Criticism Philosophy Essay

Not too many people can listen none defensively, or none antagonistically, to criticism. And very few of those who listen admit it when they see that they are wrong. The thing is, we think that admission of guilt, or of being wrong, or that we have made a mistake, is a sign of weakness. Yet true failure is repeatedly refusing to see your faults. Learning to listen to criticism is a life skill that we’d all do well to master. It is about keeping our hearts open (deferring judgment), and ensuring that we are not emotionally aroused (intimidated, irritated, etc.) by our critic (this is deferring reaction). Learning to listen to criticism is about carefully absorbing what is being said, and then honestly evaluating if it is fair, true, constructive or destructive. Only after we’ve carefully listened to and evaluated the criticism can we respond to it. SECTION B: HOW TO TAKE CRITICISM 1). See criticism as an opportunity to work together with the critic to solve the problem; not as an adversarial situation. Even if you can’t solve the problem together with the critic, consider the moment they criticize you as an opportunity for all of you to grow from whatever the problem is. See it as an opportunity for straightening things out; as an opportunity to hear them out, question them where you need clarity; and as an opportunity for you to clarify what needs to be clarified. This calls for changing your mindset; for changing your attitude (from an adversarial one to a positive one) towards criticism. 2). View criticism as valuable information about how to do better, not as a personal attack. Criticism, regardless of whether it is used as a constructive or a destructive tool, can provide us with valuable feedback on our performance. It provides us with feedback on where we’ve fallen short, and that (i.e., knowing what we need to improve on) is important for our learning and growth. So even when your critic uses criticism as a destructive tool (e.g., as a personal attack, or as a way to put you down, or as a way to manipulate you, or as a way to maintain a psychological advantage), identify his intention but decide to pay particular attention to the criticism itself. Evaluate the criticism itself, and identify what feedback you may get from it. To be able to evaluate the criticism, you must †¦ 3). Listen carefully to what is being said. This is taking up all the data, and evaluating it to see if it has any validity. 4). Watch the impulse to defend (See Defense Mechanisms): Just listen and evaluate. Know the difference between emotional thinking and rational thinking; use your head, not your heart. Don’t give in to your emotions (be it laughter, anger, fear, or whatever): simply listen! 5). And if the criticism is too upsetting, ask to resume the meeting later; after a period to absorb the difficult message, and cool down a bit. SECTION C: HOW TO GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM 1). BE POLITE AND SENSITIVE. This is a call for empathy; for being attuned to the impact of what you say, and how you say it to the person on the receiving end. The person (on the receiving end) is most likely to be defensive. S/he may resort to loud and angry words, or may even cry. Be ready for whatever reaction (including rebuffs, or attacks to hurt you back; breaking down into tears; begging you for forgiveness and sympathy; and so on. There is a whole catalog of reactions to criticism: be ready for any of them, and maintain your calm). 2). BE SPECIFIC. Don’t criticize the whole person (by using global labels or sweeping generalizations). It is demoralizing for people to know that there is something wrong without knowing what the specifics are, so that they can change. Focus on the specifics; saying what the person did well, what was done poorly, and how the situation could be changed. The following approach is very effective (I call it the VWXYZ-approach): V – Tell the person what they did well (â€Å"You did this and that very well.†); W – Tell the person how happy you are, and/or how beneficial to you (or to the organization) this positive input was; X – Tell the person what was poorly done; Y – Tell the person what the damage means to you (or to the organization); Z – Give the person suggestions, if you have any, as to how the situation can be changed or rescued. Tell them how they would be expected to handle a similar problem in future. 3). OFFER A SOLUTION (See Z above). The critique, like any useful feedback, should point to a way to fix the problem. Show the person other possibilities and alternatives. 4). BE PRESENT. Critiques, like praise, are most effective when given face to face, and in private. Writing a memo, letter, or email robs the person receiving the criticism of an opportunity for response or clarification. In conclusion, you have to differentiate between criticizing someone and fighting them because of your own secret agenda. When you criticize, you want the person to improve, so that s/he can be better, or so that you can live in harmony together. But when you fight someone, you criticize out of hate or resentment: your agenda is to hurt, not to help. SECTION D: THE MYTH OF REALITY We all see reality through different colored glasses. Our feelings, inborn abilities, psychological make-ups, personalities, egos, characteristics, physical or emotional well-being, fears, desires, needs, wants, beliefs, and so forth, all play a role in our perception of reality. The assertion, †THERE ARE NONE SO SURE ABOUT (THEIR PERCEPTION OF) REALITY AS THOSE WHO ARE TOTALLY DELUSIONAL,† has a grain of truth in it; at least when it comes to things that can be disputed. Since our perceptions of reality differ, those who criticize us do so based on the perceptions (of reality) that they have in their minds. Our critics’ perception of the reality of what they are criticizing us of usually differs from ours. If one perception can be demonstrated to be 100% correct, then those on the wrong side of perception should admit that they are wrong, without any fear of being conceived as weak! The real truth is that admitting that you are wrong (when you realize that you are) is a sign of being strong minded. If, as in many cases, none of the various perceptions of the conflict-causing situation can be demonstrated to be 100% correct, then we should acknowledge that our perceptions are different, and simply agree to disagree. Before you criticize someone, be sure that your own perception of reality is 100% correct. If you are not so sure, be sure to point out from the onset that you (and the one you are criticizing) have different perceptions of reality, but you are not sure whose perception is correct. You may then criticize the other person’s perception, and then defend your own. SECTION E: TYPES OF CRITICISM Behind each criticism, there is an INTENTION to either put down the one being criticized or to help them (i.e., to build them up). Whether one intends to build up or to destroy, they will use STATEMENTS which are either FACTUAL, or FALSE, or (as is usually the case) a MIXTURE of TRUTHS and LIES. To analyze and evaluate someone’s criticism, we have to LISTEN very carefully to what they say. If we are not sure that we have heard them correctly, we have to SEEK CLARIFICATION. We have to: I). IDENTIFY THEIR INTENTIONS (to help or to put down); II). DETERMINE THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY CRITICIZE US (are they patronizing/condescending/adversarial or tactful/sympathetic/building up?); III). DETERMINE WHETHER THEIR INFORMATION IS ACCURATE OR WRONG. We must SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION. We now look at the different types of criticism. 1. