Midterm Examination
Fall 2007, Critical Thinking
Professor David C. Lane, Ph.D.

Be sure to place you entire midterm on your website and when you are finished send a link of your test to you teacher directly at neuralsurfer@yahoo.com

Make sure that it is YOUR OWN work and that if you use other authors please be sure to quote and/or cite the material appropriately. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and you will receive an “F” automatically for the examination.

The test is due NO LATER than September 25, 2007 at midnite.

4. What is your real name? Jeny Dayanira Gil

5. What is your “user” name? oc_cuti3

6. What is your email address that you use for this class? oc_cuti3@yahoo.com

7. Name and address for your website? http://www.jendaygil.blogspot.com/

8. Have you done all the readings for the first three weeks? Yes

9. Have you watched each of the films that were required?

Yes, except that I was not able to view Ken Miller On Intelligent Design and Nicholas of Cusa.

10.Please place here all the postings you have done for this class (You can copy and paste them)

Week 1, Expert Lecture Richard Feynman
I found the expert lecture by Richard Feynman on the topic ofCritical Thinking in Physics, absolutely interesting because he usedthe example of the flower and its beauty. He stated that beauty isavailable for everyone to see but it takes that one person to seekfurther on the beauty of the flower and what it consists of. It isamazing to understand the background of a flower if one actuallystops to analyze it not just for its beauty but also what isphysically behind the flowers characteristics. As I was viewing thelecture on Mr. Feynman, he seemed to be very critical on what he wasgoing to say. For example, when he was drawing a sketch of the womansitting on the chair, he analyzed and stopped to think of what wasbeautiful of her personal features but as well as the environmentthat surrounded her and then proceeded to draw every detail extracarefully.Mr. Feynman focused on the important characteristics on his drawing toshow what he personally was seeing through his own eyes. I'm thinkingthat he was critical of all the details because if he was not, thanit was not a true exact representation of what he was visualizing.For example, the details in the flower; many people do not stop tothink what the foundation of a flower consist, because it is not partof our daily analyses and for many of us it does not matter what aflower consist of, just that flowers are beautiful and they smellgood. After reviewing Mr. Feynman view, now I understand that we needto focus more on our surroundings to understand why things are theway they are and not jump to conclusions without studying them morethoroughly.

Week1, Expert Lecture Bertrand Russell on Thinking Clearly
The expert lecture by Bertrand Russell was also interesting andbecause he feels that clarity is important for all mankind because one's prejudices are one's biases.I feel that it is true in some way, because we as human beings tendto jump to conclusions without being clear on the current situations.Instead we judge and focus in situations that may be hurtful toothers or we just do not look ahead and think clearly before we talkor give our opinions. On the other hand, the truth is hurtful, butsometimes it is better to know the truth to improve our experiencesinstead of always trying to avoid the reality. Prejudices and one'sbiases are important, but to some extent. For example, when we planto do something to improve our lives or to turn in an important examfor a course, one's prejudices and biases help to take the properdecisions, but if prejudices and biases are used to get revenge onothers or criticizes people, without getting to know them first, thanI agree that clarity is important.We need to use critical thinking to guide our judgments beforemaking prejudices and judgmental references to others. Even thoughthe lecture was difficult to understand, because the audio was notworking properly, the couple of statements that Mr. Russell made wereunderstandable and clear.

Cargo Cult Science week 1
Wow, Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman, was an interesting articleto read. I sometimes find myself in the same situations that heexperienced. I sometimes wonder if people are for real or if theyare full of crap. Is it human nature to want people believe on falsestatements rather than on factual evidence? Feynman states "…the ideais to try to give all the information to help others to judge thevalue of your contributions; not just the information that leads tojudgment in one particular direction or another." One example that Ican think about is weight loss pills and infidelity. Advertisementon weight loss pills will promise the impossible to the consumer, butthe reality is that many of these dietary supplements will produceside affects to the consumer or they will simply not work at all. Asa consumer, he or she must first research the product or just letnature run its course if the product will actually work. I'm not sureif this is what he means by Cargo Cult Science?For example, he questions and investigates what people believe in andthe knowledge of how to educate others. He uses the example ofteachers who have some good ideas of how to teach the students howto learn how to read, but the districts or school systems have adifferent approach with out acknowledging what the teacher has tooffer on the table. I agree in his example because back in the dayswhen I was in elementary, the teachers would teach their students totake an easier approach to learn subjects in school. For example,learning how to work on a math problem was easier to understandbefore because the teachers were presenting the math problems to thestudent by introducing it with on hands training and learning. Now,the subjects are being introduced with limited review and very littlepractice for the students to learn. Is this because the schoolsystems want high numbers to compare with other schools in the nationor because they feel that this is for the best interest of thechild?

Beyond Belief Session 1 week1
I also notice that Mr. Harris was not too polite in the issue ofrespecting other people's beliefs. He continually attacked themorals and beliefs that people had with their religious preference.Even though he is a professional, he did not really seem to show hisprofessionalism because he called Christian believers ignorant. Inorder to receive respect, you must first respect others and what evereach person decides to believe or not believe in is that person'sproblem. My question to Mr. Harris would be what makes him believethat science is the only possibility for outcome and religion doesnot play any role? So does that mean that human beings are part ofthe ancestors of monkeys, since he believes that only science is theonly aspect that we should believe in? His beliefs may be differentto mine or to anyone else's, but that does not mean that I'm going tocriticize his beliefs or change his mind from one day to the other.He did too much talk and did not make any sense because he did notrelate science or God in any way.The first session Beyond Belief was interesting to watch and see themany different opinions that people have with religion and science.For example, Michael Sherman explained the similarities that God andscience can be combined with. God is the creator of the universe andeverything that is in it, but if science did not exist, than howwould man kind be able to know what was beyond the outside of earth.Of course, I totally do not agree that science should replace theexistence of God nor God should replace the existence of sciencebecause both work together in one way or the other.

Week 1, Karma
The film on Karma was interesting to see, but a bit disturbing. Thisfilm reminded me of a music video I saw a while back in which thesinger could foresee how many hours, minutes and seconds the peoplethat surrounded him had left to live and how they died. I can'tremember the name at this video but if you have seen it pleaserefresh my memory. Is Karma such a bad thing or should we relateKarma as being a positive thing? Can Karma be a religious belief, oris just a vibe that can impact our lives?"What goes around comes around..." is a powerful phrase, especiallywhen unexplainable things happen to us or to those around us. Isometimes wonder if Karma or the aura that we have around us can leadus to fall into situations that we don't want to be in. For example,my husband and I have been going through some tough times for thepast 2 years and I stop to wonder if it's because we got married oris it because someone just cast a spell on us. We try to live ahealthy and religious life along with our kiddos and are notinterested in others personal problems. My point is that regardlessof what we do, we tend to receive either good or bad in return. Ican't say that I'm a believer in Karma, but I cannot say that Iignore it because I know that good things happen to good people andvise versa.

Week 1and2, Virus of the Mind
The example that the author used to explain this dilemma was theRoman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, in which the wineturns into the blood of Christ. This statement can mean many thingsfor many different people, but the reality is that it is a mysterythat only those who were there to witness this revelation cantestify. Faith also plays an important role and we only follow whatwe have been taught from our ancestors. We can only read and letour minds do the job. Human beings like to learn what is interestingand we enjoy to be humored, by others. A virus that attacks the mindto do harm should immediately be quarantined, but a virus, Trojan orspy ware that is just hanging around lost and confused because itsnot sure if It should do good, should be cleaned or deleted from thememory file.I found the article on "Virus of the Mind" by Richard Dawkins kind ofinteresting. I was intrigued to continue reading after the firstparagraph because in a way, I am a gullible person like the six yearold child. I tend to believe everything that anyone tells me and Isometimes feel that being gullible makes me a target for others toenjoy my weakness. Can our thinking skills be attacked withmalicious viruses? I believe so. The mind is a powerful tool andunfortunately the mind is susceptible for negative and positiveattacks. Especially when others tend to use their own viruses theyhave created to attack and convince others. I agree with the authorthat successful mind viruses are difficult for their victims todetect and are sometimes ignored because it does not benefit theperson.





