Untitled
सत्य दायरे
Professor David Christopher Lane Presents
CRITICAL THINKING / Phil 8
Mt. San Antonio College | REGULAR COURSE |
Fall 2018
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NEWS!
Now Online
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INTRODUCTION
This course is designed to help us think and write more critically over a broad number of issues, including such subjects as religion, mathematics, physics, psychology, and biology. To achieve this goal the course have a essay based midterm and final. Each week there will be an in-class test on selected films shown in class. 15 minutes will be allocated to finish the test and then each student will take the test home and place it on their website. At midterm and final time each student will send a link to their website and at that time the Professor will grade all of your tests (including extra work).
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General website: http://www.neuralsurfer.com
General library of free materials: http://www.runnebohmlibrary.com
Neural Surfer's Youtube channel for original films: http://www.youtube.com/user/neuralsurfer
Email: dlane@mtsac.edu
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/neuralsurfer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/neuralsurf
If you have any questions or confusions, please write to your professor at the appropriate email (online students only: dlane@mtsac.edu) and you should receive a response within 48 hours. If you do not receive a reply within two days, it generally means that your professor did not get your email. Be sure to write again until you get a reply.
Office Hours: Mondays (2:30 to 3:30) and Tuesdays (2:30 to 3:30) | Fridays (12 to 2) Building 26B 2551N
Classroom: 26D-2431
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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Be sure to create your own personal website using google sites. [Here is a link to a brief instructional video on how to create one very simply within seconds.]
2. Keep a copy of everything that you do for the course on your website.
3. Do all of the assigned readings to the best of your ability. There will be some reading that you may skim read, provided you understand the basic materials being presented.
4. Watch all of the assigned films.
5. Complete and pass all of the film tests.
6. Complete and pass both the midterm and final.
7. Perfect attendance is a huge plus and will raise your grade. Try never to be late or absent.
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REQUIRED TEXTS
Special Note from Professor: These past two months we have partnered with audible.com and a series of professional narrators to provide our students with audio versions of some of the required texts for this class. We feel this a wonderful and useful option for students who are quite busy these days. You can listen to these audio texts almost anywhere (in your car, on your smart phone, at home on your computer). They are priced very low (anywhere from 5 dollars to 10 dollars) and provide a welcome alternative to reading a text that far too often students merely skim or skip altogether.
I have been a big fan of audio books now for some 25 years. I highly recommend it. The key is to simply join Amazon's owned company, http://www.audible.com. I have provided links next to each required text for the audio version. It is your option, of course, whether you wish to have the audio version or the print copy. Below are instructions about the printed books for this class.
For a fuller listing go here: https://sites.google.com/site/msacaudiobooks/
Required Books for this Course. There are several small books to purchase. They are available only at amazon.com.
Amazon offers PRIME free for 6 months for students. So when you order the book you will get it at your door step the next 1-2 days and delivery is free!! Here is how to sign up for free amazon prime: http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info (you have to use your student mtsac email to sign up). Purchase price for all 6 of the books together: around 40 dollars (reasonable considering traditional text books usually sell for over 100 dollars). I am recommending that you buy these books from amazon.com at once as a "bundle" (all at once). This will save you some money, they arrive your door together in one package, and you will only have to order once for this class. The books are not available at Mt. Sac bookstore since there is about a 40% price hike if purchased there. Also, many students are taking this class outside of the Mt. Sac local area and are not able to commute to the campus for book purchases. The books are not for profit. I recommend using PRIME so that you receive the text within 24-48 hours of purchasing it. You can start reading it early as well. You will need the books as soon as possible. In addition to these small books, there will be online (free) readings assigned in the weekly lesson plans. This is NOT for profit publishing.
All books can also be available for free as PDF versions. However, some students have complained that it is more difficult to read off a computer screen. It is your choice. Go here for the free PDF versions. Be sure to scroll down that page to "critical thinking." Or go here for a fuller list: https://sites.google.com/site/therunnebohmdigitalcollection:
https://sites.google.com/site/therunnebohmdigitalcollection/
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NO TECHNOLOGY ALLOWED DURING CLASS
No smart phones, no computers, no texting, etc.
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Course Outline
INTRODUCTION
Required Introductory Readings (online and free):
Thinking and Writing Clearly | A Field Guide to Critical Thinking | A Mini Guide to Critical Thinking | Critical Thinking and Writing |
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WEEKS 1, 2, 3: MATHEMATICS (understanding probability)
REQUIRED BOOKS FOR THIS WEEK
1. WHY LIVING TODAY IS BETTER THAN YESTERDAY | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
2. YOU ARE PROBABILITY | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
3. A SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
Required Online Readings: The Hidden Side of Wolfgang Pauli | Patternicity |
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
EXTRA CREDIT: Respond to another student's film test and post it on the class forum and keep a copy of the same on your website. It must be 50 words minimum.