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM This occurs when your critic is motivated by the desire to help you; that is, when the person who criticizes you means well. Their manner of presenting the criticism may be good or bad, and they may possess facts, or a mixture of facts and fiction, or only inaccurate information. But the important thing is what drives the critic is the desire to help you. 2. DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM In this kind of criticism, your critic’s intention may be one or more of the following: 2.1). PUTTING YOU DOWN. This may be in the form of a pointless nagging, or habitual recitation of your failures, or calling you names when they criticize you, or making sweeping generalizations; 2.2). ONE-UPMANSHIP. This occurs when one tries to maintain a psychological advantage over you, or to prove that they are better than you; 2.3). MANIPULATION. The critic may criticize what you are doing in an attempt to get you to do something else. This is often called CHILD PSYCHOLOGY. o SECTION F: RESPONDING TO CRITICISM There are two ways of responding to criticism; one is Ineffective Response, and the other is Effective Response. 1. INEFFECTIVE RESPONSE STYLES These are: 1.1). AGGRESSIVE STYLE. The techniques used include: – Counter Attacks; – Insulting or name-calling; – Loud Denials; – Mocking (Cynicism); and – Sulking in anger. This style of responding to criticism is adversarial, and often leads to fights and/or resentment. 1.2). PASSIVE STYLE. In this style of response to criticism, you agree, apologize, or surrender at the first sign of (a usually destructive) criticism. You may panic and tremble physically. Or you may remain silent in a coward manner (which is different from sulking angrily). In this response style, you give your critic too much power, while sending your own self-esteem crashing rock-bottom. You do not seek clarity, and you do not even try to defend yourself. You do not try to give clarity, even where you feel you have been misunderstood, or wrongly accused. You may even take responsibility/blame for things that you have not done or said. Your fear overpowers you, and you just wish to be left in peace! 1.3). PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE STYLE. This may involve being silent, but not fully cooperative. Or you may respond passively by apologizing and agreeing to change, only to get even with your critic later; by not being fully committed to whatever you promised; or by botching it up; etc. 2. EFFECTIVE RESPONSE I). TRY TO DETERMINE YOUR CRITIC’S PERCEPTION OF REALITY. When someone criticizes you, ask yourself what may be their perception of reality; ask yourself what may be driving him/her to criticize you. Remember that we all see reality through different colored glasses. Resist all urges to respond (aggressively or passively, through panicking or being submissive) before evaluating the criticism. If you are not sure what your critic’s perception of reality is, and if you are allowed to, ask them (See III below). If you are not in a position to ask them directly, evaluate their criticism; for you may get, from the criticism itself, an idea of what your critic’s perception of reality is. In any case, it is important to be sure of what your critic’s perception of reality is. II). EVALUATE THE CRITICISM. It may be possible to tell from your critic’s tone of voice, from their facial expression, or from their posture, what their intentions of criticizing you are. It may be possible to tell this from context (this applies especially when you get a written critique). It is important to IDENTIFY what your critic’s INTENTIONS are. Whilst evaluating your critic’s criticism, do not jump into conclusions, and do not rush to responding. Forget your self-esteem, and concentrate exclusively on the criticism. – As already mentioned, you first have to identify your critic’s perception of whatever they are criticizing you of. – Next, identify the critic’s intention: Do they wish to build up or to destroy/hurt? Is their criticism constructive or destructive? – Next, determine the manner in which the critic gives the criticism: is it good or bad? Are they patronizing/condescending, or are they considerate of your own feelings? Hear their tone. Do they want to help or hassle? – You may also take into consideration your relationship with the critic. Is it a loved one? Is it your boss or superior? Is it a friend? Or is it someone who doesn’t even know you that much? Whatever the case, you want to live in harmony with the critic; but you also want to correct misconceptions. You want to clear the air, and clarify what needs to be clarified. – Check whether the criticism is accurate. Is the critic using facts, a mixture of truths and lies, or only lies? III). PROBE. As already pointed out in I), when someone criticizes you, they have a certain perception of what they are criticizing you of, and it is your right to be sure that you correctly understand what they say. – Ask your critic to be specific; not to make sweeping generalizations. – Ask him to support his claims. – Ask him whether he is sure of what he is saying. – Ask him what his perception of the situation is, and whether he is sure that his perception is correct. – Ask him to give examples of where you went wrong, and to tell you how you should have performed in those instances. – Ask your critic to tell you exactly What you must do. Having probed the critic, and having evaluated his criticism, decide whether his criticism is constructive or destructive; decide whether his manner of presenting the criticism is good (considerate) or bad (patronizing/condescending); and whether the information he uses is accurate, inaccurate, or a mixture of truths and lies. We now give guidelines on how to respond to (constructive and destructive) criticism. 2.1 HOW TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Depending on your critic’s nature, he may couch his constructive criticism in terms of good suggestions for change, or he may patronize you. However well-meaning someone may be, patronizing and/or condescending (which occurs when someone tries to appear better) is bad, and is likely to provoke an adversarial reaction. This is because when someone is patronizing us, we are bound to feel uncomfortable, and we may give in to impulsive negative reactions. So even when your critic has good intentions, the MANNER of GIVING the CRITICISM may spoil it all (See â€Å"HOW TO GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM† in ‘CRITICISM PHILOSOPHY I’). In criticizing you, your critic will use some statements which are true or false, and/or some statements whose truth values may be unknown. He may have accurate or wrong information. – If, in criticizing you constructively, your critic uses accurate information, or facts, to patronize you, or uses facts in a condescending manner, you may acknowledge the truth or validity of his point(s), but point out that his patronizing (or attempts at appearing better) is spoiling or defeating his good purpose (i.e., to help). – If your critic puts his (accurate) information in a good manner, acknowledge the facts and thank him for pointing them out. Tell him that you are going to consider his points. – If your critic’s information is inaccurate, you may correct him. Thank him for trying to help if his manner is good; but if, in addition to using wrong information, your critic’s manners suck, tell him that not only is his information inaccurate but his patronizing or condescending is really uncalled for. – If your critic uses a mixture of facts and lies, acknowledge the facts (and give thanks for them), and correct misconceptions. 2.2 HOW TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM Let’s now suppose that you have determined, to your satisfaction, that your critic’s intention is not to help you, but: to put you down; or to maintain a psychological advantage over you; or to manipulate you. As in the constructive case, your critic will use some statements; some of which may be true, whilst others may be false. In handling such a critic, simply acknowledge what is true and refute what is a lie. Disprove what needs to be disproved, and state your opinion on what is neither here nor there. It is important not to pick a fight, but to concentrate on the criticism.

