The Reason for Teaching Reasoning

One of the new concepts that I have learned while attending college is that of critical thinking and reasoning skills. I don’t think the ideas and concepts were actually new to me but I didn’t realize the importance that they play in our every day life. Now that I have learned the importance of these skills and realize that the majority of people have to be taught these skills I believe that we should be teaching these skills to our youth and not wait until they reach high school or college level. We still seem to be restricting our kids reasoning potentials with some of the choices that we give them. And there are those who are afraid that children will lose their innocence even sooner than they are now if we teach them to ask questions.

The young school children who seem to do the best in school are the ones who ask the questions. These are the kids who ask more than “will this be on the test?’. They ask why. The Foundation for Critical Thinking explains that most teachers only generate answers for the students to remember and then regurgitate. Without questions there is no actual learning. There would be no advancements in current fields of the sciences. Our school systems now are just beginning to realize the importance of teaching students to reason and to use critical thinking skills. An article by Steven D. Schafersman tells of the importance of critical thinking and teaching the skills to our youth.

Another good reason to teach the youth of today reasoning and critical thinking skills to arm them with the basic survival tools they will need to function as an enlightened adult. Make them aware of the marketing firms that are out to part them from their money with things that they really don’t need but have been convinced it is something they can’t live without. Just getting our youth to question simple assumptions will help them become more empowered. Even for young adults the skills of critical thinking and reasoning will help them make wise choices growing up.

The Negative Impact of Computers and Electronics

What do we do with all of our Outdated Stuff?

As I carry my old Compaq out to the garage I realize that I have two other old, out dated computers, three monitors and a couple of obsolete printers taking up valuable space in my life. The whole world is in the computer age and with out them we couldn’t function in college or high school for that matter. They are a wonderful form of entertainment in our lives as well as in almost every aspect of our working lives. The problem lies in what do we do with all of the waste that is being generated with this technology? Is it the responsibility of the end consumer and the cities and counties to find a safe place for their disposal or should the manufacturers assume the burden? This is one problem that everyone is going to have to work together to make sure we find a useful solution and protect our environment.
According to the EPA in 2007 over 41 million desktop and laptop computers were discarded and over 31 million monitors. These components are only a part of the problem. We also have to deal with televisions, cell phones and gaming systems to name a few others. All of these components contain toxic elements that, if leached into the ground water contaminate an extremely precious resource. There are also elements, such as lead that are harmful just coming into contact with them.
A horrible practice taking place right now is to ship our e-waste over seas to poor countries that have no regulations to protect the people or their environment. The components are disassembled and the metals are sold while the rest of the units are discarded. While some will argue that poorer countries would be worse off with out this means to earn a living, how can we justify the health and pollution problems that our waste is creating? The Electronics TakeBack Coalition would like to see the federal government pass legislation to prohibit the exporting of e-waste to other countries.
With our ever evolving technology comes the responsibility of protecting our planet and the lives that inhabit it. Manufacturers need to make the manufacturing of green electronics a priority and also take the lead from HP and Dell and ban the exporting of e-waste. Consumers need to start looking for electronics that are made with materials that are less toxic and more recycle friendly and make sure that they act responsibly when recycling their electronics. Even the Olympic medals this year contain a small amount of e-waste that would have ended up in Canada’s landfills. And so with this bit of information I challenge everyone to do their part in working to correct this world wide problem.

Pop Culture Survey

For the three days that I had to track pop culture in my life I found out that I was involved more in pop culture than I thought. So here is my list:

Went to Starbucks for coffee.
I sent and received text messages.
Sent and received e-mails
Used my mp3 player
Had a couple of micro brews at Prescott Brewing Company
Used my XM radio
Used the Internet for both school work and watching some TV shows
Watched the Superbowl and watched the commercials
Watched a couple of television shows and was exposed to the commercials that went
along with them
Rented a movie from Red Box

My Blog Experiment

Three days ago I didn't know what the hell a Blog was and here I am blogging! I think!! Now I will do more research and see exactly what all the fuss is about!!