Discussion #3 Discuss further

A topic that i would have liked to discuss a little bit more is on the subject of breaking down an argument and labeling each piece. I think that topic could have been touched on a little bit more, because for me at first it was confusing with all the new terminology and vocab that were used to explain it. I also felt that maybe there could have been more examples showing how its done, because there are many different forms of arguments and if we were able to see what each one looked like it would have proved to be more helpful to me. I also wish we would have discussed further the differences of inductive and deductive reasoning was, because they are so similar ans easy to confuse. Maybe have a little more explanation on that topic as well. But all together i felt like we stressed a good amount of emphasis on the each topic.

Discussion #2 Favorite Thing about class

My favorite thing about class was how the textbook was not only informative but interesting to read. It did a very good job relating its topics and making the course matter socially relevant and significant. Most of the time i found myself really enjoying reading the chapters from the book each week. I learned something new eachtime, and it was very easy to take what i learned and try to apply it to my everyday life. Often times i would use some of the vocab when talking with friends, and when i hear arguments or read them I find myself breaking it down and analyzing them, like i was shown through the text. What i didnt like about this class was the time restraint on when you were allowed to post on your blogs. I think the main reason why people chose to take this class online was because of their busy schedules and lack of time, so putting the 12 hour between each post was especially frustrating and stressful. The other thing i did not really appreciate too much was the fact that we had soo many group projects, that required us to meet in person. Again the main reason why people take this online course is because they are too busy or dont have enough time in their schedules to attend a regular class. The group projects were very stressful because so many people had

Discussion #1 What I have learned

During the course of this semester, some of the things that i have learned is about critical thinking and why its important to use critical thinking when making an argument or making decisions, as well as how emotion can sometimes alter our decisions and play an important role. We also learned about the nature and limitations of human knowledge, different types of evidence and errors in thinking, we learned about what a fallacy was and the many different forms of a fallacy and how to recognize a fallacy in everyday arguments and conversations as well as discussing strategies that can be used to avoid making a fallacy. I also learned how to recognize the parts of an argument and break it down into the premise, the conclusion, and premise and conclusion indicators. Another one of the important things we learned is how to distinguish between deductive and inductive arguments, and evaluate the characteristics of each, and lastly we learned about mass media and their marketing advertising techniques.

Discussion #3 Internet Age

I am definitely living in an internet age. Just five minutes ago i spent about three hours being completely bored with myself to the point where i created my own Twitter and Instagram account. The reason i did so was purely for the fact that i was bored and was hoping that these internet social networks would amuse me in moments like these. I sit in class and scroll through all my social networks. The internet has become addictive, and a major part of my day to day life. But for some its worse. Some spend all their time posting pictures of themselves every minute and updating status every second its crazy. Theres nothing people wont put on the internet anymore. We have all become accustomed to making the internet our diary. The way this genreation has been using the internet has become very unhealthy. We spend so much time focusing on the internet world we forget to live in the actual world, thats right in front of us. Social networking sites have also become instrumental in how the media tries to connect and communicate with us. Everything we learn, we primarily get it from facebook, twitter etc. first hand. It almost makes me wonder what will take over our lives next when the internet becomes out of style.

Discussion #2 Plagiarism Among College Students

Reviewing the "Internet Plagiarism Among College Students" I agree with and personally believe that Russell Hunt made the best argument towards the issue of plagiarism. Sadler gave reasons as to why plagiarism is wrong, and how it has negative effects to the academic communtiy, students, teachers and such. Hunt provides an sound argument about why we should be happy about Plagiarism and not look at it as a negative situation. He gave many reasons why, and also backed it up, and provided ample evidence as to how he has come to that certain conclusion and why he felt that way. Whereas Sadler just gave us, the normal story of plagiarism and it being negative, he just listed all things that were wrong, nothing convinced me to see the problem in his viewpoint.

