Week 5: Understanding Language and Numbers
The object of this week's work is to bring you to an understanding of the attributes of scale and to get you to apply ratios and to develop a sense of proportion regarding world production and consumption. For an exercise in language, read and summarize the article Occam's Razor and one other entry of your choosing in the Skeptic's dictionary. Also, in 50 words or less, explain the law of natural selection.
As world population grows, unless there is a corresponding increase in production, each new human will have less to consume. I imagine you either are or expect to produce and consume at an average rate for the United States. And I imagine you seek to improve your standard of living (more opportunity, more leisure, more travel, etc.).
After you have completed the writing task, express your opinion regarding global warming and climate change. Identify two specific effects of climate change in Washington State to date.
Extra Credit
For 2 extra credit points, read the following note written for the class by Cal Clawson, author, analyst, and math instructor at Bellevue Community College. I asked him to describe the what and why of rationalism's role in critical thinking. After reading and reflecting, respond to the task at the end of the assignment.
As adults, students must become good consumers of information. This information will be presented as claims to truth by others who are after the students' money, time, or vote--three precious commodities. How do we, as human beings, judge claims to truth?
Authority: parents, ministers, governments, holy scripture. You must trust the authority to accept the claim to truth.
Common sense: if it feels right, it must be true.
Mysticism: you learn by direct experience, e.g., music, art, riding a motorcycle, God.
Rationalism: you accept or reject the claim to truth based on EVIDENCE--measurement, counting, observation, data.
Modern rationalism began with Rene Descartes claim, "I think, therefore I am." Today, rationalism is embodied in the scientific method:
...Observe phenomena/events which cannot be explained.
...Develop (guess) at a hypothesis that explains the phenomena/event.
...From the hypothesis, make a prediction about future observations.
...Verify future observations (verification/verifiability).
...Repeat steps 3 and 4 until hypothesis becomes theory (repeatability).
...Use the theories to create technology, e.g., build cars, make beer, fly to a rock concert, harness wind energy.
One of the great powers of the scientific method is that it is self correcting. If a theory no longer applies (predicts the future), throw it out and repeat the process to get new theory.
Statistics involves:
...stating the hypothesis that is to be tested.
...making predictions about future observations.
...collecting and organizing data (future observations). This is descriptive statistics.
...using the data to accept or reject the hypothesis. This is inferential statistics.
Thanks Cal (Summer 08)
For 2 points, describe your take on rationalism and the scientific method. Place you answer at the end of the Week 5 assignment, after the relevant quote from resources.