Week 5 Discussion: In My Opinion 47 47
Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Initial Post Instructions Consider one of the following current social issues or one of your choice:
For the initial post, address the following:
The initial post is not about how “correct” your position is; it is about how you arrived at your position on the issue. This discussion requires application of metacognition thinking about how you think.
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Textbook: Chapter 10, 11 Lesson Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Opioid crisis Legalization of recreational or medical marijuana Vaping Immigration Elimination of the electoral college Gun control
State your position on one of these issues are you for, against, or neutral? Explain why. Avoid vagueness or ambiguity in your response. Make your position very clear. Examine how you have formed that opinion.
How well do you think you know the facts? Do you know and understand statistical information that applies to the issue? Do you think you have formed your opinion using only System-1 thinking, or have you applied System-2? What part have heuristics, cognitive bias, and dominance structuring played in how you have formed your opinions?
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Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification.
In your responses, look for another student’s post, either on the same or a different issue. Choose, where possible, a peer whose initial post has not yet been examined by another student, and examine it. Do you agree or disagree with your peer?
You should also look at responses to your initial post:
You may find that just the minimum three posts are not sufficient to discover whether you can identify these elements. You will have to make a judgement call: do the minimum three and miss out on the deep thinking required by this exercise, or go beyond the minimum three and really begin to understand your thought processes and the concept of critical thinking.
A very valuable final post would be to discuss your judgment call: perhaps you “got it” in three; perhaps you opted for more than three; perhaps other demands on your time did not allow you to exercise as much deep thinking as you would have liked to do. Perhaps you did not see much value in the discussion a very valuable final post would be a brief statement of why you found it so. Do not be shy about critiquing the exercise. Look at A Poorly Crafted Assignment in section 11.1 of the text in which the authors critique a similar assignment.
Writing Requirements
Grading This activity will be graded using the Discussion Grading Rubric. Please review the following link:
Course Outcomes (CO): 2, 4, 5, 6
Due Date for Initial Post: By 11:59 p.m. MT on Wednesday
Is your initial reaction to your peer “So, right; you bet!” or is it “So wrong, you’re all wet!” Examine carefully your thinking in response to your peers:
What part, if any, have facts, heuristics, or dominance structuring played in your response? What part, if any, has cognitive bias played in your response?
Did your peer fairly evaluate you? Discuss this with your peer.
Minimum of 3 posts (1 initial & 2 follow-up) Minimum of 2 sources cited (assigned readings/online lessons and an outside source) APA format for in-text citations and list of references
Link (webpage): Discussion Guidelines
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Due Date for Follow-Up Posts: By 11:59 p.m. MT on Sunday
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(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/97891)Sonja Sheffield (Instructor) Jun 22, 2020
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Greetings Students,
You are only required to post an initial answer post and ONE follow-up post in each required discussion, each week.
Please make your TWO posts each week between Monday and Sunday. Your posts must occur on different days with the first post occurring by Wednesday. If there are extenuating circumstances, please communicate with your professor.
Systems Thinking is a new term for many individuals. There are many ways of thinking and this comes as a surprise to some people. This is because our previous training and experience often locks us into a particular way of thinking about a situation.
It is very useful to have different tools of thought in order to set about thinking about the situation, exploring new angles, trying out different boundaries and generating a more rounded appreciation of the situation, however complicated, familiar or unusual. A very important part of this ability to explore and value others’ points of view, trying out their perspectives and incorporating their insights. All these features characterize systems thinking.
Two points about these ways of thinking are worth mentioning. First, they are the basis for genuine intellectual skills; second, some of them may initially appear strange and feel decidedly awkward. Others you will find, more naturally. Which ones proved easy or difficult will depend on your existing patterns of thought. This means that you will not be able to decide how useful a particular tool will be until you have acquired a reasonable measure of proficiency and tried it on some actual problems. Which tools work for you will also depend on the sorts of problem you encounter.
Systems thinking is useful for investigating complex situations. It involves a holistic approach that looks at the behavior of wholes, and the many interconnections between the components,
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Edited by Sonja Sheffield (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/97891) on Jun 22 at 12:39pm
using a variety of methods. Some of these methods are systematic and orderly but in general systematic thinking is more prevalent where situations are broken down into parts and mostly simple, linear cause and effect relationships examined.
Let’s consider cognitive biases. By utilizing critical thinking and understanding cognitive biases, you will be able to form an argument.
At this point you have learned a lot about how to think critically. Now you should be able to write critically. When you are writing critically, you will be able to word your thoughts better, and your paragraphs will be more useful it won’t just be about word count anymore, but the word counts will be met regardless.
Consider the following series of questions to ask yourself.
