My name is Jacob Wheeler. I am a senior Philosophy major and as my enrollment in this class may indicate I have a fondness for great literature. That's enough about me:
Someone asked in class yesterday if there was any value in this assignment. The point is potent; we will likely forget these facts (the ones we even read) and there may be little benefit gained here. I'd like to offer a counter point. Posting and reading these brusquely brief bios is a humanizing activity. It reminds all agents participating in these discussions that the views we are responding to are the views of people; it reinforces possibly one of the most fundamental aspects of a free flow of ideas: courtesy and respect.
Question: do you find any value in this assignment or is it, as suggested in class, a waste of time?
As the person who questioned the value of the assignment, I still contend that the assignment itself is frivolous. I would hope that everyone in the class who is reading these blog posts realizes that the posts are, in fact, products of a sentient being. Furthermore, the alleged benefits of this activity, specifically reinforcing the ideas of courtesy and respect in discourse, should have been acquired through the completion of another assignment: reading the online handout pertaining to blogging. Therefore, although the assignment may not be worthless, a combination of common sense and prior readings render this assignment superfluous.
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