Logic - Jeopardy

For the past two Monday's we've been playing a game of Jeopardy using lessons on Logic. One of my favorite books is The Fallacy Detective. What I did was take the first section of the book that covers "Avoiding the Question" and made this game. I typed up all of the example questions that they use throughout each chapter, grouped them into sections as follows:

L: Red Herring or None
O: Ad Hominem or Tu Quoque or None
G: 50/50.... this means that two choices will be provided for the answer (ex. Red Herring or Tu Quoque)
I: Good or Bad Appeal to Authority
C: Anything Goes (It could be any of the options)

I gave them cheat sheets to use that had each of the fallacies, along with their definitions and an example for them to use as a reference. We had a lot of fun and we still have cards left, so we will play again next week. I've decided to make a quiz for them to take at the end of this section.

I would share with you the copies of all the cards and the cheat sheets, but because they are not really mine, I typed everything verbatim from the book, I feel it would not be appropriate. So, I'll give you the fallacies for this section and their definition. I highly recommend the book, The Fallacy Detective, Thirty-Six Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn.


Avoiding the Question Fallacies:

Red Herring: Introducing of an irrelevant point into an argument. Someone may think (or they may want us to think) it proves his side, but it really doesn’t.
Ad Hominem Attack: (Latin for “to the man”): Attacking an opponent’s character, or his motives for believing something, instead of disproving his argument. It is not an ad hominem when someone only questions whether someone else is telling the truth.
Genetic Fallacy: Condemning an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it.
Tu Quoque: (Tu quoque means in Latin “you too.”) Dismissing someone’s viewpoint on an issue because he himself is inconsistent in that very thing.
Faulty Appeal to Authority: Appealing to the authority of someone who has no special knowledge in the area they are discussing. (when someone uses an appeal to authority as a way to overawe us and make us reluctant to challenge that authority’s viewpoint, he is committing a faulty appeal to authority. When the topic under discussion is controversial among respected authorities, then appealing simply to the opinion of a single authority is a faulty appeal to authority.)
Appeal to the People: Claiming that a viewpoint is correct just because many other people agree with it.
Straw Man: Changing or exaggerating an opponent’s position or argument to make it easier to refute.

New Years Resolutions

This week's family home evening we reviewed the talk by Joe J. Christensen, “Resolutions,” Ensign, Dec 1994, 62–67. Then, we made both our own personal resolutions and those as a family. I made this excel document that divided the resolutions into the parts discussed within the article, and a few of my own. We have made some really good and reasonable resolutions. Now we just need to keep them!

D&C 121

This week for FHE we read as a family D&C 121, which was revealed during Joseph's imprisonment at Liberty Jail in 1839. This chapter has a few of my favorite scriptures....

Verse 7-8:...thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high....

This is a terrific promise that offers comfort during trying times. In the midts of difficulties the severity may seem to magnify itself and overshadow hope and reason. Keeping it in perspective that it is "but a small moment" and perserverance will be rewarded can be reasuring.

Verse 39: We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

I feel reminded of this so many times throughout life from the small to the largest of circumstances. From folsk in pominent positions abusing their power to power company taking advantage because they can.

Verse 43: Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy....

I find this a terrific piece of parenting advice.

Lessons From Liberty Jail

Last weeks FHE was the CES Fireside talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that he gave in September 2008. We watched the actual video from this site. You can read the transcript from this PDF link. I would highly recommend watching the talk first, though. Nothing beats the feeling of compassion and the Spirit when he talks nor hearing from his lips the special blessing he gives "as if my hands were on your head." This is a talk that I will want to always keep on hand and read when I'm going through a difficult time, when I feel alone in my struggles, or when I'm tempted to be vengeful or angry because someone has done me wrong.

Three Lessons From Liberty Jail:
1. Everyone faces trying times.
2. Even the worthy will suffer
3. Remain calm, patient, charitable, and forgiving

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the talk:
[A] spiritual experience, revelatory experience, sacred experience can come to every one of us in all the many and varied stages and circumstances of our lives.

You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced… Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking.

These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace.

Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us.

The Test

Tonight for Family Home Evening we read President Boyd K. Packer's November 2008 Conference Talk, The Test. What I really liked about this talk is the reminder to hold a higher standard when dealing with those who mistreat us. The world would try to convince us that the response would be revenge, but Pres. Packer reminds us that "something much stronger than human nature [can] prevail...."

I can think of a few times in my life when someone does me wrong it can be very frustrating and tempting to fight back with equal determination. Then, to remember that this life is a test and I don't want to fail that test.

Visiting the Sick

For FHE this week we visited a dear friend who is recovering from surgery. We stopped by DQ on our way (made sure first what her diet restrictions were so that we didn't tease or dissappoint her) and enjoyed a nice treat and a visit with her.

Ward Friendship Circle

A few years ago my family and I enjoyed getting to know the ward members better and building a closer relationship with them through this activity.

