Lesson 4

The thesis of my revised essay is that people have to be willing to challenge themselves in order to grow in character and to discover things about themselves. To back this thesis up with evidence I talked to the head teacher of the school I attend. I asked him why students should challenge themselves and what happens when they do not. He asked me how else would a student reach their potential and then went on to say, "When a students does not challenge himself he becomes mentally lazy. His mind stagnates and he does not advance."
I then looked up some sources on line to take a look into what actually goes on in the brain when a person is challenged and I used their examples in my paper.


1) Which of the suggested Tasks from Writing Arguments did you find most helpful in pre-writing your revision? Why?

Task #3 Choose several areas of controversy for exploration - I was able to practice hitting different problems from different points of view.

2) Which genre of argument would you most likely write on your own? Why?

I would most likely choose Scholarly Journals. I would do this because my opinion would have a greater chance of being heard even though only to a smaller number of readers.

3) Did you ask anyone else to make recommendations about your revising process? Why or why not?

Yes, I asked two or three of my school teachers for help on how to revise my paper because I felt very unsure of what the assignment was really asking for.

4) Why and how is argument both a process and a product?

An argument is both a process and a product because there is an exchange of information, ideas, and opinions. That is the process. Also in an argument someone is usually persuaded to see differently, and that is the product.

5) What is the goal of argument?

The goal of an argument is to persuade someone to your way of thinking (hopefully) in order to benefit society.

Assignment #3 Why and how is argument both a process and a product?

An argument is a process because two or more people are contrasting ideas, opinions, and beliefs about something they disagree on. Well, I suppose one person can argue with themselves as well...
And an argument is a product because ideally there is a solution reached at the end of it, hopefully a solution that both sides can consent to.

What is truth?

So, what is truth? There are so many different explanations from so many different perspectives, cultures, and beliefs that we could make a mountain out of them.

The Word Net Web defines truth as conformity to reality or actuality.
Buddha said The gift of truth excels all other gifts.
Muslims believe that Allah will lead his followers into truth.
Christ said I am the Way the Truth and the Life.

I'm sure there will be many points of truth that I will touch base on, but right now I am going to start with only a few key concepts.
Today there is a "new concept" of truth that makes me roll my eyes. This statement right here, "What's truth to you is truth for you and what's true to me is truth for me." There are several reasons why I have totally thrown this concept out.

It totally annihilates what has been proven by science. An orange is an orange, and an apple is an apple. If you plant an apple seed, an apple tree will grow. Even if you paint the apples orange, or wrap them up in orange peels, or dump citric juice on them, they are still apples. If someone said, "Well it may be an apple to you but it's an orange to me," I would dismiss that comment as an ignorant assumption or denial. Your personal opinion does not change truth! I may not believe in gravity, saying that it runs against my religious views or personal opinions, but that doesn't mean gravity doesn't exist!
So people would say to this, "Give me a break, I would never try to convince myself to mix up my fruits. This applies to science, but can spiritual things really be proven by science? What about feelings and thoughts? Science can't test those things because they're not physical." True, science cannot test thoughts, feelings, or the soul; they are not tangible. So how do we dictate what is truth about those sort of things?
This is where people start the whole, "If it feels right to me than it must be true for me. And if this feels right to you it must be true for you." And this is where my eyes start to roll. Here's why... You can't dictate truth by feelings because feelings are so misleading! Examples- 1) The murderer felt like killing that person at the time. 2) It felt right to date that person at the time. 3) Today I felt like yelling at my younger brother. See what I'm saying? We can all agree that murder is wrong, most of us would dismiss the murderer as a crooked minded freak that isn't worth considering. So what about example #2? How many people have "gone out" with a significant other, gotten physical, later broken up, and then felt regret or disgust about ever doing that with that person. And then example #3... Yes, my own feelings are also misleading, I was wrong to yell at my brother, in that particular circumstance I could have spoken to him in a regular tone and been much kinder about the issue.
My point is, we all make mistakes, our feelings are not a very good moral compass, everyone makes mistakes based on how they felt at the time. So, if a person believes a particular something for 50 years, lives their life accordingly, and accepts it as truth, is it truth? What if that person suddenly changes their mind and believes something else as truth? What is truth? The first belief? The second? Both? I have an example dialogue below, it's kind of abstract, but work with me here:

Linda: "I believe that when it rains, it means the gods are sad. So when it rains I will stay inside, burn incense, and cry with them. I feel that that must be the explanation for rain, so it must be true."

