What I liked most about my TED Talk was my topic.  I believed that it was interesting and it allowed me to research something I did not know much about.  While doing so, it allowed me to see the topic from multiple perspectives. I enjoyed widening my knowledge and understanding the viewpoints of others.

After seeing others present their TED Talks, I found that my delivery and content were not as great as they could have been.  As many do, I have a fear of public speaking.  Due to this, I was a little shaky, especially in the first line of my presentation, which was not an ideal time to stumble over my words.  I believe that if I had practiced a little more I might have been able to shake some of the nerves and then I would have been able to present it a little more smoothly.  As I watched the other presentations, I noticed that their deliveries were much smoother than mine.

When it comes to content I believe I had everything I needed, but I also found that my topic was too broad to touch on everything.  When speaking about the idea that many people believe that Catholics often oppose science I am sure there are many other reasons that I was unable to touch on.  In the TED Talks of others, I was left with no questions as they provided all of the answers.  Unlike those, my presentation raised questions about what other reasons caused people to see a divide between the two communities.  I also saw many more statistics used in other TED Talks.  I did not have as many opportunities to use statistics, and I felt that this made my presentation look as though it were not solidified using facts.  That being said, I did feel that not using as many stats in my presentation allowed my information to be easier to grasp.

Here is the link to my video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbuHLmygt3E&t=34s

Topic: Misconceptions on Science and the Catholic Church

Purpose: I wish to explain that there might not be as big of a divide between members of the catholic church and the scientific community.

Thesis: Although science and religion are often looked at as fundamentally contradictory, many Catholics are in fact high-functioning members of the scientific community.  In addition, science and faith are quite similar in the goal of explaining our place in the universe.

Intro: Recognize that there is division at times, but there are often misconceptions as well.  The divide is not absolute and many members of the church in the past, just as today, have beliefs of mixed faith and religion.    Note that I do not identify with the church, so I am not giving this talk to justify the clear mistakes that have been made (Galileo).  That being said, there is a general misconception that most members of the church reject any scientific ideas that contradict their faith. (slide 1, cross in front of the night sky drawing contrast between Catholicism and astronomy/science)

Main Idea I:

• Many use the hasty generalization logical fallacy to justify the statement that the whole of the Catholic church is against the scientific community.
  • Due to the fact that several popes in the public spotlight have disagreed with evidence brought to the table by scientists many people believe that most members of the Catholic church during those times were against scientific discovery. (slide 2, images of the pope)

Main Idea II:

• There are many examples of catholic church officials coming up with, and being open to theories that might contradict literal interpretations of the bible.
  • Copernicus was a church official.  (slide 3, Copernicus wearing cross next to Copernicus with heliocentric model)
  • The scientist to propose the big bang theory was catholic.  His name was Lemaître and he was a Belgian priest. (slide 4, model of the big bang theory)

Main Idea III:

• Today, many groups affiliated with the Catholic church do not look at theories of evolution as contradictory to the Bible. (Slide 5,  ?)
  • Catholic schools
  • Scientific research organizations made up of members of the Catholic Church

Conclusion: I believe both science and religion are about finding our place in the universe.  So rather than causing divide by closing our minds to new ideas from either side, we should embrace the fact that we are all working toward the same goal.

References:

Fallacies

https://www.space.com/15684-nicolaus-copernicus.html

https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_lemaitre.html

 

 

Topic: Kennedy “we choose to go to the moon speech” vs. Elon Musk’s car in space

Purpose: To compare and contrast the delivery of the messages JFK and Elon Musk were attempting to send.

Thesis Statement: Through the image of Starman and the “we choose to go to the moon speech”, Elon Musk and John F. Kennedy use kairos, ethos, and style to inspire America and the scientific community to respond to disparate exigences.

Introduction

Attention strategy: Something like “they say running away does not solve problems, but they never said rocketing off of the face of earth does not solve an exigence.”

Orienting material: Space race beginning, Sputnik, Gagarin, Shepherd (Kennedy)  Elon starts SpaceX, builds rockets, sends his car into space

Main Idea I: In both instances of these artifacts, the world stood with an exigence that could lead to catastrophic global events.  Both Elon and Kennedy stood up and offered solutions at these kairotic moments.

• Elon proposed that if this climate crisis could not be averted we would need a backup plan, that being Mars (logos).
• Kennedy wished to send people to the moon to keep space free from any government control as well as to show the power of the U.S. He wished to prove to the USSR that if they did anything militarily against us we were capable of protecting ourselves and in doing so he hoped the USSR would not attempt anything (logos).

Main Idea II: Both Elon and Kennedy create ethos through the artifacts.

• Elon’s solution to the exigence is for his company to send humans to Mars.  By launching the most powerful rocket ever, he built credibility (ethos). He also uses prior ethos.  He represents private industry in space exploration due to his company.
• JFK was a young, ambitious, and charismatic president of the United States and therefore had a lot of prior credibility.

Main Idea III: The style of the image and the speech added to the effectiveness.

• In the image, the focus seems to be on Earth, making humans the importance.  Publicity stunt that caused people to feel curious (pathos).
• Kennedy delivered the speech in a powerful manner and repeated key phrases.  This played on the pride of Americans, and supported the ideology that many Americans have “America is the greatest country in the world.  Pride=pathos.

Conclusion: touch on the effectiveness of the arguments made by Elon and Kennedy.

 

Civic Artifact Outline

 

Topic: “We choose to go to the moon” speech by President Kennedy

 

Purpose:  Analyze the speech and how it sends the main message of inspiration to its audience.

 

Thesis Statement:  President Kennedy relies on Kairos, style, and emotional appeals to inspire citizens and scientists alike to civically engage in the space race.

 

Introduction

Attention Strategy:  If I told you today that another country sent a satellite into orbit around earth, you probably would not react too much, but when the USSR launched Sputnik and later the first man into space, the U.S. felt horrified and defeated in the space race.

 

Orienting Material:  Sputnik 1957, Yuri Gagarin in space April 1961, Alan Shepard May 1961

 

Preview:  Kennedy uses Kairos, style, and emotional appeals to inspire the American people and scientists to support and engineer the journey into the unknown.

 

Body

Main Idea: President Kennedy chose the perfect time to deliver this speech (September 1961. (Kairos)

• The USSR had started out in the lead in the space race.
  • The audience was ready to hear the speech.
  • Audience worried about what the USSR advancements
• The U.S. was building momentum in the space race.
  • The audience will believe that it is possible
  • He was speaking at a university (Rice) where students can be inspired.

 

Kennedy uses style to establish ethos and pathos.

• Tone/ word choice
  • Powerful and confident reflects the great power of the U.S. and his own great power
  • Repeats we choose to go to the moon and “one” to emphasize his power and the power of the U.S. as a whole
• Uses his already established ethos
  • He has already gotten the U.S. out of difficult situations
  • He was a popular president

Use the pathos from style as a transition

Kennedy appeals to emotions by touching on the dangers and the triumphs of space exploration.

• pride
  • American ideology: we are the greatest country
  • Ideology: America can do anything
• Collective curiosity
  • A journey that will take us into the unknown
  • We all embark on this journey together as mankind

Conclusion

Summary Statement – Throughout his speech Kennedy inspires the nation using Kairos, style, and emotional appeals.

Concluding Remark – Just as JFK recommended, we should always seek to explore the unknown.

Reference Page(s)

https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm

from 1:19-1:49

(I will probably not use this exact image, but I will use something representing Musk’s plans to colonize Mars.)