WOK language - global views

Culture and Language

Several different language studies are discussed in this article. One was about the difference in language of low income families and high income families. Several studies done in the late 1970s showed a large difference in the use of language in children of low income families and high income families. The studies showed that children of high income families were better able to talk about past and future events, problem solve, reach solutions, and better understood other's feelings and experiences. Another hypothesis is that children who are exposed to academic language at home will do better in school than those who are not. Also, children's socialization may vary with the expectation of competition versus collaboration.

One knowledge claim that is made is that children from low income families speak a different English dialect than children from high income families.

Language as a Way of Knowing: Perspectives on the brain, thought and culture

What is the role of language in creating and reinforcing social distinctions, such as class, ethnicity and gender?

Language plays a large part of who are. In my IB Spanish class, I have learned about the difference between the two different yous, tú, and usted. Tú is used among friends, while Usted is used for teachers, strangers, and people older than you are. This is a form of respect between people.
Similarly, the Korean language is full of respect, and your matter of speaking changes depending on whom you are speaking with. People are never called by just their given name, they are either called by both their family and given names or another title. To a girl, an older female is called Unni. Different names for both boys and girls separate the genders, and create a distinction between the two. This is very different from the American society , where we see many unisex names like guys and dude. This level of respect goes farther than just the language. The respect that they use in their language runs in their society, showing up in the way that they act. A waeguken, or foreigner will never feel like they will be a part of Korean society, becuase they will always be a waeguken, and they will therefore never be a Korean.
In my life, I see examples of class and ethnic separation very often. When someone says Yo, they are often associating themselves with lower class African Americans. My use of language, and my pet peeve of when to use adjectives and when to use verbs often makes me seem like a very educated, upper class white girl. However, often times, these assumptions can dig people into a hole, and cause them to make wrong judgments.


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Reason as a Way of Knowing - evaluating opposing views

The Omnichild's Dilemma

"And we won’t even have a spouse around to help us, since most of us will be divorced. (You may have heard: We’re hard to live with because we never learned to share.)"

This is my point of view:
This claim is illogical. There is no way that we can tell the future. Also, I am sure that there are plenty of only children who have had long, happy marriages. Also, as an only child, I have learned to share. I can share just fine when I want to, but I believe that every one has a hard time sharing at one point or another, and it is something that we all have to deal with.

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Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking

Skepticism:

There are two levels skepticism: extreme and moderate. Extreme skepticism means that there is no truth, while moderate skepticism means that some truth is accepted

Evasive Agnosticism

AN agnostic is someone who lacks enough information on something to make a judgement about it. AN agnostic neither denies nor accepts the truth. A person who is agnostic uses ignorance as an excuse.

Narrow Mindedness:

Narrow Mindedness is when a person limits their knowledge. They might be able to find out more, but they don't want to.

Example:

Narrow Mindedness:

IF there was an election, and a person simply voted for someone because they were either a democrat or a republican, this would be narrow mindedness. However, if someone voted for a candidate because they agreed on issues, it would not be narrow
minded.

Knowledge Issues

1) How can humans communicate effectively if we are missing senses? How true can our interpretations of those communications be?

2) How can synesthesia affect what we know?

Logical Fallacies

False Dilemma

A False Dilemma is when someone makes two statements and then one of them is discovered to be false, so the other statement must be true, even though it might be false.

An example of a false dilemma:

Either I buy a car, or I am going to have to get a ride from someone else.

False Dilemma Example

Appeal to Tradition

An Appeal to Tradition Fallacy is when something is declared to be better simply because it older.

Molly: I love my new iPod!
Emilie: I only listen to records, they are way better.

False Dilemma example

Appeal to Novelty

An Appeal to Novelty Fallacy is a fallacy that occurs because someone thinks that something is better simply because it is newer.

Appeal to Novelty Example

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jsOllD-lwL7mSnCvmAQa9zSNXt0S_mJ4X3WvTD-vjdM/edit