Modern Technology in Daily Life

Can you imagine a world without technology? Well, back then they had no access to any type of electronic. As time went by, electronics has changed over time and influenced others, especially social life. Now technology such as video games and cellular devices has affected us both positively and negatively. Sometimes when you get bored or take a break you start to play your smartphones. You check Instagram, texting your friends, or start to play games. But then you realize you spend more time on your phone than doing what you were suppose to do before. Phones can be a negative and positive influence in your life.A positive effect of cell phones is that they have revolutionized communication and made it easier to contact someone exactly at the moment that we need. Also, phones offer features that have many other benefits. A negative effect on phones is that you get off track and when you try to concentrate again, you cannot focus or even remember what you were doing. In addition, the l ack of communication with your family and friends increases. You tend to talk to them through text instead of talking to each other. Smartphones can be a tool of convenience, but at the same time they can be a distraction.The internet is so popular nowadays that about everyone uses it. It can be accessed by users Now that we have access to internet in almost everywhere, it can be an advantage and a disadvantage. What are they? The internet on society is that it provides the ability to access unlimited information and it also allows you connect and interact with your friends worldwide. Consequently, internet can include the difficulty to remove information when you want to and it can be an absence of communication as well just like using phones. Many people have been downloading music and other copyrighted materials for free.This lead to a negative impact of music industries and several lawsuits. The internet is another factor that influence social life today. Whether good or bad, te levision has been in our lives for a long time. Some think it’s a harm to our society and some think it’s a great invention. Television provides a variety of information that includes the news, advertisements, and events. It can also provide lots of entertainment such as music, comedy, drama, shows, and movies straight to home. It is very convenient and an affordable technology to use. On the other hand, television may have violent action films that increases crime rate and  violent acts in people. Some can be addicted into watching TV and decrease the amount of exercise causing people to be obese. Television is another aspect in our society that affects us greatly.Technology and electronics have been changing a lot through the past several centuries and have a great connection in the society today. Some can be disadvantages and advantages to us. Critical technology such as television, cellular devices and the internet changed through small ideas and change the world . In conclusion, whether if it is good or bad, technology had changed the people and the society worldwide extremely.

Paper Tigers

Paper tigers Bianca 01 All our lives we are told succeed. To do something meaningful with our lives. To be the very best that we can be. But how do we achieve this satisfaction of a personal achievement? What are the key factors to help us succeed? And why are some unable to achieve such success. We keep such strong ties within our ego centered networks and this will restrict from developing the social skills we need to break through our own bamboo ceilings.Risks need to be taken, social interaction needs to happen, and you need to be the best of the best. Wesley Yangs writing, â€Å"Paper Tigers†, shows how Asian Americans are unable to achieve this high success that they want to achieve. We can take his advice written for Asian Americans and intertwine it with ideas from Malcom Gladwell and his writing, â€Å"Small Change†, and Rebekah Nathan's writing â€Å"Community and Diversity'. With insight from all three of these writers, we can achieve that success we all lon g for. At a young age, we were told to always listen to an authoritative figure.To not speak up and to keep our opinions to ourselves. Wesley Yang makes note of how this affects Asian Americans from advancing in the real world. He writes, â€Å"So let's say I go to meetings with you and I notice you never say anything. And I ask myself, ‘hmm, I wonder why you're not saying anything. Maybe it's because you don't know what we're talking about. That would be a good reason for not saying anything. Or maybe it's because you're not even interested in the subject matter. Or maybe you think the conversation is beneath you.So here I'm thinking, because you never say anything at meetings that you're either dumb, you don't care or you're arrogant. When maybe it's because you were taught when you were growing up that when the boss is talking, what are you supposed to be doing? Listening† (541). Being taught to listen, we listen. We do not ask questions that would help lead us on to success. We need to break away from these strong ties that we hold so close to us. They keep us from going the extra mile. Yes, we don't need to get rid of them completely. Paper Tigers By bduarte1211

Unit 2 assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 2 assignment 1 - Essay Example To fulfill the purpose of this study, the researcher designed three questions to be answered in the course of the study. The qualitative data collection methods used for this study involved open-ended questions. This is an appropriate method for this study in that it open-ended questions allowed the respondents to articulate their beliefs and insights freely. In addition, because there was no need for control of any behavioral events, a case study method was appropriate. Therefore, semi-structured interviews and participant observations were quite appropriate for this study. The problem in question involved workers and the research had to unravel why they shared or did not share knowledge. Therefore, through interviewing the workers that the researcher got to understand why they would choose to share or not share knowledge.This research design is quite consistent with the methods chosen for this study. Other additional data that the author would have said about the data collection strategies is how he managed to avoid bias. Use of semi-structured interviews allows the researcher’s respondents to provide many facts and opinions, as they wanted. This can make a researcher deviate from the main purpose of the study. The data needed for this research could have been collected differently using structured questions. Such an interview consists of verbally administered questionnaires where lists of predetermined questions are asked with little or no variation. This method is good because it consumes less time and resources. In addition, the fact that there is no variation in the questions makes the process less bias (Gill et al., 2008). However, although the method is cheap and easy to administer, they allow a limited participant response and thus not suitable for depth participation. The doctoral study has a well researched background in that the authors has researched well for this topic. The author has used

Sarasota School of Architecture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sarasota School of Architecture - Research Paper Example l style or Bauhaus as it is called in European school, deviated from the historical styles and started innovations by introducing new materials and technologies (Sarasota Architectural Foundation , par 2). Sarasota combined Bauhaus with the forms of Southern Architecture which made use of patios, verandas, modular construction and raised floors which allow natural ventilation (Sarasota Architectural Foundation , par 3). â€Å"The style added a play of light and shadow, and the color and texture of indigenous low maintenance materials, softening the cold machine aesthetic of the Bauhaus† (Sarasota Architectural Foundation , par 3). Characteristic of the design were flat roofs with no ornamentation and no air-conditioning. Building materials used for the beach houses were plywood, plate glass and terrazzo flooring (Herald Tribune , par 3). These were accentuated by bright primary colors but the wood structural elements were painted white. The Herald Tribune further describes the beach houses as having big roof overhangs, glass walls to allow the view of the water, cross ventilation and sometimes vaulted roof forms (par 3). The Sarasota School of Architecture reflected a minimalis t architectural style which minimized the impact of the sun, captured the breezes but at the same time took advantage of the indoor and outdoor spaces (Sarasota History Alive , par 18). "The beauty of simplicity, the concept of sculpted architectural space, and the emotional aspects of architecture," are the concepts that Sarasota adapted from the Masters of Modern Architecture (Sarasota History Alive , par 17). Several modern architectural principles were adapted by the Sarasota School of Architecture. Clear geometric and structural concepts played an important role in creating a defined living space. Enclosure of space and capture of light was another principle utilized (Seibert , par 5). Nowadays, one seldom sees houses or buildings that are greatly influenced by the Sarasota

Transformational Leadership style Research Paper

Transformational Leadership style - Research Paper Example People love working for businesses where they feel motivated and greatly inspired. A transformational leader is always inspiring, energetic, enthusiastic and passionate person who can influence the followers to change their perceptions, expectations and ultimately motivate them to work towards a common goal. This article analyses some of the transformational leadership styles evident in Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz. Schultz has learnt the art of transformational leadership which has really steered his business to a higher level in the recent past. According to Schultz, leadership is more than just winning or becoming triumphant but it is a continuation process which involves a number of people working towards achieving a common goal. He thinks that celebrating everyone in a company is a vital thing regardless of the position held in the business. Schultz further things that shared success is very important and that businesses requires team spirit that is highly inspired. Schu ltz believes that business itself is a team that requires highly motivated team spirit to catapult it to success. Inspiring employees is one thing that Howard believes in as it motivates them to share the company’s common goal (Bussing-Burks 76-83). ... The company gives modest paychecks, healthcare packages and stock options to her employees as a way of motivating them. He feels that by offering such kind of benefits that also involve career counseling ties the employees into the business and further creates the sense of belonging. Schultz believes that people are motivated to work even harder because they are part of the results of the company (Burke, Graeme and Cooper 183-185). Additionally, the Starbuck CEO treats his employees as one family thus prompting them to give their all to the company. Treating workforce like a family is a tool of maintaining loyalty amongst employees thus reducing even turnover rate. The warm and family treatment initiated by Schultz is one of the reasons most customers also remain loyal to the retail company due to hospitable treatment by employees. The culture is so much engrained in the company that the company does not call their workforce employees but as partners. He further provides training, le arning and some acknowledgment packages such as coffee education and learning to lead as a way of building confidence amongst the partners and boosting degree of attachment (Strauss 162-163). Schultz also gives hear to his partners’ needs and continuously consulting them and carefully receiving feedback relating to the company’s vision. He takes his time to communicate with employees via phone calls or sending emails enquiring about feedbacks of what the organization offers as well as seeking advice. What Starbuck CEO has successfully done is to communicate his vision so well that it sticks in the mind of all the partners as well as asking for their feedbacks and understanding of the vision (Cassidy & Kreitner 30-31). He further passionately