Week 1and2,"What is Cold Reading?"
According to the article "what is Cold Reading?' It means people whoknow what they are doing are able to make use of a procedure knowngenerally as "cold reading," involving a "reader" who is able toconvince a second person that they know all about the client'spersonality, problems and life." as stated in the first page of thearticle. The author uses the examples of psychics, astrologers andmediums who believe that they have unexplainable powers to foreseeothers destiny's and fortunes. I am a non believer in cold readingonly because I feel that some of these people use this tactic for theuse of propaganda and financial gain. There are those lucky fewthat are able to foresee the future and that is a gift from God thatno one can take away from them. I don't agree with those who trickinnocent people who make them believe that they are not successfulbecause they inherited that luck from their ancestors, or making thembelieve that they have a terminal ill disease when it is not true.I do believe that there is an unexplainable mysterious world afterdeath that has not yet been discovered.This article made me think about my mother in law because she is sodevoted to this lady who is sort of a fortune teller – psychic. Sheconstantly goes to get her tarot cards read and so forth, but insteadof telling her something good, the fortune teller always tells mymother in law that she is sick or that something horrible is going tohappen to her. I honestly do not know why she trust this lady, but Iconstantly remind her that if she continues to believe this lady shewill never find out what in reality is wrong with her. I'm a truebeliever that if you're not feeling well and you know that there issomething wrong with you, seek professional medical advice. I findthis a bit disturbing because there are many people out there whoseek medical attention from non-professional license people, who onlybase their readings on the person's facial expressions, movements andhow big their check books look. Cold reading is a wonderful tacticfor those who are willing to help others, but without personal gainand interest.

Week 1and2, Beyond Belief Session 2
Neil de Grasse Tyson introduced a an interesting topic aboutthe "Perimeter of Ignorance," and what different famous scientist andphilosophers believed on the topic of science and religion many yearsago. He stated that he believed that Sir Isaac Newton was and is themost brilliant person that has ever existed because he shares thesame beliefs as he does. Newton believed "that the mere mechanicalcauses can only be perceived from the counsel and dominion from anintelligent human being" which simply means that the universe, sun,moon and other surrounding orbits are the creation of scientificknowledge and not from the grace of god who created them. He alsodiscussed the issue of the Naming Right in which he gave an excellentexample of the 9/11 tragedy. I was surprised to know that there aretons of Arabic Star names in the universe, but yet Islam has neverbeen acknowledged for their intelligence. He stated that PresidentBush, in order to distinguish them from us, Bush said "Our God is theGod that named the stars." But the reality check is that Islam didhave naming rights traceable 300 years back, but were notacknowledged since their collapse in the year 1100.My favorite part of session 2, was toward the end of the film, onlybecause Steven Weinberger stated that we need to be honest toourselves and enjoy the beauty that life has to offer. He alsomentioned that even though science does not agree much with religion,it is difficult not to live without religion for many differentreasons. I think that people can not be converted to chance theirreligious beliefs from one day to another, simply because scientistswant for society to change. It's up to the individual to decide totake that step in their lives and if not so be it. The mentality ofpeople has changed drastically over time, that maybe it would be easyto convince those to change their religion preference, but in doingso I feel that there has to be enough supporting evidence to do soand to really analyze the impact that it can cause to those whodecide to take the initial step, regardless if it's a negative orpositive experience.

Week 3&4, Expert Lec. John M. Smith
I didn't find this film interesting at all only because I had adifficult time understanding Mr. Smith and also the topic of Evolutiondoes not interest me much. He did state that after reading Darwin'spieces in school, he changed his beliefs in religion and he states thatit was an "escape from religion because he felt it did not allow him tofollow his thoughts to the end." He is content to be an atheistbecause it allows him to explore beyond the situations withoutinvolving any aspect of religion and putting his own theory andknowledge to examples such as Game Theory, Natural Selection anddesign. He applies Game Theory to genes and the growth of plants toapply it to humans. For example he used the example of frequencydependency selection in which an average of men and women are pairedand are expected to have an average of children in their lifetime. Theidea that the selection in favor of something depends on the frequencyof the population is a bit confusing only because he is comparing thegrowth of plants to apply it to humans.

Week 3and 4 The physics behind four amazing demonstrations
The article named "The Physics behind four amazing demonstrations"was very interesting to read. David G. Willey uses four dramaticdemonstrations to prove physics theory. He walks on a bed of brokenglass, has a concrete block broken on him while lying between twobeds of nail, dips his fingers in molten lead and finally picks up anorange hot piece of space shuttle tile. The article basicallyexplains the procedures for David G. Willey to introduce physics in amuch more interesting way to the student. I think it is a wonderfulway to make physics an interesting subject to learn. Definitely morestudents would not be intimidated by taking a difficult course suchas Physics.I agree with David G. Willey that in order for a subject to beinteresting for the student, the professor or instructor shouldfirst grab the audience attention and interest before proceeding toteach the principals and meaning about any given topic. In this caseit would be about the theory of physics. I have had similarexperience as Mr. Willey, in which the instructor or professor talksfor the entire class hour and does not even acknowledge the student.That is great the he /she are able to introduce the topics to thestudents because they know their stuff, but it's not any help to thestudent when the student can't ask questions and make some sort ofcontact with the instructor. I believe that a person that enjoysteaching would try to make the course interesting for the studentinstead of making the course difficult to understand because at theend the student would have no choice but to drop the class becausehe / she was never given an opportunity to ask or have a visualpresentation so the subject would be better understood. I also thinkthat Mr. Willey way of using dramatic demonstrations is for studentsto realize that the mind is a powerful tool that humans have and thatanything is possible to do with adequate precautions and instructionson how to do experiments like he did. That is a great tactic thatMr. Willey uses to make students want to attend class on a dailybasis.

Week3and4, Should Skeptical Inquiry Be Applied To Religion?
Paul Kurtz made a strong point that the topic of science and religionis a topic that has many issues to be dealt with but in order to putthe final dish on the table, skepticism should be applied in order toemphasize doubt and impossibility of knowledge and to focus on thegenuine possibility. He believes that religious claims should beinvestigated for the purpose that religion belief is based on faith.(pg 2of7) Kurtz stated “David Hume's arguments against miraclesindicate all the reasons why we should be skeptical of ancient claimsbecause they lack adequate documentation, because the eyewitnesseswere biased, and so on."(pg.3of7). www.csicop.orgThe example that was used to prove his point was the shroud worn byJesus. He states that the cloth has gone through extensive researchand it has been proven that the cloth is 700 years old and a forgery.But my question is, so if that is the case, then can there be apossibility that the shroud does not exist and the shroud worn byJesus was not there to begin with. How about the mantel that JuanDiego wore and the reflection of the Virgin Mary, is that also aforgery? I would than argue that in order for me to believe on mycatholic religion I would want some kind justifications to tell methat I can believe in my religion without having any doubts on it. Iknow that there has been some kind of research on this shrouds andmantels, but my question is on what evidence do they base their finaloutcomes? If the scientist claims that Jesus shroud is forgery, thenhow come they haven’t changed all the religious believers to thinkthat it isn’t real? I’m a true believer that God works in mysteriousways and that he has given each and everyone of us the choice tobelieve in him or not.

Week3and4, "Eleven"
Wow, what can I say? This film is a powerful film that really made methink. As I began to see the film I didn't expect it to lead to thatextent. At first I thought it was going to be about how JoshuaWilliams accomplished his dream to be on the A-list and in the frontcover of the newspaper because he had written an awesome documentaryabout his finding, but I was absolutely shocked that he made the fromcover because he was murdered for being at the wrong place at thewrong time just trying to do his job as a reporter. He was sent tointerview people to get their opinions on the murder and attempts ofMuslim believers, but he never stopped to think that he was going tobe put in the same situation as Malik Sheri. He was mistaken as amuslim like Malik Sheri.The name "Eleven" is referred to the group that Samaya Jones hadcreated to rid the world of terrorist threats and his first targetswere Muslims. He named his group "Eleven" in memory of his father whowas killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. I foundit a bit disturbing because Samaya didn’t think clearly and tookmatters into his own hands by using racial profiling to take get ridof terrorists. Just because a person is walking by a mosk, itdoesn't mean that the person is a Muslim. In Joshua's case he wasonly doing his job, and was murdered for coming out of the mosk.Samaya's anger and rage against Muslims reminded me about thesituation that Muslims or people who looked Middle Eastern wereexperiencing after the attempts had happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Thesepeople were judged because of what other people had committed andwere not given a chance to let people know that not all Muslims werealike. Joshua's dream did come true to make it on the front cover, butit he made the front cover for being murdered and for being at thewrong place at the wrong time.

