June 28th
Corrupt News Network?
During the 2016 Democratic primary debates CNN gave the debate questions in advance to the Hillary Clinton campaign. These incidents came to light through hacked emails released by WikiLeaks (whose founder Julian Assange was imprisoned for 10 years and has just been released). In sum: Hillary got the questions in advance to help her in the debates and was helped by CNN.
Amazingly, not one member of the Mainstream Media has mentioned this in the run up to this week’s Presidential debate hosted by…. Yep, CNN!!!! Jake Tapper (for CNN) will host – who has a long history of comparing Trump to Hitler, accusing Trump of spreading “Russian propaganda” — and has said that if re-elected, the former president will try to “kill democracy”. Tapper also has compared Trump’s language about “poisoning the blood of our country” to Hitler’s manifesto “Mein Kampf,” and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots, suggested that Trump incited a “terrorist attack” on America. Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt had her mic cut and interview terminated when she tried to point this out to CNN’s viewers this week.
TOK: Is there knowledge that a person or society has a responsibility to acquire or not
to acquire? Surely, when offered the questions in advance Hillary should have said “No thank you, CNN, that would be unethical.” Can bias ever be removed from knowledge creation?
Under what circumstances, if any, does Karoline Leavitt have a moral duty to share what she knows?
Words matter 1:
MSNBC – a leading US media outlet, has banned the term ‘illegal immigrant’ and now only uses the term “undocumented migrant” because it is ‘more neutral’.
TOK: Can language ever be neutral?
Taking the Cherry…
The new White House Associate Communications Director Tyler Cherry (great name, great moustache – google him if you don’t believe me) has a long history of social media posts criticising ‘white people’ (as if they are some kind of monolithic group!) Anyway, he has now deleted them all. Thank the Lord, I thought he was some kind of anti-white racist then for a minute…..
TOK: Can the practices of one individual or culture be judged with any validity by
applying the moral values of another generation or another culture? What personal traits (such as not being an anti-white racist!) do we need in order to be ethical knowers? To what extent do the names and labels that we use help or hinder the acquisition of knowledge?
Jesus Christ
A newly deciphered 1,600-year-old manuscript has been identified as the oldest record of Jesus Christ’s childhood, it has been announced.
Historians from Humboldt University revealed that the manuscript, stored in a university library in Hamburg, Germany, for decades, is the earliest surviving copy of the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas.”
TOK: How does language influence our understanding of history? What counts as a fact in history?
A load of bull?
British scientists are investigating whether replacing traditional breeds of cow with a “double muscled” breed could be better for the environment. It has been claimed that cattle farming is a major source of greenhouse gases because the animals need land to graze, and they produce vast volumes of flatulent methane, (although the effect of this has been disputed by other scientists). The scientists focused on the British Blue dual use breed (meat and diary) which has a gene mutation that allows it to naturally grow 20 per cent more muscle mass compared with other breeds while the animal is fine-boned and docile by nature, which leads to high volumes of meat produced per animal. However, dual use breeds have lower milk yields – thereby requiring more cows!!!!!! Genius.
TOK: How can it be that scientific knowledge changes over time? How can certainty be achieved in scientific knowledge? How can competing scientific claims be reconciled?
Remember: Science is a process not a definitive destination!
Remember: History is a process not a definitive destination!
The leader of Reform U.K, Nigel Farage has recently said that the expansion of Nato and the European Union gave Vladimir Putin “an excuse” to go to war with Ukraine. This seems to have provoked a full meltdown by every mainstream media personality and politicians.
Let’s look at the evidence: It is accepted the West help remove a democratic government in Ukraine in 2013/14 after they rebuffed an EU deal and made moves towards a Russian economic deal; the US has admitted it sponsored biolabs in Ukraine (just after it was denying the existed and accused people of being “conspiracy theorists”); funded and trained the Azovs (a nazi militia who sought out and murdered Russian citizens in Ukraine pre-Russian invasion); and Western leaders and academics such as Angela Merkel, John Mearsheimer and the current head of the CIA Bill Burns have suggested for many years that attempting to bring Ukraine into NATO would provoke a Russian invasion. In sum: Farage is on pretty firm ground academically and politically.
