Hi Guys! We are almost at the end of the Senior Research Project, and it's been quite the journey. This week, Mr. Nair and I went on a very slight tangent into the idea of beliefs. Although they are not directly related to my research, beliefs are inherently different from knowledge as they are not always true, whereas knowledge is true information. Beliefs can be argued for or against, whereas knowledge can't. For example, I can unreliably guess the age of any individual, and I can even believe my guess, however, that is mere belief, it is not knowledge unless I ask for that person's age and they respond honestly.
During this week, Mr. Nair explained a very interesting game to me regarding beliefs. Let's say you have a piece of paper in front of you with 100 true or false statements, you write true if you believe that the statement is true, or false if you believe it is false. Let's add another aspect to the game, if you get it right, you gain a point, and if you get it wrong, you lose a point, but if you leave it blank nothing happens. Obviously, the goal of this is to maximize the number of points you can get. Now, assume that all these statements are related to a topic that you are relatively familiar with, something like Calculus or US History. Because there is a penalty for getting it wrong, you will mostly think through each of the questions individually and do your best to get as many right as possible. But if the penalty was increased substantially, let's say you lose 100 points if you get it wrong, then unless you were absolutely sure of yourself, you would leave the question blank.
Now, let's transition the idea behind this type of game to a real-life example. Let's say you believe there is a fire in a theater. If you yell "FIRE" to warn everyone, there will most likely be people who will be trampled because of the fear and panic that arises from the danger of a fire. Therefore, the penalty for believing there is a fire, yelling fire, and then being wrong is pretty high. However, if you are right, then there still might be trampling, but the major danger was avoided. Just like with the game, you will not yell fire unless you are absolutely sure, due to the possible penalty of being wrong.
I find this game extremely interesting because of its wide applications to real life. In taking into account a belief, you have to address both the benefits and costs of believing it. If you were to traverse a bridge that seems to be dilapidated, you would want to be sure that it could support your weight before actually going across. The applications this game has are extremely wide. Anyways, that's all for this week! There are a lot of subtleties when it comes to this idea so feel free to ask about some unique examples or ideas that you guys have regarding the topic.
Can there be instances where belief is stronger than knowledge? For instance, if someone was absolutely sure about something, found out it was wrong, but still believed it, then would their belief be strong or just unjustified? Basically, do stubborn people have a stronger belief system, or are they just stubborn? Thanks for the cool perspective!
ReplyDeleteHi Ziba! This is a great question! That person's belief, despite of the knowledge offered to them, would be strong and unjustified. They are just stubborn in this situation.
DeleteThis is a really interesting new topic. Although you said that it doesn't really relate to your research on knowledge, do you think this will help you with it anyway? Could you possibly relate the topics by saying beliefs may become knowledge?
ReplyDeleteHi Luke! I will relate this in my final presentation, as I do believe that these topics are related, belief and knowledge are very close topics.
DeleteThe way you and Mr. Nair looked at beliefs is very interesting. I really like the approach you took on this since I can easily see myself doing this. I think it is an important distinction to separate beliefs and knowledge, and maybe you could bring that up in your presentation too! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Adam! That is exactly what I intend to do, thank you!
DeleteCool. While you were talking with Mr. Nair did he happen to tell you about other types of beliefs such as religion and its importance?
ReplyDeleteHi Aditya! Religion wasn't actually mentioned in the discussion, although it would be a very interesting topic to address!
DeleteHey Liam! This is a very interesting topic. I have always wanted to know how best to approach certain situations when i know going in without help can hurt me negatively. This seems to be something people should know when approaching most situations.
ReplyDeleteHi Akash! That is exactly what I think!
DeleteHi Liam. I love the relevance of games to Knowledge. What kind of discussion were you having when you got onto this tangent of games relating to knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHi Cole! Mr. Nair and I basically came up with a bunch of different examples and saw how they applied to this game.
DeleteHi Liam! I find that the game example Mr. Nair gave was really fascinating. I love the discovery that circumstances dictate the certainty of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHi Nichole! I'm glad you enjoyed!
DeleteHi Liam! I thought the idea of a cost of believing something to be quite interesting; I had never really thought of it in that way. That game sounds fun, and I would love to play it! As you stated, there is a cost in believing something, but, in your opinion, could this also be said for knowledge, in that there is a cost in spreading it? Best of luck in finishing up your project!
ReplyDeleteHi Nicolas! I'm sure there is a cost to some forms of knowledge, although at the moment I am drawing a blank!
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ReplyDeleteHey Liam! That game sounds really interesting, especially since it can be applied to a variety of situations. I'm just wondering, how exactly will you use your experience from this week to answer your question? Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Urmi! A lot of what research has given me as an answer to my question is variation, and this game I believe helps to address that.
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