes along, hiding listening to what she is saying. Juliet loves Romeo, but because of their family issues they cannot be together. Juliet thinks family name is not important, and Romeo could be called anything but still be the Romeo she loves.
When Juliet said "What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" I think she means no matter what name we give something it would still be the thing that it originally is. Rose is just a code name we give for a flower, and we relate to that "name"to the object as though they are one. When the name does not really matter of what the thing is. So what is the purpose of a name? Do we turn to someone else with another name?
Also, I cannot imagine people speaking like how Romeo and Juliet did in real life. Ignoring how they use metaphors frequently and how emotional they would get. Maybe this is because the age of the play, maybe they did speak like this at Shakespeare's age. But the english language sure had evolved. As I had still remember, someone telling me the word "Silly" meant serious instead of the meaning we have nowadays, which is quite a big difference.
When Juliet said "What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" I think she means no matter what name we give something it would still be the thing that it originally is. Rose is just a code name we give for a flower, and we relate to that "name"to the object as though they are one. When the name does not really matter of what the thing is. So what is the purpose of a name? Do we turn to someone else with another name?
Also, I cannot imagine people speaking like how Romeo and Juliet did in real life. Ignoring how they use metaphors frequently and how emotional they would get. Maybe this is because the age of the play, maybe they did speak like this at Shakespeare's age. But the english language sure had evolved. As I had still remember, someone telling me the word "Silly" meant serious instead of the meaning we have nowadays, which is quite a big difference.
Zoha Jamil- Act 2 Romeo and Juliet
In Act II, Scene ii of Romeo and Juliet, we meet with the scenario of Juliet at her balcony at night reminiscing about her encounter with Romeo. She expresses her frustration towards the fact that the family rivalry between the Montague and Capulet will result as an obstruction between her relationship with Romeo. Below, at Juliet’s orchard garden hides Romeo. Secretly listening to her words and only hoping himself to give up his family name so that he could freely be with Juliet.
As concluded through our class discussions there were various opinions about the significance and importance of different words and languages. From this scene we can deduce that Shakespeare has used emotive English language in an attempt to create an impact on the audience and to help convey the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
This highlighting how language can be used to show an expression or perhaps even a physical feeling.
Reflecting on this passage one can gather how the use and significance of language connotes a meaning. For example the fact this scene utilizes olden day lexis such as “thy” or “thou” helps the reader or viewers know about the setting and period of time one is making reference to this implying to where, and when.
Shakespeare has taught me how language and words are used as a tool to expresses or convey across not only human feelings but to communicate basically anything.
As concluded through our class discussions there were various opinions about the significance and importance of different words and languages. From this scene we can deduce that Shakespeare has used emotive English language in an attempt to create an impact on the audience and to help convey the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
This highlighting how language can be used to show an expression or perhaps even a physical feeling.
Reflecting on this passage one can gather how the use and significance of language connotes a meaning. For example the fact this scene utilizes olden day lexis such as “thy” or “thou” helps the reader or viewers know about the setting and period of time one is making reference to this implying to where, and when.
Shakespeare has taught me how language and words are used as a tool to expresses or convey across not only human feelings but to communicate basically anything.
Response to Romeo and Juliet scene - Robert Win
At the start of the scene, Romeo sneaks into Juliet's back garden without her knowing and hides under her room balcony. Romeo and Juliet come from two different conflicting families, therefore any relationship between them is considered 'forbidden'. In the scene, Romeo startles Juliet and eventually tells her that he loves her, and that he would change his last name, (if that was the only thing forbidding their relationship).
In the play, Romeo is from the Montague family where as Juliet is from the Capulet family, and as mentioned above, due to the hatred their families have for eachother's, the two main character's love is 'forbidden'. This links to the discussion in class, about how we may judge one group of people from a single experience with a single individual of the group (the discusiion was about Norbert and his experiences with tourists from China). An incident between a Capulet and Montague may have occured many generations before the start of the play's plot, which caused the families to hate one another, and be taught to hate.
The language used in the play is poetic and frequently uses metaphorical language to convey emotions, feelings and ideas. In class, we discussed the definition, and purpose of language, and how we can use language to communicate and allow the audience to understand what is being stated. The use of language in the play, has taught me that language is an important tool to convey and to get the intended message across. It is also clear from the script that words do not have to be literal for one to understand the intended meaning of a phrase or sentence.
In the play, Romeo is from the Montague family where as Juliet is from the Capulet family, and as mentioned above, due to the hatred their families have for eachother's, the two main character's love is 'forbidden'. This links to the discussion in class, about how we may judge one group of people from a single experience with a single individual of the group (the discusiion was about Norbert and his experiences with tourists from China). An incident between a Capulet and Montague may have occured many generations before the start of the play's plot, which caused the families to hate one another, and be taught to hate.
The language used in the play is poetic and frequently uses metaphorical language to convey emotions, feelings and ideas. In class, we discussed the definition, and purpose of language, and how we can use language to communicate and allow the audience to understand what is being stated. The use of language in the play, has taught me that language is an important tool to convey and to get the intended message across. It is also clear from the script that words do not have to be literal for one to understand the intended meaning of a phrase or sentence.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Chloe Chan: Language - Romeo and Juliet
Romeo has snuck into Juliet’s orchard without anyone’s knowledge in the hope of seeing Juliet who suddenly appears and talks about her situation with her family name, Capulet, and her lover Romeo, whose family name is Montague, the sworn enemy of the Capulet family. Juliet suggests that Romeo gives up his family name so that they can be together, Romeo is more than willing to do so.
In class we concluded that language can affect our relationships and the social groups we belong to. We can see that this is also true in this passage where Juliet and Romeo’s family name decide what enemies they have once they are born, and without their opinions. For years their names have kept the two families’ relationship poor and it is because of the rigid concepts the two words hold that Romeo and Juliet cannot be together.
This scene suggests that a name is just a word to generally distinguish something from something else, for example a clock is just a general word used to identify an object that tells time, and nothing else about the clock. Therefore if a name should change, the personality and appearance of the thing will always remain the same and unchanged, as described by “that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet”. This has taught me that there are limits to words as they only describe something generally and will never really reflect well enough how the thing actually is in reality.
In class we concluded that language can affect our relationships and the social groups we belong to. We can see that this is also true in this passage where Juliet and Romeo’s family name decide what enemies they have once they are born, and without their opinions. For years their names have kept the two families’ relationship poor and it is because of the rigid concepts the two words hold that Romeo and Juliet cannot be together.
This scene suggests that a name is just a word to generally distinguish something from something else, for example a clock is just a general word used to identify an object that tells time, and nothing else about the clock. Therefore if a name should change, the personality and appearance of the thing will always remain the same and unchanged, as described by “that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet”. This has taught me that there are limits to words as they only describe something generally and will never really reflect well enough how the thing actually is in reality.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Jacqui.W - Language: Romeo & Juliet :)
I think that in Act II Scene 2, what’s happening is the confession of love between Romeo and Juliet. They both know and realized they love each other however Juliet is starting to question the so called ‘importance’ of their family name. Is it not just a word?
