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Sustainability
Freshman Inquiry
Oct. 5, 2010
Jeff Fletcher
Logistics
• Field Trip Oct. 21 (2pm to 6pm at latest)
– How many are 18 or younger?
• New Reading (due Oct. 12):
– Transition to College Writing Ch. 1, 2
– Omnivore’s Dilemma Ch. 3-7 (won’t talk about until
• Sustainability tour next Tuesday (details to
follow)
• HW1: still submit if you haven’t
– changed so can edit
• New student?
Opportunities
• Gardens Oct. 11th (this Monday) noon
– meet at Food For Thought Café in Smith basement
• Pioneer District of Garden Clubs has a $1000
scholarship
• Hopworks 2-4 hour / week job
• Homework 0
– ISEPP Lectures: http://www.isepp.org/
– Sustainability Solutions Seminars:
http://www.pdx.edu/sustainability/solutions-seminars
Ways of Knowing
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Instinct
Experience
Math/Reason/Logic
Philosophy
Science/Evidence
Literature/Art
Oral tradition (parents/elders)
Religion/Spirituality
Cultural Experience
Social Expectations
Education/Books/Internet
Scientific Method
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Observation
Hypothesis
Design Experiments
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Write journal papers / attend conferences
Peer Review
Develop and Revise Theories
Skepticism at all stages
– About theories and evidence, but also about how our
minds work (biases)
Skepticism About How We Think
• Analogy with Optical Illusions
– Adelson's Checkerboard Illusion
• A Scientific (Skeptical) View: Michael
Shermer founder of Skeptic Magazine (14
min)
– http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7453317847381528211&ei=zY3jSIP9GJnqAPMve2RCw&hl=en
General Reading Questions
• What is the context of the book? Why did the author
write it? What is his/her likely motivation?
• What is the question being investigated? What question
was he/she trying to answer, or what is the main point
he/she is trying to make?
• What is the contribution? Is this book likely to be
important? To whom? What affect might it have on the
world? Is the impact likely to be narrow or broad?
• Based on what you’ve read so far, is the author making
his/her points well? Is it well written and how does this
affect its impact?
• What is the method of investigation? What methods
does the author use to make his/her point? How are
his/her arguments structured? What alternatives are
possible?
Important Themes
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National Eating Disorder
Natures way vs. Industrial/Corporate way
Omnivore's Dilemma
Domestication by Humans; or
Domestication of Humans
• We are corn
• Dramatic Increase in Corn Yields
• Corn anatomy and sex