Q Reading Critically: Synthesis (Brooks, Murthy & Chen vs. Asch, Milgram, and Fromm) Preparation *Please post to this discussion only after you've read the Brooks article and the Murthy & Chen article. You'll need to have done so in order to meaningfully participate in the discussion. Your Task In this discussion activity, you will practice and develop your critical reading skills by comparing (that is, synthesizing) the perspectives presented by the Week Two and the Week Three writers. STEP ONE: Make your first post (15 points, 100-150 words). Answer ONE of the two questions below. Please reference one or more of the texts in your response. The writers we read last week (Asch, Milgram, and Fromm) emphasize the danger posed by community and authority, suggesting we need to trust our own individual morality and reason to resist the pressure to conform and obey. This writers and thinkers we've engaged with this week (Brooks, Murthy & Chen, Marche, Turkle, Hari), focus on the painful consequences for individuals and society when we lose connections to our communities and lose trust in institutional authority. CHOOSE ONE: • Both of these perspectives, of course, have validity, but which perspective feels most relevant and useful as we navigate life today, in 2022? Should our focus be on rebuilding community and institutional authority, as Brooks, Murthy, and Chen suggest? Or is it more important to focus on resisting the pressure to conform and obey that we get from community and authority, as Asch, Milgram, and Fromm suggest? Explain. • Is there a way to reconcile these two perspectives? That is, is it possible to rebuild community and institutional authority without falling into the conformity and extreme obedience shown in the Asch and Milgram experiments? If so, what would that look like? If not, why not? STEP TWO: Respond to someone else's post (10 points, 75-100 words). Identify a post you find interesting and respond to it. You could agree with what the person has to say, and explain why. You could disagree and explain. Or, you could pick up where they leave off, adding to what they have to say. *Optional follow-up activity* Return to the section in your notes titled “Essay Notes/Synthesis Record,” or create this section. This is where you chose one Essay One Download Essay One Focus Question to free write in response to. Return what you've written, then add responses to the prompts below. Keep in mind that you're trying to build ideas for the upcoming essay by keeping track of how the writers are influencing your position. • How did these two texts (Brooks, Murthy & Chen) and our discussion influence your position? • Are there ideas in these texts you could use to support your position? • Are there ideas in these texts that contradict your position?