The 16th Man - Sport as an Area of Knowledge

Ex. Knowledge Issues: To what extent can history help us understand the current global situation? How can sports play a role in ending prejudices such as racism? 


Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. - Nelson Mandela


CAS Activity: Cape Cod Challenger Club 


I wholeheartedly agree with Nelson Mandela that sport has the power to change the world, having witnessed this firsthand with my experience with Cape Cod Challenger Club. The mission of the Cape Cod Challenger Club is to "enrich the quality of life for young adults with physical and/or developmental disabilities by providing non-competitive opportunities for them to participate in a variety of athletic, recreational, and social activities that most often are not available to them under typical circumstances." (http://www.capecodchallenger.org/about-us/). Last fall, I was a volunteer during the Challenger Club's soccer season, and working with these kids inspired me to be more thankful for blessings in my life such as my health. While I readily admit that I can sometimes be quite impatient, these kids taught me that I need to be more patient since I often had to repeat directions when talking to them. Soccer united me to the children in that while our everyday lifestyles stood in stark contrast, we all enjoyed playing soccer. Additionally, while not all of the children were literally not able to comprehend my words, I attempted to reinforce the important concepts such as teamwork and sportsmanship through the medium of soccer to the children. Lastly, it was evident that soccer created an outlet of hope for these children and their parents. It seems that in most towns the ability for disabled children to regularly play sports is limited, but the children have the unique ability to do so with this program. While unfortunately these children may be discriminated against at school for their disabilities, the power of sports in the lives of these children makes it evident that sports overcome discrimination.

Decision-Making: Emotion vs. Reason

1. The high-reason view values pure reason and logical deduction above all else, and it assumes that in order to get the best results, emotions and passions must be set aside (since they cannot be objectively verified) and a pure 'cost/benefit analysis' must be calculated. A somatic marker is an bodily feeling (either positive or negative emotion) that is experienced prior to making a decision and that influences the decision. 
2. Teen brains work differently than adult brains in regard to decision-making because the myelin sheath, the fatty tissue coating the nerve cells that connect teenagers' frontal lobes is sluggish and not fully developed, causing poor communication between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain. This lack of development makes teens less equipped to use insight and reasoning for decision-making than adults. 
3. The cerebellum helps coordinate thoughts in a similar way it helps coordinate movement. The cerebellum shapes our reasoning and thought processes, although it is not fully developed until we are in our early 20s.  
4. Although evidence corroborates the thesis that humans have a rudimentary moral sense for the very start of life, socialization is critically important since it refines a baby's sense of right and wrong, which significantly differs from what we adults want it to be. Studies have shown that babies have a small understanding of mental life from the start: expecting inanimate objects to move as the result of push-pull interactions, expecting people to move rationally in accordance with their beliefs or desires, and expecting someone who reaches for an object to reach for the same object even if its location has change. As babies grow, they continue to form a moral code. As adults, this moral code eventually becomes a fully- developed universal code that is the a product of cultural development, of the accumulation of rational insight, and of hard-earned innovations for each of use.  
5. When making decisions and taking actions, I know that the benefits outweigh the costs by determining how much I want something. For example, for the past several months I have woken up early each Saturday morning to study for the SAT (which I will take next week). If the colleges I hope to possibly attend did not want high SAT scores, then this extra studying for the test would surely be unbearable to me. To me, attending a highly competitive institution outweighs all costs. Making choices such as these matter since any choice affects a person's life for good or for bad. Making wise decisions (such as putting in extra time studying for the SAT) make me feel I am living my life to the fullest while making unwise choices (such as not putting in time to study for such an important test) muy ruin some of my hopes and goals. 

