General Feelings
Throughout this course I’ve had many mixed emotions. In the beginning, the first couple discussions were like any other class and I made it through with no real issues. However as the class went on, discussions got noticeably harder making you apply more indirect knowledge from the course rather than simply just looking up a definition and posting it. Initially I was not a fan but really started to enjoy it about half way in, especially with the assignments changing up every now and then. Now that the finish line has been reached I feel a sense of accomplishment that you feel when running a marathon. It sucks really bad at about the half-way mark but begins to get easier as the race goes on and you get closer to the finish line. Not easier because the course itself got easier, but instead due to myself starting to really understand the material and enjoy learning more about it.
Learning objectives
With any course I always learn a lot. This was my first one back after a couple years of not taking anything so it was a challenge. Learning about cognitive biases was cool, more so the part that you can control them, but what I really enjoyed were some of the case studies and realizing how these biases have screwed my thinking throughout my life. The two most notably ones were first of all the Cuban Missile Crisis. The thought NEVER crossed my mind that the entire stand off was caused by Kennedy and his big man posturing. Second off, Lesson 7, which still has me questioning a bit. I’ve grown up in a strong conservative Republican family and when I thought of Palestines, I thought terrorist. Lesson 7 opened my mind to a completely different narrative. One that instead of making the Palestinians out as aggressors, showed them to be people who have been bullied by a country who is constantly being given top notch military weaponry. Perhaps I was able to recognize these things by asking questions that I did not prior to taking this course. If I learned anything, it is to question everything, even if the answer seems to be true to everyone around you. Doing this will not only make you a more informed individual, but one that can think independently and stand up for others when nobody else will.