...February 4th 2015 The Media isn’t Message In the professor Stephen Jay Gould’s words, he said that the Mean and Median are total different in statistics. Average number defends the mean, and the median is the central number. Usually, the mean and median of a group of data will convey some important information, such as developing tendency and increasing rate. However, it appears that the truth behind reality is often overstretched using statistics. The author mentioned that the people always lack of impassive objectivity, and just do whatever they want. In some examples, the mean and the media sometimes are used in wrong way. It leads to the data become not creditable. Here Gould used his own experience to show not all mean and medians can make sense. It all began when the author was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma way back in 1982. When he Inquired his cancerous condition from the doctor, the latter failed to provide a satisfactory answer because there were no worthy literature materials on this type of cancer. The distribution of variation shows that same characters as the right skewed in statistics. In the right skewed, we used several characters that present the whole graph’s tendency. In addition, the median is larger than mean but less than mode. In the case of Gould, we could get a different conclusion. Perhaps, the absence of adequate literature materials on medical knowledge explains the reason why few people have little understanding on statistics in this...
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...In the essay “Women’s Brains” published in 1980 as part of “The Panda’s Thumb”, Stephen Jay Gould, an evolutionary biologist, argues against the judgements against women referring to their “lack” of intelligence. He also argues that we can not trust science to give us the full truth without missing something. Gould wrote this text to argue against the French professor Paul Broca when an experiment he conducted found that women are inferior to men because their skull size was smaller making them not as smart. Gould analyzed not only Broca’s work, but also many of his followers to show that the results they found from their own work always has one flaw in their work when they argue that women aren’t as smart as men. Gould analyzes an eighteenth...
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...There are many strengths and weaknesses of Intellectual Quiz (IQ) tests. IQ tests help to determine if a person has the aptitude to learn. According to Gall, Borg, and Borg (1996), “intelligence tests provide an estimate of an individual’s general intellectual level by sampling performance on a variety of intellectual tasks. These tests often include items on such tasks as vocabulary choice, mathematical problem-solving, reading comprehension, and short-term memory of digits.” IQ tests can affect whether an individual is accepted into college or even hired for a new job, so it is crucial that the IQ test is done properly. In addition, IQ tests are used to show a person’s weak areas in learning and help them to improve those weaknesses. In this paper there will be discussion about the diversity of IQ test within different socioeconomic groups, as well as the weakness associated with the tests. There are also some weaknesses to IQ testing which include being able to properly design a test to accurately determine intelligence across a broad range of society. Since IQ testing is used on a variety people from different backgrounds, there is no guarantee that it will be 100% accurate. A big weakness in IQ testing is the many different tests which are available that can result in a huge disparity in testing scores. In order to achieve optimum results recipients must be well fed, rested, and focused. Culture plays a major role in the success or failure of an IQ test. In other words,...
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...The general argument made by Stephen Jay Gould in his work, “The Creation Myths of Cooperstown”, is that people nearly fall for anything. More specifically, Gould argues that people just simply believe in anything that sounds reasonable to them instead of finding out the actual truth. He writes, “suckers are born every minute. The end result is the same: you can, Honest Abe notwithstanding, fool most of the people all of the time.” In this passage, Gould is suggesting that people would rather believe in “creation myths” instead of the reality. One person can easily mislead another person. In conclusion, Gould’s belief is that not everything is the way that it looks. It is the real story behind something that really matters. In my view, Gould...
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...to Business Assignment 2 Gould and Fisk. Jay Gould and Jim Fisk are names many people might not know about. Both men were stockbrokers around 1886. Jay Gould was born in Roxbury, New York in 1836. Gould started buying stock in 1859. His first investments were in small railways. James (Jim) Fisk was born in 1835. Jim was also known as “Big Jim”, “Jubilee Jim”, and “Diamond Jim”. When Jim was younger he ran away from school and joined a circus. Jim had many occupations before becoming a stockbroker. Gould and Fisk worked together in a great scheme. Gould and Fisk were important factors in the “Erie Railroad War”. If it wasn’t for what they did, the railroad might have ended up belonging to Cornelius Vanderbilt, a successful railroad owner and the richest man alive at the time. Gould and Fisk issued illegal shares and put them into the market. Vanderbilt was buying all of the stocks to put himself into control of the Erie Railroad. What Vanderbilt did not know was that Gould and Fisk would just keep producing the stock certificates, taking Vanderbilt’s money. Vanderbilt was not actually gaining any control of the Erie Railroad because the stick was “Watered down” by Gould and Fisk. Eventually it was brought to the public what was happening. When citations were issued to the men, they ran and hid. Even though he was scammed and did not acquire the Erie, Vanderbilt was still the richest man in America at the time. Another Scandal that both Gould and Fisk were involved in was...
