Can mathematics be characterized as a universal language?
First look at the cartoon on this link:
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~draperg/cartoons/jungle.html
This author/artist views math as being a usable universal language. I however, strongly disagree that I could communicate using math ONLY with a person who spoke a different language. The mathematical symbols may be universal and the concepts may be universal, but unless one understands the concepts in his or her own respective language FIRST, there is no purpose in attempting to communicate. For example, I could write the problem 2 x 3 = ___ , take it to one of the German exchange students, and she would (hopefully) write the number 6. She knows to write the number six because she has been taught IN GERMAN that the little "x"means multiply just like I have been taugh IN ENGLISH what the "x"represents. Without our own languages, we would have no idea what to write in the little blank after those two parallel lines becuase we would have no grasp of the concept of multiplication. (ex quote: "There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary math, and those who don't" -anonymous)
Also, without other languages, the answer 6 is completely devoid of meaning. The 2 and 3 and 6 are all supposed to represent something else, but there is no common language to illustrate what they are representing. If there are three people and each person has two oranges, obviously there are 6 oranges involved...but I don't know how to say orange in German, I can only write arbitrary numbers down on a sheet of paper. Yikes! the bell just rang, more writing later!!
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"Political Ethics and Moral Ambiguity: The Moral Agency of Nation States" Monday, October 3, 7:00 p.m. in the Performance Classroom of North Central High School
Socrates
A blog for Theory of Knowledge students at North Central High School
2011 Episteme Lecture
"Political Ethics and Moral Ambiguity: The Moral Agency of Nation States" Monday, October 3, 7:00 p.m. in the Performance Classroom of North Central High School
2011 Episteme Lecturer -- Dr. Carlton Waterhouse
The Episteme Lectures Renewed!
Thanks to a generous grant from the Washington Township Schools Foundation, The Episteme Lectures have additional funding for another three years! While we continue to need further financial support to expand the level of excellence for which the lectures are known (interested donors should contact Steve Perkins at sperkins@msdwt.k12.in.us or 317.259.5301, x5526), we are deeply grateful to the WTS Foundation for its previous and continued support of this unique educational opportunity. Please visit us at www.epistemelecture.org.
Former TOK Students Speak Out
Today, when I went to open my links to my required reading for my Intro to International Studies, I laughed out loud as I read the title of the second article we had to read:
Epistemology: How You Know What You Know.
Something tells me I am already very well prepared for this course thanks to two years of thinking in one class. I hope all is well with you and your classes at North Central and thanks again for two years of one of the best classes I ever took. Alley Murphy
I'm finishing the last 20 pages of the marathon that is Will Durant's Story of Philosophy. You should recommend its 400 dense (both in words and concepts per square inch) pages of 1920's ornate and pristine prose to any exceptional student; if they start now, it would supplement their ToK experience and undoubtedly imbue them with remarkable writing ability. Although I realize that ToK isn't a philosophical survey course, I can't help but see my youth as one of privation for lack of Kant. Spending one class surveying Kant would not only reveal to ToKers the joys of philosophy and the inevitable narrowness of their perspective, it would also provide some support against the arrogant materialists. Benson Tucker, Brown University
A quote by Rousseau was brought up in my Intro to Itnl. Studies class, and it reminded me greatly of TOK. Fred Hendricks III, Indiana University
As I was sitting in Mexico, waiting for the VBS my youth group was running to end, I noticed the hue of the sky. It indicated a nearing sunset; thus, it was time to go. I got up only to find it was in fact not time to go but at least half an hour early. I took off my sunglasses. They were spotless, unscratched. They gave me a perfectly accurate view of the world save for tint, and that exception influenced my actions greatly. It got me to thinking what other slight misperceptions of the world could have caused me and others to do. It got me talking about perception back at my hotel room. It got the little TOK voice in my head whirring.
