Intermediate College Composition

Student:

A fallacy is an attempt to sway an argument by using information that is not true evidence.  The information may be errant logic, or pull at emotion, or it may be the misuse of, or attack of, someones character.  These fallacies may be purposeful or done out of ignorance.  The result is the loss of credibility for the arguer.  The danger of fallacies is creating an atmosphere of fear or anger, or swaying popular opinion from seeking the best solution to the solution that suits one person or group the best.

Me:

People like to sugarcoat ideas, like the ways movies seemed to used to be more well-respected and in the end it was just a trick with nothing there, like it was to lead to the Wizard of Oz or something, which didn't lead to anything, neither, though there are a lot of books in that series.

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Intermediate College Composition

Student:

"Fallacy" regards to an invalid argument, misconception, or an illogical statement. Fallacies, when used in arguments, can make someone sound unintelligent and incompetent. Fallacies show someone's lack of knowledge or interest and people are less likely to take someone seriously because of their illogical statements. The picture below displays an example of a fallacy and contradictions. 

Me:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) was one of my favorite movies.  It was about as important as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971.)

These kinds of movies can be mysterious and last well into the future.

I think that this movie relates in that it draws everyone in and somehow appeals to them hypnotically and everyone ends up fighting over who more embodies the spirit of things like this movie popping up, but then it goes under and the movies don't matter as actively, anymore.

I actually did a lot of studying and posting online of Sweeney Todd (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3.

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Intermediate College Composition

Assignment:

In at least one well-developed paragraph (5-sentence minimum) discuss in your own words what fallacies are and why they are bad.  After this paragraph, try to locate one example of a fallacy (in a meme, a brief video, an ad, etc.).  Provide the link or the reference and discuss what fallacy it demonstrates and why.  For the time being, please restrict yourself to obvious fallacies and avoid stepping into overly sensitive or politicized territory; this is not the time to pick a fight.


My Work:

Fallacies and Generation XY

Paragraph Defining Fallacies

Fallacies are a way of indirectly directing the reader to believing what you say in a bad way.  There are 3 main groups with subgroups.  The first groups is "logic," when you use facts and insensitive tricks to appeal to an audience, to sway their belief towards yours or at least offend them for a glorious moment.  The 2nd method named was "ethos," when you try to affect someone's feelings of morality to be convinced towards yours, making them first feel a pang of guilt in hopes they will somehow be hypnotized over towards your success, in some way.  The 3rd way is "emotional," when they act sort of like a "Hufflepuff" way, trying to appeal to someone like you are small, sweet, and innocent, to gain sympathy to get them to believe you in something you are trying to convince them of for some reason.  All 3 ways attempt to poke and hit at how things are a certain way but in a bad way, which can either seem desperate or innocent.  It is probably practiced very much in the way people live in day to day lives and in concrete examples such as in articles online or in politics.

Example of a Fallacy

I was hoping to find some reference to Generation Y, roughly 1986-1996, but they call people born around 1980-1995/2000 Millenials.

I found this article:

"Millennials: The Worst, Most Entitled, Most Spoiled Generation in the History of Humankind?"
https://www.alternet.org/2013/06/millennials-generation-y/

I know from experience that Generation Y, sometimes called Millenials, get by undetected.  Baby Boomers are simply fixing up their mess by saying Generation Y was treated unfairly, though it is their fault, and by making Generation XY, which came right before, feel worse.

This article discusses the issue but in an unsuccessful way.  They are using tricks of "logic" unsuccessfully.  They are discussing the bad things about this generation, simply.  They mention that they are unhealthy and at risk sexually.  I think they are trying to impress their Baby Boomer parents by saying nothing is impressive, to side with them, and in the end they get the attention over Generation XY trying to live their life.

They did give a false idea that people of this age have people monitoring their lives since high school and maybe suggest some parents in older families haven't been as close.  The idea is noticeably underdeveloped to me, and it seems that they are stating a fact rather than helping in more active, streamlined ways.

So, this article has a good topic but supports it in a wishy washy way.  It's very important, and they are just being kind of meek in attitude but more like an "emotional" fallacy.  However, I still think they are right, though others clearly don't.  Maybe, they were just being too negative, in general, as this topic seems to go.  You have to be more mature and convincing.  I don't think they went far enough, neither.  The article was a lot of work to read, when it should be more fun like a debate, so these articles are suspicious and watery, like they care but have no power nor enough background to turn on about it, like a regular person trying to blog but not really having the professional prowess then in that situation to make it appealing enough, neither.

General Psychology

Assignment:

Post two replies by Sunday to your peers'  discussions using any of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question 
• Share an insight from having read your colleague's posting.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Validate an idea with your own experience.
• Expand on your colleague's posting.

Student:

Thinking, what is/are confirmation bias, overconfidence, and belief perseverance?

Confirmation Bias - This is when someone searches for information that supports their understanding, despite evidence that says otherwise. There a many examples of this type of thinking. If we have any preconceived view on something, we will defend our view despite what new information surfaces. 

Overconfidence - This is when people think they are right even though they are wrong. There are many overconfident people in this world and it is not hard to see. This type of thinking is more common I think in modern times. You can pull up YouTube and find all kinds of videos of people debating confidently about a topic that they believe they are 100% correct about, when they are wrong. 

Belief Perseverance - This is when despite the overwhelming evidence that your view is wrong or you should adjust your views, you still cling to your view without adjustment. This is one way of thinking that could create conflict between two opposing views. 

I believe you can see all three of these ways of thinking on a daily basis, look around and pay attention to others. The way people think is fascinating and being able to identify these different types of thinking would be easy. I think it is crazy, while reading this I was like " ah hah" I know many people that fit into all three of these.  

Me:

Lately, I have wondered...  Do you think that Baby Boomers suffer thinking they deserve everything emotionally and are always right?

I think you are right that these 3 concepts exist but that they are flawed.

So, basically, I am thinking this applies as relevant to Baby Boomers.  They were spoiled rotten kids and had nutcases as kids they didn't pick up after.  So, in relation to the material for this class, they already went through their opinion once and said they would always be right as individuals and bind as a force sexually, they are overly "confident" that it stays that way and anyone who opposes is wrong, and even when proven wrong they have "belief perseverance" in their thinking that they still have to be right.

Good post.  I agree the text seems a bit Mickey Mouse and am grateful for how you presented this application.  It's not mathematically in check, but a series of rambling thoughts published for attention, maybe to please people like Baby Boomers.


Student:

As far as non-creative and non-emotional intelligence, I believe in Thurstone’s idea of intelligence. I do somewhat agree with Spearman’s idea, but I believe that people who overall have a high intelligence can also lack in a certain area. Some introverts can have great ideas and perform well in school, but they never really have been able to verbally express themselves. They may be a very intelligent person, but they don’t perform as well in language ability and can come off as unintelligent. Also, there are many intelligent people who don’t perform as well mathematically. This doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent, they just lack in that department. This is the reason I lean towards Thurstone’s theory, but I do partially agree with Spearman’s theory that most people have a general intelligence level. Of course, including creativity and emotional abilities, Gardner's theory is the best theory to describe all intelligence. 


Me:

That is very nice of you to actually go out and notice and say that a lot of Generation XY growing up experienced sadness and being left out and draining of not being accepted socially like Late Boomers and spoiled Generation XY children moreso than them.  Do you agree that a lot of Generation XY didn't get to learn to communicate, as schools took away recess and wasted time telling bad kids to shut up?

I agree.  I think that with the lack of popularity of what was once "sliced bread" has brought everything down, like Myspace losing popularity somehow to Facebook.