Erin’s blog

Today in class, our presentation was on Millerism, and I found it interesting how much the social and cultural circumstances of the time influenced what people believed. Millerism took place during the Second Great Awakening, when there was already a strong religious revival happening. Because people were highly focused on religion, they may have been more open to William Miller’s message that Christ would return. I also thought it was interesting that Miller used Daniel 8:14 from the Bible to support his prediction. He was not simply making a claim; he used a source that his audience already trusted and then used calculations to create a specific timeline. I think this made his prediction much more convincing to people. It showed me how the sources people trust and the environment they live in can strongly influence what they believe, especially when an idea is being reinforced by the people around them.

Today in class, Sandra and Ashley presented on the Salem witch trials, and I found their presentation really interesting because it showed how quickly fear and accusations can spread when people are willing to believe something without real evidence. One part that stood out to me was the list of things that could supposedly qualify someone as a witch. Some of the qualifications included being too old or too young, or even appearing in someone else’s dream. What surprised me most was how impossible some of these qualifications were to avoid. If someone could be accused of witchcraft simply because another person dreamed about them, there was really no way to prove that they were innocent. It made me think about how dangerous it can be when a claim is structured so that there is no way for a person to disprove it. I also learned something from Sandra and Ashley’s presentation that I did not know before: most of the people executed during the Salem witch trials were hanged rather than bu...

One topic that stood out to me during class last Thursday was phishing. Before the presentation, I knew that phishing scams were a way for people to steal personal information online, but I did not realize how many different forms phishing could take or how convincing these scams can be. During Thursday’s presentation on phishing, Olivia and Mia provided different examples of how scammers try to get people to give away personal information. Their presentation made me realize that phishing is not always as obvious as receiving a suspicious email or clicking on a strange link. One example from the presentation that really stood out to me was when Olivia shared about an Apple scam. She showed us an example of a block or warning that could appear on someone’s computer claiming that there was a problem with their Apple device. The message provided a phone number to call for help. She explained that if someone called the number, the person on the other end would try to get personal informat...

One topic that stood out to me today was deepfakes. Before learning about them, I knew that artificial intelligence could create fake pictures and videos, but I did not realize how realistic they could actually be. During the class presentation today, we were shown different videos and social media posts and asked to determine which ones were real and which ones were deepfakes. I honestly could not tell which videos or posts were deepfakes and which ones were real. This was probably the part of the presentation that surprised me the most because I realized how easily I could believe something that was completely fake. One example from our class that really stood out to me was an activity my group did where we created an image that showed a “spotting” of Kylie Jenner and Brad Pitt at a Knicks game. Even though we knew the image was not real, it looked believable enough that someone who saw it without any context could potentially think it actually happened. This made me realize how eas...

This week’s class discussions about truth made me think differently about how I decide what I believe. By watching  Paper Moon  and discussing the idea of truth, confirmation bias, and alternate facts I have shifted my outlook on becoming more aware of where I receive my news from and what I chose to believe. One idea that stood out to me was confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or pay more attention to information that supports what we already believe while ignoring or questioning information that challenges us. I recognize how easily this can happen in everyday life, especially with social media and the internet and have reflected how I now incorporate this into my own life as well. If I already agree with an opinion, I am more likely to believe an article or video that supports it without questioning it very much. However, if I see something that disagrees with me, I may immediately start looking for reasons why it is wrong. This made me realize ...