“It is only knowledge produced with

difficulty that we truly value.” To what

extent do you agree with this statement?

Chloe Chee

TOK 05

United Nations International School of Hanoi

14th April 2020

Final Draft

Mr. Stephan Anagnost

Word Count: 1600

 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

Starting off with my interpretation of the prompt of this essay, “it is only knowledge

produced with difficulty that we truly value.”, this prompt is saying that consumers only

value knowledge that is created through difficulty, and not knowledge that is not. Instantly,

this leads me to think about what is then considered as difficulty? Are there any criteria

that determine the levels of difficulty when producing knowledge? The two focused areas

of knowledge (AOK) in this essay will be the Natural Science (NS) and Arts. The term

“value” and “difficulty” have different criteria in each of these AOK, however who

determines them? Is it the producers or the consumers? My thesis is that in NS—

Chemistry, knowledge produced will still be truly valued due to its complex process

hence difficulty is regardless. And in the arts—Music, the difficulty in the knowledge

production is not a factor that affects the value of knowledge. Nonetheless, one cannot

classify that it is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.

Firstly, NS seeks to discover laws of nature—regularities in nature. Scientists in the

field attempt to produce a system of knowledge that is independent of human agency (TOK

guide). The knowledge production process when developing theories is followed by scientific

methods, such as observation, research, hypothesis, predictions, analysis, experiment, and

conclusion (Lagemaat). But, what is at stake during the knowledge production process?

Scientists might be confirmation bias, only looking for evidence that confirms their beliefs

and overlooks evidence that goes against them (Lagemaat). A case study to explore is the

Phlogiston theory developed in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher. Becher developed the

Phlogiston theory, attempting to explain that Phlogiston, a fire-like element, is contained

within flammable materials and they are released when burned (Johann). This theory was

widely accepted by Western scientists for about 100 years, until Antoine Lavoisier proved

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 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

this theory to be false in 1770 (What is Phlogiston). However, since Becher still went

through the knowledge production process, shouldn’t the knowledge produced be

valued as a respect to the scientists involved despite it being wrong? It is expected that

theories created hundred years ago will be disproved due to the development of Science.

Becher’s theory was wrong because he did not take into account the conservation of mass

(Tingle). However, was conservation of mass something to be considered during

Becher’s time? Or what if he was being confirmation biased so he hid the problem?

These are the risks that may occur during the knowledge production process. In NS,

knowledge is constantly produced and advanced throughout time, laws or theories that are

significant today might not be significant hundred years ago. Hence it is not one’s fault if

their theory was wrong. But again, was the process of developing the theory difficult

enough for us to value the knowledge produced by Becher? The reality is that consumers

will never really understand the true difficulties Becher might have faced when producing the

theory. Consumers might have the mindset that since he is a scientist, it is his job to

investigate and test theories, no big deal. However, it can be argued that the process of

developing scientific theories is not the same as artists sitting down and drawing art. Not only

the long process of scientific methods, precision, measurement, any small details could affect

the knowledge production process in NS (TOK guide). Hence, due to the complexity of

having to take into account many different factors in the production knowledge process in the

NS, knowledge produced will still be valued even though they may be invalid.

However, what if producers did not have to face a very difficult process when

generating knowledge? The 2nd case study will be the study of the structure of Benzene

molecules. Benzene is a ring-shaped organic molecule and its structure was developed

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 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

through the imagination of August Kekulé, another great Scientist (Kekulé). Kekulé

mentioned that he had discovered the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a

daydream of a snake seizing its own tail. This vision, he said, came to him after years of

studying the nature of carbon-carbon bonds (Benzene). The scenario of people discarding his

discovery might have occurred since they might have commented saying it was “unrealistic”

or “incorrect”. However, it did not. What made people value the knowledge that was

created through a dream? From the TOK guide, imagination, a way of knowing, is

sometimes distrusted, in part because it is regarded as something that is derived in the mind

of the individual and therefore subjective. However, it is also useful as it views the world in a

broader way, associating with creativity, problem-solving and originality. Within a decade,

most chemists accepted Kekulé’s theory as empirically verified and heuristically invaluable

(Rocke). But why so? The concept of falsification, a method proposed by Karl Popper,

believing that science progresses by falsifying rather than verifying scientific hypotheses

could be the reason (Lagemaat). If things are falsifiable, then they can be used in scientific

studies and inquiry. Then, since the knowledge was produced through imagination, does

that mean that it was without difficulty to produce it? Hence should not be valued?

