The adventures of Harshitha and tok

Evolution of art "Is art unique in being able to evolve and expand over time to include things that were entirely outside or opposed to its definition?" To me, the answer is yes. People's tastes and style has evolved from that of today's, and as the audience's opinion changes, so does the work of the artists. For the first example, let's consider music. Music is one of the oldest forms of art to exist but the type of music what parents enjoyed in the 1980s is very different from what we enjoy these days. In the 1980s, jazz and instrumental music were very popular and it was the trend those days. Nowadays, trends show that people prefer pop or rap music over jazz or instrumental.  In recent times, there have been newer methods to "create" art. Thanks to technological developments, newer gadgets like 3D printers have come into existence. 3D printers can be used to recreate all sorts of 3 dimensional objects using a computer software and it has many art...

Knowledge in art? In several asian countries, pursuing a career in arts is commonly frowned upon due to several misconceptions and stigma surrounding it. Some even argue that art is useless but it's not always the case. There is something that we can learn from every object around us, including art. This prompts the knowledge question "What kind of knowledge do you think art brings us?" To me, arts brings both personal and shared knowledge. From a piece of art work, we can analyse and learn the artist's feelings and gain an insight into their life. The interpretation that a viewer makes upon observation of the art is personal knowledge. When creating art, artists usually begin experimenting with their techniques and come up with newer styles and methods of creation. This can also be considered personal knowledge. As for shared knowledge, usually aspiring artists go to art college and major in it or work under the guidance of their professors or other artists they wish...

Maps with secret agendas When we think of maps, one of the first things that come into mind is the Mercator map- or as we know it "the world map".  According to National Geographic Society, maps are defined as "a map is a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface". Apart from this source, the definitions for map is very similar. One common trend that is visible is that none of them talk about how accurate a map should be. Bias is inevitable by a human. The aim and the longing for one self to be the best, the greed the humans possess, all of it causes us to be biased, intentionally or unintentionally. One such cases is the Mercator map. The Mercator map is a cylindrical map projection of earth by cartographer Gerardus Mercator. This map was revolutionary as it helped sailors and explorers with their journeys due to the map's ability to show directions accurately. But there is a huge disadvantage in the Mercato...

In TOK class, we have recently started discussing the area of knowledge "History". We first learnt that history is a branch of knowledge dealing with significant events of the past. The word "significant" holds importance here as all history is past but all past isn't history. That took us to a discussion about the differences between past and history. Simply put, the past is everything that has happened before but only certain significant/important events are considered to be a part of history. So how do we know what is considered to be history? Any event considered important by historians. Historians are humans too, which means they cannot be entirely objective to the knowledge they discover or procure. They are prone to be clouded by their opinions, judgements, bias, prejudice and beliefs. So what we study as history from these historians isn't entirely objective. However, in dire times history has been used as a way to manipulate people for someone to he...

"Is it unfair to judge people and actions in the past by the standards of today?" It is impossible for historians to approach the past with no bias. There is always some prejudice in their works that they project willingly or unwillingly, it is human nature to do so. Humans are selfish, judgemental beings and it takes a lot to uncover and digest the secrets of the past. We aren’t perfect but one thing we are is hungry - Hungry for knowledge. As the science and tech world develops, we gain more resources that are used to recollect the past and study about it. Some details about the past seem amazing, it is fascinating how different a human’s life was years ago, but some of the facts we learnt are not so good. By uncovering the past, we also uncover some deeds performed by people that can be considered shameful, unethical, unfair or a violation of someone’s right to simply put. Many of these actions criticised harshly by the people today. Not so long ago, it was still allowed t...

In simple terms, we can define metacognition as "thinking about one's thinking". It's about being aware of the thinking process and acclaiming one as a thinker and learner. Metacognition is something people do every day, sometimes even without meaning to. For example, I sometimes reminisce about how different my lifestyle, state of mind, and thinking are different from a year ago. Right now, I'm even thinking about different thoughts in my head about the phrasing and structuring of this passage! During metacognition, you're self-evaluating and analysing your thoughts, you're assessing and trying to understand everything that's going on in your head. It's a form of self-awareness. Metacognition has its benefits yes, you can work on yourself and try improving your way of thinking to bring about a positive change to you and your surroundings. For example, you just ate a snack and now you need to dispose of the waste from it. You immediately think of t...

  " What is the role of language in Orwell's 1984? How is language used as a means of control over the general public in 1984? " 1984 by George Orwell is widely recognised as a literary masterpiece. The story is about Winston Smith, a man in his 30s trying to make his way and live in a totalitarian country. According to Britannica, Totalitarianism is a form of government that theoretically performs no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of state. The story is set in Oceania, one of the 3 superpowers in the world. governed by the "big brother" also known as BB in newspeak. Orwell believed that totalitarianism and language were connected, one of the primary causes for writing this book. Newspeak was a language being introduced in Oceania. It aimed to limit communication between people and reduce the number of words in their vocabulary. From the book, here's an example. 'Good' and 'Bad...