Discusssion #1 Media Experiences

I think the biggest thing that the media has invovled in reinforcing my existing worldviews or values, is lately the KONY 2012 video that has been sweeping the nation about the children in africa who are being used as child soldiers and being kidnapped by a man named Joseph Kony. The invisible children organization created a thrity minute viral video that moved millions of people. Making people around the world suddenly aware, and actually aware of some of the problems thats not currently happening to themselves right now. It made people take a second to get out of their own lives and start caring about others who really need it. This video had such a big effect on me, that I have become obsessed with helping kids in africa anyway i can, even as far as trying to move to Africa. The video literally brought me to tears but im happy that it did, because it sparked something in me, and like me, it has done the same for everyone else who watched it. Changing forever my world views, and values.

Discussion #3 Product Placement

Product Placement is an advertising strategy in "which a real commercial product is used in fictional media and the presence of the product is a result of an economic exchange between the media company and the business that produces the product." Product placements usually goes undetected unless you are watching american idol where its quite evident that the brand coca cola wants you to know that each judge is drinking a coca cola type product in a big red cup. I have also noticed a lot of product placement in big action movies like Transformers and such. One thing i have noticed is that the Disney channel does a great job in ensuring that they do not advertise anything to their audience which is mostly children. They even go so far as not even having regular commercials or advertising during breaks in the show. In my own life I have experienced a sort of product placing, during my basketball games which are aired on TV, the refs make sure that the socks we are wearing only have one swoosh on each sock, so as though it doesnt make it look like we are trying to over promote a product. I didnt realize this at first, i thought it was quite silly for the referees to be so serious about a small insignificant logo on a sock. But now that i have read about the different advertising strategies companies use, i realize that this might be one of them. Something so little as sock, companies go to great lengths to try and figure out ways to market it out to the public so that we dont forget their brand name.

Discussion #2 Regulating Food Advertising to Children

When evaluating both arguments of Wootan and Liodice I can only say that both standpoints make great arguments. Wootan's argument is about why the CSPI supports the legislation to regulate  food advertising to children. Even though his intentions mean well because essentially all their trying to do is protect our countries children and keep them healthy, i just felt that it was being very restrivtive and was taking it way too far. In my opinion i really think its the parents responsibility of what their children are consuming. Also if child obesity is such a problem i think we should be installing more excercise and get fit program for kids instead of telling them what is "good food" or "bad foods." His argument only brought about what the adveritsing agencies need to fix or do not really providing facts except about talking how child obesity exists. Now Liodice on the other hand takes the opposite stance of the situation. His argument provides a lot of opinons a responses to Wootans article, he talks about preserving the first amendment and how ridiculous he feels that the guidlines are restricting. When evalutating i would most likey lean toward Liodice position, its more effective and valid to me than Wootan.

Discussion #1 Marketing Strategies

This week I have encountered quite a few marketing strategies presented to me from either companies, stores, or salespeople. As a consumer i give in to many of the ploys marketing teams create. I am that consumer who feel guilty when i dont buy something in a store when i walk in and immeadiately am greeted by a salesperson, especially when i have spent a great deal of time in a store, i will eventually want to give in and buy something just for the heck of it. I also am the shopper that will go to a store and buy the complete opposite of what i originally came in the store to get. I do tend to bite for the impulse items that are strategically placed buy the cashier and at the end of the aisle. In a closer evaluation I do tend to do most of my needless spending when I am nearing the end of my shopping trip. So i guess you could say i would what you would call an extreme impulsive shopper. Almost everyday i am bombarded by one of these marketing strategies. Its kind of sad how easily i will give in, but that only goes to show how effective these strategies actually are. I can name and point out any brand logo or slogan but cant remeber my homework for the next day, so thats just another example of how advertising and consumerism has enveleoped my entire environment. The least effective strategies i feel like are the marketing strategies i see in magazines, i feel like its more believable when i actually see it in person. Product placement, jingles, i believe are the most effective.