Critical Thinking TEST Films and Questions
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WEEKS 4 and 5: PHYSICS (understanding how things work)
REQUIRED BOOK FOR THIS WEEK
1. THE FEYNMAN IMPERATIVE | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
2. MAYA: THE PHYSICS OF DECEPTION | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
Required Online Readings: Are you Living in a Computer Simulation? | Turing on the Mind and Machine Intelligence |
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
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WEEKS 6, 7, and 8 : BIOLOGY (understanding evolution)
REQUIRED BOOKS FOR THIS WEEK
COSMIC CREATIONISM | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
Required Online Readings: Natural Selection | Darwin's Life |
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
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WEEKS 9, 10, 11: PSYCHOLOGY (understanding the tricks of the mind)
REQUIRED BOOK FOR THIS WEEK
THE MYSTICAL DIVIDE | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
THE CULTIC MIND | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
PROFESSOR LANE'S VIDEO OVERVIEW FOR WHAT IS REQUIRED THIS WEEK (please watch)
EXTRA CREDIT (not required): In Search of the Perfect Coke
Required Online Readings: Human, All Too Human | Civilization and Its Discontents |
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
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WEEKS 12 and 13: THE PARANORMAL (understanding the strange)
REQUIRED BOOKS FOR THIS WEEK
THE CHURCHLAND CONTROVERSY | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
THE CHANDIAN EFFECT | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
Required Online Readings: Cargo Cult Science | The Physics of the "Paranormal" | What is a "Cold Reading"? |
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
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WEEKS 14, 15, 16: THE ETHICAL and THE TECHNOLOGICAL (understanding how we live and our future)
REQUIRED BOOK FOR THIS WEEK
SURFING IN THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE | AUDIO VERSION GO HERE
Required Online Readings: The Singularity is Near? | Brave New World Revisited | Technopanics | Darwin's Moral Sense
There will be a test based on required films shown in class each week. After taking the test in class you are required to post your completed test on your website within three days. These will be graded at the middle and at the end of the semester.
FINAL EXAM IS DUE JUNE 14th at the latest
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GRADING
A= Securing a B+ or higher on the midterm and final and doing all the required readings and watching all of the required films. Also completing each of the assigned essays and receiving a B+ grade or higher.
B= Securing a B- or higher on the midterm and final and doing all the required readings and watching all of the required films. Also completing each of the assigned essays and receiving a passing grade.
C= Securing a C- or higher on the midterm and final and doing most of the required readings and watching most of the required films. Also completing each of the assigned essays and receiving a passing grade.
D= Securing a D- or higher on the midterm and final and doing some of the required readings and watching some of the required films. Also completing most of the assigned essays and receiving a D grade or higher.
F= Not doing the required work for this course.
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Cheating and Plagiarism
The term “Cheating” includes but is not limited to:
• Plagiarism
• Receiving or knowingly supplying unauthorized information
• Using unauthorized material or sources
• Changing an answer after work has been graded and presenting it as improperly
graded
• Illegally accessing confidential information through a computer
• Taking an examination for another student or having another person take an
examination for you
• Presenting another person’s work as your own
• Forging or altering registration or grade documents
• Submitting collectively developed work as your own, unless specifically allowed by
the professor
A professor who determines that a student has cheated may give the student a failing grade
for the assignment and should report the alleged academic dishonesty to the Student Life
Office, which will maintain a record of the report and appropriate action under the
provisions of the Administrative Procedures on Student Discipline (AP 5520).
Students are advised that allegations of dishonesty are serious, and can lead to disciplinary
sanctions including suspension and expulsion. (AP 4290).
For webpage: http://www.mtsac.edu/distancelearning/_resources/2013-
14_Catalog_StudentHonestyPolicy_1.pdf
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Disability Accommodations
Students with disabilities, whether physical, learning, or psychological, who believe that they
may need accommodations in this class, are encouraged to contact Disabled Students
Programs & Services (DSPS) as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are
implemented in a timely manner. Their phone number is (909) 274-4290 and they are located
in the Student Services Building, Room 9B. Webpage: http://www.mtsac.edu/dsps/
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Student Learning Outcomes by Discipline | Philosophy 5
Classifying Arguments. Pre and Post-Surveys to identify student knowledge of Classifying Arguments (Inductive and Deductive)
Evaluating Arguments. Students will take Pre and Post-Surveys to identify knowledge of Evaluation Arguments (Strong/weak, Cogent/Uncogent; Valid/Invalid, Sound/Unsound). General Education Outcome. Students completing an assignment in Critical Thinking will be able to develop a thesis statement that advances a clear argument. Inquiry/Critical Thinking and Analysis. Students will demonstrate inquiry (a systematic process of exploring issues, objects or works) and analysis (assessment of evidence resulting in conclusions or judgments) as part of their Honors coursework.
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The Neuralsurfer website founded in 1994 is designed to present a variety of information
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