The Knower: That's You
- In TOK, a knower is anyone who takes in information and tries to make sense of it.
- That includes you scrolling through TikTok, your friend explaining why their favorite team is the best, and your grandmother sharing family stories.
Note
Every time you learn something, you become a knower.
Your Background Changes Everything
- Here's what makes TOK interesting.
- Take the same piece of information and give it to different people.,they'll understand it differently.
- Not because some are smarter, but because they bring different experiences to the table.
Example
- Take Pearl Harbor as an example.
- American student learns about Pearl Harbor: "Japan launched a surprise attack that brought America into World War II."
- Japanese student learns about Pearl Harbor: "Japan attacked Pearl Harbor as part of the Pacific War that had been ongoing since 1937."
- Same event. Different contexts. Different knowledge.
Analogy
- Think of knowledge like looking at a house.
- Someone standing in front sees the door and windows.
- Someone standing behind sees the backyard and garage.
- Again, same house.
- Different perspectives, both can be true at the same time.
Three Ways Your Perspective Shapes What You Know
1. Cultural Lens
Your culture acts like a filter for information.
- Take medicine as an example:
- Western-raised student: "If it's not scientifically tested, it's not real medicine."
- Traditional Chinese medicine background: "Balance and natural remedies have worked for thousands of years."
Tip
- Neither is wrong.
- They're applying different cultural frameworks to evaluate what counts as valid medical knowledge.
2. Personal Experience Filter
What you've lived through affects what you believe.
- Using technology as an example:
- Student who grew up with smartphones: "Social media connects us globally."
- Student whose parents restrict screen time: "Social media creates addiction and isolation."
- Again this is the same technology, interpreted through different lived experiences, different knowledge claims.
3. Educational Context
Where and how you learn shapes what you accept as true.
- Using climate change:
- School emphasizing scientific consensus: Climate change is human-caused and urgent.
- School in oil-producing region: Climate change effects are debated and economic impacts matter most.
Common Mistake
- Thinking Your View Is Universal.
- Most students write essays like "Everyone knows that..." or "It's obvious that..."
- This shows you don't understand that knowledge comes from specific perspectives.
- Instead, write "From a Western perspective..." or "Students in my context might think..."
- This demonstrates you understand the knower's role.
Perspective Recognition
- What TOK actually wants you to develop is when you encounter any knowledge claim, to automatically ask:
- Who is making this claim?
- What's their background?
- How might someone with a different background see this?
- It's really a course on thinking critically, with nuance.
Example
- Your friend says: "Private schools provide better education."
- Breaking this down:
- Friend's perspective: Attended private school, parents value academic achievement
- Alternative perspective: Public school student might emphasize community diversity and equal access
- Recognition: Both have valid points based on their experiences
Recognize Knowledge Always Comes From Somewhere
- You need to understand the knower isn't about being politically correct or saying "all views are equal."
- It's about recognizing that knowledge always comes from somewhere.
- When you understand this, you become better at evaluating claims, understanding others, and making your own informed judgments.
Tip
- The goal isn't to eliminate your perspective.
- It's to understand how your perspective shapes what you know, so you can think more clearly about what's actually true.
Self review
- Think of a strong opinion you hold about a current issue. What aspects of your background (culture, experiences, education) might have shaped this view?
- Can you identify a time when you changed your mind about something after learning about a different perspective? What made you reconsider your original position?
- When you encounter news or information online, do you automatically consider who created it and what their perspective might be? Why or why not?
