Midterm

MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Winter 2008, Critical ThinkingProfessor David C. Lane, Ph.D. 4. Julie Schuhknecht5. Alljuwels, 6. Alljuwels@yahoo.com 7. Phil8 Blog: http://julieschuhknecht.blogspot.com/8. Yes, I have done all the reading for the first three weeks.9. Yes, I have watched each of the films that were required.10. Posts
Why I am not a Christian-week 3
Learning about the dynamics of this religion and what it is that ultimatly took Russell off the Christian course was very interesting. I would have to agree that you must have an amount of defininte belief in Christianity before you have the right to call yourself a Christian. There are those that are out there that believe in one small part of Christianity and call themselves Christian, but wont accept anything else. If you want to fully be able to call yourself a part of any religion, should be ready to accept everything that comes with that religion. If the religion calls to not drink caffine, then you shouldn't allow yourself to drink a Pepsi once a month, its not allowed by the religion. There shouldn't be a law on how to practice religion, but if you are ready to call yourself part of that religion, then you should be ready to do so.I liked reading about what a Christian is exactly. Hearing the two essentials was very intruiging to me because knowing that there are essentials to believe in to fully call oneself part of a religion is a smart thing. It's better to have these kinds of essentials then to not and have people who just want to abuse the name.
Pretext 2
I enjoyed reading further on trying to understand the consciousness. The two directions that one can encounter while trying to figure out who they are are very interesting. Nothing more than a sophisticated neural net or a pure spirit. I wouldn't know exactly how to answer to which one I was. I would like to think I am a pure spirit, but in todays world and everything that we are exposed to that its very hard to keep your belief system separate from everything else. Its also hard to think that we are just neural nets that are transmitting DNA and brain censors connected to something that we are supposed to work for.The pretext is the neural net or connectionist, is this to the brain? And the text being the "I" consciousness and helps you deteremine what exactly you are along with the context that helps fill in all the little blanks with information. This article was interesting, its hard to think that our brain is so powerful to be able to think of things like this. Knowing that smaller things make up bigger things and everything seems to have a purpose. And without one of the three important factors, then something is missing and you can't fully understand everything. This can definintely be applied to life, I think thats what she was applying it to, not books. Why do we want to know what it takes to understand a sentence of a book which is finally broken up to little lines, that are broken up to electro's and atoms of ink.
Freeman Dyson
The talk about mathematics and how it relates to science and religion confuses me. I do like his idea on how God is simply a mind that is beyond our understanding. And the idea of religion only being a life stay not a matter of belief because its true. We can devote our lives to studying a certain religion and making sure that our life style is the way it says to be, but we don't have to let it consume what we believe. If we don't like something that it says we should believe, we should have Every right to not believe in it.I enjoyed hearing him talk. He had some very interesting points and ideas that I would have to agree with most of. He knew what he was talking about. I didn't understand the mathematical parts of it, but I still found it interesting. It was also interesting to hear about Quantum science and how that plays a part in our world and the way people think. Over all it was interesting to hear him talk about religion and science and how they relate.
Pretext 1
I found this reading interesting because it talked about how everything is made of something smaller. Everything seems to help make something bigger. This can be applied to life. Everything we do is part of something bigger and helps us do something us, maybe something bigger or smaller. I have gone and tried to read a book like she has mentioned she did, taking everything and breaking it down to the smallest it can possibly be. IT was hard, the lines that made of the letters didn't make any sense, and even the letters by themselves doesn't make any sense at all. We all know letters and associate them with certain words or meanings, but when I wanted to get the meaning behind the sentence, it was all gibberish.I like how she says that if the context is missing, then we can't fully understand the pretext and text. Trying to read a book without knowing everything about it is hard to do. I understand now what goes into, not only a book, but everything. If we are missing one thing then we can't fully understand it. If we miss the first 10 minutes of movie, when all the mishap is revealed along with all the background and characters, then we are lost until we try to watch it again. I have tried to apply this to life and have tried to not miss anything, so I can try to fully understand everything.
Neural Vision- Nicholas of Cusa
This video was strange. The floating ship was something I think we can all relate to. That ship is something that we want, but we think it's too hard to obtain. There is always going to be obstacles in our way, we just have to learn how to deal with them. The quote " The unattainable is attainable by its unattainment" has stuck with me. If we think that something is too hard to achieve then we wont, but knowing that there are so many things that we want, we just have to accept that its going to be hard to achieve, we might have a better chance of actually achieving them.Having a video that is 2 minutes of nothing, just a floating ship was strange. The quote at the end " mans last and highest parting occurs when for God's sake, he takes leave of God," I would have to agree. We all believe in the higher power, but if we believe in ourselves first and know that if we believe we can do it, then we can. We shouldn't leave our lives up to a higher power to figure out, we are all smart intelligent humans that can figure out how to solve our own problems. Its good to have something to pray to, to find comfort in, but we shouldn't leave our hands of fate in the hands of someone that no one really knows exists or not.
