Preparing for the final and the end of the sumester.....It is almost over..
Now off to study and take my Final.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Week 10 - Court Case
I played the part of Officer Powell in the Trial. I was the first witness that was called.
It was interesting to see that the way that I testified. That if I could be biast in my testimony and only give the facts as they where represented. Iti was interesting to see how other people handled sitting on the stand and how they reacted to being questioned. Needless to say I don't think that any of us are ready to be trying cases.
To bad we could not do it in puppets.
It was interesting to see that the way that I testified. That if I could be biast in my testimony and only give the facts as they where represented. Iti was interesting to see how other people handled sitting on the stand and how they reacted to being questioned. Needless to say I don't think that any of us are ready to be trying cases.
To bad we could not do it in puppets.
Week 9 - Is Entrepreneurship Genetic or Can It be Learned?
Our team got together and discussed the topic. As a group we decided that a good Entrepreneure comes from both genetic and from learned knowldge. It was interesting to see the other ideas on where good Entrepeneurship come from.
Week 8 - Lesson Title: Produce Ideas
This week we went over ways to stimulate new Ideas. In class we talked about brain stormning and worked with each other on ways to get stuff done and how to come up with new ideas.
Week 7 - MLA Triangle
To address the issue of Plagarism our team chose to do an Interative Play.
MLA Triangle
A man is a well pressed and tailored suit walks in to the center stage hands in pockets turns and looks sideways at the audience. And with a tempo'd rhythm starts to talk.
Narrator
On the edge of education there is a place of disorder.
A place were no student should tred.
A slippery road were plagiarism takes hold, and good sense looses grip.
Were right and wrong blur the lines, and the foot notes do not ring true.
A place of disarray and confusion.
This is a zone of vagueness, a zone we like to call the MLA triangle.
The stage is set. Lets see what happens when Moe, the student, turns in someone else's work and tries to take all the credit for himself.
The curtain opens and right stage Moe a student is turning in a peace of paper to the teacher left stage sitting at her desk
Moe
Here you go teach. The best work I've ever done.
He smiles a wide grin a d rocks back on his heels.
Teacher
Hmmm lets see here.
The teacher looks over the paper.The teacher mumbling to her shelf
Teacher
I think I've seen this some were before.
Hmmm but were?
The teacher scratches her head then types on the computer.
Teacher
I knew it! This is Shakespeare!
Moe is trying to take credit for Shakespeare work.
Shakespeare enters right stage. And look at the audience
Shakespeare
Thy young ruffian has seen to upscond with my work.
Teacher
Moe is this all your own work.
Moe
Yes Ms. Derp. Well mostly.
Shakespeare
The young fool says, mostly! Mostly!
Teacher
What part is not your work?
Moe
Well a part here and there
Teacher
Which part?
Moe
You know here and there.
Shakespeare
I thinkest thy young charlatan may not be giving credit were it is due
Teacher
These are quotes right out of hamlet
Shakespeare
Nave, charlatan thoust dear to use my work with out giving me props?
Teacher
How are people to know whom you are quoting and were you got the reference from?
Moe
I didn't have time to do all that.
And besides every one knows Shakespeare.
Shake spear
Words thou has betrayed me and mine will fade to not for thine own kind tis mine own to broach immortality.
Both the teacher and Moe turn and stair open mouth at Shakespeare.
Curtains close
Narrator
As one reality slips out and another seems to take it's place.
It is for you see that without a guide the reader knows not what is real or were the line of truth falls.
For with this one man slips out of immortality and another man falls.
So to.
Without our guides we are left sanding alone in the MLA triangle.
Week 4 - Lesson Title: Be a Critical Reader
Skim: to look over the document with out getting in to a lot of detail. You give the article quick over view to find the important information of the text. Look how the information is presented to you the reader. Find what is the subject and main ideas and supporting information. This part is to give you an idea of what is going on in the article weather it is relative to you and if it is worth you reading.
Reflect: think about the subject of the article and see if you are bias to it. In this I mean are you for it or against it with strong conviction that will make you give prejudgment as to the information given. You need to detach your shelf from the subject before reading the article so what you read is not tainted by your personal feelings. If you do not read with an open mind to the information, you might miss important information that you need to know in order to make a rational decision on weather the text information is truthful or not.
Read: not just read the text; but keep track of important points and highlights that you can reference back to. Make notes and circle information to pick out the important facts and any thing you might have to take a second look at. This is used so you can absorb the information and reinforce the main points to make easier to under stand and look back on.