TOK: How can facts be defined in History? Do historians/media have a moral responsibility to try to ensure that history is not misused and distorted by people for their own ends?
Words matter 2
A top cancer charity has apologized for using the word ‘cervix’ instead of trans-friendly ‘front hole.’ The Canadian Cancer Society acknowledged the LGBTQ+ community on a webpage dedicated to cervical cancer, under the page’s ‘words matter’ section. The non-profit said that ‘many’ non-binary people and transgender men have ‘mixed feelings’ or ‘feel distanced’ from the term cervix.
Meanwhile, Australian broadcaster ABC is now avoiding using the term ‘women’ on social media. For example, an article it published about women’s health uses the term ‘people who menstruate’.
TOK: How do feelings (and language) influence knowledge creation?
Hull-albuloo: Hottie or a Nottie Part Deux
For decades the Met Office and the BBC have been claiming that temperatures have been higher than normal. But what is ‘normal’? In line with World Meteorological Organisation guidelines, climate is measured against 30-year ‘averaging’ periods. Known as ‘climate normal’ periods, these act as a benchmark against which the observational records of weather and climate can be compared to place them into context and as a reference baseline to provide context for future climate projections. The 30-year periods begin on January 1st of a year ending with the digit 1. Up till 2020, the base period – what we’re told is ‘normal’ – was the period from 1961 to 1990. However, from 1960 to at least 1980 the Earth cooled so much that even the experts at the climate-catastrophist Guardian assured us that a new Ice Age was on the way.
Direct quote: “Worldwide and rapid trends towards a mini ice age are emerging from the first long term analyses of weather satellite pictures…this appears to be in keeping with other long term climatic changes all of which suggest that after reaching a climax of warmth between 1935 and 1955 world average temperatures are now falling. But the rate of increase of snow and ice cover is much faster than expected” (Anthony Tucker, January 9th 1974, “Science Correspondent”).
Does that language and certainty sound familiar?
Remember, this is the same Guardian which now refuses to debate climate change (despite massive debate in the scientific community) and the same Guardian which was very sure about covid vaccines, masks and lockdowns!
The climate situation was so dire in the 1970s, the CIA even wrote a report for the U.S. President detailing how global cooling would lead to crop failures, food shortages, famines and possible wars as countries fought over food resources. Direct quote: “There is, however, a growing consensus among leading climatologists, that the world is undergoing a cooling trend” (CIA – OPR: 401, August, 1974).
How much does that language and certainty sound familiar?
Another problem (discussed here many times) is the citing of measuring stations near runways and large office blocks and other human made installations (almost as if it is deliberate??).
Dr. Bryan has recently read investigative journalist Paul Homewood who found that in lovely non-sunny Hull (Dr. Bryan’s hometown) the Met office uses a measuring station right next to a south facing brick wall (even though they claim it is in a ‘park’ – which technically it is) which has been used to produce ‘record’ warming temperatures – while measuring stations nearby do not. For example, the University of Hull recorded a temperature 2.6°C lower at a site only a few hundred metres away (ie not near the brick wall). Homewood observed that this variation is “implausible”. Which temperature do you think the BBC go with?
You can follow him here:
TOK: How do methodologies influence knowledge? How can it be that scientific knowledge changes over time? How can we be certain what a fact is?
Words matter 3…
The world’s largest airline pilot union has suggested airmen and women stop using terms purportedly offensive to women and LGBTQ individuals, calling out terms like “cockpit” as non-inclusive. The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, represents over 70,000 pilots worldwide and states that it collaborates with a United Nations agency on its policies.
TOK: How does language influence meaning?
Symbols matter: The (Carl) Jungian thing.
Actor Matthew Modine has criticized Amazon Prime as they have removed the ‘born to kill’ sign from his character’s helmet on the poster (maybe to make it more inclusive of people who are not born to kill?). The movie’s original poster shows a war helmet with the words ‘born to kill’ scrawled across it in black ink together with a peace symbol. The dualism is spotted by a senior officer in the film, sparking the famous exchange between Private Joker and the Colonel:
Colonel: “You write born to kill on your helmet AND you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?”
Private Joker: “No sir”
Colonel: “Answer my question otherwise you will be standing tall before the man.”
Private Joker (nervous): “I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, Sir.”
