Week 9 ; Ch. 4 #3

Something that interested me in this chapter was the probability errors. A probability error is when the probability or chance of an event is under or over estimated by a huge margin. An example given was the probability of two people in your class having the same birthday. People usually think the probably is pretty low, but in reality, in a normal class size of about 20 students the probability is around 50%. With a larger class, the probability will also increase. An insidious form of probability error is gambler's error. This is the belief that previous events affect the probability in a random event. An example of this would be if you were thinking about a certain song, and all of a sudden when you turn on the radio, that song comes on. When this event occurs, many people usually thinks it's a coincidence, but it's a freaky one. An event that happens to me a lot of the time that is similar to this is when I call my mom, and right when she answers her phone, she says it's creepy because she grabs her phone to text or call me, but I call her right before she gets the chance. I think these are both errors that occur daily in people's lives whether they realize it or not.

Week 9 ; Ch.4 #2

In the story of "Perspectives on Evaluating Evidence for the Existence of Unidentified Flying Objects",  there are three different opinions about UFOs. Edward Condon argues that the study of UFOs for the past 21 years has not come to any conclusion. He believes that since there has been no proof of UFOs, in schools, teachers shouldn't give credit to students that turn in work based on readings about them. J. Allen Hynek argues that the existence of UFOs need to be studied in a systematic scientific manner because the issue is dismissed too often. He goes on to coming up with ideas on how the existence can be proven by "comparing large groups of sightings of a particular category with a much larger population of the same category" and "Close Encounters of the Second Kind, in which the reported presence of physical evidence can yield quantitative physical data". Royston Paynter argues that there isn't solid 100% proof that aliens have set foot on Earth. He says that people can believe these alien visitations from cattle mutilations, crop circles, and alien abductions, but there isn't any proof of it. I personally believe that Paynter had the best argument because he didn't shoot the whole idea down about aliens existing like the previous two did. He said that people can believe whatever they want, but he just tells the truth about there being no evidence to support the fact that aliens do exist.

Week 9 ; Ch.4 #1

Wisdom is the use of knowledge. Knowledge is something that you know is true through evidence or proof. I honestly think I acquire both in college because some of the information that professors teach are things that I never knew before. Since professors are experts in their area of study, they're evidence of the truth being told. A way to use this information as wisdom would be if you were telling your friends about something new that you learned in class. You know it's true information because it's what your professor shared with the class. I don't think taking GE courses is a necessity because they're not subjects that you want your future to withhold. Taking those courses makes you more knowledgeable, but when would you use all that information in the real world? Events that happen in your life make you wiser because you learn from your past experiences to improve on situations, or what you need to avoid. I think the information age has made us both wiser and more knowledgeable because in college, you learn something new every day.

Week 7 ; Ch.3 #3

In the beginning of chapter 3, it talks about what language is and the different functions of language. Language is defined as, "a system of communication that involves a set of arbitrary symbols, whether spoken, written, or nonverbal (sign language)". There are 6,800 known languages in the word, but they all use the same basic universal grammatical rules. Four different functions are; informative, expressive, directive, or ceremonial. Informative language is language that is either true or false, directive is used to direct or influence actions, expressive communicates feelings and attitudes, and ceremonial is used in particular formal circumstances. An example of informative language is, "San Jose State is located in downtown San Jose". An example of directive would if someone told you to do something, like, "Close the door". Expressive language is usually written into poems or religious worships. An example of ceremonial language would be saying "I do" in a marriage ceremony.  I personally never knew or thought about the different functions of language, so I'm glad I learned about it in this chapter.

Week 7 ; Ch.3 #2

A rhetorical device is the action of using persuasion rather than reason to persuade people to side with a particular position. There are four different types of common rhetorical devices, which consist of euphemism, dysphemism, sarcasm, and hyperbole. A euphemism is when you replace a negative term with a more positive one, basically "sugercoating" the truth. A dysphemism is the opposite of a euphemism, it's a phrase used to have a negative effect. Sarcasm is the use of insults, taunting, and caustic irony. A hyperbole is the use of exaggeration to overstate the facts. Earlier this week, I used a euphemism because when I was at work, I had to train a new hire on how to open up the store. It was her third week of working, so I asked her if she could make someone's order of fresh-squeezed orange juice. I knew she was told multiple times before to wear gloves while working with the fresh fruits because my co-workers told me ahead of time, but even after those constant reminders, she still didn't wear them this time while making the juice. Instead of scolding her like my other co-workers did, I simply told her, "Hey, we're supposed to always wear gloves when we touch the fresh fruits because nobody would want a drink that someone makes without knowing where their hands have been." After I told her that, every fresh-squeezed juice she made later that day, she wore gloves. Last week, I also used sarcasm because my roommate left her keys at home, and since I was home, she called me and asked if I could let her in. Obviously I was going to let her in, but I told her, "No,  I don't know how to open the door, so you're going to have to wait outside all night long." She knew I was being sarcastic, so she told me to just come downstairs and open the door.

Week 7 ; Ch.3 #1

When I read the story of Sally Ride, I was impressed with all the accomplishments she managed to go though. Not only was she one out of 35 picked for the astronaut class of 1978 out of more than 8,000 applicants, but she was also the youngest and the first female African astronaut in space. She is a great example of a role model for someone to pursue their goals in life. Looking back to chapter one, Ride was a critical thinker because she had analytical skills. had effective communication, had open-minded skepticism, and had creative problem solving skills. According to her friends from college, she was "calm and totally focused, always able to see the heart of things, quickly thought, figured out, and crystallized things." She sounded like a person that really had things going the way she wanted them to, and followed a successful path to life. I would think that she was the type of person that would always take problems into her own hands, and not depend on other people for things because she knew that she would be able to handle the situations on her own. I believe she was showing women that they can all do anything that men can do.