Chapter 2, Question # 3

One concept I would like to focus on is the negative effects of emotions. Though emotions can drive and motivate you when making decisions according to the Boss Text, it can also cause problems. There are many types of emotions, so it is important not to let the negative ones like anger and fear control you. It is easy to get caught up in the moment at times ad act on what you initially think and/or feel. But you have to remember to take a step back and think logically to analyze your situation. There will be many situations in life where you will have to make a decision about something, but someone or something has caused you to feel negative emotions. That can change the way you see things and also unfortunately aid you in making a wrong decision. Because emotions are such powerful agents in our lives, it is important to separate the good from the bad in order to kind your mind clear. I think this is an important lesson in life, and that it would help me make better decisions for myself.

Chapter 2, Question # 2

I agree with Dawkins claims that evolution and a belief in God is incompatible. Dawkins was able to see the inconsistency in Thomas Aquinas’ belief in God and Charles Darwin’s research on evolution. It is kind of hard to say whether or not a God exists, when there are so many people who believe in both sides. I do lean towards evolution a lot more because it is what seems to make the most sense and actually has facts to back it up. It’s what’s most logical to me. I find it amazing that people have such great faith in God, and that the faith helps them through many hardships, but it does not seem to suit me. Though I do not believe in God, I can not say that there is nothing out there, because that has not been proven yet either. I guess I need the evidence to truly believe in something that’s supposed to have so much power. I do not think that Aquinas would like Dawkins response and would try to some how counteract it with more proofs.

Chapter 2, Question # 1

Being able to identify your strengths and weaknesses can help you make important decisions in your life. When choosing a career, I believe that you need to remember not only what it is you are good at, but also what you can be passionate about. Being able to pin point your weaknesses can also help in the long run because you will be able to improve yourself and grow from the experiences. I think I am best at knowing my limit, so I do not take on too much to handle. I also try to keep an open mind in areas I can improve in. I think this is important in choosing a career. Looking at your skills can help you narrow down the choices of careers, and it always plays a role if you find the career to be interesting or not. Using both reason and passion, I think I will be able to find a career that bests suits me. Though I may use passion a bit more than reason, I believe that it would all work out because the passion would motivate me to improve in the areas I need in order to pursue the career of my dreams.   

Chapter 7, Question #3

The concept I chose to discuss is from the Group Communication book. I want to talk about negotiating effectively. I chose to talk about this subject because I feel like it is an important life skill to have and that I will experience many situations that require me to negotiate. The book says that it is important not to confuse negotiation with compromise. You negotiate to get what you want, not part of what you want. A big part of negotiating effectively is to remember what your goal is. Also, not to approach whomever you want to negotiate with too aggressively or exaggerated. That would not please them and tend to make them lean towards some one else.  Therefore, you would not get what you want from the start if you use this approach. I think this is an important concept to be familiar with because you can use it at work, with your friends and family. Such as, negotiating a weekend off from work, deciding which day to hang out or whether or not you go home a certain weekend. Negotiating effectively can be used in many ways.

Chapter 7, Question #1

Reflecting back on the past week, I remember using an inductive argument when debating if I would stay up pass 2am or not. I have work at 9am in the morning. I usually need at least 8 hours of sleep. If I stay up past 2am, I most likely would not wake up in time for work.

Premise (1), I have work at 9am in the morning. Premise (2), I usually need at least 8 hours of sleep. Conclusion, I most likely would not wake up in time for work.

This is an inductive argument, because it is a prediction of what would happen if I were to perform a certain action. It is not based on facts. I think this is a good way of avoiding any risks that would harm your life. In a sense it is sort of like the saying, “better safe, than sorry”. It’s like using cautious reasoning, which I believe is better than rushed reasoning. 

Chapter 7 Question #2

According to the Boss text, Dr. Novello noticed that there was an increase of smoking cigarettes among teens and children when the Joe Camel ads were first introduced in 1988. She saw that the introduction of these cigarette ads caused and increase in teen and children smokers. In hopes to stop the growth of younger smokers, she campaigned for more education on this issue in schools and also worked to ban cigarette ads that targeted the youth.

She thought that maybe if she eliminated the cigarette ads that targeted the youth, that would in turn decrease the amount of teens and children who smoke cigarettes. She also believed that educating the youth about the risks and health issues smoking can cause would hopefully detour them from smoking cigarettes as well. I think that the media does influence the youth greatly and that it was a great idea to ban the cigarette ads that targeted the youth.