Reflections: Theory of Knowledge

So this past week has been very interesting. I learnt that when looking for journals, one must consider the impact factor. An impact factor of 1.0 and above indicates that the quality of the papers in the journal is good. Another way to find good papers is by checking the reference lists of good journals and research papers because, a well written paper, will always have a good reference list.

The Lecture...

Knowledge and theory of knowledge were defined by studying various texts, primarily that of Bertrand Russell. The theory of coherency, a theory discussed during the lecture, didn’t make sense at first but with a little more reading and explanations, I came to understand it.  This theory attempts to make the most sense out of a collection of inherent data that one has. A lot of assumptions are made in the process of making sense of the data and finding a solution to the current problem presented. There is never really a certain result of what is to happen in the future, because the present data cannot really be based on past experiences, because the knowledge as to those experiences is lacking. A good example to show coherency theory in action is the current state of climate changes, its effects and how the problem is being tackled. The scientists cannot really predict a certain future, because they lack the full knowledge of past experiences. They therefore have to make assumptions in order to come up with a result.