post 3

Picking a concept was not as easy as it sounded. In this communications class there were so many that you could apply to your life and there were a lot of useful concepts that this class has taught me. One concept I felt was helpful was the concept of cause and effect. I always thought that just because you have a strong effect to a cause then it would be a strong argument but that is not always the case. One thing this course shows you is to look at all the little aspects about a cause and effect argument and that there are so many different kinds. You have to really look into it and the most obvious answer might not always be the right one because it could have cracks in it that you would not have noticed if you never took this class. Anyone can apply communication to their daily lives and everyone should work on having better communication no matter who you are.

post 2

what was my most favorite and least favorite things about this class? Well everything has pros and cons and this class is no exception. The both share the same thing that I liked and disliked, it is just the different aspects about the certain thing. This class being online was by far my favorite part of it because it gave you that sense of freedom and independence that a normal class simply does not grant you. You are not obligated to have to go to class at a certain place at a certain time. You simply log onto your computer and you look at the blog on a daily basis. This is also my least favorite part because it relies so heavily on yourself. If you miss a post or anything like that then it is totally your fault and you have no one to blame.

post 1

What have you learned over the course? Well that’s a good question because when I first signed up for this class I assumed it was going to be somewhat of an easy no brainer class, but I was wrong. I found out that if you take the time and actually try to learn from the material that you can really take a lot out of this class. I think that the most important thing that I learned was overall communication. I feel that I can now communicate better, more comfortably, and communicate with more success after taking this class. Overall communication I feel is a vital tool to have in your arsenal. You can take this skill and apply it to anything in your life. When it comes to finding a job good communication is key and even once you have that job communication is something that can definitely get your further.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15 talks about cause and effect and it was actually somewhat confusing for me. One part in the book that I found helpful would be the criteria for cause and effect. There is a chart on page 307 that lists the necessary criteria for cause and effect. One important element that it tells us is that the cause makes a difference – if the cause had not happened, the effect would not have happened. An example of this could be….
Example. I got paid early this week on Thursday so I had money in my account otherwise I would have been broke. I wanted pizza, so I went to the bank to get money so I could afford the pizza.
I got paid early which allowed me to get pizza because if I got paid on Friday like I normally did then I would not have been able to get pizza on Thursday. This was one part I was unclear about but I think I understood correctly.

Mission Critical

this mission critical page was extremely useful. It helps you with complete understanding of various subjects that we are studying in this class. It gives lots of in depth helpfulness on each topic you need help on. For someone like me, who struggles on certain parts with understanding, I wish I found this earlier. One part that I felt was extremely helpful was the Fallacies and Non-Rational Persuasion section. This section has all of the appeals and even groups them into two separate categories. I had a problem understanding the appeals because there were so many of them and after going through each one of the subjects it has helped me learned to look for specifics which will prove the difference between them. The website also provides exercises to look at. I personally did not do any of them but looking at them I can see that they are helpful because you can use the website while you look at the exercises to get a more hands on effort.

Casuse and Effect

This webpage is a great piece of reading that discusses cause and effect. It helps further understand all the key specifics that need to be present in order for the argument to be successful. Basically this webpage went step by step through the trial case sort of on what if scenarios. Each one of these different what if circumstances was to help further understand the specifics. I felt that some of the most important information presented to us here was determining the strength of a causal argument. According to this webpage there are three factors in which they rely on.
1. How acceptable or demonstrable the implied comparison is. In this case its basically asking is this circumstance basically the same as other similar incidents on this street.
2. How likely the case for causation seems to be. Basically, can a bicycle swerving into the traffic lane cause an accident?
3. How credible the “only significant difference” or “only significant commonality” claim is. In this case, is the illegally parked truck the only difference compared to previous incidents which were identical or extremely similar?

reasoning by example.

Reasoning by example I thought was a very interesting topic. Just because you give an example does not mean it is going to be a good argument. When you think of an example for your argument you are going to make one that fits into your topic and makes your argument strong. Your example that you think of might not correlate directly with the current situation and in effect hurt the strength of your argument. An example would be:
Playing World of Warcraft hardcore will destroy your life. I have had friends go through this so you should not play hardcore.
This is an argument with an example, but there are so many technicalities which can put holes within the argument. Just because we provided an example does not mean our argument will become stronger. You need to look and see what kind of reasoning will most benefit your argument because it might not always be the best choice.

