WFSJuniorTOK

This article examples whether or not we should take results from social sciences seriously. It compares the studies in social sciences to studies in natural sciences and claims that natural sciences hold a much higher status of credibility than social sciences.

A toddler makes the decision not to play with toys in front of him, because he is aware that it may "aggravate" the other adult in the room.

This article shows how paranoia and uncertainty can lead people to use emotion rather than reason as a dominant way of knowing. People in Dallas, and around the world have started believing unproven facts about Ebola, such as it becoming airborne, and have gone to great lengths to avoid all human contact, such as a college student's parents sending her three week's worth of food so she wouldn't have to leave her dorm.

These psychological experiments demonstrate the unconscious workings of our minds and what is consequently revealed about human nature. Stanley Milgram's experiment is also discussed in this article, illustrating the lengths that people will go to in order to obey authority figures.

Social science/natural science on friendships. Also, what evidence is considered valid?

How a belief in "pure evil" shapes people's thinking Justice Antonin Scalia and Keyser Soze agree: the greatest trick the devil could ever pull is convincing the world he didn't exist. Fortunately for them, the devil does not seem to be effectively executing this plan.

This article discusses the role that trust plays in building and developing more knowledge. People often must rely on those who have established knowledge in the past, in order to expand on and develop more knowledge in any given subject.

Electroconvulsive therapy is a reasonably safe solution for some severe mental illnesses A rabble-rousing patient on a psychiatric ward is brought into a room and strapped to a gurney. He is being punished for his defiance of the head nurse's sadistic authority.

Talks about how the word "scientist" was first used in 1834.

Neurobiology; the intelligence of plants; controversies in the sciences

This NYtimes article talks about what it means to be a being. How can we define that? Should chimpanzees be given equal liberty and rights as their human care taker?

This article talks about what your handwriting, something that we consider unconscious and automatic, says about your emotions, personality, and even health.

This article shows how racial profiling is still relevant to today's society when a African American man tried to purchase a belt from Barney's New York. The man was stopped a few blocks down from the shop, being accused of paying with an unauthorized card. He was told his identification was false and there was no way he could have afforded such an expensive purchase. This reminded me of Blink when Malcolm Gladwell introduced this idea of thin slicing and the intuition and how sometimes one's first thoughts can be wrong. One example that this connected to in Blink was the car salesman, who had to get rid of his initial thoughts about someone and be more open to the buyer and decide who the person is before he made judgements about the buyer.

This article talks about the new way to teach art to young kids- letting them see it for themselves and learning how to appreciate it. Teachers aim to get kids to understand why they connect to art or not and what makes them appreciate it more.

This article discusses the idea that the majority of today's high school students are literalists, not having an appreciation or tolerance for most art. This is a concern in some circles, as many experts believe that exposure to the arts is likely to increase a student's knowledge or sophistication.

An interesting article about what the arts can teach children and how it can effect who they are. It's a very interesting perspective.