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.

Week of September 24 - September 30: #1

I believe that I am strongest in pros vs. cons reasoning. Whenever I have to make a decision about something, I always write down good things (pros) and bad things (cons) on a list about my problem. After writing everything down or debating about in my head, I make a decision based on the things on my list. It generally makes it a little easier for me to decide because I see my thoughts on paper.

You can use this type of reasoning for anything. It could be something little, like buying a $20 shirt, to something big, like choosing a college to go to. Because I am thinking about becoming a dietitian in the future, I can use pros vs. cons reasoning to decide meal plans for specific types of people. Because I want the best for all my patients, I must give them the best plan. This is not something easy and will take time to build. In my opinion, pros vs. cons reasoning can be used in any situation and any career choice.

Week of September 10 - September 16: #3

One concept that I have decided to discuss is "the need for effective communication in organizations" that O'Hair and Wiemann write about in The Essential Guide to Group Communication. Communication is the most important thing while working in an organization, or in this case, a group. O'Hair and Wiemann state that "the only way that organizations can succeed, or even exist for that matter, is through communication".  By communicating with group members, everyone will know how and when to assign goals and tasks. You can only know through communication what group members have done and not done, what everyone needs to do, and exactly who will do it. A good example of this is our current group project. If I don't communicate the days that I am free to work on my project, we wouldn't be able to pick a date to meet. My group members wouldn't even know if I was alive! Although I am sometimes bad with communicating, I plan to work on it immediately so that my group can count on me.