Méliès’s Trip to the Moon Essay

The film opens with a gathering of academics in a lecture hall. They have robes, beards and pointed hats. They are standing at first in ranks in the room, five more men join them and are given telescopes by female servants. The leader enters and assumes a position at a blackboard on the left where he draws an image of the Earth and the Moon and a bullet-shaped craft landing on the Moon. They all being discussing or arguing about the project. The technique used for acting is based on what one might see acted out in the theater with no modern cinematography such as close-ups or zooms are used to focus the attention on a particular character. All the characters appear onstage and if there is any focus on a certain action is done through theatrical technique such as the females marching out and handing out telescopes and leaving. When the main character, seeming like a professor comes in the group sort of comes to attention and stand still at first while the professor speaks and draws on the board. One’s attention’s shifts to the group again as they discuss and argue with over-large gesticulations in this silent film without written inter-titles. It is a silent stage drama recorded on film, else it would be mime theatre. The film’s scene changes almost like a shift of scene in the theatre. There is a very fake-looking space capsule that is being worked on and some of the astronauts try out the interior. There is a moment when someone falls into a shallow barrel. Possibly, this was meant to be a comic touch which would be at home later in vaudeville. There is no camera movement. It is as if one had a good seat at the theatre and watching a series of tableaux vivantes. The film owes much more to the stage and picture books than to any already-developed film technique. The subsequent boarding of the space-bullet on the left with the cannon on the right looks especially fake and hand-drawn. There is little aim at a believable set and much over-acting: doffing their hats and so on to an imaginary group of spectators, actually us who are watching the living theater more than a film by today’s standards. After the firing of the cannon, there occurs the use of something like special effects where the Man in the Moon, framed by clouds comes closer to the viewer and has human like expressions which show the space vehicle hitting him in the eye. It is a real human looking like he has whipped cream on his face.

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Logical Fallacies - Essay Example   Ã¢â‚¬Å"And our progress on the economy is a good chapter in our history. But now we turn the page and write a new chapter. And that's what I want to speak about tonight.†Ã‚   The use of two metaphors is evident here, good chapter in our history is a metaphor and turn the page and write a new chapter is another metaphor used by Gore.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"But my focus is on working families, people trying to make house payments and car payments, working overtime to save for college and do right by their kids Whether you're in a suburb, or an inner-city Whether you raise crops or drive hogs and cattle on a farm, drive a big rig on the Interstate, or drive e-commerce on the Internet Whether you're starting out to raise your own family, or getting ready to retire after a lifetime of hard work.†Ã‚   Rhetoric is clearly seen here, the word drive is repeated thrice and the same makes it rhetoric.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"To all the families who are struggling with things that money can't measure -- like trying to find a little more time to spend with your children, or protecting your children from entertainment that you think glorifies violence and indecency -- I want you to know: I believe we must challenge a culture with too much meanness, and not enough meaning. And as president, I will stand with you for a goal that we share: to give more power back to the parents, to choose what your own children are exposed to, so you can pass on your family's basic lessons of responsibility and decency."

Comparative legal culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparative legal culture - Essay Example pecially the blacks and human rights activists who claim that the city has been tainted with flagrant racism, police impunity and or the systematic quashing of free speech. In this paper, we shall discuss the Ferguson situation in light of the Natural law, Karl Marx and legal formalism theories of law. In advancing the Natural Law Aquinas states that it is in the human nature to act freely so as to achieve their proper end through reason and free will. The proper end in this concept was to live, be sustained and to reproduce. It thus followed that any law that did not see this end achieved was unjust and thus no law. Hobbes in advancing the need of humans to achieve the proper end cited above, he summarizes nine laws that are aimed to achieve the applicability of the natural law by stating that one should not do to another that which one will not want done to thyself, as this was the best way of preserving human life, sustenance and reproduction. John Locke states that where a ruler goes against natural law and fails to preserve life, liberty and property then the people would be justified to overthrow the existing state and create a new one. He further echoes the biblical concept of equality that is largely borrowed by Thomas Jefferson in the declaration of Independence and the u ltimate U.S Constitution. It is on this note that the Social Contractual theory by Jean Rousseau will come in handy in advancing the natural law. That at the state of nature humans would not have defended themselves enough and therefore they gave all the power to the sovereign hold in trust and in return protect them. Rousseau presents that in a democracy, the government ought to be focused on representing the general will of the sovereign, the sovereign in this context being the people. The natural law is theory seeks to protect morality in a state and what is immoral and inhuman would be short of law and hence unenforceable. To put the natural law into the Ferguson conflict, the

SURROGATING BODIES, EMBODIMENT OF THEORIES Essay

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Discussion Board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

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Article Summary Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Reflective Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

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Literature review Essay Example for Free

