ANSWER QUESTION

Initial P ost

I think the most important societal issue that relies on people's ability to think critically is the notion of equality. A tremendous amount of problems stem from society's inability to treat people equally and the way so many people are vilified, discriminated against, and pushed out of the way. For example, according to a 2015 Gallup poll on race relations, 26% of national adults said their impression was that blacks in their community were treated less fairly than whites on the job or at work, and 43% said their impression was that blacks in their community were treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police. More recently, immigrants and those of Arabic descent have been the target of scrutiny by channels such as FOX news and republican party members. Author Theodore Schick, Jr. cites Paul McCarthy's book about pseudoscientific beliefs, which states that of 190 high school biology and life science teachers, 26% felt that some races were more intelligent than others. These teachers may then pass down these beliefs to their students. If individuals were to use logic and critical thinking instead of holding baseless beliefs, I believe they would come to realize that in the grand scheme of things people are all just people and should be treated fairly. The more fair and equal treatment of all people would then, in my opinion, greatly help many issues in today's society.

Analysis Using the Rubric

I believe that my synthesis grade for my response would be either a fair or an excellent. I use the concepts of pseudoscience and people holding beliefs without any evidence. I would say it might be fair because I only go more in depth with the idea of pseudoscience and attribute it to the book, whereas the concept of baseless beliefs are only touched on. I could improve this category by referring more clearly to certain concepts in the book. Because this first chapter was very brief, it was hard to turn to many specific themes, but I think this will get easier as later chapters deal with more concepts.

I think my reasoning and evidence is excellent because I cite multiple sources for why equality is an issue. I use a recent Gallup poll (a relevant and accurate source), and a study done specifically on the concept of the teaching and proliferation of pseudoscience. I could improve my reasoning and evidence by including more statistics and more concrete proof of how creating a more equal environment would improve society.

I believe my formatting would get an excellent because it is fairly easy to read and has no misspellings or grammatical errors that I noticed. I think it would promote discussion and is respectful. I could improve my formatting by splitting up the post into smaller, more easily read paragraphs.