Present your perspective on the issue below, using relevant reasons and/or examples to support

your views.
"Patriotic reverence for the history of a nation often does more to impede than to encourage
progress."
• Love and support for one's country is a good thing. Must be understood that no country is
perfect and it can become better. In this way, patriotism can impede progress.
• Patriotism can be taken too far, if Americans only purchased American cars, this would allow
american car companies to become more anticompetative.
• American manufacturers need competition to stay strong.
• Patriotism can be confused with nationalism. This might encourage people to become more
close minded towards those not associated with a country's history - creates xenophobia.
• Politicians can take advantage of patriotism by calling those who do not support certain efforts
anti-patriotic, can lead to "witch hunts".
• Patriotism is hard to define. It is ambiguous as to which actions support a country and can be
therefore consider to be patriotic.
• To some, patriotism has connotations of self-sacrifice, implying that the individual should place
the interests of the community above their personal interests, and in extreme cases their lives
and the lives of other individuals, perceived to be members of a different community. In
wartime, patriotism as so understood is assumed to be the main driving force for participation in
military operations, certainly if it is voluntary. In this context patriotism is seen as an
explanation for the apparent suspension of the instinct for self-preservation, which implies that
all humans would avoid a battlefield.
———————————————
"Government should never censor the artistic works or historical displays that a museum wishes
to exhibit."
• Government should not censor artistic works as such behavior boarders on thought control and
impinges on freedom of speech.
• Censoring indirectly implies that some works of art are sponsored while others are not.
• There are other competing factors, people will ultimately be making the censorship decision and
it is difficult to apply completely unbiased judgment. Works of art with religious context such
as those depicting the crucifixion of Jesus may be seen as offensive to non-Christians in the
sense that a human is shown suffering due to brutal punishment. All art requires some level of
understanding and socio-historical context.
• The proper role of government is not to monitor works of art, there are more important issues
which deserve attention.
• What is even more problematic is who decides which arts should even be displayed. Some
people may find works such as the Mona Lisa more enjoyable while others prefer works which
may seem to be purely pornographic.
———————————————
"Government should preserve publicly owned wilderness areas in their natural state, even
though these areas are often extremely remote and thus accessible to only a few people."
 • The reader is supplying a universal statement that should be obeyed always. I do not think the
matter is quite so simple.
• Preserving some areas of land may be more expensive than preserving other areas of
equal area. A cost benefit analysis must be run to determine benefits vs. costs.
• Preserving some areas of land may provide jobs near areas which have high unemployment or
reduce pollution in areas which have high industrial output. Other factors for land preservation
need to be considered.
• Preserving wilderness that is accessible to many people is preferable so that people are
able to enjoy the preserved wilderness, through hiking or camping in it. However, areas
which are not remote could be better candidates for public recreational reasons.
• Wilderness accessible to only a few people are typically preserved anyway. Although there are
some political figures who suggest that wilderness should be exploited partially because few
people are affected -- GW Bush and drilling in the Artic Wildlife Preserve.
• Also need to consider how the preservation decision will benefit specific species of wildlife.
———————————————
"In any field of endeavor, it is impossible to make a significant contribution without first being
strongly influenced by past achievements within that field."
• Author's viewpoint goes too far. In some fields of an endeavor it is possible to make a
significant contribution without being strongly influenced by past achievements.
• One example is art and music. These are fields which depend highly on creative talent. Too
much knowledge about past achievements and artistic theory encourages conformity.
• In classical music (without words) and art, there may be very little which requires
understanding in order to appreciate.
• However, architecture is an example of art which does benefit from both creativity and
practicality. Therefore, some knowledge about architectural techniques and space
planning will prove to be beneficial, but still may not be essential. There will still likely be
a tradeoff between creativity and conformity however.
• Other examples such as physics and medicine are built upon the foundations of past inventors,
theorists, and experimentalists. Engineering is completely centered around the application of
science discovered by others.
• Contributions in some fields of academic endeavor favor knowledge about past achievements
while other areas may benefit from ignorance about past achievements which may only
encourage conformity.
———————————————
"Government funding of the arts threatens the integrity of the arts."
• Government funding of the arts can threaten the integrity of the arts if the government supports
certain art themes over others.
• Artists enjoy expressing artistic creativity, however their creativity could be severely limited if
they were only allowed to produce arts with specific types of themes.
• Art is often used to express ideas, government funding for the arts translates into certain ideas
being expressed over others.
 • During World War II, US government made posters to support general themes of signing up for
the military and to encourage people to support crop rationing through "victory gardens". It
seems acceptable to pay artists to create these posters. However, Soviet Russia forced all
artists to create art with specific political messages, usually endorsing communist ideals
and spreading communist propaganda.
• The question of who decides which works of art to support must also be addressed.
Congressmen and legislators will support their own quirky notions of art, subject to religious
overtones while it would be foolish to have people vote on which artwork to support, because
even through voting, some preliminary options need to be established to vote on.
———————————————
"Young people should be encouraged to pursue long-term, realistic goals rather than seek
immediate fame and recognition."
• Many people occupy themselves by seeking the instant gratification that comes with fame and
recognition. In reality though, few people seeking fame or recognition rarely become famous.
• The wealthiest person in the US, Bill Gates, was not motivated exclusively by fame and
recognition, but instead was motivated by learning about computers at a very young age.
• The most successful scientists such as Einstein and Steven Hawkings are not associated
with the pursuit of fame and recognition.
• There certainly is evidence that people seek fame and recognition. Many students devote more
time to sports than academics. Shows such as American Idol certainly appeal to the dreams and
desires of a specific audience.
• Fame and recognition are really just for people who do not feel fulfilled and are unsure about
how to attain fulfillment.
• Fame and recognition are also questionable ends. Many celebrities who have attained their
dreams of becoming famous and recognized miss the privacy they once had and go to extreme
lengths and inconveniences to avoid being recognized.
———————————————
"In any field of inquiry, the beginner is more likely than the expert to make important
discoveries."
• It is hard to see how this claim could possibly be true since the expert knows more than the
beginner.
• Whatever the case may be, there are other more important factors such as intelligence
and motivation which will determine the overall success of an individual.
• Some Hollywood movies such as Happy Gilmore and Big illustrate examples of a beginner
entering a new field and becoming incredibly successful overnight. In Happy Gilmore, the
star of the film experienced difficulties with his hockey career and randomly stumbled
upon golf. He was discovered by a retired golfer and with practice, became very
successful at golfing.
• Big illustrated a similar situation, a child who wanted to grow up and attain the freedoms
enjoyed by adults magically achieved his wish and became a successful lawyer.
• However, these examples are not realistic and based more on fantasy than real-life examples.
 • In the academic world, it is the experts rather than the beginners who are performing research.
Granted, some of these beginners will go onto become experts, it is hard to see how they are
more likely than their teachers to make important discoveries.
———————————————
"Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
• Technologies do not determine ethics as technology and science in itself is not an ethical matter.
• It is the politics of how these technologies are managed and funded which determine the
ethics.
• Consider stem cell research and nuclear technologies. The science behind splitting atoms or
altering the genetic makeup of an organism is in many cases not controversial. Chemotherapy
uses nuclear technology to eradicate cancer. Many food sources are genetically engineered for
enhanced efficiency and have been for decades. These areas do not receive much philosophical
or political interest.
• Certain extensions of stem cell and nuclear technologies are very controversial - there are fears,
perhaps not completely justified, of some people developing a genetic master race of elite
people or a genetic underclass of slaves. There are concerns of how nuclear weapons will be
managed. But in both cases, technology itself does not determine social customs and ethics. It
the concerns of how technologies will be used that influence ethics.
• Social customs is a different matter than ethics. Some social customs seek to regulate cell
phone usage in movie theaters and at other public events. However, again, it is not the
technology or the cell phone which invented these conventions, it is instead the preferences of
the majority which are satisfied.
• Ultimately, technologies are just applications of science to solve a given problem. Medical
technologies have been developed such as vaccines to fight infectious diseases. Some of these
cures were discovered accidentally such as Henry Flemming's discovery of penicillin.
However, it was the doctors and practitioners who decided to use these cures to prevent
people from dying that decided the ethics.
• Technology in itself has no ethical content, how the technology is used by humans relates to
ethics and social customs.
———————————————
"Leaders are created primarily by the demands that are placed upon them."
• Many leaders are created by the demands placed upon them.
• New York mayor Rudolph Gulliani is an example of someone who lead effectively during a
time of national crisis. His legacy and reputation will be remembered more by most people
from his actions during the short time after September 11th compared to the rest of his political
career.
• Other examples in politics such as Abraham Lincoln support the idea that effective leaders are
illustrated in times of crisis.
• However, I would argue that the characteristics of a great leader were formed in these leaders
discussed above much earlier than the time of crisis. The crisis only tested their abilities and
allowed them to demonstrate their leadership qualities.
• All accomplishments of the time cannot be attributed completely to one leader, but also
 the people supporting the leader.
• If the above statement were true, then anyone could become a better leader in the business
world by simply placing higher demands on them. However, this is more likely to only increase
stress which will adversely affect management performance. For example, an assembly plant
manager may not become a better leader by being told to produce more products given
the same resources held at present.
———————————————
"College students should be encouraged to pursue subjects that interest them rather than seek
programs that promise entry into the job market."
• Statement neglects the fact that some students pursue subjects which interest them and also
promise entry into the job market.
• Some of the fields in engineering which have the best job prospects upon graduation --
availability of jobs and starting salary - are very difficult majors, highly competitive requiring
lots of time.
• Computer science at my former university was the most difficult major to gain entry into, high
GPA requirement and lowest acceptance rate of all majors on campus.
• Since these majors are so difficult, students will most likely need to be interested in the field in
order to stay competitive. It is doubtful that relying only on job opportunities after college will
provide sufficient motivation for most students to stay competitive in these fields.
• The author is also placing high stress on pursuing subjects which are most interesting -- which I
think is generally good advice. But what if the applicant desires to retire as early as
possible. If the applicant really desires such a goal, then the applicant would be best suited
to pursue a program of study which will enable him or her to do that.
• Another example would be someone who wants to provide a high income to support his or
her family. There are other competing interests and only so much time in life to
accomplish goals. Priorities must be made.
———————————————
"Most people think that their deeply held values are the result of rational choice, but reason
often has little to do with the way people form values."
• Values are developed through experience.
• Someone who suffered through an economic depression will tend to value employment
and avoid over-consumption.
• Someone who survived a war will most likely realize the need for peaceful conflict
resolution.
• Someone who suffered through cancer will most likely realize the need for cancer
research.
• Hard to define morality and values, most generally accepted to be those principles which
maximize happiness and minimize suffering.
• Values could be based on self-interest and may change over time.
• In order for values to be consistent, they must be reasonable, even if they were not born
explicitly through reason.
 • After suffering through an illness, some may place more value in helping others. The
value of helping others can also be derived through reason, no human is completely
independent and at some point in their lives, they will require assistance from others. Old
age even makes independent people dependent on others. So helping others is a simple
value that can be rationally derived or born out of experience.
• It is hard to determine how values originate.
———————————————
"In any academic area or professional field, it is just as important to recognize the limits of our
knowledge and understanding as it is to acquire new facts and information."
1. Pros:
1. Medical professionals, lawyers, and business people must deal with risks and uncertainties
1. Learning how to accommodate these limitations is just as important as risk itself
2. Risk and uncertainty can often not be obviated by any amount of knowledge
1. Gathering more financial knowledge may only lead to more confusion
2. Cons:
1. How can we know the limits of knowledge until we have thoroughly tested the limits
through empirical observation?
2. Opposed to scientific method – we can only know what we observe
1. Example: physics, better understanding of the nature of matter through increased
precision of measurement
3. Two levels of understanding – the facts we gather from experiments vs. understanding
what these facts mean
4. In professional sports -- a "professional field", it is more important to gain a thorough
understanding of the rules and techniques regarding a given sport than it is to
determine the limits of knowledge and understanding, which do not exist as the game
has already been defined and there are no areas of ambiguity in the rules. Although
some calls of violations to the rules of the game may be questioned, the rules of the
game are perfectly defined.
5. Conclusion: A more precise definition of knowledge is needed.
———————————————
"The concept of 'individual responsibility' is a necessary fiction. Although societies must hold
individuals accountable for their own actions, people's behavior is largely determined by forces
not of their own making."
1. Moral accountability and human equality depend on the existence of some form of
individual responsibility.
1. Lack of accountability results in lawless society
1. Exception for psychos
2. Too much forgiveness, too much tolerance of bad behavior
2. We are faced with many choices, some are undesirable
 3. Deterministic view of the world – today's actions influence tomorrow's decisions
1. Genetic dispositions do exist – some are more inclined than others towards certain
behavior
1. Many fear genetic engineering, irrational fears of creating a master race
1. Default to the more humanist free will theory
4. Conclusion: There may be evidence to support scientific determinism, until then assume
free will out of convenience.
———————————————
"Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field
of study because acquiring knowledge of various academic disciplines is the best way to become
truly educated."
1. True education is more than career preparation.
1. Understand oneself, society better, and the physical world better
2. Some may assert that no student can be truly educated without literature, fine arts, and other
forms of subjective intellectual development
2. Need to obtain mastery of field
1. Mastery of any field requires knowledge in others
2. Political science needs history, economics and social studies
3. Anthropologist needs chemistry and geology
4. Computer engineering tied into other fields, language study, media, communications
3. Students must not overextend themselves – jack of all trades, master of none
4. Most college freshman are unsure of what to major in, should be exposed to many fields
5. Personal view – set a minimum requirement of classes for a degree, grant electives to be taken
within the major or elsewhere – let the student decide.
———————————————
"People work more productively in teams than individually. Teamwork requires cooperation,
which motivates people much more than individual competition does."
1. The best approach depends on the job
2. Some jobs depend on the ability of co-workers to corporate
1. Businesses involved with production of products using complex processes
2. Computer scientists and researches must collaborate to reach their common goals
3. Managers stress cooperation and whatever it takes to get a project completed on time.
4. Manhattan Project, research labs
3. In other types of jobs, individual competition, tenacity, and ambition are keys to productivity
1. Salespeople
2. Entrepreneurship and sales – people competitive by nature
 3. Lawyers
4. Employees who are looking to enhance their careers are concerned about performance
reviews and work to achieve greater results than their peers. Although their aims might be
questionable, in some areas where employees are working on similar, but different
problems, competition will allow more work to get done.
5. As consumers, we certainly emphasize competition. In the interest of having
inexpensive products.
4. Cooperation is more crucial for organization's long-term productivity than individual
competition
1. Competition among sales people can turn into jealousy and unethical behavior
2. Entrepreneurs rely on cooperation of their subordinates, partners, and colleagues
5. Overall productivity depends on willingness to cooperate, ambition can motivate, so can
common sense of mission.
———————————————
"Although, critics who write about the arts tend to deny the existence of any objective standards
for evaluating works of art, they have a responsibility to establish standards by which works of
art can be judged."
• Judging art by standards supports conformity and can stifle creativity.
———————————————
"It is unfortunate but true that political decisions and activities affect all aspects of people's
lives."
• Political decisions and activities do affect all aspects of people's lives.
• Politics deals with how resources are collected and how resources are distributed.
• Deals with which programs are funded and by how much – based on the expected results of
such research and the amount by which society benefits. This seems logical, but I question who
determines how much benefit a given program can bring and how accurately the results of such
research can be predicted.
• Politics can make decisions which can drastically change an individual's life, possibly for
worse, but gives other people some convenience.
• For example, when city planning decides to build a new highway, the current land owners who
own land where the road is to be constructed are forced to give up their land for what may be
minimal or inadequate compensation for the sake of convenience to the benefit of the rest of
society.
• Politics intervenes in some areas where it the issues would be best left to the judicial
system. During a recent trial over the assisted suicide of a Floridan resident who went
into coma, the husband ordered doctors to disconnect her feeding tube so that she would
eventually die due to lack of nutrition. The Florida governor soon became involved and
the issue became political. It has been frequently questioned as to what role politics
should play in such a matter.
———————————————
"Colleges and universities should offer more courses on popular music, film, advertising, and
television because contemporary culture has much greater relevance for students than do arts
and literature of the past."
1. Cons:
1. Studying current popular culture at the expense of past culture can undermine the function
of education
2. Historical perspective allows us to more fully appreciate art of today
3. Need yardstick for measuring art, requires study of the classics as a reference
4. Popular culture is available outside classroom
2. Pros:
1. Pop culture mirrors society's values and impulses
2. In every age, some worthwhile art emerges
1. John Lennon, Paul McCartney have made a lasting contribution from rather recent pop.
3. Popular films, music, and art provides a person with common ground for interacting with
other people.
3. Conclusion: Literature and art of the past is more important – need cultural perspective
———————————————
"In any realm of life—whether academic, social, business, or political—the only way to succeed is
to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees
survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superseded by simpler, more immediate options."
1. Academics
1. Pragmatic
1. Students considered as pragmatic tend not to pursue education for its own sake
2. Focus is on optimizing GPA and survive current term
2. Idealistic
1. Students who pursue paths which interest them are more likely to have a meaningful
education.
2. Sense of mission about one's fascination motivates more participation in classroom
3. Academic discipline will serve idealistic student well later in life
2. Business
1. Business world shares both – pragmatic in the sense of getting things done, idealistic in the
sense of a vision which seeks to make the firm more meaningful to the community.
2. Without a dream or vision – idealist leadership – company can be lost
3. Politics
1. Seems that politicians just want to achieve or stay in power
2. Idealists incite the masses and catalyze revolution
1. Ghandi and Martin King
 3. Conclusion: Idealism is a requirement for long-term success
——————————————
"The pressure to achieve high grades in school seriously limits the quality of learning. An
educational environment without grades would promote more genuine intellectual development."
• Pressure to achieve high grades in school can create stress for most students which is counter-
productive to learning and unhealthy.
• Author goes too far to claim that it seriously limits the quality of learning. If a student is
dedicated to really understanding something, they will most likely do well on exams.
• Without grades, there is no standard for academic progress. Grades serve as an indicator to
judge students applying for jobs and later schooling.
• With no measure of progress, some students would not study at all and would eventually
become burdens to society.
• Even students who are motivated only by grades still learn much about their field of interest.
Grades can facilitate learning, especially among students who take pride in their GPAs and
compete against each other for the highest score on a test. In this sense, grades facilitate
learning because it is difficult or impossible to do well on a test without understanding the
material.
• In some countries, grades mean much more than they do in the US. Grades in other
countries can determine the quality of education that a student receives.
———————————————
"Governments should provide funding for artists so that the arts can flourish and be available to all
people."
———————————————
"For better or worse, education is a process that involves revising the ideas, beliefs, and values
people held in the past."
• Education serves to provide facts and meaning behind the facts primarily. Education does not
serve to revise ideas, beliefs, and values held by people in the past. Education does serve to
explain why people might have held certain beliefs and ideals, but it does not aim to rewrite the
past, which is what the word "revising" suggests.
• Educators do attempt to determine the beliefs of people in the past and reasons for why people
adopted these given beliefs.
• Educators do attempt to determine how the ideals of certain classes of people were formed and
how they differed from the ideals held by people of different socioeconomic classes.
———————————————
"The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
1. History provides inspiration
1. Student encouraged by the courage and tenacity of history's great explorers
2. Studying stories of courage can provide motivation in daily life
2. Innumerable lessons for living
 1. Avoiding mistakes of past
1. Addressing and legislating moral issues
1. Prohibition
3. Value-clarification and perspective
1. Creating reflective ideals
4. Bullshit about how inventions have improved everyday tasks
1. Historical appreciation of inventions which facilitate everyday tasks
2. Appreciate freedoms present in daily lives
5. Conclusion: History can inspire, inform, guide, and nuture.
1. Study of history allows us to be more human. What does this mean? Should “being more
human” be an objective we should strive for???
———————————————
"It is primarily through formal education that a culture tries to perpetuate the ideas it favors
and discredit the ideas it fears."
1. Grade school and even high school education involves cultural indoctrination
1. Young students taught not to question authority, think critically for themselves
2. Emphasis is desirable to an extent
1. Promotes memorization and learning of facts
2. College education affords students cultural perspective and a capacity for understanding
opposing viewpoints
1. Critical analysis and skepticism
2. College curriculum is influenced by benefactors
1. Such influences are minor especially in public university systems
3. More significant factors in society which favor thought control
1. System of laws – judicial decisions carry the weight of law, sponsored by legislators
and those in power.
2. Mainstream media
1. Mirror culture's ideas and values
2. Distinguish between mainstream and alternative media
1. Mainstream is more dominant
3. Conclusion: Speaker might be correct with respect to high school and lower, but not
college. Other influences are present.
———————————————
"The true strength of a country is best demonstrated by the willingness of its government to
tolerate challenges from it's own citizens."
• Best governments protect the fundamental rights of its citizens.
 • If the fundamental rights of citizens are being protected, citizens will oppose those individuals
who challenge their rights through radical challenges to government.
• It is true that there will occasionally be challenges from radical citizens who join or form cults
such as the KKK or Heaven's Gate. However, the radical views that these people seek to spread
will never take hold if the government provides the fundamental rights to which its citizens are
entitled.
• During the 1960s MLK challenged the United States constitution in regards to the status of
African-American rights. Although some of these demonstrations erupted into civil
disobedience and riots, eventually the American people caused officials in government to
reform for equality and uphold fundamental rights to freedom already enjoyed by the majority
of Americans. Since no government is perfect, toleration is not necessarily a desired trait as
toleration implies that nothing is changed. Rather, government must address and if necessary
respond to injustices brought up by its people if it is to remain stable.
• Sometimes challenges to a government's constitution can literally divide a nation. The
Civil War is such an example where several Americans died over the issue of slavery. As
Abraham Lincoln once stated, "A house divided cannot stand", he realized that perhaps
the only thread that held America, even though divided by North and South together, was
unity around a common mission -- to preserve or abolish slavery. A government united
around a common cause can hold people together and become stable, at least in the short
term. Other examples include Nazi Germany where its people remained firm in their goal
amongst horrible atrocities where rotting bodies were thrown in the streets.
• The true strength of a country is demonstrated by its ability to remain true to its beliefs
when being tested. Consider September 11th, 2001 in America. America was not
overcome by panic and turmoil as some terrorists had anticipated, but instead embraced
its freedoms as a source of strength. For this reason, I would argue that a countries ability
to remain resolute in its principles during a trial or time of struggle is the most effective
indicator for the strength of a country.
• Also, a country cannot simply tolerate challenges that affect the rights of other citizens.
Government must therefore be concerned primarily with protecting the rights of its citizens.
———————————————
"All students should be required to take at least one course in ethics, even if taking the course
means a decreased emphasis on academic subjects."
• Author places a high value on ethics.
• I agree that there are benefits to taking a course in ethics. However, due to finite time and
financial resource constraints, other classes may more closely align with the student's
intellectual goals.
• The author may be advising that more students take a course in ethics due to an increase
in corporate financial fraud in recent history. There have also been ethical concerns in
government such as Watergate and the recent admission by the Secretary of Defense that
phone calls are being monitored as part of a Homeland Security effort. However, it is
unclear that an ethics class will make people more ethical. I am willing to submit that in
the cases of the most serious ethical violations, the violators knew that they were not
acting ethically.
• In some fields of academic pursuit, ethics is less relevant in the profession. For example,
 there have been proportionally fewer cases of ethical violations by symphony violinists
compared to people in investment banking. This is not to say that violinists are more
ethical on average, but that some careers have had fewer ethical issues than others.
• Author goes too far by insisting that all students take a class in ethics. I will admit that it is a
valuable course, but there are other equally-valuable courses as well and the net overall benefit
of taking such a course over all other options remains to be proven.
———————————————
"Instant communication systems encourage people to form hasty opinions and give quick replies
rather than take the time to develop thoughtful, well-reasoned points of view."
• Instant communication systems may encourage people to form hasty opinions and give quick
replies, but the amount of deliberation one invests into a reply is completely up to the user.
• The encouraged "impulsiveness" of a computer communications medium varies widely from e-
mail to real-time voice conversation. The transmission time of an electronic mail may be
instant, but this does not mean that the writer cannot invest as much time into the e-mail
compared to a paper letter.
• E-mail allows more time for a thoughtful response compared to a face-to-face meeting or phone
conversation in which the replies must be given immediately for effective communication. So
some computer communication channels allow for more thoughtful conversation compared to
face-to-face meetings.
• E-mail conversations however can be less polite than face-to-face conversations if the
people communicating do not know each other. This is similar to how many drivers on the
road are especially rude to each other and would act differently if they realized that the person
they were honking at was actually their neighbor or co-worker. Similar to driving in public, an
e-mail address may be no more personal than a license plate number. And lacking the human
connection, an e-mail to a stranger may be no more thoughtful than a conversation with a
telemarketer.
• Another form of emerging computer communications is the instant messenger. Instant
messenger applications allow for a real-time conversation, where the two chatting parties can
send short messages to each other, but each fragment of text is not revealed until the user selects
to send it. So more thoughtful sentences can be arranged compared to telephone
communication where the two parties understand each other word-by-word instead of phrase-
by-phrase. Instant messengering therefore allows more thoughtful conversation than an
informal talk, but it still lacks the personal connection similar to e-mail.
• There is still something more personal to hearing another person's voice or seeing their
handwriting on a piece of paper than receiving snippets of text exchanged through cyberspace.
More personal, but not necessarily more thoughtful or well-reasoned.
———————————————
"In many countries it is now possible to turn on the television and view government at work.
Watching these proceedings can help people understand the issues that affect their lives. The
more kinds of government proceedings—trials, debates, meetings, etc—that are televised, the
more society will benefit."
1. Benefits of access to government proceedings via television
1. Archival functions
 1. Convey body language and other clues
2. Allow for remote viewing
3. Possible to view governments of other cities, nations at work
4. Television proceedings can be useful supplements
2. Cons:
1. Watching television is a passive experience
1. Viewer cannot voice opinions
2. Watching government proceedings as a substitute for active involvement
3. True business of government may take place behind closed doors, televised coverage
pertains more to marketing as a public relations event
3. Conclusion: Overall helpful as long as people do not become too lazy.
———————————————
"The purpose of many advertisements is to make consumers want to buy a product so that they
will 'be like' the person in the ad. This practice is effective because it not only sells products but
also helps people feel better about themselves."
1. Practice of suggesting a product will help one become more like the model in the product is
probably effective.
1. There are exceptions, Budweiser frogs
2. Most ads portray a model whose life is enhanced by a given product.
1. Since these ads still exist, they are probably effective for some product types
3. Some ads do the opposite to suggest that their product will help one not be like the
model in the ad. Deodorant commercials, commercials dealing with impending
indigestional events, old people with bladder problems, etc.
2. Ads may help people feel better temporarily, but not long-term.
1. Diet pills, cosmetics
1. May cause health troubles
3. Related to socioeconomic status
1. Luxury cars and clothing
1. Genuinely successful people would not attribute these items as contributing to
their success.
1. Successful people may allow unsuccessful people to feel pathetic about their
accomplishments.
4. Conclusion: This advertising works, but does not make the consumer feel better, actually
makes consumer feel worse for failure, inadequacies, etc.
———————————————
"When we concern ourselves with the study of history, we become storytellers. Because we can
never know the past directly but must construct it by interpreting evidence, exploring history is
more of a creative enterprise than it is an objective pursuit. All historians are storytellers."
1. Speaker is suggesting that we can only know what we experience first-hand
1. Suggestion of “storytelling” goes too far
2. Differentiation between historian, archivist, and journalist
1. Archivist and journalist are responsible for preserving fact and evidence to the
historian
2. Historian pieces together facts provided to construct history
1. Historian must interpret
3. Must allow for interpretations to achieve differing viewpoints
1. Historians will disagree over causes for the same event
1. Helps create fuller understanding of history
4. Historians are not granted artistic license
1. Cannot add stuff to the story
5. Conclusion: Historians interpret, but they can't make stuff up.
———————————————
"The worldwide distribution of television programs and advertisements is seriously diminishing the
differences among cultures."
———————————————
"Some educational systems emphasize the development of students' capacity for reasoning and
logical thinking, but students would benefit more from an education that also taught them to
explore their own emotions."
1. Too much emphasis on reason and logic may be harmful to the arts
1. Creative writing and arts do require some cognitive ability
2. Emotions has little place in the educational system
1. Physical sciences, mathematics
2. Poly sci, history, social science also should not rely on emotions
1. Justice, fairness, equality
3. Emotions are subjective
4. Reason = communication, consensus, and compromise
3. Emotions invite irrational thought
1. Social problems are best solved through cause and effect logic
2. Talk shows show that culture puts too much emphasis on emotions
3. Reason and logic are better deterrents to war and tyranny
4. Conclusion: The discerning man walks among the common man as among animals
———————————————
"It is primarily through our identification with social groups that we define ourselves."
1. Socialization nurtures childhood mental and psychological development
1. In daycare, children begin to understand what they have in common with other kids
1. Acceptance, behavior, likes and dislikes
2. Later in development, children find that they relate more closely to some people than others
1. Gender separation
2. Clubs and close groups – signs and rituals
3. Social clubs in high school and college
3. Adults tend to be less reliant on social clubs, more defined by marriage, occupation
1. Shift could be due to a lack of time to participate in leisure clubs
2. When older people retire, a need for these clubs reemerge
3. Humans are possessed by a need to belong to a social group of some sort
4. Conclusions: Loners are unusual. Humans are social animals.
———————————————
"Humanity has made little real progress over the past century or so. Technological innovations
have taken place, but the overall condition of humanity is no better. War, violence, and poverty
are still with us. Technology cannot change the condition of humanity."
1. No technological solution to enduring problems of war, poverty, and violence, due to human
nature
2. May be able to one day genetically engineer better people
1. Until then we have to rely on people who bear these negative traits mentioned above to
alleviate problems of human nature
3. Many technological advances have helped alleviate human suffering
4. Some technologies contribute to suffering – nuclear weapons, chem warfare
5. Comfort of living has improved with technology
6. SOCIAL PROGRESS – MLK, Ghandi
7. Computer design allows for greater design efficiency
1. Computers handle mundane and routine work so humans can focus on bigger things
8. Jobs resulting from manufacturing growth, economic growth
9. Cons:
1. environmental pollution
2. Information overload – stealing time away from other things
10. Conclusion: Lifestyle has improved, human nature remains.
———————————————
"It is through the use of logic and of precise, careful measurement that we become aware of our
progress. Without such tools, we have no reference points to indicate how far we have advanced
or retreated."
1. Objective data may not provide a good indicator of progress
1. Exceptions
1. Personal finance
2. Otherwise, raises are no good if they cannot keep up with cost of living
3. Cars depreciate fast
2. Useful for physical well-being
1. blood pressure
2. body weight
3. Emotional and psychological well-being cannot be measured
4. Physical discomfort cannot be measured
5. Objective measurement can be used to:
1. Assess macroeconomic progress
2. Computer technology
3. New drugs
6. Additional “logic” is needed to distinguish – determining sectors of progress
1. Between lower unemployment rate – more jobs, but of lower grade
2. Between increased economic activity – mostly going to firms outside of the country
7. Some measurements need more examination
1. Increase in welfare recipients – more compassionate society or failure of educational
system?
2. How do we measure political and legal progress?
3. More lenient gun laws? Anti-abortion laws?
4. Political party ownership of legislature?
8. Conclusion: Speaker's assertion applies in many areas, but not all. Some areas cannot be
quantified. Politics and law are subjective.
———————————————
"With the growth of global networks in such areas as economics and communication, there is no
doubt that every aspect of society—including education, politics, the arts, and the sciences—will
benefit greatly from international influences."
1. Students benefit from international influences
1. Students can advance their understanding of humanity by being exposed to other
systems of government, religion, and cultures
2. Video conferencing benefits learning, enabling people to participate remotely
2. Science
1. Useful insight can occur from anyone anywhere
 2. Astronomers can transmit data around the world to brainstorm together, remotely
3. Pooling economic resources – fight cancer, more beneficial than working independently
3. Arts
1. Global culture could render most art more or less the same
2. Some separation needed to preserve diversity
3. Too much globalization and sharing ideas could result is loss of cultural identity – the
author thinks this is an important sociological and psychological need
4. Politics
1. Europe's countries are becoming economically interdependent – suggesting unified
monetary system
1. Political differences may cause one country to pull out and disrupt the financial
system
2. Global networking renders security systems more vulnerable
2. Conclusion: Education and science may benefit. Arts and politics may be better off
separated.

