Chapter 2: #3

Chapter two covered many topics, and most of them related to the idea of emotion. In particular, I took to heart the section on empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings with others. In my group of friends, I always want everyone to be happy. Because of this, whenever I see that someone is acting a little different or off, I tend to try to pull them aside and talk to them about it. I believe that the best way to help others with problems is to really understand where they are coming from and put yourself in their shoes. Yes, some situations are completely unrelateable to me, but I do try my best to see things not only as myself but I try to see things as others. The one thing/one goal I truly want in my life is to make my loved ones happy.

Chapter 2: #2

The argument between Aquinas and Dawkins about the incompatibility of God and evolution is VERY interesting to me.  Being a science major, I strongly believe in evolution, but at the same time, I am a devout Catholic who believes in God. I disagree with Dawkins because I have never had a problem believing both science and religion. Dawkins does make some valid points and Aquinas' views are somewhat dated, but I disagree with his thoughts. Yes, we do not know whether God is real or not, but at the same time, we do not know what exactly started "everything." Did things just tend to happen over time as matter and particles drifted in space? Or did some being or something make it so that something would start and everything would evolve? I believe that if Aquinas were alive today, Dawkins and him would disagree and argue over this. Aquinas would challenge Dawkins and vice versa, but I don't think this debate will ever come to and end.

Chapter 2: #1

I believe that picking a career is one of the biggest decisions one can make in their life, therefore it is important that we understand what our strengths and weaknesses are. I am a biology major and I plan to get into biotechnology. With that in mind, I believe that my strength is problem solving.  I am able to quickly understand and fix any problems that I may bump into. I never expect things to go as planned, so when something does go wrong I am good at dissecting every step taken and finding the one problem.  I believe this can help me because in a lab, there is a lot of trial and error needed. Labs require a lot of patients and trying to figure out what went wrong in order to get the results desired. With my problem solving abilities, I hope to be able to succeed as a biotechnologist.

Chapter 7: #3

One concept that I would like to discuss is cause and effect. I believe that this is the most important concept that we covered this chapter because cause and effect is everywhere throughout our daily lives. Every day we make decisions and they always lead to something else happening.

Cause and Effect is a causal argument because it explains that something is the cause of another event. Cause and effect is a type of inductive argument that is commonly seen throughout the day. If we are to constantly make decision in our lives we need to be able to see the possible effects or consequences of our actions. If we did not and just made decisions blindly everything would remain out of control and all based on chance, in essence, by thinking with cause and effect we are able to have some control over our lives and our future. 

Chapter 7: #2

I believe that Dr. Novello is a great example of cause and effect. Cause and effect is when something results directly from something else. The problem in 1988 was teenagers were smoking more, and this was a direct result from the companies directing their ads at children. In finding a solution, Dr. Novello thought that by pushing to educate the children, the result would be children and teenagers stopping smoking. This is a strong example of cause and effect reasoning and this can not only be seen here but in our daily lives. Everything happens as a result from something else, so we must be mindful of everything we do. Dr. Novello shows us two solid examples of this because we see both points of view, her point of view on how to ban and stop smoking, as well as the point of view from the companies such as Camel that directed their ads at children and teenagers.

Chapter 7: #1

Throughout the week I have used inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is when someone can make an assumption about something based on premises. It may not be the most reliable reasoning but it can be valid. An example of one from this week is when I had to set up my office hours for my job on campus this week.

Premise: I must work only up to 9.5 hours a week on campus.
Premise: I also go to classes all throughout the week but do not start on Mondays and Wednesdays until 3:00PM.
So as a conclusion: I plan to have most of my office hours on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

I believe this is a inductive argument because I had to use the information I already had to make a statement regarding my possible hours. Figuring out my hours was not really that tough for me because of my easy schedule on Mondays and wednesdays, and because I already had my class schedule set, I was able to plan out an available time slot for me to work in the office. Although it best suits me to have this kind of schedule, it does not mean it is 100% true because I can still change my availability.

Chapter 8: #3

One concept I found very interesting was the Hypothetical Syllogisms, especially the Chain Argument. I found this to me most interesting because I feel that I use this kind of argument to back up my points. Chain arguments are made up of three propositions that are all linked. The third proposition is the conclusion while the other two are each premises. A chain argument is similar to a chain of events meaning B is true because of A, and because B is true C is true, therefore C is true because of A. Chain arguments can be even longer than three events in the chain and can go up to very long chains. An example can be:

A. If the internet goes down, I can not do my homework.
B. If I can not do my homework, I will not get credit.
C. If the internet goes down, I will not get credit.

I believe that the Chain Argument is a very good way of having valid reasoning but still does have its flaws. Chain arguments can lead to some assumptions, and those are not always valid. This is why, not only this section, but the whole chapter was very interesting to me. It was good to see new ways of reasoning and arguments.

Chapter 8: #2.

As a Catholic, I believe in the death penalty. Yes, the catholic and christian church do not believe in it but that is why I love Catholicism. As a catholic, we are told that we have been given the freedom to pick and choose what we want to believe. Just because we are Catholics does not mean that we must believe everything the church says. Catholicism is a denomination of the Christian faith, yes the death penalty is seen as a way to take away one's dignity and right to life but we must remember that times truly have changed as well as there are many cons not having the death penalty. When it comes down to it, I believe we must measure out the pros and the cons of legalizing the death penalty. With everything going on in the world and an increasing number of convicts, we really are running out of space in prisons. Also I have read that the amount of money spent on keeping someone in prison for life sometimes does outweigh the cost of the death penalty. I am torn on this topic as well, but I am leaning towards legalizing it.

Chapter 8: #1

I believe that in the story "Silve Blaze," Sherlock Holmes tries to portray that when people are reasoning with each other, each side of the conflict can be blinded by their emotions and opinions causing them to not see both sides of the argument. Because they cannot detach these emotions or opinions, we choose to rely on them rather than looking up and understanding the facts. I believe that this is very true, but I feel like it should not. Because of this, we fail to see both sides of a story and this makes our reasoning invalid.

A couple months ago,  a friend and I were not seeing eye to eye because rumors were spread regarding a friend and me. I had heard that my friend went around, telling people lies behind my back, in response to this I would talk to people about it and it made it seem like I was talking about him behind my back. Eventually, we confronted each other and talked about it, apparently he never did talk about me and it was only another rumor going around. Because of those rumors, I falsely assumed and blamed him even when I should not have. My reasoning became invalid and stupid because I assumed without looking at the facts.

Chapter 6: #3

One topic I found very interesting in the reading was Boss' idea of asking the right questions. Asking questions is a very good way to not only get to know people but also learn information. He emphasizes that the way we speak plays a major role in how far we can get in a conversation. When we conversate with others and ask questions we must stay aware of our tone of voice. I know that there are two methods of communication: passive and aggressive. Normally passive communication will get people to sway to your side and answer questions because it gives the impression that you are friendly. In contrast, when we speak with an aggressive tone, we come off as being demanding and angry and this can easily escalate the volume in a conversation and lead to arguments. Through Boss' reading I thought about this, and I do strongly believe that our tone of voice plays a major role in our communication with others. In the sense of asking questions to get somewhere, I believe it is not only asking the right questions but also asking them in the proper manner.