What Money Can't Buy

1. How does Michael Sandel support the thesis that "over the past three decades we have drifted from having a market economy to becoming a market society?"

His point is that in a world where everything can be bought and sold, we lose track of why some things shouldn’t be. Therefore, we pass to be a market economy, a valuable and effective tool for organizing productive activity market economies, to a market society it’s a place where almost everything is up for sell, it has become a way of life.

2. What sorts of arguments are offered for and against the assumed proposal of paying young children two dollars for every book they read?

One of the main arguments against paying children for reading was that probably they are going to drive the wrong performance because they are using the wrong incentive and the wrong behavior and they would figure out a way to read stupid books or things that wouldn't really get it what they were trying to change. In addition, another arguments against,  was that you cannot buy passion and love, you cannot develop those with money because those things are priceless they are developed by good parenting good values and mores of the society good teachers and good principals.

On the other hand, there were people who believe this proposal was a good idea for incentivizing young children to read, they believe it will be a way of motiving them to read more despite the fact they do not like to read they will do so just because of money. They think it will be a good jumpstart to help them grow in their love of learning

3. Now, what is your standpoint about cash incentives at school or at home to encourage students to read more books?

I believe it is not a good idea because they are going to expect a reward for everything they do and I don't think that is the real world. What about if they become addicted to the cash and come to expect to be paid anytime they read a book. Therefore, they are going to love reading but in their mind they are going to say because I am going to get money. They are going to read for the love of money not for the love of reading.

4. When Michael Sandel contends that "this tendency of markets and cash incentives of crowding out nonmarket goods, higher goods, can be seen in may spheres of social life, what sort of "higher goods" do you think he is refering to?

Those higher goods could be behavior, values, attitude, sex , friendship and even love, has been debased by the tendency of markets and cash incentives.

5. What kind of nonmaterial goods do you think have been crowded out by market transactions in Colombia?

   I believe some of the nonmaterial goods that have been crowded out by markets here in Colombia are respect, values, health and love, because of corruption, because of the higher increasing demanding in marketing economy, because here if you have money you can afford many things even love, you can have a better quality in health.

6. What should be the role of money and markets in our Colombian society?

The role of money in Colombia should be for improving the quality of people’s life, to invest money in health, and try to export more our national products.

Stephen Brookfield: Creative and Critical Thinking

Stephen Brookfield: Creative and Critical Thinking

The video by Dr Stephen Brookfield talks about what critical and creative thinking is and how to challenge students to develop this. He defines critical thinking as the focus on understanding and checking out assumptions and creative thinking as the ability to look at things from multiple points of view and have multiple responses to familiar ideas. In addition to that, he also explains that the way that we act, our decisions our actions our judgments choices in life are based on sets of assumptions and there exist three kinds of assumptions, the first one is casual assumption that consist on expalin a sequence of events. The second one is preescriptive it consist on assumptions about how things should happen and how should we baheve. The last one is paradigamtic it consist on framing and structuring assumptions that are viewed obvious common sense and taken for granteed.

According to Brookflied, there are four key intellectual traditions. The first one is analytic philosophy, when you develop this intellectual tradition you are more inductive, deductive, analogical, inferential and reasoning.  The second one is natural science is when people are more hypothetical, deductive can be disproved. The third one is critical theory it consit on  uncovering power, dynamics and ideological manipulation. The last one is pragmatism is when you are more experimental and creative pursuit of beautiful consequences.

At the end of the video Brookflied gives some aspects for making this process of learning to think critically and creatively easier, two of them are to end discussions and exercises with questions and provide the students real world illustrations and examples.

Finally, Brookfield explains some crucial aspects in order for teachers encourage their students to develop this way of thinking and why it is important, because as he claims “who we are as teachers is significantly framed by who we have been as learners”

Barriers

One of the barriers that are affecting my critical thinking is the lack of practice, I do not practice because of my shyness. Another barrier is the lack of methods and strategies to make my critical thinking more effectively.
I think what I can do to overcome these barriers is to let outside my shyness and my fear, to write down good strategies and methods for the development of my critical thinking skills, to take the risk and give my opinion when I have good supporting evidence and reasons.

Reflection

I do not find any characteristic of Bodner's description of myself. I think I take the time to evaluate what I have learned and also reflect on other's work. In addition, I agree with the suggestion Bodner made, because we have to question everything we learn about theories and beliefs, it is not just focusing on a book, you have to go beyond.

Challenging opinions

For me, the things I find most difficult about challengin the opinions of other people is to find the correct manner and way to tell them my opinion. I do not want them to missunderstood what I want to say or feel I am attaking them.
I deal with these by thinking about some appropiate words at the time of challengin someelse opinions and giving valid reasons and evidence in order for them feel intersted and take the time of think a little bit about it.

Influences on my thinking

For me, the influences on my own thinking that I need to be most aware of so it doesn't prejudice my thinking is my religion because sometimes I think I am right and I do not question myself. It could affect in negative ways my critical thinking.
I will deal whit this by being critical of my own beliefs and not taking for granted that I am right just because that is my assumption.

Emotional self-management

For me, the emotions that are most difficult to manage when others disagree with me are frustration and sometimes anger, it depends on how the person tell me their contradictory arguments. if the person tells me his point of view in a good way I will not feel any of these feelings, because I am conscious when other people are right and when I am wrong.
The way I deal with it is being patient and respect other's opinions.