To begin with, I made this cute little circle using a poem that is often found on plates that folks are supposed to move from house to house, like a chain letter - but, it's a plate. Instead, I made a circle to remind them that we were thinking of them... and it is cute and I like to make things. I used clipart from programs that I had purchased at a LDS bookstore to put together the people around the circle.... this includes the word "WARD." For the name of the ward, using Microsoft Publisher, I added a word art and using the font "SnapITC", a shadow was added and the word was changed to the color orange and placed just above the word "ward." You can see that in the example above, but for the one that I am sharing below I removed it. I printed the circles onto purple paper, had them lamenated, and punched a whole in the top center for a suction cup. Finally, I cut them out using curvy scrapbooking sizzors.

For the activity I would make a homemade apple pie and we would grab some store-bought ice-cream and a game and show up at someone's house. There we would enjoy a dessert of pie and ice-cream and either visit or play the game we brought. I would give them the friendship circle, which was for them to keep - not share. It did invite them to do something nice for someone else, though. Showing up at someone's house uninvited worked most of the time. We still remember how one family kept insisting that they must have invited us and that they had forgotten and that we were just being polite about it. We always had a good time with the family we were visiting and we could always tell that they enjoyed it, too. So, all was well as the uninvited guests.

We really miss these outings. Maybe one day we will continue them. For now, I am happy to share with you our little "Ward Friendship Circle"

Patriarchal Blessings

Our opening hymn was 219 "Because I've Been Given Much" Then, we learned about Patriarchal Blessings by reading together an article titled “About Patriarchal Blessings,” found in the March 2004 New Era. Then, we enjoyed a delicious and creative dessert brought by our friends. It used a chocolate rice cake, with a layer of whipped cream spread on top and then some sliced strawberries on top of the whipped cream. It was delicious.

Amazing Grace

While reading the Book of Mormon I came across a section that reminded me of the song Amazing Grace. So, for FHE, I printed out the words to that song and we sang it as the opening song. Then, we read the scripture that reminded me of it, which is Mosiah 27:28-30. This was our FHE... really, a simple spritual thought.

8 Ways God Can Speak To You

This past week our Family Home Evening was about how we hear the whispering of the Holy Ghost. We based our lesson from the talk Eight Ways God Can Speak To You by By Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Then we discussed how other prophets had described the voice of the Lord, outlined below.

This FHE turned out to be a stepping stone for our next intended lesson about Patriarchal Blessings and the 12 tribes of Israel.

How Do Prophets, Seers, and Revelators Describe the Voice of the Lord?
“It” refers to the voice of the Lord.

Joseph Fielding Smith:
It can be as deep and meaningful as anything tangible.
It is penetrating.

Spencer W. Kimball:
It comes as deep, unassailable impressions that settle on the mind as dew from heaven.
They are deep feelings.
It is an impressive consciousness of direction from above.

Dallin H. Oaks:
It can take the form of enlightenment of the mind.
It can come as positive or negative feelings about how to act.
It can uplift our emotions.

Harold B. Lee:
It is not audible to our physical hearing.

Joseph B. Wirthlin:
It enters quietly into our mind and heart.
It is so simple and precise we assume it is our own idea or a passing thought.
As we reconcile these whisperings to what we know to be true, we learn to recognize them.

Joseph Smith:
It yields the fruits of the kingdom.
If our hearts are open it brings conviction.
It whispers consolation to the soul.

Boyd K. Packer:
It caresses gently.
It is a sweet, quiet voice of inspiration.
It comes more as a feeling than as a sound.
Pure intelligence can be spoken into the mind.

(I think this came from excerpts from Hearing the Voice of the Lord, a book on personal revelation that was written by Elder Gerald N. Lund. I'm not sure because I had written them down, not sure where I originally found the information, and don't even own the book.)

Funeral

It may have been a couple of weeks since my last post... but, we have had Family Home Evening. First, we had a funeral to attend during one week. This was heartbreaking as it was an 11 year old girl who was a cousin, by marriage, as well as a good friend of my daughter. As was pointed out during the funeral, it is easier to accept, even if we do not like it, the death of those who are sick or elderly. It is much harder to accept, or even understand, the death of a child. As a latter-day saint, though, we have a much greater understanding of the purpose of this life which explains why bad things happen to good people. There is an understanding that the fullness of the gospel provides as a strength to carry us through these tragedies. I couldn't imagine the extra burden of grief that I would carry should I be without these understandings and the testimony of the truth of the gospel.

Prophets and Apostles

Family Home Evening tonight was about the current Prophet and Apostles. Since there have been a lot of changes I thought it would be fun. We started out by singing from the children songbook "Follow the Prophet." Then, using the YouTube on my computer and we listend to the Apostle Song (see below). Then, I took this document from which I had previously cut out all the pictures of the apostles and once set (the one all spaced apart) of the words to the song and played a matching game. After we had listened to the Apostle Song I flipped upside down all the pictures and mixed them around. Then, we took turns picking one picture up and trying to remember which name and fact was about that person. When we were done, we listened to the Apostle Song again. We had made many mistakes, which made it more fun. We finished the lesson by singing to the Apostle Song along with YouTube video and a closing prayer.