Summer Expectations and Requirements
Summer vacation is quickly approaching but that does not mean we have to stop having TOK moments - after all, your entire life experiences are TOK!
Please download this document (also posted on Managebac) that discusses
1. Expectations (what it really expected for your continued success in TOK); some are the "nice to do"
2. Requirements (a few brief assignments that will keep you on your toes prior to returning for the second portion of the course. You are required to complete them and post them on your blog by the first TOK class of next year).
Knowledge Issue: the TED "inequality" Controversy
The creators and adminstrators of our beloved TED were recently accused of censoring a short talk due to its "political partisanship".
Here's what @TEDchris (Chris Anderson, the founder of TED) had to say on his blog:
"The National Journal alleged we had censored a talk because we considered the issue of inequality "too hot to handle." The story ignited a firestorm of outrage on Reddit, Huffington Post and elsewhere. We were accused of being cowards. We were in the pay of our corporate partners. We were the despicable puppets of the Republican party."
Hmmmm...
Well he decided to tell the whole story: CLICK HERE FOR HIS BLOG POST
**You can actually view the controversial video in question HERE or read the transcript HERE
Here's what some commenters said:
Emotion Exploration #2: Happiness, Regret, and Despair
Do you ever wonder what your "Emotional Intelligence" is? Some scientists believe your "E.Q." is more important to your success in life than your "I.Q.".
Take the TEST here:
http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3037
RESOURCES ON DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF EMOTIONS:
HAPPINESS
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BIG THINK ARTICLE: How Too Much Happiness Makes You Unhappy
Washington Post ARTICLE: Too Much Happiness Makes You Unhappy
7 Must-Read Books in Happiness (Plus more TED talks!)
Michael Norton on TED: "How to Buy Happiness"
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Conversations about this talk at http://www.ted.com/conversations/search?type=keyword&term=Michael+Norton%3A+How+to+buy+happiness&submit=Go
Take the Happiness Survey HERE
or the OXFORD Happiness Survey HERE
or for more fun, use your iPhone for this: http://www.trackyourhappiness.org/
ARTICLE: Is there a Mathematics to Happiness?
GALLERY: The World's 15 Happiest Countries
ARTICLE: Why would the government want to know if we are happy? Why did our founding fathers consider "pursuit of happiness" so important?
REGRET and SADNESS
ARTICLE: Quick Decisions Create Regret
Here is the exquisite, legendary Edith Piaf sing "No, I regret Nothing" (with English subs)
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ARTICLE: Why is regret a "moral" emotion?
TED TALK with Kathryn Schulz: Don't Regret Regret (yes, it starts out with Johnny Depp's shoulder tattoo!)
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Conversations regarding this talk (I like the "10 mistakes we all make")
ARTICLE: TOP 5 Regrets of the DYING
SADNESS and DESPAIR
ARTICLE: Pregnant 9/11 Survivors Transmitted Trauma to their Children
ARTICLE: A Broken Heart Could Actually Kill You
ARTICLE: What is "broken heart syndrome"?
then watch this short video:
ARTICLE: The Grief and Infection Connection
ARTICLE: What's the Value of Sadness (Happiness- Enough Already!)
"Sadness is a Blessing" by Lykke Li ("Sadness is my boyfriend...")
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We are not the only creatures to experience Grief- check out these elephants...
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W.H. Auden's lovely poem: "Funeral Blues", as seen in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral"
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And another stunning piece of poetry by Lord Byron
When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.
The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow—
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.
A knell to mine ear;
A shrudder comes o’er me—
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee so well—
Long, long I shall rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.In secret we met—
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?—
With silence and tears.
- Lord Byron
FINAL EXAM PROJECT YEAR 1
These are posted on Manage Bac but you can download them here. Please note that all projects are due (posted successfully to your Posterous blog) before the the set TOK final exam date, and that you need to come on the final exam date ONLY IF you are missing any of the major course components listed on the calendar.
Final Exam Project
FINAL EXAM FILM PROJECT YEAR 1
These documents are also located on ManageBac, but you can download them below. Please note that the project is due (uploaded to your Posterous blog) prior to the scheduled TOK finals set date, and that you will have to attend that date ONLY if your project is not uploaded or you are missing one of the main course requirements as stated on your May calendar.
FINAL EXAM PROJECT
Equilibrium: A Dystopia Sans Emotion
What if there were a world that was afraid of human emotion, blaming feelings for all of humanity's ills, then attempting to anesthetize the population? You've seen this theme in dystopian novels such as Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and to some extent in the Matrix films. Another film (2002), "Equilibrium", shows what life would be like if we tried to keep feelings at bay with drugs and destroy all emotional provocations such as art and literature, censoring items for "Emotional Content and branding those who do not comply "Sense Offenders".
READ THE ENTIRE PLOT SUMMARY HERE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/synopsis
Here is one of the opening scenes (sorry about the Spanish subs):
In this scene, "Cleric", played by Christian Bale, discovers music (Beethoven) for the first time (since he has missed a dose of Prozium and has begun to feel). There's also a heartbreaking encounter with a puppy, and Cleric questions blindly following the law of the "Father" (dictator).
