tok essay examples 2020

How To Write A ToK Essay - Updated 2023

Ace your ToK Essay with our expert tips & tricks! Get the latest and greatest techniques on "How To Write A ToK Essay" and impress the IB examiners.📝💡

Table of content

• Introduction

Purpose Of ToK

Assessment of tok, the game plan, execution of the gameplan, planning for tok essay, structure of tok essay, conclusions, bibliography.

Introduce your topic accurately and state your thesis statement for the essay carefully.  A thesis statement is like a teaser to your entire essay wherein you define your key terms and introduce your interpretation of the question. Make sure that you do not reword the prescribed title in your thesis. Instead, it needs to, as the word says, INTRODUCE your readers to what your essay is about. A strong introduction allows the reader to deduce what knowledge question(s) you are trying to answer.

So, in a nutshell

• Write interesting things about the given TOK essay title .
• Define key terms
• Narrow in on the particularly interesting aspect
• State your thesis statement . This will be your short answer to your given title if you don't know how to write a killer thesis statement check out this blog from SparkNotes .
• State your Roadmap. This will help the readers in understanding the direction of your essay.

How to write a TOK Essay? 

To answer that, you must familiarise yourself with what a TOK Essay is about.

Before you start reading this article,  Amanda  has some excellent TOK tips for you!

Theory of Knowledge is one of the most meta subjects that IB offers. Despite its complexity, TOK helps in providing a base for holistic learning and allows students to have a multidisciplinary experience. 

To understand TOK is to understand the essence of IB, a task that most people consider unattainable.

But not for you! 

Thank your lucky stars who made you land on Nail IB. How exactly will Nail IB help you? 

Well, nailing International Baccalaureate is something we will discuss later. 

Let's focus on cracking your TOK essay, shall we?

TOK demonstrates how students  can apply their knowledge  with  greater awareness  and  credibility .

Big words, huh? 

Now that we know that we cannot just slide through the Theory of Knowledge, let's understand how we can conquer this battle all guns blazing.

ToK essay’s primary objective is to answer the  why  behind our studies. 

It makes one aware of the real-life implications of their subjects. The students gain greater awareness of their personal and ideological assumptions and appreciate the diversity of different perspectives. It helps the students find their unique perception, a prerequisite for excelling in the IB TOK essays.

Before we dive into our gameplan, let’s overview the rules of the game.

There are two assessment tasks in the TOK: an essay and a presentation . While a presentation encourages students to explore a real-life situation through the lens of TOK, an essay is written on the basis of the various questions provided by the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

• The presentation is to assess a student’s ability to apply TOK thinking to a real-life situation whereas IB TOK essay is more conceptual.
• The essay is externally assessed by IB and must be on any one of the prescribed TOK essay titles issued by the IB for each examination session.
• Word limit of a TOK essay is 1600 words ( excludes extended notes, footnotes, bibliography).

Now that we have unleashed the game, let’s move ahead towards the gameplan of acing both, your presentation and your essay.

One of the fundamental tasks of TOK is to examine different areas of knowledge and find out their similarities and differences.

The TOK essay requires the students to investigate two Areas of Knowledge (AOK)  and two Ways of Knowing   (WOK) . AOKs and WOKs are investigated via questions such as:

• How do we know what we know? (WOK)
• What counts as evidence for X? (AOK)
• How do we judge which is the best model of Y? (WOK)
• What does theory Z mean in the real world? (AOK + WOK)

The aforementioned are  Knowledge Questions  which help combine the Areas of Knowledge and the Ways of Knowing that they are using. This eliminates the superficial way of learning and makes an individual sensitive to the nature of the information.   Our acquisition of Knowledge can be broadly divided into Shared Knowledge and Personal Knowledge.

Shared knowledge: What WE know It is the product of more than one individual. Although individuals contribute to it, shared knowledge does not solely depend upon the contributions of a particular individual—there are possibilities for others to check and amend individual contributions and add to the body of knowledge that already exists.

Personal knowledge: What I know It is essentially dependent on the experiences of a particular individual. Also known as procedural knowledge, it is gained through experience, practice and personal involvement and is intimately bound up with the particular local circumstances of the individual such as biography, interests, values, and so on.

The best hack to ace TOK essay is to develop a habit of making connections between the construction of knowledge, its acquisition and its relevance in the real world. 

After that one needs to develop an interest in understanding the difference between diversity and cultural perspectives and personal assumptions.

One also needs to critically reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions, leading to more thoughtful, responsible and purposeful lives.

Yes, this is what you signed up for. It may sound a little intimidating but once you get the hang of it you will be able to see the matrix and understand this beautiful world a little better.

Understand that to provide the best version of your writing, it will take you more than one or two drafts. First and foremost, you need to pick your essay topic diligently. Try to choose an essay topic that best interests you. The topic should also allow you to explore the Areas of Knowledge towards which you are naturally inclined. Here are a few sample questions:

a) 'Ways of knowing are a check on our instinctive judgments.' To what extend do you agree with this statement?

b) With reference to two areas of knowledge discuss the way in which shared knowledge can shape their personal knowledge.

c) How can we know if knowledge is produced more through 'Passive Observation' or 'Active-Experiment' within the Human and Natural-sciences under a Mathematical-Perspective?

d) "The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives". Assess the validity of this statement.

Great things take time. It took me more than a couple of weeks to finalize this TOK essay guide. It is completely okay if the first few drafts may not look pleasing or award-winning to you. You will require sharpening your perspective towards the topic each time you polish your draft. Your writing journey from a dull draft to a masterpiece will be a whole process that you will have to be patient with. Have faith in yourself and proceed stepwise.

You need to consider the opinions of others who have devoted hours of research and a lifetime of dedicated studying the topic that surrounds your writing. Unravelling the realms of your mind palace is so Sherlock but let’s not deny the fact that at times, Watson is the one whose expertise helps Sherlock through pretty difficult times. I mean even Batman needs a Robin. In support of my awesome sauce examples, the point I am trying to make is that  finding support for our claims and counterclaims through research is a good thing .

Use real-life examples to support your claims and counterclaims. These examples need to be documented researched examples like studies, experiments, articles, presentations by well-known people, etc. Examples that stem from your diploma subjects are highly encouraged, but those will need to be supported by research as well.   

