Further Discussion Topic

A topic I would have like to cover more is chapter 9, Ethics and Moral Decision Making. We did not get to have a discussion on this chapter, and I feel this is one of the more important topics we should address. "Effective moral decision making depends on good critical-thinking skills, familiarity with basic moral values, and the motivating force of moral sentiments." I think moral decision making is a very important part of life. We make decisions everyday and we use our morals to help us make decisions. Many things affect our moral decisions such as friends, family, culture, and much more. Being able to not only make morally correct choices, but to reflect and critically analyze them it also important and promotes healthy growth. I feel this would have been a great topic for discussion because we all deal with this and it would have been nice to see what other people had on their mind.

Favorite, Least Favorite, Improvements

My favorite thing about this class is the fact that is online, and I am able to do my blog posts on my own time. This is good for me because I am a busy person and if it would have been very stressful for me to have an exact time everyday that I would have to do these blog posts. I feel like three blog posts a week is a very fair amount to do. It was not too overwhelming but also challenging enough because I would have to read each chapter earlier in the week and reflect on them through the blog posts. I also commenting on other people's posts because it promotes a healthy and critically analyzing community. The least favorite things about this class is meeting up with my group. It was very difficult to gather everyone's information and schedule so we could all make time in our day to meet up. We all have different times we are available, some have classes, some have work, others commute so it was a challenge to meet up to discuss projects. One thing that could be improved is on the Comm41 site, if there was a way to not have the "Older Posts." This way it was all on one page, and I would be able to Ctrl+F to find a specific key term or date, instead of looking through the archives. This would make things easier for the students as well as the teacher.

Learning over the semester

I have learned a lot of things over this semester, it is hard to talk about a specific few. I have learned about inductive and deductive arguments, analyzing, fallacies, language and communications and many more. One of my favorite things that I learned this semester is about marketing and advertising. I am a business major, and all businesses' main goal is to sell their product. This is done through effective marketing and advertising. I learned that many companies do marketing research, which is defined as "the process of identifying a target market for product or service..." In other words, companies research who will and will not buy their product and how to appeal to people so they will be influenced to purchase their product or service. Companies use surveys, observation, and experimentation to conduct their market research. Also, the use of symbols and images to represent a company. For example, Nike's swoosh, McDonald's golden arches, or Apple's apple logo. These are all associated with their respective company and when we see these images we are reminded about the company. After reading about this, I began to notice it more often and realized how much we are exposed to these images everyday.

Mission Critical

I found the Mission Critical website and Casual Argument section very useful. I found the bullet-point style simple and easy to use. It was clear what I was clicking on, and going to read. As much as I liked the simplicity of the website I found it to be lacking luster. The website looked as if a High School student designed it during their free time. I think it would be better if there was a navigation bar on the left hand side which was available at all times with all the same links on them, this would help greatly because it would allow people to navigate the whole website without having to click through a lot of other links to get to a certain page. I also think that it would help if there was a little description below the link or something like an annotation. This would help me know (and remind) me what that link was about.

Horoscopes

Capricorn horoscope: A colleague's motives could seem rather sinister today, Capricorn. This person has a definite agenda of his or her own that may not take into account the needs or feelings of anyone who could conceivably stand in the way. This person isn't to be trusted. Don't excuse his or her behavior. The best course of action now is to stay out of the way and protect yourself on all levels.

 

In my opinion, this prediction is too vague to say if it could be right or wrong. It is nearly impossible to be completely sure of another person's intentions, even if they swear they are being honest with you. Also, I interact with a lot of different people everyday and I do not have the time to sit there and assess everyone's true intentions. It is very unreasonable to have to "protect yourself on all levels" while trying to go through the course of a normal day. The statements from the horoscope are hard to define as falsifiable because they are so vague. I feel it is also common sense, if a colleague's motives seem sinister then of course you would avoid them and protect yourself. Also, if they seem sinister you obviously would not trust them fully, and be cautious of them.