Missouri Crimes Against Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Missouri Crimes Against Property - Essay Example Usually, property crimes are large crimes targeting jewelry, electronics, for example, stereos, cameras, and other valuable equipment. Products that are included in property crime tend to be enjoyable, concealable, valuable, available, removable, and easy to dispose (Allen, 2005). This paper will look at  the State of Missouri, and its statute concerning a crime against property. A robbery charge should not be taken lightly because the outcomes of a guilty verdict are extremely harsh. Missouri law classifies a robbery charge as either that in the second degree, or that in the first degree. In Missouri, first degree robbery is categorized as a class A felony. The class A felony constitutes a prison term that is between 10 to 30 years. An individual is involved in robbery in the first degree when he uses force to steal possessions from another person and displays, threatens, uses, or possesses a deadly or dangerous weapon, or causes severe physical harm to an individual. In contrast, an individual is involved in robbery in the second degree when he employs force to steal belongings from another person (Conklin, 1972). In Missouri, second degree robbery is categorized as a class B felony. ... The definitions of robbery crime used are mainly of two types: those that are modified to the standards of American Law Institute Model Penal Code and those directly originated from the former English common law (Friedman, 2005). Missouri statues move into extra details while a small number of states like Virginia, leave the description as it is in the common law. Under the historical common law or older definitions of robbery, it demands proof of theft, the key common law theft, the theft is by fear or force, and the theft is from immediate presence or person of the victim. Use of Fear or Force The prime element of robbery is that theft be by means of either fear or force. A common form of robbery that utilizes force is mugging. In this case, the robber holds the neck of an unsuspecting individual from the rear and uses force to take his or her valuables, for example, wallet, purse, or phone. Other popular forms of force include striking a victim with a blunt object, fist, or gun. I n contrast, picking another person’s pocket is not presumed as robbery. This is because there is no perceived use of fear or force, and robbery entails the use of force and not just removing the belongings from the pocket (Siegel, 2003). Nevertheless, if the robber manhandles the victim during the taking, or if the victim is aware of the endeavor and resists, it becomes robbery. Taking from Presence or Person Another element of robbery, under historical common law,  is that the action be in the immediate presence of the victim or from the individual. Possession is considered taken from a person if it is taken from his clothing or hand, or from an area where it is hidden while the individual is running away from the robber. A victim’s

Equal Employment Opportunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Equal Employment Opportunity - Essay Example 87). Diversity management is linked with growing organizational plans that value all individuals in the same way, not considering their distinctions. In controlling diversity, attempts are made by both the business as well as the persons in it to become accustomed to and acknowledge the value of diversity. Businesses can as well deal with diversity concerns in more limited techniques: (1) equal employment opportunity and (2) affirmative action. Equal employment opportunity (EEO) is a wide thought implying that persons must have equal dealing in every service associated activities. Persons who are sheltered under equal employment regulations are protected from illegitimate prejudice, which takes place as persons having identical traits are distinguished against because of that trait. Different laws have been passed to defend persons who share some particular traits, â€Å"such as race, age, or gender† (Smith, p. 102). Those having the elected traits are referred to as a seclude d group or as associates of a secluded faction. A sheltered group is made of those who come within a group recognized for defence in equal employment regulations and set of laws. Several of the sheltered groups, in the past, have been exposed to illegitimate bias. The reasons for protection that have been recognized by different centralized regulations are (1) cast, cultural basis, colour and creed (2) sexual characteristics (3) age bracket (4) persons with physical or psychological inabilities (5) armed forces experience and (6) religious conviction. For example, consider a company that is trying to be suitable for EEO policy has comparatively a small number of Hispanic executives. To raise the number of Hispanics, the company will employ and interview Hispanics who have minimum required credentials for the administration posts. What the company is offering is equal employment opportunity for competent persons to be considered for service. To remedy regions within which it seems th at persons in sheltered groups â€Å"have not had equal employment opportunities† (Burstein, p. 183), a number of companies have extended positive action approaches. Affirmative action takes place as companies recognize trouble regions, set objectives, and take constructive strides to assure equal employment opportunities for individuals in a sheltered group. Affirmative action concentrates on appointing, guiding, and endorsing of sheltered group associates where they are underrepresented within a company with respect to their ease of use within the labour markets from which hiring takes place. At times, companies have introduced affirmative action willingly, although many times companies have been obliged to do so as they are government service providers having more than 50 workers and more than 55,000 USD in government agreements yearly. When equal employment opportunity set of laws are talked about, perhaps the most unpredictable problems concern the approach that â€Å"a ffirmative action leads to quotas, preferential selection, and reverse discrimination† (Burstein, p. 201). Integral to the disagreement is the company’s part in choosing, guiding, and endorsing sheltered group associates as they are underrepresented in different professions within a company. Individuals who are not associates of any sheltered group have stated that there is inequity in reverse. This reverse bias may

Mareting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mareting - Essay Example In today's business world it has become crucial for the management to be very keen when pricing of products and services. In pricing a firm should consider the value perception of the customers that is when attaching a price to a product then that price should reflect the value perception of that product. If a firm set a price that is higher than the value of a product; then that means, the demand for that product will go down which consequently will lead to decline in the volume of sales. If this happens then the contribution (sales less variable costs) and the gross margin of that product will decline leaving that firm lesser gross and net profits (Drew 1). Alternatively, if a firm set a price that is less that its value this will lead to high demand since the customers can derive more satisfaction from the product at a lesser cost. When a customer feels satisfied with a given product this will tend to increase his/her expenditure and volumes in that product. The increase in sales of that product may not necessarily lead to increase in the product's contribution or the firm's overall profit since the value of that product is higher than its price (Drew 1). This may lead to a loss in that product and also contribute a loss to a firm's overall profits. ... The price of any product should show a reflection of its value. Every time when a firm is setting a price it should ensure that neither it nor its customers loose from the decision made (Dodd 10). It is of utmost importance for the management or the pricing team to consider both the customer-value perception and therefore, they are responsible for regular and timely review of a firm's products prices and their quality. Comparing a firm's products to other firms trading in similar products in the market which they operate in terms of quality and price is important for that firm if it will remain relevant in the market. The firm should be in a position to differentiate their products from others so that their customers can be in a position to totally distinguish them. This translates to customer loyalty since they will not be faced with confusion due to the products available thereby increasing sales volume and margins of that product. A firm's product that has many substitutes available is at high risk of loosing its market share that is if the firm product doesn't give the much needed satisfaction by the customer in both aspects of quality and price. Therefore, it is imperati ve for a firm to regularly review its products quality by redesigning to avoid being faced out of the market. Further, a firm should always offer competitive prices to its customer in order to compete favorably with other firms' products. But in so doing they should not do it while disregarding the costs involved since after all it will determine their profitability (Dodd 14). Other important internal and external factors affecting a firm's pricing decisions Internal factors (a) Experience curve This is a situation in which the average cost (AC) declines as production of a product

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 21

Marketing - Essay Example s uses all forms of the media like television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet to create awareness of its products to pull customers towards it. Media promotion activities are aggressive, with its direct sales approach. Any purchaser of a personal computer is a target for Dell Computers, and this includes business enterprises. Its products can be viewed in specially created kiosks or on the Internet. Customers have to call in or use the Internet to place their order. Products are differentiated, depending on the individual need of each customer. Dell computers offer attractive pricing for its products. In addition from time to time sales promotion strategies are introduced to draw customers. The factors that stand out in Dell Computers marketing strategy is the use of information technology its direct sales and logistics. Dell Computers utilizes e-commerce to communicate with its customers, keep costs down, and customize the products to the specifications of the customer, thus creating value for the customer. Creating customer value is what drives Dell Computers. This is reflected in the words of Michael Dell the founder, â€Å"looking for value †¦ is most important†. It is this drive for creating value for the customer that is responsible for the success of Dell Computers (Mentzer & Williams, 2001). Apple Computers riding on its success of the I-Pod has taken a distinctive step 2006 in the orientation of its computer product. Apple all this while concentrated on the hardware of its product drawing customers that were extremely selective in their purchase of computers. By moving its Mac operating system from IBM and Freescale Semiconductor Intel chips Apple has moved away from it’s up market computer image, and is now positioned to attract any computer buyer. In addition to this change in its product Apple Computers is aggressively using the television media to promote its personal computer product. The emphasis is on the sweeping changes to provide

To what extent does success in china depend on businesses Essay Example for Free

To what extent does success in china depend on businesses Essay Success for a business in a large market such as china can be a very difficult thing to achieve; there are many factors that can affect the success or failure of a business that decides to merge into Chinas markets. Most people would assume that due to the very large population of china (roughly 1. 35 billion/l ,363,496,913) operating a business there would not be a problem, this however is incorrect, Just because there is lots of people there doesnt for a minute make it any easier to set u-p and run a successful business. The main point I would say that is essential to success in china s adaptation. If a business is able to adapt well to its surroundings, i. e. the ability to easily change its products and services to match the needs of the local consumer. Just because a company has been successful in other large countries with big markets, does not mean that they have what it takes to succeed everywhere. Being able to change a product range, or the way a service is provided to the consumer needs to be carried out in order to do well in China. Take for example Starbucks coffee, what Starbucks did right in China is a perfect example of how food brands can ucceed despite rising labour and real estate costs, and increased competition on the Mainland. Instead of trying to force onto the market the same products that work in the U. S, such as whip cream-covered frozen coffee concoctions, Starbucks developed flavours (such as green tea-flavoured coffee drinks) that appeal to local tastes. This change in the products that Starbucks offer is the reason why people in china bought into the Starbucks chain, by seeing products that they would normally drink, and having drinks made to their own needs and wants Starbucks was able to cater recisely to what they wanted by doing research into what would work well. As well as the products, Starbucks also changed the way in which the consumers actually got their drinks. Rather than pushing take-out orders, which account for the majority of American sales and is how they made such a big empire, Starbucks adapted to local consumer wants and promoted dine-in service. Making their chain stores very traditional and fitting with the local culture. Surprisingly Starbucks charges as much as 50% more for some of its products in China than in the U. S. , the U. K. and India, but yet it is still a huge success, this is because the business catered well for the needs and adapted. Carrying a Starbucks cup is seen as a status symbol, a way to demonstrate sophistication and the capability to afford a personal luxury for the up- and-coming middle class in China. This links into the brand recognition that Starbucks has created for itself and shows how they carefully targeted their products at the new middle class, it is estimated that its more than 300 million, already larger han the entire population of the United States. This middle class is about 25% of the total Chinese population and as Starbucks has such a recognisable brand people are more liable to visit the store. However, that being said some large companies have tried to adapt for the Chinese markets, and failed despite their efforts.