In this scene Cleric fools the power that be and runs home to check on his Prozium supply, only to discover that his own son has not been taking Prozium since his mother was convicted of being a Sense Offender and subsequently executed. He gets to see "Father" and has his emotions tested...only to be in for a surprise.
One of the final scenes- The "Father" taunts Cleric into questioning his morality now that he can feel. Is killing someone else who can feel really "worth the price"?
Emotion + Technology: How We are Connected but Alone
"Technology proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies"
Concepts: "The Goldilocks effect" (connection made to measure); "The LifeMix"
"I WANT to have a feeling, therefore I need to send a text"
"I SHARE therefore I AM"
"If we don't teach our children how to be alone, they will only know how to be lonely"..What happens when we don't have the "capacity for solitude"?
Sherry Turkle from MIT describes how the technology that envelopes us keeps us connected but alone. We will be watching and discussing these videos and reading the article as a basis for a Socratic circle with Twitter.
2011 Tedx
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2012 TedTalk
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COMPANION ARTICLE: "The Flight From Conversation"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Thanks to Logan for finding this:
SHERRY's BIO and QUOTES: http://www.ted.com/speakers/sherry_turkle.html
OR http://www.mit.edu/~sturkle/
CONVERSATIONS about this TEDTALK: http://www.ted.com/conversations/search?type=keyword&term=Sherry+Turkle%3A+Connected%2C+but+alone%3F&submit=Go
Emotionally Vague Project TOK13
Taking our inspiration from the fabulous "Emotionally Vague Project" at http://www.emotionallyvague.com/ the students of TOK 13 respond to the following questions:
1. What things make you feel ANGRY? FEAR? SADNESS? LOVE? JOY?
2. What COLORS do you most associate with the above emotions? (unlike he original data collection, we simply named our colors rather than choosing from color swatches).
RESULTS
Anger
FEAR
Emotion as a Way of Knowing :INTRO
"We think and name in one world, we live and feel in another" - Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
"Emotion" comes from the Latin "movere", "to move". In this unit we will refer to emotions as feelings, moods, and passions. We'll also touch on intuition. We will be exploring ways in which emotions are a source of knowledge, as well as how they can obstruct knowledge. Finally, we'll examine the relationship between emotion and reason, and how they both affect our decision-making.
How are you feeling right now? Maybe this will help?
Now let's check out how people around the world (at least the bloggers and microbloggers) are feeling.
http://visual.ly/we-feel-fine?view=true
We Feel Fine scans blog posts for occurrences of the phrases "I feel" and "I am feeling". This is an approach that was inspired by techniques used in Listening Post, a wonderful project by Ben Rubin andMark Hansen.
Once a sentence containing "I feel" or "I am feeling" is found, the system looks backward to the beginning of the sentence, and forward to the end of the sentence, and then saves the full sentence in a database.
Once saved, the sentence is scanned to see if it includes one of about 5,000 pre-identified "feelings". This list of valid feelings was constructed by hand, but basically consists of adjectives and some adverbs. The full list of valid feelings, along with the total count of each feeling, and the color assigned to each feeling, ishere.
TRACKING EMOTIONS USING DATA MINING + DATA VIZ
TWITTEROLOGY: A New Science? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/twitterology-a-new-science.html?_r=1
TWITTER STUDY TRACKS WHEN WE ARE_____ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/science/30twitter.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1333739064-ZTQv/a8pL7VyCmCSUSaFOg
WHY WOULD COMPANIES WANT EMOTION-READING SOFTWARE? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14061369
FACE-RECOGNITION SOFTWARE + THEGUARDIAN's PHOTOS= "Today's Emotional Breakdown" Infographic http://visual.ly/today%E2%80%99s-emotional-breakdown?view=true
The EMOTIONALLY VAGUE PROJECT: (ANGER/ JOY/ FEAR/ SADNESS/ LOVE)
2o Feelings and Situations Everybody Hates: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/20-feelings-and-situations-that-everybody-hates/
What if you were functionally unaware of your emotions? http://www.damninteresting.com/the-emotional-bankruptcy-of-alexithymia/
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Is Your Face Giving You Away?
The JAMES-LANGE THEORY (named after the 2 psychologists who came up with it), suggests that emotions are essentially PHYSICAL in nature, closely tied to our bodies, and that bodily changes come before and even cause emotional changes.
- If you remove the physical symptoms of an emotion does the emotion disappear?
- If you mimic the corresponding physical symptoms can you generate an emotion?
- If you talk with someone experiencing a particular emotion, do you yourself unconsciously mimic the physical expressions of his mood, leading to EMPATHY? (we call this "picking up on moods")
- Can moods then be "infectious"?
However - this theory doesn't address the role of our minds. Our beliefs can affect our emotions, and our emotions can affect our beliefs!
HOW A MOOD MUSIC MACHINE CAN READ AND HELP WITH YOUR EMOTIONS:
Emotion Categorization Links
Contrasting and Categorization of Emotions
Wikipedia: Emotion (includes theories)
Vocabulary of Emotions (Extensive List)
List of "Feeling" Words (by category)
Emotion and Memory (Wikipedia)
(click to enlarge)
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About Me
amy burvallTOK and World History learner and coach...we're all in this together. Also "Mrs. B" of "Historyteachers", maker of history-based parody music videos.
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