Inductive Reasoning

Throughout this semester I have learned a lot, but if I have to choose one concept that I found to be useful to apply to my daily life would be inductive reasoning. Although there are many different types of inductive reasoning, I think this would be the one chapter I learned most about. The fact that we already consist inductive reasoning in our daily life without us knowing it, is very impressive. Inductive reasoning is generalizing the facts give us an all-purpose idea of particular cases. Many concepts that were covered in the chapter of inductive reasoning were very helpful to understand how generalization, and poll surveys work. Inductive arguments are to be proven to be stronger or weaker whereas deductive arguments are to be only true or false. Deductive arguments are to be more straightforward, but inductive reasoning can be siding with both positions of an argument, debating which to be stronger. I believe this is  very important because it encourages people to be open minded and to elaborate their new ideas on existing ones.

Pros and Cons of This Class

As many of the students who are enrolled in this class, I have a pretty good idea of why we decided to choose this class which would be the fact that this class is being taught online. Due to being a fulltime student and juggling a part time job, it is a advantage to be able to take a class accordingly to your own schedule. The online blogs and comments that are required to be completed in this class was quite simple but very informative as well. However, the least favorite part of this class would be the group projects. Coming into this class, I did not expect to meet up with the students in this class because it is an online class. However, there have been three projects that require us to meet up with our groups in person. Which is a difficult task since most of us who takes this class have other obligations, which makes it hard for us to find a time that fits in everyone’s schedule. Other than the group projects, I found this class to be a very good class.

What I've Learned...

Overall, this class has taught me a lot of concepts of critical thinking that I never knew of before. For an example, one of the concepts that stuck out to me would have to be the false memories in which leads to invalid decision making. This was the most useful to me because I can relate to this type of fallacy. There are often times where I have recalled memories but second guess whether or not this incident really happened. There are also a lot of barriers we have as humans in the process of decision-making such as, narrow-mindedness, and rationalization and double think, cognitive and social dissonance and stress. These particular barriers made me realize that this world are full of people who usually let these factors get in the way of their critical thinking. There are many people out there in society who refuses to change their beliefs or in other words, to be more open minded of accepting certain social issues. Nonetheless, this class has taught me to improve my critical thinking skills by teaching me the essentials of cognitive development. 

Horoscope

I never really trust what I read on what I read on the website about my horoscope. It never seems to be correct; I believe that it is just a vague prediction the media has made up for the horoscope signs. However, I have friends who read their horoscope on the daily and actually go about their day based on what their horoscope says.  Maybe I am expecting too much from my horoscopes, I guess I want it to be accurate kind of like a psychic. Of course, that is a little over the top for me to wish for. After all, such a specific request cannot be given to such a general and vague category. For an example, my horoscope reads,” When that impulse hits you, make sure to jump on it- things need some shaking up today, and you are just the person to do it! It’s one of those days when you can tell you’re on the right path.” I am confused about this reading, but I think it is just words of encouragement. However, I am going to an internship fair tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to take this to consideration. 

Mission Critical and Casual Arguments

Overall, I found the mission critical and casual argument website to be  very informative. The mission critical website has a break down of each important point of an argument and etc. Each link goes in depth of the points. Where as, the casual argument website is more general. However, what I found to be the most helpful would be the exercises available. Just like any other subject, or a way to intake information, I believe it is very helpful to have exercises as reviews for the topic of subject I am trying study for. If I had to choose between the two, I think the casual argument website is easier for viewers, it is in fact more casual compared to the critical website. There is additional information in the directed link for the topic. It makes searching for specific topics very convenient.  Given that these websites provide such in depth information about each topic, helped me understand the different parts and analysis of the arguments. 