It is suggested that you choose a title, stick to it, tackle it and not be afraid. Do not change your mind unless there is a good reason. Also, try choosing Areas of knowledge that you truly enjoy. You know slaying a known devil is much easier than an unknown one. Allot a TIMELINE to your essay. Start with creating an outline of your essay. This will help you to track your progress and accomplish your goals

You can use tools like  Trello  to organize your ideas and plan your TOK essay.

Areas of Knowledge (AOKs): TOK distinguishes between eight areas of knowledge. They are mathematics, the natural sciences, the human sciences, the arts, history, ethics, religious knowledge systems, and indigenous knowledge systems. It is suggested that students study and explore six of these eight.

Ways of knowing (WOKs): TOK identifies eight specific WOKs- language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition, and memory. It is suggested that studying four of these eight in-depth would be appropriate. WOKs underlie the methodology of the areas of knowledge and provide a basis for personal knowledge.

Moving ahead, let us discuss the structure of your TOK essay.

Your essay will consist of 4 broad segregations

Before breaking down further on the pillars, keep the following in mind

• Please note what the TOK essay title is asking you. (Read it a couple of times. We highly recommend that you brainstorm ideas with your TOK coordinator)
• Make sure you understand the command term and the question it is asking.
• What kind of knowledge is being elicited?
• When choosing your areas of knowledge (AoK) and ways of knowing (WoK) make sure that you are able to draw contrasts and comparisons, that is, you are able to find evidence that supports as well as challenges your claims.
• Identify key terms in your TOK essay title. Make sure you define them. Your essay will gravitate around them. Key terms/words in your titles are your essay anchors. Your response should be built around them.
• Your writing skills come in handy while you work on your IB TOK essay. Like any other essay make sure you have proper thesis statements and topic sentences to guide the evaluator through your work.
• Respect the TOK essay title. Rephrasing the topic is not encouraged . Your main job is to address the title.

The body can be mainly divided into 3 segments.

Body (1st Segment)

• AoK Claim:  Here you investigate your first Area of Knowledge and draw parallels between your AoK and the question. This is done by stating your claim. Claims can be general in nature and need not reference a particular area of knowledge. They help you shape your essay and investigate the question further. 
• Evidence: Example of a real-life situation, describe thoroughly and accurately, which supports your stated claim. (AoK)
• Counter-Claim: State your counter-claim: like claims, those can be general and need not reference a particular area of knowledge. Counterclaim helps you show the other side the coin and gives your essay a holistic nature. 
• Evidence: A referenced real-life situation/example. Describe thoroughly and accurately, show how this supports your counterclaim (AoK ).
• Don’t forget to weave in your WoKs:  You need to take into account the source of your knowledge. Here you can also investigate if your nature of acquiring the knowledge has, in any way, affected it. It is good practice to question if your knowledge would be different had it been acquired through a different source/method
• Mini-conclusion: Here you analyze your examples in reference to your claims and counterclaims. You must connect to your thesis statement and the prescribed title. How does your proposed argument, in this particular part of the body, connect to the prescribed title and the knowledge questions you are trying to answer?

Body (2): Follow the above process for your second AOK.

• Use this part of your essay to compare and contrast your varying AoKs. You need to connect them to your thesis and your prescribed title clearly showing how your arguments respond to the PT.

Your conclusion section will make your essay come together. It is the glue that will make your essay stick together. Herein, you need to

• Reiterate your thesis (initial response).
• Use your mini conclusions to write a final conclusion.
• Tell the reader what the significance is for knowing what we know in this particular PT.
• Discuss implications as well.
• Offer another perspective, how will the perspective of a different person affect the claims/counterclaims you make in the essay?
• Don’t forget to make the end strong.

We recommend all the ib students use the  citation machine  (It's FREE) to organize or generate a bibliography for your TOK essay. Please go through this extensive guide provided by the IB before you start working on your citations.

If you are still struggling heaps with your TOK essay feel free to subscribe to our tok notes bundles or get access to more than 500+ IBDP notes and past papers here .

Nail IB is your virtual companion that helps you hustle through your diploma and provide you with the right resources at the right time. To know more about acing IB, click  here .

I hope this article will become the foundation for figuring out how to write a TOK Essay.

Remember to have faith in yourself.

I hope you NAIL your TOK essay!

Quoting the great Napolean Hill

"Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

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Breaking Down TOK Essay Titles 2022

The TOK Essay can be a daunting task, and many of us struggle to even begin out of fear of doing something wrong. Not only are you expected to learn the philosophy of all the areas of knowledge, but now you have to write an essay about it too!?

TOK Essay Titles in Human Sciences

As difficult as this may seem, what most of us need is just a nudge in the right direction, and this is exactly what the following guide will provide. If you’re struggling to begin your essay, don’t know where to start or which title to pick, we’re here to help!

Read on for a simple breakdown of the 6 TOK titles and how to tackle them.

1. Can there be knowledge that is independent of culture? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.

The first title is very intriguing for those who are interested in the social sciences! The question posed expects you to discuss whether knowledge and culture are always connected and if knowledge can exist without culture in the first place. You’re asked to consider mathematics and another AoK of your choice. Before we consider which AoK’s are suitable, however, we must establish what it means for knowledge to be independent of culture.

Culture is a very abstract concept, and it can refer to anything ranging from a regional food dish such as Spanish Paella to the entire history, language and moral values of a society. This may seem like a lot to tackle, but a simpler way to look at it is to consider whether knowledge is always defined by culture, or if there are exceptions.

In some cases, culture certainly determines the knowledge we produce. Consider the AoK History, for instance, where the history of a country is closely connected to aspects of culture such as language and morality. Historians use language to write history and their morals (which are defined by culture) to interpret the past, such as who was right or wrong. Both language and morality are aspects of culture, and therefore we can argue that historical knowledge may not be independent of culture!

How about Mathematics, then? We must also consider if knowledge can be independent of culture. In this case, mathematics is largely independent of culture as it is mostly an objective AoK. Knowledge is factual, and facts are absolute. Mathematics has one, universal language spoken by all mathematicians, and 2 + 2 = 4 in any part of the world. Thus, we can argue that mathematical knowledge is indeed independent of culture.

