11/3 & 11/4

Do Now: Take out your TOK ESSAY!!!!

Make sure your NAME & TITLE are at the

top!!!!
 11/3 & 11/4
Sense Perception
In your JOURNAL answer the following
question:

What do you think of when you hear the word sense?

If for some reason you had to sacrifice one of your
senses, which would you be most willing to lose and
which would you be least willing to lose? Give reasons.
Do you think that perception is a more important source
of knowledge in some subjects rather than others? Are
there any areas of knowledge in which it plays no role?
TOK: Ways of Knowing
Sense Perception
Long before we have learned how to use language or our
powers of reason or be anything like in control of our
emotions, we are able to make use of our senses, and so it
seems apt to start our exploration of the four ways of
knowing with sense perception.
 Sense Perception

Can be defined as the awareness of things

through our five senses sight, sound,
touch, taste, & smell
These are the gates and windows of the
mind
 Empiricism
One major school of philosophy known as
empiricism states all knowledge is
ultimately based on perceptual experience
This is extreme
But think of the role played by observation
through sciences, arts, and history
 Common Sense Realism
It is a passive and relatively
straightforward process which
gives us an accurate picture of
reality
 Other Senses
Kinesthetic sense: awareness of ones own
body movements and dimensions
Vestibular sense: balance
Organic sense: the call of nature, hunger,
thirst, etc.
And were only talking about humans!
 Are you the same person you were
yesterday

Will you be the same person tomorrow

Sense Perception is an important
dimension of our understanding of the
World
The channel of communication
between ourselves and the outside
world

Its
function and scope should be
examined and critically evaluated
 Perception can be thought of consisting of
two distinct parts

Sensation: The part provided by the world

around us

Interpretation: The part provided by our

minds
Our experience of the world is
affected not only by what is out
there but also by our sense organs
AND our minds
 Hermann von Helmholtzs
on Sight
We convert the shaky and rather
inaccurate pictures generated by our eyes
into something that makes sense based on
our understanding of the world.
 Gestalt Theory
We make a best fit of images created by
our eyes, and added that we do so by
perceiving the whole, rather than little bits
of the object we are looking at
individually.
We do this unconsciously and very quickly.
The phrase stating that, the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts is
associated with Gestalt psychology.

A quarter of our brain is
used to process
information that is taken in
by your eyes.
Predators have both eyes
facing the front for a
better vision to catch their
pray

Herbivores have eyes more on the

side of their head for a peripheral view
THE EYE IS SIMPLY A for their safety
WINDOWS TO OUR BRAIN,
WE ACTUALLY USE OUR
Some people cant see motion,
BRAIN TO SEE
they see an image every few
seconds.

Some people (only males) are

colour blind, they cant
determine the difference
between reds and blues, and
others cant see any colour
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
 TOK Activity
http://www.yourfavoritewebsite.net/TOK/
WaysOfKnowing/Perception/index.htm

How many times does the team wearing

white shirts pass the basketball? Count
carefully.

Keith Barry: Brain magic

Sense Perception Assignment
Title What role does perception play in
different areas of knowledge
Knowledge Claim (2)
Question: Explain
Thesis Example
Claim Counter Claim (2)
Explain Example
Example Connect Back KQ
Counter Claim
Example
Connect Back KQ
 BRING YOUR BLINDFOLDS NEXT CLASS!!!
IMPORTANCE AND LIMITATIONS OF SENSE
PERCEPTION
The following questions may help students
become aware of the nature and power of
sense perception.

To what extent do our senses give us

knowledge of the world as it really is?

What is the role of culture and language in the

perceptual process?

Given the partially subjective nature of sense

perception, how can different knowers ever
agree on what is perceived?