Week 9 Assignment - Organizational Change / Problem Solving part 2/ Discussions

Week 9 Discussion Critical Thinking

Using what you’ve read about ethics in the webtext, examine the world around you. Search online for your local news website and locate a story where you believe an ethical dilemma is going on. Please keep this story local and not national news.

Please respond to the following:

· Briefly explain the story, the ethical dilemma you identified, and how you think it can be resolved. Include a link to your story in your initial post.

Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts.

Hello everyone,

         www.baltimorebrew.com

Ground down and depopulated, Poppleton makes a last stand. By: Mark Reutter

It took me a while to figure out what ethical topic in my local news I was going to talk about, since there are so many. I decided to write about a story on the news I heard about a couple of months ago. The City of Baltimore was asking residents of the Poppleton Home Community to move, because the City was planning to build new developments in the area. Now until this story was released in my local news, I had never heard of this community. Hearing this story first hand made me feel angry and sad for the residents that lived in that area. I thought it was horrible for the City of Baltimore to tell residents they had to move after some of them had been living in their homes for over twenty years. I had to look deeper into this story and it doesn't get easier to hear. First I like to say that their homes are historic and were built around the Civil War time. Which gives me more pause on why the City wants to tear them down. The residents of Poppleton had been fighting crime in their areas for years and finally in the early 2000's won against drugs and crime. When they finally win their neighborhoods back they are then stolen by the City of Baltimore to build new development. The residents have held block parties to raise awareness and they also reached out to the current Mayor for help, but it just fell on deaf ears. The residents have no choice but to move. The landlord of the property had already sold the homes to New York developers for $200,000. The new owners haven't even started production, but wanted the residents out asap. I believe what the City of Baltimore did was unethical and morally wrong. I hope one day these residents will find some type of peace again in their new homes, maybe far away from the City.  

Thank you,

Cassandra Hunter

Week 10 Discussion Critical Thinking

Throughout this term, we’ve strived to expand your personal thought processes.

Please respond to the following:

· Using the weekly readings from Chapter 10, "Case Study," as your guide, how do you intend on altering your approach to problem-solving in the future?

· If you could select one aspect that you encountered over this term, what would you tell a future PHI210 student is the most important aspect of this course?

· Why did you select that aspect of the course?

Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts below

Before this class, I felt I analyzed situations well, and I was able to break down a problem and find a solution. The most important aspect of this class is, after this class, I know I am able to do it and that there are so many other things you should look out for, and that it is so important to do your research. Throughout this class, I really enjoyed learning about Fallacy (red herring, straw man, slippery slope, weak analogy, appeal to popularity, appeal to ignorance, appeal to emotion, begging the question, false dichotomy, unqualified authority, and ad hominem). I can say before this class, I only knew about "weak analogy."  I selected this aspect because I have learned so much about how people will use tricks/tips to persuade you on a topic. This class has also taught me what to do and what not to do when trying to speak with others on a topic. I also enjoyed learning about enthymemes. I knew what they were or what an example of one was once I learned the definition, but I never knew there was a word for it until I took this class. I would highly recommend this class to my peers because you will learn important new information.

Week 11 Discussion

Please respond to the following:

· Give your opinion on whether being an effective critical thinker makes decision making easier or more challenging. Talk about concrete decisions you had to or will have to make. Justify your response.

· Consider the following statement: “The major difference between a successful person and one who is not successful is that the successful person, over time, tends to make better decisions than the less successful person.” Discuss whether you believe this statement to be true. Explain the fundamental ways in which effectively applying critical-thinking concepts has helped you to become more successful.

Be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts below

I believe critical thinking makes making hard decisions more straightforward. By using critical thinking, it helps people determine fact versus false information. When someone can differentiate right versus wrong, it makes it an easier choice. I do believe the statement, "The major difference between a successful person and one who is not successful is that the successful person, over time, tends to make better decisions than the less successful person," is true. The reason being, one wrong choice could impact someone's future. It also doesn't have to be a bad choice. An example I think of is me going to school. If I had completed my schooling straight out of high school as I planned, then right now, I would have my bachelor's degree instead of trying to achieve it now. If I had chosen to finish my degree earlier, I could have been in a different career than I am right now. I don't regret my choice because you can't dwell on the past; you can only work on your future.