Problems Of Knowledge In Perception example essay topic

Benedict e Avril lon 11/07/03 Examine the various Ways of Knowing: perception, Logic, and Emotion, and determine which you think is more reliable. There are many ways of knowing, but in this essay, I will examine only three: perception, logic, and emotion. Perception is the way we interpret what we see, hear, taste and feel. That is, our surroundings. Logic allows us to know things by association. This means that we use our past experience and knowledge to solve a new problem.

Emotion is what we feel about the world around us, whether it is fear, happiness, anger, prejudice, or many more. It helps us to interpret and make decisions about what is going on around us. However, those three ways of knowing also have different problems of knowledge. It is therefore very difficult to say which one is more reliable in a world where people and cultures are all different, and where many different situations occur each day. I will therefore analyse the various ways of knowing in three different areas of knowledge- physics, history, and art - to try to find an answer to this question. Perception is very important in physics, as physics is mostly about observing, and analysing, our surroundings; that is, what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch, and finding an explanation to it.

For example, our perception is very important in finding the rate of diffusion of a deodorant across a room. We need our sense of smell to know when the deodorant has reached the other side of the room, and our sense of touch to stop the stopwatch. However, perception is not always reliable, and there are many problems of knowledge linked to it. For example, perception may not be very accurate.

It would be very hard to pinpoint the exact moment we smell the first molecules of deodorant. It would also be very hard to stop the stopwatch at that exact moment! Perception also depends on biological limitations. For example, a person with a weak sense of smell would not be able to do the experiment properly. Another limitations is that we cannot see extremely small things like molecules... If we could, it would have been a lot easier to know when the molecules reached the other side of the room.

Logic is also very important in physics, as after having observed our surroundings, we have to put together all the facts we have to draw a conclusion. By doing this, we are using deductive or inductive logic. However, if one of our facts were wrong, the conclusion we get from it would also be wrong, even if it would be a logically valid conclusion. For example, if we see an attractive coral in the sea, and we reach for it, we would find out that it is not in the exact place we thought it would be. Before reaching for it, we would have made the logical conclusion that, as what we see in the air is always where we think it is it should be the same for water. However, light rays change direction when moving from air to water, making things look like they are in a slightly different position.

This is a problem of knowledge linked to logic that has made us make many wrong conclusions in history. Emotions are also present in physics, even though not really in the subject itself, but in the person studying it, as no one can feel no emotions. The emotions we feel may be positive or negative, and both can lead us on the right path, or on the wrong one. For example, a physician may be motivated to push his discoveries as far as possible by ambition. This would be good, as it would increase humanity's knowledge of our surroundings. However, his ambition could also push him to publish a theory he knows is false, just for the fame and recognition he would get from it.

Perception is also very important in history. How would we learn anything if we could not see to read books and reports, or to analyse newly found evidence, like ancient vases, skeletons, or ancient scripts? However, as we have seen before, perception may lead us to misinterpret things. Let us take the examples of scripts. In the cartoon 'The Prince of Egypt' by Disney, we see hieroglyphs of a pharaoh throwing away babies to crocodiles. If those hieroglyphs were real, and were found by an English historian, he would interpret it as the pharaoh being extremely cruel and inhumane, as he was sending the babies to a certain death.

However, symbolism was greatly used in ancient cultures. If it was an Egyptian historian who found the hieroglyphs, he may have interpreted it as the pharaoh sending the babies to a sacred place, to be nearer to the gods; as crocodiles were considered sacred in Egypt at the time. This example portrays one of the problems of knowledge linked to perception, as the way we interpret what we see is often influenced by our past experiences, including social and cultural conditioning. Logic is also important in history, as we need it to link new evidence to what we already know about history. However, problems of knowledge linked to logic again arise, as everyone does not have the same logic. People's reasoning is also greatly affected by emotion.

I will take the example of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls', which was given to us in class. The scripts talk of Jesus in a similar way to the Gospels, but give a very different view of him. For some people, it would be logical to publish these scripts, and therefore show everyone the truth and let them make their own opinion of things, having analysed all sides of the issue. However, for others, especially the heads of church, it would be completely illogical to do so.

Not only publishing the scripts would contradict everything they have been saying since centuries, but it would also cause rebellion against the church and cause great social chaos. Especially in the second case, logic would be linked to emotion and their opinion would be based on prejudice. The heads of church have been educated and conditioned into believing specific things about Jesus all their lives. Contradicting those beliefs would greatly affect them. Suddenly being aware that what they have believed all their lives may be wrong would be very frightening. Publishing the scripts would also mean a great loss of power for them, which would also be frightening.

This is why they would reject the " Dead Sea Scrolls" and keep them unpublished. This is also how prejudice and other emotions may hinder research and discovery in history. Perception is also very important in art as art is mostly about interpreting what we see and feel in a drawing. However, there are again problems of knowledge in perception as we may see things that are not really there.

For example, a group of shadows, or a particular disposition of leaves, may cause us to think that there is a person or animal, which is actually not there. This would be a problem in a still-life drawing, where we have to draw exactly what is in front of us. Logic is also present in art. For example, I could make the conclusion that, as all trees are green, whenever I have a tree in one of my paintings, I should paint it green. However, this is not true in all paintings. A tree may have to be painted blue, or with highlights of yellow, to make it look realistic because of light effects.

This is a problem of knowledge linked to logic, as my conclusion, even if it may be right in most cases, may also be wrong in others, as all situations are different. Emotion is a very important factor in art as it is what we feel which makes us represent things in a particular way. This may become a problem of knowledge, as people do not feel things the same way. For example, someone who comes from New York and loves city life, will paint the bright side of New York. His painting would probably be a beautiful view of the skyscrapers at sunset, or any other beautiful picture of New York. However, another painter, coming from China, and who loves nature and hates cities, would paint the bad side of New York.

His painting would probably represent pollution, poverty, corruption, or any other problem in New York. This is because no one is the same and our view on life depends on our past experiences, culture, values, and moods. Having analysed these three different ways of knowing, in these three subjects, I cannot say that a particular way of knowing is better or more reliable than another. Firstly, all three are intricately linked and cannot be separated from each other. Our perception helps us to know what is around us, and our logic and emotions help us to understand it. Secondly, all people and situations are different.

Logic may be more present in a situation, and emotion in another. We therefore cannot say that a particular way of knowing is more reliable than the others in all situations. Thirdly, they all have their different problems of knowledge, whether biological limitation, wrong use of facts, or prejudice, for example. Therefore, I can only say that ways of knowing are useful when used together, and when the user is aware of their different problems of knowledge..