Illogical Thinking

Blog post assignment:

• Distinguish between the following selection of mistakes in reasoning:
• skepticism, evasive agnosticism, narrow-mindedness
• Describe an actual or hypothetical situation to illustrate how one of the attitudes listed above is a problem in reasoning. 

Skepticism: There is a time and a place for skepticism in sound reasoning. In doubtful situations, we should respond with doubt. In addition, selective skepticism is basically reserving judgement until there is a sufficient amount of evidence present to be able to judge fairly and responsibly. Furthermore, there are two different types of skeptics in the world. The first type is known as the extreme skeptic. This person does not claim anything except that there is no truth. The other type of skeptic is known as the moderate skeptic. This person is prepared to concede that the truth may exist somewhere in the world. However, they also say that if that truth really does exist, the human mind is incapable of obtaining it.

Evasive agnosticism: An agnostic is a person who maintains the idea that he lacks enough knowledge to be able to make a definite judgement about a certain issue or topic. Evasive agnosticism is usually used when it comes to religion, however, an agnostic attitude really can be taken toward any subject at all. The difference between the agnostic and the skeptic is that the agnostic does not deny the existence of truth or its attainability. An agnostic usually claims ignorance as to the truth of a certain matter. People are normally thought of being truly agnostic when they admit to an ignorance that is really theirs. Furthermore, evasive agnosticism is generally thought to be the attitude that tries to pass off vincible ignorance as if it were invincible. The person who succumbs to agnosticism uses ignorance as an excuse instead of a reason. This is usually thought of as laziness on that person's part.

Narrow-mindedness: People say that the whole purpose of logic is to discover the truth. A narrow-minded person refuses to consider certain possibilities or alternatives that they have never considered before because they do not meet their prejudiced assumptions about what is and what is not worth pursuing.

Describe an actual or hypothetical situation to illustrate how one of the attitudes listed above is a problem in reasoning:

Narrow-mindedness is a very big problem when it comes to reasoning. It limits the person's thought process, and prevents them from seeing and understanding things from a different point of view. In addition, narrow-mindedness also prevents the knower from trying to understand and grasp the underlying concept. It does not allow people to see the whole picture and to understand the true meaning behind something new and important. An example of how narrow-mindedness is very limiting when it comes to reasoning goes as follows: If  a narrow-minded person has previously been bitten by a dog, then they automatically think that all dogs bite. Therefore, they would not allow any dog to go to a park due to the fact that one dog bit them in the past. Never mind the fact that the dogs will be with their owners, and never mind the fact that some dogs are very sweet and loving. Because that person was bitten by one dog in the past, they cannot open their minds to the thought that some dogs might be different. 

Logical Fallacies

1. Choose two logical fallacies
, excluding the six listed above that are already well-covered in the reading. For each fallacy: (a) Name the fallacy (English or Latin name), (b) Describe the fallacy in your own words, and (c) Give an example: you may use everyday examples or describe a hypothetical argument that applies the fallacy. 

1. Upload one link to a commercial, political ad, or short clip from a cartoon or television program, that illustrates any logical fallacy.  Name the fallacy and describe exactly how it's used in the video or print ad.  Please be considerate of appropriate content.

Spotlight: This Logical fallacy is basically when a person only focuses on one small portion of something larger based on what the media and entertainment tells them. For example, if someone says that all women are meant to stay at home to take care of the family, cook, clean, shop, etc... and that they are always getting into trouble, because that's what happens in the TV show "I Love Lucy". Clearly this is not true because that is only one TV show and not all women are like that. Furthermore, that particular show was mad in a time where men were considered to be superior to women. However, times have changed since then, therefore, this idea cannot be considered any longer.

Straw Man: This Logical Fallacy is when one person says something and then a second person does not pay attention to what that person originally said, and they completely change the original point into something completely different (often worse) and exaggerated from the original, and then they attack the new point. An example of this is when a child asks their mother if they can go to a party on Wednesday night. When the mother says no because the child is still in trouble for doing something else, and then the child says that the mother doesn't want them to have any fun because she hates them.

Commerical for Appeal to Common Belief: A lot of people believe that fast food is really bad for you, and in this commerical it is going to the extreme.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QsZFsZw5jtU&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQsZFsZw5jtU

Sense Perception Concepts

Blog reflection:
-name the chosen sense perception concept
-define or explain the chosen concept
-illustrate the chosen sense perception concept with two (or more) concrete      
 examples
a. one example from personal experience
b. a second example related to any named Area of Knowledge (AOK)

signal-detection theory (5)

 The Signal-Detection Theory is basically the acknowledgment of a sound that is actually there versus, the acknowledgement of a sound that is not really there.

A.) Last week, I was home alone at night. I am an only child, so therefore when my parents are out, I really am by myself. It was around 9:00pm and whenever, and I was watching a scary movie. (Not the best idea) I was already feeling a little bit on edge because I was home alone and it was dark out, and the movie was not helping. I heard a noise that sounded like a thump from outside, and jumped out of my seat. It turns out that the noise had come from my dog who had just jumped off my parents bed upstairs. This can be classified as a hit because there really was a noise, and I heard it. However, later on in the evening, I thought that I heard another noise, and jumped up to go investigate. As it turns out there really wasn't a noise. This can be classified as a False Alarm.