Lastly, don’t forget to support your arguments with real-life examples (RLEs). For history, one option would be to look at how bias affects historical writing. Some historians may have biases, which have arisen from their morals and culture and are reflected in their historical writing. For mathematics, consider the absence of bias and how formulae such as Pythagoras’ Theorem remain universal, and no amount of cultural influence can ever change something which is a fact.

2. To what extent do you agree with the claim that “there’s a world of difference between truth and facts.” (Maya Angelou) Answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

While prompt 1 gives you one prescribed AoK, this one offers you more choice. Hurray! Or? While this question allows you to select both AoKs, too much choice is often more detrimental than beneficial in the Theory of Knowledge. Here, you’re asked to consider the difference between truth and fact. At first glance, you may be thinking that they’re the same thing and while this is not the case, they are immensely similar. Let’s see how you can approach this…

When considering the meaning of truth and fact, it is always useful to put them into some sort of context. For instance, in the natural sciences, we can argue that there isn’t much of a difference between truth and fact. This is because when a scientific theory such as the theory of evolution is proven, it becomes widely accepted as true and factual. Thus, the definition of truth and fact are virtually inseparable in the sciences.

Another AoK to explore could be history. Here, historians never truly know the ‘truth’ of what happened in the past, and they struggle immensely to recover facts from all sources so that they may piece together accurate interpretations. Therefore, they collect facts in an attempt to reach ever closer to the ultimate truth of what happened in the past, but arguably never achieve this fully. This leads to varying interpretations in history, as historians gather the same facts but may reach different truths from them. In this view, we can argue that facts are the building blocks of truth, rather than truth itself.

3. Is there solid justification for regarding knowledge in the natural sciences more highly than other areas of knowledge? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.

It’s time for more science! This is probably the most straightforward TOK title this time around, and that’s good news! Not everything has to be complex, even in TOK. Here, you’re being asked to discuss if there is any good reason to regard scientific knowledge ‘more highly’ than other AoKs. In other words, is scientific knowledge ‘better’ than knowledge in other AoKs, and if so, why and how? Let’s dig in!

To make things easier, let’s consider what other AoKs would be suitable choices for this title. In this case, a social science such as history or art would be very suitable. If we consider the arts, knowledge can be defined as the creations of artists such as paintings or music, and the interpretations people have of them. In this view, we can argue that art knowledge is quite subjective as the same song may make one person feel happy and another sad. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it also makes the arts unique.

Nevertheless, the subjectivity of the arts could also be one reason that scientific knowledge may be regarded more highly, as it is objective and factual. For instance, it is an objective fact that cells are the smallest unit of life, but it is not factual to say that a painting is ‘beautiful’, as beauty is subjective. Then again, maybe facts aren’t everything, and maybe scientific knowledge isn’t better, but simply different from art knowledge. Consider these perspectives and ultimately decide if there is enough justification for the claim.

4. How do historians and human scientists give knowledge meaning through the telling of stories? Discuss with reference to history and the human sciences.

Storytelling is a powerful tool, so much so that experts in the social sciences use it to communicate their research. If you’ve chosen this title, you should begin by considering how knowledge is defined in history and the human sciences, such as psychology.

From the lens of history, you may decide that historical knowledge is a collection of interpretations of the past. Moreover, these are the interpretations of historians who record and teach them, orally or in writing.

These interpretations give historical events meaning by communicating their significance. A potential RLE would be to consider a historical event such as World War 2, and then analyze how historical interpretations teach us to appreciate its significance and not repeat the past.

If we consider the social sciences such as psychology, things can be a bit more complicated and ambiguous. Do psychologists tell stories? Maybe not in the conventional sense, but are research papers on mental health disorders not a type of story, one which teaches us about the disorder and the experiences people have of it? Exactly!

The key here is to consider how knowledge is communicated in history and social science. Thus, your essay should focus on analyzing and discussing the methodology that historians and human scientists use to tell stories.

5. How can we distinguish between good and bad interpretations? Discuss with reference to the arts and one other area of knowledge.

This question is my personal favorite! If you’re a fan of the arts, this is the question for you. What is an interpretation, and what makes it good or bad? In title 4 we considered how historical interpretations tell us about the past, and interpretations in the art are similar. While historians can interpret the past, art critics can judge the quality of an artistic piece. But how can we tell which interpretations are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’?

When considering this title, make sure to focus on the different types of interpretations we can have within art. Not all interpretations come from professional art critics, as art is free to view by all, and the everyday person can have their own, unique opinion on a piece of art.

A good starting point to explore would be whether one art critic has a better interpretation of a piece of art than the everyday person. Perhaps the critic has professional training and is more qualified to judge the techniques Da Vinci used to craft the Mona Lisa than a casual art enthusiast.

However, art is not only about technique but also about emotion, and the everyday person may be better able to appreciate the subjective beauty of an art piece. Thus, in the arts, it may be difficult to tell the difference between good and bad interpretations, as there are no concrete criteria for determining this.

Through the lens of another AoK, we can see a completely different perspective in the natural sciences. Here, the opinions of experts can be said to always be better than those of the general public. A good RLE could be climate change propaganda, and how scientific knowledge is necessary in order to make educated interpretations.

In the arts, it may be debatable whether the Mona Lisa is a ‘sad’ or ‘joyful’ painting, but in the sciences, global warming is a proven fact, and anything which says otherwise is a ‘bad’ interpretation. Inherently, this question is about the subjectivity of the arts and the objectivity of other AoKs. Just some food for thought!

6. If we conclude that there is some knowledge we should not pursue on ethical grounds, how can we determine the boundaries of acceptable investigation within an area of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

The last prescribed title is one of the most difficult, as it deals with ethics. Here, you’re asked to discuss ethical boundaries within two AoKs of your choice. Some good choices could be AoKs which are very research-based, such as the natural sciences and history. Let’s break this down.

Ethics can be very tricky, as you’re essentially asked to discuss the boundaries between what is ethical and what is not. This is difficult because ethics differ as much from person to person as they do from one AoK to another.

In the sciences, ethical boundaries may refer to experiments involving human trials, for example. How can we determine when a new drug is safe for human testing and is it ethical at all to test on humans?

Similarly, in history, we may consider the issues that arise when researching sensitive topics. For instance, is it ethical to interview holocaust survivors and urge them to remember their past traumas, all for the sake of historical records?