Schema as an Active Recognition Device | Experiment

Schema as an Active Recognition Device | Experiment Written report of a cognitive psychology experiment. Schemas are integrated chunks of knowledge stored in memory allowing us to form expectations and make sense of the world. Rumelhart and Norman (1988) described schemas as having variables or slots where schemas vary in the amount of information they contain and overlap to relate together to form systems. For example, a schema for a picnic may be part of a larger system of schemas including ‘meals’, ‘outings’, and ‘parties’ (Gross, 1996). Therefore, suggesting schemas to be active recognition devices where we try to make sense of ambiguous and unfamiliar information in terms of our existing knowledge and understanding. Bartlett (1932) argued that we rely on schemas as well as content to remember stories. Based on his findings of participants recalling a story â€Å"The War of the Ghosts† from a different culture, Bartlett (1932) found that distortions increased over successive recalls and most of these reflected the participants’ attempts to make the story more like a story from their own culture. Changes from the original story included rationalisations, which made the story more coherent as the story was shortened and phrases changed to be more similar to their own language, participants failed to recall unfamiliar details such as the ghosts, and they elaborated certain content and altered its importance (Bartlett, 1932). Therefore, the changes made the story easier to remember. Bartlett (1932) concluded that the changes to the story on recall showed that the participants were actively reconstructing the story to fit their existing schemas and that schemas affect retrieval rather th an encoding or storage. Other evidence suggested schemas influence comprehension and retrieval. For instance, Bransford and Johnson (1972) argued that schemas often influence comprehension processes rather than retrieval. Presenting participants with a passage in which it was hard to determine which schemas were relevant Bransford and Johnson (1972) found that participants who heard the passage without a title recalled an average of only 2.8 idea units compared to the participants who were given the title who recalled an average of 5.8 idea units. Bransford and Johnsons (1972) study show that the title acted as a useful retrieval cue. Anderson and Pichert’s (1978) research showed that a person’s perspective could guide retrieval of information. For instance, Anderson and Pichert (1978) asked participants to read a story about two boys playing in a house from one of two perspectives, that of a home-buyer or that of a burglar and to write as many of the stories detail they could recall. The participants asked to recall the story again but with half of the participants in the home-buyer condition recalling the story from the perspective of a burglar and half of the participants in the burglar condition to recall the story from the home-buyer perspective. Anderson and Pichert (1978) found that people recalled new information following the change of schema. Anderson and Picherts (1978) findings suggested that schemas play a critical role for readers in selectively attending to elements of a passage that is significant for recall. Therefore, this study aims to replicate the Anderson and Pichert (1978) stud y to see if there would be a significant difference in the recall for participants who changed schema compared to the recall of the participants who did not change schema. Participants: Purposive sampling selected a sample of 40 participants: 20 males and 20 females, age range of 20 to 25 for males and 20 to 26 for females, mean ages 20.5 and 32.7 years respectively. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups; home-buyer schema group and the burglar schema group. Design: The study used a repeated measures design, with two conditions: condition A (no change schema) and condition B (changed schema). The IV being the number of story details recalled correctly and the DV measured was recall accuracy for the change in schema perspective. Controlling for order effects, half of the participants of each group were randomly assigning to condition A and half to condition B for the second recall task. Materials: The materials used were the story used in the original study by Anderson and Pichert (1978) about two boys who played truant from school and spent the day at the home of one of the boys because no one was home that day. The story contained many details, of which some were expected to be more salient for a person with a home-buyer schema, such as attractive grounds, leaking roof, and damp basement; and other details more salient for a person with a burglar schema, such as valuable coin collection, nobody home on Thursdays, and an expensive TV. Part B of the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (PVLT) (Laufer and Nation, 1995) was the ‘filler’ task used before the first recall of the story. Before instructions for the second recall participants were asked to count backwards from 99 until asked to stop as a ‘filler’ task before the second recall, with the stopping cut off point was 30. Procedure: The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group was told to imagine that they were looking for a house to buy (‘home-buyer’ schema group). The other group was told to imagine that they were burglars looking for a house to break into (‘burglar’ schema group). Working with one group at a time, participants were given a story to read about two boys who played truant from school and spent the day at the home of one of the boys because no-one was home that day, and were given two minutes to read the story. Next, the participants were instructed, to complete the (PVLT) test for twelve minutes. When the twelve minutes were up the participants were told to stop the test and to write down as many of the details of the story they could recall. When the participants had completed the first recall task, they were instructed to count backwards from 99 until told to stop. The participants were asked to stop counting at the count of 30, and then han ded envelopes containing standardised instructions for the next stage of the study. Half the participants received instructions asking them to recall the story a second time from the same perspective, the other half of the participants were given instructions asking them to recall the story a second time from the other perspective. For example, half of the participants who had imagined they were home-buyers were asked to imagine they were burglars (the other half kept imagining being home-buyers), and half of those who had imagined they were burglars were asked to imagine they were home-buyers (the other half kept imagining being burglars). Once participants had read the instructions, they were asked to write down as many details of the story they could recall for a second time. When the second recall task was completed, debriefing took place and the participants were thanked for their participation. This standardised procedure was used for both groups. Ethical considerations: For ethical reasons the following steps were taken Firstly, during gaining consent before the participants’ participated in the study it was explained that the true nature of the study would not be explained until the debriefing after all measures were taken. However, the participants were reassured that their participation will be kept anonymous and that the study was not a test of their intelligence or mental abilities and that they were free to withdraw at any time during the study. Finally debriefing at the end of the study took place informing the participants of the true nature of the study, and that they could withdraw from the study. The debriefing also ensured that the participants suffered no distress during the study. Recall results were collected for the first and second recall tasks and the details recalled which related to the schema perspectives were recorded. Mean scores were calculated for the correct recall of schema related details from the first recall task (table 1). The data was analysed with the anaylsis of variance (ANOVA) showing that there was a significant effect for the number of story details recalled by the participants with different schemas F = 4.49, p The data was analysed with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) (table 3) showing a significant main effect of changing interaction F = 4.3, p Schema theory research has assumed that explicit thought about a schemas topic or an encounter with relevant information can activate a schema. Bransford and Johnson (1972) argued that schemas often influence comprehension processes rather than retrieval where Anderson and Pichert (1978) argued that schemas influence the retrieval of information. The aim of this study was to replicate Anderson and Pichert’s (1978) study, claiming that people store information when reading a passage, which they fail to produce when recalling the passage after changing schemas. This study was a replication of Anderson and Pichert’s (1978) study which predicted that participants who changed schemas would recall more information related to the ‘new’ schema than ‘new’ information for their original schema. An anaylsis of variance (ANOVA) statistical test showed a significant effect if the type of recall presented, showing that the participants who changed schemas re called more additional information which was previously unrecalled than the participants who did not change schemas. These findings supported Anderson and Pichert’s (1978) claims that correct recall resulting from the retrieval of knowledge are strongly influenced by the perspective taken during perception and cognition of the retrieved information. It has been show, that schemas provided after learning can affect recall. For example, when participants are given an additional perspective at test (e.g. home-buyer) may use this perspective as a retrieval cue and remember additional information (e.g. leaky roof) (Anderson and Pichert, 1978). Besides increasing correct recall, use of schemas post encoding may also lead to bias and memory errors. For example new information learned after the fact can activate a schema which participants then use to reconstruct the original events. Lotus and Palmer (1974) demonstrated this phenomenon in their classic study that questioned participants about a slide show they had just seen. One question asked how fast the cars were going when they â€Å"hit† or â€Å"smashed† into each other. One week later, those whose question read smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass. Post encoding use of schema research has focused on correct recall (e.g. Anderson and Pichert, 1978) or on memory distortions resulting from post event information, which strongly implied the biased memory. This study controlled confounding variables by testing the participants in two separate groups and getting them to carry out a ‘filler’ task between first and second recall. In addition, for each group half the participants were assigned to the no change schema condition and the other half assigned to the changed schema condition for the second recall task to control for order effects. The participants were deceived of the true nature of the study to control for participants expectancies, to ensure that schema change was the only variable manipulated while all other variables are held constant so as not to affect the results. In summary the findings of this study showed, there to be a significant difference in the recall of additional information for the changed schema than for the additional information recalled for the original schema compared to the additional information recalled by the no change schema group. Showing that schemas are active recognition devices and play a critical role in reading where readers selectively attend to details of a passage that is significant to recall and that schemas strongly influence our retrieval of information. As the study used undergraduate students, who have plenty of experience in reading for text from different perspectives future research would benefit from looking at how schema change influences recall when reading from a studying perspective or reading from an entertainment perspective in primary school children. References Anderson, R.C. and Pichert, J.W. (1978) ‘Recalling of Previously Unrecallable Information Following a Shift in Perspective’. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 17: 1-12. Bartlett, F.C. (1932) Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bransford, J.D. and Johnson, M.K. (1972) ‘Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding: Some Investigations of Comprehension and Recall’, Journal of Verbal Language and Verbal Behavior, 11: 717-726. Gross, R. (1996) (3rd Ed.). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. London: Hodder Stoughton. Laufer, B. and Nation, P. (1995) ‘Vocabulary Size and Use: Lexical Richness in L2 Written Production’, Applied Linguistics, 16: 307-322. Lotus, E.F. and Palmer, J.C. (1974) ‘Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction between Language and Memory’, Journal of Verbal Language and Verbal Behavior, 13: 585-589. Rumelhart, D.E. and Norman, D.A. (1988) ‘Representation in memory’, In R.C. Atkinson, R.J. Herrstein, G. Lindzey, and R.D. Luce. (2nd Ed.) Steven’s Handbook of Experimental Psychology. New York: John Wiley and Son: 511-587.

