[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Review Quiz #3
1. (If you were lazy and asked Professor Google, it said “human existence”, but that is not helpful at all, so make sure you never just put what Google says.) Dasein is the only entity that is concerned with its own being. It is a being that doesn’t know what it is and realizes it won’t always “be” (i.e. death). You and I, as self-conscious humans, are such entities.
2. Since I am thinking abut this crazy question, this question and thinking about and typing my answer to it are phenomenologically closest to me right now. Everything else fades into the background so that I can concentrate on this task.
3. A steering wheel normally appears as an everyday tool I can just take for granted (i.e. ready-to-hand). It barely appears at all…it is “just” a steering wheel. The other items are not normally taken for granted but are more mysterious.
4. Ready-to-hand is an experience where things barely appear at all because it is so familiar that we pay almost no attention to it so that we can focus on the task. The ready-to-hand fades from awareness, so it looks like its almost not there at all, but we know it is there, because we are using it.
5. If math or my job is directly related to my life goals (you will need this math in your career or your job is in your career field), then to concentrate on my current task I have to forget about those longer goals and let them fade into the background to concentrate on each task. This can be bad, because I might lose sight of those goals. For most people, however, math class and their job are not connected to their goals and those goals do not appear at all except when daydreaming. This is really bad because you will likely continue at these irrelevant tasks and never reach anything you seek.
6. If your death became truly present-at-hand this would mean we are studying death objectively to assess the value of our pro-jects. This is because you realize that all of our projects are ending (breaking), and this, if Jeff’s hopes are realized, would allow us to study all of the projects behind our everyday tasks and evaluate them to assess their worth. “Since I am dying (we all are, by the way), do I really want to do this task to achieve that goal? Wait, I am not even working toward any of the goals that matter. Damn it! Please help me Jeff, and here are some baked goods for bringing this life-changing fact to my attention.” (Or, you know, something like that.)
7. (This is a tough question, sorry) “a. I am” the They. Remember, the They is everyone and oneself, but always no one in particular. The They cannot be located as a definite thing, whereas the other choices are definite things. This is the worst thing about the They, that is, that it cannot be ignored or defied, because it is not definable, but we know what it thinks, because it is what we think. (spooky)
8. The They says, “Sure, death will happen to you, but not soon, so don’t think about it. You have plenty of time to take control of your life someday. For now, just keep working at the Krusty Krab to buy another companion cube.” (Note: Krusty Krab = your job/school; companion cube = your phone)

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Small Quiz #3
1. The goal of induction is to increase the likelihood of the conclusion. Typically, in induction, the more truthful and relevant evidence you have the more likely the conclusion becomes.
2. The goal of a deductive argument is to arrive at a certain conclusion, a proof. Deduction relies on precise structure and wording.
3. Inductive “strength” is a measure of how likely the conclusion is based on the evidence provided.
4. A premise only helps your argument if it is both relevant and true.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Small Quiz #2
1. Padding is the content we leave out of our paraphrase. Padding includes things like dispensable detail, background, setting, restatements, tangents, etc.
2. The main goals of our paraphrases in this class are to give our audience a clear and accurate prejudice about the piece. We need to empathize with the author’s intent, mood, and voice and the audience’s GUS.
3. Paraphrasing is NOT about attracting readers, critiquing the piece, nor editorializing “about” the author or claims. The worst thing we can do is mislead the audience about the piece.
4. An “argument” in logic means providing support (premises) for your claim (conclusion).

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Review – Quiz #2
1. My belief is only true if it agrees with reality. My believing it has no effect on its truth.
2. We test the basic rationality of a value claim by seeing if it is consistent with the facts and with the author’s other beliefs and values. This requires us to get to know the author of the claim to see what their values are.
3. You grow a beard (I am so ashamed of my immaturity.)
4. The Cave story mocks the “seeing is believing” mindset, because it shows the cave-dwellers (most people) staring at illusions and mistaking them for reality. If all you see is deception, then your beliefs will be delusions. And, in Plato’s view, the whole physical world of sight is deceptive.
5. Our everyday, physical world is untrustworthy for three reasons (pick two): 1. The world is always changing, 2. Our perspectives are always changing, and 3. The theories we use to interpret the world are always changing. (But, note, that doesn’t mean that objective truth doesn’t exist, it just isn’t found using everyday perception. It is found in the realm of ideals, like math and philosophy.)
6. The sailors rejected the new captain because he didn’t have “practical experience” and didn’t use his everyday perceptions like most people. Instead, his trick was to use unchanging truths (astronomy and math, in this case), instead of ordinary sight. The larger point is that theorists and philosophers are often ridiculed, but their ideas are often more sound than the changing view of the masses. (Which is why you should stop making fun of Jeff and instead give him baked goods.)
7. Philosophy is the study of presuppositions in all fields of knowledge. The Cave prisoners are us, and their stupidity and stubbornness about their assumptions should inspire us to want to study philosophy to check our assumptions so that we can escape our stupid and oppressive caves.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

