TOK Exhibition
Who owns Knowledge?
I have always been fascinated with the origins of mankind and the planet, so therefore I have chosen to
explore this topic, by looking into who owns knowledge and the origins of this knowledge. In addition, I will
investigate how different powerful figures and groups have changed what we know, in order to improve or
control how much we know.
Object 1: Early Hominin Skull
This first object shows how Charles Darwin was able to determine how humans originated through the
process of evolution. He did this by going to the Galápagos Islands and studying animals, in order to
discover how different species adapted to their habitat and how this had changed over time. This therefore
shows how the Theory of Evolution is a piece of knowledge, as it was created through his gathering of
evidence. The skull conveys this, by showing how we have evolved over time. This portrays how a scientific
community working within a dominant paradigm could be said to ‘own’ our knowledge of Evolution.
Presenting how we evolved and it therefore disproves the Bible’s story on how humans originated. This is
significant, as it demonstrates how science can disprove ideas and beliefs from the past. It also represents a
change in who owns power as new ideas replace old ones, thus changing how much power is owned by
certain indviduals or communities. This is because at the time of release in 1859 Charles Darwin struggled
to make his new theory widely known, as he had little influence on the ownership of knowledge, due to
new discoveries not being believable or properly proved at the time. Due to the controversy caused by his
theories it might be wrong to say that Darwin was never able to ‘own’ this knowledge in his lifetime, yet in
the modern age lots of the knowledge that we know about the origins of mankind rely on his discoveries
into evolution and how he acquired this knowledge and this is useful today. Furthermore, Darwin was
worried about the public opinion when he was writing his book ‘The Theory of Evolution’, because he was
apprehensive about how the public would react to this abstract view challenging religion and it was only
when other scientists started to look into this theory that he published this theory. This shows how a
scientific community can take ownership of a new theory and how powerful knowledge is, due to it having
a significant influence on people. Those who own it can be critised or praised and it is hard to know the
public reaction.
Object 2: King James Bible, 10 commandments
My second object is the 10 Commandments, which is knowledge for Christians on how they should live
their lives, sent to earth by God. It is a significant piece of knowledge for Christians, because it is a set of
rules for their faith. This object therefore shows how the church owns knowledge for Christians. This is
significant, as 2.4 billion people follow this religion worldwide, implying how powerful this knowledge is,
with just the Church owning this much knowledge to influence so many. Before scientific theories that
opposed the the Christian ideologies were produced, the 10 Commandments was influentual in peoples
lives, especially as the church held most of the power around and received lots of taxes from the people.
For centuries, science didn’t have the power to overcome religion, due to the fact that the uneducated
common people didn’t have the knowledge to think ouside of religion, the church had total control over
them. This object therefore links to the prompt, because the church owned all the knowledge given to the
people on how to live their lives. People therefore believed that they would go to either Heaven or Hell. By
the church instilling his belief in people, it completely dictated the limited knowledge available. The overall
effect of this shows how the 10 Commandments holds a lot of power that is available to all Christians and
to those influenced by Christianity. This is because it is one of the most globally recognised Religions in the
world conveying how much influence of knowledge is owned by this set of rules.
Object 3: Guardian Article on Chinese Censorship
My final object is a news article from The Guardian on how the Chinese government has censored their
public, influencing over one billion people and how they are able to control knowledge, by limiting access
to knowledge even in this modern era. A small majority of people have a major influence over the people
they control, by monopolising what they can access on the internet and in books. The Chinese government
has created their own search engine called ‘Baidu’ which is censored but it is the only search engine
allowed in China. Their people are constantly checked upon what they are searching and doing on the
internet. The Chinese government has full control over the knowledge available to their people, because
they have banned other search engines. All knowledge available is owned by the government, with total
control over what their people know. This covering up of knowledge in China has reached another level of
censorship, with new generations growing up with false knowledge and being fully controlled by their
government. The effect of this means that total control is in Xi Jinping’s hands. Without a full understanding
of the world, over an eighth of the global popuation is unable to acquire the knowledge that everyone else
has, due to this censorship. This level of governmental power and lack of public knowledge results in an
unpredictable future, as experts believe China may use this control to start looking towards war, with
Chinese people being indoctrinated into the extreme ideologies of their leaders, resulting in loyalty to their
country, with little knowledge about the bigger picture outside of China.
https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html - Theory of Evolution
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Exodus-Chapter-20_Original-1611-KJV/ - King James Bible, 10
Commandments
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/02/china-brings-in-emergency-level-censorship-over-zero-
covid-protests - Article on Chinese censorship
