In a deliberation, it is essential to be motivated by something to deliberate. There are certain characteristics that define deliberation as outlined in Gastil’s criteria, but an underlying question is why do people choose to take part on a deliberation? What makes us want to follow criteria stated by Gastil? In our recent class deliberations, it seems that in order to be motivated to deliberate a topic, we must have true personal stakes in the topic at hand. Being college students, we are living, breathing examples of this discussion. I feel as though if there had been a topic which none of us were interested in, the deliberation would have been a flop. Throughout the course of our deliberation around the National Issues Forum on Higher Education, the two most prominent problems I saw included our inability to, in the words of John Gastil, “make the best decision possible." In our deliberation on Higher Education, decisions towards deliberations were mainly chosen based on major. I feel like by having a topic which hits close to home, everyone felt passion and had a strong sense of what they wanted, as pointed out in their personal stakes. There is a reason Gastil’s analytic process starts with the step of “creating a solid information base.” Without it, deliberation loses the necessary concreteness. I believe that although a deliberation may consist of many positive characteristics on the surface, a true deliberation involves open, organized give and take with the discovery of a final common ground, rather than defense or contentment leading to unresolved conflict.
At the start of the deliberation, every person went around and stated their personal stake. Most went on to talk about their majors, minors, previous credits and so ...
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...ith valid consideration. Deliberation can only work when deliberators embrace views contrary to their own and learn how to work with people holding contrary views.
Deliberation must involve collaboration. Deliberation does not require compromising but allows open exchange and an accurate reflection of beliefs, because the outcome of deliberation is common ground, not artificial agreement. Our group did an effective job of keeping the deliberation going, although it was much harder to find a common ground. Some felt so strongly about the math/science majors being a main priority and others did not. Without the pressure to form an agreement however, the group did not pressure each other enough to find the common ground that exists between our differences. Part of our failure to discover common ground was due to our reluctance to identify a broad range of solutions.
...to maintain a more productive form of government and reduce political polarization, obstructionism and slandering must be reduced or eliminated.
Adams' purpose for his argument was made very clear and his argument demonstrated several desired techniques. He needed the math credit to be waived, or he would not be able to graduate and would be set back in his goals (18). He revealed that this was not only a personal matter, but that if the committee did not waive the math credit it would also affect the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma (18). Hoping...
William Smith, Democracy, Deliberation and Disobedience (Paper presented at the UK Association for Legal and Social Philosophy Annual Conference, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, April 2003).
The order of the meeting followed the standard set of procedures for a public meeting. First the person would stand and present say what they were looking for, mostly variances, and presented their case for it. Then, people in the audience were able to stand and ask questions if they had any. The audience was then allowed to voice their opinions about the proposition. The board would then ask the proper commission head to share more about the proposition. A short time followed where the council members reviewed the facts and shared their opinions about the subject....
Proactive management of the decision-making process can minimize the threat of groupthink compromising the quality of decisions. Managers can place importance of having a wide variety of options and idea brought to the table. Encouraging employees to thoroughly analyze all aspects of the options, from the moral and ethical implications, to the response they can expect from their opposition. With each decision appoint one or more group member to play devil’s advocate to the suggested options, ask that person to analyze and make a case against each of the suggestions (Sims & Sauser, 2013). Rotate this position throughout the group so that one person is not refuting the groups ideas consistently. Continually encouraging and rewarding contrasting views can hedge the complacency groups fall into after working together for periods of time. Management should be active listeners in the decision-making process being careful to not assert their preference towards a certain option to avoid the group conforming to the preferences of their superiors before the options are fully analyzed (Rose, 2011). Finally, after a decision has been made and the analysis has been completed before implementing or going public with the idea reconvene and go through the choose plan of action one last time to ensure that new information has not become available and
Each day, billions of people throughout the world affirm their commitment to a specific idea; to be part of a society. While this social contract is often overlooked by most citizens, their agreement to it nevertheless has far-reaching consequences. Being a member of society entails relinquishing self-autonomy to a higher authority, whose aim should be to promote the overall good of the populace. While making this decision to become part of a commonwealth is usually performed without explicit deliberation, there is a common consensus amongst philosophers that something unique to the human experience is the driving force behind this decision. Contained within this something are highly contested points of debate amongst both past and contemporary political philosophers. Two such philosophers are Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Aquinas. Each of these political writers provide detailed arguments regarding the concept of natural law, the role that reason plays in this law, whether some laws are considered truly rational, and why some people choose not to follow certain principles even when they recognize them to be rational. By analyzing each of these arguments, we will arrive at the conclusion that even though the rational principles that reason provides us can easily be disregarded by the populace, that we can still find a common good within promulgating rational doctrine.