Though the idea might occur through imagination, the process for Kekulé’s dream to become

an actual theory still required the process of going through the scientific methods (Structure

of Benzene), and especially it is not only a one-person task. Therefore, the knowledge

produced in the NS will still be valued regardless of its difficulty during the production

process due to its complexity.

But what about the Arts? Does the way of valuing knowledge produced different

from the NS? Art explores the experience and reality of being human and is an essential

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 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

element of culture (TOK guide). My subject-teacher, Ms. Dolman, provided me the insight

that knowledge in music is hugely varied as there are so many ways to access music itself, ie.

as a listener, performer, composer. However, how difficult it is to compose music?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest composers in Western music, was claimed to

have possessed excellent memory for music (Willow). When Mozart was 14 years old, he

coincidentally listened to a piece called “Allegri’s Miserere”, and later the day, he wrote the

piece down note-by-note entirely from memory (Wolfgang). This can be said that writing

music is not difficult for Mozart because of his talent and perfect pitch—ability to recognize

pitches by ear. However, is this the same for every composer? Do all composers possess

the same ability like Mozart? Personally as a musician, I can say that it is with great difficulty

and nearly impossible if one without perfect pitch is to write down a pitch of a note played.

Research has also shown that only 1-5 people per 10,000 people have perfect pitch (Perfect

Pitch). Therefore, the difficulty of writing music differs because it depends on one’s talent

and ability. Mozart did not face great difficulty when writing music, but his works are still the

one of the most valued works in the world until today. Therefore, we can say that the

difficulty of producing knowledge in this Arts is determined by how talented a musician is,

and knowledge produced by talented musicians are most likely to be valued greatly.

But, how do we determine the value of music? Do we solely look at how talented

the composer is? Hence what is the criteria of being talented? I would like to shift the

focus of music onto pop music. Pop music is everywhere, it can be heard when walking

around the streets, shops or cafes. Since it is used so efficiently in today’s society, it can be

said that to a certain degree, pop music is valuable. However, do consumers based on the

difficulty that the music is produced with when determining the value of it? Today,

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 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

consumers are able to express the value for music through music awards shows like

Grammys or Billboard Music Awards. These awards are to recognize achievements in the

music industry (Grammy). But do consumers really know and care about the production

process of the songs before voting music for awards? Unlike Chemistry, where scientists

have to present their entire process when developing theories, musicians only present their

final product from the process. Through the DP Music program, I have also learnt the steps of

producing music, generally involving processes like the recording, the harmonization, the

complexity of a song and more. Do consumers really care about the process before they

say that a song is valuable to get an award? A hard-working composer might have spent

years producing a song, but if the song is not favored by consumers, it would become

unvalued since consumers only judge the final outcome for the process. This brings the point

that personal preferences of individuals might influence their perception of a music’s value.

Hence, this claim supports my point that regardless of difficulty, consumers only value the

knowledge produced by their choice of talented artists, not by the difficulty the knowledge

was produced with.

In conclusion, the determinants of the value of knowledge produced is different for

both AOKs. Despite the process might occur through a dream in NS like Kekul é’s

imagination of the structure of benzene molecules, knowledge produced is still valued due to

its complexity of the whole production process. For the arts, the difficulty of knowledge

production does not affect the value of knowledge produced because it is only the final

outcome that consumers care and hence value. However, the prompt ‘it is only knowledge

produced with difficulty that we only value” is not true.

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 “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.” To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

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