But through the language of what they said and the actions they did, it proved the love between them and it shows that a message may not only be conveyed through words but through different other types of ‘languages’ as we’ve discussed in class. Sometimes, a message may even be understood simply by the mutual feeling between 2 people, like Romeo and Juliet.
“'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.”
When Juliet says this, is shows her questioning of a name. It’s only a word but it has the power to not let Romeo and Juliet get together although they’re in love. But this also relates to a person’s perception of the word. If a person perceives the word “Montague” and “Capulet” as nothing more than a normal name, Romeo and Juliet would have been able to be together. However when a person perceives these two names as two opposing families, it would be impossible to allow Romeo and Juliet to be together. Though some ‘words’ have such power to them, it all comes down to perception of the meaning.
But through the language of what they said and the actions they did, it proved the love between them and it shows that a message may not only be conveyed through words but through different other types of ‘languages’ as we’ve discussed in class. Sometimes, a message may even be understood simply by the mutual feeling between 2 people, like Romeo and Juliet.
“'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.”
When Juliet says this, is shows her questioning of a name. It’s only a word but it has the power to not let Romeo and Juliet get together although they’re in love. But this also relates to a person’s perception of the word. If a person perceives the word “Montague” and “Capulet” as nothing more than a normal name, Romeo and Juliet would have been able to be together. However when a person perceives these two names as two opposing families, it would be impossible to allow Romeo and Juliet to be together. Though some ‘words’ have such power to them, it all comes down to perception of the meaning.
Norbert-Romeo and Juliet- Words and Language
From what I can tell, they were confessing their love to each other. It is at night in Juliet’s House in
The way how Romeo and Juliet spoke was very heartfelt by the other person. The scene did not have strong body movements, and yet it is a very emotional scene, famous and important to the world of Literature. To convey the meanings, Romeo and Juliet gave eyes contacts directly to the person’s, with facial expressions.
In this scene as a study example, the language in terms of the style is very old-fashioned, as it was written by Shakespeare in the late 1500s. Words like thee and thy (you and your) are no longer used today. This also indicates how the culture has varied. The tone of voice of Romeo and Juliet in the video is also very calm and refined by poetic devices. This suggests their background was simple, and the families was strict on how they can speak, in particular if they are rich, as it may show what kind of family you come from.
Hey Tou Chiu: Response to Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scene
In Act II, Scene ii of Romeo and Juliet, we see Juliet at her balcony window talking to herself about her love for Romeo. Due to both of their family backgrounds, they are unable to be together as the Capulet’s and Montague’s are sworn enemies. Juliet wants Romeo to change his name and Romeo, who is hiding amongst the hedges overhears her issue, surprises her by offering to take another name.
At first, I was puzzled about what the characters were doing, but after re reading the script several times, the scene formed a question in my mind – “Does a word mean anything?”
In my understanding, a word is a tool we use to understand or describe something. Taking a book as an example, the book we see in front of us can be replaced by another ‘word’ that can still mean the object ‘book’. We know that the object we see is a ‘book’ because we have been taught so since we were young. Yet, we never questioned why it is called a ‘book’ and nothing else! Juliet points this out when she says “What’s in a name...Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title”. Romeo will still be the same person with the same qualities, just that he would not be called Romeo but some other name. Similarly, the ‘book’ will still have a square shaped, still have pages that we read, even without it being called a book!
This issue leads me to question whether we can change words that we have always been using, replacing them with different words. When I think more about it, I think this is possible. I guess we never thought about this because we never had this idea of using a different word to replace an existing one already and when we do question why we don’t do this, we never actually get an answer.
At first, I was puzzled about what the characters were doing, but after re reading the script several times, the scene formed a question in my mind – “Does a word mean anything?”
In my understanding, a word is a tool we use to understand or describe something. Taking a book as an example, the book we see in front of us can be replaced by another ‘word’ that can still mean the object ‘book’. We know that the object we see is a ‘book’ because we have been taught so since we were young. Yet, we never questioned why it is called a ‘book’ and nothing else! Juliet points this out when she says “What’s in a name...Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title”. Romeo will still be the same person with the same qualities, just that he would not be called Romeo but some other name. Similarly, the ‘book’ will still have a square shaped, still have pages that we read, even without it being called a book!
This issue leads me to question whether we can change words that we have always been using, replacing them with different words. When I think more about it, I think this is possible. I guess we never thought about this because we never had this idea of using a different word to replace an existing one already and when we do question why we don’t do this, we never actually get an answer.
Yixia Gu: Response to "Act 2 Scene II" post
In an elegant orchid garden, with the moonlight peeking through the clouds, Juliet is leaning over the high balcony of her house morose because she might never see Romeo again and frustrated that the only barrier between her and her beloved Romeo is that he is a Montague and she is a Capulet. Unknown to Juliet, Romeo who is hiding underneath her balcony is just as willing to drop his Montague name so that the two lovers can be united in love.
In this scene Shakespeare utilizes emotional dialogue such that even without stage directions, one can almost sense the body language of the characters such as sigh, or a shaking of the head. In addition, what Juliet and Romeo say reflect their inner thoughts and both characters use metaphorical and poetic language to converse.
Initially, I was confused about what Juliet and Romeo were talking about, and the words didn’t make sense because this type of language isn’t what I usually learn of speak in school and in my culture, however as I re-read the scene, I realized that I could relate to the subject of their conversation. In addition despite the old lexis, I have still managed to understand the holistic meaning of the scene because the words such as “thy” and “thee” are the ancient versions of “you” and “your”. This applies to our discussion in class as the words that Shakespeare chose to use was a communication too in his time period, and people would have understood it, and gradually these words have evolved to English of our time.
In this scene Shakespeare utilizes emotional dialogue such that even without stage directions, one can almost sense the body language of the characters such as sigh, or a shaking of the head. In addition, what Juliet and Romeo say reflect their inner thoughts and both characters use metaphorical and poetic language to converse.
Initially, I was confused about what Juliet and Romeo were talking about, and the words didn’t make sense because this type of language isn’t what I usually learn of speak in school and in my culture, however as I re-read the scene, I realized that I could relate to the subject of their conversation. In addition despite the old lexis, I have still managed to understand the holistic meaning of the scene because the words such as “thy” and “thee” are the ancient versions of “you” and “your”. This applies to our discussion in class as the words that Shakespeare chose to use was a communication too in his time period, and people would have understood it, and gradually these words have evolved to English of our time.
Friday, November 16, 2007
William Wong : Sight
Sight is the power or faculty of seeing; visual perception of objects. For humans, the organ of vision is the eye where light rays reflected from objects are passed first to our cornea where it will be slightly refracted into our pupil. Our pupil can then control the amount of light that can pass through to help maintain image quality. Then the light rays are further focused by our lens into the rods at the back of the eye. These rods help process the light rays into electrical impulses to be sent to the brain. This makes the eye with no doubt the most complex sensory organ.