WOK Emotion - Contemporary Links

Article: SAT's Student Photo Database Draws Comparison to Facebook Profiles
URL: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/sats-student-photo-database-draws-comparisons-to-facebook-profiles/

This article provides varying reactions to the College Board's decision to grant college admissions officers access to a database of student photographs. Starting next fall, in an effort to curb cheating on the SAT, the College Board is requiring that each student who registers for the SAT provides a photograph. The College Board first stated that these photographs would be available with a student's test results, but this rule was reversed after the College Board received significant backlash for it. Instead, colleges will simply have access to this database. College Board employee Katherine Steinberg, believes that the standards of procedure will prevent the photos in the database from being used inappropriately. On the other hand, one critic suggests that giving admissions officers access to these photographs may but him in violation of his school's race-blind policy.

Knowledge Issue: To what extent can sense perception sway the college admissions process?

Thoughts on IB World Student Survey

1. Which word best describes the IB program at Sturgis? - The word 'challenging' best describes the IB program at Sturgis. In addition to taking 6 IB courses (3 HLs & 3 SLs), full IB diploma candidates such as myself take a Theory of Knowledge of Course, complete approx. 150 hours of community service over two years for CAS, and write a 4,000 word Extended Essay. Students who take AP classes surely challenge themselves in these classes but do not have these supplementary requirements. 
2. What are the most important qualities for an IB student? - I agree with the students surveyed that hard work, academic excellence, and time management are all important qualities for an IB student. However, I would probably rename 'time management' balance and put this as the number #1 key quality. As an athlete and IB student, I have realized the importance of keeping up my studies while devoting significant time and effort to my sport. 
3. What are the best and worst aspects of being an IB student? - I enjoy the language opportunities, the international perspective, the independence, the self-responsibility, and the great teachers. I also feel that we are in some ways a big family all tackling the IB program. Heavy workload, the impact on social life, and the question "What's IB?" (since it isn't offered by many schools) are probably the worst aspects of being an IB student. 
4. Which traits in the IB learner profile do you consider to be most important in your life? - Knowledgeable, open-minded, caring, balanced, and risk-takers are traits in the learner profile that I consider most important in my life. 
5. What is the biggest difference between the IB and the national (or state) curriculum in the U.S. or Massachusetts)? - In my opinion, the biggest difference between the IB and the national curriculum is that the IB allows for more creativity. Instead of being confined to textbooks, students are given a chance to learn for themselves. For example, in environmental class, we use the book as a supplement and learn about our environment by visiting various ecosystems such as the deciduous forest near the future home of Sturgis West and the marine environment at Veteran's Beach. Also, in English HL 1 at the moment, we are reading the book 1984. While students at schools around the country are probably reading this novel too, I doubt many have the opportunity to experiment by casting parts for the movie, designing a set for the movie, and writing a short script for a few of the movie scenes. 
6. What type of career would you like to pursue upon leaving school? - Upon leaving school, I hope to pursue a career in public policy in education. 
7. Question: To what extent has the IB program made you more open-minded? - I believe that the IB program has made me much more open-minded. In math class, for example, I may choose to solve a quadratic equation using the quadratic formula. However, I have begun to realize that others may use other strategies such as splitting the middle term, and obviously both methods are equally acceptable. IB Spanish has also made me more open-minded. In Spanish class this year, since we have already learned most of the grammar, we have focused on culture. We have had debates on subjects ranging from euthanasia (after watching a film called Mar Adentro - the Sea Inside) to bullfighting. While I may be strongly against euthanasia and bullfighting, someone else might be in favor of continuing both of these practices, and I have grown to respect their opinions. 

Happiness

1. If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap. If you want happiness for a day -- go fishing. If you want happiness for a month -- get married. If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else. - Chinese Proverb (Source:  http://www.quoteland.com/topic/Happiness-Quotes/72/)

2. I know that am happy when I have a giant smile on my face because I am doing something that/with someone I love. Similar to the author of the quote above, I would consider taking an nap an hour of happiness but playing an hour of tennis or hanging out with family and friends for an hour is also happiness to me. I also agree with the author of the above quote that long-term happiness comes from helping others; every summer for the last few years, I have been a tennis instructor to children who live in the town of Barnstable, and I sincerely enjoy going to work everyday because I love both tennis and teaching the children. This job makes me so happy that I am consider a career in elementary education (happiness for a lifetime). 