At what point do we draw the line, and how are these ethical boundaries determined? This question is all about methodology and whether methodology within two AoKs is ethical, so if that sounds interesting, this is your go-to title!

Prescribed Essay Titles for Your TOK Essay

The prescribed essay titles above are great for tok essays as they cover ethical grounds that you can discuss with reference and solid justification. Once you have narrowed down these prescribed titles, you can conduct research based on factual knowledge and find specific examples to work with. Then the fun part begins: the essay writing process!

Do you have any questions?

Reach out to the team at Lanterna.

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Planning and structuring the TOK essay

TOK Home > Free TOK notes > TOK essay guidance > Planning and structuring the TOK essay

Once you’ve grasped the essay rubric , and chosen your title , you can start planning and structuring your TOK essay. You base this around the 3 interactions with your teacher, which are one-on-one meetings discussing your progress, and receiving feedback.

As well as the interactions, you can also ask your teacher specific questions about your essay, for example, the suitability of arguments and examples.

STEP 3: Plan and structure your TOK essay

Interaction 1.

In your first interaction, you’ll discuss the title that you have chosen and why, your interpretation of its general meaning, and the key words from the title that you’ve identified and will be focusing on.

You should also have a good idea about the areas of knowledge you’ll be using as the context of your essay (these may be specified in the title), the key concepts that could be included, and have a rough idea about the arguments and counterarguments that could be offered.

By the end of the first interaction, you should be clear about your choice (ideally, the meeting will have confirmed you made the right decision, rather than making you rethink it, but that’s still not a problem at this early stage of the essay-writing process), know the context you’ll be using, and be ready to write your introduction.

Interaction 2

During your second interaction, you’ll explain how you have moved your ideas forward, and the arguments and counterarguments that you’re developing. Ideally, you should be able to show your teacher your introduction, and a rough plan of the rest of your essay.

Be ready to discuss personal experiences and real-world examples that you will use to support points, key thinkers, and different points of view. It’s also useful to discuss any challenges and problems that you’ve encountered. Your teacher should then give you plenty of advice on how to turn all of this into a draft essay, which takes you to the final interaction.

Interaction 3

The third interaction is arguably the most important one, as it is when you will discuss your draft essay, and receive written feedback on how to turn this into your final version.

The first thing to ensure is that your draft is as complete as it possibly can be. The reason for this is that your teacher can only give you one set of written feedback, so if you’ve given them something that doesn’t have much detail, they won’t be able to give you any meaningful advice.

Make sure your teacher has had enough time to go over your essay, and has provided you with clear and detailed feedback on the strength and clarity of your arguments, the suitability of your examples, how successfully you’ve considered perspectives and implications, and how effectively your essay answers the questions. You should now feel ready to write the final version of the essay.

A four-step guide to the TOK essay

Click on the buttons below to take you to the four steps of creating a great TOK essay. Don’t forget that we have plenty of videos on this and other aspects of the course, and members of the site have access to a huge amount of other resources to help you master the course and assessment tasks.

Check out our three-minute explainer video on the TOK essay here . The video goes over the basics of the TOK essay, such as how it’s assessed, the word count and other practical details, terms such as ‘perspectives’ and ‘implications’, and the role of real-world examples in justifying claims and arguments.

You’ll find more videos on this and other aspects of TOK here , and you can dive into much more depth via our free and premium webinars, here .

Watch our essay & exhibition webinars

Click on the images below to access these premium webinars on how to create the essay and exhibition. Access more webinars here , and watch our videos on the assessment tasks on this page .

FAQs about the TOK essay

How do i choose my tok essay title.

You choose your essay from six prescribed essay titles, that are released at the beginning of your second DP year. We give a few tips on how to choose a PT that will work for you here . But briefly, choose one that links to your pre-existing knowledge, and that you find personally engaging.

What will I be writing about in my TOK essay?

You’ll be answering your prescribed title, within the context of two areas of knowledge, considering how different perspectives might affect our response to the question, and what the implications of your arguments are.

Can I use ChatGPT to write my essay?

You can use ChatGPT to help you gather materials for your essay, but you should definitely not be using it to write the essay. Be very careful with ChatGPT. It bases its answers on online material, and much of this is inaccurate or out-of-date. For example, depending on what you ask it, it may tell you that you have to explore multiple areas of knowledge (rather than the two stipulated by the titles), and that you have to identify a separate knowledge question to the title (which is absolutely not the case).

How much help should I expect from my teacher?

Your teacher should run through the PTs when they are first released, and then meet you for three interactions, during which you’ll discuss your progress. They are allowed to give you one set of written feedback. But you can consult them at other times with specific questions.

Do I need to use real-world examples in my TOK essay?

Yes, real-life examples help illustrate your points and make your arguments more tangible. They can be drawn from personal experiences, historical events, scientific discoveries, etc.

Should I include my personal opinion in the TOK essay?

While the TOK essay is not about your personal opinion per se, it’s important to reflect on your perspective and how it shapes the way you understand the title. However, you should avoid using the essay as a platform for rants or unsubstantiated claims.

Is it necessary to include counter-arguments in my TOK essay?

Yes, including counter-arguments shows a deeper understanding of the complexity of the topic and demonstrates your critical thinking skills. It also enables you to consider different perspectives, and evaluate the implications of arguments.

Should I include the 12 key concepts in my essay?

Yes, as much as you can, draw on the key concepts such as justification, evidence, perspective, bias, certainty, and objectivity within your arguments linking them to the title, and to the real-world examples you draw on.

How do I ensure that my TOK essay reflects my own original thinking, and avoids plagiarism?

Clearly attribute ideas and sources that are not your own, and strive to present original insights and interpretations supported by evidence and reasoning. See our point above on using ChatGPT – never view this as more than a tool to help you gather material for your essay, rather than a tool to write it for you.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when writing a TOK essay?

Avoid oversimplifying complex issues, relying solely on personal opinion without justification, neglecting counter-arguments, veering off the question, and failing to include a consideration of different perspectives.

How long do I have to write my essay?

You’ll have 6 months from the time the prescribed titles are released, to the deadline date for uploading your essay to the IB. However, most schools will set their own deadline for completing the essay, so that everyone has plenty of time to complete your PPF, and upload it on time. Follow what your school tells you about this.

How important is the TOK essay PPF?

