Something Useful

During this semester, I found that fallacies are really useful. A fallacy is “a bad argument of one of the types that have been agreed to be typically repaired” (Epstein). There are three types and most of them are bad. I think that the content fallacies are important such as false dilemma, appeal to emotion, drawing the line and etc.  Also, in chapter 14, I found that generalization is interesting. We generalize every day with a claim or an argument. To better generalize, we have to have examples; that’s just how the world works. Everyone generalizes from regular people to scientists. Generalizing is “when we are generalizing, if we could conclude a claim about a group, the population, from a claim about some part of it, the sample. To generalize is to make an argument” (EPSTEIN). I think everyone makes an argument everyday, they just do not know yet because they haven’t learned these critical thinking concepts.

What I Learned

We have covered many chapters during this fall semester. I think that I learned most of the stuff that we have covered so far. Most concepts I never even heard of until now. In addition, we use most concepts as an everyday life thing. Some of the concepts that I learned in COMM 41 class is useful because I am also learning it in my English class. I knew almost all of the concepts in my English class because I have already learned it in this class such as strawman, begging the question, appeal to pity, appeal to emotion, appeal to fear, question authority and many more. When I saw that in my English class, I said I was going to get a good the quiz because I know it already. First time I read about vague I understood it so well. I think that was one of the easiest definitions and concept. I learned about accepting and rejecting claims and when to accept, or reject claims. I really learned a lot this semester. Though sometimes the book can be confusing, my blog mates helped me out with their examples and then somehow I get it.

Feed back.

2). What was your favorite thing about this class?  What was your least favorite thing about this class?  How can this class be improved?

My favorite thing about this class was that it is online. This class saved a lot of my time. I have work and I am traveling from and to school so it gives me the opportunity to do something else. If this class were on campus, I would not be able to have a break in between my classes. I am taking all my classes in one day and I have a 2-hour gap for lunch. If I did not have that gap, I would be miserable and cranky in class. Nevertheless, thank goodness this is an online course. My least favorite thing about this class is that we have to meet up with our groups. I do not have problems with that, but we all have our own busy life to live. Not everyone would be able to meet at the same day and same time. It took my group forever to pick a day so we can work on assignment 3. In my opinion, I think that there should not be any group work; just make it individual work. Group work is too hard because not everyone can get together. If there will be group work, it should be mandatory that everyone in the class show up on campus plus the professor. That way everyone can get into their groups without a problem.

Chapter 15

In chapter 15, we learn about cause and effect. Cause and effect is A then B or A caused B. One thing in chapter 15 is the cause and effect in populations. I found that really interesting. Cause in populations is “usually explained as meaning that given the cause, there’s a higher probability that the effect will follow than if there were not the cause” (EPSTEIN). So basically, one can tell that the claim is a cause and effect if there is a probability. For example, people who drink alcohol and drive have a higher probability in getting a DUI ticket than the people who does not drink. If there is a probability, then an effect will have to follow because that is how cause and effect goes. It comes together like peanut butter and jelly, or the prince and princess. Also, in cause and effect in populations, there are three sections below it. It is controlled experiment: cause to effect, uncontrolled experiment: cause to effect, and uncontrolled experiment: effect to cause. 

Mission: Critical Site Review

“Mission: Critical is to create a "virtual lab," capable of familiarizing users with the basic concepts of critical thinking in a self-paced, interactive environment”(SJSU.EDU). This site that the professor gave us is really useful. There are a lot of information and link on this page. I thought that the part in the mission critical website where there are critical mission visual diagrams such as Conditionals and Syllogisms for us to see. Like I said before in other posts, I learn better by visual. Circles that are intersected are claims. There are veb diagrams (two movable interacting circles) and venn diagrams (three fixed intersecting circles). There are four diagrams that are really useful. The way the site sets it up makes it easier for people to understand. Also I thought that vagueness and ambiguity was easy. “A word or phrase is said to be ambiguous if it has at least two specific meanings that make sense in context. A word or phrase is said to be vague if it is meaning is not clear in context”. The website had good information and made it easy for me to understand. The definitions and examples were not confusing which made me comprehend this even better. Overall, this website is really useful because it has little trivia after the readings. By playing these games, it makes us learn more. 

Cause Effect Website

I thought that the cause effect website was useful because you can argue causation.  Two rules to remember when dealing with causation are:  1. the cause must precede the event in time. 2. Even a strong correlation is insufficient to prove causation. Other possible explanations for such a strong correlation include coincidence, reversed causation, and missing something that is the cause of both the original "cause" and its purported "effect." (sjsu.edu).This means that you can have an inductive reasoning, which is a cause and effect type of reasoning. In the example on the website, it gives examples of a bicyclist who moves into the traffic lane. I think that this is a good cause effect example because the truck caused the bicyclist to swerve. People can argue these in many ways and in different perspective. I thought that the exercise was useful! I understood what commonality and differences were in the exercise. Commonality is what is the same thing the group has in common and difference is something different about the group showing the effect. This exercise was really short and I wished there was more exercises like this that I can do to understand it more. Overall, I think that the exercise helped me understand cause effect better. 

Interesting 411

“Analogies in the law are presented as detailed, carefully analyzed arguments, with the important similarities pointed out and general principles stated” (Epstein 257). Since analogy means a comparison, analogies in the law mean a comparison in the law. Laws are often vague. Judges have to respect how earlier judges have ruled. Judges have to rule carefully if we are going to be governed by the laws. It can be legal now and later illegal or it can be the opposite. For example, Roe V. Wade said that having an abortion is illegal, but now in today’s world, it is legal to get an abortion. “In law, analogy is used to resolve issues on which there is no previous authority. A distinction has to be made between analogous reasoning from written law and analogy to precedent case law” (Wikipedia). This has to all do with written laws. Example, if the law is written one way, and the judge wants to determine it the other way, the judge has to compare the reasons why he or she wants to change the law. He or she cannot just change it because they do not like it. They have to look through the cases thoroughly.