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