Literature review Essay A reasonable risk assessment of sex offenders, when combined with good parole supervision and a community-based treatment program aimed at relapse prevention, effectively reduces recidivism. This was the finding of a study conducted by Wilson, Stewart, Stirpe, Barrett, and Cripps in Canada. Published in 2000, the study covered 107 sex offenders who were released to the custody of the Central Ontario District during a period of eight years starting in 1990. According to the authors, their study outlined the general principles laid down by Motiuk, Belcourt, and Bonta in 1995, namely: careful and continuous evaluation of offender risk which ensures that highly dangerous offenders were not allowed to return to the community by sentencing them to life in prison; focusing on criminal behavior when conducting intervention programs with the help of qualified psychologists; effective monitoring of the returning offenders’ activities in the community by employing only competent parole personnel trained in the principles of relapse prevention; and an honest exchange of information among the relatives of sex offenders, the parole personnel, and the treatment staff in order to achieve the right mix of treatment intervention and parole supervision. Wilson et al (2000) found that the strategy resulted to a low 3. 7% recidivism compared to the 5. 4% cited by the study of Motiuk and Brown, and the 6.3% recidivism rate which came out of the study conducted by Barbaree, Seto, and Maric. Both studies were completed in 1996 (Wilson, Stewart, Stirpe, Barrett, and Cripps, 2000). In West Virginia, Gordon and Weldon (2003). Examined the effect of educational programs on recidivism. Studying the records of inmates who attended the General Educational Development (GED) and the Vocational training programs conducted from 1999-2000 at Huttonsville Correctional Center, they found that a recidivism rate of 8. 75% was recorded for those who completed the vocational training program. Inmates who went through both the vocational training program and the GED, on the other hand, reported a lower 6. 71% recidivism rate. Both figures were way below the recidivism rate of 26% which was observed on inmates who did not participate in either educational program. These results were comparative to the findings of a study made by Mace in 1978 of 320 inmates who were discharged from correctional institutions in West Virginia in 1973. Out of the 320, 76 were rearrested after four years, 21 (or 6. 56%) of whom were products of educational programs behind bars while 55 (or 17. 19%) did not attend any educational program while being incarcerated (Gordon and Weldon, 2003). Meanwhile, two cost-effective programs were the subject of an article authored by Harvey Shrum in 2004. Published in the Journal of Correctional Education, the article discussed two additional practices called logotherapy and intensive journal which, according to him, were better at reducing â€Å"future criminality† of both offenders and potential offenders than punishment and surveillance-based programs. Logotherapy, which means â€Å"health through meaning,† was developed by Dr. Viktor Frankl as an effective substitute to the 12-step program of rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abusers generally accepted by most parole boards. The program aims to provide inmates with a â€Å"purpose and direction in life. † Introduced forty years ago to inmates of a California Rehabilitation Center, program participants reported a recidivism rate of 5. 5%. When it was re-introduced to nineteen inmates of Folsom State Prison in 1998, the three participants who were released on parole reported a zero percent recidivism by year 2004. Intensive journal, on the other hand, was first introduced at Folsom State Prison in 1992. Created by Dr. Ira Progoff, it is a â€Å"method of self-development† that makes use of writing exercises. Inmates were made to write about their experiences, relationships with their families, their jobs and health, and the meaning that they give to their lives in a journal. These journals were reviewed and feedbacks were provided. By 2002, ten years after the program was introduced, no participant was ever rearrested (Shrum, 2004). The debate on the value of using recidivism to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of correctional programs continues and, in fact, polarized justice scholars. A dissenting opinion was voiced by Thomas in 2005 when he said that prison facilities and programs have no influence over the behavior of inmates once they return to their communities. He argued that communities are influenced by certain social, cultural, and economic factors which are beyond the control of prison facilities. Policymakers and academics, however, refuse to budge. They insist that there is no other, better measure than the rate of recidivism. According to these academics and policymakers, effective rehabilitation measures should be able to provide inmates with coping mechanisms necessary for them to deal with the â€Å"economic, social, and cultural stresses of post-release life. † In the same vein, they argue that effective deterrence programs should produce inmates who should have learned enough lessons during incarceration to dissuade them from returning to a life of crime. In both cases, they maintain that low recidivism should be the direct result. Although inclined towards the use of recidivism, Maxwell, in an article entitled: â€Å"Rethinking the Broad Sweep of Recidivism: A Task for Evaluators,† suggested that academics should not stop looking for less familiar methods of approaching the problem while policymakers should maintain an open mind so that like policy questions could be considered more objectively (Maxwell, 2005). References Gordon, H. R. D., and Weldon, B. (2003). The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars. Journal of Correctional Education, 54, 4, 200-209. Maxwell, S. R. (2005). RETHINKING THE BROAD SWEEP OF RECIDIVISM: A TASK FOR EVALUATORS. Criminology Public Policy, 4, 3, 519-526. Shrum, H. (2004). No Longer Theory: Correctional Practices That Work. Journal of Correctional Education, 55, 3, 225-235. Wilson, R. J. , Stewart, L. , Stirpe, T. , Barrett, M. , and Cripps, J. E. (2000). Community-based sex offender management: Combining parole supervision and treatment to reduce recidivism. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 42, 2, 177-188.

