Cause and Effect in Population

One of the interesting concepts that we have not talked about was cause and effect in population. According to Epstein, cause and effect in population is when given the cause, there's a higher probability that the effect will follow than if there were not the cause. There are three kinds of ways to find evidence. First way is through a controlled experiment. In a controlled experiment there is one group that is administered the cause and one who is not, which is called the control group. Another way to find evidence is through an uncontrolled experiment: cause to effect. In this case we start from a suspected cause and see if the effect follows. The last way is an uncontrolled experiment from effect to cause. In this experiment we start with the effect in the population and try to account for how it got there. The example the book used was on smoking cigarettes.

Mission Critical Website

I found the mission critical website to be very helpful. It is neatly organized and easy way to understand certain concepts of critical thinking. This is the kind of website that I'm looking for because it talks about most of the concepts. It has  the definition for most of the concepts that we learned about. Not only does it give a definition, but it gives good examples as well. Another thing that I liked about it was the explanations of fallacies. Fallacies was one of  the few concepts that I had trouble understanding. After looking at the many fallacy links, it gave me a better understanding of fallacies. The fallacy links gave a lot of good and clear examples.  I also like how there is exercises that can help you out. One of the exercises I found interesting was the 40 fallacy review exercises. I like how it wanted you to identify what kind of fallacy each sentence was. Overall this website was very informative.

Cause and Effect

The cause and effect website was useful in showing a great example of causal arguments. The example was very clear and explained a lot about causal arguments. Although the website was very detailed, it was still kind of confusing. It was like they were explaining too many things at one time. I think it would have been better if the website explain the concept of causal arguments first then show an example. This website still taught me about causal argument. In order to determine the strength of the causal argument, it has to rely on three factors. According to the website, we must first see 'how acceptable or demonstrable the implied comparison is." In others we must see if there is a similarity between the circumstances. Second, we must see "how likely the case for causation seems to be". Lastly we must see "how credible "only significant difference" or "only significant commonality" claim is. Overall the website was helpful but I didn't understand it enough to get what the full concept is all about.

Judging Analogies

One of the concepts that we have not discussed is judging analogies. In order to judge analogies we have to make sure that the comparisons of both arguments share some similarities so we could find one general meaning from both sides.  In order to evaluate an analogy Epstein  explains that we must first check if it is in fact an argument and if there is a conclusion. After that we have to check if there is a comparison. Then we have determine what the premises is from both sides of the comparison. We also have to see if there is any similarities. After finding the similarities we have to check if they can be premises. There also needs to be a general principle that covers both sides of the argument. After that we must determine if the general principle really applies to both sides and see if the differences matter. Lastly we must see if the argument is strong or valid and to make sure if it's good.

Criteria Reasoning

The most difficult reasoning to understand was reasoning by criteria. I checked the link the professors blog provided but it didn't explain the reasoning really clear. The examples in the site were not clear as well. I tried to do some extra research on this concept but it would link me to other blogs from this class. Since the website was the only source I found, I had to analyze it more.  I didn't understand what they meant by "defining the criteria by which the outcome will be judged" at first but after reading over it more I finally got understand it. I understand that "defining criteria" meant find something that can later be judged then have a decision on it. For example "Your son wants a new car and fast car?  Lets see what we have. This car might be the one you're looking for." The criteria is searching for a new car while the decision is " this car might be the one for you".

Forms of Reasoning

The first form of reasoning described in the instructors blog is reasoning by analogy. According to the Epstein book reason by analogy is a comparison in an argument when "one side of the comparison we draw a conclusion and the other side we conclude the same. An example of this is " Raising tuition fees for the CSU's is like increasing the price of milk for a child. Sign reasoning is when two or more things are closely related that presence or absence of one indicates the presence or absence of the other. An example of this is "This guy is wearing a pair of rare Jordans, gold chains, and an a expensive jeans. He must be rich." Causal reasoning is tthe relationship when one event "cause" and another event " effect" in which the second event is caused by the first. An example of this is "In order for John to avoid injury he must stretch before the game. Reasoning by criteria is when  we judge the outcome of a decision and identify the best decision for the criteria. An example of this " It seems like your vacation plans  look very fun but shouldn't you vacation at this place as well. Reasoning by example is when we use reasons that we have experienced. " You should take this class because I did pretty good in it and the teacher is excellent. Inductive reasoning is using past observations and experiences to reason with a new argument. "The TV show went past thirty minute slot so the DVR didn't get to record the whole show. Next time I will record an extra five minutes just in case the show passes it thirty minute mark." Deductive reasoning is when the premises and conclusions are true. "All cars use gas. A Lexus is a car. A Lexus uses gas.

Apple Polishing

One of the few concepts Chapter 10 touched a bit on was Apple Polishing. The book didn't really talk a lot about apple polishing so I had to do some extra research. Apple polishing is when a person uses flattery or excessive compliments in order for the person to favor their opinion. One of the reasons why it is called apple polishing is that students would give their teachers apples so that the teachers would give them good grades. Apple polishing can be seen at work places especially when an employee is trying to get a raise or promotion. For example an employee might excessively compliment his or her boss of their clothing.  Another good example is if your friend has one extra ticket to a concert and you would act very nice to them just because you want the ticket. I've seen this also with tickets to sporting events and dances. People will only be nice at that time so they would get a ticket.

Appeal to Fear Ad

One of the most recent Appeal to Fear ads that I have seen recently were the campaign ads of the recent election. One ad in particular caught my eye which was an ad called "Polygraph" by the Jerry Brown campaign. The ad accuses Meg Whitman of being dishonest about voting, residency, and changing stories about an abused employee. It also accuses her of false advertising and her hometown newspaper saying she is "a loose relationship with the truth". The ad wants you to vote for Jerry Brown for governor.  This is showing appeal to fear because if you vote for her you will vote for a liar. People fear liars especially if they're running for a government position. This is a bad argument because its only reason to vote for Brown is of fear of voting for a liar. It also shows you that lying is the only concern of the candidate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25EHHX2nUjU&feature=channel

Appeal to Emotion

According to Epstein, appeal to emotion is a premise in an argument that you should believe or do something  because you feel a certain way. An example of appeal to emotion is, "Did you see the disaster? It's so devastating. We should donate some clothes to them."  One of the different aspects of appeal to emotion is appeal to pity. An example of appeal to pity is "If you feel bad for the schools sports team and have the time, donate some sports equipment." Another kind of appeal to emotion is appeal to fear which politicians and advertisers use to scare people.  An example of one often seen in  TV are the On Star commercials. The commercial show people in crashes needing help or people that are lost and they need directions. Another example of a appeal to fear are the Allstate commercials. One commercial stated "Every year thousands of teenagers go out for a drive and never comeback." This is an appeal to fear because they want you to buy their insurance so your teenager won't go missing or something like that.