Critical Thinking Blog #4

Jacoby's book points out some very significant aspects of American culture that contribute to the anti-intellectual crisis. In the book she criticizes American tendency to think "junk thought". She describes 2 of the most prominent forms of mass media that contribute to junk thought as television and the internet. Americans get easily distracted by the media from other intellectual pursuits like reading and conversation. I have personally witnessed families who don't sit together and eat dinner, instead they sit around the living room and watch tv while they eat. Dinner time is an important time for families to converse and bond. The television takes away from that time. I have also noticed that the internet is a very popular form of communication between teenagers. When typing, it is easy to take the short way out and use improper english and grammar. Unfortunately this can greatly contribute to anti-intellectualism. We lose devotion to proper english and grammar. These forms of media significantly influence anti-intellectualism and take away from intellectual pursuits.

Pre-Reading Blog #4

What is “junk thought”? Is it thinking that is worthless? What is that, exactly? What examples can you find in your experience? In your opinion, how does it influence people? Please end your blog with at least one good critical question.

Junk means worthless, meaningless, or contemptible. So yes, one could argue that "junk thought" is thinking that is worthless. I think that junk thought is just the opposite of critical thinking. Americans have conformed to this lazy way in life and lost devotion to critical thinking and reason. The media significantly contributes to the vast "junk thinking" population. Americans are held to believe that there is a certain standard that everyone wants to be at. The so called "healthy" American is nothing more than a starved, overworking, or in dept person. We are influenced by this junk thought everyday through movies, magazines, television, everywhere we look. This kind of thinking will get us nowhere, we have lost the depiction of a true healthy life. We have lost reason.

Critical Question: What sort of "junk thought" has Susan Jacoby conformed to throughout her life?

Critical Thinking Blog #3

Respond to the following prompt:

Consider the current youth popular culture compared to those of the past. What movements do you have in your youth culture? How are you a part of your youth culture?

When I think about the current youth culture today, I see a lot of the fashion movement to be quite popular. The media significantly contributes to this also. Magazines and television show what the "ideal" look is, and people believe what they see. When I was in high school, the best thing to do on the weekends was make a shopping trip to the mall with your friends to stay up with the latest fashions. Trends are always changing and youths care so much about what others think of them they will do anything to "fit in" with the popular trend of the moment. In the past, fashion was not a huge industry. Today, the fashion industry is huge. The worth of "designer" clothes is outrageous. When I read fashion magazines I am literally appaled by the prices of things. In the past, the worth of fashion was not nearly as much. I feel like I am part of this culture in a way, but not to the extent of top of the line fashion industries.

Pre-Reading Blog #3

Prompt: How do you perceive your popular culture? What does popular culture consist of in your world? Music? TV? The Web? Fashion? What attracted you to this particular section of popular culture? Why do you like it? How do you understand its history? Please end your blog with at least one good critical question.

Although there is a lot of heavy criticism with popular culture, I myself do take part in it and enjoy much of it. In my world, pop culture consists of a lot of things, including movies, books, the web, music, and even fashion. I can't drive in my car without my music. What I like about music is that is calms me down in a way and allows me to focus. When I'm driving and it is silent my mind wonders everywhere and I easy get distracted. Fashion is also a part of my life, although it is often perceived as materialistic and consumerist. I have worked in a clothing store since I was 15, four years now and I love it. Clothing often allows people to express themselves. I love the diverse fashion styles of every culture. The web is like my users manual. I use it everyday for everything. From communicating with friends and family, to shopping, to research, you name it and I use it just for that. The web connects everyone and it is very resourceful. Movies for me are pure entertainment. Movies allow me to sort of leave my own reality and just watch anothers. It's nice to leave the stresses of your own life for just a little bit when watching a movie. These popular cultures seem to be a big part of my life, yet to me not in any negative way.

Critical question: What emphasis does pop culture have in the life of Susan Jacoby?

Critical Thinking Blog #2

This is always a tricky discussion, but Jacoby presents some sharp arguments about the debate between evolution and creationism. For this blog, create your own discussion about this debate. Where do you stand and why? What critical criteria have you used to consider this issue (if at all -- maybe it's the first time you've thought about it)? Where does this issue stand among the issues of the day?