3. Feeling happy can promote learning in the area of knowledge of history. I am extremely happy with history at the moment because (definitely not to brag) I have the highest grade average for all HL 1 students according to the teacher's gradebook. This happiness has motivated me to continue to work hard in the class because I want to continue to have the best average in that class out of all HL 1 history students.  

Save the Yiddish Language!

Language: Yiddish

People & Culture: Yiddish is a 1000-year old language of the European Jews, and it is spoken by Jews today in several countries including in the United States and Israel. The basic grammar and vocabulary of Yiddish, which is written in the Hebrew alphabet, is Germanic. However, Yiddish is not a Germanic dialect but instead a language which is part of the family of Western Germanic languages. The Holocaust contributed to the endangerment of the Yiddish language; while 11 million Jews spoke Yiddish prior to World War II (2 out of 3 Jews spoke Yiddish), the U.N. estimates that only about 1 million people worldwide speak Yiddish today. Although the U.N. still classifies Yiddish as an endangered language, some argue that currently there is a Yiddish revival (http://languagesoftheworld.info/geolinguistics/endangered-languages/yiddish-revival.html).

Sources: http://www.germanic.ucla.edu/yiddish, http://www.yivoinstitute.org/yiddish/yiddish_fr.htm

Why save Yiddish?: Yiddish is a rich language, full of unique words and phrases. The richness of the language is expressed through a variety of mediums including poetry. An example of such a poem is "Gracious Angel" by Arthur Esselin.

Poem (translated into English from Yiddish): http://www.esselin.com/poetry.htm#graciousangel

Image: http://i1.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/590/draft_lens8331701module71802611photo_1259595862over-under.jpg

The above picture shows a Yiddish proverb both in the original Yiddish and in English. Although translated into English, some of the richness of the Yiddish language is 'lost in translation.' If the Yiddish language is lost completely, many Yiddish texts and proverbs will be 'lost in translation.'

Knowledge in Symbols

Image Source: http://www.medart.pitt.edu/_medart/image/glossary/GREEKCR.JPG

1. This symbol, a cross with arms of equal length, is a symbol whose origin cannot be traced back to a single culture but to many. The cross is found in every part of the world including in prehistoric caves and on engraved rocks .  
2. The symbol has a variety of meanings, and these meanings vary for different societies. In pre-Columbian America, the sign seems to have been associated to the four points of the compass (north, south, east, & west) and the weather gods. Contrastly, the symbol means perfection or 10 (the most perfect number) in China. Additionally, to alchemists, this was a sign where the four elements (water, wind, fire, air) were represented by the four arms. 
3. This image can be classified as ambiguous because of the variety of its meanings.  
4. Problems of knowledge include misinterpreting the meaning or being unable to understand the meaning if someone is not a member of a particular cultural group (i.e. not alive in pre-Columbian America, not Chinese or not an alchemist.) People may also mistakenly believe that this symbol represents only the Christian cross. 

WOK Language: Global Views

Article: They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrrve

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/science/young-women-often-trendsetters-in-vocal-patterns.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=languageandlanguages 

Summary: This article highlights that linguists, who once that the vocal trends of young women were markers of immaturity and stupidity, now believe that the way in which young women use these vocal trends in more sophisticated ways than many people realize. These vocal trends include uptalk (pronouncing statements as if they were questions), slang (current slang includes YOLO (you only live once) and 'wicked'), the use of 'like' as an filler word, and vocal fry (raspy sound at end of sentence)*.The article emphasizes the idea that young women start vocal trends when the author states "As Paris is to fashion, the thinking goes, so are young women to linguistic innovation" (Quenqua, 1). Although the article suggests that women start vocal trends, it mentions that these vocal trends spread to other groups. One article mentions that a 2011 study demonstrated that men use the word 'like' more than women while another study highlights that the most common uptalkers were fathers with young women. Dr. Eckert of Stanford stated that uptalking was a way for these fathers to show that they were friendly and were "not asserting power in the situation" (Quenqua, 2). The article also states that like uptalking, vocal fry can have several uses. These uses include trying to sound more authoritative or disinterest.

