It's something that
could act to my benefit, or in some rare cases go against me. Although, asking
questions is more helpful than it is futile, in that it helps human beings
better understand the world around them. If it wasn't for the curiosity and
wonder naturally carved into our minds (almost as natural as having an eye or a
nose), we wouldn't be in the level of advancement we are in today.
The video also
reminded me of the Theory of Knowledge course I had to take during the course of my two years
doing the International Baccalaureate program. Unlike standard academic
disciplines, the theory of knowledge course uses a process of discovering and
sharing students' views on “knowledge
issues” (an umbrella
term for “everything that can be
approached from a TOK point of view”),
so “there is no end to the valid questions
that may arise”, “there are many different ways to approach TOK”, “the
sheer scope of the TOK course is daunting” and “teachers and students need the confidence to go a
little—not too far—outside their traditional comfort zones.”[1]
I have to say the
course was a really interesting one and I actually really miss the discussions
and umpteen arguments we've undertaken along the way. Oddly enough the teacher
who taught it was that same one who made the remark about my inquisitive
nature: my chemistry teacher, he taught the TOK course as well. I very much
appreciate what he has brought to my plate. Though it was a course he was
teaching us, to me it was far more than just that. I was being taught life
lessons, most notably the art of intelligently questioning the world around me
to get to the bottom of matter. It was very personal because first, we always
had to relate the knowledge issues under discussion to our own real-life
experiences and second, because I myself am quite fascinated with the whole
idea of exploration - whets my always questioning appetite. TOK is like 15%
philosophy and the remaining 85% is based entirely of questions, put simply.
The most central of these is “How
do we know?” Surrounding this
central question arises a whole chain of complexly interrelated aspects such as
the inquiry into different ways of knowing and into different kinds of
knowledge. One of the most valuable lessons it has ultimately taught me is to
be mindful of the interpretive nature of knowledge, and of personal ideological
biases that are involved with these interpretations.
That being so, the Tunisian historiographer and
historian Ibn Khaldun has ignited in me invaluable inspiration in this regard too,
so credit goes to him as well! “Basically,
I have been compelled by curiosity.” Mary
Leakey