In the modern world of today, sight is perhaps the most important sense of all as I believe it is needed to get on with every day life. However there are people who cannot see because of various reasons such as sickness or genetic defects. Fortunately, most societies with its moral beliefs and values has helped and allowed the blind to contribute to society.
Source: http://www.nfb.org/, Encarta 2005, http://www.wikipedia.org/
In the modern world of today, sight is perhaps the most important sense of all as I believe it is needed to get on with every day life. However there are people who cannot see because of various reasons such as sickness or genetic defects. Fortunately, most societies with its moral beliefs and values has helped and allowed the blind to contribute to society.
Source: http://www.nfb.org/, Encarta 2005, http://www.wikipedia.org/
WoK2: Language -- Romeo&Juliet
Drawing on your sensitive appreciation of the Act II, scene ii passage viewed in class and handed-out, you are now to post a brief response (250 words) that:
- retells in one or two sentences what's going on (i.e. setting, characters, action) in terms of the central issue for Juliet (and what Romeo is prepared to do);
- relates this passage to our introductory class activities/discussion on language; and
- reflects what it's taught you about 'language' and 'words', in particular.
Make sure to include your first name in your post's title.
Please post your response by 8pm Tuesday night (Nov. 2oth) -- and please comment briefly on some else's post before our next ToK class on Thursday, November 22nd. (Tell them what you liked about their post... and what they got you thinking about).
To view the 1968 Franco Zeferelli version of this famous balcony scene, please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jas0DT-mtPA
Friday, November 9, 2007
Norbert-Sound
After sight, hearing is the sense that provides the brain with most information about the surroundings. Then human ear can register a wide range of sounds compared to animals. This system, the auditory system, also gives us the sense of balance.
Balancing
Head movement swirl fluid insde the semicircular canals. They are sensory cells that fire nerve signals to the brain. They are arranged in pairs and each detects motion in one of the three dimensions.
Atmospheric Pressure
The Eustachian tube allows air from the throat to flow into the middle ear cavity, so as atmospheric pressure changes, the air pressure on either side of the eardrum can equalize, allowing the eardrum to vibrate without any restrictions. This is why our ear ‘pops’ when we go downhill, because the pressure is increasing.
Hearing
Sound waves funnel into the canal and strike the eardrum. Then vibrations are created. The movement travels along then three tiny ear bones, ossicles. They span in the middle ear and are our body’s smallest bones. They contract when sound hits the eardrum. The ossicles vibrate the oval window into the cochlea. Then the membrane shake, which then pulls microscopic hairs, and the hairs transfer nerve signals to the brain.
Damage
The Royal National Institute for Deaf People accused manufactures of MP3 players failed to put warning messages on the packaging to urge customers not to crank the volume to high up. They also recommended customers should invest in in-ear canal filters or noise-isolating headphones, thus reducing the need to increase volume.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6982184.stm
Book: '€˜Human Body'€™ Author: Steve Parker
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Touch -- Zoha
Everything humans do involves using one or more senses. It is through the senses that infants discover the world. Humans experience these sensations through interactions with the environment; interpreting the meaning of these sensations for actions is called sensory processing.
Touch is our oldest, most primitive and pervasive sense. It's the first sense we experience in the womb and the last one we lose before death Not only does the skin have a main job of protecting the young infant, but it also exposes the infant to the sense of touch. It lets your infant feel it's way around and feel the differences between a soft blanket and a hard wood floor.
Touch may be considered one of five human senses; however, when a person touches something or somebody this gives rise to various feelings: the perception of pressure (hence shape, softness, texture, vibration, etc.), relative temperature and sometimes pain. Thus the term "touch" is actually the combined term for several senses. In medicine, the colloquial term "touch" is usually replaced with somatic senses, to better reflect the variety of mechanisms involved.
http://social.jrank.org/pages/557/Sensory-Development-Touch.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatosensory_system
Touch is our oldest, most primitive and pervasive sense. It's the first sense we experience in the womb and the last one we lose before death Not only does the skin have a main job of protecting the young infant, but it also exposes the infant to the sense of touch. It lets your infant feel it's way around and feel the differences between a soft blanket and a hard wood floor.
Touch may be considered one of five human senses; however, when a person touches something or somebody this gives rise to various feelings: the perception of pressure (hence shape, softness, texture, vibration, etc.), relative temperature and sometimes pain. Thus the term "touch" is actually the combined term for several senses. In medicine, the colloquial term "touch" is usually replaced with somatic senses, to better reflect the variety of mechanisms involved.
http://social.jrank.org/pages/557/Sensory-Development-Touch.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatosensory_system
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Chloe Chan: Smell
Our sense of smell is valuable and powerful, it contributes to discreet parts of our lives. Smell plays a major role to taste, without it we cannot tell if something tastes delicious or not because we can only taste sweet, salty, bitter, sour.
Our noses warm, moisten and filters the air we breathe, it also has the ability to smell odors. Odor molecules inhaled float upwards towards two small areas at the top of the naval cavity. This area is covered with 5 million tiny nerve cells which can detect 10,000 different smells. Nerves cells are different shapes and only specific molecules can fit them. Our cells send signals to the brain allowing us to recognize particular odors.
We naturally have preferences for certain smells. Our preference for certain smells has much to do with our past experiences and what we are used to as a child. It is so powerful that it can alter our preference of people and places, most of the time this happens unconsciously. As well as these things, smell can alert us to things such as danger when we smell gas. Evidently our sense of smell plays a very wide role in our lives.
http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/body/pg000150.html
http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_human.html
http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/odor/odor_whitepaper_1.php
Our noses warm, moisten and filters the air we breathe, it also has the ability to smell odors. Odor molecules inhaled float upwards towards two small areas at the top of the naval cavity. This area is covered with 5 million tiny nerve cells which can detect 10,000 different smells. Nerves cells are different shapes and only specific molecules can fit them. Our cells send signals to the brain allowing us to recognize particular odors.
We naturally have preferences for certain smells. Our preference for certain smells has much to do with our past experiences and what we are used to as a child. It is so powerful that it can alter our preference of people and places, most of the time this happens unconsciously. As well as these things, smell can alert us to things such as danger when we smell gas. Evidently our sense of smell plays a very wide role in our lives.
http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/body/pg000150.html
http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_human.html
http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/odor/odor_whitepaper_1.php
Ming Fung: Touch
People might think our skin is the organ of the sense of touching. However it is the sensory receptors that does the job, there are more than 4 million of these things in our skin. This system detects experiences such as touch or pressure, temperature (that;s why we feel cold), pain, itch, tickle, etc... When someone touches something, we get perception of the pressure, therefore we can make out what is the object we are touching, like texture, shape, etc...