B.) An example from an Area of Knowledge would be if in theatre, on stage, an actor is told to pretend to hear a noise and to react to the "so-called" noise. This is another example of a False Alarm. Another example from the arts would be if another actor said something to the first actor and if the the first actor did not hear them. This would be considered a Miss.

Synthesesia, StroopTest, and Sense Perception

Blog assignment
Record data and your responses to Activity A: 3 & 4; Activity B: 7, 8, 11, 12

Activity A: 3

Trial    Number of Dots Percentage Change in Score
1          29                                      ---
2          29                                      0%
3          30                                      3.45%
4          26                                      -10.34%
5          32                                      10.34%



Activity A: 4
After playing this game several times, I realized that sense perception and reason greatly affected my score. The first time that I played, the game, I didn't quite understand how to play the game. I spent a lot of time looking for the next dot, and spent too much time trying to figure out if there was some sort of pattern, rather than just trying to play the game as quickly as I could. However, the second time that I played, I began to understand the game and I got the hang of it. I tried to touch the dots faster and faster, and my eyes began to adjust to the game. I realized that my eyes were scanning the dots for the one dot that stood out. In addition, touch also made a difference when playing this game. My score was affected by the amount of time that it took me to click on one dot and then to find and to go to the next dot. Sometimes, my hand wasn't fast enough to the next dot. The more times that I played the game, the better that I got at it. Every time that I played, I was faster, and therefore, my score improved. (One the fourth run through, I was distracted by the person sitting next to me, therefore I did not do as well.)

Activity B: 7
Synesthesia is a condition that a very select number of people have. This condition enables the person to hear movement, or to taste/ see a certain color when they hear a certain sound. Basically, when the person is using one sense, another sense is also perceived as if that sense was also being used at the same time as the first sense.

Activity B: 8
When I personally listen to various types of music, I usually associate that particular type of music with a memory or a thought. For example, when I hear classical music, I usually think of the piano lessons that I used to take, or of a ballet that I once went to. In addition, sometimes when I listen to different types of music, I will associate that type of music with a particular emotion, and then I will associate that emotion with a certain color. Therefore, sometimes when I listen to a certain type of music, I will see a certain color. For example, when I hear rap music, I usually think of anger because rap music is often about anger or bad experiences. Therefore, I think of the color red, because red represents anger. Hence, when I hear rap music, I think of the color red.

Activity B: 11

Word Set 1 Time= 9.806 seconds
Word Set 2 Time= 21.042 seconds

Calculate the Difference= Word Set 2 Time- Word Set 1 Time
21.042 - 9.806= 11.236 seconds

Activity B: 12
The Stroop effect is a demonstration of interference in the reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (e.g., "blue," "green," or "red") is printed in a different color than the name, (e.g., the word "red" printed in blue instead of red ) naming the color that the word is printed in is much more difficult than simply naming the color that the word says.

Vegetative State

Identify a real-life situation related to vegetative-state patients.

What is more important and should be honored, the wishes of the family of the vegetative state patient, or the patient's own wishes?

1.  Is it possible for a patient in a a vegetative state to make their own decisions?

2. Are the decisions of the person in a vegetative state influenced by any kind of medical drug that may be being administered to the patient at the time and that may have some effect on their mental capability and decision making process, and therefore, should those decisions be valued and honored?

3. What decisions should the family be given to make? After all, a person in a vegetative state can not make all of their own decisions by themselves, what should their families have the power to do?



Your January presentation topic: (The value of yoga in schools)

state a real-life situation and write a set of KI questions

 If yoga classes were being offered in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools...

1. Would the students benefit from yoga? How? (Medically, physically, emotionally, etc...)

2. What is the difference between how yoga would impact younger children in elementary schools versus how it would impact teenagers in high school?

The Gestalt Principle

The Gestalt Principle originates from the word gestalt, which is a German word that translates to mean 'form'. The Gestaltists discovered that the mind perceives the best, the most correct, and the simplest possible form. When we see things, our eyes transmit the image to the brain where it then interprets what the eyes are seeing so that the rest of the body can also understand. What this Principle is saying is that when we are looking at something, we tend not to see it for what it really is. We instead tend to see things as our minds think that they should be. An example that was given in the text goes as follows: The word 'chack' was used in place of two different words in two different contexts. In one instance, the word was used in a sentence that related to chickens raising their young. In this sentence, the word was glimpsed over and quickly associated with the word 'chick'. In the other example, the word was used in a sentence about banking. In this situation, the word was misread as 'check'. We, as humans, are prone to mistakes. We make this particular type of mistake quite often. This is the reason why we are able to read and understand things that are often misspelled. Another example of this is the Cambridge University Research Project that attempted to prove the Gestalt Principal and to prove that people do not take the time to read each and every word, but instead read by briefly looking at a few letters in the word and are able to determine what the word is just from a brief glance.
Here is an excerpt from the Cambridge University Research Project:

"Do you have a strange mind?  