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...conditions (“labour union”). The Knights of Labor was a worker organization that was unique from any other of its time. Although, the greater part of the Knights’ labour movement lasted only two decades, they were able to accomplish a great deal throughout that time. The Knights’ accomplishments revolved around the process in which they successfully attracted a large number of people, as well as their two most notable victories regarding the 8 Hour Movement and the Jay Gould Strike. To begin, it is crucial to have a basic understanding of the Knights of Labor and their origins. The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of labor formed in 1869 as a small and secret society (Palmer, 1992, p. 121). They began as a simple group of Philadelphian garment workers lead by Uriah Stephens. Stretching beyond boundaries of a common labour union, Stephens incorporated “a religious brotherhood, a political reform society, a fraternal order, and a pure and simple unionism” into his organization (Palmer, p. 121). Under the leadership of Stephens, the Knights remained a relatively secretive organization. This completely changed when Terence V. Powderly took over the union and exposed the Knights to the public in the 1880s. This marked the beginning of the Knights rapid growth and success (Palmer, p. 121). The rapid growth of the Knights stemmed from their inclusivity and willingness to welcome virtually anyone into their organization. The Knights succeed in the organization of workers from small towns...
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...Creationism vs. Evolutionism The quandary continues of whether or not creationism should be taught as an alternative viewpoint to the theory of evolution within the American public school systems. If scientific creationists believe that God's message is the defining element for the content, aims, and conditions of educational practice, then the argument can be made that creationism belongs in the classroom. On the contrary are those who assert creationism is not science and further suggests that "creation science" is a misnomer and oppose religion into public educational programs. They maintain the position that public educational programs should be made separate from concerns of the church. Fundamentalist Christians differ from liberal Christians with respect to the basic theories to how life began. Liberal Christians mold their lives around the theory of evolution; forging their spiritual doctrine around their lifestyle, where as fundamentalist Christians remain faith based; life created by God and their lifestyle strictly follows biblical doctrine. Those who side with the theory of Darwin and claim that creationism is really anti-science are in direct conflict with adamant creationists; and somewhere among these groups are a third group, scientific creationists, who use scientific terminology to prove that only life can come from other life. During the 1960’s the United States began an initiative to catch up with newer science teaching standards which...
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...proceeds for cause, but no finale can be specified at the start, and none would ever occur a second time in the same way, because any pathway proceeds through thousands of improbable stages. Alter any early event, ever so slightly and without apparent importance at the time, and evolution cascades into a radically different channel” (51). Gould is considering that evolution cannot be predicted, leading to the conclusion that evolution follows no inevitable path, and eventually using the analogy that evolution is very similar to an extremely large lottery in that each surviving lineage inhabits the earth today more by the luck of the draw than by any predictable struggle for existence. The evolution of multicellular life may be more a story of reduction in initial possibilities, with stabilization of lucky survivors, than a conventional story of steady ecological expansion. Gould’s claim follows Charles Darwin’s concept of “survival of the fittest”; some species are more efficiently adapted to the environment. Although, this would contradict Paley’s claim that there is a God who specifically creates things for the good of the planet because Gould and Darwin believe that multicellular life evolves by chance. Basically, by a roll of the evolutionary dice, Tardigrades acquired their superior potential to enter suspended animation and curl up into a “tun”, therefore enabling them to be subjected to higher atmospheric pressure, extremely low or high temperatures, and solar...
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...The extinction of dinosaurs can be seen as a lot of speculation. In “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” Stephen Jay Gould explains how “science, is a fruitful mode of inquiry, not a list of enticing conclusions.” (Gould, 216). What makes something speculation and not science, which of the three theories are speculation, and what makes Gould question the theories. In “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” Gould explains the differences of science and speculation. Science starts with a hypothesis and from there the scientist looks for evidence to back up his or her hypothesis. This evidence helps give the hypothesis validity and also allows other scientists to test said hypothesis. Gould states that “We can never be completely sure that a...
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...The main point of this article is to show the opinions between Stephen Jay Gould and Simon Conway Morris. Gould believes that if the Cambrian explosion was rewinded, then the outcome would be different and there would be less extinction. On the other hand, Morris believes that this is not the case. He says that everything happened for a reason and that we humans were meant to be the goal of evolution. The Cambrian explosion was an event over five-hundred years ago that occurred in the time frame of twenty million years. Twenty million years is a short time frame compared to how long eras can go for. The Burgess Shale are fossils from the Cambrian period that are located at the Canadian Rockies. The reasons why the Burgess Shale is so popular...
