Critical Thinking And Religion
Can critical thinking and religion go together? If you critically think about anything you can find something wrong or unlikely about it. Religion is called faith, faith is just believing in something without any proof pretty much. So if you critically think about religion how could there be religion. Do you believe in ghosts and the afterlife? Most likely not, it is simpler to think that animals die and decompose and go back to the earth. So what makes us special? Nothing makes humans special we are going to die and decompose just like anything that was living at one point in time. So critical thinking isn’t good when it comes to religion. You just end up unoptimistic and realizing that faith and the afterlife is just thought of by humans to provide comfort before you die. This blog isn’t very long because it’s a simple question and I wanted to let everyone know the way I think about this.
I wished I believed in something greater and bigger then me, so you should try and keep your so called faith and hope that when you die you’re going to spend eternity in heaven floating in the clouds worshipping the almighty god.Or you can just accept the fact that you have one life to live so lord forgive!
Unoptimisticly written by: Joel Meere
Monday, May 3, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
"Free Propaganda"
Anyone who tries to define propaganda is going to have some difficulties. It’s probably one of the most troublesome words in the English language. To define it clearly and precisely so that it means the same thing to everyone is near impossible. When you say “policeman” or “house,” everybody has a pretty clear idea of what you mean. There is nothing vague about these terms. Even the men who have studied the origin and history of words would find marking off the exact boundaries of propaganda a daunting task. Propaganda began and is mostly based around wars. But wars have caused propaganda to have popular meanings that make defining propaganda an even more difficult task.
The general public looks upon propaganda as a person, a propagandist who uses half truths, who lies, conceals, and distorts the facts. Others think especially of techniques, or slogans and catch phrases when they talk about propaganda. Even that good old poster that says” I want you for the U.S. army” is considered propaganda . Experts agree they have plenty of trouble in agreeing upon a satisfactory definition of propaganda. The term propaganda cannot be limited to the type of propaganda that seeks to achieve bad ends or to the form that makes use of deceitful methods.
Some may believe that propaganda is present only in controversial situations. One writer that I cannot find the name of wrote “Propaganda is an instrument of conflict or controversy, deliberately used.” Another writer whom I cannot find the name of either wrote “If the report is deliberately circulated to influence attitudes on controversial issues it is propaganda.”While propaganda influences the behavior of individuals it is important to keep in mind that is also used to influence you in your everyday life. When propaganda doesn’t work employees and people in general will resort to boycotting and bribery among other things.
The greatest example of free speech would have to be Martin Luther King Jr. The famous “I have a dream” speech is most likely world renowned as is MLK. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. The First Amendment to the U.S. constitution establishes freedom of speech in the U.S.A. There are several major limitations on this freedom. Only the government is prohibited from restricting speech. Private corporations are free to censor speech of their employees. Since 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court has retreated from protecting freedom of speech even for government employees. Free speech and propaganda are not far apart, propaganda is mostly used to gain something while being deceitful.
The general public looks upon propaganda as a person, a propagandist who uses half truths, who lies, conceals, and distorts the facts. Others think especially of techniques, or slogans and catch phrases when they talk about propaganda. Even that good old poster that says” I want you for the U.S. army” is considered propaganda . Experts agree they have plenty of trouble in agreeing upon a satisfactory definition of propaganda. The term propaganda cannot be limited to the type of propaganda that seeks to achieve bad ends or to the form that makes use of deceitful methods.
Some may believe that propaganda is present only in controversial situations. One writer that I cannot find the name of wrote “Propaganda is an instrument of conflict or controversy, deliberately used.” Another writer whom I cannot find the name of either wrote “If the report is deliberately circulated to influence attitudes on controversial issues it is propaganda.”While propaganda influences the behavior of individuals it is important to keep in mind that is also used to influence you in your everyday life. When propaganda doesn’t work employees and people in general will resort to boycotting and bribery among other things.
The greatest example of free speech would have to be Martin Luther King Jr. The famous “I have a dream” speech is most likely world renowned as is MLK. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. The First Amendment to the U.S. constitution establishes freedom of speech in the U.S.A. There are several major limitations on this freedom. Only the government is prohibited from restricting speech. Private corporations are free to censor speech of their employees. Since 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court has retreated from protecting freedom of speech even for government employees. Free speech and propaganda are not far apart, propaganda is mostly used to gain something while being deceitful.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Is Wikipedia Reliable
What is Wikipedia, and should it be a credible source for academic references? Wikipedia is a multilingual, web based, free-content encyclopedia project based on an openly-editable model. Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning “quick.” Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous internet users. Anyone with internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia’s articles provide links to guide the user to related web pages with additional information.
