Week 6 Discussion: Post 3

Repairing Arguments

Argument: Jake eats a lot of candy. His teeth are going to rot.

Analysis: Rotting teeth is the conclusion to Jake eating lots of candy. In this argument, we cant conclude that just because Jake eats a lot of candy that his teeth are going to rot. There are other factors that lead to rotting teeth besides candy. Things such as not brushing or flossing your teeth lead to rotting teeth. An ordinary person would believe this argument since many people don’t know the real facts about tooth decay. As an intern to a dentist, I can personally tell you that candy is not the only thing that contributes to rotten teeth. To repair this argument we could add more detail to the premise by saying, “ Jake eats a lot of candy and never brushes or flosses his teeth”. Adding that simple detail makes the argument stronger and the conclusion more valid. Since he doesn’t brush of floss his teeth, his teeth are going to rot without a question. 

Week 6 Discussion: Post 2

In the Chapter 4 of the Epstien book, there is a topic about inferring and implying. Implying is when you leave a conclusion unsaid, while inferring is the case where the person believes the claim/conclusion. For example, last week I was really sick to the point where I stayed inside all day long. My mom comes inside the house after she walked the dog taking off her hat, sunglasses, and flip flops. I inferred that it was hot or a nice day outside because of the attire she was wearing. I can also conclude it was a nice day since she went to take the dog out for a walk. Her outfit also implied that it is nice outside since she didn’t have to wear a sweater or a scarf or anything heavy to keep warm. My argument “it must be a nice day outside” is valid from my person experience. My mom’s outfit implies as well as inferred that it was a nice day outside. By inferring and implying, we are leaving the people at the end of message to comprehend what we are trying to say without actually saying it. For example, if a teacher says, “The people who score best on the test take notes during lecture” students can infer that if they take notes during lecture they will get a good grade on their test. 

Week 6 Discussion: Post 1

Surprisingly, it was hard for me to find an ad on the Internet to talk about for this post. I thought at first it would be easy but most large webpages such as google or yahoo didn’t allow for massive pop-ups of advertisements. Here’s what I found, an ad for Shoedazzle.com on Facebook. On the ad, it prompts people to take their survey or quiz and they’ll match you up with a celebrity that fits your shoe style. From there you can pick from a range of shoes that only cost $39.99 plus free shipping! Sounds like a great deal for all you girls out there right? Well the advertisment is false. I’ve actually had a friend who has taken the survey for Shoedazzle, which creates a profile for you to choose from a range of shoes you could order each month. While they do pick out cute and unique shoes for you every month, they don’t loudly state that if you don’t pick out a shoe to be ordered that month, they will still charge you $39.99 for that month. Regardless of if you chose a shoe to order or not, you will still be charged the money. At first glance, there is no reason to doubt the advertisement made by Shoedazzle, but then again there isn’t a reliable source to give them credibility. There isn’t a media outlet that is backing up the website telling their customers that the webpage is credible. I would reject the claim because of my own personal experience. I saw the ad and checked out the website and thought it was a reliable place to shop, but once I told my cousin about it she pointed out their scam. So please ladies don’t fall into the scam of shoedazzle! 

Week 4 Discussion: Post 3

Developing effective skills in organizational communication

There are 2 different types of organizational channels. Formal Channels are use a system of hierarchies and rank to create paths of organized communication. At my new job we use this system. At the bottom, students are to report to their advisors. Then as an advisor, if I need assistance or I need to communicate about a problem with my student, I then go to my coordinator. With my message now in the hands of the coordinator, the message she received from me is now passed on to my senior coordinator to handle. In order for to resolve my student issues, my senior coordinator has to report to his manager. The manager is at the top of the hierarchy and does not directly interact or solve the problem with the student and instead the problem must be communicated to through the system. There is also a system called informal channels. Informal channels are often known as “grapevine” or sort of like a “he said, she said” organization. Rules are set amongst the group and then communication is informal between all group members. 

Week 4 Discussion: Post 2

Bad appeal to common belief (or practice)

The bad appeal to common belief (or practice) is a fallacy stating that if most people in the group believe it then it’s true. A real world example: If all the girls in the group think Chris Brown is hot then it must be true. This is in fact a fallacy. Just because most or all the girls in the group think he’s hot doesn’t mean that he’s sexually appealing to everyone. A common belief doesn’t make a statement true; it is only getting the majority opinion. The majority opinion doesn’t always tell the truth either; it can have different results in different demographics. Say we pose the question to another set of girls and not all of him think he’s hot, the statement becomes a fallacy in this situation. Bad appeal to common belief is a very common fallacy. The common phrase “everyone’s doing it” is an example of the bad appeal to common belief. If everyone is jumping off the bridge, it doesn’t make anything right for you to jump off the bridge too! 

Week 4 Discussion: Post 1

Argument:  YES.

