How about that wordbank?

Ok, so I know we have a quiz this monday. That isnt the hard part. The hard part is remembering the names of all those fallacies. Could we at least have a mini word bank? It could even have 50 types of fallacies! Isnt the purpose of a quiz to understand the concept? What better way to understand the concept better, than to not stress about what the name of the fallacy is! The class will stress over which one of the 50 the fallacy is, but it would make our lives and your gradebook look alot better. Does anyone else want a wordbank as bad as I do?

Examples of fallacies (pt. 2)

You can download the logical fallacy examples I posted today here. Last week's examples are here, and here (along w/ some links to other reviews of fallacies).

Also, I posted several examples & definitions of fisking here. And an example of my own here.

identifying fallacies

I was hesitant before writing this, but I decided to do it anyway. Having been going over examples in class, identifying these fallacies is a lot harder than I expected. Maybe its just me, but I feel like some are confusing. If anyone has any quick pointers to make it easier to understand I am all ears.

The Governator Won't Be Back

Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on barbarians, terrorists, and cyborgs, but nothing could have prepared him for his greatest threat, the women's movement. At a state women's conference, Governor Schwarzenegger irritated special interest groups by telling them that he is "always kicking their butts."

This comment came soon after the Governor appointed several women to key staff positions. This move backslides his campaign to show his equal support and respect for women, despite the many accusations of sexual misconduct while on various movie sets.

Unfotunately, this situation will take more than a witty one liner to overcome. Various teacher and nurse unions are beginning to stage protests and run ads criticizing the Governor's policies. These groups are attempting to break down the Governor's effectiveness by toting him as a sexist. It was so much easier when he could throw Sigourney Weaver over his shoulder and run away.

Will this be the next in a series of maneuvers aimed at proving that not all actors can transition into politics, or will the Governor weather this storm as he has many others? Will the Governor be back? Only time, and a few million voters, will tell.

The Atlanta Murders

I have been following up on this tragedy of shooting the three people in Atlanta, including the judge. I was wondering what isit that motivates a human being to waste his life, and other lives by doing a horrible thing like that?
I just wanted to see what's your take on it, and what do you guys think about what happened?

Puzzle

I know this is outside the preview of the class, but it’s probably a cool brainteaser to think about while we are away from school. Aboveall, there is logic to it.
A man and his son got into an accident. Both are severely injured. The ambulance rushes the son and the father to different hospitals. Soon (15 min later) the hospital staff decided that the son needs surgery. They called the doctor to the operation. After looking at the patient, the doctor said: "this is my son, I can't operate on him."
How is that possible?

One way of searching for blogs to fisk

For those who need help on looking for some blogs to fisk, here is one alternative that I picked and it worked for me, after some research, so I hope it works for you guys.
If you go to google and type "political blogs", the third link is "Political Weblogs in the Yahoo Directory". It has hundreds of bloggers, so you may start clicking on some of them and looking through their pages which contain their bloggs, untill you find something suitable.
Good Luck...

and now for something completely different

So, I guess this isn't really much to do with what we talked about in class but I wanted to see what you guys thought about this situation...

Friends' of the family (Tom and Marti) have a son (Sean). Sean (17 or 18) gets girlfriend (16 or 17) pregnant. Girlfriend decides it would be a better idea not to go to the doctor and that way no one will find out that she is pregnant. I don't think she remembered that she would actually have to give birth and that might bring about some attention....anyway! Girlfriend gives birth and they do all of the normal tests on the baby. Turns out that the baby will not respond to anything. It won't suckle, turn it's head, grip, nothing. The baby was born with 1/3 of a brain and the only way it was being kept alive was through the IV feeding it. The hospital decided that it was more humane to starve the baby to death rather than give it the appropriate drugs to allow it to die in peace without suffering.

I know that there are laws about what can be done in allowing someone to die. It troubles me that we are at a point in history where we deem it better to allow a human being to suffer to death rather than use the technology we have developed to provide peace. Just curious on what others thought about this... Post it.

