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TOK Mini-Essay: Do good explanations have to be true? - Coggle Diagram
TOK Mini-Essay: Do good explanations have to be true?
Examples
Real-world Examples
Article:
Monsanto ordered to pay $289 million for cancer-causing weedkillers, sued by Dewayne Johnson.
The Nebraska Man:
A tooth discovered in Nebraska was thought to be the missing link between apes and humans.
AOK-specific Examples
The Natural Sciences
Frictional forces, especially air resistance, are often considered negligible in calculations.
Electrons stay in set orbits and shells rather than probability clouds: explanation simplifies the quantum superposition "truth".
Sine and cosine waves are used as approximate models of oscillatory motion.
Mathematics
Derivatives are operators, yet are treated like actual numbers when deriving the chain rule.
The determinant of a matrix is often visualised as the area formed by the components of the matrix.
Gödel's proof: "This statement is unprovable." There exists true but unprovable statements.
The Human Sciences
Economists assume that humans behave like perfectly rational consumers when giving explanations and coming up with theories; this assumption is not true.
Sociologists conduct social experiments to verify their theories, however, these explanations are often flawed due to experimental biases and inaccuracies.
"Good" explanations in different AOKs
The Natural Sciences
At least somewhat based on empirical evidence/data and observations.
Uses visuals such as tables, graphs, models, etc. to simplify concepts.
Cannot deviate from reality by a large margin, or be so simplified that it no longer represents reality.
The Arts
Explores multiple different ways to interpret a piece of art.
Describes elements of the artwork, such as colour, line, space, etc.
The Human Sciences
Provides insight into why humans may behave in a certain way.
Describes human behaviour and social phenomenons.
Varies greatly from person to person: a "good explanation" is dependent on perspective and experiences.
Mathematics
Rigorous mathematical calculations (such as addition) must be consistent with the correct answer.
Mathematical models are used to represent more convoluted concepts and real-life phenomenons.
Should not contradict established truth or be logically flawed.
History
Recounts specific historical events with dates, facts, figures, and significant events and individuals.
Explains underlying causes and resulting consequences.
Non-biased and considers multiple perspectives.
Initial response and ideas
Extent
There is a spectrum of truth. It could be completely false, or completely true, but often things are in between.
Are we taking "true" in this question to be absolute, hard truth, or simply something that's more accurate than inaccurate?
"Truth" is also a vague concept depending on discipline and who's looking at it.
Scope
The nature of the explanation changes with the context under which we consider it.
Real life phenomenons v.s. Theoretical studies
Areas of knowledge: Disciplines such as mathematics and the natural sciences may require more rigorous explanations compared to the human sciences.
Subjectivity
"Good" is a vague adjective.
Explanations are supposed to help people understand things.
To different people, "good explanations" means different things.
On the flip side, a "bad explanation" would make something more confusing rather than clarifying it.
The nature of truth
What is truth? Perception? Evidence? Data? Experience?
Different types of truth exist. The truth which is useful? The truth which is agreed upon? The truth based off data? The truth that makes intuitive sense?
Objective or subjective?
Role of truth in different AOKs
The Natural Sciences
We are sometimes still fumbling for the truth: physicists struggling to combine gravity with string theory.
To understand how the world works to develop human society.
To establish a connection between human societies and nature.
The Arts
To understand the artists' intentions.
To establish a connection between artistic elements and meaning.
The Human Sciences
Good explanations get you closer to the truth.
To find a cause behind human behaviour.
To understand how the society works.
Mathematics
To solve problems and find patterns in the natural world with empirical knowledge and deductive reasoning.
To form an accurate knowledge basis for studies in other disciplines, especially Natural Sciences.
History
To study
To understand the past in order to progress towards the future.