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...What does the average person think when they hear that an idea is supported by science? Often, it makes people assume that this idea must be objectively true, and will necessarily be more right than a theory that doesn’t have the backing of “science.” While in many cases, objective science really does produce better results than mere conjecture, there have also been influential movements in history that were justified by “science,” but which we see today as unjustifiable. These include biometrical methods like phrenology and craniology, the empirical definitions of racial difference in the 19th century, and the “scientifically” racist ideology of the Nazis, among many others. In many of these situations, biology has been used to support conceptions that were already accepted in the society of the time. However, they seemed stronger with scientific support, even if the scientific support was weak enough that it was eventually proven to be untrue. Considering this, why were these “scientific” conclusions seen as objective when, with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that they were not? Additionally, why did the supporters of these ideologies want to use science as support? If science were seen as merely a collection of useless knowledge, it would not have been relied upon in the way that it was, so it is clear that the scientific method was trusted to add some additional level of truth to the given conclusions. The interactions between these systems of classifying groups...
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...Evolution is the progressive change in organisms over time. There are 3 types of evidence to support evolution; fossil record shows the change over time, Antimonial record compares the body structures and the final one is DNA is comparing protein & DNA sequences. Evolution is a process of continuous branching and diversification from common trunks. This pattern of indivertible separation gives life history- Stephen Jay Gould. Evolution occurs in the Natural selection.Natural Selection was created/founded by Charles Darwin & Alfred Russell Wallace in 1835. Natural selection is the process where organisms with favorable traits are more possible to reproduce, after duration the organism have a process to allow it to adapt to the environment, an...
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...Science and Religion J. Wright Informal Logic November 5, 2012 Science and Religion The million dollar question for decades has been “Does God really exists?” This is a topic that has been debated over for centuries. How can one really know if God does exist? What is the proof, if there is any? Could the possibility between science and religion give us that proof? These are all question that have been asked over and over, again and again, and time after time. Definitely, no greater issue is argued for, or argued against than the probability of the existence or non-existence of a supreme being. So where does science and religion fit into this puzzle? Did the universe just evolve over time, as science says it has? Or, did a powerful being just drop everything into motion, as religion states? Since traveling the theistic road of fideism and the non-theistic paths of naturalism and positivism (Alexander, 2008), individuals just keep repeating “does science and religion have conflicting contradictions towards our universe?” Science and religion have two very distinctive ways when approaching knowledge and natural occurring events. Science is more in relation to mathematics, and religion follows life experiences. As for understanding knowledge and natural occurring events, science leans more towards the descriptive side and religion would be more prescriptive (John, 2008). Science concentrates on how the world ought to be, like the way religion precedes...
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...Catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope.[1] The dominant paradigm of modern geology is uniformitarianism (sometimes described as gradualism), in which slow incremental changes, such as erosion, create the Earth's appearance. This view holds that the present is the key to the past, and that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the world. Recently a more inclusive and integrated view of geologic events has developed, changing the scientific consensus to accept some catastrophic events in the geologic past. This held that there have been violent and sudden natural catastrophes such as great floods and the rapid formation of major mountain chains. Plants and animals living in those parts of the world where such events occurred were often killed off, according to the 19th-century French scientist Georges Cuvier. Then new life forms moved in from other areas. As a result, the fossil record for a region shows abrupt changes in species. Cuvier's explanation relied solely on scientific evidence rather than biblical interpretation. Immanuel Velikovsky's In the 1950s, Immanuel Velikovsky propounded catastrophism in several popular books. He speculated that the planet Venus is a former "comet" which was ejected from Jupiterand subsequently 3,500 years ago made two catastrophic close passes by Earth, 52 years apart, and later interacted with Mars, which then had a series...
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...believed these justifications and, in some cases, they are still used today to discriminate against people. This stems partially from the civil war era and the debate as to whether there really are more than one species of human. The civil war was largely triggered by southern plantation owners who didn’t want to give up their slaves. These slaves were of African descent, and many southerners regarded them as having less rights than white folk. During the civil war, there was a lot of debate about the science behind race and whether Africans actually were inferior to people of European descent. As Stephen Jay Gould points out in his book “The Mismeasure of Man,” southerners wanted to keep their slaves, but they were reluctant to make the claim that more than one species of human existed because it “contradicted the doctrine of a single Adam and contravened the literal truth of scripture” (Gould). That is to say, it went against the belief of many southerners that mankind began with Adam and Eve because if there were more than one species of human, then evolution must be a true concept. This was a problem for many southerners because, ethically, they couldn’t make the argument that people of African descent were of lesser value than anyone else without contradicting their own dearly held beliefs. This instance does not go to prove anything in terms of racism being pseudoscience, but it does show that the ways in which many people argued for racism in the past had absolutely no scientific...
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