Assignment #1 by Natalie Rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt Made by: Natalie Rochefort en-us 2019-02-10 15:42:29 UTC 2025-11-18 18:34:43 UTC hello@padlet.com Post #1: Assignnment #1 n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329608732 Made by: Natalie Rochefort, working individually ]]> 2019-02-10 15:47:07 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329608732 Post #2: Red Flag: Mystical Energy n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329609004 Definition: The Mystical Energy red flag is used by people such as new age practitioners who use the word "energy" as a way to heal themselves or others. This type of healing has no scientific support or has any merit.

Connection: 
The idea of mythical energy can be found in the practice of energy healing, such as Reiki. The idea that using a light touch on a person will transmit a spiritually guided life force energy to them. Thus, healing them. It is important to be skeptical of such claims; that using using a light touch can heal a person by sending energy into their body to help aid them. Using the critical thinking process can help guide a person through the claim that Reiki can heal a person. A Reiki practitioner does not require any specific training or credentials and there are no scientific claims which supports the claims that Reiki does work.  
]]> 2019-02-10 15:49:46 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329609004 Post #3: Red Flag: Confirmation Bias n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329615523 Definition: The Confirmation Bias red flag is when people seek out information which will coincide with their own beliefs and ignore all other relevant information which does not support their belief or outcome which they already have in mind.

Connection: Nostradamus was a physician and astrologer in the 16th century. He has become well known for his predictions of future events. He was able to see into the future and created a collection of all the events he saw. Many people believe any rely on all predictions provided by Nostradamus. They focus on the predictions that seems to have some connection to modern day events which occurred, but ignore all the missed predictions he made. A lot of his predictions can be misinterpreted to coincide with events which happened in our history. ]]> 2019-02-10 16:38:55 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329615523 Post #4: Red Flag: Red Herring n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329619296 Description: Red Herring red flag is used when a person will use irrelevant information in a conversation to divert you from the logical flow of the conversation. It is used as a form of distraction from the original topic at hand.

Connection: Red Herring is popular among conspiracy theorists who use irrelevant information to distract others from the truth. As depicted in the picture below, one of the most popular conspiracy theories out there is that man never walked on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. It is said that the picture below is a hoax which was staged by NASA in a large studio. These conspiracy theorists have a large arsenal of information to steer a person away from the topic of something that happened in our history, which is the truth and try to distract them with the information they have. Space is littered with stars, so why aren’t there stars in the picture? The big moon rover would have never fit into their small landing module. There’s no crater that should have been created by the powerful engine of the module. The film from the camera would have melted by the suns rays at 280 degrees F. There’s multiple angled shadows in the picture which proves that there were multiple light sources, such as in a studio. The American flag is waiving in the “lunar” wind.]]> 2019-02-10 17:04:24 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329619296 Post #5: Red Flag: Proof by Verbosity n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329623015 Definition: The red flag, Proof by verbosity is done by throwing out large quantities of information to give the appearance that it’s well researched and true. Providing a large quantity of information does not make it true. 

Connection: Similar to red herring, proof by verbosity is another favourite of conspiracy theorists who throw out a large amount of information that gives a false appearance that they look well researched, so what they’re saying must have some legitimate merit. 

The video below discusses one of the most prevalent modern-day myths, global warming. It does a good job at depicting that providing large quantities of information does not mean it is legitimate. 

This is a topic that you cannot avoid. If we're having several days of freezing winter weather, then the global warming disbelievers will be out in full force on social media saying that, "if global warming is real, then why is it -20 for the next few days." Providing all this information does not make it true. There are so many sources out there who claim and support this idea. It’s very misleading to the general population, especially when people in authority are denying the facts, such as the President of the United States. 
]]> 2019-02-10 17:29:29 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329623015 Post #6: Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329625048 Definition: Ancient Wisdom red flag is the belief that our ancestors ancient practices and beliefs are legitimate and and have more merit than modern day practices. Most of these practices are unethical and they have no scientific foundation to support the claims.

Connection:  This video refers to the topic of ancient wisdom by discussing the belief that the world was going to come to an end on December 21, 2012 as predicted by the Mayan Calendar. Many people believed that this ancient civilization had the knowledge to make predictions about the future and relied upon the belief that the world was going to come to an end. Doomsday was to happen on December 21, 2012 and was linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012. This date is the last date of the Mayan calendar, which is a 400-year long calendar. This is only the end of that calendar and then a start of a new one. It is important to apply skepticism as I did above by indicating that this was not the end of the calendar and a new one starts after this. By using logical rational and doing research, it is easy to find scientific claims which helps to refute the claim that the world was suppose to come to an end. ]]> 2019-02-10 17:44:11 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329625048 Post #7: Reason for Belief: Emotional Connections n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329630766 Definition: Our emotions can blind us from the truth and lead us to believe in something that we subconsciously want to believe in.

Connection: The image below represents the belief of life after death. When a loved one passes away our emotions can lead us to believe in the afterlife, which gives us comfort knowing that they’re in a beautiful place and one day we’ll join them. There are many stories of near death experiences where people have said that they have crossed over to the other side and have seen heaven when they died and were brought back to life. Having a strong religious faith does contribute to the belief in the afterlife since this is a fundamental part of a lot of religions. Looking at other alternative solutions can explain why people have near death experiences where they see heaven. There is no scientific information to support such claims, but there is information that refutes such claims such as, trauma to the brain which causes hallucinations. 

