TOK: Why We Seek Knowledge

Theory of Knowledge sits at the intersection of epistemology and self-reflection — it asks not just what we know, but why we bother knowing it in the first place.

This presentation explored the question of why humans seek knowledge at all. The obvious answer is utility — we learn things because knowing them helps us survive, build, and succeed. But that doesn't explain why people read books they'll never apply, research questions with no practical stakes, or feel genuine satisfaction from understanding something abstract.

The more interesting answer involves curiosity as a drive in itself. Knowledge-seeking isn't purely instrumental. There's something about the act of understanding — of making sense of a thing that was previously opaque — that people pursue independent of outcome. The question is whether that drive is intrinsic to human cognition or culturally produced.

The presentation argues that both are true, and that the tension between them is where most interesting intellectual work happens.