tokthoughts

[tokthoughts]

Confirmation Bias

[tokthoughts]

Is proper grammar really all that important?

Everyone has had their grammar corrected at least once in their life. Be it in the middle of a heated argument with opposing sides breathing fire or in the midst of a heartfelt joke. I remember mine being corrected during dinner, at a basketball game and even by a teeny-weeny, overly smug 4th grader. No matter what the situation, the one feeling that immediately registers is one of an intense, burning hate. 

When I use the term ‘proper grammar’, I don't mean deliberate grammatical errors or the misuse of commas and (gasp) no capital letters in the beginning of sentences or for “I”!These grammatical errors can surely cause confusion as they can change the whole meaning of the sentence itself. One example can be:  

‘I’m sorry, I love you.’ and  ‘ I’m sorry I love you.’ See the difference?Now that will surely lead to an interesting turn of events so tread carefully. 

However when I refer to ‘proper grammar’ I’m thinking of the concept of Double Negation in English. 

[tokthoughts]

Communication births knowledge creation

What role do means of communication play in knowledge creation and distribution?

We are hounded by information everyday. It is piled on us mercilessly, flung at our oblivious big head. Every corner you turn, new information is presented to you. They kind of remind me of Easter Eggs. You either find them or end up stumbling upon them by mistake.  And if u don’t, don’t get too happy…someone else surely will. And if boy you all get lucky enough to steer clear of them, the eggs will eventually rot and smell and hence weasel their way into your senses by hook or crook. Nasty little buggers.

 Similarly information is presented to us some way or another. In what way… is highly debatable.

However not all the information we receive leads to the divine act of knowledge creation. No. Lets say that in a day our brain processes about 34 GB data. Honestly a Nokia phone can store more than that.

But…only the information we filter or want to filter gets promoted to that senior position of knowledge

There is a huge variety of means of communication (some more obvious than the other) that do play a significant role in knowledge creation and distribution as it provides us with the information to do so. The knowledge created however is based on our interpretation of them from different perspectives, multiple lenses.

Lets start with the most widespread, extensive, easy and fast form: Social media and its immense power. A place where millions can share their views and opinions or forward information. It is also most common breeding ground of the rumor mill. Be it Instagram stories or Tiktoks that will get stuck in your head and plague you for the rest of the day. If I decide to share a piece of news for example a poster celebrating pride month, or a recent brutality, out of my 800 followers, 350 are guaranteed to see it. They decide to share it further and then it just booms faster than bacteria do.

Let’s look at books and movies. The characters and themes shed light on human interactions and impart knowledge to their readers and viewers. Sometimes a character’s dialogues can also be a shadow of the author’s political views, a mouthpiece to express their ideas about the real world. ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ by Lorraine Hansberry in which Hansberry uses the character of Beneatha to express her feminist views and thoughts relating to the importance of identity, religion and family.Chick flics also lead to knowledge creation. For example, it helps us form our own ideas about the perfect boyfriend and oh so perfect romance and an exciting jolly good, dramatic high school experience.

I’ll pay 20 bucks to anyone who has actually experienced this in real life.

Stories told over generations such as the Ramayana portray Rawana, the demon, as the villain of the story. What about his story? His perspective? Did u know he was one of the most educated men in the subcontinent and never laid a hand on Seeta. But somebody had to be bad enough in order to shed enough light on the heroes right?

News channels and newspapers play a big role too as information about national and international affairs are all being debated over spitfire arguments here. Yes some of this information can be bit biased as some organizations can be under the influence of the government and fail to properly mention their wrongs or are so hell bent on their disapproval of it that we never receive positive information.

Our family is also extremely important in this area of business. A household can strongly influence the act of knowledge creation in their children, be it politically, socially or religiously. Growing up, the only politics I heard of was the ones my parents discussed. If my parents supported a certain political party, so did. I didn’t have enough channels of knowledge to question it and therefore simply didn’t care. Doremon held my attention better.

Lets not forget our friend groups. Our knowledge creation can either rely on heavily stalked facts or just our judgment of the people around us. Our daily “what’s the tea” as we huddle around and discuss the 3 possible boyfriends that Miranda may have, evaluating them better than our math problems. Our opinions based on what we heard from other girls.

All these means lead to knowledge creation and distribution. There is certainly no doubt about that. But some means have a stronger influence than others. Not just because they are pretty or eye catching but due to our own mental construct and preconscious notions that limit what we see of the world sometimes. We tend to filter in that information which goes according to our bias. Makes us feel safe or a weird sense of security. Just good ol’ human nature folks. Take the example of  ‘Lord of the Flies’. The young boys had followed Jack blindly and abandoned Ralph for the plain and simple fact that Jack was providing them with what they wanted not what they needed. They were hungry for meat and dancing around the fire practicing the art of killing might have given them a sense of power. Yes ralph was more pragmatic and had the common sense of needing to keep the fire alive or knowing the island had hidden dangers. But eh who would listen to him. Pshhhh , stupid boy.

Most of them ended up dead though. So much for power.

Therefore the variety of means of communication gives us multiple perspectives to interpret the world around us. A single lens or single thread of communication cannot allow us to broaden our thoughts. It’s the multiple strands after all that would make the rope thicker. The knowledge created is heavily dependent on the person’s exposure to these means and their acceptance of them as well.

[tokthoughts]

What constitutes ‘Politics’??

What is politics? Sounds like a rather simple and straightforward question. Right?

HA. Wrong.

When you say the word politics...what’s the first thing that immediately pops into your mind?

Chaotic? Controversial? Dirty? Scheming?? Bullshitting?

All rather anti or negative and I don't even blame you because what you see is what you think. (And boy have we seen a lot). But our perception is how we interpret the world however it is not necessarily an accurate interpretation of our surroundings. Politics is not only restricted to government bodies and lying, dramatic politicians with promises of a la la land to live in. Politics is omnipresent. It’s got something to do with everything you see around you and yet so much more. No, seriously. That Whastapp group where your mother just shared the newest wacky cure of Covid-19? Politics. That one friend in your girl gang who’s always crying over her loser of an ex-boyfriend? Politics. The ugly deformed cat your little brother just drew? P.O.L.I.T.I.C.S.

I remember hearing heated discussions and debates at the dinner table over the most recent political scandal and practically unhinging my jaw to swallow my food quicker so I could skedaddle away. So imagine my horror when Rafia ma’am begins the TOK topic of Politics and I break into a cold sweat as my brain goes blank. oh great.

“just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't  take an interest in you!” - Pericles

yeah I already got that memo.

But as the discussion continues and my hearing picks up, I realize that no matter what I do or whatever I am doing will involve politics and that was intriguing and new and slightly throwing off.

Politics is anything that involves decision-making. That involves people and human interaction. Power and resources. It revolves around this wonderful and frightening thing called knowledge and opinions. Our understanding gives us the green light to form an opinion. A perception. A judgment, through which we make decisions/choices in our everyday life which leads to a consequence and BOOM. It's political.

My point is that where politics begins or ends is contested over. yes it can be dirty and manipulative but well we’re humans and that's a given. But politics has so many other sides as well. Artwork, films, faith, songs, a romantic date, a nasty fight, Black Friday sale- it all includes choices being made and people interacting, putting their respective ideas and information to use. Trying to assert power and make people see things their way. Me writing this very blog is political. heh.

So Politics all in all is extremely widespread and hiding in every nook and cranny of the way, you just have to be alert and accepting enough to see it.

thank you:)