Discussion #3 False Memory Syndrome

False memory syndrome is the recalling of events that never happened, and it sometimes happens most occasionally with crime scenes, and the retelling of any big event that one may have witnessed. I know that from my own personal experience its hard for me to remember correctly how a  conversation that was just had went, then a huge crime scene investigation. Sometimes when there is big drama people tend to like to enhance the drama because its more compelling. People love action and being in the middle of it, so their memorys can be a little slanted when telling their own stories. What happens is people may accidentally misinterpret a situation and totally misjudge and they recreate a situation. 

Discussion #2 UFOs

Condon believes that UFO study is a useless topic of study and that scientists shouldnt waste their time on it because it hasnt been a fruitful adventure but he also believes that people with good ideas and for specific studies in this field should be supported, which is very contradictive. Contradicting statements make an argument weak and invalid. Hynek supports the study of UFO sightings. He believes that the unexplained Ufo phenomena are too often dissmissed by authorities and as a result have not been studied in a systematic scientific matter. He believes we should approach this matter with the most mathematical data gathering and processing way possible to be able to get the most effective report. He argument is dealing with empirical reasoning. Because each of his reasonings involve actual real data i believe that his argument is a strong one. Paynter believes that the existence of UFOs and alien abductions should be conducted "according to the highest standards of scientific inquiry" without any physical evidence he argues we should remain skeptical about these claims. He believes that the UFO community should adopt scientific standards of investigation and proof in their work, with probative evidence and rigorous reasoning. His argument I believe proves to be strong, because you cant argue about whether somthing is real, if you have no real evidence.

Discussion #1 Wisdom or knowledge?

From the text it says that knowledge is "information or experience that we believe to be true amd for which we have justification or evidence. Wisdom is the experience or its when you apply that knowledge you have to create a better understanding of something. They say older people are wise and have wisdom, and that may be because older people have been throught things, they have experienced more things than anybody else, simply because they are older and have lived longer. Wisdom is that knowledge that is invaluable and ageless, and it never changes. Wisdom is something that all people can relate to and is true for all circumstances. Some people may have the knowledge to do something but may not acquire the wisdom one may need to accomplish it effectively and successfully. At college I believe on the academic scale we obtaining knowledge but outside of the classroom we are gaining wisdom from life experiences when applying that wisdom. I believe that the information age is creating a genreration that is a lot wiser, because nowadays knowlegde is much more easily obtainable and so with that comes knowledge.

Discussion #1: Sally Ride Critical Thinking Characteristics

Ways in which Ride exemplifies the qualities of a good critical thinker is that she is a good analytical thinker. Her analytical skills were one of the things that made her stand out and become the youngest and the first femal American astronaut in space. To be a good critical thinker you have to have exceptional communication skills that include listening, speaking, and writing skills, Ride represents those qualities as she double majored in English and Physics. Because of her "exemplary communication skills, Ride was chosen to serve as capcom for the first and second shuttle flights." Ride also took her communication skills to address the UN and put together the report for NASA, Leadership and the American Future in Space. Shes also written childresn books. A good critical thinker needs good research and inquiry skills. Ride shows that by her love of solving problems. It is said that her college friends describe her as being able to quickly think and figure out the heart of situations. She was also able to use her research and inquiry skills to articuluate and develop strategies to meet her life goals.

Discussion #3: Critical Thinking Using Emotions

Using emotion when thinking critically can have positive and negative effects. In the case of Rosa Parks and how she used her emotions to think critically sparked a civil rights movement. Her one action that was guided by the emotion of being tired of having to always give in and accept being treated like a second class, rather than an equal human being. Because of her emotional critical thinking this allowed the whole country to be inspired to speak up for themselves, and create a civil rights movement that shook the country. If it wasn't for her brave and impulsive actions I probably wouldn't be here right now, doing the things that i am. A way thinking critically can be a negative is when people become hindered by their negative emotions and let negative stereotypes and anxieties stemming from unresolved past experiences effect their thinking and decision making.