Analysis of Baxters Gryphon Essay -- Charles Baxter

In â€Å"Gryphon† by Charles Baxter, a class of fourth grade students gets a substitute teacher. She is very eccentric but knowledgeable and tells the whole class a lot of myths and facts. It is up to the class to decide what is true or not. In â€Å"Gryphon,† Miss Ferenczi specifically calls her wronged math answer a â€Å"substitute fact† but also tells the class many other things and myths that are true. For example, she tells the class a great deal about Egypt and that â€Å"features of the Constitution of the United States are notable for their Egyptian ideas.† (145) Her whole lecture was complete fact about Egypt, a country she had a passion for. However, it left the kids wondering if what she said was false, for she misled them earlier that day. Although the kids argued about her, this leaves the grea...

Democracy and Political Obligation Essay -- What is Politics?

The public life of political servants is characterized by other duties and obligations than private life. Conflicts can even arise between a person's public and private duties. The central point of this paper is to examine whether this difference of duties can be regarded as an effect of different forms of obligation. Can we speak of a particular form of political obligation in the same way in which Kant distinguishes between ethical and legal obligation, the former pertaining to intentions and the latter to external aspects of the action? Could political obligation be distinguished from both of them, for example by its relation towards ends? The first section develops the thesis that if there is such a thing as political necessity, it must be some kind of moral obligation. The second section focuses on the question of whether political obligation can be conceived of as different from legal and ethical obligation, the only two forms of moral obligation that Kant distinguishes. The la st section is about a differentiated conception of political obligation and virtue, in democracies, for political leaders, for citizens, and for public servants. All modern societies in some way accept the distinction between legal and ethical obligation. The former constitutes an exterior sphere of norms and rules, including duties which citizens can be compelled to perform by the threat of punishment or other legal consequences, the latter concerns the interior sphere of a person's conscience and private intentions. Making this distinction can be seen as the explicit acknowledgement of what Agnes Heller has called 'the first structural change in morals': the evolution of a separate subjective sphere of morality within the public ethical life. (1) ... ...cal action: the problem of dirty hands, in : Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1973, pp. 160-180; Thomas Nagel, Mortal questions, Cambridge 1979, pp. 53-90; Bernard Williams, Moral Luck. Philosophical Papers 1973-1980, Cambridge 1981, pp. 54-70. (3) Kai Nielsen, There is no dilemma of dirty hands, in: South African Journal of Philosophy, 15-1 (1996), pp. 1-7. (4) Thomas Nagel, Mortal questions, p. 89. (5) See e.g. R.M. Hare, Political Obligation, in: Ted Honderich (ed.), Social Ends and Political Means, London 1976, pp. 1-12. (6) I. Kant, Die Metaphysik der Sitten, Akademie-Ausgabe, Berlin 1902, Bd VI, p. 232. (7) Cf. Peter Schneider, Recht und Macht, Gedanken zum modernen Verfassungsstaat, Mainz 1970, p. 224. (8) Cf. Bernard Williams, Consequentialism and Integrity, in: Samuel Scheffler (ed.), Consequentialism and its Critics, Oxford 1988, pp. 20-50.

Music is Where the Heart Is :: essays research papers

Music is where the heart is   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Has a song ever flowed into the moment so perfectly that you can feel the artist soul take you over? It would be safe to say that this has happened to everyone. Humans as artistic creatures have the need to not only express their feelings in words but also create an atmosphere of emotion with music so that their very soul is out in the open for the world to hear. Fear, anger, heartbreak, rebellion, and love are all things we express creatively through music. These emotions are expressed differently through out the many types of music that the world has to offer and all have very distinct sounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Punk is the epitome of an obnoxious rebellion, circle jerks pissed at the world. Basically punk is a lifestyle that has grown from original to mainstream and back. The raw fast music created by urban youth has influenced people around the world with catchy anthems of rebellion and unity. A lot of the vulgar and aggressive qualities have been lost in this music over the years as it’s become more popular. Punk is now watered down with love ballads and bands dressing the part, misrepresenting the original intentions of punk with its anti conformist values. I think this quote by black flag sums up my view on punk, â€Å"we are born with chance, and I am going to have my chance. We are tired of your abuse, try to stop us but its no use.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hip hop originally had intentions of help the minority's struggle be more broad band exposed outside the ghettos to raise attention to the problems they endure because of their status economically and socially. Free styling is a style of hip hop that can show some ones talent, proficiency and mastery of the art that is hip hop. this is often shown by personality and the character that the artist is trying to convey. Hip hop is vocally driven and does not focus on the beat as much as the message. if you do come across hip hop that is looped with R&B chorus’s and focuses more on the instrumental then the lyrical content you are most likely listening to what is known as â€Å"rap and bullshit† (R&B).

Marketing and New Product Essay

Scenario 1: Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning description After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to lift the hair from the skin, allowing for a closer shave. The company has already decided to introduce Clean Edge into the men’s market where it has a strong presence. Jackson Randall, the product manager for Clean Edge, struggles with how best to position the product for the launch. One strategy is to release Clean Edge as a â€Å"niche† product, targeting the high-end market of fastidious groomers looking for superior skin care products. Another strategy is to release the product into the highly competitive mainstream razor market where the product can be positioned as the most effective razor available. Randall meets internal resistance to the mainstream strategy from the product manager for the company’s current, but aging, mainstream razor products and he must consider the effects of cannibalization in his plan. Randall must recommend an optimal strategy and provide supporting economic analysis of his decision–not just for Clean Edge, but for its effect on the entire company. Learning objective: Explore issues associated with strategic product positioning. Review new product development process and understand the importance of evaluating product-company and product-market fit in assessing new product opportunities. Understand the importance and marketing implications of determining whether a new product is a big breakthrough or a simple line extension. Subjects covered: Marketing strategy; New product marketing; Product positioning; Profitability analysis; Quantitative analysis Setting: * Geographic: United States * Event Year Begin: 2010 Scenario 2: Culinarian Cookware: Pondering Price Promotion description Subjects Covered: Price Promotion, Pricing Policy, Consumer Marketing, Profitability Analysis, Retailing, Sales Promotion, Distribution Policy, Brand Equity, Trade Relations, and Product Management. In November of 2006, senior executives at Culinarian Cookware were debating the merits of price promotions for the company’s premium cookware products. The VP of Marketing, Donald Janus, and Senior Sales Manager, Victoria Brown, had different views. Janus felt price promotions were unnecessary, potentially damaging to the brand image, and possibly encouraged retailer hoarding; Brown believed the promotions strengthened trade support, improved brand awareness, and stimulated sales from both new and existing customers. The issue was complicated by a consultant’s study of the firm’s 2004 price promotions which concluded that these promotions had a negative impact on profits. Janus trusted the results, but Brown, believing the study assumptions were flawed and required further analysis, suspected the promotions had actually produced positive results. The pressing decision is whether to run a price promotion in 2007 and, if so, to determine what merchandise to promote and on what terms. The broader issue is what strategy Culinarian should pursue to achieve sales growth goals, and what role, if any, price promotion should play. Subjects Covered: Price Promotion, Pricing Policy, Consumer Marketing, Profitability Analysis, Retailing, Sales Promotion, Distribution Policy, Brand Equity, Trade Relations, Cookware Learning objective: 1. Explore the risks and opportunities of price promotion as a strategic and tactical marketing tool. 2. Through quantitative analysis, evaluate the financial impact of a price promotion using different cost and sales assumptions. 3. Develop the details of a price promotion policy consistent with overall marketing objectives. Subjects covered: Brand equity; Consumer marketing; Pricing policies; Profitability analysis; Sales promotions; Small & medium-sized enterprises Setting: * Geographic: United States * Event Year Begin: 2006 Scenario 3: Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) description Topics include Consumer Behavior, Marketing Communications, New Product Launch, Product Positioning, and Push/Pull Marketing. This case can be used separately or in conjunction with Brief Case #4183, Metabical: Pricing, Packaging, and Demand Forecasting for a New Weight Loss Drug. Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals (CSP) expects final approval for its revolutionary weight loss drug, Metabical. Metabical will be the only weight loss drug with FDA approval that is also clinically proven to be effective for moderately overweight people. Barbara Printup, Senior Marketing Director for CSP, must develop the positioning strategy and marketing communications plan in preparation for the launch of the new drug. Printup must consider the consumer decision-making process and the interaction between the consumer who purchases the drug and the health care provider who prescribes the medication. Despite promising medical studies and consumer research, poor positioning of the drug in the highly competitive market for weight-loss solutions could spell disaster. Students analyze market research data and consider the optimal positioning strategy and marketing communications program. Learning objective: Understanding the hierarchy-of-effects, the decision-making unit, the decision-making process, and push vs. pull communications. Identifying strategies for segmenting, targeting, and positioning new products. Understanding the critical elements of a marketing communications program. Subjects covered: Consumer behavior; Marketing communications; Product introduction Setting: * Geographic: United States * Industry: Pharmaceuticals * Event Year Begin: 2008 Scenario 4: Reed Supermarkets: A New Wave of Competitors description Reed Supermarkets is a high-end supermarket chain with operations in several Midwestern states. Meredith Collins, vice president of marketing, visits stores located in Columbus, Ohio, an important region with the largest market and the greatest impact on revenue growth. She is concerned about increased competition from dollar stores and limited-assortment stores offering very low, appealing price points. Reed’s market research shows that as a result of the economic downturn, customer loyalty is dwindling and consumers are willing to go to multiple stores to get the best deals. Collins must decide whether to change the current marketing and positioning plan in an effort to increase market share to meet challenging corporate targets. Her options include retreating from price competition and focusing on quality or embracing more private-label brands and competing more aggressively on price. She can also maintain the current positioning and appeal to customers looking for a qualit y shopping experience. The case contains an implicit quantitative assignment that instructors can emphasize to the degree they choose. Learning objective: Explore elements of marketing strategy, market segmentation, product differentiation, and product positioning for a retail organization. Analyze and differentiate among conflicting strategic perspectives. Understand the â€Å"cycle of retailing,† which suggests that new retail stores naturally evolve from low-price, low-overhead stores to become upscale retailers offering additional services and product lines. Subjects covered: Competitive strategy; Consumer marketing; Market positioning; Market segmentation; Marketing strategy Setting: * Geographic: United States * Industry: Supermarkets * Event Year Begin: 2011 Scenario 5: TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) description Topics covered include: consumer marketing, market research, new product introduction, and quantitative analysis. TruEarth Healthy Foods, a maker of gourmet pastas, sauces, and meals, wants to build on its successful introduction of fresh whole grain pasta by introducing a similar product concept for pizza. In an increasingly competitive market, TruEarth is focused on beating its competition and wants to act quickly and decisively. The company conducts extensive market research, first using focus groups to test the concept and then following up with take-home trials. Acting as brand managers, students must complete a quantitative analysis of the available data to project the sales volume for pizza and then decide whether to bring the new product to market. Learning objective: 1. Understand the assumptions and techniques for estimating markets and projecting sales 2. Analyze and interpret data to decide whether to bring a new product to market 3. Recognize the importance of perceived value to consumers for a new product as compared with existing products 4. Understand the limitations of making decisions based on research and available data

