Episoder
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Title 4: Do the ever-improving tools of an area of knowledge always result in improved knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge
Guest: Dr. Simon Griffin
Sounds: Lamma beach -
2025 TOK Essay Title 3: How can we reconcile the relentless drive to pursue knowledge with the finite resources we have available? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge
Guest: Kevin Hoye
Sounds: Hong Kong Birds and Traffic in the morning -
Manglende episoder?
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2025 TOK Essay Title 1: Do historians and human scientists have an ethical obligation to follow the directive: “do not ignore contradictory evidence”? Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.
Guest: Quinn Fontaine
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest in the morning -
2025 TOK Essay Title 2: Is our most revered knowledge more fragile than we assume it to be? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge
Guest: Janka van Jaarsveld
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest in the morning -
2025 TOK Essay Title 6: Does acquiring knowledge destroy our sense of wonder? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge
Guest: Bob Scheer
Sounds: Sri Lankan rainforest at midnight -
2025 TOK Essay Title 5: To what extent do you agree with the claim “all models are wrong, but some are useful” (attributed to George Box)? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
Guest: Rob Bradshaw
Sounds: Sri Lankan street musicians -
不同的信仰体系如何影响我们的知识?
In this bilingual podcast, we explore the complex relationship between belief systems and our understanding of the world. We examine various belief frameworks, including the Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions, to explore if it is even possible to fully recognize the extent to which our underlying beliefs influence what we know and how we act. Join us as we delve into a short, sweet, yet deep conversation about our value systems and understanding how they shape our knowledge about others and the world. We hope this gets you thinking as you go about your day, and give you a chance to consider: How do your values influence your knowledge?
Guests: Dr. Bill Mak, Sun Laoshi -
Prompt 29. Who owns knowledge?
LY’s first response: “Those who study, those who learn, those who share” is not a bad start. I wish this were the world we lived in, but somehow I think the answer is far more complicated and often influenced by power (for good and for bad) more than we care to acknowledge.
What is ownership? That it ‘belongs’ to you? Can knowledge even be owned?
Pioneers, inventors, artists, discoverers of new knowledge - do they own the knowledge they produce, create or discover? If whoever was first gets the credit, does that mean they own the knowledge? Once knowledge is shared, does it belong to other knowers that know it too? What knowledge belongs to the common good? Is knowing something the same as owning it? This discussion raised Issues of social responsibility that comes with creating and sharing (or not sharing) new knowledge.
After we think about the question: Who owns knowledge? So many other important questions get raised: What do we do with it? How do we care for it? …LY asks but “so what”? We discussed the ways we value original ideas in different cultures. Zooming out, thinking about the implications of ownership and access, but also the responsibility for protection and upkeep that comes with ownership. Is the onus on the creator or user of knowledge? In a sense, are both ‘owners’?
Links in this talk can be found at www.TOKTalk.org
Guests: Donna Gee, Liu Yu
Music: Hilary Ng playing in the hallway at school -
This is one that I could discuss endlessly. Who doesn’t love imagination? I actually recorded this (and a few more episodes) nearly a year ago and have been waiting for the right time. Now seems like the right time for this one, especially as we’re talking about the role of imagination in allowing us to understand and empathize with circumstances outside of our own world.
We did go down a little LOTR rabbit hole in this one, let me know if you agree with what we said! But to bring it back to TOK, we talked about imagination in arts, literature, science, history... But we also just discussed the nature of imagining - how do we all imagine differently? Is your imagination a blank canvas? An audio box? Is it a recreation of senses in your mind? How much does it infiltrate your daily narrative? What is imagination? How is it different from reasoning or brainstorming? Are logic and imagination different versions of a similar way of thinking? Is it enough that imagination plays the role of fun and entertainment in producing knowledge about the world? Does it just make things more real and more fun?
I really enjoyed this conversation and am immensely grateful for my guests on this (and all episodes) as well as the musicians that help me to put these together. If you’re interested in joining me, please contact me via www.toktalk.org and fill out the contact form.