Just thought you should know as you begin to plant that questioning seed inside the minds of your new class that your last crop was successful, that even in another country there is no place for your students to run or hide and that even the quiet ones will fall. Kim Hotchkiss, St. Olaf College
Tell all your IB students TOK is the one thing from IB that you will most definitely use in college! I certainly have and I am so happy I was exposed to something like TOK before college. Marissa Hampton, University of California-Irvine
TOK is the best class you can take in high school. And, being able to write critically off the top of your head is pretty much what your have to do on all your non-math/science exams. Plus, TOK is generally a heck of a lot of fun. If you can make it through the beginning of junior year, you're golden. I really do appreciate what TOK has done for me. Anna Boch, Harvard University
I'm double majoring in political science and criminal justice. I've taken some philosophy classes and in depth political analysis classes already and basically owned them. TOK really gave me a crazy perspective when analyzing texts and debating them. I found that I was much much much more prepared than the majority of the students. Keane Mossman, Indiana University
A couple of years ago I asked a large group of [Katie's] friends if they felt prepared for college and what class at NC helped them the most. This was a group of kids who were at Harvard and Stanford and everywhere in between. They said without a doubt they were better prepared than 99% of other students. They also agreed that the best class by far was TOK because it really taught them to think and question. Sara Lootens, mother of Katie Lootens, Duke University
Epistemology: How You Know What You Know.
Something tells me I am already very well prepared for this course thanks to two years of thinking in one class. I hope all is well with you and your classes at North Central and thanks again for two years of one of the best classes I ever took. Alley Murphy
I'm finishing the last 20 pages of the marathon that is Will Durant's Story of Philosophy. You should recommend its 400 dense (both in words and concepts per square inch) pages of 1920's ornate and pristine prose to any exceptional student; if they start now, it would supplement their ToK experience and undoubtedly imbue them with remarkable writing ability. Although I realize that ToK isn't a philosophical survey course, I can't help but see my youth as one of privation for lack of Kant. Spending one class surveying Kant would not only reveal to ToKers the joys of philosophy and the inevitable narrowness of their perspective, it would also provide some support against the arrogant materialists. Benson Tucker, Brown University
A quote by Rousseau was brought up in my Intro to Itnl. Studies class, and it reminded me greatly of TOK. Fred Hendricks III, Indiana University
As I was sitting in Mexico, waiting for the VBS my youth group was running to end, I noticed the hue of the sky. It indicated a nearing sunset; thus, it was time to go. I got up only to find it was in fact not time to go but at least half an hour early. I took off my sunglasses. They were spotless, unscratched. They gave me a perfectly accurate view of the world save for tint, and that exception influenced my actions greatly. It got me to thinking what other slight misperceptions of the world could have caused me and others to do. It got me talking about perception back at my hotel room. It got the little TOK voice in my head whirring.
Just thought you should know as you begin to plant that questioning seed inside the minds of your new class that your last crop was successful, that even in another country there is no place for your students to run or hide and that even the quiet ones will fall. Kim Hotchkiss, St. Olaf College
Tell all your IB students TOK is the one thing from IB that you will most definitely use in college! I certainly have and I am so happy I was exposed to something like TOK before college. Marissa Hampton, University of California-Irvine
TOK is the best class you can take in high school. And, being able to write critically off the top of your head is pretty much what your have to do on all your non-math/science exams. Plus, TOK is generally a heck of a lot of fun. If you can make it through the beginning of junior year, you're golden. I really do appreciate what TOK has done for me. Anna Boch, Harvard University
I'm double majoring in political science and criminal justice. I've taken some philosophy classes and in depth political analysis classes already and basically owned them. TOK really gave me a crazy perspective when analyzing texts and debating them. I found that I was much much much more prepared than the majority of the students. Keane Mossman, Indiana University
A couple of years ago I asked a large group of [Katie's] friends if they felt prepared for college and what class at NC helped them the most. This was a group of kids who were at Harvard and Stanford and everywhere in between. They said without a doubt they were better prepared than 99% of other students. They also agreed that the best class by far was TOK because it really taught them to think and question. Sara Lootens, mother of Katie Lootens, Duke University
Links of Interest
Socrates
Former Students
Former TOK students who remember something wonderfully witty or stunningly profound that either they or someone else wrote, may recover such tidbits of wisdom by emailing Mr. Perkins at sperkins@msdwt.k12.in.us.
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from Plato's Apology
Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy.
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