Discussion #2: Existence of God

Dawkins claims that evolution and a belief in God are incompatible because he came up with the opposing argument that for Thomas Aquinas's statement that "nothing that we know looks designed unless it is designed" when Darwin came up with the clever reasoning of evolution by natural selection which by nature produces an impeccable "simulacrum of design, mounting prodigious heights of complexity and elegance." This reasoning completely counters Aquinas's proof of the existence of God, which makes it incompatible with Dawkins claims. Aquinas might respond by saying that natural selection could only happen if a certain force were to initiate the sequences of selection. He might say that God was the reason for it and only a higher being would have the ability to create such a force of nature. Aquinas might also say that in order for evolution to start then that initiator must be God because nothing acts, or is caused, or exist without a prior initial being of whom we might all call God.

Discussion #1: Identifying strengths for career

I believe that identifying ones strengths is very important in the process of discovering what career one should invest in. My strengths is my ability to communicate well with all types of people in all types of situations and environments. Another strength of mine is my positivity which i can use to make the most out of all situations i am involved in. Another admirable strength that i have is my ability to maximize each and all situations and be able to make me and the people around me better. I am also a very consistent individual, my consistency is a strength that makes me a very loyal and trustworthy person. And lastly my ability to empathize with others and be able to relate well. These strengths of mine will help me to succeed in the future and create for myself a very diverse career path. Reasoning that i have found that i am best in is inductive reasoning, where I am able to start from specifics and then derive from a general rule, also conditioning reasoning, where i use my thinking using words such as if..and then.. and lastly reasoning that i prove to be best in comparative reasoning where i use my thinking to compare one thing to another. These reasoning skills and strengths will allow my decision process in finding the right career that fits for me a little bit easier. Hopefully not will only these strengths and reasoning skills help me find my career but also boost my performance once i am settled in that job.

Making Wrongful Generalizations

A situation in which i have experienced someone making wrongful generalizations about a characteristic of a population based on a sample from it, is when i was in high school i attended an all girls catholic school. Most people when told that this bit of information would automatically think that i was rich or gay. These people who were ready to make these assumptions were all based off of what they had seen on TV and other medias. Media plays a big role in  the illsuion of what Catholic all girl high schools are. People think there are promiscuous  teenage girls who wear short skirts and wear designer clothes, and drive BMWs and have "daddy" eating out of the palm of their hands, ready to  buy them anything they desire, and if that isnt the case then its the idea that you are gay if you willingly go to an all girls school. Neither which was the case for me, and pretty much everyone who attended my high school, but unfortunately that was the rep we were always given. Everywhere i went to introduce myself people would say "oh you must be rich" and when asked questions on what its like going to an all girls school the question "there must be a lot of lesbians at your school huh?" would always arise. These are all generalizations based on what people havae taken from their own experiences. Just because you might have known of a school with a lot of rich girls or lesbians, does not give someone the right to make a statement that generalizes the whole population.

Discussion #3 Dr. Novello

Ways in which Dr. Novello used cause and effect inductive reasoning in seeking a solution to the problem of smoking among children and teens is figuring out that the amount of kids and teens who smoked had started to rise right around the time Joe Camel ads were first being publicized. In this situation, the first Premise which is the cause that kids and teens are smoking. The second premise is that Joe Camel ad campaign starts off and garnered towards kids. The conclusion which is the effect is the fact that the number of teens who smoked began to increase dramatically the same time the ads were released. Dr. Novello used her inductive reasonings to conjecture that the reason for the dramatic increase is because of the cigarette ads. Another effect that helped resolved this issue is Dr. Novello installing a ban on cigarette and alcohol ads that targeted youth, and working towards educating the youth about the harmful effects of tobacco.