The PPF (‘Planning and Progress Form’) is the document that you fill in to outline your discussions during the three essay. Although this is not directly assessed, it is an important part of demonstrating that you have approached the TOK essay in an ethical way, which is now particularly important in the era of ChatGPT.

What are some effective strategies for revising and editing my TOK essay to improve clarity and coherence?

Take breaks between revisions, seek feedback from peers or teachers, and carefully proofread for grammar, punctuation, and coherence.

Should I include references or a bibliography in my TOK essay?

While not required, referencing sources appropriately adds credibility to your essay; use footnotes or endnotes for citations.

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May 2021 TOK essay Prescribed Titles – key words and phrases

1. “Accepting knowledge claims always involves an element of trust.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Accepting  – What does accepting mean in a particular AOK or RLE?  In history and the sciences having research published is to an extent an indication of trust in the original research.  That trust is limited, however.  Consider how ideas in other AOKs are accepted.

Always  – Part of the essay should look at situations where there is an element of trust involved and ones where is not necessarily an element of trust

Element of trust  – Look into the role trust plays in different in different AOKs and RLEs.

2. Within areas of knowledge, how can we differentiate between change and progress? Answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

How can we differentiate  – consider how change and progress are differentiated in different AOKs and RLEs.

Change  and progress  – change is treated quite differently in different AOKs and RLEs.  For example, in some cases change and progress are made through a systemic and rigorous process.  In others, it is more individualistic.

Also, different people and groups can look at the same change and not agree whether or not progress has been made. 

Look carefully at the knowledge framework for each AOK for this Prescribed Title. Evaluate how different parts of the knowledge framework are linked to change and progress.

3. “Labels are a necessity in the organization of knowledge, but they also constrain our understanding.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Labels  – labels are used to different between different kinds of organisms, different schools of philosophy, different kinds of art, etc.  The focus with this prescribed title is how labels are used to organize knowledge.  Make sure you look for RLEs where labels are used in this way.  

Also, consider how organizational labels can be used for different purposes.  A politician may try to label an opponent’s proposal in a particular way just to create a negative impression of it.

Necessity  – Evaluate why labels are necessary in an AOK – look at the knowledge framework for guidance. Check how and why the use of labels is necessary in RLEs.

Organization of knowledge  – How is knowledge organized in a AOK and what role do labels play?  How important is it in each AOK to have knowledge organized in systemic way?  How does the use of labels compare and contrast in different AOKs?

Constrain our understanding  – How does the use of labels constrain understanding?  Do labels in an RLE oversimplify complex ideas?  Do they dissuade people from seeing how elements of an RLE don’t fit the label?  Are the parts of an RLE that fit a label given too much importance the parts that don’t?  Do labels prevent creative thinking?

4. “Statistics conceal as much as they reveal.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Statistics  – There are a number of statistics used in different ways for different purposes.  Some AOKs rely heavily on statistics while others use them relatively sparingly.  However, it would be a mistake to assume that you could not find or use an RLE from the arts or ethics, for example, with this prescribed title.  

Conceal / reveal  – There are a number of ways that statistics can be employed in relatively neutral or biased ways to conceal or reveal.  You need to clearly identify how statistics are being used to conceal or reveal in the RLEs in your essay.

“Conceal” has negative connotations while “reveal” has positive ones. This does mean though that “concealing” is always negative or “revealing” is always positive.  One could easily find where, for example, Nazi Germany used statistics to “reveal” completely untrue facts about Jewish people.  Others would definitely look at the same set of numbers and come to the conclusion that the Nazi regime was concealing, not revealing.  Keep this in mind: one person’s “conceal” may be another person’s “reveal.”

Even modern and democratic governments and opposition parties use and misuse statistics to conceal and reveal important information.  Unemployment rates, for example, can vary wildly depending on the definition of “unemployed.”  

5. “Areas of knowledge are most useful in combination with each other.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

This prescribed title is similar in some ways to a prescribed title from the November 2015 session:  “No knowledge can be produced by a single way of knowing.”  It might be beneficial to try and track down sample TOK essays on this prescribed title to see how students then approached this somewhat similar title.

Most useful  – this is quite an interesting phrase to consider – how does one define when mathematics or history is “most useful”?  Also, there may be little overlap between when one AOK is viewed as useful compared to another.

There are significant differences in opinion from one person / organization to the next when an AOK is most useful.  For example, one type of art critic may view the arts as “most useful” when it addresses social issues while another type of art critic could view the arts as “most useful” when it is solely concerned with aesthetics. 

In combination  – Evaluate carefully how two AOKs act in combination work together.  This may differ wildly between different RLEs even with the same two AOKs.  Also keep in mind that in many RLEs one AOK may be much more important than other.  Just because two AOKs are “in combination” doesn’t they play equal or similar roles in an RLE.

6. “Avoiding bias seems a commendable goal, but this fails to recognize the positive role that bias can play in the pursuit of knowledge.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Avoiding bias  – How is bias avoided in different AOKs and RLEs? In some cases experimental methodology helps reduce bias.  Public debates are a quite different way to possible avoid bias and both sides have an equal opportunity to present their argument. In some cases bias is not necessarily something that people try to avoid.

Commendable goal  –  Why in a particular AOK or RLE is a “commendable” to reduce bias?  Does it lead to more accurate knowledge, for example?  Or does it lead to a more neutral understanding of knowledge that has already been produced?

Positive role that bias can play  – How does bias play a positive role in a particular AOK or RLE?  For example, a bias against processed / fast foods may lead a person to better health even with brands / foods they have not tried before.  A bias against a news website that has published a number of false new articles in the past is completely justified.  A quick Google search can lead you to a number of different situations where bias plays a positive role.

Pursuit of knowledge  – Make sure it is clear in your RLEs exactly where and what the “pursuit of knowledge” is.  It also needs to be perfectly clear how bias has a positive or negative on the pursuit of knowledge in an RLE.

