Daily Agenda
The Carpentered Environment
Housekeeping
Building the Portfolio
- Your Definition Argument is the Second item that will become part of your Portfolio.
- The Bibliography (Proposal+5), after significant additions and improvements, will go into your Portfolio as the Annotated Bibliography.
- While we’re here together, create the new Def/Cat Rewrite post by copying and pasting the text from your Definition argument into a new post.
- Call it Definition Rewrite—Username (substituting your own username)
- Place it into the Def/Cat Rewrite category, and the category for your username.
- Also put it into Feedback Please if you haven’t received feedback yet and now see the value of doing so.
- 🙂
More Help with Definitions/Claims
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
The piano example, whether you hear the pitch high or low, is a metaphor. What you hear is dependent on a variety of things (e.g. life experience, physiology, etc). You can’t blame people for processing things differently.
The way you label something is impactful to how others interpret what it means. For instance, the estate tax versus the death tax. Everybody would be against the death tax whereas calling this the estate tax masks the true meaning behind the ill-doing of this tax.
A lot of things don’t mean anything unless you make it mean something.
The rectangle video: we turn it into a rectangle in our heads to make sense of it. To see anything else, we’d have to actively convince ourselves of something different.
The ‘carpentered environment’ is all things layed out at a 90-degree angle.
Words end up in dictionaries because we use them whereas words are no longer in dictionaries once we stop using them.
It would be useful to understand a writer’s definition or parameters before reading the causal argument. This sequence allows for a logical flow of ideas.
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Very nice, Holistic. Strong summaries of the takeaway lessons.
4/3
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People see the world in different ways because of the way our bodies are made. This is exemplified both in our panio example and the quote given. And this can help to argue with someone that can only hear or think of something one way the death tax is kinda insane estate tax is easier to take in.
The optical illusion is another connotation sometimes the human brain distorts things in order to make sense of a strange existence humanity has evolved under. This is why lawyers are so good at what they do. “Either I’m god or truth is relative” Jeff Winger lawyer forced to go to community college from the show community. Either the concept of truth is malleable or we create truth every-time we talk and because truth isn’t malleable in this scenario we create different realities.
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“We create different realities.”
That’s worth 4 right there.
4/3
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-We all have different ways of hearing and picking up things. For example the piano played in class today was a great example of that because some people heard it going up in pitch and others down in pitch.
-Taxes – Death tax another word for Estate tax, it’s for when people pass and still have to pay taxes on whatever is left. They came up with the Death tax as a way to resell it to the public.
-Carpenter – Most carpenters work with rectangles because they are the most common to use and best for every structure.During the YouTube we watch the diagram that is shown we are expected to see a rectangle but its not a rectangle, but it’s really easy to trick an audience into seeing what you want by just changing the perspective.
-House keeping- changing and submitting our definition arguments to the Def/Cat rewrite and centering the title and the references headings.
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I’d rather you didn’t call it “tricking the audience,” relative to your persuasive essays, but yeah, persuasive arguments depend a lot on guiding your readers to see things from a single position.
4/3
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-Listening to music notes going up and down is like perspective in the real world because each person will sound up or down. Every person has their own perspective on life and will think differently. It is almost impossible to change someone’s mind because they are already deep into what they think.
-Quote of the Day: use new phrases or words. Or use different words and phrases to make the reader think that they are reading a new fact.
-Everyone’s perspective is different. When looking at a rectangle it has 90 degree angles but that is only from looking at it dead on. When you look at it from different angles it changes.
-The Carpentered Environment: Even though it is not a rectangle, the brain makes us think that it is a rectangle because we see it all the time. Showing someone life from a particular angle that is what they will get used to because that’s all they know.
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You’ve concentrated mostly on the fact that we go into a conversation with biases, which is certainly true, RavensFan, but the point of most of these examples is that we can guide readers to adopt a Different point of view by carefully controlling the content.
3/3
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-Piano: Everyone has a certain perspective and that is how the world works. If all the c’s and F sharps are played on a piano some people will hear the note going down. Others may hear the note going up. There are a rare few however, that can be able to hear both. They do that by changing their perspective. A lot of actions in the world require perspective. Perspective changes everything.
