Q2 Dec 3- 9th

My favorite thing about this class was the entire online aspect. It allowed everyone to be mobile and not have to sit and attend class. The way the professor organized the class through creating blogs each week was quite do-able and never a hassle. Personally, I liked bonding with my group and having the same group really made a strong connection and relationship between everyone. My least favorite thing about the class would be the essay prompts. I believe that the essay prompts should be more interesting and should relate more to the subject Comm 41. In my opinion, the essay prompt about picking an organization to write about was very irrelevant. This class can only be improved by a little because this class is very compatible to work with. The only improvements I would have made is with the essay prompts, but everything else is fine. The blogging and commenting is perfect to get the material across to the students. 

Q3 Dec 3-9th

One concept from the semester that I feel that I can use to further discussion is the concept about mass media.  Mass Media are forms of communication that are disnged to reach and influence very large audiences. It is surprisingly how much the average American spends watching television. In today’s society, I believe that a lot of people are usually more attached to their phones than anything. The Iphone especially, has apps such as twitter, instagram, facebook, and etc that keep Americans occupied and attached to the media. With the media, we need to be able to think critically and evaluate the information that is presented whether it is the news, movies, shows, or online. With Mass Media it is easier to inform the public on certain events or even emergencies. Everyone is now mobile and a simple notification on their phone will automatically pop up revealing information the individual wants to see. 

Q1 Dec 3 -9th

I have learned many topics of communication that I would have never thought about. This class is a good review about certain concepts that had to do with thinking and speaking, which I have not learned about since high school philosophy and English. One particular concept I learned was about arguments and how there is more to it than just the two sides. I learned how there are two types of argument which are deductive and inductive. In addition, I learned that the evaluation of an argument and the process of constructing and argument is complex. Some realistic things that I learned over the course of this semester is that working in groups are always a challenge. There will be a constant fluctuation of people’s work ethic including my own. As long as the group gets the work done efficiently then there should never be problems. Lastly, making group relationships more personal than just being work mates makes the entire process so much more effective and fun.   

CH 12 Q3

Something I found interesting from this chapter was Thomas Kuhn and his scientific Paradigms. There are three different concepts that he put forward which were normal science, paradigms, and scientific revolutions. Normal science is when, “Scientific research that is based on past achievements and a recognized by most scientists.” Paradigms on the other hand is, “The accepted view of what the world is like and how we should be studying it.” Lastly scientific revolution is ,“a paradigm shift in which a new scientific theory replaces a problematic paradigm.” There were many paradigm shifts that were discovered, for instance one paradigm shift is whether or not the world was round. Many people for the longest time believed that the world was flat and that once you reached the end, you would just fall into oblivion. This was obviously proved wrong, once explorers such as Columbus sailed the ocean blue.  I believe that as our world develops, we will experience countless of paradigm shifts. 

CH 12 Q2

The scientific method can be applied to many instances in life. A time where I drew an incorrect conclusion on the basis of observation alone was actually quite recent. My little sister who is a freshman in high school posted a picture from her Homecoming dance with her date on facebook. The caption on the picture said, “ I love this guy,  one of the greatest people ever to step in my life.” Once, I saw this picture on the news feed, I immediately texted her asking who this person was. I reacted in a protective brother way, but I was just being a good older brother. I simply, made a hypothesis that the boy was her new boyfriend. However, it was a misperception and it was only a friend. In conclusion, I was misled and my hypothesis was proved wrong. Hopefully, the next time I make a conclusion, it will be correct.

Ch 12 Q1

"If you've been working toward manifesting extra money in your life, Libra, you will probably see it happen today. Copious physical and emotional energy gives your inner power of mind over matter a special impetus, and you might see the results you've wanted in finance and other matters. Professional interests should also be going well, as well as any personal projects. Keep up the good work!"

