Chapter 2, Question 3

A concept that I enjoyed reading was about dreams and problem solving. I don’t know how many of you have had a problem or a pressing issue and just decided to “sleep on it” hoping a solution would come to you. I have had this problem lately trying to make time for school, homework, work, boyfrine, and my friends. I never actually paid attention to the fact that lately I have been using my sleep to help me reason. I can actually visualize how my day should play out when I wake up. I found it very interesting to learn that it is not uncommon for people to make groundbreaking discoveries during dreams but it only works after a person has tried to solve the problem while awake.  A good strategy to utilize your creative thinking in your dreams is to write down a problem and then record what you dreamed about in the morning. I’m going to try to do this exercise tonight!

Chapter 2, Question 2

I believe that in some aspects the theory of evolution and a belief in God are compatible. The theory of evolution basically states that all things change, or evolve, over time in order to survive in their conditions. An example of evolution would be a giraffe’s neck which has evolved over time to reach leaves in tall trees. The reason I believe that evolution and a belief in God are compatible is because of the fact that one of Aquinas proofs discusses natural design in organisms, which is a big part in the theory of natural selection in evolution. However, the theory of evolution was Charles Darwin’s response to the common belief in a God. He wanted to disprove the theory of God by showing that there is another way things are the way that they are. Dawkins rebuttal to his argument disrespects those people that do believe in God by just the name of his article, “The God Delusion”. I felt that his argument could have been a lot stronger and his rebuttal was almost as confusing as Aquinas’ proofs. 

Chapter 2, Question 1

I have a lot of strengths that have lead me to choosing the career path that I have chose for myself. It is important to have identify your strengths and weakness in order to ensure success within your life. For example, math is not my strong suit so I would never think about becoming an accountant, because it would not be related to anything I’m interested in plus I would have to work very hard to try to prevail in my career. I am strongest in deductive reasoning, which is basically proving something before declaring it is true. This would help me in my career of choice because of the fact that I want to work with forensics. When crime scene investigators first arrive on the scene of a crime, they do not assume that a person died a certain way, there are a lot of unanswered questions. They look at all the evidence around and try to come to conclusion about why and how this happened. 

Chapter 7, Question 3

A concept that I found most interesting was in the group communication text about the importance of communication networks. This is a highly important concept because “the more connected an individual is to participants in an organizational network, the more centralized he or she is”. Meaning, that the group is stable. Networking also means that communication is key when trying to “have people remember who you are and what services you offer.” There are a variety of skills that are important for successful networking so that negotiation is easier. Building networks is the key to success. Without successful networking, whatever you are essentially “endorsing”, whether its you, a product, or a service you are offering, will be forgot in an instance. Leaving a lasting impression on others is highly important. I am not that great of a networker, but I am trying to improve my skills. Thus, by reading this text, I have learned a little bit more about such an important concept. 

Chapter 7, Question 2

Antonia Novello noticed a dramatic change in the number of and children and teens that were smoking in 1988 when the Joe Camel ads were first introduced. Her inductive reasoning was that the advertisements were probably the cause of more children and teens smoking cigarettes. She noticed a correlation between the two. The more ads that teens and children saw, the number of youth smoking increased. Since Novello noticed this, she began working in schools with youth to teach them about issues such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, and AIDS prevention. She also tried to get a ban on the Joe Camel commercials that she believed targeted youth. Let’s break it down a little bit more:

Premise 1 (cause): Joe Camel ads were released in 1988 and                                            

Premise 2 ( cause): the ads became very popular amongst youth.

Conclusion (effect): The number of youth and children that smoked dramatically increased.

Thank you.

