- Welcome
- Thinking
- Ethnocentrism and Egocentrism
- Solving Problems
- Choice
- Perceiving and Believing
- Language and Thought
- Memory
- Cognitive Bias
- Digital Story
Welcome to Philosophy of Thought and Logic
Understanding the world through experience and reason.
Everyone has to think in order to function in the world, and this course will equip you with the tools to reason effectively in your pursuit of reliable beliefs and useful knowledge. Whether you are a budding philosopher searching for ultimate truths, a science student grappling with the nature of scientific proof, a new parent weighing conflicting childrearing advice, or a concerned citizen making up your mind about today's issues, the lessons you learn in this course will help you cut through deception and faulty reasoning to get closer to the essence of a matter.
This is equally a course in argument and in reasoning. While you will learn how to reason, you will also learn how to persuade others. And it teaches how to judge and answer the arguments of others and how they will judge yours. This is the very center of a well-educated mind.
Dr. Michael Thompson
Dylan TitusX
“the world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”-Albert Einstein
Thinking exist as the top mental activity demonstrated by man. All human accomplishments and advancements have come from the result of thought. Civilization knowledge, science and technology arise from our thinking process. Thought and activity are inseparable. Man normally perceives an action in his/her mind before doing or trying the action.
The brains building blocks start with the brain cells known as neurons. Chemical process in the brain sends out messages through the neurons that determine the mental processes along with thinking.
Even are 5 senses bring information back to the central process in the brain. Emotions exert an affect on human thinking by producing actions such as crying, laughing and sadness that modify our sensory information.
There are 3 different processes that we do when we have a thought and they are the thinking process, the reasoning process and the learning process.
Thinking process brings together information that links to different parts or something comprehensible.
Reasoning process implies taking facts and evidence perceived by our senses and combining it with thinking for us to draw conclusions and there is over 20 types of reasoning's that we do as humans.
Learning process occurs to help the individual think. Humans learn using trial and error process along with incorporating experiences.
After we go through those 3 processes our thought can actually come to being and we can try to work on it and improve on that idea or thought or someone else can improve on it or even disagree with the thought or try to disprove it.
Creative thinking on the other hand is completely different. Thinking alone is not creative thinking. Man can do only two things: Think and Act. Out of the more or less balanced thoughts and actions of man and his universe created things appears. Man must do those two things in order from them to express power.
The dependability of Natural law grows out of the balance of power between the two creative principles of Nature. The undependability of man's creations grows from his inability to balance thinking with actions. Man's dreams or goals rarely come into true concept, because his thoughts and actions don't balance out. Any man who can balance those Thoughts and Actions are considered to be geniuses.
Knowledge of itself is not power, as that proverb states, nor does one's ability to think great thoughts make him have power, because thinking without action creates nothing. In doing that no principle has been demonstrated. Since the thinker hasn't demonstrated creative ability until he has acted to bring the form of his idea into being.Resources
http://www.philosophy.org/creative-thinking/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/202078-human-brain-thinking-process/
Heath Haverfield x
"The brain is a wonderful organ: it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office." ~ Robert Frost
It might seem surprising to know, but the human body using just slightly more energy while the brain is working then while the brain is not. The body uses most of its energy keeping the circuits of our brain up then actually using those circuits in the brain.
While your brain is working your muscles also begin to tense up. It is similar to how the ocean waves work. When one part of the muscle is up the next is down then up like the waves.
The brain works best while at peak temperature. The peak temperature for one person can very greatly from another. This difference form person to person can cause morning people and night people.
There is a reason that some people can create the most amazing things, but can’t lead people to do it. While others can lead people, but don’t have the ability to create things. This can be attributed to the use of a left and right brain. Some people are gifted with the left side of the brain, while others are gifted with the right side of the brain. The right and left side of the brain also correlates with other subjects. People that use the left side of the brain more usually works with logic. Most people who are adept at math are correlate greatly with the left side of the brain. Most people who are good at drawing and imagination use the right side of the brain.
Meditation can be used to enhance the capabilities of thinking for people. Studies have shown that meditation can help combine the right and left side of the brain. Additionally, meditation has show to improve the health of the meditators.
While the brain is not huge in its size the amount of information it can hold is immense. It is said that it can hold more information than the library of congress.
Our brain is able of thinking at all times but retaining knowledge it different than that. A study showed that men were able to retain knowledge in a drowsy half asleep state, but not while totally asleep.
Most studies have shown that men and women’s thinking ability is about the same. While the thinking ability might be the same that does not mean one sex does not excel at certain types of thinking. Men might excel in subject like history while women might excel in reading or spelling.
Some people are inherently better thinkers. Some people are born with the ability to think very quickly and precise. On the other hand, some individuals think slowly and or not very correct when they think about things. With that in mind, people are able to improve the inherited brain. The brain is like any other muscle if you work it out it will get stronger. Some people might have the genes to come with a very intelligent mind, but if one works their mind out then they can over come obstacles. Some ways people can exercise their mind include playing an instrument, doing work problems, or learning a second language.
Are thinking also changes over the course of ones life. While ones body might be peaked around ones twenties or thirties ones brain keeps getting better. Ones brain might peak around their sixties.
The human’s ability is something that can’t be fully grasped, but does it need to be. The human brains ability to think is amazing and ever expanding.
Resources
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/mind_how-it-works.html
http://www.all-about-psychology.com/the-human-mind.html
Justin Underwood (extra credit)
Critical thinking involves drawing sound conclusions based on facts and observations. Critical thinkers carefully analyze and evaluate information to probe for faulty and poor reasoning. When individuals use effective critical thinking skills and processes, they draw valid inferences based on accurate evidence and well-supported claims. Mastering critical thinking skills will allow you to take greater advantage of the opportunities provided by your constitutional rights; you will be able to more fully and effectively use the precious rights of free expression and suffrage granted by the U.S. Constitution. You will be able to "become wise" by listening to and reading about "all that can be said" against your views and by subjecting your ideas to others' perspectives. Critical thinking is one of the foundations of democracy and is central to preserving our liberties, such as freedom of speech. In turn, liberty is necessary for critical thinking to flourish. We need to be able to openly discuss, debate, and deliberate ideas in order to examine them critically.
Although we all share commonalities with others in how we interpret and evaluate information based on our cultural and societal backgrounds, each person brings to every situation a different "lens" for interpreting the world. Thus, our own experiences, biases, beliefs, and values will influence our interpretations. For example, suppose the interviewer and interviewee above had very different experiences associated with high school: the interviewer went to a private boarding school on the east coast and the interviewee is the principal is in charge of a large public high school in San Francisco. These experiences alone will influence how they interpret the information exchanged in the interview. Critical thinkers must also evaluate information, including examining the source, the context in which the information is presented, and the date of the information. For example, the interviewer would need to evaluate the source for the statement that, "California ranks in the bottom third of spending per student among all U.S. states." In evaluating information, you want to check the source of the information, check the context in which the information was acquired (under what circumstances did the source get the information?), and check the context in which the information was presented. Effective listening skills are essential for critical thinking and information interviewing. Listening is necessary in asking relevant questions, making accurate observations, finding and evaluating information, developing inferences, and evaluating those inferences. Of course, listening and questioning skills go hand in hand. You need to listen to what others have to say before you can ask them questions. But what are we usually doing when we're "listening"? We're usually thinking of what we want to say! In the information interview, the interviewer is often thinking about the next question rather than what the interviewee is saying. Then we miss out on important things others are talking about and lose the opportunity to ask key probing questions. Not all your listening time in information interviews will be concerned with critical listening. You will use all the types of listening in the interviewing process. However, each type of listening has different objectives. When you set goals for listening, you use those goals to guide your approach to listening in a particular situation. As you formulate your goals, you also want to keep in mind the interview's purpose so you can gather the information you need.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-distinguishing-between-inert-information-activated-ignorance-activated-knowledge/488
http://www.istl.org/07-summer/refereed.html
Ashleigh PetersonX
Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism derives from the Greek word ethnos, meaning “nation” and the English word “center”. This term can also be called “tunnel vision” due to the belief that the particular ethnic group’s system of beliefs and values is superior to all others. Ethnocentrism is a major reason for divisions of members of different ethnicities, races, and religious groups in societies. Ethnocentrism is the belief of superiority is one's personal ethnic group, but it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Ethnocentrism has led to many huge conflicts and even wars.
