Week of December 3 - December 9: #3

Throughout this semester, I think that the one concept that could be further discussed is group communication. It was pretty hard working with people I've never met or even seen. Just meeting up with them was somewhat difficult; everyone had their schedules planned out and was busy most of the time. I think that one of the things that would have helped us a lot was if we had discussed how to properly act in a group and how to share the decisions we make. Although it may seem as if it's not related to this class, I believe that it is because we will have to work with others in the future. We may be critical thinkers, but critical thinkers do not think alike and have different opinions. I think it would have been nice to discuss the chapter in the O'Hair and Wiemann book titled "What makes a good group?" I found a lot of things helpful in that section.

Week of December 3 - December 9: #2

One of my favorite things about this class was blogging. Blogging is not a new concept to me; however, blogging for class was! I really enjoy having new topics to discuss and blog about each week. What made it very interesting was being able to discuss the topics with the other students in our class. Because of this, I have learned a lot more. Having to remind myself to blog each week has taught me to depend less on my professors; because they remind you online, you have no physical reminder. I think this is a great thing to carry with you in the future. Not all professors are going to remind you that a test is coming up, or homework is due the next class meeting. I have learned a lot, especially by meeting deadlines no matter what happens during my week. My least favorite thing about this class were the group projects. I found it very difficult to find a mutual meeting time with my group members; everyone was always very busy. When it was time to submit the essay, it was hard asking everyone for their parts because it always seemed as if they weren’t prepared. I think this class would be a little better if there were less group projects. I think it helps with working together, but I think there are more negative results than positive.

Week of December 3 - December 9: #1

Something that I enjoyed learning in this class over the course of this semester was about advertising. It was interesting to see how advertisements can be deceptive in different ways. I learned about some common fallacies that happen during advertisements and also how marketers use different tactics to get a consumer’s attention. This shows us that advertisers analyze how society makes decisions about things and uses that to get what they want. This helped me analyze the different ways that advertisements may attract me, thus using that to decide whether or not I want to purchase that item or do what it says, for example. I have also learned that advertisers use celebrities to endorse certain products, causing people who like the celebrity to be attracted to the products that they are advertising. I have definitely been that person that bought something because it was attached to a celebrity I liked. Now I know that the celebrity may not have even used it before!

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.”

Week of October 29 - November 4: #1

During this past weekend, Bath and Body Works had a promotion where customers could receive a free mini candle if they knew about the offer. This was a great marketing strategy to attract people that may not be interested in their products, or people that have never bothered to shop at the store / online. They also included a survey at the end of the receipt, stating that you can get a "$10 off a $30 purchase" after completing the survey. This is a type of marketing research, specifically survey research, used to "collected information and opinions about a product." The company uses it to improve their products and meet customers' needs. They also add the coupon at the end to get customers back in their store. It is hard to say which marketing strategy is least effective because they all work in different ways. In my opinion, I believe that an ineffective marketing strategy is if an advertisement is not targeted towards a certain group (for example: adults, females, etc).

Week of October 15 - October 21: #3

One thing I thought was interesting while reading was "Group Pressure and Conformity" on page 120 of Boss' Think text. Boss states that "group pressure can influence individual members to take positions that they would never support by themselves". It is very easy to make decisions based on what other people do. For example, if you go out with a group of friends and they all buy a nice refreshing drink, you'd want to buy one too! In a more serious event, group pressure also happens during bullying. If a group of people are making fun of one person, chances are that other people will make fun of that person too. It was also interesting to read that there was an experiment conducted in which someone told six people in a group to give the wrong answers, and they all listened! This just shows how group pressure is incredibly influential in life.

Week of October 15 - October 21: #2

Condon seems to believe that over the past twenty one years, UFO reports have not added anything new to scientific knowledge. He believes that this has happened because it has been very little studied, something that Hynek seems to believe as well. Hynek believes that authorities brush the UFO "phenomena" away, thus having nobody to study it. It sounds as if he wants this phenomenon to be studied, starting from the beginning and staying in contact with everyone - globally. Paynter believes that "without physical evidence, we should remain skeptical about these claims". I believe that Paynter makes the best argument. It is hard to believe that something is the truth, especially if there is no evidence given. He states that there is "no alien space ship on display in a museum somewhere, in fact, there is no object in existence on Earth of which we can say 'this must have been made by aliens'" (p. 128). He also states that "unidentified" (the "U" in "UFO") does not mean it was made by aliens, it could also mean something that can't be recognized.

