Think Again...

Think Again... is a course by Coursera.org

This is my personal notes that I'll like to keep and learn from.

1. Analyse Arguments
2. Evalue Deductive Arguments
3. Evaluate Inductive Arguments
4. Avoid Fallacies
1. Ambiguity
2. Appeals
3. Beggin the question
4. General method

ANALYSE ARGUMENTS

1. What Arguments are not
• Fight is not an argument
• Can't win an argument by yelling
• Not abuse by calling nasty names
• Not Complaining
• Not just denying the view
2. What Argement is
• a series of sentences, statements, or propositions
• where some are the premises
• and one is the conclusion
• where the premises are intended to give a reason for the conclusion
• Argument is a connected series of statements to establish  definite proposition  (Monty Python)
• Put statements in a structure in the order of reasoning
• This is not always true as some proposition is already accepted to be true
• help us understand the proposition, and believe it is true
• Purpose Difference
• Persuasion: to convince someone to do or believe something they won't do without you (good/bad reasons)
• Justification: Reason without persuasion and others are not believing the conclusion (good reasons) 
• Ask: is this person arguer trying to change my mind? (Persuasion)
• Are they trying t ogive some reason to belive somenthing? (Justification)
3. Explination (when people believe it, but to understand why it is true)
• Causal: bridge collapse because of earthquake
• Teleological: why go to store? goal is to buy milk, reason
• Formal: peg does not fit in a round hole because it is square
• Material: golf club is light because it is made of graphite
1. The train make such a noise because
1. the train contuctor pulled a leaver
2. there were people on the side of the railway and he wanted to warn them
3. the whistle is shaped to let air release at a certain vibration
4. air has a certain density that allows it to make a noise
2. Forms
1. Narrative: statements,
2. Argument
1. General principles or laws
2. initial conditions / phenomenon to be explained
3. Explanation is an attempt to fit a particular phenomenon into a general pattern in order to increase understanding and remove bewildermen or surprise. 
4. Is not persuasion, justification,  generalisation, prediction
4. Arguments are made of: Language
1. Language is
• important:  Helen Keller (lost sight and hearing)
• conventional: ride on r/l side of the road, football/soccer
• representational: "calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg" Lincoln 
• social:follow conventions even if they don't make sense or don't like them
2. Language operates in
• Semantics: meaning of words
• Physical production
• Structural composition
• Etiquette
3. We don't need to know the rules to follow them
5. Meaning
1. Referential or descriptive view of language (not related to all comms)
2. Meaning is use (Ludwig Wittgenstein)

Who would I be if I grew up with different parents?

13 Years ago my 'coach' at the time asked me this question.  Over the years I would give it some thought, and saw it from the point of view that what I would have gained if I did not grow up in the household I grew up in.

But it is not really about what you would have gained, well maybe a small part is.  It is more about understanding what you would have lost.

I always tell people my story begin with a 3 year old child, wanting to play games at 3am in the morning.  That still happens to me from time to time :-).

I can only remember conversations and other events from a out 5.  I can still remember the first time I asked, "why am I here?" Why am I in this car at this moment with my mother in front of the wheel?  I knew the reason was we went to the post office to get mail, but why?  Who are these people that sends us letters?  How is it that even people you don't know can end up sending you mail.  Mum says it is called a chain letter.

Anyhow, I have considered before that I was born with a strong conviction and that growing up with my parents has taught me many things, even if it was showing me what I DON'T want for my own life.

What I have 't considered before this morning was that my convictions was formed up until the age of 7.  What if my mother talked to me during that time, using me as a sounding board for her life?  Warning me where the pitfalls are and guiding me as best she knew how, protecting me from the world?  What if I remembered all the hugs my dad gave me when I was young, lifting me up and drag me along on his leg, showing me the lighter and fun side of life.  Reciting poetry and telling me stories every night before I go to sleep.  

Wait! Those are memories too.  I can remember the day my dad told me I am too heavy to pull around with his leg, he was going to hurt his back.  I didn't believe him, he was so strong he could do anything.    I then started dancing with him, my feet on top of his so he can guide me where to but my feet.  Still today I dance with a little hop just like he did.

What if we can remember or at least observe our childhood when parents give us all their love and attention because they know we need it.  Before we grow old enough to start pushing them away in rebellion.  Sure we'll see the frustration of a screaming baby or demanding toddler.   The spanking because you were fighting with your sister, and suddenly dad was the common  enemy.  

Maybe... If we can only remember the happy moments.

Brain: Are we getting older or wiser?

Attended a course on the Ageing Brain, and what we can do to keep it fit. Here are my thoughts and notes:

One thing we can be sure about, is that we all are getting older. But what does that really mean? Will we just get greyer, slower, forgetful, as time goes by?

That depends on what we do with our brain, or more to the point, our thinking. If the latest research has shown anything, it is that we do not know nearly as much as we think we do about the human brain and its capacity. We can only witness how people in challenging environments and circumstances rise above doctors and scientists expectations. And then there are people who deteriorate without any biological evidence to confirm it.

There does not seem to be a direct correlation between brain functions and brain tissue loss. Ac-coma is still something of a mystery, all we can do is keep the person alive and hope some stimuli cause the blockage between the primitive brain to the rest of the brain to clear.

But what about what we do know, what we can do to keep your brains healthy and functional? Cognitive health seems to be more linked with lifestyle than genetics. Our lifestyle includes the amount of exercise we get, what we eat, drink, with whom we socialise, and having a good nights rest.

Stimulation of the brain is not just about our quality of thinking when we are by ourselves, interacting with technology or virtual social networks. These things alleviate loneliness to some extent, but it does not replace the social interaction we seem to need as human beings.

Having to deal with people in a social setting seem to stimulate the brain in different ways, we need to consider others feelings, think of different scenarios in a situation, think on our feet about what we say and do, and cannot just give over to our impulses.

According to Wikipedia, the definitions of psychoanalysis terms used by Freud can be defined as:

Id: contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, is laid down in the constitution -- above all, therefore, the instincts, which originate from the somatic organisation, and which find a first psychical expression here (in the id) in forms unknown to us".

Ego: psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance, reality-testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.

Super-Ego: The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt.