Analyzing My Own Assumptions

In this post I will be analyzing my own beliefs and values when it comes to the text "What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us?" by Jane C. Hu and the topic of whether Koko actually understands and speaks human language.


Question One

Hull, Duncan "Question Everything (Nullius in Verba) Take nobody's
word for it" 02/25/05 via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

I will admit to being  pessimistic at times when it comes to the human race as a whole. As a result, I agree with the cultural value of full disclosure and the belief that you should be on the lookout for people trying to manipulate your emotions. I think that when it comes to forming an informed opinion on a topic, you should always look at the underlying motivation of the speaker, which is a value stressed heavily in this text. Also I despise being lied to, and so I definitely agree with the belief that full disclosure is extremely valuable in forming your case for a claim. In this way, I am more likely to understand where the author is coming from and be skeptical of Patterson's translations of Koko's signs.


Question Two

I do not necessarily share the cultural value of hoping something is true because you want it to be. I mean of course there is a part of me that wants to believe in the implausible, but my own personal experiences have made it clear that I have a hard time believing something without concrete facts. I guess its my inner "doubt everything" scientist showing, but although I value positivity and hope without a doubt, I am very resistant to conceding points and claims without logical proof. In this way I am more likely to understand the author's point as well on the subject.


Question Three

Since this text was written in the American culture fairly recently, it represents some of the values norms and beliefs that are present in our own culture today. American culture tends to value these ideas of honesty and full disclosure, desire for the implausible, and empathy and breaking down labels which are shown in the text.


Question Four 

Since this article was written just over a year ago, it is still a decent representation of culture today. I think that if anything, the values, norms, and beliefs referred to in the text have only intensified as the year went on due to the progress technologically and socially of America ( desire for progress and distrust of media) as well as other developments on a worldwide level that have affected America (giving Americans "trust issues" so to speak).



REFLECTION

After looking at Grace and Hunter's posts, I noticed that we have the same tendency towards biases and how we feel about our topics. Both of them had a similar perspective as me on how their topics would be different at a different time in history, even though theirs are much more time sensitive than mine.

After reading Grace's blog, I got a little worried just because her topic is one that almost everyone has an opinion on. But then reading Hunter's post, I noticed that his was pretty specific to his field of study like mine was. So I feel good about my topic now, because even though it might not seem like an issue everyone cares about, it is one that I am very interested in and people in my field of study are also very interested in.

Reading their blogs, they both also had biases similar to mine on their subjects. I think that an important part of avoiding bias is identifying your bias. That way you know what to avoid and check for in your own writing. I think this post will be very helpful when trying to avoid bias for Project 2.