-Quote: “Give the people a new word, and they think they will have a fact.” People love simpleness. If a person is able to share information as simply as possible, listeners or readers of the information might use it more or even understand it more. If a one word phrase is able to convince someone to use it, the person who said the phrase has succeeded. The government taxes dead people by using the phrase estate tax. It is more like the “death tax”. People would not accept that though so it is called the estate to be more fair and acceptable. No one looks at the estate tax weirdly but if it was called the death tax, no one would accept it.
-The Carpentered environment: The illusion is that we see a rectangle. We turn it into a rectangle because we see rectangles everyday. We have to force ourselves to be able to see the window in its proper form. It is a trapezoid and we would see that if we didn’t force ourselves to see rectangles. If someone is shown something from a particular angle, that is how they have to observe it, they are not able to view it in any other way besides the way the creator wants. This is because of the restrictions put on by the creator.
-Housekeeping: The definition argument is the second item going into the portfolio. The bibliography after additions and improvement and editing will go into the portfolio as the annotated bibliography. Create the new definition rewrite by copying and pasting the definition argument into a new post. Place it into the def/cat rewrite category and the username category.
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Thoughtful and accurate summaries, EaglesFan.
4/3
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Your perspective changes how you view the world
The word used to describe something can change how people see it
We live in a world of 90 degree angles because it’s easy for carpenters
We turn things into rectangles to make sense of it- meaning we take the things we view in the world and simplify them in order to make sense of them
You can trick people with propaganda based on pushing a certain perspective
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Nice.
3/3
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-Riddle is: What’s the only date that is also a command? March 4th
-Quote: “Give the people a new word, and they think they have a new fact.”-Willa Cather. This is the ideal of a good definition argument. If you can coin a term that describes a complex situation, then you have accomplished something for the definition argument.
-The piano example taught me that some people could hear the piano notes change or go down, while others cannot. But there is no blame in either depending on what you hear. This translates to writing because of how people perceive things differently, believe what they believe, and see what they see. It’s almost impossible to change anyone’s mind, because we naturally process what we perceive through our senses in a way that is inexplicable and beyond our control.
-The Carpentered Environment is that most things around us are rectangular and could be at 90 degree angles. Optical illusions can be created to change people’s perspectives. The example video shows an optical illusion of a guy rotating in a window, but we make that window turn into a rectangle. Our heads are creating something to make sense of the situation, which is turning the window into a rectangle. We can trick observers by tricking their point of observation.
-Re-title the definition argument as “definition rewrite” and we can ask for feedback so that we can build a strong portfolio.
-Casual argument is due next Sunday, March 10th
-Conferences are after break to discuss important topics that are going on in the class.
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—That’s worth 4.
4/3
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The way that we hear the piano is like a metaphor for the world. No matter how we perceive things both groups of people aren’t wrong. We just think how we think. Just like how we hear the piano a certain way.
It is almost impossible to change anybody’s mind because we naturally process what we receive through our senses in a way that is beyond our control.
The estate tax sounds more reasonable than the death tax.
It is all because of the way that it is named.
We live in a world of rectangles because the shapes are just a lot easier for carpenters.
In the video, the shape for the illusion isn’t a rectangle but in our heads, we turn it into a rectangle because it makes sense to us. We just naturally see it this way.
The shape is a trapezoid and if we weren’t trying to make it into a rectangle the illusion wouldn’t work for us.
It is really easy to trick observers into seeing things the way we want them to if we can restrict their point of observation. If we show them the world from a certain angle they will see what we offer them.
We started writing our portfolio when we began adding to our proposal +5
We should take our definition argument and add it to another post. This is where we will be editing our essay.
Correct grammar is a language that is understood by the person we are talking to.
There are rules for our writing no matter if we like it or not.
Asking for feedback is important especially since this is a rewriting course.
We can schedule conferences if we want feedback that way too.
If there were causal arguments in our essay it is okay. We can use that for our actual causal argument.
The new deadline for the causal argument is Sunday, March 10th.
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What does this teach you, ILoveMyDog?
4/3
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– Like a piano with multiple cords, you have to pick what you hear, you have to place yourself somewhere. Depending on where you place yourself, that’ll determine if you heard the point rise and fall due to your own processes. If you change the way you process things, you can make yourself understand how others perceive things. It’s impossible to change anyone’s mind due to everyone naturally processing things differently. It’s not the reader’s fault that they can’t hear what you’re trying to say, so try finding a different approach.
– Death tax: A tax that is to be paid that’s levied on whatever you leave behind. The way you word things can set up how someone feels going into your writing. If you don’t want people to object to what you have to say, change up the wording to make the facts appeal to others in another way.