Philosophers over years have had their own ethnocentrism when it comes to their own beliefs of certain cultures. An example is Chinese philosopher Confucius. He believed in the "Mandate of Heaven", which meant that the Chinese felt that they had received divine power which entitled them to have heavy rule over the citizens, and also that they had power over the whole world. There are some scholars that still believe that the Chinese ethnocentrism lives on, even though this way of government ended in the nineteenth century. Ethnocentrism is a powerful force that can weaken human relations. Despite our cultural differences, we are all still human and should not think we are above anyone or that someone is not worthy. We can all believe in what we choose, but we should not let us tear down others or cause major problems.
Egocentrism is the natural restriction on our perception caused by the simple fact that we can only see the world from our perspective. It is the inability to untangle subjective thoughts from objective reality; an inability to understand or assume any perspective other than your own. For an egocentric it takes special effort to see the world from any perspective other than through their eyes. Egocentrism is more commonly seen in children because children seem cognitively unable to take the perspective of another person. Although we all grow out of this stage of development, even adults sometimes find it difficult to overcome completely the cognitive form of egocentrism. Egocentrism can cause people to make incorrect assumptions about what other people are thinking or feeling on a subject.
Philosopher, Descartes' account of the nature of mind implies that “the individual acquires the psychological concepts that he possesses "from his own case," that is that each individual has a unique and privileged access to his own mind, which is denied to everyone else”. From this you can take that your thoughts, emotions, perceptions, desires, and everything else that goes on in your head are not known in this way by anyone else. In reserves this also means you do not know what thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and desires are going on in someone else’s mind. Fulton J. Sheen said “The egocentric is always frustrated, simply because the condition of self-perfection is self-surrender.
There must be a willingness to die to the lower part of self, before there can be a birth to the nobler.” From this I think it shows that egocentrism could drive a person crazy because you are stuck on one train and way of thought. You cannot read what another person is thinking, so you perceive what you think they are thinking and it can destroy you. Idries Shah said “An egocentric pessimist is a person who thinks he hasn't changed, but that other people are behaving worse than before.” A person can be set on their own thoughts and only have one opinion while the world is constantly changing around them and they are missing out on the advancements because they do not allow themselves to change.
Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnocentrism
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/egocentrism
Children and Egocentrism
By Aaron HillmanX
Childrens thoughts and communications are typically egocentric. Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the children do.
At the beginning of this stage you often find children engaging in parallel play. That is to say they often play in the same room as other children but they play next to others rather than with them. Each child is absorbed in its own private world and speech is egocentric. That is to say the main function of speech at this stage is to externalize the child’s thinking rather than to communicate with others. As yet the child has not grasped the social function of either language or rules.
However as the pre-operational stage develops egocentrism declines and children begin to display some imitation of each other. They seem to enjoy the participation of another child in their games and more games involving pretending become more important. For this to work there is going to be a need for some way of regulating each child’s relations with the other and out of this need we see the beginnings of an orientation to others in terms of rules. The child will also begin to use one object to symbolize another.
Another key feature which children display during this stage is animism. Animism is the belief that inanimate objects like a favorite teddy bear or doll, have human feelings and intentions. This would explain why young children play tea parties and other such games. A good real world example of this would be Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.
http://www.telacommunications.com/nutshell/stages.htm
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Egocentrism
Egocentrism vs. Ethnocentrism
By: Elizabeth Fossum x
Saying that studying egocentrism during childhood is interesting would be an understatement. Egocentrism is defined by dictionary.com as, “having or regarding the self or the individual as the center of all things”. To get the full understanding of what this means you need a few examples. The definition sounds as though this person facing egocentrism is somehow self-centered, but there is a much bigger picture. Children only know to see things from their own perspective, not taking anyone else’s perspective into consideration. Wikipedia had a great example. It said that a little boy had gotten his mom a really cool truck as a gift. He was so excited to see her open it and how excited she got about the toy. He thought that since he loved the toy so much, his mother would too. This isn’t an act of someone self-centered, but of someone who doesn’t understand how the world exactly works and suffers from egocentrism. Another example comes from Whittborne, where she explains how difficult it is for a child to play checkers because they can’t take the other players perspective into consideration when making a move. Therefore, they are bound to lose. Egocentrism evolves as our minds evolve and we grow older. So, although adults still face a certain amount of egocentrism, it is not near as prominent in adulthood.
Ethnocentrism is defined by dictionary.com as the “belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to whichone belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups” (Barger). Ethnocentrism is feeling as though your culture is superior to all others and that your culture is also normal compared to the rest. After taking a few anthropology classes, I can easily understand the term ethnocentrism. I can remember learning about all of these cultures so much different than ours and thinking how “weird” it was that these people grew up so differently than the way I grew up. We watched so many videos of people doing everyday things in other countries. One of the videos that sticks out most in my mind is these people who still carried water on their heads. Barger breaks down the word ethnocentrism as “’Ethnic’ refers to cultural heritage, and ‘centrism’ refers to the central starting point… so ‘ethnocentrism’ basically refers to judging other groups from our own cultural point of view”. He also believes that there is an even deeper definition of ethnocentrism which is that ethnocentrism is “making false assumptions about others’ ways based on our own limited experience” (Barger). This is an interesting way of thinking about it and shows just how ignorant us as humans can be. Being different does not necessarily mean that they are weird or living in a wrong way, but that they have a different outlook on life and could probably offer a lot of insight on life from their point of view. They can really open our eyes and make us realize that we are not really that different after all.
Ethnocentrism and egocentrism can be related. They are both the ignorance that we as humans have when considering other people. Whether it’s ignorance of another person’s perspective or ignorance of an entire culture, there is a lot that we do not or cannot understand. These do not make us self-centered, but more self-aware, rather than aware of others and their perspective or cultural background.
Sources
http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201204/it-s-fine-line-between-narcissism-and-egocentrism
** Joe Lubick**X
In problem solving, there is quite a few variables that you have to take into account before and during the problem solving process. For instance, when looking for, and analyzing problems in Philosophy, you have to become someone who takes in account of all possible solutions, and all possible dead ends. you have to be one step ahead of everyone else who might not see future underlying obstacles that could render the problem solving, or making it a lot more difficult to find the solution. The anticipation of problems that reveal themselves within a problem can be quite frustrating because it makes your progress of defeating a problem come to a complete stand still.
