Needs Improvement....

We have studied many concepts this semester, so recalling just one that needs improvements is a bit difficult. After much thought, the concept that I would like to spend more time on, trying to understand more would be fallacies. There are so many fallacies and very little time. While some are prety straight forward others are very confusing and need further explination. I remember when we were studing the fallacies at one point I had to do a lot of additional research in order to really understand what they meant because the book was so vauge. I think if we could have spent a little more time on them that would have been very helpful. I hope that there are not too many fallacies on the final because then I will be in a lot of trouble.

Well I am sad to know that this is my last blog, I hope that everyone had a great semester and I wish everyone good luck on there finals:)

Generalizing

In chapter 14 I felt that the section generalizing was the most helpful, because often times it can be very difficult to understand what someone needs or wants. As the book says, "We generalize every day, arguing from a claim about more.It is how we make sense of the world: What's happened before it is likely to happen again." Everyone generalizes at one point or another, so this section is very helpful, because you can try to work around it. In cases like this where it can be hard to know what to do when people are generalizing examples really help because they help you analyze the situation and decide weather or not the generalization is good, if the argument is good, and weather or not the unstated premises are needed about what is going on. I hope that this was helpful for everyone, and I look forward to seeing what everyone else thought was helpful!:)

Happy tuesday....

Hard at Work

Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say, Fewww what a semester!!! This has been one of the fastest semesters that I can remember. I have to say that Comm 41 has definatley been my favorite class this semester, not only because the topics were interesting, but because our professor, Carol Perez, made it so easy to work with her but becuase in the process of doing so we were free to talk about anything we felt. My favorite part of this class has been the lessons on group work, I am very shy and I do not really like to work in a group but in reading the sections on group work and actually participating in the activitys I have gained a new confidence in myself and how I work with others. I was very lucky to have been able to work with a very dedicated group member, because as we all know sometimes group work is not really group work at all. I have learned thing is this class that I can carry on to all my classes in the future... Thank you!

Looking for a Cause???

In chapter 15 there is a section for how to look for the cause. When you think about it with out reading the section what do you think when you read "How to look for the cause"? Well i think that I have to think about every possible cause to the problem, and that is exaclty it!!!In the book they gave an example of a leaky waterfall and how the person had to explore every which way the water could be leaking. I think that this is a very important process.If there is a problem, it has to be a start to it rite. Figuring out a problem can be tricky at times,but if you stay patient it can be done. I found this section very important because when you have a cause there is always an effect, a lot like a problem and solution. Well I hope this helps everyone :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Cause and Effect

The casue and effect site was very detailed and pretty straight forward.It gave a very thorough example of of casue and effect. In an example like the bicicalist being hit it can be a bit confusing, but when you look at it in the cause and effect way it starts to make a lot more sense. THis example is actually something similar to what happened to me a few days ago, I had gotten into a accident where I had ended up rear-ending another car. The car infront of me had previously hit the car infornt of them before i hit them, so whos fault is it???Well the person who caused the accident,so in reality it was the person who I hit, and they ended up having full responsbility for the accident. Anyway I found the exercise page a little confusing, but it was a little helpfull because I know those are potential questions for a test and it can help me practice in studing for this class.

Mission Critical

The mission critical site was very helpfull.First and foremost it was very well organized. As you get into deep reasearch on the site you get very detailed explination of each specific subject and I think that that is the most helpfull of it all. Each of the point is clearly stated and seperated into its own catagory and that is helpful when studing or looking up information.and this will be a good refernce for studing rather than flipping through countless pages. I fing this site most usefull for studing, especially since i am a poor test taker I believe this is a good tool to use.When everything is nicley set out for you and easy for you to use it make it so much easier to clear your head and study thing that you know will be on the test rather than useless information.

This is why I found it usefull and hopefully this will help you to study as well for our comm tests and I look forward to hearing what others found useful in this site.

Have a good week!

Appealing to....

Pg.195 #4:Make up an appeal to some emotion for the next time a traffic officer stops you.

Im speeding down the street, it is a beautiful summer day and Im not even paying attention to the road. All of a sudden bewww bewww, crap Im being pulled over!!!!Okay stay calm stay clam......

Officer:excuse me mam but do you know why I pulled you over?

Me:No

Officer:You were speeding. The limit is 45 and you were going 60.

Me:Oh my gosh I had no idea!Im so sorry, im in such a rush.Im late to work.I have a lot on my mind.Oh my gosh please dont give me a ticket please,I really am sorry I didnt mean to do it.

Now I went over in beyond with Appeal To Fear, because I was scared. I even went so far as to make up exuses of having to go to work and telling the officer I have a lot on my mind, and even pleading. This is al in result of my fear and me not wanting a ticket.

So emotionl......