"In any field of endeavor—the sciences, the humanities, the social sciences, industry, etc.—it is not the
attainment of a goal that matters, but rather the ideas and discoveries that are encountered on the way to
the goal."
———————————————
"When research priorities are being set for science, education, or any other area, the most
important question to consider is: How many people's lives will be improved if the results are
successful?"
1. Scientific research whose societal benefits are immediate, predictable, and profound should
continue to be a high priority
1. Biotechnology, medical technology, genetics
1. Demoting these would be foolish considering the immediate benefits
2. Who decides which areas of research to fund?
1. Soviets tried this in the 1920
2. They destroyed impeding forces to their research selective agenda
3. No significant scientific accomplishments resulted during that time / govt.
3. Researchers are best at what they are interested in
1. Waste of talent to deprive one of his/her motivation
2. Steven Hawkings – sociology
4. Hard to predict which research avenues will lead to the greatest contribution to society
1. Cutting edge research with unknown results often proves most useful
2. Hard to predict long term needs
 5. Conclusion: Speaker goes too far by concluding that some areas are not worth pursuing.
———————————————
"So much is new and complex today that looking back for an understanding of the past provides
little guidance for living in the present."
1. History has helped us learn the effectiveness of addressing certain social issues,
particularly moral ones, on a societal level
2. Attempts to legislate morality end up failing
1. Prohibition
2. Federal government attempts to regulate porn
3. Can't do much about social problems
1. Crime and violence might always exist
1. Tough on crime approach does not work
4. Racial prejudice has always been with us
5. Different methods of dealing with the mentally ill, all have tradeoffs
6. Conclusion: Studying the past is of some value – helps show the futility of legislating morality.
There are no solutions to today's social problems, only alternate ways of coping with them.

———————————————
"At various times in the geological past, many species have become extinct as a result of natural,
rather than human, processes. Thus, there is no justification for society to make extraordinary
efforts, especially at a great cost in money and jobs, to save endangered species."
1. Pros:
1. Humans mess up the planet and it is our duty to somewhat compensate the animals for our
virus-like traits.
2. If we know what steps are needed to prevent a breed of animals from going extinct and we
can take those steps..then we probably should.
3. Keep the animal kingdom in balance, animals depend on each other for survival
2. Cons:
1. Live and let die – it's the Darwin way. Let the weaker die off to make room for the
stronger. Humans can eradicate species for our own survival.
2. Thousands of animals go extinct every year due to human and non-human factors
1. Beyond our ability to save them all
2. Which standards dictate which species are worth saving and which are not?
1. Humans favor animals with human-like traits
1. No justification for this standard
2. Let selfishness be the deciding factor
1. More money and jobs it would cost to save a certain species, the lower the
 priority
3. Conclusion: Difficult to make choices about what lives and dies. So justify some level of
animal exploitation by human self interest.
———————————————
"We owe almost all our knowledge not to people who have agreed, but to people who have
disagreed."
———————————————
"It is possible to identify a person's politics within a very short time of meeting him or her.
Everything about people—their clothes, their friends, the way they talk, what they eat—reflects
their political beliefs."
———————————————
"Instant foods, instant communication, faster transportation-all of these recent developments are
designed to save time. Ironically, though, instead of making more leisure time available, these
developments have contributed to a pace of human affairs that is more rushed and more frantic
than ever before."
1. Technology has enhanced our efficiency
1. Humans are more pressed for time
1. Worked more in the 1960s compared to today
2. More fastfood, more childless professionals
2. We use additional free time gained by increased efficiency to complete more work
3. Employers expectations are higher – expectations rise with technology
4. Technology requires our time and attention to learn
5. Technology should not be aimed at promoting leisure time, but at expanding human
progress – making human life better – reduce suffering in the world by making it safer.
6. Conclusion: More efficiency, but more work to be done. Leisure is not the most noble aim.
———————————————
"The past is no predictor of the future."
• Ultimately speaker is correct
• Some trends based on human nature can be expected to extend into the future. Poverty,
greed, crime can always be expected to be with us - imperfect people, imperfect society.
• Technology can be expected to both help and challenge society - nuclear technology
brought cheap energy as well as destructive weapons. Genetic engineering looks to alleviate
a lot of genetic and medical problems, could lead to a super-race, under-race.
• War has always been with us, has become more threatening over time through improved
weapons.
• Overall though, many things cannot be predicted. In 1900, few thought flight was possible
and it took several days to cross the country. Today we can fly across the country in a matter of
hours. In about 60 years, we went from the first manned flight on an Atlantic beach to the first
human walking on the moon. This certainly viewed as science fiction back in the 1900s.
 • Ultimately, nothing can predict the distant future.
———————————————
"Society's external rewards are no measure of true success. True success can be measured only in
relation to the goals one sets for oneself."
• True success is fulfillment.
• People become fulfilled through different pathways. Some people are fulfilled by great
athletic ability, some people are fulfilled by great social or engineering accomplishments, some
people are fulfilled by religion and their ideas of the afterlife.
• What are societies external rewards? Fame or recognition? Some people may not want these
and would prefer to have their private lives. Many millionaires spend less money during the
course of their life compared to more financially mediocre people.
• Some people's goals and accomplishments are undesirable to other people. Some people
seek fulfillment through scientific research while others seek to become the next white trash
pop star.
———————————————
"Facts are stubborn things. They cannot be altered by our wishes, our inclinations, or the
dictates of our passions."
1. We engage in self-deception to cover the facts - denial
1. Psychic, mind-reading, etc.
2. We would like to be immortal
3. Approaches are unscientific
2. We cannot know that which we did not experience first hand
1. And even then, our memory may deceive
2. Historical facts are subject to interpretation and therefore error
3. Historical facts can still be edited by inventing versions that suit our inclinations
3. Science
1. Wishes and desires yield to fact – scientific evidence, quantifiable data
2. Hard to distinguish between scientific fact and theory
1. Many theories were based on personal desires
1. Example being that the earth is the center of the universe
4. Conclusion: Facts are stubborn things. We ignore, misunderstand, and overlook facts to some
extent. Inclination, desire, and passion cannot alter fact.
———————————————
"It is often asserted that the purpose of education is to free the mind and the spirit. In reality,
however, formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free."
• The benefit of a formal education is to empower people to think for him or herself while
becoming more aware of the surrounding world.
 • Formal education is useful for dispelling false beliefs and causing one to question existing
beliefs and prejudices. So by removing beliefs which developed uncritically, education can
seem like thought-control, but in reality, one is simply becoming more rational.
• Too much reason and logic may stifle creativity.
• Some elements of education may encourage conformity of thinking -- there may seem to
be little room for questioning mathematical rules or the organization of the periodic table.
But for every seemingly arbitrary setup there is a theory underlying its organization
(periodic table). All elementary math theorems can be proven.
• The the seemingly less-practical teaching of facts prepares students for real-world application.
• In regards to spirit, education can seem to stifle previous beliefs which one might have
considered to be a form of freedom. For example, a Christian after examining the details of
Darwin's theory or after encountering scientific knowledge about how the universe was formed,
may question some of the beliefs which he or she had previous relied on.
• Political beliefs can be challenged in the same way.
———————————————
"Technology is a necessary but not always a positive force in modern life."
• Technology has enhanced our productivity. Aircraft vs. train for business trips.
• Technology is considered essential for quality of life -- even things taken for granted by
mainstream people would be consider luxuries by Amish -- filtered water, air conditioning --
these were all "state-of-the-art" at some point in time.
• Technology has enabled humans to be more connected. Students studying in the US can speak
with family thousands of miles away whenever desired.
• Some technology can be used for bad purposes, weapons of mass destruction.
• Some technology has negative side effects which were not considered at time of invention /
adoption. Consider air pollution caused by automobiles.
• Some technology allows for more contact, but with less personal thought and consideration -
Instant Messenger, e-mail vs. personal face-to-face meeting or visit.
• Medical technology saves lives - pacemakers, cancer therapies, organ transplants.
———————————————
"How children are socialized today determines the destiny of society. Unfortunately, we have not
yet learned how to raise children who can help bring about a better society."
1. Main flaw with the statement above is that it will always be true – we will always be able to
bring about a “better” society because it will never be perfect.
2. Children without sufficient opportunities for healthy interaction may become anti-social
1. School playground is a good example where children learn about social behavior, both the
good and the bad.
1. May help children grow up to be good leaders. Tolerant and respectful members of
society.
2. Socialization is not the most important factor.
 1. Courage from inner convictions despite privileged background and promising career –
Mahatma Ghandi
2. Martin Luther King's contribution as a result of religious upbringing
3. Theodore Roosevelt – physical hardships overcome by intellectual curiosity and
will to succeed.
3. Better society is a vague term. If we define it in terms of characteristics of tolerance. Yes,
we have achieved a better society over the past century.
1. More recent emphasis on public health and environmental protection
2. More sympathetic to the rights of “x”
3. Third parties stressing individual freedoms
4. Increasing international cooperation
1. Soviet-US space exploration missions
2. Peacekeeping through international committees
3. Addressing public health care problems
5. Conclusion: Other factors are more important than socialization in determining success
in life. Define better as more civilized, respectful, and tolerant one.
———————————————
"The arts (painting, music, literature, etc.) reveal the otherwise hidden ideas and impulses of a
society."
1. In public architecture, there is an impulse to transcend human condition
1. Most important architecture of the Renaissance period to honor deities; focus on afterlife
1. ancient pyramids and cathedrals rise upward toward the stars
2. Castles display bruit strength
3. Sky-scrappers for industrial and technological progress
2. Attitudes and ideas of the prevailing culture ...ahh, hope I don't get this question...art blows
———————————————
"The university community consists of three different worlds—the sciences, the humanities, and
the social sciences. Because each world operates on its own assumptions and has its own special
habits of thinking, rarely is there meaningful interaction among the sciences, the humanities, and
the social sciences."
• There are examples of meaningful discourse shared between schools of thought.
• No specialization exercises completely in isolation. Archeologists studying ancient remains
rely on biochemistry and medical experts for interpretation of bone fragments. Linguists will
assist in the analysis of hieroglyphics. Civil engineers may be called in to help with the
excavation. Theologians may be accessed to determine the significance of religious thoughts
deciphered through scrolls.
• Scientific advancement requires the participation of multiple disciplines. Electrical and
mechanical engineers work on space probes and satellites. Physicists design the optical
 apparatus of an advanced telescope. Financal specialists and accountants will be brought in to
finance the project. Legislators needed to supply funds to support.
• And of course, social science studies often requires the processing of large amounts of data.
Computer scientists might be brought in to help with data analysis.
• Biochemistry students at my former university developed a joint program with computer
scientists to develop a computational biology application. Folding@Home, Seti -- all examples
of CS + science projects.
• Scientists will turn to philosophers and political scientists for learning about how new
discoveries and inventions will change humanity and the way we view life.
———————————————
"The problems of modern society have led many people to complain: 'We live in terrible times.'
Yet, given the choice, no one today would prefer to live in any other time."
• Society is not perfect. Society will never be perfect.
• People who complain that we are living in terrible times might base most of their decision on
recent events or current emotion. Many people seemed depressed after September 11th. But
had it not been for that one event, on the same day they might have appreciated the beautiful
weather. Beauty is all around, the "Statement we live in terrible times" is just a reflection on
transitory feelings.
• Life seems more comfortable today given technology improves the quality of life -- maybe not
in all respects, annoying cell phones going off in movie theaters, global warming, etc. But
overall, we don't fear being eaten alive by tigers on a daily basis.
• Some people may not prefer to life today rather than at other times. It is mostly technology and
beliefs which separate the society of today from the society of the past. Some people -- the
Amish and gothic people may prefer the times of the past over present.
• Some people such as transhumanists believe the future will be a better place. They believe that
technology will overcome many if not all of the problems we face today.
———————————————
"Students should be encouraged to realize that mental agility and rhetorical skill must be
accompanied by sincerity and the true conviction of their own beliefs."
• This question was intentionally vague. I have no idea what it means.
• Politics – Would you vote for a politician that you can't trust?
• Science and ethics – Fabricating research to promote an agenda or fuel interest in a specific
scientific endeavor.
• Many students are pushed to excel in academics and become successful professionals. Many
parents try to steer their children through a specific path in life and recommend or perhaps
firmly advocate certain professions over others based on income or recognition. Sometimes it
is the end rather than the means which are supported.
• Schools work to improve the mental agility and rhetorical skills of students, but the use for such
skills are rarely advised. These skills are means to an end, but not an end itself.
• How these talents are used deserves more consideration. Schools may provide more motivation
for students if they can also provide opportunities to use these talents -- internships, some real-
 world experience may allow the student to see relevance.
• Realizing real-world applications for these developed talents will contribute to a sense of true
conviction in one's beliefs. One must feel fulfilled. This is a hard question because it is poorly
defined. Bullshit.
———————————————
"While most of the environmental problems we face result from the use of technology, society
must depend upon technology to find solutions to these problems."
• Realize why technology embraces technology: technology solves problems. Technology can
save lives - medical technology. Or it can save time - automobile vs. horse.
• One solution to problems resulting from the use of technology would be to simply abandon the
technology and go back to what humans were doing before. Suddenly a 30 minute commute
turns into a 2 hour commute with no heat or air conditioning. This will never happen.
• Technology can be used to reduce or eliminate technology. Since the 70s there has been a huge
push by government and environmentalists to reduce automobile pollution. Catalytic converters
reduce emissions and most cities now require regular vehicle checkup. Technology can go
further to completely eliminate vehicle emissions - fuel cell.
• Some environmental problems such as the proper disposal of nuclear waste are harder to solve
through technology. In some cases, legislation and efforts involving the international
community must be exercised to reduce such environmental threats.
• Also, cleaner cars are only cleaner because they are equipped with more or newer technology.
This technology comes at a premium cost. Developing nations may not be able to afford the
new technology. Some international effort will be required to reduce pollution in these
countries.
———————————————
"The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare."
1. Moral accountability depends on this claim
2. Common sense dictates the human free will
1. Solitary confinement and mental or physical deficiency are only possible exceptions
2. Loss of choice limited to coma or death
3. Some feel that life's circumstances leave them with no choice
1. People always have choices, appealing choices are more limited
4. Lack of choice implies predestination
5. Under strict determinism, some choices are beyond our control even though they seem
ingrained as part of our personality or free will
1. Actions based on physical and genetic makeup
1. Genetics / genetic engineering
2. Monarchs have used determinism to justify ruling order – caste system
3. Genetic engineering raises questions of equality
1. These do not rule out determinism, but the alternative is more attractive so believe
 whatever is easiest to believe.
4. Conclusion: Free will may be somewhat repudiated. But ultimately, we have choices which
may be influenced by personal and circumstantial biases.
———————————————
"What we call progress is a matter of exchanging one problem for another."
• Industrial revolution – trading productivity for increased pollution and poverty. Exodus from
rural areas to cities. First real ghettos were formed.
• Atomic energy / atomic bomb.
• Progress often involves the introduction of new problems. But the view of a problem vs. a
challenge is subjective.
• Some people could view learning how to use a computer as simply a problem. They realize the
benefits that a computer can provide, but they do not wish to invest the time and energy
necessary to achieve the benefits. Another person can be presented with the same circumstance
-- learning how to use a computer, but can see the challenge as an opportunity for personal
growth. In learning how to use the computer, that personal also develops his or her problem
solving and learning skills. In this sense, progress was made, but it did not involve the
exchange of one problem for another.
• Even horrible diseases such as cancer can be seen as a problem or a challenge. It is true that
these diseases can be fatal and may seem like the person does not benefit at all. However such
a disease may force the victim to evaluate his or her life. Several people have confessed to
committing crimes as they lay on their hospital beds uncertain of whether they will live or die.
If they live, then certainly it must be a great relief to have resolved such a moral conflict.
• Some diseases have strengthened individuals, consider Lance Armstrong. His triumph was not
only personal, but provides inspiration for other people.
• The point of all the examples above is that some problems provide an opportunity for
personal advancement or progress. Some problems may best be viewed as opportunities for
progress rather than problems lacking any potential benefit.
• Relying too much on technology can create problems if technology fails. Another example
can become apparent if we revisit the case of the computer user above. Assume that the
computer user learns how to use a computer and obtains a productivity or entertainment value
from such knowledge. However, the computer may become infected with a virus or spyware.
This could be viewed as exchanging one problem for another. A business or personal need for
data processing could have been met, but in the process, the new tool becomes infected and
broken. In this case, however, the user still has an opportunity for personal growth. The
computer user can learn about different operating systems and select an operating system which
is more immune from such attacks. One may claim that the user is only wasting time to solve a
problem that should not need to be solved. However, the user, from his or her experience has
gained knowledge about how to more efficiently operate a useful tool. Such knowledge could
motivate the user to pursue other related endeavors.
• Finally, in politics, it is common practice to engage in "log-rolling" which is the practice of
providing enough incentives for other members of the legislative committee to vote for a
given law. Sacrifices or concessions made in regards to other items off of the agenda will be
included to promote the current cause. But in the view of either party, some problems are
 traded for others.
———————————————
"Only through mistakes can there be discovery or progress."
1. Personal experience
1. We learn how to walk by falling
2. Becoming social – awkward social encounters
3. Relationships
4. Career paths
2. Scientific progress – trial and error
1. Wave theory vs. Quantum theory – Recognizing inconsistencies and trying to disprove
1. String theory – both quantum and wave theory are inadequate, but they provide the
foundation for string theory
2. Government and politics
1. Prohibition
2. People point out mistakes of those in power
3. Jurists and legislators must question the fairness of laws and verdicts
3. Conclusions: Mistakes are not absolutely necessary for success, but discovery and
uncertainty usually lead to mistakes. Knowledge can be gained.
———————————————
"Every new generation needs to redefine 'right' and 'wrong' in its own terms and according to
the conditions of its own time."
• Morality is not supposed to be relative -- it has no bearing on time.
• The rules of justice and fairness never change. Some ideas of morality have though, suggesting
that morality is at least to some degree arbitrary and based on ideas of overall "happiness
optimization".
• Example of the above is prohibition. Such a movement was based common sterotypes of
drinking. Men after working a long day in the factories would often stop by the saloon and
engage in excessive drinking, spending time away from home, gambling, and wasting money.
• Prohibition tired to impose morality on everyone - including those who did not need to be
imposed upon.
• There is a tendency to redefine morality as morality is never clear and absolute. Most ideas of
morality are based on principles of freedom and happiness optimization. There is no 100%
absolute reason as to why it is wrong to kill someone else. However, such an action can be
supported as immoral because if everyone were to participate in random killing, chaos would
erupt. It is mutually agreed that most people want to avoid chaos...
• Morality is also based on ideas of not inflicting harm on others. There are several theories on
morality ranging from philosophical to religious natural law. However, morality is not
absolute. Morality based on justice and fairness is better defined, but morality should never be
relative to a time or period. The laws of morality should be consistent with no time-
 dependence. Otherwise, those who claim that morality is relative wish to define morality
themselves.
• Views on what is right or wrong may vary from person to person, but remember that not
everyone has a consistent system of morality free from prejudice and personal desires.
———————————————
"What society has thought to be its greatest social, political, and individual achievements have
often resulted in the greatest discontent."
1. Great achievers are by nature ambitious and have high standards required for satisfaction. They
are often discontent with their accomplishment no matter how great.
1. Great athletes try to break their own records
2. Artists and musicians claim their greatest work has yet to arrive
3. Child proteges who achieved fame early in life often suffer psychological discontent for
failing to live up to their earlier success later in life
4. Einstein's breakthroughs only required him to address further questions, which he was
unsuccessful at solving.
2. Achievements can result in discontent at the societal level – hard to predict
1. Manhattan project
2. Apparently beneficial products turn out to have consequences
1. Automobile – false sense of economic status, dependence, pollution, dependence on
the Middle East, Iraq War, etc.
2. Assembly-lines – alienating factory workers from their work
3. Politics in reference to imperialism – Enslaving other countries, one country benefits,
another loses
1. Animal Rights
2. Slavery
4. Some ideas which seemed great at the time might be painful to bear later
1. Welfare – Anti-Darwinian, promotes self-entitled lazy people
2. Social Security – Those who contribute the most benefit the least
5. Conclusion: Must also account for personal, political, and hindsight perspectives.
———————————————
"Most people recognize the benefits of individuality, but the fact is that personal economic
success requires conformity."
1. Investing
1. Those who invest in areas with more risk stand to reap higher returns
1. Popular investments tend to be over-priced
2. Work
1. Neither has a significant advantage
 2. Consumer-industries where product differentiation and creativity matters, non-
conformists have the advantage
1. Apple – Steve Jobs
2. .com commerce
3. Ted Turner with new television format
3. Health-care, finance, insurance – not industries for the non-conformist
1. Heavily regulated – requires people who can deal with systems of regulation
2. Non-conformists may see more opportunities, but the rules of the game are the same
4. Conclusion: Non-conformists are better investors in the long run. Non-conformists
favor consumer industries, conformists favor more traditional industry.
———————————————
"The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority."
1. The well-being of society depends on challenges to authority
1. Some societal harm may result
1. Property damage, death, etc. due to protest
1. 1992 LA Riots
1. Rioters questioned the authority of the legal system
1. Police acquittal – beating of Rodney King
2. Free merchandise
2. Resulted in increased racial tensions, property damage, death
2. People have a duty to question authority
1. Progress in human and animal rights depends on this
1. Ghandi, King
2. Citizens are called to question the relevance and fairness of laws
1. Must be respectful of the law, peaceful protest
2. Laws will fail to evolve otherwise
3. Questioning authority is also necessary for scientific progress
1. Passive acceptance quells innovation and discovery
2. Scientific challenges in face of authority
1. Earth as center of universe
2. Darwinian evolution
3. Space and Time
3. These challenges do not require masses of people
2. Conclusion: Well-being is enhanced by questioning authority. Challenges must remain
peaceful.
———————————————
"Artists should pay little attention to their critics.* Criticism tends to undermine and constrain
the artist's creativity."
*those who evaluate works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.
1. Critics can help us understand and interpret art
1. Better served by docents and teachers
2. True appreciation occurs at the moment we encounter art
3. Critics can detract from the experience
2. Critic's evaluation can show us which art is worth our time
1. Shakespeare was criticized as barbaric for not conforming to neo-classical
principles of unity
2. Beethoven's music was initially rejected by critics
3. Art critic's judgment is limited by narrow confines of old parameters for evaluation
4. It's all subjective ultimately
3. Critic can provide feedback for artists
1. True art is the product of an artist's passion
1. Creative impulse
2. Artist's spirit
2. Art focusing on integrating criticism becomes craft, not art
4. None of the functions of the critic are of lasting value
———————————————
"It is the artist, not the critic,* who gives society something of lasting value."
*a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.
———————————————
"A crucial test of character is whether one is able to adapt to changing social conventions without
sacrificing one's principles."
• Head towards giving more rights to women, but also preserving respect.
• Rap music promotes the view of women as sex objects.
• Challenge the fairness of social conventions which embrace underlying beliefs contrary to one's
morality – blacks ride at the back of bus – social convention, one must not uphold for sake of
one's own principles.
• Burning witches at the stake
• Social roles of women
———————————————
"People who are the most deeply committed to an idea or policy are the most critical of it."
1. Firm commitment to an idea requires the utmost confidence in it
 1. One cannot have firm confidence if one recognizes flaws
2. Individuals most firmly committed to an idea are often the most knowledgeable
2. Many individuals firmly committed to a cause and criticism or restriction of the idea
1. Edward Teller – supported nuclear energy development, committed to the idea of gaining
military superiority over other countries
1. Did not support the use of nuclear weapons in actual war
2. Advocate for peaceful and productive applications
2. George Washington – all the world's denizens “should abhor war wherever they find it”
1. Washington played a key role in revolutionary war
2. Einstein – recognized mathematical soundness in theory of relativity, but acknowledged
equally compelling, competing theory of quantum mechanics
1. Spent rest of life trying to reconcile
3. Many people advocated certain causes, but never criticized any part of them
1. Suzan B. Anthony
2. Martin Luther King
3. Hitler
4. Conclusion: Speaker's claim must be tested on case-by-case basis. Not all cases support.

