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.