Secret of Faqir
This movie was strange. At first I was unaware as to what exactly the point was, but I think I understand it now. The different quotes about be what needs to change for religion and that your are your only help really interest me. Why is that people think that they aren't the ones that are really the only ones that can help themselves. If you don't think you need help or want help then there isn't anything that people can do to help you. I believe he was saying no to all gods and guru's which is something I would have to agree with. We all love the idea that there is something bigger than ourselves that will ultimately help us, but if you believe that we can do things for ourselves without the help of these gods, then I believe we will be better off.I wasn't sure if the person that was in the background was Faqir because it would be nice to see the man with all these ideas. I would also have agree with him when he states that the "Game is of your entire impression and suggestions that are in grained upon your mind through your eyes and ears and beliefs.." What we see in the world and around us help us believe in this crazy stuff. Whose to say they are right or what we think is right, but we are influenced by what others think, say, do, believe. Churches all want you to think they are the right choice, but whose to say that any of those are really the right one.
Posted by Julie S. at 4:59 PM 0 comments
Sunday, January 20, 2008
John Maynard Smith and Evolution
This video was hard to comprehend and really grasp what he was talking about. The only thing that I was able to pick out was that he gave up his faith because it wasn't giving him what he wanted. If I knew more about the mathematics behind it all, I think I would be able to understand a bit more. The game theory was interesting because it applied to animals and the reasoning genes in humans. Maybe this is all just a game and there is someone up there getting a kick out of the misery that is going on with poverty, war, global warming.The frequency dependant selection was interesting because its based on what we are depending on or what is in demand. This relates to the everyday life because we all want the newest gadget or the latest fashion, but no one is really demanding the natural things that we can't control. If we stopped using all our natural resources for the latest in technology or media, maybe we wouldn't be running out as fast as we really are. This video was interesting from what I was able to get out of it, maybe I should look more into this to see what he was really talking about.
Posted by Julie S. at 7:49 PM 0 comments
Ken Miller and Intelligent Design
Why are we taking Evolution out of the teaching of biology. Parents are telling their kids what they should believe and I think that the kids should be able to decide for themselves. Having cartoons that are telling kids that creationism is the creator of everything good in the world and evolution is everything bad and wrong is giving kids the wrong idea. Teachers aren't giving the proper study of evolution because they are scared that the kids will think for themselves. It's just a theory, so why is it so bad to believe in. Santa Claus and the tooth fairy aren't real, but we allow kids to believe in them.Allowing the kids to decide in schools if they want to learn about evolution is the better idea. It doesn't matter that the teacher doesn't want to teach it, who is the teacher there for anyways, they should be there for the kids to help them make different choices. Teachers should try taking out their own opinions from teaching and just teach. Teach everything about the world, the good and the bad and allow the kids to decide for themselves what they want to believe in. If kids don't know about evolution, how are they going to know its a good or bad thing. If we don't tell kids that gangs and drugs are bad and what can happen if you encounter them, then they wont know. And with not knowing, it can lead to them being curious and even trying it. I think we should allow them to just learn about it and see both sides.
Posted by Julie S. at 7:30 PM 0 comments
Beyond Belief Sesion 4
Stuart Hameroff talks about consciousness and I was completely unaware that there was so much into it. Hearing about all the different electros and gaps that allow us to think the way we do is fascinating. I didn't know there was so much to the brain and what goes on in it. Having the front and back of the brain be coherent is linked to consciousness and to think that all that is happening under some bone in our heads. Its interesting to see what it is that makes us think and I would love to get a brain scan done so I could see what it is about my brain that makes me think the way I think.When he talks about us being helpless spectators, I would have to agree. We do things that we think we can blame on our conscious, but in reality we are choosing to perceive what we want to. Thinking that we can control is simply an illusion. Gets me thinking that maybe were are all here to think many different things and see how it all plays out. We are unable to change we want to think and that leads to more things and so on and so forth. Letting myself talk to myself is weird now because is that really me or just some sub thoughts that were planted into my brain years and years before.
