Final Blog Question 3

I think the most difficult thing for me to grasp in this course would be the organization of sentence structure in an argument. I unfortunately was one of those children who lost out on learning real grammar based on the fact that spell check was readily available. Since I never really understood grammar principals its difficult for me to pick our more complex sections of an argument. I remember the nouns, verbs, etc but putting it into practice of setting up and dissecting arguments gets muddled for me. Other then that I would say that the wrap up blog that was posted for our class was really helpful for me. It gave me things out of the chapter that were especially important in a summarized version. It pointed out things to me that I needed to focus on more and what our professor wanted us to study from the chapter. Overall I was able to keep up and understand most of everything we went over in this course, which is great!

Final Blog Question 2

As a whole, I really did enjoy this class. However, the down side of the course was the group projects. Every project I was put in a position of others procrastinating and not pulling their own weight. I really disliked how my grade was affected negatively multiple times even though I did my own part of the project, got full participation points, and still the project as a whole negatively affected my grade. It is disappointing that I had to over compensate for others lack of preparation. There is not a great way to improve this issue with group projects, as there is always a “social loafer” in a group, it is just upsetting that the people that do the work get punished. To be more positive, I did really enjoy most aspects of this course. I would say that my favorite part was how organized it was. There was no question what was due, when it was due, and what the requirements were. The due dates always were clear and set up far in advance, and I felt that the course was set up for the students to prepare themselves and to be ready for the week’s work. 

Final Blog Question 1

Since this is my second communications class I have taken, I had somewhat of an idea what we would be discussing in this class. Now, at the end of the course, I am really impressed how much of the information stuck! I think the parts of the course that really stayed with me the most would be about communication styles whether it be cultural differences or sarcasm, euphemisms, dysphemisms, and also the section about lying. I think that these spiked my interest because of how often we run into cases of people using these, or using them ourselves. More basic was the chapters about reasoning and evidence. This was especially helpful as it really helped my analyze my writing during the projects. Hopefully I can harness these teachings and include my new knowledge in my future essays and courses. All in all, I believe that this course really included a lot of realistic knowledge that we can all use in our personal and professional lives.

Chapter 12 Question 3

This whole week we have been evaluating everything we see and hear through the scientific process. When using this process of making a hypothesis and testing and using observations, we might have to change our hypothesis based on what we see. This leads me to my post about criteria for evaluating a scientific hypothesis. I think this is really important because we need a solid and well-reasoned hypothesis to begin with. First we need to decide if the problem we are trying to figure out is relevant. Next we see if it is consistent with other theories that are already tested and established. We also need to make sure our hypothesis is in the simplest for we can put it in. This is important so that there is not gray area, it must be clear. Next we have to be able to test our hypothesis and uncover any falsifiable objections. Lastly we can then decide if our hypothesis can be used to predict other outcomes to similar events. 

Chapter 12 Question 2

Drawing an incorrect conclusion based on observation alone is like judging a book by its cover. Without knowing the substance behind that cover, you will never really know if your observation was right. I think the most extreme example of this would be the judgments we have about other people. For me, I ran into this issue while working at one of my jobs. A new girl was hired and I was in charge of training her. She moved to my town from SoCal, and was extremely wealthy, and extremely spoiled. I was not excited nor motivated to work with her but I had no choice. After training her for a few days, I realized that yes she had never worked hard a day in her life, but she wanted to try, and she was willing to work as hard as anyone else. We are really great friends now! These little facts I learned about her lead me to a really incorrect conclusion. I was able to discover that my observation was misleading by actually getting to know her. My hypothesis was wrong and testing through my experience brought me to a different conclusion then I had originally anticipated.

Chapter 12 Question 1

"Luck will definitely be on your side today! Review your budget carefully, you will find that you have a lot more money to play around with than you thought you did. However, before you run right out to the mall to spend it all, think about that one big ticket item that you've been saving up for. This extra money could go a long way toward getting said item in your hands. Think long term with this windfall. Hold off spending it until it can really be used in a powerful way."

