TOK Debate

On 4^th of December, the students of IBDP 11 and 12 attended the TOK debate session. The topic for the debate was “Art is a lie, but it brings us closer to the truth” which is the quote by great artist Pablo Picasso. Since all the speakers were selected on the spot after 20 minutes of preparation time, some were in a great fluster to be ready for the debate and some hoped so desperately not to be selected, and I was one of them. Probably as a punishment of evading the problem, I was selected with my classmate, Ansh as the speakers for the topic. On the other side, Paavani and Julian were selected to speak against the topic.. Since they were our seniors, we were extremely scared as they are famous for their oratory and debating skills.. Moreover, since it was the first TOK debate, I was extremely nervous, therefore, when I was speaking, I could feel that I was blushing!!!

Being the speaker on the pro-side, I was the first one to express my opinion. Frankly speaking, it was hard to prove that all the art forms are lie that do not demonstrate the truth and reality, although the main debate had to be on whether the art brings us closer to the reality. I tried my best to explain my opinion even by showing Min’s paintings as an example of art work, and the sculptures of King Ravana that I observed during the trip to Ajanta Ellora. We deliberated that the God cannot exist in the same form as the sculpture demonstrates, thus the sculptures which are also accounted as art, are lies. However, sculptures bring us much closer to God by understanding the real meaning that the sculptor tried to convey.

Paavani and Julian claimed that all the forms of art is not definitely lie, giving the examples of the art forms that are near to us that we cannot consider as complete lie. Indeed, it was an intense debate that I ever had. As the conclusion, we all claimed that not all the forms are not false or lie; however, it is right that the art forms bring us closer to the truth when we analyze the different aspects of interpretation simultaneously.

After the debate was over, all the tension within me was completely removed and I felt extremely relieved. Maybe because of that, and since I was so paranoid about debating with the seniors, right after the debate, I started crying. Now when I look back at that moment, I feel embarrassed a lot. However, because of this debate, I have learnt a lot of things, indeed. first of all, I could improve my speaking skills, how to express my opinion with appropriate examples, and furthermore, how to analyze one concept or thesis at different levels. Finally, as a TOK student, I felt participating in the debate made me understand the concepts that we dealt with during the classes in much detail, and utilize them in relating with another topics.

Lucy Shin Hyun Jung

IBDP 11 B