Posted by Julie S. at 7:21 PM 0 comments
Beyond Belief session 3
I enjoyed this session. I especially enjoyed hearing Caroline Porto talk because I like hearing about astronomy and the world. She brings up a point that I would have to agree with, people are afraid of death and what is to come after. Thinking about the after life is a scary thing, when we die, is that it, or do we really go on with our souls and live forever. And if we do, how long is forever. I think we should be aware of death because it is something that will eventually happen to all of us and if we are afraid of it, then when the time comes, we will be afraid. She believes that we will live forever in the cosmos, I don't think I believe that, but I don't know. It could be try, but no one will ever be able to tell and I think that's what scares people.Adults wont change their minds about religion because that's how they were brought up, but young children still have the ability to think for themselves. They have a greater chance to have an open mind about death and to accept the fact that its going to happen, don't live your life thinking about it, but know that its nothing to be afraid of. The Earth and everything on it will be extinct and there is nothing to do about. Just live your life to the fullest and don't be afraid. Its nice to hear that no matter what it will all come to an end, but its okay and we'll be okay.
Posted by Julie S. at 7:10 PM 0 comments
Himalayan Connection
Talking about UFOs isn't something that I am really interested in, but I found it to be interesting that that they are trying to get a better and accurate classification systems for studying UFOs. Thinking about UFOs and aliens isn't my point of interest and hearing about the different journey's to find out how other people studied them and learning more about them wasn't that stimulating.One part, however, did seem to catch my interest. The Chandian effect talked about when we perceive our own experiences, that will effect our attention. If that perspective alters then what we see will also be altered. We are all bias to some extent because we all will believe what we want to believe. Doesn't matter if its in a book or the president says the war is right, we aren't going to believe it if we don't want to. I also found the talking about the dream stage very interesting. I love recalling dreams to see what exactly was going on, who was doing what, who was there because the conscious is very powerful. We are going to this world that we don't believe exists and we live this other life where anything is possible.
Posted by Julie S. at 7:01 PM 0 comments
A Field Guide to Critical Thinking
The media today is able to feed the world what ever it is that they want us to believe. We only see what the media wants us to see of the world and there is so much more that we are missing. The truth about everything should be at our finger tips with all the right answers. But in today's world, we don't have that. We have every one's opinions about everything plastered all over the web and television that at the end we don't know what to believe any more. The idea of the paranormal is something that most people don't really care to talk about. Thinking about something that we cannot control and that is outside of this world can scare people, but its nice to know all the information about it before someone can judge it. Keeping an open mind about everything before making your decision can help the world with their close mindedness and allow something else other than the latest fashions or the newest car into thought.The rules that were presented in James Lett's article were quite interesting because I have never really thought about them individually before. Knowing what I should use to present my evidence logically and pragmatically are interesting. I don't honestly think that I would ever use all six of them because in all honestly, everyone is going to have their own opinions about what ever it is that they are trying to prove. The one rule that stands out to me is the ability to have your evidence Falsifiable. Having evidence that will prove what you think wrong is something that is rarely ever used. No one wants something that will persuade minds against them, so I think that its important to have both sides of everything because that way you can make a logical choice.
Posted by Julie S. at 6:51 PM 0 comments
Should Skeptical Inquiry Be Applied to Religion
Trying to find what "God" or " divinity" actually refer to was quite interesting to me. How do we know that when we say God was are meaning the higher power that we all pray to. Who was the first to say it and who went along with it. Being able to see where it all originated would be phenomenal. Millions of years ago, were people using this language or were they using something else to refer to a 'God'. In the world today, we have just accepted that this what they mean. Why hasn't someone tried to argue that maybe these words really don't mean that. And should science be able to try and prove otherwise.The ideas of science and religion coinciding with one another is hard to not believe to some extent. "Religion refers to a form of human behavior that can be investigated," well can't science help this as well. Isn't science behind the investigation. I don't understand why everyone is making it such a separate world between the two, when in fact they do go together somewhat. Science is to prove something false, and with religion, its a belief, well isn't science believing as well. Scientist have to believe that their experiment is worth trying. These two worlds shouldn't compete because they need one another, ultimately.
Posted by Julie S. at 6:17 PM 0 comments
Physics Behind Four Amazing Demos
Wow, is all I have to say. Why would someone want to tell people how to do something stupid and get away not hurt at all. It was interesting to see how these dangerous tasks were actually being performed so you wouldn't get hurt, but in all fairness, these are the types of things that you will see on youtube. Why would someone want to dip their hand into molten liquid or lay on a bed of nails. If someone was to try and do these and were to get hurt, they could blame this article for telling them how to do it. Walking on a bed of broken glass, well that doesn't seem like such a bad idea if you were a dare devil and now we have the knowledge of how to do it well and not hurt ourselves.This article suprised me. I wasn't expecting to see how to do all these things. I guess there was some things that I could learn from it though. If I wanted to take something out of the oven and it was smoldering hot, I now know that if I grabbed the corner that it wouldn't be as hot as the middle or sides. I don't really understand the physics behind it all, but if someone really wants to tell people how to do these without getting hurt and how to take caution I guess its better than just having them try it without any help. The glass idea was the only one that stood out to me because of how many times he smashed it. It was interesting, but at the same time, I just didn't get it.