When we touch, signals go through things called neurons to the brain. Which the brain determines what we are touching, telling us what we are feeling and how it feels. If we get burnt by flame, the signal is too urgent to be sent to the brain, but stops half way at the spinal cord. This gives a fast reaction, moving away from the thing that is hurting us.
Source: http://www.wikipedia.com/ http://www.askjeeves.com/ http://www.answerbag.com/
When we touch, signals go through things called neurons to the brain. Which the brain determines what we are touching, telling us what we are feeling and how it feels. If we get burnt by flame, the signal is too urgent to be sent to the brain, but stops half way at the spinal cord. This gives a fast reaction, moving away from the thing that is hurting us.
Source: http://www.wikipedia.com/ http://www.askjeeves.com/ http://www.answerbag.com/
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Robert Win - Sound
How are we able to hear things?
People are able to hear sound frequencys from 20 - 20,000 Hz using their Ears and the organs within, as well as the Brain. Our outer ears which stick out from the sides of our heads, are like noise cones which receive and channel sounds to travel down the ear canal. When sound reaches the Ear drum, it vibrates the ear-drum, at the frequency of the orginal sound (every sound has a different frequency, unless they are identical sounds). The vibrations are converted by the cochlea, which is a snail like shaped organ which is filled with fluid, into signals which can be sent and read by the brain. The brain then decodes and reads the signals, and that is how we are able to hear things, and distinguish one sound from another.
Information provided by: http://www.wikipedia.com/, http://www.discovery.com/ and http://www.askjeeves.com/
People are able to hear sound frequencys from 20 - 20,000 Hz using their Ears and the organs within, as well as the Brain. Our outer ears which stick out from the sides of our heads, are like noise cones which receive and channel sounds to travel down the ear canal. When sound reaches the Ear drum, it vibrates the ear-drum, at the frequency of the orginal sound (every sound has a different frequency, unless they are identical sounds). The vibrations are converted by the cochlea, which is a snail like shaped organ which is filled with fluid, into signals which can be sent and read by the brain. The brain then decodes and reads the signals, and that is how we are able to hear things, and distinguish one sound from another.
Information provided by: http://www.wikipedia.com/, http://www.discovery.com/ and http://www.askjeeves.com/
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Hey Tou Chiu: Sight
When asked the question “How do we see?” many would say – “we use our eyes!” This is true; however the eye is not as simple as it looks.
We see things when we process the light rays that reflect into our eye. The light rays first pass through the surface of our eye (cornea) and then to through the pupil. Here the pupil can regulate the amount of light that can pass through into the inside of the eye. If the outside environment is dim, more light will be allowed to pass through to enable us to see clearly. On the other hand, if the outside environment is bright, then the pupil will allow less light to the back of our eye – the retina. The rays of light then become electric impulses and get sent to the brain to be processed and we are then able to see.
Some people may ask – “How do we see color?” The answer is simple. There are photo receptor cells in the retina which respond to dim light and color. They are known as rod and cone cells. Others may also wonder why we can still see an upright image when the image created on our retina is actually inverted. This is actually because our brain “knows” that the picture on our retina is inverted which is not what we usually sees, so it “adjusts” the picture so that we can see it with the right way up.
We see things when we process the light rays that reflect into our eye. The light rays first pass through the surface of our eye (cornea) and then to through the pupil. Here the pupil can regulate the amount of light that can pass through into the inside of the eye. If the outside environment is dim, more light will be allowed to pass through to enable us to see clearly. On the other hand, if the outside environment is bright, then the pupil will allow less light to the back of our eye – the retina. The rays of light then become electric impulses and get sent to the brain to be processed and we are then able to see.
Some people may ask – “How do we see color?” The answer is simple. There are photo receptor cells in the retina which respond to dim light and color. They are known as rod and cone cells. Others may also wonder why we can still see an upright image when the image created on our retina is actually inverted. This is actually because our brain “knows” that the picture on our retina is inverted which is not what we usually sees, so it “adjusts” the picture so that we can see it with the right way up.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Yixia Gu: Smell
How on earth do we smell? The process is simple but fascinating:
Suppose you opened the fridge one day and is overcome by a stinking sensation of moldy cheese. This particular smell is made up of special chemical cells (odorants) which when passing through our nostrils stimulate tiny cilia hairs which gather together in a small patch in the nose. In these hairs are contained special cells which receive the odours: Olfactory receptor cells. These cells are connected to the certain areas of the brain through a series of nerve pathways, and convert the detected smell as signals. Once the nerve signal reaches the brain, the brain processes these patterns so that we end up perceiving the signal as smell (in this case, the smell of moldy cheese).
Our sense of smell can add colour to our world, because what we sense through the olfactory receptors becomes perception. In addition smell also plays an active role in our emotions and memory depending what we associate each smell with.
Sources:
1) http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/smell101/lesson1/01.php
2)http://www.blkbox.com/~rdevere/tsdc/howwork.html
3)http://health.howstuffworks.com/smell.htm
Suppose you opened the fridge one day and is overcome by a stinking sensation of moldy cheese. This particular smell is made up of special chemical cells (odorants) which when passing through our nostrils stimulate tiny cilia hairs which gather together in a small patch in the nose. In these hairs are contained special cells which receive the odours: Olfactory receptor cells. These cells are connected to the certain areas of the brain through a series of nerve pathways, and convert the detected smell as signals. Once the nerve signal reaches the brain, the brain processes these patterns so that we end up perceiving the signal as smell (in this case, the smell of moldy cheese).
Our sense of smell can add colour to our world, because what we sense through the olfactory receptors becomes perception. In addition smell also plays an active role in our emotions and memory depending what we associate each smell with.
Sources:
1) http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/smell101/lesson1/01.php
2)http://www.blkbox.com/~rdevere/tsdc/howwork.html
3)http://health.howstuffworks.com/smell.htm
Thursday, November 1, 2007
For Nov. 8th
Folks -- As discussed in class today,
A) You are to:
- print out and bring to class hard copies of your two 'Sophie's World' assignments; be prepared to share your second assignment with another in the class at the start of next lesson; and
- return the novel to me next lesson (unless you would like to buy it -- it could come in handy for your internal and/or external assessments).
B) You are also to answer the answer the following question on our class blog: How do the five senses work (i.e. sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell)?
