Class summery

What have you learned throughout this class?

I have learned thou out this class that I love working with groups and things are not always what they seem to be!

What was your favorite thing about the class?

My Favorite thing about this class was that we got to do all of our work on a blog. I have never done this before in a class and I loved it. I was really cool to be able to create one and use it for class. Another thing that I really liked was the way the papers worked in the class.

What was your least favorite thing about the class?

My lest favorite thing was the 12 hour wait time to do the posts. A lot of the time I just wanted to get them done so I did not have to worry about them but you cant you have to calculate time and figure out when you can post. I just think I was kind of a hassle.

How can this class be improved?

The only thin is the 12 hour time thing. Other than that I think this class is very unique and awesome

Two concepts that I think could use further discussion!

They are two concepts that I think could use further discussion in this class. The first would be Truth Tables! I feel like this has not a lot to do with Critical thinking and more with math! But I know that they go hand in hand but I just do not fully get it! The last one that I think needs to be disused further or explained to me better is the Asirstotelian Logic. I do not get Asirstotelian Logic and I do not think I ever will get Asirstotelian Logic. I know it may seem a little harsh but I just do not get these to things I do not get how to use them properly and how to apply them the right way. Maybe next time there could be some way to present them better or maybe have the them just thrown out?? I do not know all that I do know is that me and Asirstotelian Logic and Truth Tables did not get along!

What have I learned this summer?

What have I learned this summer? I have learned a lot! This class has taught me to not take things at face value and not to believe everything that I hear! It what taught me to use different techniques to try and decipher the real meaning behind the claim statement and charts! This class has really surprised me. I feel myself listen more when people talk and analyzing commercials on TV more closely. This class has really opened my eyes and my ears! I have leaned that it is hard to pick out claims and motives. I have learned that you must know all the facts behind a graph to know it is representing the information right. Over all I have learn that a lot of people skew the results to make them favor them weather they know it or not! And that people hear what they want to hear!

the talk!!!

The gurp activity! This was a fun one I had to bribe my roommate with dinner! I choose to share the second assimment to give to them and have them disscouse. About 24 hours prior I sent out the email that included the paper so that they could read it. And the next day I had them all sit down to talk to me about it! Now one person did not read it so they are out! The other three really enjoyed it but thought that it was tailored to the teacher and form a out sliders point of view they did not get why we were doing it. They found the paper to be very objective and well written. They did say that the paper need to have some better transitions. The social organization that we choose was very good about the way that they presented the information and how they got people to donate!

Cause and effect!

the cause and effect website was very helpful. i find that the book that we use is very confusing. i know that in a earlier post i said i loved the book but a girl can change her mind right? this website really laid out exactly what it was that was used in cause and effect, how to spot them and how to used them correctly. the exercises very very easy to fallow and actually do, unlike the ones in the book. I know it seems like i am coming down hard on the book but as we go though it more the i like it lees. it just seems to ramble on. ok i know this post is about the website, witch does not ramble! the web site is a very useful tool for many different ages. it can be used for jr. higher s all the why though adult, with out making the adults fee like they are learning jr. high stuff. so i say good job website!!!

Mean Median and Mode

Mean Median and Mode! These are things that we hear about in math class. You would never think about applying them to Critical Thinking!

Mean is the average of a collection of numbers. This can be used in real life to calculate your GPA

Median is the half way point in the numbers. This can be used when looking at prices and choosing the price that’s in the middle.

Mode is the number that is obtained the most. So in the real world the mode would be the re-accruing cable bill. It’s the number that accrues the most!

So you see you can apply Mean Median and Mode to everyday life and critical thinking. Mean Median and mode is no longer just for math. It is open to any thing that you want to apply it to. The world is your stage so get out there are apply mean median and mode to the world!

second assignment !!!

I believe that the second assignment was the most useful. I feel that it gave us a real life look into something that we can do on a everyday bases. It gave us a chance to use everything that we have learned in this class. This assignment was really nice because I got to look in to a company that I really love. I got to see what it was really about in a way that I have never before! It got me to look in to the fallacies and the appeals to emotions that the ASACA uses to get me and other people to support them. I found out a lot about the this company most all good but there were something that I did not like that I found out. I guess that comes with anything. It cant all be good! So after this carful analysis of the two assignments my vote for best one goes to the second one!