Chapter 7, Question 1

An inductive argument that I used in the last week was when I had caught a cold. I have a good friend that went to the store to buy me some Nyquil (premise 1). The week before that, he brought me some laundry detergent (premise 2). A week before that he drove me to Wal-Mart (premise 3). Therefore, I can most likely count on him to get me anything I ask for (conclusion). The only reason I continue to ask him to do things for me is because I know that he will based on prior experiences. In an inductive argument, the conclusion goes beyond the premises and claims that the conclusion probably follows the premises. In my example, I had three premises that stated the things that he has done for me. My conclusion can be falsified if the next time I ask him to do something he doesn’t do it for me. I made a general conclusion about what will probably happen next therefore it is an inductive argument. 

chapter 8, Question 3

A concept that I enjoyed reading about was in “The Essential Guide to Group Communication.” Chapter 3 discussed leadership and decision making in groups and teams. There are four different types of leadership when working in groups or teams: authoritarian, consultative, participative, and laissez-faire. I thought that this would be a good concept to read about because of the fact that there are different types of leadership, others try to take complete control of the situation, but sometimes people need to be able to step down in order to allow room for others to step up to the plate. An authoritarian leader makes decisions for the group without asking for the group consent first. Consultative leadership means that the group directly communicates with the group and makes a final decision. Participative leadership is when there really isn’t a clear leader in the group since all team members work together as partners in order to achieve a common goal. A laisezz-faire leader is when a leader basically leaves everything up to the group and doesn’t really have direct contact with the group. I think the most effective type of leadership for this upcoming paper would be to have shared leadership amongst the members of the group. 

Chapter 8, Question 2

I come from a Christian/Catholic background and I completely agree with Sister Helen Prejean that the death penalty disagrees with the teaching of Jesus and violates human dignity. Using deductive reasoning and modus ponens, if the teachings of Jesus are not to do unto others as they have done to you, then the death penalty is wrong. The teachings of Jesus are “to return hate for hate and evil for evil”. Therefore, Christians should believe that the death penalty is wrong. This is a valid and sound argument. However, there are a large number of Christians that support the death penalty. It seems as if Christians may disagree with Sister Prejean because they believe that if someone has done a horrific and unforgivable crime, then they should be punished by death for that. However, people could spend years on death row and in rare cases someone else might have committed the crime. Also, all of the tax dollars that go into paying for someone on death row is more expensive than a normal inmate. Therefore, Christians should agree with Sister Prejean not only for moral reasons but for economical reasons as well.  

Chapter 8, Question 1

In the story “Silver Blaze”, Sherlock Holmes gave Watson a big piece of advice. He told Watson that “when it comes to the art of reasoning, many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumptions. The difficulty, he maintains, is to detach the framework of undeniable fact from the embellishments of hearsay and reports.” This means that many people rely on unsupported assumptions to find answers without detaching the facts from rumors. Although Holmes interviewed many people to figure out exactly what had happened to the missing racehorse. He did not rely solely on the testimonials from those people and used argument by elimination to rule out the different possibilities until only one had remained. Valid proof of something is critical when making a decision because if everyone might have a different interpretation of what they thought happened and the rumor may become out of control when the truth was very simple. It is important to rely on facts and rely less on what people say.

When I was in high school, it was a little bit like the movie Mean Girls. Meaning that, there were cliques and rumors about almost everyone in the school.  I used to hear about this person and that person doing nasty things, drugs, and basically anything. I judged those people without trying to get to know them based off of what I had heard versus my personal experience of being around them. My friends started to hang out with this girl that I had heard so much stuff about and I used to just ignore her or be mean to her. There would be times when it would just be me and her sitting at the lunch table. I felt like I was forced to get to know her and try to be her friend. After a few months, she became my friend, then my best friend, then like a sister to me. I was able to learn that half of the stuff I had heard about her was all fiction and I never would have become her best friend if I would have based my decisions on unsupported assumptions. 

Chapter 6, Question 3

One concept that I found interesting in this week’s reading was in Chapter 2 of the Group Communication book was about what makes a good group. Cohesion in groups is a very important concept that is essential when working in a group. As stated in the text, “a cohesive group is a tight unit that is able to hang together in the face of opposition.” The concept is about essentially becoming as one with your group. You must respect other people’s opinions and ideas in order for the group to work efficiently. Interdependence is another thing that is highly important so that everyone in the group is doing their tasks in order to fulfill the goals of the group. Meaning, each person needs to do their part and the members work collectively. Something that I found interesting was the fact that conflict is a healthy form of group communication because in some cases members are able to find a good intermediate between their two groups. Hopefully, during the group writing assignment, my group will be able to come together and use some of the tools that I have learned in order to receive a good grade.