"Emotions do and should play a role in our reasoning:we cannot even begin to make good decisions if we don not consider the their significance in our emotional life."

Life the Epstein book says, we should use emotion when reasoning.This can be a little confusing though because if we always think with our emotion we may just make decisions bassed on instinced rather than a rationally thought out emotion. This is why emotions can be so tricky, and possibly the reason men believe that women are such a pain in the butt, but thats another story. Anyway your cant reason with out emotion, its just impossible.
Example:
I woke up sick today and I do not want to go to school today because I am in a bad mood because I wanted to go out tonight, I should just stay home and rest up for tonight.

This is not good reasoning, if you are sick going out at night would not help you get better any faster now would it.

the right thing to do=
I woke up sick today and even though I am mad because I want to go out tonight I will stay home and get my rest today so I can get better as soon as possible.

Appeal to Emotion

As talked about in the Epstein there are a few different parts to Appeal to emotion and they are
-appealing to fear, this is a a way that politicians and advertisers manipulate people
-appeal to spite, the hope and revenge, is invariably rejected as bad by some people on moral grounds.In some cultures though, it is not only acceptable but moral imperative to "get even", to preserve ones "honor"
-appeal to vanity,although i was unable to find a good definition in the book this one is pretty obvious. I believe this is the appeal to something that is good for you.

The one that strikes me the most is appeal to fear. This is the one that is most appealing because this seems to be the best way to get peoples attention.I don’t know if its just me but I tend to be more interested in something if it causes fear. For example, scary movies.Scary movies seem so interesting and that attracts a lot of people.I also think that serious consequences to not doing things such as homework is a good example because the fear stimulates me to get more motivated.

Hope this is helpful to all :)

Contradictions

In chapter 8 of the Epstein book they talk about general claims and there contradictions. A contradictory claim is one that always has the opposite truth value. The book has a lot of really good and simple examples that lay it straight out and make it easy to understand, and I really like that because rather than giving just a definition it gives us many thing to look at and think about so that we don’t make the same mistake.I find this useful because rather than making myself sound dumb, I can avoid a contradiction when I am being witty!:)
I also liked this concept because as I was reading it, it made me think of that starburst commercial with the scottish-korean, and the albino lifegard lol. thats not possible so its funny, and it is a contradiction although the examples in the book are a little less funny they get the job done!
Dont be a condradiction!:)

Helpfull Assignments

So far I have found that the assignment that has been the most helpful to me during the coarse has been assignment number 2. I think that this assignment was fun as well as helpfull. Through this assignment I was able to learn more about the World wildlife foundation, a foundation dedicated to the conservation and the well beinf of our earth as well as endangered speicies. The Site is really interesting, and if you want to take part in helping to make a difference.But this project was really helpfull in a number of different ways, it helped me to see how companys use things like reasoning and fallacys to get us interested in there site or product or whatever it may be. Projects like this are the most helpful because rather than just reading about the concept in a book you are getting a first hand example of it, and in my case it was not just a boring old book example, its a wildlife example!

P.S. this is a cool site, check it out and participate in earth hour :)

Vauge Generalities

Vauge generalities:

as the book states there are mny ways we talk about all or a part of a collection without specifying a specific number.
These are some key words of vauge generalities:
>all
>almost
>many
>most
>a lot of
>some
>a few
>very few

most of these words are too vauge to figure in valid rguments.

Example:
I was arguing with a friend of why they should not drink and drive. They told me its really not a big deal because they know there limit. I then told them its dangerouse because if they drink and drive it could be fatal, even if its only a few drinks. Then i asked them, "So how many drinks did you have?" they replied "Um I dont know, a few." Later that night they got into a car accident.
This is too vauge because to some people a few may be two but to another it may be 5.

This was helpful because it showed me that when making a claim I need to be very specific and avoid thses words.

Communication Channels and networking

In life there are certain situations in which you will need to communicate , so it would benifit you to know about communication channels.There are formal channels which are the communication paths established along their heirarchical chart of the company and involve such isssues as status, authority, and power. Then there are formal channels which refer to the "grapevine" as well as to unathorized communication between two or more persons in an orginization. Another important thing to know about would be networking. These things are important because sometimes in life you need to know people to be able to get places in life. A perfect example of a good networking site would be facebook. You get to meet new people and throught communication channels and also network your self out into face book. If you are a model or into music or just want to get yourself out there face book is a awsome place to do so.

Internet advertising

A. Evaluating the premmises
as we talked about before there are three tests a argument must pass to be a good argument and they are;
1. there is a good reason to believe the premise
2. the premises are mor plausible than the conclusion
3. the argument is strong or valid

and there are three choices we can make about whether to believe a claim
1.accept the claim as true
2.reject the claim as false
3.suspend judgement

Analysis:I believe that this is a strong argument and that it passes the test to be a good argument and the decision I make about iit is to accept the claim as true.