Is The State Still The Most Important Actor Politics Essay

Is The State Still The Most Important Actor Politics Essay In the traditional perception, the state plays the leading role in international relations. However, after the World War , with the rise of communications technology, the deepening of international division of labor and the expansion of global trade, a good deal of international organizations was established. The international environment was changed due to globalization. It becomes easier for states to communicate with each other, which influence international political, economic, military and culture to a great degree. The increasing number of these organizations is parallel to the increasing levels of political, economic, military and cultural transactions between individuals, societies and states. These kinds of non-state actors challenge the state- centric perception. Therefore, in this essay, three sections will be used to discuss whether the state is still the most important actor in international relations. Firstly, it will cite two theories about the role of the state plays in contemporary international relations. Following this, it will give an account of whether the position of the state in international relations will be replaced because of globalization. Finally, it will illustrate the role of the state plays in international economy, politics and climate. There are two prevailing theories about the role of the state in international relations. Neorealism emphasizes the state plays the most important role in international arena. On one hand, the state possesses sovereign power to insure domestic security. On the other hand, neorealism also stresses the state influence economy in international relations. Neoliberalism not only indicates that the state is the main behavior body in international system, but also affirms the role of non-states, such as international organization, transnational organizations and other kinds of social organizations. As a by-product of intensified globalization process, these kinds of organizations have become more significant determinants of foreign policies of the state (Ataman, M., 2000). Globalization influences the position of the state in international relations By looking at globalization, the proliferation of non-state actors is gaining international influence and position. Non-state actors can be divided into international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and transnational or international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Ataman, M., 2003). International intergovernmental organizations are created by states. They have official document of government agencies. On the contrary, transnational or international non-governmental organizations are established not by the state, but by some group of businessmen, individuals and other societal units. They have no legal connection with the state, so they are genuinely transnational (Oyugi Walter O., 2004). But the state can restrain the activities of these kinds of organizations. There are a number of powerful organizations such as the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations. Though these organizations own strong power in the international relations, they are entire operate by states. Along with the intensification of globalization ¼Ã…’the growth of so many kinds of non-state actors is bound to influence the status of the state in international relations. But they can not substitute for the state. The state is still the most important actor in international relations. The role of the state in the international economy, politics and climate Globalization can be found everywhere, such as economy, politics and climate (Clapham and Christopher, 2002). Whether the role of the state in international relations can be replaced due to globalization, it will be discussed as follows: Globalization has brought about the biggest influence to the economy. Globalization can run businesses, business also can run globalization. That is to say, if a boss of any company wants to make a profile, he has to deal with the government of the state. The state can suspended any operating company. Under this circumstance, the state proves to be the most important actor in international relations on account of it has a right to determine whether a new company can turn into the country business. International politics is very important to coordinate international relationships, safeguard the world peace and make successful businesses. The state is responsible for international politics. The peace of the world is an eternal theme in the international politics. How do the state and the world peace affect each other? The world peace is not able to be achieved only by one state. This utopian goal is only brought out by the endeavor of the whole world. Even though most of international organizations are making great efforts to prevent chaos caused by war, the state is also play the major role in international relations. The United Nations calls on every country should work together to fight against warfare. The relationships between peace and development are interdependency, interrelationship and inter-advance. It requires the state to play the leading role to coordinate the world circumstance, protect the world peace and then promote common development of the whole world. Global warming is gradually become a significant topic in the world due to climate globalization, it persecutes nearly everybody. Because Global Warming could lead to glaciers melt, and sea level rise. Therefore, people are starting to take actions to deal with this problem. For example, in order to protect the environment, an international agreement the Kyoto Protocol is formulated. The purposes of the Kyoto Protocol are to cut down pollution and prevent greenhouse effect. However, the Kyoto Protocol is not formulated by individual or international organization, but drafted by states. It further proves the state play the most important role in international relations. Conclusion In conclusion, the state is still the most impotent actor in international relations. There are several strong points can be listed to get this conclusion. First of all, international organizations govern the globe, and these organizations consist of states. The state influences and powers over international organizations. Following this, globalization changes the international environment and lead to many kinds of non-state actors spring up. To a degree, these non-state actors are gaining status and influence in global economy, politics and climate, but it impossible to replace the position of the state in international relations. Any international affair is not a problem of one state but of the whole world. Taking into account the whole of these reasons, it can be concluded that the state is still the most important actor in international relations.

An Essay Of Man Is A Philosophical Poem Religion Essay

An Essay Of Man Is A Philosophical Poem Religion Essay An Essay of Man is a philosophical poem by Alexander Pope. It was published in 1734. In this poem the author makes an attempt to explain complex relations between man and God. The author makes an attempt to explain people their destination and will of God. Pope presents complex philosophical, political and ethical ideas in the form of the poem. This form is unusual for the philosophical content, but Pope accomplishes this task brilliantly. He describes complex ideas in interesting literary form. This manner become more entertaining for the readers and people get an opportunity to perceive complex ideas in more interesting form. The poem consists of four epistles. Originally they were published separately and the pseudonym, but later Pope collected them into one long poem. An Essay on Man is an attempt to understand the nature of man an to discover things which may help people to become happy. He wants to distinguish the place of man in the society and in the world around him. He speaks about different controversies, which usually influence human life: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan The proper study of Mankind is Man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A Being darkly wise, and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side, With too much weakness for the Stoics pride,†¦ Pope speaks about controversial nature of man. He views man as a combination of different moving forces. From this position the man becomes a unique creature who combines in his nature controversial things. From the one side this controversy makes it hard for man to find inner harmony but from the other side it becomes a moving force which helps to discover new things about inner nature and external world. As states Pope: He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest; In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reasning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little, or too much;†¦ The author describes major conflict which is presented in each man. This conflict is a conflict between passion and reason. The author see the way out in controlling passions and using reason in order to get a virtuous life. Pope makes an attempt to get a deeper understanding of human nature. His views are common for intellectuals of the eighteenth century. In the first part of the poem Pope makes an attempt to show harmonious nature of the universe. He wants his readers to see that the universe has perfect and harmonious order and people also have their special place in this universe. Pope believes that people can improve their life if they understand this order and their place in the Universe. In the third pat of the poem Pope speaks about the relations between individual and the society. He explores roles and functions of individual in the society and the relations between personal needs and desires and needs of the society. The author explores the origin of state power and division of social class system. The fourth part of the poem makes an attempt to answer the main question posted by the author it makes an attempt to find that mechanism which would help people to become happy. The problem described by the author in this epistle becomes the relation between personal selfish desires and a desire to bring use to other people. Virtuous living and desire to bring use to other people the author regards as the main source of human happiness. The poem explores many important themes and philosophical questions. The author combines literary genre and philosophical style of the narration. It gives his readers the opportunity to read complex philosophical ideas in easy and interesting style. Pope investigates the theme of existence of Supreme Being or Supreme Power, the structure of the universe and the role and place of people in it. He underlines that God is the strongest power of the universe and people may have happy living only if the follow the will of God: Yet cry, If Mans unhappy, Gods unjust; If Man alone ingross not Heavns high care, Alone made perfect here, immortal there: Snatch from his hand the balance(10) and the rod, Re-judge his justice, be the GOD of GOD! The poem expresses the most important philosophical, ethical and social concepts of the author. It give a fundamental descriptions of Popes perception of the world and universal order. These principles were expressed by many outstanding scholars, thinkers and artists, but Pope presents them to the public in unique and interesting manner. Pope turns to universal human values. When he speaks about religion, he does not turn to any specific religious confessions and doctrines. He wants to presents his reader a universal picture of the world order which would be suitable for people of different religious beliefs. The author counts on universal religious and philosophical ideas which underline the common nature of all people. In his work he centers on things which make people alike and help them to find common ground rather on the thing which separate them. The universal order and perfect structure of the world are among the main themes of the poem. The author wants his readers to understand that the word if perfectly organized and that the understanding of the universal principles of world structure may help people to have a successful and happy living. He regards man as a part of natural order and speaks about his great ability to save and support this universal order: But ALL subsists by elemental strife; and Passions are the elements of Life. The genral ORDER, since the whole began, Is kept in Nature, and is kept in Man. The author presented complicated and important ideas in his philosophical poem. His style and manner of narration give the readers easy way to understand complicated things. The genre of philosophical poem

