- Write a blog post giving one real-life example (different to ones we discussed in class) that you think makes an important point about reasoning/perception. Please explain your thoughts on your example relies on issue of : reason, bias, perception, narrative, interpretation, fact, truth, evidence, certainty, any AOK, any WOK, etc (or other TOK issues)
Attempting to find a locus between certitude and present knowledge is something I have always struggled with. I see uncertainty as a difficult concept as fragile knowledge does not last without cover. The development of new knowledge relies on certitude. Uncertainty can only recapitulate the already known. The idea that uncertainty doesn’t view the future as fact but instead, more as fate is reinforced in the human sciences.
Because each person is different and unpredictable in nature, it is merely impracticable to construct generalised, unerring prophecies with respect to human behaviour. Despite the fact that predicting human behaviour is what the human sciences is focused on, the study, to some extent, fails in its own function. A real life example that comes to mind is one that I have experienced.
Over the summer, I interned in ZEISS, my role as a sustainability consultant, attempting to implement sustainable practices into the workplace. An example is fabricating a system which allows the employees to take reusable bags to the hawker for lunch as opposed to returning with environmentally unsustainable plastic bags. I soon realised that there was no certainty that my system would work as the free-willed nature of human behaviour does not guarantee that they will make adaptations within their company and lifestyle to be more sustainable. I later retargeted my approach to the younger employees who ranged from ages 18-22 with my mindset being: they would be more inclined to modify their daily practices to be sustainable. I later realised that I had been guilty of constructing a logical fallacy, believing that: Generation z is rather liberal and because they are in my generation, they will care about sustainability. This demonstrates an error in my reasoning, dispensing an illegitimate argument that lacked evidence. Perhaps I made a generalisation, assuming that what I am familiar with is applied to all members of gen Z – showing how I attempted to find a pattern where there wasn’t one. This demonstrates inductive reasoning, whereby specific instances are construed into more general principles – likely to be vague and imprecise.
Through this real life example, I discovered that what imperilled me from creating a sustainable working environment was my own uncertainty. It arose under a circumstance where I had incalculable information about the predicted outcome of human behaviour. Perhaps uncertainty is the bane of humanity, a poison to the populace? Perhaps uncertainty allows for the creation of more robust knowledge? The only thing I am sure of is that there is certainty in uncertainty and there is colossal uncertainty in certainty.
Shweta… I think (cheeky uncertainty pun)
Thank you Shweta for this thoughtful piece. Your internship sounds like it was interesting and I hope you got a good deal out of it. Your own reflection on the way you view Gen Z is honest and points, as you say, to the dangers of stereotyping. That said, there is some truth to some stereotypes, right? Dutch people really are more direct than Japanese people – not always, but in general. Men really are physically stronger than women; not always, but in general.
This links, I think, to the other part of your piece – about uncertainty. I think generalisations and stereotypes can be seen as ways that we try to reduce our uncertainty. If I am uncertain about how strong someone is, if I know their gender it can help me guess. Of course, sometimes my guesses will be wrong; but I bet the guesses will be better if I know gender than if I do not.
So this is a perceptive post, and has soem good issues.
In terms of improvements, I think it is worth looking at the language of your first paragraphs. It is very abstract – and hard to understand without examples and context. For example, you say “The development of new knowledge relies on certitude. Uncertainty can only recapitulate the already known. The idea that uncertainty doesn’t view the future as fact but instead, more as fate is reinforced in the human sciences.. I do not really follow that…..
A good point to remember is that when ideas are complicated you need to use especially simple language to express it. Do try and remember this for the next post and see if you can make it especially clear and easy to follow. It will stand you ion very good stead to get used to this for when we come to the essays.