Evaluate: to go back over the information in you head and notes: to judge if it is truth full, and or informed and there is no missing information that you need to come to your conclusion. Evaluating the information given to you on your terms is important because you don't know if the Arthur was bias or just did not have all the facts. in the end it is you that has to make up your own mind on the subject from what you have read experienced or researched. The article cant make you do anything only help you make your decision.
The end result is using critical reading it to better yourself. In school it can make life easer, taking out the miss under standing in assignments. By using your critical reading steps you can retain and take apart then use the information you go over in school. the more truthful knowledge you gain in school can help you in you life after school. and it is an important skill that employers are looking for.
Week Three Team Assignment: To Drill or Not to Drill
Week 3 - Lesson Title: Broaden Your Perspective
Thinking Habits
Conformity is a common habit that people have as far as there thinking habits go. It is easier to agree with the crowd then go against it. To go against the crowd would take a person to reason "why not" and causes conflict in witch they might have to defend that idea. For some people it is easer to not fight and just go with the flow. It is also emotionally safer to agree then having to think through a statement and make your own judgment and risk the conflict that might ensue. (example) the last presidential election, was a large source of friction. I did not agree with one of the candidates. Then some one called me racially bias for not jumping on his bandwagon. So i explained to them that it was not his skin color that i did not like but it was his social policies and his economic plan. So i asked that person why they liked that candidate so much and all they could say "it was time for a black president" and explained no other reason why. If a candidate makes a good president or not, is not be based on skin color but on merit. The person I talked to was just going along with the crowd and knew nothing about the candidates polices. This is a bad idea and can cause many problems. For this reason we have an electoral collage and we do not vote directly for our president. The electoral collage was made to protect the people from selves. To keep us from making a bad choice in president based purely on popularity. (Hitler was a very popular man in Germany.)
Self-deception this is another common way that people do not think critically. this is when people convince them shelf that the subject is true and right with out thinking it through. Oddly enough this is not always bad. There is a medical term for it called placebo effect. This is were a patient is given a pill or some other medical treatment just to satisfy the mind of the patient; tricking them in to thinking they are better. Even though the pill would be just sugar the patient convinced them selves they are better. This self-deception is what the snake oil sales men would use on people of the 1800's. Convincing the people of the old west that the products they sell were cure-alls the snake oil sales men would sell the people there tonics. These were usually watered down alcohol at best; at worst it was bad herbs that might just kill the person.
Falling victim, I am a strong believer that we are all human and any decision we make is tainted by these traits. All we can do it try to minimize the damage by thinking things through. Some times it is not easy to recognize were we are not using our critical thinking skills; but through practice we just might make better decisions.
Week 2 - Lesson Title: Establish a Foundation
This is a Lexus car commercial that that talks about moments. They are trying to convince the viewer that buying this car will be a special moment through out the world. This is not a clear idea, but a ploy to get you mind to fill in the blank. It's not stating an idea that is factual or supported by any truthful information. It is trying to lead you in the notion that buying this car will be the best moment in your life.
This commercial is misleading it shows the car braking through a concrete wall witch a car can't do with out major damage. It also says there are 1000 changes / upgrades dune to the car. It dose not say what they are or how they upgrade the car.
These car commercials like most car commercials today try to mislead the viewer by making claims that can't be proven or that are just an idea that is vague. Neither commercial backed up their claim with data of any kind. These commercials were bias did not show the other side "their competition" they try to lead you in to thinking that they are always the best car for you.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Week 1 - Lesson Title: What is Critical Thinking?
Green Peace helpful or menace
The discussion at hand is global warming and how or what Green Peace is representing about the facts and what they are doing about it. The idea of Green Peace is a good idea, to move to a greener world through education in principle is great. Though it is not so easy in practice. The articles I read at their official site (http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/) were not to encouraging to me. First off they seem to me to use deceptive representations of their site and supposed facts that are on it. Going to the site for the first time their real home page pops up for just a second then another screen pops over that (pop-up) and wants you to sign in and give over you personal email and information seemingly to just get in to the site. This right of the bat throws up red flags to me, why would a supposable people and environmentally friendly origination use a deceptive pop up page like that. The page that pops up over the home page is a full page and dose not say any thing about the option of quitting to go to the main page with out information. Don't fall for it like my wife did the first time she went there. Even though she made a yahoo email account just to get in to the site (because I have a feeling they will flood that email account with Spam) she like most people cann't help but be mostly honest about what information that they use. So now Green Peace has her real name, and of course within a few minutes of my wife signing in they sent her email spam. I am a little more shroud then that I Xed out of that pop up and went straight to the main home page.
