Proof Substitute & Weaslers P3

Proof Substitute & Weaslers

This post will discuss the two above and give examples to both. A Proof Substitute is something that, I think, can sometimes be a good thing or a bad thing. It would be considered a good thing when it is coming from someone you trust. For example, pretend you were talking to your good friend and got in an argument about whether or not Eddie Murphy has played in a role of a vet doctor. For some reason the movie, “Dr. Doolittle” has slipped both of your minds. Your good friend tells you he knows that Murphy has played the role. You argue back that you cannot recall a movie in which he does. Your friend says, “dude common, trust me, he for sure has, you probably just forget seeing it.” The last line is an example of a Proof Substitute, because he is doing exactly that…substituting factual evidence for the truth.

A Weasler is normally used to state a claim but leaving yourself an out in case it is not true, or can be proven wrong with more knowledge. Words like, “possibly” or “as far as we know” can help you state a claim but not look completely stupid if it is wrong. For example, “Don’t quote me, but I think that this posts are due by Saturday at 11:55pm. J

Downplayers p2

Downplayers consume my life. A Downplayer is a sort of argument that minimizes the significance of a claim.

When I was growing up my mom always called me a “minimizer.” Whenever I did anything wrong or didn’t follow directions I would try and make it sound like a little thing. Like it was not that bad and I shouldn’t be punished for it. I’m sure my intentions are pretty clear; I was trying to get the lowest possible scale punishment. Now, I find myself doing it just a little less. An example of a downplay I would have used back in high school would be: “yeah the test was only a 30 points so I will be fine.” The reason this is an example of downplay is mostly due to the word “just”. “Just” can help you indentify downplay very fast in an argument. Another example a little more current and relevant would be: “I’ve only missed one discussion week, im sure our teacher will understand that we are humans and sometimes forget, so she’ll probably drop our lowest discussion week.” Why this is a downplay is because of my lack of responsibility for my actions. A significant identifier is “only.” When something is “only” this or “only” that it is usually a downplay.

Loaded Questions P1

In this post I would like to discuss loaded questions and how relevant they are to any organization that administers rules and regulations. I have witnessed, and received many loaded questions from any form of official in any organization. For example, my parents asking me: Why did you decide to go against our wishes and come home after curfew? This is a huge loaded question because who says that I “decided” to be late and come home after curfew? I could have been in many different situations that did not allow me to get home before curfew. What if I was pulled over by a cop and he decided to preach his life lessons of being a safe driver to me? I wouldn’t dare tell him to shutup.

Another example of a loaded question would be from the PO PO. I would say they are the kings of loaded questions. It seems they always assume the worst and ask questions already placing guilt just to twist you into so many different knots that by the end of it you do not even know if your innocent or guilty. For example, my friend told me a story of a Drunk in Public charged that he received awhile back. He said that they arrested him and took him into county jail. When he got there they lined everybody up and had them sit down one at a time to take a blow test. What he didn’t knkow is that legally you do not have to take a blow test if you do not want to. Legally, you can say no. But, he said, that when the cop sat him down, the cop said: “are you going to open your mouth?” in a tone that was as if he had said: “OPEN YOUR F#%^$*@ MOUTH!” this is totally a loaded question because it conceals the claim that he does not have to take the blow test if he does not want to.

Group Project Assessment

For my third blog this week I wanted to disciuss the Group Assingment to be turned in this week. I felt this was a challenging but overall good learning opportunity. My group specifically chose the United Nations Children Fund, better known as UNICEF. I had the opportunity to learn about UNICEF and everything they are doing to raise awareness in our country, as well as many countries across the globe, about the need for better care of our children. There are so many poverty striken kids in the world today and organizations such as UNICEF need help. I also enjoyed the assignment because I feel the different sections layed out for us in the assignment were very choppy. It gave us a challenge to make our paper flow, with a clear and concise idea, supported by main points. Our group met three times in the library for the assignment and we still felt rushed. In the end we were able to configure a very well written paper with solid transitions and supporting points. I enjoyed meeting with my group and sharing ideas and brainstorms on the assignment as well as getting to know some of them on a personal level.

