Our perception is how we interpret the world however it is not necessarily an accurate interpretation of our surroundings.

Optical illusions are a very common trick to see all around us and we usually don’t think very much of them other than woah that was weird, however they illustrate a very important concept that what we see is not necessarily the same as what we interpret of it and that these interpretations are not universal. For example, in the presentation about perception we saw an optical illusion where you either saw an image of a young woman or one of an old woman and after you saw both it became very easy to switch between them. Initially, people only saw one or the other image which shows how they interpreted the same drawing in different ways, which became especially interesting when we discovered that the students tended to see a young woman whereas the teachers tended to see an old woman because of the age difference between the two groups of people. This can have very important real-life impacts as people see the same scenario but can interpret it in very different way switch can be why in many court cases we get conflicting witness testimonies as everyone is seeing life through their perspective which is a lens that affects what we perceive our surroundings and events to be. This shows that if we all don’t interpret our surroundings in the same ways some interpretations must be inaccurate as there is only one ‘true’ version there aren’t different ‘truths’ depending on who percieved the action and their interpretation of it.

Our perception is an explanation of our surroundings based on what we place importance on.

We don’t register everything in our surrounding as we deem it unimportant and focus our attention and energy on the more meaningful things happening around us e.g. in a classroom setting you usually don’t register the noise of the AC or the feeling of your feet on the floor as you’re focused on what the teacher is saying/doing rather than these other factors. However, just because you don’t register the AC or your feet on the floor does not mean they are not part of your surroundings but they are insignificant as they are unimportant in comparison to the other things happening around you such as the teacher teaching. Therefore they don’t play a role in your brains explanation of what is happening or happened during that class as they are unnecessary and irrelevant details. Another example of this could be in the videos we watched in class where we were focused on counting the number of throws between people in a certain colour shirt (white or black) so we gave the most importance to this task in the video and our brains disregarded any other information that didn’t seem useful or needed to effectively complete this task. For example, until it was expressly pointed out some people didn’t see a gorilla enter the frame however most noticed when one of the people left as they were given importance because they are catching and throwing the ball. As we were focused on the people and what is moving in the frame the gorilla wasn’t disregarded by everyone’s perception however elements that had no impact on the passing of the ball such as the curtain gradually changing colour was missed by everyone. This means that our brains created an explanation of the video which didn’t involve the curtain changing as that wasn’t given importance as it had no bearing on the task we were focused on completing.

Two Most Justified Subjects

Maths

What we learn in Maths Class is based on common knowledge to a large extent, almost everyone knows that 2 + 3 = 5 from this we can derive that 2x+3x=5x and from this, we can derive more complex problems and so on and so forth. And common knowledge relies on people’s memory to some extent of course which although can be unreliable at times, is an extra layer of justification. We also often have to prove formulas that many regard as common knowledge or true in our course which shows a clear method of how we got to that point and in turn verifies the accuracy of that equation, rather than just relying on the authority of the teacher told us this so it must be true.

Design and Technology

Design and Technology is a largely practical subject which means that it relies heavily on sense perception as well as memory and common knowledge. We use our memory of concepts we have learnt and deem as true due to the authority of our teachers and the fact that for many concepts such as mechanisms a physical model can prove that this combination does indeed achieve that output. Sense perception plays a huge role in DT as we are constantly modifying our designs based on the touch, smell or appearance of our materials or components and often based solely on a combination of memory and instinct we find solutions to our problems.

Two Least Justified Subjects

English

The concepts in English usually rely on a person’s interpretation of a text type which means that they can greatly vary from person to person which makes them very hard to prove or trace back in the way that formulas or given facts can be. This knowledge may be based in faith or a person’s value judgement but there is no definitive justification for the subject as a whole.

Psychology

Psychology is a relatively new field and the conclusions that are drawn from it are constantly changing and being refuted and as a subject what we learn as true is largely based on the authority of our teacher and perhaps the finding of studies although there is often another study another study that refutes it. Most concepts can be explained logically but as a whole, most of the knowledge from the subject is prone to change easily.

1. Addresses Question

The excellent TOK essay was very focused on the essay question although it did branch out to explore different avenues related to the topic there was a consistent, clear sense of the essay question. Whereas in the mediocre essay it became very difficult to follow due to the fact that at first it appears that the author is attempting to show how neutral questions only exist in factual subjects such as mathematics but then at the end suddenly deviates to say there is no such thing as a neutral question in contrast with most of their previous points. This causes slight confusion resulting in rereading sections of the essay to try and grasp how they came to this conclusion and after 3 reads I have only identified one sentence that could support it.

In conclusion, to write an excellent TOK essay you must remember to focus on the essay question and try not to deviate or branch out into other topics, as this makes it very difficult to follow.

2. Clear Structure

Both essays were comparing their essay question across two subjects; in the excellent essays case it was Art and Science and in the mediocre one it was History and Maths, a clear distinguishing factor between the two essays was how easy it was to tell what the author was focusing on in that paragraph or section. In the excellent essay, there was a clear sense of structure; an introduction followed by a paragraph on what is robust knowledge, followed by one on consensus and the remainders were Art, Science, Art + Science and a conclusion (each paragraphed respectively). This created a clear distinction between the author’s points and a flow which led to it being easier to read and follow that simply wasn’t there in the mediocre essay.

In summary, a good TOK essay or any essay for this matter needs to have a clear sense of structure which aids in creating a flow for the reader to follow.

3. Thesis/ Opening

A strong thesis statement can make an essay, it sets the scene, tone and topic for the following essay and helps the reader to properly understand what exactly the essay is focused on. Both the essays did have a thesis, however in the case of the mediocre essay in their whole first paragraph only one sentence was truly on topic. The excellent essay had a clear thesis, spanning across multiple sentences that really clarified the aim of the essay and how the author planned on achieving it. As a reader, this greatly assisted in following the author’s argument and discussion throughout the rest of the essay as it showed what the author was attempting to convey in greater detail.