History

I've always thought history, as another word of "science" because it provides us details and facts, which makes it a clear subject and leaves evidence behind. History must be studied by everyone because without it, we would be very lost in the modern world and have no clue in how we reached up til now. The history is what makes it The history of the world is what makes it what it is today, we couldn't fully understand the world today if we didn't study were we come from, but what happens if what is told that happened is not actually what happened?

This idea changed my thoughts completely because I've always thought history was fulfilled with facts but have not thought of rewriting them. We will never know the real truth behind the events this is because we will ever really know if what we think that happened is what really happened. But at the same time, history often perpetuates stereotypes. For example, Japan is well known to be taking lands and dominating them, being interpreted as the "evil". People might think Japan as a cruel land, people are scumbags because of its history behind. This can be a reason why countries rewrite history. To not make themselves look bad compared to other countries. Germany is a great example that had rewritten their history throughout the Nazi days, their event of holocaust and the Jewish deaths. 

In most cases, the critical aspects of the Nazi terror are ignored. For example, Jews had been gas poisoned but never mentioned of the  gas chamber. The total numbers of Jews killed were reduced than its actual number. Some countries like Germany has been harshly affected by others in the past, and to hide its embarrassment for its failure, for them it was right to rewrite the history but this is a mistake. Rewriting the history will affect the future and will not prevent from happening again. However if the country has the power of getting up after being suffering attacks from other countries I think people should be proud of it and it should be something to remember.

How useful is Science as a way of knowing?

Science is very important in our daily lives. Without it, we would be living back in the stone ages. These days, science is so advanced that it had made human life tons easier for example transportation, communication, etc. But here's our question. How useful is science as a way of knowing?

Science can be useful in many ways. It surpasses human's thinking limit and proves that it is true. In this world which is based on bias and points of view, we depend on science for verifiable information which helps to make important decisions about our lives. Science is based on experimentation and observations of the world.

Most of the time, people assume something but never been proved that it is true. Knowledge can back up the statement but only to a certain limit. Science can break the limit utilizing a series of facts, hypothesis, laws and theories to explain the observations.

Science is a powerful method for obtaining knowledge. It isn't the only way but it is the most reliable way to justify. The scientific method utilizes a series of facts, laws, hypothesis and theories to explain the observations made in this natural world and it is believed that everything happens for a reason such as the grand canyon and niagara waterfall, how it formed and why.

Most of our knowledge comes from Science because the main characteristic of a science is built upon facts. Every cause has its consequences and everything is predicted. Taking an example of the temperature, we can  determine with our sense perception whether it is hot or cold or warm. But with science, using a thermometer we can determine exactly the temperature to see how hot or how cold it is. We can obtain knowledge with our senses but not as exactly as in scientific way.

Human are all equal physically but not mentally. We all react differently to any situations and that is because we all live in different ecosystems. Some day, we would be able to determine for sure what is morally good what isnt. Everyone has been through different situations that might have changed our way of feeling and seeing, having different perspective. 

Our TOK Presentation

Group 3 People: Sergio, Juan Pablo, Cosima, Gaby, Carlos, David Cabrera, Yanez, Nikki, Vale rubio, Kun

Our group has chosen Sense Perception as the ways of knowing and Human Science as areas of knowledge.

Question: HOW RELIABLE IS SENSE PERCEPTION IN RELATION TO HUMAN SCIENCES AS A METHOD OF EXPLORING THE WORLD AROUND US?

My work came out to be successful in the presentation, which I took part in the experiment to demonstrate that senses rely on each other. My part was to show that senses of Smell and Taste rely on each other and to prove this statement, I had prepared an apple and an onion. My assistant was Carlos, who had helped me with this experiment and my volunteer was Valentina Trujillo. We blind folded her and did not tell her what we were about to give her. Next, we put an onion on her nose and gave her a slice of apple to eat and asked  her what it tasted like. The experiment was not successful because she had said that it tasted like apple rather than onion and I figured that Carlos was not putting the onion on her nose properly. It was a big error but the experiemtn was supposed to work as it is proven elsewhere. Anyways, my work had contributed to the team to interact with the audience and make this presentation more understandable rather than saying words. My work was accepted within the group and everyone agreed to my work. I contributed a lot to the group by giving ideas after I was done with my work, and gave advices to the presentation, constantly looking over their prezi (powerpoint) and updating them on any mistake that may have been made. Although the group may have been lousy, we were able to successfully present on the due date. 