This prediction of my horoscope is actually really accurate. Horoscopes in general will someway relate to an individual’s life. The prediction could be falsified, but a person will relate to a horoscope in one way or another. Horoscopes are usually vague, but if an individual looks deep enough into the horoscope there will be some truth in it. For instance, my horoscope for today relates to me because when it says, “If I have been working toward manifesting extra money…I will probably see it today.” Well, today I received my paycheck and now I do have extra money in my life. I have also been getting the results I have wanted financially wise because my job is pretty easy. I have never been really into horoscopes, but every time I do read mine it is on point. In my personal opinion, women are more prone to look at their horoscopes, then the male population. 

CH 11 Q 2

After reading both arguments, Sadler and Hunt provide efficient backup for their claims. For the first argument by Brook Sadler, she believes that plagiarism is wrong and details why it is wrong for a student to plagiarize. She describes ten reasons why plagiarism is wrong and presents it in a choppy way. Sadler clearly writes that plagiarism is wrong and provides personal opinions of why it is her argument. In the end, I agree with Sadler when she says that colleges should have a strict policy with regards to plagiarism.  However, the person that provides the best argument has to be Hunt. The way he presents his point about plagiarism is well organized and refers to many of the vocabulary we learned from the previous chapters such as rhetoric. On the other hand Hunter believes that plagiarism is an extensive tool that could be used for educators to develop their own model of knowledge.  Lastly, many of Sadler’s claims are more of a personal opinion than evidence. 

CH 11 Q3

One concept from the reading this week, I would like to discuss is the portion about the mass media. It is surprisingly how much the average American spends watching television. Personally, I do not spend a lot of time watching television, but I spend a majority of time using other forms of media. In today’s society, I believe that a lot of people are usually more attached to their phones than anything. The Iphone especially, has apps such as twitter, insagram, facebook, and etc that keep Americans occupied and attached to the media. With the media, we need to be able to think critically and evaluate the information that is presented whether it is the news, movies, shows, or online. There are two differentforms of media. Mass Media are forms of communication that are disnged to reach and influence very large audiences. The second media is niche media which are forms of communication geared to a narrowly defined audience. 

CH 11 Q1

The media has a dynamic influence on individual’s personal opinions on worldviews and values. Depending on the certain television network, there will be certain biases that go with it. For instance, watching Fox news will sway a person’s political views because it is more conservative than liberal. The media is everywhere, and it is solely up to yourself, of what you watch and what you believe. There will be bias in anything you watch, but it is important to take in account other views and beliefs. In order to do so, one has to watch the same news or coverage of the same issue on maybe more than one different channel or source. The media expands our views because we often learn from what we repeatedly watch. In result, if we constantly watch a certain show, then we start to critically analyze the show, which ultimately expands the range of the overall media experience. At the end of the day, your interpretation of the media is what counts in the end. 

CH 10 Q2

After reading both articles, I personally feel as if Liodice has the better argument of the two. His perspective provides that advertising should be a choice and demonstrates that advertising is part of our free speech. Liodice details the first amendment and how we have the right to free speech. We cannot make certain regulations like Wootan provides because it is an individuals own responsibility. He takes more of solving obesity approach than anything else. He wants the government to search for ways to overcome obesity. On the other hand, Wootan implies that children’s food advertising should be disregarded. Her argument comes off as very strong because they are basically guidelines that forces people to meet the certain criteria in regards to advertising. It becomes more of a to-do list rather than the freedom of promoting whatever an individual wants. Lastly, Wootan looks like she doesn’t understand that children will be children. Children will always be eating unhealthy.

Ch 10 Q3

One concept from this week that I thought was interesting is advertising and the media. I thought it was interesting because people don’t realize how advertising is crucial to the success of a business. We see advertisements in the media everyday, but do we ever take the time and actually acknowledge them.  Three purposes to advertising are (1) to create product awareness, (2) to inform consumers about a product or service and (3) to motivate customer demand for the product. The advertiser needes to be able to attract consumers effectively using the media. Marketers spend a lot of time identifying the main audience for their product and do a lot of research beforehand. Research is a key step in the entire process and is one of the main aspects of marketing. The best way to research is looking at successful companys that effectively use advertising. One company that utilizes good advertising is Nike and they implement a lot of product placement in their commercials. 