Colonel (angrily): “The what?”
Private Joker: “The duality of man, Sir. The Jungian thing, Sir.”
PAUSE
Colonel: “Whose side are you on, son? Don’t you love your country? How about jumping on the team and coming in for the big win. Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every [racial slur] there is an American trying to get out. It’s a hardball world, son. We’ve gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.”
Private Joker (enthusiastically): “Aye-aye, sir.”
Dr. Bryan once taught the “Vietnam War” in Vietnam where he quickly learned it is called the “Resistance War Against America” (Chiến tranh chống Mỹ) in Vietnam. Another staggering fact is that there is still no definitive number killed by the US in Vietnam due to the use of chemical weapons (Agent Orange) and random indiscriminate carpet bombings by the Americans over large swathes of the Vietnamese countryside. Estimates are 2 – 4 million non-combatants killed!
TOK: How does language influence our understanding of history? Do the arts play a role in the development of our personal value systems? Do the arts have the power to challenge established moral values?
Finally – how do we measure if Black Lives Truly Matter? (asking how measuring impacts knowledge is perfect TOK)
Steve Sailer is an opinion journalist who has documented how, after the George Floyd murder, black deaths dramatically rose in the USA. He has attributed this to increased killings within the black community as well as an increased timidness among the police to stop and search black people as well as stop them for routine traffic offences (for fear of being labelled racist). Therefore, there was even an increase in black traffic deaths among black people in the US as black drivers were less likely to be stopped for minor infringements. Check out the full interview on Tucker Carlson network.
TOK: Is personal experience more important or less important in mathematics compared to other areas of knowledge?
June 21st
The White House press secretary (Karine Jean-Pierre) is drawing backlash after she claimed a series of viral videos of President Biden appearing lost and confused were “deepfakes.”
Draws to mind the Orwell quote: ‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.’ (George Orwell, 1984.)
TOK: How certain can we be about what the truth is? How is technology changing how we come to know the world?
Ig- boo-hoo-hoo!!
Oxford museum is pursuing a policy of ‘cultural safety’ (this is an actual quote) which means that an African mask, made by the people in what is now Nigeria, cannot be seen by women, in accordance with Igbo ceremonial practices. It means the museum’s chief curator, “Professor Dr Laura van Broekhoven: Professor of Museum Studies, Ethics and Material Culture at the University of Oxford” (this is her actual title on the website) whose current research interests include “repatriation and redress, with a focus on the importance of collaboration, inclusivity and reflexive inquiry…Laura’s museological research interests focus on collaborative museological praxis and the queering of binaries and boundaries with relation to social inclusion.” (this is also an actual quote) means she apparently won’t be able to see it herself! Dr. Bryan hopes she will keep herself safe!
TOK: Is it unfair to judge people and actions in the past by the standards of today?
Do historians have a moral responsibility to try to ensure that history is not misused and distorted by people for their own ends?
When competing elements of intersectionality, er, intersect (in this case, gender and culture) which one should take precedence?
The Draft is back!
The US House of Representatives passed a measure on Friday 14th June automatically registering men aged 18 to 26 for the military draft. While it hasn’t been invoked in over half a century, it’s mandatory for all male U.S. citizens to register for military draft, when they turn 18. It was led by Democrat Chrissy Houlahan: “By using available federal databases, the [Selective Service] agency will be able to register all of the individuals required and thus help ensure that any future military draft is fair and equitable,” Houlahan said (how is it ‘fair and equitable’ if only men are drafted?). The legislation has a number of implications including the clear division between men and women (which has been disputed by many Democrats); as well as what conflict the US is planning on using the men for. Failure to register is classified as a felony and comes with a host of legal challenges.
TOK: What personal traits do we need in order to be ethical knowers? On what basis can someone (such as a politician) impose their view on others?
Vaccines (again!) Bill Gates (again!!!)
In the name of climate change, a startup has raised $26.5 million for a vaccine to stop cow farts and burps. ArkeaBio, a Boston developer of a vaccine to reduce livestock methane emissions, raised $26.5 million in venture capital funding led by an investment fund founded by Bill Gates. Now that Epstein is dead, Dr. Bryan reckons Bill Gates has got some extra time on his hands for this sort of thing….
