UFO’s: Real or Not?

UFO’s are something that people either believe in or not. I personally believe that there is a possibility that UFO’s are real. Scientists are the same way, they believe in them or don’t. For example, Edward Condon does not believe that UFO’s can exist. He supports his argument by saying that there is physical proof of the ‘thing’ in the sky being something other than an UFO, and the reason why we do not study into UFO information is because scientists have better advancements to make in science. The next scientist, J. Allen Hynek, believes there is a possibility that UFO’s can exist. The evidence he uses is all the reported sightings of an UFO by people. He also believes that in order to make progress data must be collected to make the final decision. Lastly, Royston Paynter is not sure to whether UFO’s are real or not.  He states that we must have physical evidence to support the belief that they are real however, aliens are smart and would not leave behind evidence that they were here..

Social Biases and Errors

This week I found it helpful to recognize the types of social biases and errors we make. Learning what they are will help me be aware when I make one or help me not make the biases in the first place. The first error is a “one of them/one of us” error. In this error we group people as either with us or not. This creates a problem because we treat those not ‘with’ us differently and often badly. Social expectations are the next type of bias. We often have collective delusions of people because it is socially acceptable, regardless of our worldview. Next is the group pressure and conformity. Behaving in a way that we would not normally because the rest of the group is, is what this error is. We want to fit in with the group we are with so we do what everybody is doing. Lastly we often commit diffusion of responsibility. This is where when there is a large amount of people together the chance of somebody helping in an emergency is lower because everybody thinks somebody else will do something. 

Wisdom and Knowledge

I believe that wisdom is something you gain with experience and knowledge is what you learn to gain the wisdom. The definition of knowledge from the book is, information which we believe to be true and for which we have justification or evidence.  Wisdom is defined as the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment by the dictionary. In order to have wisdom you first must have knowledge. I do not think that anybody can be wise without first learning something, whether it is scholarly or social. College is a place where you gain knowledge that you will use to live in the world. Wisdom comes from experiences which increase with age. I believe that the knowledge we gain as we grow up help us become wiser. This is because we not only have the information to solve a problem but the chance that we have experienced something similar before and know how the outcomes affect our lives.   

Types of Definitions

I did not know there are so many different types of definitions. I knew there was a dictionary definition and a personal definition, but stipulative, lexical, precising, theoretical, operational, and persuasive definitions. The first type of definition is a stipulative definition. This type is “given to a new term of new combination of old terms”. An example of this is the word laptop, there was not a definition for this word before computers were made but now we have computers and laptops. A lexical definition is, “the commonly used dictionary definition”. For example, the definition of house is a building for human habitation. Precising definitions are used to reduce vagueness that goes beyond the lexical definition. When the phrase ‘term paper’ is used a teacher must include a precising definition to explain what they want for that paper.  Within a précising definition there are two categories, theoretical and operations. A theoretical definition is a definition that explains a term’s nature; while an operational is a standard measure for a use in data collection and interpretation. The last type of definition is a persuasive definition. This is explained as, a definition used as a means to influence others to accept our view. For example, theft is given a negative definition as it is looked down upon. 

Rhetoric Devices

The rhetoric devices explained in the book are used a lot by our society. Some of the types they listed in the book were: euphemism, dysphemism, sarcasm, and hyperbole. Personally I use sarcasm and hyperbole the most. Sarcasm is defined as the use of ridicule, insults, taunting, and/or caustic irony. An example of when I used sarcasm in the last week is when I was talking with one of my friends. We were talking about my old cheer uniforms when he asked what I did with them. I responded with, “I wear them around the house” and he thought I was serious. I do not actually wear them anymore.  A hyperbole is defined as a rhetorical device that uses exaggeration. Hyperbole is easier for me to think of an example because it’s so easy to use. The example I’m going to use is when I’m hungry; I often say I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. I cannot actually eat a horse but I feel as though I could. 

Sally Ride

Sally Ride is a very intelligent woman who knows how to think critically. Achieving the title of the first and youngest American woman in space is not something that anybody can do. The ability to think critically is something that can get somebody farther in life than those who cannot. I believe that Sally Ride is a critical thinker. The first reason I believe she is a critical thinker is because she loved to solve problems as a child. This is one of the characteristics of somebody who is a critical thinker. Being able to solve problems and in a creative way helps you think critically. Ride was also described as being “calm and totally focused” in college, this is another characteristic of a critical thinker. Open-mindedness is important when describing a critical thinker. Having an open mind allows a critical thinker to make a decision on fact and evidence rather than just their personal beliefs. Critical thinking is something that can take you far in life and we all should work towards becoming a better critical thinker. 

God vs. Evolution

Evolution and a belief in God I believe are incompatible. I think this because if your truly believe in evolution then the idea of God does not make sense. Evolution is the idea that all things living on Earth came from a simple thing to a more complex thing, such as a cell to a human.  With this being said, God would have not been able to create the world like it is believed he did. God is believed to create the Earth in 6 days. This belief does not support evolution. Richard Dawkins points out many things that support my belief that the belief in God and the belief in evolution are incompatible. One of the examples he give is, The Argument from Degree. In this example he states that just because somebody is not the maximum of something does not mean that there is a higher being that is and they are God.  I think Aquinas would respond by arguing that Dawkins does not fully support the idea that God does not exist with examples, he just uses personal belief.  

Recognizing Your Strengths

Recognizing your strengths is something that is very important. When I was in high school I wanted to be a fashion designer, and that was what I was going to go to school for. However, I am not a very good drawer and would not be able to draw my designs of clothes. Recognizing this helped me change my mind and do something that I was better at, Science. For argument type I’m strongest in inductive, this is because you can never guarantee an answer is going to the right one. This is easiest for me since I use it a lot in my everyday life already. Being good at inductive arguments can help me with my career as a nutritionist because getting people to eat right is not going to be easy and giving them a probable outcome to their actions is better than saying something will happen when there is always a chance it might not.