How Much Working Capital Will I Need When I Buy a Website? :: Sell Website Buy Website

How Much Working Capital Will I Need When I Buy a Website? Question: If you buy a business and you're getting a loan, how much capital should you have available until the business starts generating income? For example, if I have $100,000 should I be looking for a business that's $50,000 keeping some back or should I look for a business that's over and try to find financing for the overage. Answer: Thank you for your excellent question. Believe it or not, many buyers overlook this and wind up in trouble soon after they acquire a business. What you are trying to determine is known as the "working capital" requirements of the business. This is the amount of money you will need available to fund the business after you take over until it becomes self-sufficient, meaning that there is enough inflow of cash to pay the bills. Unfortunately, there isn't a standard answer, but it is something that you can easily calculate. Keep in mind that every business scenario is different. For example, if you acquire a business where clients pay immediately (i.e. a retail store), then you will have an inflow of cash the first day that you take over. On the other hand, if it's a business where you grant payment terms to clients and the average time to collect is 30 days, then at a bare minimum, you will need at least one month of working capital (although I don't think that 30 day's worth is enough, but I'll explain in a moment). The other thing to consider is inventory. If you will have to purchase products to sell prior to seeing payments form clients, here too your cash flow will be affected. The best way to approach this for any business is to do a forecast for the first six months after closing. Generally, you should take the average monthly revenue for the past 2 – 3 years. Then, factor in any seasonality to the business. For example, if you are buying a water sports equipment rental business on the beach in Florida in May, you can certainly expect sales to be far lower than they will be in December. Once you determine the average sales, then you must calculate all of the fixed costs that you will incur from day one. These are all of the expenses that the business will have that are not related to the sales. For example, if you have sales people on commission, their costs are only incurred when revenue is generated.

Presidential Influence on Teenage Drug Abuse :: Substance Abuse Essays

Presidential Influence and Teenage Drug Abuse. "Just don't do it", the slogan from Bob Dole's anti-drug campaign upon a cursory evaluation, may appear to have been an inefficient way of confronting the growing problem of national drug abuse. After all, it is hardly reasonable to believe that a potential drug user will specifically consider these words before deciding whether to get high or not. However, this slogan, and the man that stands behind it, represents a sorely needed, value-oriented stance on the issue that was lacking in the Clinton administration. The president's cavalier attitude was responsible for a dramatic increase in drug abuse among teenagers. While Clinton's baby boomer generation dismissed aggressive anti-drug campaigns as ineffectual, the truth is that tough approaches to the problem have proven to be very successful. The Nixon, Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations are direct examples of this. When Richard Nixon began his first term, use of marijuana and heroin had reached an all-time high. In response, he vowed to wage a national attack on narcotics abuse, which involved reducing the flow of drugs into the country while stepping up drug treatment programs. Nixon began his work by arranging for the extradition of noted heroin chemists, and sent ambassadors to negotiate narcotics agreements with foreign countries. Turkey, which provided about 80 percent of the U.S. heroin supply promised a complete cessation of its production in exchange for $35.7 million in aid. On the national level, the Nixon administration further proved its dedication to the cause by legalizing the use of drugs to combat addiction and by encouraging anti-drug commercials and television programs. Although many were doubtful that these measures would have any impact, they did help dramatically curtail drug abuse. In 1975, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that while the purity of heroin had declined, the street price was four times greater. The result was a marked decline in heroin abuse. Unfortunately, the Carter administration failed to continue the vigorous anti-drug campaign. In fact, President Carter at one time advocated that marijuana possession be legalized. It is little wonder that, in the absence of strong moral leadership, by 1979 half of all teenagers were experimenting with the drug. Fortunately, Reagan was elected at this crucial time, and was succeeded by George Bush Sr.. Both presidents strongly supported drug interdiction. Between the years of 1979 and 1992, teenage drug abuse reduced by one-half.

Finding Freedom in The Yellow Wallpaper :: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Finding Freedom in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story of a woman with psychological difficulties whose husband's prescribed "treatment" of her mental illness sends her into insanity. The so-called treatment consists of the "Rest Cure" as developed by the notable Dr. Weir Mitchell, which includes complete bed rest, no work, and no emotional or physical stimulus - an enforced idleness of body, mind, and spirit. The husband, John, takes complete control of all decisions on behalf of his wife concerning her living arrangements, social encounters, and medical treatment. Her mental dysfunction is only exacerbated to the point of complete insanity by John's prescription of idleness and denial of mental stimulation. The woman in the story wants to get well and makes several suggestions to John to help her in healing, however, John consistently refuses all of her requests and down-plays her illness. The woman in this story knows that she is not quite mentally well. She believes that she only suffers from "temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency." She believes that her "case is not serious!" The woman's husband, John, is a physician and does not really believe that she is ill. With all good intentions, he controls her life and makes all decisions. He believes that he always knows what is best for her, no matter what she wants or desires, or what she believes may help her to heal. Several times throughout the story the woman must rush to put away her writings before she is caught for John believes that she is given to flights of fancy and imagination and must rest her mind. John believes that his plan of treatment will cure her mild case of mental illness, no matter what she fee ls will help her to recover. He dismisses her suggestions as unimportant and trivial. His wife wanted to stay in the downstairs room where there were roses on the window and pretty curtains, but John decided that the upstairs bedroom was best for her, so that was where she stayed. When she told John that she did not believe that she was getting well in the old house and that she wanted to go home, he told her that they must stay the remainder of the three weeks. She wanted to visit with her Cousin Henry and Julia, and John would not allow her to visit for she would not be able to handle such a visit.

