T.O.K essay 2 - “In gaining knowledge, each area of knowledge uses a network of ways of knowing.“ - Plan

Intoduction

• Define "network" and what does the use of this word imply?
• What are you going to consider in this essay?
• Which two areas of knowledge (from Ethics, The Arts and History)

Body


Cross reference your two areas of knowledge with the 8 WOKs: language, emotion, faith, reason, faith, memory, intuition, sense perception and imagination


E.g:


Ethics

• The way others communicate with me both verbally and non-verbally helps shape my moral knowledge. Anger and praise help me to know that my moral reality is somewhat dependent on others’ reactions.
• I can imagine what a world where violence and theft are tolerated would be like, and therefore I know that they are immoral.
• Emotion; do we learn to tell the difference between right and wrong because of the way doing good or doing bad makes us feel?
• I can remember a teacher telling me “God first, others next and yourself last”
• Do we know what moral reality  is because we use reason as a way of knowing? If I do this, then this will happen, and this makes me choose a course of action? (consequentialist)
  
  
  
  

Area of knowledge 1:

Area of knowledge 2:

Which ways of knowing are important in each?

Why are some ways of knowing more reliable than others?

Which ways of knowing interlink with another and goes this make accurate gaining of knowledge more reliable?

Compare the two areas of knowledge and the ways of knowing they rely on.

Differences and why?

Similarities and why?

Conclusion

Is there ever a case where one way of knowing is enough?

To what extent do you agree with the tittle and why?

T.O.K Ethics essay 1 - Plan

Can we know for certain what is right or wrong?

Introduction

• The title implies that we undergo moral reasoning to decide what is right or wrong
• We appeal to a commonly agreed moral principle for example “cheating is wrong”
• Consistency in moral principles is not always easy and there are many reasons for this

This essay will consider to what extent it is possible to be certain what is right or wrong and examine the reasons for inconsistency in ethics

Moral relativism

• The society in which we grew up can determine our values (give examples of views on adultery/polygamy in different cultures)
• We do have shared humane values (emotion/intuition) such as limitation of violence and protection of property.
• Reflected in laws of the land (but laws vary – examples of cannabis legality – indigenous population view of what is a crime and what is acceptable – capital punishment – legalised murder)
• So ethical relativism exists across cultures and laws. Statement “murder is wrong” – medical ethics; grey areas such as abortion and euthanasia

Moral absolutes

• Attempts to know what is right/wrong through theories and logic.

Kant – can tell if it the right thing by using generalisation argument (what if everyone did it?) if the answer is chaos in society then it’s the wrong choice. Moral absolutes aren’t reliable – lying is wrong as if everyone lied society would fall apart but sometimes a lie can be justified

Utilitarianism – you should do whatever causes the maximum happiness to the greatest number. However does not take into account individual rights and lays great store by happiness and pleasure (trolley problem/medical quandaries)

• You should do what is of benefit to you (self-interest theory) but does not take into account altruism or empathy
• Religion sets out moral absolutes which can form a moral code but religious moral codes do not take into account the change of views/increased tolerance (homosexuality, place of women in society, female priests/bishops)  

Historical perspective – what was a crime in early/mid -20^th century no longer a crime (suffragettes, homosexuality)

Conclusion

Our personal knowledge and intuition may help us form ethical opinions and we may use reason as well. Differs from person to person and culture to culture. Even though we may have shared core values these cannot be absolute. Cultural and legal differences, historical perspective and religious differences cause ethical variation. Moral absolutism is not possible

March 2016 essay - Soil (the pedosphere)

The pedosphere can be defined as “that shell or layer of the Earth in which soil forming processes occur” – Bates and Jackson, 1980.

The pedosphere, being the foundation of the Earth, develops by interacting between the hydrosphere - the  water cycle moves through the soil by infiltration and water may evaporate from the surface ; the atmosphere - the atmosphere may contain particulate matter that is deposited on the soils ; the biosphere - plants in the biosphere may extract nutrients from the soils and dead plants may end up forming part of the soil and the lithosphere – rocks in the lithosphere weather to form soils, and soils at depth and pressure. The pedosphere acts as a moderator of chemical and biochemical flux into and out of the previously mentioned systems.

