Epstein Chapter 14 Concept: Generalizations

The concept of generalizing strike out the most for me because is a common thing that I sometimes I do as well as my friends and acquaintances. Maybe generalizing is just a natural habit that a person does due to their influences from their peers, professors, the books they read, and/or the media. Overall, most generalizing comes from our experiences. Unless, you're a scientist, in which, according to Epstein, bases their generalizations "from the groups of people [they] interviewed or studied." (Epstein 279).

A generalization occurs when "we conclude a claim about a group from a claim" based off a sample. (Epstein 280). In other words, it's an extensive claim about a particular group, person, place or thing.

Generalizing is not a bad thing, rather it is a way of arguing. However, in order to make generalizations become a plausible argument, it should be backed up with facts and evident examples. Otherwise the sample you are trying to argue for based on your generalizations will not be able to convince anyone. Therefore it is essential, to have a sample that is representative, vast, and researched well. (Epstein 289).

Favorites

My favorite thing about this class was the concept of blogging. I have kept a journal in the past, but I had never written a blog before. Compared to sending in documents of my homework to my teachers via email, blogging made doing and discussing the homework more casual. I liked how I was able to freely express my thoughts on a blog without having a rubric surfacing in my mind pointing out errors in punctuation marks or slight grammar mistakes. The goal was to just answer the question in my own way and to prove that I understood the material. It made the idea of homework feel less uptight.

Although I enjoyed the assignments for the group work, I hoped that even though this is an online class that it would be simple to have sufficient communication with group members. It's not as easy to meet up as a group or get a hold of a group member like it is when there is a class setting, since the convenience of seeing your classmates at least once a week is not applicable. In the end though, I learned more about working in a group when being in an online class and how clear communication and punctuality is needed in order to successfully fulfill an assignment.

Comm 41 Has Taught Me...

...how to think critically much better. For instance, when my friend asked me if her thesis for her argument against animal cloning was effective and convincing, I advised her to elaborate on her stance the unethical procedures involved in the cloning of animals. Recommending her to explain her explanations more concretely prevents vagueness from occurring. From taking this class, I am more alert to vagueness and/or ambiguity when it comes to noting them in claims.

I also learned more about fallacies. Before immersing in this class, I knew what a fallacy meant, but I only knew 7 types of fallacies, such as appeal to authority, appeal to emotion, appeal to fear, appeal to pity, appeal to spite, appeal to ridicule, and false dilemmas. I did not realize that there were fallacies that doubled the number I knew. I learned about fallacies such as straw man, hasty generalizations, post hoc ergo propter hoc, ignoring a common cause, and begging the question. It is beneficial for me to be knowledgeable of the different types of fallacies so I would not be oblivious if I were to unintentionally make one or read one.