The scariest thing that I have ever experienced was dislocating my knee during my high school basketball game. While attending Forestview High in 2013 the second game of the season, I acquired my knee injury against Highland Tech. I was very excited about the game because I worked very hard to take a senior spot and was finally getting the opportunity that I was waiting for. Everyday during practice, I gave my all, all the blood, sweat, and tears that I experienced I just knew it was my time. Tuesday, November 22 we get to Highland, warm up, and finally it's time for tip-off. The first quarter I get off to a rough start getting all the jitters out. Second quarter arrives, then I began to get the feel of the game. As I penetrated down the lane after hitting a mean crossover, I came to a jump stop
In the First Year Seminar (FYS) we learned a multitude of essential skills that we can use to apply for the rest of our college experience, and years down the road. Throughout the first week of class we learned about Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), essentially they are skills that the students are suppose to know thoroughly by the end of the semester. The six major SLOs that were presented in a majority of FYS classes the first one is access to diverse information through focused research, active discussion and collaboration with peers, this skill is important for college and professional life because it is important that one is able to converse appropriately and knowledgably amongst peers. It is a great skill to have because it shows that a person can work well in a team. The second skill from the SLOs is the ability to separate facts from inferences and relevant from irrelevant information, and explain the limitations of information. This skill is essential to build upon because gaining problem-solving skills one can work through sticky situations. Problem solving skills are great for college and professional life because one can get through tough problems quickly and efficiently, without this skill time is wasted. The third skill from SLO’s is evaluating the credibility, accuracy, and reliability of conclusions drawn from information. This skill is valuable among college and professional life due to the fact that it allows a person to back up their arguments for papers with reliable sources that are credible and accurate that supports the information. Otherwise the argument doesn’t have any supporting evidence to continue their argument to get their point across, if not gained correctly the argument becomes irrelevant in the ...
In the article "The Indispensable Opposition" the author, Walter Lippmann acknowledges that the right of freedom of speech is expressed inadequately and full of accidental one-way ideas. He believes to find the best solution, you need to listen to other opposing views.
In week 7 our seminar leader allocated us into smaller groups of six to work together, get together and to start preparing for the mock debate in week 9 and the debate in week 10. When we started to get alone with each other, it was seen that it is not going to be easy to achieve our goals, not just because in our group had a strong activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist, but we also needed to face some solvable difficulties as our first meeting of the week was cancelled by problem like the lack of communication, miscommunication and the ability to listen to another.
Diversity is vital as it brings a variety of possible solutions for a project or task. Thus recognizing the consequences of groupthink which are the prevention of critical think and no considerations for alternatives. A few ways to fight off groupthink is to ask individuals to write down independent thoughts before the collaboration with the group. There is also having the leader of the group to express their own towards the end so that they do not sway other from making there point. Also to discuss and manage ideas based on the facts versus the use of opinions and perceptions (Marcy, 2013). The adding of the roles of devil advocate within the group to have an opposing idea in the group discussion. The Romans were correct in stating that we are only human and that means big decisions need to be discussed and not questioned before something happens. Reminding that no matter a person place in society death is
Further education gives students an opportunity to develop skills, talents, and discover new interests. It teaches students how to examine, evaluate, and compare arguments with different people. Many young students are undecided about their career path when they think about college. Some people are not ready to decide their majors because they have not received enough information about the different subjects. Fortunately, colleges offer students the opportunity of exploring a variety ...
One of the most important decisions an undergraduate will make will be deciding what they will major in. This academic and life choice will ultimately decide how an individual will view their college experience and help guide them with their future career choices. Choosing the wrong major can be too stressful and overwhelming for a student with more course work than expected. On the other side of the spectrum, the wrong choice in a major will not challenge the individual to bring out their full potential. “Ideally, a major will leave a student academically successful, as well as fulfill academic, personal, and vocational goals “(“The Pennsylvania State University Division of Undergraduate Studies,” n.d.). For most college students choosing a major is a difficult decision, especially when they are not mentally and rationally matured. When choosing a major it is implied that most people are logical and rational, and that they weigh the pros and
Critical thinking is a significant and essential topic in recent education. The strategy of critical thinking skills helps identify areas in one's courses as the suitable place to highlight, expand and use some problems in exams that test students' critical thinking skills.
“Wise democratic processes are those which utilize a community's or society's diversity to deepen shared understanding and produce outcomes of long-term benefit to the whole community or society. Not all public participation serves this purpose. Public participation can either enhance or degrade the collective intelligence and wisdom involved in democratic processes such as making collective decisions, solving social problems, and creating shared visions. The principles below offer some guidance for designing wise democratic processes”. Tom Atlee, Co-Intelligence Institute