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Theory of Knowledge Essay Example 2021

Doubt and confidence contradicts each other. Doubt can be seen as fear of the unknown. Confidence is having faith in your own knowledge or having a feeling of certainty. Confidence comes first when we are certain in the credibility of the knowledge obtained, however, confidence is provoked by doubt when we become biased with the knowledge we already know. Both doubt and confidence are vital in the production of knowledge. Doubt is perceived to be negative because it can be viewed as a sign of questioning your own ability to understand concepts. knowledge are the skills and information we obtain from our experience with the world. The prescribed title chosen is, “We know with confidence only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases.” This statement implies that when the knowledge we have is limited, we are confident with our conclusion because we tend to overlook red flags within concepts and theories when little is known, but, when more knowledge is obtained, doubt arises and makes us suspicious of our own knowledge showing that confidence does not ensure that the knowledge is applied correctly. To address this prescribed title, it is important to discuss the importance of doubt’s role in the production of knowledge by implementing Areas of Knowledge such as Religious Knowledge Systems and Natural Science along with using Ways of Knowing such as faith and emotion.

TOK Essay Example 2021

As humans, in the early stages of our lives we are taught preconceived notions and beliefs by the people around us and from the observations we see. Overtime we become confident in what we know and can develop a one track mind, however, this is challenged once we expand our environments. We begin to absorb new knowledge from our daily encounters in our schools, workplaces, churches (in our faith) and from the world around us. From this recurring way of knowing we begin to see an intricate web of new pathways and alternatives. Doubt begins to drive our curious nature. This raises the question: Does increased doubt emulate curiosity? Doubt allows us to question the world around us in which allows our curiosity to flow. This is so because curiosity is wanting to find the answer to something, but in order to do so, something has to be questioned or doubted first. This is evident from when I lived in Jamaica in a christian household. I attended church, went to bible studies, and performed in praise and worships and was thought to never question God. Even though I was active within my religion, I did not read the bible, I just listened to the short stories and scriptures that my pastor and family told me without questioning their credibility. Once I moved to America, I began to live with my grandmother, who is very religious and it was required of me to read the bible everyday. Daily I read and I learnt more about my religion. I began to question why did God gave up his only son? If God has the ability to create life why did he not make everyone good? Why do the Ten Commandments dictate the way I live? The more I learned about God and about my religion the more I questioned the existing knowledge I had about my religion. I began to question the “how” and the “why” and the more curious I became. Doubt emulates curiosity because my own doubt questioned my inability to understand concepts within my faith and I was curious to find answers.

To differentiate, doubt does not emulate curiosity, it is of human nature to want to understand the relationship between cause and effect in order to make few less errors. According to PRI (Public Radio International) studies using MRI scans have shown that humans are born with curiosity and that they exhibit two kinds of curiosity from a young age. One kind is perceptual curiosity, this is what we feel when we observe something and it does not align with what we thought we knew. The second is epistemic curiosity, this is our love of acquiring knowledge and is experienced when we anticipate a reward in form of the knowledge we gain. Curiosity is a necessity when acquiring knowledge and we have been doing so since our birth, before we knew what doubt is or what it felt like. Our Curiosity is inherited from our childhood and our doubt was developed once we started to understand our emotions.This allowed us to stop believing in our information because we had distrust within our emotions in which increased doubt. Curiosity is apart of human development, It serves an evolutionary purpose, it is how information is received from infancy through adulthood. For example as an infant we cannot fend for ourselves, an adult is in charge of our survival. Therefore, we are given time to focus on learning and discovering information to form our own ideas.

Want More TOK Essay Examples?

“Ignorance does not result from what we do not know! Ignorance results from what we think we do know- but don’t! Most ignorant people are, in fact, quite certain.” – Richard Rohr. Being ignorant is when one is unaware or lacking information and can stem from being overly confident with the information one has. This leads to overseeing the red flags within our information due to our certainty. This begs the question: “Does lack of doubt encourages ignorance?” Lack of doubt does encourage ignorance because it promotes intellectual complacency when faced with opposing point of views. Ignorance is encouraged when we defend the little knowledge we obtained and are cornered with a contradiction of our validation in which we try to defend our certainty and ego. This is evident within the science community Before the scientific community advanced technologically, they felt confident in the little they knew, but as technology advanced, the more evidence became provable and knowledge expanded. However, parts of the community defended their old evidence. For example, before modern astronomy was introduced many people believed that the Earth lied in the center of the universe and everything revolved around us because of the Geocentric model. However, this was challenged when Nicolaus Copernicus formulated the Heliocentric model that placed the sun at the center of the universe. His model was said to lack provable evidence and that it went against the holy scriptures. However this was later debunked by astronomer Galileo Galilei when he improved the telescope’s magnification and saw moons orbiting around Jupiter, confirming Copernicus theory that celestial bodies rotate each other. Galileo findings did not convince anyone, the church and the science community mocked his intelligence and was put on house arrest because the people and the science community believed that the geocentric model was correct due to the sun circling earth changing night to day. The people’s lack of doubt encouraged ignorance because they were stuck in their old ways of understanding and would not attempt to expand their knowledge and open their minds.

To contrast, ignorance is encouraged with exaggerated confidence because it can lead to failure. It is not encouraged by lack of doubt because ignorance is hidden within our lack of doubt, therefore ignorance is unaware while doubt is aware but fails to accept it because doubting something means you are open to new ideas.

TOK Essay Sample

Doubt makes us open minded, it asks us question that others might not, in which furthers our knowledge. This raises the question: “To what extent does doubt influence the production of knowledge?” Doubt influences the production of knowledge to a greater extent by presenting questions which are subsequently answered through inquiry. This is true in natural science when empirical experiments are conducted to accept or reject a hypothesis. The purpose is to develop better questions because doubt has always been present in science. Constant repeated eliminations of older theories have occurred and replaced because doubt questioned their validity. When Nicolaus Copernicus doubted the Geocentric model, he conducted his own experiments to develop the Heliocentric model that led to the development of modern astronomy. This is a strategy of skepticism presented by doubt, it senses the validity and assumes inquiry within a data or theory. This increases doubt in which increases knowledge because if one does not doubt what is already known what motivation will be present to learn more. Doubt also influences knowledge by forcing people to change their personal knowledge to shared knowledge. It questions your known knowledge and motivates one to research, leading to new knowledge that is shared. Researching for my extended essay, I did not know a lot about Psychology. The question asked:“To what extent does the stigma of homosexuals in American society lead to mental health disorders among the LGBTQ community?” I knew chemicals within the brain influenced one’s sexual orientation but I did not know what their role in the brain was. I began to doubt the knowledge I had, it motivated me to do more research. The new knowledge I gained became personal knowledge but was shared once my paper was read or when I talked about it.