B.Criteria for acceoting or rejecting claims
1.we accept a claim if we know it is true from our own experience
2.we reject a claim if we know it is false from our own experience
but there are some exceptions:
-we have good reason to doubt our memory or our perception
-the claim contradicts other experiences of ours, and there is a good argument against the claim

So we have to base it on our experience and also on other sources because it may not be reliable or it may just be a fake and a phony!

Analysis:so like i said before i accept this add to be true and the reason i accept it is because through personal experience and also because this is such a big deal the sources are reliable and we all know the truths of it.



Be kind to our earth :)
Please

Rational discussion

In a mad world only the mad are sane.

— Kurosawa, Akira

I think the people who are "crazy" and do the weirdest things are the ones who are really not crazy in this crazy world.


Analysis:
My analysis of this quote is a little far fetched, like in the King example. As in the Martin Luther King example i am putting words in Akira Kurosawa mout. This is probably not what she means, in fact im pretty sure it is quite simple because It seems it is almost impossible to mistunderstand what she is saying.By me saying "I think..." this is not a argument because just because I think that does not mean that everyone thinks this so it is not a valid argument.This quote is pretty straight forward and blunt. This is a poor attempt at an argument because I am not using it correctly.

I hope that this clears things up a little more, some of these examples were a little hard to understand so I did my best.:)

Group Work

When working in a group there must be a certain level of trust and a strong relationship in order for things to work out smoothly, if not then things can get a little difficult. In our small book, The Essential Guide To Group Communication organizational realtionships are discussed and realtionships you that may need to be established at one point or another in to have good and orginized realtionships with important people.The relationships mentioned in the book are 1.relationship between superiors and subordinates 2. relationship between team leaders and team members 3. relationships between orginizational departments. I believe that all of these relationships are extremley important to have, because not only will it help you out when trying to communicate but it will also help you in all aspects of life because communication is the key.So next time you are in a possition where communication is the key just refer to these rules and you will be good:)

Does this appeal to your emotion?

Does this Appeal to your emotion???

The fallacy I choose to talk about is Appeal to emotion.Now this is not the first time that I have herd about this fallacy but it is defiantly one I have to read and re-read. in the book it says

• Appeal to emotion: You should believe or do (blank) because you feel (blank). (This is always bad if the conclusion is a descriptive claim)

This is a little vague, so I did a little extra research and the description of appeal to emotion is, a fallacy following this structure:

1. Favorable emotions are associated with X.
2. Therefore X is true..

My example is this:
Our new car will make you feel so good when you see how much gas we have saved. Saving money and looking good is the right thing for you!

This is appealing to the emotion of the person who has just bought themselves a new car, so according to the text this would be bad because it is a descriptive claim.

Structure of Arguments

Exercise:The Structure of Arguments

#1: My neighbor should be forced to get rid of all the cars in his yard.1 People do not like living next door to such a mess.2 He never drives any of them.3 They all look old and beat up and leak oil all over the place. 4It is bad for the neighborhood, and it will decrease property values. 5

Argument? Yes there is a argument
Conclusion: It is bad for the neighborhood, and it will decrease property values.
Additional Premises needed? If the car is a collectors item and he is keeping it there must a reason why he is keeping it around. (a) How does this person know that his cars bother the other neighbors?(b)
Identify any sub arguments:1,2,3, and 4 are independent and all support 5.
Good Argument? Yes, this is a good argument, it could be stronger but it is good.

Overall I do believe that this exercise was helpful. It really encouraged me to take my time and look at the details of the sentence like if it had any additional premises . I understand the concept much more now.

Leadership

Hello everyone,

In the spirit of Comm class and our latest assignment I decided that I would talk about leadership. Leadership is a very important quality to have.In our small book, The Essentialuide To Goup Communication, it is said that leadership can be defined as the exercise of inter personal influences toward the attainment of goals. Then it goes on to say that Leadership is conected to two main key terms-direction and influence.The book gives two definitions:

-"Interpersonal influences, exercised in a situation, and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specific goal or goals."

-"An intercation between persons which onpresents infermation of a sort and in such a manner that the other becomes convinced that his [or her] outcomes...will be improved if he [or she] behaves in the manner suggested or desired."

I personally believe that the leader is the most important role in a group because they get everyone going.In my group for our project we have a very good leader, she was the first to contact all of our group members and she continues to keep in touch with all of us as well as keep us on track.Quite often I find myself very thankful for a strong leader like her because they are the people who kick all our butts into shape.Thank you leaders!

