Active Learner

In a day and age where the promulgation of information permeates the synapses of everyday

experiences in the forms of social media, news, and other information mediums, it has become

imperative to question the validity and reliability of sources while being an active learner when

considering the truth value of claims. Loras College has allowed me, not only to search for

information, but to search for information through the lenses of the masses. From different

intellectual domains. From the perspectives of various cultures. These active learning abilities

are imperative yet overlooked and without Loras, would have never been instilled in me. Prior to

my education here, I pretty much took everything at face value; adopting claims about the nature

of reality without considering anything but my perspective. After adopting multiple lenses into

my arsenal of consideration I have been able to more actively and more accurately consider

moral dilemmas and formulate more active and accurate views on the world. By studying

various domains of knowledge, I have formulated an ability to recognize the restrictive biases

and heuristics of certain belief systems. With this understanding, I have been able to tear down

the restrictive walls of my past conceptions and challenge truth claims through multiple lenses.

To depict this I will start with my entrance of knowledge into the famous scientific method that

was handed to me in my Probability and Statistics course. The scientific method is unique in the

sense that it does not hold a belief to be indisputable but rather makes claims regarding truth as a

result of the overwhelming empirical evidence that can be suggested by data collected on a topic.

To elaborate on my experience with this topic, I will explain one of my projects in this class. My

sophomore year, I embarked on a Journey to collect data on, and analyze intricacies of

Dubuques economic structure. I studied Mental Health Services, Employment Training,

Transportation, Childcare, and Housing through a semester long statistical study. In this study,
we formulated hypothesis about the nature of Dubuques economy. I interviewed local policy

makers and understood their perspectives and then proceeded to collect data to test their

understandings. After collecting data I found that the originally held beliefs were not a good

representation of the world and truly understood the imperativeness of our methodology and

analytical undertakings. By understanding the scientific method by using it in various course

work, I realized that having a bland and one directional view of the world was not going to

accurately work when considering moral decisions in any realm. Thinking about how to make a

political decision, for example, with only the views (as did some of Dubuques policy makers)

held by a right-wing conservative is like trying to measure the opinions of a society through

statistical methods by only studying men. This is obviously not the optimal proceeding. I have

since applied this framework into every realm of thought. Prior to my education at Loras, I never

would have done such a thing. Instead I would have proceeded by staying true to my

preconceived notions of reality and hence been a biased and poor decision maker. Active

learning is about using the scientific method in all walks of life. In the same course, I also

learned a theory called Bayesian theory. This theory adds on to the powerful notion of active

learning depicted above. It suggests that evidence about the true state of the world is expressed in

terms of degrees of belief known as Bayesian probabilities. When undergoing research or

seeking an answer actively, I have become much more of a true Bayesian. In fact, prior to Loras,

I was not a Bayesian at all. The unique thing about Bayes statistics is that a null-hypothesis or

preconceived notion of a truth claim is not overlooked when considering future findings. It is a

starting ground by which a set of domain knowledge is represented in the actual study that

attempts to uncover new knowledge. Since learning about this idea of Bayesian statistics, I have

been able to turn a practical solution into a principle by which I live intellectually. I use my past
knowledge as evidence to be considered rather than disregarded and proceed into using the

scientific method to pursue a more accurate representation of my finding. To me, this is what

active learning is all about; being a true scientist and a true Bayesian in all pursuits of

knowledge. I think that the intersection of Bayesian methods and an empirical scientific

methodology is where progress can truly be made, and bull shit mitigated. Along with my

statistics course work, I have taken philosophy courses that have proven to also be invaluable. In

my logic course, I unveiled the underpinnings of argumentation formulation which provided a

mechanism by which a concise and persuasive thesis could be created. In this course, we

thoroughly tested some commonly held belief systems and arguments that were popular from

recent politicians and famous individuals. We learned the unfalsifiable modes of argumentation

and smashed poor arguments into crumbling worthlessness. We pulled apart arguments like a

Jenga Tower, just waiting to see if they would collapse or stand strong. In doing so, I learned the

importance of logic in moving forward with decisions. I also gained a new affinity for active

learning with this logical substrate. In formulating logical arguments, you unveil problems in

your own thoughts and hence seek more information through the scientific method to formulate

proven arguments. The intersection of a quantitative field (statistics), and a philosophy field

(logic), which are typically at odds with one another have allowed me to confront intense issues

in other domains and develop a hugely successful mode of inquisition. An example of the

implementation of this active form of truth seeking was when I recently typed a paper for my

culture and psychopathology course. I had to develop a framework by which mental health could

be handled most optimally. I took case studies all over the world and considered successful

policy, cultural variations, religious variations, and self-referential beliefs of varying

demographics in order to come up with a practical solution for a huge concern for humanity. The
cool thing about it all, is that it is not overwhelming but rather exciting to commit such

intellectual rigor to a problem. When considering such moral dilemmas, active learning is

imperative to moving forward progressively and ethically. Without a liberal arts education, this

would be much more difficult.