———————————————
"Tradition and modernization are incompatible. One must choose between them."
1. Modernization does not reject tradition
2. Modernization as a variation on tradition – modernism derived from tradition
1. Modern English language is derived from many other languages and traditions –
Greek, Latin
2. US laws inherited from English principles of equality, fairness, and justice
3. Modernization departs from tradition
1. Modern designs, forms, and elements are based on symmetry, balance, and harmony
2. Rock and Roll relies on common elements of classic music – twelve-note scale,
rhythmic meters, similar melodies
4. Tradition yields to utilitarianism
1. Old historic architecture may be leveled to make room for downtown parking lot
2. Architectural style may be structurally unsafe
3. Bridges
5. Conclusion: History is build upon, but rarely shunned.
———————————————
"Many people admire idealism, but it usually leads to disappointment or trouble."
• Idealism is often difficult to obtain
• Elements of the human condition have always been present - war, crime, lack of resources
• To state that idealism usually leads to disappointment or trouble is a gross generalization
• Idealism should be encouraged rather than discouraged for the sake of being practical
• Accomplishing practical goals may often be easier than ideal goals -- ideal goals often require
other people to subscribe -- the application of stem cell research can have noble aims, but
funding requires public support
• Many ideal goals such as social reform would have to be sacrificed if only practical goals
are to be pursued.
• Social idealism can lead to trouble in the sense of revolt or civil disobedience -- Civil War was
social reform.
———————————————
"The most practical and effective way to protect wilderness areas is to attract more tourists to
these areas through environmentally sensitive projects."
• Attracting tourists to the wilderness is a good way to encourage support for environmental
concerns
• Many people are unaware of how the environment is changing because they do not see these
changes on a daily basis.
• It is logical that if more people spent time outdoors in the environment, then they are likely to
gain a deeper connection to what lies beyond they everyday surroundings.
• But it is hard to attract tourists to environmentally sensitive areas without disturbing the
surroundings.
• These areas must be easily accessible, but to make them accessible, roads would need to be
developed would would require sacrificing valuable land area for new highway.
• With roads come the cars and with cars, pollution
• Some areas and natural parks reserved for wild animals may not be safe for people -- bears have
attacked campers before, not a good idea to have people too close to natural geysers which
spew boiling water tens of feet into the air.
• With tourists usually come litter.
• Some environmentally-sensitive projects can be beneficial, but attracting people to an area
which is to be preserved is questionable. People often have a habit of interfering with the
environment. If people really like the area, they may try to turn it into a resort.
———————————————
"Because of television and worldwide computer connections, people can now become familiar
with a great many places that they have never visited. As a result, tourism will soon become
obsolete."
1. Televisions have been around for a long time. No decline in tourism noted.
1. Television has likely sparked an interest in viewing other places – the Travel channel
 2. Purpose of the computer is not solely to obtain information about other cultures and places
1. Tourism is about the sensory experience
2. A photograph of the Swiss Alps is not the same as being there
3. People need to get away from routine surroundings– dinner, movies
1. Humans like to inhabit other places
4. Internet price competition facilitates travel
1. Enhances communication with people of other cultures
5. Business travel might decline
1. Teleconferencing competes
6. Conclusion: Internet may provide interest, but only being there provides satisfaction.
———————————————
"High-speed electronic communications media, such as electronic mail and television, tend to
prevent meaningful and thoughtful communication."
1. Television provides only one-way communication
1. Television used to be more of a social event – families would watch a show and then
discuss what they thought of it
2. Today, television is used by parents to keep their kids occupied
3. Content has degraded with time, service of television is to generate profit through ads
2. Computers are interactive by design
1. E-mail facilitates relationships as it is easier than talking face to face
2. Written conversation requires more thought than verbal
3. Email used to avoid face-to-face encounters
4. Email provides for distracting e-mails – info. Overload
1. Not thoughtful and reflective communication
3. Web provides a useful source of information with efficient retrieval
1. distance learning
2. Web may turn out to be like the television
1. Porn, advertising, online shopping
3. Conclusion: Computers tend to inhibit meaningful conversation. May be just like TV.