My horoscope today is extremely accurate because I am about to put down a deposit on a car. Budgeting is a huge part of my life right at the moment! However, on most days the Pisces horoscopes do not match up well with me because I generally am not very Pisces-like. Since horoscopes are so vague and try to encompass so many people's lives into a few statements, it creates a lot of gray area and could have a lot of falsifiable events. For example, a person that does not have income, they have no real control of the funds, therefore they could now be lucky in their review of their budget. A situation like this would falsify this horoscope. In my case, this specific prediction cannot be falsified because it discusses saving money, and luck. Both of these topics are extremely broad yet happen to apply to me this time.

Chapter 11 Question 3

This week I wanted to focus on my blog post of analyzing and the interpretation of media messages. I think since the media is a huge part of most aspects of our lives, we should be able to pick and choose what we believe is the truth out of those messages. THiNK gives us steps to follow to analyze the media message we are confronted with to then decide for ourselves whether it is something valuable. These are great tips since there is a lot of biased material out there in all types of media. First we need to consider who created the message, what is the purpose of the message and what techniques were used to attract and hold the attention of the audience. Next, it is important to notice what values and points of view are represented and what your own reaction was to the message. The reaction that you had needs to be analyzed too to decide if it was reasonable and well informed as well. Next we need to think of how others would interpret the message, if it is biased, and if the message has good reasoning and facts. Lastly, the possible effects of the message on individuals and society need to be considered. If we use these steps we are sure to be able to critically think about media and their messages.

On a different note... In the book it says President Obama has 8 million Facebook followers. Now that number is up to 33 million! 

Chapter 11 Question 2

Brook Sadler is an assistant professor and she strongly believes that Internet (and all types of) plagiarism is wrong and that it undermines the educational system. There is also, Russell Hunt another professor that sees Internet plagiarism as an indicator that the education system is in need of a change. He wants to create a system that revolves more around “active learning” rather then the old model, which is comprised of research papers and literary essays. I think that both made a great argument for their side of the issue. I do believe that Sadler is correct that cheating should not be accepted in the educational system, however I also support Hunt in the sense that the education system is out of date and needs to catch up with the times. As the chapter discusses, media and technology are constantly changing and improving our ability to gain information at a push of a button. I think that Sadler is ignoring this fact while Hunt is accepting it too easily. There needs to be a happy medium of incorporating the Internet and all it’s information, but not abusing it nor using it as a substitution for knowledge.

Chapter 11 Question 1

Media is ALL around us. It is continuing to become more integrated in every part of our lives. From our alarm clock that wakes us up with morning news, to having a constant reminder of all media in our pocket in the form of a cell phone. I think that having more of a global perspective is allowing us to make decisions based on what the media tells us is happening from all parts of the world. Technology and the spread of media that way, has us picking and choosing what we believe in we want to follow. The most recent media experience I had would be the election and their campaign. With all the information out there about Romney and President Obama, it takes time to choose which media outlets you want to get your information from. Being very up to date with the policies that each presidential candidate held allowed for me to create my opinion after searching through all the media and being bombarded with their ads. I cannot say that the media changed my opinion on who I wanted to vote for, but it did solidify my choice in my own mind.

Chapter 10 Question 3

This week I chose the topic of product placement. It is crazy to think that just because an item is in a movie or tv show (with the logo facing out of course) that’ll make a person want to buy that product. It is similar with grocery stores that the “end caps” are the most coveted spots in the grocery store, second to that are the eye level shelf. There is always a scene in a movie or show that the character pulls up in their car right to the camera so you can have a big screen full of their car’s emblem. Product placement is everywhere! It can be their soda can with a Pepsi or Coke label or a laptop with a glowing white apple facing the camera. In all of those cases product placement was thoroughly thought out so that the company could have their logo and name get out into the public.

