Prepare: Prior to answering this week’s discussion, make sure you have completed the readings and Complete this week’s “The Graduate” and “Buying a Car” scenarios.
Reflect: As you worked through the scenarios, it probably occurred to you that the arguments you were presented with were likely to be biased. You may have noticed the use of rhetorical devices or even fallacies. On your own, find an example of an argument from a media source and evaluate it on the basis on this week’s readings. Remember that the goal of this discussion is not to agree or disagree with the argument, but to examine ways in which the argument is affected by fallacies, biases, and other potential problems. Simply being false is not a bias or fallacy. It will be helpful for you to use the specific concepts from your textbook in completing this discussion. In other words, if you think that an argument has a bias, fallacy, or other defect, it’s up to you to say which bias or fallacy it is.
Write: Complete all of the following with reference to specific concepts from this week’s assigned readings:
- Include a link or bibliographical information for the source in your discussion post.
- Determine the issue that is being discussed and the conclusion that is drawn on that issue.
- Explain any biases or fallacies you find in the source and discuss the source of those biases with specific reference to the textbook or other sources on cognitive biases.
- Identify any rhetorical devices that may be used to influence your perception of the argument.
- Discuss the credibility of the source of the argument.
