Chapter 12 Question 1 11/15/12

November 14th, 2012

Virgo Horoscope:

You seem to be a specialist at relationships, and you're very sensitive to the ups and downs in your own. But today you may wonder if people love you less than they did before. This is rather an odd question, but another one may be hiding underneath. Do you really have to make such a big effort in order to be loved? Only you can answer that question.

I laugh at this horoscope because it is not even close to being accurate. For starters I am currently too busy with school to think about if "people love me less then they did before". That pretty much makes the rest of this horoscope false. Right now I am at a good stage in life that I cannot even come close to connecting to any of the predictions made in this horoscope. However, some people maybe be having problems with friends, family, or significant others. Those people might be more inclined to take this advise and run with it. Nevertheless I am not in that boat so this horoscope does nothing for me nor does it make any accurate predictions. I do not really believe in horoscopes so that might be why I am so bias or negative towards them. I see them as big generalization with very faulty predictions. 

Heisenberg.

Chapter 12 Question 2 11/14/12

This was a difficult question because I am a very logical thinker and don't jump to conclusions. However, (before I had a girlfriend) during the first day of class, Spring 2012, I noticed a very cute girl that was walking ahead of me. I thought she was just walking in the same direction as me but as it turned out she was in my class. I was quite excited but did not show it. Class was boring like it always is on the first day, but I was excited to introduce myself to her. However, when class ended there was a guy waiting for the girl outside the class room. I jumped to a conclusion right there and then, which was "just my luck she is taken". I know many guys have felt that way or have been placed in that situation. A week passed and the girl kept sitting next to me, even though I had seen her with her "boyfriend". I was polite and did not hit on her, however one day the topic for the class was on relationships. We were placed in groups and she happened to be in mine. We all had to state whether or not we were in a relationship and if so for how long. I had concluded that she was taken but did not ever ask her myself or try to use scientific methods to she if my conclusion was right or wrong. As it turns out she was single! I was so mad at myself for assuming because it hindered me from talking to her. It was here were I applied some scientific methods such as "Gathering Additional Information and Refine my Hypothesis". I found out the guy waiting for her was a cousin who she commuted with and that she had been single for over a year due to her busy schedule. I then refined my Hypothesis and developed a new one. This situation really reinforced my logical thinking personally and never again will I jump to a conclusion.


Heisenberg.

Chapter 12 Question 3 11/13/12

This week in chapter twelve the main concept that caught my attention was assumptions underling science. The reason it caught my attention was because it is the structure that science and scientist must follow. There are five key assumptions and those are empiricism, objectivity, materialism, predictability, and unity. I will discuss what I thought each meant starting with empiricism. Empiricism is the belief that are physical senses are the primary source of knowledge, as the book explains. I thought that this meant that we have to experience the world by trial and error in order to gain knowledge. Next assumption is Objectivity, which the book describes as "the belief that we observe and study the physical world "our there" as an object outside of us without bias on the part of the scientist/observer". I thought that this was straight forward because scientist must conduct experiments with no desired outcome that will show their opinion. The third assumption is Materialism, which literally means that everything around us, including ourselves, are made up of physical matter.  The next assumption is Predictability, which simply means that our world has order and can be predicted at times. This however, does not hold true especially with Quantum Mechanics. Last we have the assumption of Unity, which states that everything in the universe is connected some how some way. I really like these concepts because they were a great way to kick of the chapter. It gave me a sense of having some background in science.



Heisenberg.

Chapter 11 Qusetion 2 11/11/12

I want to start off by saying that I really enjoy these types of question. Like last week I have very mixed feelings when it comes to this topic and the arguments the witters present. Once again like last week we see two people that stand on extreme opposite ends of the topic. This weeks topic is Internet Plagiarism, which seems to be a growing concern due to the fact of the accessibility of information. Brook Sadler is an assistant teacher who strongly believes that any kind of plagiarism is wrong. She believes that this undermines the educational system, which I believe is true. However, Russell Hunt believes that this new trend of internet plagiarism is a calling to change the present school system. He believes that the current system is outdated and need to be change with what he calls "active learning". I am very stuck here because I do believe plagiarism is wrong in any form but I also feel that the old style of teaching really doesn't work today. Technology, communication, and even media is changing so I ask why shouldn't teaching and learning change as well. Both writers had a good point but I have to agree with Hunt that the present educational system needs a change.


Heisenberg.

Chapter 11 Question 1 11/10/12

From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep we are surrounded by different types of media. Today it has become the norm to have a cell phone, TV, and laptop all of which keep us in tune with media. It seems that we cannot escape the strength media has over our lives. It seems that it has now become a way of life for many, especially our generation. Although this may be true I don't believe it is a bad thing because it gives us multiple view points on multiple topics. No longer to we just have opinions from people in this country but we also get opinion from everyone else in the world. I feel like now we can choose and ignore which values and beliefs fit us. For example, I read an article from New York on the topic of President Obama's reelection and how they (the writers) were looking forward to it. However, I also found an article from Texas a state that most voted for Governor Romney in which it stated that we were going to suffer another 4 years thanks to the Obama administration. This shows how even in our on country we have different worldview on the same topic. We also see from this that people have different values which are represented from each candidate during the election. All in all media has both been a positive and a negative to our values and worldviews but as critical thinkers we must stop and thinking about what benefits our future.



Heisenberg.

Chapter 11, Question 3 11/5/12

Hello Readers,
I want to start off by saying that this was a great chapter to read after last weeks chapter. Last week we read about how company's market and use advertisement to appeal to us. In this weeks chapter the book is trying to teach us how to interpenetrate mass media as a whole. This is I believe is very helpful with the election being right around the corner. I really enjoyed reading "Depth of News Analysis". This topic illustrated how media is being used today by the companies that own the broadcasting company's. It shocked me to see that corporations pay people to write bias article to appeal to people. This made me think of all the prop "#" commercial being aired right now and how much corporations paid to get those aired. I wonder after reading this chapter how much of the media is "unbiased" because I believe everything is is bias to a certain extent. Also this topic in the chapter brought some other insight into how people take things out of context to create a more entertaining story. I feel like we have so much liberty to use our freedom of speech that it is actually hindering us from voicing the truth in media. Those are my two sense of a topic this week and thanks for reading.

Heisenberg.

Chapter 10, Question 2 11/2/12

These two texts written by Margo G. Wootan and Robert Liodice were fun to read. The reason they were so entertaining was that they completely stood on opposite sides of the topic. Wootan called for strict regulations that companies involved in food should follow when advertising to children. In contrast, Liodice believes that companies have the right to use their freedom of speech in any manner they like. He suggested it is not the company's fault for all the obesity in this country but the fault lies in parents, teachers, and other authority figures that do not suggest healthy eating. These arguments placed me in an awkward mind set because I seemed to agree with both. However, I do think Liodice had a slightly better argument because if we restrict one type of advertisement then soon we will have to restrict other types as well. This I believe will hinder the thought of freedom of speech since a lot of things will be band from saying or doing. I think that Liodice feels the same way because he believes that the freedom of speech is an essential part of living, breathing, and growing up in AMERICA.



Heisenberg