Week3and4, A Field Guide to Critical Thinking
James Letts guide to critical thinking using the six simple rules tofollow when considering any claim are helpful for one to begin topractice critically, especially when one is not used to think beyondthe boundaries. For example, names these rules "FilChers" which eachletter represents Falsifiability, logic, Compnsiveness, Honesty,Replicability and Sufficiency. He states that if these rules areapplied to any evidence that offers a claim ,than no one will be ableto steal ones belief. He calls this the Filch-Proof.I found this article helpful in my situation, because I’m not acritical thinker, only because I’m afraid that people will judge me forthinking differently than others. Im not sure if it is because I'mafraid of saying something wrong or if it is because I don’t want tobe wrong so I can make people feel better. Maybe that is why it hastaken me so long to take a critical thinking class. As long as Ihave proof and evidence to back up my claim. As I was reading thearticle, I found that I use one of the rules constantly in my mathclass. For example, the rule Logic, states that any argument offeredas evidence in support of any claim must be found. The author usedcounter example, which a claim is true if and only if its true in allcases. Hopefully I can learn to retain Mr Letts rules to help me usemy critical thinking skills without doubting if I’m wrong or right.

week3and4, The Himalayan Connection
This article was interesting to read only because the topic of UFO'sis a topic that brings different opinions to the table. Some peoplebelieve in the phenomenon of UFO's and others believe it's all in themind of the person who reports these incidents. I personally do notbelieve that UFO's exist because there is no evidence that anyone hasseen them up front and close. I think that people who report thatthey have been abducted are not thinking clearly. For example, allthe videos that have recorded UFO sightings, but yet when the imagesare reviewed the images are not clear and are not believable. Howabout Area 51 located in Nevada, is that true or is it just a bunchof publicity to hype up the society? Why can only authorized agentsor federal official are able to go in there and yet a common personlike me can't? What are they hiding that society can't know about?The author in his article describes the three classifications ordivisions that UFO's have been reported, first, the translative,transformative, and transfusive. Each of these stages has adifferent approach in looking into the state of mind. For example,translation is described by the author as experiences of naturalphenomena within the consensus reality that have yet to be named andidentified correctly. Transformation is based on experiment variablethrough conscious and transfusion is the connection betweentranslation and transformation which eventually leads to confusion.Overall, I think that the topic of UFO's need to be researched moreclosely and if they actually exist, that something should be said toease the minds of those who have encountered them and for those whoare yet to encounter them.

Week 3and4, Beyond Belief session 3
Where should I begin? I found this session not interesting likesession 1 and 2. The reason is because the first speaker which wasJoan Roughgarden didn't know what she was talking about. I felt likeshe took her argument about religion and science out of context.For example, the passage she read from the bible to make her pointclear in evolution was no where near the real meaning of the mustardseed and its significance. I’m not too familiar with the passage, butI asked someone who is more familiar with it and he basicallyclaims that the mustard seeds refers to the faith that one has andthe reason why it is spread through out is to spread the passages ofthe bible. Roughgarden refered the spreading to having children. Ifound her unpleasant to listen too and also extremely boring.I also found Caroline Porrco extremely confusing only because Ithought that her speech didn’t really go with the main topic, which isreligion and science. This was a tough session to listen too but aswell look at only because their speeches were not interesting andtherefore, I lost interest and found myself bored and lost and a bitirritated by Richard Dawkin views about religion. I feel heoverexagerated his negative views and made me dislike him even more.This convention is based solely on the efforts to provide people withmore information on a topic that requires attention, but I do notagree that all this bashing against religion should be made,especially when people are attending this convention open minded.

Week 3and4, Beyond Belief session4
Okay, as I view this conference, it seems that religion and scienceis not being focused as planned. The first gentleman, which I wasnot able to get his name, was using to much terminology that inreality didn't make sense and therefore made it difficult tounderstand. He stated that the brain equals mind and the mind equalscomputer. Now forgive me for being a bit dumb, but how can my mind beconsidered a computer? As far as I know, I don't have a computer chipimplanted in my brain, telling me how to maneuver my body and yet tellme how to think...I found his speech out of context and I for suredid not find it within the topic that needed to be discussed. Hebased his speech on slides rather than what he actually felt or wasthere to argue for.I did find the second speaker (Rama) more interesting and I give himcredit for not bashing religion like most of the other speakers havedone through out the conference. He was funny. The only thing that Ido not agree with him is that he states that a personal god does notexist. It may not exist for him, but for people like myself, Ibelieve in a personal God and I'm a true believer that God does workin mysterious ways. I also believe that in order for one to receivegood one must give back. I don’t consider myself to be in denial,but I do consider to be a believer that God is watching over me toguide me through the right direction.

Week 5, Freeman Dyson
He claims to be a religious person without any isms. He describeshimself as being a Christian without the theology. He states thatwhen theology is taken away of Christianity, it is left witha "community of people in the church who are taking care of each other.There is a great deal of beautiful languages, music and its art formis much more than a philosophy." I found him very pleasant and abit entertaining only because he seems to get amused by the fact thathis works are taken out of context and in reality are interpreted ina totally different way. He describes his work as poetry that hassome truth in theory, but are not proven scientifically. His opinionabout science and religion is that they are compatible, but that hisscience is just a trade that is not connected in any way toreligion.He also talked a bit about how society has changed drastically overtime. In the 1930's the world was faced with many disadvantages andthrough out the years, society was able to overcome it. Hestated "we survived that era, and then certainly we can survive ourproblems now." I think that with what we are going through now, isgoing to be tough for us to get out of because its gotten out ofhand. If we would be fighting for a good cause, I would understandour presence in another country, but our presence is just makingthings worse and issues not getting solved. I do hope that this eraovercomes its obstacles. Freeman Dyson state "you need a bit ofreligion to be able to live," and I absolutely agree with him.

Week 5, Bertrand Russell
This piece on "Why I am not a Christian," was interesting to read.He used many passages from the bible to argue his claims and I didn’tfind him disrespectful in any way because he made me think for awhile. He does not believe in God or in immortality and questionswhether Christ was the best of the wisest of men? For example, hestates "There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moralcharacter, and that is that he believed in Hell. I do not myself feelthat any person who is really profoundly humane can believe ineverlasting punishment." I read this and it really made me think onthis issue. If Hell actually exists than does it mean that all thesecriminals who have committed a crime will be judged and taken to hellor will God forgive them? Is hell only for those who do not believein him or is it just a way to scare the believer?Bertrand Russell notes "that the idea that we should all be wicked ifwe did not hold to the Christian religion seems to me that the peoplewho have held to it have been for the most part extremely wicked." Iagree with him in the sense that some people claim to be truebelievers in God and attend mass on a regular basis and claim tolive a moral, honest and religious life, but yet talk behind peoplesbacks, or are living in sin. If that is the case than why would theyconsider themselves to Christian? Is it because they do live withGod's presence or is it because it such sounds nice for others tohear? I honestly do not understand why some people would considerthemselves Christians if it is only going to last for an hour once aweek. I've questioned this topic many times and yet to this date Ihave not arrived to a rational conclusion. No harm intended, but thereason why I question this is because I know many people who claimthat they are devoted to their religion and yet are committingadultery and still swear that they are faithful Christians and do notlive in sin....should this be blamed on religion or is it cause somepeople do not get the concept of what religion really means?

Week 5, Faqir Chand
I have sometimes wondered if our lives are just a dream when we passon to the other world. I question if everything that we are livingis a dream or is it possible to predict our death? I found itinteresting to read that Faqir Chand also began to question theauthenticity of his inner visions like I have questioned mine.Before my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago she wasdetermined to come and see my mother, sister and me before she wasgoing to pass. She suddenly became extremely sick and insisted thatshe wanted to return back home to die in her house, because sheaccomplished to see us before she passed away. My mother and decidedto return her back home after two days of being here in Californiawith us. The weirdest thing was, when the airplane landed on thesoil that she had raised her family in, she collapsed and died in theairplane. We received the heartbreaking news that my grandmother hadpassed away in the airplane and yet we still wonder if she was justtrying to say goodbye to us because she sensed that she was going toleave us. I find it interesting to read that Faqir Chand said " WhenI come back, it will be a black box"; reason I say this is because mygrandmother before she took board on the airplane, she told mymother ," I will take care of you no matter where I am at." Can thisreally be possible? My question is can we actually sense when ourtime will come or is it just an illusion of our conscious that isprovoked? Can our lives here on earth only be a dream?

