A500.3.4.RB - Explore the Hunt Library_MullBrandon

     The Hunt Library is a great way to search for scholarly resources. With the resources that the Hunt library provides you could search for anything that you with to know about. With the professional articles that Hunt library provides students don't have to worry about the authenticity of a source.

     Where and who a source of information comes from is one of the more key concepts of a scholarly resource. If a student has to worry about where and who a resource comes from we waist half the time that could be used for more learning. With the resources from Hunt library we know that the facts are true and have facts and evidence behind everything. Another reason that Hunt library is consisted scholarly is that everything that makes up the library has been sifted through for fact and evidence. The Hunt library also has a search function that makes everything as easy as typing in the subject in and waiting for the answers to come to you.

     The difference between Hunts library and a Standard Google search is as vast as a asking a known professional or a starting business man. The two have facts but one is more riddled with claims. Google is a great place to do a scholarly research but you always have to do a back ground check. The reason for doing a claim check on Google is that anyone can put whatever they want on Google.

      As one of the biggest drawbacks of Google is that anyone can put anything on Google it is one of its biggest assets. You can get any claim or idea from a simple Google search. It can be the spark for a great business idea and concept that may turn into a outstanding thesis.  Also on Google you can ask questions that anyone can answer. The bloggers on Google rang from High School student to known professional. You can ask anything on Google and Millions of people can answer your question. 

     In conclusion Hunt library is a place for professional articles and sound research. The same search can be in Google and you have to do the research to find if the information provided is factual. The other benefit of Google is that you get a wider range of people and diversity. The difference between the two is mostly on credibility and how many people have access to comment on the information.

A500.2.4.GA - Elements and Standards SEE-I MullBrandon

After reading the definition of non-critical-thinking as, "nothing inherently wrong with non-critical-thinking," standards it opened a new door into why people act the way they do. I thought that popularity was just something that other people worried about. It is actually just a way of non-critical-thinking. It is not bad but it is not a progressive way of thinking. I have always tried to be a very reasonable person, always looking at both sides of the coin. I also have a conceded side that I now can label a non-critical-thinking side which is that I strive to be good at volleyball.

                To be a reasonable person you have to be able to put arguments aside and say things differently in order to see everything from a different set of eyes. At the first look, it is always hard to see the other persons side of the story and to put ourselves in their shoes. This is an important critical-thinking standard to me because I would want someone else to do the same. I don't want to be looked down upon by others just because they don't understand the point of view I have. Also the opposite is true,  I don't want to look down upon someone just because I don't always see where they are coming from. The best way to see from the other persons’ shoes is to ask them non-argumentative questions and not talk down to them because we automatically think they are wrong.

                In order to be a reasonable person one also has to have the ability to put all pre-conceived notions aside.  People have a bad tendency to tell others all the negative qualities of a different person. For example, if someone has a slight tendency to over-exaggerate the truth they are labeled a liar. That person might be a hard worker, responsible, and could also be funny. If the negative qualities are what you go on before you meet a person then you are not being reasonable towards that person. Being a reasonable person is important to me because you only make your own judgments of people and you are more likely to be able to avoid an argument because you are able to see it from the other side. Being a reasonable person is my Dr. Jekyll but my Mr. Hyde side comes out in my sports.

                I have been playing volleyball ever since I was out of college. It is how I met the love of my life, my loving wife, Kim. It has been a part of my life and even our marriage. I am very aggressive when it comes to playing volleyball. I have a tendency to exploit others weaknesses, like not being able to pass well or being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. I am not a reasonable person while on the court. I am rash to think, “why didn't that person see where the hitter was going to hit the ball”, like I did or, “I would have spiked the ball better when a set doesn't come to me.” The critical thinking side of me is on the sidelines. My ability and my aggressiveness for sports is on the court.

                It is not always a bad thing to have the ability for sports, but I think there is an aspect that could be better because of critical thinking. If I was to be more reasonable on the court, I would be more concerned with how I can be a better play than why someone else is not doing what I would do. I think critical-thinking could be applied in most situations of non-critical-thinking and would be better for it.     

A500.2.3.RB - Tell Your Story_MullBrandon

Intellectual Perseverance is not only having the mind that another person may be right whether it be male or female, black or white, but also a person who people expect you to be racist towards. I have always had the poor judgment of not listing to everyone and thinking that only select people who are wealthy or have power are to be intellectually revered, while the opposite is true. As a student, I need to have intellectual perseverance to look past the status of a person and take in the information because everyone can have something intellectual to say.

In my studies, information that has always stuck in my mind has always come from a person I revered as a highly intelligent person. I lacked the intellectual perseverance to look past the person and dive into what they were trying to teach me. The future student in me needs to take all information into consideration because all information is important not just who it comes from. Information is important but also knowing the deeper relation to other information.

Knowing information is only half the argument. Anyone can be full of random information but only after the application of perseverance can we connect the information to have a whole thought. The problem I have always had as a student is only taking part of the information and not trying to put the information together as a whole forming rational thoughts. While the small parts of information are important, the point to studying anything is to understand it as a whole and connect that whole to other thoughts. Connecting one thought to another is always confusing.

What I find are some of the hardest obstacle when coming to terms with persevering through new information is combining it with old information. The critical thinking website says, "A sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight."(Valuable Intellectual Traits)  Struggling with a combination of a new idea such as how a crankshaft and a camshaft may be two different actions but they work towards the same goal. The crankshaft moves the piston and the camshaft works off the crankshaft to open valves for the piston. You have to know how each one works but in the end you have to know how they affect each other to know how a piston engine works.  

Perseverance is not only about combining new ideas and thoughts on a deeper level but it is about overcoming what you have said no to in the past, not only as a student but as an individual. I have always thought that a good leader only needs experience. The irrational thought that intellectual perseverance can only come through experience, but intellectual perseverance starts before that. To learn anything new you have to be willing to go through the struggle of working it out and getting through the hardships in your situation. People have the irrational fear of starting a new job because they don't want to be looked down upon as they learn new information. I think that with the right perseverance you can take on any job and can strive to make that job better.    

Reference:

"Valuable Intellectual Traits." Valuable Intellectual Traits. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2015.