Las Vegas has too many people (1). There’s not enough water in the desert to support more than a million people (2). And the infrastructure of the city can’t handle more than a million: The streets are overcrowded, and traffic is always congested; the schools are overcrowded, and new ones can’t be built fast enough (3). We should stop migration to the city by tough zoning laws in the city and country (4).

Conclusion: We should stop migration to the city by tough zoning laws in the city and country.

Additional Premises needed?: No, the premises stated are enough to support the argument.

Identify any subarguement: 2 and 3 are independent and support 1.

Good Argument:  I think that this is a very good argument. The argument is Las Vegas has too many people. Several premises that describe why Las Vegas can’t handle all of the population then support it. Then the argument is backed up by a conclusion to stop migration.

I feel like this exercise was not as effective than it should have been. I was still kind of confused “additional premises needed?”. Does the additional premises have to connect to each other or do they follow the subargument? If so, the premise I would add after 2 would be: Therefore, it is unsafe to have an overpopulated city if there is not enough water to support their needs. I think that 3 already had a premise to follow its subargument. “The streets are overcrowded, and traffic is always congested; the schools are overcrowded, and new ones can’t be built fast enough” gave enough support to the subargument. I felt like the argument was valid and didn’t need to have any additional premises. In the previous example about the dogcatcher, it was easy to add premises, but for my argument I wasn’t sure if it was actually necessary. Please help if you have any suggestions! 

Week 3 Discussion: Post 3

Effective Leadership

Regardless of the leadership styles displayed by members of a group, the actions if of leader in the group are useless unless they are effective. Effective leadership motivates the group to work harder to reach their goals and also creates credibility to the group. Good leaders often lead their group towards desirable outcomes. They themselves as leaders want to succeed, as well as want their group to succeed, so they motivate their group members to work harder. When the leader displays hard work that leads to success, the group members are influenced to achieve just as their leader. It is sort of like the phrase “lead by example”. Being an effective leader creates credibility to the group. If a leader can be trusted, believed, and knowledgeable, it creates credibility between the group and the leader, as well as the leader too. I believe that a group must have effective leadership to create success. Though each group member is needed in the group, the leader is there not only to take part in the work but also provide stability within the group. Without a leader, success may take a little harder to obtain. 

Week 3 Discussion: Post 2

A strong argument is when the statements can be true while the conclusion can be false at the same time. For example, a strong argument can be: Smoking is bad for you. Smoking causes lung cancer in the human body. “Over 400 people each day die from lung cancer” (Lung Cancer Foundation). The argument is strong because it statements before the conclusion are true. Smoking is unhealthy for you and enough smoking can lead to lung cancer. It is also a strong argument since the conclusion can be false or true. A valid argument is when the statements in the argument can’t be true while the conclusion is false at the same time. The argument above can also pose as a valid argument since the premises are true while the conclusion is true too. According to the Lung Cancer Foundation, over 450 people die a year from lung cancer due to smoking.  The argument is both valid and strong since the premises and conclusion are both true. 

Week 3 Discussion: Post 1

Argument: Katie is a girl. All girls like the color pink. So Katie likes pink.

Tests for an argument to be good:

1.)   The premises are plausible

     In this case, there is no reason to doubt that the plausible claims are false. We can also prove that Katie is in fact a girl. There is also no reason to doubt that Katie likes pink unless she herself tells us that she hates pink and then the claim would be less plausible.

2.)  The premises are more plausible than the conclusion.

     The conclusion in this argument is true. Katie likes the color pink. But in this case, there are more than one premise. One premise is plausible while the other is not. “All girls like the color pink” is less plausible and you can physically prove that all girls don’t like the color pink, making this argument a bad argument.

3.)  The argument is valid are strong.

     In this example, the argument is not strong. It is not a good argument since the statement “All girls like pink” is false. If you surveyed all the girls in the universe, not every girl would say that they like the color pink. This makes the argument weak and invalid. 

Week 2 Discussion: Post 3

Managing Perceptions in a Group
Perceptions are defined by a judgment or general assumption about a person based on their actions and responses. Generally speaking, the perceptions that you have of a person are formed within the first couple seconds of seeing a person. For example, you see a girl with a nice designer bag and you automatically think that she’s “rich” or “spoiled” or when you see a guy who hangs out with a lot girls, you begin to define him as a “player” or “flirt”. When dealing in groups, monitoring your perceptions of people is very important. You don’t want to shoot down a person’s opinion because of the way he or she presents themselves. For example, a guy in your group is sitting in a chair, slouched over, and in pajamas, while the rest of the group is looking fairly presentable. Based on his appearance, most people would think that his input within the group will be ineffective, but in reality, he could possibly have the most input of your group. You want to avoid having the perceptions of your group members’ influence the way you interact with them. You have to stay open minded of their opinions and input towards the group.