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Sample Response to IB TOK Prompt 14

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66 views

Sample Response to IB TOK Prompt 14

Uploaded by

mrsanjay2709
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

Sanjay

14. "Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?"

Communities can be characterized as a group of people who share knowledge, beliefs,

theories, experiences and ideas. We might, for example the recipe for Coca-Cola syrup,

which bottlers mix with carbonated water to make the Coca-Cola Company's cola soft

drink, is a well kept trade secret. Although various recipes, each claiming to be the

genuine recipe, have been published, the corporation insists that the true recipe is still a

secret, known only to a very small number of carefully chosen (and anonymous)

employees.

Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is known to

have shared his original formula with at least four

people before his death in 1888. In 1925,

Woodruff (who purchased the Coca-Cola

company in 1919) relocated the written formula to

the Trust Company Bank (Truist Financial) in

Atlanta. According to the company, only two

employees are aware of the complete formula.

The knowledge required to produce the original drink has been limited to particular

communities of knowers, but the only people who truly know these untold aspects and

the people who this knowledge belongs to are the anonymous two employees. Within

these communities of knowers, knowledge can be created, reviewed, examined and

spread. The community mentioned here is characterized in terms of knowledge, ideas

and theories.
2

To prevent knowledge from getting lost, the two employees are not permitted to travel

together. When one dies, the other has to pass on his knowledge. Some claim that

'secret formula' is more of a marketing strategy than an actual trade secret. The exact

number of people privy to the knowledge of how to make Coca-Cola isn’t public

knowledge; although few chemists have recreated the same taste of Coca Cola in their

lab making knowledge not always be known to particular communities of knowers which

makes them part of the community. However it would be harder to figure out the exact

proportions given the relative volume of each of the ingredients which distinguishs them

from the actual communities of knowers.


3

Works cited

Object: The recipe for Coca-Cola remains a closely guarded trade secret.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRp1iIElSEYoEoU4WZ9Qcsi6-ctV9x3S

UGbbA&usqp=CAU

For details regarding the formula:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_formula

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