Knowledge Claims and Questions

As I was reading the article published by Listverse by the author Josh Fox whom summarised concepriesy theories based on the moon landings, I came to the conclusion that I must first list out and justify knowledge claims and questions. 

In TOK, there are two types of knowledge claims including the following: 

1- First Order: These are known for being claims within particular areas of knowledge or by individual knowers about the world. 

2- Second Order: These are known for being claims that are made about knowledge.


Whereas knowledge questions are about knowledge therefore instead of focusing on specific content, they focus on how knowledge is constructed and evaluated. In this way, they are considered second order questions that are general, open and is about knowledge. 


Now, understanding such terminology in TOK will allow you to apply this in real life situation examples. This means that I will be able to find questions and claims about knowledge in the article that I found. 

Further more to this,  the article that I read justifies how the theory that the moon landings were hoaxed by the US government to assert their victory in the space race over Russia is something that has grown in popularity over time. This means that the author proposed scientific evidence that suggest how the moon landings were hoaxes. Moreover, this was accomplished by providing an objective perspective of concperioy theories back up with NASA's counterarguments which includes:

1-The waving flag
2-Lack of impact crater
3-Multiple light sources
4-The Van Allen radiation belt
5-The unexplained object
6-Slow-motion walking and Hidden cables
7-Lack of stars
8-The "C" Rock
9-The layered cross hairs
10-The Duplicate Backdrop

Knowledge Claims:

First Order: 

1-  Neil Armstrong accomplished the space mission of Gemini 8, Appollo 11

2- The first moon landing was shown on Television

3-  Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon

4- Armstrong landed on the moon in July 20 1969

5- He placed the famous waving American flag on the moon. 

Second Order:

1- Scientific research by astronomy enthusiasts prove to us that our knowledge on the landing of the moon is not completely accurate because ’s there is no oxygen in the moon although and therefore no wind to cause the flag to blow. 

2- Scientific research  by scientists challenge our knowledge of Armstrong's landing of the moon by claiming that  the surface of the moon is covered in fine lunar dust, and even this doesn’t seem to have been displaced in photographic evidence. This means that the space module required significantly less thrust in the low-gravity conditions than it would have done on Earth.

3- Conspiracy theorists prove wrong the landing of the moon by claiming that there is only one strong light source that is the Sun therefore it’s fair to suggest that all shadows should run parallel to one another. This is unlike the photos which have multiple light sources which causes them to believe that the photos were taken on a film set.

4- Conspiracy theorists question our scientific knowledge of the landing of the moon by claiming that the sheer levels of radiation from the Van Allen Radiation Belt would have cooked the astronauts en route to the moon, despite the layers of aluminum coating the interior and exterior of the spaceship. (The belt is held in place by Earth’s magnetic field and stays perpetually in the same place).

Knowledge Questions: 


To what extend can we rely on theories to give us accurate knowledge on the landing of the moon?

How can we establish that the sheer levels of radiation from the Van Allen Radiation Belt did not affect the astronauts on the way to the moon?

How can we predict that there is no oxygen in the moon if the American flag was photographed waving on the moon?


Overall, I believe that it is vital to remember knowledge questions and claims in order to successfully become a critical TOK thinker as you thoroughly assess the article that not only questions the world but also knowledge itself.