Chapter 13- I found this interesting!

One concept that I found very interesting in chapter 13 was graphs! Most people would think that graphs would be a full proof way to see the truth about statistics, but you would be wrong! There are so many ways that you can skew the way that the graphs look and the results that it gives off. For a line graph you can change the steepness of the graph to make things look dramatic or almost nutrural. On a bar graph the creators can make the difference in the bars slight just to show that there is a difference or really dramatic looking to make you think that there is a huge difference. This right here just proves that you need to be critical about everything! You need to look and things and find out what they are really trying to do that with piece if information! I know I used to take graphs at face value but not I take a deeper look at what’s being said!

chapter 12!

One concept that I found very interesting in chapter 12. Chapter 12 is all about Analogy and I found the section on analogies and the law to be very interesting. In this section it said that normally analogies are not precious enough to be made in to strong arguments. But in the law sector they are presented as detailed and carefully analyzed argument. Many may say why would this be different for the law and if it was would not t it be the other way around? But no you see when the laws are made they do not account for many variations of wrong doing. So attorneys use analogies to help make their cases and prove a point that the other side might not have seen. I love this because it goes to show you that anything could be useful to the right person and used to their own advantage!

Chapter 10 exercise 3

So I wanted to originally do this post on apple polishing but I found this add and could not pass it up. Here you see a man holding his child. And you see them smiling and all happy but when you read the word your opinion of this happy add changes! You see” it was a year ago that I had a heart attack and died” if that’s not enough to scary you then I don’t know what it, especially if you are a man with a child or a mother that starts to worry about losing the child’s dad. That is a extremely good argument! I f I were a wife I would want to make sure that I start making my man take Bayer to make sure that he stays alive. With this add it hits you straight in to the core of most people’s fears Dying! I think this company did a really good job with this!

Appeal to Emotion- FEAR!!!!!!

The Appeal to Emotion that I wanted to talk about is the Appeal to Fear! Fear is such a major thing that motivates people to do things or not do things. This appeal strikes because a Appeal to Fear can get you to do almost anything. For instance when I was a little kid I would always make funny faces to my mom when she was talking to someone. And she finally started telling me to be careful because your face might stick like that! Now this scared me because I did not want my face to look like that permintily just long enough to make my mom annoyed (I know I was a nice little girl). So I stopped doing it! I like appeal to fear because it can shoe you a lot about the person giving the appeal and a lot about the audience that is receiving It.!

Precise and Vague Generalities!

Something that I found interesting would be Chapter 8 section 3. This was about Precise and Vague Generalities.

Let me start off by explaining what a Precise Generality is. Precise Generality is when a claim states a specific number or quantity. For example: There were a hundred bars of chocolate on the counter. This would be an example of a Precise Generality claim.

Next I would like to explain what a Vague Generality.. A Vague Generality is a claim that does not specify a precise number . An example of this would be: There are a whole bunch of chocolate bars sitting on the counter.

As you can see, there are a huge difference between a Vague Generality and a Precise Generality. Utilizing the correct form of generality, could make the difference between a strong or a weak argument.

Next time you are making an argument, make sure you are using the form of generality the best supports your argument.

Contradictories, Contraries, and Subcontraries! Oh My!!

One concept that I found really interesting was in the Aristotelian logic chapter. I the concept was Contradictories, Contraries, and Subcontraries.

Contradictories: are two claims that in every circumstance have opposite truth values.

Contraries: are two claims that there is no way that both claims could be true together.

Subcontraries: are two claims that there is no possible way that both claims could be false.

I found these terms and concepts very interesting because people when they talk or even argue with each other use them all the time. If you listen to peoples conversations (not in the creep way) you will hear these being used.

For instants I heard a mother telling her daughter you are my #1 favorite then she turned to her son and said you are my #1 favorite! That right there shows you the concept of Contraries! These concepts are all around us we just have to listen in and be aware even when we are talking we all do it!