We already learned about how to determine whether an argument is valid, but you also need to be able to defend your arguments with premises and supporting details. If you cannot do this, your point of view will be easy to poke holes in and will collapse like a house of cards.
Think about your responses to some of the above when you start preparing your essay.
Reference
e-Book – Lovell, S. (2018) How to improve your critical thinking skills.
Is your idea/argument a good or bad one? Is my argument valid and defensible? Is it the opposite?
It is my position on the issue rational and reasonable? Do I deal with the complexity of the situation or do I only utilize clichés and stereotypes to make my point? Do I touch deeper points, or do I only scraped the surface when talking about my topic? Do I address the other points of view properly? Do I question my own ideas and test them for validity? Do I have specific goals in mind with this writing? Is the purpose of my writing clear and easily found? What questions does this essay answer? What questions are explored? From what perspective is my argument? Where did I get my information? Are the sources valid? Was the information consistent in all of my sources? What concepts are central in my line of thinking? What conclusions am I making? What premises do I include? Am I making any assumptions? Are these assumptions that I should be making?
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Ashlyn Nichols (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/145323) Monday
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Hello Everyone,
I decided to select the issue gun control. Gun control is a touchy topic within the United States. I am against stricter gun laws within the United States. I grew up in the country with a father that always carried a registered firearm everywhere he went. Personally it made me feel safe when entering a bad neighborhood or new area we haven’t visited before. I am against stricter gun laws mainly for a couple reasons. With establishing these laws the people following them are already law abiding citizens, and the ones that will continue to do what they please are the individuals causing crime and harm in the community. Secondly, “gun control laws infringe upon the right to self-defense and deny people a sense of safety” (Pros & Cons, 2020). Without citizens having a sense of safety it could alter individuals well being and their willingness to go out in public. Lastly I believe more gun control is not needed; education about guns and gun safety is needed to prevent accidental gun deaths in the United States (Pros & Cons, 2020). I feel that I am fairly educated on the topic but definitely could use more information regarding the pros and cons on stricter gun control laws. I feel as if my opinion is biased because I was raised in a family that was against stricter gun laws. When researching statistics on gun control there is a lot of data collected on this issue. Yes, I do understand the statistical side of this issue. For example, “Mexico has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had 11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per 100,000 people) compared to the United States that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per 100,000 people)” (Pros & Cons, 2020). I believe these statistics are very informing and easy to understand and comprehend. I believe I have formed my opinion based on system-1 thinking because it was unconscious and quick, it took little to no effort for me to form this opinion.
“Heuristics is a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently” (Cherry, K., 2020). When developing my opinion, I based it on past events in my child hood where my dad played a major role in establishing gun rights. So, when asked about “stricter gun laws” I instantly establish my opinion against them.
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“Cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them and affects the decisions and judgments that they make. dominance structuring” (Cherry, K., 2020). Yet my opinion varies from others I think it is important to remember everyone has a different view on things and that is okay. When looking at the pros and cons towards stricter gun laws I feel as if I see both views. Looking at a situation or topic from a different aspect is extremely important when formulating an opinion. “Dominance structuring is the psychological process through which humans achieve confidence in their decisions” (Facione, P. & Gittens, C. A., 2016). I feel confident in my pinion towards stricter gun control laws. I feel as if I stand up for those individuals that follow the law and act in a professional manner while carrying a firearm. Not all individuals are dangerous that carry a gun, I simply look at it as a protection device.
References:
Cherry, K. (2020, January 10). How Heuristics Help You Make Quick Decisions or Biases. Retrieved August 03, 2020, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-heuristic-2795235
Facione, P. & Gittens, C. A. (2016). Thinking critically. 3 . Ed. Pearson:Boston, MA.
Pros & Cons – ProCon.org. (2020, June 12). Retrieved August 03, 2020, from https://gun- control.procon.org/
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(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/97891)Sonja Sheffield (Instructor) Tuesday
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Ashlyn, thank you for your post this week and responding to the questions posed in the initial prompt.
Respectfully I have a few comments on what you wrote, “it made me feel safe when entering a bad neighborhood ”. Over the years I have pondered on how a gun can make anyone feel safe nowadays; simply because more people have guns today than ever. And I think you would agree nobody has a fist fight anymore, nobody fights with knives, therefore, I’m thinking just because I’m with someone that has a gun that don’t necessarily make me feel safe because other people have guns to write? What are your thoughts about that I’m just curious.
And I would agree with you that you are opinion is biased because of your enculturation.
Which of the following statements about holistic thinking are true, and which are false?
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1. It separates causes and effects. 2. it always considers the motives of the people involved 3. it simplifies the ideas and information in a given situation. 4. It takes holes as its unit of analysis. 5. It examines each aspect of a problem separately.
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Caitlyn Pienkowski (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/102153) Monday
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Hello!
