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’.

For Friday, October 12th

As discussed in class, please complete the following before Friday, October 12th:

1. Pick one of the 21 ‘Knowers & Knowing quotations (see below).
2. Brainstorm anything it brings to mind.
3. Pick-out three key words.
4. Decide what you think its main message is.
5. 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.

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:

1. 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?
2. 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
3. complete the VARK questionnaire (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger) and bring a hard-copy of the results.

Knowers & Knowing

1. '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)



2. 'Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge.' (Leonardo da Vinci)



3. 'Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' (Martin Luther King)



4. 'Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.' (Francois de La Rochefoucald)



5. 'Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.' (Daniel J. Boorstin)



6. '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)



7. '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.)



8. '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)



9. 'There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.' (Democritus)



10. 'The most important truths are likely to be those which… society at that time least wants to hear.' (W. H. Auden)



11. 'Never assume the obvious is true.' (William Safire)



12. 'The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.' (Ludwig von Mises)



13. 'The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.' (Anais Nin)



14. '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)



15. 'Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.' (Buckminster Fuller)



16. 'Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.' (Carl Jung)



17. 'The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.' (Eden Phillpotts)



18. 'The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.' (Malcolm Forbes)



19. 'Self-knowledge is like a garden. If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.' (Ghanaian proverb)



20. '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)



21. 'The more you know the less you understand.' (Tao Le Ching)