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November 2018 TOK Essay Help


Nicholas

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Hi all

I have actually chosen to do question 1 and came up with an essay plan for it already. Unfortunately, the plan couldn't make it and my teacher suggested me to try question 5.

“Too much relevant knowledge in a field might be a hindrance to the production of knowledge in that field”
Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

I'm starting on the essay plan and am seriously stuck with no ideas. I was thinking maybe I could go with the counter-argument where knowledge may not be needed at all to hinder the production of knowledge or too much knowledge from another AOK would hinder the production of knowledge in another AOK. As for the argument, I can't think of any examples. Any prompting or advice you can give me? My mind is currently in a mental block. Or any links for me to visit?

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I am not sure what you mean. I think you mean that one of your counter-argument is that knowledge is not necessary to hinder the production of knowledge. That is not what Q5 asks. Q5 asks to explore whether an abundance of knowledge will or will not impede generation of further knowledge. Also "in that field" refers to the same discipline (which is more restricting than AoK), and I don't think they accept, for instance, economics undermining knowledge in human geography, while both are human sciences.

You should start be defining terms and attempts to reword the question or find supplementary KQs. For example (add "in that field" to the end of each question):
How does new knowledge change our understanding of old knowledge?
What do we do when new knowledge is not compatible with old knowledge?
 Why do we pursue new knowledge if old knowledge is coherent?
How is new knowledge generated? Why was such knowledge not accessible before?
How do knowledge become conflicting when different WoK are used?
How to tell if a piece of knowledge is relevant and when should we reject it, if ever?

This questions arise when you consider different definitions of "too much", "relevant", "hindrance". By considering the implications of these terms, you can get to other knowledge questions which can guide you on the original KQ. You focus on the original KQ but use these additional KQ to explore other perspectives or entry points.

Hope that gives you a better starting point. I think you should choose AoK you are familiar with, but I recommend Human Sciences (specifically economics, psychology), History, and Natural Sciences (chemistry, physics, biology). In human sciences, it's about new case studies, but in history and natural sciences, it's about availability of evidence. I do not recommend Ethics or the Arts. The other AoK go for them if you have good examples. 

You are allowed to mention additional AoK to support your arguments of the two main AoK

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