LAB#1 Human Nature Debate Summary Assignment

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Collin County Community College District *

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2301

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Psychology

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Human Nature Debate: Summary Assignment (Step 4) Analyzing Trends 1. Overall, there was a healthy variety of opinions and debate; but I did notice a few patterns. Overall students tended to agree humans are selfish by nature. The majority of those discussing personality chose to agree that the adult personality is stable and unchanging. Students also tended to support the idea that all human behavior is learned and disagree that behavior is controlled by an unconscious mental process. An interesting trend I noticed immediately was the idea that personality is fixed, but only using one of the “Big 5” personality traits to show stagnation. Many students confused an openness for new experiences (a personality trait) with a stable personality. Another trend I immediately noticed was the way many students equated a baby or child’s dependence on parents as selfishness. Selfishness is choosing to prioritize one’s own needs over others as opposed to lacking independence and needing certain things provided out of necessity. These were the main trends I was able to distinguish after analyzing all position statements. Identifying Strong Logic and Good Critical Thinking 1. The most persuasive statement posted by another student who shares the same position belonged to Karneisha Brashears. Karneshia offered a good balance of anecdotal evidence and scientific data as to why the adult personality is not a fixed and stable force. I appreciated her taking the time to find current research data and explain the implications of those conclusions. She also offered some personal experience by reflecting on her own personality changes. Some of the examples that are demonstrated in the critical thinking booklet include relevancy, fairness, and depth. Her intentional use of data from the University of California, Berkley provides quantitative reasoning in addition to logical anecdotes. She does a proper job of not only articulating her position, but thoroughly taking the reader through her reasoning and how she arrived at her conclusions. 2. Karoliina Litmanen argued a position that differed from my own. She laid a great, thoughtful, and concise argument for why humans are born selfish by nature. She provided quality criteria for basing her reasoning as legitimate. What makes her post better than the rest was her way of dissecting her complex argument into easily understandable points. Her ideas presented with clarity coupled by an abundance of bite sized examples, allowed me to easily identify many of the 8 “Universal Intellectual Standards”. I can only assume she did not just read the guide to critical thinking but modeled her statement after the different elements of thought, universal intellectual traits, and the various levels of thought. 3. “What is objective of your reasoning?” Page 4

“Highest Order Thinking” Page 9 “Breadth” Page 11 “Fairness” Page 11 “Intellectual Humility” Page 14 Essential Intellectual Traits 1.Intellectual humility shoots to the top of my list for a few reasons. The first is the importance of acknowledging the limits of what it means to be knowledgeable about any given topic. It is all too common; we value our own knowledge and opinions undoubtedly more for the sole reason they belong to us. But it is this very humanistic ego that leads to arrogant ignorance. Secondly, the presents of egocentrism in current hot topic debates serve as the very oxygen that fuels a fire. Intellectual humility is a trait that when absent leads to arguments in which people listen to respond, and not to understand. Intellectual empathy ranks second as it is not valued and practiced near enough in this world. As people are more likely to label ideas as truth when it aligns with their own long-term perceptual beliefs. The ability to place yourself in the minds and position of others is a strong indicator of emotional intelligence. It is widely understood that intellect can be displayed in various forms. One of those is the ability to understand one’s own emotions as well as recognize them in others. It is important to be open to ideas and arguments that may not be congruent or validating with your own beliefs. To possess the highest quality of thinking (accomplished thinking), it is important to not only understand what someone’s point of view is. Intellectual empathy allows us to understand why others may perceive, feel, think, and behave differently. 2. Intellectual courage ranks at the bottom of my list for the sole reason that the other seven virtues are more dangerous when absent. I do believe this is an important trait to practice, but not before the more prevalent seven. Without intellectual courage, tough questions may still be asked but only when coupled with an abundance of logic. The inverse of intellectual courage is intellectual cowardice which does not inherently do significant harm to society. Frankly, I wish more people were slower to give validity to dangerous or absurd conclusions that are strongly correlated with negative emotions. Final Analysis 1. Regardless of the forum, it was important to write a purposeful, articulate, clear, and thoughtful position statement relating to a small facet of Human Nature. Knowing this position statement was to be submitted not just to my professor for grading but to peers for expansion changed the entire tone of the 300-word assignment. This paragraph needed to not only answer the questions assigned but communicate ideas and analysis meaningful enough to expand on. With that goal in mind, using critical concepts and 2

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