Ch 10 Q1

Throughout this past week, I have encountered a lot of marketing strategies that were either very effective or very misleading. The first marketing strategy occurred after the Giants won the World Series. Taco bell took the initiative and used that as marketing for their tacos. It was advertised on the television and radio commercials. Everyone received a free taco whether or not the individual was a Giant’s fan. However, it was a good incentive for loyal Giant’s fans and bandwagoners to enjoy the World Series win, while enjoying a nice free taco. Nonetheless, the promotion and advertising worked really well due to Taco Bell lines that were out the door. The least effective marketing strategies are the booths outside of the stores in the mall. They do a poor job of attracting consumers to the booth because they are simply trying to talk to you when you are just trying to walk by. Therefore, the consumer usually walks by and ignores the vendor. 

CH 4 Q2

The existence of UFOs is a wide controversy that can either be completely fake or actually real. In Condon’s passage he believes that there really has not been any real evidence to any knowledge of UFOs existence. However, Condon believes that it is a good study for scientists to consider because it is a “fruitful direction of scientific advancement.” Comparing it to Condon’s passage, Hynek also believes that the UFO reports are worth the study. There needs to be an improvement upon scientist’s research on the UFO experience. For example he says that there needs to be more psychological studies on those people who claim to have seen citings. There are many UFO citing, but it all matters if they are significantly persistent. The last doctor, was Paynter who believed that UFOs actually could be real and that scientists need to have more sufficient evidence to prove its existence.  I like Paynter’s argument because it has more common sense to it and stays between the lines of the argument.

Ch 4 Q1

Aristotle was one of the greatest philosophers known to mankind and he has created many underlying topics that many people talk about it to this day. Wisdom may be the greatest virtue, but knowledge is a little different. I feel as if wisdom is naturally attained, while knowledge is gained through learning. Through life experiences, wisdom is gained by seeing what others do. Most of the time, we acquire wisdom through our role models and people who we find relevant to our lives. For example, my parents and grandparents are people that I look up too and most of my wisdom has come from them. In college, knowledge and wisdom can be both attained. Knowledge is what we obtain from going to class and paying attention to our teachers and assignments. Wisdom as I said earlier, come from the life experiences from college such as the social aspect. The information age has made us both more knowledgeable and wiser because the technology implies instant gratification. 

Ch 4 Self-Serving Bias

After reading this little section in chapter 4, I now know what can impede my thinking and the pursuit of truth. There are three self serving biases. The first one is the misperception that we are in control. I noticed that sometimes, I do have this misperception that I am in control for instance my grade on a test. I would easily say, I knew I would fail this test but in reality I have no control over what I got wrong or right. The lotto is the perfect example of thinking we have control over the chances of winning.  A second bias that is quite common is the tendency to overestimate ourselves in comparison to others. I tend to compare myself a lot especially when it comes to school. I misjudge my capabilities and myself most frequently after a test. A last bias is the tendency to exaggerate our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. This bias tends to be used a lot also because when I describe my strengths in an interview, I tend to over exaggerate in order to make myself shine in front of the interviewers. 

Q1 CH3

In the long run, Sally Ride was an excellent critical thinker. She was known to love solving problems. Anyone who loves solving problems is a good critical thinker. She has a lot of credentials and excellent evidence that she has exemplary communication skills. She displays effective communication and is able to analyze and provide logical support. Being apart of NASA demonstrates a lot of these skills such as flexibility and tolerance for ambiguity. In result, she was able to meet her goals and achieve obstacles in the NASA field. Most importantly, she showed that she has an open-mind when she had to look for new astronauts. A lot of the critical thinking skills were all confirmed when she received many of the awards that were mentioned. Overall, Sally Ride is a role model to all because she still utilizes her thinking skills. She is a role model to all the girls that are interested in science. 

