Language serves as our most primary form of communication in this day and age. If two people do not speak the same language, it is extremely difficult to get convey knowledge between them and any attempt can run the risk of misinterpretation. It would be hard for us to imagine a school or any way of transmitting knowledge without the use of language as language is itself a medium through which we acquire knowledge. But, language itself cannot always independently affect knowledge. For example, if a man who speaks only French were to meet a man who speaks only german, even though they cannot effectively communicate, they can both rely on other sources of interpreting information to gain the same knowledge. The smell of cheese, the colour of the sky, the sound of rain, I have chosen these examples as they show us that without language as a barrier, we can use our senses to gain knowledge as well. Language by itself, just limits to what extent we can interpret the knowledge, and how we communicate that knowledge. If language did not exist, communication would be a tough ordeal. Although, language does have its restrictions. When I study Spanish text in my Spanish class, I can say that I gained some knowledge, using language as a medium. But when I studied the same text translated into English for my English class, the knowledge that I received was quite different from the original. Hence I could safely say that some knowledge has got affected by translation, in which case, language has served as a limiting factor for knowledge.
This is why I will have to use all my sources of information for my extended essay from the same language, i.e. English. This will, to some extent ensure a degree of reliability of my information.
The next “Way of Knowing” is Perception. When I touched a hot iron, I burnt my finger. Now, from this experience, I know that I should never touch a hot iron again as I will experience the same unwanted feeling of pain. This is a very basic example that stems around the concept of “Empiricism”. Empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas. Relying solely on perception is assuming that all knowledge can only by acquired by observable facts. I can confidently assume that my wallet is black, that the road is hard, and that the inside of my house is fairly spacious. But to my friend, my wallet may appear to be dark blue, and the inside of my house is small. This stems from the fact that this type of knowledge, due to its reliance on senses and observation, is opinionated, and that this knowledge will vary from person to person. Then how reliable can this information be? And, to what extent is this information acquirable to us?. For example, if we cannot observe any extra terrestrial life in our known universe, can we assume that there is no extra terrestrial life except on earth? If a dog can hear sounds of lower frequencies than humans, but humans cannot hear these sounds, do these sounds really exist? As humans our senses can also be easily tricked. Optical illusions are a great example of misleading information.
Since I will be doing my extended essay on the subject of English Literature, both language and perception will be vitally important in my attainment of knowledge in this area. I while need to make sure that my decision takes into account both of these factors.
Information by “Authority” is another way of knowing. Authority is determined by the exepertise that one has in a particular field, and every single day I am affected by this way of knowing. I am more likely to accept knowledge given to me by my teacher than knowledge given to me by a student. On a more extreme level, I am more likely to believe that global warming is a reality if told by a physicist than if I was told by a hippie. The International Baccalaureate for example, is a well recognized authority in the field of education. This is due to the fact that it has been established in this field for a reasonable amount of time, and it has time-tested results on its benefits. This means they have undergone a type of “validation” based on these facts, hence making it an authority.
But, authorities can also make mistakes. This questions how reliable and accurate are authorities? How long do they have to be established to become “authorities”? Deference to authorities can hinder our own critical judgment or cause us to discount our own wisdom.
For my extended essay, if I was to critic reviews of certain books, I am assuming that these critics are an “authority” on the subject of English and that whatever they say is probably right. This will hence affect my knowledge by creating a biased view on the book. This will again, affect my decision of my extended essay question.
Emotion is the way of knowing which is probably the most largely varied and has the greatest affect on our decisions. We as humans are easily affected by emotions. Although this is such a powerful form of reasoning, it is impossible to solely depend on emotion in acquiring and utilizing knowledge. Can we really acquire information without the other ways of knowing? Feelings can actually stunt thinking. If you feel very strongly about a subject, you won't want to read into it & find out what professionals have to say about it. Feeling the emotion and being able to think about it gives you knowledge about your response to something. Then you can think about whether the response is helpful or causing problems. (e.g., jealousy, rage, etc.).
The definition of emotion is: a strong and instinctive feeling. This has led me to question: Emotion vs Reason & Logic. I cannot stop emotion from affecting my decisions, but if I limit the extent to which emotions play a part in my decision making process, I was able to make more reasonable and logical decisions on my extended essay question.
After evaluating all the “ways of knowing”. I was able to make a more all rounded, well thought out logical evaluation of my potential extended essay questions and eventually deduce the “best” extended essay question.