South African Financial Industry

Non-traditional participants continue to aggressively explore revenue opportunities offered by the South African banking industry. The increased market threats, highly competitive and continually changing environment has led to Strategy& (2017) to refer to it as â€Å"a market place with no boundaries†. Figure 1 below, shows how the South African financial industry has progressed into the current state from just over a decade ago. The environment is characterised by intense competition, globalisation, heightened customer mobility and demand and deregulation (Bedeley, 2014; The Banking Association South Africa, 2014). Advancements of digital solutions has been the key enabler for the non-traditional participants to re-shape their value proposition and endeavour into the banking market. This has resulted in empowered global customers (Somal, 2017). To combat the increasing threats and outperform the new entrants, traditional banks continue to seek out digital transformational strategies (Bedeley, 2014; Somal, 2017; Strategy&, 2017). To South African traditional banks, the more threatening challenge is customer retention over attraction (Bedeley, 2014). They acquire vast customer data from the large market share evident in the second paragraph. This data continues to emerge at an alarming rate, due to increased market shared, increased customer base and innovation (Bedeley, 2014). The South African Banks have the opportunity to develop more customer centric strategies to respond to the wealth of data at hand. The key lies with translating this customer data into insight to enhance relationships with existing customers. Referred to, in the modern age, as data analysis. Data collection and analysis need to be a crucial part of business strategy (Somal, 2017). Data analysis depicts what has changed, and how to respond to it (McKinsey&Company, 2018; SAS, 2018). This implies the data capture, storage, processing and analysing strategies must make full use of the technologies available to take up the challenges born from the data surge (Bedeley, 2014). Harvesting data and looking for patterns and anomalies to provide insight lead to better business decision making and outcomes. This is not limited to, but includes, reduces operational costs, business risk analysis, reduced business uncertainty, consumer behavioural predictions, and guide smarter strategies to optimise current offerings or develop new ones (Bedeley, 2014; EY,2017; Stringfellow, 2014). Collecting and analysing customer data is not a new trend, the challenge is storing vast amounts of data, but, new technologies have relieved that liability (Forrester, 2018; TDWI, 2011). Organisations that adopt data analysis surpass their competition by 5% in productivity, and 6% in profitability (EY, 2017; Stringfellow, 2014). According to EY (2017), by 2020, each human being will generate 1.7 megabytes of new information per second. And, in the past two years, human beings have generated more information in the history of humankind. Effective internal and external knowledge management grants organisations the agility to detect opportunities and threats (e.g., reacting to new products or services of competitors); grasping possible opportunities (e.g., expanding into new markets), and staying afloat in a market whilst possessing competitive advantage (e.g., digital strategies to deliver efficient products or services) (Cà ´rte-Real, Oliveira & Ruivo, 2017; Bedeley, 2014; EY, 2017; McKinsey&Company, 2018).Understanding the South African MarketThis section aims to put into perspective the current market that South African banks serve. In 2017, 80.1% of South Africans lived in formal dwellings, 16.5% in informal dwellings, and 5.5% in traditional dwellings (StatsSA, 2017). According to a report by Standard Ba nk (as cited by BusinessTech, 2014), the poorest of the households in South Africa account for 62.3%, with members who earn a combined income of R7, 167 per month. Middle class households, earning from R86, 001 to R1.48 million per annum, account for 26.4%. Affluent households account for 0.4%, with an income of more than R2.36 million per year. The bank notes, only 5.5% of households possibly have the capability to save each month; Furthermore, the affluent households have a 65% saving capability each month of their income after-tax. The poor households contribute 11.2% to the country's income, the middle class contribute a total of 64.6%, whilst the affluent contributes 22.6%. This report highlights the severity of inequality in South Africa, whilst on the flip side highlights growth in the middle class (BusinessTech, 2016). Businesslive (2017) states, in the fourth quarter of 2016, there were 24.31-million credit consumers in South Africa, which is 8 million more than the employed South African population; Moreover, two out of every five credit-active consumers have an impaired record, which is 40% of the 24.31-million credit-active consumers; However, other debt including loan sharks debt were not included. In 2015, the World Bank report, declared South Africans as the world's largest debtors (Businesslive, 2017).?Costumer Satisfaction Index for the South African Banking IndustryIn the fourth quarter of 2017, Consulta released a Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for the South African banking industry. This satisfaction index is based on brands exceeding or falling short of customer expectations, and the respondents' idea of the ideal product to achieve an overall result out of 100 (Consulta, 2017). The report reveals the degree of satisfaction of South Africans with their banks. Survey participants included 13,099 bank customers across various segments selected at randomly (Consulta, 2017). The table below shows the year-on-year SAcsi scores for the South African traditional banks from the year 2017 till 2017. Absa shows a decline in the past three years, dropping from 74.8 in 2014 to 73.3 in 2017, resulting in obtaining the bottom position among the banks included in the benchmark. Standard bank previously held the last position, but, made a recovery with a substantial 3.3% increase in 2017 from the previous year. Nedbank suffered a 0.9% in 2017 from the previous year, 2016 77%, obtaining a 76.3% moving it to below the industry average of 77%. FNB obtained a 0.4% decrease in 2017 from the previous year, 2016 81.3%, but remains above the industry average. Capitec customers have remained the most satisfied for past five consecutive years. The 2017 Capitec score was 85.3%, 8.3% above the overall industry average.Gap Withing the South African Banking Industry Regarding Data AnalysisBanks are only using a portion of the customer data that is available to them to generate insight to optimise current offerings. The reasons for the low insight is silos and organisational structures, skills and talent gaps, data privacy, regulatory and legal framework or ethical issues and high costs associated to data analysis strategies (Somal, 2017). This prevents them from responding to changing customer needs; hence, leads to missed revenue opportunities. By prioritising data analysis to a key component to daily decision making, South African Banks can be equipped to integrate data from the different sources and develop solutions to better serve their customers, which will deliver noteworthy benefits (Strategy;, 2017). The outcome of this section suggests that with data analysis South African banks can provide business value by facilitating the acquisition of supply chain and marketing knowledge (Cà ´rte-Real et al., 2017). That translate to the right person offered the right product on the right device at the right time (Bedeley, 2014). Since banks have so much data available with the necessary analysing tools, they have a 50% chance of retaining a customer that is about to leave (Somal, 2017). Section three forms the fundamentals of the investigation of this paper. The section begins with the use of insight harnessed from customer data analysis to enhance customer experience by reviewing closely related literature; and then grants much needed detail on the data required for this resolution; how it will be collected from diverse sources to build better models and gain more actionable insights; improved to generate the right results and avoid making incorrect conclusions; and analysed for better decision making. The section concludes by presenting some key challenges and benefits of data analysis.

