I would like to thank the amazingness with all my heart, because if it weren't for the amazingness I would never have even had any interest in this is in the first place, and it would have proved very very difficult. In fact, something he quoted to me in a MSN conversation once a long time ago became very very fitting in the beginning that I had to use it. Felt a little on the cheeky side, but I'm sure he wont mind. I'll give him as much credit, if not more than myself, because like I said, if not for him, theer would have been no interest whatsoever in the subject. Also, he got me a book that helped me massively!! I've even been reading it properly since finishing my essay, because the bits that I flicked through were so good.....and it will help me with my dissertation too =)
So...on with the essay then..........
If There is No Such Thing as Knowledge and Truth,
Then There is Little Need for Education.
What is knowledge? What is truth? According to the [Collins Essential English] Dictionary (2003), knowledge is ‘1. the facts or experiences known by a person or group of people. 2. the state of knowing 3. specific information about a subject.’ (page u/n) The Dictionary’s definition of truth is ‘1. the quality of being true, genuine or factual […] 2. something that is true […] 3. a proven verified fact etc’. (page u/n) But is there really such thing?
In essence, evident from the above definitions, knowledge is the acquisition of facts; these facts may or may not have any truth in them at all. Facts are constructed of evidence, which can be, and often has been manipulated to quantify a point for the purpose of educating.
Taking the above into account, this study will reflect on the purpose of education, and whether or not the existence of man brings with it an existence of knowledge and truth. If man brings neither, then the foundation of everything is a lie, and therefore there is no point or need for education. Although it could be, and will be argued that even if everything man knows is based on a lie, as George Orwell wrote in his book Nineteen Eighty-Four “the lie passed into history and became truth” (page 37).
Perhaps when looking at education and man’s need for knowledge, is best to look at this with a more philosophical approach that the literal interpretation of knowledge and truth. Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge. Epistemology not only looks at so-called facts, but also questions how these facts are realized, or not as the case may be.
We know many things because science tells us that it is true. We know other things because religion tells us it is true. Some have faith in religion; others have faith in their ability to reason. Many people have learned to question things, and believe that there is more to know than what science and religion tell us. It is likely that what we do not know far outweighs what we know. Common sense helps us to understand many of the ideas and beliefs that we hold, but how much can science show us, and what can we comprehend? We tend to easily comprehend rational ideas, and we stick to the easiest explanation for this reason. It is unclear though as to weather the easiest explanation always contains truth and provides us with knowledge. (Curtis 2008)
For this reason education cannot solely be about passing on knowledge to children. It is uncertain what knowledge is. Knowledge is about creating moral beings, and giving them the opportunity to understand the world, rightly or wrongly, as we believe it to be. Should a teacher teach what we know, or what they feel they should teach? Teachers are unable to decide. Instead teacher teach what the “experts” tell them is correct.
Teachers like the vast majority of people have feelings and senses. The vast majority of people live their lives relying on their own minds and five sense abilities: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. But are they completely reliable? When we loose the capability of one sense, the remaining senses respond and alter to combat the loss. If we can loose a sense, we can also be tricked by our senses. Our brain is constantly working harmoniously with our senses to guide us. Even our senses can let us down on the occasion. A classic example of which is a stick dipped in water. The stick appears to bend as it enters but in fact it does not. We know it is not bent as we have the belief and experience of scientific fact. However this example proves that sight cannot be completely relied upon.
A common and rather popular game on the radio involves a recording of a sound, or voice, and listeners guess what the sound is, or whom the voice belongs to. All listeners hear exactly the same sound, but everyone experiences the sound differently. Therefore many different people playing the game will have a different interpretation of the sound, and there may be many guesses before the listeners give the correct answer. This is another example of how the senses can confuse.
Of course, the latter example does not solely test the sense. It also tests the memory. The memory is created from the art of experience. In every moment of life we are experiencing. Some experiences repeat, others do not, but all experiences lead to the individual’s truth. Once a sound is heard it is passed into the memory as an experience. Therefore the sound a radio listener hears by the sense of hearing triggers the memory of the experience of what they have heard before.
