So it's bad..so what..

This class has definitely made me more aware of my statements and thoughts, I think that Epstein has a unique way of making people think. However I think Epstein’s point about correcting friends and people around you is valid, and makes for a great issue. I know just recently for me I have been thinking more and analyzing what I say, more often. It has created somewhat of a monster, lol well sort of. I definitely try to think through my thoughts and responses thoroughly before actually saying them. Thus like Epstein mentions, before you go about correcting other people, “be gentle and educate” them, let them understand what is correct and incorrect about what they are stating, don’t just bash them. I definitely think I have to get the hang of it 100% myself before I can go around correcting people surrounding me. I know after this class, I will be making stronger and hopefully correct statements.

fallacies

Fallacies are very interesting statements in my opinion. At first glance I was confused on just what these were, however further reading allowed me to somewhat grasp the idea of what fallacies are. To me fallacies are an overall error in reasoning, or a misjudgment.

I choose mistaking the person for the claim. My understanding of these fallacies leads me to believe that when someone states using this type of fallacy, it gives them no credibility. They have nothing in their statement that would support what they just stated.

My example is thus: Anything Kori says about breeding blue pits is going to be wrong. This statement is a fallacy, because nowhere in that statement does it explains why that might be true or what reasoning I have behind it to back my statement up.

Fallacies is a very confusing and yet simple concept. I think the most difficult part about it is being able to spot one or trying to create one, if you can’t already tell in mine. =]

Tests for a good argument

For a statement to be a good argument it must pass three tests. The premises must be plausible, the premises must be more plausible than the conclusion and the argument must be valid or strong.
An example would be: At work, if by the end of the fiscal month you have sold a minimum of $10,000 in premier dog food, than you will earn an extra $100 on your next paycheck. The end of the month comes and the total sold for premier dog food was $11,257. Therefore I get an extra $100 on my next paycheck.
The premises is valid and is thus more plausible than the conclusion within the first two statements. If a certain goal amount of dog food was sold, there is an opportunity to earn extra money. By my total reaching $11,257 I clearly have passed the minimum goal and therefore deserve the extra $100 bonus. To me this example is a good argument.

Good Statements

I found that Epstein has a very unique way of seeing things, and is thus able to shine lights on topics I would never think of. The idea of making a good statement or a statement that is plausible was fairly interesting to me. Therefore in order for a statement to be a good statement, than we should have good reason to believe the premise of a statement, and then ultimately believe the conclusion of that statement. Premises in my understanding are the guidelines or boundaries in which the conclusion must stay in, in order for the statement to then be a good statement.  Yet just because a statement may have premises, those premises need to be plausible and give the reader reason to believe in the premises. As well as the premises needs to have a connection to the conclusion. Otherwise the reader is lost and your statement is not longer good.

Strong vs Valid Arguments

My understanding of strong and valid arguments is that the word choice of the statement or statements is what makes that statement either strong or valid.

For a statement to be strong, there has to be some way for the premise to be true while the conclusion is false, all occurring at the same time. For example: A lady came in to a store to purchase hair clippers for her dog. Two days later, the same lady brought the clippers back for a refund stating that she decided to take the dog to the groomers and had not used the product. The clippers were extremely hairy and dirty. The dog had missing patches of hair. Therefore the lady must have tried to clip her dog and it didn’t work out the way she planned.

For a statement to be valid, when there is no possibility of the premise being true while the conclusion is false. For example: At work I am able to earn an extra $30 if I sell $520 worth of promo items over the course of a week. My weeks total for the sale of promo items was $525 by Saturday. This means I am entitled to my $30 bonus.

Subjective & Objective

Subjective deals with statements that depend on a person's feelings, or rather their personal standards. A subjective claim I would have would be: my dog is the cutest lab out there. Now the fact that she is cute depends on whether or not I feel she is cute or not. The opinion is based on my feelings for my dog and how it is I choose to view her.

Objective deals with statements that do not belong under subjective. These deal with impersonal standards and are often too vague of a statement. An objective claim would then be: the bag of apples weighed two pounds. This statement does not deal with it being true or false, it simply means that the bag of apples weighed in at two pounds. There is nothing more that can be argued about this.

I think overall subjective statements are statements that we typically use in our conversations due to our nature of being often outspoken people. Luckily for us and our culture we do have objective claims which are often just to the point and don’t rely on opinions.

Tehya K

Vague and Ambiguous Statements

So my little story deals with a customer at work. Again I work at a holistic pet food store, so I have funny questions all the time that I have to try and answer. I was having a conversation with a co-worker of mine when a Bernese Mountain Dog walked in. My co-worker stated "Oh my goodness that is the biggest dog ever!" Now working in a pet store I am exposed to tons of dogs within a day and being an avid dog lover I know a lot about breeds. I looked at my co-worker and said are you sure that is the biggest dog? Her statement left a question in my mind about what it is she considers big and small. Her statement was overall ambiguous simply because her version of big and small differed from my version. By her having three small Chihuahuas that weigh less than ten pounds each, a Bernese would seem large. Yet a Great Dane is twice as tall, but may weigh around the same, where as a Mastiff is about the same height but could possibly weigh more than both the Bernese and Great Dane, separately. I thought it was funny, especially since I have always had large dogs, small to me is my sixty pound Chocolate Lab<3

Tehya K