Cause-Effect

A couple of weeks ago, my grandmother passed away. I was at my lowest point in my life. I was extremely sad and depressed. However, I knew I could always rely on Salsa. I would call her In the middle of the night and she was there to pick up my phone calls. When I needed someone to express my emotions to, she was there. She always encouraged me to look on the bright side of things. She always ensured me that better days were going to come because death is a part of life that we simply have to deal with. She helped me cope and deal with the loss of my grandmother.We loud do activities such as working out and cooking together to keep my mind off the death of my grandmother. Salsa comforted me by having a shoulder to cry on when I didn't have anyone else. She was the only person that could understand my feelings and what I was going through. Salsa also supported me emotionally. There were times when I had difficulties in school and I felt like giving up. However, she encouraged me keep pushing harder to accomplish my goals. She helped me understand that there are going to be struggles that we face In this world but we cannot give up and run from our problems.She supported me by Glenn me great advice and pushing me to do my best with my academics. Her words of encouragement boosted my self-esteem to accomplish my goals. I am extremely grateful to have someone like Salsa in my life. She has always been there for me when others did not understand. She is honestly one of the sweetest people I have met in my life. Salsa helps me stay grounded and humble. She supports me emotionally by always being there for me in times of difficulty, making me laugh when I am sad and encouraging me to try my best with everything.Her physically and emotional support has helped me get through the most hardest times In life. I know I can always count on her to cheer me up. By Handmaiden Cheddar Suffix Abdul Caked Two years ago, I met a beautiful young girl name Salsa. I met her at a famil y Salsa. I would call her in the middle of the night and she was there to pick up my that we face in this world but we cannot give up and run from our problems. She supported me by giving me great advice and pushing me to do my best with my times in life. I know I can always count on her to cheer me up.

Eight Elements of Thinking

The four real distinct categories are deductive, inductive, abductive or inference, and analogical. Deductive Reasoning: Consist of Implication and Consequences, and Interpretation and Inference. Deductive reasoning is one of the two basic forms of valid reasoning. It starts with an assumed hypothesis or theory, which is why it has been called ‘hypothetical-deduction; this assumption may be well-accepted or it may be rather precarious – nevertheless, for the argument it is not questioned.This is the opposite of inductive reasoning, which involves creating broad generalizations from specific observations. The basic idea of deductive reasoning is that if something is true of a class of things in general, this truth applies to all members of that class. One of the keys for sound deductive reasoning, then, is to be able to properly identify members of the class, because incorrect categorizations will result in unsound conclusions. Inferences are interpretations or conclusion s you come to.Inferring is what the mind does in figuring something out. Implications are claims or truths that logically follow from other claims or truths. Implications follow from thoughts. Consequences follow from actions. Inductive Reasoning: Entails Concepts and Information. It is the process of reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed to support the conclusion but do not ensure it. Induction is employed, for example, in using specific propositions.Concepts are ideas, theories, laws, principles, or hypotheses we use in thinking to make sense of things. Inferences are interpretations or conclusions you come to. Inferring is what the mind does in figuring something out. Abductive Reasoning: Take account of Point of view and Assumption. Abductive reasoning typically begins with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanation for the set. Abductive reasoning yields the kind of daily decision-making that does its best with the information at hand, which often is incomplete.Analogical Reasoning: Comprise of the elements Purpose and Questions at issue. Analogical reasoning is a technique of handling information that associates the resemblances between new and agreed concepts, and then uses those similarities to gain understanding of the new concept. It is a system of inductive reasoning for the reason that it makes every effort to provide understanding of what is likely to be true, rather than deductively proving something as fact.

Lack of Minorities in the Information Technology Field Research Paper

Lack of Minorities in the Information Technology Field - Research Paper Example This paper takes a look at this apparent discrepancy, what the recruiting and retention practices are for the Information Technology field. It also looks at how society may play a role in this issue and how, if left unchecked, this issue could create a problem in for the workforce as a whole. Throughout the paper suggestions are made for how this situation can best be resolved. It is the hope that one would walk away from this essay with information on how discrimination is taking place in the I.T. field and what can be done to change it. Table of Contents Certification and Approval 2 Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 Introduction 5 Discrepancy 6 - 8 Recruiting and Retention Practices 9 - 13 Affects on Society 14 - 15 Conclusion 15 - 16 References 17 - 20 Discriminatory Hiring Practices in the Information Technology Field A young five year old boy runs with lighting fast speed toward the huge sycamore as his mother and her friend watch, with amusement, from the park bench. He proceeds t o climb the tree and swing bravely from the bottom branch. He mother chuckles slightly, â€Å"What are you going to do, boys will be boys† she sighs to her friend. ... While this differentiation may have played out well at the turn of the century, when the majority of women stayed home to clean and care for the children, and the majority of men worked for a living, in today’s economy many women find the need to seek employment outside of the home. This preconceived notion that women are the weaker sex can then result in issues when women seek a career in a field that has been male dominated. Luckily, today, there are laws in the United States in place to protect equality for women and all other minorities in the work place. However, even with these precautions in place it seems there are some fields that are not equally represented by minorities. One field, in particular, where this is becoming a problem is that of Information Technology. After taking a look at the apparent discrepancy, the recruiting, and retention practices in the IT field, and how this could ultimately affect society if left unchecked, it should become apparent how societ y is playing a role in the underlying discrimination seen in IT and what can be done to change it. Discrepancy It is estimated that between 2000 and 2010, there will be a call for 2.5 million new Information Technology jobs available, which is the result of growth in Information Technology occupations, resulting in a high demand for skilled Information Technology workers (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2005). It is projected that from 2008 to 2016 there will be a 29% increase in workforce demands for computer system analysts, a 37% increase in demand for jobs for database administrators, and a 38% increase in the availability of jobs for software engineers (U.S. Department of Labor, 2005).

Domestic Violence Against Women In 2010 Has A Greater Affect Than It Dissertation

Domestic Violence Against Women In 2010 Has A Greater Affect Than It Did 50 years ago - Dissertation Example The research is intended to reflect more meaning than might be found through quantitative research with deeper meanings emerging through conversational style interviews with five participants. The participant pool consisted of three women and two men who had been involved in male violence upon female victims. Through these interviews, an understanding of the discourse about the topic emerged. The topic has been examined through a literature review of relevant secondary resources and through primary research of five interviews that were collated into case studies to provide context for emerging themes. In looking at the previous research and the case studies, the concepts that are within the public discourse emerge and become a framework in which to understand why violence against women is perpetuated and has not come to its end. Acknowledgements Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Theoretical Frameworks 1.3 Research Questio ns 1.4 Hypotheses 2. Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Fifty Years Ago 2.2.1 Feminism 2.2.2 Violence 2.3 Media 2.4 Public Discourse 3. Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Secondary Research 3.3 Primary Research 3.3.1 Participants 3.3.2 Ethics 3.5 Summary 4. Findings and Discussion 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Case Study # 1: Female 4.3 Case Study # 2: Female 4.4 Case Study # 3: Female 4.5 Case Study # 4: Male 4.6 Case Study # 5: Male 4.7 Summary 5.0 Conclusion References Appendices List of Appendices Appendix 1: Questions for Interviews Appendix 2: Contextual Frameworks: Potency vs. Width Domestic Violence Against Women In 2010 Has A Greater Affect Than It Did 50 years ago Chapter One 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The nature of gender relations have changed dramatically in the last fifty years which has framed the dialogue about violence against women in a different context than it was considered in previous time periods. The state of the female status has evolved from a sense of propert y to a sense of autonomy, the objectification of femaleness made subjective, part of the public sphere and relevant to all aspects of life. In being subjective, the nature of the female present is many things, her situated presence manifesting a number of roles that are both defined by the concept of female, and some by the concept of human. More rarely, she is a the subject of a male identity, her presence part of the discourse of gender role identification that are now virtually all interchangeable. However, this has not discounted the vulnerability of being female, her sex providing a violent access that males are not as vulnerable to in the context of domestic life. The domination of the male, his need to express his maleness through subjugating others in the domestic sphere, has led to violent outbursts that intend to define that dominance. When no other recourse seems available, some men will reduce their ability to convince into an action of violence, manifesting their domina nce through pain and oppression. Threat of further action brings the female into line, her life reduced to self-protection and in protecting other aspects of their life including children, reputation, and the appearance of tranquility. The postmodernists view male violence towards women through looking at the way in which gender divisions have been determined by linguistically framed, the language of violence encouraging aggression attitudes. The emphasis on typical language where power relationships are

Afro-Colombian Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Afro-Colombian - Thesis Example An estimated 100,000 slaves were imported before the year 1600. The Spanish settlements of Cauca Valley which were known for its richness in gold and North Antioquia benefited most from this steady supply slaves since, by 1560, the Indian laborers were no longer easy to come by.  Slaves were regarded as an important asset since they were cheap and the work they were required to do was labor-intensive. Women were not spared either from the back-breaking work at the open-cast mines. Both male and female miners worked in groups called cuadrillas (or gangs), each led by a captain. They were also in agriculture and looked after cattle in the haciendas in Cauca Valley. In as much as they were also used as artisans, domestic servants and laborers in large haciendas in the Caribbean plains, their main occupation was mining.  According to Wade, the harshness with which slaves were treated varied according to the epoch and the region in which they were posted. However, some of them were gi ven the opportunity to buy their own freedom, especially the women and children. Most slaves were also able to farm, mine or sell goods for their own benefit on a specific day in a week. Some slave owners even granted their own slaves freedom. Sexual relationships between white men and black women led to a new ‘race’ of people who could neither be classified as being white, slave nor Indian and constituted about 60% of the population in New Granada by the 1770s. Some slaves fought for their own freedom, perhaps when the working conditions became unbearable and fled to uncontrolled areas where they formed villages and fortified them for their defense against the Spanish military.  The first revolt took place in 1530 in Santa Marta, Colombia. The slaves completely burnt down the town. Even after it was rebuilt in 1531, it was again burnt down in 1550 in another slave revolt.  

