Week of November 12 - November 18: #3

One concept that I found interesting in the Boss text was empiricism. (I found this under the "Assumptions Underlying Science" section on page 369.) This is exactly the belief I used to judge my coworker (mentioned in my last post). Empiricism, as defined in the text, is "the belief that our physical senses are the primary source of knowledge." As much as we all don't want to think that we do this, it is one of the most basic assumptions of science. I think that we just automatically do this because it's an instinct we have to protect ourselves. For example, we may see someone sketchy walking down the street. It is possible that they could be very friendly, but we wouldn't want to risk the fact that they could harm us so we would probably avoid them the best we can. Another example is the opposite; if we see someone nice and friendly, we probably would approach them and say hello.

Week of November 12 - November 18: #2

I recently started working at a retail store early in September and I had to be trained to use the cash register (along with seven other employees) a week after I started. I remember that there was one female employee that seemed to be somewhat rude to me. She had to share a cash register with another employee next to me and was taking up all the space (there is very little room at the counter). She appeared to be extremely standoffish and had a very sour look on her face. However, as I worked with her more, I know now that I just interpreted things wrong because I used her physical attributes to cloud my judgment (empiricism). She could have been having a really bad day, and I used that to define her. I realize now that she is a lot of fun to work with and is someone that I can relate to. Once I found out actual facts instead of just random guesses about her, I now know what type of person she is. Even though she left our store now, I now consider her my favorite coworker.

Week of November 12 - November 18: #1

"Today will be a day to remember -- full of romance, intrigue, secrets and even one or two dramatic revelations! You will be in the thick of things right away, first thing in the morning -- so make sure you get a great breakfast and are prepared for some roller coaster hours. You are a featured player in this daytime drama, and whether or not you are the hero of the story is completely up to you. If you want to stir up some trouble, go for it! You are ready to deal with the fallout." (Shine from Yahoo!)

This prediction is very inaccurate. It does not come anywhere close with describing how my day went because it was very uneventful; I went to work early in the morning for 4.5 hours, arrived home, then took a three hour nap. I think horoscopes are very generic and can mean a lot of things to everyone. It depends on who you are as a person and how you interpret the things that life gives you. You could be looking for all the true things in a horoscope, but I think that it's very random and could definitely be coincidences. Yes, this prediction is falsifiable. There are many things that could happen leading to the inevitable conclusion of this horoscope being false. One example, as I already gave, was describing my entire day. It did not include any romance, secrets, or dramatic revelations. Perhaps it would have been a better prediction if I ate a "great" breakfast, or if I stirred up some trouble.

Week of November 5 - November 11: #3

One section that I found quite interesting was Credibility of News Coverage. I found it very sad that the news media seems to only tell us information that keeps us watching. It seems that half of Americans don't trust news coverage and many believe that they are biased. There is no way of finding out if that's true, but we do know that they get more money if there are more viewers. Sadly, there are people out there who don't care what they have to do receive better benefits. This section also goes on to talk about reporters exaggerating specific details in a story or even taking certain parts out to keep the news interesting. This is not fair to people watching the news - they want to watch it so that they can get real information. People actually want to know what's going on around the world and if news reporters can't tell them that, then who can?

Week of November 5 - November 11: #2

Sadler believes that students should not plagiarize and gives examples to back up her reason why she thinks that it doesn't benefit the student's learning. If ignored, it also shows that it may be okay to cheat your way toward success. I believe that Sadler makes the better argument because she uses valid statements. On the other hand, Hunt thinks that plagiarism can actually help a student learn. Although I can see where he comes from, I don't think that he is looking at the bigger picture. First of all, the person that was plagiarized from probably would not be happy in this situation. It would not be fair to the original writer because they spent time putting in effort to write whatever it may be, compared to the minute it took to copy and paste. Although I don't agree with Hunt, I don't think it's a problem to read someone else's work to get ideas. But to submit work that is not yours? You shouldn't be surprised if you end up receiving a ZERO.

Week of November 5 - November 11: #1

I believe that the media is great use for communication. Companies use the media to advertise new products and attract consumers. They also use repeating symbols so that they can be distinguished from other brands. For example, Target always shows the red target and the white dog in their advertisements. Without media, we wouldn't have as many jobs and creative outlets for people to use. On the other hand, the media can also be a very bad way of communication. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter can be poisonous; people say things on there that they wouldn't dare say in person and act differently. Some people have also become addicted and stay online for hours and hours without any real human communication. I believe that this can be very dangerous; people, especially teenagers and young adults, should be talking face to face instead of via chat. Without being able to communicate to people in real life, you would have an extremely hard time looking for a job (unless you plan to do something online.)

October 29 - November 4: #3

One concept that I enjoyed reading and learning about this week was Common Fallacies in Advertisements. I thought it was interesting how marketers use scare tactics, the fallacy of popular appeal, snob appeal, and the fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority. Scare tactics are always used tell us that we need that item to be better. As Boss says, scare tactics almost always lead to the fallacy of questionable cause. This fallacy is that something better will happen if a product is used. Another fallacy, the fallacy of popular appeal, creates the impression that a lot of people use a product. This makes you, the consumer, want to purchase it as well. Snob appeal is a type of popular appeal that associates a product with someone who is very well-liked. By doing this, that someone's life seems very desirable. Lastly, the fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority happens when advertisements include a celebrity to promote a certain product. Sadly, this is a very successful way of marketing. Many people have their favorite celebrities and when a product is promoted, it is very easy to find yourself wanting it.

Week of October 29 - November 4: #2

I believe that Margo G. Wootan's argument regarding government regulation of children's food advertising was more effective than Robert Liodice, simply because Wootan used pathos to connect the problem with her readers. Wootan made it known that she did not like how non-nutritive foods were advertised because it was affecting the health of children in negative ways. She wrote that children are attracted to enticing food advertisements, thus creating a “need” to have certain foods that may not be healthy. As a Nutrition major, I do understand where she is coming from. I may be biased, but I also have experienced being attracted to food advertisements when I was younger. I’m sure many of you wanted to go to McDonalds for the happy meal toy too! On the other hand, Liodice did not seem to care that children were affected. In fact, he states that food companies have been making food BETTER for them! He shows no signs of pathos and even says that “childhood and adult obesity stands out as one of the most “curable” of them all.”