1. SLIDE 1Methika: Hello my name is Methika Gandhi and I’m 18 years old. I have lived in Thailand
all my life and have attended ISB since the 5th grade. Today I will be talking about how different
ways of knowing particularly, emotion and reason, have affected my bungee jump experience and
helped me grow as a person.
Interviewer: So what are the ways of knowing?
Methika: Well firstly you must be able to define knowledge. For something to be considered
knowledge it is required that it be true. Knowledge is more than just a belief because it also has to
be justified. The ways of knowing are the justification, to help provide certainty. The four ways of
knowing are language, emotion, perception and reason.
Interviewer: Can you elaborate more on your experience?
Methika: Sure. During the summer of 2010, my family took a road trip in Cape Town, South Africa.
Between the city Knysna and Port Elizabeth my father came across a sign with the saying “Fear is
temporary, but regret is forever.” It was an advertisement for the bungee jump off a 216 meter cliff
above the Bloukrans River which is considered to be the highest bungee jump in the world. The
fact that is was spontaneous idea made the experience even more worthwhile.
SLIDE 2 Interviewer: From what you have learnt in TOK, what Ways of Knowing can you relate this
experience to?
Methika: I believe that emotion played a vital role during my jump. Before it was my turn I was
watching other people jump. I felt terrified and confused why people would risk their lives for such
thrill seeking adventures. My heart started to beat faster than usual and my hands were sweaty.
Interviewer: Are there theories or terms that relate to this?
Yes there are 3 theories that I would like to discuss about.
While reflecting on this I used the James-Lange theory to explain my emotions. The theory states
that if you remove all the physical symptoms the corresponding emotion will disappear. I believe I
was not necessarily nervous about my jump but rather anxious. It was the people surrounding me
that influenced my emotion. The James- Lange theory also says that emotions are essentially
physical in nature and bodily changes come before and cause emotional changes.
I found the philosopher, Antonio Damasio opinion to be also interesting. He states that emotion is
really a collection of automated action. He also says that emotion is prepackaged, that social
emotions are innate.
Interviewer: You said 3 theories, is there not one more?
The Yerkes-Dodson law is the last one I want to talk about. The law also explains my reaction to
this situation. The law claims that performance increases with physiological or mental excitement
but only up to a certain point. Before it was my turn to take to jump I was not only nervous but also
anxious and excited. The law states that you must have the optimal of arousal to have the
strongest of best performance. I believe this is what affected my decision.
SLIDE 3 Interviewer: Wow the yerkes-dodson law really relates well with reason?
Me: Yes that is exactly what I was trying to point out. Emotion and reason have a lot more in
common than what most people think. As I mentioned earlier emotion has both a physical and
mental aspect and that a change in our reasoning can lead to a change in the corresponding
emotion. The reason-emotion continuum helps to better visualize this.

2. Methika: Yes the second way of knowing that I want to talk about is reason. Many people find it
difficult to override unjustified feeling of fear. Even though the place I was at is one of the most
popular places to jump because it is known to be the safest as there has been no injuries or death
in the last decade a lot of people would still refuse to take the challenge.
Interview: Wow! Well what made you want to jump?
The reasons says that I should jump and so I did, but the irrational emotions can never be switch
off that is why my friend was emotionally incapable to do so. I believe she made a hasty
generalization from her own limited experience. We need reason to develop consistent belief about
the world or else we can sometimes become trapped in the ‘prison of logic’ and this can stifle with
our creativity. It is important to sometimes use lateral thinking
Interviewer: What is lateral thinking exactly?
It is just basically ‘thinking outside the box.’ To be creative and take risk in life. More importantly
the law to logic are the starting point of all our reasonings but we cannot prove the in terms of any
more fundamental laws. If I was asked to justify how jumping of this cliff is safe, I would say that it
is just intuitively obvious.
SLIDE 4 Interviewer: How does this affect you as a person and what did you learn from this
particular experience?
Me: It was after that high adrenalin inducing experience that I have lived by the saying “Fear is
temporary, but regret is forever.” We each operate at different levels of risk taking both in our
personal and professional lives. After analyzing my experience and applying the ways of knowing
terms, laws and theories that I have learnt in class I have felt more comfortable raising the risk
level higher for myself. In addition, I also believe to have made more creative decisions.
Interviewer: Can you give an example?
Me: One great example was when I chose my classes for junior year I decided not to take the easy
route by signing but for IB classes. It has definitely been a challenging two years but it did help me
grow as a student. I plan to do the same in the future not only academically in university but also
when making other decisions such as signing up for a club.
Interviewer: Well that is interesting, would you like to add anything else?
Me: No but I would just like thank you for listening :)