Posted by Julie S. at 6:08 PM 0 comments
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Viruses of the Mind
Knowing that in todays world we are able to copy DNA cells and strategically place them elsewhere in the strands scares me. Our computers are getting viruses that are allowing them to copy bytes and spread itself from computer to computer. If technology is so good and high tech then how come it can't detect when there is a virus surfing through like a normal program. These viruses are able to damage over thousands of computers at a time and help wipe the memories of them as well. What is taking so long on finding a solution to stopping these viruses before they get out of hand. If these get released into our main frame data base, it can potentially do much harm to the United States and so forth. And with Memes floating around that spread faster than the speed of light, will it be stopped at all. This travels not only through computers and data lines, but it can also travel through printing ink and human lens. This and many other viruses are able to infect many things on your computer, its not even safe to save things to a disc anymore than it is to run a new program because anything can be linked to it that is a virus.Computers are supposed to be there to help us. We use them on a daily basis for work, school and simple pleasures, but why does it have to be something that will destroy them. Is the start of something that is going to happen all over the world. Maybe this is just a sign that we are way to in over our heads about technology and that we really don't need to be this advanced yet. From the day to day life, everyone relies on their computer to check email from friends, relatives, loves and to check the newest fashions or whats new on Myspace. Some people can't even go a day without going on line, they go crazy and then access it on their phones instead. No we don't need a computer to have Internet, but how long will it be until those viruses start to effect everything that the world wide wed touches. We have portable gadgets that give us everything at our finger tips, even our cars have access to this phenomenon, but how long will it be until the viruses effect everything that we trust in. Its dangerous to share any sort of disc or floppy that we put into our computer. Is this the software makes way of making sure that everyone buys their own. Maybe they all started these viruses so that if we do share anything then we are infected and then turn to our software makers for software that defends these viruses. Some computer nerd might have started it all hoping to get some money out of it knowing that people will want the programs that will fix their computers and safe their lives. We rely on our computer to help us, some people can't go without their laptops or phones because thats the only way they stay intouch with the world; email, text messages, instant messaging. Everyone has lost the idea of getting together with friends or talking on the phone, we all rely on letters now. Its like the olden days, but this pony express is much much faster than that.
Posted by Julie S. at 10:48 PM 0 comments
What is Cold Reading?
Psychics, mediums, palm readers, mind readers, we all want to believe that what they tell us is true. Believing in the paranormal can help people believe that what these people are telling you is actually true. I was always skeptical about them, but after reading about all the tricks that they use to get information out of you made me really not like them. For someone to actually believe that they are reading your mind when they are saying very normal topics that can be concerning someone is beyond me. If they were able to tell me something about me that is not the same as anyone, or very very few people, then I might try to believe, but unlikely. For their Golden Rule to be “tell the client what he wants to hear” tells me plain and simple that they have no idea what they are talking about. No matter if it's true or not, they are going to tell you anything that will make you happy or satisfied with the reading.If you are getting a reading done and someone comes out right before and starts talking to you, don't tell them anything. And if you are going to tell them something, just lie. The majority of the time they are just the assistants trying to fork out information from you for the reader, who then will tell you the same thing. Its hard to believe that people believe in this stuff. The whole crystal ball and tarot cards are just an act. They have no idea what they are talking about, they just want your money. They are simply actors or actresses who need work. They can be very dramatic if they have a ball or cards because they can stall easier and make the answers much more believable. It was interesting to see that this what people actually do for a living. They will tell someone that they are going to win the lottery tomorrow if that will make them a couple extra dollars. And to see that they actually ask you things before you even go in, and actually telling them things just helps them even more, shows that they are trying everything. Sometimes you will be the only one doing the talking, which in that case means you know your own future better than some ball or cards.
