The arts are very much subjective, and contrary to the sciences, the arts are based primarily on emotion. Because of this, often the way we express our emotions and ideas is artistically. Concepts in the sciences, for instance, are often expressed through art, a good example being the work of Leonardo da Vinci. He studied the human body, physics and created artistic masterpieces simultaneously, because he realised that both the arts and sciences are studies of the world around us, using a different medium. This is another example where it is hard to differentiate areas of knowledge, as they are inextricably intertwined in each other.
The arts encompass every area of knowledge in our life, and there is no easy way to make a distinction. A further example in arts, mathematics can be used. In the past, a golden ratio has been used to portray emotion in paintings. Fibonacci’s sequence6 is a number pattern as a result of the addition of the previous two numbers, e. g. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and so on. The golden ratio uses this to its advantage; a bigger number divided by the number that goes before it to give a constant. This is approximately 1. 618. Paintings drawn in a frame of 1 proportional to 1. 618 are, for whatever reason, the most appealing to the human eye.
This provides an interesting link between artistic ‘appreciation’ and patterns in the natural world. This shows how knowledge issues cannot be easily classified, because often they overlap. Although creativity is the mode for expression in the arts, any area of knowledge can have creativity. So what practical reasons underpin our division of the areas of knowledge? Knowledge is so vast, and in order to study in depth a topic, we must specialise. For example, at a year 12 level, an IB English teacher could never teach IB Physics unless he/she had studied physics.
Also, libraries use the Dewey Decimal System7 to organise their collection of easy retrieval. Universities also classify knowledge into distinct areas: science and the arts. The depth of knowledge one learns at university level makes it essential to break down areas of knowledge into specialised subjects, due to the vastness of knowledge. However, the broader Areas of Knowledge classifications, such as the Natural Sciences, allow for diverse subjects such as astronomy and marine biology under the same heading, focusing on their similarities rather than their differences.
I think that therefore they are flexible enough for our purposes in our education. To conclude, the areas of knowledge must be divided for practical purposes, but nonetheless are all interlinked. However, we know, when studying that they are distinct, albeit with similarities in our approach to learning. Although all areas rely on each other, we have found a way to separate these areas, mainly for convenience. Thus, the classifications dividing the areas of knowledge are not always justified; they are a division by humans to make education and knowledge, amongst other things, more manageable.
WORKS CITED Anonymous (2002) TOK (New) Workbook Adelaide, Australia : University of Adelaide GIANCOLI, D. (1998) Physics New Jersey, USA : Prentice Hall MAASSEN, V. “Fibonnaci’s Sequence and the Golden ratio” Fibonacci Patterns (http://www. daria. cistron. nl/eng/mainpage. html) (3 Jul 2002) POMPERAUG HIGH SCHOOL “Were there Other Possible Solutions? ” The Atomic Bomb (http://www.. pomperaug. com/socstud/stumuseum/web/msrbomb3. htm) (3 Jul 2002) WOOLMAN, M. (2000) Ways of Knowing Victoria : IBID Press ZIEMKE, E. “World War ll”, Microsoft Encarta. (CD-ROM) 1996 Microsoft Corporation.
Approximate Word Count: 1 535 words 1 WOOLMAN, M. (2000) Ways of Knowing Victoria : IBID Press 2 LITTLE, J. Book Review of Mathematics and the Loss of Certainty by Morris Kline 3 LITTLE, J. Book Review of Mathematics and the Loss of Certainty by Morris Kline 4 GIANCOLI, D. (1998) Physics New Jersey, USA : Prentice Hall 5 ZIEMKE, E. “World War ll”, Microsoft Encarta. (CD-ROM) 1996 Microsoft Corporation 6 MAASSEN, V. “Fibonnaci’s Sequence and the Golden ratio” Fibonacci Patterns (http://www. daria. cistron. nl/eng/mainpage. html) (3 Jul 2002) 7 WOOLMAN, M. (2000) Ways of Knowing Victoria : IBID Press.
