Chapter 15

Something I found interesting while reading chapter 15 was the concept of "normal conditions."
As stated in our book, normal conditions are "the obvious and plausible unstated claims that are needed to establish that the relationship between purported cause and purported effect is valid or strong."
What this mean is that while making an argument, people tend to state what is important and tend to leave claims which are obvious and therefore do not necessarily require to be stated.
For example, let's say that I was babysitting my two years old brother and that his screaming woke me up. The cause is obvious: my brother crying. And the effect is then: I woke up.
Obviously, my brother's crying woke me up. This cause is therefore the normal condition. However, I could also say that "my brother's room is right next to mine," "My brother usually does not cry during the night," etc. These statements are however obvious, and are therefore not needed, unless someone challenges my arguments.

Mission Critical Website

I overall felt that the Mission Critical Website was a great review for everything we have studied in class so far. "The Basics" as stated on the websites were some of the first topics we studied in class; some which I had forgotten a little I have to admit. It was therefore great to read through them again to remember what they were. The "Fallacies and Non-Rational Persuasion" was also a very interesting part of the website. i think it is the one I enjoyed reading the most because it concentrated on fallacious appeals as well as other common fallacies which is something we just studied. I found it very helpful because it went into depth and explained the different fallacies very well. I therefore felt that the website not only explained them very well but also helped me remember what they were and how to use them. The 40 fallacy review exercises were also very helpful. Practice is always good, and in this case it really helps one understand what fallacies are and how to use them, etc.

I will definitely make sure to bookmark this website so I can use it to study for our final ;)

Cause & Effect Website

I overall found the Cause and Effect website to be very interesting and helpful. I really liked how it included an example everyone can relate to; as most of us drive and have either been in an accident before or have seen some kind of accident happen. I thought it was therefore very easy to relate to the example, or at least understand it.
I also really liked how the website ended by stating the three factors used to determine how strong an argument is:

1. how acceptable or demonstrable the implied comparison is-
2. how likely the case for causation seems to be-
3. how credible the "only significant difference" or "only significant commonality" claim is-

I also found the examples towards the end of the website to be of great use. They were a very good practice, and I really liked how the website explains the answers to you. If you got the answer wrong, it explains to you why it was not the right answer.

I overall thought that the website was very helpful, and very clear, which made it easy to understand and read.

Casual Reasoning

I found this week's topic to be interesting because I had not realized until now how often we actually use casual reasoning. After reading about it in our textbook and online, I realized how often we actually use casual reasoning while having a normal conversation. For example this morning, I was talking to my ice skating coach and told her: I have been skating since I was a little girl and it is one, if not my biggest passion. I therefore think that I will keep on skating until I absolutely have to stop.
I did not realize until after reading this chapter that casual reasoning is used very often in our every day conversations. I therefore found it kind of cool, in a way, that we learned about it :)
I also had not realized until reading this chapter that there were so many different ways to reason. Even though some are very similar to one another and can be kind of confusing, I found this chapter to be very helpful and interesting.

Inductive Reasoning

Out of all the different types of reasoning we were given, the one which confused me the most was inductive reasoning. When I first read about inductive reasoning, I was a little confused and did not fully understand what it truly was. However, after looking it up some more online, I found exactly what it was. Inductive reasoning is taking a specific case and making it into an overall rule. It is basically making a generalization from one specific situation. Here is an example of what inductive reasoning is: "All flies I have ever seen were black. Therefore all flies must be black." In this specific case, the argument is false. There are not only black flies; their colors differ according to their species. However, inductive reasoning is taking a specific case, in this case "all flies I have ever seen were black" and making it a generalization by concluding that all flies must therefore be black.

Types of Reasonings

1). Reasoning by Analogy:
Premise #1: My father and brothers all play ice hockey.
Premise #2: My mother and I are both figure skaters.
Conclusion: Every member of my family ice skates.

