For+a+one+stop+Knowledge+Issue+store

**Knowledge Issues:**
In addition to the below,don't forget to look at the 2012/13 YCIS Guidebook, that was introduced to you at the start of the year, which also contains some handy tips.



So before you say anything, KIs are relevant. They might even change your world! You may not have noticed them but here are some KIs that came up in **YOUR** IB classes of late:


 * Economics: **

-Why do you think it's important for a tax system to be based on a principle of equity that is generally accepted by members of society?

-Do the people of society have a moral obligation to pay taxes?

-What if they do not agree with the equity principle of the tax system?  -What is moral hazard and how could reducing aid to African governments actually ‘force good governance’? 


 * Environmental and Social Sciences: **

-Some people are critical of Earth Days as marginalized activities that do not change the actions of politicians. Do you think they have an effect?  -The 100 most endangered species on the planet have been identified in a first-of-its-kind list. There is a fear among some conservationists that many of the plants and fungi listed will not be saved or gain public attention because they don't benefit humans. 
 * Do these species have a right to survive or do we have a right to drive them to extinction? **
 * Mathematics: **

-whether or not the Poisson Distribution is also a Binomial Distribution

// In case you’re interested, here’s the argument: //

One student put forward that the Poisson Distribution is also a Binomial Distribution. The teacher disagreed, UNLESS, the case is Binomial with infinite trials.

-A KI would look at something like //the nature of categorization in different AOK.//

Here’s another one that might float your boat:

Question from text book:

Can this question be answered using Binomial Theorem?

A large bin contains ten thousand bolts, 1% of which are faulty. I draw a sample of 10 bolts from the bin. The variable is the number of faulty bolts.

Only if you make an assumption that each bolt picked is replaced (this is what Binomial Theorem means), but taking a sample does not necessarily mean that you do this.

-A KI might look at the application of language in mathematics, for instance.  -Is Mathematics taught or learnt? For example do we learn things that are already in existence because of nature, or do people teach things and use nature to back up their claims? 
 * __ History __**

-What is the role of the historian?

-How is history produced?

-Is objective history possible, or even desirable?  -Is idealism mainly to do with emotion, or is it connected with our capacity for reason too?  -Why do we call country's and ships female? The Charlotte, "Germany plunged her population into war." KI- why do we assign gender to objects?  //Ethics in History//  -Does the history of disarmament test our understanding of human nature?

-Are humans inherently violent, or fearful?

-Will there always be reasons to have weapons?  -Should age/culture/historical context have any bearing on ethical responsibility? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-How has hysteria played a part in history? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-What is its effect on reason? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-Are there cases where retrospective justice is justifiable? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> __**English**__ **B**

-What are the negative costs and the positive benefits of belonging to a group?

-How can we balance our natural bias within our groups with our desire for the truth about the world?

- How does language reflect a different view of the world in African languages and English language?

__English Literature:__

Knowledge Issues and discussion that arose in Year 12 IB SL Literature class, looking at the graphic novel, //Persepolis.//

The comic apologist Scott McCloud's main thesis regarding the use art (forgive the pun) of comic making is "amplification through simplification." What does this mean for truth? For instance what truths can be communicated in this way? What, if anything, is lost?

Does the reduction of an image to the iconic really help it achieve a level of universality? Is it easier for the iconic to enter into the realm of ideas? How does the relate to poetry and the notion of //the economy of language//.

Why does the human mind perceive in such a anthropomorphic manner?

Related to the above, why do both artists and writers use personification as a tool? What WOK are at work here?

How does the concept of closure relate to the written word and the narrative form? More generally, consider the relationship between language and perception in the graphic novel genre.

<span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">__**Global Politics:**__ -To what extent is morality based on reason? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-Are we morally obliged to be responsible for other people? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-Are me morally obliged to be responsible for other states/groups? <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> __//** The point is that TOK moments are coming up all the time, not just in class but in life. It is your job to find them. You don’t necessarily need to come up with an answer. It’s the questions that we care about in TOK (until you come to write your final essay at least!). **//__ // Below is the PPT with questions and potential KIs from class. //

<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">   <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">