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1 - 7 of 7 results for: THINK

THINK 1: The Science of MythBusters

How do scientists actually go about answering practical questions? How does science function as a way of understanding our world, and -- importantly -- how does it differ from other approaches?nnAs its point of departure, this course will examine and critique selected episodes of the television series, MythBusters (Discovery Channel), which tests the validity of many popular beliefs, including myths, rumors, traditions, and stories, in a variety of imaginative ways. We will take the opportunity to delve more deeply into the applicability of the scientific method in understanding a vast range of real-world problems, and into the practical acquisition of fact-based knowledge, which together form the cornerstone of all science. The intellectual framework of this course will be based, first and foremost, on skeptical inquiry, combined with the other key ingredients of good science, which include: careful experimental design, meticulous observation and measurement, quantitative analysis and modeling, the evaluation of statistical significance, recovery from failure, and the continuous cycle of hypothesis and testing. We hope to inculcate in our students " a taste for questioning, a sense of observation, intellectual rigor, practice with reasoning, modesty in the face of facts, the ability to distinguish between true and false, and an attachment to logical and precise language. " (Yves Quéré, 2010 Science 330:605).
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-SMA

THINK 3: Breaking Codes, Finding Patterns

Why are humans drawn to making and breaking codes? To what extent is finding patterns both an art and a science? nnnCryptography has been used for millennia for secure communications, and its counterpart, cryptanalysis, or code breaking, has been around for just slightly less time. In this course we will explore the history of cryptography and cryptanalysis including the Enigma code, Navajo windtalkers, early computer science and the invention of modern Bayesian inference. We will try our own hand at breaking codes using some basic statistical tools for which no prior experience is necessary. Finally, we will consider the topic of patterns more generally, raising such questions as why we impute meaning to patterns, such as Biblical codes, and why we assume a complexity within a pattern when it¿s not there, such as the coincidence of birthdays in a group.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-FR

THINK 4: Can the People Rule?

How did our ideas about democracy as a universal norm evolve from a term once used to describe a handful of ancient Greek city-states? Would American democracy function better if we applied ancient practices that allowed the people to rule more directly and knowledgeably?nnnnIn this course, we will explore the idea of democracy through the experience of the American republic, focusing on the constitutional experiments of the Revolutionary era and the 19th-century democracy analyzed by Alexis de Tocqueville. We then address contemporary criticisms voiced against many democracies today: that the public is not well informed and therefore incapable of governing. You will read and learn to draw on major works of political theory to think critically about the complexities of American democracy. You will also be asked to participate in a two-week experiment in Deliberative Polling, which involves gathering citizens in random groups to study and discuss issues. Through this exercise, you will explore whether this structure might offer an attractive or complementary alternative to representative rule.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI

THINK 7: Journeys

Is death final or only the beginning of another journey? How do the mysteries of destination give rise to our most basic questions of purpose, meaning, and faith, and challenge us to consider our proper relation to others?nnn nnJourneys will examine works written across a span of some 2,300 years, from Chinese philosophy to American short stories. Each of these forms and genres presents some essential aspect of the journey we all share, and of the various passages we make within that one great journey that relentlessly challenge and transform us even as we advance toward what the poet Thomas Gray called our "inevitable hour." By reading, discussing, and interpreting these works, we will ask you to consider how each text compels us, by the penetration of its vision and the power of its art, to make part of our own journey in its company.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 8: Sustainability and Collapse

What does it mean to live sustainably? How do our different definitions of nature ¿ scientific, literary, cultural, and historical ¿ shape the way we answer that question? nnnSustainability and Collapse will explore what people in different places and periods of time have envisioned as successful ways of living with nature and how such ways of life have come under pressure. We will focus particularly on the interface between scientific and humanistic approaches to questions of environmental sustainability through a study of novels, historical texts, and works of biogeography. You will learn to ask how textual and visual images inform our ideas about what it means to live sustainably. We will then consider whether those ideas are in accordance with or in conflict with scientific understandings of human uses of nature. This course takes on some of the fundamental problems that presently confront our global community.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II

THINK 9: Technological Visions of Utopia

How do science and technology shape the frameworks for imagining utopian or dystopian societies? nnnSir Thomas More gave a name to the philosophical ideal of a ¿good society¿ ¿ a word that is now a part of common language: utopia. In the almost 500 years since More¿s Utopia appeared, changes in society ¿ including enormous advances in science and technology ¿ have opened up new possibilities for the utopian society that More and his predecessors could not have envisioned. At the same time science and technology also entail risks that suggest more dystopian scenarios ¿ in their most extreme form, threats to humanity¿s very survival. We will look at several works that consider how literary visions of society have evolved with the progress of science and technology. The readings begin with More and include examples of more technologically determined visions of the late 20th century, as imagined in works of fiction.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 39: Energy? Understanding the Challenge, Developing Solutions

How much energy do we need to run the world and what energy resources can we use? How do we convert those resources into energy services? What are the economic, environmental, and security costs of energy services? How will energy markets address the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emission? Energy is the lifeblood of human societies. Energy use is intricately woven through the fabric of the productive (and comfortable) lives we live in the developed world. We use energy to move and sometimes make fresh water, grow food, transport it to markets, heat, cool, and light our dwellings and workplaces, communicate and compute, and travel the world. We worry about energy security and fret about the cost of gasoline. And as world population continues to grow and the developing world seeks to use energy for the services we enjoy, the challenge of supplying the energy the world needs will grow commensurately. Energy is also a primary way human activities interact with global air, water, and biological systems that provide essential services to us and the planet. Balancing our interactions with those systems will require dramatic changes to the world¿s energy systems in the decades to come. This course examines the energy challenges, opportunities, and choices that lie ahead.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR
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