Social Networking

Social networking has blown up in the recent years especially with Facebook and Twitter. I believe that social networking sites are amazing because it allows people to connect with each other from around the world. People can share photos, videos, and chat with each other as long as there is an internet connection. It makes the world a very small place. But there can also be a consequence to having such a connection with someone over a social network. Of course, with a new way of communication means a there is a new way to bully and harass. People have faked who they are on social networking sites just to creep on other people's lives. People should realize that what they post on the internet is for everyone to see, not just for their circle of friends. Even if they set their privacy setting so that only their friends can see it, an acquaintance of the friend can log into their account and see everything.

Plagiarism

I believe Sadler's argument is the better of the two. She argues that "plagiarism violates the trust upon which higher education is established," which aims at the moral issue of plagiarizing. As much as teachers and staff can (and try) to prevent students from plagiarizing it is impossible to stop it, so why should students stop? Because it is wrong. When we were growing up we were told not to steal, lie, cheat and plagiarism is all of these things. Just because we are older does not mean we should cease to live by our morals that our parents' instilled in our youth. I honestly think that plagiarism is the easy way out of doing the work. Some may see it as a harmless filler in an essay, but I see it as a person who can not fully commit to doing all of the work, and doing it right. Plagiarism subconsciously teaches that it is okay to okay to take the easy way out and steal someone's ideas and works and use it as our own.

Misleading Observations

Today, I saw a girl walking down the street with a Gucci bag and Gucci shades and I made the assumption that she had a lot of money or had a man that had a lot of money. (For those that do not know, Gucci is a high-end brand name.) I later met the same girl who happened to be the girlfriend of my friend. We talked and as I got to know her I had realized that she was not all that rich. I mean, she obviously had the money for the Gucci wear but I was expecting her to have a lot more money. She told me she worked really hard over summer to be able to buy those things for herself. She was actually going to school still and paying off a lot of debts from loans and such. Scientific knowledge played a role when I discovered that she was not all that rich because she still had a lot of debts to pay off because of school.

Media Experiences

When I was growing up, I thought that news channels such as FOX, CNN, and NBC told the whole truth and nothing but the truth. As I grew older I began to notice that one news channel would report a story, and another news channel would report the same story in a completely different light. So I began to question: what is the truth and how are we, as citizens of the United States of America, suppose to distinguish fibs from the truth. Recently, the media coverage of the uprisings in Libya and Egypt have expanded my views of other countries and their suffrage. Also, the Internet allows for a free and open flow of discussion and debate. So everything I heard on the news channels, I would look it up on the internet and see what other people had to say about it. This way I got other sources and other people's opinions which helped me develop my own ideas and conclusions.

Marketing Research

One concept that I found very interesting is that companies research their consumers. Marketing research is done by companies to find consumer's "hot buttons" meaning what their consumers are interested in and what they are not interested in. Surveys, observations, and experimentation are all good ways of conducting market research. Surveys and group brainstorming seems to be the best way to conduct marketing research because it allows for the consumer to directly speak their opinions. Also, surveys can be conducted in many different ways such as over the phone, email, internet, and by person which allows for a wider consumer opinion. Observation is when a research group observes consumers' buying habits, which is useful but different consumer's have different habits and can be read the wrong way depending on who is observing. While experimentation has a lot of different variables which makes it hard for a research team to keep an accurate record.

Wootan Vs Liodice

Though I believe that children are being wrongfully targeted by advertisements, I do not believe that the government, or anyone else, has a right to limit free speech. Wootan argues that companies should be regulated in what they can and cannot advertise, while Liodice argues that regulating such things, even a little, is an attack on the constitutional rights. I do believe that purposely targeting children with unhealthy sweets is morally wrong, but people are going to do what they need to do to earn an income regardless of what I say, or the government does. They will always find a way around these laws, so limiting what people can and cannot say will not dramatically influence the outcome. I ultimately think that it is the parents'/guardian's fault for childhood obesity. For example, after Halloween I had a bag full of candy and chocolate and my dad warned me that if I ate them all I would regret it. I laughed and ate as much candy as I could, and soon my stomach began to ache. I quickly learned that eating as much as I did was not a good idea and my dad was right. After that, I limited the amount of candy that I ate and did not feel tempted by advertisements of candy and chocolate. The government should do more to promote parental influence in a child's life, not blame and limit a company from trying to sell a box of cereal.