Finding problems can be a factor of your flawed proposal to a solution, so ultimately problems along the way aren't always a bad thing. Coming across problems like that can often times cause you to go about the solution another way by restructuring your proposal in another way to find success. Based on the consistency of right or wrong decisions in your attempt to find success will determine whether or not you find yourself making a good or bad solution. You should never base your decisions off of whether the problem is too hard to solve so you veto it or you move to fast when making the decision and possibly regret making the right decision on such an easy problem.
Another way to help yourself solve a problem is talk to someone or get expert help when dealing with your problem. Expert help as in someone who has faced similar problems, and get their opinion on how you should handle going about solving the problem, or what necessary steps should be taken to help solve the problem.
wordpress.com>stanleyParker>a-problemsolving.com
Udemy>blog>analytic-philosophy
Nichelle ErskineX
Problems arise in our everyday lives; learning to anticipate or solve them before they become a solid problem is the key. You can analyze every little thing or you can worry because you know there’s going to be a problem right around the corner, or you can tackle it head on before it becomes a problem. The thing with problems is that they are never truly unsolvable. Someone somewhere has an answer or a solution and sometimes all we have to do is ask. Pride can get in the way and you may think that you can solve all of life’s problems on your own, and the truth is you can’t. Without science or philosophy we cannot solve problems. You have to look at your problems head on and decided which you are going to believe in. Can science answer the question for you or is there a deeper meaning and a deeper solution.
I dropped an entire bottle of nail polish on the carpet the other day, and my first thought was “Well there goes my security deposit!” . I worried and stewed about what I knew about pulling fresh fingernail polish out of carpet. I knew nothing! I had no answer; I had no idea what I was going to do. I had to stop and think about the goal. Do I need all of it out of the carpet? Can I get by with getting most of it and just leaving the stain and calling it good? I walked into the kitchen and looked under the sink. Next I went to the bathroom and scanned the shelves and under the sink. I searched every bottle label to see if it would get the stain out and then to see if it was safe for white carpet. Nothing under the sink gave me any hope, so I went to handy dandy Google. People had all sorts of solutions and I was so relieved. I began the task of getting the fingernail polish out of the carpet. I followed the instructions step by step and soon enough the stain was gone! The entire stain had disappeared right before my eyes and a sense of relief swept over my whole body.
At the time I didn’t realize that I was solving a problem, I was just following my instinct. As humans our first instinct is to look for the quickest possible solution. Whether that had been buying a pretty rug to put over it or cutting the square of carpet out and replacing it with grass. At that point in time I would have done anything! Looking back now I realize that I was looking for a solution to my problem. In order to problem solve you have to be open to any solution, you have to be open to suggestion, and you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. You can’t be closed minded when solving problems; otherwise you may not see the best possible way to reach your goal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_methodologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_solving
Wiki Essay – Problem Solving
Nora Urban x
What is problem solving? By definition from Oxford Dictionaries, it is the process for finding solutions to difficult or complex issues. Sounds simple, right?
Problems are at the center of what we do every day. Think about it. Whether you are at home, work, school it is full of challenges and problems, life has many problems. You may be deciding what to wear, what to eat, what project to start on next or how to resolve an issue you are having at work, answering problems on a test or how to help a friend in need. How we handle them can be different but for the most part can be very similar also. Sometimes we complicate the simplest problems and we cannot fix all the problems of the world but, we can try to find a solution to make the process of solving the problem a little easier. Sometimes the answer is right around the corner.
Yale Edu offers this systematic approach to follow as best practices:
1) Define the problem
2) Determine the root cause(s) of the problem
3) Develop alternative solutions
4) Select a solution
5) Implement the solution
6) Evaluate the outcome
They explain that by following these steps allows for:
*decision making based on data, rather than hunches
*determining root causes of problems, rather than reacting to superficial symptoms
*devising permanent solutions, rather than relying on quick fixes
So who is right? Is there one right way to solve a problem? Is there more than one way to skin a cat? There is no right or wrong way to solve problems but by following a laid out plan can help save time and stress.
An interesting approach to problem solving is Maurice Ashley’s, working backwards to solve problems. In his utube video he explains that by working backwards you can see things that you may not see normally. He uses a sentence example to prove that most people when they read the sentence do not notice the repeated “the”, however he explains that if you would read it backwards that you would see it.
After reading this sentence, you will realize that the the brain doesn’t recognize a second “the”.
Einstein is quoted as saying that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. How is that possible? I think the point he is making is that we can’t jump right into solving the problem; we should step back and invest time and effort to improve our understanding of it. He believes that the most important step in problem solving is clearly defining the problem in the first place.
I think often we as adults all lead busy lives and problems are simply bumps in the road and lessons to be learned. I think we are always rushing things and looking for a quick fix but sometimes the quick fix is not the best choice in fact sometimes a quick fix can end up costing you more time and more stress, more problems. In researching this paper I found many incredible quotes from Albert Einstein. Probably my favorite and probably made the most sense to me was this, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Sources:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=problem+solving+definition&form=ASUTDF&pc=NP06&src=IE-SearchBox
http://www.yale.edu/bestpractices/resources/docs/problemsolvingmodel.pdf
https://litemind.com/problem-definition/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v34NqCbAA1c#t=154
Wiki Essay – Problem Solving
Anthony Roy
Problem solving is the process of finding solutions to any given question or issue. We solve questions or issues on a daily basis. Therefore everyone can benefit from having good problem solving skills.
Stages of Problem Solving
1) Identify the problem.
During this stage you detect, define and recognize the problem. It is very important that you clearly detect and recognize the problem. Failure to properly detect the problem will cause issues when you try to remedy the situation.
2) Structuring the problem.
During this stage you observe, inspect and develop a clear picture of the problem. It is important that you spend the time to clearly study the problem. What is the root cause? Why did this problem develop? Is this a complex or simple problem?
3) Look for solution.
During this stage you develop a range of possible solution to fix the problem. Ensure that you spend the required time to look at all possible solutions. Even solutions that seem to be inappropriate may end up being the right solution for the problem. Go in with an open mind.
4) Make a decision.
During this stage you decide which solution is the best. Study the solutions you came up with. Ensure that the decision you make is the best one for this particular problem.
5) Implementation.
During this stage you implement the decision you made.
6) Seek feedback.
During this stage you monitor how your decision worked out. In some cases you use this stage to learn for next time. Other times you will use this stage to find out if you need to re evaluate the problem and start from the beginning.
Problem solving is an important aspect of just being a human. We use problem solving all the time even when we don't realize we do. There many ways to solve a problem. By following these few steps people should be able to solve problems quicker and more efficiently.
Sources:
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/problem-solving.html
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_00.htm
Solving Problems
Brian Starr
Problems become more difficult when there are no obvious solutions or strategies that have worked in the past. These types of problems cause a great deal of stress and anxiety, often requiring a new or different strategy. It is important to realize that there are problems. Because problems can cause anxiety, many people will try to avoid, ignore, or procrastinate when dealing with difficult issues in their lives. Unfortunately, avoiding your problems usually because the problems to come back and a small problem can become a big problem over time
Everybody can benefit from having good problem solving skills as we all encounter problems on a daily basis. I face problems on a daily basis; I usually have a couple of methods to go about solving them depending on the type of situation. The first thing is to always stay calm and think things through rather than panicking. The second thing I do is to keep an open mind and realize things aren’t always going to be perfect and sometimes I’ll run into to conflict when trying to peruse something. My Problems do change pretty often, sometimes a problem can be small and easy to fix or deal with and other times a problem could take patience and more effort to deal with. Usually when I have a problem I ask my mom for help she’s a very open minded person that usually seems to give me good advice.