Week 5 , Da Free John
I found this article interesting and in a way a bit weird to read, onlybecause I'm still not comprehending why people would go about believinga human being who believes that he is a messenger from God andsupposedly has the ability to spread message to men and women abouttheir out of body experiences. First of all, I do not agree that amedium who claims that he is sent from God would require money inexchange for its followers to believe in him and yet believe everythingthat he may have to say. I think that anyone who has that gift to dowhat Da Free John claims to say he is able to do, would not do it forfinancial gain but instead would do it for a spiritual insight tobenefit others. Of course everyone is entitled to believe in mediumsif they please too, but I would suggest first investigating andresearching the individual before going on further. According to GoergFeuerstein "One need not accept everything a spiritual movement offersbecause it has a single gleam of authenticity," and I agree with himbecause not everything that a medium reads or tells you will be factualand true. I would question in what circumstances that he conclude hisreadings too and what kind of evidence does he have to prove hiswritings in natures realities.

Week 5, Pretext, Text, and Context
This article was interesting to read because it helped me understandthat in order for one to understand one's soul and personal being, oneshould look at their lives as a book and dissect it by every piecepossible to understand our beliefs and self understanding. Until Iread this article, I never thought of using these three steps tounderstand what I am made of and why I think and feel the way I do.After reading this article I have learned that life is like a book, onecan make it interesting or one can simply make it boring and notinteresting. In the beginning I was a bit confused as I was reading it,but it took a second reading for me to better understand what theauthor was trying to say. I will definitely see things in a differentperspective and I will definitely will be more critical in the way Iview things.

Week 5, Film, The Secret of Faqir
I must admit that the music was fascinating to listen too, while I wasviewing the film. I had to view the film like 3 to 4 times, cause itwas pretty fast, but the Secret that Faqir stated in the film is "Your real helper is your own self and your own faith." He alsostates "this entire game is that of your impressions and suggestionswhich are ingrated upon your mind through your eyes and ears and yourfaith and belief." I agree with him because we learn by experience andonly we can determine and judge what is best for us. Regardless of whatreligion one may be or not, we are responsible for our actions and wehave to admit that our conscious may not always lead us to decide whatis good or bad for our souls. Therefore, I agree with him.


11. Why does Richard Dawkins consider religion a “Virus” of the mind? Do you agree or disagree? Substantiate your view.

Richard Dawkins considers religion a “virus” of the mind because human minds are like computer viruses. What we learn replicates but it all depends how the information has been infected to produce the way the brain is thinking. I agree with Dawkins because we learn from what we see and react in various ways depending on the situation. We are not born with positive/negative thinking skills but instead it is a learned process. For example, infants are not just born with knowing how to talk or walk, yet they learn these milestones in their young lives by the teachings of their parents and siblings and an everyday learning process. I also think that believing in a certain religion is learned by our parents and it is up to the individual to determine if they will continue to have the same beliefs as their parents did or if the individual will go the opposite way.

12. Give an example of a “cargo cult” belief and critically analyze it from a scientific perspective? Hint: think of something that people believe in that lacks overwhelming evidence to support it.
An example of a “cargo cult” belief would be the beliefs in horoscopes. The reason why I think this would lack evidence to support it, is because there is nothing that states that horoscopes are factual but yet people believe them and basically run their daily lives bases on what their horoscopes and the star are telling them to believe in. I feel that horoscope readings are used for propaganda business and are not trustworthy for people to believe in them. Richard Feynman states “the first principle is that you must not fool yourself because you are the easiest person to fool.”

13. How does one do “science” according to Richard Feynman? Why is this form of science so important to human beings? How can such a view of science help enrich one’s appreciation for beauty? Be sure to give YOUR own example for Feynman’s point (no “flowers” allowed).

According to Richard Feynman one does “science” by finding interest, beauty and mathematical reasoning. He states “There is a pleasure of finding things out.” I find this interesting because if we follow everything that we are told about science then what is the purpose of learning it. He also stated that in order to do science one should get to know something and check the experiments first and then recheck the outcomes to do the work necessary to do science. Richard Feynman says, “To live not knowing, is much more interesting to live not knowing, then to have answers that might be wrong.” This form of science is important for human beings because I think we would automatically want the answers for everything, but yet we don’t realized and maybe will not admit that it doesn’t hurt to be wrong. I think in order to enrich one’s appreciation for beauty is being able to experience life. For example, my son and daughter had an opportunity to experience the beauty of their young brother being born. They never imagined that they would experience such a thing. I consider that bringing a human being to the world is the most beautiful thing that can happen to anyone, but being able to see it up close, like my children did, is an unforgettable moment.

14. Give your interpretation of the movie “Karma.”

The film “Karma” was interesting to watch and I interpret the film as the gentleman walking and getting a chance to view someone else’s destiny, but never knowing his own. The characters that were in the film didn’t even know what was about to happen to them, yet someone else had that opportunity to see before hand. The meaning of Karma can interpret in a positive or negative perception, and the film demonstrated that if one gives, one will receive depending if the situation. We don’t know what our destiny holds for us, because it can be filled with lots of happiness or it can be cut short in a matter of minutes.

15. Explain, in brief, Darwinian evolution and why John Maynard Smith’s contribution is important in thinking differently about survival of the fittest?

Darwinian evolution is described as all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor and natural selection must have occurred because of gene mutation. In other words our ancestor’s offspring’s inherited a gene that gave the species advantage to compete better in the wilderness. Natural selection eliminates inferior species over a period of time. John Maynard Smith change the way of thinking in regards to the theory of “survival of the fittest” by arguing that sexual reproduction increases the likely hood of evolution. He also argues that there is no evolutionary evidence that genes bring about the origin of thought and conscious. He believes that the human species need to learn how to cooperate more with one another because humans are killing each other to survive. In the animal kingdom animals must learn to survive to continue their offspring’s. They must fight to provide nutrition for their offspring’s and protect their offspring’s from being someone else’s meal. Human behavior plays an important role in survival of the fittest. For example, in the prison systems, in order for an inmate to survive in jail, they must protect themselves from other inmates. This is a constant battle that the inmates have to face on a daily basis and I would think this is a type of “survival of the fittest.”

16. What are Freeman Dyson’s views on the “design” of the universe or the purpose of humankind?

Freeman Dyson’s views on the “design” of the universe or the purpose of humankind is that there is no evidence since the minds exists in the universe at our level and that it might exist all through the universe and in God. He states “the universe is so friendly to life it is a mystery” because its designed to be “hospitable” to human life but to all living things and mind in general.” Dyson also commented that the universe has a diversity which includes 20 million different kinds of species and evolution leads to a sense of diversity. Towards the end of the film he made it clear that it was his opinion and not a scientific one.

17. What is the “secret” that Faqir Chand discovered about religion and its founders?

The secret that Faqir Chand discovered is that his own guru was “un apiano converse of his manifestation”. He believes that anything that happens to one is a game that our minds adopt based on our own faith and believes. He states “religious visions must rest in the nature of the consciousness itself.” The helper of the universe is one self, because one can’t be depending on others to tell them what is right or wrong, but instead one should follow our own intuitions and values. Self exploration and dependency for the human soul is the best way.

18. Explain the movie “Eleven” and what is your interpretation of it? In other words, what is the underlying message that the director is trying to convey?

I think that the underlying message that the director is tying to convey is to not judge the book by its cover because ignorance can lead people to do stupid things. People need to stop blaming others for things that happen because its simply not fair for anyone to mend the broken pieces and be blamed for others ignorant mistakes.

19. Why is distinguishing the message from the medium so important? Use the Da Free John article as your context.

It is important to distinguish the message form the medium because the message can mean the total opposite of what it really means. The view point of the medium is limited and one reader may interpret the message in a different way then what the medium is trying to send out. David Lane states “Simply because one communicates the ultimate truths well does not mean by extension that he is an embodiment of that highest realization, the person may be quite the opposite.”

20. What are Betrand Russell’s reason for NOT being a Christian? ARGUMENTS FOR your position (pro or con).

Bertrand Russell’s reason for not being a Christian is because he doesn’t believe in God, in immortality and he doesn’t believe that Christ was the best and wisest of men. He states that if you don’t believe in God, one has no right to call themselves Christians. I must say that I find myself agreeing with Betrand Russell because I often question if there was a God, why would he allow horrible things to happen to humankind? I was raised Catholic and I have always been told that I must not lie in sin so that I can go to heaven and live an afterlife full of joy and happiness. But why can I also live in joy and happiness right now? I also agree with him in which he states “the powerful reason to believe in God is the wish for safety, a sort of feeling that there is a big brother who will look after you.” I find myself feeling that way, especially when my life is not going oh so well. But then again I know that God works in mysterious ways and if I loose interest and faith in him, my life is not fully complete.

