Assignment #1
By: Ambra Bourne • January 14, 2007
Post 1: “Reaction piece to the expert lecture”
Richard Feynman and Critical Thinking in Physics
Richard Feynman talks about several topics, ideas and theories in his expert lecture “Richard Feynman and Critical Thinking in Physics”. One topic being the inner structure and neutrons, electrons, protons, and anti-neutrinos. Feynman was an American physicist known for expanding the theory of quantum electrodynamics. Even though I know very, very little about physics, watching the piece on Feynman taught me a great deal about science. I’ve learned that through processes like a bird, you can know the name that people or a society assign to it, but still know nothing about the bird. You do not know the color of the bird, what the bird likes to eat, where or when it sleeps, all you know is the name, which means in fact nothing truly about the actual bird. Feynman assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was awarded the Nobel Prize for work on quantum electrodynamics. Feynman enjoyed physics, not because it was important to him, but because it was fun. Feynman feels that honors or prizes are not genuine, he believes that the real prize is the understanding of the theory, like understanding the bird, not simply knowing the name assigned to it, his interest in science is to find out about the world. Eventually, Feynman decided to work at the California Institute of Technology, where he had a great deal of success teaching using discussions for gaining perspective on problems and issues. He was surprised to learn that the same teaching devices did not apply for his daughter.
Bertrand Russell on Clear Thinking
Unlike the previous expert lecture “Bertrand Russell on Clear Thinking” was short and simple. Russell focused his lecture on clear or exact critical thinking. The ideal of critical thinking is a central one in Russell's philosophy. Inexact thinking is thinking where one is not knowing, where anything can happen. Russell attaches significant value to forming one's own opinion, which betrays a confidence in a person's ability to avoid dependence on expert knowledge.
Post 2: “Substantial questions or elaborations or rebuttals to the required reading”
The four assigned readings Cargo Cult Science, Agnosticism / Atheism, Viruses of the Mind and Critical Thinking in an Online World made me think about issues I would have otherwise never cared about. Reading these articles I was able to expand my knowledge on different aspects of various subjects.
Learning that a cold reading occurs when, presumably, the reader does not know anything about the client in advance, this can be contrasted with a "hot" reading which is made when the reader does have advance information about the clients. How often a cold reading is actually a hot reading is unknown. This is a subject that I would have never researched under the circumstances. Also, I found interesting that there are many people who promote themselves as psychics or clairvoyants, and who claim that their powers enable them to read your character. In the article on Critical Thinking in an online world I see how gradual the World Wide Web is rapidly taking the place of the traditional library. There has been numerous amounts of advances towards mechanical gadgets and computerized equipment. Ten years ago there was no mention of “online classes”, now they are the key essential for the student on the go, someone far away from the campus, or for whatever reason they may have that would allow them to take classes without having to commit to a classroom as often as the traditional college course.
The four assigned readings Cargo Cult Science, Agnosticism / Atheism, Viruses of the Mind and Critical Thinking in an Online World made me think about issues I would have otherwise never cared about. Reading these articles I was able to expand my knowledge on different aspects of various subjects.
Learning that a cold reading occurs when, presumably, the reader does not know anything about the client in advance, this can be contrasted with a "hot" reading which is made when the reader does have advance information about the clients. How often a cold reading is actually a hot reading is unknown. This is a subject that I would have never researched under the circumstances. Also, I found interesting that there are many people who promote themselves as psychics or clairvoyants, and who claim that their powers enable them to read your character. In the article on Critical Thinking in an online world I see how gradual the World Wide Web is rapidly taking the place of the traditional library. There has been numerous amounts of advances towards mechanical gadgets and computerized equipment. Ten years ago there was no mention of “online classes”, now they are the key essential for the student on the go, someone far away from the campus, or for whatever reason they may have that would allow them to take classes without having to commit to a classroom as often as the traditional college course.