Chapter 10 Question 2

The argument between Wootan and Liodice is whether or not the government should regulate the advertisements aimed towards children regarding their food. Wootan believes and makes an argument for creating more strict regulations and having the government step in to change the way advertisements are handled concerning children’s food. He thinks this is important because of the rising numbers of obese children. Liodice is on the other side of the spectrum and does not think that marketing strategies should be regulated by the government regardless if it is concerning children’s food or not. He thinks that it is an issue of freedom of speech, and that needs to be protected above anything else. Liodice also acknowledges Wootan’s concerns but in the end gives a stronger argument and backs his own beliefs up more. I think that Liodice did a better job at making his point because I do not think it is the food manufacturers responsibility to make sure their customers eat well-balanced meals. Most things bad for you in excess, and a little junk food is usually part of every kid’s childhood. It’s the parent’s, not an outside company’s, responsibility to make sure that junk food is not the majority of their children’s diet.

Chapter 10 Question 1

I think the the most common marketing strategy that I experienced in the past week is brand recognition. Every company has a brand and they all try to make it stand out and stick in your mind. As mentioned in the book, Apple products use this strategy, and it works! I have been used to seeing the iPhone commercials with the hand holding the phone and going through different processes, but the iPod commercial went in a different direction. It went back to their roots (if you can recall the white iPod on a person blacked out, against a colorful background) it has the same feel. I think that this is smart for Apple to keep with certain themes in their commercials because people do recognize their brands so easily. A type of marketing towards the impulse buyer to me seems the least effective. I am not an impulse buyer at all so that is why putting candy near the register or having time to look around in a drug store while getting a prescription filled is not an effective marketing strategy for me. However,this strategy is most likely very effective for some people since there is probably a large percentage of people that are impulsive buyers.

Chapter 4 Question 3

My favorite topic from this week is about Kant’s ethical philosophy. Although I am a business major rather then philosophy, one of my favorite aspects of philosophical was thought experiments. This is when we used situations in (very odd) ways to practice and use theories. With Kant’s ideas about how we treat people, it can be applied to any sort of situation. Kant says to not treat people as just a means but as an end as well. Meaning, people are not just tools for what your own personal goals are, but they have their own goals as well. It is immoral to treat people as if they do not have their own ends themselves. I think that we are often taught in college about how to manage people and how to be the upper level employees. We are not always taught about the people that might be under us in our line of work. I think Kant’s theory for how to treat other people is a really important thing to keep in mind.

Chapter 4 Question 2

In “Evaluating Evidence for the Existence of Unidentified Flying Objects”, there are 3 different perspectives when it comes to UFO’s being real. Condon is a firm believer that due to the many reports of UFO sightings, that UFO’s are a real viable thing. Because Condon thinks that the reports are true, he also believes that they deserve to be published in scientific journals. Standing in more of the middle ground, Hynek believes that more clarity needs to be brought on the stories from those who reported seeing UFO’s. He proposes that psychological studies need to be done to better understand what those people really saw or did not see. Lastly there is Paynter who is on the other side of the spectrum. Paynter says there is not enough evidence to even start believing the reports of UFO sightings in the first place. I think it is difficult to decide who has the best argument because I think bias comes from what you believe as well. In my opinion I think that it is easier to believe the skeptic over those who go out on a limb and believe something that does not have a lot of supporting evidence.

Chapter 4 Question 1

Wisdom is define as the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.

Knowledge is the acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition.

When looking at these definitions side by side, they seem very different. In college I think that we are gaining knowledge in school by being educated. We are also gaining wisdom by going through the process of being a college student. It is a time where many people learn more about themselves then any other time in their life. Yes, we are learning facts, dates, formulas and theories, but we are also learning about the adults we will eventually become. Hopefully these things we experience in college make us wiser by deciding what we think is right and wrong, or what we believe in and value. All the different facets of college bring both knowledge and wisdom to us.

