Decision-making: emotion versus reason

1. The somatic hypothesis states that when we are unclear of which option is the correct one to take, our reasoning is insufficient and out emotions take over. 'High reason' decision-making is based on having a lot of logical considerations without letting emotion get involved in the process.
2. Myelin connects the frontal lobe to the rest of their brain, and since teenagers do not have enough of myelin, the communication between one part of the brain and another is poor. Teenagers access the frontal lobe more slowly, making their split-second decisions worse than if they were older.
3. The role of the cerebellum in the decision-making process is to coordinate the thinking process. If it's not fully developed, then one can be "mentally clumsy".
4.The role of socializing with a baby in moral development is that it shows babies how to feel emotions. It also shows babies what is morally right and morally wrong.


5. When making a decision and taking action, I personally believe as long as no one gets hurt in any way and futures are not ruined, then the benefits outweigh the costs. An example of when it wouldn't would be when someone does drugs. The few moments of happiness from the drugs do not outweigh the cost of doing them, which can fatally or otherwise your life. An example of when the benefits would outweigh the cost would be deciding to study longer for a test. Sure, the cost would be a lot of stress and some tiredness, but the benefit of getting that A outweighs the feeling of being tired.

WOK emotion – contemporary links

Should This Little Girl's Big Bow Be Banned? 4-year-old's Hairstyle Sparks School Drama

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/little-girls-big-bow-banned-4-old-hairstyle-220000255.html

This article is about a 4 year-old who wasn't allowed to be in her school photos because of her hairstyle. She had a bow made out of her hair that her dad made, and she was told she didn't follow the school's guidelines. Though she didn't technically break any of the rules. 

A T.O.K. knowledge question, from this article, could be: To what extent are teachers allowed to restrict the child's creativeness if she didn't technically break the rules?

IB World Student Survey 2012

1. Which word best describes the IB programme at Sturgis? Creative and Challenging

2. What are the most important qualities for an IB student? Hard Work

3.What are the best and worst aspects of being an IB student?

• Best= Indepence, most teachers are good, wide range of subjects, different language options
• Worst= CAS, heavy workload, too many I.A.s and not enough time to do them all

4.Which trait in the IB learner profile do you consider to be most important in your life? Either open-minded or balanced

5. What is the biggest difference between the IB and the national [state] curriculum in [the USA, or in Massachusetts]? Teachers make you look for answers instead of giving you them

6.What type of career would you like to pursue upon leaving school? Education

7. Why did you take the Full I.B.? To get experience taking on a huge workload for college.

Save the Yurok Language!

Yurok

A language that exists in the United States. Only 279 people use the language at home. 

Why save this language? This is a language of a Native American tribe, and by helping the people who use it save it, we are preserving their language, thus preserving an entire culture and way of life of the Yurok Native Americans. 

Happiness

The quote I think best describes how I know when I'm happy is this: "Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth." - Unknown. When I'm happy, I feel all the worrying and stressing and sadness I've ever experienced just leave my mind for awhile. I don't have to worry about the next big project coming up, or stress about maintaining my grades at a high level. I'm just me. I feel like the only time I'm truly happy is when all of these things are pushed from my mind for the time being. I'm not even happy in my sleep it seems, because this morning, I actually woke myself up crying, and my dream was really sad. I think feeling happy can promote knowledge in the sense that, if you're not stressing over other things while trying to learn, you'll retain the knowledge, and still be happy at the same time. 

The Phantom's Good Sign

http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/30/3048.html
 Pierced cross
1. What is/are the cultural origin(s) of the symbol? Henry VI in England & the Mayan people
2. Describe the knowledge portrayed in the symbol. In Henry VI, the symbol is used in heraldry (coat of arms) and on coins. Mayan people used this symbol for their fire god
3. Is the symbol emotive, ambiguous, or vague? The sign is ambiguous because it has two very different meanings in the cultures. Especially in the Mayan country it is emotive because the gods are important to them, and this is a symbol for their fire god.
4. What are the problems of knowledge you identify for the symbol? One problem I can identify in knowledge is that I had to search what in heraldry even meant to know what the symbol was used for.

Is it possible to think without language?

I believe that it is possible to think without language. Babies cannot communicate when they are first born with sentences, but in the Genius Baby video, it showed that babies do think without communicating their thoughts to others. They don't need to. Also, people who are deaf that have not learned sign yet are still able to think, just unsure of how to communicate their thoughts to other people. It is the same with people who appear to be brain dead. I'm reading a book about this recent discovery, and how even though they seem like they don't understand what is going on in their surroundings, scientists have proven that they do. They watching the brain of a “vegetable” person on a scanner, and ask them yes or no questions that the doctors have the answer to. Their brains light up in different areas depending on if their answer is yes or no. To me, language doesn't hinder someone's ability to think, but without some sort of language, they may not be able to share their thoughts with others and the rest of the world. So in that case, language extends the thinking to others, but does not limit the thinking that occurs in the minds of beings.