Sources:
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/problem-solving.html
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_00.htm
Wiki Essay
JaNae Phillips
Problem solving
There are many problems to solve in life. From what restaurant to go to for dinner, to how do you know when you are ready to have your first child. While some problems are big and some are small, we must go through a psychological process to solve the problem. Problem-solving refers to the mental process that people go through to discover, analyze and solve problems. The first thing you must do is define the problem. The way you define the problem will ultimately define how you solve the problem. For example; you feel like a friendship was taking a turn for the worse, if you defined the problem as “They must not care about our friendship” rather than “I wonder if I did something”, the way you try to solve the problem would be vastly different. Once you determine the problem you must determine the causes of it. What put you in the situation you are in, and what factors play into it? If you try and just fix the little factors along the way and not get down to the real issue, the issue is likely to come to the surface time and time again. You must get down to the actual cause to solve the underlying problem. This can often be the hardest part. If it comes to a personal problem, a lot of the time the underlying issue may be from yourself, which is hard to admit and can be hard to pin point.
Once you can see the cause, it’s time to sort through ideas to problem solve. One great way to sort through ideas and emotions is the popular pro-con list. This will help you decipher through the possibilities of what could happen given your choice in the problem. It’s ok to go through several different scenarios and think through possibilities that could be negative and positive. When you are thinking through something as life changing as having a child, some of the things you might put into a pros list would be: creating a family, new bond to spouse, or getting to be a parent. Some things you might put into a cons list would be: no more spontaneous trips to the lake, a possible job change, and a lot more responsibilities. While the pro-con list can help, there are some other factors personally you may need to consider while trying to find a solution. Running off the same scenario, things you might need to consider are: is my marriage stable enough to bring another life into it? Are we financially able to support a baby? Is this house big enough for 3? Are we going to need a different car? It would be doing yourself a great favor not to just look and pros and cons, but to also realistically ask yourself the tough questions. After this, it’s up to you to choose the best possible solution and take action. It is helpful to figure out this best way to implement this solution to your problem. It may be a quick fix that takes one choice on your part, but some problems may take several steps to come to your solution, and also may take other people besides just yourself. If it takes other people to implement this solution, make a game plan with those people of how you would like to solve the problem. Some problems, like going out to eat, can be easy and can take only a moment’s time to find a solution, but there are many problems in life that take thought and logic to come to a solution.
Resources:
https://www.verywell.com/problem-solving-2795008
http://www.project-management-skills.com/problem-solving-techniques.html
Paige ArmbrusterX
Choice is the art of free-will. In philosophy, choice is the ability to voluntarily decide to perform one of several possible acts or to avoid the action entirely. Some philosophers might argue that one has too much freedom with our ability of choose in today’s society. One has so many choices today opposed to the choices they use to have 200 years ago. In today’s society, one can make the choice to work, where to work or to commit crimes. We are given so many choices. In my opinion, this is partially what is wrong with our society.
When people are given the ability to decide whether or not they perform actions such as school, work or obeying set laws, some people do not make good choices. As a result, we have rising welfare costs and the highest unemployment rate in history. Our society has such a sense of entitlement to the choices we have the ability to make and the benefits of those choices. However, there are also multiple positive impacts our ability of choice has on our society. One has the choice to marry and to marry whoever they want. One also has the choice to abortion and health care. As a women, the choice to go to school and have a career outside of the home is very valuable to me. As a citizen, the choices I have the ability to make are incredibly valuable to me. The philosophy of choice is used frequently in our lives and should be one of the most appreciated arts in our society today.
References:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/
http://www.britannica.com/topic/choice
Mario FloresX
Illusion of Choice
In dictionary.com “choice” is defined as “an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. With propaganda incorporated into our daily lives, we are constantly bombarded with opinions. We live in a time and place in the world where we are taught what to believe in and what is fact.
The majority of the media in this country is owned by six companies. Only six! Comcast owns NBC, Universal Pictures, and Focus Features. Newscorp owns Fox, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Disney own ABC, ESPN, and Pixar. Viacom owns MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures. Time Warner owns CNN, HBO, and TIME. CBS owns Showtime and the Smithsonian Channel. With the limiting of choice the public can be easily manipulated through the use of testimonials, appear to authority and actors playing plain folk on tv.
Mass Hysteria is a term of a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. The media in this country has turned into anything but the news. It has turned into a propaganda network that prays on human emotion. The media is sometimes used to bring about a cause, sometimes it’s completely accidental. On September 11, 2001 the world trade center’s twin towers were hit. The news used to this to pray on human emotion showing footage of people jumping out of the burning buildings and creating fear. This brought about a change that I believe imposes on our civil liberties. On October 26, 2001 George W. Bush signed the PATRIOT Act. The Patriot Act increases the government’s surveillance in four ways.
It allows the government to look at records of an individual that are held by third parties. It allows the government to search private property without notice to the owner. It allows a small exception to the fourth amendment, allowing to conduct physical search or wiretap on American citizens to obtain evidence of crime without proving probable cause. It allows for wiretapping without probable cause or even reasonable suspicion, all which is required is for it to be relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.
The Patriot Act was rejected several times until something devastating happened. The media attempting to get better ratings made matters worse and allowed us to think illogically. Why would you punish the entirety of the American citizens by the actions of a few men?
Essentially there are two political parties. The two major political parties will be the one that will serve as president. When you get down to it there isn’t a choice some of their policies are very similar. When you vote you are voting the same person with a different face. You are given the illusion of choice. By controlling the masses even if you vote you won’t make a difference.
References
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/08.12/illusion.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/choice
https://www.aclu.org/surveillance-under-usa-patriot-act
Nichelle Erskine X
Red or blue, now or later, this or that, everything we do involves making a choice. Making choices come natural to some, and to others it may be the hardest thing they do all day. Making a choice involves mentally making a decision. You can choose between imagine options or real options, either way you are making a decision based on the outcome.
Some philosophers argue that we may have too much free will, but when it comes to making a choice our free will is something that will always be consistent. You wouldn’t think that there would be so much to making decisions but every single choice you make can be life changing. In fact every decision you make, directs your path one way or another. If you chose option A you would be here, if you chose option B you would be there. Our free will is a huge player in that part of life. There is no one telling you what choices to make, there is no one holding your hand and telling you what to do, unless you’re a child. Children’s brains aren’t developed enough to make sound and solid decisions pertaining to huge life changing experiences.
Aside from having our own free will and being able to make our own choices, sometimes you need to ask for help. You may come to a crossroads when making a decision, and you may not be able to see the entire picture or the whole outcome on your own. I recently just bought my own home, and that is not an easy process, let me tell you! Thankfully I have a good support system and mother who is completely honest because I had no idea what I was looking for. Part of making that choice was sitting down and deciding what my goal was for house hunting. My goal was to find a two to three bedroom house with a fenced in backyard and a garage. I looked and found one option, but buying a house seemed like a big decision that I wasn’t sure at 23, I was ready to commit to. I put a lot of thought into what I wanted in buying a house but I couldn’t decide on the house in itself. I had finally decided one and the day I went to put in an offer, the house I’ve always wanted came up for sale. I immediately, without thinking, called and put in an offer on that house.
