Maps? (September 5th, 2016)

Today's lesson primarily revolved around the term knowledge and several metaphors that have incorporated this term. For example, a few of the metaphors included- "Knowledge is a map", "Knowledge is a web" and "Knowledge is a collection of stories". Accordingly, at the onset of the lesson we had an open discussion about the significance of each of the metaphors and what essentially the purpose of these metaphors are. For me, the one metaphor that resonated the most was that knowledge is a map. Accordingly, when we were asked to group up and perform a small skit in order to personify the metaphor, this was the exact metaphor my group and I chose collectively. However, when it came to deciding how we wanted to convey this metaphor through a mime act, we were in a little bit of dilemma. Nonetheless, a little brainstorming led to us deciding that we would essentially pretend like one of the members of the group was perhaps lost and wondering about when suddenly he would stumble upon a "map". Once he would get hold of the map, the member then has some sense of direction instilled in them. However, in order to give the skit a little twist, we asked the member to tilt the map around and view the same map from different angles. Consequently, the significance of these actions was to assert the fact that knowledge can essentially be comparable to a map as it gives an individual the power to determine the difference between which path to pursue. Nevertheless, at the same time, a map can be viewed from a range of varied angles which then allude to the element of perception. Perception is distinct from one individual to another. Hence, despite the fact that two individuals may be bestowed with the opportunity to gain similar knowledge, it is perception and self-judgement that shall determine how the person acknowledges the gift of knowledge to unravel their own story. At the end of our skit, we were also asked to comment on perhaps some limitations that this metaphor may entail. Subsequently, the main limitation that we came up was that if one decided to follow the map in an orthodox way they risk the chance of imposing restrictions on their perspective on life, which provokes the thought of how one must be willing to step out of their comfort zone and explore with an open mind. People must learnt to balance their control over the knowledge they contain, in such a way that when asked to perhaps evaluate or question their pre-existent knowledge, they can actually bend their thought process and transcend what is limiting them.