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“Humans are pattern-seeking animals and we are adept at finding patterns whether they exist or not” (adapted from Michael Shermer). Discuss knowledge questions raised by this idea in two areas of knowledge.


tangedX

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First of all, I just want to point out that the topic mentions "knowledge questions" (in plural), so it might be a good idea to tackle 2 to 3 knowledge questions in your essay. As for the question that you have come up with, I think you should try to make it a little bit clearer because I don't really understand what you are trying to investigate here. What do you mean by the "urge for pattern"? Are you trying to investigate whether it is justified to search for patterns in these AOKs? But then justified for what? for the discovery of new knowledge? Also it seems that you forget to take into account the second part of the question, the part about "whether the patterns exist or not". I think it is quite necessary to somehow incorporate this as part of the knowledge questions that you come up with.

By the way, it might be a good idea to understand the context under which Michael Shermer talked about humans as pattern seeking animals. In case you haven't watched his TED talk yet, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_6-iVz1R0o. One of the important points that he brought up was the type 1 and type 2 errors, which are when our pattern-seeking engine fails, either because we claim a nonexistent pattern (type 1) or because we fail to recognize a pattern when it is indeed real (type 2). Make sure you discuss these in your essay. By the way, type 1 and type 2 errors are extremely common in the field of statistics, which is one of the main tools to produce new knowledge in many areas of knowledge, including the social sciences (like economics).

Lastly, are you sure you want to investigate the title using arts as an AOK? I mean, naturally, you can talk about patterns in abstract visual arts. But still, I find it difficult to argue for anything if you choose arts as an AOK for this title. Just my opinion though. Good luck!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/22/2016 at 11:42 PM, ishneor said:

i got this title too. the only resource i can think of is his ted-talks but it is so hard even approaching this title. My teacher also advised help online may not be beneficial... any directions aside from hearing ideas of others (kind of cheating)?

thanks.

 

I was concerning about that too :happyno: but my teacher said it's appropriate so I don't worry about that...and also I try to come up with all the ideas by myself before discussing it with others, so at least those are "original" (not really lol I don't think my mind just generate those knowledge out of nowhere)...If you know German, I suggest you look at Klaus Conrad's work - Die beginnende schizophrenie . But this only discusses Apophenia (other name for patternicity).

Anyway, this is a great topic I'm glad that I chose it (although I haven't finished it yet). Wish you luck with yours too!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello, I am also doing this essay prompt and was wondering if anyone was able to find the exact time/date and text type in which Mr. Shermer did this quote? Or is it just an adapted synopses of what was declared in his TED talk? 

 

- Thank you 

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5 hours ago, ESP said:

Hello, I am also doing this essay prompt and was wondering if anyone was able to find the exact time/date and text type in which Mr. Shermer did this quote? Or is it just an adapted synopses of what was declared in his TED talk? 

 

- Thank you 

 

Hi ESP, I think if you search for his original website where he posts his research conclusion and so on, you would find something relevant. He has one article publish on Scientific American in 2008 talking about Meaningful pattern amongst meaningless noise :https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/. I hope it helped.

Cheers, and good luck with your essay ;)

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On 12/22/2016 at 8:04 PM, Vioh said:

First of all, I just want to point out that the topic mentions "knowledge questions" (in plural), so it might be a good idea to tackle 2 to 3 knowledge questions in your essay. As for the question that you have come up with, I think you should try to make it a little bit clearer because I don't really understand what you are trying to investigate here. What do you mean by the "urge for pattern"? Are you trying to investigate whether it is justified to search for patterns in these AOKs? But then justified for what? for the discovery of new knowledge? Also it seems that you forget to take into account the second part of the question, the part about "whether the patterns exist or not". I think it is quite necessary to somehow incorporate this as part of the knowledge questions that you come up with.

By the way, it might be a good idea to understand the context under which Michael Shermer talked about humans as pattern seeking animals. In case you haven't watched his TED talk yet, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_6-iVz1R0o. One of the important points that he brought up was the type 1 and type 2 errors, which are when our pattern-seeking engine fails, either because we claim a nonexistent pattern (type 1) or because we fail to recognize a pattern when it is indeed real (type 2). Make sure you discuss these in your essay. By the way, type 1 and type 2 errors are extremely common in the field of statistics, which is one of the main tools to produce new knowledge in many areas of knowledge, including the social sciences (like economics).

Lastly, are you sure you want to investigate the title using arts as an AOK? I mean, naturally, you can talk about patterns in abstract visual arts. But still, I find it difficult to argue for anything if you choose arts as an AOK for this title. Just my opinion though. Good luck!

 

Hi Vioh,

Thank you so much for your proper reply! I have moderated and improve my questions since your feedbacks, as I found them extremely helpful and constructive. Just for your information, I distinguished clearly the term "pattern" and patternicity" in my draft because they are not the same although they are related to each other. Then the whole essay was focusing on examining the implication of "patternicity" in the attainment of knowledge, rather than paying attention to pattern itself.

 

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