Making Invalid Conclusions

There have been various of times where I’ve drew an incorrect conclusion on the basis of observation, which is also commonly known as making assumptions. Although it is bad and not encouraged for people to judge a book by its cover I have done this a couple of times. For an example, I’ve recently noticed that my one of my friends, who seemed to be a nice and caring, turned out to be a selfish and conniving person. I thought she was a nice girl because she was a little soft spoken and she would always seem very friendly whenever I am around her. Sadly, this was just an act she put up. Once I got to know her, she turned out to be very mean and she lied about everything. Telling stories about how she have a tough life, but in reality she is a spoiled child.  This probably explains why she doesn’t have many friends in school. After knowing all this, I am no longer her friend as well. This is a perfect example of why it is important to know someone first before making assumptions. 

Media Literacy

According to the textbook, Media literacy is the ability to understand and critically analyze the influence of mass media. In society today, it is almost impossible to avoid all contact with mass media. It is everywhere. It is quite hard to avoid their traps of influencing on our lives and decisions. Advertisements for products using thin figured models, portrays the image of society needing to look like that. Mass advertisements for electronics, such as an IPhone or the newest model car, often portrays the message that it is a necessity in order to be on the same social status as everyone else. It is important for everyone to know how the mass media is influencing us. Most people do not realize it or are in denial of being influenced. This part of the chapter is most interesting to me because I did a research paper on this particular project, this is why I feel so strongly about the effects and influences the mass media have on society. It is impossible to avoid the media, but it is important for us to analyze their messages.

Internet Plagiarism

Plagiarism is something that should be prohibited. I do not think it is fair for those to use someone else’s hard work and not be given credited for it. In this chapter, Brook J. Sadler and Russell Hunt both have different opinions about the topic of plagiarism. They’re both professors at Universities, and both have completely different stances on how they feel about plagiarism. Sadler listed ten wrongs of internet plagiarism. Sadler basically believes that plagiarism should not be tolerated, and it is dishonest. If plagiarism is accepted, then that means that there would be suspicion to higher education. Hunt, on the other hand, believes that plagiarism should be welcomed. He states that by allowing students to plagiarize, gives them the opportunity to understand the difference between the power to copy and the right to copy. I believe Sadler makes the better argument about this topic because she gives more valid reasons as to why it is wrong, and supports why she feels that way. Hunt does bring an interesting side of this but I still believe Sadler made the stronger argument.

Internet

Internet is a common tool that we all have access to. Researching can be done all in one setting. I am on the internet everyday, whether it is on my computer or through my phone. I read the news everyday on the internet. It keeps me updated about daily news in my community and all over the world. Other social networks such as, Facebook and Twitter also play a huge part of keeping me updated with most recent news. Everyone is capable of voicing their own opinions through the internet, and I also believe it is the place for it to be heard. I believe that the internet has helped me expand my views and my opinions as well. The news usually present one sided view points which causes it to seem bias, and reading the different opinions through the internet bring topics that I was never aware of before.

The Role of Advertising in the Media

I found this section to be interesting because I now have a better understanding of the role in advertising in the media. The main focus a marketer must have is their target of audience. They must know who their target goal is in order to achieve a successful advertisement. In modern times, it is easier to track what is the most viewed or popular choice. For an instance, the “like” button on Facebook is another way to see what is most popular. This shows that Internet advertising is a popular way of advertising, and attracting more audience. Seeing what is the most talked about topic, can definitely lead to more customers. The text also used an example of television shows, such as reality TV shows like Jersey Shore or American Idol. Since these shows have such high viewer ratings, there are more production of advertisements out there for these targeted audience.

Advertising and Children

Both Margo Wootan and Robert Liodice make a good argument about their perspective on advertisments who target children. Wootan argues that these advertisements target children, to influence their food selection and this is a huge factor that contributes to obesity rate. Wootan also made her argument stronger because she supported it with bunch of facts and nutrition guidelines. Although I agree the media have an impact on influencing children for their food choices, I do not believe it is entirely the advertisements’’ fault, instead, parents should be the blame as well. They have the control of deciding what is allowed for their children to consume and they are the one who are also responsible of understanding their children’s health. Therefore, I found Liodice’s argument to be stronger because he states that it is the company’s job to advertise their product but it is entirely up to us as consumers to decide what we want. It is important to understand more about a certain product before purchasing, or consuming it. If all stand by this rule in mind, advertisements should not be the blame for obesity.