21. Give a summary of Jim Lett’s field guide to critical thinking (in your own “300” words, no more). Don’t use quotes but write it like a letter to a friend explain how to think critically in light of Lett’s numerous points.

Dear Brenda,
I wanted to share some easy steps to improve your critical thinking skills to apply in your daily life style but as well as your educational success now that you are beginning your first year of college. It’s as easy as remembering one easy word “FilChers.” You are probably wondering if “FilChers” is a vocabulary word, and the answer is no, but it’s an easy way for you to use your critical thinking skills wisely and effectively. Falsification means all evidence is important and true. Logic is a mental process to determine if the statement is true in all cases. Comprehensiveness, evidence must be supported by theory. Honesty will lead to results. Replicability, apply trial and error for result. Sufficiency, claims must be supported by proof. Hopefully my piece of advice will help you greatly in your upcoming courses but as well as your opinions and claims you may encounter in the future. So don’t forget to “FilChers.”

22. Why does Kurtz believe that skepticism should be applied to religion? Do you agree or disagree?

He views skepticism is definitely need to investigate religious claims. In his opinion, “scientific and skeptical inquirers should deal with religious claims but doesn’t agree by applying scientific skepticism to the religious domain. He feels that religious claims are amenable to scientific examination and skeptical inquiry.”(pg6of7) He feels that skepticism would answer many questions between religion and science. I agree in some sense that skepticism should be applied to religion only because there are many different opinions about God the creator and different version of the real history that relates to God. We base our knowledge on what we have been taught and yet we only rely on certain information that has been provided. I think it’s a wonderful way to simplify it for a better understanding of ones beliefs.

23. Why is pretext, text, and context important in analyzing a book or an argument. Provide your own example.

The reason why pretext, text, and context are important in analyzing a book or an argument is to better understand the content of the book and not to interpret the information based on the title. Instead it is better to read the entire context in order to understand what the book is about. In order to understand the content, it must be dissected piece by piece, word by word and letter by letter. Dr. David Lane uses these examples to give a better understanding of what the meaning of conscious is and how to discover one’s soul. One example that is plausible to pretext, text and context is marriage. I think in order to understand the content of marriage the couple must first understand how to build the foundation in order to commit into a long relationship. Of course not all the time is marriage a happy place to be in, but at least the couple will understand the components to make marriage work in even the most difficult situations. Pretext, text, and context are a great way to view life as a whole, whether in religion, science, marriage, faith or beliefs.

24. What is a “transformative” UFO encounter and does the author of the Himalayan Connection really believe in UFOs as genuine extraterrestrial?

The author of the Himalayan Connection believes phenomenon apparitions are based on cultural values that play a great part in any kind of religious phenomenons. He states “the mind is so powerful that it has the ability to adapt to new cultural trends,” therefore doesn’t believe in UFO’s because he believes that the human brain has the ability to believe anything it wants, Even if there is not enough evidence, proof and common sense to the individual.

25. How does one think more critically when using online sources? (hint: think of one of the required articles) Substantiate your views.

According to the author Debra Jones, one can think more critically when using online sources is by learning from teachers and other students. She states “Critical thinking across the disciplines share common features.” For example, courses are assignment centered instead of attending class every day and sitting in class for hours being lectured by a professor. Students need to formulate and justify their ideas in writing rather than not thinking at all and leaving questions and issues unattended. (Meyer1986, Jones1986) I think that using online resources to help one think critically is an awesome way to obtain information when it is not available in person. The way I go about in using my critical thinking skills is by reading and highlighting important topics in the material required. If I encounter any problems that I don’t understand, I re-read the material and analyze, criticize and question areas that I may not understand or comprehend. The advantage of using online sources is that its available 24/7, but the disadvantage is that there is no interaction between the student and teacher. Otherwise, online critical thinking is great and I highly recommend it for anyone who has a busy schedule and would still like to continue their education without attending class.

26. What is Steven Weinberg’s views on religion? Do you agree or disagree?

Steven Weinberg’s views on religion are that he feels that there is tension between scientist’s beliefs and religious beliefs because “religious society doesn’t believe that humans derive from earlier forms.” He feels that religion is a personal belief that has been taught to the individual. He strongly believes that science is based on facts and theorem where as religion is based on people values and beliefs. He claims that there are four roles in which science overtakes religion. First, science makes religion explanation unnecessary, second, the spiritual aspect of life appears to have evolutionary explanations, third, laws of nature put Gods hand in chair and finally, the method approach to truth religion relies in authority. I disagree with him because his mentality toward religion is biased. I feel that anyone who decides to believe in God is their choice and therefore one should not criticize people’s beliefs just because they view religion in a totally different way. I disagree with him that God does not exist shouldn’t get the credit for anything. I believe that God does exist within those that believe in him and he deserves to be credited for the existence of mankind.

27. Why is Sam Harris an atheist? Explain his reasons. Can you argue against his views? Is so, how?

The reason why Sam Harris is an atheist is because he believes that faith is “playing both sides of the board and the problem are that people actually believe in it.” He states “ religion is making claims that do not provide rational evidence and therefore believes that faith is simply a way to get permission for people to believe when others fail to do so.” He also feels that religion is a dangerous social force that could bring down civilization. One cant argue against his views because he is entitled to view religion the way he wants. I simply do not appreciate the fact that he stated that people who believe in the end of the world and the coming of God are idiots and lunatics. In order to provide a solid criticism to back up his claim, he first needs to stop bashing people who live by morality and beliefs that are different from his. In order to encourage people to change or convert, he should first explain what the benefits are and what knowledge one would gain to convert to his beliefs. I agree with him that the war in Iraq is an absolute mistake and because of this unnecessary war, the United States has made enemies, but I don’t agree with him that faith is permission for people to believe in.

28. Of the first five installments of Beyond Belief which speaker did you find most persuasive? Explain why?

I found that Michael Sherman was the most persuasive speaker in the conference. He was very intellectual and knew what he was talking about. His speech was interesting to view and informative in the sense that he was there to discuss religion and science, but in a respectful way. He didn’t bash religion like the other speakers did. He explained the three tier model and explained that the separate worlds model is the best supported which says that “neither religion nor science, have anything to do with one another.” Therefore, religion and science can’t be in conflict. I agree with him that “one can’t force people to convert, but instead make the information available for one to decide.”

29. Ken Miller argues against Micheal Behe’s notion of irreducible complexity and the notion of intelligent design in biology. Is he right? If so, explain. If not, give your reasons why not.

I was not able to view this film.

30. In the conference Beyond Belief, which speaker did you find to be the weakest in terms of substance? Explain.

I think after the first speakers in sessions 1 and 2, the speakers that followed were weak in their arguments. For example, Joan Roughgarden took content out of context, Carolyn Porrco’s speech was simply confusing because it didn’t have anything to do with the topic of religion and science and Richard Dawkins was just too negative against religion and it seemed to me that they didn’t attend this conference with an open mind.

Extra Credit:
Make your own 3 minute movie on how to be an effective critical thinker (be creative).

Double Extra Credit:
Give a 200 word interpretation of the required movie, Nicholas of Cusa. What do you think it actually means?

I was not able to view this film.

Week 5, Film, The Secret of Faqir

I must admit that the music was fascinating to listen too, while I wasviewing the film. I had to view the film like 3 to 4 times, cause itwas pretty fast, but the Secret that Faqir stated in the film is "Your real helper is your own self and your own faith." He alsostates "this entire game is that of your impressions and suggestionswhich are ingrated upon your mind through your eyes and ears and yourfaith and belief." I agree with him because we learn by experience andonly we can determine and judge what is best for us. Regardless of whatreligion one may be or not, we are responsible for our actions and wehave to admit that our conscious may not always lead us to decide whatis good or bad for our souls. Therefore, I agree with him.

Week 5, Pretext, Text, and Context

This article was interesting to read because it helped me understandthat in order for one to understand one's soul and personal being, oneshould look at their lives as a book and dissect it by every piecepossible to understand our beliefs and self understanding. Until Iread this article, I never thought of using these three steps tounderstand what I am made of and why I think and feel the way I do.After reading this article I have learned that life is like a book, onecan make it interesting or one can simply make it boring and notinteresting. In the begining I was a bit confused as I was reading it,but it took a second reading for me to better understand what theauthor was trying to say. I will definately see things in a differentperspective and I will definately will be more critical in the way Iview things.