All and Some!

When it comes to chapter 8 the thing that I found most interesting was the talk about all and some!

All means every single one with no exceptions. Some words that you can substitute for the word all and still mean the same thing are Every, Everything, and every one.

Some means that the statement includes at least one or more of the subjects. Some words that you can substitute for some and still mean the same thing are at lest one and as I know of.

Application to everyday life! Well I have great story that heard to day. So I was working freshmen orientation today and I heard a young freshmen say that ALL of the classes were full. No I know that a lot of the class’s are full but they are not all full. I think this is a great example of the differences between All and some!

Refuting Indirectly!

For my final post of this week I want to talk about Refuting Indirectly. I want to talk about this because it happens all the time. People refute arguments all the time, but most of the time they don’t know what they ar refuting just that they are refuting it! And that my dear friends is refuting indirectly!

So let me give you a example when someone gives a argument that is “the polar ice caps are melting because of the greenhouse gases and the whale hunting” now a person that refuting indirectly would say “ that’s not why they are melting” they used or gave us no reason why they just know that something is wrong with that arguments so they have to refute it.

Im sure that if you listen to conversations all around you, you will hear all the time people indirectly refuting arguments all the time. I dear you to find one today!

Raising Objections!

In this Post the topic I want to talk about Raising Objections! (Chapter 7 section A)

Raising objections is a common thing that you here when people are trying to defend them self’s or some thing that they believe in.

According to Epstein raising objections is a way to show that an argument is bad. It dose this by showing that it is weak and calls in to question on of the premise’s

One why to illustrate this in everyday life is using an example of a discussion some of my friends had! One friend said that all women like chocolate! Now this statement set my other friend off! She came back and said well what about the people that are allergic or don’t like the taste or can’t eat it for health reasons? So no not all women like chocolate!

This is I prime example of raising objections, its showed how it called in to question the statement made and made the argument weak!

The Contradictory of a claim

In site of our papers I thought that I should talk about chapter 6 section A2, Contradictory of a Claim!

The Contradictory of a claim according to Epstein is “ a claim that has the opposite truth-value in all possible circumstances” I thought this would be perfect to look at since part of our paper is on the contradictory of a claim. So in words the contradictory of a claim is the negation to a claim, it’s basically the opposite!

You hear contradictory of a claim all the time in everyday life. When people argue and even on paper and in books. I can think of one that two of my friends said yesterday! One friend said that she “got to meet will smith while she was in Hollywood” and then the other fried said “you did not get to meet will smith while you were in Hollywood”

That right there shows you that there are in everyday speech you hear them all the time and never notice it. The next time that you are talking with someone listen, you might be surprised in what you hear!

advertisements

I wanted to use these two advertisements because it shows you a main strategy in advertizing, sex! Sex is a huge thing in all advisements. If you look at the first one for a weight loss drug, you see a half naked girl on it. In the next one all it is beer bottles but it is in the shape of a but and a man’s private part! They use personal Experience to help sell these products. You look at these ads and all you think about is sex and when most people think about sex it is a happy memory and from now on when you use those products you will feel good. They want you to trust your feelings and experiences and choose their products. They do a great job to try and distract you from what the product really is about and really does. I believe that advertizing has gotten a little out of control!

Decision making in groups!

As we start our group Projects in this class I think it would be important to talk about the process of decision making in groups! According to the book the essential Guide to Group Communication, there are 8 steps!

Step one: Identify the problem

This is the first step because all members need to be in sync with what the problem is that they are trying to solve.

Step two: Conduct research

Research is required to understand more about the problem at hand and to help the problem solving process move along

Step three: Establish Guidelines and Criteria

This is important to understand what the group needs to get done concerning the problem. Guidelines are a must because they keep the group on task.

Step Four: Generate Alternatives

This is important to do because it will allow the group to see every possible solution. This is really a Hugh brainstorming session.

Step Five: Evaluate the Alternatives

This is important because this is the step where you compare each solution to the guidelines and criteria. You look at each one and decide what works and what does not.