Week of October 15 - October 21: #1

According to Boss in the Think text, knowledge is information or experience that we believe to be true and for which we have justification or evidence (p. 97). I believe that someone who exhibits wisdom is someone who uses knowledge to critically think and make decisions. Anyone can have knowledge, but the ones with wisdom APPLY knowledge to their lives. In college, I think we acquire knowledge and are taught wisdom. We become wise when we apply the knowledge we learn. However, I think that the information age has just made us more knowledgeable. We learn facts and information, but we no longer put together information to figure out answers for ourselves; we believe that Google can help us in that area. Google helps us apply knowledge, so we don’t have to think at all. This is a scary thing to realize because we should be using the knowledge we learn to critically think for ourselves.

Week of October 1 - October 7: #3

I found the section titled "Deception and Lying" very interesting, especially when Boss wrote that "most of us are easily taken in by the lies of others". It is not something that everyone wants to hear; in fact, it's really sad. It's sad to know that people you talk to everyday could be deceiving you with the words they say and you could have no idea. It was interesting to learn that liars will tell stories in chronological order, but truth-tellers will tell stories out of order. I can see how this is true, especially since it is easy to forget little random details when telling a real story. I never knew that liars move and blink less when they're telling a fib because they are trying hard to remember the lies they've told. I think that lying is a big waste of energy and that you should always tell the truth. By lying, you dig yourself a big hole and people will end up never trusting you again.

Week of October 1 - October 7: #2

The two types of rhetorical devices that I always use are sarcasm and hyperbole. Sarcasm, as defined by Boss in the Think text, “involves the use of ridicule, insults, taunting, and/or caustic irony”. I am very sarcastic person and I mainly do it to make people laugh, but I have recently realized that it’s very mean so I’m trying to stop doing it. When sarcasm is used towards me from any of my friends, it hurts. A type of sarcasm I use is exaggerating a “nooooo way” if someone asks me something obvious, like “should I put my clothes in the dryer after I wash it?” The other rhetorical device I use, hyperbole, is defined as a “rhetoric that uses exaggeration or overstatement to distort the facts”. I am always overdramatizing things; for example, I always say “I am going to die at work today” if I am not looking forward to going. Another thing I say is “she’s/he’s killing me” if someone is annoying me or being uncooperative.

Week of October 1 - October 7: #1

In Chapter 1 of Boss' text, a good critical thinker is someone who has characteristics of effective communication, creative problem solving, and attention, mindfulness, and curiosity (just to name a few). Sally Ride is a example of effective communication because she was able to speak and write to relate to her audience. People were able to understand what she said because she could efficiently communicate her thoughts to others. Because Ride loved to solve problems, this helped her creative problem solving skills. In the article, Outside the Box, it states that she was able to "clearly articulate and develop strategies to meet her life goals". I have no doubt that she would be able to think of different ways to solve one problem. Ride set her heart on the goals that she wanted and because of her attention to opportunities, mindfulness to what was happening around her, and curiosity for something she loved, she was able to become the first female American astronaut!

Week of September 24 - September 30: #3

One concept that I found interesting from this week's reading in Boss' "Think" was the role of emotion in critical thinking. Boss states, "an empathetic person is more flexible and open to others' perspectives and is motivated to use critical analysis, important skills in formulating a satisfactory logical argument regarding a plan of action". I believe that this is extremely true, which reminded me greatly of what my store manager has been telling us associates. We must encourage our customers to open reward and credit cards for our store because our manager wants our store to succeed. If I come across a customer and he/she seem interested in the items that our store has, I will mention the benefits of opening a card. If he/she is hesistant, I might mention a couple more benefits. However, if he/she has a bitter expression and sounds angry, I won't continue on. I understand the perspective of the customer and I won't force him/her to do anything, no matter what my manager is asking me to do. Reading others' emotions by their facial expressions can help us critically think through our decisions and make us better understanders and communicators.

Week of September 24 - September 30: #2

According to atheist Richard Dawkins, evolution and a belief in God are incompatible. I agree with the statement that Dawkins made. In the bible, God created both animals and man, separately. Evolution states that human beings are closely related to apes To believe in both evolution and what God has created is a huge contradiction.

If Thomas Aquinas (a believer that the existence of God can be proven through reason) were still alive today, I think he would disagree with Dawkins in this statement. Although he seems to believe in God, it doesn't sound like he does in his "proofs". There are many claims in his written arguments that can be used to say that evolution and a belief in God are compatible. For example, Aquinas states "... that which does not exist only begins to exist by something already existing". This could be used to prove that human beings may have come from apes because they existed before human beings existed.