I made a quick no-brainer decision and it has been the best decision of my life. No one could make that decision for me; my mom couldn’t tell me which house to buy, because she wasn’t paying it. When making decisions whether it is for you or for someone else, always think of the final outcome. Is everyone going to be happy? Is it getting you closer to achieving what you set out for? When making choices never settle.
Sometimes making a choice can be more than just deciding on this or that, most of the time you have to think of the goal and what the outcome with be with each decision you make. People make choices every day, what to wear, what to eat, what to watch, all choices that a have a low-impact on one’s life, but they’re still choices we must make every day. These simple decisions can be so redundant that we don’t even realize that we’re making decisions; we just know that we’re doing what we’ve done every day for our entire lives.
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will
Kaity WilsonX
Miriam Webster defines Choice as “the opportunity or power to choose between two or more possibilities: the opportunity or power to make a decision; the act of choosing; care in selecting” Choice has been one of the world’s greatest philosophical debates, and has proven to be one of the most complex topics to discuss. Is it Choice or Fate? Choice or Freewill? Is freewill an Illusion? Do we have too much freewill? The list goes on, and the conversation undoubtedly will as well.
Throughout history, people have not always had the power of freewill and choice as we do today. Some people have never had the opportunity to voluntarily choose their paths in life. Marriage has not always been, and is often still in some parts of the world, not the “choice” of those getting married, but the choice of their families. People have been denied their choice to marry who they choose for centuries, solely based on the beliefs of others. We have not always been given the opportunity to free choice of employment. Article 4 of the UDHR “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” In 2015 laws and regulations have been placed for years, so that our freedom of choice is protected. The right of choice is necessary. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Choices have consequences, and are made up of thought and reason. The Encyclopedia of Brittanica says: “An ethical choice involves ascribing qualities such as right or wrong, good or bad, better or worse to alternatives.“ The freedom to choose has literally made our world what it is today. The choices of our forefathers, the choices of our parents, the choices we ourselves have made, have all collectively determined the result of the world we live in today.
Two of the most discussed topics in 2015 regarding choice have been Abortions, and Vaccinations. Oftentimes the power of free choice is questioned, when someone else’s power of choice is affected by the choice you are practicing. Pro Choice political parties believe a woman has the choice to terminate her pregnancy if she so chooses for whatever reason she chooses, while the opposing party, Pro-Life does not believe that the mother has a choice to choose, because the child’s and the child’s Father’s freewill and choice are being taken away by the mother’s choice. So in this instance 2 other people are losing their choice because of someone else’s choice. Here, is where the fight and questioning of choice begins. Our moral judgement and reason is at play, and the same principle applies to the Anti-Vaccine movement. In this country, we have the choice to choose to vaccinate our children or not, and a lot of people voice their opinion, that they don’t agree that this is a choice parents should be able to make. That the individual choice not to vaccinate, negatively affects the choices of those that do, and is risking the lives of those that do choose to vaccinate. Who is right? Who is wrong? Does the right of free will for one, deny others their right of free will?
In the world we live in today, we are offered a multitude of choices every day. From trivial choices such as what to wear, or eat for lunch, what to listen to on our iPod’s or watch on Netflix, and what color we want to paint our houses and cars. To the choices that define our character. Do we choose to do the right thing when the opportunity arises, or do we choose to walk away? Do we choose right over wrong? And is right over wrong, really that simple? It is defined by how we choose to treat others, and the decisions we make while raising our children, that mold them into the people they will become. Choice is a human born right and a necessity, for a successful civilized society.
References
http://www.britannica.com/topic/choice
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#atop
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/choice
Choices: A Decision to be made
Brian Starr
Some of your decisions will be so routine that you make them without giving them much thought. But difficult or challenging decisions demand more consideration. When you’re making a decision that involves complex issues like these, you also need to engage your problem-solving, as well as decision-making skills. It pays to use an effective, robust process in these circumstances, to improve the quality of your decisions and to achieve consistently good results. When trying to make a good decision, a person must weight the positives and negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives. For effective decision making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of each option as well, and based on all these items, determine which option is the best for that particular situation
Every day, we face thousands of decisions both major and minor. There’s a lot of different things that goes into my everyday decision making. Priorities, and morals play a big part in the choices I make on a daily basis. Before I was mature enough to set my priorities straight I would make bad choices all of the time, I still do make poor choices from time to time. Like I procrastinate on a lot of my homework when I should get it done as soon as I get free time. To help prevent myself from making bad choices I try to remind myself of what my goals are and to stay focus.
Sources:
https://www.thindifference.com/2012/06/decisions-vs-choices-is-there-a-distinction/
http://scottbloomlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/scottbloomdecisions.jpg
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/33331/self_improvement_and_motivation/life_is_about_choices_and_the_decisions_we_make.html
Emily Wachendorfer x
Perceiving and Believing
Perceiving is believing. Although they are two different words with different meanings, they are linked. If you perceive something then you must believe it is true. One of the biggest things that people stand by are their beliefs, but in order to be able to stand up for what they believe in they must perceive certain aspects of it. As you continue reading I shall discuss how perceiving and believing go together
To start, all people have some sort of religious belief whether its Christianity, Hindu, Atheist, Etc., they are all beliefs. Some of these beliefs we perceive from our parents, friends, personal experiences, or research. All of these things help us build our perspective, which leads to our belief. Throughout time we develop these things. If your parents practice a religion more than likely you were included in it until you got older and were able to make decisions by yourself. An example of this is the Muslims that are in ISIS. They target younger male children because if the child’s father practices the beliefs of the group of people then it will be easier to manipulate the children into it because they will also have their fathers support. The young children are raised having the perspective that certain people are horrible and that murdering them is alright, so ISIS eventually leads the children to believe that what they are doing is acceptable and will gain them praise.
Another approach would be as follows. Dr. Charles Spence of Oxford University has an article talking about coffee and how the orbitofrontal cortex reads information while drinking coffee to put different concepts about the coffee into perspective. For instance, when it comes to God with Christians, they pray for things and if something good comes of it or if what was prayed for happens then in their minds it was God who helped make the good thing happen, so our perspective becomes God makes good things happen. In future events, when a Christian needs something they will pray that if happens because they have built up the belief that God will provide for them what they need and will make good things happen. Each religion has similar concepts when it comes to this. They all believe that their god or gods will provide, and for the atheist they have different beliefs on how everything works, but they have these beliefs because of things that have happened and because of their perspective on things.
Next, I would like to point out one more concepts about perspective. Although we are all individuals we tend to get caught up in certain beliefs. Throughout this I have talked about some good and some bad things about perspective and believing, but something that we all need to remember is that it is our thoughts and our brain and no matter what we need to perceive things for ourselves. If our viewpoint is different than everyone else, then we need to let it be that way. No two people are the same and we don’t need to have exactly the same beliefs. It is important for us all to remember this because too many times we get caught up in believing what we want to instead of actually looking at the truth when it comes to perspective and analyzing things.
To conclude, perceiving leads to believing, and also perspective helps build a persons belief system. Although, they are different words with different meanings they help each other become true or have a truth. There are many different things that people believe as well as perceive, but no two are exactly alike. Don’t forget to be you and have your own beliefs based on the perspective.
