I am very interested in the Placebo effect and its ties to the TOK course

The phrase "mind-body connection" has many connotations. For some, it's shorthand for New Age quackery. For others, it's a source of hope and a way to reconcile their spiritual life with modern science. For Tor D. Wager, it's just another day at the office.

When doing research for my TOK final presentation, I came across this article, and I thought i'd share it because I found it useful

Article summarizing the term "Catfish," or someone you meet online. How can one trust someone behind a computer screen? Do emotion or reason come into play when online dating? TOK moment: Manti Teo, etc.

Seeing the articles that you posted about online dating, I thought I would research some other ways to "find love," and I thought the bachelor was an interesting way. Article explains how the main character Sean seeks to find love in a different way, by picking out of a large amount of females on a series of dates.

Ethics and Politics Discussion by Joseph Roblat

As i was reading the news journal, this article stuck out to me as I wonder what type of threat North Korea is to our safety in the united states. Is the North Korean leader trying to prove a point? What is this purpose? Also- I observed a lot how they talked about a serious advancement in technology in terms of nuclear weapons in developing nations. What does a nuclear weapon threaten?

I especially liked this article as it talks about the difference between watching college basketball and NBA basketball. It talked about many TOK aspects including the way of knowing, Emotion. THey talked a lot about how knowledge can be gained through emotion in both atmospheres. Very interesting article.

When starting up the TOK unit on ethics and morality, I was able to view this article as a great source for knowledge on these terms that come as very understandable and summarize what exactly we will be learning about as a class. Posted this as I found it very useful as a tool to comprehend how exactly to define ethics and how to understand it.

I specifically bookmarked this article because I believe that ones personal values can depend a lot on their opinion of what is ethical, etc. This is why I believe that the word values and ethics are both extremely hard to define because I believe that they mean different things to all different people.

Thought this was a very interesting photograph

Thought this had to do with science in that I believe that there is always room for improvement in science

After watching the movie yesterday, I thought Id do some research into the historical context of Rashomon. After reading this document, it reminded me of the movie "Vantage Point" and how a certain event (Rashomon-fight scene for ex.) can be taken from many different points of view. I think an important aspect of the movie Rashomon is the fact that there is a lot of action and combat. When there is a fight taking place, I believe a lot of emotion goes into how people react and feel and about what knowledge one learns from the certain event.

In this article, written by a Stanford Professor, the author talks about Natural Phenomenon and how it relates to things we are learning in TOK. This resource further expands our knowledge of the natural and human sciences.

Article having to do with the relationship between Biology and Religion. Has to do with the past essay's topic on the orthodoxy of the church vs. new scientific theories and ideas.

After listening to Zach Lessner talk about his TOK moment- how it is harder to play basketball on an air craft carrier- I did some more research on the game. Other analysts said that there was increased moisture on the court, providing more slippery surfaces to play on. This could have led to injury or just a more sloppy game. Interesting.

On election day, I kept seeing people posting pictures of their ballots and who they were voting for on social networking sites. In this article, the author warns people of the laws in many states that prohibit people from posting pictures of their ballot. I thought this article was very interesting as it was very relatable to our generation. I wonder that if people post pictures on their social networks and if it could effect other peoples votes and sway them.

Article on Evolution vs. Creationism Legal Case in public school in pennsylvania

Thought this source was very helpful in my understanding of the religion involved in the debate between evolution and creationism

I found another article that highlighted the clear conflict between science and religion as the author reflects on the work of all the scientists we studied, including Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, three of the most famous scientists in history. The author highlights the struggle between church and the findings of these scientists. For example, in the Steven Hawkings movie, the narrator talked about how Newton's discovery of gravity and his laws of motion went against what the church believed. In the article, the author highlights this conflict when he says, "Interestingly, this led to two diametrically opposed inferences. On the one hand, many people saw the success of Newton (and many people see the continued success of physics to the present day) as an argument for atheism. If God is not needed to explain the behavior of the world, and if the cosmos, like a giant clock, operates on mechanical principles alone, then one has no reason to suppose that God even exists. There are no explanatory gaps left for God to fill. Newton himself would have rejected this. He considered God to have a vital role in setting up the initial conditions for the universe."