Week5 , Da Free John

I found this article interesting and in a way a bit weird to read, onlybecause I'm still not comprehending why people would go about believinga human being who believes that he is a messenger from God andsupposedly has the ability to spread message to men and women abouttheir out of body experiences. First of all, I do not agree that amedium who claims that he is sent from God would require money inexchange for its followers to believe in him and yet believe everythingthat he may have to say. I think that anyone who has that gift to dowhat Da Free John claims to say he is able to do, would not do it forfinancial gain but instead would do it for a spiritual insight tobenefit others. Of course everyone is entitled to believe in mediumsif they please too, but I would suggest first investigating andresearching the individual before going on further. According to GoergFeuerstein "One need not accept everything a spiritual movement offersbecause it has a single gleam of authenticity," and I agree with himbecause not everything that a medium reads or tells you will be factualand true. I would question in what circumstances that he conclude hisreadings too and what kind of evidence does he have to prove hiswritings in natures realities.

Week 5, Faqir Chand

I have sometimes wondered if our lives are just a dream when we passon to the other world. I question if everything that we are livingis a dream or is it possible to predict our death? I found itinteresting to read that Faqir Chand also began to question theauthenticity of his inner visions like I have questioned mine.Before my grandmother passed away a couple of years ago she wasdetermined to come and see my mother, sister and me before she wasgoing to pass. She suddenly became extremely sick and insisted thatshe wanted to return back home to die in her house, because sheaccomplished to see us before she passed away. My mother and decidedto return her back home after two days of being here in Californiawith us. The weirdest thing was, when the airplane landed on thesoil that she had raised her family in, she collapsed and died in theairplane. We received the heartbreaking news that my grandmother hadpassed away in the airplane and yet we still wonder if she was justtrying to say goodbye to us because she sensed that she was going toleave us. I find it interesting to read that Faqir Chand said " WhenI come back, it will be a black box"; reason I say this is because mygrandmother before she took board on the airplane, she told mymother ," I will take care of you no matter where I am at." Can thisreally be possible? My question is can we actually sense when ourtime will come or is it just an illusion of our conscious that isprovoked? Can our lives here on earth only be a dream?

week 5, Bertrand Russell

This piece on "Why I am not a Christian," was interesting to read.He used many passages from the bible to argue his claims and I didntfind him disrespectful in any way because he made me think for awhile. He does not believe in God or in immortality and questionswhether Christ was the best of the wisest of men? For example, hestates "There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moralcharacter, and that is that he believed in Hell. I do not myself feelthat any person who is really profoundly humane can believe ineverlasting punishment." I read this and it really made me think onthis issue. If Hell actually exists than does it mean that all thesecriminals who have committed a crime will be judged and taken to hellor will God forgive them? Is hell only for those who do not believein him or is it just a way to scare the believer?Bertrand Russell notes "that the idea that we should all be wicked ifwe did not hold to the Christian religion seems to me that the peoplewho have held to it have been for the most part extremely wicked." Iagree with him in the sense that some people claim to be truebelievers in God and attend mass on a regurlar basis and claim tolive a moral, honest and religious life, but yet talk behind peoplesbacks, or are living in sin. If that is the case than why would theyconsider themselves to Christian? Is it because they do live withGod's presence or is it because it such sounds nice for others tohear? I honestly do not understand why some people would considerthemselves Christians if it is only going to last for an hour once aweek. I've questioned this topic many times and yet to this date Ihave not arrived to a rational conclusion. No harm intended, but thereason why I question this is because I know many people who claimthat they are devoted to their religion and yet are committingadultery and still swear that they are faithful Christians and do notlive in sin....should this be blamed on religion or is it cause somepeople do not get the concept of what religion really means?

Week 5, Freeman Dyson

He claims to be a religious eson without any isms. He describeshimself as being a Christian without the theology. He states thatwhen theology is taken away of Christianity, it is left witha "community of people in the church who are takincare of each other.There is a great dal of beautiful languages, music and its art formis much more than a philisophy." I found him very pleasant and abit entertaining only because he seems to get amused by the fact thathis works are taken out of context and in reality are interpreted ina totally different way. He describes his work as poetry that havesome truth in theory, but are not proven scientifically. His opinionabout science and religion is that they are compatible , but that hisscience is just a trade that is not connected in any way toreligion.He also talked a bit about how society has changed drastically overtime. In the 1930's the world was faced with many disadvantages andthrough out the years, society was able to overcome it. Hestated "we survived that era, then certainly we can survive ourproblems now." I think that with what we are going through now, isgoing to be tough for us to get out of because its gotten out ofhand. If we would be fighting for a good cause, I would understandour presence in another country, but our presence is just makingthings worse and issues not getting solved. I do hope that this eraovercomes its obsticles. Freeman Dyson state "you need a bit ofreligion to be able to live," and I absolutely agree with him.

Week 3and4, Beyond Belief session4

Okay, as I view this conference, it seems that religion and scienceis not being focused as planned. The first gentleman, which I wasnot able to get his name, was using to much terminology that inreality didn't make sense and therefore made it difficult tounderstand. He stated that the brain equals mind and the mind equalscomputer. Now forgive me for being a bit dumb, but how can my mind beconsidered a computer? As far as I know, I don't have a computer chipimplanted in my brain, telling me how to manuver my body and yet tellme how to think...I found his speech out of context and I for suredid not find it within the topic that needed to be discussed. Hebased his speech on slides rather than what he actually felt or wasthere to argue for.I did find the second speaker (Rama) more interesting and I give himcredit for not bashing religion like most of the other speakers havedone through out the conference. He was funny. The only thing that Ido not agree with him is that he states that a personal god does notexist. It may not exist for him, but for people like myself, Ibelieve in a personal God and I'm a true believer that God does workin mysterious ways. I also believe that in order for one to receivegood one must give back. I dont consider myself to be in denial,but I do consider to be a believer that God is watching over me toguide me through the right direction.

Week 3and4, Beyond Belief session 3

Where should I begin? I found this session not interesting likesession 1 and 2. The reason is because the first speaker which wasJoan Roughgarden didn't know what she was talking about. I felt likeshe took her arguement about religion and science out of context.For example, the passage she read from the bible to make her pointclear in evolution was no where near the real meaning of the mustardseed and its significance. Im not too familiar with the passage, butI asked someone who is more familiar with it and he basicallyclaims that the mustard seeds refers to the faith that one has andthe reason why it is spread through out is to spread the passages ofthe bible. Roughgarden refered the spreading to having children. Ifound her unpleasant to listen too and also extremely boring.I also found Caroline Porrco extremely confusing only because Ithought that her speech didnt really go with the main topic, which isreligion and science. This was a tough session to listen too but aswell look at only because their speeches were not interesting andtherefore, I lost interest and found myself bored and lost and a bitirritated by Richard Dawkin views about religion. I feel heoverexagerated his negative views and made me dislike him even more.This convention is based solely on the efforts to provide people withmore information on a topic that requires attention, but I do notagree that all this bashing against religion should be made,especially when people are attending this convention open minded.

week3and4, The Himalayan Connection

This article was interesting to read only because the topic of UFO'sis a topic that brings different opinions to the table. Some peoplebelieve in the phenomenon of UFO's and others believe it's all in themind of the person who reports these incidents. I personally do notbelieve that UFO's exist because there is no evidence that anyone hasseen them up front and close. I think that people who report thatthey have been abducted are not thinking clearly. For example, allthe videos that have recorded UFO sightings, but yet when the imagesare reviewed the images are not clear and are not believable. Howabout Area 51 located in Nevada, is that true or is it just a bunchof publicity to hype up the society? Why can only authorized agentsor federal official are able to go in there and yet a common personlike me can't? What are they hiding that society can't know about?The author in his article describes the three classifications ordivisions that UFO's have been reported, first, the translative,transformative, and transfusive. Each of these stages has adifferent approach in looking into the state of mind. For example,translation is described by the author as experiences of naturalphenomena within the consensus reality that have yet to be named andidentified correctly. Transformation is based on experiment variablethrough conscious and transfusion is the connection betweentranslation and transformation which eventually leads to confusion.Overall, I think that the topic of UFO's need to be researched moreclosely and if they actually exist, that something should be said toease the minds of those who have encountered them and for those whoare yet to encounter them.