Marketing Strategies

We live in a consumerism society. There are advertisements everywhere we look. In the past week I’ve encountered a couple different marketing strategies when I went to the mall. When I went into Macys, my friends and I were browsing around the make up section. There were people who were working on the floor who insisted on doing a free make up trial on each of us, and we would also get a free product without any purchase. We were quite skeptical about this offer so we denied, but the sales person was very insisting so we all sat on their chair and got our make up done. After they did our make up, they convinced us to get the starter kit for a special and limited price. They informed us that Madonna uses the same makeup products. The salesperson used a celebrity to try to lure us into buying the product. I found this strategy not effective. No matter which celebrity uses it, if it does not fit me, I will not buy it. They should have a different approach when trying to sell their make up. Another strategy that I found was when I went to Target. My experience at Target was much like the example that was used in the textbook about Wal-Mart. There were signs everywhere “Price Cuts” “Lowest Value”, on these signs there were the previous prices on there, so we can compare and see how much we are actually saving if we buy the products now. I have to admit that this strategy works on me, I always go to Target and come out with more than I plan to.

Evaluating Evidence

Evaluating evidence is one of the topics that are discussed in this chapter. I found this to be very informative and interesting. The textbook discussed about direct experience and false memories. Sometimes direct experiences are not as reliable as it seems. Our brains tend to interpret the experience rather than record the sensory experience. False memories are just as believable as real memories. This occurs when one alters their own memories, creating false memories, and actually believing them, which makes them seem realistic. This is also known as false memory syndrome. Researchers also suggest that false memory occurs for people who do not engage in critical thinking about their memories, being more attentive and analytical about events can prevent false memories. I found this to be very interesting because there are times were I recall a memory but then question about whether or not if it really happened. This happens not too frequently, only with events that happened long time ago.

Perspectives on UFO

There are many different perspectives on the existence of the unidentified flying objects, also commonly known as UFO. Scientists Edward Condon, J. Allen Hynek and Royston Paynter all have different views on this topic. Condon believes that there needs to be more official proof, although the UFO have interesting evidence, there needs to be a specific study on it in order for there to have credible evidence. He also believes that the sightings have a lot to do with meteorology and not another life form from elsewhere. Hynek believes that there are aliens that exist but there needs to be a more in depth study of UFOs’. There needs to be more proof of UFO sightings in different countries in order to be supported. Lastly, Paynter is the most skeptical about UFOs’, although there is evidence of the sightings, there needs to be more physical evidence in order to support these conclusions. I believe Paynter makes the best argument because if there are physical evidence of aliens before anyone can fully believe the existence of aliens.

Wisdom and Knowledge

The definition of wisdom and knowledge may seem similar but it is actually very different. Wisdom is based on how you utilize your knowledge and having knowledge is based on information or experience. I believe we are acquiring knowledge in college. Although we are acquiring knowledge in college, we are also utilizing that information or knowledge to acquire wisdom as well. I also believe that everyone has a different way of utilizing their knowledge from college, we can base their level of wisdom off their actions. Wisdom comes with time, the older someone get, their level of maturity also develops more, that is why older people often have a different perspective or stance on certain situations than the younger generation. For an example, learning from our past experiences, we learn from it and then we utilize what we have learned when we were younger into our decision making today, this shows wisdom. Wisdom comes with knowledge, therefore I believe the information has made us more knowledgeable, in order to be more wise.

What is Language?

In this week’s reading, chapter three discusses about the functions of language. The functions of language include informative, directive, expressive and ceremonial language. I found this to be interesting because I never realize that there were different types of language. Informative language is stating true and false statements, direct statements. Directive language is to direct actions. Expressive language is used to show emotions, the text gave an example of expressive language is usually used in poetry because there are many emotive words to bring forth emotions. Lastly, ceremonial language is used in formal situations such as greetings. One example would be shaking hands with someone. All the different functions of language taught me that under certain circumstances, certain language should be used. Some may be appropriate to use in certain situations than others. These functions are important to understand in order to have good communication skills. The text made a valid point that language transmits cultural concepts and traditions, which I find to be very true because not every culture use the same languages as Americans.