Post 3: “Discuss issues or ideas raised in the critical thinking films”
NUMINOUS AWARD: KARMA & CONFERENCE PRESENTATION Sections 1 & 2
In review of the two films Karma and the Conference presentations, again I learned a lot about subjects that I would never have studied. A famous explanation of Karma would be “What goes around comes around”. Karma has quite karma. In Indian philosophy, it is total of all of an individual’s action, good or bad. These actions will then determine the future state of that individual. Some may believe that Karma is the same as destiny or fate. Karma is, fundamentally a series of causation, going all the way back to the perpetuity of the past and designed to go into the perpetuity of the future.
The Conference presentation talked a great deal about the tension between science and religion and the theory of revolution. In the film, one speaker stated that about 62 percent of Americans do not believe that humans evolved from the earlier life forms. Because of the conflict of science and religion, some believe that humans have evolved from earlier life forms, yet others figured that life must have originated in other ways.
The film also touched on Christians United for Israel and how about half of the population is anticipation the end of the world. The film brought on about how science can explain the world in a good way from faith also. Christians United for Israel is an American Lobbying group comprised of Christian and Jewish communities. It is focused on communicating the need to defend Israel, in light of their interpretation of the Bible.
In the film it also discussed Sir Isaac Newton and his work of the Principia. Newton conducted work on gravitation and its effect on the orbits of planets. With the Principia, Newton became internationally recognized. He acquired a circle of admirers. Although the laws of motion and universal gravitation became Newton's best-known discoveries, he warned against using them to view the universe as a mere machine. In the film it states that Newton did not reference God in his discovery of gravitation because he understood the theory and the physical explanation of the laws of motion and gravitational forces. In the earlier days no one understood the theory and could not explain the reasoning, so they gave attribute to God. Because Newton was able to explain gravitation and its effect on the planets, he earned the privilege for naming rights on the theory, being that he was the first to explain it and he was able to do it correctly, similar to the films example of the postage stamps. The British was the only country that did not apply an origin on their stamp, simply because they are the ones that came up with the idea first.
Similar to all the readings and films, I would not have even read about these subject matters, yet I find it extremely interesting to learn about the different theories and how the fact that religion and science can be so parallel, yet so different at the same time.
NUMINOUS AWARD: KARMA & CONFERENCE PRESENTATION Sections 1 & 2
In review of the two films Karma and the Conference presentations, again I learned a lot about subjects that I would never have studied. A famous explanation of Karma would be “What goes around comes around”. Karma has quite karma. In Indian philosophy, it is total of all of an individual’s action, good or bad. These actions will then determine the future state of that individual. Some may believe that Karma is the same as destiny or fate. Karma is, fundamentally a series of causation, going all the way back to the perpetuity of the past and designed to go into the perpetuity of the future.
The Conference presentation talked a great deal about the tension between science and religion and the theory of revolution. In the film, one speaker stated that about 62 percent of Americans do not believe that humans evolved from the earlier life forms. Because of the conflict of science and religion, some believe that humans have evolved from earlier life forms, yet others figured that life must have originated in other ways.
The film also touched on Christians United for Israel and how about half of the population is anticipation the end of the world. The film brought on about how science can explain the world in a good way from faith also. Christians United for Israel is an American Lobbying group comprised of Christian and Jewish communities. It is focused on communicating the need to defend Israel, in light of their interpretation of the Bible.
In the film it also discussed Sir Isaac Newton and his work of the Principia. Newton conducted work on gravitation and its effect on the orbits of planets. With the Principia, Newton became internationally recognized. He acquired a circle of admirers. Although the laws of motion and universal gravitation became Newton's best-known discoveries, he warned against using them to view the universe as a mere machine. In the film it states that Newton did not reference God in his discovery of gravitation because he understood the theory and the physical explanation of the laws of motion and gravitational forces. In the earlier days no one understood the theory and could not explain the reasoning, so they gave attribute to God. Because Newton was able to explain gravitation and its effect on the planets, he earned the privilege for naming rights on the theory, being that he was the first to explain it and he was able to do it correctly, similar to the films example of the postage stamps. The British was the only country that did not apply an origin on their stamp, simply because they are the ones that came up with the idea first.
Similar to all the readings and films, I would not have even read about these subject matters, yet I find it extremely interesting to learn about the different theories and how the fact that religion and science can be so parallel, yet so different at the same time.
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