Discussion #1 Inductive Argument

An inductive argument that I have used this past week is when I was away in Louisiana with the basketball team. Our whole team takes up the whole 6th floor of the hotel. Its lights out time, and we are all in our own rooms getting ready to go to sleep, when I hear a shrill voice coming from the hallway. One of my teammates named Marisa is known for having a very clear and defining shrill-like voice. Without thinking I automatically shouted "Marisa keep it down, would ya?" So I automatically figured from my inductive reasoning that Marisa was the voice in the hallway. When breaking down this situation, the premises of this inductive argument is 1. There was a shrill voice be heard from the hallway of the 6th floor where my teammates were housed 2. Marisa, is known for having a very shrill-like voice. The conclusion to this inductive reasoning would be 3. That probably the shrill voice coming from the hallway belonged to my teammate Marisa. This argument is inductive because premise 2 was a generalization about my teammate Marisa, and my conclusion was a claim about a member of the population of what i generalized.

Discussion 3: Ultimatums

Everyone has been given an ultimatum before, whether you heard it when you were as a child from your parents trying to get you to behave, or whether the ultimatum was given from a boss, or even a partner. Most ultimatums are set up like a hypothetical statement or hypothetical syllogisms which are deductive arguments. An example of an ultimatum in the form of a hypothetical statement within a relationship, is if there was a married couple and the husband was an alcoholic. An ultimatum that the wife might give is "If you dont stop drinking and go to rehab, then I'll be forced to end this relationship and leave you." A conclusion that would logically follow from this ultimatum (assuming that the husband truly cares for his wife) he would do as she asked, and quit drinking and check into a rehab center. That would be the logical conclusion but might not always be the most popular. This ultimatum could go either hurt the relationship or enhance it, depending on how each person involved handled the situation. Like most ulitmatums, giving one can be quite arduous on the stability of any relatiosnhip. Its hard to give a threat and stick to it, and its hard to promise to abide by the ultimatum and follow through. Ultimatums can serioulsy enhance a relationship if both partners were serious about fixing the problem.

Death Penalty

In the Old Testament I recall some of the teachings that involved around the saying an "eye for an eye" but most Christian practices are formed from New Testament scirptures and the teachings of Jesus. Because the bible says an "eye for an eye" some Christians may think that should also be applied to for distribution in punishment. Those who disagree with Sister Helen Prejean might be advocates for the ideal of a punishment where its based on equality. Now the scriptural passage that says that in Jesus's teachings he says "not to return hate for hate and evil for evil" does prohibit the usage of the death penalty. If we are to not return the doings of hate against our fellow man, then that simply means we shouldnt be allowed to kill another man because of his wrong doings no matter the reason or rhyme. Because the bible also taught an "eye for an eye" Therefore a killing a murder would be a just punishment, in the eyes of the Old Testament.

Discussion 1: Sherlock Holmes

What I think what Sherlock Holmes means in saying "the difficulty, he maintains, is to detach the framework of undeniable fact from the embellishments of hearsay and reporters" is that it has shown to be quite difficult to get people to let go of what they think, and their own personal opinions rather than just focusing on the plain and simple truth. People tend to lie to themselves, or twist the truth to make it so that it caters toward their goals or intentions. So very often people forget to be unbiased and leave their own personal opinions aside when trying to make tough decisions or judgements. People like to think that they can believe and trust what they know, instead of keeping an open mind and  learning to question what you know. An example of a personal experience about giving into unsupported assumptions instead of believing the truth is about a guy friend i had who was having issues getting his girlfriend to believe that he wasn't cheating on her. The girlfriend had experienced some issues with trust in past relationships and still carried that with her onto her present relationship. Because she was hurt in her past relationship and was treated poorly, she had it fixed in her mind that all other guys would treat her the same way.  The girlfriend automatically deemed anything he could say or do as a chance to hurt her. She would believe all the rumors and the opinions of others rather than look for herself and assess the situation using her own judgements. She wanted to believe what everyone else wanted her to believe rather than see the truth, which was that she had a very faithful boyfriend who loved and adored her.