I think that technology is making us more knowledgeable just because I know I Google everything. Having a conversation and someone says they want to climb Mount Shasta. Type in Mount Shasta I have every tid-bit I could ever want about that mountain. I did not need all the information, but I got it and it was extremely easy. Technology is making it easier and easier to gain facts like that regardless if it makes us wiser or not.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wisdom?s=t

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knowledge

Chapter 3 Question 3

Using language in different ways is what I thought was really interesting from this weeks readings. Language can do so many things, and I am sure as many of us have experienced in our studies, can mean different things to different people. From working in groups to writing a paper, language can affect the way our audience perceives us. Recently in a sales management class I was introduced to hard and soft words. These words can change the way a customer will take what we are saying. This can make an interaction with our client positive or negative. This would be the difference in saying we “are not able to at this time…” (more positive connotation) or “no, we can’t” (more negative connotation). Like the book says, emotions, body language, and even the way words are put are all ways that we can affect the way a person hears what we are saying. In a business setting it is important to be aware of how we are communicating to others.

Chapter 3 Question 2

In chapter 3 we have a lot to consider when thinking about language. Not only is it important in what we say but how we say it. That definitely brings me to my first (probably most frequently used) device, sarcasm! I loved Wikipedia’s explanation of sarcasm as “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt”. An example of how I used sarcasm is as writing this blog, I asked my boyfriend “When was the last time I used sarcasm this week? It’s just SO hard to nail it down.” This was an obvious example since I use sarcasm possibly, too often. Another rhetorical device that I have to use all the time are euphemisms. I work as a preschool teacher and when I am speaking with the other teachers or parents I really have to watch my language. This is why I will substitute out harsh or somewhat inappropriate words to lessen the harshness, just incase young ears might be listening.

Chapter 3 Question 1

Sally Ride embodies a great critical thinker in many ways. Ever since she was a child there are examples of how she was developing her critical thinking skills. In the article there are accounts of Sally enjoying the process of focusing and problem solving. As a young adult these skills were put to work in her college career, and Sally would concentrate, be creative, and critically think, which then paid off in the huge opportunities she had in NASA. On page 12 the main points of a critically thinker are as follows:

Have good analytical skills

Possess effective communication skills

Be well informed and possess good research skills

Be flexible and be able to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty

Adopt a position of open-minded skepticism

Be a creative problem solver

Be attentive, mindful, and intellectually curious

Engage in collaborative learning

In her very short bio it shows that Sally Ride clearly has the analytical, communication, and problem solving skills. She also showed to be creative, open minded and generally well rounded and is therefore a great critical thinker.

Chapter 2 Question 3

This chapter was really interesting because it touches on so many topics that are so important to most people. God and faith, evolution, reason, emotions, technology, age, and gender are all topics that were discussed in chapter 2. One topic that really caught my attention was the Dreams and Problem Solving section. I had never previously thought of dreaming as something that expressed anything other then emotions. I felt as if fear, happiness, sadness, stress, etc would be shown in our dreams in one form or another, but not “how to fit all your furniture into your dorm room or small apartment”. This is interesting because it is showing us that our dreams have more practical uses as well. The book discussed about how our dreams can lead us to logical decisions about two things that in our conscious mind, might seem unrelated. This is something I found really interesting (and useful) as it is not something you hear everyday. It means our dreams might help us answer every day questions.

Chapter 2 Question 2

Dawkins position about evolution and God’s existent is very clear in that he believes that they are not compatible. Aquinas on the other hand believes that a lot of what is part of universe cannot be explained any other way except with the fact of Gods existence. Aquinas would probably respond to Dawkins arguments about his proofs, by stating either reasons why Dawkins arguments are also flawed or by agreeing to disagree. That is what it comes down to in these types of questions. Faith and science can both be right for different people but it can also be argued indefinitely. For myself, I believe in having faith in a sense.  I believe in bringing good to the world through my actions but that doesn’t mean I have to believe in God. However, even though I purely believe in evolution and mostly what Dawkins is saying, that does not mean both ideologies cannot both reside in our society. Compatibility maybe not, but coexisting is possible.

