If facts by themselves never prove or disprove anything, what else is involved in the proof of a statement?

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If facts by themselves never prove or disprove anything, what else is involved in the proof of a statement?

                        Word Count: 1250

                        Alex Ma

                        TOK 12 (Wednesday)

Facts are general information read off the internet, textbooks, history books, geography books, maps, newspapers, and all sorts of media. Usually facts are not presented in point form, or directly. Facts are implied, or expressed through a statement which one makes. These statements, however, contains some kind of bias, due to the background, culture, and race of the author. Facts do not prove anything, but gives a rough sketch of what has happened in the past. It is the interpretation of one who reads the facts to determine what is proven.

Generally, facts are easy to take in; it’s just raw data that means nothing. To change facts to knowledge, hence prove or disprove statements, are more important and useful than plain raw data. In the science field, many facts are presented, such as the periodic table, acidic levels of elements, the reaction rate of elements and other facts. There is a procedure to follow, and amount of substance to use. The result, however, may differ from groups. Group A, and group B might end up with a different result, because of the limits and uncertainties that the group might encounter. Therefore, the results will be different, not totally, but there is a noticeable difference. The difference will not be the change in the product that is produced; the difference can be the amount, or the state that the substance is in or other minor differences. Some might argue that these small differences does not matter, the point is that the substance that is formed is the same, despite the difference in amount or form. That is technically correct, for example, H20 (liquid) does equal to H20 (solid), however, by asking any reasonable person that “is ice and water the same thing?” a normal person would say no. The reason being that ice is usually used to cool substances, and water is normally used to drink. The facts are that H20 (liquid) equals to H20 (solid), but the interpretation of one decides if that statement is true or false.

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Interpretation is not the only other way to prove a statement; there are other ways to prove a statement. When people look back at history, major events such as World War I, World War II, September 11th event and other major and minor wars, many people have different views on the war, therefore leading to many different “proofs”. Difference in religion and race will lead to many different conclusions as to who really won the war. After the September 11th event, the attack on the World Trade Centre, many people were shocked, especially the people of America, and most of the ...

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