The Ladder of Inference

The Ladder of Inference. What is it? The Ladder of Inference is how you create judgements, good and bad. There are seven steps to the ladder. The first step is, Data I can observe and experiences I've had (as a video would capture them). Next, Data I select from what I observe. Followed by, Meanings I add based on my cultural, family beliefs, personal beliefs or actions. After, Assumptions I make based on meaning I added to my "data". Next, Conclusions I make.Then, My beliefs about the world. Fianally, Actions I take based on my beliefs. These steps happen in seconds; sometimes we don't even it's happening. For example, you see some one on the street asking for money. You notice they have a dog and are wearing very dirty clothes and smell bad. You might think this person is a drug addict and that they should have thought about what they should have done in before to not end up on the street. You decide not to give them money because you think they will just spend it on drugs and alcohol. You know that the reason most people end up on the streets is, they didn't make great choices in life. finally you decide not to give them money. Since you made this desision in seconds, you didn't realized that the person on the street got there because he came back from a war, but his wife and the rest of his family left him so he didn't have any money left and had to beg on the street to buy food. You should always be aware of the ladder or you make desisions like this.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Character analysis

Character: Rubeus Hagrid

Have you ever heard the saying "don't judge a book by its cover?" People judge each other this way as well. People underestimate Hagrid because he got expelled from Hogwarts school of witch craft and wizardly on his third year for some unknown reason, but Dumbledore saw something in him and let him stay and be the games keeper, and do important jobs. This is the book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J.K. Rowling a world renowned author. It is about a boy named Harry Potter who's parents died when he was little and how he is being raised by his aunt and uncle who were not very nice to him because they kept a really big secret from him. They didn't want Harry to become a wizard and they thought that if they made his life as normal as possible he wouldn't become a wizard like his parents. When Harry discovered the secret he then realized why is aunt and uncle are so cruel. He then questioned what the giant Rubeus Hagrid told him about being a wizard. Rubeus Hagrid is one of the most trustworthy, sneaky, and friendly people you will ever meet at Hogwarts.

Hagrid is trustworthy because he was the only one Dumbledore could trust to get Harry from his home after his parents were killed. Another example of this trait is, when Harry wasn't getting his letter for Hogwarts and the Dursley's kept making them move. Hagrid kept making sure that the letter would find Harry no matter where the Dursley's hid him no matter what. Hagrid realized Harry wasn't getting his letter and took him away and brought him to Diagon ally. While they were there, Hagrid had to pick something very important up for Dumbledore from Gringotts, the bank for wizards.

Next, Hagrid is sneaky because one night he went to the town near Hogwarts and went to the local pub. While he was there, he met a strange man in a hood. This man told Hagrid that if he played a game of cards and won he could get a dragon egg. Hagrid had always wanted a dragon egg even though they were illegal. During the game the strange man kept buying Hagrid alcohol, which made Hagrid talk, and Hagrid told him about the Philosopher stone and how to get past Fluffy the 3 headed dog. Since he had won the game the strange man gave the dragon egg to Hagrid. For many days Hagrid kept the dragon undetected until Ron, Harry and Hermione told him he would have to give the dragon away. Hagrid was devastated. Another reason why Hagrid is sneaky is, when Hagrid came to get Harry from the Dursley's he used magic on Dudley to turn him into a pig, but all he did was put a tail on him. Hagrid is not really supposed to use magic because he is technically not a wizard anymore. He is only allowed to do magic under the order of Dumbledore.

Hagrid is sneaky, but he sometimes says to much. In this case, the one time Harry, Ron and Hermione went to Hagrid's hut, he accidentally told them about the philosopher's stone, and Nicholas Flammel the creator of the Philosopher's stone. He stopped when he realized he had said too much because they weren't supposed to know about it.

Hagrid is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet because he makes friends so easily. He made friends with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. He invites them for tea on the days they don't have school. They talk about a many of things such as, school work, and Quidditch. Hagrid and Harry are very good friends, especially since Hagrid was the one that brought Harry from his house to the Dursley's, then 12 years later they saved him from the Dursley's to bring him into the wizarding world.

By the end of the book, it is clear that Hagrid is trustworthy, sneaky, and friendly because of all the important tasks Dumbledore gave him, he kept a dragon egg, and he makes friend very easily. These traits affects the story because if Dumbledore could not trust Hagrid, he would have been left stranded with no place to go, and the night Harry's parents died the one person Dumbledore trusted to complete the job was Hagrid, or if he wasn't sneaky he could not have used magic to bring Harry to Diagon alley. On a number of occasions Hagrid has shown that his trustworthiness has payed off. I believe Hagrid acts the way he does so that Dumbledore will keep letting him stay at Hogwarts and because he thinks he has something to prove that he is not the kid that got expelled from Hogwarts.

Kids who play on sports teams do better in life.

Right now in class we are talking about statements. Mine is 'kids who play sports do better in life'. We have to state our opinion and where we land on a value chart. The place I land on the value chart is just past neutral on the side to strongly agree because some kids who are on sports team will have more homework. They have to manage their time to get their homework done. I think it also makes them work harder because their parents/teachers (depending on where they are doing the sport, whether at school or after school) might remove them from the team so they can raise their grade. Kids who do sports are also more detirmend in their school work. One thing I disagree with about what I just said is some kids take advantage of sports and come up with excuses not to do their homework, it's then reflected in their marks. 

I do not fully agree with this statement because some kids who choose to do sports, aren't as good and they won't make it very far if they only focuse on this sport, but no matter what they do they can't get better. I think the only reason people think that kids who play on sports teams are going to do better in life is that they think they will be a superstar later on and make millions of money. This is not true because I believe about 15% of kids that do sports will not go into a national league.

This my opinion so far on 'Kids who play sports do better in life.'