The mineral portion of soil can be divided into three particles based on size, two of them being: sand and clay.  Sandy soils can be made out of rock fragments which contain many minerals e.g.: SiO2, there can be slightly brown, yellow or red, as a result of iron and aluminium oxides. Due its size, sand particles have a relatively low surface area thus have low water holding capacity. Soils with predominance of this fraction are considered to be non-cohesive - are more likely to be deficient in humidity in dry periods and so are low in nutrient storage capacity, primary production but high in air soil. On the other hand, clay soils have a large surface area therefore presenting a higher capacity of water/minerals absorption. This means that the particles are very united and tend to exhibit high plasticity. These are high in nutrient storage capacity, medium low in primary production but low in air space. Soil properties such as contraction and expansion, plasticity, water retention capacity, soil resistance and chemical adsorption elements are dependent on the type and amount of clay in the soil.

“The North American Prairies and commercial farming

Salinity, soil erosion and loss of soil fertility were recurrent problems. In order to stop these, farmers built snow fences or barriers which enabled snowdrifts to pile up which provide water that they then melt in – managing to reduce salinity. And to reduce erosion, contour ploughing and strip cropping was used.”


(could be continued)

Research Design

• Independent Groups
• Repeated measures
• Matched pairs/participants

Independent groups - Each person does 1 condition individual differences (problem).

Repeated measures - All participants do all conditions order effect (might get better with practice/bored/worst...) doing two conditions.

If not fairly distributed: counterbalancing AB|BA (evens out the problem).

Matched pairs/participants - Independent groups but participants are matched.

• low individual differences
• no order effect

Después de todo, ¿cuál es el significado de la familia en España hoy en día?

Después de dar un vistazo a las noticias y a la información disponible en los medios de comunicación algo me dio que pensar…España tiene muchos aspectos interesantes sobre la familia, con todo también no les faltan problemas relacionados con esta.

La familia es una de las cosas más importantes en la vida de los españoles en general.  Sin embargo…España necesita más de 260.000 nacimientos cada año. Esto eres curioso, visto que la familia, aunque importantísima, ahora es diversa, moderna y cada vez más pequeña. ¿Por qué? Me pregunté.

Las mujeres españolas cada vez más quieren independizarse y cada vez más la cultura española se distancia de la idea de que las mujeres deben quedarse en casa y cuidar a los niños y las tareas de casa. Luego, cuanto más tiempo las mujeres estudian o trabajan menos tiempo tienen para construir una familia, por esta razón las madres españolas son las que más tarde tienen su primer hijo en toda la Europa.

 

 

La crisis es una de las mayores razones que lleva los españoles a quedarse en casa de sus padres en media hasta los 30 años de edad. Las oportunidades en España, de trabajo o estudios son cada vez más escasas. Los jóvenes se ven con solamente dos opciones: se van a estudiar lo más que puedan, o se van a trabajar en lo que sea.

En España, la emancipación de los jóvenes ocurre cada vez más tarde. Si se van a estudiar, los españoles, al contrario de la mayoría de la población del Reino Unido, tienen como costumbre irse a las universidades locales o a las más próximas, así no es tan dispendioso. Sin embargo, no podemos ignorar el hecho de que a los jóvenes les gusta la falta de obligaciones y responsabilidades, por lo que morar con sus padres puede ser más cómodo y la mejor manera de ahorrar dinero para sus necesidades, salir con amigos, comprar un coche…lo que sea.

Sea como sea, las familias españolas siguen siendo más unidas que nunca y el significado de la familia no parece tener cambiado.

 

Grade awarded: 7/7 

 

References:

 

http://www.hacerfamilia.com/mujer/noticia-mujeres-espanolas-son-mas-tarde-tienen-primer-hijo-20150915072534.html

Hypothesis and Variables

In psychology a hypothesis is:

• A clear statement
• A prediction
• Testable
• Formulated at the beginning of the research process

Psychologists start with a theory which a general idea about a behaviour and then develop a hypothesis which makes the theory testable.

Experiments compare 2 conditions that are identical in all respects, expect for the factors being investigated.

The experimenter controls the presence, absence or intensity of factors - variables - thought to affect the behaviour being studied.

To effectively study variables they need to be operationalised (made measurable)

IVs and DVs

 

IVs are also known as Independent Variables - these are manipulated by the experimenter.

 

DVs are dependent variables - these are dependent on the IV manipulations. They could be scores, results from tests, observations etc.

 

E.g. Students wearing underpants get better grades than students wearing no underpants. *

IV= underpants

DV= grades

 

Null Hypothesis

*Null hypothesis (add 'not') - There will ('not'-null hyp) be a significant increase (directional - if you change it you can make it non-directional) in the number of words recalled by people aged 18-44 years, when compared to the number of words recalled by people aged 65 and over.