We were able to work altogether due to the online powerpoint, called Prezi. It allowed us to all communicate and modify the slides at the same time. Our team communication was very active and it although it was a big group, we treated each other with respect and listened to each others opinion and advices.My teammates work were very clever and the different experiments they came up with, I was pretty amazed of how our teamwork resulted in a big successfully built project. I was proud of my team and the works they came up with and putting it altogether the night before the actual presentation. We had a whole group chatting with each other on facebook, actively communicating and contributing. Because it was such a big group, we couldn't practice altogether but we did split and practiced presenting in each others houses. Everyone in the group had contributed well and everyone knew what they were doing. Each TOK class, we would discuss our ideas and put them as in one.

If I were to do this again, I would have contributed to the group much more ideas that I did not express really well, and be more prepared to motivate my group. I could of added more from my work but overall, I have no regret of this presentation. Also, what I learned from the presentation was that we were sort of disorganized and I would fix this issue. I should of explained clearer and have more knowledge of what I was talking about. 

I learned alot from this experience. I have never been in such a big group and had to work altogether. I did not even know half of the people from my group but at the end, we were friendly being able to easily contribute ideas and work together. I learned how to work with the group more efficiently and be more confident about my ideas. Also, it was important to treat each member of my group with respect or else it was difficult to contribute the ideas. Overall, the main thing I learned from this is to never work as individual, help each other and treat my group with respect because at the end, this is all evaluated as team work. It was a great experience that I had in my life as its part of sharing your ideas and thoughts with other people and working together.

 

Persuation and Propaganda

Persuasion is the influence of beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors. Persuasion is a process aimed at changing a person's (or a group's) attitude or behavior toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey information, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination thereof.

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the chosen result in audience attitudes.

Where do you encounter persuasion and propaganda in our daily lives?
We encounter persuasion and propaganda in our daily lives. We see propaganda all the time, like on super markets, TV, newspapers, internet, etc but, could this affect our judgement? Because if we think about it, propaganda is always positioned to only one side of an argument. We can't obtain full information on a propaganda because it is only presented, based on the facts in a positive way. In many ways, propaganda and persuasion is closely related by the fact that persuasion comes out from propaganda. The purpose of propaganda is to persuade the audience and in order to success, influence of beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations and behaviours are needed.


Several tactics are being used in an advertisement in order to capture the audience attention to its maximum potential. One way would be to shockvertise which audience can't deny ignoring it. The image is just so shocking that the audience tries to question themselves towards the purpose or the value of the image. This is a great way of advertising because the world we live in these days, it is hardly rare that people actually pay attention to the advertisements due to excessive advertisements around the world. To take an example, the United Colors of Benetton used this method of advertising and indeed, it caught way more attention than the normal advertisements. 
Language is very important in order to persuade someone. No one is going to buy the product just by putting "buy it, its good". Tactics used in language would be repeated affirmation which signifies repetition of key points until they are drummed into the mind of the audience such as, "Education, education, education" and "New labour, new danger". These are catchy slogans and are very easily remembered and repeated, stuck on people's head just like catchy music lyrics do. It is important that a small text from the persuasion creates an impact to the mind, the more impact, the longer it would stay.
Emotion is very important when trying to persuade someone. It is way different to persuade with an exciting tone, smile face rather than boring tone and boring face. It gets the audience more confident attracted to their emotion. 

As soon you walk into a shop or store, you hear music. But most often, music isn't just there for decoration or to entertain. It's actually to manipulate your sense perceptions. It is designed to create the appropriate mood to make you want to buy the products. Persuasion often depends on influencing what we absorb from the mass of sensory information in our environment. Most shops tends to be colorful, most shops smell good. These factors can easily manipulate the buyers to buy more products.

In conclusion, many of these tactics are used all the time and we're very often persuaded. We are currently blinded by the truth behind these propaganda and has corroded our minds. It also affects our way of thinking which these propaganda or advertisement is very biased and used for benefits or money.