Question 1 (Critical Thinking Qualities)

I think the way in which Ride most exemplified the qualities of a critical thinker was in her analytical skills and effective communication. Her college friends described her as being the sort of person who can quickly think, figure out and crystallize something. Their description of her suggests she is the kind of person who has the ability to back up her beliefs with logic which is an important part of critical thinking. Critical thinking requires communication and literacy skills as well. Ride's majoring in English as well as Physics in college shows that she does have communication skills. I think that, most of all, her critical thinking skills were displayed in how she approached what seems to be her entire life with careful reasoning. She knew what she wanted and did everything she needed to make it happen for her. Her story was truly inspirational. It has made me want to take a closer look at what I need to do in order to make my own dreams possible.

Dreams and Problem Solving

I think what I found most interesting in this chapter was the part about how we can sometimes use reason in our dreams in order to solve our problems. The text explained that, although reasoning is usually viewed as a conscious activity, that much of reasoning is unconscious and automatic. Studies are also showing how dreams tend to take on a form of reasoning that helps solve visual problems. This is but another way in which using reason can happen without our knowing it. No one can really control their dreams, and yet in our dreams we unconsciously use reasoning. It seems to me that reasoning, at its core, comes naturally to people. Although there are instances in which we need to will ourselves and perhaps others to see reason, more often than not there are times when we use it without even knowing. I find that to be very interesting.

Question 1 (Strengths)

Identifying your strengths is important in choosing a career because, despite what you may want, not every career option is a suitable one. My strengths have always been compassion and empathy. I’ve always been able to easily put myself into someone else’s shoes and see the situation from their point of view. I’ve tried, when arguing with someone, to see it their way first and see if I can find some sort of common ground. More often than not I am able to find something we can both agree on. I think this is a valuable strength to have when pursuing a career in creative writing. An author who wrote a novel in which every character shared his qualities and way of thinking would likely have a difficult time selling it. You need to be able to step outside of yourself and into the mind of another in order to create a truly dynamic character. 

Question 2 (Aquinas vs Dawkins)

Dawkins claims suggest that evolution and a belief in God are incompatible. He also believes that Aquinas’ claims are little more than double talk that dances around the same point. Although I can respect the depth of Dawkins reasoning and the precision in which he tries to pick a part what Aquinas had said centuries before, I can’t agree with him saying that evolution and a belief in God are incompatible. I’ve never found it difficult to believe in both God and evolution. I see how some people feel the need to choose one or the other, but never quite understood why it wasn’t possible for both concepts to exist together. Why not believe in a God who works through evolution and science? If Aquinas had heard Dawkins argument, he would have likely quoted one of his proofs and tried to debunk Dawkins line of reasoning. Nevertheless, I do think that Aquinas and Dawkins both made the mistake of trying to use reason to explain the existence of God. God is a matter of faith and faith isn’t always rational.

Analogies

The concept that I want to go over this week is the proper use of an analogy. An analogy is based on a comparison between two or more things or events, and it often contain words or phrases such as like, as, similarly, or compared to. There are several ways in which analogies can be used. The can be used as a teaching mechanism by showing us how to do something better by comparing it to a similar experience. They can be used as descriptive devices in which you can help someone better understand something by comparing it to something they may be more familiar with. They are often used in literature in the form of metaphors. There are many different and practical uses for analogies in everyday life. I, personally, love to use analogies in a conversation if the opportunity presents itself. They make communicating easier and more colorful.

Question 2 (Antonia Novello)

Antonia Novello used cause-and-effect inductive reasoning when trying to devise a solution for the public health problems of AIDS, violence, alcohol and tobacco. She noted that, after the release of the Joe Camal ads of 1988, more teens and children began to smoke. She reasoned that the Joe Camal ads were the cause and a raised number of children and teens smoking was the effect. This is inductive because it deals in probability rather than necessity. It was not certain that the ads were the sole reason for children and teens deciding to smoke. However, in using cause-and-effect inductive reasoning, she was able to see that the Joe Camal ads were most likely at fault and therefore act accordingly. She worked to ban cigarette and alcohol ads that targeted youths as a result. I think this is another great example of how being able to create proper arguments, be they inductive or deductive, can be useful in life.

Inductive Argument (Question 1)

Unlike a deductive argument, which claims that its conclusion necessarily follows from the premises, an inductive argument claims that its conclusion probably follows from the premises. Inductive arguments are thus classified as stronger or weaker rather than true or false. I used an inductive argument just this morning when I was trying to decide when I should leave for school. I considered that, I take the highway every morning. Every morning I am stuck in traffic. Chances are I will be stuck in traffic this morning. With that in mind, I left my apartment twenty minutes earlier than usual and was not thrown off by the morning traffic. This is an inductive argument because it is based in probability, not necessity. There was still a chance that there would be no traffic at all and I would arrive much earlier rather than right on time. It also had key words such as chances are in its conclusion.