Week3and4, A Field Guide to Critical Thinking

James Letts guide to critical thinking using the six simple rules tofollow when considering any claim are helpful for one to begin topractice critically, especially when one is not used to think beyondthe boundaries. For exaple, names these rules "FilChers" which eachletter represents Falsifiability, logic, Compnsiveness, Honesty,Replicability and Sufficiency. He states that if these rules areapplied to any evidence that offers a claim,than no one will be ableto steal ones belief. He calls this the Filch-Proof.I found this article helpful in my situation, because Im not acritical thinker,only because Im afraid that people will judge me forthinking differently than others. Im not sure if it is because Imafraid of saying something wrong or if it is because I dont want tobe wrong so I can make people feel better. Maybe that is why it hastaken me so long to take a critical thinking class. As long as Ihave proof and evidence to back up my claim. As I was reading thearticle, I found that I use one of the rules constantly in my mathclass. For exaple, the rule Logic, states that any arguement offeredas evidence in support of any claim must be found. The author usedcounter exaple, which a claim is true if and only if its true in allcases. Hopefully I can learn to retain Mr Letts rules to help me usemy critical thinking skills without doubting if Im wrong or right.

Week3and4, "Eleven"

Wow, what can I say. This film is a powerful film that really made methink. As I began to see the film I didn't expect it to lead to thatextent. At first I thought it was going to be about how JoshuaWilliams accomplished his dream to be on the A-list and in the frontcover of the newspaper because he had written an awesome documentaryabout his finding, but I was absolutely shocked that he made the fromcover because he was murdered for being at the wrong place at thewrong time just trying to do his job as a reporter. He was sent tointerview people to get their opions on the murder and attempts ofmuslim believers, but he never stopped to think that he was going tobe put in the same situation as Malik Sheri. He was mistaken as amuslim like Malik Sheri.The name "Eleven" is referred to the group that Samaya Jones hadcreated to rid the world of terrorist threats and his first targetswere muslims. He named his group "Eleven" in memory of his father whowas killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. I foundit a bit disturbing because Samaya didnt think clearly and tookmatters into his own hands by using racial profiling to take get ridof terrorists. Just because a person is walking by a mosk, itdoesn't mean that the person is a muslim. In Joshua's case he wasonly doing his job, and was murdered for coming out of the mosk.Samaya's anger and rage against muslims reminded me about thesituation that muslims or people who looked middle eastern wereexperiencing after the attempts had happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Thesepeople were judged because of what other people had committed andwere not given a chance to let people know that not all muslims werealike. Joshua's dream did come true to make it on the frontcover, butit he made the front cover for being murdered and for being at thewrong place at the wrong time.

week3and4, Should Skeptical Inquiry Be Applied To Religion?

Paul Kurtz made a strong point that the topic of science and religionis a topic that has many issues to be dealt with but in order to putthe final dish on the table, skepticism should be applied in order toemphasize doubt and impossibility of knowledge and to focus on thegenuine possibility. He believes that religious claims should beinvestigated for the purpose that religion belief is based on faith.(pg 2of7) Kurtz stated " David Hume's arguments against miraclesindicate all the reasons why we should be skeptical of ancient claimsbecause they lack adequate documentation, because the eyewitnesseswere biased, and so on."(pg.3of7). www.csicop.orgThe example that was used to prove his point was the shroud worn byJesus. He states that the cloth has gone through extensive researchand it has been proven that the cloth is 700 years old and a forgery.But my question is, so if that is the case, then can there be apossibility that the shroud does not exist and the shroud worn byJesus was not there to begin with. How about the mantel that JuanDiego wore and the reflection of the Virgin Mary, is that also aforgery? I would than argue that in order for me to believe on mycatholic religion I would want some kind justifications to tell methat I can believe in my religion without having any doubts on it. Iknow that there has been some kind of research on this shrouds andmantels, but my question is on what evidence do they base their finaloutcomes? If the scientist claim that Jesus shroud is forgery, thenhow come they havent changed all the religious believers tothinkthat it isnt real? Im a true believer that God works in mysteriousways and that he has given each and everyone of us the choice tobelieve in him or not.

Week 3and 4 The physics behind four amazing demonstrations

The article named "The Physics behind four amazing demonstrations"was very interesting to read. David G. Willey uses four dramaticdemonstrations to prove physics theory. He walks on a bed of brokenglass, has a concrete block broken on him while lying between twobeds of nail, dips his fingers in molten lead and finally picks up anorange hot piece of space shuttle tile. The article basicallyexplains the procedures for David G. Willey to introduce physics in amuch more interesting way to the student. I think it is a wonderfulway to make physics an interesting subject to learn. Definitely morestudents would not be intimidated by taking a difficult course suchas Physics.I agree with David G. Willey that in order for a subject to beinteresting for the student, the professor or instructor shouldfirst grab the audience attention and interest before proceeding toteach the principals and meaning about any given topic. In this caseit would be about the theory of physics. I have had similarexperience as Mr. Willey, in which the instructor or professor talksfor the entire class hour and does not even acknowledge the student.That is great the he /she are able to introduce the topics to thestudents because they know their stuff, but it's not any help to thestudent when the student can't ask questions and make some sort ofcontact with the instructor. I believe that a person that enjoysteaching would try to make the course interesting for the studentinstead of making the course difficult to understand because at theend the student would have no choice but to drop the class becausehe / she was never given an opportunity to ask or have a visualpresentation so the subject would be better understood. I also thinkthat Mr. Willey way of using dramatic demonstrations is for studentsto realize that the mind is a powerful tool that humans have and thatanything is possible to do with adequate precautions and instructionson how to do experiments like he did. That is a great tactic thatMr. Willey uses to make students want to attend class on a dailybasis.

Week 3and4, John Maynard Smith

I didn't find this film interesting at all only because I had adifficult time understanding Mr. Smith and also the topic of Evolution does not interest me much. He did state that after reading Darwin'spieces in school, he changed his beliefs in religion and he states thatit was an "escape from religion because he felt it did not allow him tofollow his thoughts to the end." He is content to be an atheist because it allows him to explore beyond the situations without involving any aspect of religion and putting his own theory andknowledge to examples such as Game Theory, Natural Selection and design. He applies Game Theory to genes and the growth of plants toapply it to humans. For example he used the example of frequencydependency selection in which an average of men and women are pairedand are expected to have an average of children in their lifetime. Theidea that the selection in favor of something depends on the frequencyof the population is a bit confusing only because he is comparing thegrowth of plants to apply it to humans.

Okay, I finally was able to view the film and I finally understood what John Maynard Smith is talking about evolution. Duhh........I found him so honest and so intellectual about his response in regards to the evolution theory. I also liked the way that he admitted that he did not know the answers to specifc questions and I praise him for not making it seem that he knew it all just because he is a well known scientist.

Week 1and2, Beyond Belief session 2

Neil de Grasse Tyson introduced a an interesting topic aboutthe "Perimeter of Ignorance," and what different famous scientist andphilosophers believed on the topic of science and religion many yearsago. He stated that he believed that Sir Isaac Newton was and is themost brilliant person that has ever existed because he shares thesame beliefs as he does. Newton believed "that the mere mechanicalcauses can only be perceived from the counsel and dominion from anintelligent human being" which simply means that the universe, sun,moon and other surrounding orbits are the creation of scientificknowledge and not from the grace of god who created them. He alsodiscussed the issue of the Naming Right in which he gave an excellentexample of the 9/11 tragedy. I was surprised to know that there aretons of Arabic Star names in the universe, but yet Islam has neverbeen acknowledged for their intelligence. He stated that PresidentBush, in order to distinguish them from us, Bush said "Our God is theGod that named the stars." But the reality check is that Islam didhave naming rights traceable 300 years back, but were notacknowledged since their collapse in the year 1100.My favorite part of session 2, was toward the end of the film, onlybecause Steven Weinberger stated that we need to be honest toourselves and enjoy the beauty that life has to offer. He alsomentioned that even though science does not agree much with religion,it is difficult not to live without religion for many differentreasons. I think that people can not be converted to chance theirreligious beliefs from one day to another, simply because scientistswant for society to change. It's up to the individual to decide totake that step in their lives and if not so be it. The mentality ofpeople has changed drastically over time, that maybe it would be easyto convince those to change their religion preference, but in doingso I feel that there has to be enough supporting evidence to do soand to really analyze the impact that it can cause to those whodecide to take the initial step, regardless if it's a negative orpositive experience.

week 1and2, What is Cold Reading?

