RahatMadarasmi introduces himself as a 17-year-old student from Bangkok, Thailand who has attended ISB for 9 years. He is then asked about the four ways of knowing - language, perception, reason, and emotion. He provides examples of how each way of knowing works and their limitations. For a topic relating to two ways of knowing, he discusses his experience on the ISB varsity soccer team where reason and emotion both play a role in decision making. He explains how emotion and reason both impact his decision making on the soccer field and how having a balance of both is important for success.

1. RahatMadarasmi
Interview
Q: Can you please introduce yourself?
Hi. My name is RahatMadarasmi. I’m 17 years old and I’m from Bangkok,
Thailand. This is my 9th year at ISB.
Q: Can you state the four ways of knowing and explain them?
The four ways of knowing consist of Language, Perception, Reason and Emotion.
Language allows us to gain knowledge from other people as we can learn a great
deal from word of mouth or from reading it somewhere. Though it should be said
that one cannot rely on language completely because it is possible for people to
‘get it wrong’. Perception is primarily based on our experiences and what our
senses tell us. Because our senses can sometimes deceive us, it is imperative that
we do not blindly trust our perception. Reason allows us to make logical sense of
things. Emotion is based on our feelings. Emotions tend to provide us with the
drive towards pursuing knowledge but there is the downside that it is possible
that they are infallible guides to the truth.
Q: What is a topic that you can relate 2 ways of knowing to and what are
these ways of knowing
A good topic that I can relate to in my life is my experience on the ISB Varsity
Soccer team. Because soccer, like any other sport, requires a lot of decision
making, reason and emotion play a big part in my decision-making and can
either make or break me.
Q: How does emotion relate to your experience on the soccer team?
Emotion can play a big part in decision making on the soccer pitch because
control over your emotions is essential to playing a good game. It is important
that your emotions don’t get into the way when you are playing because they can
cause some serious damage to your game play and can result in some serious
consequences. For example, if you’re angry or upset, this can lead you into
making a rash tackle that could result in a yellow card or even a sending off. It is
important to keep calm and composed so that your decisions are made based on
knowledge of the game and not based on emotions.
Q: Can emotion sometimes be beneficial in soccer?
The answer to this question is yes. Whether positive or negative, if your
emotions are used wisely, they can improve game play. If you are able to channel
your negative emotions into making a clean tackle, for example, the anger will
give you the drive to pursue a powerful, strong and clean tackle; whereas if you
were unable to control these emotions, you would look to take out the player.
Positive emotions such as excitement, happiness, and motivation can also be
used to one’s advantage if controlled and channeled in the right way. These
positive emotions can allow there to be motivation and drive to succeed at the
task that they are assigned on the soccer field.

2. Q: How does reason relate to your experience on the soccer team?
Reason can also play quite a big role in your decision-making on the field. When
making a decision, I often use deductive reasoning to make good decisions. For
example, during a game, as soccer is a contact sport, it is important to take risks
with your body and make slide tackles. At times, your emotions can get in the
way and provoke you to make a dirty tackle. This is where reason becomes a
great help as you think about the consequences of this tackle. Prior to making the
tackle, it takes a split second for me to think about the consequences of this
decision. With a tackle like this, it is possible that this results in a Red Card,
which would mean that I would be sent off, thus handicapping my team. In the
worst possible situation, a freak situation, it is possible that I could end the
soccer career of the individual I’m about to tackle. Because I know that a dirty
tackle could result in all these repercussions, I used deductive reasoning to make
the decision NOT to do a dirty tackle. Thus reason has provided me with the
wisdom to make a good decision when emotion was beginning to take over.
Q: So can reason be beneficial in soccer?
Reason can be very beneficial in soccer as it can counter the major emotions that
try to take over your decision-making. When strong emotions interfere with your
decision-making, there is the possibility that your decisions be rash and wrong.
Reason can potentially counter these decisions as it weighs out the consequences
of your actions before you take them. This allows you to consider all the
possibilities of what could happen due to your actions. If you didn’t have reason,
then the emotions could potentially take over and your decisions would be made
out of these pure emotions. This could result in a number of negative
consequences if these emotions are not controlled properly. Thus it is imperative
that reason is incorporated in your soccer game so that you can make decisions
that will not put you in jeopardy.
Q: Is emotion more important than reason, or do you need both to do well
in soccer?
In order to be a successful soccer player, you need to have a balance of both. Just
emotion on its own is really bad but with reason, it can balance out that emotion
and with both of them together, you can make the best decisions you can
possibly make on the field and have the ideal game-play that you desire. Thus it
is extremely important to have the correct balance of emotion and reason
because emotion can propel you into doing the right things, but reason can hold
you back from doing a little too much. So reason can provide that balance.