“The 16th Man” – Sport as an Area of Knowledge

Review Mandela’s quote on the power of sport
Choose one of your CAS activities of the year (Creativity, Action, Service)
Examine your CAS involvement from a TOK perspective, relating to the Mandela quote
OPTIONAL EXTRA reflection
Compare the pre- and post-apartheid South African country flags
Analyse the evolution of the SA flag from a TOK perspective

1. Knowledge Issue Question: Justice Bekebeke

To what extent does national pride depend on the inhabitants feeling equal to each other?

2. Mandela's quote - CAS involvement in relation

Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. 

Sturgis Soccer: I think sport absolutely has the power to change the world. Sport is universally the same, soccer is played the same way in hundreds of countries even though the name of the game and the nationality of the people playing does change. Children from different backgrounds can understand the game and it can bring them much closer together. Sports can give people hope because soccer in particular is a team sport. You have to rely on your teammates no matter who they are, you can't play along. It doesn't matter what race any of the players are, all that counts in the end is how they work together and how well they can play. There isn't one race who is "better" at sport, everyone has an equal advantage. 

In Sturgis soccer we all have to work together. We all know and speak the sport and everyone is different and unique. We all have different interests outside of the sport and we're not all close friends but through the season we work as one unit. When we play another team we can't judge by what they look like. The smallest player could be the best on the team so stereotyping gets you no where.

3. Compare pre and post apartheid South African flags

The flag of South Africa pre apartheid was three flags ( Union Flag (mirrored) towards the hoist, the flag of the Orange Free State (mirrored) hanging vertically in the middle and theTransvaal Vierkleur towards the fly) on a background of blue, white and orange. This old flag makes South Africa seem like it is made up of 3 separate nations that were just clumped together. There isn't a sense of unity between them. The flag reflects the way the country was pre apartheid; segregated and unequal

The post apartheid flag is a Y shape with blue, red, orange, white, black and green. This flag combines the nation into one unit. It doesn't make the nation seem like it is made up of separate parts. It represents how the country is now working together and treating each other as equals. It combines the ideas and colors of the white and black South Africans. 

 

Decision-making: emotion v reason

Question on npr piece, "The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet": How do teen brains work differently, ie, what is the role of myelin in the frontal lobe and decision-making?

The teenage brain is not the same as an adult brain because the frontal lobe is not fully connected. The frontal lobe helps a teen evaluate the consequences of decisions, but in the teenage brain the nerve cells are not fully connected to the rest of the brain nor do they work as well as they do in adult brains.  They are also missing myelin, which is a fatty substance that covers the nerves, and helps the signals flow more effectively. 

Question on Frontline segment, "You Just Don't Understand": What is the role of the cerebellum in decision-making?

The cerebellum does not fully develop in the brain until at least the early 20s. The cerebellum grows the most during the adolescent years and is involved in the coordination of our thinking process. It also helps the brain navigate through social and intellectual situations gracefully throughout the teenage years. 

Question on NYTimes article, "The Moral Life of Babies": What is the role of socialization in the moral development of children? What are the implications of socialization on the possibility of a universal moral code?

Socialization is critical to the development of children. Although it seems like babies have at least a basic sense of right and wrong, and at least some moral though, from a very early age, socialization plays a major role. Socialization helps adjust the natural right and wrong that children seem to have because the "sense of right and wrong that they naturally possess diverges in important ways from what we adults would want it to be."

When making a decision and taking action, how do you know the benefits outweigh the costs? And, to what extent does it matter? Support with concrete examples.

I think some decisions are easy to weigh to the benefits and costs, and to make the "best" decision easily, the one with more benefits. For example whether to stay up until 2 in the morning on the computer not doing homework, or to go to bed at 10, if you have a test the next day. If you're doing nothing until 2 that's important, going to bed at 10 has way more benefits. Other decisions have more blurred lines, we can't know for sure what the long term benefits and costs will be, such as choosing a college or career. I think sometimes whether the benefits outweigh the costs or not is not of particular importance if you are dead set on making that decision. Sometimes no matter what data or facts are thrown at you to convince you that the benefits do not outweigh the costs, you still choose that decision. This may not necessarily be bad, if it's what you want. For example my parents told me it would be a bad idea to take HL Business instead of another course, like HL English, because they didn't think there were any benefits. Of course there are costs and benefits for taking both, but it's impossible to tell what impact they'd have in my future. As a sophomore, I wouldn't have any idea if in life a business or english higher level course would benefit me, so I went with my gut decision to choose HL Business. 

Emotion, Memory & Reason

1. Comment on the connections between emotion & memory. You may research to find out more about emotion, memory & the brain (cite as needed).
2. Define 'high reason' and the 'somatic hypothesis'. How do you approach decision-making? Examples of decisions: doing your HW, EE topic, future education & career, what to eat at lunch

1)  Emotion and memory have a close link in the brain. Studies have been done and it's easy to find examples in my own life that show this. If something happened to you that gave you very strong emotions, perhaps guilt or fear, you may be able to remember that event more clearly and with more detail than anything else that happened that year or week. If you have a life event that is strongly connected with an emotion, you find yourself in a similar situation, your body can involuntarily recall the time you were in that situation, and how you felt, and make you feel the same way. For example if one time when you were a child, a German Shepherd bit you, you may have been extremely traumatized and scared. It's possible that the emotion of fear could be linked in your brain to german shepherds, and you make feel intense involuntary fear when you're around one, even if you know the dog is very gently. 

2) High reason is a type of decision making. This process values reason and logical deduction rather than emotions, which are considered obstacles in reaching a decision.
Somatic Hypothesis is decision making based on emotions. It's the gut feeling you get when making a decision, in which you're not sure exactly why one option is better than the other, but you feel like you should one.

The way I approach decision making changes depending on the type of decision I need to make. If it's a really simple decision with very low consequences and meaning the scheme of life, I use somatic reasoning completely. For example when deciding whether to wear one shirt or another to school, or to eat an apple or banana for a snack. When deciding whether to do my homework, I usually use high reason. It's logical and beneficial to do it, so most of the time I do. I also use that reasoning to decide which class gets the most priority in homework. However sometimes I used somatic reasoning if I really don't feel like doing homework at a certain time, and I just put it off even it's not logical because it's late or I have a lot. For bigger decisions such as my EE topic, college and career I know I'm going to use high reasoning. These decisions, or at least the last two, have a huge impact on my life. If I'm choosing perhaps between two colleges, emotions may come into play if I find them equal statistically. With my EE topic I think I need to use high reasoning to figure out what kind of topic is logical and doable, but at the same time I want to pick something that I'm passionate about, which would require somatic reasoning.