Strategies of Marketing

One marketing strategy that I found very interesting is the use of symbols to represent a company. For example, when people see an apple with a bite taken out of it, people think of the Apple company and when people think of Apple they think of MacBooks, iPods, and iPads. Another symbol that generates a lot of conversation is the Nike Swoosh. When people see the Nike Swoosh they think of everything related to Nike, even their slogan "Just do it." The slogan "Just do it," also promotes impulse buying. This is purposely done by advertisers to make consumers feel like they need that material object that instant. Even the way something is written can be a symbol, such as Coca Cola. The way the cursive C has a sort of ribbon at the end of it. I have personally seen other companies use the same font as Coca Cola to make a joke about something because when everyone reads it, "Coca Cola" is in the back of their minds.

Body Language

One concept from the reading that I found very interesting is how body language can be just as important as verbal communication. When people feel uncomfortable they will move around in their place. If people are lying they will look down or break eye contact. I found it interesting that the book mentions that body language can interpret different things depending on cultural background. For example bowing in Asia shows respect when you greet people, but in America when people meet another person they shake hands. In pictures, body language is one of the more important things that is conveyed. It is said that pictures are worth a thousand words, and that is because of what people can see from the picture. Picture can bring out emotions because of the body language used. If everyone is smiling, then it was a happy moment when the picture was taken, but if everyone is frowning then it was a sad moment when the picture was taken.

Rhetorical Devices

In the past week I have used many rhetorical devices such as euphemisms and hyperboles. A euphemism is using a neutral or positive term to cover up a negative term, or in other words, sugarcoating. In the past week I was talking about the war with Vietnam and instead of calling it a war, I called it a "conflict" because it seemed less violent. This is an example of euphemism because "conflict" sounds less violent and disastrous than "war" sounds. War inclines that people will die, while a "conflict" suggests that people are only fighting. I also used a hyperbole, which is an exaggeration or possibly an overstatement. I was talking about the amount of homework I had to do over the weekend and I said I would die from the amount of homework. This is an exaggeration because I would not actually die from homework, but I would spend all day doing homework.

Sally Ride

Sally Ride is a great example of a critical thinker. In college her friends said she is "calm and totally focused...always able to see the heart of things... to quickly think, figure it out, crystallize it." Later in life, Ride was the first woman to be an astronaut and go to space in 1983. She was able to accomplish this because of her analytical and critical thinking skills. Also, because of her outstanding communication skills she was appointed as the person who handles all group-to-staff communication for the first and second shuttle flights. She put the NASA reports together and presented them to the United Nations which shows her excellent writing and public speaking abilities. She is now the head of Sally Ride Science which sponsors camps that encourages girls' science interests. The camp also helps the girls build their leadership, writing and communication skills, all of which are necessary for success in the future.

Communication Channels

One concept from this week's reading is about using communication channels. In any organization there needs to be some sort of communication. There are many ways to communicate within an organization including emails, text messages, phone calls, and of course face to face conversations. Some organizations use "formal channels" for communication meaning that there is a hierarchy of communication. It would start at the top where the Board of Directors will tell the CEO, who would tell the President, who would tell the Vice Presidents, who would tell the Directors and so on. This all means that there needs to be some sort of authority and chain of command. And if something were to happen at the lower levels of the hierarchy then the news would work its way up to the board of directors. When using this method for communications, it is best to use formal writing techniques such as writing emails and letters, keeping documents and memos much more than face to face conversation.

Dr. Novello

Dr. Novello became the United States Surgeon General in 1989. Dr. Novello focused on four public health problems: AIDS, violence, alcohol, and tobacco. She became aware that because of the advertisements that Camel cigarettes were publishing in 1988 that smoking has increased. This is where the "cause-and-effect" inductive reasoning takes place. Dr. Novello banned cigarette and alcohol ads targeting youth and increased education in school systems. She felt that if youth were not bombarded with images/videos/slogans for cigarettes and alcohol, they would be less likely to smoke and drink. She also worked with the school systems to help educate youth about violence and AIDS. Her reasoning is that the more the youth knew about the consequences of AIDS, violence, tobacco, and alcohol the more likely youth would be to abstain from them. She was somewhat successful because in the beginning of the mid 1990s there were less reports of violence and a decline in cases of AIDS.