In psychology, there are two types of Hypothesis. It is important to distinguish between them, especially for four coursework:

 

The Experimental/Alternative Hypothesis - makes a prediction about how an experiment will turn out. They should always be specific.

 

Experimental Hypothesis (Alternative):

• Directional (when previous research indicates an outcome) - Specific prediction about which condition will do best (one tailed test)**
• Non-directional - not specific highlights that there will be a difference between 2 conditions (2 tailed test) **

Null Hypothesis

We would use Null hypothesis:

• When there is no previous research or highly contradictory research
• Same statistical tests require non-directional hypothesis

**One-tailed (direction of result is anticipated)
"There will be a significant increase in (scores in condition one), when compared to (scores in condition two)"

OR

"There will be a significant (positive/negative) correlation between (variable one) and (variable two)"

**Two-tailed (direction of result not anticipated)
"There will be a significant (difference/correlation) between (scores in condition one), and (scores in condition two).

For Null hypothesis add 'NOT'

E.g.

• Altering background noise (IV) affects memory skills (DV) - two-tailed
• Rearing a donkey in a darkened environment (IV) retards the development (DV) of it's eyes - one-tailed  

Don't forget! You only use the term 'Experimental Hypothesis' if you are looking at an experiment - if you are looking at some other kind of study (observation, survey, correlation ect) you should use the term 'Alternative Hypothesis'




El Laberinto del Fauno - Guillerme del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

•       Guillermo del Toro Gómez  es un director, guionista y novelista mexicano, galardonado con el Premio Goya y varias veces con el Premio Ariel.

•       Nascido a 9 de octubre de 1964 (51 años), Del Toro se caracteriza por imprimir una estética y ambientación espectaculares a sus películas, creando ambientes tétricos y agobiantes o situaciones mágicas y fantásticas.

•       Su estilo está marcado por su gusto por la biología y por la escuela de arte simbolista, su fascinación por el mundo fantástico desde el punto de vista de los cuentos de hadas y su gusto por los temas oscuros. Sus trabajos incluyen frecuentemente monstruos o seres fantásticos.

 

“«mi fascinación hacia ellos es casi antropológica... los estudio, los disecciono en algunas de mis películas: quiero saber cómo funcionan, qué aspecto tienen por dentro y cómo se comportan».” – su fascinación por los monstrous

 

 

           •       Del Toro empezó a filmar en México desde adolescente, cuando estaba en el Instituto de Ciencias, en la ciudad de Guadalajara.

           •       Pasó diez años en diseño de maquillaje y formó su propia compañía, Necropia, antes de poder ser el productor ejecutivo de su primer filme a los 21 años.

           •       Fue cofundador del Festival de Cine de Guadalajara y creó la compañía de producción Tequila Gang.

            •       En 1998 su padre fue secuestrado en México; tras conseguir su liberación mediante el pago de un rescate, Del Toro decidió mudarse al extranjero y actualmente vive en Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos.

     El Laberinto del Fauno

 

•       Año 1944, posguerra española.

•       Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) y su madre, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), que se encuentra en avanzado estado de gestación, se trasladan a un pequeño pueblo al que ha sido destinado el nuevo marido de Carmen, Vidal (Sergi López), un cruel capitán del ejército franquista por el que la niña no siente ningún afecto.

•       La misión de Vidal es acabar con los últimos miembros de la resistencia republicana que permanecen escondidos en los montes de la zona.

•        Otros personajes son: Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), el ama de llaves, y el médico (Álex Angulo) que se hará cargo del delicado estado de salud de Carmen.

 

•       Una noche, Ofelia descubre las ruinas de un laberinto, y allí se encuentra con un fauno (Doug Jones), una extraña criatura que le hace una sorprendente revelación: ella es en realidad una princesa, la última de su estirpe, y los suyos la esperan desde hace mucho tiempo. Para poder regresar a su mágico reino, la niña deberá enfrentarse a tres pruebas.

 

Critica

•       La concepción del mundo paralelo, refugio de Ofelia para escapar de la violencia que la rodea, proviene sin duda de muy variadas fuentes.

•       El cuento fantástico es una metáfora de la locura del fascismo, y la realidad explica, a su vez, que el fascismo es peor que los monstruos más terroríficos nunca imaginados.

•       Los sueños espantosos no representan, ni mucho menos, un paraíso ya que son en realidad la fiel imagen abominable de lo que sucede en el mundo exterior.

•       A pesar de todo, la peli es un poco confusa y por veces no muy clara en relación al tema siendo transmitido.

•       Con todo yo daría un 8/10.