*Example of Vocal Fry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L0eJp7V2Zs ("Why don't you come up sometime and see me?")

Knowledge Issue: To what extent can the human sciences affect language?

Language as a Way of Knowing - Perspectives on the Brain, Thought & Culture

What is the role of language in creating and reinforcing social distinctions, such as class, ethnicity, and gender?

            I believe that language plays a gargantuan role in creating and reinforcing social distinctions such as class, ethnicity, and gender. In this post, however, I am going to focus solely on the effect of language in creating and reinforcing the social distinction of class.

            Language has created and reinforced the social distinction of class in literature for centuries throughout various cultures, including that of 15^th-century England. Englishman William Shakespeare published Henry V, a play currently being read by Sturgis English Hl 1 IB students, as a historical play which highlights English culture in the 1400s. In this play, the contrast between the language Shakespeare employed for the common folk and the language employed for the nobility creates and reinforces the social distinction of class. Shakespeare first uses language to create a class distinction when the readers are introduced to three commoners: Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol in Act II scene I. Throughout all of Act I of Henry V, we become accustomed to the nobility speaking in iambic pentameter, but Shakespeare changes things up at the beginning of Act II when we, the readers, are introduced to three commoners who do not speak in iambic pentameter. Shakespeare reinforces class distinction throughout the play, with the nobles always speaking in iambic pentameter and the commoners always in 15^th century colloquial English.

            Language has also created and reinforced the social distinction of class in everyday life through standardized tests such as the SAT. As a high school junior, the SAT is of unique importance, as I will be taking this standardized test later this year as part of the college admissions process. Although I have begun practicing so that I can do my best, I know that my family's income may also affect my score. Studies, such as the one conducted by the College Board in 2009 and posted on the New York Times website (link below), have proven that the language used by the writers of the SAT tends to benefit teens in higher-income families. Higher-income families have the money to hire tutors to help their children practice for and become accustomed to the language used on the SAT. The charts for the three SAT categories, critical reading, math, and writing, are divided into 10 income groups and show the average score in each category for each income group. Looking at the critical reading scores, the average for a child whose family income is less than $20,000 is 434 while the average for a child whose family income is greater is $200,000 is 563. While one may argue that the difference (129) is not a huge difference, this seems like a giant difference to me, someone who has taken standardized tests before and is pretty familiar with how the tests are scored. While it has probably been well-known that the language used by the SAT writers tends to benefit teens in higher-income families for years, charts such as those on the New York Times website reinforce these social distinctions.

So, in conclusion, as demonstrated through my experience as an IB learner, my experience with language of the culture of 15th-century England, and my everyday experience with language, I conclude that language plays a large role in creating and reinforcing class distinctions.  

Word Count: 539


Link: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/sat-scores-and-family-income/

Exploring Counter Claims

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/opinion/foreign-language-study.html?_r=1

Article Claim by Bruce Wilson: It's worthwhile to learn a foreign language. "I speak from experience. It's worth it. Learn it (or learn them)."

Word Count: 19

Counter-Claim (personal opinion & the opinion of former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers): It is not worth worthwhile to learn a foreign language(s).

Word Count: 10

Analysis of Counter-Claim: This is my personal opinion as I have traveled overseas to Italy before including last summer. In my family's opinion, Americans take for granted that foreigners speak English. Still, while we tried to speak Italian in Italy, I considered our efforts futile. At probably every dinner with my family last summer, my dad, who is practically fluent, wanted to practice his Italian and hoped that we would try to speak Italian with our waiters. However, our waiters could hear us speaking English, wanted to practice their English, and thus spoke English to us.I ended up speaking English in almost every public place since Italians spoke to me in English.

Word Count: 109

Strengths: This claim is proven by my own experience (knowledge by acquaintance). My claim is also strengthened by the opinion of another knower: Lawrence Summers.

Weaknesses: While I say that this claim is proven by my own experience, Bruce Wilson claims that his is also proven by personal experience. This highlights that personal experience does not necessarily make something a reliable claim.

