Question Description
You have two options for your forum assignment this week. Choose just one of the two numbered options below, but be sure to answer all questions included in your chosen option.
1) Like other popular media, the World Wide Web is full of claims of the existence of “extraterrestrial intelligence”—namely, UFO sightings and alien abductions. There are two parts to this question, and you must answer both if you choose this option:
(A) choose a website of this kind and analyze its content using the idea of Occam’s razor, the principle that if there is more than one viable explanation for a phenomenon, one should choose the simplest explanation that fits all the observed facts.
(B) read what a skeptical website has to say about UFO sightings. A good example is the website of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, or CSICOP. After considering what you have read on both sides of the UFO debate, discuss your opinions about whether aliens really have landed on Earth.
2) Imagine that astronomers have discovered intelligent life in a nearby star system. Imagine you are part of a group submitting a proposal for who on Earth should speak for the planet and what 50-word message should be conveyed. Be sure to answer all three questions below, if you choose this option.
(A) Who should speak for Earth and why?
(B) What should this person say in 50 words?
(C) Why is this message the most important compared to other things that could be said?
Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 200 words. Please respond to at least two other students (more is great). Responses should be a minimum of 100 words and be substantive (furthering the discussion, not merely saying “good post”).
You have two options for your forum assignment this week. Choose just one of the two numbered options below, but be sure to answer all questions included in your chosen option.1) Like other popular media, the World Wide Web is full of claims of the existence of “extraterrestrial intelligence”—namely, UFO sightings and alien abductions. There are two parts to this question, and you must answer both if you choose this option:(A) choose a website of this kind and analyze its content using the idea of Occam’s razor, the principle that if there is more than one viable explanation for a phenomenon, one should choose the simplest explanation that fits all the observed facts.(B) read what a skeptical website has to say about UFO sightings. A good example is the website of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, or CSICOP. After considering what you have read on both sides of the UFO debate, discuss your opinions about whether aliens really have landed on Earth.2) Imagine that astronomers have discovered intelligent life in a nearby star system. Imagine you are part of a group submitting a proposal for who on Earth should speak for the planet and what 50-word message should be conveyed. Be sure to answer all three questions below, if you choose this option.(A) Who should speak for Earth and why?(B) What should this person say in 50 words?(C) Why is this message the most important compared to other things that could be said? Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 200 words. Please respond to at least two other students (more is great). Responses should be a minimum of 100 words and be substantive (furthering the discussion, not merely saying “good post”).