Step Six: Select the Best Alternatives

This is where the group chooses the best solution for the problems! This is the final round of the solution process

Step Seven: Implement the Solution

This is where you put the solution that your group has chosen in to action, and work out the problem.

Step Eight: Evaluate the Results

This is the final step and it is where you go back and look at what you did. You can see what worked and what did not so can use that knowledge next time you have a problem!

Fallacy's: a Slippery Slope!

The Fallacy that I have chosen is Slippery Slope!

The book explains this fallacy as reasoning in a chain with conditionals where at least one of them is false. His is a good explanation but I would like to break it down a bit and explain it to you all better. This fallacy starts with a small action or statement that automatically leads to a bigger ending ignoring a middle ground that could change the out come. One real life example that I have heard in the past would be that if you grow a vegetable garden you will be able to live of your vegetables and never need to by them again. This is a fallacy because it leaves out the middle ground it does not say anything about you having to grow large quantities of vegetable and that you would need to grow them all year round. It also doe not count that fact that you may not be able to grow them and then they die you would be forced to go to the store and bye them. Slippery slope is really easy to get in to and people need to be carefull.

6 characteristics of communication

something that i really wanted to talk about was the 6 characteristics of communication
1. communication is symbolic
this means that the stronger the connection with a symbol the better the shared meaning
2. communication is a shared code
this means that every member of a group must share the same way of encoding and decoding a message.
3. Communication is linked to culture.
this means that the things and word mean different things in different cultures.
4. communication is intentional
this means that everything is communicated on poupous weather it be by words or body language.
5. communication is mediated.
this means that commuication is carried though a 3ed party, like internet, phone, text.
6. communication is transactional.
this mean that the messages sent are dependent on the other person sending one back!

Subjective and Objective Claims

Claims? What are the differences in subjective and objective claims?

Subjective claim: a subjective claim is a claim that is not made up of facts. It is a claim made by someone that is composed of an expression of an expression, opinion, or a belief. This type of claim can not be proved right or wrong.

Example of a subjective claim I have heard lately: “Freshman orientation is going to be the best it’s ever been”! In this situation I was talking to a orientation leader about how orientation was going this year and she stated the above claim. This is an example of a subjective claim because it was based of her opinion.

Objective claim: a objective claim is a claim that is made up of factual information. Factual information is made up of widely recognized information. This type of claim can be proved right or wrong based on the correctness of the factual information.

Example of an objective claim I have heard lately: “my computer wont turn on” In this situation I was talking to a coworker who was having problems with her computer and it would not turn on. This is an example of an objective claim because it is a known fact that her computer will not turn on and it can be proved right.

Differences between valid and strong arguments!

The differences between valid and strong arguments and small but very important. It is imperative that one know the differences between the two and how to use the correctly.

Valid Arguments: a valid argument is an argument in which all premises are known to be true. This means that the conclusion can never be false since the premises are true.

An example of a valid argument would be Marilyn can die from eating eggs, this is true because Marilyn is deathly allergic to eggs, and being deathly allergic to something and eating it will kill you.

Strong Arguments: a strong argument is one that may be invalid argument that most likely has a true conclusion. This means that the conclusion may be true but the premises might be false or made up just to sound true.

And example if a strong argument would be that Linda like chocolate, because Linda is a women and women like chocolate. Just because Linda is a women does not mean that she like chocolate.

Hello!

Hi Comm 41 I’m Marilyn AKA Violet Beauregarde I am going in to my fourth year here at San Jose State. I am a Hospitality, Tourism, and Event Management Major with a minor in Sociology. I am originally from the central coast but I have been in san José the last three years! I love san Jose state (go Spartans!!). I live on campus and am the Vice President of Programming for the Residence Hall Association! That pretty much means I put on all the large scale programs for housing! My formal communication experience is minimal I have taken comm. 20! But I love to talk! My hopes for this class to be able better communicate my thoughts and opinions though pen and paper (or in the case the key board). I have never taken a online class before so this is something new for me! My intrest are many and varied so if you have something new that I might like to try hit me up!