Links we discussed can be found on www.toktalk.org
Guests: Brett Fisher, Monica Wahl
Music: Hilary Ng playing in the hallway at school -
I met with Jon Rees, another TOK Teacher (as well as teacher of Human Technologies and IB English) here in Hong Kong, and we discussed TOK Exhibition Prompt 23: How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
It was a fascinating discussion! Students, you need to be careful in this question about the difference between producing knowledge and producing things. While there is a connection (knowledge is needed to produce things), it is not an obvious connection so an exploration of the knowledge being produced (not just the thing) is required here. I think it would be very hard to argue that material tools (and conceptual tools by extension?) are not essential - and yet there’s room for exploration as you can hear from our conversation. I hope to talk with Mr. Rees again soon, as it was a very interesting and thought provoking conversation.
Books & Resources that we referenced and discussed in relation to this talk (for links to all of these, check out www.TOKTalk.org):
‘Sapiens’ by Yuval Noah Harari - this book is essentially an exploration of the role of material tools in the development of humankind, but is especially interesting when he talks about “fictional realities”.
‘Techno Feudalism’ by Yanis Varoufakis - he does a great job from a Marxist perspective explaining how his father taught him the concept of historical materialism, how technological development creates the tools/conditions for the advancement of the socio-cultural context. Then who controls the means of production, power/authority.
‘How to Understand E= MC2’ by Christophe Galfard
‘The Sane Society’ by Eric Fromm - criticism of our focus on consumption in a nuclear age where we can annihilate ourselves
‘Song of the Cell’ by Siddhartha Mukherjee - deep exploration of our understanding of biology - the first chapters are specifically focused on development of the microscope and its influence on the entire field of microbiology and beyond
‘Guns Germs Steel’ by Jared Diamond outlines the theory of geographic determinism, and thus the access to materials and the tools we can therefore make are everything in the development of humankind
‘Knowledge Illusion’ by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach - the illusion of explanatory depth, mistaking shared knowledge for our own
Justice with Michael Sandel
Little Museum of the World in Chai Wan - A time machine for building peace
‘The Vanishing Face of Gaia’, by James Lovelock - essential wake-up call for humankind
‘Donut Economics’ by Kate Raworth - a hopeful perspective! Nibbling away what we need (not beyond our planetary boundaries)
Special Guest: Jon Rees
Music from the ISF Student Brass Band playing outside the school gate one morning in December 2023 -
May 2024 TOK Essay Title 3 Nothing is more exciting than fresh ideas, so why are areas of knowledge often so slow to adopt them? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
What is the difference between an idea and knowledge? What is slow or fast in terms of ideas? What contexts affect the timeframe? Slow for what? Who?
What does it mean to “adopt” an idea? How is that different from acceptance? When does an idea become a theory or law? What makes an idea fresh? What about the possibilities they represent is both exciting and causes disciplines to pause before adopting them?
Guests: Brett Fisher and Garrett McKee
Sounds from rice fields in Bali -
May 2024 TOK Essay Title 5 Do we need custodians of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
I met with Kevin and recorded this, but I had a technical malfunction so the recording was lost. I’ve tried to recapture the essence of our conversation as best as I could. We unpacked some really interesting questions: How does one become a ‘custodian’ of knowledge? Who has the authority or right? Who decides what is protected? What about knowledge that has been lost or discluded? What other great truths and insights are we not hearing because of the selectivity? As custodians, how do we weigh up this choice? What if we didn’t have custodians of knowledge? What about knowledge that might be dangerous?