(And for twenty years Linda follows this practice)

Betsy (Linda's friend) : "Linda, what are you doing inside? Why don't you come puddle jumping with me? Lets play in the rain and have fun!"

Linda: (horrified) "But Betsy! Don't you know that when it rains it's because the gods are sad. They would be angry if we took pleasure in their tears!"

Betsy: "Linda, that's not true at all! I feel that when it rains it is because the gods are happy. They are watering mother earth and causing things to grow bright and beautiful, it's like they're cleaning and gardening their masterpiece! They would be disappointed if we missed out on it! I have felt this way for years, so it must be true!"

Linda: "Why, I believe you're right, what you're saying must be true!"

OK so here's a question, was Linda wrong about her first belief? Or was she wrong about her second belief? They can't have both been right. And both beliefs were dictated by how she felt! Either the gods will take wrath on her for delighting in their tears or be disappointed by her lack of enjoying their work if she switches sides or views.
Time and time again, it has been shown that human feeling cannot always be trusted for suitable guidance. So what are we to dictate truth be? More on that later...

Journal Topics for Assignment #3

So, the question is, "How does one demonstrate his or her beliefs in an opinion?" There are several ways to do this:

Writing about your beliefs
Arguing about your beliefs
Living your beliefs
"Speeching" about your beliefs

And the list goes on.....

According to the web dictionary, a belief is any cognitive content held as true. And based on these convictions there is typically a form of action, usually it shapes the way you live, and if you feel strongly enough about it you will progress to convince other people to your stand point. Typically, this is done through an argument.
There are two prominent questions to keep in mind here.

1) What is worth arguing about?
2) What is the goal of an argument?

If I were to ask my younger siblings these questions, they would most likely say:

1) Argue when you need to get your way
2) The goal of the argument is to win

They're actually pretty cute, but most of us (I hope) know that there is a lot more to it than that! I feel like something is worth arguing about when there may be a negative consequence if I do not argue. These things could range all the way from an argument about a clashing outfit to an argument about the war in Iraq. Some consequences are so small that they can be overlooked and ignored (like the clashing outfit) whereas other arguments will merit a full debate team, jury, and judge.
For me, if something clashes with my convictions that I think will have regrettable effects, I speak up against that something. If I'm concerned or unsure about something, I voice my concerns, but i don't necessarily argue. It's more like I'm trying to have my questions answered..and then I might argue...
In any argument it's a very foolish thing to argue just to be right, there needs to be something more substantial involved. I may think a shirt is purple while my friend says it's dark blue, so what? The shirt being blue or purple won't affect anything else.
An argument's goal should be to find a solution for a conflict, one that is just and right.
But then, what is just? What is right? More importantly, what is truth?

What does the book Writing Arguments tell us about the concept of truth?

I'll give the best summary I can of what the section said:

Back in the day there were the Sophists and then there was Socrates. The Sophists basically argued to be right, they argued for whoever was in power. Socrates believed that...truth could be discovered through philosophic inquiry. He believed that truth resided in the ideal world of forms, and through philosophic rigor humans could transcend the changing, shadow like world of everyday reality to perceive the world of universals where Truth, Beauty, and Goodness resided.
The book says... "Truth seeking mean taking responsibility for determining the "best answer" or "best solution" to the question for the good of the whole community when taking into consideration the interests of all stakeholders."
It's very late for me right now, and the subject of truth is incredibly deep and profound. Tomorrow I will expound on my personal beliefs on it a little more....until then...

F111X Schedul

Plan for completing course in a timely manner:

I'm not very far into the course, so I'm not sure what the average time is for completing a lesson, but I'll start with the goal of finishing one lesson per week and writing/editing for an hour a day.