– We live in rectangles all the time and we can recognize when something isn’t. Changing people’s perspective is the goal of writing. In our heads, we see it as a rectangle to make sense of it, we naturally have to see something in a way we want it to be able to fully understand. It’s easy to trick observers into seeing what we want by restricting their other points of view.
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Nicely personalized summaries, NatureChild.
4/3
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– It is almost impossible to change someone’s perspective because what our minds naturally process is unexpected and inexplicable: we are not in control of it. It is not our fault as writers or theirs as our audience for what they hear or for not being able to change what they hear and how they process it.
– When the world doesn’t see what you see and you want to share that idea, it really helps to have a name that describes this argument or idea. This new term makes everything much simpler for your audience. Finding a term that is acceptable to your audience is an opportunity to make them recognize that you have an angle on this issue.
– Carpenter – We are so used to living in a world full of rectangles and 90 degrees, that we assume they are present even when we don’t see them clearly. This is strongly related to changing people’s perspective. Our mind will involuntarily turn everything into a rectangle in our heads to make sense. This is an advantage for us as writers since it is really easy to trick observers into taking the perspective we want if we can restrict their observation to a specific point.
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Truly beautiful Notes, ILoveBees.
4/3
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1. Start: We began our class with a fun riddle: “What’s the only date that is also a command?” The answer was March 4th, which got us smiling and set a happy tone for the day.
2. Language Power: We talked about how cool it is that giving people new words can make them feel like they’ve learned something big and new.
3. Perception Lesson: Using the example of hearing piano notes differently, we learned that everyone sees things in their own way, and that’s totally okay.
4. Shapes and Illusions: We chatted about how many things around us are square or rectangular and how sometimes our eyes can trick us into seeing things that aren’t really there.
5. Writing Improvement: We got down to business and talked about making our writing better. We learned that asking for feedback and making changes can make our essays really stand out. It was like polishing a gem!
6. Portfolio Building: Lastly, we discussed putting together a collection of our best work to show how much we’ve improved. It’s like making a scrapbook of our achievements, and it’s something we can be proud of.
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These are beautiful, Snowman. Insightful, charming, and human. Permit me to ask you to elaborate a couple things, please.
1. Perception Lesson: Using the example of hearing piano notes differently, we learned that everyone sees things in their own way, and that’s totally okay.
—I guess it’s OK, and it’s certainly unavoidable, but is it also OK that as writers we’d like to change how people “see things,” or should be just let them persist in their points of view? How can we go about changing readers’ opinions while being respectful of their preconceived notions?
2. Shapes and Illusions: We chatted about how many things around us are square or rectangular and how sometimes our eyes can trick us into seeing things that aren’t really there.
—Actually, the rectangles ARE there.
—What’s in question is how we recognize them as rectangles when, from where we stand, they’re trapezoids? Are we prejudiced to see rectangles everywhere? Are we wrong?
4/3 with an easy path to 5/3 upon thoughtful responses.
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Music Example Metaphor – When you here something you may hear it differently than others based on unexplainable circumstances and it is beyond our control. If you can find a way, you can ease somebody into acceptance on how you understand your point of view.
Riddle – Examples, the death tax. This could be justified by calling it the Estate tax, but unacceptable when called the death tax.
The Carpentered Environment – The world is made of rectangles. This is entirely based off of perception. Our minds automatically interpret each of these things in to rectangles to make sense of it, regardless of our perception. Meaning of this , it is easy to trick an observer in to seeing your point of view where it is the only thing they can see. For instance illusions in a world of rectangles. (not too sure if that made sense)
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I get what you’re trying to say, ES, but only because I was there.
3/3
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What’s the only date that is a command?- March 4th
If you think about other people’s perspectives, you can start to understand how other people think differently… “It is almost impossible to change somebody’s mind”- metaphor with the piano. If all C chords are being played, one person might hear the higher end of the C chord, and one person might hear the lower end of the C chord.
“Give the people a new word, and they think they will have a new fact”- WC
That will be a good definition argument… a phrase that makes this all simple
The carpentered environment- doesn’t mean something till you make it mean something. It looked like a rectangle but it wasn’t a rectangle, our brain just assumed it was because of perspective. We can change people’s ideas by changing their perspective.
housekeeping-
Casual arguement – 3/10, that’s going to apart of our portfolio
Mandatory conferences will be moved to the week after spring break.