History through A Geographers Lenses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History through A Geographers Lenses - Essay Example 244). We can take this to mean that modern society began sometime in the late 1800s and early 1900s and last to this day. What made the 19th century a turning point Van Doren further cites (p. 245) the progress resulting from the disruptive technological discoveries that took place, whether "it be new energy sources like oil and electricity, new means of living comforts like electric lights and cheap cast iron stoves, and new devices for communication on both a local and global scale such as the telegraph and the telephone." Several lenses are available to read the history of modern societies from that point on, and what we use will depend on one's point of interest. A student of geography like myself would use as my lenses the three dimensions most appropriate for the task: speed, space, and time. From a geographer's viewpoint, one can see the development of modern society and its history in relation to how human activities affected and was affected by speed, space, and time. ... human interaction by which ideas and information in the form of physical signals like words and actions are exchanged, was limited by space or distance and time. The time it would take for ideas to travel from one point of the globe to another depended on the (rather slow) speed of the carrier of the message, a combination of horses, ships, pigeons, or human runners before Morse discovered the telegraph in the mid-1800s. In some regions like the jungles of the Amazon or the wide plains of America and Europe, messages were carried across limited distances by drums and flags. The effectiveness and efficiency of these modes of communication were limited by distance, the speed of sound, and the sharpness of hearing and sight. Prior to the discovery of the telegraph, sharing and receiving information and then taking action or giving feedback took a long time, which accounted for the slow pace of development of human history that is the result of the interaction of human activities. The telegraph changed all that by accelerating the exchange of information and increasing the pace of human interaction and, in its turn, the amount of human activity. What resulted was a snowballing of social consequences that gathered in size and the power to effect change. The telegraph reduced space because it made human interaction across great distances possible, allowing people across the continents hundreds or thousands of miles apart to communicate and to initiate appropriate action. It also reduced time in a radical way, because by speeding up the exchange of information, it was possible to undertake human action sooner instead of wasting time while waiting for information and feedback to come. However, the telegraph had one major drawback: information in the form of messages had

Disease or Diseases that affect the Rabbit Case Study

Disease or Diseases that affect the Rabbit - Case Study Example In addition, by the time rabbits show signs of illnesses, their condition begins to deteriorate rapidly making it difficult for any intervention method. Therefore, for the majority of illnesses, many vets have stated that vaccination is one of the most ideal approaches. One of the most common diseases affecting rabbits are bacterial infections which lead to the formation of an abscess. This is usually an accumulation of pus with in a cavity that is located in the jaw area. However, it is not limited to this location and can be found on many different parts of the body. This disease is easily avoidable by reducing the fighting between rabbits and ensuring that they are not exposed to injury from sharp septic objects. Since prevention is not always possible the treatment may be required and this disease is easier to detect as it is visible on the rabbit. The abscess is lacerated and the wound is disinfected with peroxide (Meridith, 2003). Rabbits At times also suffer from caked milk production, which occurs when a rabbit has too much milk for the number of kittens. Therefore, this milk is not utilized and leads to this pathology as the ratio of breastfeeds does not correlate with that of milk production. The disease is often mistaken for mastitis as it has a fairly similar presentation. The rabbit’s mamillary glands will become hard, swollen and extremely painful. The disease can be prevented by reducing the amount of food tat is rationed daily which in turn reduces the amount of milk that is produced. This process has shown to yield excellent results within 7 days. There are also some other methods which are used for treatment and these include relieving of congestion by partially milking the rabbit and also massaging anti-inflammatory ointment around the affected breast area. This in turn will reduce the pain that is felt

Effects Of Socialisation Processes On Workplace Culture And Human Essay

Effects Of Socialisation Processes On Workplace Culture And Human Resource Management - Essay Example For both humans and animals, this is typically thought to occur during the early stages of life, during which individuals develop the skills and knowledge necessary to function within their culture and environment. However, this also includes adult individuals moving into an environment significantly different from one(s) in which they have previously lived and must thus learn a new set of behaviors. For a human resource manager socialisation involves immersing the individual in the culture and practices of the organisations, where they become aware of the norms, values and attitudes which are consistent with the organisation and its strategy. It is suggested that such practices help to forge a psychological commitment by the individual to the organisation and perhaps encourage employee behaviours which are less predictable (Schuler & Jackson, 1987).Socialisation of employees in an organisation has shown a great importance in the present business scenario. In the last couple of years, attention to organisation socialisation has increased greatly; this is the learning process by which newcomers develop attitudes and behaviour that are necessary to function as a fully-fledged member of the organisation. . More effective and efficient the human resource management is in socialising its employees, the sooner a newcomer can be productive for the organisation. Socialising means to int ernalise or in simple words to make the new employees more incorporated in the culture of the organisation. This is especially true for the future managers, as they frequently point out that they are not well prepared for their tasks and their new identity as managers, but are expected to propagate the company policy. (Joost Ardts, Paul Jansen, Mandy van der Velde, 2001) Effects of Socialisation on Organisational Culture: Now let us see what effect the process of socialisation can have on the culture of an organisation. "Organizational culture is the key to organizational excellence... and the function of leadership is the creation and management of culture..." Edgar Schein (2000) Organizational Culture and Leadership To explain how socialisation works on culture, we watch an experiment. A caged group of monkeys is confronted with a bunch of bananas on bungling from the ceiling. There is a ladder placed invitingly just under the bananas. Immediately some monkeys rush to the ladder. As soon as they start to climb it they are all hosed down, not just the monkeys on the ladder but all the monkeys in the cage. As they don't like water they leave the bananas. One hussy monkey tries again but the same thing happens, all of the monkeys are hosed. Now they watch each other to make sure no one comes near the ladder. Then one monkey is replaced by a new one unaware of ladder-water misery. He sees the bananas and rushes to the ladder, but to his surprise is beaten up by the other monkeys. Now a second monkey is replaced by a new one. He approaches the ladder and is beaten up. The first new monkey who himself had been beaten up participates in the mugging because he wont permit another monkey to do something he himself was not allowed. This continues until all the monkeys are replaced by new monkeys none of them having the experience of being hosed down or even having a faint idea about it. The reason why they won't permit each other to reach for the bananas has become of a metaphysical nature, they have

Dream Interpretation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Dream Interpretation - Essay Example Thus, the attitudes or responses vary due to the particular contexts. "An attitude is the predisposition to respond in a certain way (Fernald & Fernald, 2003)ii". Undeniably, people intend to satisfy desires by their performing attitudes in day-to-day lives. It is unanimous that dreams are psychologically significant and meaningful expression that meant the implication of the life of the dreamer and connotes a specialty of the occurrences of life. 'The Interpretation of dreams' by Freud has added a new dimension in the development of psychoanalytic explanation requiring the successful dream analysis. The book has opened the floodgate in dream interpretation and helped people bringing an epoch making change in this concern. Prior to the emergence of Freud's theory, the ongoing explanation regarding dream interpretation advocated that dream is the manifestation of mental activity of human being during sleep. With the arrival of the eminent book by Freud, the period of 19th century being marked as the turning point bringing a revolutionary change in global context for dream analysis. Due emphasis is stressed on the neurotic symptoms in interpreting the dreams as the thoughts and ideas of people in awakening hours become visible in dreaming. In regard to the length and clarity of the dreams perceived, there are two sorts of dreams as categorising manifest dreams and latent dreams. Manifest dreams are consciously perceived and subsequently remembered just after the dreams are being dreamt while the dreams that cannot be easily remembered and seemed quite vague are the latent dreams. Of course, in many cases people cannot remember what they experienced in dreaming just with the awakening from the sleeping. This missing of the incidences of dream may be the result of the existence of some repressive forces. The core reason behind the manifest dream is the conglomeration and dominant presence of some latent thoughts. Such manife st dreams mirror the fulfillment of the wishes as regards the issues about which the dreamer was not conscious. However, they were left in the unconscious part of the mind. For instance, if someone expects to satisfy his or her hunger for food or money, is subject to dream the same. In this connection, an excellent example has been drawn by Freud stating that a medical student who routinely is to report to the hospital early in the morning with a view to making rounds, dreams of lying in a hospital bed, and continues to sleep, comforted in the thought that she is already in the hospital. As regards the correspondence of wishes with dreams, there are certain objections since the wishes may not be equally good rather to some extent subject to be hostile in nature. Such hostile or adverse wishes may certainly drive the dreamer to take some repressive actions or dream alike things. At the same way, a dreamer who wishes to do better for someone may dream that he is doing so or rescuing anybody from the net of danger or adverse situation. Psychological Explanation As every dream has a psychological structure, it is significant to hold that every dream has a psychological explanation. Hence, much significance of psychological interpretation is laid on it. The obscurity or clarity of the dr

In the Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

In the Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Essay In the Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, alcoholism is an important theme in the novel. Alcoholism is a large part of Ernest Hemingway’s novel â€Å"The Sun Also Rises†. Drinking is the greatest escape that the characters use and the author employs it very often in the novel. All throughout the novel, the characters are drinking excessively. They use drinking to also help prove themselves. Because of Jake’s war wound made him physically unable, he feels that he must prove himself to people so he uses drinking to prove himself. Jake also uses wine to forget the things that he doesn’t like about his friends such as the fight between Mick and Cohn, when Mike was mad that Cohn is always looking at Brett and holding in to her everywhere she goes. â€Å"There was much wine and ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed that they were all such nice people† (Hemingway 150). In reality, all that drinking does is to give them something in common so that they can relate to one another in some parts of their lives. They are always drinking together and talking about their life difficulties. Often, drinking provides a way of escaping reality and allows them to avoid their problems by avoid thinking about them. In conclusion, in Hemingway’s the Sun Also Rises, it is clear that alcohol dependency is a main theme.