J

General Claims P2

Further into the chapter something that interested me was Vague Generalitites. Vague Generalties are the different kinds of ways we can talk about a segment or group without giving a specific number for the listener to take into account. Just as we talked about “all” and “some” these are extra indetifiers that still do not specify exactly what amount of whatever quantity someone is talking about.

For example, “Many people showed up to the concert,” or “Very few of us remember to do these discussions in the beginning of the week and end up stressing themselves out during the weekend.” Taken from the last example, why it is considered a Vague Generality is because although you know it is a reltiviley low amount of people, you do not know exactly what number and you couldn’t be able to base much conclusion from the statement. However, we can base our judgement from these Vague Generalitites. Although we don’t have exact information, our brain allows us to make our own judgements anyway. It’s pretty cool stuff, I know.

General Claims P1

I found the beginning of the chapter to be very insightful as far as how to pick up on the language people use in everyday conversation. I especially liked the ideas behind the word, “some”. I think that most people use “some” intentionally to make a point but to also do it farely. When you state for example, “Some of the people did not like what Tim said.” It is implying to Tim that what he said was not bad, however, some people did not like it. Now, “some” as it talks about in the chapter is sometimes purposefully ambiguous. All but one person in the room could have not liked what Tim said, but whoever is delivering the comment could be trying to protect Tims feelings so they made it sound not as bad as it really may be. This situation could just as easily be flipped around, meaning maybe only two people didn’t like what Tim said, but now it sounds worse. As you can imagine, “some” can be a dangerous word, causing someone to feel a certain negative feeling, or a positive feeling, all based on their personal experience with word and how the judge it’s ambiguous meaning.

Week 6 Post3

In this post I’ll be discussing Conditionals and their contradictories…

A conditional claim is one that may seem like a compound claim because the calim can be separated into two different sentences, however, you’ll know it’s a conditional claim if the two sentences need each other to make sense. One statement is conditional on completely are validating the latter.

For Example: I’ll take the remote from you if you keep changing it.

There is two premises and but the 0nly mean one thing, you can identify these Conditonal claims easily by identifying the word, “if”. In addition, there other trigger words such as “then”.

If you are not sure whether it is a Conditional Claim and it has no “If” or “then” practice writing the claim differently to see if it can form into an “if…then” statement easily. If you can, you’ve found a Conditional Claim!

Another Example:

“cook the food so we can eat”

Re-written: “If you cook the food, then we can eat.”

Yes- Conditional Claim

Week 6 Post 2

I also learned about False Dilemmas in Chapter 6 of Epstien.

A “False Dilemma” is a claim, either compound or single, that offers too little of possibilities. It is most common in claims with the words “or” or “versus”. Epstein urges readers to pick up when they hear these words in a claim and think, “are there any other consequences or possibilities that can come out of this claim.”

For Example:

You need to get straight A’s in High School or you will not get into college.

Although this is a pretty simple example you can see that there are many other possibilities that can come out of not getting straight A’s. You can certainly get into a college getting B’s and A’s. The claim is defined as a False Dilemma because there are so many other possibilities as to what can happen if you do not get straight A’s.

Another example would be:

You need to post on your blog three times a week, 12 hours apart, or Professor Perez will hunt you down from the spirit world and hunt your dreams.

This awesome example it is a little tricky; although this may seem very true, and may frighten you, Professor Perez could do much worse to you if you do not post on your blog. The professor haunting you in your dreams is one tactic she could use, but she also has many other ways to keep you scared at night. This is a false Dilemma because all those possibilities are not stated.

October 2-8 Q1

One of the topics I found interesting in Chapter 6 was Compound Claims and their use of “or” for reasoning purposes.

In Epstein’s chapter 6, “Compound Claims” the author talks about the use of “or” as a good word that sticks two or more claims together. The idea is that the claims need to both be true in order to be a compound claim.

For Example:

“I can trade you money or we can trade for food.”

This is a compound claim because I am not making two claims about what should be done. The conclusion of this claim is me doing only one thing. Not two. This makes the words a compound claim.

Also, the utilization of “or”

There needs to be no possibly way that the claims cannot hold truth-value together. Both claims need to work and support what you are trying to do.

A Contradictory of a Claim is the opposite of a Claim.

For Example:

Kyle plays video games till 10:30 am.

`Contradictory: Kyle doesn’t play video games till 10:30am.