Stumbling my way thought their web site getting blasted with a good many pages were they ask for money I finally made to the page were they describe the global warming problem and what they suppose we should do about it. After the pop up ad I am ready to take their facts and suggestions with a grain of salt. The way they represent the problem reminds me of the ad campaign of every other major corporation from oil, tobacco and even public office elections. To me they tend to run a more negative campaign, focusing more about complaining and pointing fingers then real viable solutions. Yes the pictures and movies pull at their heartstrings they all make you feel sad about the cause they push. Some of their pictures and movies seem a little bit to posed or set up. It is easy to take what you see at its contexts, but these pictures don't give you all the information only what they want you to see. But that does not mean that they are all fake or set up.
The problem is real, global warming is real; the way that portray the problem and what caused it is not supported by the facts. There are many factors that go in to global warming, man is just 1 of billions of factors. I read an article back in the 90's that Green Peace circulated said that domestic cows were a major contributing factor to global warming and the ozone depletion through the production of methane gas (farting). But the facts are that there were all most as many wild herds of buffalo in the past then there are conman domestic cattle in the present. In the 1600 and 1800 wild buffalo estimated numbered in the 60 millions (according to one source http://www.nebraskastatebuffalo.org/history.html,) and the domestic cattle of the 90's was only about 1/3 more, according to Data from USDA ERS Red Meat Yearbook and Agricultural Statistics, as sighted in a report from Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart 2100 M Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20037 Tel: 202 785-4185, in and article at (http://www.nebraskastatebuffalo.org/history.html) now this report does not take in affect how many other animals that humans have nearly hunted to extinction in the last 300 years. So the fact remains is the planet getting warmer, and the answer is yes. The planet is getting warmer. But what they don't tell you on the site (at least not any were I could find) is that the earth goes through cycles of cold and warm from ice age to ages of flooding and ozone depletion, and this has been going on for millions of years before man ever walk the earth.
As this tine chart shows we are not even close to the warmest period in our near human history. Dose this mean that Green Peace is completely in the wrong with their global warming theory? No I don't personally think so. There are a lot of facts of how much green house gas we put out and how much atmospheric scrubbing forest we killing every day; but we also stop a lot of things that cause global warming too. Forest fires for example. We stop 1,000's if not 10,000's of naturally occurring forest fires, natural land erosion and replanting and cultivating of previously baron land. The data we have now is more precise, accurate and in clearer in detail. So there in lays the problem, we are just now in the last 50 years becoming more aware that there could be a problem. We just need more data. Scientists are constantly modifying their computer models as more advance technology comes out. So in my opinion and with the facts as I know them from my research, the jury is still out on how we are affecting the world climate. As the information is represented at the Green Peace web page is bias to their agenda.
Now as for their solution to the problem, it sounds nice to the ear; but they show very little to back it up or a way to implement it. The technology is there but it is costly to implement it and very time consuming. Yes, solar power is a great way to get clean energy, and so is wind power: But it's not as easy as that, we can't just throw up a few solar panels and a few wind turbines and call it a day. Unfortunately that technology is costly and some times not easy to produce. Another problem is the skilled labor it takes to make, install and maintenance it we just don't have it. Most of our workforce is trained to work with the technology we have to day. It takes time to change over to the new industrial technology. Kind of like switching from steam to electric took almost 100 years, and some places in smaller not so economical strong country's still use steam.
So it comes down to the way that Green Peace presents their opinion on the global warming issue. I do mean "Opinion" they give very little facts about the problem and those facts that they do give don't usually show both sides of the story, and as for their solution for the problem, well it is a little short sighted. Green Peace does not give real numbers for fixing and installing their solutions. It all comes down to yes there is "probably" a problem but there is no over night fix, it is not as simple as they lead the reader to believe at the website. Changing the way we produce energy and products will take time and there is no solid scientific data to say that if we don't fix the problem in the next few years the earth will die. The planet has recovered before from worse, from being a solid ice ball several times to oxygen levels being so low that it could not support human life. The articles I read on Green Peace's website read more like propaganda then actual scientific information. So take Green Peace with a grain of salt and not just at what they want you to think. They have some good ideas but it is up to you to judge which ones have merit. So do your own research and think about both sides of the coin before drawing conclusions.
The Start
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