relativism

One concept from the course I would like to expand on is the concept of the cognitive development in college students because this is something that I have seen myself go through quite a bit this semester. I think when I was younger I was scared of being wrong, so I once I decided on something I wouldn’t be swayed, no matter what evidence to the contrary you threw at me. Right now there are some tough issues that my friends like to talk about, and my goal lately is just to try and understand the issues more. The two things I try to do are to ask them a lot of questions, rather than try to state my opinion. The other thing I do is play devil’s advocate, just to put some pressure on. So I’ve seen myself move from the dualistic stage to the relativism stage pretty clearly. It’s interesting to me that even though I know the “process” of what is happening, I feel there is really nothing I can do to get away from it. I sometimes wonder if moving to the final “commitment” stage is necessarily better, isn’t it possible they’re equally good stages to be in? Just kidding. 

I'm not saying this thing is true or not, I'm just saying it's what I learned."

One thing I have learned in this class over the course of the semester is that there are two sides to every argument. And sometimes what I think is the really obvious answer, or something that is absurd, is actually something I just haven’t thought about very much. An example of this is the arguments in the text for and against college plagiarism. It seems obvious at first that plagiarism in college is bad and unwanted by all college faculties. But I think the writer who argues for it makes some interesting points about how embracing plagiarism is a way of utilizing all the resources that are available to students on the internet. He also thinks that teachers are somewhat to blame for not finding creative ways to teach around plagiarism. This just goes to show that if you don’t take the time to think about both sides of an issue you may not consider some important facts pertaining to an issue. I think it is important to know both sides of a debate in order for a person to make an informed decision.  

favorite and least favorite things

My favorite thing about this class was the online format. I thought the way the class was oriented around the web and not just as a way to turn things was great. I thought the blog form of discussion was very cool. Even though we never had class, I probably discussed the course material with other students through the blog more than any of my other classes. Doing a class online like this is really helpful for my schedule because I work and go to school too, so one of the hardest things besides just finding the time to study is scheduling my classes. So anything that can be done online in a way that I can actually learn the material is really helpful. I didn’t like that the major writing assignments were graded based on group performance. I understand that working in teams is one of the learning goals of this class, but it just seemed a little weird when getting grades based on other people’s performance. I think the group projects would go better if there was more of an individual component – like an individual paper that could be used as a source to contribute to the group paper. 

mission critical and causal arguments

Both these websites are very good for illustrating the practical value of knowing and understanding arguments. The mission critical gives an overview of the basics of argument, such as premises, conclusions, fallacies, etc… The Intro. To causal arguments site gives a good example of how to use causal argument in a real life situation. It’s very good at showing what is important to consider when trying arguing causation. The three things to consider are, how acceptable the comparison is, how likely the causation is, how credible the “only difference” claim is. The other two rules are that the cause must precede the event, and even strong correlation is insufficient to prove causation. This was very useful because it showed how to argue causation. It was really interesting that causation cannot be proved with certainty. Things can only be likely to be likely to be proved to cause something. The mission critical website is a really good resource for information, and the causal arguments site is really good for showing an example. 

observations from the gym

I used to think that there were certain exercises I should be doing when I go to the gym because everyone else I see at the gym did these. Most people isolate single muscle groups in the arms and chest, so they do a lot of curls, triceps pull downs, and things like this, trying to get bigger arms and chest. I discovered this observation was wrong because I wasn’t achieving the results I wanted in the gym. I realized that there were differences between me and the other people in the gym; a lot of people who were doing these exercises were in overall good shape and already had developed core strength and the basic exercises that I should’ve been doing. Scientific knowledge played a big role in correcting my mistake because there is a lot of bad information out there about what you should and shouldn’t be doing in the gym. I had to do a lot of research on the internet, and eventually found a program that came highly recommended, and was able to explain the physiological reasons that certain exercises should be done instead of others, the way the exercises should be done, and took into account the fact that this program is for novices. By the way, as is often the case in science, the simplest explanation is usually the best one, and this gym program has the simplest explanation for why things should be done a certain way.   

horoscope

“You have certainly felt better than you do today, Taurus. We'll pause here while you go and fetch the aspirin. The stomachache and headache are simply the result of recent overindulgence. Don't worry - you'll be fit as a fiddle by tomorrow morning. Next time someone offers you multiple helpings of food or drink, however, you might want to consider politely declining!” – from horoscope.com

This horoscope is actually completely accurate. I mean 100% accurate. I’ve been completely hung over all day because I drank too much last night. I wish there was something that could falsify this horoscope for me today, but I’ve tried everything and I’m still hung over. If anyone has any suggestions please post them as a comment. I guess the point of this exercise is to find fallacies in horoscopes… well…. How hard is it to get that one right? I mean telling me I’m hung over on a Saturday, which, if you don’t know, is the day after Friday night. This is a case of good solid advice being passed off as fortune telling – I mean really horoscope, you think I shouldn’t overindulge in beverages? Where were you last night with this information!? I think most horoscopes have some sort of overarching truth that can apply to anyone, and thus “prove” its validity…. But predicting that I might be hung over on a Saturday – well done horoscope.com

Internet Plagarism

In the article Brook Sadler presents ten reasons to punish internet plagiarism. The reasons he presents are fairly run of the mill: encourages work ethic, teaches pride in the student etc. I think the strongest point he makes is that the student does not struggle with the work himself. I have seen this in myself and have only come to be able to write by struggling through the exercises.  Russell Hunt presents four reasons to embrace internet plagiarism. The main points being that the current academic models are outdated and useless in a work environment, and that since internet plagiarism is here to stay we should teach students how to properly use it to increase the quality of their education. He seems to believe that this is an opportunity to fix a problem that’s been broken for some time and his case is compelling, as the process of teaching students to use secondary sources well has certainly been lost on me until very recently. But I couldn’t help but feel this was a bit of a red herring, as he attacks the current model of academic writing more than actual plagiarism. I think he is making a strong case for including in college education proper use of secondary sources, which I think would be advantageous.