Links from our conversation:
CNN interview - last of a family of Peruvian Potato farmers https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/10/25/potato-custodians-peru-spc-intl-c2e.cnn
Académie Française: https://www.academie-francaise.fr/
How to contribute to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contributing_to_Wikipedia
Guest: Kevin Hoye (though as the original episode was lost, his actual voice is not featured, only his ideas as I have tried to faithfully represent them)
Music: Jingle Bell Rock as recorded by the Brown School Shoes in December 2018… no it's not the holidays yet. -
May 2024 TOK Essay Title 2: How can we reconcile the opposing demands for specialization and generalization in the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
This is a tough one that requires some confidence to write about examples with confidence in mathematics. A good investigation would offer an exploration of ways that the demands are reconciled. Why do the demands oppose? Are they really opposing demands? Why do we need both specialization and generalization? If one way to reconcile these demands is to create systems and improve communication within and across knowledge communities, what does this actually look like in the real world? Are we (knowledge communities) actually able to reconcile these demands?
Link from our discussion:
Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Problems: https://www.claymath.org/millennium-problems/
Guest: Martin Brown
Music: random sounds that could be so much better. Do you have music you'd like featured? Please contact me through the form at www.TOKTalk.org -
May 2024 TOK Essay Title 6 Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Be careful here with this title that you’re really talking about evidence and not the interpretation of evidence in the form of theories! This one is worth a listen just for how we talk about ways to approach TOK Essay Titles in general, nearer to the end.
One more word about the arts after further consideration: recent evidence could be uncovered in the arts in many ways, for example the use of x-ray can uncover new evidence about artists’ intentions, techniques and processes. Check out the Art News article linked below.
Links from our discussion:
Scientific American Article about Neutrinos https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/particles-found-to-travel/
Einstein theory of relativity & the eclipse that proved his ideas: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/total-solar-eclipse-100-years-ago-proved-einsteins-general-relativity-180972278/
Infinite Monkey Cage Podcast talking about Covid Science happening in real time: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001f4lp
Art News article about x-rays and underpaintings https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hidden-paintings-x-ray-2176965
Guest: Rhodri George
Music: sounds recorded on the beach in Pak Lap and a random bass line from Garage Band... I need more music! -
May 2024 TOK Essay Title 1: Is subjectivity overly celebrated in the arts but unfairly condemned in history? Discuss with reference to the arts and history.
Be careful with this title: you need to really interrogate assumptions about the role of subjectivity in both arts and history. Think about instances where subjectivity may be overly celebrated in the arts and where objectivity could be of value. Likewise, think about where subjectivity is condemned and where it might also have value in history. I really like this title and look forward to hearing your thoughts on it (and reading your essays!)
Guests: Kevin Hoye, Robert Scheer -
Today we talked about TOK Exhibition prompt 14: Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers? This is a good one with links to religious knowledge, and secret knowledge only shared by communities… We discuss the idea of preserving some knowledge, why some knowledge does (and perhaps should?) only belong to particular communities, and the blurry line where protecting knowledge becomes gatekeeping. This is a really good one, and left me with a lot more questions than answers. An interesting link to this year’s TOK Essay titles too!
Guest: Dr. Rachel Oser
Music: cover of Taylor Swift Love Story from Grade 9 students around a campfire. -
你為什麼會覺得某種存在很美？美感的根源和本质是什么？美感是个人、某种文化所特有的、还是整个世界共有的？帶著這些問題，我們特意邀請了王紅櫻老師、賀瑜老師、吳玥老師參與了這一期的知識論清談。期間老師們對於藝術與美的討論有趣有深刻，期待大家收聽。能夠完成這一話題的討論與後期製作，離不開Ms OSANN、苗曉龍老師的大力支持。鞠躬、致謝。
In this Mandarin episode of TOK Talk, Mr. Sun invited Mandarin Language Teachers Mr. Wang, Ms. He, and Ms. Wu to discuss important questions about beauty: Why do we think certain things are beautiful? What is the origin and nature of a sense of beauty? Is this sense specific to the individual or to the culture, or is it universal? A profound discussion on art and beauty The discussion and post-production of this topic cannot be completed without the strong support of Ms Osann and Miao Xiaolong.