Q3 Evaluating Definitions

In my opinion, I like how Chapter 3 went thoroughly in-depth about evaluating definitions. I thought it was also interesting about how there are certain criteria that a good definition requires.  I wonder if all the definitions in any dictionary is certified from these 5 criteria. The first criteria are whether or not a good definition is neither too broad nor too narrow. My own example of a broad definition would include something broad such as defining a police officer as a regulator of the streets. The second criteria are that a good definition should state the essential attributes of the term being defined. The third is a good definition is not circular. The fourth criteria are a good a definition avoids obscure and figurative language. Lastly a good definition avoids emotive language. An example for the fifth criteria is that it uses more of a critical standpoint than an emotional one. 

Q2 Rhetorical Devices

After reading pages 82-87, I am now aware that I frequently use rhetorical devices every time I speak. In chapter 3, the authors define rhetorical devices as “the use of euphemisms, dysphemisms, hyperbole, and sarcasm to manipulate and persuade.” One form of rhetorical device that I use constantly is sarcasm. Sarcasm is the use of ridicule, insults, taunting, and/or caustic irony. One example of sarcasm I utilized in my speech was when I my friend asked if I was going to do homework on a Friday night. I simply replied with a, “Would a monkey eat an apple?” His response was just laughter and it was dismissed as humor. Another rhetorical device I use a lot is Hyperboles. An hyperbole is a rhetorical device that uses an exaggeration. This past week I used an hyperbole when I needed to use the bathroom. I said, “ I need to pee like a horse.” It was an exaggeration to distort the facts.

Q2 (Dawkins and Aquinas)

There has always been a controversy between religion and science. Many scientists and philosophers have always feuded whether or not religion and science can co-exist. According to Richard Dawkin’s, “The God Delusion,” he explains that Aquina’s proof about God’s existence is unaccredited and an unwarranted assumption.  Dawkin’s notes each of Aquina’s 5 proofs and refutes each one of them. Evolution and a belief in God cannot co-exist because it is clearly an assumption about the nature of God. In the end, Dawkin’s claims are not too persuasive and his argument does not hold a strong premise. If Aquinas were still alive today, then he would still stick with his opinion. Aquinas may use more current and modern examples that would support his proofs.  In my opinion, God does exist, but trying to use reason to make sense of God is unreliable. God is based on solely faith and what values an individual believes in. 

Q2 Week of September 29th

After reading Chapter 2, it clarified that in order for one to choose a career, the individual needs to identify his or her strengths. To become truly passionate about your career, you need to be good at what you do. It usually comes down to me using my logical reasoning and how in the end which is the better decision. I am usually using my critical thinking skills and logical reasoning in any situation and tend to use less emotional reasoning. I believe that once emotions start affecting important decisions especially during work, than it becomes unfair to your job due to the emotional connection. Instead, it is good to use logical reasoning when it comes to the work environment and to keep emotional reasoning with your personal life. When it comes to my personal strengths, I am a very sociable person and can easily hold or initiate a conversation with anyone. As a business major, this will ultimately help me achieve success because of good networking skills, but also I will have the credentials of my business major.  

CH 2 Reason and Emotion Q3

Reason is what humans use when they wake up until they go to bed. According to the Boss text, "Reason is the process of supporting a claim or conclusion on the basis of evidence." Reasoning goes hand in hand with critical thinking. There is such use for intelligence in reasoning and it helps individuals make decisions. Logic is also another stem from reasoning and it lays out the arguments essentially providing reason or evidence for the conclusion. Emotion can also drive someone's reasoning, which makes us unique as human beings. I find it very sexist that according to traditional western thinking men are considered to be connected to the "realm of the mind and reason." Women are in return perceived as being guided more with emotional reasoning. There are some emotions that can affect an individual's reasoning and be barriers for good reasoning. These emotions include anger and fear, while emotions such as happiness can motivate critical thinking and make better decisions.