Rhetorical Devices

In the past week or so, I’ve used rhetorical devices when talking to my friends. One of the more common one I use is sarcasm. Sarcasm is the use of ridicule, insults, and taunting or caustic irony. I use sarcasm so often that it comes off a little natural for me. For an example, my friends and I would always joke around and make mean jokes to each other, so to let them know it is not funny, I would say, “That was so funny, I forgot to laugh!” and usually they would stop after that because they know that I did not find their joke humorous. Another rhetorical device I use often would be hyperbole. Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration or overstatement to distort the facts. When I’m really hungry, I usually exaggerate and say, “ Wow, I am so hungry that I can eat a whole cow.” Realistically, I would never be able to eat a whole cow, but it was a exaggerated statement to show how hungry I was.

Sally Ride

According to chapter 1, the qualities of being a good critical thinking would be to have the following skills: analytical skills, effective communication, research and inquiry skills, flexibility and tolerance for ambiguity, open minded skepticism, creative problem solving, attention, mindfulness curiosity and collaborative learning. All these characteristics are important to be a good critical thinker. Sally Ride exemplifies these qualities because she uses these characteristics of being a critical thinker to achieve her goals in life. For instance, she has a double major in English and Physics, got her PH.D from Stanford University, served as campcon for shuttle flights and helped create NASA’S office of exploration. From the many accomplishments, she also written children books on her experience as an astronaut, and started her own organization “Sally Ride Science”, which encourage young girls to develop more interest in science and also to help them to develop their skills such as leadership, comprehension and communication skills.

Generalizations

Applying generalizations to particular cases can help us make better decisions in life. This applies when statistics are used to generalize a specific case. As said in the book, this particular type of inductive reasoning can help improve personal lives as well. In the book, there is an example given to help prove that all women prefer to be taken out on a romantic outing rather than a scale. The dependent premises of this example help the husband to conclude to take the wife out on a dinner, instead of buying her a new bathroom scale for Valentines Day. Based on the statistics of “what women prefer for valentines day”, he was able to conclude that his original idea was not a very smart one. However, this process of reasoning is only strong if the premises are credible. For an example, if the husband was told that most women would love to receive a cat for valentine’s day, then this would not be a credible source because not everyone like cats. Instead of this Valentine’s day being a successful one, it would probably turn into a disaster.

Evolution and Beliefs

Dawkins believes that evolution and a belief in god to be incompatible because Dawkins disagrees with the idea of god being the “mover” of everything. He states that, when many people are in doubt of the creator of all things, the answer must be God. He believes that calling the “big bang singularity” god is very misleading. He also argues the proof that Aquinas presented is not valid, and does not support his theory. If Aquinas were alive today, Aquinas can also respond to Dawkins argument by saying how he also does not have valid supporting proof that there isn’t a God. If Dawkins can in fact provide proof that God is not the creator of everything, then Aquinas theory would be invalid. However, this topic of evolution and belief has always been a very controversial topic. There will always be an everlasting debate of whether of these are true.

Career Options

One of the most important aspects of choosing a career, would be to identify your passion, what it is that you love to do, your, and something that would make you happy. I use the process of elimination to help with my decision-making. Not only do I use this to help choose my career, but I also apply this to help my daily decision-making. I sort my priorities, from what I believe to be more important down to the least. By prioritizing my goals, it helps me achieve one thing at a time. By using deductive reasoning, I can list out all the possible career options, and eliminate it by going through my three main aspects of choosing my career choice. Once I have narrowed down to one possibility, all my efforts will go towards it. Choosing a career is not just any decision that one makes. It needs commitment and motivation in order to be successful. Therefore, it is incredibly important for one to take the process of deciding on a career option very seriously.

