Does Language Play Roles of Equal Importance in Different Areas of Knowledge?

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1) Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge? Language is the tool of communication that gives us access to knowledge of the world. Human beings are the only species on earth that have language in form of verbal and written language, and that is what marks the border line between human beings and other animals. Knowledge is both constructed and made public by and with language. Language allows us to share our knowledge, information, feelings… As TOK students, we know that language plays very important roles in Areas of Knowledge: History, Maths, Natural and Human Sciences, Ethics, Arts, but does language play roles of equal importance in different Areas of Knowledge? In this essay, I will explore the importance of the roles of language in two Areas of Knowledge: History and Math. In History, the most basic tool to gain access to knowledge is language. In Math, as theories, numbers, equations and symbols can be considered language, people have to rely on language (in this case, Math language) to explore the world. This has led me to my knowledge issue: To what extent does language play a more important role in History than in Math? My Areas of Knowledge are History and Math; the Way of Knowing is language. The first Area of Knowledge that I would like to mention is History. History is the interpretation of events happened in the past that allows us to study the changes and evolution of human beings. Historical events are eye-witnessed by individuals, spread by word of mouth and recorded using written documents (diaries, biographies, books…). My first claim is language transports History. Language is the medium with which the past is presented and the choices of words and the way the past is presented can influence the reconstruction of historical events; without language, we are unable to gain knowledge from History. Because

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