October 15-21 Question 3

The concept that I chose for this week is the concept of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for evidence that is in line with our assumptions or original ideas and dismisses evidence that is against our assumption. The reason that I chose this topic is because confirmation bias happens all the time without our being conscious of it. For example, in the up and coming election of Obama and Romney, it is possible that someone who is originally a republican or who is originally a democrat might only look for information and statistics that buffer their nominee for their view. Without even knowing we have already decided who we want to vote for without looking at all of the facts and all of the discussions between the two nominees. Also, it is possible that with the information that’s given, we will distort it in a way that suits our purposes. Confirmation bias is a very dangerous thing and can lead us away from being good critical thinkers. We need to be able to consider all aspects of an idea to be the best critical thinker that we can.

October 15-21 Question 2

Although Condon believes that UFOs do not exist, he states “… any scientist with adequate training and credentials who does come up with a clearly defined, specific proposal for study should be supported …” Condon does not seem to have enough substantial evidence to argue that scientists should not study UFOs and instead, he states that schools should not discuss this phenomenon or give credit to students who are finding sources from UFO books and magazine articles. Unlike Condon, Hynek believes that UFOs are worth studying. He states that scientists must start from scratch with data gathering and data processing. I believe that Hynek makes the best argument. He believes that a small percentage of sightings are alien space craft, but he makes it known that the only way to prove such a thing is to collect new and legitimate information. Paynter is skeptical, but he believes that there is a slight chance that UFOs exist. He writes in a way to persuade readers that there is no such thing as UFOs, saying things like “just because a given UFO sighting cannot be explained it does not follow that it has been proved to be an alien space ship,” and “there is no probative physical evidence that compels us to conclude that aliens are visiting the Earth.”

October 15-21 Question 1

The difference between knowledge and wisdom is that knowledge is having the facts and data which can be available to anyone while wisdom is the ability to make good decisions and give good advice, the ability to understand. At college I believe that I’m acquiring both knowledge and wisdom depending on the situation. For some classes I feel like I’m just acquiring knowledge and not complete understand to the point where I’d call it wisdom. I say knowledge because the class is pure memorization and about the ability to retain knowledge, not so much as understand what I’m learning. Wisdom is the ability to know how to put the information given, the knowledge, to use and into action. I think that the information age has made us more knowledgeable and less wise. This is because we live in a fast pace information society where search engines are our first resort. We’re bombarded with information and are forced to skim looking for key words and not fully understanding the information.

October 1-7 Question 3

One concept that I thought was interesting was another rhetorical device. A dysphemism is the opposite of an euphemism, it produces negative effect. I don't usually hear people using dysphemisms, however I always here people exaggerating and using euphemisms. The book says that people use this method to appeal to one group while out casting another which I thought was very interesting. 

The time that this would be seen is when younger kids form their own little groups and outcast other people. I think that from now on I will most likely notice the use of dysphemisms and be aware of the negative effect that it might cause. I don't think it's necessary to use dysphemisms, but I do still think that it's interesting. Dysphemisms can be used to help an argument or statement of an idea. The uses of rhetorical devices can change the decisions of your audience on whether they agree or disagree with you.

October 1-7 Question 2

One of the rhetorical devices that I have used in the past few weeks is euphemism. Euphemism is the replacement of a negative term with a neutral or positive one to cover up or sugarcoat the truth. One example that I have used in the last 2 weeks is  when one of my coworkers accidentally burned something in the oven. Instead of saying, you burned that, I just simply stated that the pastry was heavily toasted. That is an example of euphemism. Another rhetorical device that I have used is a hyperbole. A hyperbole is a type of rhetoric that uses exaggeration or overstatement to distort the facts. One instance of using a hyperbole is when I was hungry and I said that I'm dying of starvation. I'm obviously not dying of starvation and I'm exaggerating the situation to make it more serious than it actually is. Rhetorical devices can be used to sway your audience and convince them of your point or idea. Euphemism is a very strong rhetorical device.

October 1-7 Question 1

Sally ride is described to be a very good critical thinker. Some of the ways that Sally Ride distinguished herself as a good critical thinker was the way that she could analyze situations. She was able to recognize problems and find the heart of the problems. In addition to her analytic expertise, Ride was a very creative person. Sally was able to problem solve in ways that nobody else could think up of. Ride was also very good at communicating with other people. Because of this, Ride had effective communication skills which led to her writing and speaking skills. She was aware of able to speak to others in an effective manner. Overall these characteristics made Ride a very good critical thinker. In order to become a good critical thinker one must learn these skills and abilities. In my opinion, I think the most important skill is to effectively asses the situation and find the heart of the problem.