To differentiate, doubt influences the production of knowledge to a lesser extent because doubt places a limit on what an individual believes, while confidence does not. Confidence does not hinder someone’s capability of understanding, it drives their motivation to research because it allows one to apply application faster.

Doubt and confidence are important when gaining knowledge but accepting doubt is the key to knowledge because it shows that one is open to new ideas. Although it is the voice of an uncertain conscious, it is not to be viewed as negative but as a way of knowing because doubt allows all knowledge to be researched and apparent.

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Guest Essay

The End of TikTok Is a Propaganda Win for Beijing

By Nick Frisch and Dan Wang

Mr. Frisch is a resident fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. Mr. Wang is a visiting scholar at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.

When President Biden signed a bill requiring that TikTok be divested from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, members of Congress hailed the law as a blow to Beijing. They shouldn’t be so quick to celebrate. The law would at best partially mitigate the hazards of misinformation or the risks to national security posed by China. The Communist Party, meanwhile, looks forward to a propaganda windfall, prizing off Washington’s mantle as champion of a free and open internet.

America’s moral authority on maintaining open internet platforms will look very different if it bans TikTok. After years of enduring American sermonizing about free speech and open trade, autocrats would now be able to cite Washington’s own example when they interfere with speech platforms that displease them.

Sponsors of the law say its purpose — prohibiting access to TikTok if it’s not divested from its Beijing-based parent — is to sever the short-video app’s links to China’s Communist Party. The reality is that the American government will likely end up banning TikTok, turning it off for 170 million American users. Last week, TikTok filed suit to challenge the law. It is not only that nine months is a tight timeline for a corporate sale of this complexity; it’s also that antitrust review alone often takes as long. A tech company like Meta or Google is unlikely to surmount the government’s concerns of acquiring a leading competitor, and there’s no guarantee that a private equity or investor group will be able to pull off this politically fraught deal.

More decisive for TikTok’s destiny in the United States is the will of the Communist Party. In 2020, China’s Ministry of Commerce revised its technology export rules to assert control over the export of specialized algorithms. It has left little doubt that the legal change gives the state discretion to reject the sale of TikTok’s algorithm to any foreign entity. Signaling so in its typically oblique way, state media featured the comments of a professor saying exactly that. Whatever the wishes of ByteDance executives or its investors, any sale of TikTok will require Beijing’s blessing.

None is forthcoming. Since 2020 and again in recent months, official Chinese voices have railed against a potential divestment. Government spokesmen have denounced the deal’s “robber’s logic.” China’s leaders gain little from permitting a sale. The party is not especially concerned for the interests of ByteDance’s financial investors (who are mostly global institutional investors), nor does Beijing seem to mind an opportunity to jerk the leash of ByteDance, whose founder once issued a groveling apology for failing to uphold “socialist core values.”

Most important, Beijing may well see the law’s passage as an opportunity to revel in Washington’s hypocrisy: America’s answer to the Great Firewall. The forced sale of TikTok will make American government officials’ protests against China’s blocks on Western social media platforms and foreign sites (including The New York Times) ring hollow, even though Beijing controls the internet far more comprehensively. American economic nationalists have argued that since China doesn’t allow the operation of Facebook, Snap, X or Instagram within its borders, America should reciprocate. But at what point does matching China at its own game become a betrayal of American values?

These charges of hypocrisy will resonate beyond China’s borders. After Twitter deleted a tweet by the Nigerian president in 2021, which intimated violence against an ethnic group, Nigeria banned the app. The government cited concerns about misinformation and fake news. The U.S. State Department recognized that the Nigerian government was stifling speech and issued a statement, saying : “Unduly restricting the ability of Nigerians to report, gather and disseminate opinions and information has no place in a democracy.” Seven months later, Nigeria lifted the ban.

The law to force a sale of TikTok will not address the failures of American tech giants who continue to profit from polarizing content. Taking down TikTok will remove some toxic posts, but do little to redress the harms to minors from Snap and Instagram. Impassioned controversies, from campus protests to the November election, travel extensively on other platforms as well, which have no lack of deceptive content from potential state actors.

Neither are data concerns dispositive. American corporations, and indeed the U.S. government, have been abysmal stewards of Americans’ data, allowing Chinese hackers access to information as damaging as anything gleaned from TikTok user profiles. Many of the app’s sins are common to other Silicon Valley transgressors.

Critics allege that the Chinese Communist Party directly manipulates TikTok, tilting the platform toward narratives favoring Beijing’s interests. True or not — at present, public evidence is suggestive but circumstantial — Beijing still has plenty of other ways to influence the views of Americans. In the lead-up to the 2016 American presidential election, Facebook and other platforms unwittingly enabled Russian meddling to denigrate Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. If China is determined to meddle in American elections, it has plenty of other tools it can use. Like anyone else, Beijing can buy influencers on YouTube or Instagram while covering its tracks. A ban on TikTok hardly cleans up the information ecosystem; establishing common privacy and algorithmic practices for all the tech giants will.

The new law faces a flurry of litigation — challenges brought by TikTok’s attorneys, which bring accusations of trampling constitutional speech and crippling legitimate commerce. It may well be struck down on First Amendment grounds. TikTok has already prevailed in several federal courts, and survived bans from the Trump administration in 2020. Litigation threatens to drag on for months against the backdrop of a contentious election cycle. And as TikTok continues to operate, Mr. Biden himself hardly acts as if the app is menacing our national security. His re-election campaign persists in using TikTok to reach younger voters.

America is now committed to a long legal fight to ban TikTok. A potential defeat won’t look good, but victory may bear bitter fruit as well: the muddling of our values at home and a propaganda win for autocrats abroad.

Nick Frisch is a resident fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project . Dan Wang is a visiting scholar at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center and the technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics.

Photograph by Jasmin Merdan/Getty Images

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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TikTok challenges U.S. ban in court, calling it unconstitutional

Bobby Allyn

TikTok's suit is in response to a law passed by Congress giving ByteDance up to a year to divest from TikTok and find a new buyer, or face a nationwide ban. Kiichiro Sato/AP hide caption

TikTok's suit is in response to a law passed by Congress giving ByteDance up to a year to divest from TikTok and find a new buyer, or face a nationwide ban.

TikTok and its parent company on Tuesday filed a legal challenge against the United States over a law that President Biden signed last month outlawing the app nationwide unless it finds a buyer within a year.

In the petition filed in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the company said the legislation exceeds the bounds of the constitution and suppresses the speech of millions of Americans.

"Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act's sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok's ownership," according to the filing.

The law, passed through Congress at lightning speed, which caught many inside TikTok off guard, is intended to force TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company in nine months, with the possibility of a three month extension if a possible sale is in play.

Yet lawyers for TikTok say the law offers the company a false choice, since fully divesting from its parent company, ByteDance, is "simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally," the challenge states. "And certainly not on the 270-day timeline required by the Act."

Anupam Chander, a law professor at Georgetown University who specializes in technology regulations, said if TikTok loses this legal fight, it will likely shut down in the U.S.

"The problem for TikTok is that they have a parent company that has these obligation in China, but they're trying to live by free speech rules by the United States," Chander said in an interview. "The question is whether American courts will believe that that's even possible."

TikTok says law based on "speculative and analytically flawed concerns"

Lawmakers in Washington have long been suspicious of TikTok, fearing its Chinese owner could use the popular app to spy on Americans or spread dangerous disinformation.

But in the company's legal petition, lawyers for TikTok say invoking "national security" does not give the government a free pass to violate the First Amendment, especially, TikTok, argues, when no public evidence has been presented of the Chinese government using the app as a weapon against Americans.

Possible TikTok ban could be 'an extinction-level event' for the creator economy

According to the filing, the law is based on "speculative and analytically flawed concerns about data security and content manipulation — concerns that, even if grounded in fact, could be addressed through far less restrictive and more narrowly tailored means."

New DOJ Filing: TikTok's Owner Is 'A Mouthpiece' Of Chinese Communist Party

Constitutional scholars say there are few ways for the government to restrict speech in a way that would survive a legal challenge. One of those ways is if the government can demonstrate a national security risk. Also key, legal experts say, is the government showing the speech suppression was the least restrictive option on the table.

TikTok said Congress ignored less restrictive ways of addressing the government's national security concerns.

"If Congress can do this, it can circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security and ordering the publisher of any individual newspaper or website to sell to avoid being shut down," the filing states. "And for TikTok, any such divestiture would disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community."

Since more than 90% of TikTok's users are outside of America, Georgetown's Chander said selling the U.S.-based app to a different owner would cannibalize its own business.

"You can't really create a TikTok U.S., while having a different company manage TikTok Canada," Chander said in an interview. "What you're doing essentially is creating a rival between two TikToks," he said. " It may be better to take your marbles out of the United States and hope to make money outside of the U.S., rather than sell it at a fire-sale price."

TikTok critics call app a 'spy balloon on your phone'

The filing sets off what could be the most important battle for TikTok. It has been fending off legal challenges to its existence since former President Trump first sought to ban the app through an executive order in the summer of 2020. That effort was blocked by federal courts.

Since then, Democrats and Republicans have shown a rare moment of unity around calls to pressure TikTok to sever its ties with ByteDance, the Beijing-based tech giant that owns the video-streaming app.

Trump's Ban On TikTok Suffers Another Legal Setback

Congress has never before passed legislation that could outright ban a wildly popular social media app, a gesture the U.S. government has criticized authoritarian nations for doing.

In the case of TikTok, however, lawmakers have called the app a "spy balloon on your phone," emphasizing how the Chinese government could gain access to the personal data of U.S. citizens.

Worries also persist in Washington that Beijing could influence the views of Americans by dictating what videos are boosted on the platform. That concern has only become heightened seven months before a presidential election.

Yet the fears so far indeed remain hypothetical.

There is no publicly available example of the Chinese government attempting to use TikTok as an espionage or data collection tool. And no proof that the Chinese government has ever had a hand over what TikTok's 170 million American users see every day on the app.

TikTok says it offers U.S. a plan that would shut app down if it violated agreement

TikTok, for its part, says it has invested $2 billion on a plan, dubbed Project Texas, to separate its U.S. operation from its Chinese parent company. It deleted all of Americans' data from foreign servers and relocated all of the data to servers on U.S. soil overseen by the Austin-based tech company Oracle.

While the plan was intended to build trust with U.S. lawmakers and users, reports surfaced showing that data was still moving between staff in California and Beijing.

In the filing on Tuesday, TikTok said it submitted an agreement to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which has been probing the app for five years, that would allow the U.S. to suspend TikTok if it violated terms set forth in a national security plan.

But, lawyers for TikTok say, the deal was swept aside, "in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach," the petition states.

Mnuchin claims he will place a bid to buy TikTok, even though app is not for sale

Despite the new law giving TikTok the ultimatum of selling or being shut down, there are many questions around how the app could even be bought by another company or group of investors.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told NPR on Monday, he is planning to assemble a group of investors to try to purchase TikTok without the app's algorithm.

Mnuchin, who declined to answer additional questions, said in between sessions at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles that the proposal to buy the app is still in the works, but he would not say when it would be formally submitted.

One major obstacle in any possible sale of TikTok is a glaring problem: The app is not for sale.

TikTok Ban Averted: Trump Gives Oracle-Walmart Deal His 'Blessing'

Despite the new law in the U.S., ByteDance says it does not intend to let go of the service. Furthermore, winning the support of China would be necessary, and officials in Beijing are adamantly against any forced sale.

In 2020, amid the Trump administration's clamp down on the app, China added "content-recommendation algorithms" to its export-control list, effectively adding new regulations over how TikTok's all-powerful algorithm could ever be sold.

ByteDance, not TikTok, developed and controls the algorithm that determines what millions see on the app every day. The technology has become the envy of Silicon Valley, and no U.S. tech company has been able dislodge TikTok's firm hold on the short-form video market. Experts say key to its success is its highly engaging and hyper-personalized video-ranking algorithm.

The algorithm, which involves millions of lines of software code developed by thousands of engineers over many years, cannot be easily transferred to the U.S., even if China did allow it, TikTok's challenge states.

Lawyers for TikTok argue that "any severance [of the algorithm] would leave TikTok without access to the recommendation engine that has created a unique style and community that cannot be replicated on any other platform today."