Sources
http://www.scaa.org/chronicle/2014/12/11/perceiving-is-believing-getting-to-know-your-coffee/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perceive
Heath Haverfield
Perceiving and Believing
Dictionary.com says the definition of believing is the acceptance of truth. While it also says the definition of perceiving is to become aware or conscious of something. So by going that definition when you perceive something one becomes aware, and if you believe that then you accept it. So when someone says that that perceiving is believing they are saying your accepting the truth of what one is aware of.
Sometimes one can perceive things that one sees then turn to believe them. One could see an animal move it head because of something, but who knows why the animal did that. One can perceive what he or she wants, but one will never know for sure. There are many things that the more one thinks about it the one wants to believe it. Sometimes those things that one is trained to believe can just be perceived. Like some patients might have a heart attack, but believe that the injury could be in their arm. They perceive the injury is to the arm and they would believe that. Even though one believes that the pain is in the arm it is not.
The brain has been trained through life to believe that what it perceives is real. Sometimes the brain can be correct in what is perceives, but can one be for sure. Who can really know what to believe when it perceives. One has to be carful not believe everything it sees and perceives because what if it just a coincidence. One may perceive things that happen in life to be for a reason when it is just a coincidence. Maybe those things that seem like coincidence are actually real too. Nobody can know any of this for sure. Sometimes the more one learns the more questions one has about the world
“The more I see, the less I know for sure.”
― John Lennon
One person might perceive the color red to be blue while other sees red. Who is right? They both believe what they see. Neither one is lying in what they say. The both believe what they say and are not lying. The world can’t have people think colors are different though. What must one do to resolve the situation? Maybe just letting people perceive and believe is the solution.
On the other hand, many people believe different with religion. Many different cultures perceive religion very differently. While many people in America are Christian, many people in Asia are Hindu. Even though they believe different things doesn’t mean that makes the other wrong. They both believe and perceive different views. Their views make them happy and keep them going. Would it be good to tell them to stop believing what they believe in. maybe both sides are wrong or one is right but does it matter? In the whole scheme of things having a large portion of population happy is good. Ignorance can be bliss in the right minds.
Throughout ones life they will change ones mind. While youthful ones perception of life will change as they grow older. While young ones perception of life might be blissful. As the subject grows older he or she might see the world as harsh. Both perceptions are seen as the truth from the same person. The perception just changes as someone sees the world.
To sum up, one can never really know if what they perceive can be believed. Is it a bad thing to believe what you believe? That is up to one to decide.
Sources
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/perception
http://briansimulator.org/perceiving-and-knowing/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-consciousness-question/201407/seeing-is-believing
http://dictionary.reference.com/
BY: HUNTER BUTTS x
While some many believe that Language and Thought always coincide with one another, that is not always the case. Thought may be a result of different experiences and coincidences. Language is a result of one’s thoughts based on those experiences. Language is the way to communicate our thoughts. While these two do play off of each other, you can have one without the other. For example, one may think a thought, but that thought may never be conveyed because they did not use language to convey it. The definition of language is the method of human communication, either written or spoken, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional word. The definition of thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind. However, the action of these two items differ with each and every person. To one person, language could simply be the words we use every day in order to communicate. To another person, language could be the art by which they express their inner feelings, emotions, and beliefs. Also, thought is one thing that is never the same between two people. This is something that is influenced based on the people, experiences, and world around us. Different situations lead to different perception of individualized thoughts.
Both of the topics are developed over time, and they both change throughout one’s life. Theorist Jean Piaget suggests that language develops with the individual person and the environment in which surrounds them, and is affected by both social and developmental cognition. Piaget also suggest that the use of language helps children understand the world. He focused on the idea that adults also shape the use of language in children. For example, a small child that doesn’t know how to express a simple word or idea may just use repetition of the words that his/her parents use. Piaget developed stages that suggested the phase that people are in throughout their life time, and the prime category that thought is involved in is the Concrete Operational Stage. During this stage, children are able to reason their thoughts logically, and this stage helps form the thoughts that a child will carry throughout most of his/her lifetime. They use inductive thought, which is based on experience and experimenting.
While Thought and Language do not develop at the same rate, they can greatly influence one another in the developmental process. Each expresses different means of individual communication and processes within the mind. However, language may influence the way thoughts are conveyed, and thoughts are what gives language purpose.
Resources:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/language-development-2/
http://www.telacommunications.com/nutshell/stages.htm
By: Chanelle Staats x
Have you ever stopped to think about how many different languages we have in our world today? Have you ever stopped to think about how we think or what thoughts are? If you are reading this now, you came a long way from learning how to associate language with thoughts since you were born.
Everyone learns the ropes to communicating by the time they grow older. As a child, we start on what we see on a day-to-day basis. This is how you learn how to adapt in the world you are growing up in. Depending on where we grow up at, we can learn one to many different languages from the culture we are exposed to. Language is a learned, yet instinctive, behavior. There are effective ways to communicate, even if you do not use words.
Some countries or regions use sign language as a form of communication. Although hand waving sign language is used in different parts of the world, it is translated differently in some countries. "For example, British Sign Language (BSL) is different from American Sign Language (ASL)," according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). They also state, "ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language—it has its own rules for pronunciation, word order, and complex grammar. While every language has ways of signaling different functions, such as asking a question rather than making a statement, languages differ in how this is done. For example, English speakers ask a question by raising the pitch of their voice; ASL users ask a question by raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes, and tilting their bodies forward."
Without learning the languages we know today, we would not be able to communicate effectively and our thoughts would be all over the place. Some people argue that because we live in the United States that everyone should have to speak English. The United States has become such a diverse country because it allows humans to have more freedom than some countries. People travel to the United States in search of jobs or more freedom, and it creates conflict when people are trying to talk to each other, but they are not on the same communication level. When you cannot understand someone, it is hard to communicate effectively. We, eventually, develop thoughts that classify these types of people as foreign.
As humans we tend to perceive our thoughts as forms of things we see or emotions we feel. According to Ezequiel Morsella, Ph.D., who is an Assistant Professor of Social Cognitive Neuroscience at San Francisco State University, "Thoughts can be idea-like, memory-like, picture-like, or song-like. They are usually short-lived, discrete events, unlike a continuous events such as the constant murmurs of air conditioners and rain. We all experience thoughts and have no problem identifying them and speaking about them to others."
With this neuroscientific information, thoughts have not been identified as to what they really are, and even though language is typically described as associated with humans, animals communicate in their own language that only that species understands. With this diverse world we live in today, the language and our thoughts on how the world is perceived is all an experience no one can take from any one of us. We can choose to grow with our languages or thoughts or we can choose to be comfortable with we know in our language or our world.
Resources:
http://www.researchersoftruth.org/what-is-thought
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/consciousness-and-the-brain/201202/what-is-thought
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/asl.aspx
Memory
By, Stefan Bollack-Schott x
What is memory? Memory, an amazing feature of any creature with a brain that gives them the ability to internally recall, store, descript past events, experiences, emotions, thoughts, skills and habits, it is what allows us humans to be social beings. Memory is one of the reasons your able to have muscle control, able to turn on your favorite TV show at the right time, know where to go and who to contact in case of an emergency. No matter what we are doing, memory is always involved in your daily lives one way or another at any time.
