Chapter 4 Question 3

In chapter 4, I found that the controversy between rationalism and empiricism was the most interesting concept. A rationalist is someone who makes his or her judgment based on solely logical reasoning and an empiricist makes his or her judgment based on sense-experience. An example of rationalism is like when you look at a straw in a cup of water and it appears bent, but you know it is not. Another example is like going to a magic show and you watch someone get sawed in half. You know they really didn't get sawed in half or else they'd be dead. This is logic being put to work. These same examples can be used as examples of empiricism because without past knowledge on the subject, you wouldn't be able to apply logic to the situation. It would appear that the straw is bent or the person got sawed in half and you would assume that was correct.

Chapter 4 Question 1

The heritage dictionary defines knowledge as "facts, information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education." The same dictionary defines wisdom as "the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment." Knowledge is just informations and skills learned through experience and wisdom is the quality of having knowledge. As students in college, we gain knowledge primarily through our classes, studying and doing homework. We also learn other facts through life experiences and other situations. For example, if one is studying math and a professor teaches a formula, when you retain that information, that's considered knowledge. However, we gain wisdom by acquiring this knowledge and experiencing different situations. When we experience these situations more than once, we can correctly analyze the situations if we hadn't before, thus having good judgment. For example, if I fail a test, I'll know next time to study harder to assure I don't fail next time.

Chapter 3, Question 3

One of the sections in Chapter 3 that I found interesting was the nonverbal communication portion. The fact that animals generally use nonverbal communication is incredibly fascinating. Especially like bees dancing to let each other know what they're saying, stingrays using sonic waves to tell each other what's going on and things like that. I for one have a lot of experience with nonverbal communication just because I use it so frequently. For example, while playing basketball, a simple hand gesture or head nod can tell somebody what position I want them to be on the court or where I'm going or where I want them to go. Gestures can also make teaching or persuading a whole lot easier just by explaining through hand motion or body motion to tell the learner what to do. Nonverbal communication is an important factor on a lot of people's lives and is used by almost everyone on a daily basis.

Chapter 3, Question 2

A rhetorical device is the use of euphemisms, dysphemisms, hyperbole, and sarcasm to manipulate and persuade. An example of a rhetorical device that I experienced in the last week or two was when I was just talking to my friends over the internet. I simply stated to them that I have no friends just because I was lonely or something (But really I have no friends) and they understood that by saying "I have no friends," it was a form of sarcasm for actually saying that I have friends but none of them were present. Another form is a Euphemism that I experienced just the other day. On account information on Facebook/ Myspace, you can put your body type as "A little extra" which generally means you're on the chunky side but not obese. A friend of mine who is not "a little extra" but much larger, had said that he was "a little extra." Although we take it as a joke because we know that it's not true and he doesn't actually mean that.

Chapter 3, Question 1

As Sally Ride was finishing up her Ph.D. in Physics at Stanford University, she noticed an ad in the college newspaper for a job opportunity at NASA and out of 8,000 applicants, she was one of thirty-five people chosen. Obviously the biggest reason she got it was the Ph.D. in Physics, but other characteristics that got her the job were her analytical and critical thinking skills. Ride was chosen as capcom for the first and second shuttle flights, which is the person who handles all ground-to-staff communication. Due to her communication skills, she became an icon at NASA, helping address the United Nations and putting together the report for NASA, Leadership and the American Future in Space. Being the first woman in space, Ride also took the time to write several children's books encouraging girls, for the most part, to develop their interests in science, leadership, writing, and communication skills.