Organizational Relationships

Relationships between team leaders and team members are very important. As said in chapter 4, this requires the manager and the members of the group to participate on decision making. Without the participation of both parties, it is impossible to have a cooperative team, which would be very difficult to complete tasks and duties together. The team leader has the important role of leading the members, and guiding them to develop a productive group. It is also the leader's job to make sure the relationships between the members are good. Another note that is important, is for the team leader and the team members to communicate in order to have a efficient working group. If negotiation is needed, it is the department's job to figure this out, deciding which department would have the final say or which needs approval. All in all, organizational relationships in all aspects are significant to have a successful productive group.

Dr. Antonia Novello

In the article"Outside the Box" Dr.Novello used cause and effect inductive reasoning in seeking solutions to one of the key problems of smoking among adolescences. She specifically stated that the increase of children smoking happened in 1988, which is the time when the Camel cigarette ads were displayed. As Surgeon General, she addressed this issue by educating students in school and she also ban cigarette and alcohol ads that targeted children. Since the effect of the ads increased the rate of youth and smoking, she decided to solve this issue by targeting what caused the problem, which is banning these ads that influence the youth to smoke. Dr.Novello was also responsible to help bring awareness to other major problems in the youth community such as domestic violence and AIDS. I believe that Dr.Novello's approach to these issues was a very smart thing to do, it is important to inform and to educate the youth on how the media advertises tobacco influence them to participate. It is important for not only youth but everyone to know how it is very harmful to one's health.

Inductive Argument

Inductive argument happens very often in our daily life without us realizing it. Inductive argument reasons by concluding with educated guesses. For an example, I have the same professor for two of my classes. My professor decided to cancel our afternoon class due to a field trip she needed to attend to. The field trip is from 9 A.M to 5 P.M. Therefore, my teacher is probably going to cancel our morning class as well. To prove the validity of this reasoning, I broke it down. My teacher canceled our afternoon class because she will be gone for a field trip. Since the field trip will be happening during the hours of 9 to 5, based on these premises, I concluded that it is very likely my professor will cancel our morning class at 9 A.M as well. The next morning, I received an email from my professor confirming that both of our classes will be canceled. It is very common to encounter errors in inductive arguments because it all relies on assumptions and using your very own logical reasoning. However, in this case, my conclusion was right using inductive reasoning.

Deductive Arguments

There are three types of deductive arguments: arguments by elimination, arguments based on mathematics and arguments from definition. All these types can be used in a everyday basis. Argument by elimination is eliminating all the possibilites of an argument and will be only be left with one. In the story, "Silver Blaze", Holmes used this to eliminate the suspects one by one, leaving with only one conclusion. Arguments based on mathematics are based on the calculation of the argument. It is like solving word problems in daily life situations. Arguments from definition is based on meaning, or definition of a term or a stating logical facts. All three types of deductive argument can be used in our every day life. Whether it is a small debate between friends, or a debate with those who have different opinions about a situation. All these types can help with establishing a valid argument. I found this chapter to be very helpful and informative. This will definitely help me with critical thinking in the future assignments.

Death Penalty

After reading the passages on the topic of death penalty, it is given that it is a very controversial topic. Many believe it is "cruel and unusual" and it is a "torturous and barbarous methods of punishment". Sister Helen Prejean believe accordingly to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, "who taught us not to return hate for hate and evil for evil" opposing the idea of death penalty. I agree with her reasoning, punishing murderers with death penalty would make us murderers as well. There needs to be another form of punishment, and death penalty should not be an option. What good will it bring by ending one's life as a punishment? Other enforcements may help punish convicts learn from their mistakes and give them a chance to change. I find death penalties to be very inhumane. Death penalty will not bring justice. If ending a life is way to punish someone then death penalty does not bring justice. Therefore, death penalty should be prohibited.

SIlver Blaze

In the story "Silver Blaze", Holmes tells Watson "when it comes to the art of reasoning, many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumptions", explaining that many people usually go off of their assumptions and opinions before looking for facts to support such reasoning. This usually results to a huge misunderstanding. There are ways to prevent this, simple solution known as deductive reasoning. Holmes uses this reasoning to eliminate suspects one by one, leaving him with a final conclusion.

