TOK essay "role of language in areas of knowledge"

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Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

Areas of knowledge make different claims and communicate them to the public using language in various ways. Language certainly plays a role in all of the areas of knowledge, but whether it has always the same importance is questionable. It would be extensive to discuss all the areas, an evaluation of three would be more effective. Considering mathematics first it has to be established that it has a rather different language then the rest of the areas – it uses symbols which is a great distinction. Another area which is, in my opinion, a good example for consideration is history, where so much depends on the use of language. Lastly, the arts are an appealing area, because it contains both visual arts which one might say don’t make any use of language, but then there is literature, which is the opposite. It only uses language.

Before giving this question more thought, mathematics came to my mind as an area, where language doesn’t play a significant role at all, but of course I was only thinking of language as the body of words and nothing else. But obviously it is much more than that. Mathematics has its own language, where words are completely unnecessary. It would have to be classified as artificial language because it did not undergo natural development over time and parts were not slowly molded into what they are today, like most languages. Instead symbols were simply classified with their respective meanings. In this case, taking language (symbols) away from the area of mathematics would leave it with nothing making sense. From the simplest equation to derivatives and integrals, the expressions would be meaningless without equals sign, divisions sign etc. Each symbol communicates a course of action, and therefore a means of imparting knowledge upon its scholar.

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Many argue that mathematical symbols, hence mathematical language, are the most efficient way of communicating, because of their universality. However, it is not true entirely. Even in this matter, different countries have their own interpretations of certain symbols. An example of this would be the notation of decimal numbers, where a decimal point is used in countries such as the US, but a decimal comma is used in Slovakia. So even though it may seem that mathematics needs no translation, it is not completely true and it can lead to confusion sometimes. One would think that since it is a ...

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