Posted by Julie S. at 10:47 PM 0 comments
Critical Thinking in an Online World
Since the age of the new technology era librarians have decreased. Its hard to say it but this is the world now and from here on out. Technology, computers, gadgets, and they are the world of today and there is no stopping it. Why is that we are only focusing on librarians? There are so many other jobs that are being taken away from technology as well, not just librarians. Yes for schools kids should be able to learn about technology and books at the same time because what if the whole system crashes and we are left with nothing. If no one knows how to work anything manually then wont we really be in bad shape. But today kids are able to access more than a billion sites world wide for all the answers they could ever need. For reports, is it not better to have the primary source and have a million different options than to have only a couple from a book. We are able to search all over the world for anything, but in our librarians that source is cut down to the bare minimum. We should try to advance our own librarian so that it can compete with the Internet of today. Give the kids the chance to see books and be able to touch the pages of historical books instead of just reading them on line.The technology that is being created today has helped teachers in the classroom with many different lessons and help expand the learning capability, but is that working against us? With the way things are going now, its very possible that teachers will be decreasing as well. With on line classes for colleges and complete schools on line as well, its the start of a new era. Its here to help us in anyway that we need it to and we should take advantage of it while we still have it. There could very much come a time where there is nothing manual at all and everything because robotic. Cars are already able to start without keys, play music and tell you where to go all without even touching a single button. How long will it take before our doors open automatically, we create virtual worlds with a simple chip implantation. We also have the luxury of shopping on line for everything from the grocery store right down the block to a high tech laser from Hong Kong. Americans are getting lazier and lazier. By the new generations come around we wont have to leave the house for anything. We will be able to project scenes of what ever it is that we want onto the walls of our houses. With the way Bill Gates is going, we will have that in the next 10 years anyways. Banning technology from schools and libraries isn't necessary, we aren't protecting our kids from anything that isn't going to happen anyways. Every home already has a computer and the majority have Internet access to match.
Posted by Julie S. at 10:46 PM 0 comments
Cargo Cult Science
Learning about the cargo cult science made me start thinking about what we are doing now that could very be the same thing as the early ages. As he does his study on witch doctors and what it is exactly that they did, he came across another question that I think everyone needs to ask themselves. Why do people believe the things that they do? This is a question I asked myself after reading his discoveries because not knowing why I believe something is curious to me. I believe in God and reincarnation. Was it because I was brought up on that or someone higher up told me that they do really exist that I believed? With all of the astounding religions that are here today, its hard to really pin point what exactly it is that let me to believe what it is that I believe. Feynman also believes that this is not a scientific world and I would have to agree. Yes we have technology that just keeps emerging everyday that help with science of today, but we also have so many believers out there who are not going to let their belief system shatter because some scientist in middle of nowhere says that they are wrong. Why are we allowing ourselves to believe this nonsense. This is a free country, no not a free world, but we are allowed to believe what we want to believe whether its public or private. We can pray to who ever we want to and shouldn't be put down for doing so.The idea of cargo cult science, doing something that has been done before, but still missing something, scares me because what are they doing in science now that could result in them 'missing' something. What about the tests to cure cancer, are they really just 'missing' something that they don't know about? If something is wrong, you must explain why it is wrong. You can't just say that it is and thats that, so why is it that when people are telling others that they are wrong to be worshiping a God that they are wrong, but not proving it. Are they simply just being prejudice against those that are believing because they are unable to? He states that one should “try not to fool oneself and other scientists” well I think thats what they are already doing. One man said there was no God and put together some mumble jumble to prove he was right and fooled another man. And then that man told someone else and so and so forth. They should be able to do a million tests to prove that they are right, but instead they do one and thats that. But one result can vary from tests to test and the only way to truly figure out if you are right is do multiple tests. They should all just get off their high horse and do more than one. Some scientists think they are just too good to more than one. That if one tests gives them the answer they want then they are too scared to do more because it can ultimately prove them wrong. This reading was extremely interesting to me because its true, testing more than one time for an experiment should just be required. What if they found the cure for cancer and didn't test it more than once and tried it and it failed killing millions of people. And all they had to do was try it again to make sure it was the same result more than once. Besides someones ego getting bigger, what is okay about doing only one test? I believe it better to be 120% sure that your answer is right with a hundred different tests than to be 99% sure with only one.
Posted by Julie S. at 10:45 PM 0 comments
Beyond Belief Session 2
The intelligent Design that was discussed was fascinating.I was intrigued to learn about the greatest and influential scientist of the world. There was a religious feeling only at the limit amount of knowledge that someone can have. If we knew everything that there was to know about something, would we still want to believe in it? Having the ability to not know everything or choose not to know everything helps us believe that what ever it is we want to. We don't have to believe that God is real no matter the evidence, or we can embrace it and choose to believe it despite what science is telling us. These Great thinkers were the ones that told us the Bible doesn't tell us how heaven goes, but how to get to heaven. Newton, however, was making no reference to God when he was discovering the laws of gravity and motion, but when he calculated the universe, he reasoned himself to believe in a higher power. There was a studied that showed 85% of the scientist denied there being a God, but they are more concerned about the 15% that do. Why? What makes believing in a God something so very big in the world. Why not be more concerned about the ones that are not believing and are set on the idea that there was and never will be a God.Believing in a world like ours seems like the only hope that some people have to having a great happy ending. They will spend their lives devoted to God and serving him and telling those that do that there is no God can ruin their whole being. We as humans are set on believing what we want to or what is in the now. We are starting to hear all over the place there is no God, then that may start to translate into our churches around the world. And without churches still believing in God then the world could really be in for a terrible ending. Hearing about how there are so many people, the ones that we look to for answers for some of the most complex questions, are the ones that don't believe in the greatest question that may never be answered.