Inductive Arguement

My friends and I were at a corner store trying to buy something to drink. I wanted a Red Bull to get my energy up but my friends said most energy drinks are bad for you and that Red Bull is an energy drink, therefore Red Bull is probably bad for you. The premise of this argument is that energy drinks are not healthy for your body. The conclusion of this argument is that Red Bull is a energy drink, so it probably is not healthy for your body. This is an inductive argument because my friend did not say that Red Bulls were bad for me, he said that energy drinks were bad and because Red Bull is an energy drink, I inducted that the Red Bull energy drink is bad for me. Inductive reasoning is based on probability and not facts. Just because most energy drinks are bad, does not mean Red Bull is. Red Bull might be perfectly fine for my body, but because of inductive reasoning it is probable that Red Bull is bad for me.

Leadership

There are many ways to lead a group to a desired outcome, some are better than others in different situations. The best all around I believe is participative leadership. Participative leadership is when the leader works with the group, they get the group together and keep people accountable but have no more influence over the end result than any other member of the group. This way seems the best in most situations because things get done efficiently, is of higher quality, and minimizes group conflicts. Sometimes though, time is a luxury that a group does not have so they require a authoritarian leader. Authoritarian leaders have all control over the whole group, with little to no input from group members. The group members may not like not being able to contribute their ideas and concerns but things will get done faster. If things need to get done as soon as possible an authoritarian leader might be necessary if a group cannot get things together quick enough with an participative leader.

Death Penalty

Sister Helen Prejean is a Roman Catholic religious leader who says that capital punishment goes against the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, "who taught us to not to return hate for hate and evil for evil." Some Christians do disagree with her. I think the book is putting too much on an emphasis on either you believe in it or you do not. Sometimes, people believe in somethings that Christianity has to offer, but not all of it. Some may argue that the death penalty is the worst punishment, while I do agree that it is the most final and definite punishment, it is not the worst. Sitting in a jail cell for a lifetime and thinking about why you are in there seems to be a lot worse then being killed. Why does someone who believes in one thing, have to agree with everything about it? My conclusion is this; to be a Christian, you must believe some of the bible, but not all of it. But not not believing all of it, does not make you not a Christian.

Silver Blaze Deductive Reasoning

When Sherlock Holmes tries to figure out what happened to Silver Blaze, he did not go off of what people's opinions or rumors. Holmes used his logic of where the possible places the horse would go after running away. One by one Holmes eliminated all the possible places Silver Blaze could have went until he eventually finds the horse at Mapleton. Sherlock Holmes said "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however probable, must be the truth." People have difficulty separating their own opinions/theories when trying to figure something out.
For my personal experience, sometimes I lose my wallet and I used to struggle with finding it but now I use deductive reasoning to find it. First I check all my pockets, and if it is not in my pockets then it is either in my backpack or in my room. I check my backpack next and realize that it must be in my room. I then find my wallet sitting on my desk in my room.

Obama: Same-sex marriage

President Obama is inconsistent with his views on same-sex marriage. I believe President Obama does want to legalize same-sex marriage at the federal level but if he does he may or may not lose support from people and he is unwilling to take that step. He would also need support from Congress and that may be difficult. However, legalizing it at the state level shows that President Obama does support same-sex marriage and it goes "under the radar." Meaning if a federal law were to change, people would talk and media would be all over it but changing state laws do not seem to be as big of a deal. To Nava and Dawidoff, President Obama would say that he cannot just go changing federal laws. It would take time and a lot of negotiating with non-supporters. I believe that President Obama, as a person, supports same-sex marriage and would change it, but because he is the President and needs to worry about how people view him, he does not want to legalize same-sex marriage.

First post

Hello all!