Wikipedia and other sites called wikis are extremely controversial to cite or use as a reference in any school paper. Even the Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has discouraged college students from quoting or citing Wikipedia in academic papers. At the same time, Jimmy encourages younger school students to cite Wikipedia as a source. Jimmy has also said that the website ”lacks the authority to be used as a citeable source for college-aged and university students”
Almost every Wikipedia entry has external links in the references section and a lot of these links actually point to credible sources that you can safely cite in your academic work. There is also a controlled version of Wikipedia that teachers can setup. Wikispaces are a controlled environment that teachers can control the information students can access. Because of the collaborative nature of wikis teachers can lock specific sections so other members cannot modify. Although to control a wikispace you must purchase a membership.
Wikipedia is great for finding general knowledge or a basic explanation. Wikipedia helps explain and provide a simple explanation, since you usually have the average joe providing the information. If a deeper and a more scientific explanation is necessary Wikipedia provides links to other more official research sites that most likely are researching the topic you are investigating. Wikipedia is a great start to finding reliable information in the area you are researching.
Wikipedia and other sites called wikis are extremely controversial to cite or use as a reference in any school paper. Even the Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has discouraged college students from quoting or citing Wikipedia in academic papers. At the same time, Jimmy encourages younger school students to cite Wikipedia as a source. Jimmy has also said that the website ”lacks the authority to be used as a citeable source for college-aged and university students”
Almost every Wikipedia entry has external links in the references section and a lot of these links actually point to credible sources that you can safely cite in your academic work. There is also a controlled version of Wikipedia that teachers can setup. Wikispaces are a controlled environment that teachers can control the information students can access. Because of the collaborative nature of wikis teachers can lock specific sections so other members cannot modify. Although to control a wikispace you must purchase a membership.
Wikipedia is great for finding general knowledge or a basic explanation. Wikipedia helps explain and provide a simple explanation, since you usually have the average joe providing the information. If a deeper and a more scientific explanation is necessary Wikipedia provides links to other more official research sites that most likely are researching the topic you are investigating. Wikipedia is a great start to finding reliable information in the area you are researching.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
"Complicated Solution"
Why are so many people uncomfortable with the idea that problems don’t have a single solution? One solution may not benefit everyone or anyone. Politics would have to be a perfect example of this, every law and bill or reform has supporters or opposition. And one of the hottest topics these days has to be healthcare reform, it’s on the tip of everybody’s tongue at least if you read the paper or watch the news because this effects everyone.
Republicans have a different view on how healthcare should be handled; they believe the democrats our ruining this country in leaps and bounds. There is a GOP website that tells you all about there healthcare reform ideas. As you should know republicans are outraged with spending this year sending our country deeper and deeper into debt. There plans are far from perfect to but it is near impossible to come up with a solution that is simple and clean cut.
Democrats on the other hand believe there stimulus plans are going to fix everything. You would of thought by now that educated men would have learned that you just can’t throw money at a problem and expect it to fix itself. The health care reform plans that the democrats have talked about include further taxing the wealthy and limits on out of pocket annual spending. It also includes government-funded health insurance options.
This would be my simple solution but thanks to tree huggers it’s not possible. There is 400 hundred billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota and portions of South Dakota and Montana. With the price of oil at 100 dollars a barrel you do the math. If we could sell just a small percentage of this oil to countries like China or Russia we could pay off our country’s debt in no time. Now this may not be a direct fix for healthcare but it sure is a start.
When it comes to healthcare some people are worried about the price tag, while others talk about the percentage of uninsured and that is there only worry. Some people think that the government is just trying to take control of more and more of our economy’s infrastructure. This problem won’t have a single solution because we are not trying to accommodate one group of people. Maybe some questions have a simple one sentence answer like what I should eat or what kind of toothbrush should I buy because this problem is yours and yours only. For a more complicated problem like healthcare reform it cannot be answered by what you and I need but what the mass population needs. There are many groups of people to please from the elderly to the young and poor to the rich, and every group has different needs and problems. So the answer to something like this has to address everyone’s issues wich is impossible but you have to please as many people as possible while also stabilizing health care so that it can support itself in the long run.
Republicans have a different view on how healthcare should be handled; they believe the democrats our ruining this country in leaps and bounds. There is a GOP website that tells you all about there healthcare reform ideas. As you should know republicans are outraged with spending this year sending our country deeper and deeper into debt. There plans are far from perfect to but it is near impossible to come up with a solution that is simple and clean cut.
Democrats on the other hand believe there stimulus plans are going to fix everything. You would of thought by now that educated men would have learned that you just can’t throw money at a problem and expect it to fix itself. The health care reform plans that the democrats have talked about include further taxing the wealthy and limits on out of pocket annual spending. It also includes government-funded health insurance options.
