LLA 4/23 Response

LLA 4/23 Response

We had a LLA class taught by Rab. Unlike the first lecture, the class consisted of only section 1A students, so the mood of the class wasn't any different from ARW class. However, the topic of the lecture was very special. It was about the most important thing to know when writing a paper, how to support a thesis with evidences. The lecture started with Rab's favorite phrase, "Macs is great but Windows is a crap." This is certainly a controversial opinion that needs supporting evidences. Using this example, we learned six main evidence types we can use:

1. facts
2. examples
3. statistics (samplings)
4. expert opinions
5. appeals-emotional, ethical, rational
6. logic-induction, deduction

He taught us few things to remember when dealing with number 3 and 4. When collecting data to make statistics, people, including experts, whom we ask for opinions should not be biased or skewed. For example, in terms of "Macs or Windows" question, it is obviously wrong to ask workers at Apple or Microsoft. Although it sounds obvious, it is extremely important thing to remember in order to make an accurate sampling.

His lesson on a view of ethics was very interesting. A "killing 5 or 1" question really made me think. By changing the situation in many ways, answers can easily change depending on individual viewpoints. It reminded me of Kuleshov Effect, an effect dealing with cognitive psychology.

Another interesting thing to learn was "a pyramid of memory", which illustrates the system of our memorization. Rab drew a pyramid with scales from 10 to 100 from top to bottom and explained to us that humans can memorize only 10% from vision and most effectively through feeling and experience.

Today's lecture was a full of excitement because although I want to be major in science (either mathematics or physics), I also have a strong interest in psychology. Not only that I could learn the effective methods to write, but also I could learn a lot about how human's cognition works.