Word Count (Strengths & Weaknesses): 60

Sources of Illogical Thinking

1. Skepticism is a mistake in reasoning when it is not selectively employed. Selectively employed skepticism means that we should reserve judgement until we have sufficient information at hand to judge responsibly, However, skepticism becomes a mistake in reasoning when we have it as a permanent attitude because this subverts the reasoning process before it even gets started, transforming it into a process of misreasoning. An agnostic is someone who maintains that he lacks enough knowledge regarding a particular issue to be able to make a definite judgement about it. Unlike a skeptic, an agnostic neither denies the existence of truth nor its attainability. An example of agnosticism as a mistake in reasoning is evasive agnosticism, using ignorance as an excuse rather than a reason, and such ignorance is the result of ignorance or laziness. Narrow-mindedness is a mistake in reasoning when one refuses to consider certain alternatives only because they do not meet his prejudiced assumptions about what is and what is not worth pursuing. Unlike agnostics, narrow-minded people do not use ignorance as an excuse but instead impose limitations on something. Unlike skeptics, narrow-minded people do not make premature judgements but instead solely on their prejudices. 
2. Example of Evasive Agnosticism: Suppose my math teacher asks me to research Unit Circle Trigonometry so I can give a mini-presentation to the class. If I do not bother to research Unit Circle Trigonometry and say that "I don't know" after I haven't bothered to research, I succumb to evasive agnosticism. In this case, I am using ignorance as an excuse, and my ignorance is the result of my laziness to complete my assignment. 

Reason as a Way of Knowing - Logical Fallacies

1.   
• Fallacy: Middle Ground (also known as Golden Mean Fallacy & Fallacy of Moderation)
• Definition: Person #1 and Person #2 hold two radically different positions on a subject. Person #3's position on the subject is halfway between that of Person #1 and Person #2. The fallacy is that Person #3's position is correct simply because he holds the middle position. 
• Example: I believe that there is a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all good. Someone else is an atheist, meaning that he believes that no God exists at all. The fallacy is to assume that another classmate who is agnostic, meaning he acknowledges the possibility of God but does not believe in Him, is correct because he holds the "neutral" position.  
2.   
• Fallacy: Two Wrongs Make a Right
• Definition: Person #2 claims that Person #1 would do (insert anything here) to him and thus it is acceptable for Person #2 to do this back to Person #1 if Person #2's actions are not preventive measures. This reasoning is fallacious because an action that is wrong is wrong even if another person would also do it. 
• Example: Sturgis soccer is playing an opposing team, and the players on that opposing team are extremely physical. During the game, one of the players on the opposing team trips me. The fallacy is to assume that I can trip this person again. 
3.  
• Fallacy: Appeal to Common Practice
• Definition: C is a common action, and C is therefore correct, reasonable, moral, etc. The fallacy is assuming that because most people do something it is correct, reasonable, or moral. 
• Example: Suppose you are driving on Rt. 28 on your way to school, and you estimate that 75% of the drivers are going over the speed limit. The fallacy is to believe it is justified to drive over the speed limit because that is what everyone else is doing. 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4

Fallacy: Appeal to Popularity

In this video, CoverGirl uses celebrity Taylor Swift to attract customers. CoverGirl has Taylor tell the ad watchers to buy Covergirl mascara and lipstick to "rock the covergirls we are." Through Taylor Swift's use of CoverGirl's products and endorsement of them, CoverGirl hopes that ordinary girls will see the ad as good reason to buy their products. 

Sense Perception - Knowledge Issues

I recently listened to two film clips, one on a study of patients in a vegetative state at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8497148.stm and on synesthesia at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stwzvpnnlqA. 

Following are sample knowledge issues questions relating to the real-life situations - studies of patients in vegetative states and studies on people with synesthesia respectively.

• Studies of patients in vegetative states: What role does reason play in justifying ethical decisions? 
• Studies on people with synesthesia: To what extent can research in the natural sciences use mathematical techniques to analyze the data?