Evolution and creationism. Where to even start? This is one of the most huge and controversial debates of all time. The huge question is WHERE DID WE COME FROM? The human body is such a complex form that works so perfectly for our humanistic needs. Did we come from a creator with a higher power or have we evolved over time through the process of natural selection? The major controversial factor is the origin of life because there is no scientific consensus on how life began. It is scary to not know where we came from and how we have come to be now. Religion is a huge factor in many peoples beliefs because they rely on faith to backup their claim. Creationists believe that evolution contradicts their creation myths found in their respective religions. Believers of evolution rely of science and logic. Fossil records and the diversity of living organisms give evidence to the evolution theory. Evolution is convincing to me. What is there not to believe when there reliable evidence? On the other hand, I was brought up in a Christian family where I was raised to believe that God created the world and we are all descendents of Adam and Eve. So, it is hard to say where I stand in this debate. I guess for now I will say that I believe humans were created, rather than a result of chemical reactions, but I do not reject the evolution theory that we have evolved over time. Some serious critical thinking is much needed in my situation. Among the issues of today, I feel that the evolution-creationism debate has fallen is significance. With politics, war, and new scientific breakthroughs everyday, evolution-creationism has been put on the backburner. If is still of current interest but there is little new information or evidence of the subject to be of significant matter.

Pre-Reading Blog #2

What do you think of when you see the word “pseudoscience”? How do you understand the argument between evolution and creation, as Jacoby presents it? Please end your blog with at least one good critical question.

When I hear the word "pseudoscience" the frist thing that comes to my mind is "astrology". Astrology is the study of positions of celestial bodies in the belief that they may influence the course of natual earthly occurences and human affairs. Astrology lacks scientific method. On the other hand, "astronomy" can be considered a real science with plausible evidence. The word "pseudo" is a greek root that means false or pretending. When you add "pseudo" to the word "science" I think of false knowledge. Reliable science should be backed up with concrete evidence and plausibility, which pseudoscience lacks. Susan Jacoby's book The Age of American Unreason emphasizes the loss of devotion to scientific method. I understand Jacoby's arguement about evolution and creationism as poor education of evolution and other vital areas of knowledge emphasize public ignorance about religion and science. Tensions between science and religion have fueled the ongoing creation-evolution controversy, a religious conflict focusing on politics and public education.

As for my critical question: How much will Susan Jacoby's book impact America and push for a change?

Critical Thinking Blog #1

Critical thinking is the process of using your mind to do reflective thinking to analyze and evaluate information. It requires a lot of thought and assessment. Critical thinking is a form of judgment where one judges what to believe or what to do. I read an article about the absence of critical thinking in education. Instructors are so caught up in teaching the obvious "what to think," or the subject matter rather than "how to think," the correct way to understand and evaluate the subject matter. I have realized that in classes I have taken in high school, the absence of critical thinking was relevent. In math and science classes I was taught equations and facts, which got me through the course, but nothing to back those up. It is easy to memorize something, but it is a whole different level of learning when you have to reflect on what is given to you and actually understand where it came from to judge whether you believe it.

A situation where I had to use critical thinking was the recent presidential election where I had to make a responsible judgment between the political candidates. The election is huge and it is so important to make a good judgment and have a clear understanding of both sides of the election. This decision will ultimately affect one's life enormously. When it came down for me to make my final decision, I used reasonable, reflective, and skillfull thinking to make my decision. I used reason to judge whether each candidate was capable of the job at hand. I also reflected of life experiences that the candidates have had. Critical thinking is necessary to make decisions and judgments like this, decisions that will color the rest of our lives.

A time where I did not think through something critically would be in my calculus class where I was given a problem to solve on the whiteboard in front of my class. When I was given the problem I immediately knew that I needed the quadratic formula in order to solve it. I plugged the numbers into the memorized formula and calculated the answer. Nonetheless, I came out with the correct answer. Here again we see the "what to think" rather than "how to think" circumstance. Not once during this math problem did I need to have a reasonable and reflective judgment.

The word "Intellectualism" carries a sort of negative connotation to me. When I think of an "intellectual" person, I think of a boring, emotionless, close-minded smarty pants. Intellectualism to me seems that it is based solely on facts. I feel that that knowledge is deeper than that. Emotion plays a key role in worthy knowledge.

When I hear the word "logic" the phrase "you can't argue with logic" pops into my mind. Logic carries positive connotations to me and to the greater extent I can say that I agree with that statement; you can't argue with consistency.

"Reason" reminds me of "cause and effect," wherein reason would be the cause that will ultimately lead one to come to a conclusion. This term has positive connotations to me. Reason is a type of thought; it requires thinking. While some may argue, for me emotion is significantly linked to reason and stands for good argument.