I believe we do have an Opioid crisis, not only in the US, but in the entire world. The New York Times estimated over 400,000 people have died of opioid overdoses nationally over the past two decades (2019). This is significant enough to say there is an opioid crisis. Healthcare is estimated costing $78.5 billion in opioids, according to the Editorial Board, just to have thousands of people to overdose (2019).
How well do you think you know the facts?
-I know that there could be numbers as high has 400,000 people however I was not that well informed on that particular estimation.
Do you know and understand statistical information that applies to the issue?
– Yes I know and understand statistical information that applies to the issue.
Do you think you have formed your opinion using only System-1 thinking, or have you applied System-2?
– I think I have applied System-2 thinking. System-2 thinking is useful for judgments in unfamiliar situations, for processing abstract concepts, and for deliberating when there is time for planning and more comprehensive consideration (Gittens, 2015). System-1 thinking applies more to an automatic, reactive response.
What part have heuristics, cognitive bias, and dominance structuring played in how you have
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formed your opinions?
– We get through the routine parts of our day making quick, automatic reactive heuristic judgments, which applies making a judgement on how bad an opioid crisis is (Gittens, 2015). A cognitive bias would be to expedite our judgments about what to believe or what to do about the opioid crisis (Gittens, 2015). Dominance structuring, you’re able to make a decision confident enough in the choice you have made and form a plan of action (Gittens, 2015).
Reference
Gittens, P.F.C. A. (2015). THINK Critically. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133914351/ (https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133914351/)
Editorial Board. (2019). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/opinion/johnson-and-johnson- opioid.html?searchResultPosition=3 (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/opinion/johnson-and- johnson-opioid.html?searchResultPosition=3)
(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/97891)Sonja Sheffield (Instructor) Tuesday
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Caitlyn, thank you for your post this week and responding to the questions posed in the initial prompt.
I say this very respectfully but when I saw the 400,000 people having died from opioid over divorces and I understand how many people are in the world which is billions, as I’m sure you will agree, that number didn’t seem that great to me but that’s just me. Why do you see that this is significant enough- I’m curious?
What is the statistical information that you gleaned regarding this topic that you would indicate that you understand the statistical information applicable to the issue?
Would you be able to share an example of when you have applied systems to thinking?
The fact that there are different ways of thinking comes as a surprise to most people. That’s because our previous training and experience often locks us into a particular way of thinking about the situation. But consider, in some instances, it is often useful to have different tools for thought in order to set about thinking about the situation, exploring new angles, trying out different boundaries and generating a more rounded appreciation of the situation, however complicated, familiar or unusual.
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Based on what you have gleaned so far from the text, does the following describe a person stuck in the trap through the way they think or act? Explain.
Sally and Jim spent hours with holiday brochures each year; the problem of finding the right summer holiday for themselves and their three teenage daughters. Partly it was a problem of timing. In the summer, all three daughters had different activities, one was an orchestra, one rode horses and one spent a couple of weeks with her grandparents. It was also a question of money. If all three daughters came, they couldn’t afford as expensive a holiday as if only one cane, and there was the added complication that two of the daughters might bring boyfriends, and what they could afford had to be considered. Finally, it was never easy to find a place they all wanted to go. Much to Sally and Jim’s regret, they had had a family vacation together for three years.
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Christine Mercado (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/140314) Tuesday
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Hello Professor and Class,
I decided to select the issue of vaping. I am against vaping as a number of vaping-related health problems and deaths in the United States are on the rise. According to the CDC as of February 2020, a total of 2,807 hospitalized cases have been reported from all 50 states. Sixty eight deaths have been confirmed in 29 states. Among the cases reported to the CDC, the median age range was 24 years old. As 34% of patients were between the ages of 18-24 years old.
How well do you think you know the facts?
I am aware that there have been many hospitalized cases due to vaping-related health problems, but I did not know the exact number of cases.
Do you know and understand statistical information that applies to the issue?
Yes, I understand the statistical information that applies to this issue, it was easy to comprehend and the CDC had a data table that showed which states had the highest cases and the age group that was most affected.
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Do you think you have formed your opinion using only System-1 thinking, or have you applied System-2?
I think I applied System-2 thinking in forming my opinion. According to the textbook, System-2 thinking is more reflective, deliberate, and analytical. As I was researching the issue of vaping, I carefully looked at the data provided by the CDC and reflected on the facts and latest information that was provided.
What part have heuristics, cognitive bias, and dominance structuring played in how you have formed your opinions?
