I looked into precise generalities because I wanted to get more of an understanding of how they are used in real life.  My google search came up with a bunch of statistic sights, which is interesting to me because I am in an intro to statistic class right now.  I looked at one of the sights and they used the idea of a precise generalization in their abstract.  This makes sense to me because precise generalizations are all about percents and probability, so I can see how they would fit into the world of statistics.  I learned in my statistics class that if something is a high enough percent you can say it is significant, which is the same thing as how the book describes if a percentage that is given is high enough then it makes for a strong argument.  Now I think of precise generalizations as statistics and it makes it easier to remember. 

Here’s the link J

http://www.springerlink.com/content/q5726wj14387p235/

Class Assignments

The assignments that we have done for this class I feel are very relevant to a lot of work we are going to be doing in out college careers.  Being able to think critically about something you find online is something we have to do almost every time we do an assignment outside of the classroom.  It’s important to be able to know what is a good argument versus something that uses tricks to be appealing.  Also, it helps me be able to formulate my arguments better in a way I can be more confident of and help get my point across in the most intelligent way.  The assignments take what we read about in the book and write about on out blogs and turns it into real-life, useful situations.  I like to think of it as the final step after we learn things in class- figuring out how to use them in our lives. 

Chapter 8- Disscusing Not-So-Good Ways to Argue

Arguing backwards with all is commonly heard, especially when making quick judgments based on previous experiences.  I had a roommate who was very smart and would help me with my homework, and people would come over and assume he went to college with me.  The train of thought that brought about this conclusion was all smart people go to college (All S are P), and your roommate is smart (a is P), therefore he must go to college (So a is S).  This is a weak argument and sure enough, not correct. 

Another weak way to argue is reasoning in a chain with some.  An example of this would be college graduates and their work situations.  A person could say some college graduates are out of work (Some S are P).  Also, some people who are out of work are on welfare (Some P are Q).  So some college graduates are on welfare (So some S are Q).  This may be true for a very small portion of college graduates but it is a pretty inaccurate way to describe the average college graduate.  You can see how this may not be the best way of convincing someone of something

Reasoning from Hypothesis

Sometimes, when people make a point they like to state their point first.  Then, if it is disputed, they will back it up with more claims and reasons why their original point is true.  This is a good way to say something if you don’t think you will have to explain yourself.  It could possibly say you time if your point isn’t questioned.  The format for this is stating your point (A) and then in questioned follow up with an argument to support your hypothesis or point (B).  Then, if your argument is valid, “A then B” will ring true.  An example of this would be if someone told me that they wanted to shop online, and I told them that if they wanted to do that they would have to give their credit card information to the website.  If they asked why, I would explain that you can’t pay in cash over the internet and there is no other way that you can pay for whatever you are trying to purchase.  Therefore, If you buy something online you must pay with a credit card. 

Bantering, Chapter 7

Arguments get fun when you start to question and refute them. Some points that you make when you argue sound good, but compared to their counterarguments they aren’t anything specially.  Often arguments go back and forth until a point is made that trumps all the other points, or until one side out-weighs the other.  This is what we do in our heads when we made pros-and-cons lists.  We come up with all of the good things and bad things that have to do with the decision or claim we are trying to decide about.  Other times, we feel one way and one of our companions will feel another way, and each person has to think of all the pros and the other person has to come up with all of the cons or an alternative solutions, which they must prove better than the original.  Bantering back in fourth is fun as long as it is kept light, and can also be a great way to test the intelligence of your friends. J

Conditional Claims and their Contradictories

Conditional claims are something that we hear a lot in our day to day lives.  People expect or assume certain things, and that is why they are so common.  However, a lot of the time a conditional claim can be inaccurate and easily contradicted.  For instance, if I would tell someone that I am only going to class if it is not raining because I don’t want to get my hair wet, they could easily use the contradictory that it is raining BUT I could use an umbrella and go to class without getting my hair wet.  Some contradictories are more simple to figure out than others.  For instance, “If you snap your laptop in half, then it won’t work anymore” is a lot harder to contradict than something like “If you drink a glass of water, then you will not be thirst anymore.”  There are always loopholes to figuring out some sort of opposing situation though. 

The wonderful idea of "Suspending Judgment"

I like the idea that you can “suspend judgment”.  I think a lot of people feel pressured to have an opinion or stance on every little thing.  It is ok to be passionate, but really irritating when people get on their high-horse about subjects they are barely familiar with just because of what they heard someone else say about it.  A lot of the time professors can influence people in this way, because students are prone to thinking every single thing that they are being taught is true and not realizing that the information they are receiving is being shaped by their professor’s opinions.   Sometimes, students who take a class with a spirited professor will come away with a bunch of radical ideas, with nothing to back them up but the word of their professor. 

I think as a country we would be better if we opted for the “suspend judgment” option more often.  Passing judgment when you do not have enough or reliable information to back yourself up is a common error.  This is why racism and gossip, two major judgments, are so prevalent in the US.  If we could just be a little more patient and collect as much data as possible before passing these kind of judgments, then people could get along much better.