Mind Muscle Vs. Mind Mush

With this lesson, we begin a new unit on epistemology, which is the philosophical study of knowledge claims. In this first lesson on epistemology, we begin by examining the question “What do we mean when we say we know something?” What exactly is knowledge? We will begin with a presentation that introduces the traditional definition of knowledge. Wood then discusses some of the basic issues raised in the study of epistemology and then presents an approach to epistemology that focuses on obtaining the intellectual virtues, a point we will elaborate on in the next lesson.

The root and future of your society is the youth. To have them follow you is to have definite power in the future. Hitler seems to have been aware of this when molding his perfect community, therefore he did many things to have his ideology accepted by

For Hitler, the communication gap and differences within the government deterred his followers from creating a solid opposition to his power. Mommsen stated, “The movement’s energies had to become totally absorbed in internal ‘disputes over areas of competency…’” (171). Another advantage Hitler had when dealing with people was his charisma. He was “uniquely talented in being able to change the minds” of officials who started to doubt the Hitler’s wisdom. Hitler had a habit of tirelessly trying to convince nonbelievers by persuasion. His behavior had people feeling that he was determined and had a sense of purpose. Along with Goebbels as Propaganda Minister, Hitler had the “fate of the nation” in him and Germany had never seen a leader like him (165). Hitler had “come to symbolize the unity and substance of the nation” (167). When complaints arose about the party and the Nazi regime, Hitler was exempt from them and citizens thought that if he only knew what was happening, then he would change it.

Adolf Hitler was not a fabricated beast from a horror movie, like many seem to think. Hitler was, in fact, a man of unjust accusations, and an evil power hungry tyrant. The fact remains that he was indeed, a human. That’s the alarming part of it. It wasn’t Satan himself that endured hardships, failed the trials of life, became a power driven leader that kept Germany first, and eventually caused the deaths of 11 million people. Hitler killed 11 million people with lives, families, and the possibility of a future that was taken away from them. He was only a man, so how could he have been capable of being so heartless and power hungry? He did not invent hating Jews, but rather added upon the ideas of his hometown. Studies show that it could have

After eliminating the previous government, he discovered that he could tap into basic human nature. Human nature, namely herd mentality, can be used as a foundation because of its natural occurrence. (Jowett 42). Humans will always inevitably revert back to their basic nature. Therefore, basing his efforts on such a stable foundation provided him an anchor. Not only that, but he could easily and efficiently persuade a large group of people, knowing that once he had enough support the other citizens would follow suit. In time, societal standards grew to accommodate the new Nazi mindset. Whether people supported these news ideals or not, many lacked the audacity to revolt against the government and demand change (“Causes” 1). Hitler silenced opposing views through societal pressure; people’s need to conform prohibited them from harboring different ideals, which would cause them to stand out. The citizens of Germany were left with the choice to conform or to stand up against the government. Many people ended up conforming, therefore lending Hitler the power and support he needed to further his

Considering how harsh Hitler’s dictatorship was, it is hard not to wonder how and why the population accepted his dictatorship. Hitler brought the population to this point mainly by the use of propaganda, the manipulation and brainwashing of German youth, and, most importantly, the use of terror .

Media impacts our lives everyday. The average 14-to-28 year-old will be exposed to about 3,000 ads every day. Ben Franklin once said that nothing is certain is this life except death and taxes. I believe it is now safe to assume we can add advertisements to that list now. We are literally bombarded with them. After seeing all the advertisements I am led to believe that they are the most carefully constructed of all human communication, being it the most expensive too. In 2004, according to www.answers.com, advertisement was in excess of $450 billion in the United States alone. It is not our fault though that these advertisements display messages that we cannot perceive. When we see an ad, our conscious mind will filter out the things it cannot deal with and make an acceptable idea or image that is made conscious. This is

