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Feyannie Hung
Jennifer Payson
English 112 104
24th February 2016
Be Comfort to Be Stupid Still Water Runs Deep
The article The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research written by Martin A.
Schwartz shows a different way of argument writing style. Another academic paper Laptop
Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers written by Faria Sana,
Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda uses formal style to show the readers evidence of
disadvantages of multitasking in university-style lecture. The previous journal written by Faria Sana,
et al. has a more effective writing style.
There are several types of stupidity. In the article, Martin A. Schwartz explains the difference
between absolute stupidity and productive stupidity. In higher level research studies, to truly
understand the research or discover more knowledge, researchers need the strategy of being
productive stupid. Productive stupid means to focus on the importance and ignore baffles
(Schwartz, 1771). For normal human beings, its a struggle not to solve the questions in front of us
and admitted ourselves as foolish. To have the ability to understand more and discover more, people
need to put down their self-esteem and accept unknowns. Schwartz writes this article to inspire
people in graduate studies to embrace the fact that they don't know everything. The informal style he
writes in reflects his purpose.
The author, Martin A. Schwartz, uses several argument writing techniques in the article. He
uses definition, comparison and pathos to appeal readers interests. He makes definition and
comparison for the terms such as absolute stupidity and productive stupidity. Using terms such
as we or I catches readers attention and makes the readers stand in the same line with the author
and also can appeal to the readers interests. Due to the authors social identity and self-experiences,

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the article becomes more persuasive to audiences but without any work cite and its not proof by
official institutions. Moreover, the article is conversational due to the use of let me explain,
bumble and stupidity (Schwartz, 1771) but make it unprofessional. The author makes the article
approachable with the use of we and personal stories. The structure of the article is accessible for
all kinds of people. The author uses his experience to bring out the philosophy of learning which will
help new discoveries. Martin A. Schwartz situated the reader in situations such as having struggles
making the process for graduate research. He wants to show with his informal writing how people, in
Ph.D. studies, might often use high-level sophisticated languages to make themselves seems smart.
Instead of jargoning, journals can be communicable with discovering points that everyone can
simply understand.
The journal The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research has plenty of contrast with
the previous journal I read, Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and
Nearby Peers. In the previous journal written by Faria Sana, et al., the authors use scientific
experiments to make a claim of knowing. In addition, the journal has a really clear organization such
as conversational introduction, scientific experiment one, scientific experiment two and general
discussions to explain their discovery (Sana, Weston and Cepeda 24). In the end of the journal, there
are also contain acknowledgments and work cites to establish the article's credibility (Sana, Weston
and Cepeda 31). Every step is detailed written with an amount of jargon, data and charts in the
journal Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers (Sana,
Weston and Cepeda 27).
In conclusion, the journal The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research written by
Martin A. Schwartz use a conversational method make it unreliable. On the other hand, the academic
paper Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers written
by Faria Sana, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda is more effective in argument persuasive
techniques.

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Work Cited
Sana, Faria, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda. "Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom
Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers." Computer & Education (2013): 24-31. Web. 23
Feb. 2016.
Schwartz, Martin A. "The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research." Journal of Cell
Science 121 (2008): 1771. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.