Hosts: 孫秀東 Mr. Sun
Guests: 王紅櫻老師、賀瑜老師、吳玥老師
Music: 王美婷老師 -
In this episode, I met with Bill Kyzner (IB Teacher of Global Politics) and Garrett McKee (IB Teacher of Design Technology) to discuss Prompt 10: What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge? We explored the relationship between the communicator, the message, and the audience along with the challenges raised in each of these stages. We first unpacked the assumption that there will be misinterpretation: what is said is not what will be received. Some of the many challenges we discussed include: the layered meaning of words, translation, media of dissemination, perspectives that shape our understanding, language, expectations, context (everything is relative to the context!). We also discuss the challenges when a message requires action on the part of the listener: convenience or desire to act, fatigue and lack of tools or methods to act upon a message, lack of a singular clear authority, not knowing who to trust, vetting sources, knowing what knowledge is valid when faced with conflicting information or ideas, especially when they go against existing beliefs. We agreed that it is always a challenge (though absolutely necessary) to set our own perspective aside in order to develop sincere understanding.
We also discuss when less is more to make a message clearer and less open to interpretation, but also in a very Orwellian way, how this can also go entirely wrong. What authorities supersede our own independent search for truth? From a Global Politics perspective, an important idea raised was that “just because the more powerful perspective dominates the landscape doesn’t mean that the less powerful perspective is less meaningful.” From a Graphic design perspective, to communicate messages, raise awareness, what is the best way to communicate so that it is not misinterpreted? How can we avoid adding to misinformation? What are the basics of communication to begin with? This was a challenging question and (as many knowledge questions) we ended with even more questions than we started with! Thanks for listening, I hope you found it thought provoking.
Host: Emily Osann
Guests: Bill Kyzner, Garrett McKee
Music: Emily Osann -
歷史是什麼？我們多大程度上可以探尋到歷史的真項？如果歷史真相難以證實,這是否意味著有關該歷史事件的各種版本都具有同樣的可接受性?哪些因素會影響你接受對歷史事件的解釋？帶著這些問題，我們特意邀請了張瓊老師、苗曉龍老師、李曉熙老師參與了這一期的知識論清談。期間老師們胸懷大志、腹有良謀、指點江山，有包藏宇宙之機，有吞吐天地之志，慾知如何，敬請收聽。能夠完成這一話題的討論與後期製作，離不開Ms OSANN、苗曉龍老師的大力支持。鞠躬、致謝。
Mandarin speakers, this is the second episode just for you! In this podcast, Sun Laoshi asked, "What is history? To what extent can we explore the truth of history? If historical truth is difficult to verify, does that mean that various versions of that historical event are equally acceptable? What factors influence your acceptance of an interpretation of a historical event?”
With these questions in mind, we invited teachers Zhang Qiong, Miao Xiaolong, and Li Xiaoxi to contribute to this Episode of TOK Talk - our second Chinese Podcast in our growing effort to share bilingual resources about TOK. I hope you enjoy this episode!
Once again, I would especially like to thank Wang Mei Tyng Laoshi for the beautiful original musical composition especially prepared for this podcast.
Hosts: 孫秀東 Xiudong Sun & Emily Osann
Guests: 張瓊老師、苗曉龍老師、李曉熙老師
Music: 王美婷老師 -
Recently I met with Naomi Chevannes who teaches Design Technology here in Hong Kong. We discussed TOK Exhibition Prompt 15: What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge? Breaking this down we discussed constraints such as access, tools, time, language, personal experience, motivation, perspectives, funding… We found possible divisions of these constraints such as inner and outer constraints, as well as an elegant distinction between constraints to the pursuit of knowledge which are within or without our control. We talked about knowledge as a buffet, and contrasted that with a famine (we may have gotten a little carried away with our food metaphor, as we were meeting just before lunch!! I really enjoyed this conversation, so thank you so much to Naomi for taking time out of a busy day to sit down and talk TOK with me.
Guest: Naomi Chevannes - Vis mere