Chapter 2 Question 1

When choosing a career path it is important to think of your strengths and weaknesses. Doing something that I do not enjoy and struggle at, usually will lead me to switch the path I am on. I am currently a marketing major and I believe that it really plays to my strengths. I am good at math and science, but a more open ended, creative type of career has always sparked my interests. My strengths are definitely being logical and creative at the same time. The creative part of my mind helps immensely for coming up with new ideas and strategies in marketing to individuals and groups of people. With the other strength of mine, being overly logical, it helps in a business environment. I am able to think things through and keep my emotions in check, which is really important in a setting that involves people’s opinions and money, which a lot of business revolves around. My weaknesses are definitely math related. I am able to be successful in math-centered classes or jobs, but I dislike it so much that I now avoid it at all costs. Doing something you like makes all the difference.

Chapter 7 Question 3

I chose to focus on Evaluating Arguments Based on an Analogy from page 216 – 218 in Chapter 7. I picked this particular topic because I feel that the steps that are provided in the book are a great way to check on any type of argument that we might be analyzing. Followed are the steps suggested in the book.

Identify what is being compared, the book suggests that you make a summary of the items or ideas being compared.

List the similarities, a possible beneficial next stop would be to make a list of what is similar between the two items that are being compared.

Next dissimilarities, list the things about the two ideas or items that are not similar.

The next step is to compare those two lists.

As with any great critical thinker, we need to think ahead and see what counter analogies can occur.

Lastly, and naturally, we conclude whether or not the original analogy is supportive of the conclusion we were trying to confirm.

Chapter 7 Question 2

Being the US Surgeon General, Dr. Novello decided to focus on AIDS, violence, alcohol, and tobacco use. Her goal was to reduce these health issues in our nation and especially in the younger population of teenagers and children. Dr. Novello had experienced the stages of cause and effect inductive reasoning and those stages brought her to place where she felt needed to focus her work. She was concerned with the Joe Camel ads for Camel cigarettes that she had encountered. This was in her mind, the cause for the issue. The effect was that a younger population was now starting to smoke. The ads now were the cause that was persuading younger people to start smoking because they included a “cool” Joe Camel figurehead in their advertisements. Having a identifying the cause is the first step to fixing this problem. Since Dr. Novello had pin pointed a possible cause as the ads, for the increase of young smokers, there was now a starting point in trying to fix the issue.

Chapter 7 Question 1

Premise: I work as a preschool teacher.

Premise: Within the last week I elected to pick up more hours at my job.

Conclusion: Chances are that I enjoy working as a preschool teacher.

The closest inductive argument that I could think of that happened to me in the past week was work related (mostly because I am either at SJSU or my work). I jumped on the opportunity to pick up more hours at my job. Yes, the money is going to help a lot but I would have never accepted more hours if I did not like my job. Since I am a preschool teacher you either love the job or hate the job. The premises are that I work at a preschool, and also that I gladly picked up more hours at this job. The suggested conclusion is that I like my job enough to happily accept more hours since I enjoy being a preschool teacher so much.

Chapter 8 Question 3

For this weeks last post I wanted to focus on a section of “The Essential Guide to Group Communication”. A few things struck me as interesting especially during this time of working with our groups. The section I concentrated on was Factors Influencing Decision Making in Group and Teams. This section listed factors that influence the process of working as part of a group. The factors are:

Understanding the variables involved in group decision making

Developing group decision-making skills

Clarifying group value and goals

Managing group expectations

Dealing with time pressures

Working through conflict

There are also many forces that are part of working in a team as well. Cognitive forces are how a person might perceive, interpret, evaluate, store, retrieve and integrate of information. Psychological forces are personal motives, goals, attitudes, and values that the team members might have. Lastely, social forces are characterized as language use and persuasion. All these forces are present in some way when people are in groups or teams and work together.

Hair, Dan, and Mary O. Wiemann. "Leadership and Decision Making in Groups or Teams." The Essential Guide to Group Communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 37-46. Print.

Chapter 8 Question 2

If you are a Christian and follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, then you do not support the death penalty.

Most Christians do support the death penalty.

