What is TOK?(The first of a whole lot of questions)

Theory of Knowledge – Introduction

The map is not the territory

• TOK starts with the simple statement that the map is not the territory.

• What does this mean to you?• If a map is not territory, what is it?• Why do we create maps?• What problems can you anticipate with the

creation of maps?

Mercator Projection: is shared knowledge less biased than person

knowledge?

Perception of a world map

• Think of as many different ways as you can in which the world map shown is:

• A. inaccurate• B. based on arbitrary conventions (a rule,

method, or practice established by usage; custom: the convention of showing north at the top of a map).

• C. culturally biased.

Weaknesses of the map

• A. It distorts the relative size of the land masses.

• B. Based on the convention that the northern hemisphere is at the top of the map.

• C. The United States is in the center.

Hobo-Dyer Projection: less biased, more accurate, and a bit unsettling,

why?

Mental Maps

• Our common sense mental maps may give us a distorted picture of our reality.

• Our ideas and beliefs come from a variety of sources, such as our own experience, parents, friends, teachers, books, and the media and there is likely to be all kinds of inaccuracies, half-truths and falsehoods woven into our personal mental maps.

• It can be difficult for us to think outside the customs and conventions with which we are familiar and see that there may be other ways of looking at things.

Mental Maps Continued

• There may be all kinds of cultural biases built into our picture of the world, not just our maps.

• While different maps may be more or less useful for different purposes, there is no such thing as a perfect map. A perfect map could not leave anything out, that is, the scale would be 1:1. This is impossible and not terribly useful.

• The map is not the territory. It is a representation of that which is important to its creator.

• Comp to turn in: How does the above hold true for all knowledge?