Memories and experiences are stored in the individual’s personal filing cabinet. The personal filing cabinet begins storing information from the very beginning. John Locke believed that we cannot have knowledge without experience. Our experience is limited and therefore knowledge is also limited.
A stereotypical apple appears to have a green or red skin on the outside. The inside is much lighter, with a tough core in the centre. Through the experience of eating the apple, we know that it’s juicy and sweet on the inside, and it is edible.
If an apple is left uneaten, over a period of time it changes. The skin turns a brownish colour inside and out, becomes very soft, and it has a bad smell about it. So how can it be an apple? It is no longer recognisable in any sense as an apple, and yet we recognise it as being one. It doesn’t look, smell, or taste the same, so we must have had the experience if the rotten apple to know what it is. If a person had not had experience of a rotten apple, would they know that this is what it is?
There is also however Carl Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious, which would suggest yes. The collective unconscious theory implies that each individual already has the knowledge and experience of everything that has been, and everything that is happening. As we do not recognise that we know everything already, education is a tool to trigger the memory of experience.
However, this raises questions over the content of our education. If there is such a collective unconscious, then why during schooling do most children not suddenly have revelations, and are suddenly flooded with a wealth of knowledge.
Children do not tend to question what they are taught in school. All evidence can be manipulated, and if a child is presented “facts” with evidence, manipulated or not, they will be embedded with false beliefs. Therefore they may be unable to gain access to the collective unconscious, especially if the two sets of knowledge conflict, and challenges the child’s perception of reality.
If the above were to be “true” then Plato’s cave theory is still rather relevant, although it may have changed somewhat. It would be relevant to today’s climate, but perhaps not how it was seen previously.
The soldier dragging the prisoner up the hill is often seen as the teacher. The prisoner is thought of as the child resisting knowledge. Maybe the knowledge that they are being given by the teacher in this case challenges the ideas of the collective unconscious that the child has access to before they are educated with false beliefs. The teacher of course eventually brings the child out of the cave.
If Plato’s theory is changed slightly, then the shadows on the wall in the cave are the collective unconscious, while above and beyond this is the individuals experience. Previously the shadows on the wall though are much more known of as a false reality. In this case, could it be that the teacher is the one producing the shadows on the wall for the prisoner to see? If this is the case then the prisoner follows many challenges along the way.
The prisoner’s own mind and hunger for knowledge and experience, through modern technology, could light the pathway out of the tunnel. ‘In this new world of pedagogical plenty, children and adults will be able to dial up a programme on their home television to learn whatever they want to know at their own convenience’ (Bruer 1993 as cited in Postman 1995). There are a huge amount of documentaries available on television now, and also the Internet is expanding at an alarming rate, allowing access to everyone all of the time, as Bruer acknowledges. In the case of ‘Little Eva’ a child not being able to sleep, ‘she can learn algebra instead’, or in the case of ‘Young John’ he could decide ‘to learn the history of modern Japan’. Through technology both Little Eva and Young John will have access to ‘the greatest authorities and teachers on the subject’. They will be able to learn independently, and be able to learn what interests them. They may also have access to the same piece of evidence interpreted in various different ways, and whilst perhaps not having complete knowledge (unless the memory and content of the collective unconscious is triggered) they will have a more informed belief system.
Many though will find their own journey a struggle, but there are now many more ways than ever before to gain experience. Taking the above into account, the only education a child really needs is the ability to read, write and do basic maths equations. Then as Rousseau believed education would be about educating an individual. As John Locke believed, education is about making children want to learn. So if children are given the tools and means to do so this will enable them to discover and experience for themselves. (Curtis 2007)
If this discovery is completely virtual, it raises the possibility of a somewhat virtual reality. If everything can be found and learned from a virtual learning centre, then is it possible that everything we perceive is programmed into a virtual reality? However, from the size of some virtual machines that only produce a small amount of a virtual world, it can be determined that it would need a very big computer system to produce the world and universe in it’s entirety. Replicating life as we know it seems like it is almost impossible. However, it could be said that if we were living in a virtual reality, or The Matrix, it is highly unlikely that “human kind” would be able to see it, or even know anything of it’s existence. Again allowing us to question our own knowledge.