Poilitcal Babysitting

As North Korea snorts and paws at the ground by parading their "achievement" of nuclear weapons, as North Korea stamps away from the six-party talks, as China tries to persuade North Korea to end their tantrum and return to the bargaining table, the US is urged to adopt a "more concilliatory approach" and to "be more flexible."

This form of pathetic hand holding diplomacy likens to asking a three year old to sit down and talk about the loaded gun that he's holding. The responsible move is to step in and take the gun before the child shoots someone, or more likely himself.

The UN needs to step up and take charge. This is no longer the academic question, "what if." A communist country has declared that they have weapons capable of wiping out millions, while simulatenously walking away from peace talks. Can anyone else see a temper tantrum ending with much bloodshed?

It's time for someone to step up and say, enough is enough!

My source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/02/14/nkorea.talks/index.html

Political Paparazzi?

Good evening everyone!
I randomly came across a blog entry about political bloggers as the new paparazzi that I thought might interest you.

Also, to those of you who dont quite understand the whole blogosphere yet, try randomly checking out some blogs that are not specific to any viewpoint. Many people, myself included, use personal blogs to keep up with friends near and far, to update others on major events, and to communicate in general without sending out mass emails. Try a site like www.opendiary.com or my favorite (and host of my own blog) www.livejournal.com. Even if you never use it, try it out. Its worth it, even if you close it off to the public and keep it only for yourself.

Examples of fallacies (pt. 1)

Some have asked me to post the examples of logical fallacies we went over in class today. You can download the .doc file here. Also, I'm adding some links to good sites that cover fallacies:

• Christian Logical Loop - an interesting resource site for home-schoolers to learn/teach how to spot logical fallacies
  
• QuickNotes on Logical Fallacies - an overview of a dozen most common logical fallacies
  
• Fallacy Files - a very, very extensive overview of logical fallacies

You may also want to look to see if you can spot fallacies in newspapers, TV, or other places. Once you start learning them, you'll notice them in many places.

Simple Social Security Blog

Interesting blog about the compare and contrasting views of liberals and conservatives toward social security and how it should be either privatized or run by the government. It is a to-the-point blog, so it is easy to read and understand, does not have complex blog jargon.

Becker-posner

Just a Thought

I just watched the movie Runaway Jury and it made me start thinking about fallacies. If you do not know the movie is about misdirection and forms or trickery. I was wondering if people every create arguments and intentionally place logical fallacies within their arguments to swing the reader one way of another. For example, if someone made a terrible argument full of fallacies you would think that the reader would probably take sides against the writer. We really don't know the writers real point of view so he or she could potentially be gaining approval by writing poor arguments. This is just an idea, i can not really think a circumstance where this would be necessary but if anyone can feel free to respond.

Russian Novels and Socialism

Has anyone read some of the Russian novels that came out of the tsarist regime? This is pre-socialism. Novels like Chernyshevsky's What is to be Done?, written while he was in prison, Dostoevsky's Underground Man, a response to the previous novel, and Puskin's short story, The Bronze Horseman, seem to predict the coming revolution.

This is a period in history where dissidents were either executed for treason or shipped to Siberia. These authors appear to be boldy calling for reform, or if not calling, proclaiming that the serfs will rise and settle old scores.

While I don't see these novels as the direct cause of Marxism, or the rise of Lenin (although he quoted Chernyshevsky on multiple occasions), they seem to have instilled the idea of equality in whomever could obtain a copy. The proverbial straw that permanently redefined Russia.

Blogosphere Gains More Ground

As I posted earlier, Eason Jordan's troubles finally escalated beyond his control. Was it necessary that he resign? Eason Jordan Resigns

Help

I am struggling with this whole blog idea and don't really understand the point of them. I was just wondering if anyone knows of a really good blog that doesn't deal with politics or if it does is simple to read and understands. Thanks
~Allison

On Fisking

Here are some brief definitions and/or descriptions of what it means to "Fisk" an argument:

Fisking 101, on the value of Fisking, on the joy of Fisking, the Samizdata brief definition, and because it's most relevant for our class, one on Fisking as a Rhetorical construct.

Some examples of what Fisking looks like (not all are done well, but focus on the style's form):

• A defense of Al Franken against Bill O'Reilly here.
  