Discussion #3: Group Roles in Small Group Communication

Group Roles
 In Chapter 2 of the Group Comm book it presented techniques for impoving communicating in small groups. Some efficient ways to achieve successful communication in group setting  it to first set goals. Once the goal is identified, the group will then create an agenda, then the group will work on how best everyone in the group can deliberate and participate effectively and then lastly the group will establish roles and create networks. One of the most important aspects in effective group communication is making roles for the people in the group. Some types of group roles that prove to be helpful in group communication is: Information giver, Information seeker, Elaborator, Initiator, and Administrator. These roles include jobs that either have to do with providing facts, giving supplemental information to those facts, clarifying points to make sense of difficult info, finding solutions, and lastly supervising productivity. All these roles do their own individual part to complete successful group communication.

Discussion #2

2). After reading Chapter 6 in its entirety, answer the following question posed on page 169:  Has there ever been a time when you stood your ground on an issue despite the risk of losing your friends or even a job?  Discuss how your critical-thinking skills helped you to stand firm.

I have never personally been in a situation where I had to be forced to stand my ground on an issue, especially not one that was so controversial that I would have to risk friendships or a job. But I have witnessed friends in similar situations mentioned above. I once had a friend who had no problem with speaking up in class, and voicing her opinon. One day, the class was discussing the subject on abortion, and the popular opinon in the class was pro-choice, while my friend, religious as she was, stood for pro-life. The class had a ball interrogating her, each person adding their own little reason as to why she was wrong. The class quickly became very hostile. Under all that pressuse, I watched as my friend never waivered from her opinion or her beliefs, as her classmates, peers, and friends badgered her. The discussion started to get into personal territiories and I was very impressed with the way she handled herself. She didnt become angry, or frustrated. She was the picture of togetherness. Once she was able to get a word in, and capture the floor of the audience, she held their attention and even got some people to start thinking otherwise. She didnt give into any of the barriers of critical thinking such as Conformity, because easily she could have agreed with all her peers just to be accepted even though she doesnt really feel the same way. Also she couldve given into the barrier of Fear of Challenge, everyone in that class had something to say to everything she had an argument for and that could have gotten in the way of her effectively standing up for an issue she believed in. Without her great critical-thinking skills, I dont think she would have gotten through to some of her classmates who didnt have a stance on the issue. I also feel that it made her a stronger person to stand up against what all your peers think, I feel like if she can do that, then there are few things in this world that she wont be able to do. Standing up to your peers and holding an unpopular position is a difficult task, and one that I to this day still struggle with, but hope to get a lot better in.

Discussion Question 1

President Barak Obama opposes legalizing same-sex marriage on a federal level but supports civil unions and equal rights for same-sex couples.

I believe that President Barack Obamas stance on legalization of same-sex marriages is very consistent with his beliefs in equal rights and opportunites for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. His position is stating that he believes homosexuals should have all the rights any other person is guaranteed, he agrees with letting all people regardless of sexual orientation receive benefits such as preferential tax treatment, spousal Social Security and veteran's benefits, favorable immigration laws, property and support rights upon divorce and intestate succesion.What Obama does not seem to support is the legalization of same sex marriages seen by a federal level. An idea as to why, might be because it conflicts with his religion and he would like to see the institution of marriage being kept sacred. By supporting civil unions and equal rights for same-sex couples, it shows that Obama remains sympathetic to the rights of the citizens who classify as gay or lesbian, and would like to see them obtain any rights and benefits they need. Based off of these ideas I would confer that his stance on the legalization of same-sex couples remains consistent with his beliefs in equal rights and opportunites for all.

A response Obama would give to Nava and Dawidoffs argument would probably be  that he would agree with all of their arguments and probably shares their same view, for what it seems is that since Obama first started out as President his view on the same marriages was completely different as to what he supports currently. You could say his view points on the subject have been evolving ever since.

Introduction Post

Hello Everyone,

For starters, I am a sophomore here at SJSU. My major is in Communication Studies. I have never taken an online course so this would be my first. I'm eager to learn and explore a part of communication that is very foreign to me, so bear with me! Some of my hobbies are reading, playing video games such as COD and assassins creed, I am also into playing all kinds of sports from golf to basketball, you name it! So that's pretty much all you need to know, and all I care to share lol Excuse me for the very boring blog wall, I'm not very creative, and a tad bit lazy :)