What do we remember? Everything we do, see, hear, experience is being processed by our brain and being stored. These include what we saw while doing an errand, or what someone said about us in the hallway, even the ability to speak and write is based off of our memories. However we don’t hold onto all this information as our brains are also constantly filtering this information, some of it is forgotten, while others are stored away either to be recalled later in life or forgotten over time with the addition of new information. So the information is filtered by importance or interest to the individual, an example is you randomly tap your fingers on your high school desk while the teacher gives out information on the upcoming quiz. The next day you may not remember tapping your fingers but you will remember either all or a portion of the information the teacher gave you.
What do we use memory for? Even if you’re not aware of it we use our memory every day. Whether we are using it to remember what the password is for your email, or memorizing that funny joke from that sitcom we just watched. Our memories are used from protecting us from emotional distress our physical harm all the way up to our social lives. As a little kid I’m sure we all touched a hot stove or a fire and got burned, our brains remembered the event and plug it in whenever we see something hot or an open flame to remind us, “hey that’s hot, don’t touch it”. There are even those moments where we can recognize someone’s voice out of crowd because we have remembered the tone of their voice.
Why do we remember? There are many theories and opinions that form around this question because we don’t fully understand why we remember and what happens to this memory. What we can say is that the ability to memorize has made our lives far easier, safer, and more convenient and allowed us to interact socially.
Resources:
http://www.human-memory.net/intro_what.html
http://allpsych.com/psychology101/memory/#.VhG0vPlViko
http://www.cogmed.com/working-memory-in-daily-life
Justin Underwood x
Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain, and later retrieve information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding, and storage. In order to form new memories, information must be changed into a usable form, which occurs through the process known as encoding. Once information has been successfully encoded, it must be stored in memory or later use. Much of this stored memory lies outside of our awareness most of the time, except when we actually need to use it. The retreiveal process allows us to bring stored memories into conscious awareness. While several different models of memory have been proposed, the stage model of memory is often used to explain the basic structure and function of memory.
Short-term memory, also known as active memory, is the information we are currently aware of or thinking about. In this memory would be referred to as the consious mind. Paying attention to sensory memories generates the information in short-term memory. Most of the information stored in active memory will be kept for approximately 20 to 30 seconds. While many of our short-term memories are quickly forgotten, attending to this information allows it to continue on the next stage - long-term memory.Long-term memory refers to the continuing storage of information. In long-term memory would be called the preconscious and unconscious. This information is largely outside of our awareness, but can be called into working memory to be used when needed. Some of this information is fairly easy to recall, while other memories are much more difficult to access. Each type of memory is tied to a particular type of brain function. Long-term memory, the class that we are most familiar with, is used to store facts, observations, and the stories of our lives. Working memory is used to hold the same kind of information for a much shorter amount of time, often just long enough for the information to be useful; for instance, working memory might hold the page number of a magazine article just long enough for you to turn to that page. Immediate memory is typically so short-lived that we don’t even think of it as memory; the brain uses immediate memory as a collecting bin, so that, for instance, when your eyes jump from point to point across a scene the individual snapshots are collected together into what seems like a smooth panorama. Another way to categorize memory is to divide memories about what something is from memories about how something is done. Skills like catching a baseball or riding a bicycle are called nondeclarative memories because we perform those activities automatically, with no conscious recollection of how we learned the skills. Declarative memories, on the other hand, are memories of facts and events that we can consciously recall and describe verbally.
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_07/d_07_cr/d_07_cr_tra/d_07_cr_tra.html
Devin Carter x
Philosophy of Thought & Logic
How and why our memory does what it does.
Memory is defined as being “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information”; however, there are some people who have an extraordinarily precise memory. What has always interested me about those with a “photographic” memory is that they remember things perfectly. Plus, I may just be interested in it because I don’t understand how it works.
That sounds really amazing doesn’t it? Being able to remember something perfectly? Well, unfortunately, this is too good to be true. According to mounting evidence, it's impossible to recall images with near perfect accuracy. This statement seems false though, because people with eidetic memory (eidetic being closest to photographic) can accurately describe an image if they see the image for only 30 seconds, i.e. how many petals were on a flower in a garden scene, but, these people’s reports sometimes contain errors and the accuracy of said reports fades in a few minutes. Alan Searleman, a professor of psychology at St. Lawrence University in New York who conducted an experiment over this topic said "If they were truly 'photographic' in nature, you wouldn't expect any errors at all."
Now that we are let down by this sad discovery of never being able to have a photographic memory, let us look over a more useful topic. You know when you’re having a good day? Minding your own business, everything is going good, you’re driving down the road and every song on the radio you seem to know word for word? Great right!? But then there are days when you have to go to class and take a test that you study for and your mind just blanks… why does this happen? Well, we have this part of our memory referred to as “cement” memory. The items that we recall in “cement” memory are memories that have connections somehow, so if the song Happy by Pharrell Williams connects to you, but what you study in biology doesn’t. Chances are you won’t be remembering that RNA are the strands of proteins that contain the sugar Ribose.
So, you are good at memorizing songs and not Biology, no big deal. Then our brain wants to through another catch at us. Remembering things that never happened. As you can imagine, I’m not the only one curious about this. Of course there was a study! The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm is a well-elaborated approach to this phenomenon. This study attempts to investigate the peripheral physiology of false memories induced in a visual DRM paradigm. The main research question is whether false recognition is different from true recognition in terms of accompanying physiological responses.
If you can conjure up false memory, then you can expect to be able to improve your memory. Some techniques to improve memory are pretty obvious, and we’ve been told a few of them our entire lives! First, eat right; the foods we eat, and don't eat, play a big part in our memory. For instance, fresh vegetables are essential, as are healthy fats and avoiding sugar and grain carbohydrates. Then of course, exercising and getting enough sleep both have a huge impact on our memorization abilities. Exercising helps strengthen the brain by stimulating nerve cells, while (found by a Harvard study) sleeping can help you make connections between distant objects. Lastly, we need to STOP multitasking which I know we all (or those of us who can) do it all the time. For example, I’m researching, typing this report, and texting three people all at the same time, which may explain why I’m having such a hard time memorizing all of our theorems in geometry. In fact, Research shows you actually need about eight seconds to commit a piece of information to your memory, so if you're talking on your phone and carrying in groceries when you put down your car keys, you're unlikely to remember where you left them.
In conclusion, don’t try to develop a “photographic” memory, try putting new information into a tune or connect it to you somehow, think before you remember false information, and take care of yourself! All of these things affect your memory, and could possibly decrease some stress.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200603/the-truth-about-photographic-memory
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0030416
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/24/memory-improvement-tricks.aspx
Breanna GarrettX
Cognitive bias is where humans make multiple errors when processing information. With all of these biases one cannot accurately understand reality. Even when presented with all the evidence to create an accurate understanding, these thinking errors create a prevention of the truth. It is a flaw in judgment that arises from errors of memory, social attribution, and miscalculations like a false sense of probability. Similar to a cognitive bias is a logical fallacy. Though very much alike, a logical fallacy is an error in logical argumentation.
There are lists upon lists of all the different cognitive biases. They all range from quite simple to oddly complex. There are some people out there that think cognitive biases help process information more efficiently, especially in dangerous situations. Even with all that, they still sometimes lead to grave mistakes. Here are just a few to list:
Confirmation Bias
We are all drawn to agree with the ones who agree with how we think. You tend to be more apt to reading an article as long as it agrees with how you feel about that subject. Who you choose to associate yourself or which group you go out with goes along the same idea. You tend to shy away from groups or news that makes you feel uncomfortable or insecure. This is the preferential mode of behavior that leads to the conformation bias.
