Presentation Topic help? I have a vague idea I'd like to make work.

[michi]

Hi all,

I need to come up with a TOK presentation idea, and I was thinking that I'd like to do it regarding some of the etiquette customs of Chinese culture, since this is something I'm interested in and have personal connection to. Particularly, I'd like some way to discuss the Chinese concepts of 'mianzi' and 'guanxi' and such, and how they compare with other cultures, and how this may affect how different people in different cultures might 'know' differently. For example, because of this, Chinese people often say 'no' when they mean 'yes', and it is thus up to the listener to implicitly understand what is meant, essentially much of Chinese culture involves knowing what is meant between what is explicitly said, and other little subtleties like this, whereas in the American culture, it is much more polite and preferred to be direct and upfront for good communication. More information on the concept of 'mianzi' here: http://www.randomwire.com/chinese-culture-101-part-6-core-concepts for background information.

I think this fits into the TOK areas of perception and language. As for areas of knowledge, perhaps history and ethics and human sciences?

Could this work as a TOK presentation? I'm having trouble coming up with a specific research question, and coming up with a real life issue to go along with it.

Any help would be appreciated.