-Brian Robles

CH 7 Q2

After reading Dr. Anotonia Novello’s research she was able to use the cause-and effect inductive reasoning in seeking a solution to the problem of smoking. Through receiving a science degree and medicine degree she was able to obtain a lot of information about health-care issues. Dr. Novello used the cause-and-effect inductive reasoning once Joe Camel ads for Camel cigarettes were introduced. Thus, she started working for schools and educating kids about cigarettes. Novello noted that numbers of those teens and children who smoked grew drastically. As a result, she started to work to educate the public by creating ads that ban cigarette and alcohol. The cause and effect of this situation were the ads that influenced teenagers to start the program and in the end she was able to find an answer. She was really motivated to start a career that would make an impact on the youth in the fight against tobacco.

CH 7 Q1

Inductive Arguments

After reading Chapter 7, I have realized inductive arguments happen frequently. Inductive arguments occur all the time; the fact of the matter is if the statement is false. There are certain words that trigger inductive arguments such as probably or therefore. An example of an inductive argument is when I went shopping for some new shoes. Most fraternity men wear polos and sperrys (premise 1). I am in a fraternity (Premise 2). In conclusion, I am most probably going to buy sperrys. In reality, the result of any inductive argument can be falsified. It is an overall generalization that because I am in a fraternity, there is a stereotype that fraternity men always wear polos and sperrys. Every individual is different, but also every fraternity is different too. People will dress however they please, but I do prefer polos and sperrys. In the end, my inductive argument is correct. Inductive arguments are more probable and may induce error. 

Q3 Chapter 4

"Communicating in Organizations"

Through communication, organizations are able to be successful. The most successful organizations thrive because of how successful they operate internally and externally through others. Organizational communication is how organizations can effectively develop with one another. Over time organizations can emerge and develop like nations or ethnic groups. There are certain norms and behaviors in an organization, which essentially makes each organization unique. Relationships can form in an organization and usually develops through everyday interactions. It is similar to working at a job, where there is constant communication between the manager and employees. The individuals in organizations need to know communication skills and the members also need a common goal or interests. There are two different types of communication channels. One is a formal channel, which are “the communication paths established along the hierarchical lines of an organization.” The second are informal channels, which “refer to the grapevine as well as to unauthorized communications.”

-Brian Robles

Q2 CH 8

“Perspectives on the Death Penalty”

The Death Penalty is a huge controversy especially when talking about religion. Sister Helen Prejean believes that the death penalty violates an individual’s rights and human dignity. When Jesus of Nazareth taught us “to not return hate for hate and evil for evil” he meant that there should not be an evil action taken on a human being. Specifically, taking a life speaks against the Christian values. However, this scriptural passage does not necessarily prohibit the usage of the death penalty. Every person is going to have their own opinion on the death penalty and all Christians will have a different perspective. In my own experience, I am Catholic and believe in Jesus. However, I do believe that the death penalty is a good consequence for those who commit a murder. If Christians believe in the death penalty, then they do not necessarily follow the scripture. Therefore by following the scripture, then they will not support the death penalty. 

-Brian

Ch 8 Q1

"Sherlock Holmes"

Critical thinking skills are highly important and sometimes overlooked by people when it comes to reasoning out a situation. Sherlock Holmes makes a good point when he says many people rely on opinion and unsupported assumptions. When Sherlock Holmes says, “to detach the framework of undeniable fact from the embellishments of hearsay and reports” he means to let go of any emotion or feelings when making any judgment or decision. Often times, people let their emotions drive their actions, which can lead to disappointment or can ruin one’s reputation. Being Greek on a college campus comes with a lot of gossip and drama. There is this website called Campus Gossip, where people use anonymous names to post pictures or write things in the gossip forum. Usually the pictures people post degrade a certain person or group of people. Most of the time, it seems like people post these degrading things about other people, simply because their emotions have gotten hurt in a way, or they really dislike the person. In retaliation, campus gossip is used as an outlet for their emotions. Relating back to the quote, a lot of the stuff posted are rumors, and not necessarily backed up with sufficient evidence. 

