tok essay
“When the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to resemble nails.”
Examination session: May 2014
1,232 words
The Ways of Knowing are a sophisticated way of explaining how everyday people gain knowledge throughout the world, and discover our specific place in it. Whether it is Sense Perception, Emotion, Reasoning, or Language, they all serve as a vital part in our lives and guide the way we as people live. But how reliable are the ways of knowing? Abraham Maslow once said “When the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to resemble nails.” What Maslow is trying to say is that each way of knowing is beneficial in its own way, but if we as people begin to use one way of knowing for every situation, we are setting ourselves up for a single minded life style and will pursue every problem with the same solution. Thus because of this, it is important for us as humans to know when each way of knowing is appropriate for a particular situation. The way of knowing that is used probably most often would be sense perception. This way of knowing is the most immediate and applies to our sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. The key question of this way of knowing is how reliable our sense perception is and to what extent can we rely on them. One basic argument against sense perception is that we all as people have the ability to hallucinate. In other words, we all sometimes can see things that are not actually visible. This provides an unsteady view on the validity of sense perception. Trying to solve all problems with simply our sense perception is risky. Seeing is not believing. A human’s mind is a powerful tool that can control our senses and maybe even lead us to believe something that is not true. Another way of knowing is emotion, which is much less physical and measurable than our senses. The key question pertaining to emotion is to what extent does it help us, or does it only hurt us? Since there
Examination session: May 2014
1,232 words
The Ways of Knowing are a sophisticated way of explaining how everyday people gain knowledge throughout the world, and discover our specific place in it. Whether it is Sense Perception, Emotion, Reasoning, or Language, they all serve as a vital part in our lives and guide the way we as people live. But how reliable are the ways of knowing? Abraham Maslow once said “When the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to resemble nails.” What Maslow is trying to say is that each way of knowing is beneficial in its own way, but if we as people begin to use one way of knowing for every situation, we are setting ourselves up for a single minded life style and will pursue every problem with the same solution. Thus because of this, it is important for us as humans to know when each way of knowing is appropriate for a particular situation. The way of knowing that is used probably most often would be sense perception. This way of knowing is the most immediate and applies to our sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. The key question of this way of knowing is how reliable our sense perception is and to what extent can we rely on them. One basic argument against sense perception is that we all as people have the ability to hallucinate. In other words, we all sometimes can see things that are not actually visible. This provides an unsteady view on the validity of sense perception. Trying to solve all problems with simply our sense perception is risky. Seeing is not believing. A human’s mind is a powerful tool that can control our senses and maybe even lead us to believe something that is not true. Another way of knowing is emotion, which is much less physical and measurable than our senses. The key question pertaining to emotion is to what extent does it help us, or does it only hurt us? Since there