———————————————
"The only responsibility of corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, is to make as
much money as possible for their companies."
1. Placing too much responsibility on businesses will lower profits and consequently limit jobs as
well as make products more expensive.
 1. Society may be worse off overall
2. By affirming that profit maximization within legal bounds is most ethical behavior, we provide
incentive for new individuals to enter the marketplace and deliver competitive products
1. Wealthier stock holders increase the wealth of the economy
3. New technology is often ahead of laws which serve to regulate it
1. May pose harm to consumers
1. Internet commerce is mostly unregulated
2. Privacy invasions, intellectual property violations
2. Nations's laws do not extend beyond its boarder
1. Labor exploitation over seas
3. Businesses enter into a social contract with community – should not harm community
4. Conclusion: By maximizing profit, businesses serve not only itself, but also community and
most importantly, government. Businesses owe their existence to society.
———————————————
"Students should bring a certain skepticism to whatever they study. They should question what
they are taught instead of accepting it passively."
1. Skepticism is most important for physical sciences
1. Scientific progress comes about through scientific inquiry
2. Copernicus challenged the assumption that the earth was the center of universe
2. Sociology and political science students must challenge the status quo
1. Otherwise oppression goes unchecked
2. Law students must question the fairness of existing laws
3. Arts
1. Students must challenged established styles
2. Musicians such as Charlie Parker challenged conventional thought about harmony and
melody
3. Architectural styles are constantly being redefined and improved upon
4. Fashon
4. Might be counter productive when it comes to memorizing facts
5. Conclusion: Progress is made out of skepticism
———————————————
"Both parents and communities must be involved in the local schools. Education is too important to
leave solely to a group of professional educators."
———————————————
"Contemporary society offers so many ways of learning that reading books is no longer very
important."
———————————————
"Choice is an illusion. In reality, our lives are controlled by the society in which we live."
———————————————
"There is no such thing as purely objective observation. All observation is subjective; it is always
guided by the observer's expectations or desires."
1. Experience shows that we often disagree about observations
1. Difference between observation and interpretation
1. Interpretation can be influenced by desires
1. Controversial sports play
2. Car accident
2. A jury rarely arrives at a complete verdict even though they witnessed the same
trial
1. Police brutality
3. Observation can be objective given sensory inputs of similar quality
1. Francis Bacon – all truths must be based on empirical observation
2. Human kind as the center of the universe
1. Galileo exposed the biased nature of this claim
3. Before Einstein, time and space were assumed to be linear – mathematically,
Einstein proved otherwise
1. Subjective interpretation of time and space led to false assumptions
2. Conclusion: Observation is confused with interpretation. Interpretation is the subjective
processing of objective reality.
———————————————
The arts (music, dance, visual arts, etc.) are vitally important to students' education and should
therefore receive as much emphasis as mathematics, science, reading and other mainstream subjects."
———————————————
"The human mind will always be superior to machines because machines are only tools of human
minds."
1. Machines are tools of human minds.
1. These machines would not exist if human minds had not created them.
2. Cannot think of a machine that is not a tool. Humans create machines to carry out specific
functions. Even to entertain us.
1. Video Games
2. Toys
2. Certain parts of the machine are superior
1. Much faster at number crunching
 1. With greater accuracy
2. Other parts are not superior
1. current machines cannot cope with ambiguous information
2. do not engage in independent thought
3. purely logical, no emotional response
4. Pattern recognition is very poor, many websites have the user enter words in a picture to
prevent computer “bots” from creating accounts
3. Advancement in artificial intelligence – computers are becoming more human like
1. Honda Robot
2. Increased intellect – Computer beat world's greatest chess player at his own game
3. Computer may become more like humans in terms of awareness and comprehension
4. Conclusion: Superiority depends on what is valued. At what level does a machine cease
being a machine?
———————————————
"The most essential quality of an effective leader is the ability to remain consistently committed
to particular principles and objectives. Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts
in popular opinion will accomplish little."
1. Business leadership
1. Effective leadership is that which achieves the goals of profit maximization
2. Other duties may include not inflicting intentional harm on employees or community
3. Take steps to alleviate society's problems
2. Political
1. Effective political leadership involved with means a person uses to build and maintain
power
2. Stubborn adherence to objectives may gain short-term power, but could ultimately lead to a
loss of power
1. There can be some tolerated opposition to personal objectives, but too much opposition
will result in loss of power
3. Social Leadership
1. Social leaders such as King and Ghandi must remain true to what they believe
2. They cannot be hypocrites otherwise they would lose support
———————————————
"In this age of intensive media coverage, it is no longer possible for a society to regard any
woman or man as a hero. The reputation of anyone who is subjected to media scrutiny will
eventually be diminished."
1. Media is for-profit
1. People prefer to hear about the misfortunes of others rather than accomplishments
 2. Media gives public what they want
2. People presume that all heros have some sort of character flaw
1. People relying on mainstream media are dumb so they cannot see beyond this flawed
assumption
3. Once tarnished, few people can regain their reputation
1. Some celebrities have won lawsuits against publications for libel
1. In cases of damage award, the reputation is never completely untarnished
4. Conclusion: People who rely on mainstream media are stupid. Publishers exploit this.
———————————————
"One often hears about the need for individuals to take responsibility for their own lives. However, the
conditions in which people find themselves have been largely established long before people become
aware of them. Thus, the concept of personal responsibility is much more complicated and unrealistic
than is often assumed."
———————————————
"Most people live, whether physically or morally, in a very restricted circle. They make use of a very
limited portion of the resources available to them until they face a great problem or crisis."
———————————————
"Sometimes imagination is a more valuable asset than experience. People who lack experience
are free to imagine what is possible and thus can approach a task without constraints of
established habits and attitudes."
1. Children can provide insights and valuable approaches to adult problems
1. Movie Big – young boy becomes high-powered marketing executive due to his insights
2. Most gifted composers are young and inexperienced
1. Mozart to McCartney
2. Science fiction writer Jules Verne, developed highly specific methods for transporting
people through space. Jules Verne though of these methods a century earlier before they
were developed by engineers after research
3. Many exceptions
1. Duke Ellington continued to create great compositions late in his life
2. Thomas Edison continued to invent until old age
4. Later accomplishments generally tend to build on earlier ones
5. Do not take the assertion too far
1. Students of the arts need to learn techniques that they can use to apply to their arts
2. Creative writing is not completely arbitrary
1. Need to understand how language is used
3. Most scientific breakthroughts come about after long and hard research, not star-gazing
4. Mark Twain needed to experience life in order to achieve inspirations
 1. Comics would not exist without experiencing life
6. Conclusion: Imagination can serve as an important catalyst, but experience is usually required
for any scientific or literature breakthough.
———————————————
"In any given field, the leading voices come from people who are motivated not by conviction but
by the desire to present opinions and ideas that differ from those held by the majority."
1. In terms of political power, a drive to be noticed can be the primary motivation
1. Some presidential historians describe Clinton as being more driven to be great than to
accomplish anything specifically great
2. Napolean and Mussolini's insatiable lust for power as “short-man's complex” - need to be
noticed and admired despite shortness
2. Many other political leaders are driven instead by what they believe
1. Ghandi
2. Martin King
3. The arts
1. Picasso and Warhol who deviated from established ideas of art composition
2. Bob Dylan, Nirvana – Driven by creative urges rather than just to be different.
4. Physical progress – Innovation and progress results from challenging conventional theories
1. Newton and Einstein did not subscribe to the scientific assumptions of their time
2. New theories were derived mathematically and not sought for the sake of just being
different
5. Conclusion: Assertion is somewhat unfalsifiable. Since it deals with the motivation of
leaders, once can only disprove it being a leader who genuinely is not motivated by the desire to
be different – hard to disprove, but no direct evidence conclusively in support.
———————————————
"Over the past century, the most significant contribution of technology has been to make people's
lives more comfortable."
• Technology has mostly been used to make people's lives more comfortable - air conditioning
• In some cases, technology complicates everyday living. Computers are becoming more user-
friendly, but are still difficult and frustrating if valuable data is lost.
• Technology can allow people to live longer and in some cases save lives -- smoke detector, cell
phone, GPS
• Technology associated with the assembly line has separated factory workers from their
products, making them feel more remote to their creations.
• Technology has made society more vulnerable – Year 2K issue, computer network security is
often compromised. Facilitates identity theft.
• Phone and e-mail solicitation.
———————————————
"It is impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time. Complete honesty is
not a useful virtue for a politician."
1. Political leaders may need to be dishonest
1. Lying is just part of the game
1. Completely forthrightness is a sign of vulnerability and naivete
1. Opponents will take advantage of this
2. Careful to distinguish between lies and political rhetoric
1. Some politicians are just clever at avoiding the truth – can be misleading, but not illegal
2. A politician may attack another on the grounds of being anti-”x” due to one isolated
event – voting against a bill for whatever other reason
3. Need to win elections – the politicians which get elected tell the people what they want to
hear, not what they need to hear
1. Some politicians need to pander to some groups in order to gain support – part of the
game
2. Lying is not a long-term strategy, may work in the short term, but will most likely fail
ultimately
1. Most effective presidents are motivated by ideals
1. Richard Nixon – motivated by ambition
2. Ronald Reagan – effective because he believed in his core principles
2. Certain types of leadership require honesty – socio political leadership – Gandhi and King
3. High standard for one's own personal integrity is a prerequisite for moral leadership
3. Lying is not a long-term strategy in politics
———————————————
"Critical judgment of work in any given field has little value unless it comes from someone who is
an expert in that field."
1. Expert critical judgment needed in context of social-science fields
1. Cultural anthropology – merits of a person's findings must be validated by members of other
fields
1. Biochemists and other experts in the field will need to validate cultural anthropologist's
comments about cause of death, life expectancy
2. Geologists need to determine source and age of materials such as tools and weapons to
affirm the anthropologist's conclusions regarding trade, lifestyle, mobility, etc.
3. Linguist needed to interpret hieroglyphics and writings
4. Astrologers needed as ancient people determined city building placement by stars
2. Hard to assess full impact of economic theory – requires that the critical person be
knowledgeable about all impacts of economic policy
1. Lowering interest rates cannot only be evaluated based on cheaper housing rates
 3. Work of researchers in physical sciences need to be judged by peer-review
1. Only other scientists have the knowledge to judge formulas and theories
2. Observations related to astrophysics require special instruments for validation, only
experts in the field have access to these tools with knowledge of how to use them
4. Public policy decisions can be judged by experts outside the field based on the reasons for
and against the decision.
1. Philosophical inquiry regarding new technologies is more open to interpretation, but it is
an advantage to have background of philosophical knowledge
2. Quality of work outside socioeconomic impact can be judged only be experts in the field
5. Conclusion: Social sciences – no area operates in a vacuum. Inside physical sciences, need
for peer-review. Socioeconomic impact is more open.
———————————————
"Those who treat politics and morality as though they were separate realms fail to understand
either the one or the other."
1. Political morality differs from private morality
1. Politics is a game – must use the tools of game to stay competitive
1. Regurgitate arguments above
2. Politicians must engage in certain behaviors to gain political positions
1. Regurgitate arguments above
3. Successful political leadership needs to endure.
1. Hitler and Stalin lost their leadership to to immoral means with which they wielded their
power
2. Nixon, holding the legal system in contempt
3. Immoral behavior not a long-term solution
2. Game of politics comes with some amount of dis ingenuousness which might be associated with
private morality. Ultimately, any politician who fails to exercise moral leadership loses the
game.
———————————————
"The surest indicator of a great nation is not the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists,
but the general welfare of all its people."
1. General welfare should be enhanced
1. No litmus test for measuring “general welfare”
1. Some ideas come to mind: education, public health, freedom, cultural richness, security
against military invasions, other measures of quality of life
2. Scientists, artists, and political leaders by way of their achievements promote these aims
1. Health science
2. Technology
 1. Travel, communication
3. Engineering – safer buildings, cars
4. Art – provides inspiration, lifts human spirit, incites creativity and imagination
1. Spur us on to greater accomplishments, help us appreciate our own humanity
5. Also need military and diplomats
2. Nation is not great merely by achievements of individuals
1. Political rulers must not exploit citizens
2. Must appreciate artistic and scientific accomplishments
3. Many ways to demote public welfare through misuse of scientific accomplishments
1. Chemicals in our food, water, air --> cancer
2. Green house gases
3. Nuclear warfare
3. Conclusion: General welfare is the end product of scientific accomplishment.
Achievements rarely only benefit one nation exclusively.
———————————————
"People who pursue their own intellectual interests for purely personal reasons are more likely to
benefit the rest of the world than are people who try to act for the public good."
1. We are motivated to pursue those activities in which we excel.
1. To force people to focus their talents on other areas could be a waste
2. Regurgitate arguments above
2. Unusual avenues of personal interest often lead to greatest benefits to society
1. Regurgitate arguments above
3. To adopt the speaker's view would be to sanction certain intellectual pursuits while
proscribing others – thought control, intellectual oppression
1. Rehash arguments above
4. Opposing view would argue that intellectual inquiry in some areas particularly the arts and
humanities equates to little more than intellectual fantasy
1. Speaker claims that there exists a nexus between certain areas of intellectual inquiry and
societal benefit
2. Study in the humanities is supposed to help us learn what is best for society
3. Speaker insists that there are palpable benefits to cultivating the arts
5. Conclusion: Pursue one's areas of interest, do not worry about society.
———————————————
"Important truths begin as outrageous, or at least uncomfortable, attacks upon the accepted
wisdom of the time."
• Many people want to view the world a certain way, even if their views lie outside of reality.
 • Copernicus caused much unrest by suggesting that the sun and not the earth is the center of the
solar system.
• Einstein's theories on the relationship between space and time were not easily accepted even
though they could be supported by mathematical proof and empirical observation.
• Quantum theory allows for multiple dimensions and the existence of the same body of matter to
locate two distinct regions of space at the same time.
• Social reform - many Americans who became acclimated to the use of slavery as a source of
free labor had difficulty allowing their slaves to go free under democratic principles.
• Theology - Darwin's theory of evolution which states that humans evolved rather than were
created caused much dissent as it challenged other people's desires for how things should be as
well as biblical sources from which other beliefs were based.
———————————————
"Originality does not mean thinking something that was never thought before; it means putting
old ideas together in new ways."
1. Originality as variation or synthesis of existing ideas - linguistics and law
1. English language built on Greek and Latin
2. No such thing as purely modern language, need to communicate ideas based on symbols
and words – language is arbitrary
3. US Law based on traditional English common-laws of equity and justice
1. New laws built upon traditional principles – constitution
2. Art – New ideas and trends are adaptations of prior art
1. Symmetry, balance and harmony are the foundation for new art forms
1. Some modern art seeks to be truly original by abandoning as much convention as
possible
1. This type of art rarely lasts due to lack in presence of classical conventions
2. Rock and roll music based on classical music
1. Share form, rhythm, 12-note scale, ideas of what harmonies are pleasing to the ear
3. Science
1. Literal translation of the bible – from creationism to evolution – a radical departure
from previous ideas about the origins of earth
1. Would have delayed geological progress
2. Einstein's thoughts on the relationship between time and space – completely counter to
our subjective notions from which classical physics was derived
3. Einstein was truly original
4. In other cases, great advances in science are made by putting together current theories and ideas
in new ways
1. Engineering – all build upon science – the semiconductor
2. String theory – built upon ideas of wave and quantum theory
 5. Conclusion: Originality embraces what came before.
———————————————
"Laws should not be rigid or fixed. Instead, they should be flexible enough to take account of
various circumstances, times, and places."
1. Consistency is required to comprehend legal obligations
1. Businesses need well-defined rights and responsibilities in order to thrive
2. Consistency in legal environment is also required for expansion and interstate commerce
2. Laws too rigid can be unfair
1. Constitution allows for legal discretion at the state level
2. Framers recognized that social and economic problems as well as standards of equity and
fairness change overtime
3. Marital property rights – example
1. Evolved over time to become more fair
1. Husbands used to own all property acquired during the marriage as well as property
brought into the marriage
2. Progressive states have adopted more egalitarian property rights systems
1. These are being modified to reflect personal contributions during the marriage
4. Napster – intellectual property
1. Not an issue seen by original patent law
5. Conclusion: Nation's founders intended for fairness. Laws need to be modified over time to
keep up.
———————————————
"It is always an individual who is the impetus for innovation; the details may be worked out by a
team, but true innovation results from the enterprise and unique perception of an individual."
1. Statement overlooks synergistic relationships between individual effort and teamwork,
especially with respect to scientific contributions
1. Business
1. Vision and commitment of key individuals from which innovative products grow
2. Apple Computer
1. Company hit the shits after firing Jobs
2. Apple recovered after bringing jobs back
3. CEOs would agree that their goals could not be carried out without other people.
1. Others were just following marching orders
2. Scientific innovation
1. It used to be the case that most scientific breakthroughs came about through specific
people
 1. Edison invented the light bulb, television, phonograph independently
2. Scientific innovation today requires huge capital and extensive teams of researchers
1. Exceptions such as Hewlett and Packard, Jobs and Wozniak
2. Most other cases involve trial-and-error research through teams at universities or in
research labs
3. Even Edison relied on numerous breakthroughs achieved by others who came before
him. If he was placed in history 2000 years ago, it would be unlikely that he would
have made a light bulb without a means to establish a vacuum
3. Conclusion: Major scientific breakthroughs rarely occur by people operating in isolation
today.
———————————————
"The function of science is to reassure; the purpose of art is to upset. Therein lies the value of
each."
1. Some art, especially religious arts such as that of Madonna and the child are intended to
reassure through the messages of Christian redemption and salvation
1. Many examples of art depicting peaceful natural scenes such as waterfalls and beaches
2. Some art from the renaissance is intended to upset
1. Focusing on the crucifixion and apocalyptic notions of judgment and damnation
2. Insert fictitious example of artwork here
3. Function of science is to discover truths about or world and universe
1. Sometimes discoveries seem to reassure, other times they upset
2. Unifying explanations of physics seem to reassure
3. Other things may serve to upset:
1. Sun is the center of the universe
2. Humans evolved from primates
3. Time is relative to space and motion
4. Science can conflict with beliefs
5. Science suggests that behavior traits are functions of individual brain structure, determined
at birth
1. May upset people in fields such as psychology, criminology, who want to believe
that behavior can be learned and people are free from low-level biases
6. Conclusion: Speaker generalizes and misses the point of science.
———————————————
"The study of an academic discipline alters the way we perceive the world. After studying the
discipline, we see the same world as before, but with different eyes."
1. History teaches us about flaws of other humans
1. Demagogues often fail under the weight of their own prejudices, jealousies, and other
 character flaws
2. Study of Shakespeare's works King Lear and Hamlet demonstrate a tragically-flawed hero
and the arbitrariness by which we distinguish between hero and villain
2. See flaws on ideologies taken by pure faith
1. Many solutions by public policy makers are band-aid fixes
2. A philosophy student learns logical fallacies of popular political parties, religious
denominations, and social extremists
3. Law student learns that laws are changing according to society's preferences
3. Education allows us to re-examine ideas previously rejected.
1. Laws and restrictions to inhibit freedom may now seem justified given competing interests
2. Exposure to different customs and religious belief systems student can understand the
cultural and philosophical traditions in which they are rooted
4. Education helps us see our own culture through different eyes
1. Deeper appreciation for cultural traditions
1. Sees how it serves our psychological need to belong
2. Appreciates aspects of culture as providing for works of literature – Mark Twain
1. Life along Mississippi not seen as mundane, but adventure
2. Transform the way we see our own culture
5. Transforms how to interpret the world -> moving from emotional to intellectual
1. Seek to appreciate what art reveals about our culture and humanity
2. Seek to understand art beyond colors and shapes
3. Enhances knowledge about the composition and characteristics of film and music enhances
appreciation
6. Conclusion: Education allows us to understand the world in more depth. Also allows us to
understand subjective and changeable nature of our own perceptions.
———————————————
"It is possible to pass laws that control or place limits on people's behavior, but legislation cannot
reform human nature. Laws cannot change what is in people's hearts and minds."
1. Morality laws which impinge upon freedom of choice do not work in a democratic society
1. People will find ways to circumvent such laws, these laws give away to more lenient laws
2. Prohibition
3. Gay marriages
4. Physician-assisted suicide
5. Medical use of pot
6. Legislation morality for morality's sake does not work
2. Banning substances by making them illegal does not prevent people from using them
 1. Banning drugs only leads to types of more desperate behavior to obtain them illegally
2. Cost outweighs benefits
3. Behavior of business should be controlled
1. Businesses will act on their own financial interests, not in best interest of society
1. Environment, affirmative action
2. Technology can completely remove pollution from automobiles
1. Short-term sacrifices prevent adoption, although this is more due to the consumer than
businesses.
2. Tobacco and alcoholic beverages
3. Many companies exploit underage or underprivileged workers to enhance profits
4. Conclusion: Freedom is more important than morality for morality's sake. Legislating moral
behavior is not practical.
———————————————
"What most human beings really want to attain is not knowledge, but certainty. Gaining real knowledge
requires taking risks and keeping the mind open—but most people prefer to be reassured rather than to
learn the complex and often unsettling truth about anything."
———————————————
"Many problems of modern society cannot be solved by laws and the legal system because moral
behavior cannot be legislated."
———————————————
"The way students and scholars interpret the materials they work with in their academic fields is
more a matter of personality than of training. Different interpretations come about when people
with different personalities look at exactly the same objects, facts, data, or events and see
different things."
1. Personality traits such as mood, outlook, temperament have little bearing on the analysis of data
1. Optimism vs. pessimism has some bearing on interpretation
2. Optimistic researcher after an unsuccessful search could look search as eliminating a
possibility and bringing us closer to the remaining truths.
3. Pessimistic researcher would disagree
4. But these are reactions and do not involve the analysis of data
2. All good statistics have controls or baselines with which to compare new results
3. One's background and training can strongly influence how one interprets historical events
involving human affairs, statistical data, and art
1. A student of political science may see British imperialism as one nation's quest for power
2. A student of economics may see British imperialism as a strategy to gain control over
distribution of goods and resources
3. Theology student may see it as an attempt to force beliefs onto others
 4. Sociology or anthropology student may see it as a way of imposing one nation's culture onto
another
4. Education may influence the interpretation of statistical data
1. Different conclusions can be drawn on an increasing crime rate
5. Training and educational background has a profound role in the interpretation of art
1. Meaning of art is subjective and highly personal
1. Business student – try to determine success in economy
2. Theology student – expression of grace and thankfulness in life
3. Art history – see work as product of previous works
4. Art theory – see art as containing foundational elements such as brush stroke techniques
———————————————
"It is dangerous to trust only intelligence."
———————————————
"As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more complex
and more mysterious."
1. Some systems are very complex
1. Bats navigate by sonar
2. Using sonar they can determine how far away prey or other objects are
1. Can also determine what the other species is and where it is moving
3. Knowledge of sonar illustrates the complexity of minds
2. Knowledge of the universe
1. New technology enables us to learn more about the universe
2. Helps us understand our place in the universe
3. Adds another mystery to what existed before time and the universe
3. Atomic physics
1. Ancestors had a very simple view of matter – ancient philosophers tended to embrace
simple theories about the composition of matter such as matter being composed of fire,
water, air, and earth
2. Advances in technology have given us a more precise view of matter
3. After learning about protons, electrons, and neutrons, which were at one time believed to be
fundamental elements of all matter, then came the quark
1. String theory leads belief to a more fundamental and universal unit of matter
4. From our knowledge we have a more accurate understanding of matter
1. We can explain and predict chemical reactions
2. String theory also reconciles differences between quantum and wave theories
3. Each discovery reveals that matter is more complex than originally thought
 4. String theory leads to the existence of additional dimensions which lead us further from
everyday experience
5. Conclusion: New knowledge often opens up more questions than it answers.
———————————————
"It is a grave mistake to theorize before one has data."
1. A theory conjured up without data amounts to little more than the theorist's desires
1. A theory conjured up too early could bias data collecting process
1. Theory that earth is center of the universe – theory formed w/o data
2. By theorizing before collecting data, the theorist runs the risk of interpreting that data in
such a way that it supports the original theory
1. Theory that the earth is flat
2. Anyone with a clear view of the horizon and sense some curvature
1. Curvature was interpreted as a convex portion of an otherwise flat surface
3. Impossible to theorize without some data
1. Theory based completely on fantasy could be based on some empirical data, but also
possible that it won't
4. No way to determine when a sufficient amount of data has been gathered to formulate
a theory.
5. We form theories to make the world a better place. Without ever having the chance to make
these theories due to “insufficient data” nothing will ever get accomplished
6. Government forms agencies to collect data and think tanks to interpret the data. Must
acknowledge that no amount of data will ever be enough, but problems need to be solved
urgently.
7. Conclusion: Be careful of theories not backed up with data, postponing something too long
might translate into a missed opportunity
———————————————
"Scandals—whether in politics, academia, or other areas—can be useful. They focus our
attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could."
1. Scandals can serve to call our attention to problems that society would otherwise neglect.
1. Watergate scandal – called attention to sleezy campaign tactics
1. Scandal increased the level of scrutiny and accountability of public officials
2. Clinton-Gore fundraising scandal sparked a renewed call for campaign-finance reform
1. Raised consideration about banning all private campaign contributions
2. Scandals can distract us from community or societal problems
1. Chancellor of private university was expelled for using university funds for private
residence
1. Scandal received media attention, but nothing positive resulted
 1. Diverted attention from other worthy causes – protesting and campus safety
3. Clinton sex scandal called our attention to certain issues of federal law
1. Raised debate about powers and duties while in office
2. Court rulings regarding executive privileges will serve as precedents in the future
3. Financial harm to tax payer, several of the people involved were hurt emotionally
4. Scandal served to distract us from more important things
4. Conclusion: The overall cost/benefit of a scandal must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
———————————————
"Practicality is now our great idol, which all powers and talents must serve. Anything that is not
obviously practical has little value in today's world."
1. Practicality is stressed in grade school education
1. Grade schoolers learning computer skills
2. Middle school cutting art education
3. More students are majoring in technical jobs to avoid waiting tables
4. MBA is most popular grad school choice
2. Art
1. Art in architecture is driven by safety, cost, functionality
2. Music and films is motivated by demographics and marketing
3. Publishing is driven to deliver viable products to marketplace – self help books
4. Those who control mass media are interested in profit
3. Politics
1. Most political figures seem driven by desire to get elected over sense of mission
2. Diplomatic and legal negations – log rolling – aimed at preserving practical party needs
3. Idealists sway the masses, not pragmatists – counter point
4. Science
1. Mostly practical – engineering applications focus on transferring science into product
1. Improved communication systems
2. Impractical – cosmetic surgery, highly impractical – health risk, expense
3. Chemical research – devoted towards the biggest problems – highly practical
1. Exception being Viagra
5. Conclusion: Practicality holds true for all the above, except maybe for science.
———————————————
"It is easy to welcome innovation and accept new ideas. What most people find difficult, however,
is accepting the way these new ideas are put into practice."
1. In politics and law, new ideas are often easily accepted.
 1. Status quo gives people an idea of rights they can expect as well as their duties under the
law
2. Personal rights supported by civil rights leaders threatened the status quo – caused unrest
3. Gay and lesbians face opposition from religious people
2. Once ideas above were accepted, they became easier to put in practice
1. Needed to be supported by three branches of govt.
3. Scientific breakthroughs do meet some opposition – alternative energy, Manhattan project
1. Sociologists and psychologists claim that Internet may serve to alienate people
2. Genetic engineering
4. Reasons for opposition are related to potential application, not innovation themselves
1. Edward Teller foresaw the benefits of atomic energy
2. Internet developed for education rather than commercialization
3. Genetic engineering – wealthy people develop the Master Race
5. Conclusion: Power and security afforded by status quo impedes initial acceptance. Scientific
application is readily embraced, but faces stronger resistance when it comes to applying the
innovation.
———————————————
"Success, whether academic or professional, involves an ability to survive in a new environment
and, eventually, to change it."
1. Adaptation required for scholastic success
1. Environment as well as curricula change – campus changes, teaching models change
2. Students who fail to embrace new technologies will fall behind their peers
2. Key ingredients for academic success are the student's innate abilities and the effort a
student exerts, no need to change environment.
1. Student's environment does not need to change
3. Professional Success
1. Lawyers and doctors must keep up with changing field – professional competency
2. No need to change environment in which they operate
3. Time spent advancing a profession in one area might be better spent keeping up with
changes in others – general practitioner
4. Legal reform, medical research may best be left to others
4. Claim is more compelling for business and scientific research
1. Researcher's job is to innovate – more related to discovery than reform
1. Exploring space
2. Business executives – Most successful are those who impart a maximum benefit to
society
 1. Internet age venture capitalists – changed the way business and commerce was done –
eBay
2. Dell Computers – selling computers over the Internet changed the way people purchase
computers today.
3. Apple – iTunes, changed the way music is sold.
5. Conclusion: Any individual must adapt to new environments to survive at life.
———————————————
"If people disregard the great works of the past, it is because these works no longer answer the needs of
the present."
———————————————
"As long as people in a society are hungry or out of work or lack the basic skills needed to
survive, the use of public resources to support the arts is inappropriate—and, perhaps, even
cruel—when one considers all the potential uses of such money."
1. Cultural enrichment pales in comparison compared to food, clothing, and shelter
1. These needs are more fundamental than the arts and therefore arts should be funded by use
of public money as a secondary priority
2. Funding art is not an essential function of government
1. Who decides where resources are allocated?
2. Private funding is available – PBS still operates off of private donations
3. Government funding requires tax dollars – less capital left over for private funding
3. Canadian government sponsors the Canadian film industry
1. Provides jobs for film-makers
2. Provides incentives for American film makers to film in Canada – brings money into the
local economy
4. Art is supposed to put us in touch with our humanity
1. Make us less self-centered and more people-centered
2. Does art help us become a more charitable society?
3. Counter argument – helping others may enable them to depend on society
5. Conclusion: Art is not just for the elite at museums and symphonies. Art helps breed socialism
and awareness of others. Public resources creates job for artists.
———————————————
"Education should be equally devoted to enriching the personal lives of students and to training
students to be productive workers."
1. Rote technical knowledge does not enable a student to determine which goals in life are
worth pursuing; ethically or morally acceptable
1. Philosophy, sociology, and history allow students to develop value system and give
them deeper insight as to how they should apply their talents in the working world
 2. Specific knowledge and skills needed for jobs are changing more rapidly
1. Waste to focus on specific knowledge and skills
2. Educators to enrich student's lives in ways that will serve for any walk of life
3. Helps build more-rounded students – particularly anthropology, sociology, history – able to
appreciate viewpoints of others
1. Technical knowledge does not help us get along with other people
4. Leave spiritual and religion to the parents
1. Learning about different religions can promote tolerance
5. Conclusion: Talk about well-roundedness, tolerance, and compassion.
———————————————
"Success in any realm of life comes more often from taking chances or risks than from careful and
cautious planning."
———————————————
"It is not the headline-making political events but the seldom-reported social transformations that have
the most lasting significance."
———————————————
"The best preparation for life or a career is not learning to be competitive, but learning to be
cooperative."
———————————————
"The goal of politics should not be the pursuit of an ideal, but rather the search for common
ground and reasonable consensus."
1. Reasonable consensus and political ideal need not be mutually exclusive
1. World peace – achieving a consensus is like achieving the actual ideal
2. Politicians must get elected – need to consensus
2. Achieving a consensus sounds nice, but it is an illusion – not in touch with the nature of
politics – denies the nature of politicians
1. Politics involves a tug-of-war between different agendas
2. Parties seek to subdue each other, but not to such an extent that a stronger 3rd party
comes along
3. Ideals have to do with justice and fairness
1. Idealists sway the masses and incite protest
2. All ideals require a certain measure of justice to be accepted by the masses
3. In cases of ideals which did not contain justice – Hitler, Stalin, these leaders eventually
failed due to lack of consensus
4. Idealists are better served to stay clear of short term thinking
1. A successful politician may just appeal to the masses, could simply be good at negotiating
1. Could be focused on survival rather than pursuing a cause
 5. Conclusion: Politicians are not consensus seekers, humans not inclined by nature to consensus.
Politics should be about ideals.
———————————————
"Technology creates more problems than it solves, and may threaten or damage the quality of
life."
1. Mechanical automation
1. Assembly line – loss of pride in one's job – alienation between worker and finished product
2. Pros: Cheaper goods, new industries, created jobs, economic growth
2. Digital Automation
1. Information overload – Internet
2. Steals time from family and friends
3. Free Porn!
3. Digital technology
1. Created great advances in medicine and physics
2. Saves architects, artists, and musicians time with new possibilities
3. Universal access to information
4. Technology threatens human life
1. nuclear weapons
2. AI running out of control – Matrix, Space Odessey 2001, Brave New World
3. Genetics – Ability to develop the super-virus.
5. People use technology even though they know it is bad for the world
1. Humans use cars which damage the environment because they are too lazy to adopt less-
harmful alternatives
6. Conclusion: Some good, some bad.
———————————————
"The material progress and well-being of one country are necessarily connected to the material
progress and well-being of all other countries."
1. Economic pursuits are interwoven with those of other nations
1. Economic growth in US attracts investors from other countries
1. Foreign business investments become less attractive by comparison
2. Consider developed countries taking natural resources from developing nations
1. Developing nations become forced to comply with same energy conservation policies
that were invoked by the behavior of the developed nation.
2. Developing nation cannot afford to make sacrifices that the developed nation did not
have to make.
3. Drug traffiking provides economic boost to rogue nation at the expense of social and
 economic problems for the consumer nations
2. Nations trade raw materials, and labor forces in other nations depend on supply and
economic stability delivered by their neighbors.
1. Trade barriers disappear resulting in economic synergy between nations
2. Middle East nations depend on oil-consuming nations such as the US
3. One nation's progress can spell trouble for other nations
1. Nuclear and biochemical weapons
2. Computer connectivity – Internet espionage
4. Environmental consequences shared
1. Global warming
2. Clear-cutting rain forests
1. Animal extinction
5. Software piracy and pharmaceutical copying (patent violation)
6. Conclusion: Trade and economic synergistic benefits seem to outweigh the downsides of a
global economy. Need for communal and fair action to stop environmental threats.
———————————————
"Instead of encouraging conformity, society should show greater appreciation of individual
differences."
1. Individual differences are what make people unique.
1. Uniqueness is required due to our specialized economy. People rely on each other for goods
rather than inefficiently attempt to become completely independent.
2. In societies where people are more independent of each other, conformity seems to be more
prevalent. Most members of society are expected to conform to a type of career, hunting or
farming and provide for their families. It would be unusual for a person of a given tribe not
to reproduce. There are really only two types of lifestyles, one for males and one for
females. Modern society does not so much resemble this dichotomy and further change is
occurring.
2. It must be understood that people are fulfilled in different ways. A type of lifestyle for one
person may be seen as limiting or desolate to another.
3. Society seems to encourage conformity in regards to media and fashion. People are expected to
look and act a given way, embracing the insecurities which are derived from not meeting the
unrealistic ideal favored by advertisers and for-profit media.
4. The fashion industry has been criticized for only showing one ideal of beauty, an ideal which is
difficult or unhealthy for most people to obtain. A greater appreciation for individual
differences and acceptance is required to solve this problem.
5. The primary education system also seems to encourage conformity. Students are expected to be
interested in course material which may or may not be interesting with no alternative study
options to suit the child's interest. For example, art is one subject that many students are forced
to study in grade school. An appreciation for art is probably beneficial as it encourages
creativity and appreciation for other people's points of artistic view. However, the student is
 given no choice of alternative. People do not live forever, perhaps the individual would be
more interested in studying other subjects such as math or computer science. Child
psychologists agree that young students need to be presented with a curriculum which
encourages their intellectual growth, otherwise they will not grow to their fullest potential.
Individual differences must be considered in the area of learning.
———————————————
"Truly innovative ideas do not arise from groups of people, but from individuals. When groups try to
be creative, the members force each other to compromise and, as a result, creative ideas tend to be
weakened and made more conventional. Most original ideas arise from individuals working alone."
1. Many original ideas do arise from individuals working alone. The works of Einstein, Steven
Hawkings, and certainly 18th Century classical piano composers are among the most notable.
1. Ideas must ultimately be accepted by others. Classical music became popular because many
people accepted the composer's styles and tastes.
2. Einstein's ideas became popular even though some could not be completely proven at the
time, but because he was able to convince other scientists that his theories were logically
and mathematically sound.
3. In both the examples above, classical music developed by famous composers shared
musical properties in common with composers who preceded. Einstein used mathematical
formulas which were derived from other scientists.
2. Many counter examples exist of creativity occurring through groups of people. The apple iPod
and iTunes concept was not developed by one person, but instead by a group of people.
3. It required the efforts of a group of people to make human flight possible – to develop a flying
machine.
4. Many successful dot-com startups such as amazon.com were founded by a group of
entrepreneurs rather than individuals. (This might not actually be true, just made up that fact.
When in doubt, make-up your own evidence.)
———————————————
"The most elusive knowledge is self-knowledge, and it is usually acquired through solitude, rather than
through interaction with others."
———————————————
"The purpose of education should be to provide students with a value system, a standard, a set of
ideas—not to prepare them for a specific job."
• Similar question above
———————————————
"Unlike great thinkers and great artists, the most effective political leaders must often yield to public
opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise."
———————————————
"The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men
and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its heroines."
1. Society admires sports heros.
 1. Some accomplished athletes are considered heros because they overcame significant
hurdles
1. Lance Armstrong
2. Other athletes fight for social causes
1. Mohammad Ali – racial
2. Magic Johnson – AIDS research
3. Mark McGuire – Disadvantaged children
3. Does society bear these traits, no, we fail to emulate.
2. Military Hero – becomes a hero through courage in battle, facing defeat and emerging
victorious
1. John McCain – continued to serve country after years of torture
3. These traits only show that we admire courage, fortitude, and strength
4. Promoter of Social causes – incites society to meaningful political change
1. These heros do reflect the character of the hero's society
2. Social heros share common characteristics and force society to reflect on it's character and
in doing so, change how society thinks and operates
5. Conclusion: Most cultural heros serve as an example for what we would like to become or be
like. I would challenge this a bit further and question if it is really the attention most people
seek rather than the merit of truly being a hero.
———————————————
"We learn through direct experience; to accept a theory without experiencing it is to learn
nothing at all."
1. This theory does not apply to the sciences. Many of Einstein's theories were developed without
any empirical evidence and even seemed to contract empirical experience. Theories were based
purely on mathematics. Ultimately, these theories had to gather empirical evidence in order to
be supported.
2. Medical advances are often learned indirectly through experience. Statistical correlations are
discovered and then they are analyzed for a possible cure. Although the evidence is presented
in experience, the solution is found indirectly through computational analysis and statistics. The
actual knowledge is derived from the computer.
3. According to the author, understanding of microscopic events is absent as they cannot be
experienced directly.
4. The author is arguing that only first-hand knowledge is acceptable. This throws all knowledge
of history into doubt. According to the author, since it is impossible to experience an event
such as the second world war, does that mean that the person living today can learn nothing
from it?
5. Philosophical concepts are also abstract and one cannot experience them directly. Does this
mean that they have no merit?
6. Conclusion: Author's view is too narrow-minded and not compatible with abstract qualities
present in the real world.
———————————————
"As societies all over the world have more and more access to new information, the effects on life-
long learning can only be positive."
1. Too much information without organization can be a bad thing.
2. Need some agency to regulate the accuracy of the information. The Internet is full of
information, but not all of it is true. Need for peer review or reliable sources.
3. Learning is not necessarily enhanced by adding additional information. Information cannot
substitute for abilities such as problem solving.
4. Digital access to information provided the technology and medium to transmit it will have a
beneficial overall affect on life-long learning. People can not complete degrees over the
Internet enabling them not only to learn more, but also improve the quality of their lives as they
can perform more fulfilling and financially rewarding occupations.
———————————————
"People are too quick to take action; instead they should stop to think of the possible
consequences of what they might do."
1. Indeed, impulsive chess players are not very good.
2. Author is speaking the obvious and his statement will certainly be true in some cases where
people act impulsively. People often act impulsively and frequently in society when they
become impatient – road rage.
3. People act impulsively because time is a limited resource. People do not live forever and
problems need to be solved sooner rather than later.
4. Author's claim does not hold in all cases. Some problems require immediate resolution.
Governments do not have forever to decide the possible consequences of a given action.
———————————————
"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a
diminished sense of who they are."
1. One purpose of ritual and ceremony in today's society is to preserve cultural identity
1. Native American tribes – stories of heritage
1. Reason for maintaining these traditions lies in their struggle against assimilation
1. European intruders
2. Many tribes – need to inform the world about distinctness
2. As a whole, America has little cultural identity of its own anymore
1. We have become a patchwork quilt of many subcultures
2. American has become a melting pot of many sub cultures
1. Native Americans, Urban African Americans, Amish, Hasidic Jews
2. Each maintains some outward demonstration of its distinctiveness in order to establish
and maintain a unique cultural identity
3. Preserving cultural traditions is not the only reason for ceremonies
 1. Isolated cultures still participate in ceremony
2. Ceremonies rooted in superstition and spiritual belief
3. Primitive cultures still engage in these rituals for this purpose
4. Ritual and ceremony are not the only or primary means of preserving cultural identity
1. Amish culture – dress and lifestyle
2. Hasidic Jews – dress, vocational choices, dietary habits
3. African Americans
5. Conclusion: To prevent assimilation, ritual and ceremony may be used. Both can serve a
spiritual function as well.
———————————————
"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much
about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
1. Certain aspects of the outward appearance of a culture's people do inform us of their ideas,
attitudes, and values.
1. Society with many fat people might place high value on indulgence and low value on
physical health
2. Culture where people wear cheap clothing may be more practical
3. Traditional clothing – values tradition over modernization
4. Not the only reason, work and environmental factors could be more dominate
2. Habits, rituals, and lifestyles of a culture often provide accurate signals about its values
1. Over-consumption, one that values comfort and convenience over healthy environment
2. Society whose members behave kindly is one which values human dignity
1. Hateful society places low value on respect and tolerance
3. Some actions do not reveal attitudes and interests – some people work two jobs out of
financial necessity, not because they admire work ethic.
3. Distinction between free and oppressed societies
1. Society where members are free to dress however they want emphasizes individual freedom
and cultural diversity
2. Society where members share similar rituals, ways of dressing, and public behaviors place
low value on individual freedom
1. Although in some cases, people behave depending on their restrictions, many would
otherwise prefer individuality if not for their oppressors
4. Conclusion: Unfair generalization. Way people look, dress, act is often bred of necessity.
———————————————
"Progress is best made through discussion among people who have contrasting points of view."
1. Scientific Method is a call for progress through opposition
1. History of opposing theories
 1. Wave vs. Quantum theory
1. Leads to string theory
2. Opposing theories in biology and child psychology
1. Nature vs. Nurture debate – Are human tendencies hard-wired in us?
1. Psychologists vs. psychiatrists
2. Research seems to indicate that behavior is significantly a function of neurological wiring
1. Leads to further debate in areas of criminal punishment and childhood development
3. Nature vs. Nurture debate will continue to motivate progress in the social realm
3. Human rights
1. Comes from challenging the status quo
2. Without opposition, political opposition would go unchecked
3. Legislators and jurists who uphold and defend legal precedent must face opposition from
those who question the fairness
4. Imposed suppression of opposition stagnates scientific development
1. Soviet Refusenik (yes, I checked the spelling on this) movement of the 1920s
1. Soviet government tried to control direction of scientific research and also distorted the
outcomes
1. Certain areas of scientific inquiry were quashed, research facilities were destroyed
2. Scientists who were engaged in research that the state viewed as a threat disappeared
3. No significant advances in knowledge
———————————————
"Most people choose a career on the basis of such pragmatic considerations as the needs of the
economy, the relative ease of finding a job, and the salary they can expect to make. Hardly
anyone is free to choose a career based on his or her natural talents or interest in a particular
kind of work."
1. Evidence seems to support speaker's claim
1. Many student go into computer science
1. Job opportunities
2. Graduates with a degree in the liberal arts often abandon their chosen field – low
employment
2. The above is somewhat of a generalization – computer science is difficult and those who are
able to be successful at computer science might be able to make more money in another field.
Money is not the only driving factor, most are interested in the content.
3. Applications for law schools spiked during civil rights movements and during the O.J. Simpson
trial. Would the same amount of students have applied w/o the supply of jobs and financial
rewards?
4. People of diverse academic paths rarely have trouble finding a job.
 1. Animal lover – can work near animals at the zoo or as veterinarians.
2. Social people can thrive as counselors and school teachers
3. People who enjoy travel can work in the travel industry
———————————————
"Any decision-whether made by government, by a corporation, or by an individual person-must
take into account future conditions more than present conditions."
1. Overall, I agree with the author of the point above. Policy decisions must include more
consideration regarding how the decision will affect people in the future. Otherwise, the policy
decision would be short-sighted.
2. Some problems may exist in the present, that may be alleviated in the future. For example, a
student may be willing to go into debt in order to get an advanced degree knowing that he or
she will have heavy debts to pay once out of college. However, the student may reason that
they will be able to easily pay off these debts with they high income they expect to achieve.
They must also consider the consequences of being unable to achieve their desired degree.
Some risks need to be taken otherwise people will be unnecessarily constrained by their
circumstances.
3. In the event of a natural disaster, a country may utilize all of its fuel reserves under the
assumption that they will be replenished after the emergency. Paramedics may allocate all of
their blood reserves to save an injured person under the assumption that they will not encounter
another injured person on the way to the hospital. In situations of uncertainty, it is necessary to
place greater emphasis on the present than the future. In these circumstances, equal emphasis is
placed on the present and the future.
4. In the corporate world, many people in upper management may decide not to do what is in the
best interest of the company, but instead do whatever is necessary to keep the stock prices high
until they retire. These selfish actions have been demonstrated in numerous corporate scandals
in recent history. Corporations in light of the people they employ and the resources they
occupy must always do what is best for the future of the company and the individuals supported
by the company.
———————————————
"If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it is justifiable."
1. Run cost/benefit analysis
1. Preparing for a marathon
1. Training could interfere with work
2. Injury could result from training
3. Attaining goal could inspire others
2. A genius who sacrifices his/her financial stability and research preferences towards art to
pursue more societally-meaningful cancer research.
3. Providing food and shelter for an innocent child
1. Steal to pay for food
2. Employ child in sweatshop
 3. Moral dilemma involved
4. Competing objectives
1. At the expense of forcing all businesses to comply, some could go under leading to
economic paralysis and unemployment.
2. Intervention of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait – benefit for oil, for security
1. Cost – resources which could have gone to other programs
———————————————
"Too much emphasis has been placed on the need for students to challenge the assertions of others. In
fact, the ability to compromise and work with others—that is, the ability to achieve social harmony—
should be a major goal in every school."
———————————————
"Society should identify those children who have special talents and abilities and begin training them at
an early age so that they can eventually excel in their areas of ability. Otherwise, these talents are likely
to remain undeveloped."
1. Unless certain talents are nurtured at an early age, those talents can remain forever
dormant
1. Child musically gifted needs access to musical instruments
2. Child linguistically gifted, needs access to other languages
2. Statement implies that certain children receive special attention at the expense of other
children
1. Need to determine which talents are worth pursuing
2. Parents will not always agree in regards to how their child is being developed
3. Leaving decisions to legislators is too subjective
4. No one to make these choices
3. Splits children into two fractions – talented elitists and all others...then again, animals and
humans are able to co-exist
1. Would lead to economic disparity - undemocratic
4. Statement assumes that talented children are the ones to contribute most greatly to society
1. Motivation plays a key factor in one's overall potency
2. Some talented people misuse their talents in ways that harm society
5. Could make the unchosen feel inferior
1. Psychologist would say both cases lead to childhood trouble later – having high
expectations vs. having low self-esteem
2. One's best talent may not be what one truly desires to do – forced occupation
3. Humanity opinion – people should not be valued based on their talents.
———————————————
"The bombardment of visual images in contemporary society has the effect of making people less able
to focus clearly and extensively on a single issue over a long period of time."
———————————————
"Most important discoveries or creations are accidental: it is usually while seeking the answer to
one question that we come across the answer to another."
1. Contention overstates serendipity
1. Discovery often happens when we are search for something else
1. Geographical, scientific, anthropological support
1. Searching for trade route to West Indies, Columbus discovered a new continent
2. Flemming accidentally discovered penicillin
3. History geologists stumble upon important artifacts in quest to understand
earth's structure
2. Important discoveries are sought out purposefully
1. Astronomers use more powerful telescopes to discover new planets
2. Biologists discover new therapies through directed research
3. Scientific discovery today is becoming increasingly more planned and “scientific”
1. Shareholders pressure drug companies to avoid random pursuits
3. Creations are engineered based on existing scientific knowledge
1. Semiconductor, internal combustion engine, printing press
2. Some creations were not foreseen --> ARPANET was a data communications system
which later became the Internet – intended to share data among engineers at different
universities --> lead to Napster
2. Conclusion: Important discoveries are more driven today by purpose than serendipity.
———————————————
"In order to produce successful original work, scholars and scientist must first study the
successful work of others to learn what contributions remain to be made."
1. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel. Most scientific work builds upon the research and
discoveries of others.
2. Too much exposure to the work of others may stifle creativity and impose conformity.
———————————————
"In order for any work of art—whether film, literature, sculpture, or a song—to have merit, it
must be understandable to most people."
1. Art has little to do with cognitive understanding
1. The objective of music is not to challenge the listener's understanding of musical theory.
2. What is the to understand?
3. Listening to music is an encounter – to be taken at face value.
4. Might be able to appreciate deeper qualities of the music such as rhythm, but this may not
actually enhance the experience. Focusing on theory, one may overlook more interesting
 parts.
2. In contexts of painting and sculpture, the speaker is essentially saying that if you cannot
understand what it is supposed to represent, throw it out.
1. Only by challenging us do paintings and sculpture have merit – art is supposed to be
creative, not conforming.
2. If what speaker said is to be true, the most valuable work around is would imitate mundane
scenes and objects.
3. Speakers claim does have some merit in regards to lyrical works
1. We must know what the artist is trying to convey
1. Artist cannot make up words or use obscure words – no more useful beyond the
alliterative or onomatopoeic impact.
2. In some cases though, words describe imagery or relate to emotions – hard to understand
cognitively.
4. In regards to narrative or prose, the artist must use words with meaning in order for the reader
to understand the plot.
1. Final objective of literature is to move the reader emotionally and spiritually, not to
inform.
1. Good plot is pointless if reader is left emotionally unaffected.
5. Conclusion: Need to feel art rather than “understand” it.
———————————————
"Now that computer technology has made possible the rapid accessing of large amounts of
factual information, people are less likely than ever to think deeply or originally. They feel
unable to compete with—much less contribute to—the quantity of information that is now
available electronically."
1. People have access to computers and information technology. People are not forced to use
computers.
2. Too much information can cause information overload and may become unproductive.
3. People can take advantage of information available to stimulate creativity and thought.
Information available on the Internet may actually inspire new thoughts. Philosophical
concepts can inspire deep thinking. Now that these concepts are more easily accessible, people
can think and contribute remotely. People can share philosophical views and other opinions
through online message boards and develop new thoughts though dialogue in ways that is not
possible without an electronic information organizational system.
4. Having lots of data available will not necessarily make one feel unable to contribute. The
amount of possible knowledge is infinite and one's contribution is still unlimited.
———————————————
"The increase in knowledge is forcing people to specialize. As a result, the distance between fields of
specialization has become so vast that specialists in different areas are rarely able to influence each
other."
———————————————
"The chief benefit of the study of history is to break down the illusion that people in one period of time
are significantly different from people who lived at any other time in history."
1. Through studying history, we can learn about our basic human nature.
1. Desires, motives, faults
2. Through this knowledge, we can deal more effectively with our social problems.
1. Humans resist moral choices being forced onto them – a mistake to legislate morality.
2. Social problems arise from human nature, they are here to stay.
1. Crime and violence have always exist, therefore they must always exist.
3. It is beneficial to appreciate differences between people of different time periods.
1. Society's treatment towards women, animals, environment have evolved over time.
2. See ways how religion and belief systems have evolved overtime. Conflicts between belief
and governments. Understand our own beliefs better.
3. History can be inspiring – full of inspirational people.
4. Learning about the mistakes of past societies will help us avoid them.
1. Those governments which oppress individual in an attempt to further empower those
in power have always eventually fallen.
5. Learning about one's roots – self identity, an interest in preserving artifacts and literature.
4. Conclusion: History teaches us about human nature. Helps us formulate values and beliefs
through the thinking of other people. Inspires us for great achievement, highlights mistakes to
avoid.
———————————————
"Learning for learning's sake is an outdated concept. Today, education must serve an ulterior purpose
and be directed toward clear goals."
1. Not everyone has the same goal.
2. Learning should be directed towards enabling the student to self-learn. In this way, the student
can pursue his or her own interests.
3. Learning should also teach students essential qualities about the world without brainwashing
them. Students should have some idea of their history as well as an understanding of
philosophy with which they can evaluate values and discern moral inconsistencies and logical
fallacies.
———————————————
"Education is primarily a personal matter; it has little to do with school or college."
1. Many students do not complete college because they do not apply themselves and immediately
fail. Part of education requires the discipline and motivation to learn. Part of developing this
discipline and motivation is to understand how knowledge can be beneficial. Ultimately
education is a personal matter. One must be self-motivated and understand the value of
education if it is be truly achieved.
———————————————
"Censorship is rarely, if ever, justified."
———————————————
"People often look for similarities, even between very different things, and even when it is
unhelpful or harmful to do so. Instead, a thing should be considered on its own terms; we should
avoid the tendency to compare it to something else."
1. Finding similarities between things can often be unfair
1. By focusing on similarities between big cities, we overlook the distinction
2. Without evaluating an individual company on its own merits, a consumer targeting a given
investment sector may pick the weaker of the competing companies
3. Schools tend to group students based on exams, but these standardized exams often
overlook certain unique abilities which need to be nurtured along with cognitive ability.
2. Stereotyping individuals is dangerous.
1. Overlook accomplishment
2. Discrimination, oppression
3. Looking too hard for differences can be bad as well
4. Looking too closely for difference can bring up false distinctions.
3. The learning process is based on grouping similarities.
1. No way of conveying knowledge without grouping or comparing a new experience or
object to something like it, already known.
Conclusion: Humans must look for similarities to learn and communicate.
———————————————
"People are mistaken when they assume that the problems they confront are more complex and
challenging than the problems faced by their predecessors. This illusion is eventually dispelled
with increased knowledge and experience."
1. Problems today are different and in some ways more complex than those of previous society.
1. Growing scarcity of natural resources
2. Environmental challenges – involving the entire world
3. Over consumption; over population
2. World's nations are growing increasingly interdependent
1. Economic, Militarily, Politically
3. We have solved the many health problems and improved the standard of living – problems left
are most challenging
1. Stopping aging, replacing human limbs, colonizing other worlds
4. Humans face universal and timeless problems
1. Neither are really more complex
2. Interpersonal differences in heterosexual relationships stem from gender differences
3. Fear and mistrust result in social prejudice
 4. War and crime stem from male aggressive instinct and desire for power (wow, that was
blatantly sexist, I am surprised the guy wrote that)
5. Some intellectual struggles seem to be never ending
1. The existence of God
1. We rely on ancient teachings – problems have not grown any more complex over
human history
6. Conclusion: Overall, we still face the same problems.
———————————————
"To remain vigorous, any academic field needs to be led by truly independent thinkers who are willing
to ignore established boundaries and challenge long-standing assumptions."
———————————————
"The best way to teach—whether as an educator, employer, or parent—is to praise positive
actions and ignore negative ones."
1. Praising good actions is good advice.
1. Positive reinforcement is critical in the development self-esteem
2. Similar analogues for employers and parents
2. Excessive praise can be patronizing or taken to be insincere
1. Individual need for positive reinforcement varies
2. Administer even-handedly
3. Avoid creating a teacher's pet
3. Sometimes we make mistakes
1. Accidentally broken plate does not deserve scolding – could inhibit childhood curiosity
2. Teachers should not rebuke or punish students for faulty reasoning
3. Over monitoring employees could turn to be unproductive
4. Parents should not ignore behavior which places their children in jeopardy
5. Employers should not permit harassment
6. Teachers should critique student's work to help them learn
7. Conclusion: Both praise and castigation are necessary and should be fairly distributed.
———————————————
"The best way to learn a new subject or skill is to study small segments or details in great depth
rather than to start by trying to develop a sense of the whole."
1. Two approaches for studying – top-down vs. bottom-up. Some people learn best by studying in
detail and then considering the bigger picture, others focus on the bigger picture and then go
into detail.
1. In regards to systems, top down approach may be better as it gives an overall view of the
system and then allows for greater detail to be explored. Example: the Internet (top-down)
vs. biological system (bottom-up).
———————————————
"College students—and people in general—prefer to follow directions rather than make their
own decisions. Therefore, colleges should eliminate as many choices as possible in order to offer
students clear direction."
1. Some cases people like to follow directions
1. Members of football team following coach's advice
2. Yielding to another's advice is still a personal decision
1. The doctor may advice, but ultimately it is your call to follow the advice or not
2. In some situations, students should be advised
1. Chem students should follow instructions and procedures when setting up lab equipment
2. Otherwise, waste time, bad results, damage equipment
3. Language students need to follow the lead of their teachers
4. Students should do homework
3. Students should be ultimate decision makers regarding choice of major
1. Colleges which require a well-rounded curriculum will produce informed students
2. Students should be allowed to pursue course work that most interests them
3. Balance core requirements and electives
4. Some students will be slackers
1. Rebuttal: These lazy students will stay away from classes which more motivated and
aggressive students will want to take – i.e. Intellectual food chain
2. Students need to learn these life lessons anyway
5. Conclusion: Don't baby students too much
———————————————
" 'Moderation in all things' is ill-considered advice. Rather, one should say, 'Moderation in most
things,' since many areas of human concern require or at least profit from intense focus."
1. Moderation in all things allows us to sample more of what life and the world have to offer.
1. Must strike balance between, mind, body, and spirit. This is moderation.
2. Overexercise is bad.
1. So is eating too much or too little.
2. Don't use drugs.
3. Work is often associated with stress
1. Increased vulnerability to heart disease and other ailments
2. Psychological burnout
3. Several Japanese men who work 100 hours a week or more die...or become extremely
successful
4. Creative and scientific work often involves a large amount of single-minded focus
 5. Athletic performance requires intensity to stay competitive
1. Moderation in athletics breeds mediocrity. Aggressiveness breeds excellence and victory.
2. Technology start-up companies tend to require long periods of sustained concentration.
6. Conclusion: Sometimes the work life balance must go out the window in order to achieve one's
goal. Moderation calls us to question our goals.
———————————————
"The purpose of education should be to create an academic environment that is separate from the
outside world. This kind of environment is ideal because it allows students to focus on important ideas
without being held back by practical concerns."
———————————————
"Although innovations such as video, computers, and the Internet seem to offer schools improved
methods for instructing students, these technologies all too often distract from real learning."
1. Videos and television used as surrogates for teaching, more like babysitting.
1. Teachers must use their time for planning or helping other students, otherwise this is a
waste of time.
2. Learning is passive, little indication that learning is happening.
1. Must choose interactive sources
3. Best learning happens in a 1:1 setting – teacher recognizes feedback from student, example
a language lesson
1. Certain activities are most effective when in group settings
4. New technologies to be learned, equipment could fail
5. Not enough personal contact, teacher can help student resolve social problems
6. Computers are useful for some tasks such as repetitive memorization related, frees up time for
the teacher to engage in 1:1 contact w/ other students
7. Conclusion: Technology should never substitute or become the focus of the learning.
———————————————
"Most people prefer restrictions and regulations to absolute freedom of choice, although they
would probably deny such a preference."
1. Humans prefer freedom of choice. Efforts to restrict this freedom ultimately fail.
1. Reasonable restraints on freedom are needed to protect it and avoid anarchy
2. Look at the neighborhood playground, even when no adults are around, children follow
certain rules
1. Without any rules for behavior, the play ground bully prevails
2. Bullies enjoy restricting the freedom of others
3. Preference for constraining our freedom of choice stems from our desire to protect and
preserve that freedom
3. Another example in life – dating
 1. Teens agree to enter exclusive relationships; later in life people marry
2. Employment contracts
1. People who become self employed must constrain themselves in their contracts and
customers and in how they use their time, for the sake of their autonomy
3. Self-inflicting job constraints are usually born out of economic necessity, not because
people enjoy being overworked
4. All laws in a democratic society are ultimately the people's preference
1. There are rules for operating vehicles
2. Selling property and making public statements about others
3. These rules provide a sense of safety from injury
5. Conclusion: Reasonable constraints are necessary for operation
———————————————
"Most people are taught that loyalty is a virtue. But loyalty—whether to one's friends, to one's
school or place of employment, or to any institution—is all too often a destructive rather than a
positive force."
1. Loyalty as a virtue depends on its extent and application.
1. Sexual relationships require loyalty.
2. Employment relationships
3. Stable governments require loyalty
2. Misguided or overextended loyalty can be destructive
1. Undue loyalty towards social cliques can result in condescending attitudes displayed
towards outsiders or even worse, behavioral conflict
2. Undue loyalty can hold abusive relationships together
3. Undue loyalty to college alma maters can lead to job discrimination
4. Undue loyalty towards a company can result in dealings which compromise public safety in
the financial interest of the parent company
5. Many employees fail to advance their careers due to undue loyalty towards one's company
6. Undue loyalty towards one's country – fine line between patriotism and irrational jingoism
1. Undue loyalty towards political parties
———————————————
"Encouraging young people to believe that they can accomplish great things if they try hard enough is
both misleading and potentially harmful."
———————————————
"Computers and video technology can make facsimiles of original works such as paintings and
historical documents available to everyone. The great advantage of this new technology is that it will
enable anyone—not just scholars—to conduct in-depth research without having access to the original
works."
———————————————
"Conformity almost always leads to a deadening of individual creativity and energy."
1. Conformity does not necessarily suppress energy – depends on the person
1. Some people perform best in groups where their roles are clearly cut out
1. Energy comes from a sense of common mission within a group
2. Military is bound by rules of conformity
1. Builds a sense of camaraderie and enthusiasm for winning a battle
2. Nonconformity in battle would be chaotic
3. Certain industries are more tailored to the conformist
1. Finance, accounting, insurance, legal, health
2. Those who work most effectively within constraints of established practice thrive the
most
1. Cleaver idea for securing a deal; creative legal tactic may win a battle, but these are
same strategies held by conformists playing the same game
4. Some people are nonconformists by nature
1. Too much structure quells creativity
2. Artists and musicians find such an environment stiflingly
3. Entrepreneurial business people who thrive on innovation feel frustrated by a business
which requires conformity
5. Our most creative people are highly eccentric in their personal appearance
1. Tend to go out of their way to avoid established norms
2. Thelonius Monk, a pioneer in Bebop, was renowned for his eccentric manner of
speech, dress, and behavior
3. Frank Lloyd Write used to wear a cape and top hat while carrying a cane as a student
4. Prince and Micheal Jackson
———————————————
"Much of the information that people assume is 'factual' actually turns out to be inaccurate. Thus, any
piece of information referred to as a 'fact' should be mistrusted since it may well be proven false in the
future."
———————————————
"Although it is easy to respond positively to the work of another person or group, it is far more
worthwhile to give negative feedback."
———————————————
"An individual's greatness cannot be judged objectively by his or her contemporaries; the most
objective evaluators of a person's greatness are people who belong to a later time."
———————————————
"Societies should try to save every plant and animal species, regardless of the expense to humans
in effort, time, and financial well-being."
• I agree that plants and animals should be preserved as much as possible.
• Destruction of plants and animals happen naturally, outside of human influence -- forest fires,
the food chain.
• Humans view themselves as more valuable than animals and plants. We have placed ourselves
at the top of the food chain through intellectual rather than physical accomplishment.
• Emphasis should be on maintaining the natural food chain otherwise human food sources will
be in danger.
• Huamns need to do more to protect the environment and should allocate enough land for natural
habitats so that food chain is not disturbed -- stop chopping down the rain forests.
• Ultimately, humans will exploit animals and plants for their own financial benefit, but it is most
prudent to preserve the natural food chain structure.
———————————————
"The true value of a civilization is reflected in its artistic creations rather than in its scientific
accomplishments."
• The statement reflects a personal prejudice with no evidence for support.
• Artistic accomplishments are good for improving mood and perhaps outlook on life, although
many would make that claim, I find it to be a bit of a stretch personally. Tied into culture and
could enhance creativity.
• Scientific accomplishments have done more good than artistic accomplishments in terms of
curing diseases and alleviating the suffering in humans.
• This is not always the case, however, some scientific accomplishments such as nuclear energy
have been abused and have inflicted harm on society.
• Humans are responsible for the application of science, science itself is not to blame for those
cases when it is abused.
• Determining the value of a civilization is completely subjective -- depends on what the viewer
values.
• In terms of values such as fairness, freedom, equality, and peace, it is hard to determine whether
art or science has contributed more.
———————————————
"Most societies do not take their greatest thinkers seriously, even when they claim to admire
them."
• One reason might be that great thinkers deal with very abstract material.
• Steven Hawkings is a great speaker who most people admire, but his theories about the universe
may seem trivial to most people.
• One can theorize about how the universe was born, but once we have the answer, does it really
matter? Some may argue that astrology and cosmology are very distant from everyday
problems and concerns.
• Many people only appreciate the end result of great thinker's contributions. Consider Einstein
who unintentionally contributed to the development of atomic weapons and energy. Even
 today, over sixty years after dropping the atomic bomb there is still controversy about its
justification. When most people outside of the scientific field think of Einstein, they remember
him as being associated with nuclear technology rather than his theories of relativity and his 20-
year attempt to discover a unifying theory of matter. Einstein invested much more energy into
causes other than nuclear technology, but people primarily remember or prehaps admire him for
his more practical contributions.
• Several great thinkers were taken seriously. Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King were
taken very seriously at the time, especially by those who were in conflict with the proposed
causes.
• Ghandi's principles of civil disobedience and hunger strikes proved to be very effective and
other demonstraters have adopted his strategies. I cannot think of one revolutionary idealist
who was not also one of history's greatest thinkers.
———————————————
"We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose
views contradict our own; disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning."
1. Disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning.
2. Disagreement with others can be counterproductive to learning.
1. Radio talk shows
2. Politicians
3. Any other example where people vie only to have their opinions heard
3. Primarily through debate that human knowledge advances.
4. Teenagers listening to parents regarding rational. Vice-versa.
1. Factory owners vs. labor union.
2. Environmental activists vs. corporate America.
5. Only works if both parties are willing to listen.
———————————————
"Competition is ultimately more beneficial than detrimental to society."
• Competition can be good in most industries -- those industries which innovate rather than invent
-- make the same product, but only better -- car industries, computer industries
• Examples exist of very inefficient bureaucracies such as the DMV and public traffic systems
(stop lights could be smarter, better synchronized) most notably -- no competition
• Some industries would be better off with a more collaborative approach - drug design, energy
systems
• Drug design - drug discovery is a very risky process. Results of research are very unknown
until the research has actually been completed. Might be better to subsidizing drug discovery in
exchange for assigning companies to designated causes: cancer, AIDS and regulating treatment
costs
• Energy systems would be better off working together to best balance energy supply vs. demand.
Decisions to build energy plants should not be hampered by economic politics, but based on
need. Some areas of the country are more suitable for generating energy than others. Pacific
 Northwest with an abundant supply of hydroelectric power supplies cheaper energy compared
to the midwest which relies on coal.
———————————————
"It is more important to allocate money for immediate, existing social problems than to spend it
on long-term research that might help future generations."
• Long-term research may pay off more in the long run than solving short-term problems.
• Solutions to long-term research may encompass band-aid solutions to short-term problems.
• Author is simply selfish by contending that only research which may benefit him/her should be
pursued.
• I agree that all research should be started with a specific objective in mind. Since tax payers
ultimately support all research, money should be spent wisely and not in an aimless pursuit of
trivial knowledge.
• Instead of dividing up problems into short-term and long-term problems, solve those problems
first which have the highest benefit/cost ratio.
———————————————
"No field of study can advance significantly unless outsiders bring their knowledge and
experience to that field of study."
1. Cultural anthropoligists knowledge of ancient civilization interpreted through help by
biochemsits, linguists, geologists.
1. Linguists interpret hieroglyphics and extrapolate from found fragments.
2. Knowledge about the universe and space.
1. Manned and unmanned space probes designed by engineers.
2. Tools for observation such as telescopes.
3. Financial backing from business leaders and project managers.
3. Scientists make it possible, non-scientists bring meaning.
———————————————
"A nation should require all its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter
college rather than allow schools in different parts of the nation to determine which academic
courses to offer."
1. Pros:
1. Fundamental skills and knowledge – productive members of society
2. Core needed for college foundation-- needed level of pre-recs for freshman class
3. Core values for democratic objectives – tolerance, open-ness to viewpoints
2. Cons:
1. Basis for inclusion
1. Government influence, lobbyists
2. Facilitate dissemination of dogma
 1. Censorship
3. Prohibit inclusion of texts with local or regional significance
1. Example of California edu system – learn about ethnic groups represented in population
4. Conclusion – insurance for core knowledge vs. cultural depravity