TOK: Are there responsibilities that necessarily come with knowing something or knowing how to do something? How can competing scientific narratives be resolved?
On what basis will it be deemed ‘safe and effective’?
When is Eugenics not eugenics? When it is called by something else?
According to the Spectator, ‘preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic disorders’ (PGT-P) is about testing a foetus or embryo for some conditions is now a routine part of the modern pregnancy experience. And it is heralding a new era of eugenics whereby certain characteristics are weeded out of the population and others allowed to stay in. Prenatal Down’s Syndrome tests, for instance, are so widespread that in some Scandinavian countries almost 100 per cent of women choose to abort a foetus diagnosed with the condition, or – if using IVF – not implant the affected embryo. The result is a visible change to these populations: there are simply no more people with Down’s to be seen on the streets of Iceland and Denmark. The screening itself is expensive, but not prohibitively so – probably in the region of £7,000-£12,000, which is less than a year of full-time daycare in London. PGT-P apparently gives a very full picture of the adult that embryo could become, including their vulnerability to an enormous number of diseases – heart disease, diabetes, cancer – and their likely physical and psychological traits: height, hair colour, athletic ability, conscientiousness, altruism, intelligence!!!
‘It’s one thing to deplore eugenics on ideological, political, moral grounds. It’s quite another to conclude that it wouldn’t work in practice. Of course it would. It works for cows, horses, pigs, dogs & roses. Why on earth wouldn’t it work for humans? Facts ignore ideology.’ Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins tweeted in 2020 in his customary in your face style.
“Some countries may well subsidise polygenic screening. Israel already offers its citizens free IVF services, and China has recently announced its intention to do the same. Laws that permit or incentivise the use of these biotech services can accurately be described as eugenic laws…”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-quiet-return-of-eugenics
TOK: Are there responsibilities that necessarily come with knowing something or knowing how to do something? Under what circumstances, if any, do we have a moral duty to share what we know?
How does language influence how we come to know?
June 14th
Doctor Whose cash is it anyway?
The Telegraph has done a deep dive on many famous ‘tv doctors’ who regularly give their opinions to the BBC among others. They include:
Dr. Ranj Singh, who regularly appears on the BBC as a talking head, was paid £22,500 by AstraZeneca in 2021, according to records from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
Dr. Nighat Arif, who became a familiar face on television during the pandemic including on BBC Breakfast, was paid £10,000 by Astra-Zeneca in 2022.In April, she appeared on ITV’s This Morning to discuss possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine such as blood clots, and reassured people that these are “very, very rare”.
Dr. Phillipa Kaye was paid £12,500 by AstraZeneca in 2020 and a further £9,000 by the same company in 2022.
TOK: How does funding in science influence knowledge creation?
Biased Broadcasting Corporation?
White men have the least chance of getting on BBC trainee schemes the Telegraph has found. Applicants coming from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds were two and a half times more likely to be accepted for the training – meaning the BBC were actively discriminating against white men. The findings were released via the Freedom of Information Act. Female applicants also had a stronger chance of getting in than men!
TOK: As knowers, do we have a moral duty to examine our own assumptions and biases? On what basis can someone (such as the BBC) impose their view on others?
When is a waterfall not a waterfall?
There has been a recent revelation about Yuntai Falls, China’s highest waterfall which has stirred controversy as a video showed water gushing from pipes, raising doubts about its authenticity. The park’s operators admitted to minor enhancements during dry seasons to maintain visitor satisfaction, sparking debate over tourism ethics. It’s the equivalent of finding out they paint the white cliffs of Dover. Or they didn’t land on the moon. Never gonna happen. However, it turns out that no one really cares and visitors continue to visit the drain pipe/waterfall.
TOK: Under what circumstances, if any, do we have a moral duty to share what we know?
Electric Avenue
An EU investigation has concluded that the entire Chinese BEV [battery electric vehicle] value chain is heavily subsidised in China, and that EU imports of Chinese BEVs presented a threat of clearly foreseeable and imminent injury to EU industry (who knew? – well it turns out everyone apart from EU bureaucrats who are finally catching up with the rest of us). The EU is now threatening tariffs on cars which have been made that have been subsidised by the Chinese government. This will hit Volvo, MG, Lotus (all owned by China) as well companies like Tesla who make their cars in China.