Relying on opinions and assumption is a very common issue in general. However, it is more so common within communications and relationships. From personal experience, I've seen this happen quite often between my friends and I. During my senior of high school, I decided to plan a surprise birthday party for my best friend. However, planning this event was not an easy task. I asked a couple of my other friends to help with the party. To keep this a secret from my best friend, my other friends and I decided to meet up after school hours. The day before the party, my best friend and I got into a huge argument. She assumed that I was excluding her from my plans so she confronted me and she was really upset. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, so I pretended that me and my other friends planned to go to a concert without her. When the day came, the surprise turned out to be a success. In the end, my best friend felt horrible for acting the way she did and apologize. This is a perfect example to support what Holmes was explaining to,"When it comes to the art of reasoning, many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumptions."

Discussion Question #3

Just like any group, each group members have certain personal roles and tasks to contribute.In a critical thinking group, there are five main task roles. Which includes the information giver, information seeker, elaborator, initiator, and the administrator. Each of these roles are quite self explanatory. The information giver is the person who will present personal experiences or basic facts. The information seeker are responsible to clarify the facts that the information giver has presented. The elaborator is the one who will elaborate the points that the seeker has clarified, or to add any more input on the previous facts that were presented as well. The initiator has an important role to propose solutions or initiate any new ideas. Last but not least, the administrator has the role of keeping track of time and making sure each member is on track. Each of these roles have a significant contribution to the group in order for it to be organized and to run smoothly. I am usually the information seeker, I like to do elaborate from what the information giver presents, and I find additional information to confirm the data that was collected.

As for the personal roles there is a harmonizer, gatekeeper and sensor. The harmonizer make sure there isn't any tension. The gatekeeper is to help encourage participation from each group. The sensor recognize the emotions or relationship among group members. I usually play the role of being the harmonizer and senor, I personally do not like to work in a group with tension. With tension present in the group, it is a high chance of not being able to accomplish goals. I like to recognize the issue and settle it. Although I usually take on certain roles and tasks, I am open to other responsibilities of a group.

Week #2:Discussion Question 2

I don't think there has ever been a time where I have lost a friend when it came to standing up for an issue. However, there was a time where me and my friend got into an argument because we had different views about a situation. This happened during my junior year of high school. One of my best friend went off to college, and he started to tell me about all the new things that he's been doing in school. This involved things such as experimenting with drugs, excessive partying and he started doing really bad in school. I was really disappointed in him. I told him how I felt about his new lifestyle, I encouraged him to stop doing drugs and he should remember the reason why he is in school. We got into a huge fight and he told me that I was being close minded and he does not think there is anything wrong with his life style. I stand firm to my ground, I did not want to push him to the point where I would feel like his parent, so I just let him do what he wanted to do. For the longest, we weren't on speaking terms. After his third quarter, he called me one night and he told me he's getting dismissed from the university. He finally came to his senses that he should have listened to me and stopped when he had the chance to. Eventually, we patched things up and became good friends again.

Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage

President Obama's position is consistent in regarding same sex marriage and his belief in equal rights and opportunities for all. Although Obama opposes legalizing same sex marriage federally, he supports all civil unions in which will provide equal benefits for all same sex couples. Obama refuses to legalize same sex marriage due his personal religious beliefs, nonetheless he believes gay and lesbian couples should also receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples. His position may seem hypocritical. However, Obama did not directly say he was against same sex marriage. Obama is doing what he can to support same-sex couples, giving them the benefits of human beings, while maintaining his religious beliefs.

Based on Obama's beliefs, he would likely agree to the response of Nava and Dawidoff's argument. Hence the fact that it argues that prohibiting same-sex marriage would disregard their basic rights as human beings. As this is part of what Obama believes, it is likely that he would support both sides of argument.

Introductory Post

Hello class! I am currently a sophomore. My major is Hospitality Recreation Tourism Management and a minor in Business. I don't have much communication experience. However, I've taken Comm 20 in Fall 2010. A random fact about me is that I like to bake!