I’ll second that…Yasmin’s is great.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Small Quiz #1:
1. Our grades are based on accumulating points in a simple 100 points scale (it is not a percentage; it’s way friendlier than that, because there are more than 100 points possible). For example, if you accumulate 80 points by the end of the semester, you’ll get a “B” in the class.
2. The best prep for the weekly, Small Quizzes is answering the weekly “Questions”.
3. Missed Big Quizzes cannot be made up, but the missed points will be automatically added to the points possible on your Final Exam, so you can make up those points then.
4. Any truth claim, including those about science and religion, is true if it agrees with reality, period. (Agreement with reality is the only thing that makes it true…your belief, its popularity, and even how much “proof” there seems to be have no effect on its truth.)

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Review – Quiz #1
1. The tasks for each week are listed at the top of our webpage: (1) Do the readings while (2) answering the Reading Questions, then (3) watch the videos to get further clarity in your answers, then (4) take the Friday Quiz.
2. Our readings, reading questions, and videos (schedule, discussion board, roster, and grades) are all on jeffsreadings.com (We will only use Brightspace for taking quizzes and turning in exams.)
3. Password: I can’t paste it here, because of Russian bots (I wish I was kidding), but it starts with “free” and ends with “7”
4. The best prep for the Friday quizzes is the Reading Questions, because most of the quiz comes straight from those questions. (But please be sure to read the questions carefully, because there are some subtle differences from the reading questions that I want you to think about. You can paste some of your reading questions answers straight over, but this won’t work for all of the quiz questions.)
5. The Friday quizzes cannot be made up, but there are many extra points built into the quizzes and final exam to make up for missing a quiz or two. So, if you miss a quiz or have a bad week, getting high scores on the next two quizzes will get you caught up quickly. There are no “extra credit” assignments.
6. Grades are based on earning points (not percentage; that’s way harder). For example, a “B” is earned when you get 80 points (out of the 126 possible, that is only 64%…you see, Jeff is a softy).
7. Philosophy is the study of the presuppositions in all fields of thought. (Philosophy is the home of genuine critical thinking, carefully checking the support for all of our ideas, even the ones that we assume and seem obvious.)

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Kanoa,
As a young surfer, we used to try to sound Hawaiian and would say things like, “Ooh, da kind grinds bruddah”…yes, we were stupid haolies.

So could you translate? Have you tried “L&L” and would recommend it?

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Tegan,
Wow, I’ve never heard of “Life in Pieces”, but it’s rated well. My wife only watches comedies, so we’re always looking for a new one. Thanks.

FYI: In my “intro” class we are reading the essay that inspired the plot of “The Good Place”: Sartre’s “No Exit”. Email me if you want me to send it to you.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

I looked it up (but the name made it tricky)…”The Bagel” is a deli in Rio Rancho on Southern. In the same center is a solid Vietnamese place called, “Pho Bar”.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Jae, Yes, “Outsiders” is great.

Ouch, Aristotle will make you smart, but it is not fun to read. The only Aristotle book that I actually kind of enjoyed reading was “Nicomachean Ethics”.

If you want to read some classical philosophy, Plato’s Dialogues are great. “The Apology of Socrates” is a great place to start, and if you want to read his most important book, “The Republic” is a pretty good read, especially the second half.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

I’ve read the first “Mistborn” book, and it was great. Sanderson is pretty much the king of current SciFi. I am starting to read much more SciFi and Fantasy now that I am finally letting myself…my favorites are Robert Heinlein, Andy Weir, Kurt Vonnegut, Christopher Moore. For anyone new to SciFi, I would recommend starting with Card’s “Ender’s Game”; everyone loves that one.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Yep, “L&L Hawaiian BBQ” at Westside and 528…I have a Hawaiian buddy that tried it, and he said it was pretty good. And that’s huge, because nothing impresses that guy.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Analisa and I raved about “Basil Leaf” above. Great place.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

I keep long, sortable lists of all the shows I plan to watch. I can’t wait to start watching “Abbott Elementary”; I just have this weird quirk where I don’t start watching a show until it’s a few years along so that I am not constantly waiting for new seasons. But I’ll start watching it soon.

“Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” are well-known and great, but “Fleabag” is a great show that many might have missed.

Let me see, based on your list I think you would like a few of these older, well-written but dramatic shows: “Rectify”, “Dexter”, “The Walking Dead”, “Ozarks”.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Did you know that many people on Steam rank game difficulty using a range that goes from easy to Dark Souls? So, you are one of “those gamers” that recommends frustrating games to people like me and then says, “What, that game is easy? You’re just bad at video games.” And then I just get sad that I’m bad at video games and play my easy games some more. Yep, I think it’s probably a genius game but really hard.

(Ouch, I just realized that I read and study philosophy for a living and sometimes recommend nearly unreadable books to people, forgetting how hard they were for me as well when I first read them. Sigh.)

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Addison. Yes. Camus is a great recommendation for people interested in a philosophical story. My other favorite from Camus is “The Plague”. A perfect introduction to his writing if you want a preview is his essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus”. It should be easy to find online (or just ask me, and I can find it for you.) It is a must-read!

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Ticket to Ride is a perfect recommendation for people who want to see how much better board games have become in the last 15 years. Based on your preferences, I think you would love “Quest for El Dorado”…it’s like a combo of Ticket to Ride and Monopoly, but without the soul crushing aspects of Monopoly.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Grey! Yes and yes. High five! Tables and spreadsheets are beautiful. Just the other day I was adding to my cities research for places we want to move to when we retire in a few years (we plan on moving to different cities each year until we find “ours”). It has columns that rate things like weather, walkability, number of ethnic restaurants in a certain radius, populations, income disparity, etc. that generates a ranking.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Emma,
Yep, that is one of those books that is just about 100 pages too long. If I ever re-read it I will just use my margin notes to skip those dull parts, and then it would be a top 20 book for me. As you said, the overall plot and ideas are phenomenal; it’s just too dry in places. I would say similar things about some of my other favorite pieces of fiction, like Flaubert’s “Made Bovary” and Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”.
As the chief nerd around here, let me add some recommendations for books that you would like if you liked “1984”. For great dystopia/utopia books, my other favorites are Perkins’ “Herland”, Trumbo’s “Johnny Got his Gun”, London’s “Iron Heel”, and Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”. And then if you want to read the non-fiction parallel’s to that scary stuff, check out Chomsky’s “Understanding Power”, Fromm’s “Escape from Freedom”, and Palast’s “Armed Madhouse”.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Ash,
Now I am so sad that I don’t live near there. I looked into “Lupes Antojitoes”, and it looks perfect for me. My go to Mexican dish is chile relleno, and I eat alot, and I am cheap, and I prefer Baja/California-style Mexican food. Waaa! (sound of the waambulance) Great recommendation. (I just whined to wifey, and she said if we just go up 4th street it’s not too far…woohoo! She just put it on our itinerary, because she misses that style food as much as me.)

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

I love Pho, and I am always hunting for a cheaper place than the ones near me. There are so many good Vietnamese spots in town. I just wish I wasn’t so cheap.

I might give “El Chamo Arabe” a try, but I was sad that I didn’t see fried yucca on the menu… My go to places for South/Central American food are “Pollitos con Papa” on Gibson and “Papaturro” on 4th.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Great recommends…ORamen (between Ramens try the curry with croquettes) is probably the best ramen place in town and Basil Leaf is one of the best Vietnamese places. You know your stuff!

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Clark,

The game from my list that you should check out is “Satisfactory”. Think of Minecraft or Terraria but with industry/engineering upgrades.

I’m jealous that you have a weekly game group. I am lucky if we meet monthly.

[jsalbato@cnm.edu]

Brigette,

I know…Covid got three of my favorites, too: Magokoro, T&T gas mart (cheap Vietnamese), and Taco Fundacion.

Nooo, not spam masubi, you weirdo. (Just playing.) I still haven’t tried Kimo’s, so you win. I only eat beef or pork if it’s a special occasion, so I rarely eat Hawaiian anymore. But I grew up as a surfer and would visit Kauai and used to love the food back then.

Have you tried Nagomi up on Juan Tabo? Good curry and katsu at good prices.

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