TOK blog #2

Different areas of knowledge cause contradictory statements. They have multiple answers for one question. It is not that the question is a complicated one; it is that finding the answer is. It is complicated because people want to know the correct answer. The thing is that there is no correct answer. An example of this is from Amitav Ghosh, who says, “This rubber tree won’t yield latex—the biologist blames the sapling, the geologist blames the soil, the contractor blames the unskilled laborer and the owner says it is fighting back at being controlled.” The hard thing is choosing which on is correct. If there is even a correct answer.To decide how we choose which one is correct, we have to find one that we believe is the most correct. Using the example listed early, the biologist. The biologist thinks it is caused by the sapling because that is what he knows. He, or she, studied things like this and believed that this is the reason for it. He is biased about his work and thinks he is correct. The geologist, who studies the ground and dirt and everything else, blames the soil. This is because he specializes in the soil and knows a lot about it. He is also biased about his work and thinks that he is correct. Same goes with the contractor. He blames unskilled workers. He, of course, also thinks that he is correct. Finally, the thing is with the owner. He says that the rubber tree is fighting back for being controlled. Even though he has no science to back him up, he still thinks that his answer is correct. So which one is it?Choosing which one is correct depends on many factors. In my opinion, they all are correct. The above statement by Amitav Ghosh says that each specialist think the reason is answered by their area of knowledge. This is because it is. Every subject can be correct. It just depends on who you are and what you believe in. We choose which one is correct on certain basis. One basis can be who seems more likely correct. Another can depend on which specialist you are talking to. Maybe the contractor is not very bright. Maybe the contractor has no idea what he is talking about. Experience is another factor. The geologist could have been studying his field longer than the biologist. The biologist could be very smart, but he does not have the same amount of years that the geologist has. He could have learned more about his subject than the others. With that information you would probably choose the geologist over the biologist.
In my opinion they can all be right. Each person knows what they are talking about. They specialize in a certain subject. The Biologist knows that the sapling can be a cause. That might not be the actual answer, but it is a really good guess to why the tree will not yield the latex. The geologist blames the soil because he knows that the soil is a great reason why. Same goes with the contractor. He can also be correct. The owner can also be correct. Choosing the right one though is difficult. All can be right, but only one can be the answer to this problem. Maybe they can try each one and see if they work. The owner would have to decide which one. He can go with his theory. He can stop controlling the tree and then maybe the tree will stop fighting back. They can go with the biologist and work do something to the sap. If that does not work, then they move into a different theory. They can deal with it on and on until they find one that works and makes the tree capable of yielding the latex. The only problem with that is that doing this takes way to long.
The best thing to do is probably just to pick the one that is most likely. Except for the point that I have been explaining that they are all very likely.
In other words, there is no way to choose which one is correct. They can all be correct and they can all be wrong. It just depends on the person. It depends on the person choosing the method of dealing with it.