2). Sign Reasoning:
Coach: Elsie, make sure you are at the rink at 6a.m tomorrow morning.
Elsie: That will not be possible. I have a huge midterm I really need to study for.
Coach: That is fine, but make sure to practice and come in earlier the next day then.
Elsie: Okay, I will come in two hours earlier the next day to make up the hours I missed.

3). Causal Reasoning:
Premise #1: I left my house late for school this morning.
Premise #2: I missed the bus and had to walk all the way to school.
Conclusion: I therefore got to school an hour late.

4). Reasoning by Criteria:
Your wife will want some kind of shiny and expensive jewelry for your anniversary. How about this diamond ring?

5). Reasoning by Example:
You should practice your triple axle as often as possible. I know people who did not spend enough time practicing it and who now are not able to do it.

6). Inductive:
Premise: I have been at the ice rink every single monday at 6a.m since the semester started.
Conclusion: I will be at the ice rink at 6a.m next monday.

7). Deductive: 
Premise #1: Everyone who lives in my house owns a pair of ice skates.
Premise #2: My brother lives in my house.
Conclusion: My brother owns a pair of ice skates.

Apple Polishing

In chapter 10, we talked about a concept called "Apple Polishing." When I first read about this concept in the book, it was a little vague to me. I did not fully understand what it was exactly or even how to use it. After researching it online though, I found out that it is an appeal to emotion which uses flattery; in most cases, false flattery. Here is an example of what apple polishing is:
"Wow you look so beautiful today! I really like your makeup, it's so pretty. Can I borrow 5 dollars?"
After reading some examples online and reading a couple definitions, i realized that kids tend to use apple polishing a lot when they want something they know they shouldn't want or ask for. The kids I babysit for example always do it with me. One of them always wants cookies, right before dinner, which she knows she can't have. She therefore uses apple polishing and hopes that her flatteries will work in her favor and that I will give in because she flattered me. In her case, it is kind of cute though :)

Exercise 3, page 195

3. Find an advertisement that uses an appeal to fear. Is it a good argument?

An advertisement that uses an appeal to fear which automatically came to mind for this exercise is the "Quit Smoking Campaign - Artery" video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEc-Rsv9pMc&feature=fvst

This specific commercial released by The National Tobacco Campaign is intended to show people why it is important for them to quit smoking. Moreover, in this commercial, NTC showed the public what smoking does to one's artery and how it can de deadly in some smokers' cases. This video uses appeal to fear by scaring people, by showing them what smoking cigarettes does to one's artery. In this case, I found the argument to be good. The video uses appeal to fear to convey a message which is intended towards a good cause and is done to show people how very important it is for them to stop smoking. The facts shown in the videos are true and so is the conclusion; the argument is therefore good.

I have seen many adds on television from the National Tobacco Campaign and I have to say that I find them very awakening. The appeal to fear in these cases is really well used because it truly affects people and makes them realize why smoking is not good for them nor the people around them. Now I am sure that for some smokers who are dependent on cigarettes, the adds might not be that powerful. But for myself at least, and many of my friends, the adds are powerful and scary enough for us to not want to become a consumer of cigarettes.

Appeal to Emotion

As stated in our book, an appeal to emotion is "a premise that says, roughly, you should believe or do something because you feel a certain a way." There are many different kinds of appeal to emotions; including appeal to pity, appeal to fear, appeal to spite, etc.
One appeal to emotions which really striked me was appeal to spite. An appeal to spite is often associated, as our book states, with the idea of revenge. As the book also explains, this kind of  appeal is morally wrong in some culture because it includes this idea of revenge and overall negativity. An example of an appeal to spite would be:

Jessica: Elsie, can you teach me how to do a double axel?
Elsie: Sure.
Michael: Why would you help her learn how to do one?! She did not help you last week when you asked her for help. You should not help her because when you needed help, she did not help you.

In this situation, Michael does not want me to help Jessica only because she did not help me when I needed her help. Michael is therefore using an appeal to spite in order to seek revenge from Jessica.
I chose to talk about this specific appeal to emotion because I have noticed that many people use it, without really realizing that their argument is intended towards getting revenge.