- pick one;
- find out about it (consult 3 sources -- be sure to list the source in your post)
- blog about it using student-friendly language (200 words max.); and
- title your post -- e.g. Eric Jabal: Taste
Mr. J
Monday, October 29, 2007
WoK1: Sense perception quotations
- "There's more to seeing that meets the eye." (K. T. Cole)
- "There is no truth. There is only perception." (Gustave Flaubert)
- "Everyone hears only what he understands." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
- "True science investigates and brings to human perception such truths and such knowledge as the people of a given time and society consider most important. Art transmits these truths from the region of perception."(Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy)
- "We hear and apprehend only what we already half know." (Henry David Thoreau)
- "Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic." (Edward de Bono)
- "We shall see but a little way if we require to understand what we see." (Henry David Thoreau)
- "There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception." (Aldous Huxley)
- "We sometimes get all the information, but we refuse to get the message." (Cullen Hightower)
- "The eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comrehend." (Henri Bergson)
- "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is -- infinite." (William Blake)
- "It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive." (C. W. Leadbeater)
- "After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with color, bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. Isn’t it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked—as I am surprisingly often—why I bother to get up in the mornings." (Richard Dawkins)
- "Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." (Camille Pissarro)
- "Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." (Hans Margolius)
- "Science is nothing but perception." (Plato)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Ming Fung: - Knowers and Knowing
'The more you know the less you understand.' (Tao Le Ching)
The first thing that comes to my mind is that, knowledge does not seem to have an end. We never get to a point where we know everything and we can stop learning and knowing. The main message of this quote is that the more you know you come to realize the fact that how little you actually understand. Or another way to interpret it is how people have a large bank of knowledge, but not necessary going in depth in each thing. That depth is the understanding.
This is very true, as said before, learning and knowing is endless. As we proceed and accumulate more knowledge, we realize that we actually had been really stupid in the past. In my opinion, this has always happened to me. Especially when I was smaller I tend to wonder how things work. Then now when I think back now, things seem to work out more easily than before. This maybe because, I’m smarter, I have more knowledge, I am better as a knower.
The “West Wing” video I watched last lesson also showed how this quote is true. The person was given a map with a different and said to be more accurate world map. She was shocked, because it was not like what she had seen before in her life. She had just experienced gaining new knowledge, which is different to what she was always told. Here we can see she understands how little she understands and she started denying that it was the correct world map. In my world map, I could not recall the sizes and approximate shapes of the continents, but just the vague places of each chunk of land. I thought I knew the world map, but in fact I did not understand it. I think knowing, and understanding are different levels of “knowing”. You may know a person, but not understand him or her well. It is like having a large horizon, or picture. But in contrast, each object on the picture maybe small, not detailed.
The reason why you understand less when you know more, is because you know more, you have a big perspective of what is happening. However, you are lacking understanding of the depth in that knowledge, as there is more knowledge, more understandings would be needed. Knowing and understanding are positively correlated.
The first thing that comes to my mind is that, knowledge does not seem to have an end. We never get to a point where we know everything and we can stop learning and knowing. The main message of this quote is that the more you know you come to realize the fact that how little you actually understand. Or another way to interpret it is how people have a large bank of knowledge, but not necessary going in depth in each thing. That depth is the understanding.
This is very true, as said before, learning and knowing is endless. As we proceed and accumulate more knowledge, we realize that we actually had been really stupid in the past. In my opinion, this has always happened to me. Especially when I was smaller I tend to wonder how things work. Then now when I think back now, things seem to work out more easily than before. This maybe because, I’m smarter, I have more knowledge, I am better as a knower.
The “West Wing” video I watched last lesson also showed how this quote is true. The person was given a map with a different and said to be more accurate world map. She was shocked, because it was not like what she had seen before in her life. She had just experienced gaining new knowledge, which is different to what she was always told. Here we can see she understands how little she understands and she started denying that it was the correct world map. In my world map, I could not recall the sizes and approximate shapes of the continents, but just the vague places of each chunk of land. I thought I knew the world map, but in fact I did not understand it. I think knowing, and understanding are different levels of “knowing”. You may know a person, but not understand him or her well. It is like having a large horizon, or picture. But in contrast, each object on the picture maybe small, not detailed.
The reason why you understand less when you know more, is because you know more, you have a big perspective of what is happening. However, you are lacking understanding of the depth in that knowledge, as there is more knowledge, more understandings would be needed. Knowing and understanding are positively correlated.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Zoha: Knowers and knowing
'Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' (Martin Luther King)
The quote above by Martin Luther King implies that being ignorant and unaware with stupidity works out to be the most dangerous outlook in the world. Carrying forward an oblivious attitude preventing one to understand the various cultures, people, global issues, religions around the world will only cause, or deepen tribulations. Hence being ignorant with what is around us pays of as being the most dangerous aspect. I would have to agree with this quote, because unawareness often does lead to misunderstandings but also enhances problems. For example if more people were less ignorant about excess waste and Hong Kong landfills filling up, they would perhaps decide to recycle and produce less waste. Not knowing, in this case could be lethal. Another example would be how a common courtesy for one culture is an offense for others. These examples demonstrate how a gap in knowledge can lead to serious consequences. In the same way I do believe that my view of knowledge is rather limited.
We often blindly follow what society and figures in authority show us is right. The episode of west wing revealed how maps showed third world countries smaller than they actually were implying they were less significant. Most of us would go on to believe what a printed map would show us unintentionally surrending to conscientious stupidity. This ultimately would end up dangerous. Sharing everyone’s ‘map of the world’ I came to learn how everyone shared a varied view on their center of the world. Again with the school knowledge activity no two people interpreted their school life knowledge in the same way. This taking me to a conclusion that all of us have a different perception, and referring back to the quote, showing ignorance to other viewpoints will only wind up as dangerous. Without being aware of issues around us, and other believes that surround ones personal opinion will only work out harmful.
The quote above by Martin Luther King implies that being ignorant and unaware with stupidity works out to be the most dangerous outlook in the world. Carrying forward an oblivious attitude preventing one to understand the various cultures, people, global issues, religions around the world will only cause, or deepen tribulations. Hence being ignorant with what is around us pays of as being the most dangerous aspect. I would have to agree with this quote, because unawareness often does lead to misunderstandings but also enhances problems. For example if more people were less ignorant about excess waste and Hong Kong landfills filling up, they would perhaps decide to recycle and produce less waste. Not knowing, in this case could be lethal. Another example would be how a common courtesy for one culture is an offense for others. These examples demonstrate how a gap in knowledge can lead to serious consequences. In the same way I do believe that my view of knowledge is rather limited.
We often blindly follow what society and figures in authority show us is right. The episode of west wing revealed how maps showed third world countries smaller than they actually were implying they were less significant. Most of us would go on to believe what a printed map would show us unintentionally surrending to conscientious stupidity. This ultimately would end up dangerous. Sharing everyone’s ‘map of the world’ I came to learn how everyone shared a varied view on their center of the world. Again with the school knowledge activity no two people interpreted their school life knowledge in the same way. This taking me to a conclusion that all of us have a different perception, and referring back to the quote, showing ignorance to other viewpoints will only wind up as dangerous. Without being aware of issues around us, and other believes that surround ones personal opinion will only work out harmful.
Chloe Chan - Knowers and Knowing
'Self-knowledge is like a garden. If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.' (Ghanaian proverb)
Brainstorm:
Knowledge is only knowing
Wisdom is understanding
Learning is not enough
3 Key words:
Garden
Cultivated
Harvested
Main message:
We have to understand and not only know something. Through understanding we get the full potential of our knowledge.
