Identity and Worldview (DP IB Theory of Knowledge): Revision Note

Identity and worldview

• Acceptance or rejection of knowledge claims can be shaped by someone’s identity and worldview

  • Identify: how a person sees themselves, and is seen by others, in relation to a community

    • This affects how a knowledge claim is evaluated, because listeners may trust or doubt a claim depending on the role of the speaker within the community

  • Worldview: the set of assumptions a community uses to make sense of knowledge and evidence

    • This shapes interpretation because it influences which features are treated as relevant and which are ignored

    • It can also shape standards of evidence because it affects what kinds of support are seen as convincing

Collective identity and ways of knowing

• Just as individual identity and worldview shape what someone accepts as knowledge, communities of knowers shape what counts as knowledge collectively

  • Different communities use different methods, authorities and standards, so what counts as legitimate knowledge varies between them

• Indigenous societies are communities of knowers in their own right

  • Knowledge is typically acquired through elders, lived experience and a holistic understanding of the world, rather than through specialist experts and compartmentalised academic disciplines

• Cognitive dominance occurs when one community of knowers treats its way of producing knowledge as the default or "best" approach, creating a hierarchy between communities

  • The Western scientific tradition is often treated this way globally, which can lead to Indigenous knowledge traditions being dismissed or undervalued

  • This matters because Indigenous traditions can offer significant insight in areas where Western science has limits, e.g. sustainability and living in harmony with natural resources

  • The global dominance of languages such as English can also contribute to the loss of knowledge expressed in Indigenous languages