Appeal to Fear

Appeal to fear was something discussed in chapter 10 that i felt was an important topic. Today's society uses this tactic whether it is from a commercial or a politicians campaign. This tactic can be very great for your argument because it will make the viewers want to agree with whatever you are saying.
As far as appealing to fear, commercials have the greatest impact on everyone i think. One commercial i remember vividly is the Life Alert one. This commercial is aimed towards scaring the elderly into getting this device because if they do not then there is the possibility that they will die. This is a strong approach and it is very effective i think. Playing off the emotions of your audience is a very succesful tactic. If you are able to master using this appeal to fear then you can bring a much stronger argument for your argument.

Appeal to emotion

Appealing to emotion i feel is a very strong tactic that one can use when in an argument. You can make people feel bad in order to agree with you but at the same time appeal to emotion can be a bad thing for your argument. The aspect of appealing to spite was interesting to me because it showed how it can make your argument worse. Appealing to spite is basically letting revenge cloud your judgement.
One example could be.
Me: I am going to vote for George for class president because he is the best qualified.
John: Why would you vote for him? He copied from your paper and made you fail your math class.
Me: your right, im not going to vote for him, i am going to vote for Steve.
This is a bad argument because all im doing is changing my vote in order to get even with George.

week 8 post 2

Chapter 8 in Epstein's book was all about general claims. Two important topics that were discussed in this chapter included both precise generalities and vague generalities. These two topics basically help you find a good/bad or a strong/weak argument hich is important in communication. Lets start with vague generalities. These generalities use words such as most,all, and most rather then using specific numbers or statistics when referring to a group of something.
Ex. Almost all wealthy people have a college degree. Bill Gates is wealthy. So Bill Gates has a collegr degree. This is false because he does not have a degree and thr term almost all could be misleading because it doesnt show the exact number which would be a lot more specific.
Precise generalities use precise numbers or statistics when referring to a group of something.
Ex. 96% give or take 1% of all gamblers get into some sort of trouble when they first start. I am a gambler. So i got into some sort of trouble when i started out gambling. This is a good strong argument because 96% is a huge number and most like i fall into that category. Using a precise generality is good because it can reinforce your argument and make it strong. Dont use vague generalitiea unless you have to. They can make things seem more or less important than they really are.

Week 9 post 1

The second major course assignment I felt provided much usefulness to us. This class is a communication class and we had to work together as a group during this assignment. This alone helps with our communication skills as a group. The better our communication the easier the project was going to be and if we needed to improve communication this assignment will help do so. Another useful aspect of this project was digging deep into an organization. The one my group chose for example was the ASPCA. While writing our paper and answering the questions it helps us really find out how the company thinks to an extent. How do they use certain tactics to appeal to the community. We learn how these companies use these tactics for their advantage. One example for the ASPCA was their appeal to emotion. They would play a sad song while they showed pictures of animals who were in need of help. This plays to anyones emotions because no one can just look at a starved puppy and be like,” haha so what?” No matter who you are this tactic they use gets to you in some way.

Post 3

In chapter six we learned about false dilemma and the slippery slope concept. i felt that both of these topics should be addressed because the slippery slope concept i thought was interesting and false dilemma was discussed on our test we took last week.A false dilemma normally comes up when you find yourself thinking "is this a versus claim?" False dilemmas occur when the"or" claim does not list all of the other possibilities. My parents tell me i have to give up gambling or i am going to be in debt. This or claim that my parents are making is not necessarily true because i could potentially make money and acquire no debt whatsoever.
Slippery slope argument sorta ties into false dilemma because it also talks about statements being false. i sort of got a little confused with the two subjects. A slippery slope argument is a bad argument that uses a chain of conditionals at least one is false or dubious. slippery slopes can be exaggerated in my opinion let us refer to my poker example above. If i gamble online then ill get addicted. then ill spend money i do not have and i will go into debt. This chain is all correct only if i become addicted. If i do not come addicted then the other statements most likely become false.

chapter 7. counterarguments

One topic discussed in chapter 7 was the concept of raising objection. Raising objection is basically when you question an argument whether it is your own or someone else's. This helps to show how bad the argument really is because these objections point out weaknesses in the argument. Your argument may seem strong with good premises and a conclusion that flows together, but if you can think of objections then your argument is not as good as you think.
Another concept discussed was refuting an argument. You can do this by either directly or indirectly and there's 3 things to look for when doing it directly.
show at least one of the premises is dubious.
show that the argument is not strong or valid.
show that the conclusion is false.
refuting indirectly is when you can't pin point a bad premise or anything but you can prove that the conclusion or end result is not wanted. This chapter focused on how you can use "argument" to improve your one argument and make them stronger.