• A snarky attack on Barbara Streissand here.
  
• A pretty good point-by-point on a specific separation of church & state case here.
  
• A rather whimsical attack on public schools (in defense of home schooling) here.
  
• A Fisking of Dan Rather during "memogate" here.

I think that might give you a good start.

An example

Here's an example of a Fisking, from today's quiz:

The finger-painting versus story time debate has raged for many years. For years, most scholars argued that kindergartners seemed to prefer finger-painting to story time. And the data backed them up.

OK. So far so good. We understand that the issue is a finger-painting vs. story-time debate and what kindergartners prefer. And we're told that most evidence suggests the little tykes prefer finger-painting. And who wouldn't?

But a recent study by Dr. John Smith challenges the conventional wisdom,

Oh, oh. Here we go. Who is this Dr. Smith? What kind of doctor is he? Why should we care what he thinks about anything? We're never told.

arguing that American kindergartners prefer story time to finger-painting.

I'm already a bit skeptical, since all other evidence points out the opposite. But let's give the benefit of doubt. After all, all other studies might be wrong. And we don't even know how many there were, how credible those were. We're just told that "the data" backed up "most scholars". Scholars about finger-painting? Do we really need scholars for that?

Smith’s findings were recently published on his website.

Not an academic journal? Not a major weekly (or monthly) news magazine? I get the feeling Dr. Smith isn't very well-known (or respected?) in the finger-painting scholarship community. But could we at least see what his website is? It'd be nice to check it out ourselves. At least to help form an opinion, or see the original source.

He conducted a survey of Denver five- and six-year-olds between 2001 and 2003, which included a sample varied by race and family income.

OK. So we know the sample was divided by race & income. What about gender? What about religion? And why only Denver? What was the sample size? Was it random? I'm very skeptical of this data.

“I think this study is definitive,” said Smith.

Really? Definitive? I'm sure you'd think so, dear Doctor. But studies are rarely (if ever "definitive"). Especially when they contradict all other previous finger-painting scholarship.

“It’s obvious that kids, when asked, prefer to keep their clothes clean, in order to avoid making their mommies mad.”

How exactly did you word your questions to these kindertykes, Dr? Seems you stacked the deck in your favor.

Smith was recently presented his findings to the New York City School Board after a parent contacted him to help convince the school board to cancel finger painting in the city’s kindergartens.

And here we find out that Dr. Smith is being called in as an expert witness. But what does a study of Denver kindergartners have to do with New York City? Even ignoring the glaring errors in the study (as reported). But only an irate parent called him? Not the school board officials? I wonder what their reaction is.

blogs

I would just like to say, that even after using this blog I still wasn't sure about them. I saw what they were used for, and I understood how they can benefit people, in whatever way possible. Yet, I still wasn't sure if they would benefit me personally. Well, then I made one of my own, separate from this one, and I love it. They are so useful, powerful, and also interesting. Also blogs are a good way to learn and connect to people. Mine is not politically based, however, I do still like it and may join one on politics later. So, I just wanted to let you all know what I have learned. Also, get into blogs guys they can be a lot of fun and interesting, as well as stress-relieving. Ok, have a good one guys...

...participation points here I come... J/K
-Lindsay

Anybody heard about this?

Any of you keeping up on this...

http://www.billroggio.com/easongate/

I have been trying to hash through the entire blog to get my bearings on exactly what is going on/has happened. It seems pretty interesting thus far.. check it out.

Check out my blog

I have been working on a blog if you like to check it out this is the address.

http://pacosolo.blogspot.com/

Suggestions are welcome!

Internship opportunity

Some of you may be interested in this.

-----

The May 3 election in Kalamazoo County will include a county-wide millage to support the public schools. Chris Waldron, a member of the KPS school board and a middle school teacher in Portage, contacted me to see if I knew of any students that might be interested in an internship with the campaign for the millage. I've gotten in touch with a few people, but I wanted to pass the information along to you as well.

Given the timing of the election, it may not be possible to award academic credit for the internship. Still, for students interested in campaigns and concerned about public education, it could be a valuable learning experience. I don't know if any funds will be available to make it a paid position. I do know that the millage supporters hope to run a real campaign, so there will be lots of opportunities to learn.

