# Week 7 ## 3 March 2026 Tuesday ### Assumptions in Reasoning We started things off with class definitions. Assumption An idea or belief you take up without any evidence or looking for any An idea that isn't supported by a chain of reasoning. The main definition was: an idea we take for granted. Assumptions are often confused for inferences and can be left unchecked. So it is often difficult to see your own assumptions. We then expanded on hidden assumptions on 145; how some that we make are hidden within the fact and conclusion. We went over hidden assumptions a lot today in class. It was needed because it was difficult for some of us to really parse the assumptions out. Several of the more difficult ones were what Dr. Grossman called a "bad example." Saying things that is not actually that good, so was the examples were a bit wild. Don't give money to that homeless woman, she'll just use it to buy drugs. Women shouldn't serve in combat, they're too emotional. ### Assumptions in Argument Argument a debatable claim (thesis) you attempt to persuade someone of using reasons (inferences, facts). We then talked about the Argument Table on 147. If someone makes a claim, you can attack the facts (which we did for nearly every one of them in class). If someone makes a claim, you may see the flaw in their argument. Their facts may be wrong, or their examples or evidence. The best thing to do to discredit the claim is to point out the hidden assumption in an argument. In the examples above and in the examples in the book (146), we spoke about the implied unsaid assumptions being said in each sentence. ### Value Assumptions We weren't able to get to this today. We should finish chapter 5 on Thursday. ## 5 March 2026 Thursday Nothing written on the board today. So I had to infer based off of the examples she gave. Not analyzing and questioning an unstated assumption will affect and shape your schemas. Just because you don't see the implied assumption, it might mean you could start agreeing with something without seeing the implied idea. ### Value Assumptions Some call them priorities. These are core beliefs that we never or rarely question (149). We can't hold all values at all times. Sometimes they conflict with each other. Value priority can change over time. Then we broke into groups to talk about value assumptions. My group talked about ICE and their value assumptions over other groups. Then we had the chapter 5 quiz. # Week 8 ## 10 March 2026 Tuesday ### Chapter 7: Viewpoint We seem to be skipping chapter 6 (opinions). We started out with a couple of definitions of what "viewpoint" is defined as. > "Viewpoint is the particular way you see the world, or your distinct perspective on things." > -Vocabulary.com > Viewpoint "shapes one's construction of meaning." > -Barry K. Beyer, Critical Thinking We often use "viewpoint" the same as "opinion" in regular everyday conversations. Opinions come out of viewpoints. We looked at the "VP image" module on Canvas. Viewpoints can be blinders on our perspective. We can get offtrack when we assume *our* viewpoint is the most objective compared to the other person's viewpoint. Dr. Grossman drew a tree on a mountain to talk more about how we could be stuck in a viewpoint. This can contribute to Confirmation Bias. In the photo, the tree has two sides. One is full of life, while the other side is burned from a fire. There are two people on opposite sides, only seeing one side. We were then given a handout about a woman's story. We were split up into groups and answered questions surrounding viewpoints of the story. We then had to share that with the rest of the class. ## 12 March 2026 Thursday ### Viewpoints & Media We reviewed the definition of Viewpoint. Where you are looking or coming from. "I am me, and therefore..." Made me think of how certain emotions like love and limerence can influence our viewpoint. ### How Other People's Viewpoints affect our Understanding We are putting a filter on when we speak. Some people may think it is unbiased. Our own biases can affect what we take in. Their own viewpoint shapes the way we see things. The way we talk to people can lead them to see things another way. They could be an unstated assumption that you or others may not be conscious of. Sometimes people accept something without really thinking this through. They aren't always unbiased. Like the news media and social media. ### Media... Sources, Framing, and Content We discussed a list on pgs 198-9. The list is a bit outdated as it's from over ten years ago. But it was a jumping off point to discuss accuracy of different news outlets. The list doesn't account for today's news sources and how they've changed from the 2010s. Talked about hidden viewpoints (210). News sources decide what values are important and which are less important. After this we got into smaller groups. We needed to look up the following news sources and see what kind of stories popped up, what kind of language they used, and what kind of VPs they bring up: Fox News, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera. We then discussed two articles by Fox News and Reuters and how they presented viewpoints on an event from earlier this week.