If our perceived reality were only to be a virtual reality, would the virtual reality be purely experimental in order for some other being to see what they have created. Would they want to see what we would do if left to our own devices. Or would everything we see and do be controlled by this other being? Would there be a point to the exercise? It sounds inconceivable that we have been programmed into a virtual reality; there is a lot of detail in nature. Has it been created for our viewing pleasure? (Rucker 2008) This sounds rather pointless if life and reality is virtual and we have been born into it. We would know no different, and therefore only basics would need to be created.
The above is one of Descartes three rational doubts. Another of these rational doubts is that everybody creates their own reality. We are effectively nothing: non-existent, aside from a thought. It is only the awareness of our self that exists. Everything else is our imagination and the reality that we create for ourselves. As Descartes says ‘cognito ergo sum’ translated from Latin to English as meaning ‘I think therefore I am’. So we do exist on the level of thought. And perhaps on this thought level, we are freer to have beliefs, knowledge, and experience, than we are on a physical and five senses level.
A non-physical five-sense level is also available to us, and is not quite so limiting. The dream state. The dream state questions knowledge in a rather extreme way. Descartes believed that there is no distinct difference between dreams and our actual perceived reality. So it is actually possible that the dream could be the reality, and the reality the dream. It is impossible to know which is which, and therefore knowledge in general is very doubtful.
To acquire actual knowledge we must get things wrong in order to be able to get things right. Sceptics would point out that nothing is right everything is simply an opinion. We cannot know in the vast majority of cases that we have got something right, or wrong to prove otherwise. A sceptical approach is useful when deciphering what the true meaning of knowledge is, as it enables us to question, and go into more detail in the hope of discovering knowledge. If everything is broken down to its most basic level by the sceptic, then may we discover the truth, and gain knowledge.
There is a need for education, in the sense that it gives those who wish to a basis for which to begin they’re explorations. It gives others beliefs that they can build on as they gain more experience. Education is not just about schooling, education is a life-long journey of discovery. Education gives us the skills and the knowledge to accept or challenge what we are told, and thus the cycle continues.
In the life, believe, reality cycle, not all questions have simple answers. Some questions do not have any answers at all. We cannot know all there is to know, however, we also cannot know that we cannot know all there is. We cannot know that we know everything, and we cannot know that we know nothing. Human kind however is full of ideas, themes and beliefs, all of which are also following a journey. Key ideas may change over periods of time, and sometimes only very slightly. Whilst we develop these ideas further, we ourselves are developing further. We need to ask more questions, and answer those new questions with yet more questions, whilst still finding answers. The more we learn, the more we can learn, the more we can question, and the more fulfilled our knowledge will be; and so on and so forth.
REFERENCES
CARROLL R (2005) Collective Unconscious [web page]
http://www.skepdic.com/collectiveun.html (accessed 23/04/2008)
CURREN R (2007) Philosophy of Education
Singapore: Blackwell Publishing
CURTIS W (2007) Socratic Method of Enquiry and PLATO [Lecture]
De Montfort University
CURTIS W (2007) Rationalism and Empiricism [Lecture]
De Montfort University
CURTIS W (2008) Knowledge and Truth [Lecture]
De Montfort University
HAMM C (1989, 1991) Philosophical Issues in Education An Introduction
Basingstoke: The Falmer Press
KOHLI W (1995) Critical Conversations in Philosophy of Education
London: Routeledge
MORELAND J P (n/d) Epistemology and Skepticism [Recorded Lecture]
http://hisdefense.org/video/Moreland%20-%20Skepticism%20and%20Epistemology.wmv (accessed 17/04/2008)
MORELAND J P (2004) What is Truth and Why Does it Matter? [Webzine]
http://www.boundless.org/features/a0000911.html (accessed 22/04/2008)
ORWELL G (1949, 2000) Nineteen Eighty-Four
London: Penguin Books
POSTMAN N (1995) The End of Education
New York: Vintage Books
RUCKER R (2008) Fundamental Limits to Virtual Reality [blog]
http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2008/03/03/fundamental-limits-to-virtual-reality/ (accessed 23/04/2008)
WEBBER P (2003) Collins Essential English Dictionary
Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers
No comments:
Post a Comment