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YOU are better than YOU think. Show yourself how:
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-/[]\- Logic chapters 1 to 5 re- appear not in sequence, as is or longer, in Volume 1A, Pattern Based Reason, Bon Appetite. Logic
Mastery Logic mastery makes the hard, easier. Logic mastery leads to better, stronger and richer comprehension. Logic mastery improves reading and writing. Logic mastery ease learning difficulties. Logic mastery gives a headstart. In sum, logic mastery will develops critical thinking, improve reading and writing, and give a firmer base for work and studies at many levels. Good luck. After logic, (a) continue reading Three Skills for Algebra, chapters 8 to 14 and do so alongside site area on solving liinear Equations ; or (b) see this calculus starter lesson and Volume 3, Why Slopes & More Math, chapters 2 to 6;
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-/[]\- What may be learnt and when depends on how skills and concepts are developed. Making the hard easier and clearer will allow earlier & richer development of skills and concepts. Try the Twiddla
Whiteboard. In principle, it allows
to people to draw and chat together online on a copy of this webpage or a clean
sheet. The chat may be via text or audio. Visit www.twiddla.com
to set up whiteboards to work with the webpage of your choice. |
Hype, Hype, Hype, HoorayPeople try to persuade us in many ways. We need to recognize the fair and unfair ways, or the sensible and nonsensical ways. In persuading ourselves and others, we need to recognize and appreciate or reward careful logic. Efforts to persuade and lead us are met in advertising, public relations, political campaigns, religion, law, business, mathematics courses (yes), and even your family. Advertisements and sales pitches may give an excessively favorable impression of a product. That is, few people, parties or companies will point to the bad or weak parts in their service or product. Because of a favorable impression or promise, we may choose one service or product much to our later regret. Words can be used not only to teach and inform but also to direct or misdirect others. Here different messages can be given to different people. For example in talking about an adult-only subject, a child may be given or understand one message, while the elders understand another (or both). This may give a simple, half-innocent, example of a creative, deceptive ambiguity. In time the child grows up. Delivery of two different messages at once becomes more difficult as the child learns. Double meanings are then seen by the child, and no longer useful. The child is less gullible. More blatantly, appearances and words can mislead us. Ambiguity and inconsistency are tools of some politicians and some sales agents for whom only the result (selling a product, service or conclusion) counts. For example, a leader or salesperson may suggest different and contrary ideas to different people. Watch for this inconsistency. Does it reflect a maturing attitude or a deceptive tongue? In honest debate between people, question and issues are addressed one by one as they appear and the course of debate is not changed to avoid answering awkward questions. Unfortunately, for the sake of persuasion, political speakers may respond to only part of a question and shift the topic of conversation, so that the original topic is neglected. It is a shallow and insulting kind of response that goes for the most part unchallenged in public debate. Numbers, and not just words, can be used to mislead people. Numerical descriptions of situations need to be understood. Averages for instance may be computed using different ways. It is also deceptive to let people think that one calculation is used instead of another. It is also deceptive, more precisely meaningless, to use statistics without saying how they were computed. In mathematics, a statistic is just a number computed from collected data. Further examples of and warnings about numerical or statistical methods of deception can be found in the following two books.
Ethics For PersuasionWhen you want others to agree with an action or idea, how should you speak? The only way to convince others is to give them reasons acceptable to them. But in doing this, our reasons for the action or idea could be different from the ones acceptable to them. When this is the case, we should say so. In this, some diplomacy may be required. The honesty advocated here is awkward when you speak to people who do not allow reasons different from theirs for a common goal. |
www.whyslopes.com
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