Question 5: Is it always the case that “the world isn’t just the way it is, it is how we understand it – and in understanding something, we bring something to it” (adapted from Life of Pi by Yann Martel)? Discuss with reference to history and the natural sciences.

Guiding Questions

• Through the ways we try to understand the world, do we actually see it as it is or are we just holding a perspective of it?

• Artefacts might just be artefacts until a historian produces a narrative of a historical event.

• Are conclusions drawn from experiments we conduct actually the truth or just what we see in this paradigm?

• “Bring something to it”

• Perspectives? Knowledge that is useful and applicable?

• Are there times when there is a “right” way to understand something? 

• How might we try to remove the human element to be objective? Is this possible or even something we need to do?

Question Analysis

For questions like this with a rather philosophical-esque quote, you will need to define this statement in your own terms and from your personal understanding of the quote, then try to answer the question. One way of looking at this quote is to ask whether in the ways that we try to understand the world, do we see it for what it is or are we holding our own perspective of it (e.g. an artefact in the world is simply a piece of rock until a historian comes and produces a historical narrative about the significance of this rock in a certain past event). 

The second part of this quote on bringing something to it could mean that we come up with our own perspectives on the world, or could even mean that we produce knowledge that has purpose and is applicable (e.g. through the understanding of forces, scientists allow us to build tall buildings without them toppling over). On the flip side, you could even consider the situations when our understanding of the world might not be correct, but it still has applicability. Do we need to be right for our knowledge to have a purpose?

Finally, we could say that the world is indeed just the way it is and perhaps there is a certain right way to look at things. Similar to the previous question, how might we try to remove the human elements as we understand the world in order to be objective? Is this possible or even something that we need to do?

AOKs: must be history and the natural sciences