-Brian

Q3 Ch 3 From Boss Text

"Leadership and Decision Making in Groups and Teams"

Leaders will be anywhere, and everywhere. In any group assignment or team building exercise, there is some sort of leadership taking place. In the Boss text, Leadership is defined as "the exercise of interpersonal influence toward the attainment of goals. Essentially, the leader has an important influence on the people of the group and how the group performs. There are four different types of leaderships which are authoritarian, consultative, participative, and laissez-faire. The first is authoritarian which is similar to a dictatorship, in which the leader does not listen to any input from the group members, and instead takes control. Consultative leadership is when the leader bases his or her decisions on the group members. Participative leadership is the mutual leadership where the leader and the group members agree upon a common goal. Lastly, Laissez-faire leadership involves "no direct leadership" and the leader stays out of the way most of the time.

-Brian

Ch 6 Q3

"Participating in small group communication"

After reading chapter 2 of the group communication book, I have learned countless of concepts. Group communication is essential for any project and should be utilized for success. When critical thinking is applied then the group will successfully accomplish tasks and objectives. Being a critical thinker is effective because it influences open mindedness. Accepting your fellow group members perspectives is very important because it creates a comfortable environment. This will lead into less problems in the future like making false assumptions or overgeneralizations. Another important concept of group communication is doing your part. There will be times where a lot of the work is delegated and it is an individual’s duty to complete his or her own part of the work. Having an agenda is also important because it establishes the content and what has to be accomplished during a meeting. Lastly, working as a team will lead to a guaranteed good grade.

-Brian 

Ch 6 Q2

Standing my ground

In my life there have been a couple times, where I had to stand my ground on an issue especially with the risk of losing my friends. During my sophomore year of high school, I joined the wrestling team because the coach persuaded me to join since they needed someone to fill in the 112 1b weight class. It was one of the first practices and I was just starting to get used to everything and I did not want to make a bad impression on the coach at all. Some of my new wrestling teammates thought it would be a good idea to smoke weed before practice. I was really skeptical about it and thought it was not the best idea because it was still one of the first couple practices. Unfortunately, I was in the same car as all of them and they offered me to smoke. After using my critical thinking skills, I declined and stood my ground with my decision. I told them how it is not really worth it because it was still the beginning of the season. Peer pressure did not faze me in this situation because in reality getting kicked off the wrestling team or even the school was not seem appealing at all. 

-Brian

Chapter 6, Q1

"Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage" 

The same-sex marriage debate has been a controversial topic for many years now and it still has yet to be settled. Obama’s perspective is fair to both sides, but it is similar to being on “the fence.” Opposing same-sex marriage on a federal level, but also supporting civil unions to a certain extent is a cop out. In a way, Obama is avoiding this controversy by contradicting his own beliefs, which becomes inconsistent. As a politician, Obama is being safe by not taking any side because he could potentially lose a majority of his voters. In my opinion, Obama might respond to Nava and Dawidoff with a universal response. He would bring up the topic of religion and how many religions do not allow same-sex marriages, but how he believes that civil unions should be recognized. In the end, Obama remains neutral in his beliefs in fear of losing popularity amongst the nation.

Introduction

What's up Everyone,

I am currently a third year at San Jose State University. Originally I was a computer science major and then during Freshman year, I switched to Business with a concentration of Management Information Systems. So far I am excited about my major and ready to take some programming classes. I love hanging out with my friends, listening to music, and watching movies. This past summer I was an Orientation Leader for the school and it was a blast. I met a lot of new people and felt like I also grew as a leader. I am also apart of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and the position I hold is philanthropy chair. Well I am excited to take my first online class, and I am looking forward to learning more about Comm 41!