The Openness In Education Education Essay

Harmonizing to Alene Fink, a literature reappraisal is a systematic, expressed and consistent method for placing, measuring and synthesising the bing organic structure of completed and recorded work produced by research workers, bookmans and practicians[ I ]and hence in this chapter I am traveling to look into the literature which has helped me to make this survey. It has been divided into 10 subdivisions. In subdivision 2.1, openness in instruction, the beginning of OER and research on OERs has been reviewed. Autonomous acquisition has been discussed in subdivision 2.2. Section 2.3 reviews the literature on pupil liberty. Literature connected to motive theory has been reviewed in subdivision 2.4. Section 2.5 nowadayss literature on learner-centered attacks. Section 2.6 reappraisals literature on self-efficacy and the undermentioned subdivision is on instructional design methodological analysis. Section 2.8 is about the relationship between all these constructs while subdivision 2.9 puts some visible radiation on the deductions and findings related to the literature and eventually the last subdivision contains some recommendations.2.1 Openness in instructionOpenness in instruction is largely about sharing, cut downing barriers and increasing entree to instruction. Harmonizing to Brown and Adler ( 2008 ) , unfastened instruction has been ‘enabled and inspired ‘ by the Internet and it is the Open Educational Resources motion ( OER ) which has had the biggest impact in this country. The instruction system over the last decennary has been capable to policy force per unit areas for enlargement of formal paths for instruction ( e.g. Dearing, 1997 ) . The impact of the Internet and on-line entree alterations the manner that people interact with each other and information ( e.g. Anderson, 2008 ) . When it comes to our state, singular attempts have been put by the authorities in order to give quality instruction and transform Mauritius into a cognition hub. Access to third instruction has been extended to a larger figure of scholars so as to run into the turning demands of the occupation market. Unesco Institute for Statistics has late published that 88.5 % of grownups and 96.7 % of young person are literate in Mauritius.[ two ]Literacy rates199020102010 ( Regional norm )Adult ( 15+ ) %Medium frequency 79.9 88.5 62.6 Meter 85.1 90.9 71.0 F 74.7 86.2 54.2Youth ( 15-24 ) %Medium frequency 91.2 96.7 71.8 Meter 90.7 95.7 76.4 F 91.7 97.7 66.8 Table Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx? ReportId=289 & A ; IF_Language=eng & A ; BR_Country=4800 & A ; BR_Region=40540 The tabular array clearly indicates that the rate of literacy has increased since 1990 and therefore we can infer that instruction has become more accessible to all Mauritians. Harmonizing to a study published by Pauline Ngimwa, although the construct of unfastened educational resources is instead new, it is already doing a singular part to instruction in the Sub-Saharan Africa.2.1.1 The beginning of Open Educational ResourcesHarmonizing to Conole et Al, educational resources are authoritative societal objects which help to intercede interactions between instructors and scholars particularly when they are non physically present in the same room. The term OER was foremost adopted at UNESCO ‘s 2002 forum which was on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in developing states funded by the Hewlett Foundation and this term refers to freely accessible, openly formatted and openly licensed papers and media that are utile for learning, acquisition, instruction, appraisal and research intents harmonizing to Wikipedia.[ three ]2.1.2 Research on unfastened educational resourcesResearch done on OERs largely concern third instruction and to some exte nt their findings can be transferred to the secondary instruction. The footings unfastened content, unfastened educational resources, unfastened courseware and unfastened text editions are more frequently coined to HE discourse which refers to all the instruction and learning resources provided for free under the right of first publication licences. Researches which have been done boulder clay now have shown many advantages of utilizing OERs in schoolrooms. OERs are free and accessible to anyone on the cyberspace and they improve the quality of larning content. Furthermore they can be adapted, re-purposed, re-used or localized for different environments and they free the users from right of first publication and licensing issues. They allow a higher return on investing of taxpayer ‘s money because of better cost-effectiveness as the resources are re-usable. They promote digital competency and enrich the pool of resources. Harmonizing to the OLCOS roadmap published in 2012, unfastened entree to educational resources promotes instruction every bit good as womb-to-tomb acquisition and this is one of the major purposes of the Prevocational course of study. OLCOS has besides explored how OERs can do a difference in instruction and acquisition and has come to a decision that these can authorise instructors and scholars given that necessary policy and organisational models favor so. It has been mentioned that OER promote invention and asks for alteration in educational patterns. In 2008, Wolfenden stated that OER have the possible to lend considerable support where there is scarceness of high quality and didactically sound learning stuffs.2.2 Autonomous acquisitionIn the past decennaries, autonomous acquisition has been encouraged in developed states. The Plowden study ( 1966 ) in United Kingdom had outlined a doctrine based on Piagetian phase theory which emphasized kids as persons and supported a move to child-centered methods and â€Å" course of study † suited to the demands of the kid who was encouraged to be autonomous. In 2005, Christina Gitsaki stated that autonomous acquisition was more present than of all time in Japan and in her survey she found out that students were more enthusiastic when they were allowed to take part actively in their acquisition procedure by making research work, composing studies and interacting with equals. Through her survey she besides found out that although students enjoyed utilizing computing machines and do research on the web, they could non appreciate such activities since the linguistic communication used for the web sites were in English and they could non understand all the information.2.3 Student libertyHarmonizing to Henri Holec, liberty is the ability to take charge of one ‘s ain acquisition while David Little states that it is basically a affair of the scholar ‘s psychological relation to the procedure and content of acquisition. For Leslie Dickinson, liberty is a state of affairs in which the scholar is wholly responsible for all the determina tions concerned with his [ or her ] acquisition and the execution of those determinations and our educational system does non ever promote students to make so. Harmonizing to Dunlap ( 1997 ) , increasing pupils ‘ control and duty over the learning procedure is and of import accomplishment for womb-to-tomb acquisition. For