On the last TOK Class: Connections between Words and Symbols/Signs

Starting off, some definitions (straight from notes I took on class x) )

Sign: Characteristic of the species - fixed in meaning and immediate place and time.
Symbol: Created through convention (agreement)

So, to resume (not really) what happened in last TOK lesson, we simply saw how words and symbols connected to each other. This was quite intresting because: what if you went to a totally different country that had a symbol you recognized? The only trouble would be,... well, maybe the people of this country might have a different meaning to this symbol (hence, your perception of what it means is wrong in the context of the coutry you're at). This was really interesting as it made me think on how language and culture can affect the way in which visual references are seen in.

After this we were put on pairs to do a quick exercise in which we had to act out a situation to another pair and they would have to figure out what we were trying to say through our gestures and actions.

Isidro and me had to act out a situation in which a really bad maths student is doing a test. This student finds the test really hard and complicated to do, so he finishes it but already knowing that his mark is going to be low. Then the teacher comes over, marks the test and shows the student the really bad grade he got, leaving the kid real dissapointed and worried.

This mini-scene wasn't too difficult to act out to the other pair, so it was quite easy for them to figure it out. However, the other group was given a similar scene to play. The only differences were that: 1. There were abstract concepts involved such as emotions and thoughts - hard to be conveyed simply by gestures & 2. This scene was rather positive (the student was quite good at maths and not pessimistic xD) So, kidding aside - the other pair did find it a lot more difficult to explain only by using acting and no words to support it (nevertheless it wasn't too difficult to figure out because it was really similar to our scene - only more positive and stuff.)

The next thing we did in class was very intresting as I never had put any thought into it until that day. It naver occured to me how certain things couldn't be explained by either words or a set of diagrams alone. Even simple things such as explanation of how to tie your shoelaces has to be done by explaining visually (ie. showing how its done with an actual shoe) and by explaining textually (ie. First you have to grab the laces and....) Whilst doing my set of intructions on how to tie shoelaces I struggled a bit to find appropiate words and sentences to explain what I meant to the others. You can often see how things are explained by joining words and images to give the person a very clear view on what they are supposed to do. This even applies to manuals and cooking books, which commonly join both images and words. This is why I consider that words and symbols couldnt exist without the other as they are very important to support each other when transmitting messages, instructions and ideas to other people.