Cna yuo raed tihs? if yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid, too.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulatcly uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Azanmig hhu? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Qoestuin -

Can thsi be doen in ohter lnagugues? Snapsih, Fenrch, Iatilan, Gerek, Rissuan. Chenise, Jaapense, Herbew, Aaribc? "

The Gestalt Principle relates to knowledge gained via sense perception. When we proofread, we do not always look at every letter in every word, but we instead take a brief glance at the word as a whole and are able to understand what the word is just by looking at a few letters in the word. In addition, we also make other mental corrections in our daily lives. For instance, if someone who has never been to Hawaii develops  their own mental image of what it looks like, and then they decide to go to Hawaii, they might not see the island for what it really is, and for what it really looks like. Instead, they might only see the island in their own idealized vision. Another example is a true story. Before the last "Harry Potter" movie came out, I read all of the books, including the last one. In fact, I read the last one several times. Due to the fact that I had read the book so many times, I had developed my own images of how every scene played out, how everyone was dressed, and even what the setting looked like. I got so wrapped up in my own version of how the last movie was going to be that when I finally went to the movies, I did not actually 'watch' the film. I paid no attention to the setting or to anything else that I had imagined, because my own ideas had taken over my brain, so that I only saw my own version of the movie. At the time, I thought that it was perfect because it matched my own interpretation perfectly. However, I came to my senses and discovered my mistake a few months later when the movie came out on DVD. By that time, my own image of how the movie should have looked, based on the book, had faded away because it had been such a long time since I had reread the book.  When I went to watch the movie again at home, my mind was clear, and I saw the movie for what it really was; nothing like what I had originally pictured. I realized that I had been so blinded by my own vision, that I had not actually seen the movie for what it really was. My mind convinced my eyes that what I was seeing was really what my brain thought that I should have been seeing.
This proves that the Gestalt Principle is true. Our minds do often trick us into thinking that the things that we are seeing are not actually how they really are, but are how we imagine that they are.

Sense Perception & Knowledge of the Outside world

3. To see, 'what is the case', what is required?  Please define each term.
To see "what is the case" requires context, inference, concepts, experience, and interpretation. Context, in this case, can be defined as how one is able to know their environment and to understand their surroundings. Inference is the knowledge that one is able to infer in any given situation. Concepts are previous ideas or pieces of knowledge that exist from your own knowledge and experience, or from the knowledge and experience of others. Experience is an event in the past in which you learned something. Finally, interpretation is how you were able to make sense of the knowledge that you previously gained.

4. What did Nietzsche mean by 'the fallacy of the immaculate perception'?  How does psychologist, Joseph Jastrow prove this point?  When have we done this in class?
Nietzche came to the conclusion that there is no "innocent eye". He later called this "the fallacy of the immaculate perception". Basically, he determined that it is impossible to see and interpret anything without referring to past experiences and the knowledge gained from those experiences. Joseph Jastrow went on to prove this point by using a well-known drawing that, when looked at, appeared at first to be a duck, but then when examined more closely, appeared to be a rabbit. You would not be able to discern

the duck or the rabbit from this drawing, if you had not had past experience with looking at a either a duck or a rabbit. Therefore, Jastrow proves Nietzche's point. It is absolutely necessary to use past experiences and past knowledge to see and to interpret an object or drawing. We did this in class when we did the perception test. We were show a series of stairs, and asked to discern which point was the highest.

7. What does Abel mean when he says, "to perceive is to solve a problem"?
When Able says, "to perceive is to solve a problem" he actually means that as you perceive something, you are solving a problem. Our brains and eyes determine how objects look from different distances or from different angles/ different points of view. They also determine how objects look under different light, which therefore shows us which to which we attribute a constant size, shape and color. Therefore, to perceive is to solve a problem.

8. What is the role of social conditioning in determining how things 'naturally look'?
Social conditioning determines how things naturally look. Every society and country has a different idea of how things look; such as how all Chinese people look. To us, living in a western society, they all look alike, but, in an Eastern society, they can clearly determine the that every person looks different. In addition, they might even think that we all look alike.

9. What is significant about the Durer rhinoceros story?  How was the influence of 'convention' influence perspective drawing?
The story or Durer's rhinoceros illustrates the importance of tradition in determining representation even when the artist is looking directly at a model. The influence of convention influences perspective drawing because convention may be so strong that it completely changes a person's perspective, which will then alter the person's drawing.

11. What does Abel mean when he writes, "believing is seeing"?  How may this point be seen in the study of the natural versus the social sciences?
The influence of belief, or hypothesis, on perception is so striking that one might also say, not that seeing is believing, but that believing is seeing. Basically, he means to say that just because you see something you doesn't mean that you believe it, but by believing in something, you are able to see everything.