Testing a Argument

There are three rules that must be passed in order for a argument to be good:

1. The premises are plausible

2.The premises are more plausible than the conclusion

3.The argumet is valid or strong

Example argument:

I think Hondas are the best cars to save gas in.My family thinks hondas are the best cars to save gas in.Everyone I know thinks that hondas are the best cars to save gas in.

Question #1:Is the premises plausible?

The premise is true, I believe that hondas are the best car to save gas in, and my family also believes that hondas are the best cars to conserve gas in. The premise is more plausible than the conclusion because it is impossible for everyone to believe that hondas are the best car to believe in, some believe that toyotas are the best.It is impossible because not everyone has driven a honda to experience how good they are on gas.

Question#2:Is the premises are more plausible than the conclusion?

The premises is more plausible than the conclusion, because it is impossible for everyone I know to believe that hondas are the most efficent gas saver.Unless everyone I knew went out and test drove a honda for a few days they really would not have the knowledge to agree with my family ane I.

Question #3:Is the argumet is valid or strong?

No my argument is not strong. Since it is impossible for everyone I know to have driven a honda and tested the gas mileage it would be incorrect of me to say that everyone thinks that hondas are the best gas savers.

Strong Vs Valid

Have you ever argued and wondered if your argument was stong or even valid? In a strong argument the premise and the conclusion are both false. So to put this in simpler terms you have a stong argument if the argument is false as well as the conclusion. A valid argument is one that has no possilble chance for the premise to be true and the conclusion be false at the same time. No every good argument is valid and not ever strong argument is good.

An example of a Valid argument:

There is a store at the mall that is haveing a 75% off sale this weekend. Therefore all things that you buy on sell will be 75% off.

An example of a Strong argument:

I has a head ache today.The reason for my head ache is because I did not eat anything for lunch.

Group Roles

As I was reading through The Essential Guide To Group Communication, a part of the reading that really caught my interst was the Types of Group Roles. In this section it talks about task roles that each member of the group has to tke responsibility for in order for the group to run smoothly.The first of the roles would be the Information giver; this person has the job of offering facts and information that is important for people to know and grasp about the subject. Next there is the information seeker. The information seeker gathers important data relevant to there subject from extended sources,makes sure that there points are clear, and asks for any other information from other sources, and takes into consideration all posibble opitions. The next job is the elaberrator.The elaborator further clarifyes points and sometimes restates fact and other information that other people have already said. There is also the Initiator, this person is the one who is responsible for getting the group motivated in conversation .They offer suggestions, provide further information that may be helpfull and all aroung initiatimg conversation and thought in the group. Last but not least is the Admnistrator who is what I would consider as the "Boss" of the group.They are responsible for keeping all group members on track and making sure that all are using there time efficiently.

This section was important to me because I feel that this is a essential guide to a sucessful group.I remeber that I followed this guide in a class I had in high school and for the most part is was every succesful.Everyone being on the same page is a important part if group work and I only hope that we can all work well together in our group assignments.:)

Vauge or Ambiguous

A vauge sentence is one that dose not offer enough detail while a ambiguous sentence is one that can mean more than one thing. Often times when I talk to my mom she uses vauge sentences. a perfect example of this is when she says "I'm hungry,get me something good to eat." So i knoe that shes hungry and wants something "good" but that can be anything in my opinion.

An example of a ambiguos sentence would be this, I texted my boyfriend the other day and told him I got a ticket.However I failed to explain what kind of ticket I had gotten so he assumed that iI got a speeding ticket or something when infact it was a parking ticket at SJSU for ten dollars!Bummer.Me not specifiying led him to think it could have been a number of things.

Subjective and Objective Claims

After reading the book and discussing the concept of Subjective and Objective claims with my mother I have a better understanding for what they truley mean. I am going to use a example to help explain better how I see it. I have a brand new three month old daughter, and I truley believe that she is the most beautiful little person in the world.When I hold her I just can not picture any other child as beautiful as my daughter.When I show her to my friends boyfriend he lookes at her and dosent say anything,he thinks she is just an average newborn baby.When he gets home he tells his girlfriend he dosnt think that my baby was anything special.

The subjective part of this claim would be my thought that my daughter is the most beautiful baby in the world.My thoughts that my daughter is more beautiful than other babys is a biased claim and it either true or false beased on my own opinion.

The objective claim would be the boyfriends thought that the baby is nothing special.This is objective because it is neither true or false, and weather or not it is true of false dose not depend on what anyone else thinks.

Har at Work

Hello everyone,

I am a sophomore and a pre-nursing major. This is my first online class and so far I find it very interesting, a little difficult but interesting. I am looking forward to this class because I want to strengthen my communication skills and become more comfortable with my communication, especially in large groups and also because I really enjoyed Comm. 20 and felt that it was a big help. Things that interest me are school, family, friends, and my brand new daughter.I look forward to learning all I can from this class.

Good luck to everyone!