Interested students can contact me or Chris Waldron directly at: cpwaldron82@yahoo.com.

You can find out more about the millage in an op-ed in yesterday's Kalamazoo Gazette by Tim Bartik and Kevin Hollenbeck, economists at the Upjohn Institute and members of the Kalamazoo and Portage school boards,
respectively.

Quiz 2 Review

Be sure you carefully look over the criteria for evaluating evidence I posted earlier. Also look over your notes on ethics in argumentation (Chapter 3).

Criteria for judging evidence

I spoke a bit in class today about how we can know if evidence (especially things like statistics or polls) are credible. I promised I'd outline those criteria here for you to peruse (and study for the upcoming quiz):

Sources for Evidence

• Is the source referenced? A newspaper or magazine should tell its readers where the evidence comes from.
  
• Is the source referenced by other people? Although it won't tell you much about the validity of specific sources, knowing that it's widely accepted can help (versus, for example, a claim by some scholar that is not widely accepted by his/her colleagues).
  
• Who else uses the source? If the data or figures are widely used (especially if by both sides of a debate), they are probably viewed as credible by many different people. If the data or figures are themselves a matter of debate, you should approach with caution.
  
• Does the source present its findings with transparency? A good source will tell you the methods of their data collection, and may even tell you about some potential limitations (being self-critical) of their data.
  
• Are multiple sources saying the same thing? Somewhat different from the above, you can look to see if several different, unrelated polling groups or think tanks came up with similar results in their surveys or studies. For example, if three different drug testing labs came up with the same results about a new medicine, the results are probably pretty convincing.
  
• Finally, you can look at the historical credibility of the source. Is the source known for being credible? Has the source been wrong in the past? How wrong?

Surveys/Polls

• Is the sample representative of the population? A good survey should include a good cross section of the population under study (if you're only studying women, it should still include differences by age, geography, race, religion, income, etc.).
  
• Is the sample random? The best way to to guarantee a representative sample is to make a random sample.
  
• What is the sample size? If a poll is referenced, it should tell us something about sample size. A good, random sample of around 1,200 is usually fairly accurate. Bigger is better, if you're looking at more & more variables.
  
• What were the questions? A good survey should have clearly worded, and unbiased questions. If the report can, it should mention the exact question used, and the possible answers available to respondents.
  
• What was the question order? Often, surveys include more than one question. What other questions where asked is important. What order they are asked in can significantly influence participant responses.
  
• Is the margin of error reported? All surveys and polls have a statistical margin of error. Is it 95%? Or 97%? How accurate do you want? If a poll says candidate A will win over B by 51% to 48%, but the margin of error is +/-3%, that is not useful to us (it could be 54% to 45% or 48% to 51% the other way).
  
• What date was the poll taken? Opinions can quickly change, it's important to know when a poll was taken. Because perhaps opinion might change one way or another based on events that happened after the poll.
  
• Is the poll widely used or accepted? As with any evidence, if the polling organization is widely respected and used, it's a good indication that maybe you can trust this poll.

Keep in mind that none of these things can tell you beyond a shadow of doubt whether the evidence is true or false. But it can give you a good idea of whether you should trust it or not.

Very often, in politics, we have to make decisions based on imperfect information. Mostly, because we either don't really know the situation. Or because we can't really predict the future (economic projections that go 50 years into the future are very, very difficult). And those of use who aren't experts in one field or other, have to rely on experts and what they tell us. But if we know a little about how to judge sources of evidence, we can protect ourselves from false information.

Media Problems

Interested in hearing what people think about this mess. Was Eason right in saying what he did, or were his actions merely the results of pressures from such an anti-U.S. environment? http://www.forumblog.org/blog/2005/01/do_us_troops_ta.html

Speaking of media

My friend, Simon, has an interesting post about Vice Magazine that fits w/ what we've recently covered (ethics in arguments, reliable media, etc). It's also related specifically to the kind of social discourse present among, and aimed at, many young people today.

Social Security

I thought this was a good article to use your 7 steps.

http://www.cepr.net/publications/facts_social_security.htm