The statement “There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge: through passive observation or through active experiment” implies that knowledge can be acquired through very limited methods. The term ‘passive’ indicates the acceptance of a situation without a response or resistance, whereas ‘active’ implies the intentional engagement or voluntary participation. The lexis ‘observation’ can be defined as the act of perceiving or taking note of a situation, whereas ‘experiment’ refers to the act of attempting a practical trial. Therefore, in the context of the prescribed title, “passive observation” refers to a learner perceiving and accepting knowledge without any initiation or resistance. This could be a learner obtaining shared …show more content…
Using the WoK of sense perception (specifically, sight), I passively observed the eventual growth of the tree over the years. As a student of my school for nearly 7 years, I am able to passively observe the many lives that occurs within my school campus, including the numerous changes (such as height or width growth and color change in leaves) that occur to the large banyan tree. In biology, it is understood that the tree would undergo a chemical process called photosynthesis to convert light energy to chemical energy for glucose and oxygen production, in order to enable growth. Using the WoK of reasoning, particularly inductive reasoning with regards to these two premises, I am able to realise and come to the conclusion that, even without intentionally observing, the tree has been growing throughout the year due to …show more content…
While active observation can be used to generate knowledge in the AoK of the Arts, especially in literature, readers are able to actively form their own opinion of the text due to the open interpretation and versatility in literatures by using WoKs such as emotion and language. As an avid reader of strong feminist beliefs, I enjoy reading dystopian fictions, most notably The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and 1984 by George Orwell. By thoroughly analysing the underlying messages of the writers, I was able to draw parallels between the texts and understand how the manipulation and subsequent removal of language would result in disempowerment for women and men alike in society. The complex plots and the subsequent downfall of the protagonists evoked an emotional response within me that generated the knowledge of their mindset using the WoK of