Conditionals , Contrapositive, and contradictories

Chapter six was an interesting read for me. It let me hone in on specifics of a sentence which was a nice concept for me. One thing mentioned in chapter six was necessary and sufficient conditions. I thought this was interesting. I liked the example that they used in the book referring to taking an eye test and getting your drivers license.
A is necessary for B means If not A, then not B is true
A is sufficient for B means If a, then B is true.
A claim and its contrapositive is equivalent. It is sometimes easier to understand a conditional via its contrapositive. A claim is conditional if it can be rewritten as an “if . . .then . . .”claim that must have the same truth-value. This brings us to a contradictory of a conditional which establishes if A, then B has a contradictory A but not B. This contradictory is a but statement which proves B to not necessarily be a true statement.

repairing arguments

Repairing an argument can be a good skill to learn to do properly when it comes to communication.repairing an argument correctly will make the argument stronger. Repairing an argument focuses on the"glue" that will hold the argument together. Premises will be added to the weak argument in the repairing process. An example is...
Smartphones are expensive.
Messaging phones are inexpensive.
Smartphones are.better phones.
There is nothing here to backup the statement that smartphobes are better. One person might believe that smartphones are better and others may not agree. Just because one perwon says they are better doesn't mean that they are. Smartphones have better quality material because they are expensive therefore they are more durable. Messaging phones have a lower budget therefore cheaper parts are used and they can not be as durable. Smartphones have more advanced technology in them which allows a better and more advanced user experience. These premises are what gives the argument more strength. By doing this we repair the Argument and make it valid and strong. Repairing arguments can be a key part of communication so learn about it.

suspend judgement.

i chose this topic because i feel that everyone can relate to it. Everyone in today's society makes judgements based upon first looks and first impressions. People need to not jump to conclusions and find actual evidence to back up their reasons. This is where suspend judgement comes into play. It is the time you take to find their "evidence" in order to support their decision. One example I can think of would be....
I received an F on one of my tests.
My classmates assumed that since I received an F that I must be unintelligent.
If they took a little time.to fins out I had an A in the class and that's the only test I ever failed then they would have a better assumption about my intelligence.
People jump to conclusions far to often without having the right facts. If people just applied suspend judgement then maybe these incorrect assumptions would happen far less often compared to now.

Mentoring

One concept that I found interesting in chapter 4 of the small group text would have to have been the concept of mentoring.  Mentoring is a valuable process to any young person which could easily help them get further in life. The definition of a mentor would have to be someone who is older; more experienced, and well respected who serves as a role model for less experienced people. The mentorship process usually goes through four distinct processes which include…

Initiation – When the mentor and protégé learn more about each other. The mentor provides guidance and the protégé is open to ideas and shows loyalty to his mentor.

Cultivation – During this stage is when the protégé and mentor begin to form an interpersonal bond.

Separation – Separation begins once the protégé has gotten to a certain point in his organization where he does not need all the support of his mentor. Once this occurs the mentor and protégé drift apart.

Redefinition – The final stage is where both the mentor and protégé find themselves as equal partners. The relationship is now equal 50/50 rather than the mentor being a more knowledgeable role.

The tests for an argument to be good

If you are unclear about whether or not you have a good argument you can always look back to three tests that will help you decide whether or not your argument is a good one. This test includes three separate parts including:


The premises are plausible

The premises are more plausible than the conclusion

The argument is valid or strong

These tests are all independent from one another which means any one of them can fail whilst the other two sustain plausibility. My example I could use would be my cousins work. She works at Hancock fabrics and a customer could ask if she had a specific item in stock that was not on display. My cousin could easily tell her that they are all out because its not on display, or she could check her stock room and see if there is any that isn’t out on display. She could already know that they don’t have anything left in stock when she tells the customer therefore not needing to check the stockroom. It all depends on her knowledge of the stores inventory.

