Review the 8 claims in the textbox titled, "Thinking Critically Group Exercise: Why Do We Believe What We Believe?" on p. 262 of your text. For each, state the best reason you can for why it may be true and the best reason you can for why it may be false.
After you have done this, review your classmates' posts. Decide what you believe is the best reason for and against each of the 8 claims. List these in a new post.
When you have finished, you will have posted 16 of your own reasons (8 for and 8 against) and the 16 that you believe are the best (8 for and 8 against).
You must post at least twice to complete this assignment.
Thinking Critically Group Exercise: Why Do We Believe What We Believe?
1. Just like people, computers can think for themselves.
2. Chimpanzees have the same rights as humans.
3. Life is fundamentally unfair.
4. Management and labor are natural adversaries.
5. Over 2 million aliens, originally from some other planets
are being secretly held in a concentration camp 200 kilometers outside Johannesburg,
South Africa.
6. The world will end on the winter solstice in 2012.
7. When humans and machines elegantly merge, a singularity
will pour to end the ravages of old age, illness, and perhaps even death.
8. God created the world and watches over everyone. God wants
us to be nice to each other, which is what all religions teach. The goal of
life is to feel good about oneself and to be happy. God needs to be involved
with your life only when you really need something, otherwise not. Don’t worry
because when we die we all go to heaven if we were good. Whatever.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love.