Posted by Julie S. at 2:29 PM 0 comments
Beyond Belief Session 1
Some of the things that were talked about in this session are things that I have never really thought about before. The idea of Science and Religion effecting one another has put some thoughts in my head. There has been a clash of cultures and with those all surfacing around the world the beliefs are all starting to clash. If there was no God, could these all still survive? Could these belief systems be strong enough to with stand evidence of no God? Thinking about these kinds of things can make human nature scared. Knowing that everything that they believed in could be potentially false can make people go crazy. A religion is a system of beliefs, but science is trying to prove that those beliefs are false. But is this science really doing something good? No, its down grading the human race, its telling everyone that what we have built this world around was just a lie.Science is trying to get rid of the hope that there is something more powerful to this world we live in. It is trying to put the questions of morally and self reliance on the ideas of religion to find the truth behind it. It has been unable to prove that God never intervenes and without that it still gives humans the hope that there is something more to this crazy place. Thinking about science and it effecting a religion to the point that it is completely extinct is hard to think about. I believe in God, but it is something that should be thought about. How did we get here? How was God created if we were the first to walk to earth? The Big Bang theory doesn't seem like such a logical explanation. Millions of stars are exploding and creating new ones all the time, who's to say that those ones haven't resulted in life form either. Questions like these have been filling my head since watching the lecture. Is there a way that in a galazy made up of billions of stars that Earth is the only one that has life form. And if there is, do they believe in God as well? It's hard to believe that believing in something so wonderful is inevitably leading us all to something terrible, the end of the world.
Posted by Julie S. at 2:20 PM 0 comments
Bertrand Russell On Clear Thinking
I enjoyed this video because he was short and got down to the point. I would have to agree with him when he talks about clarity and exact thinking. Without those in sync with each other then you would be bias or prejudice. You would be able to think of bad things without even knowing that you were because your mind wouldn't be very clear and exact to what it is that you are trying to think about. If your mind has been corrupted with bad things and you aren't able to decipher what is wrong and what is right, then your mind could go toward the bad thoughts more often.I enjoyed hearing him talk about how the world doesn't need philosophy today, what it really needs it some simply clarity to the mind. There are many people who haven't been able to tell what is wrong or what is right, and those people are usually the criminals in the world today. Being bias in the world today can go either way. If you take it too far it can turn into prejudice and you don't allow yourself to be open minded in the world to new experiences and new people. But if you are having a good experience with something and it helps swing your opinion to having a very open mind and allowing new experiences into your life.
Posted by Julie S. at 2:18 PM 0 comments

11. Richard Dawkins considers religion to be a virus because a virus needs readiness to replicate information accurately and to obey instructions encoded in the information. Religion traps people and gets them to do what ever the religion says to do. There are instructions with religion as to what you can and cannot do and what you should be doing and if you aren’t following everything to the core then you can be looked down upon. I would have to agree with Dawkins because it very much is like a virus. It can spread over thousands without any warning and it can be deadly. People can become so consumed with the religion that they don’t know who they are anymore. There are many religions out there that are just spreading across countries, sometimes just because a celebrity is studying it. People don’t seem to care who’s right and who’s wrong in their beliefs, but instead they are thinking of what’s the latest and greatest. 12. A cargo cult can be people believing in magic and magical beings. There are numerous groups out there that spend their lives dedicated to magic and actually believing that they have some sort of power. They have rituals and have ceremonies, but do people actually believe all of this? Yes, there many who think they are blessed by their God with abilities to read minds or bend a spoon or move objects with their minds. There are books upon books telling children how to perform a ‘magic’ show and we there are millions of television shows that are dedicated to showing off these people. People can’t really float through the air, but we are fascinated by the idea of it that we don’t really notice that its all just a fake. Science has proven that magic is just something we do to fool the eye. Magicians reveal their secrets about how there was a string or the fact that he cannot really read your mind. There is no evidence that can prove what these people are trying to accomplish actually works and that they actually have powers or abilities. There is nothing to prove because there is nothing there in the first place; it’s simply someone trying to perform for someone else.