Cognitive, Psychological, and Social Forces.

In the group communication text chapter three discusses leadership and decision making in groups and teams. some interesting pieces of this chapter would have to be when it talks about cognitive psychological, and social forces. each one of these different types of forces refers to different ways that people interact within a group. Cognitive forces refers to mental processes. this would include  somoene thinks, believes, or feels. Psychological forces refer to a personsmotives, goals, attitudes, and the values of group members.physical forces can come into effect when two people within a group butt heads and have problems. this could lead to pressure being put on the decision maker. Social forces are communication influences such as language use and persuasion. A social force is spresent whenever there is 2 or more people interacting with eachother. All of these forceshave some way of affecting the decision making process. in most group atmospheres there is going to almost all of these forces amongst the group.

Strong vs Valid Arguments

Strong and Valid arguments are something that everyone can relate to in everyday life because we all hear them. by definition the book states," an argument is strong if there is some way, some possibility, for its presises to be true and its conclusion false at the same time." An example of a strong argument is...
The Stevens Creek Chevy dealer had terrible service.
The San Diego Chevy dealer is the same company. 
So all Chevy Dealers have terrible service.
This is a strong argument because the conclusion is not necessarily true and the premises can be proved to be true. A strong argument only needs the possibility for the conclusion to be false while the premises are true which this example proves to show.
 Valid arguments are defined as "An argument is valid if there is no possible way for its premises to be true and its conclusion to be false at the same time." An example would be
Myself and my brother went to gamble at an indian casino.
So everyone there gambling is at least age 18 and up.
This is a valid argument because there is no way the premise could be true and the conclusion false at the same time. if u are gambling at any indian casino you must be age 18 and up no matter what.

Prescriptive and Descriptive claims

As I was reading through the text I came across Prescriptive and Descriptive claims which caught my attention. These two claims can easily get confused with one another and have one specific distinction between one another. A descriptive claim states how something is, while a Prescriptive claim contains something that we call value judgments. The value judgments basically represent a persons opinion. This opinion is what might make a prescriptive claim appear to be a descriptive claim. One example that shows this would be,"College is necessary in order to be successful." This is prescriptive because its not stating what the world is, but simply stating my opinion which is a value judgment. "College is hard work", this example would be a descriptive claim because its stating how college is. "College is hard", is a fact and not just merely my own opinion. These two different types of claims are a common form of communication and i think that everyone could relate to them.

Objective And Subjective Claims

Subjective and Objective claims are easily a huge part of communication. At some point everyone uses one or the other and it happens regularly to everyone. I fine myself in arguments revolving around this kind of communication all the time. Recently my older cousin had visited and we went out to eat. My little cousin started to text me and just kept talking. i made the comment of him being annoying while my older cousin disagreed. This is a subjective claim because it varies person to person. one situation which involved an objective claim would have to have been when i lived down in southern California. It was a hot day probably around 103 degrees and i went to school wearing a jacket. One of my friends said that it was so hot outside and how could i be wearing a jacket. My response was that it was not that bad out. This is an objective view because no matter what i think, 103 degrees is still hot whether i think it is or not.

Vague Sentence

Vague sentences are a part of every day life. My definition of a vague sentence would be, when the speaker needs to give more detail to make the sentence understandable.

 I used to carpool with my cousin to school because it was cheaper. One day i completely forgot where we parked the car so i had to call her and ask. She responds to me by saying." We parked on the fourth floor." this is a vague sentence because we could have parked anywhere on the fourth floor. There are signs sayings 4A, 4B, 4C and etc. Simply telling me the fourth floor is not specific enough and left me in confusion. I had to continue asking where exactly so i would not have to walk around the entire floor to find the car. Once she told me which section and on which side of the fourth floor i was able to find the car and continued on with my day.

Introductory post

Hello class, my name is Travis and im a junior at SJSU. I have not had much experience with communications, though i have taken argument and debate my freshman year. this will be my first online course and am somewhat excited for the chance of having to rely on myself to pass this class. one fact about me is that my one passion is playing poker. i love the numbers and odds aspect of the game.