———————————————
"The most effective way to understand contemporary culture is to analyze the trends of its
youth."
• How does one define contemporary culture?
• Contemporary culture in regards to law and politics are shaped more by middle-aged people
than youth.
• Middle-aged people tend to shape the economy more than youths.
• Youth inherited the culture of the middle and older-aged population. A better understanding of
contemporary culture goes beyond the surface of what exists and seeks to determine how
cultural mores and values were established.
• "Culture of the youth" is a gross generalization. Not all youth participate and share the same
culture. Ethnic origin contributes, but also economic level and social class is highly tied into
culture.
———————————————
"The video camera provides such an accurate and convincing record of contemporary life that it
has become a more important form of documentation than written records."
1. Video provides more objective and accurate record
2. More to document – read between the lines
3. Video good for documenting facts – riots, super bowl, dramatic things
1. Vital for legal things – traffic violations, police misconduct
2. Natural events – hurricane
3. Real Estate brochure
4. Not good for
1. legal matters relating to contacts
2. Reflecting a person's state of mind
3. No use for documenting quantitative things – damage done in riot
———————————————
"It is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders to withhold information from the
public."
1. Full knowledge might not be in public's best interest
2. Contrary: political freedom to withhold information may = demagoguery and undermine
democratic philosophy
 3. Withholding information may be necessary for obtaining and staying in power
4. Personal matters should be kept secret
5. Threaten safety – y2k malfunction, nuclear reactor leak
6. Need to be forthright with citizens – Hitler, Napolean, Nixon and watergate
———————————————
"Academic disciplines have become so specialized in recent years that scholars' ideas reach only
a narrow audience. Until scholars can reach a wider audience, their ideas will have little use."
• Scholars cannot widen their audience.
• Academic disciples have become so specialized for a reason.
• Consider electrical engineering, there are many specializations inside electrical engineering
which are highly diverse and have very little in common with each other.
• The reason is that no one can become an expert in all fields. Jack of all trades, master of none.
• Current academic disciples deal with very complicated problems, need to limit scope in order to
accomplish anything at all.
• Scholars ideas do reach only a very narrow audience, but in practical applications, the audience
reached is the audience that benefits. Most people do not have the time to become concerned /
involved in these highly specialized areas -- we only have so much time on this earth -- need to
specialize or nothing will get done.
• Some exceptions, people outside the field of genetic engineering need to become aware of
benefits and consequences of genetic engineering and stem cell therapy. Results from this area
can affect the entire population. Politicians do need to become educated.
• Some products from political science and law studies are applicable to the entire population.
———————————————
"Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in
order to thrive, because it is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved
and generated."
1. Subsidizing cultural traditions not role of govt.
1. Health, safety more important
2. Govt, cannot be unbiased, opinions, lobbyists
2. Rich people fund culture in regards to fine arts, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Carnegie,
Rockefellar
3. Large cities do not serve as breeding grounds for culture
4. Big cities have more foreign people than small cities – could be assisting cultures of other
nations.
———————————————
"All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage
students in the process of solving the world's most persistent social problems."
1. Pros:
 1. Would bring diverse cultural and educational perspectives
2. Global nature of problems – global warming
2. Cons:
1. Overly diversified could impede communication
2. No group of people has a logical advantage
3. Myriad of political and administrative issues
1. Need to decide on which problems are worthwile
2. Most nations are interested only in their own success, political problems
4. Certain academic interests could be forced over others
1. Ex. Soviet distortion of research results
2. Open-mindedness
5. Intellectual talent focused on issues under direction of university
———————————————
"People's attitudes are determined more by their immediate situation or surroundings than by
any internal characteristic."
• Author's contention could be problematic.
• Author needs to better define what he or she means by "internal characteristics". Are internal
characteristics interpreted as genetics or rather the person's sense of ethics responsibility.
• If internal characteristics is to mean genetics - then people are determine more by their
environment and experience than by genetics, I would agree to this claim.
• If author means that attitudes are shaped more by immediate situation than the individuals
beliefs and morals which have been established by experience and reasoning, then the author
would be claiming that a person's attitudes which eventually translate into actions is influence
by their immediate situation and surroundings. Justice system is based on the belief that people
act according to their moral system with minimal influence from situation and surroundings.
• Is author suggesting that something such as murder can be justified by the murderer's temporary
situation and environment? At what point to attitudes translate into actions? How do attitudes
differ from beliefs?
• What the author says does have merit, crime and murder rates are higher in more economically
desperate areas. But does this desperation partially justify those desperate actions which result?
———————————————
"Many of the world's lesser-known languages are being lost as fewer and fewer people speak
them. The governments of countries in which these languages are spoken should act to prevent
such languages from becoming extinct."
1. Pros
1. Language is tied into culture
2. Pride, dignity and self-worth? A bit of a stretch...
3. People in Europe maintain distinct languages despite closeness in terms of location
 1. French Canadians maintain French as native language and blacks invented ebonics
4. Preserve distinct ideas that only language can convey
2. Cons
1. Distinct languages can impede communication
2. Requires time and effort to maintain more than one language
3. Language barriers breed distrust and misunderstanding
4. There are more important problems that need to be solved – not role of government
5. Why preserve something that will die anyway?
———————————————
"It is necessary for everyone to read poetry, novels, mythology and other types of imaginative
literature."
• Author is supposing a benefit to reading these specific types of literature which is not given.
• These types of literature may benefit creative thinking, but due to their imaginative nature,
productive benefit cannot be realized by judges, lawyers, and medical professionals.
• May provide a favorable form of entertainment to the author, but there are other forms of
entertainment and leisure activities.
• Some imaginative literature such as science fiction has predicted inventions such as Jet-
propelled aircraft and holographic images. Teleportation still remains fantasy -- imaginative,
but not practical.
• Author goes too far by claiming that everyone *needs* to read such works. The author is
simply trying to impose their preferences on others. There may be some benefit to reading thes
———————————————
"The stability of a society depends on how it responds to the extremes of human behavior."
• Stable society must withstand, but not necessarily tolerate extremes of human behavior.
• A better society works to avoid causes of extreme human behavior.
• Revolution results when government does not provide its citizens with fundamental human
rights.
• If the majority of the people in a society have the fundamental human rights protected and are
educated, then they will work to resist those who undermine the government which gives them
benefit.
• Examples of dictatorships which benefited the rulers greatly at the expense of the masses
ultimately failed -- were highly unstable -- because the majority of people's needs were not
being met.
• So a stable government has natural mechanisms which reduce the extremes of human behavior
by ensuring that fundamental human rights and needs are protected.
• Even in democratic stable governments, radical groups opposed to freedom such as the KKK
still exist.
• Radical racist and extremist groups have been unable to gain power because they fundamentally
 work to reduce rather than increase human rights.
———————————————
"Although many people think that the luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life are
entirely harmless, in fact, they actually prevent people from developing into truly strong and
independent individuals."
1. Pros
1. Automobiles serve to enhance our independence
2. Allow access to employment and ability to live remotely
3. The BMW M3
4. Teenagers and sense of independence
2. Cons
1. Rely on cars instead of exercise, become too dependent
2. Symbols of status – undermine financial stability for image
3. Confusion of power automobile with powerful person
4. Hard on environment, can be abused by drunk people
5. Stereotype – people who avoid cars spend more time growing their own food or with their
families
3. Conclusion – some dependence can increase independence, but the reason for the dependence
matters.
"There are two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has a responsibility to
obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws."
1. Classification is binary – everything seen as either good or bad
2. Fairness depends on personal value system - abortion
3. Fairness of a law is subjective based on persons personal interest
1. Less pollution --> more expensive products
4. Disobeying laws have unintended consequences – evade taxes – higher taxes, more
enforcement
5. Allowing one to disobey on basis of morality allows for illegal activity – blow up an abortion
clinic
6. Laws seen as way to balance competing interests
———————————————
"Only by being forced to defend an idea against the doubts and contrasting views of others does
one really discover the value of that idea."
• Only the fact that we exist can be proven with certainty.
• Philosophical and theological debates can strengthen or change a person's beliefs.
• Only when ideas are tested can they gain strength - scientific method is based on this.
• Quantum theory vs. wave theory debate.
 • Ideas which were not questioned are based on desires and prejudices of individuals. sun being
at the center of universe - world being flat. These were based on what seemed preferential or
intuitive to the author. Were not challenged because to challenge these beliefs would be to
challenge beliefs held by those in power.
———————————————
"If a society is to thrive, it must put its own overall success before the well-being of its individual
citizens."
• View is contradictory
• society is composed of individuals -- their well-being determines how well society thrives
• Difficult to determine "thrive" -- is it measured by happiness or financial output?
• If so, then society could be improved by increasing the work week by one day. But people
would feel over-worked.
• Each individual's level of well-being determines how much they contribute back to society -
Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
———————————————
"National governments should devote more of their social programs and services to children than
to adults."
• Reasons for support:
• Children will eventually grow into adults.
• Children will live in society longer than current adults. Helping children over adults may help
society benefit for longer.
• This view is ageist though.
• Reasons against:
• At what age do "children" become "adults"?
• Author proposes to support one group of people over another -- agist.
• Difficult to determine the long-term benefit of various social programs -- even more difficult to
determine how age influences the benefit.
———————————————
"Reform is seldom brought about by people who are concerned with their own reputation and
social standing. Those who are really in earnest about reforming a government, an educational
system, or any other institution must be willing to be viewed with disdain by the rest of the
world."
• This is true because reform requires one to challenge the status quo -- putting themselves in
direct conflict with those who benefit under the status quo.
• Famous reformers such as Ghandi and MLK faced strong opposition. Ghandi had to use hunger
strikes - inflicting harm on himself in order to get his message across.
• MLK faced physical threats and violence from racist white oppressors.
• Abraham Lincoln - a reformer who sought to change government faced opposition from those
who benefited from free labor and racist exploitation. He was eventually shot for his beliefs.
 • It is not necessary however that all reform must be viewed with disdain -- very few are against
campaign finance reform.
• No one really opposed the reform that occurred after the Watergate scandal.
———————————————
"Many people believe that a few individuals or small groups (family, friends, teachers,
celebrities, for example) have caused them to think and behave in the way they do. Yet it is
always society as a whole that defines us and our attitudes, not a few individuals."
• Idea is based on conformity -- we mirror the "popular" image.
• Fundamentally wrong.
• People receive inspiration from inspirational people -- not the masses.
• Hard to define the personality of society "as a whole" - people have distinct and opposing
personalities -- which characteristics dominate.
• Speaker goes too far by using the word "always" -- certainly cannot hold true in all cases. If
this is true, then there would be no unique attitudes – all would be inherited from others.
• Popular activists such as MLK and Ghandi certainly did not mirror society.
• We are a product of our environment. Certain individuals definitely have more influence than
others.
———————————————
"Contemporary technology makes available many small pieces of factual information. As a
result, people have become so preoccupied with bits of fragmented information that they pay too
little attention to the larger issues and overall perspectives."
• People miss the big picture.
• Generalization -- technology makes available many pieces of factual information. It is up to the
user to interpret such facts.
• Solving detailed problems requires detailed information.
• Web searches can yield information that is too general or too specific - better to have too
specific.
• Learning from a computer is not as easy as talking to an expert.
• Expert adjusts level of information to the level of user's understanding.
• Fault - technology is good at retrieving information based off of keywords, but it does not
understand the information that it is retrieving.
• Attempts to find a better approach to finding information – assembled by experts rather than
a relevance database – dmoz.org.
———————————————
"People in positions of power are most effective when they exercise caution and restraint in the use of
that power."
———————————————
"Anyone can make things bigger and more complex. What requires real effort and courage is to
move in the opposite direction—in other words, to make things as simple as possible."
1. It takes courage to bring forth revolutionary new products
2. Companies deliver increasingly complex products to stay ahead
1. Takes courage to forgo near-term products and produce something of lasting significance
3. IRS – considerable federal effort has been applied to make tax codes more complex
1. Takes considerable effort and courage on the part of legislators to deliver simpler tax codes
at the expense of risking special-interest support
2. More mobility we have, more destinations
3. Use of time saving gadgets to enable more productivity and save time
4. Effort = reflection and restraint vs. sheer exertion
5. Courage = courageous character and conviction vs. unbridled ambition

