Thursday, October 18, 2012

Post #8-Justifying Your Beliefs.

We have been learning about the criteria for determining when a belief moves from opinion to fact-i.e., Knowledge.  Identify one belief you have and provide a rational evidence based justification for that belief.

12 comments:

  1. An example of a belief that I have that is a fact is that the New York Yankees have not been successful in the playoffs. The evidence that I have to support this belief is that as a team, they are hitting below .200, the major league average is .250. Another piece of evidence is that arguably their best hitter Robinson Cano, is currently 3 for 33, that’s a batting average of about .083, he hit .313 during the regular season. He was also 24 for his last 39 at-bats, which is an incredible .615 batting average. Also, collectively the Yankees have been striking out at a tremendous rate, and some of their better hitters are the main focus of that stat. However, the pitching has been fairly successful, especially the bullpen, but nevertheless, the offense has definitely been the main reason for their inability to win games. This is why the Yankees have not been successful in the playoffs, because of the lack of offensive production.

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  2. A belief that I have is that the Los Angelos Lakers will take the NBA championship this year. This is evident because over the summer the Lakers have acquired 4 of the NBA's greatest players. They acquired Steve Nash, a person who averaged about 7 assists per game his entire career. Another athlete they acquired was Dwight Howard, who is known as the best center currently in the NBA. He is young and packed with potential while averaging about 10 rebounds with 16 points a game his entire career in the NBA. With this said, it will only add to the production of arguably the NBA's greatest or second greatest shooting guard of all time, Kobe Bryant. Along with Kobe Bryant is Pau Gasol is known to add to his team's rebounding and scoring. He hustles and plays with heart. He has made a star out of himself with his valuable production. Therefore, these incredible players give me a strong belief that they will reign dominant this year and will take home the championship. Not even the heat can stop them.

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  3. One belief that I have is the fact that the Earth is not flat. We were taught from a young age that the Earth is round (closer to being an oblate spheroid.) Rational evidence provided by scientist that captured pictures from outer space using satellites allowed me to trust historians who concluded the earth was not flat. The finding of the Americas during Christopher Columbus’ voyage proved that sailing westward would not entail falling off of the planet. It proved that there was more beyond the horizon line. Technology now a days allows us to strengthen our beliefs with visual and rational evidence.

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  4. One belief that I have is that the sky is blue. The sky's color is blue because of Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air. Although much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

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  5. One belief that I have is that body language reveals who you are as a person. People intuitively and instantaneously develop a perception in the first moments they see you, and body language builds, confirms, or dispels those impressions. Body language such as poor eye contact, yawning or anxiousness can reflect the negative aspects of your personality. Whereas good posture, making eye contact and smiling can show that you are a very confident and self-assured person.

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  6. I believe that there is no objective truth, and that all facts and knowledge remain subjective to the individual or to the race. Our reality only exists because we perceive it to exist. All we know is based on what we see, touch, and feel. Even if it were to be true, it is only true because we make it to be true, and give it that value. I could be wrong. I doubt humanity will ever reach an objective truth, even if it were to exist. Truth can exist but only subjectively.

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  7. One belief that I have is that medical field jobs are jobs that will be around for a long time and will always be needed. It has been made evident that everyday numerous people are entering the world and as those enter some are leaving. The possible causes for death vary, however, based on studies made by scientists and doctors it has been demonstrated that as a human gets older their bodies begin to stop functioning as efficiently as it had done once before. As a person begins to grow older they become weaker and their body system and functions begin to slow down, thus, they need to seek medical help to determine why they are facing some health problems and to determine what they need to do in order to stay strong for as long as they possibly can. It has been made evident that every day we are exposed to new diseases that have been discovered whether it is cancer or heart diseases and most don’t have a cure just yet. Diseases such as these are something that anyone at any given moment can be faced with. As well as heard on the news, read in the newspapers and some even witnessed by some people, accidents occur every day in the world and most are critical requiring medical attention immediately. Based on the evidence that is presented and on the simple known fact that we all will grow old one day and will face the challenges that come with old age, we will always seek medical attention therefore, these jobs will always be around because everyone gets sick at one point in their life and regardless needs to at least get a checkup to make sure that there health isn't at risk.

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  8. One belief of mine is that the colonists of the 13 colonies won a war against Great Britain. I trust the countless primary and secondary sources that reference to the events linked to the war that took place. I trust the textbooks published in the US that indicates of the victory and the formation of the country. The world history and British history textbooks state that Britain had lost the war. Also, the Treaty of Paris (1783) that resulted after the war, is a tangible document that can be seen by others. It is also an accepted form of legal documentation, according to the opinions of various experts that have analyzed it numerous times.

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  9. One belief that I can share and justify is my belief that there is not one true reality. People like to say that perception defines reality and I do agree with that. When someone is sleeping and they enter a dream, they see a different "reality" before themselves. That person could be in an area such as Antarctica where the sun is shining and it is ninety eight degrees. If that is the current state, setting, and plot that a person is living, then that is the current reality. When one awakes from a dream however, they are transitioning realities. Another example would be someone who is in denial. If I had gotten an five on my philosophy test and I was in denial, that would be MY reality. Emphasize the word "MY," for it is key. The truth would be I got a five on my philosophy test, but since I am in denial about such a grade and discard that truth from my head, then MY reality would be that in which I didn't score a five on my test. I hope my views are understood, and though there is obvious flaw, I still believe my views have been justified.

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  10. I must say that I agree with both Ishrat and George in the sense that there is no one reality and objective truth. Objective truth can be considered an axiom, which is a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true. Objective truth is really something everybody believes because they think and feel there is sufficient evidence to support it. Just because everybody thinks and feels a certain way about something does not make it an objective truth. For example, the statement, “the murder of an innocent person is wrong” is an opinion and is based off of moral and emotion. Can truth really have ties to such fallible things? What is innocence?

    There is also no one reality because reality is different for everyone due to their perceptions and senses. The physical world is also not the only reality since there are events and occurrences that are beyond our control and comprehension. Just because humans do not understand something doesn’t mean it is not real. Take happiness and peanut butter for example. Peanut butter is something tangible that can be observed and studied. Happiness is something more elusive and abstract that’s harder to understand.

    The key in all of this is trust, as all we have in the end is faith.

    Take the maxim of the Assassin’s Creed for example: “Nothing is true, everything is permitted”. At a glance one might say this is quite cynical, but the explanation given by Ezio Auditore sheds light on what it really means: "To say that nothing is true is to realize that the foundations of societies are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic."

    How can I justify my beliefs? It is apparent and observable that people don’t always think along the same lines and you can’t make everybody happy because there will always be someone to refute you and your ideas with arguments that may seem convincing. Everybody lives in a different reality within the same space due to environmental, psychological, and emotional influences. Reality is a thing that is actually experienced or seen, esp. when it is grim or problematic: "the harsh realities of life". Just as I can’t completely prove and justify my belief, it cannot be completely argued or disproven due to Empiricism and the quest for knowledge.

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  11. I believe my grandma's cooking is amazing. My justification is that this is not subjective. I have had friends come over to eat and they have loved her cooking to. I have a huge family and everyone in it can agree that her cooking is delicious. Based on this I think it is safe to say my grandma is a great cook.

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  12. One belief that I have is the fact that if you lift weights you will be guarantee of gaining muscle. This is evident because Lifting weights challenges muscles as you do a set of heavy lifting, your muscle fibers experience small tears that they rebuild in the following days,making a stronger muscles and a more defined.

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