Student 62

This picture is of the temple I visit regularly, which has had great influence on the knowledge and beliefs of myself, as well as on the followers in my area. This temple, like many religious institutions, gives believers of the faith a community that binds followers together through religion. My temple focuses on the teaches of the Bhagavad Gita, the religious text of the Hindus, and spreads knowledge about its scriptures to the visitors. In addition to the institution giving information, the strength of these values is increased due to the community that is built from the temple. Everyone that visits the temple shares a common faith in the Hindu religion and this interaction between the believers leads to various ideologies spreading amongst the group. Therefore, those that follow a religion but do not visit their institution or collaborate with those with similar beliefs become isolated from the creation of new knowledge and interpretations of a sole idea. This temple is a breeding ground for the innovation of knowledge and is an example of how interactions with knowers can very well increase the knowledge one attains. By visiting the temple, people learn about the various perspectives of the same scripture and gain insight into different interpretations that can build on their faith and subsequently, their knowledge. Despite this opportunity to build a community, many do not participate and therefore their knowledge about their faith is not as developed as it contains only their interpretation. However, people’s perspectives on this idea differ greatly. Many believe that religion and other sensitive pieces of knowledge are something that should only be contained in the knower and not influenced by the views of others. However, when one isolates their beliefs and opinions to themselves, they have no room for growth, and therefore, new knowledge can not be created due to a lack of interaction with knowers.

This picture is of the North Sentinel Island, which has long been a matter of great interest as its inhabitants are completely cut off from modern society. I am very personally invested in this issue as I hail from India, where the island is located, and have extensively heard about its history. This island shows that interactions with others have a major impact on the amount of knowledge we possess. The Sentinelese are isolated from the rest of the world and do not have the technology or important knowledge we possess now. Thus, the inhabitants are not aware of how to defend themselves with anything but arrows and are certainly not immune to various diseases. This is because the Sentinelese have absolutely no interaction with other knowers and therefore can not gain vital information for their wellbeing. Knowledge can only spread through people sharing their findings with others, and if kept in isolation, people would simply never learn anything. In this case, the conscious decision of the people to not conform and keep their ways by ensuring that they never leave their tribe has kept them in a primal state. Despite the world progressing drastically, the Sentinelese can not relish the newfound knowledge because of their null interaction with the rest of the world, making them fall behind. Despite the benefits they can gain from the help of the outside world, different perspectives believe they should remain in their blissful ignorance. Some believe that while their lives can improve, the Sentinelese are surviving perfectly without the world intruding. They believe that knowledge can be gained from experiencing the environment, as opposed to collaborating with the world. However, although they are living life normally, the Sentinelese can not improve because of the lack of interactions outside their community. Thus, knowledge can simply not exist or prosper if everyone is kept in isolation from each other.

This picture is of a telegraph, invented in the 1800s, to ease communication and increase interaction between people. I learned about its impact first in my IB History course and have been fascinated since. Before the 19th century, there was a lack of mediums that could be used to communicate through far distances and therefore, the progression of ideas was severely delayed. However, after a medium was invented that aided in bridging the distance gap, people could now convey their messages, leading to a rise in the economic status of the country due to knowledge being spread faster than ever. Although now we have smartphones and email that can help us communicate more conveniently, at the time, the invention of the telegraph was a turning point in history. High-level professionals could complete their job with much more ease as they could now convey their messages without having to travel to personally meet with other knowers. Knowledge was being spread exponentially as people could gain new information outside of the borders of their community. Rather than only being confined to your thoughts or the thinking of those surrounding you, people were able to gain new information as well as new insight into existing ideologies. However, not everyone believes that advancements in interaction were truly beneficial in creating new knowledge. While the plethora of new information one can gain from being able to talk to people hundreds of miles away is remarkable, many believe that this can cause a variety of knowledge that is confusing to understand, therefore making it difficult for people to determine the validity of information as well as forming your own stance on the subject. However, while the influx of information can be perplexing, it is necessary to understand that simply being able to interact with people outside of your scope can give great opportunities for knowledge to be created and prosper.