13. He believed in creationism. He loved looking at something and be able to see the colors and purpose and still have more questions to ask and answer. Having this view helps people appreciate beauty because they look it. They see the colors, shapes, movements of the world and still want to see and know more. There isn't anything that could stop them from looking at the world. I look at clouds and see the sky and birds and always ask more questions on why they are there and who decided that they should be named clouds. There is so much in the world that isn't looked at by so many that its easy to get consumed with all that we are doing in our lives.
14. Karma the movie was very interesting. The point was to show that if you do something bad to yourself or others then it will come back to you in the end. If you are good to yourself and others then you will always have good coming your way. It all goes back to the Golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. If you treat others badly, then they will treat you badly, treat people with kindness and that’s all you will get back. The man walking in the movie is passing these different people and each of those people has their own story. You have the woman who won the lottery and the man who was fighting with his girlfriend and then she shot him. These two examples shows that if you are good to people like the woman did then something good will happen. Not to say that that something good will be winning the lottery, but something good even the smallest thing. The man who was fighting with his girlfriend was being abusive and she finally was abusive back. Some believe that karma is just a superstition, but others very much base their lives around it.
15. John Maynard Smith believed that natural selection should produce natural structures and behaviors. He also believed that natural selection was a process of design, knowing this it can help with the survival of the fittest. The design process was based on two things; how much a particular design was demanded and how much it was dependent on. If something is rare then it does good, something very common wouldn't do so well. Having something very rare can survive over something that is common and just like everything else. Having a new model or something with just a little bit of difference will ultimately survive because its not like everything. There aren't many like it and there would be a high dependency on something rare compared to something very common. 16. Freeman Dyson's views on the design of the universe is this. He believes that the human race is here for a reason, that reason is still unknown. Everything in the world is beautiful from music, to language. The religions that are here are amazing because they last for centuries and they don't change much. There are things that people change here and there, but the core of the religion is still strong. He believes that his intuition of life doesn't make sense, as well as the nature of the universe. He also believes that if you have science behind you, that will lead you to religion. 17. Faqir's secret is that the only one that can help you is yourself and your faith. We believe that there is a higher power that is out there that will help us besides of ourselves. He wanted us to change the mode of preaching so that we will believe we can do something for ourselves, instead of waiting around for something bigger the work out our problems. He wanted us to see pass the guru's and gods that we believe in and realize that religion doesn't cover all these miraculous events that we believe it does. We have lost the idea of relying on ourselves to fix our own problems, we have based many things that we live for on the idea of leaving it all in the hands of someone or something our side of us.
18. The movie Eleven was about a gang that was targeting terrorist groups and certain people. There was a reporter that was trying to make the front page of the newspaper with trying to find out the murder behind one of the gang related deaths. In his attempt he ultimately finds that he is in danger and inevitably dies himself. Trying to hunt down someone that is part of a gang isn’t the smartest of ideas even if it is for a story. But watching the main character interviewing people and trying to get closer and closer to his suspects, it shows that he had determination. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted showed his determination to reveal the truth. Being a reporter, he was doing his job, his passion and would not stop until he found the truth.
19. In determining a message from a medium, it is important to distinguish the message from the medium because if not people can be confused as to which one is the message. If they believe that the medium is the message as well then they can be conflicted to think that the medium is part of the higher being. Having people think that the medium is the message can also confuse them as the what the message is. Not knowing which is which can confuse many people and ultimately will not be able to tell what the message is. You can in fact think that something that is totally and incompletely unrelated to the topic of the message is the message itself. It's important that you are able to clearly see the message because if not then confusion will then arise.
20. Bertrand Russell's reasons for not being a Christian starts with him not believing that Christ was the best and wised man. He thinks he was one of the greatest, but not the ONE that was the best of all. He doesn't believe that God would ever believe in everlasting punishment in hell. There is cruelty that is being practiced among the churches upon all sorts of people of unnecessary and undeserved sufferings. He goes on to say that to be a Christian you must believe that Christ was the wisest of them all, which he does not. He doesn't agree with the churches inflicting morality. He also believes that the good maxims that are mentioned in the bible aren't so easy to live be. There are those judges that are judging without being judged themselves and those that aren't helping the poor that have it good themselves. He doesn't want to be apart of something is very falsified. You must believe the way the church believes or you will not be able to seek the hand of God. Those were the things that Russell didn't want to be apart of.
