User:Hbmartin/ToK/Knowledge Issues of Middle East Politics

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the knowledge issues related to the interpretation of the current political Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In doing so we hope to show how the mental processes involved in understanding the raw data around us can severly affect the conlusions we reach. It will explore the concepts behind the way we use, gain, and understand knowledge by analyzing how different perspectives of the conflict radically alter the "knowledge" we obtain.

Rough Draft Outline

 * Intro
 * Rejected presentation ideas
 * Steinbeck, Spiderman, and the Simpsons
 * Ethics of watching Norman dance in a tutu
 * The problems of knowledge that Williams' has (not enough time)
 * Is Norman really Jewish? Is Harold really brown? Is Varun a super-intelligent alien? (National Inquirer) (commercial)
 * Picture discussion, 5 opinions
 * Pass out original and correction [], then response letter
 * Briefly Discuss
 * Maps and the history of Israel
 * 4 groups, each have a different map, we have them explain what they interprit and then show what the maps really were
 * Cookie activity
 * Split into groups
 * Seperately promise each group cookies for finding Norman's shoe, tell them each there is only one shoe handng a "mandate"
 * Place shoes outside of each door
 * Pick a single group to give cookies to
 * Explain how this ties to interpretation
 * Different promises
 * Interpreatation of promises
 * PoKs: Bias and uncertainty
 * All AoKs
 * Provide examples
 * Interpretation en abstracto
 * Definition of interpretation
 * Taking raw data and assigning a meaning to it
 * WoKs
 * T.S. Eliot quote
 * Schema Theory
 * Understanding of relevance
 * Modern conflict and application to recent events
 * Norman does a dance of a modern event
 * Iraqi war and Michael Moore "minutemen/Freedom Fighters" or "terrorists"
 * Use different biased news account
 * Nuclear war
 * Norman v. Williams
 * The continuing conflict (political promises)