Paraphrase:
We may have the basis to which knowledge can be placed and only know many things, but building on knowledge in itself is not enough. We must act to develop our knowledge further in order for it to be really successful. By doing this, knowledge will become wisdom.
Opinion:
In accordance to the west wing clips where knowledge is questioned and it is concluded that knowledge is not perfect, I think this quotation shows that perhaps the reason why knowledge is not always right, is because we do not fully understand the knowledge we acquire. By connecting the quotation to the exercises I think the action of ‘cultivating’ maybe to explore our learnt knowledge deeper and to question it. In connection to my view of knowledge (where knowledge should be accurate and it is hard to accept different theories that contradict my previous knowledge,) I think this quotation is correct in saying that knowledge isn’t much alone. This quotation suggests that what we learn in school is only the basis, where knowledge is only built and we don’t really learn how to apply the knowledge. It hints that school does not help us develop our knowledge and experiences. This in turn tells us that we can’t really be fully successful just by acquiring knowledge from school.
Brainstorm:
Knowledge is only knowing
Wisdom is understanding
Learning is not enough
3 Key words:
Garden
Cultivated
Harvested
Main message:
We have to understand and not only know something. Through understanding we get the full potential of our knowledge.
Paraphrase:
We may have the basis to which knowledge can be placed and only know many things, but building on knowledge in itself is not enough. We must act to develop our knowledge further in order for it to be really successful. By doing this, knowledge will become wisdom.
Opinion:
In accordance to the west wing clips where knowledge is questioned and it is concluded that knowledge is not perfect, I think this quotation shows that perhaps the reason why knowledge is not always right, is because we do not fully understand the knowledge we acquire. By connecting the quotation to the exercises I think the action of ‘cultivating’ maybe to explore our learnt knowledge deeper and to question it. In connection to my view of knowledge (where knowledge should be accurate and it is hard to accept different theories that contradict my previous knowledge,) I think this quotation is correct in saying that knowledge isn’t much alone. This quotation suggests that what we learn in school is only the basis, where knowledge is only built and we don’t really learn how to apply the knowledge. It hints that school does not help us develop our knowledge and experiences. This in turn tells us that we can’t really be fully successful just by acquiring knowledge from school.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Yixia Gu: Response to Knowers and Knowing
'Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.' (Daniel J. Boorstin).
This phrase is a very interesting one, because how do we acknowledge or realize that we actually don't know something if we haven't been taught to recognize this uncertainty? Once we receive education, we are simultaneously enlightened in our thoughts and how we view the world, and at this point we find that there are actually many things we haven't come across upon in experience. This quotation of Daniel J. Borrstin is suggests that the original, fundamental purpose and existence of Education is simply to open doors of the 'unknown' in a world of the apparent 'known'.
Education as defined, is the power of reasoning and judgment to prepare ourselves for intellectually mature life. This, I believe is a valid point in my view of knowledge: if a person walked through a garden and didn’t know what the bunches of ‘colourful-many petalled-thing on a stalk’ was, he or she wouldn’t be able to appreciate the ‘flowers’ in the garden fully- the apparent ignorance limited their perspective, and only allowed them to see ‘flowers’ as lovely colourful things. Take sports for instance, perhaps playing basketball may seem easy enough; the players dribbling balls and passing them with agility and ease. However, once I actually had a basketball lesson, I realized that I didn’t actually have the knowledge of handling the ball or playing it properly which was reflected during the basketball games. This example ties in quite well with our lives as students. One of the reasons why there were a range of pictures of ‘school knowledge’ was because each us valued the knowledge from school environment differently. We were influenced by our preferences and we are eclectic in learning “what we didn’t know, and the things we appeared on the paper could have been due to their importance in paving the way for greater depth in understanding. Thus, Education to me is also learning to know.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Jason Herrera : Knowers & Knowing - Interpretation of Knowledge
'Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it. That is knowledge.' (Confucius)
Confucius is one of the greatest minds in ancient China. He came up with influential ideas about respect and the family which people in China still see as virtues today. The quotation above is Confucius' interpretation of knowledge. He is basically saying that knowledge is one-self realizing whether you know something or not. 'When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it' means that when you know a thing, you must identify it as something you've seen before and you should stick to your own perception of the knowledge, and 'When you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it.' means that when you don’t know something; you must identify it as something that you haven’t seen before, and important that you must learn from it.
From the West Wing videos I watched last lesson, the new world maps stunned me a little as it is something I’ve never seen before and it goes against what I’ve been taught at school at an early age. I do agree with Confucius’ quote from above which is to admit to something that you do not know and hence learn it. When I first saw the new maps, I thought it was ridiculous and wondered why would they change the old atlas? However, the geographers then explain why they should change the new maps; it was all because of the interpretation of knowledge. Because there are people with different interpretations of the map, they came to a thought that all countries above the equator are more developed than those below. However, I stuck to my interpretation of the atlas because I believe it is the right one. Thinking of Confucius’ quote, I came to realize that students in school have been learning this way too, that every student admits to something they don’t know and learns it and that they stick to their own perceptions of a knowledge which made us come up with unique ideas.
Confucius is one of the greatest minds in ancient China. He came up with influential ideas about respect and the family which people in China still see as virtues today. The quotation above is Confucius' interpretation of knowledge. He is basically saying that knowledge is one-self realizing whether you know something or not. 'When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it' means that when you know a thing, you must identify it as something you've seen before and you should stick to your own perception of the knowledge, and 'When you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it.' means that when you don’t know something; you must identify it as something that you haven’t seen before, and important that you must learn from it.
From the West Wing videos I watched last lesson, the new world maps stunned me a little as it is something I’ve never seen before and it goes against what I’ve been taught at school at an early age. I do agree with Confucius’ quote from above which is to admit to something that you do not know and hence learn it. When I first saw the new maps, I thought it was ridiculous and wondered why would they change the old atlas? However, the geographers then explain why they should change the new maps; it was all because of the interpretation of knowledge. Because there are people with different interpretations of the map, they came to a thought that all countries above the equator are more developed than those below. However, I stuck to my interpretation of the atlas because I believe it is the right one. Thinking of Confucius’ quote, I came to realize that students in school have been learning this way too, that every student admits to something they don’t know and learns it and that they stick to their own perceptions of a knowledge which made us come up with unique ideas.
Norbert Poon- Knowers and Knowing
'˜Education is learning what you didn'™t even know you didn't know.'™-(Daniel J. Boorstin)
This quote reminds me that education is almost infinite, because there are so many things that one can learn, and very often, you don’t even know that such things exist. This is why education always beyond what one knows and beyond what they have learnt before.
The main message here really is telling us there are a lot to learn, so much that one life time is not enough and so much that we don't even know they exist.
What this quotes really means is that education should be very fascinating to everyone, and very broad. A student is always exploring beyond what they already know, and it might also be hinting if education doesn’t interest you, you are better off not studying.