Jamie Holmes’ article The Case for Teaching Ignorance links with our Honors Summer Assignment in multiple ways. She cites Stuart J. Firestein, the same man who introduced us to the idea of ignorance in his Ted Talk: The Pursuit of Ignorance, and they both came upon this concept when learning that their students were under the false impression that we knew everything we need to know because of the one thousand page textbook. In addition, she also puts an emphasis on the importance of “answers breeding questions” (Holmes 2). Throughout the summer assignment we focused on knowledge generating ignorance and questions, this article forces us to remember this concept and provides us with a new method to understand it. Holmes uses Michael Smithson’s metaphor of an island of knowledge (Holmes 2) to allow us to gain a new perspective on how knowledge and ignorance are connected. Because of this idea, I was able to further understand that it is questions that drive our desire to know more and “grow” the island and its shoreline.

“There are over 250 billion advertisements released to the public every year with the average person seeing over 3000 ads every single day” (Kilbourne). This is an astronomical amount of information for anyone to process in a week let alone in one day. This is a prime example of Capitalism at it’s finest. Controlling the consumer in every aspect of their lives. Jean Kilbourne also talks about how “Only 8 percent of an advertisement is actually processed by the conscious mind, with the other 92 percent being soaked up by the subconscious” (Kilbourne). Thinking about those numbers really brings into perspective how much we are truly influenced by media

Aldof Hitler saw a imperfect group of people and blamed them for the loss of the war. Hitler stated they were subhumans and they needed to be killed to get rid of the infestation of jews that Germany had. Hitler thought getting rid of jews would help make germany a better place, but it did not. He successfuly killed jews and nothing in Germany got any better.

Hitler once said, “through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.” For example Hitler put up many posters that were used to show how the Jews were “sneaky” and how they fed off of other people that were in trouble and in need. Furthermore he put up posters showing him as a great leader. These two combinations of putting down Jews and showing how he is a great leader attracted more and more people to vote for him. Along with these posters came his uniforms. These made people look the same and made his party look more formal. Furthermore, looking more formal made him different from other parties. Also it made all the people in the party follow one dream and think very similarly. Having all this one sided information put towards them the German people knew only what was show, Hitler was a great person to have as a

Adolf Hitler used propaganda to turn people against Jews, blacks and about everyone else that was not German and he also use it to make people want to join Nazi army. Franklin Roosevelt or F.D.R also use the science of propaganda to turn people against Germany, Italy and Japan. Hitler had first become aware of propaganda and its uses before the First World War. During the war he saw the effect of British propaganda on the soldiers of the Central Powers. Later on after the war Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf (My Struggle), he devoted two whole chapters to the study and practice of propaganda. He once said “the psyche of the masses,” he wrote, “is not receptive to anything that is weak. They are like a woman, whose psychic state determined less by abstract reason than by an emotional longing for a strong force will complement her nature. Likewise, the masses love a commander, and despise a petitioner” (Hitler). After many speeches and papers he wrote on

Hitler was a very powerful man and could persuade a crowd with just his words. He is even portrayed like this in one of Max’s vivid dreams. “As we speak, he is plotting his way into your neighborhood. He’s moving in next door. He’s infesting you with his family and he’s about to take you over… Will you simply stand there and let him do this?”(254).

Germany’s defeat during World War 1 left the country with unstable government and uncertain people. Adolf Hitler was a man with confidence, charisma, and the ability to make friends and influence people. Hitler tried to establish a sense of community in the recovery and targeted young people, the unemployed, and members of the lower middle class. Hitler’s ability to gain followers and rise to power was a positive thing for Germany until he began using that power to convince others to take part in the Holocaust. Although Hitler was influential in the Holocaust, his intentions were to make Germany a better, brighter place. Hitler gained followers by spreading a message of hope in a positive way, substantially helped the German people out of an

Hitler addressed scores of mass gatherings of people, requiring the German individuals to oppose the burden of Jews and Communists, and to make another way of living which would administer the world for a long time.