Prompt: Why do we seek knowledge? ## Object 1: My Personal Journal ![[TOK Final Exhibition-1.png]] I write journals every day. A typical entry includes an "event log" (what happened), a "mind log" (what I have been thinking), a "meditation log" (the flow of my thoughts during meditation), and an "action log" what I’ve done or achieved). In today's world of information overload, we are constantly bombarded with information. Yet, how much of it is actually meaingful for us? What does our daily experience teach us about ourselves? And how can we translate those knowledge into intentional actions that lead to better results for our lives? That is where journaling comes in. My journal is a tool to filter through noise and seek knowledge our myself. By consciously writing, I reflect more deeply on my life and use the insights I gained to guide future decisions. The prompt asks why we seek knowledge. My first object explores this from individuals' perspectives: we seek knowledge about oursevles in order to make better choices. A deeper understanding of ourselves help us understand how to live a better life and achieve better results. For instance, in my "2025-02-11" journal entry, I noted down scoring 32 out of 45 in a Math test -- a piece of information. However, by diving deeper and uncovering the true problem behind (not enogh practice, not fully undersatnding, etc.), I tried to seek knowledge behind and came to the conclusion that I need more resources and practice. As a result, in order to perform better next time, I decided to spend more time on Math this weekend. This illustrate how individuals can seek self-knowledge in order to take better actions and achieve better results. My journal contributed to the exhibition by demonstrating that us individuals seek knowledge to improve their life. ## Object 2: A Project on Climate Change Awareness ![[TOK Final Exhibition.jpeg]] This is an interactive exhibition object I made with my friends last year, using recycled paper board and newspaper. We invite people to write down on the "message earth" section what they want to say to our planet earth. By doing such a proejct, we hope to spread awareness of the climate crisis our planet is going through, and encourage a more sutainable way of living. My second object answers the question of "why do we seek knowledge" from a larger, humanity's collective perspectve -- Humans need to seek knowledge to break free from our bounded rationality and make ethical decisions that are desirable for us collectively. Similar to individuals needing better information and knowledge to make better decisions, humanity as a whole needs better understanding of the world to make ethical decisions. Bounded rationality is the idea that people make decisions within the limits of information available to them. This makes it hard for individuals to make ethical decisions that is desirable for our world without proper knowledge of the global impact of their decisions. For example, while individuals may not feel negative impact of traveling by plane, our planet as a whole suffer from the crabon emmission. As a result, without the proper knowledge of the greenhouse effect and fossil fuels runing our planet, individuals will not travel more greenly. And only by actively seeking knowledge of the impact of our decisions and spreading this knowledge, we can break free from our bounded rationality and start making ethical decisions. Ultimately, my second objects demosntrates that humanity as a whole need to seek knowledge so that we can collectively make decisions that are desirable for our collective future. Again, here we can see the role of knowledge in guiding decisions, whether for our individual life or our planet. ## Object 3: MoM Ceramic tablets ![[TOK Final Exhibition-2.png]] The third object is "Memory of Mankind" (MoM), a project funded by Martin Kunzein Austrai 2012 that aims to preserve all the knowledge by priting them on ceramic tablets and burying them under ground (Memory of Mankind). This object aims to answer the questions of "why do we seek knowledge" from an even bigger scope, exploring the importance of knowledge for the human civilization. This object argues that humans seek knowledge because knowledge is the most precious intellectual wealth of our civilization -- the foundation upon which all progress is built. Since the dawn of our civilization, each generation has strived to discover new knowledge, build upon the intellectual legacy of its ancestors, and pass it on. This relay enables our human civilization to advance depite limited individuals lifespan. And that's in part what makes the human civiliztion so great -- our ability to seek new knowledge, make progress in and pass down our intellectual wealth -- what helps us gain an extraordinary evolutionary advantage. While other species rely sole on random mutations, trial-and-error, and genetic inheritance to pass down information and evolve, us humans discovered language, writing, and various other information technology that enables the directly transfer the knowledge we learned in our life to our offspring. It is this drive to seek, expand, and preserve knowledge that supercharges the development of our civilization and sets up apart from the natural world. Ultimately, my third object contributes to this exhibition by illustrating that huamnity seek knowledge not only to improve our own lives, make better collective decisions, but also to participate in the collective building our civilization. Above all, humans need to constantly seek knowledge so that the flame of our civilization — lit long ago — continues to burn for generations to come. ## Sources _Memory of Mankind_, [https://www.memory-of-mankind.com/](https://www.memory-of-mankind.com/). Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.