Fall 2010 Critical Thinking First Field Notes

Post Field Observations Here:

Jeff

Today my roomate asked why I liked the show Entourage so much, after seeing that I had the entire show on DVD. I realized right away that this would be a definite "reflective situation" in my day. I then thought about the five disciplines of thought and tried to go over them in my head. Although I wasn't totally succesful doing this, I was able to remember some of the disciplines. My personal "voice" has always been natural to me, so I found it very easy to tell him that the reason why I love Entourage so much is because it is extremely funny, very entertainiing, contains great characters, as well as having extremely great writers. I expected a response from him, remembering how important it is to respect and understand others' "critical responses" and personal "views." We were able to agree that he could watch the show at some point, seeing as how we respected each others views.

This morning my friends Joe and Jon were talking about how awesome the John Mayer concert was that they went to a week ago and I let it slip that I hated John Mayer. You would've thought they were staring into the eyes of pure evil when they both looked at me and shouted, "Why?" I simply told them, "I believe that his obnoxious personality outweighs his musical talent. His music really only consists of a vast variety of different pretentious sounds mixed with pointless lyrics." They completely disagreed but at least I said my personal views.

Two nights ago I was looking at google news and noticed an article stating Obama has decided to pull out the troops in Iraq. Knowing my roommate had just joined the ROTC here at Gonzaga I asked if he had heard about it. The one question I asked developed an argumentative conversation. My roommate argued that just because he is pulling the troops doesn't mean there are still thousands of soldiers over in Iraq still and will still be there for some time. However, I think this was a good move because we have spent countless amounts of money on something that seems to be going no where.

Gordon Warlaumont

We also had a discussion yesterday about a Bob Marley poster I hung on the wall. I am a fan of reggae music and enjoy to listen to Bob Marley, so I thought it was appropriate to put him on my wall as a symbol of relaxation. He was very confused on why I would put such a poster on my wall. It's only a head shot of Bob Marley, nothing wrong with that right? We have many similarities and but some of our ideas seem to be completely opposite. We have many conversations about music preferences. It is good to be bale to argue my point of view to someone who has another point of view. It seems as though after every conversation we have I go through a period of reflective context where I think about everything I said and what I wish I would have said

Kelly Kim

Last night I was talking on the phone with my sister and the talk about our room came up. She and I share a room back at home, however, now that I live in the dorms, she believes that the room is now her's and wants to decorate it any way she wants. I explained to her that even though she may be using the room by herself now, I am still going to go back and use the room with her. I told her that she couldn't decorate it without having my consent too. She, on the other hand, argued that I would only be there for 4 months max out of a year and that our room was too plain right now and needed a make-over. Before I could state a rationale, she said that I wouldn't know that she changed the room unless I visited home, by which it would be too late.

Lauren Hajnos

1. Yesterday afternoon I was reading my communications book, when my roommate walked in. I made the claim that when I have kids, one day, I am going to limit the amount of time they spend watching television and playing video games. She asked me why and I offered various reasons that the book had brought to my attention. I also added that kids do not spend enough time out doors now days and that personally, the summer days and nights I spent outside when I was younger are some of the greatest memories I have.

2. I was watching a movie with my roommate a few nights ago and made the claim that the book was a lot better than the movie. She had never read the book so I offered arguments about details that the producer had left out and why I thought the book was much better.

Cody Allen

My mom called me the other night, checking up with me on how things were going and wondering how my classes were. We eventually started talking about professors and my first impressions of them. Then, the question of my psychology class came up and I told my mom that I thought that it was going to be a very interesting class cause my professor seems different. She asked me to elaborate, causing me to have to reflect on the specific events of the class and the characteristics of the professor. I pointed out things, such as my professor seems very passionate about psychology and has an enthusiastic teaching style.

Emily Piskulick

My roommate and I were sitting in our room, talking about our days, and we got on the topic of which music is better- alternative or rap. She, having a Lil’ Wayne poster above her bed, obviously thought that rap was the clear choice, however I, with my Vampire Weekend and Beatles posters, clearly chose alternative. She stated that rap was better, because it “speaks from the soul” and has more “passion and purpose” than alternative music ever could. I stated that alternative was by far better because half of the time you can’t understand what rappers are saying anyway, so what’s the point in listening? Both of us clearly outlined our reasons for liking what we like, and for hating what we hate. And, both of stopped to think if our side of the argument was best, so there was some thinking in stereo involved. The “argument” ended kindly, and we both agreed that yes, rap is passionate, and yes, alternative music is clear and nice to listen to, and we both went to bed.

Anna Ursino

These past few days I have been having an internal debate about my weekend plans. I spoke to other people about going home for the weekend or staying at Gonzaga. Usually I would be able to easily decide on staying at Gonzaga since it is the first week of school but back at home there is an ongoing tragedy that has taken its turn for the worst. I spoke with multiple friends reasoning why I should venture back home this weekend “My Step Father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer last Christmas and in this past week his treatment quit working and his health took a turn for the worse. My mother has explained that the doctors estimated about three months for him to survive and now he is giving up body and soul. I should go home to be there for my family and for my mother.”Although the dilemma within giving me claims as to why I should stay at Gonzaga this weekend, “I have only been here a week and I already have a lot of homework to do for my classes, plus there are so many events taking place this weekend that I don’t want to miss them.” “It just seems too soon to go home, especially when I am planning on going home next weekend for my best friend’s birthday.” “Also I would have no idea how to help my mother if I would return home for a few days and to be in an environment of ill spirit is very hard to handle emotionally.” “I have spoken to her on the phone every day, I don’t know what I would do if I went home.” This would be my premise on the conclusion of staying at Gonzaga for the weekend. The main issue at hand is an explanatory rationale from my part. I received all sorts of opinionated reasons why I should or shouldn’t stay at Gonzaga. One reason I heard as to why I should stay from a friend is, “You are a college student now, you can’t leave all the time when a new tragedy happens, especially since your step dad has been sick for a while and you know how it will be back at home, you can’t be in an environment that will be depressing when you are trying to focus on school.” “Plus there are so many plans we have this weekend and it wouldn’t be good if you missed them.” The arguing reason I received from a friend reasoning to go home was, “Your step dad is really sick again and you won’t see him often as you are away at school, with his time limit and the emotional state your family is in you need to go home for the weekend to spend as much time as possible with them.” I have come up with two rationales that have put me in an internal argument and debate for my weekend plans. I have been contemplating and thinking critically in order to decide with premise and conclusion would fit best for my plans (as well as considering my friends reasoning). In the end I am still at a conflict because I have come to a full on decision.

Jason Sisk

Wednesday at the COG, I randomly asked a girl why she was putting just peanut butter on her sandwich. She looked at me and then described the jelly as "disgusting looking" and she only wanted one piece of bread. I was shocked and slightly disturbed. During a roaming adventure down my hallway, I overheard male members debating the finer points of Mac and PC computers. Several members described the Mac as "simple, logical, the four fingers shortcut, and Apple improves the 'little things' ". But PC believers only came back with the statement that Mac was overrated. After the conversation died down, I realized I was being a major creepster and headed back to my dorm.