———————————————
"Most people would agree that buildings represent a valuable record of any society's past, but
controversy arises when old buildings stand on ground that modern planners feel could be better used
for modern purposes. In such situations, modern development should be given precedence over the
preservation of historic buildings so that contemporary needs can be served."
———————————————
"No one can possibly achieve success in the world by conforming to conventional practices and
conventional ways of thinking."
———————————————
"Students should memorize facts only after they have studied the ideas, trends, and concepts that
help explain those facts. Students who have learned only facts have learned very little."
1. Conclusion unfairly generalizes
2. Pros
1. Rote memorization teaches very little, ex. Periodic table
2. Conceptual framework provides significance to facts
3. Memorizing can equate to trivia, lacks real-world problem solving
3. Cons
1. No reason why memorizing cannot come first as long as process does not stop there
2. Sometimes you need to understand definitions to understand concepts
3. Empirical observations – facts - needed to test hypothesis, formulate theory, etc.
4. Concept conjured with little data reflects the conjures prejudices and desires
1. Flat earth theory, earth = center of the universe
5. Conclusion: Practice should depend on what facilitates learning the most.
———————————————
"Public figures such as actors, politicians, and athletes should expect people to be interested in
their private lives. When they seek a public role, they should expect that they will lose at least
some of their privacy."
1. Society bears voyeuristic people who seek to live more interesting lives vicariously through
other people.
2. Politicians
1. Duty as public servants legitimizes, to some extent, scrutiny of private life
2. watch for misuse of power
3. Clinton
1. Waste of public money on private matter, distraction from more important issues
3. Celebrities
1. Most people want the attention associated with fame.
1. Media is a corporation driven by profit. Give public what they want, supply and
demand.
2. People like to see famous people suffer/struggle, makes them seem more like
themselves.
3.
———————————————
"The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people's efficiency so that
everyone has more leisure time."
1. Why should leisure time be maximized?
2. Tech can help us plan and communicate more efficiently.
3. Technological advancement has diminished leisure time since the 60s
1. Two breadwinners vs. one
2. More time spent working
3. Computers allow us to work away from the office
4. Technology can be difficult and time consuming to learn
4. More important things should be pursued than leisure
1. Health, safety, education, freedom
———————————————
"Money spent on research is almost always a good investment, even when the results of that
research are controversial."
1. Cannot know results of research until research is completed
1. Research must explore uncharted territory
2. Money can be wasted on research – objectives must be defined to prevent waste
1. Reagan's “Star Wars” defense initiative vs. aids research and poverty
 3. Researcher cannot solve problems which stem from human nature
4. Some research designated to solve problems actually exacerbate suffering
1. Nuclear energy
5. Finite resources – invest with objectives weighed against other uses of financial assistance
———————————————
"A school or college should pay its teachers at the same rate in all disciplines, regardless of differences
in salaries for related fields in the world outside of school. For example, entry-level teachers in
mathematics and in the arts should receive the same pay, even if outside of school, math specialists
earn a much higher salary on average than do specialists in the arts."
———————————————
"Creating an appealing image has become more important in contemporary society than is the
reality or truth behind that image."
1. Marketing
1. Image in the automotive world, products must be differentiated through advertising
2. Publishers rely more on their brands than on the content of their books
3. Music industry
4. Politics
1. J.F.K vs. Nixon, Gore vs. Bush
5. Cigarettes – Marlboro
6. Longterm – values and accomplishments dominate over image
7. Conclusion – Better products and ideas require less marketing
———————————————
"Instead of requiring students to take courses in a variety of disciplines—that is, courses ranging from
the arts and the humanities to the physical and biological sciences—colleges and universities should
allow students to enroll only in those courses that will help prepare them for jobs in their chosen fields.
Such concentration is necessary in today's increasingly work-oriented society."
———————————————
"No matter what the situation, it is more harmful to compromise one's beliefs than to adhere to them."
———————————————
"The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their
contemporaries."
1. In the physical sciences, theories must be tested over time.
1. Accomplishments of others may be based on another's contribution
1. String Theory – will it unify wave and quantum theory?
2. Artistic greatness can be recognized immediately
1. Mark Twain
2. Mozart – evidenced by large commissions paid by European monarchs
 3. Frank Lloyd Wright
3. Some business achievements are recognized immediately
1. Henry Ford – Made cheap cars for common person
2. Bill Gates – Helped restore Americans to a technological powerhouse
4. Conclusion: greatness can be recognized immediately in some fields, but in science takes more
time.
———————————————
"In most societies, competition generally has more of a negative than a positive effect."
———————————————
"In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as
much by watching television as they can by reading books."
1. In a few cases, video can be a more effective way of learning.
2. For conveying events and experiences, video has an advantage
1. Riots, ballets, musicals
3. Cons:
1. Television is passive, no indication that learning is taking place
2. Books are more portable
3. Television serves the lowest common denominator and is dominated by media corporations
1. Sensational and dramatic
4. Books allow for readers to cross-reference
5. Carries claim that non-fiction works which cannot be transferred to television carries less
weight.
6. Television is more limited than books. Compare topics available at library vs. channels on
television.
4. Conclusion: Utilize both television and books. Current events favor television, books favor the
expression of ideas and knowledge.
———————————————
"The intellectual benefits of attending a university or college are vastly overrated: most people
could learn more by studying and reading on their own for four years than by pursuing a
university or college degree."
• The author is saying that college is a waste of time compared to other uses.
• College may not be the best use of time for every person. Sports athelets often plan to defer
college until after their athletic careers. Artists may find that the college atmosphere and
didactic teaching methods stifle creativity rather than foster it. Some people may learn more by
studying or reading for four years, considering all the people who exist, it is likely that some
actually would. However, the speaker's statement goes too far.
• College offers more than simply more intellectual challenge compared to high school. College
is also a social experience, which develops students in ways other than strictly academic. To
 suggest that the college experience can be obtained through studying and reading in isolation
indicates that the speaker may not fully understand all that the college experience encompasses.
• Because the college experience is a social experience, many students find it challenging to
accomplish both their academic and social goals. Valuable social interaction may often
interfere with academic studies. However, since students are in a competitive environment and
grades provide motivation for keeping up with the pace of the class, the college system is
designed to keep students studying efficiently and provides measurable benchmarks of
performance and progress in terms of examinations.
• However, from personal experience and discussions with others, some semesters can be
challenging and students feel over-loaded. Trying to balance school, social life, and possibly
part time jobs can be difficult and force students to sacrifice some needs such as sleep and
adequate preparation for their courses. Many students feel rushed and do not have adequate
time to completely absorb the material that they are learning before being tested. One student I
know took a Calculus examination which included material originally taught the day before his
examination.
• I would suggest that the college learning system is not perfect. Academic pressure and grades
can place too much emphasis on getting the right answer rather than learning. However, it is
challenging to engage with enthusiastic experts of a given academic field, social life, and
meaningful research without going to college. Reading and studying on one's own provides
very little indicator of personal development and academic progress.
———————————————
"Scholars and researchers should not be concerned with whether their work makes a
contribution to the larger society. It is more important that they pursue their individual interests,
however unusual or idiosyncratic those interests may seem."
1. Who is to decide which areas of academic inquiry are worthwhile?
2. Research cannot be predicted before it has begun. Research in fields of physics and chemistry
were requirements for the birth of atomic physics.
3. We are motivated to pursue those activities at which we are inclined to excel. A person will
best be able to apply his or her talents if the person is doing what he or she truly enjoys. How
effective would Albert Enstein or Edward Teller be as artists or jazz musicians? Maybe they
would be successful. However, they chose their work according to what they enjoyed and what
interested them. Students perform best in those courses which interest and challenge them the
most. People simply invest more attention and practice into those areas which are most
relevant.
1. Could waste talent by mandating areas of study.
2. Steven Hawkings – research in social studies
3. Loss of genuine interest or motivation
4. Also, it is difficult to enjoy something if it provides no fulfillment. The closest analogy to
something which can be enjoyable, but not fulfilling are sexual pleasures and video games.
However, living off of these pleasures alone is like trying to live off of a diet consisting of
only candy. It may taste good at first, but the habit is certainly not healthy or sustainable.
Fulfillment is near the top of the pyramid of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. It may not be as
important as food or shelter, but it is a requirement for a healthy and happy human.
 4. Idiosyncratic or unusual fields may lead to the greatest benefits
5. Peer-review prevents professors at public universities from squandering money on
personal intellectual fantasies
6. Some fields of intellectual contribution are hard to measure – arts and humanities. These
may be seen by many as fields of intellectual fantasy. But many would claim that there is a
larger societal benefit.
7. Conclusion: Foster individual talents and prevent waste of public funds by peer-review. I am
not convinced that peer-review actually works. Professors rarely criticize each other, no one
wants enemies.
———————————————
"Such nonmainstream areas of inquiry as astrology, fortune-telling, and psychic and paranormal
pursuits play a vital role in society by satisfying human needs that are not addressed by
mainstream science."
1. Non-mainstream areas of inquiry address certain human needs which science cannot.
2. Life is filled with difficult choices, shift the burden of making difficult choices to authority
outside ourselves.
3. Realization that we are mortal – try to search for evidence in the afterlife.
1. Form connections beyond the grave through psychic experiments.
4. Areas of inquiry may help relieve a burden, but otherwise not useful to society.
5. Allow for charlatans and others to dupe those who do not rely on reason.
6. Claims above are unfalsifiable – they cannot be proved or disproved with empirical evidence.
7. Following the advice of a tarot card, one cannot realize how alternative paths would
compare in terms of overall benefit.
8. Fields are not based on logic, and can promote self-deception which could become
injurious.
9. Stubborn adherence to self-righteous arrogance and irrational beliefs may become destructive
once the deception is unmasked by reason and logic.
10. Conclusion: These pursuits promote irrational behavior. Some solace might be afforded, but
overall they probably do more harm than good.
———————————————
"Because learning is not a solitary activity but one that requires collaboration among people,
students of all ages will benefit academically if they work frequently in groups."
• Working in groups is not always beneficial, can cause conformity in thought. The Mona
Lisa was painted by one painter for a reason.
• All members of the group may not provide the same effort. Some members may only engage
passively.
• Thinking through things takes longer as everyone must understand. So the group can only
progress when everyone understands the current concept.
• Pro: Knowledge can be shared, multiple minds, multiple sources of knowledge and viewpoints.
 • The claim that students of all ages will benefit needs further consideration. Some children
are hyperactive and impulsive, could disrupt group dynamics.
• Research is often done in groups involving students of multiple disciples – computational
microbiology. In the real world, both academic and industrial, people work in groups.
• Learning can be a solitary activity. People can self-teach.
———————————————
"To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral
standards."
1. Business
1. Successful leadership is one which maximizes profits.
2. Different definitions for success
1. Making safe products, protecting the environment
2. vs. more critical assessment – enhancing society, promoting education
3. Business leaders will maximize profits in the long term by minimizing social and
environmental harm
3. Political
1. Personal moral foibles are less related to political leadership
1. Kennedy
2. Public morality and successful leadership are more closely connected
1. Stalin and Hitler
3. Unethical behavior might help one to gain office, but will be a downfall eventually.
4. High standards for one's own public morality are prerequisites for successful social-spiritual
leadership.
5. Conclusion: Political and social-spiritual leadership requires adherence to high standards of
public morality. Business leadership must strike a balance between profit maximization and
delivering societal benefits.

———————————————
"Government should not fund any scientific research whose consequences, either medical or
ethical, are unclear."
• Full consequences of research cannot be predicted until well-after the research has begun.
Some research efforts such as the Manhattan project were performed to achieve specific goals.
Most research today has multiple applications. Atomic energy research could be used to
destroy other nations or it could be used to bring about safer and more effective anti-cancer
treatments.
• Some areas of knowledge may be viewed as dangerous. There are ethical and religious
implications such as using aborted embryos for stem cell research, but beyond these concerns,
consider the possible implications of not pursuing cutting edge research. Cutting edge research
becomes a matter of defense. To fall behind in biotechnological knowledge relative to other
 competing countries could leave a nation vulnerable to biological attacks. Biotechnological
research seems to be gaining most of the media attention lately, but military technologies are
specifically developed for the purpose of killing and seem to have much greater moral
implications due to the nature of how they bring about death and destruction -- often
uncontrollably. But the majority of voters support these technologies and the research into
these technologies because they are protective of their own safety and well-being. I am willing
to submit that military technology will extend into other areas of technology as biological and
computational warfare emerge. Since we do not know of other areas which require defense, it
is best to pursue research and become knowledgeable about possible threats. A similar
argument is made for open-source software. Since software is open-source and can be analyzed
by anyone, the theory is that it is safer than closed-source software because there are more
people to look for flaws. Research can be viewed the same way. A country which does not
consider all possibilities leaves itself open to exploitation.
• Another reason for pursuing cutting-edge research is to stay economically competitive relative
to other countries. As people are living longer, more money is being invested into drugs which
allow people to live longer and healthier. But consider what would happen if a country bans
research in an area such as life-extension due to ethical concerns about people living forever
and becoming too powerful -- a purely hypothetical question, I admit. But if there are a number
of people who desire such technologies, the countries which do develop these technologies and
hold protective patents will have a significant economic advantage.
———————————————
"Government officials should rely on their own judgment rather than unquestioningly carrying
out the will of the people whom they serve."
• Government officials were elected by people based on their political campaign claims and
ethical background. Politicians have a moral responsibility to lead. To lead is to do what is best
for the people being represented.
• Officials need to show some conviction of beliefs and adhere to their own moral principles. If
their only role was to carry out the majority opinions, then political figures would not serve any
purpose and increased political efficiency could be attained by following polls and popularity
indicators directly.
• All people are biased by self-interest and competing objectives. For example, too many senior
citizens in a given area may push for cheaper prescription drugs at the cost of cutting
educational funding. In this hypothetical situation, the high concentration of senior citizens
does not justify cutting the needs of a minority.
• Rule by the strict majority is no different than mob rule. There is a reason that people do not
directly vote for a president, but rather the electoral college determines the next president.
• Ultimately, people will support those officials who most closely adhere to their desires and
self-interest. So in this sense, the will of the people will ultimately succeed over any short-
term efforts by an elected official to do otherwise. Example, Bush's veto to stop stem cell
research. Stem cell research could likely gain more support by next president. Government
ultimately exists to serve the people.
———————————————
"While some leaders in government, sports, industry, and other areas attribute their success to a
well-developed sense of competition, a society can better prepare its young people for leadership
by instilling in them a sense of cooperation."
1. Some problems can only be solved through cooperative international efforts
1. Weapon disarm
2. Reduce harmful emissions and consumption of finite resources
3. Peace, economy, stability
2. Effective leadership depends on corporation
1. Subordinates might resent leaders who do not seek their input
1. Sabotage or go elsewhere
3. Competition minded people tend to focus on thwarting the competition
4. Cons
1. A thriving economy depends on a competitive business environment
1. A driven leader does not have to forsake cooperative efforts within the company
2. Conclusion: Survival in today's world often depends on corporation.
———————————————
"Society does not place enough emphasis on the intellect—that is, on reasoning and other
cognitive skills."
1. Too much emphasis on cognitive intellect over emotions can result in depression or illness
1. Emphasize compassion and empathy
2. Fairness and justice can give way to emotions
1. daytime talk shows
3. De-emphasis on intellect encourages:
1. Hate crimes and gang warfare
2. Jewish Holocaust and holy wars
3. Demagogues and despots
4. Some may argue that this would diminish artistic creativity
1. Art students must learn theories and techniques
2. Creative writing requires cognitive ability to understand language
5. Conclusion: speaker is correct
———————————————
"The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and
trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose
identities have long been forgotten."
1. Learning about key historical figures inspires us to achieve great things
2. Through history there is almost always a key individual who provides the necessary impetus for
what otherwise might be a group effort
 1. Artists
2. Gutenburg's printing press, Henry Ford, Bill Gates
3. Social motivators – King, Ghandi
1. Although social movements depended on the masses, a leader provided the spark for the
change.
2. Arguably, if not King, if not Ghandi, then eventually most probably someone else
4. Long term social trends are often instigated not by key individuals, but by masses
1. However, some religious leaders provide prevailing attitudes about sexual morality
2. Values concerning human life reflect biases of political leaders
5. Conclusion: Science and politics are being conducted increasingly by groups people, maybe
things will change in the future.

