## Sense-making justification of contribution this object is included in this exhibition because... -- explicitly stating > what is the knowledge that you are talking about -- be specific > same with object -- better physical & irreplacable & unique ## Prompts *What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge?* - distortion, misunderstanding - misinformation - equality, equity, accessibility - should knowledge be free and accessible to all, or is it a commodity to be paid for? - power, control, manipulation - disinformation - who decides what information get disseminated and which should be kept to a certain group of people? - 政府通过教育来贯彻自己的意识形态从而控制大众的思想和行为 Objects: - 中国政府历史教科书 - 我在做 research for film EE 的时候 Jstore 上找到的一篇 paywall 的要交钱的文章 ![[TOK Exhibition.webp]] ### The Object This is an academic paper that I came across when doing research for my EE on the film "Goodbye Dragon Inn". I found it through google scholar, however it's paywalled so that I have to pay in order download and read the full pdf. ### The Real-world Concext of the Object While the internet is often claimed to have information & knowledge widely available to every one, so the world of knowledge is "clicks away", a large amount of deep and truly useful knolwedge are actually hidden among junk information or protected by paywalls, far from easily and readily accessible. The internet is far from a truly free and effective disseminator of knowledge. ### The Prompt The prompt asks for problems raised by the dissemination of knowledge, and in this case the problem is whether it's ethical to turning knowledge into a commodity and gain financial benefit from the dissemination of knowledge. ### The Relationship Between the Object & the Prompt The act of paywalling certain knowledge -- which obstructs the dissemination of knowledge -- raises ethical concerns of the commodificaiton of knowlege: should knowledge be paid for? Should the value of knowledge be given a monetary value? Is it ethical to prevent people who are unable to pay from accessing the knowledge? While indeed, the orgnization of the journal the maintaineance of the website requires costs, and in order for the scholars and publishers to be incentivised to create and share knowledge, there has to be financial returns. However, from the perspective of the receivers of knowledge, this creates problems of accessibility and equity, as not every one have the financial ability to pay 48 euro for a single pdf. The problem is not just about not being able to read this one article -- a lot of the hiddens truths of the world and secrets to success are indeed hidden among books, journals, and papers, and not being ablto to access these knowledge means less opportunity to turn those knowledge into actions and material wealth. Without access to certain knowledge, some people would never have the chance to improve themselves, which further harms their interest and ability to buy knowledge and learn, ultlimatley resulting in lack of social mobility and solidificaiton of classes. ![[TOK Exhibition.png]] ### The Object This is a page of the Chinese history textbook in the national curriculum on the historical event of the Cultural Revolution. ### Real World Context of the Object This is how the national curriculum intends to teach students about the historical event of the Cultural Revolution between 1966 to 1976, a decade of brutal chaos, persecution, and destruction that tore society apart and devastated countless lives. Describing it only as "a difficult exploration of socialism", the national textbook downplays the severity of the event in effort to prevent the young students from learning about it, thus maintaning the authority of the CCP's leaderhsip. ### The Prompt This object answers to the question of what challenges are raised by the dissemination of knowledge by demonstrating that the one who decides which knowledge are to be publicy shared and distributed, and which are to be ignored, suppressed, or forgotten hold great power in shaping people's thoughts. ### Relationship between Object & Prompt With such great hold of power, it is easy for that entity to intentionally control and manipulate the knowledge people get access to and thus their thoughts and opinions. This leads to the danger of losing the freedom of speech and thought, as the public can be deprived of critical information, alternative perspectives, or historical truths. The object illustrated that the dissemination of knowledge is mostly not always a newtural process but rather a deeply political act influenced by who is in control and who has power. Whether through censorship or disinformation, those who wield the power of the dissemination of knowledge have the power to shape public discourse and change collective memories. *Why do we seek knowledge?* - For ourselves (in our current life) - better knowledge --> more informed choices that maximize benefits - knowledge --> action -- knowing what to do (goal of life) and how to do it - For (our current) world - to make ethical decisions that is desirable for the whole system - to break free from bounded rationality - For the human civilizaiton (past & future) - It's our responsiblity as individuals of humanity to pass down & advance human civilization - It's our responsibility as humans to build upon what ancestors have passed down to us and pass down what we make to posterity. who are we? individual / collective / civilization to make sense of the world Personal journey