21. A field guide to critical thinking will start with Falsifiability. You must be able to have evidence that will prove the claim false. The next thing will be is Logic. Any argument brought by as evidence must be solid evidence. It must be valid and then it must be sound for it help the claim. Next you will need Comprehensiveness of all your evidence. Everything claiming to be evidence must be considered for it to fully count. These first three are needed as the logic of critical thinking. The next three are pragmatically necessary for critical thinking. The first one is Honesty. With honesty the evidence that is offered should be evaluated with out self-deception. You must not try to fake the evidence because if you do, then you will not be allowing yourself to fully think. Next you have Replicability, you need to have experimental results that will logically explain the claim. This experiment must be repeated to safe guard yourself and your claim. Having more than one test showing the same answer every time will help the claim. And finally you have Sufficiency. 22 Kurtz believes that skepticism should be applied to religion because if we were to not use it, then we would be fleeing from any important area of human study and behavior. With science in todays world, we lack the resources to focus on the entire range of scientific questions that come up about religion. Having the answers to everything with scientific evidence would only have people believing that their entire lives and up bringing was a lie. We don't have the ability to achieve the scientific evidence we need to prove that things are wrong or right. Skepticism allows us to think what we want to think without having to prove it. There is no real evidence that is needed when you are skeptical about religion and we would be allowed to have a free range of beliefs without science getting in the way with trying to prove everything with evidence.
23. Having pretext, text, and context to analyze a book or argument is important because they all lead to the smallest of things. Using pretexts to break down pages to the simplest form of just lines on paper, you won’t be able to fully understand the meaning. But if you bring in text and context you will be able to understand the background of the book or argument just a little bit more. The text is the bigger picture of the pretext and context is the bigger picture of the text. Without one of them, the rest won’t work. In trying to analyze an argument, you can use the pretext and text to try and figure out what is going on and what the problem is and use the context to break down why it is all happening and where to go from there. 24. A “transformative” UFO encounter is a series of symbols emerging from a separate ontological ground of consciousness. The author goes on to say that he doesn't believe we have been visited by extraterrestrials because of the lack of evidence. He believes that the close encounters are really misidentified projectiles of our own mind. We are able to portray that we are seeing aliens and flying objects in the sky as well as actually being abducted, but there is no evidence that can fully support any of these ideas.
25. Using online sources allows us to have all the answers at our finger tips. We have resources from around the world to be able to get all the answers we need to any problem or subject. Being able to search the World Wide Web allows us to have all the information we need to make a decision about anything. We can look up both the good and bad sides, being able to determine what side we really are. There are millions upon millions of websites that are dedicated to helping people get the right answers they need. If we were to use a library to try and write a research paper for school, you might only find a chunk of the information. If you use the Internet to find all the answers, you will find everything you ever wanted to know about the topic. We are able to think more critically using the Internet because there are some many articles pertaining to one particular subject that it’s hard to eventually see what side is right. But with having so many sides we are also able to see what side it is that we think we are and what side it is that we know we are. 26. Steven Weinberg's' views on religion was that is was all based on science. There was no God, and he did not believe in intelligent design. He bases all his beliefs on science and the evidence behind evolution. He also believed that everything that happens must have a scientific explanation behind it. There is nothing that could provoke him to believe that there is a God. 27. Sam Harris is an atheist because he believes that Darwinism helped him see that evolution was the way to go. He believed that it helped him give up on faith and believe in the game theory. With this he was able to see that the natural selection was the better of the two options. Knowing that survival of the fittest was right, he started to think the other way when it came to God and creationism. He finally realized that evolution was right and that Darwinism was the larger source of the universe. 28. I found Neil Evert the most persuasive because his topic was very interesting to me. I found learning about the different thinkers of the world very impressive along with the stupid design of the universe, Earth and humans. His points were very clear and I was able to really see what he was passionate about. When he states that science is a philosophy of intelligence, I believe him. I was able to really get a feel for what he was trying to get across to us and I found it hard not to believe him. The naming rights topic was very interesting in all areas, knowing that all the stars' names are Arabic is very fascinating. There wasn't too much that I found boring from his session. Learning about why we are so interested in why only 15% of the brilliant scientists accept the idea of God and not why the 85% do is something that I would love to look into further. 29. Ken miller's argues why evolution is the only one being attacked. There are many areas of science that is not perfect, but they have chosen to attack evolution. Its only a theory, there is no right or wrong answer yet, so why is it being attacked and taking out of schools. There are things not only in evolution that have things wrong with them, so why is it that we are only attacking evolution. Why are we allowing the teachings of creationism to still be taught, isn't that just a theory as well. It is all being depicted to the point where there is no choice for people, its just a matter of what is. 30. The person I believe was the weakest speaker was Steward Haymeroff and his ideas on consciousness. I think his points were good, but he just lost me half way through. His ideas weren't being presented in a way that would make it seem that he was right. His power point presentation was not interesting enough to keep my interest. The science behind everything lost me and I was unable to fully understand what it was that he was trying to really get across. After watching his session a couple of times, its still hard for me to fully get the idea that he was trying to portray.