Interesting

One concept I found very interesting was when the text was describing the term apples and oranges. This is a really important concept to know about in my opinion because it seems people throw numbers all the time to make them seem knowledgeable. Apples and oranges is when there is a numerical comparisons but it does not make sense to even compare the items at all. It is good to catch when this happens so that you will not be fooled or manipulated. But even with any kind of comparison, it is important to know that there is a similarity between the things that are being compared rather than not obtaining the right information.  It is very important to know all the facts and the correct information between the compassions. Knowing and understanding this concept will be very useful and can save you or anyone from being mislead in any type of situation. 

Assignment 1

The first group assignment was definitely a great learning experience. Group projects are always fun and somewhat stressful but doing a group project for an online class for a summer session has its own twist. I learned how to work with people’s schedule to meet up online. I also learned there are many ways to communicate with a group without actually meeting in person. Internet is so useful! As well as working with a group, I learned how to think critically! I had to apply a real life article to the essence of this course which was very interesting. However, I love relating what I am learning to everyday life and that is exactly what the first assignment asked for. I feel when you relate it to the world is when you get a better understanding of the material.  Finding claims of a actual article was fun and an excellent learning experience!

ch 13

In the chapter 13 in the text, something I found very interesting was the concept of averages. I have noticed in the past that averages can be manipulated to make numbers or figures seem better than they actually are. However, with numbers people seem to believe anything if you sound like you know what you are talking about. Most people know what mean, mode, and median is in terms of numbers. We always usually assume that getting above average is excellent. However, as the book mentioned, getting above average is only important if the destitution is a standard bell-shaped curve. I always see people use the term “average” to their advantage with manipulation. For instance, I took a hard class one semester in my high school. Many did poorly on the exams. For one exam, my friend got a 68%, and the class average for that exam was 65%. My friend however, told her parents that her score was above average. This is true, however, she still did poorly on the exam but her parents did not know because they assumed the average was a C. 

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 described reasoning my analogy which could be a very useful tactic. I found this very interesting. Analogies are usually statements that include the words, “like” or “as”. However, analogies are not always an argument. They are only comparisons. Analogies can support an argument though. Analogies are used to reason an argument to give it support. We all use analogies on a day to day basis.  However to reason with a good analogy it is important to included both side of the argument you are discussing about. Including both sides shows that you are aware of all the probabilities and makes your analogies that much stronger. Only stating one side makes the argument way too vague. So it is important to know all sides. There should be a general principal that applies to both sides. This is a great way on how to judge an analogy in any argument. 

Objective 3

Appealing to fear seems to be a common tactic that advertisers use to influence people. Fear is such a strong emotion and can control how people behave. Therefore when people see advertisements that scare them, they usually do something about it. An advertisement that comes to mind that appeals to fear are the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) commercials. Their commercials show animals that are being endangered and harm because of the harmful world we live in. The commercials also appeal to pity. However, they relate the commercial to us by saying out world is becoming a harmful place for not just us but for the living species that surround us. It makes us as human beings living on the planet fearful of the damages that are occurring to us and the world we live in. WWF is an organization that tries to raise money to prevent our world from tarnishing. With their commercials that appeal to fear, they are sure making awareness. 

Appeal to Pity

Appealing to the emotion can make a good argument for the fact that emotions have a huge impact on everyone. As human beings we run off our emotions so when trying to convincing someone something important, using an appeal to the emotion is a great way to be convincing. In the text, one aspect I found very interesting when appealing to emotion is using an appeal to pity. Using an appeal to emotion makes one feel bad they are not doing something that they should be. The most common example is when on television there is a commercial that is very depressing that shows kids starving and in poor conditions. The commercial asks for donations to help these kids. Of course, it makes us a human beings feel terrible, so some donate. However, not all of us donate so it questions us to think if we are good people. This is an excellent way to appeal to pity. 

Interesting

This week’s reading all seem to connect with one another. The main points of each section relate to another section. However one section I found particularly interesting that I have not mentioned yet was the truth tables and symbols Greek philosophers used and the words that form a compound claim. These simples words listed in the book can have a huge impact on a claim and if it makes the claim true or false. According to the classical abstraction, the only aspect people pay attention to of a claim is whether the claim is true or false and how the claim is compounded. With the methods that the book describes, I am able to check if a compounded claim is valid. This is something important to know when analyzing claims and will certainly be beneficial in the long run. It is amazing to see that methods used a long time ago are still very effective today.

Categorical Claims

One section I thought that was interesting and also important to know is in the section under Aristoleic Logic. It is so interesting to know even people 2000 years ago used critical thinking similar as to how we do today. Specifically I found the categorical claims very intriguing.  They explain of universal claims and particular claims. Universal claims are claims that are very general and include words like all or no. Particular claims don’t include a whole population so they use words such as some.  These both indicate the quantity. They also explain of affirmative and negative claims. Affirmative claims are more positive claims because they explain how something is.  On the other hand a negative claim is the opposite. It explains how something is not.  These indicate the quality of the claim. All these claims are important because they indicate the quality and quantity of claims which is something important to know when reviewing a claim by critical thinking. If someone expresses an argument to you , knowing the quality and quantity will give you a better idea of the argument.

One and all

One concept I found interesting in chapter 8 of the reading is the section where Richard Epstein discuses one and all. Precise generalities are generalities that give an exact percentage to explain the likelihood of the generality. However even though there is a percentage, it does not make it a strong argument because it is still in fact a generality. Vague generalities are generalities that are not specific and include a great amount of ambiguity. They include words like all and some. With these chains the premises could be true but the conclusion could be false making it a weak and invalid argument, which is not beneficial. We all seem to make statements in these areas. Everyone has made a generality before because at times they can help support our argument. However, it is very important to know how to make a generality be supportive rather then not support our main argument. 

Conditionals

One concept that I found particularly interesting are conditionals and their contradictories. Conditionals are important because they explain if one situation occurs then another one will fallow. It kind of fallows the cause and effect pattern. It shows that if the first situation does happen then the second one will occur. The first situation is the antecedent and the one that fallows is the consequent.  It also explains that sometimes individuals make a conditional with a false antecedent to express how the world may be. That is similar to a hypothetical situation. For example; if no one owned a car, our health would be better. Even thought the antecedent is not true, it expresses how I feel what would happen if the world did not have cars. A contradictory of a conditional is if the antecedent happens then the consequent has a contradiction. So the consequent could be different then what the conditional explains.