Shared Knowledge

TOK

TASK

• Shared knowledge comes to us ’second hand’ from other people– Who should you trust?

Some dangers with shared knowledge

• (1) Authority worship– Uncritically accepting

something as true simply because an authority says it is true

TASK

• Can you point situations where you have fallen into authority worship?

• When, if ever, would you be willing to trust the authority of other people rather than the evidence or your senses?

Some dangers with shared knowledge

• (2) Groupthink– Phenomenon in which

members of a group suppress their own dissent in the interest of group consensus

TASK

• Watch the video found in the link below concerning conformity and groupthink– https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds3-ljxTRvo

• Where have you encountered conformity and groupthink?

Some dangers with shared knowledge

• (3) Power distortion– Vested interest: an

ulterior motive for claiming that something is true or false

– E.g. governments may alter data about the state of military operations or economy

TASK

• ’Julian Assange Defends leaking Government Secrets’– How can knowledge be

abused by those in power?

Some dangers with shared knowledge

• (4) Fragmentation– Focusing more on the

parts and not understandign the whole

TASK

• Try find ways to fight against fragmentation of knowledge

• How can you have breadth of knowledge in addition to depth of knowledge?

Summary

Picture Sources

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140825135605-169269010-building-executive-trust-in-three-easy-steps

• http://www.radioinsights.com/2015/08/nielsen-cartman-moment-respect-my-authority.html

• http://webmasterformat.com/blog/build-authority-site

• http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/10/12/the-trouble-with-physics-another-branch-of-science-captured-by-groupthink/

Picture Sources

• http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jul/14/julian-assange-whistleblower-wikileaks

• http://hongkongreporting.com/2013/10/27/when-noble-ideals-collide/

• http://blog.audiocodes.com/webrtc-connectivity-solution-with-focus-on-quality-and-scale/

• http://www.sustainability.com/blog/what-s-the-big-idea#.VePuubSPftA

Picture Sources

• van de Lagemaat, Richard: Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Second edition, Cambridge University Press 2015, page 53