———————————————
"Imaginative works such as novels, plays, films, fairy tales, and legends present a more accurate
and meaningful picture of human experience than do factual accounts. Because the creators of
fiction shape and focus reality rather than report on it literally, their creations have a more
lasting significance."
1. Fictional works rely on historical settings of the time
2. Factual accounts provide a frame of reference needed to understand and appreciate imaginative
works
3. Factual accounts are more objective, but not more meaningful
1. Imaginative works can provide point of view and imagery
4. Imaginary works can provide a more memorable stories
1. Stories which tell what life must have been like are more likely to stick in our minds
2. Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Titanic
5. Fictional works set in historical periods lose much of their meaning without prior factual
accounts.
———————————————
"In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty
should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to
the courses they teach."
1. Depends on academic area
2. In some cases, there is no professional work outside academia – humanities, philosophy
3. In some fields, the professor's work involves practical work of the kind outside academia
1. Performing arts professor demonstrating techniques and styles
4. Pros
1. Faculty can come to class with fresh insights and a contagious excitement about the subject
 1. They can bring real world account of theories and principles to how applicability –
motivating effect
2. They can stay informed about demands of work as a professional and help advise
students.
1. Can address more specific questions about the field.
3. Practical experience can boost a professor's credibility in the area
4. Allow professor to see potential areas of research based on problems facing industry.
5. Example – sociology professor who joined a cult undercover
5. Conclusion: When applicable, faculty can enrich their careers with real world experience
———————————————
"Education will be truly effective only when it is specifically designed to meet the individual
needs and interests of each student."
• Generally, I agree with this statement. A student usually becomes more involved in his or her
education when the subject matter is found to be interesting. Students have unique talents and
abilities and those fields of study which best allow the student to demonstrate his or her talents
will be rewarding.
• Education may not always meet the needs and interests of the student. For example, one
student may not be very interested in one particular course that is required in his or her major,
but often this challenge can be rewarding in itself. Life is not a bowl of cherries and sometimes
it is the challenging, but not necessarily interesting events which shape and broaden our
character. A student can be successful in a course of study even if it is not as interesting as
other courses if the student can engage him or her self to learn and grow the most under the
circumstances. Interesting courses are preferable of course, but a truly successful student has
endured and even expanded intellectually under less desirable subject matter.
• Additionally, one cannot realistically expect all parts of education to be fulfilling and
intellectually enjoyable. For example, in order to master the field of engineering, fundamental
courses from other disciplines such as mathematics and physical sciences must be mastered. A
student may find calculus boring, for example, but understands that it is just a step in the path to
a more fulfilling application. The same can be said of medicine and law. Both of these
professions require a broad range of courses and it would be unrealistic to expect all course
matter to be equally relevant and interesting for a given individual.
• Finally, education can be viewed similar to physical exercise. In order to grow the most, a
person must be challenged. A body builder could make his or her work easier by simply lifting
the lightest weights available or training for the shortest amount of time. However, such
practice would not be very productive. In the same way, education is designed to increase one's
intellectual abilities and knowledge through challenge. One learns the most when they are
challenged. Successful individuals learn to grow and overcome challenges rather than pursue
things less challenging.
———————————————
"Education encourages students to question and criticize, and therefore does little to promote
social harmony."
• Education encourages people to understand rather than to challenge the status quo. However, in
 the course of understanding, one may uncover injustices and social concerns. Some courses of
study such as philosophy and history do make the student well-aware of social exploitations of
the past. A student could perhaps become more aware or more cautious of social exploit ions in
present time as a consequence, but it cannot be rationally claimed that the intent of education is
to encourage criticism or challenging the status quo for its own sake. So education trains
attaining knowledge, but does not promote criticism or the questioning of authority directly.
• Education can provide one with the knowledge and reasoning to evaluate and challenge social
conventions. Once one has discovered a social injustice, the next logical step is to address it.
Social injustices can be addressed in a variety of ways. Some ways of addressing a problem can
be destructive and counter-productive. For example, blowing up an abortion clinic to express
one's feelings on abortion will certainly get attention and would do little to promote social
harmony. However, such acts of violence are not rational nor the product of a rational person.
However, the most popular social leaders in the past have demonstrated rational and effective
means for catalyzing change. Peaceful protests and civil disobedience have been effective non-
violent means which address and ultimately correct social problems and ultimately serve to
promote social harmony.
• A few individuals may view protests and criticism of the status quo as efforts to undermine
social harmony. However, this view equates to forced tolerance. Indeed, many slave owners
before the Civil War would have preferred to maintain the status quo. However, ultimately,
social injustice is like a form of cancer. The problem may not be easy to fix, but it is best
addressed as early as possible before its habits of injustice become ingrained and accepted. So
overall, those who question the status quo in cases where it promotes injustice are doing society
a favor by working to correct these problems before they become worse.
• Finally, democracy is no better than a scientific theory. Just as scientific theories have evolved
over time, so will democracy. Because democracy is government run by imperfect people who,
as history demonstrates, have made mistakes in the past, it is likely that we humans will also
continue to make mistakes in the future. We cannot be right about everything. However, just
as scientific knowledge has developed through questioning and criticism under the sincere
efforts to create better theories and explanations, so will society grow under questioning. It
would be convenient if we could accept simple theories for everything, such as the belief that
the earth lies at the center of the universe. However, although the theory was preferable to
those in power at the time of Copernicus, due to desires humans had at the time to believe that
the human race was at the center of God's creation, science now tells us that simple and
convenient views, even though they may be accepted by a large number of people, can be
incorrect.
———————————————
"College and university education should be free for all students, fully financed by the
government."
• Everything should be made free. The reality is that resources are finite and compromises must
be made. This would likely result in higher taxes. However, a college education is more likely
to increase salaries and therefore the overall negative financial burden to the government could
be moot.
• Not all students are ready for college. College demands some level of intellectual maturity
upon entering. A student must be willing to take more responsibility for his or her studies, as
much more weight is given to examinations rather than participation in class. Some students
may not be ready for this challenge and it is easier to squander someone else's money over one's
 own.
• For the same reason that it is easier to squander someone else's money over one's own
resources, consider that many students do not know what they want to major in upon entering
college. If the government has the intention that a college degree will bring in more money for
government programs and operation in the form of taxes, it may wish to reconsider how it
allocates funding.
• Colleges range in financial expense. Who determines how much money is allocated to each
person and to what school that person is allowed to attend? What is the basis for making such a
decision? A possible public concern is that certain students could be allowed to attend more
expensive colleges if they agree to pursue specific fields of study. Some people may object to
this opportunity for preference.
• Would some restriction be placed on how much funding can be allocated for each person? Is
college free, but only up to a point? European governments such as Hungary do offer free
education, but only to academically qualified students. However, Hungry also has restrictions
put in place to prevent "professional scholars" or people who attend college their entire lives
and thus remain an elected drain on government financial resources for the sake of their own
intellectual interests. I certainly would have stayed in college and taken many more courses if I
did not have to pay the financial burden. Some restrictions would need to be placed in order to
make the program feasible.
———————————————
"History teaches us only one thing: knowing about the past cannot help people to make
important decisions today."
Historians often claim that the study of history teaches valuable lessons with regard to past successes
and failures of leaders, military strategy and tactics, economic systems, forms of government, and other
recurring themes in the human story. From history we may learn factors that result in the rise and fall of
nation-states or civilizations, the strengths and weaknesses of various political, economic, and social
systems, and the effects of factors such as trade and technology.
One of the most famous quotations about history and the value of studying history, by Spanish
philosopher, George Santayana, reads: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it." The German Philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel remarked in his Philosophy of History
that "What history and experience teach us is this: that people and government never have learned
anything from history or acted on principles deduced from it." This was famously paraphrased by the
British statesman, Winston Churchill, who said "The one thing we have learned from history is that we
don't learn from history."
An alternative view is that the forces of history are too great to be changed by human deliberation, or
that, even if people do change the course of history, the movers and shakers of this world are usually
too self-involved to stop to look at the big picture.
Yet another view is that history does not repeat itself because of the uniqueness of any given historical
event. In this view, the specific combination of factors at any moment in time can never be repeated,
and so knowledge about events in the past can not be directly and beneficially applied to the present.
Such contrasts with regard to "history's value" serve as examples of history as an outlet for intellectual
debate, and indeed many, both in and outside of academia, would argue that at least part of history's
value lies simply in its ability to provoke such discussion. In turn, this can be seen as cultivating further
intellectual interest.
 • Decisions are best made logically. If everyone behaved according to logic, history would have
no value outside of entertainment. However, it is because people by nature make mistakes do
not always behave according to logic that history has its place in education as tool which allows
us to learn from our mistakes and also about our humanity. Knowledge about the past can help
people make important decisions today.
• The past teaches us lessons which still have application today. The sinking of the titanic or the
fall of the World Trade Center on September 11th cause us to re-evaluate our standards for
safety in engineering. The fall of the World Trade Center also reminds us of the intolerance
religion can encourage, similar to the Christian Crusades in Europe. Unfortunately, history can
only show us problems with the human condition as well as practices which do not work.
• History does provide information about social practices which have failed. The prohibition on
sales of alcoholic beverages proved to be unpopular as people who relied on these substances
found more violent and dangerous ways of acquiring their recreational supports. In a similar
manner, the war on drugs has remained unsuccessful as peer pressure and the will to overcome
reality proves to be more powerful than attempts to curb recreational drug usage. Similar to
banning fireworks, making something illegal often has the effect of only raising the value of the
illegal substance as people engage in more desperate attempts to acquire it.
• Another aspect of the prohibition on alcohol as mentioned above relates to morality. Attempts
to legislate morality by banning homosexual marriage or abortion have seemed to be
unsuccessful. For better or worse, people desire liberty and wish to be free to do whatever they
desire. People do not like to be told how they should behave and attempts to legislate morality
have so far failed.
• Knowledge about how technologies have been applied in the past seems to offer caution in
regards to regulating emerging technologies. Often times, the application of new technologies
out paces regulation. Internet commerce emerged instantly in the mid 1990's with the birth of
the Internet. Laws of taxation could not keep up and even today, 10 years later, it is possible to
escape tax codes by purchasing over the Internet. Consider the appearance of nuclear
technology. As soon as we acquired the means to produce efficient energy though nuclear
power, we immediately gained the ability to destroy millions of people with a single weapon.
Consequently, we also became feared by other nations because of this technology and seems
that this fear resulted in the Cold War. I suggested earlier that best made logically. Nuclear
weapons was an application of knowledge of nuclear physics. Nuclear weapons lead to the
destruction of a large number of people and ultimately the Cold War. In retrospect, could a
scientist researching nuclear technology back in the early 1900s have predicted the cold way 60
years later though logic? We can now appreciate how throughout history, ultimate
consequences have remained too often unforeseen.
———————————————
"Competition for high grades seriously limits the quality of learning at all levels of education."
• Achieving high grades should not be the primary focus of education. The primary focus of
education should be to obtain knowledge. High grades can be obtained though diligent study,
but all the knowledge can be discarded after the final examination unless the student masters the
meaning behind the knowledge. Knowledge of facts can contribute to a high GPA, but what
good is a high GPA is nothing besides facts and application are learned? The true aim of
education is to enable one to learn and grow independently.
 • However, achieving a high GPA is not an easy task. I can only speak from personal experience
in regards to my area of specialization within electrical engineering. However, from my
experience, performing well on exams through all years of college, but especially beyond the
first year, required much more than knowledge of facts. Performing well on examinations
required application and a deep understanding of how knowledge learned can be applied to
solve problems. It is the problem solving that is the emphasis on exams. College exams that I
have taken in history require the student to look beyond the facts and dates and discern meaning
and significance behind historical events. In engineering, history, and likely other fields, to
gain a high GPA requires more than just memorizing facts. Unless a student is motivated by a
desire to learn, attaining a high GPA will therefore be difficult.
• Competition for high grades can actually be productive assuming that a student is forced to take
a given class and does not enjoy the course material. In such an unideal case, the student may
find more traction by viewing the course as an intellectual challenge or mind game rather than a
required course which must be taken in order to earn a degree. However, students are likely to
perform best when they are interested in the material rather than treating learning as a game. At
some levels of education this certainly hold true. For example, physical education which is a
required high school class is largely graded based on physical fitness testing. Perhaps
competition is the best motivator for this type of test.
• Need some mechanism to keep unmotivated students responsible for their intellectual
development. Not focusing on reality, many students would squander their academic years on
other activities outside of learning if they had absolutely no benchmark for their progress.
Grades are not ideal, but they do serve a purpose.
———————————————
"Governments should focus more on solving the immediate problems of today rather than trying
to solve the anticipated problems of the future."
• It would be foolish for government to focus on only the immediate problems of today. To do so
would be to ignore global warming and allow weapons of mass destruction to go unregulated.
However, failing to give attention to these growing problems would allow them to spiral out of
control in the not-so-distant future. Failing to install fiscal responsibility in government
spending will certainly harm future generations of a given country if not one's own generation.
It is easier to pass off problems to others or defer paying a growing expense until later. But just
as people get into financial debt out of poor planning, governments focusing only on the
immediate problems are likely to end up in an undesirable situation.
• Government has invested money poorly into some programs and not provided enough funding
for others. One example of anticipating a problem of the future that probably should not have
gained funding or consideration is space exploration. I agree that sending Neil Armstrong to
walk on the mood and install an American flag while most of American watched is an inspiring
event for all humans since it illustrates human accomplishment, but it was mostly motivated for
political reasons and the huge amounts of funding that went into that event might have been
better spent on advancing research into medical problems such as cancer more relevant to
humans today. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to send a probe to Mars only to watch
it malfunction upon landing seems to be an utterly worthless waste of tax revenue. Since
resources are limited, these resources must be invested wisely.
• A counter argument to the above view is that research and the benefits and consequences of
research cannot be predicted. For example, space exploration enabled the technology to
develop communications satellites which are relevant in applications from GPS to broadcasting.
 Just as nuclear physics delivered both good and bad applications -- nuclear energy and weapons
of mass destruction, the benefits and consequences of research can not be completely predicted.
• Finally, solving the most critical problems first can provide benefits of increased productivity
when addressing other problems. For example, investing in the development of computing
technology (mostly for space exploration and military applications) in the mid 20th century
accelerated engineering efforts in other areas. Faster computers has allowed for innumerable
benefits ranging from increased communication, databases far superior to their paper
equivalent, and has accelerated applications ranging from drug research to automobile design.
Curing cancer and other diseases will allow people to live longer and therefore contribute more
to society. Solving some problems will have a trickle-down effect that will accelerate progress
in regards to solving other problems.
———————————————
"The depth of knowledge to be gained from books is much richer and broader than what can be
learned from direct experience."
• It is difficult to compare direct experience with knowledge gained from a text book, they are
both very different and have their own benefits and disadvantages.
• Direct experience can convey more information about setting compared to a description of the
event in a book or newspaper. Consider fighting in a war. Actually being present in the war
gives a much more vivid impression of the violence and fear present as well as the
environmental setting in which the war was taking place. It is hard to describe what wars were
like 2000 or 4000 years ago because both the surroundings and technologies available are too
remote from everyday experience. Good reporting attempts to bring the reader into the story by
descriptive details. However, in absence of references found outside everyday experiences, the
reader remains mostly lost and remains on imagination.
• Also mostly absent from books is emotion. people can understand other people through their
facial expressions and body language better than they can understand others through descriptive
narratives. In terms of dramatic historical events, it seems that much more is lost in textbooks
compared to direct experience.
• Another case where direct experience is superior to books is in regards to training. If people
were perfectly logical and did not need to rely on actual experience, the driver's test would only
consist of a written examination. The DMV would simply assume that if you can pass the
written examination, then you know how to operate a motor vehicle. Similarly, in order to
become a professional airline pilot, thousands of hours of non-commercial flight training and
experience are required. It would be a bit awkward if during takeoff, the pilot admits that he or
she is just about to embark upon his or her first flight, but then casually reassures all passengers
that he or she has read about the mechanics of flying from a copious amount of textbook
sources. Even if the pilot was joking, he or she could likely be sued for causing stress.
• In many other areas, direct experience cannot even compensate for the knowledge obtained in
books. How can quantum mechanics or molecular biology be taught through direct experience?
———————————————
"The increasingly rapid pace of life today causes more problems than it solves."
• The rapid pace of life does not necessarily cause more problems. Many people such as the
Amish enjoy a slow and relaxed pace of life. People are ultimately in control over how they
allocate their time.
 • It is not true that someone who engages in a busy lifestyle is creating more problems for him or
herself. One can enjoy a busy, but highly productive life. It therefore seems that the author of
the above assertion is confusing a complex life with a life burdened with problems. It is true
that many professionals have difficulty balancing all aspects of their lives. Often their
professional life competes against their family time. This can be viewed as a problem even
though both the issue of finding employment and the desire to have a family have both been
independently solved. The problem lies in the combination of the two elements, that there is
not enough time to enjoy both and compromises must be made. This is one sense of rapid pace
of modern life causing more problems than it solves, but this problem is not an essential part of
life and can be solved through creative effort.
• Another example of increased complexity designed to mitigate the effects of a busy life exists
in regards to technology. Technology is developed with the intent of simplifying life. The aim
of technology is to automate those areas of life and save time. Often, however, technology can
result in more trouble than solution. However, these technologies were designed to save people
time. Saving time can allow one to engage in an increasingly busy life, but saving time cannot
be logically claimed to promote an increasingly busy life. Ultimately, the allocation of time is a
personal decision.
• People today enjoy the same number of hours in a day as people had 200 years ago. The earth
still rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun at the same rate as it did a century ago. Life
today may seem increasingly rapid due to more possibilities that exist today compared to
hundreds of years ago. For example, consider that in one day it is possible to go from one coast
of America to the other and back. One can travel to any spot on the world in under 24 hours.
We have removed limitations that were not present a hundred years ago or even ten years ago.
The removal of these limitations provides humans with more options and consequently more
complexity. However, these options are present, but are not forced on humanity. Humanity has
chosen these options as preferable to alternatives. But these choices must be evaluated on a
personal basis as life is not “one-size-fits-all”. Indeed, people have opted to live busier lives in
hopes of accomplishing and experiencing more out of life. Whether this is a mistake or a
benefit depends on how the individual desires to spend his or her time.
———————————————
"Too much emphasis is placed on role models. Instead of copying others, people should learn to
think and act independently and thus make the choices that are best for them."Role models can
have both healthy and unhealthy influences.
• Many celebrities can serve as unhealthy influences. Tabloids frequently exploit the immature
and contemptuous behavior of celebrities to sell media. Many people admire celebrities for
their fame and they attention they acquire. Many celebrities, especially female celebrities attain
their popularity and attention by promoting themselves as sex objects. Although how a person
markets him or herself is a personal decision, insecure teens are likely to emulate their behavior
in hopes of acquiring the same attention. In this respect, role models have a bad influence and
people would be better off if they acted independently.
• In other respects, role models can serve as inspirational figures and can encourage good
behavior. Some people such as parents and teachers are expected to role model good behavior.
History is full of inspirations stories of role models and leaders who are remembered for their
ability to remain resolute in their beliefs. Consider many social activists such as Martin Luther
King, Ghandi, or Susan B. Anthony. All three of these figures serve as role models of character
and courage. Promoting these role models would certainly have a positive influence.
 • Finally, I am willing to submit that no personal quality is original and no matter how
independent we think our behavior is, it was likely to be influenced from another source, even if
we are not aware of our own influences. Some people dress in Gothic clothing and try to
persuade the rest of society that they are truly independent by failing to adopt cultural norms.
Which I do not reject such behavior, it is clear that these people are subscribing to an image of
independence which did not originate in themselves. This is not necessarily bad as there are
many behavioral influences. Great leaders are inspired and shaped by other great leaders. Even
social activists quote other social activists who came before them. In terms of behavior we
adopt traits and outlooks from other people.

———————————————
"The media—and society in general—mistakenly expect an individual to speak for a particular
group, whether or not that individual truly represents the views of the entire group."
• In many cases, individuals are expected to speak for a certain group and the views of the
individual do not necessarily represent those of the group. For example, in the corporate world,
executives will speak to the press about layoffs necessarily for the company to survive. While
the executives will tell the public that the layoffs are necessarily, the employees of the company
might not share the same view regarding the cause of the layoffs. The executives will suggest
that layoffs are necessary due to a poor business climate or recession. Other employees might
feel that the layoffs were a result of poor management and funding projects which were poorly
researched.
• A representative from the academic world may speak positively about new breakthroughs in
genetic engineering. However, since members of the academic community have various
backgrounds and theological beliefs, not every may subscribe to the message. The pope may
speak about sexual misconduct on the part of priests in the church in a way suggesting that the
problem has been resolved and will never happen again. However, it is unlikely that all
members of the church will share this optimism. There are many cases where media speaks
with heads of organizations to get the most informed opinion regarding recent events. It is
might be true that the people at the top of the organization are most informed about current
events, but they are also the least forthcoming and present facts in a tainted light.
• The speaker's assertion is true, but it is impossible to summarize completely all the diverse
views of a particular group without interviewing every person in the group or forming a
consensus. However, professional journalists frequently interview not only the leaders of an
organization, but also people within an organization. In the example above, it would be rare for
the news media to give only the view points of executives. People on the lower rungs of the
corporate ladder are also given a chance to express their views.
• Media is also driven to produce dramatic stories as these stories attract the most attention.
Media often selects controversial people to represent causes. Hollywood celebrities are famous
for promoting social causes where other celebrities of that group may not take the same stance.
For example, some celebrities protested the Vietnam War. It is likely that other celebrities
shared a similar view, but it would be biased for a news organization to suggest that the protest
of one person represented the views of all celebrities. Another example would be interviewing
a black social figure about the justice of affirmative action or reparations for slavery. Such
views are likely to polarize groups of people.
———————————————
"High-profile awards such as the Nobel Prize are actually damaging to society because they
suggest that only a few people deserve such recognition."
• Winning the Nobel Prize is a side-effect of a great accomplishment, but not the primary reward.
Winning the Noble Prize is very difficult. If motivated only by the will to win the Nobel Prize,
one will most likely fail. Those who succeeded in winning the prize were motivated by a will
to develop technology which improves the human race rather than pursue fame.
• The Nobel Prize is not the most significant form of recognition. If one can develop a
technology or change society in such a way that great benefit is derived from the invention, then
the inventor will have no trouble being recognized. Therefore, the Nobel Prize serves as more
of a special award to recognize accomplishment and was actually founded to recognize humans
who sacrificed part of themselves for a mission or noble cause. So the prize is actually to
recognize accomplishment and dedication rather than a specific individual.
• The author is asserting that since the Nobel Prize does not recognize everyone, it is unfair to
give recognition to some, but not to all who deserve recognition. One must then ask, who does
deserve recognition? Is the winner of the Nobel Prize exclusively responsible for the cause he
or she is associated with? Were there also not others who contributed? How can the true
winners of the prize be determined? They cannot, all scientists make progress, but only off of
the progress of scientists who came before. So no scientist or inventor can be truly original.
Even if the scientist developed an abstract theory with no traceable origin, his contribution can
still be attributed to genetic or environmental factors. The true responsibility for a large cause
is difficult to determine.
• Since the origin of scientific or social revolution is difficult to pin-point, why not offer generic
awards? Why must awards be given to recognize specific people? Why not recognize that a
cure for cancer was discovered rather than acknowledge specifically those people who were
partly involved? However, consider how effective an award would be if it was awarded
generally, not to one person, but to all people. Without recognizing specific people, there are
no role models. People would have no one to look to for inspiration, but only vague instances
in history where great problems were somehow mysteriously overcome through organized
efforts. At this point, the reason for establishing a prize for recognition is missed. Prizes serve
to recognize great accomplishments, not specifically the people who achieved these great
accomplishments, but to call attention to inspirational people and characteristics that can be
emulated by everyone regardless of profession or education. The Nobel Prize serves to
highlight noble characteristics. The understanding that the Noble Prize is damaging because
only a few people deserve recognition is a misunderstanding of the intentions of the Nobel
Prize.

