UFOs

Condon: He concludes that no scientific knowledge has been gained from the 21 year study of UFO’s and also adds that the future study of UFO’s cannot be expected to advance science. Codon goes on to suggest that if scientist agree with their points then they will turn their attention elsewhere and if they disagree then the report will show them which studies are incomplete and faulty so they can continue to push for more accurate studies.
Hynek: Believes that there is content in UFO reports that is worthy of rigorous study that is to be a challenge to the human mind and can be considered potentially productive in contributing to the progress of mankind. Hynek points out that the confusion surrounding UFO’s and the lack of attention from scientists have prevented proper data collection. Hynek suggests starting research almost from scratch and if there is indeed definite patterns and other correlations then the probability that the UFO represents something ‘truly new in science – new empirical observations- would be a virtual certainty’ (127)
Paynter : Paynter says that skeptics are criticized for demanding physical evidence of alien invasions. He also points out that those among us who don’t believe in alien invasions …’physical evidence is the key to everything. We will believe, if some artifact can be found on Earth that is demonstrably alien’ (128) He concludes by urging the UFOlogical community to adopt properly scientific standards of investigation and proof in their work in order to support their conclusions with probative evidence and reasoning to confront the skeptics. (128)
I believe that Paynter has the best argument because he looks at it from both sides and says since there is no direct evidence to prove either side’s points, there needs to be direct evidence for the UFOlogical community to encourage skeptics that UFOs are real.

Wisdom vs. Knowledge

Aristotle taught that wisdom is the greatest virtue. According to Judith A Boss’ book THINK, knowledge is information or experience that we believe to be true and for which we have justification or evidence. Rationalists believe this comes through reason, and empiricists believe the truth is discovered through our physical senses. (97) Wisdom, according to dictionary.com is “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.”
I think that we are acquiring knowledge in college through the courses we take. We believe what we are learning in these classes to be true because we trust the credibility of the school and professors which would be the ‘justification and evidence’ part of the definition. I believe that wisdom comes over time by applying the knowledge we gain mixed with personal experience. I that by gaining more knowledge we are becoming both more knowledgeable and wiser.

Diffusion of Responsibility

One concept that I found interesting this week was diffusion of responsibility. Judith A Boss defines Diffusion of Responsibility in THINK as the tendency, when in a large group, to regard a problem as belonging to someone else. It is a social phenomenon that occurs in groups of people above a critical size and if responsibility is not explicitly assigned to us, we tend to regard is as not our problem, but as belonging to someone else. (122)
An example the text used of this was of an old man being hit by a drunk driver on a bust street and was lying in the street paralyzed and bleeding while people continued on with their lives and ignored him. Cars drove around and didn’t stop or offer assistance. This completely baffled me and reminded me of a show I’ve seen before called What Would You Do? It’s where people are unknowingly part of social experiments to show how members of society would act in certain situations. Sometimes when I would watch it I would be dumbfounded by how little people would do to help. An episode I really remember was when a ‘parent’ acted like they were too drunk to drive and was having their kid who was no more than 10 try to get behind the wheel. So many people walked by and didn’t do anything because they didn’t pay attention or chose to ignore and stay out of the situation, but when one person interfered, then more usually stepped in to help.
To avoid this tendency, the text says as good critical thinkers we need to be aware of this tendency and need to cultivate the ability to think independently while still taking into consideration other’s perspectives. (122)

Ride : Characteristics of a Skilled Critical Thinker

According to Chapter 1 in THINK by Judith A Boss, characteristics of a skilled critical thinker include: having good analytical skills, possessing effective communication skills, being well informed and possessing good research skills, being flexible and able to tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty, being able to adopt a position of open-minded skepticism, being a creative problem solver, being attentive, mindful, and intellectually curious, and being able to engage in collaborative learning. (Boss, 12)
After reading about Sally Ride, it is apparent that she exemplifies these qualities. She is described as being calm and focused, able to see the heart of things, and quick to figure things out. I believe that this shows creative problem solving, which is a characteristic of a skilled critical thinker. It was also said that she is able to clearly articulate and develop strategies to meet goals and realized what was important to reach those goals and executed a plan. She double majored in English and Physics because she realized the value of the two majors. I believe that this shows her research and inquiry skills because she realized what she needed to do and did research to find the best way to reach her goals. This also shows that she is intellectually curious. The text also says that she is an excellent speaker and writer which shows that she possesses effective communication skills.

Rhetorical Devices

According to Chapter 3 of the THINK textbook by Judith A. Boss, rhetorical dices use psychological persuasion, rather than reason to persuade others to accept a particular position. A euphemism is the replacement of a negative term with a neutral or positive one to cover up or sugarcoat the truth. In the past week or two I’ve used a euphemism when posting an ad for my Dad online. We got a new jet ski and were selling our old one and while it is in okay condition, on the ad we put “like new” which sugarcoated the truth that it’s actually kind of old. It runs great still but by putting “has been used for years but runs great” would be less appealing to a buyer than “like new.” Another rhetorical device is a hyperbole which is a type of rhetoric that uses exaggeration or overstatement to distort the facts. I definitely use this type of device every day probably lol. For example, at work last week I had a headache because we were being audited and things were super stressful. I went to talk to my coworker and told her “my head is KILLING me right now” which was a total exaggeration. I also used this just yesterday when meeting a friend for lunch. I think I said “I am starving to death, where are you” which was also a hyperbole.

Individual Styles of Communication

One concept I found interesting was individual styles of communication. I thought it was interesting that the way we communicate can’t be separated from who we are and there are 4 basic types of communication styles. These are: Assertive style, aggressive, passive, and passive aggressive. On page 77 of THINK by Judith A. Boss, there is a self-evaluation questionnaire that gives 6 scenarios and you pick the best response that matches how you would react to them. I got 3 “A’s” and 3 “C’s”. According to the back of the book, A’s = a passive communication style, and C’s= Assertive. According to the text passive communication is based on compliance and efforts to avoid confrontation at all costs. Assertive style, according to the text, is how we express ourselves when we are confident and our self-esteem is strong. I feel like those two are complete opposites, but I guess we act different when dealing with strangers, than dealing with people we know.

Pg. 39 Using Reasoning for a Career Choice

Identifying your strengths is definitely important when choosing a career. If you do not have strong math skills, you shouldn’t aim for a career in accounting. If you do not have good communication skills, you should not go for a customer service job, and so on. Chapter 2 in the book THINK by Judith A Boss discusses empathy and defines it as the ability to enter into and understand the experiences and emotions of others. I believe that I am an empathetic person and according to the text, “An empathetic person is more flexible and open to other’s perspectives and is motivated to use critical analysis, important skills in forming a satisfactory logical argument regarding a plan of action.” (43) I believe that this has been used while making a career choice by me choosing to major in human resources. The book also says empathy helps make us better listeners and communicators which are definitely two extremely important strengths to have in the HR field.

Integrating Reason and Emotion

One of the concepts that I found was interesting from Chapter 2 in THINK by Judith A. Boss was “Integrating Reason and Emotion.” The text says that the education process tends to undervalue emotion and is instead geared towards encouraging us to be rational at all times. (45) I have always thought that when reasoning you should separate your emotions so they do not cloud your decision making even though it’s super hard to do so. Boss later goes on to point out that by combining emotion with reasoning, you can actually use that as an advantage, “The combination of feeling and reason gives us a double-prolonged tool in critical thinking. Emotion alerts us to problems and to other people’s perspectives. Emotions also motivate us to take action and resolve problems.” (45) I thought this was interesting because it goes against the original thought I had that emotion should be separated from reasoning.