The second prompt for the May 2026 session is “To what extent do you agree that doubt is central to the pursuit of knowledge?” You must reference it with two contrasting AOKs, so let’s break it down.
For me, as an IB tutor, this question is great because it prompts me to think about knowledge as a process driven by wonder, doubt, and sometimes even a moment of existential crisis. Also, this title is one of the easiest for the May session.
How to Work on the May 2026 TOK Essay Prompt 2?
The first thing you need to do is explain the main terms. In TOK, “doubt” refers to the deliberate questioning of claims to knowledge. The methods, motives, and processes by which people develop understanding are referred to as the “pursuit of knowledge.”
In this case, your TOK essay should discuss how doubt contributes to that search, rather than simply stating that it’s “important.”
Recognize that while doubt can lead to finding, extreme doubt can stop thinking. Imagine a historian who rejects all sources as biased or a scientist who questions every bit of information. In such cases, nothing would progress, and balance is crucial for this reason.
And when it comes to structure, focus on being clear:
- Define main terms and explain what the question means.
- Pick two different AOKs that really stand out from each other.
- Don’t use broad words like “scientists question everything” to build your case. Instead, add specific examples.
- Weigh counterarguments to highlight the depth of the discussion.
Additionally, please refrain from turning your essay into a speech about how to “deal with uncertainty.” You know, TOK is research and analysis, so keep your writing tight and thoughtful.
What Are the Best AOKs and WOKs for this Title?
For this title, you don’t want to pick two that say the same thing in slightly different accents. Here, your goal is contrast. Just show how doubt works differently across areas of knowledge.
Natural Sciences
If doubt had a go-to spot, it would totally be the lab. Scientists are pretty skeptical, and that’s fine. They question everything, from their own ideas to the reliability of their tools. Doubt is just part of the system.
Ideal WOKs:
- Reason – used to test and disprove theories.
- Sense perception – observation is the foundation of data collection, but perception is subject to bias.
- Language – scientific communication guarantees that doubt is expressed, clarified, and discussed in public.
You can also bring up mathematics as an example, where proof leaves no room for doubt. It’s very different from how science is constantly changing.
History
Asking tough questions is what history is all about. This doubt here doesn’t involve ignoring the past. Instead, it helps make sense of it better. When historians go back to well-known “facts,” they often find bias, new information, or views that were lost.
Take, for example, how historians have reexamined the fall of the Roman Empire. For a long time, this was blamed on barbarian invasions and military decline. But modern historians started to have their doubts about that simple explanation. By questioning earlier accounts, they found deeper social, political, and economic causes, like internal corruption, climate change, and slavery. And that doubt helped historians build a much clearer and more balanced picture.
Well, now that you’ve got the full picture, let’s move on to the WOKs you can use.
- Language – how we tell stories about the past affects how we understand them.
- Emotion – empathy helps in understanding the motivations of historical figures, yet it may also obscure objectivity.
- Reason – critical thinking helps assess contradictory sources and evaluate evidence.
However, there is a dangerous edge: too much doubt sometimes leads to revisionism or denial.
Human Sciences
The human sciences are another great AOK to think about. These areas are constantly balancing between quantifiable facts and the unpredictable nature of humans.
For example, early psychologists began to doubt Freud’s ideas because they couldn’t be tested, which led to the rise of cognitive and behavioral methods. The field had to face its flaws and raise its standards because of doubt.
The best WOKs here are:
- Reason – important for checking out different methodologies.
- Intuition – forming initial hypotheses about human behavior.
- Emotion – affects both researchers and participants, sometimes in an unexpected way.
If you use human sciences, emphasize that doubt here improves validity rather than undermines belief in science itself.
The Arts
Artists may have more doubts than anyone else. In the arts, doubt forces artists to rethink what meaning, skill, and sincerity mean. Picasso had doubts about reality and employed abstraction to transform the way art was created. Writers question words to find new ways to say what’s true.
The catch is that too much doubt in art can stop you from making anything new. That’s a “nothing is original” trap. Still, healthy doubt can lead to significant changes in the arts.
You can rely on the following WOKs here:
- Imagination – this is what drives up reinterpretation and experimentation.
- Emotion – it turns artistic doubt into expression.
- Intuition – helps you take a creative risk, even when reason cannot justify it.
Using the arts as a secondary AOK makes your essay pop, especially when you team it up with something more analytical, like natural sciences or history. The difference between feeling doubt and thinking it through really highlights a solid understanding of the concepts.
All Guides for May 2026 Session:
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How to Combine AOKs for this TOK Essay Prompt?
When working on this prompt, ensure that your AOKs connect naturally. If they feel like they’re ignoring each other, your essay will feel off. They should build on one another instead. A smart combination helps you compare how doubt works differently in each field. For example, as a testing mechanism in science and as a reinterpretation tool in history.
| First AOK | Second AOK | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Sciences | History | Shows how doubt builds knowledge in one field but redefines it in another. |
| Natural Sciences | Human Sciences | Great for comparing empirical data vs. human interpretation. |
| Human Sciences | The Arts | Balances emotional intuition with analytical skepticism. |
| History | The Arts | Perfect for discussing subjective interpretation and evidence-based reasoning. |
When you combine AOKs, compare them, and then connect. For example, argue that while scientists use doubt to refine truth, historians use it to rethink narratives. With that kind of link, you show that knowledge involves not only collecting facts, but also challenging them intelligently.
BTW, you can find some good tips in this video.
What Are the Real-Life Situations for this Prompt?
Above, I have already presented you with several excellent options that you can use. But let’s expand a little.
- The Case of mRNA Vaccine Development
Recall COVID-19. Initial skepticism from both the public and scientific community forced deeper research, transparency, and testing. That doubt eventually strengthened public trust in the results, since only the most reliable evidence remained.
- Postcolonial Studies and Indigenous Perspectives
A similar pattern appears in postcolonial and indigenous studies, where researchers began questioning earlier colonial narratives that labeled local cultures as “uncivilized.” Their skepticism opened space for a richer view of cultural exchange, resistance, and shared history.
- The Replication Crisis in Psychology
In the 2010s, many famous studies, such as those on priming effects, failed to replicate. Psychologists began doubting the reliability of their own discipline. Painful? Yes. Productive? Absolutely. It led to stricter methods, transparency, and better data reporting. Doubt, here, was self-cleaning.
- Economic Modeling After the 2008 Financial Crisis
Economists who doubted classical market efficiency theories were once marginalized, until the crisis proved them right. Doubt exposed blind spots and inspired new approaches like behavioral economics, which considers human irrationality.
- Modern Filmmakers and AI
Movies like Her and Ex Machina reflect our collective doubt about whether machines can feel or think. Here, art doesn’t resolve doubt, but translates it into emotional understanding.
- AI and Authorship
Can AI truly “know”? Can it “create”? These doubts shape debates about knowledge ownership and authenticity. Doubt drives ethical and philosophical reflection that affects real policy decisions.
- Climate Science Communication
Scientists doubt data margins, while citizens doubt the scientists. The tension between reasonable skepticism and harmful denial is a living case study in TOK. It shows how doubt can both protect the truth and distort it.
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Wrapping Things Up
Questioning things is what keeps our understanding real. At this point, the top essays for this May 2026 prompt will be the ones that highlight how doubt boosts understanding without breaking it down.
What really stands out to me when I check out a student’s TOK essay isn’t the clever metaphors, but how clear it is. I can suggest a simple test. Break down how Einstein’s doubts sparked the idea of relativity and how historians’ skepticism changes our view of the past (so your grandma gets it). If you can do it, you’ve captured the essence of TOK. 👏