———————————————
"The widespread idea that people should make self-improvement a primary goal in their lives is
problematic because it assumes that people are intrinsically deficient."
• It is healthy to encourage self-improvement as people are not perfect and will never be perfect.
However, rather than give up the quest for perfection simply because perfection is not an
obtainable goal, it is better to seek continuous improvement.
• People can always live healthier lives. People can become more successful professionally by
investing more time into their work. People can become better parents by spending more time
with their children. Life is full of competing objectives. There is never enough time to do
 everything. So at such a point, if too much emphasis is placed on self-improvement, unrealistic
goals may be set and failing to meet these unrealistic goals can be taken as a disappointment.
Perhaps compromise and balance is the best solution for a busy life.
• Another negative aspect of self-improvement lies in determining what actually needs to be
improved. Usually there are some benchmarks. There is a healthy body weight range for every
person established by their physical prosperities such as height, weight, gender and genetics. A
qualified medical doctor can give recommendations about how a person can live a more healthy
life, usually through improving diet and exercise. However, pop culture and media influences
will mislead one into believing unhealthy misleading information such as losing weight will
make a person happier by giving them more opportunities. Weight loss commercials
continuously play off the ideal that lighter people are happier. In other cultures of the past,
weight was regarded as a sign of affluence and prosperity. So popular values are continuously
changing as fast as the latest diet plan. What popular culture values is least likely to be a
healthy trait that someone should strive for through self-improvement. Determining how one
should improve needs further questioning and introspection.
———————————————
"To truly understand your own culture—no matter how you define it—requires personal
knowledge of at least one other culture, one that is distinctly different from your own."
• Cultures incorporate many different customs and traditions. Since a culture is an organization
or group of traditions and customs, one does not need another culture to serve as a reference.
Any tradition or ritual common to a group of people can be viewed as a characteristic of the
defined culture.
• However, to appreciate the uniqueness of a given culture, one must compare the traditions and
rituals of one culture against another. If everyone participated in the same traditions and rituals,
it could still be argued that these traditions are common to all humanity and therefore the
culture of humanity, but the culture would not be unique without other cultures to reference.
• In one sense, one can appreciate his or her culture in view of the behavior that is performed
repeatedly, but without any specific function as being encompassed as part of a culture. But
without other cultures for comparison, one cannot claim that his or her culture is unique.
• Appreciating other cultures can provide humans with a sense of belonging to a particular group
of people, but also sharing common characteristics with people of other cultures. For example,
Christians celebrate Christmas and Jews celebrate Hanuka. Both Christians and Jews have their
own unique beliefs which gives them a sense of well-being and belonging to a particular group.
But they can also appreciate the common characteristics that religious tradition provides,
perhaps this could be a perceived connection with the supernatural.
• A deeper sense of culture can be obtained by comparing one's own culture with the culture of
others.
———————————————
"Many people know how to attain success, but few know how to make the best use of it."
• To obtain success, but not know how to make the best of it is in some sense unsuccessful.
• Financial success is relatively easy to acquire given proper education and motivation.
However, in some cases, financial success may only lead to a thirst for more financial success.
Success in school may only lead to a desire to achieve an even higher GPA. People are
 competitive and often do not know when to stop. One will eventually reach a point of
diminishing returns where time and effort can reap greater returns in another area of life. This
is a case of achieving success, but not knowing how to become more successful through
personal growth.
• Another example of achieving success is in regards to academic success. Often times the most
successful students encounter the most difficulty with respect to choosing a career path. If one
is naturally good at everything, then nothing stands out as one's greatest comparative advantage.
Likewise, pursuing only what one perceives to be his or her greatest comparative advantage
could lead one down a path to a boring career. However, it is often those areas which inspire
the most interest where one truly succeeds. So following inspiration rather than what one
naturally happens to be the best at is most probable to lead to a successful and satisfying
professional life. The best use of success will surly provide the most fulfillment.
• Success means different things to different people. A scientist is likely to consider academic
accomplishment as a greater success compared to athletic success. An athlete is likely to
consider athletic accomplishment as greater than academic. Success is a subjective definition,
to state that other people do not know how to make the best use of their success presumes that
one knows other people's subjective definitions of success.
• Also, the speaker's assertion is not falsifiable. To some degree, even for the most overall
successful people, the speaker's statement still holds true. Due to resource constraints and
physical limitations, one can always look back on the most recent day and realize that they had
wasted time or money. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. Perhaps the greatest
definition of a successful person is one who can look back on their lives and see success when
other people who society considers "more successful" in some way cannot.
———————————————
"People have been so encouraged by society to focus on apparent differences that they fail to see
meaningful similarities among ideas, individuals, and groups."

———————————————
"As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think
for themselves will surely deteriorate."
• In some cases, technology has prevented humans from becoming more independent. People
become dependent on cars.
• Spread of technologies such as the Internet can allow humans to access more data as well as
ideas. However, having too much data can cause information overload. With too much data
and not enough time to analyze it, people jump to conclusions and in this sense, lose the ability
to think for themselves.
• Overall, technology can better allow people to think for themselves. People can perform
statistical analysis on large amounts of data with computer technology that can allow them to
draw their own conclusions and look for correlations which would otherwise require
statisticians and large amounts of time to perform the math manually.
• Technology allows humans to attack more complex problems. Technology such as computers
and calculators might allow humans to avoid performing lower-level math completely.
However, by relegating this simple arithmetic to computers, humans can focus on more
 important problems and higher-level math.
———————————————
"Colleges should require students to engage in public-service activities in order to assure that
each student receives a balanced, well-rounded education."
• Public service can enhance a student's overall education.
• Only a finite amount of time, public service may not offer the most bang for the buck. Other
ways to receive a well-rounded education.
• Many students will not take kindly to being forced to engage in public service. Overall effect
could actually make students resentful and less appreciative.
• Defining what constitutes as public service may prove to be difficult. Some students may
contribute more to society and learn more by working in a lab rather than working directly with
people in a soup kitchen.
———————————————
"People make the mistake of treating experts with suspicion and mistrust, no matter how
valuable their contributions might be."
• Author is effectively stating that experts should be immune to skepticism.
• No one can be an expert in all areas of life. Einstein contributed much to science, but at the end
of his life, he still had theories which were inconsistent with other theories which he was not
able to reconcile.
• Contributions and knowledge in one area cannot translate to knowledge in other areas.
• People make mistakes. Someone can be correct or develop a revolutional theory that turns out
to be correct, however it is still possible that they could submit "wrong answers" even in their
same field of expertise.
• Experts are influenced by bias and preferences just as non-experts.
• Some experts, after realizing that they have nothing more to contribute, may try to make a profit
off of their previous progress. For example, a dietary expert may try to sell his or her own
brand of dietary supplements which are not effective, but given credit based off of past
contributions.
———————————————
"Government should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development"
• Reducing restrictions on scientific research and development may increase the rate of progress
in any given scientific field. Ex. Stem cell research.
• By reducing restrictions, some research which causes humans or animals to needlessly suffer
may result. One experiment tried to assess the response of continuously shocking dogs. A dog
was put in a metal pen separated by a barrier. Upon applying electricity to one side of the pen,
the dog would try to jump over the barrier, but would repeatedly fail and be shocked by a higher
voltage. Eventually, the dog just stayed in the one area of the pen. The research was intended
to translate across to humans in undesirable situations, such as situations of domestic abuse
where a partner will often endure suffering because they feel that there is no way to escape.
However, it seems that the research could have been conducted as an exercise in reasoning
rather than involving the suffering of innocent animals. It seems that some restrictions on
 research are necessary to prevent needless suffering of humans and animals.
• The problem with the above situation is who is to determine if the benefits of some research
outweighs the cost. Since the benefits and costs of some research are usually unknown until
after the research has been completed, it seems difficult to judge the ethical implications of
research before it has occurred.
• Additionally, should humans be allowed to determine what behavior is ethical and what
behavior is not? Testing on animals is much more easily tolerated than testing on humans.
Animals such as mice and rats are subjected to cosmetic testing such as exposure to shampoos
on the eyes and other sensitive organs to determine safety for humans. All commercial drugs
establish a lethal dosage, LD50, a dosage whereby half of the animals tested die from overdose.
In research, animals are valued much less than humans out of convenience. However, is it
ethical for humans to decide whether testing on animals is ethical? Are we not biased as a
group?
———————————————
"In any profession—business, politics, education, government—those in power should step down
after five years. The surest path to success for any enterprise is revitalization through new
leadership."
• It is true that changing leaders every few years could bring in new thought and perspective.
However, this is not the surest path to success.
• In business, the best process is to reward good progress and investigate the factors leading to
poor performance. If the factors leading to poor performance are determined to be due to the
leader rather than to other factors within the corporation, then the leader should be replaced. In
many corporations, CEOs do not last long before being replaced or deciding to voluntarily
retire. Since it usually takes most of one's career to become a leader of a corporation, leaders
usually do not stay in the higher ranks for long.
• Politics and government are very competitive. Not every president is even able to serve past
four years in office. Politicians are constantly battling for office with aggressive and personal
campaign tactics. The reputation of many politicians are smeared by other political hopefuls
who are willing to say anything to get elected. Since politics can often be a popularity contest,
politicians usually fail to remain in office for long periods of time. Also, consider if a perfect
ruler was to get elected. Should someone who does an excellent job of ruling be thrown from
office just for the sake of change?
• In regards to education, the argument above, relative to the other three areas, makes the most
sense. Again, similar to the other areas, productivity can be lost by forcing leaders to change
every five years simply for the sake of change. It takes time for the new leaders to learn how to
lead effectively. Also, in academia, how would the leaders be elected? I have spoken with a
few professors who held higher governing roles in their educational institutions who have
grown to prefer research over politics as they look for ways to get back into teaching and
research. Not everyone wants to be a leader, and forcing leadership roles to change often could
force some individuals to lead, even if they do not desire to lead.
• Main points: forcing change for the sake of change does not make sense. Will take some time
for new leaders to adjust – lost productivity.
———————————————
"Spending time alone makes one a better companion to others."
 • Spending time alone most likely makes one a better companion for others.
• It is widely accepted that some time alone is healthy. It may be difficult to think about personal
matters when others are near. Often, a walk alone at night can be most productive for relieving
stress and contemplating the direction of one's life. Reducing stress in one's life will make one
more amiable towards others.
• Spending time alone also allows one to experience the absence of others. One is able to "feel
the silence" and realize how others contribute to one's life. Imagine waking up one day and
finding all people gone, vanished. This would certainly be a stressful situation. Imagine the
feeling of loneliness. One would desire the company of even people he or she considered
annoying. Could one survive without others, alone? The world would certainly be a scary
place without others.
• Spending time alone also allows others to appreciate the absence of the subject.
• In some cases, spending too much time alone does not make one a better companion for others.
Humans are social beings, we need and desire the company of others, even though we
sometimes think that we do not. Often times on a crowded freeway, one can act impulsively
and resort to road rage when feeling trapped. However, ultimately the subject would desire to
be surrounded by too many people rather than too few. Situations of solitary confinement can
be a form of torture. If one was forced to be stranded on a desert island, who would not prefer
to have a friend? Too much isolation is unhealthy.
———————————————
"One can best understand the most important characteristics of a society by studying its major
cities."
• Author is claiming that major cities display the most important characteristics of a society.
• Who decides which characteristics are important and which are not? Major cities are composed
to many people who hold diverse beliefs, values, and education. Many of these beliefs and
values will be in conflict. For example, what is the beliefs and values of New York City? This
question is hard to answer. One could illogically reason that New York City values adultery
based on shows such as Sex and the City which are based in New York. However, such
reasoning is clearly wrong. This example illustrates that it is illogical to infer about the
characteristics held by the people of New York City based on one viewpoint. Major cities serve
as a melting pot and therefore embody the characteristics in terms of beliefs and values of many
people. Major cities are not examples of homogeneous mixtures.
• Speaker above seems to be confusing population with importance. Smaller cities are likely to
be more unique as most major cities seem to share many characteristics. Contrast Seattle, Los
Angeles, New York, and Sun Valley, Idaho. Consider which place is least like the others in
terms of lifestyle and the way inhabitants live. In the major cities, people tend to rely more on
public transportation and are used to living in smaller apartments. It is true that there is much
diversity among the lifestyles of people in all of those places, however, there are also common
characteristics which make life in the big city much different than life in more rural areas.
Many movies such as City Slickers involve this theme. However, can the author claim that the
characteristics and lifestyles enjoyed by people in the major cities are more important than those
in rural areas?
• Many national days of significance have rural rather than metropolitan origins. Consider
Ground Hog's Day, this day has more significance to rural areas rather than major cities because
 it was formed as a superstitious predictor of the beginning of harvest. As another example,
perhaps one of the most-watched American sports, football, has rural rather than metropolitan
origins. It seems that rural America has contributed many important characteristics to
American society.
• Argument attempts to generalize very diverse circumstances.
———————————————
"In most professions and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge."
• Imagination in itself in the absence of knowledge is not important. Knowledge guides
imagination. Without any knowledge, one can imagine truths which conform to the individuals
desires and prejudices. Consider the belief that the earth is the center of the universe. This
belief required more imagination than knowledge.
• In some areas of science, assuming that knowledge is not the limiting factor in achieving a
worthwhile accomplishment, imagination and creativity can lead to extraordinary innovations
and theories. Einstein had to have quite an imagination to entertain the idea that space and time
are related quantities, however, his speculation was founded in mathematics rather than pure
imagination. In areas of engineering, creativity and imagination may prove more rewarding
than further technical knowledge. It required imagination and creativity for Thomas Edison to
apply his knowledge of materials to invent a phonograph. He was inspired by the idea that
sound could be produced by a machine. This initial concept required imagination.
• Perhaps one area where imagination and knowledge need to be equally balanced for most
optimal results is in regards to the area of venture capitalism. The investors need to realize the
potential for the business that they are considering to fund. Imagination is required to an extent
to see the potential benefits and costs of a new business in the future. However, this forecasting
requires quantitative knowledge about factors such as how similar businesses are performing in
a related field as well as marketing surveys and statistics performed to assess demand for a new
business.
• In other areas such as psychology and medical professions, imagination can be incredibly
dangerous. It can allow one to think of correlations between environmental conditions and
human behavior for example, however, relying on imagination before knowledge is a dangerous
practice that is likely to have negative consequences. One cannot allow one's will to outrun the
intellect.
• In other conservative fields such as law and insurance, imagination appears to be completely
subordinate to knowledge.
———————————————
"The most effective way to communicate an idea or value to large groups of people is through the
use of images, not language."
• It is difficult to convey complex ideas through images. Although images may be useful for
conveying dramatic emotions such as love or hate, they generally are not useful for
conversation or explaining ideas and concepts. One exception to this rule is sign language.
Sign language is a valid language which is capable of conveying complex concepts. However,
sign language, although based on visible images, is still a language and is useless unless both
the speaker and the listener understand the language.
• Images are rarely helpful in teaching complex material. Although some academic fields, most
 notably art, rely on images to convey content, images cannot be used exclusively to teach the
abstract ideas behind quantitative fields such as mathematics and computer science. It is hard to
describe the benefits and costs of an ethical system or philosophical outlook using only images.
It is true that sometimes a picture can be worth a thousand words, but it is also true that a
thousand pictures cannot convey the content in a few sentences.
• Outside of academic fields, how can images be used to ask questions? Imagine visiting another
country, becoming lost, and not able to communicate with any of the natives. How could one
express their situation using only images? What image expresses that one is lost? Eventually,
given enough time, one may be able to successfully express the concept, but how would the lost
person know that the native is really able to understand? All images require some
interpretation, and for this reason, because images lack definitions which can be referenced
(such as a dictionary), there is no way to be certain that concepts are expressed accurately.
• In some cases, images may be the best way to express warning or danger, especially when it can
not be accepted that everyone who is relevant to the danger understands the same language. For
example, consider warning labels on machinery or water heaters. The warning label on a
typical lawnmower sold in America has a description in English and possibly a few other
languages warning of possible dangers which may be encountered when using the product.
Additionally, above the description is a picture of someone being injured by using the device
improperly. Even if one speaks English, they will understand the image immediately and most
likely become aware of the dangers faster than by reading the paragraph below the image.
Also, the image due to its shocking content, will likely be remembered more easily by the user.
———————————————
"The people who make important contributions to society are generally not those who develop
their own new ideas, but those who are most gifted at perceiving and coordinating the talents and
skills of others."
• Speaker's claim goes too far.
• How does one determine which contributions are important and which contributions are
unimportant? Many important contributions were made by those who developed their own new
ideas. Copernicus developed his own ideas about the configuration and dynamics of our solar
system. Many people opposed his radical ideas which contradicted the status quo and religious
thoughts that the earth was the center of the universe. Einstein developed his own ideas,
founded in mathematics, about the relationship between space and time. Steven Hawkings has
developed his own models about the origins of the universe. Most people would agree that
these are some of the greatest scientific accomplishments of recent history. Many other
contributions delivered by scientists are novel and conceived by one person rather than through
a group of people. It is true that these scientific accomplishments were built on the foundation
of scientific knowledge assembled by previous scientists, however the accomplishments of
many famous scientists were not coordinated with others.
• In the business world, it seems that the most successful business leaders are experts at
perceiving and coordinating the talents and skills of others. Bill Gates is a good example of
someone who had a genuine interest in computers from childhood, but later realized financial
success through using what other people have developed. The foundation of Microsoft, the
company Bill Gates founded, is a piece of software known as "DiskOS", later named "DOS".
DOS was purchased from IBM and Bill hired and worked with friends to found a company
centered around further developing an operating system. Initially, it is likely that Bill Gates
played a small role in actual software development. But throughout Microsoft's history, his
 primary role as a business leader involved managing others rather than developing his own new
ideas. A similar example can be understood from Nike founder Phil Knight, who had an
original concept for developing a clothing company, but the original idea never would have
taken flight had it not been for his business sense of coordinating the talents and skills of others.
It seems that this concept holds true for most large companies today.
• Politics serves as a perfect example of the speaker's claim. A good president knows how to
achieve an optimal level of productivity by adjusting policies which create opportunities for
others, usually in the form of new jobs, to apply their talents and skills most effectively.
Policies can be adjusted to stimulate trade and economic growth which lead to the creation of
new jobs and allow the greatest number of people to find satisfying employment. Good
politicians know how to coordinate the talents and skills of their citizens most effectively.

———————————————
"Truly profound thinkers and highly creative artists are always out of step with their time and
their society."
• It is true that some profound thinkers and highly creative artists are out of step with their time
and society. The accomplishments of Beethoven, perhaps the most famous classical pianist
were not appreciated fully until well after his death. Copernicus was scientifically correct that
the earth was not at the center of the universe and encouraged skepticism towards existing
religious dogma that prevailed over scientific thought. However, most people feared
Copernicus's theories and he was not fully appreciated for his scientific accomplishments until
well after his death. Socrates, a philosopher, was ultimately killed for only questioning the
prevailing system of ethics and contesting the status quo.
• But these above examples certainly do not represent the experience of all profound thinkers and
artists. Motzart was recognized as an outstanding pianist during the course of his life and was
invited to play at royal events. Einstein was recognized early in his life as a genius and lived to
see the extent of many of his accomplishments, although not always favorable. For example,
his studies in nuclear theory were not intended to be used by others as a means for creating
weapons of mass destruction. However, this fact aside, he was still recognized during his life
time as a prime contributor of science. Steven Hawkings is another example of a current
astronomer whose theories have shaped our understanding regarding the formation of the
universe.
• The above quote also requires more definition. The statement that "truly profound thinkers and
highly creative artists are always out of step with their time and society is ambiguous". Which
people is the speaker referring to by his or her notion of "truly profound thinkers and highly
creative artists"? What does it take to become a truly profound thinker? The statement is
subjective and therefore likely to be interpreted differently among various people. Also, the
statement is not falsifiable. It can always be said that any profound thinker or highly creative
artist is out of step with his or her time because a thinker or artist will always be further
appreciated after their death. Motzart and Socrates have received much more attention after
their death compared to when they were alive. So all famous thinkers and artists are out of step
with their time because they will be further appreciated after their death.
———————————————
"People today are too individualistic. Instead of pursuing self-centered, separate goals, people
need to understand that satisfaction comes from working for the greater good of the family, the
community, or society as a whole."
• This statement is a generalization and does not apply to everyone.
• Many people do pursue self-centered goals. There are too many examples of adults who realize
that there are some things they will never be able to again experience. There are many
examples, but most commonly involve the loss of qualities such as youth and its associated
abilities that they once enjoyed. These adults who realize their loss therefore seek to
compensate through affirming their socio-economic status by acquiring expensive possessions.
These possessions only affirm their false sense of pride. Instead of expensively pursuing the
elements of false pride, these adults would most likely find more fulfillment in helping others.
• However, the speaker's suggestion may contain some logical faults. One can pursue activities
such as working for the greater good of the family, the community, or society as a whole for
purely selfish reasons. Many companies donate to natural disaster relief funds or medical
causes, but not purely for altruistic reasons. In exchange for the contributions, the donating
companies also receive positive publicity. After 9/11, General Motors ran a series of ads
describing their own charitable donations of automobiles to the New York City fire department.
The company should be recognized for their contribution which helps the victims of 9/11.
However, running a series of ads highlighting what a company has done for some victims is like
publically patting oneself on the back. Surely, they will gain some reward from their publicized
donation as many people viewing the ad are likely to think higher of GM. Although, if GM was
truly altruistic, they could have spared the national advertising and instead donated more
automobiles to the cause they were literally promoting.
• A personal extension of the above example is the exchange of clothing which advertises one's
contribution to charity. Lance Armstrong launched his own Livestrong organization to help
promote cancer research. In exchange for a donation, one receives a yellow "Livestrong"
bracelet which is worn to call attention to the cause and hopefully encourage other people to
donate to the cause as well. I do not believe that the bracelets were intended to be worn as
"fashionable" or simply to display the fact that one cares about others. However, it is likely that
many who donated to the cause would not have except for the fact that they received a symbol
which could be worn to show other people that the subject is a charitable person. People, like
companies can engage in seemingly altruistic works, but not completely isolated from personal
benefit.
• Overall, I would agree that the author is correct in promoting works which at least help others
over personal indulgences which promote a false sense of pride and security. Author needs to
realize that works which may appear to be altruistic may be done for selfish intentions.
However, society is better served by charitable works, regardless of the contributor's
motivations.

———————————————
"Schools should be required to teach the essential interconnectedness of all human beings and
thus help eliminate wars, cultural clashes, and other forms of conflict."
• It seems true that by emphasizing the interconnectedness of human beings, people will become
more tolerant of others and appreciate unique qualities rather than fear differences. However,
speaker goes too far in assuming that such knowledge would be so effective as to eliminate all
forms of conflict. Such as assumption seems incredibly naive.
 • There is only a limited amount of time and resources available to schools. Adding new subjects
to be covered will require that coverage of existing subjects be reduced or dropped. Otherwise,
extra resources would need to be added to cover the additional content. The school day may
need to be expanded to make room for the proposed subject, which must be paid for by the
taxpayers.
• The role of education is not to eliminate all forms of conflict. The role of education is to give
students the intellectual platform which enables them to more effectively resolve conflicts or
become more tolerant human beings. By teaching other subjects such as philosophy or
economics, students will realize that violence and aggression are not optimal means of conflict
resolution for either party. Teaching other subjects can allow students to realize for themselves
how to properly resolve conflicts as well as appreciate diversity. The approach suggested by
the speaker seems a bit too dogmatic, simplistic, and can be achieved by other methods of
intellectual development.
• The suggested solution above is too simple. Conflict has always existed and seems part of the
human condition. Even if people realized the essential interconnectedness of all human beings,
this knowledge would still be competing against other personal or societal objectives such as
the selfish desire to accumulate as much wealth as possible. Other forms of evil are embedded
into one's religion, as demonstrated by the perennial conflict taking place in the Middle East.
When one's religion can serve as the justification for the killing of non-believers, it is hard to
see how teaching interconnectedness and diversity can overcome these fundamental beliefs. I
do not mean to imply that some religions are evil, but there are common misinterpretations in
which people frequently give their life to embrace. There is no simple solution which can
overcome this complex epidemic.
———————————————
"Major policy decisions should always be left to politicians and other government experts, who
are more informed and thus have better judgment and perspective than do members of the
general public."

• The speaker's assertion consists of two primary assumptions. First, the speaker is asserting that
government experts and politicians are better informed in regards to policy matters than the
general public. Second, because of this better knowledge, they therefore have better judgment
and perspective than members of the general public. Finally, in light of the previous argument,
it makes sense that those who have the best judgment make the decisions. The speakers
argument primarily falls apart under his assumption that politicians have better judgment and
perspective than the general public.
• It is probably true that overall, policy makers have better knowledge of current events and the
impact certain policies will have to various segments of the population. Public policy is a
complex matter and since politicians are focused exclusively on this matter, it seems reasonable
that they will be more informed than members of the public who do not devote their
professional careers to public policy. In fact, I would even go so far as to agree with the
speaker that overall, policy makers may have better knowledge regarding how policies will
affect some individuals in society better than those individuals who do not concern themselves
with politics. Politicians such as the president do have secret knowledge that is hidden from the
general public. CIA members have access to information which is locked away from the
public. So I agree that there is some truth to the speaker's first claim. However, it cannot be
true for all individuals of society. Some individuals, especially those involved with a segment
 of current events such as homosexual rights or abortion are likely to be more knowledgeable on
that specific issue than some politicians who must focus on a broader range of policy. Overall,
I do grant that politicians are likely more aware of public policy than the average voter, but
certainly is not true for all voters.
• The speaker's second assertion is more troublesome. First, judgment and perspective is based
on knowledge and intelligence. Having access to more knowledge does provide one with the
ability to make more sound judgments. However, often intelligence can more than compensate
for a lack of knowledge. Just because politicians have access to more knowledge, does not
mean that politicians take all knowledge that they possess into consideration when considering
policy.
• Additionally, the danger is that policy makers are not unbiased. They are heavily influenced by
lobbyists and even their own personal desires. They are therefore more likely to pass laws
which will benefit themselves more than others.
• Finally, in regards to the speaker's ultimate argument, there is a need for checks and balances in
government. Governments where members of the general public have no role in policy matters
usually prove to be ephemeral as they seek to serve those in power rather than the general
public.