I totally agree to this. Speaking as a student and representing all students, we are always learning new aspects of everything in life that we didn’t know exist. And because we don'€™t know them, we have constantly been given information. Just like in one episode of a series '€˜The West Wing'€™, we didn'€™t know the world could have been drawn according to the power of each country, or depending on the version of the map, the history of a country or continent. We didn'€™t know the world could be different to the map, because we were told the map represents the world since we were small. This all depends on one'€™s view of knowledge, their perspective to what knowledge is. Bringing it back to the quote, we can bring up many different arguments that make us think there are many things we can explore, and that brings us to the infinity.
Robert Win: Knowers and Knowing
One of the quotations which stands out to me is "There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom." (Democritus). Democritus states that knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing and are two different things, which contrasts with what many people consider as wise, today and often think the two are somehow the same thing.
The 3 key words within the quote are "many", "know" and "wisdom". The main message of the quote is (as i mentioned above), knowing many things does not make one wise. It also suggests that there are many people who know many things, but if knowing many things made one wise, there would be many wise people, and what Democritus is trying to say is that there are not and may never be many wise people in the world.
I agree with Democritus' statement, that knowledge is not wisdom and that there are not many wise people in the world. I believe that knowledge is something one learns, finds out, or is told by another person. This makes it information which is not discovered or experienced directly by ones self. Wisdom on the other hand, is information one discovers purely by themselves, or by doing and finding out something, with no influence from others, or if one were to challenge what one has been taught since birthand what others say and believe is correct, making it very difficult for one to be truly 'wise'.
During the 1st TOK lesson we had, we watched a clip about the different possible maps that the US public schools could adopt, in the TV series 'The West Wing'. These maps of the world were all different, and showed the sizes, shapes and locations of countries and the world differently. The creators of each map, one could say, were 'wise', as they came up with their own view of what the world actually looks like. Although they may have based their view on information provided by others, they have shown wisdom by unaccepting what others have taught them about what the world looks like. One map which showed the Southern hemisphere on top, and the Northern hemisphere at the bottom, sparked a discussion between the characters in the video about which hemisphere should be at the top of the map. One of the characters mentioned that the map was "wrong" as the top of the world (in her view) is north and has always been north. However, her opinion of the map suggests that she has only considered what is correct from what she has been taught since childhood, thus she accepts that North is 'at the top' and rules out any other ideas which may show that what she has been taught is not quite correct.
This character demonstrates knowledge, which is a contrasts to the the creator of the 'upside down map' who shows wisdom as he/she (the map creator) would have also been brought up and taught that North is at the top, but has created his/her own theory and view of what the world map should look like, showing that he/she has challenged what he/she has been taught, and what others think is correct.
The 3 key words within the quote are "many", "know" and "wisdom". The main message of the quote is (as i mentioned above), knowing many things does not make one wise. It also suggests that there are many people who know many things, but if knowing many things made one wise, there would be many wise people, and what Democritus is trying to say is that there are not and may never be many wise people in the world.
I agree with Democritus' statement, that knowledge is not wisdom and that there are not many wise people in the world. I believe that knowledge is something one learns, finds out, or is told by another person. This makes it information which is not discovered or experienced directly by ones self. Wisdom on the other hand, is information one discovers purely by themselves, or by doing and finding out something, with no influence from others, or if one were to challenge what one has been taught since birthand what others say and believe is correct, making it very difficult for one to be truly 'wise'.
During the 1st TOK lesson we had, we watched a clip about the different possible maps that the US public schools could adopt, in the TV series 'The West Wing'. These maps of the world were all different, and showed the sizes, shapes and locations of countries and the world differently. The creators of each map, one could say, were 'wise', as they came up with their own view of what the world actually looks like. Although they may have based their view on information provided by others, they have shown wisdom by unaccepting what others have taught them about what the world looks like. One map which showed the Southern hemisphere on top, and the Northern hemisphere at the bottom, sparked a discussion between the characters in the video about which hemisphere should be at the top of the map. One of the characters mentioned that the map was "wrong" as the top of the world (in her view) is north and has always been north. However, her opinion of the map suggests that she has only considered what is correct from what she has been taught since childhood, thus she accepts that North is 'at the top' and rules out any other ideas which may show that what she has been taught is not quite correct.
This character demonstrates knowledge, which is a contrasts to the the creator of the 'upside down map' who shows wisdom as he/she (the map creator) would have also been brought up and taught that North is at the top, but has created his/her own theory and view of what the world map should look like, showing that he/she has challenged what he/she has been taught, and what others think is correct.
Jacqui.W - Knowers & Knowing
'The more you know the less you understand.' (Tao Le Ching)
I think that what Tao Le Ching means is that the more we know about something, meaning the opinions and thoughts from other people about that thing, the less we'll understand the original concept of that thing and the original message it's conveying as well as our own personal thoughts and opinions of that thing. Or another way to think of it is, by knowing more, you don't necessarily become wiser and understand more about life.
"The more you know the less you understand" - This quote explores knowledge and wisdom. I think what Tao Le Ching is talking about is that, if we know more data, this does not necessarily mean we gain more knowledge and understand life more. The whole point of gaining knowledge is to understand life more and live our life. Some think that by knowing the most means they are 'the smartest'. But what correlation does this have to understanding life and living life? Just by being smart and getting a good job doesnt show that they understand even the simplest things of life like who they are and why they're here.
Here is a way to interpret the quote:
There is a person in a poor, starving country who wants to be the president and he tells people that if he becomes the president, he'll give everyone food for free. At this point, he knows the people are starving and need food therefore using his knowledge he says he'll give them food to solve the problem. But this shows he doesn't understand the whole situation yet. He hasn't realised that the way to get food is to have resources and grow food, or to buy food, and in the condition the country is in now, it's hard to get resources as everyone is starving with no energy to farm food. If they had energy to farm food, they don't have the resources needed in order to farm food and without the resources, it's simply impossible to farm. Whereas if this person was not aiming to be the next president a just a normal, struggling, starving to death citizen, he would realise and understand that in order to fill up his stomach and survive, he'd have to get resources and grow food. To reach this understanding, he didn't have to 'know more' to reach it.
This shows exactly what the quote means and what Tao Le Ching is trying to show the reader. By knowing more, it doesn't mean you become wiser and understand more. Overall, this is what I think Tao Le Ching means by his quote. This shows that Tao Le Ching thinks of knowledge not by its quantity but by the quality of it. I think by applying this to life as a student it shows that students don't have to be the one that can list out every president's name, or be the one that knows the dictionary off by heart to be the wisest.
I think that what Tao Le Ching means is that the more we know about something, meaning the opinions and thoughts from other people about that thing, the less we'll understand the original concept of that thing and the original message it's conveying as well as our own personal thoughts and opinions of that thing. Or another way to think of it is, by knowing more, you don't necessarily become wiser and understand more about life.
