Guest Speaker: Lynn Medeiros

Lynn Medeiros was a very interesting speaker. She was very energetic about her topic and you could observe that in her body language. I have always thought about fallacious reasoning; I understood what it was but I could never find a name for it.
As Lynn Medeiros began to talk about the different types of fallacious reasoning, such as "Appeal to Ignorance" and "Appeal to General Belief," I was surprised to see how many people in the world actually use these techniques. It was both funny and sort of sickening at the same time, because now I understood how many people of authority, such as politicians, governors, and even the (ex)-president use these argumentative techniques. I took the handout home and showed it to my dad. I almost thought he was going to have a heart attack. He was not mad at me he was mad because now he understood how many people, such as Rush Limbaugh, use these techniques to gain power and popularity.
However, as these things were going on I couldn't help but feel a little hypocritical. I admit that I have used some of these techniques in the past. Of course it wasn't so I could "rise to power" but nonetheless I've still used them.
Because of Lynn Medeiros' talk I am more aware of when people try to use fallacious reasoning, even myself.
It makes you wonder what the United States would be like if we didn't use fallacious reasoning.

Viewpoint of the Environment

I grew up with hippie parents. I know some people will ask "Well define a hippie," and in fact it's really quite simple. When my parents were younger they used to work in Eugene, Oregon as hoedads. Now a hoedad is a person who is hired by a park or wildlife organization and lives in a forest and basically plants saplings. My parents worked for a year and all they did was plant baby trees.
My parents continued working like this for several more years. When I came into the picture my parents were really interested in the outdoors. It seemed like almost every month we went camping somewhere. And it wasn't just around our home, we travelled all around California and visited many national parks and reserves.
When I was younger I actually hated camping. I did not enjoy leaving my home and going somewhere in the middle of nowhere to freeze. But as I grew older I really began to appreciate camping. I would look forward to our annual camping trips. Perhaps it was something new or perhaps it was the opportunity to go "off the grid" but either way I began to see the environment in a different way.
Because of how my parents raised me and the experiences I had, I am more aware of my impact on the environment. Now I'm not mister perfect, I drive a lot because of school. However, I do carpool a lot as well.
I am content with my viewpoint of the environment for now. However, I see my viewpoint changing in the future. I plan on travelling and seeing more of the world and perhaps that will influence my perceptions of the world.