This would be my simple solution but thanks to tree huggers it’s not possible. There is 400 hundred billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota and portions of South Dakota and Montana. With the price of oil at 100 dollars a barrel you do the math. If we could sell just a small percentage of this oil to countries like China or Russia we could pay off our country’s debt in no time. Now this may not be a direct fix for healthcare but it sure is a start.
When it comes to healthcare some people are worried about the price tag, while others talk about the percentage of uninsured and that is there only worry. Some people think that the government is just trying to take control of more and more of our economy’s infrastructure. This problem won’t have a single solution because we are not trying to accommodate one group of people. Maybe some questions have a simple one sentence answer like what I should eat or what kind of toothbrush should I buy because this problem is yours and yours only. For a more complicated problem like healthcare reform it cannot be answered by what you and I need but what the mass population needs. There are many groups of people to please from the elderly to the young and poor to the rich, and every group has different needs and problems. So the answer to something like this has to address everyone’s issues wich is impossible but you have to please as many people as possible while also stabilizing health care so that it can support itself in the long run.
Monday, February 15, 2010
!!!Technology Effecting Society!!!
There are many things to say about technology some positive some negative.Technology helps in some ways and hurts in others.But there is no way to pick out the bad and keep the good.Technology is increasingly influencing our daily lives every minute of every day.Obviously technology is here to stay and will continue to be the base of our lives in the future but we must mantain the skills we had without it.
The so called net generation has a lower acedemic performance.Texting has turned words into codes causing a habit of incorrect spelling.Online schools cut down social skills causing children to be unable to sustain human relationships and normal human interactions that are skills neccasary to succeed in the world.
http://webpub.allegheny.edu/student/f/fillerb/weblog/2009/03/technology_positive_or_negativ.html
CNN/major music labels are being laid waste in the wake of blogging and file sharing.Innappropriate content such as pornography can be easily accessed by any child.Society has become so reliant on technology that if it was to dissappear our entire infastrucure would collapse.On the other hand technology can help one do the work of hundreds or thousands, wich can also put hundreds and thousand out of their job.The internet is an easy place to advertise so much so that is almost impossible to make your own decision on anything you purchase.
Although without todays technological advances spaceflight would be a mere dream.We would not be able to fly from continent to continent withought technology.Healthcare is amazing these days unlike the chop shops that use to be around.Todays healthcare could also someday contribute to a massive overpopulation but by then we may have colonys on the moon or mars.Solar panels could indeed be a major part of the future creating clean energy that will be there day after day unless the sun don't shine.Our navy is an amazing feat of engineering harnessing nuclear power on aircraft carriers and submarines, you cannot tell me that doesn't knock your socks off.
I have never used myspace or facebook this is my first broadcast of oppinion to the world.Technology is a great thing I don't know what I would do without it.From my transportation to and from school, calling my friends or checking out what the weather will be like next week.It is hard to imagine society without todays technological advances.Although thousands of years from now we will probably be looked upon as caveman since technology will never stop advancing.I wish I could be around to see what we do and act like a hundred years from now.And yes space is truly the final frontier.
The so called net generation has a lower acedemic performance.Texting has turned words into codes causing a habit of incorrect spelling.Online schools cut down social skills causing children to be unable to sustain human relationships and normal human interactions that are skills neccasary to succeed in the world.
http://webpub.allegheny.edu/student/f/fillerb/weblog/2009/03/technology_positive_or_negativ.html
CNN/major music labels are being laid waste in the wake of blogging and file sharing.Innappropriate content such as pornography can be easily accessed by any child.Society has become so reliant on technology that if it was to dissappear our entire infastrucure would collapse.On the other hand technology can help one do the work of hundreds or thousands, wich can also put hundreds and thousand out of their job.The internet is an easy place to advertise so much so that is almost impossible to make your own decision on anything you purchase.
Although without todays technological advances spaceflight would be a mere dream.We would not be able to fly from continent to continent withought technology.Healthcare is amazing these days unlike the chop shops that use to be around.Todays healthcare could also someday contribute to a massive overpopulation but by then we may have colonys on the moon or mars.Solar panels could indeed be a major part of the future creating clean energy that will be there day after day unless the sun don't shine.Our navy is an amazing feat of engineering harnessing nuclear power on aircraft carriers and submarines, you cannot tell me that doesn't knock your socks off.
I have never used myspace or facebook this is my first broadcast of oppinion to the world.Technology is a great thing I don't know what I would do without it.From my transportation to and from school, calling my friends or checking out what the weather will be like next week.It is hard to imagine society without todays technological advances.Although thousands of years from now we will probably be looked upon as caveman since technology will never stop advancing.I wish I could be around to see what we do and act like a hundred years from now.And yes space is truly the final frontier.
Monday, February 1, 2010
???Blogging???
I'm still confused about blogging I do believe this is being done correctly.Although I managed to become my own follower?
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