"The more you know the less you understand" - This quote explores knowledge and wisdom. I think what Tao Le Ching is talking about is that, if we know more data, this does not necessarily mean we gain more knowledge and understand life more. The whole point of gaining knowledge is to understand life more and live our life. Some think that by knowing the most means they are 'the smartest'. But what correlation does this have to understanding life and living life? Just by being smart and getting a good job doesnt show that they understand even the simplest things of life like who they are and why they're here.
Here is a way to interpret the quote:
There is a person in a poor, starving country who wants to be the president and he tells people that if he becomes the president, he'll give everyone food for free. At this point, he knows the people are starving and need food therefore using his knowledge he says he'll give them food to solve the problem. But this shows he doesn't understand the whole situation yet. He hasn't realised that the way to get food is to have resources and grow food, or to buy food, and in the condition the country is in now, it's hard to get resources as everyone is starving with no energy to farm food. If they had energy to farm food, they don't have the resources needed in order to farm food and without the resources, it's simply impossible to farm. Whereas if this person was not aiming to be the next president a just a normal, struggling, starving to death citizen, he would realise and understand that in order to fill up his stomach and survive, he'd have to get resources and grow food. To reach this understanding, he didn't have to 'know more' to reach it.
This shows exactly what the quote means and what Tao Le Ching is trying to show the reader. By knowing more, it doesn't mean you become wiser and understand more. Overall, this is what I think Tao Le Ching means by his quote. This shows that Tao Le Ching thinks of knowledge not by its quantity but by the quality of it. I think by applying this to life as a student it shows that students don't have to be the one that can list out every president's name, or be the one that knows the dictionary off by heart to be the wisest.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Hey Tou Chiu: Response to Knowers & Knowing quotation
'Never assume the obvious is true.' (William Safire)
The meaning of the quote above is self explanatory. It basically means that we should not take what seems to be the ‘obvious’ as the correct answer. I think the message behind that it is trying to convey how humans normally accept the ‘knowledge’ given to them without really asking or investigating whether the ‘knowledge’ is genuine, definite, or true.
From this quote, I realize that this situation of accepting ‘knowledge’ always happen around our daily lives. For example, if we see someone crying, the first thing we assume is that the person is traumatized and very unhappy because that is the obvious reason. However, even though the person may be crying, they may be crying because of joy, which contradicts to what we actually assumed earlier. I also think that this quote relates perfectly to what we actually discussed in class about the world map. In this situation, most of us assumed that the world map we see everyday is ‘true’ yet we find ourselves unable to answer which is the ‘top’ of the world and which is the ‘bottom’, which area, or country is the centre of earth? Without pointing out this in class, or seeing the ‘West Wing’ clip, I would probably have never realized or questioned myself - ‘Where do we live? Where exactly are we on earth?’
Looking back at the ‘West Wing’ clip, I begin to wonder whether maps are really drawn according to the strength of countries in the world, i.e those who are strong are at the ‘top’ of the world. If this was true, then the map that we have would be biased and inaccurate! Another example supporting the quote above - ‘Never to assume the obvious is true’.
The meaning of the quote above is self explanatory. It basically means that we should not take what seems to be the ‘obvious’ as the correct answer. I think the message behind that it is trying to convey how humans normally accept the ‘knowledge’ given to them without really asking or investigating whether the ‘knowledge’ is genuine, definite, or true.
From this quote, I realize that this situation of accepting ‘knowledge’ always happen around our daily lives. For example, if we see someone crying, the first thing we assume is that the person is traumatized and very unhappy because that is the obvious reason. However, even though the person may be crying, they may be crying because of joy, which contradicts to what we actually assumed earlier. I also think that this quote relates perfectly to what we actually discussed in class about the world map. In this situation, most of us assumed that the world map we see everyday is ‘true’ yet we find ourselves unable to answer which is the ‘top’ of the world and which is the ‘bottom’, which area, or country is the centre of earth? Without pointing out this in class, or seeing the ‘West Wing’ clip, I would probably have never realized or questioned myself - ‘Where do we live? Where exactly are we on earth?’
Looking back at the ‘West Wing’ clip, I begin to wonder whether maps are really drawn according to the strength of countries in the world, i.e those who are strong are at the ‘top’ of the world. If this was true, then the map that we have would be biased and inaccurate! Another example supporting the quote above - ‘Never to assume the obvious is true’.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
For Friday, October 12th
As discussed in class, please complete the following before Friday, October 12th:
- Pick one of the 21 ‘Knowers & Knowing quotations (see below).
- Brainstorm anything it brings to mind.
- Pick-out three key words.
- Decide what you think its main message is.
- Paraphrase the quotation's message (in about 50 words) and blog your opinion of it (in about 200 words), connecting the quotation's relevance and applicability to your view of knowledge (think back to your map of the world and our class discussions about it, the West Wing episodes); and life as a student (think back to our class discussions about your picture of 'school knowledge').
Please title your blog with your name.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
For Lesson 2
If you wish to watch again the two 'West Wing' mapping clips we looked at in class, select them below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efjcrbNcW6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRtN4UK1wHk
Please remember that for Lesson 2, you are to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efjcrbNcW6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRtN4UK1wHk
Please remember that for Lesson 2, you are to:
- spend an additional 15 minutes writing your ToK Journal entry #1 (preferably in a black ToK notebook… or else file paper) in response to the following prompt – i.e. How have today’s mapping activity, discussion/debrief, and West Wing clips challenged your view of knowledge? your understanding of what you know/don’t know? your own picture(s) of knowledge?
- draw a picture of the ‘school knowledge’ you’ve acquired in your pre-school, primary, and secondary school days (be prepared to show and discuss your ‘school knowledge’ picture with others); and
- complete the VARK questionnaire (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger) and bring a hard-copy of the results.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Knowers & Knowing
- 'Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognise that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to recognise that you do not know it. That is knowledge.' (Confucius)
- 'Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge.' (Leonardo da Vinci)
- 'Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' (Martin Luther King)
- 'Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.' (Francois de La Rochefoucald)
- 'Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.' (Daniel J. Boorstin)
- 'It is very good for a man to talk about what he does not understand; as long as he understands that he does not understand it.' (G. K. Chesterton)
- 'Those who are convinced they have a monopoly on The Truth always feel that they are only saving the world when they slaughter the heretics.' (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)
- 'A very popular error – having the courage of one’s convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack upon one’s convictions.' (Anon)
- 'There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.' (Democritus)
- 'The most important truths are likely to be those which… society at that time least wants to hear.' (W. H. Auden)
- 'Never assume the obvious is true.' (William Safire)
- 'The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.' (Ludwig von Mises)
- 'The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.' (Anais Nin)
- 'If one is estranged from oneself, then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others.' (Anne Morrow Lindbergh)
- 'Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.' (Buckminster Fuller)
- 'Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.' (Carl Jung)
- 'The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.' (Eden Phillpotts)
- 'The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.' (Malcolm Forbes)
- 'Self-knowledge is like a garden. If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.' (Ghanaian proverb)
- 'In times of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future: the learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.' (Eric Hoffer)
- 'The more you know the less you understand.' (Tao Le Ching)
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