TOK: Are there responsibilities that necessarily come with knowing something or knowing how to do something?
Podcast recommendation: Joe Rogan 2160.
Billy Carson is a highly intelligent and articulate individual with a silky voice and an irreverent manner. He believes humans have co-opted ancient technology and he believes that this is proven by various historical artefacts, tablets and carvings. His interview is a proper trip.
‘Billy Carson is the founder and CEO of the media company 4BiddenKnowledge Inc., and First Class Space Agency, an aerospace company focusing on alternative propulsion and zero-point energy devices. He is also the host of the “4BiddenKnowledge” podcast and co-host of the “Bio-Hack Your Best Life” podcast.’
Theory of Knowledge (2nd edition) by Dr Christian Bryan
June 7th
Remember yesterday was D-Day commemorations. This was the day in 1944 that Allied forces began liberating Europe from Nazi hegemony.
Bunga Hunga Hunger
No. This is not a reference to the late Italian Prime Minister’s penchant for certain types of parties. This is a reference to the world of climate science being absolutely shocked following extraordinary findings from a team of NASA scientists that suggest most of the recent global temperature increases are due to the introduction of draconian fuel shipping regulations designed to help prevent global warming. The science behind the NASA findings, which have been published in Nature, is simple: Fewer fuel particles injected into the atmosphere reduce cloud droplet density and this leads to clouds that reflect less solar radiation back into space!!!!
So, by removing certain fuel particles from the atmosphere, temperature readings may go up as more solar radiation gets through! Mental eh?
The NASA scientists have forced the issue of particles, or aerosols, to the centre of the climate debate, although there are other explanations for the recent rise in temperatures. These include a now departing strong El Niño, and possible changes in the upper atmosphere caused by the huge injection of water by the early 2022 Hunga Tonga submarine eruption.
The El Niño effect is well known and strong past oscillations, which involve global transfers of heat from oceans to the atmosphere, have shown short-term temperature spikes. As the current El Niño declines, to be likely replaced in short order by the cooling effects of a La Niña, there are signs that sea temperatures are falling. It will be up to the scientists to fight it out over what has played a more significant role in recent temperature rises – aerosols or El Niño or Hunga Tonga. Moving further out in the betting – odds lengthening all the time, it seems – is the inventive notion that humans control the overall climate by burning hydrocarbons.
TOK: On what basis can competing scientific claims be resolved?
Elon Must!
Elon Musk’s has said “freedom of speech is worth fighting for” after Australia’s cyber safety regulator, eSafety, dropped its federal court case over X Corp’s refusal to block footage of a radicalised teenager stabbing a bishop at a Church in Sydney not just for Australians, but for users of the platform worldwide. The case has been portrayed as a battle for control of the internet and goes to the heart of a central and as yet unresolved issue in an increasingly online world, namely, whether Government-led attempts to control the distribution within a country of what it regards as ‘harmful’ online material should be allowed to impinge on the rights of those beyond its borders to access that same material.
TOK: Is there knowledge that a person or society has a responsibility to acquire or not
to acquire? If moral claims conflict, does it follow that all views are equally acceptable?
No, means No, Davidl!!!
Journalist David Craig wrote an email to to David Smith who is at the Sunday Times and the paper’s Economics Editor (since 1989), Chief Leader-Writer, Assistant Editor and Policy Adviser, writes a key economic article in the business section most weeks.
The email reads: “Both Labour and Conservatives have promised to lower the U.K.’s debt levels as a percent of GDP by promoting economic growth. But at the same time, both parties are pushing up energy prices by reducing the use of cheap reliable fossil fuels and increasing the amount generated by unreliable, intermittent and expensive wind and solar.
Perhaps it would be useful for your readers if you could explain how a country aiming to be the world’s leading clean energy superpower with some of the world’s most expensive energy can have a competitive growing economy?
All the best
David Craig”
Smith wrote back: “No”.
TOK: As knowers, do we have a moral duty to examine our own assumptions and biases? Under what circumstances, if any, do we have a moral duty to share what we know? If moral and scientific claims conflict, does it follow that all views are equally acceptable?
I think, therefore IB 