"What is Cold Reading?"
According to the article "what is Cold Reading?' It means people whoknow what they are doing are able to make use of a procedure knowngenerally as "cold reading," involving a "reader" who is able toconvince a second person that they know all about the client'spersonality, problems and life." as stated in the first page of thearticle. The author uses the examples of psychics, astrologers andmediums who believe that they have unexplainable powers to foreseeothers destiny's and fortunes. I am a non believer in cold readingonly because I feel that some of these people use this tactic for theuse of propaganda and financial gain. There are those lucky fewthat are able to foresee the future and that is a gift from God thatno one can take away from them. I don't agree with those who trickinnocent people who make them believe that they are not successfulbecause they inherited that luck from their ancestors, or making thembelieve that they have a terminal ill disease when it is not true.I do believe that there is an unexplainable mysterious world afterdeath that has not yet been discovered.This article made me think about my mother in law because she is sodevoted to this lady who is sort of a fortune teller – psychic. Sheconstantly goes to get her tarot cards read and so forth, but insteadof telling her something good, the fortune teller always tells mymother in law that she is sick or that something horrible is going tohappen to her. I honestly do not know why she trust this lady, but Iconstantly remind her that if she continues to believe this lady shewill never find out what in reality is wrong with her. I'm a truebeliever that if you're not feeling well and you know that there issomething wrong with you, seek professional medical advice. I findthis a bit disturbing because there are many people out there whoseek medical attention from non-professional license people, who onlybase their readings on the person's facial expressions, movements andhow big their check books look. Cold reading is a wonderful tacticfor those who are willing to help others, but without personal gainand interest.

Week 1and2, Virus of the Mind

The example that the author used to explain this dilemma was theRoman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, in which the wineturns into the blood of Christ. This statement can mean many thingsfor many different people, but the reality is that it is a mysterythat only those who were there to witness this revelation cantestify. Faith also plays an important role and we only follow whatwe have been taught from our ancestors. We can only read and letour minds do the job. Human beings like to learn what is interestingand we enjoy to be humored, by others. A virus that attacks the mindto do harm should immediately be quarantined, but a virus, Trojan orspy ware that is just hanging around lost and confused because itsnot sure if It should do good, should be cleaned or deleted from thememory file.I found the article on "Virus of the Mind" by Richard Dawkins kind ofinteresting. I was intrigued to continue reading after the firstparagraph because in a way, I am a gullible person like the six yearold child. I tend to believe everything that anyone tells me and Isometimes feel that being gullible makes me a target for others toenjoy my weakness. Can our thinking skills be attacked withmalicious viruses? I believe so. The mind is a powerful tool andunfortunately the mind is susceptible for negative and positiveattacks. Especially when others tend to use their own viruses theyhave created to attack and convience others. I agree with the authorthat successful mind viruses are difficult for their victims todetect and are sometimes ignored because it does not benefit theperson.

Week 1and2, Karma

The film on Karma was interesting to see, but a bit disturbing. Thisfilm reminded me of a music video I saw a while back in which thesinger could foresee how many hours, minutes and seconds the peoplethat surrounded him had left to live and how they died. I can'tremember the name at this video but if you have seen it pleaserefresh my memory. Is Karma such a bad thing or should we relateKarma as being a positive thing? Can Karma be a religious belief, oris just a vibe that can impact our lives?"What goes around comes around..." is a powerful phrase, especiallywhen unexplainable things happen to us or to those around us. Isometimes wonder if Karma or the aura that we have around us can leadus to fall into situations that we don't want to be in. For example,my husband and I have been going through some tough times for thepast 2 years and I stop to wonder if it's because we got married oris it because someone just cast a spell on us. We try to live ahealthy and religious life along with our kiddos and are notinterested in others personal problems. My point is that regardlessof what we do, we tend to receive either good or bad in return. Ican't say that I'm a believer in Karma, but I cannot say that Iignore it because I know that good things happen to good people andvise versa.

Week 1, Beyond Belief session1

I also notice that Mr. Harris was not too polite in the issue ofrespecting other people's beliefs. He continually attacked themorals and beliefs that people had with their religious preference.Even though he is a professional, he did not really seem to show hisprofessionalism because he called Christian believers ignorant. Inorder to receive respect, you must first respect others and what evereach person decides to believe or not believe in is that person'sproblem. My question to Mr. Harris would be what makes him believethat science is the only possibility for outcome and religion doesnot play any role? So does that mean that human beings are part ofthe ancestors of monkeys, since he believes that only science is theonly aspect that we should believe in? His beliefs may be differentto mine or to anyone else's, but that does not mean that I'm going tocriticize his beliefs or change his mind from one day to the other.He did too much talk and did not make any sense because he did notrelate science or God in any way.The first session Beyond Belief was interesting to watch and see themany different opinions that people have with religion and science.For example, Michael Sherman explained the similarities that God andscience can be combined with. God is the creator of the universe andeverything that is in it, but if science did not exist, than howwould man kind be able to know what was beyond the outside of earth.Of course, I totally do not agree that science should replace theexistence of God nor God should replace the existence of sciencebecause both work together in one way or the other.

Week 1, Cargo Cult

Wow, Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feyman, was an interesting articleto read. I sometimes find myself in the same situations that heexperienced. I sometimes wonder if people are for real or if theyare full of crap. Is it human nature to want people believe on falsestatements rather than on factual evidence? Feyman states "…the ideais to try to give all the information to help others to judge thevalue of your contributions; not just the information that leads tojudgment in one particular direction or another." One example that Ican think about is weight loss pills and infidelity. Advertisementon weight loss pills will promise the impossible to the consumer, butthe reality is that many of these dietary supplements will produceside affects to the consumer or they will simply not work at all. Asa consumer, he or she must first research the product or just letnature run its course if the product will actually work. I'm not sureif this is what he means by Cargo Cult Science?For example, he questions and investigates what people believe in andthe knowledge of how to educate others. He uses the example ofteachers who have some good ideas of how to teach the students howto learn how to read, but the districts or school systems have adifferent approach with out acknowledging what the teacher has tooffer on the table. I agree in his example because back in the dayswhen I was in elementary, the teachers would teach their students totake an easier approach to learn subjects in school. For example,learning how to work on a math problem was easier to understandbefore because the teachers were presenting the math problems to thestudent by introducing it with on hands training and learning. Now,the subjects are being introduced with limited review and very littlepractice for the students to learn. Is this because the schoolsystems want high numbers to compare with other schools in the nationor because they feel that this is for the best interest of thechild?

Week 1, Bertrand Russell on Thinking Clearly

The expert lecture by Bertrand Russell was also interesting andbecause he feels that clarity isimportant for all mankind because one's prejudices are one's biases.I feel that it is true in some way, because we as human beings tendto jump to conclusions without being clear on the current situations.Instead we judge and focus in situations that may be hurtful toothers or we just do not look ahead and think clearly before we talkor give our opinions. On the other hand, the truth is hurtful, butsometimes it is better to know the truth to improve our experiencesinstead of always trying to avoid the reality. Prejudices and one'sbiases are important, but to some extent. For example, when we planto do something to improve our lives or to turn in an important examfor a course, one's prejudices and biases help to take the properdecisions, but if prejudices and biases are used to get revenge onothers or criticizes people, without getting to know them first, thanI agree that clarity is important.We need to use critical thinking to guide our judgments beforemaking prejudices and judgmental references to others. Even thoughthe lecture was difficult to understand, because the audio was notworking properly, the couple of statements that Mr. Russell made wereunderstandable and clear.

Week 1, Expert Lecture Richard Feynman

I found the expert lecture by Richard Feynman on the topic ofCritical Thinking in Physics, absolutely interesting because he usedthe example of the flower and its beauty. He stated that beauty isavailable for everyone to see but it takes that one person to seekfurther on the beauty of the flower and what it consists of. It isamazing to understand the background of a flower if one actuallystops to analyze it not just for its beauty but also what isphysically behind the flowers characteristics. As I was viewing thelecture on Mr. Feynman, he seemed to be very critical on what he wasgoing to say. For example, when he was drawing a sketch of the womansitting on the chair, he analyzed and stopped to think of what wasbeautiful of her personal features but as well as the environmentthat surrounded her and then proceeded to draw every detail extracarefully.Mr. Feyman focused on the important characteristics on his drawing toshow what he personally was seeing through his own eyes. I'm thinkingthat he was critical of all the details because if he was not, thanit was not a true exact representation of what he was visualizing.For example, the details in the flower; many people do not stop tothink what the foundation of a flower consist, because it is not partof our daily analyses and for many of us it does not matter what aflower consist of, just that flowers are beautiful and they smellgood. After reviewing Mr. Feyman view, now I understand that we needto focus more on our surroundings to understand why things are theway they are and not jump to conclusions without studying them morethoroughly.