Chapter 4 Question 2

While reading chapter 4 and the arguments on UFO there were 3 different physicist that explained there personal feelings on UFO’s. First was Edward U. Condom who was a physicist at the University of Colorado. In his writings he said that UFO were a good field to conduct studies on, however they could not find sufficient evidence to proof the existence of these UFO’s. I got the idea that Condom believes that people should keep studying on UFO’s if they have a reason and or evidence to continue to do their studies but otherwise they should just stop . The next researcher was J. Allenhynek and he claimed that there is a possibility that UFO exist . He believed that scientist have to up their research on UFOs. The last researcher, is Royston Paynter and his argument was more of that UFO’s have the possibility of being real and that scientist should collect evidence and seek for facts to prove that UFO’s are real. I think Paynter makes the best argument because he is in more of the middle ground and does not sway towards one side specifically.

-Mike Ross

Chapter 4 Question 1

Hey Class,

In chapter 4 they talk about Aristotle and his idea of wisdom and that it is the greatest virtue. To me wisdom is an aspect that is gained over time and threw experience. I personally feel that wisdom is not something you can be taught but something that is gained. On the other hand I feel knowledge can be taught and is what we are being taught in class increases our knowledge, but at the same time the experience of going to college is also giving us wisdom by experiencing college life. So I feel the experience of going to college helps you gain wisdom while attending classes and studying is how you obtain knowledge. To me you can’t study how to gain wisdom, and its often why young kids go to adults or their grandparents for advice because they have been around the block and have the wisdom to help a teen make a hard decision.

-Mike Ross

Week 7 Chapter 3

Hey Class,

One of the topics covered in chapter 3 was the definition of connotative meaning. Connotative meaning is a word or phrase that includes feelings and personal thoughts that are elicited on the basis of past experiences and associations. For example just as stated in the text when someone hears the word dog, they think of a man’s best friend or they think of vicious pit bulls that tear people apart. Connotative meanings are a part of why people make judgments, because when you see someone that reminds you of a certain group of people from past experiences you are going to have personal thoughts based on that past. Connotative meanings may also be included in dictionary definitions, but they are more commonly shared between a group of people. For example my friends share a phrase in which they say  “We out here” and while most would think this means we are outside, when they say it they mean that they are getting girls/ partying.

-Mike Ross

Chapter 3 Sally Ride

Hey Everyone,

After looking over the characteristics needed to be qualified as a good critical thinker, I came to the conclusion that Sally Ride has obtained the quality’s enabling her to be characterized as a good critical thinker. As it says in the text Sally Ride majored in both Physics and English, this first amazed me because these topics are basically north and south of one another, usually someone that is good at physics is not very good at English but that is just from my experience. Physics and English both require someone to be good at problem solving and being able to think out of the box and be creative. Sally Ride also had to have the quality of communication, with working at NASA as an astronaut you need to be able to communicate with your fellow employees enable to complete missions and make sure everyone is on the same page. Overall, to me it is clear that Sally has the quality’s needed to be a good critical thinker since she has proved it through her life with the work that she did.

-Thanks Mike Ross

Chapter 3 rhetorical devises

Hey Everyone,

After reading this chapter I got to get familiar with the definition and the uses of rhetorical devices. Rhetorical devises as stated in the text are “the use of euphemisms, dysphemisms, hyperbole, and sarcasm to manipulate and persuade.” The only two rhetorical devises that I use on a weekly if not daily basis are sarcasm and hyperbole. Sarcasm by definition is“a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark” .I am a very sarcastic person so when people talk to me they often get confused with what I am saying because of my use of sarcasm. For example the other day one of my friends asked if he could use a toothbrush since he is from out of town he did not have one with him. I looked at him with a serious face and said in a sarcastic tone “O ya, for sure just go and use mine”. He then got the idea that I did not have a toothbrush for him because who would actually let someone else use their own toothbrush.  Another Rhetorical devise that I use is a hyperbole, a hyperbole by definition is “A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect”. The other day when telling my friend a story about a joke my friend said it told him “ I nearly died from laughing so hard at his joke.” These rhetorical devises often can confuse people if they are used incorrectly but they often are used to make a point that is rather obvious from your point of view more clear for whoever is asking to do something.

-Mike Ross