Journal 3
1.) Reason is what seperates humans from animals. Reason is the power to think in such a way that we can arrive at something we did not know. By reasoning we either deduce or induce about our surroundings. We also have two other ways of gaining knowledge , either from experience, being at the event or perceiving it, or from authority, where we believe what we are told by someone who has more knowledge than us about the subject. The optimal way to gain knowledge is to perceive something, categorize it, evaluate it, symbolize it to others, and then test it. However there are five mistakes that we can make to cloud our judgement. These mistakes are having false and vague premises, begging the question, attacking the person(ad hominem), thinking illogically(non sequitur), or changing the subject(red herring). In order to correct these mistakes we can know the facts, define our terms, be intellectually humble, look for different perspectives, and remember the principle of contradiction. The movie, "What the Bleep Do We Know?" also helped to illustrate these ideas. The story of Amanda showed her thinking errors, how she perceived data, and it gave us knowledge from authority about what Amanda was going through. I think that all of these factors can aid in helping us reason to make better decisions.
2a.) One thing that I want to remember from this section on reason is the portion about knowledge from authority. The reading book said that we usually accept knowledge from authority unless it applies to us directly. I think that as I become older I am going to have to make more decisions that effect the outcome of my life. If I follow the herd need and let others tell me what to think or I just let an authority figure tell me how something works, and I don't think about the subject myself, then in the longrun I am going to make poor decisions. I want to take away from this section the idea that I need to think more for myself before I make any decisions.
2b.) The section on the process of knowing really hit home with me. I often perceive things about others that is incorrect, or I only want to see other's faults so that way I feel better. I think that I also have trouble categorizing people, or that I do so too quickly. I need to correct the way I perceive people and the way that I judge them so that I can have an open mind towards everyone.
2c.) I really enjoyed the movie, "What the Bleep Do We Know?". The part about how are emotions control our body really made sense to me. I totally agreed in that idea because it applies to everyone. If we drive and we are angry we are going to be alot more wreckless and agressive than if we were relaxed and not stressed. From now on I am going to remember that movie and always try to calm myself before doing anything important so that way one emotion isn't dominating my decisions.
3.) Why are people so afraid of admitting their viewpoint is wrong?
I think that this is so because people don't want to admit they are wrong to other people. They want to look smart in front of their friends. I think another reason is that people are afraid of the effort it takes to change their viewpoint.