Ingroup Bias
This is closely similar to the confirmation bias. The ingroup bias is a manifestation of our innate tribal-like tendencies. A lot of this bias has to do with the neurotransmitter oxytocin, the ‘love molecule’. While this brings you close together with all the people in your group or family by creating tighter bonds, it pushes you away from outsiders. In the security you feel with your ingroup comes suspiciousness and fearfulness of others.
Gambler’s Fallacy
It may be called a fallacy, but it is more like a glitch in our thinking. We can do something over and over and think we just changed the odds. The classic example is the tossing of a coin. You can flip the same coin 9 times, have it land on tails 7 of the times and expect the odds to be in favor on it landing on tails once more. In all reality that same coin still has the odds of a 50/50 chance. We are so into this that we have that ‘gut feeling’ that our luck will eventually come around sometime.
Neglecting Probability
Closely related to the previous cognitive bias, neglecting probability is seemingly the opposite. People commute on a daily basis in a car to and from work. We think absolutely nothing of it. But when it comes to boarding an airplane for a flight over the ocean or even just two states, there numerous people that cannot bring themselves to do it. Statically speaking your chances of dying in a car accident is significantly higher than crashing in an airplane. Our brains will not make it around this to see the clear logic.
Status-Quo Bias
Most of us are pretty apprehensive of change. If we have to make a decision it usually end up being the one that will bring about the least amount of change. There is this thing of sticking to the day-to-day routine as to nothing goes askew, making sure nothing can go wrong. The status-quo can be accompanied with the age-old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
Bandwagon Effect
Though most of us unconscious of this, we tend to go with the flow of the crowd. It could be a new trend of clothing at school. Susie has these cool new shoes so now every other girl in school is begging her mom or dad to buy her those same shoes. The bandwagon effect is what often causes behaviors, social norms, and memes to spread among each group of individuals. Much of this bias has to do with our built-in desire to fit in with the world around us.
Sources
http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
Anthony Roy x
Cognitive Bias is an error in the way thinking occurs. Humans simplify the way we think to make sense of the world and reach decisions with relative speed. Cognitive bias is often the result of this simplifying process. Individuals create their own "social reality" from their perceptions of the world. To help them understand what is around them. This leads to perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgement, illogical interpretation, or irrationality.
Bandwagon Effect is a phenomenon where as more people begin to believe in something. The more people will begin to hop on board. According to this concept, the increasing popularity of a product or phenomenon encourages more people to "get on the bandwagon" too. This is seen often in everyday life. Fashion trends, other trends, or fads are the result of the Bandwagon Effect.
Bias Blind Spot is the failure to recognize your own biases and their impact on your judgement. People who see themselves in a positive light are often the ones to be effected by Bias Blind Spot the most. When made aware of your various biases you are still unable to control them. This contributes to the bias blind spot in that even if one is told that they are biased, they are unable to alter their biased perception
Choice-supportive bias is a bias, wherein no matter how terrible the choice you made was. You see it in a positive light. For instance you are given the opportunity to go to either Colorado or Florida. You choose to go to Florida. While in Florida all it does is rains and you are unable to actually do anything like go to the beech. While Colorado is experiencing some of the nicest weather in years. Even though Florida was obviously not the best choice you will downplay Florida's faults and amplify Colorado's faults.
Confirmation Bias also called my-side bias is the tendency to look, recall or favor information that supports something you believe in. While ignoring or downplaying information that contradicts it. This effect is more pronounced if the issue is emotionally charged. For instance people who are anti-abortion are going to support information that supports their position while ignoring or downplaying even factual information that discredits their position.
Sources
http://psychology.about.com/od/cindex/fl/What-Is-a-Cognitive-Bias.htm
http://www.businessinsider.com/cognitive-biases-2013-8?op=1
Cognitive Bias
Nora Urban
Cognitive Bias, according to wikipedia, it refers it to a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgement, whereby inferences about other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion. Individuals create their own “subjective social reality” from their perception of the input.
So what does this really mean? Well to me it means basically that we things jumbled up. These biases prevent us from thinking clearly and understanding reality. According to an article on All Notes, cognitive bias, are patterns that cause us to ignore facts and abandon rationality in many aspects of our daily lives. It is a mental behavior that leads us to repeatedly come to incorrect conclusions about the world.
All Note recognizes four specific types of cognitive bias, however there are many more out there.
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation Bias is a tendency to look for new information that confirms a presently held notion or belief. In other words this closes us off from information which could contradict what we presently understand to be true. An example would be someone looking online for information they already know however looking to find supportive information by narrowing their search field to those specific keys. This is a very common bias as it is very natural for one to want our current understanding and beliefs to be true.
Fundamental Attribution Error
This is the propensity to give greater weight to explanations of others behavior that center around their personality and less weight to explanations that take into consideration factors outside that individuals control. In other words we give greater weight to outside factors when explaining our own behaviors and less weight to our own personality or disposition.
Stereotype
Stereotype is when one holds a belief or have an expectation about all members of a certain group of people based solely on their membership of that group, a shortcut for evaluating individuals on an interpersonal level by assuming your ability to categorize them justifies making judgments about them with little or no information.
Causations Bias
This refers to the tendency to assume that a relationship of causation exists when in reality on does not. For example assuming that because two events are correlated or associated that they are causally related or that an event is caused by a previous event based solely on their occurring together is to demonstrate a causation bias.
Biases are common and many follow predictable and obvious patterns. According to Wise Geek, humans develop them for a range of reasons; they help the brain to process information quickly, even when that processing is sometimes erroneous.
Understanding and recognizing these in ourselves and in others is key. If you are able to account for bias in evaluating a situation or someone’s telling of an event, you can make a more accurate decision based on fact, rather than tricks of your mind. This is a powerful force in decision making, as well as skews our perspective of people and the world around us.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias
http://all-notes.com/4-of-the-most-common-cognitive-biases-in-psychology/
http://www.wisegeekhealth.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias.htm
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http://usablelearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/right_bias1.jpg
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IMPROPERLY POSTED
Evan Walter
Wiki Essay
NO IMAGE
Solving problems isn’t always the easiest things to do. We often put ourselves in tough situations only to find out that coming to a conclusion is even harder. When solving problems it is very easy to do what appeals you but may throw others under the bus. Sometimes the hardest thing to do in this situation is be honest with what is reality and what isn’t true. There are definitely people in the world who are good at solving problems, and others that struggle with it.
When confronted with a problem, what is the first thing you think about? Is it, how am I going to get myself out of this situation or what are the immediate consequences of the decision I am about to make? It is very easy to skate around the truth to avoid solving problems. Sometimes the truth never lies and problems we face get very uncomfortable. If we want to be successful at problem solving we have to be honest with what the situation is. Sometimes the truth hurts, but if you avoid the truth, chances are you’ll get caught up in it later.
I am the kind of person who usually gets caught up in solving problems that most the time aren’t even mine. Sometimes it gets me in to trouble and uncomfortable situations. I don’t know how I get roped in to these things but nine times out of ten it’s usually because the person I’m dealing with is a bad problem solver. The people who usually struggle with problems in my opinion are the ones that take life negatively. People who are too over the top about little things drive me crazy because its normal to make mistakes and life happens. The best way to go about it is with a positive attitude. Especially working with others, if you have a positive attitude, then it very well may rub off on them.