Week 13: D3

Chapter 15 discusses about cause and effect, which was an interesting chapter. The concept that I found useful from this chapter was the criteria for cause and effect.

The Necessary Criteria for cause and effect:
-The cause happened (the claim describing it is true)
-The effect happened (the claim describing it is true)
-The cause precedes the effect
-It is (nearly) impossible for the cause to happen (be true) and the effect not to happen (be false), given the normal conditions
-The cause makes a difference- if the cause had not happened (been true), the effect would not have happened (been true)
-There is no common cause

I thought that this was helpful because it a simple layout on what the criteria an argument to be considering a cause and effect. Out of these criteria’s I thought that the cause precedes effect was an interesting thought. This meant that the claim describing the cause has to come before the claim describing the effect becomes true.

For example, he was driving over the speed limit is consider a true statement which means that he got a speeding ticket is consider a true statement as well.

Week 13: D2

It was useful because there were a lot of links that click to learn more about a certain topic or work on exercises. It is easy to click on the links to get what you are looking for compare to searching for the topic in the book. The exercises got me to think about what I read and apply it by answering the questions. But the questions can get a little cheesy at times though. It covers a lot of the material that I already read about or learn through this class.

I am pretty sure it is just me, but I do not like the look of the website. It just does not look appealing for me to read the information on it so I would not have incentive to read it on my own. The website does explain the information very well. Even though it does explain a lot of material, I feel like the textbook is better than the website for the most part.

Week 13: D1

This website was helpful and useful because it explained the concept clearly. I also know now that cause and effect arguments are generally used in court cases because it is very effective. It gives a good picture at what is happening, which makes the argument stronger. I like how the website uses a very good example to explain the concept. It was a very relatable scenario because accidents like that happen all the time.

It also outlines what the strength of a causal argument is, which can be helpful when analyzing an argument.

1.How acceptable or demonstrable the implied comparison is.
2.How likely the case for causation seems to be.
3.How credible the “only significant difference” or “only significant commonality” claim it is.

The exercises were interesting as well. It makes me think about the strengths of the casual argument a little more. By having something to work with at the end, helps my understanding of the concept.

Week 12: D3

I thought that causal reasoning was a pretty interesting topic. Causal reasoning is when an event occur causes another event to happen. I also find that I do this type of reasoning almost everyday. For example when I discuss my schedule with people, it is hard to squeeze things to do when I have a lot of homework. I would say, I can’t hang out with you because that will take time. Which means that is the time I have for homework. I will either do the assignment poorly because I will rush it or I will not do it at all. This means I will fail the assignment. If I fail the assignment, my overall grade will drop. This also means I will have a lower GPA. Normally this guilt trip my friends and they will stop asking me to go do something with them when I have tons of homework to do. I also think that this reasoning is very effective because it is a chain event, which looks like one thing can cause many things to happen.

Week 12: D2

For me I think that sign reasoning was hard to understand when I first encountered it from the previous post. As I read about it a little more, I understood the reasoning a bit more and it was pretty interesting concept.

Sign reasoning means that there are two or more things that are relatable with each other. It also means that one thing indicates something else as well because of their relationship. For example, she has a closet in her room, which means she has clothes in her room. It is sign reasoning because closet and clothes have a relationship with each other. The sign can also be status symbol, economic indicators, or other indices. It can also be an effect-to-cause reasoning. Sign reasoning is common in business, advertising, medicine, religion, law and tabloids.

There are many good examples in the website that I found. A lot the examples are explain pretty well and it gives a more relatable reference. I also learn that there are test of sign reasoning, which an also be found in the PowerPoint on the website.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/24456511/Sign-Reasoning-PPT

Week 12: D1

Reasoning by Analogy: The reasoning is being compared.
People who do not exercise get fat. Therefore, people who do not want to get fat must exercise.

Sign Reasoning: It is reasoning with two or more things in which they are closely related that the presence or absence of one indicates the presence or absence of the other.
Where there’s restaurant, there’s food.

Causal Reasoning: It is a reasoning that establishes the presences of relationship with event The alarm clock rang but I did not get up. I slept in. When I finally woke up it was two in the afternoon. I did not go to class that day

Reasoning by Criteria: The outcome of the decisions is being judged, and then the best will be identified
I am very tired so I cannot concentrate on homework right now. I will do homework after I am done with my nap.

Reasoning by Example: The reasoning uses example.
The teacher gives hard exams and asks crazy questions. I had him before and I notice that I got better grades when I took notes from the book and studied them.

Inductive: The reasoning is constructed by observations.
The Biore pore strips can effectively pull out all my blackheads. I tried it for many years and it continues to work. I have faith that the next time I put it on it will work.

Deductive: The conclusion is true when the premises us true, making the argument valid.
All students need to read. She is a student. She needs to read.

Week 11: D3

The concept I want to talk about is apple-polishing. Apple-polishing is an appeal to vanity, trying to make something look better than what it actually might be. This happens in a lot of advertisements. They use it because they want their products to look better and be more useful than all the other products out in the market. Of course sometimes what the advertisement says is true, but most of the time it’s false. For example a lot of beauty brands has a lot of claims over what their products can do. They claim that their products give softer looking skin, longer lashes, and even reduce wrinkles. I admit some of these products do work, but most of the products do not do what it is advertising. Most of the time the claim they are making is not a good argument because the claims that they make are subjective. It can work on one person but it might not work for another person. Apple polishing is an interesting concept in arguments.

Week 11: D2

The question I choose to do is number 3. Find an advertisement that sues an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?

This is an advertisement that talks about how drinking under the influence is bad. It prompts people not to drink and drive because it causes accidents. It shows a handicap sign and it says that “every 48 seconds, a drunk drive makes another person eligible to park here” The point of this advertisement is manipulate people to be scare of hurting other people if they chose to drink and then drive. It is scary how you can ruin someone’s life because you want to drive home even though you do not know what you are doing.

I do not think that this is a good argument because there might people that do not care if they hurt someone else. If I look at it I know I will think twice before I drive intoxicated, but not everyone is like me. . Not everyone is going to fear that they might hurt someone else. The argument can be stronger if it said something like, “every 48 seconds, a drunk driver makes him/her self eligible to park here. It will be more personal so more people will be scare that they will be the next one parking in the handicap spot.