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Yep.
3/3
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March 4th is a date that is also a command. Not relevant to the lesson, but It was funny, so I am glad this was shared with us.
Willa Cather quote
-“Give the people a new word, and they think they have a new fact.” this is what we should aim to do in our definition argument. We need to try to convince people of our definitions.
Death tax vs estate tax
-This is a good example of the power a name can have on the perception of an idea. Both of these mean the same thing, but the name creates a different frame for people to view it in.
The Carpentered environment
-This video is about the Ames window illusion. It is an illusion where a “rectangle” appears to be oscillating but in fact the rectangle is actually a trapezoid which is rotating, your brain changes it into an oscillating rectangle.
-According to the video the reason our brain makes this “correction” is because we are used to living in rectangular environments. The video refers to this as “The
Carpentered environment.”
-Our Professor argues that our arguments should act as carpentered environments for our audience. When we are part of the audience we should be wary of attempts to carpenter the environment.
A large part of this lesson was about what I will call “Molding information”. When you create a definition you base it off of information. The Definition you assign to that information is the “shape” that it takes, because without the definition the information exists but has no “shape”. Information can take multiple “shapes” or definitions, or at the very least that is what I took away from this lesson.
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Sounds to me as if you should call it “Shaping Information.” 🙂
(Why can’t you tuck your periods inside the Quotation Marks?)
5/3
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The only date that is a command is March 4 (lol)
Depending on where you place yourself on a wide spectrum of any series of notes will depend on how you hear it wether rising or falling, all based on your internal processing. (example all the Cs and F sharps being played)
Maybe by changing your viewpoint, you could see it going the opposite of what you initially perceived it as. All of this is a metaphor because everyone perceives the world differently. Nothing is wrong or right it all depends on who is listening, it all is different for everyone.
Willa Cather: “Give the people a new word, and they think they have a new fact”- the point of our definition is this, wanting the reader to understand the definition thoroughly.
Different words can give different reactions from people
Examples: death tax and estate tax are both the same thing but the different names make people act differently. An estate tax sounds better than a death tax because when it is called the estate tax it is more like what you left and have to pay for rather than a death tax sounds like getting taxed for being dead.
Video: perception is everything. When we see something our brains have to find a way to make sense of it for it to process. In the video, he was using a trapezoid window for the illusion but to the audience, it looks like a rectangle. Why do we try to make it into a rectangle rather than what it is? Because the world is a rectangle
Try to use phrases for the definition
If the person you are talking to understands you you are using correct grammar
make sure to do the definition rewrite and the casual argument march 10th
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More than most of today’s Notes, yours help me see the prevailing theme of the day, Gymrat.
4/3
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“Give the people a new word and they think they have a new fact” – ideal of a very good definition argument. Find a phrase that makes it all simple. Death Tax, the tax that after a lifetime of paying taxes, is levied on whatever you have left.
When you play a C or F cord, some people will hear it go up and some people will hear it go down. It is just our perception of the world and we can’t change that.
What does the carpentered environment mean nothing until you make it mean something?
Aime’s window illusion: The window itself is not a rectangle, but we make it a rectangle to make sense of it in this world. We would force ourselves to see it as something else because it comes naturally as a rectangle.
Causal Argument: March 10
Conferences: After Break
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Some good stuff here, HockeyFan.
3/3
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•Piano example: The sound of a pitch and whether it is low or high is dependent on a number of factors. People hear different music notes and pitches differently.
•The simpler, the better. Many people like sharing simple facts. They’re easier to explain and easier to understand.
Carpentered Environment: the majority of the items around us are rectangular and have a 90 degree angle and even if it is not a rectangle, our brains are wired to see it as a rectangle.
Housekeeping:
-Definition—> the second item in portfolio
-Bibliography (Proposal +5) will eventually be added to portfolio as well after major changes and improvements.
-Mandatory Conferences are moved to the week after break.
-Causal argument due March 10th
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—Almost.
—In the Carpentered Environment lesson, what we’re seeing are actually rectangles, but from most angles, we have to JUDGE them to be rectangles based on experience; they look like trapezoids. Here our biases work in our favor.
—But in the Ames Window example, we’re seeing an actual trapezoid, which we wrongly judge to be a rectangle because a window is almost certain to be rectangular. Here our biases sabotage our perception and make us dizzy.
4/3
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