Therefore, most Christians do not follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

This deductive argument concludes that many people even if they are Christian sometimes will interpret things to fit modern dilemmas. I am not trying to make a plea to abolish or support the death penalty, but more to show that teachings that state not to “return hate for hate and evil for evil” can be interpreted by the believer and then formed into a new conclusion based on their own findings. The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth can be an important part of ones findings but a decision is not limited to only those words. This scriptural passage does not prohibit the use of the death penalty necessarily. Some might take it more word for word, while others might use it as an idea, in collection with others, in making their decision in whether to support the death penalty or not.

Chapter 8 Question 1

After reading and understanding chapter 8’s points, I think that Sherlock Holmes was explaining how it is difficult to keep stories honest. Having opinions or exaggerations usually being a part of the story complicates things. He is saying that to get the facts, everything must be stripped to expose just the “framework” of the story. I believe a relative and important example that I have experienced is the issues with the presidential campaigning right now. It is really difficult to get to the source of the problem and the actual proposed solution with all the covering up of the framework. A lot of people will not go through the extra work to find out the real story so they will take the politicians word at face value. Instead of taking the “embellishments of hearsay and reports” it would be best to strip away all the frills, and get down to the original and simplest story. This would probably give the best chance at being able to understand the truth.

Chapter 6 Question 3

One of the most important ideas from the chapter I believe in how to construct an argument. Part of that construction is the step by step formula to creating an effective argument. First one must form their argument into a question that can eventually be answered. The a list of premises need to be thought about to be well educated about the argument. Next, one must address the weaknesses in the argument to then build upon the argument. A conclusion is the last primary step, however we are not finished yet. Before an argument is complete organizing and testing out an argument needs to take place and if needed a revision might need to happen. It is similar to a scientific process of hypothesis and conclusion. A testing of an argument might lead you to think the argument does not work. If it does not it is okay to revise it so that it will.

Boss, Judith A.. "Reconizing, Analyzing, and Constructing Arguments." Think: critical thinking and logic skills for everyday life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 189-191. Print.

Chapter 6 Question 2

I have not been presented with a situation that exactly matches this question (in the sense of loosing a friend or a job), but I can try to come close. Growing up I had a couple babysit me on occasion named Dan and Vince. By the names you most likely guessed that they were a gay couple. They have become close family friends and are some of the most genuine people I have ever met. Some people do not feel this way however. I have heard people speak of homosexual families as unnatural and have even heard it called “evil”. In most cases I would not choose to be in conflict on this subject because it is close to me as I consider these men my family. However, I have had to stand my ground when people have tried to verbally hurt them by using foul language about their personal lives. My critical thinking skills to combat this hate would be to be calm, speak in a way that showed the flaws in their arguments that these people were not “bad” people, and to then give them a conclusion that was logical and not based in hate or anger. Although on this topic there is little hope for agreement, there is hope for constructive communication.

Chapter 6 Question 1

In the book, it is discussed that President Barack Obama supports civil unions yet opposes legalizing same-sex marriage on a federal level. This position is not consistent with his push for equal rights for all people, including those who are not in “traditional” couples. If President Obama was consistent with giving equal rights to all, it would not matter the gender of the people involved in a couple, they would be allowed to get married just the same as heterosexual couples. As it is disappointing that his opinions seem to contradict each other, it is not surprising as that is how the game of politics goes.

I believe that especially with recent news, President Obama would most likely agree with Nava and Dawidoff’s arguments however, that is not how being in government works. President Obama has spoken out recently to support the passing of laws that support gay marriage but, since it is campaigning time, it is not surprising that those opinions have been hushed rather quickly.

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Fasha Maher. I am a 4th year student here at SJSU and I am currently going for a business marketing degree. I live over on the Half Moon Bay coast where I also am a teacher at a preschool. So far in my studies at SJSU I have taken 2 communication classes. The most recent communication course I took really gave me insight on my own writing style and being a confident writer. I really hope I am able to polish my skills in writing clearly and concisely, have the ability to dissect other peoples writing, and mostly just be able to have a better understanding in how people communicate. I hope everyone has a great semester!