TOK Essay (A) – 2020 November session

Historically, human beings have been learning and educating themselves through various ways to gain knowledge in different academic fields. Gaining knowledge is not universally defined but can be defined as “obtaining the information, understanding and skills through education or experience”. Even if the ways that we acquire knowledge might differ for every individual, it is true that knowledge acquisition involves both a process and an outcome. Process is a series of things that are done to achieve a particular result2 and can be multifariously formed depending on different areas of knowledge. Living in a result-oriented social climate, we humans tend to overlook the importance and value of process. In response to the claim that the process of gaining knowledge is more valuable than reaching an end result, I conditionally agree with this title. This allows me to develop this knowledge question: How is acquisition of knowledge more valuable than the knowledge itself? Generally, the process of acquiring scientific laws or theorems can be considered more valuable if it stimulates the new ways of thinking or results in the production of other multiple theorems. Conversely, if established laws or theorems as form of outcomes attribute to an advancement of other theorems or laws, the end result can be seen more valuable than the process of gaining that knowledge. To some extent, the Natural Sciences heavily rely on the inductive reasoning process of experimentation and observation as empirical evidence rather than emphasizing the outcome. In contrast, Mathematics tends to be rather theory-based since mathematical formulas and theories are inherently utilized as forms of the end result more frequently than the proof or evidence which are using deduction.