Heuristics is cognitive shortcuts that people rely on to make quick and reactive judgments. When forming my opinion, I relied on past experiences where I have seen vaping being a huge problem in my high school. Cognitive bias and heuristics can play a role in forming opinions, because some biases are related to memory and relying on this kind of systematic error can lead to bias or selective decision making. Dominance structuring results in confidence. I am confident in my opinion. the more unreasonable, biased, irrational, and unrealistic we have been in our dominance structuring, the greater the risks of poor decisions. (Facione, 2016). As I was forming my opinion, I applied System-2 thinking. I made sure I researched so that I was informed about the issue on vaping. I was reflective and analytical towards the information that I read about, before forming my opinion. I did not form my opinion by being quick and reactive.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, February 25). Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with the Use of E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html.
Facione, P. & Gittens, C. A. (2016). Thinking critically. 3rd. Ed. Pearson:Boston, MA.
(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/97891)Sonja Sheffield (Instructor) Tuesday
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Christine, thank you for your post this week and responding to the questions posed in the initial prompt.
So you wrote that the CDC indicated 2807 hospitalized cases were reported from all 50 states. Do you see that statistically unreasonable based on how many billions of people are in the 50 states overall, population was?
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So would you say that the answer to the question as to how well you think you know the facts would be limited? And the reason I asked that is because being aware that there have been many hospitalized cases due to vaping, many is a bit of a vague term in that many compares to what?
And I’m so glad you provided the link because I went and I looked at the statistical information as well but I wasn’t overly convinced or panicky. What do you suppose that I’m missing that you caught?
We can think about anything holistically. But when we apply holistic thinking to systems, we find that some ideas and techniques are particularly useful; these ideas and techniques constitute systems thinking.
Many people think that systems for systemic thinking is systematic thinking. Although both words are derived from the same Greek word for “a setting or placing together”, systematic means “having a plan or a method” while systemic means “affect the entire body or organism”. So systematic thinking deals with orderly, methodical thinking and systemic thinking with the behavior of wholes.
A number of solutions have been proposed to alleviate the problem. Without attempting to evaluate their acceptability or practicability, identify which ideas arise from the reductionist, closely focused, approach to the issue in which from a broader holistic approach.
1. Increased police powers to stop and search so that suspended drug users can be identified more easily
2. Use aerial spraying to eliminate drug crops identified by satellite. 3. Pay farmers not to grow drug crops. 4. Legalize all drugs to eliminate the criminality associated with drug production and
distribution. 5. Provide free, confidential help to anyone using illegal drugs. 6. Provide cheap, safe drugs on the free market to undercut the criminal interest. 7. Increase customs vigilance at all points of entry to the European Union
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Monica Hernandez (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/65138/users/118358)
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Tuesday
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Hello Professor and Class,
Vaping is one of the main social issues, as the number of vaping related illnesses and deaths are continuing to rise, health officials identified vitamin E acetate an oily, sticky substance sometimes used as a thickening agent in vaping products as a possible cause of the illnesses. According to WebMD, HEALTH NEWS mentions, “Calling it a breakthrough, the agency says it found vitamin E (https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-954-vitamin+e.aspx? activeingredientid=954&activeingredientname=vitamin+e) acetate in all 29 samples of lung (https://www.webmd.com/lung/picture-of-the-lungs) fluid from patients with vaping (https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/vape-debate-electronic-cigarettes) -related lung injury (https://www.webmd.com/lung/lung-injuries) “(Doheny 2019). So the growing use of vapes and e-cigarettes are only contributing to the negative health consequences that smokers face. The consequences can be affecting our social life. Some of the health problems are respiratory infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia and also vaping appears to have a number of negative effects on oral health. In system 2 thinking I consider the option is to give proper counseling to the people. mainly focusing on school (https://image-seeker.com/s/?q=school) students and recommend to keep the distance from unsupportive people to break from vaping, recommit to quitting, proper health (https://image-seeker.com/s/?q=health) education to the family and society.
Vaping Statistics states, “According to Statistic Stats (http://www.statisticstats.com/health/vaping- statistics-vape-stats-facts/) , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that 38 percent of high school (https://image-seeker.com/s/?q=high%20school) students and 13 percent of middle school (https://image-seeker.com/s/?q=school) children have tried vaping. These numbers reflect rapid growth in popularity over the past five years. Even though the e-cigarette industry is less regulated than cigarettes, it is still illegal for minors under age 18 to buy vaping pens”( (https://www.sativant.com/facts/dispensary-statistics/) factstatistics (https://www.factstatistics.com/author/factstatistics/) 2018). (https://www.sativant.com/facts/dispensary-statistics/)
Teachers guide to manage to vape in the classroom, Conduct ridiculous campaigns against vaping, conduct debate within students and society, Psychological and emotional support for the people. provide a facility for conduct studies based on vaping.
References:
Doheny, K., 2020. CDC: Vitamin E Likely Culprit In Vaping Cases. [online] WebMD. Available at:
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2018. [online] Available at: 
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