My Country India Essay Example for Free

My Country India Essay India, officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1. 2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China,Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the regions diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. The Indian economy is the worlds tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism. A nuclear weapons stateand a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, andmulti-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent and lies atop the minor Indian tectonic plate, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Australian Plate. Indias defining geological processes commenced 75 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent tGondwana, began a north-eastward drift across the then-unformed Indian Ocean that lasted fifty million years. The subcontinents subsequent collision with, and subduction under, the Eurasian Plate bore aloft the planets highest mountains, the Himalayas. They abut India in the north and thenorth-east. In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that has gradually filled with river-borne sediment; it now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range. The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, which is the oldest and geologically most stable part of India; it extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[114] the plateau contains the nations oldest rock formations, some of them over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6Â ° 44 and 35Â ° 30 north latitude and 68Â ° 7 and 97Â ° 25 east longitude. The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple, which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines. Indias coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latters extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off Indias south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea. The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and wintermonsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of Indias rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane. Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years. During the Vedic period (c. 700–500 BCE), the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices which still exist today, such as dharma, karma, yoga, and mok? ha, were established. India is notable for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nations major religions. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought, including those of t he Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhakti movement, and by Buddhist philosophy. Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Mughal architecture, and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles. Vernacular architecture is also highly regional in it flavours. Vastu shastra, literally science of construction or architecture and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan, explores how the laws of nature affect human dwellings; it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs. As applied in Hindu emple architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a square that embodied the absolute. The Taj Mahal, built inAgra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the worlds heritage. Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture.

Hume On Ideas Of Skepticism Philosophy Essay

Hume On Ideas Of Skepticism Philosophy Essay In the late 1700s, philosopher David Hume was looking to improve the ideas of empiricism created by John Locke and George Berkeley, but he took it to an extreme of radical skepticism. The way in which he attempted to improve Lockes ideas of empiricism was that he would apply scientific methods of observation to the nature of human beings. Hume felt that we should try to observe humans and how they function in the world, primarily because that made the most sense to him. By doing this, he thought that he would be able to uncover the true causes of human belief. He also believed that the real goal of philosophy was to be able to explain why and how we believe the things we do. Hume wrote about his goal in his book, Treatise of Human Nature. David Humes idea of skepticism was set up to contrast with what we considered ordinary claims of knowledge, which is different from Descartes in that Descartes used doubt and skepticism as a way to find out the foundations and roots of knowledge. Hume stated that you can neither inductively or deductively establish knowledge from the external world. When we talk about induction, we are assuming that nature is constant in that what has happened before is more than likely going to happen again. You can compare it to a trend because you know what is going to happen based on prior experience with it. But in this case, we cant use induction because we have no proof of it playing a role in this situation. And deduction cannot work either because the things we know about something might be only a fraction of the information that we might actually be able to learn about these physical objects. Since this is the case, the things we consider to be factual or that exist are not allowed to be ob jects of knowledge. Human belief, according to David Hume contains several different mental elements. He determined that from actual experience, we have impressions which are very vivid, realistic and to the point. He also determined that ideas take the original impressions and attempt to copy them, usually doing a less than savory job in doing so. For instance, looking at an orange, and knowing that it is in fact, the color orange is an impression, but remembering what your first grade teacher looked like is an example of an idea. Hume argued that every idea comes from an impression, and he said that it makes sense for us to ask what the basis of our ideas are by finding out what the impressions were that they came from. He also argued that every one of our ideas and our impressions has the ability to be separated from all the others and when we manage to connect one of our ideas to another idea, this is simply the consequence of how we think. Hume also talked about the difference in two belief types in Enquiry IV. There is what he referred to as relations of ideas, which is the result of our beliefs being associated inside our mind. And then there are matters of fact, which see things that are in existence and take those things and give an explanation and description of those things. Real knowledge is what we assume to be genuine information, and Hume was very much concentrated on explaining where the knowledge came from. Hume felt that in order to be able to learn, we must first realize and accept the fact that the experiences we had in the past have at the very least something to do with what is going on in the present, as well as what it might do to influence the future. But everyone seems to think that our past and present will both resemble what the future will look like. But this isnt self evident. There is always that change and likelihood that things will change in the future, that nature will all of a sudden change and this makes any inferences we have from the past and for the future appear to be uncertain. So keeping this in mind, Hume makes it clear that everything we consider to be absolutely the truth are all non-rational. Hume used an example of this in his story of how the sun rises each day, and although our belief that the sun will rise tomorrow is based on observation of previous sunrises, other than us thinking we know that the rotation of the earth causes the sun rise and set, there is no rational basis for us to know that it will rise again the next day; but for some reason we just believe that it will happen anyway. When Hume talks about belief as it pertains to habit, he says that unjustifiable beliefs with the help of habit or even custom can have an explanation because it has habit or custom. This is how we are able to take from experience and apply it to what we know. But with Humes skepticism we arent allowed to think outside the content of our experiences or our memories, but for some reason we consistently do just that. Since Hume says that unjustifiable beliefs with the help of habit or even custom can have an explanation because it has habit or custom, it in turn can be said that our beliefs, considered to us as facts, come from our sentimental feelings as opposed to actual reason. According to Hume, what we imagine and what we believe are only different in how we interpret them. Hume states that habit and custom are very important to the foundation of natural science. When it comes to necessary connection, Hume states that the way we think we know that events are related is habit or custom that we get from our personal experience. Once we observe how often these particular events happen with one another, we are able to then create ideas, which in turn forces us to expect that particular outcome when these particular events occur. But, the one thing that we are forgetting to mention is the fact that the cause will in some way or fashion produce an effect. But even if we couldnt prove the belief to be true, there has to be a reason for why we think it and believe it to be true. The way in which Hume felt was the best way to prove something to be true was to look for the first sign in which the idea was found. By being able to trace back to where the idea originated, Hume argues that by doing so we will be able to make the connection between the cause and the effect. (He wrote about this in Enquiry VII). Hume also had a lot to say about the self as well. In the Treatise, David Hume discussed how in our self there is also a belief of our reality. Hume asks, From what antecedent impression does the idea of the self arise? Hume makes it very clear that we are never completely aware of ourselves. What I mean by that is that we cant make an impression in relation to the self. The things we experience are individual and separate ideas which are in association with one another based on causality. When talking about the external world, Hume believes that the belief we have about the external world is completely non-rational. (This found in Enquiry XII) This is true because our belief of the external world cannot be supported as matter of fact, nor can it be considered as a relation of ideas. Even though there isnt any way to prove or justify this, belief in the external world cannot be avoided but it is in fact natural. We seem to have a tendency to assume that our ideas are backed up by some form of proof, even though it would appear as though we do not have any proof in doing so. Because of this representationalism no longer exists, and everything that was supposed to act as a middle man between things and those who perceive those things becomes absorbed, which makes all the things other than us completely unnecessary and obsolete. David Hume also talks a lot about Mitigated Skepticism. Mitigated Skepticism basically means unbelief. What it is implies is that sure, we can proclaim that knowledge is impossible; but whether it is or isnt doesnt matter. What we really need to be looking for is just a mental decision or judgment in regards to the question or situation. We really just need something to say in response to it. Hume is a very important figure when it comes to skepticism. One of the best arguments in skepticism was his argument against believing miracles. He claimed that to be a miracle, something must defy all laws of nature. There is so much proof against the existence of a miracle. There are certain laws of nature which the idea of a miracle does not obey. Humes argument for skepticism is not only limited to just miracles. The same principles of his argument can be applied to such things as, channeling, levitation, psychic surgery, and may more. Basically anything that requires us to neglect our experience and not allow ourselves to use it as a guide. That being the case, and there being so many different examples that would fit into this category, there is one that doesnt make it that many people make the mistake of thinking it does. That would be ESP, unless you argue that ESP external to the laws of nature. But since ESP still maintains that it follows the laws of nature that havent be en discovered, Humes argument cant work for it. David Hume makes it clear to us that there are two forms of skepticism. One being antecedent skepticism and the other being consequent skepticism. And for each of these types of skepticism, there are two forms, one being a moderate form and the other being an extreme form. When it comes to skepticism in its extreme form, we can bring in Descartes universal doubt that starts to question beyond what Hume questioned by even challenging all prior opinions and even what our senses tell us. Without at least one principle, theres no way a skeptic can accept this. But for Hume, no first principle can be so self-evident that it can be beyond any doubt. But lets say that there were a first principle, there would be no way that we could proceed after it, and this is because we still doubt ourselves to the point that we can use deductive reasoning. When discussing the Enquiry, David Hume seems to be using consequent skepticism. I say this only because it makes us question our own judgments and conclusions by bringing into question the very grounds for which they lay upon. Hume talks specifically of the testimony of senses that tells us that there is a world that is not only external to us, but also independent of all of our senses. Our instinct is what leads us to think that what we consider to be a depiction of the external world is what our senses inform us of. But our perceptions change, as well as there are cases in which we become completely deceived in the event that we become crazy, or we become possessed by dreams we might have. Once again, experience tends to be the only thing that can fully justify our belief through the external world. But on that same note, even experience does not allow us to go passed any perceptions we are skeptical about. Because of this, Hume says we have no rational justification for our belie f in the external world.