Elaine Pranadjaya Grade 11 15th February 2017

Semester 2 Theory Of Knowledge Week 3

- Identify which essay question you will attempt

We see and understand things not as they are but as we are. Discuss
this claim in relation to at least two ways of knowing.

- Identify any terms/phrases/problems/issues in the essay

question that require clarification

'see' = to perceive an object or idea

'understand' = perceive the intended meaning of something
'things' = anything in the world, such as objects, thoughts, ideas,
concepts, theories, etc.

- Identify any related Knowledge Questions

Do emotions affect the way we see and understand things?
How far can our senses be trusted to give us the truth?
Do we perceive the world accurately?
How does the way we describe something affect the way we see it?
How does expectation influence observation

- Identify at least two articles from the RLs & KQs documents in
the Files folder - each WoK/AoK folder has one document - briefly
state how each article connects with your chosen essay question

Reason
o The shooting of Michael Brown proves (once again)
how racial stereotyping can lead to murder
o People see / understand things in different ways due to
stereotypes. Some people might use system 1 thinking, while
some people might use system 2 thinking, which will
determine how we will see/understand situations.
Sense Perception
o What Beauty Looks Like, From Argentina to Vietnam
o We dont see beauty as a universal thing. People see beauty in
different ways because we are all different people, therefore
we see things not as they are but as we are.

- Identify at least one concept/theory that could be used to help

analyse the question and explain why you think it has application

bias / confirmation bias

o Confirmation bias influences how people obtain, recall, and
interpret information. Confirmation bias tends to reject
evidence that does not support our own beliefs. Your mental
Elaine Pranadjaya Grade 11 15th February 2017
Semester 2 Theory Of Knowledge Week 3

construction of reality might differ from another persons

reality due to the large amounts of bias, therefore, we all see
things not as they are, but as we are.
System 1 and two thinking / logical fallacies
o Every one of us have different ways of thinking. One person
might use their system 1 thinking more often while other
people might use their system 2 thinking more often, creating
logical fallacies. This affects their understandings of things in
the world.

James Lange theory / Cannon-bard theory

o Emotions can cause a reaction before your thinking processes.

We might experience things differently, according to whether
your emotions come first, and then the thought, or if its the
other way around.

- Identify at least one relevant example that you have studied at

school - can be from any area of knowledge
In English class, we have been analyzing the novel The Handmaids
Tale by Margaret Atwood. I have noticed, that if we were given a
single quote, not all of us would have the same interpretation of it.
We see the quote not just as a quote, but as what we think the
quote means, and everyone has a slightly different approach of
analyzing the quote.