]]> 2019-02-10 18:23:52 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329630766 Post #8: Reason for Belief: Unexplained n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329633381 Definition: When something we cannot fathom and goes beyond our grasp of knowledge and understanding, we deem it as the unknown. We seek to find truth in the unexplained and try to make sense of the unknown. 

Connection: This website, which is also a radio show, dedicates itself to the unexplained and paranormal. It covers topics such as, UFO’s, alien abductions, life after death, ghost encounters, etc. They have experts on the show as well as people who have experienced first hand encounters with the topic at hand. 

Users can call in and share their stories of first hand experiences with the supernatural or submit videos and pictures of the supernatural and unexplained. Being superstitious to begin with makes you more susceptible to believing that something you cannot explain, such as an object in the sky that you do not recognize or an image in the woods in the middle of the night, is the works of something more sinister than something more rational. Often images of ghosts have been contributed to a trick of the light. 

Coast to Coast has dedicated itself to the supernatural and unexplained and fuels those who are believers in the paranormal. 
]]> 2019-02-10 18:42:30 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329633381 Post #9: Reason for Belief: Patternicity n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329636537 Definition: Humans are naturally inclined to seek patterns in objects. Our mind seeks patterns in meaningless objects which gives us the perception that there is an image in that meaningless object. 

Connection: The image below depicts how our mind seeks an image in a meaningless object. When this cinnamon bun is placed next to ET, you can’t help but notice the uncanny resemblance. 
]]> 2019-02-10 19:07:13 UTC https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329636537 Post #10: Critical Thinking Process n_rochefort https://padlet.com/n_rochefort/7iyuzpn3wftt/wish/329637186  I chose to evaluate the Apollo Missions to the Moon.

 Define the Problem (extraordinary claim): Was the Apollo moon landings staged? 

Gather the Information: Information to support the claim:
1.       The flag in the Apollo moon landing mission appears to be waiving. The moon has no air, so there is no wind to create movement with the flag.
2.       In the picture where the module landed, there should be a crater in the moon from it’s landing due to the force.
3.       In the videos and photographs of the landing on the moon, there seems to be light coming from all directions when the light source should only come from one direction, the sun. The multiple sources of lights suggest that these lights were from a studio. 
4.       The astronauts had to pass through the Van Allen radiation belt. The levels of radiation would have killed the astronauts.
5.       In one of the images of the astronaut, there is a reflection of an object that’s hanging by a rope or wire.
6.       The image of earth from the moon shows no stars.
7.       In one image there is a rock with a perfectly symmetrical letter C engraved onto it. This must be a stage prop turned accidentally the wrong way. 
8.       One of the first pieces of evidence is a book called, We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle, published in 1976 by Bill Kaysing. The book made many allegations, and began discussions of the Moon landings being staged. The book says that the chance of a successful manned landing on the Moon was calculated to be 0.0017%.
9.       In 1980, the Flat Earth Society claimed NASA faked the lunar landings. They claimed they were staged by Hollywood with Walt Disney sponsorship, based on a script by Arthur C. Clarke and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
10.   One of the main theories is that the Space Missions were faked as a race with Russia to put man on the moon first. 

Evaluate the Evidence: The evidence is strictly conspiracy theories. No creditable proof or sources has emerged. With every information that comes forward to prove it’s a hoax, NASA will disprove it with a multitude of facts backed by science and logic. The conspiracies are all over the place and different conspiracy theorists have their own theories on it. There’s inconsistency with that.   It is also hard to believe that after several decades, that a personnel staff of 400,000 that worked on all the missions over a decade never claimed that it was faked. You couldn’t keep a secret with that many people.  Kaysing, had no knowledge of rockets. He’s a former US Navy officer and had a Bachelor of Arts in English. The only connection he had to aircraft engines, was being a technical writer for a company that built F-1 engines for the Saturn V rocket.  The Kubrick allegations have no merit. They’re strictly just claims. Fans of Kubrick and his films have “linked” connections from his films to the Apollo 11 mission. They’re searching for meaning in something that isn’t there.

Recognize Assumptions, Emotions, Biases: When looking at a lot of the well-known conspiracy theorists and their stances on why the Apollo mission is a hoax, you see a pattern of a lot of them being journalists with no creditability in the topic at hand. The missions happened in the time of Nixon with the Watergate scandal and Vietnam. The American people already had a huge distrust in the government. People were already distrusting the government and all it takes is these journalists to write an article or book on the missions being staged to light a fire. This is playing on people’s emotions and lack of understanding and knowledge of NASA and what they do. Publishing a book makes a person seem creditable, even though anyone can write a book.   

Synthesize Evidence. Identify Alternative:
Alternative 1: The Apollo Missions were staged. Man, never walked on the moon. This is supported by multiple sources with no training with NASA or any creditably in the topic. 
Alternative 2: The Apollo Missions to the moon really happened. Man, did walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, were the first people to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.   

Select Best Alternative: After evaluating all the evidence, I conclude that the Apollo Missions did take place and man walked on the moon during the Apollo 11 missions. 
 

Source:
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