The imposition of the Theory of Knowledge course has caused formerly gifted students to experience severe mental decline within the short month since IBDP began.
Do you know what you know?
Do you know what you don’t know?
What do you even know if you don’t know anything about what you think you know but you actually don’t know?
Students have begun to lose their minds.
In a short interview with mysterious student “M”, we learnt a little more about the extent of their trauma.
“First Order Knowledge… Second Order Knowledge… It all looks the same to me… To what extent… Second Order Questions...”
Student “M” proceeded to turn unresponsive.
Beautifully said and perfectly spoken, if I do say so myself. Encapsulating the essence of TOK in ten short seconds is a skill not many can acquire even with decades of training.
In an endeavor to explore the true nature of TOK, we conducted another interview with anonymous student “C”.
“TOK is actually quite fun! I’m learning, I’m reflecting, I’m honestly thinking a lot more than I’ve ever thought before! [Redacted] recently showed us a short two panel comic in class and I’ve spent all weekend researching, analysing, and writing about it. It appalls me how much knowledge you can derive from such a short comic. You wanna hear it about it? So basic-”
Anyways, we snatched ourselves an excellent opportunity to interview ex-scholar “E”.
“Every single day, I wake up dreading the idea of another TOK class. Ever since TOK has begun, I’ve begun to doubt everything. What I know, what I don’t know, what I’m told, what I say, I… I don’t even know who I am anymore. My identity is a social construct maintained in order to create a sense of control in my life. I’m sure of it. We are all living in a simulation, void of being. My interests, my hobbies, my common sense, all of this has been forcibly manufactured by the media and the people around me. Nothing I know is true because my interpretation of knowledge is just… they’re all just first order claims passed on to me by my peers and teachers...”
Deranged and disturbed; just what you’d expect out of a TOK student.
In one final attempt to understand “the knowledge and the knower”, we decided to interview diligent student “H”, who has maintained composure, confidence, and dominance over the TOK program.
“We, as a society, focus more on results than anything else. The journey you take and the friends you make don’t matter if you don’t win. This is clearly reflected in our education system, where we students are forced to chug information like a sweaty gamer on Saturday nights with Red Bull. With our fast paced learning environment, we barely have time to process or even begin to fathom the idea of “interpreting knowledge to each and our own”. The entire idea of TOK is contradictory as a whole, no? We’ve been taking information at face value for the past 16 years of our lives, rarely ever questioning the “legitimacy” or “reliability” of said claims. For teachers to suddenly force us to “reflect” and consider where we derive our knowledge from WHILE we take one of the most demanding high school courses that exist in the world is just ironic more than anything.”
Thanks to this eye-opening experience, we at RCHK Leeks can safely conclude that TOK is a wonderful and whimsical course that teachers and students alike can enjoy. Not only does it teach us the foundation of critical thinking, but it also provides an insightful opportunity to channel your spiritual true self.