case this can be done by leting students to measure what they need to larn, take and research in order to construct their cognition. I wanted to utilize OERs as extra acquisition resources for certain lessons and let my prevocational students to work on their ain to research the resources and carry out the activities autonomously but since OERs are frequently designed for specific context, I had hence to redact the resources in order to accommodate them to my existent schoolroom context. The linguistic communication used is largely English and non all Prevocational students can understand this linguistic communication good. Thus I had to utilize simpler linguistic communication and translate to the female parent lingua[ four ]really frequently during the activities.2.4 Motivation theoryIn 1981, Harter stated that research across the preschool to high school categories have shown that kids ‘s intrinsic motive lessenings and they feel more anomic to larning and I to the full agree with this statement when it comes to my pre-vocational students. It is really difficult to acquire them interested in their surveie s and unless the learning resources presented to them are non meaningful ; they lose involvement really quickly in their lessons. Equally long as scholars are actively engaged in reliable undertakings where they are involved in treatments, taking determinations, fixing presentations and join forcesing they get to use their bing cognition and research new cognition, the former are excited and motivated. Educators frequently prefer intrinsic motive to extrinsic motive and harmonizing to research by Ryan, Conell and Plant ( 1990 ) , larning results of intrinsic motive are better than those obtained under extrinsic motive. The usage of hands-on activities helps to heighten intrinsic motive and the NCFS provinces that a assortment of schemes must be used in prevocational every bit good as mainstream so as to actuate scholars. I have tried to look for some originative ways to include engineering in my teaching resources as nowadays pupils are exposed to it daily for communicating and for interaction but since most of my pre-vocational students do n't hold a computing machine at place and therefore they can non hold entree to the cyberspace. Therefore all the educational resources which I have used have either been distributed ( in the signifier of difficult transcripts ) or viewed in the schoolroom. I have tried to convey assortment in the instruction AIDSs since my students could non hold entree to all the OERs selected.2.5 Learner-centered attacksFor this survey, I have used OERs as learning resources to back up the instruction procedure. When incorporating these resources in the bing educational patterns, I have tried new attacks and patterns in forming instruction and acquisition ; and one attack is the learner-centered 1. The function of a instructor within a learner-centered attack to direction is that of a facilitator or manager ( Wang, 2006 ) . Learner-centered attacks to learning hold emerged from the acquisition theory â€Å" constructivism † . Constructivist acquisition is based on an apprehension that learners concept cognition for themselves ( Hein, 1991: Krause et Al, 2003 ) . In 2002 Weimer was largely concerned learner-centered instruction as an exercising in altering instruction pattern. Weimer identified learner-centered instruction as embracing 5 alterations to pattern: switching the balance of schoolroom power from instructor to pupil ; planing content as a agency to constructing cognition instead than a ‘knowledge terminal ‘ in itself ; positioning the instructor as facilitator and subscriber, instead than manager and beginning of cognition ; switching duty for larning from instructor to scholar ; and advancing larning through effectual appraisal. Learner-centered instruction is non so easy with the pre-vocational students because there are many students who are slow scholars and although they are allocated some extra clip for certain undertakings, the instructor still needs to be present. Therefore it is non really obvious to give greater liberty and control over the pick of capable affair, the gait of acquisition, and the acquisition methods used as suggested by Gibbs in 1992.2.6 Self efficaciousnessBandura in 1982 defined perceived self-efficacy as judgements of how good one can put to death classs of action required to cover with prospective state of affairss while in 2002 Eccles and Wigfield define it as an person ‘s assurance in his or her ability to form and put to death a given class of action to work out a job or carry through a undertaking. Self-efficacy is of import as it helps to find attempt and continuity every bit good as to put ends. Self-regulated scholars use a assortment of schemes and have high self-efficacy ; puting ends for themselves, supervising their ain activities, measuring their ain public presentation and moreover responding to their rating results. In 2007, Schunk and Zimmerman formulated the self-regulation theory which states that persons can strengthen their ain motive by prosecuting themselves in puting appropriate and accomplishable ends, using larning schemes, and monitoring and measuring advancement towards ends. In our state as I have already mentioned earlier, much accent is laid on exams-oriented surveies which nurtures a civilization of competition and really frequently pedagogues end up spoon-feeding their scholars. Therefore such actions discourage scholars from being independent and self-regulated.2.7 Instructional design methodological analysisInstructional design specifies a method which will ease the transportation of cognition, accomplishments and attitudes to the receiver.[ V ]Ins tructional design, for an educational scene, is a system of processs for developing educational plans to guarantee the most effectual and efficient larning environment. Assorted theoretical accounts have been developed and implemented to construct systematic instructions and these can be traced back to the 60 ‘s. Harmonizing to Ryder M. of University of Colorado, theoretical accounts help to organize a image of the job so as to divide it into manageable units. Each unit/ component interacts with each other so as to ‘give construction and significance to an I.D job. ‘ Although there are a assortment of theoretical accounts, most of them include the nucleus elements of ADDIE model- the acronym for Analysis Design Development Implementation and Evaluation. The ADDIE theoretical account is iterative in nature and hence during the undertaking, the developer can convey alteration among the assorted activities of the theoretical account. Revision Revision Revision Revision Figure: The Core elements of ADDIE theoretical account ( Gustafson, k & A ; Branch, R )[ six ] Harmonizing to me, instructional design is of import in an educational scene as it: encourages whole-class attack, takes into consideration students with particular larning demands, allows instructors to invent activities which will accommodate students with different larning manners ( auditory, ocular or kinaesthetic ) , allows instructors to reexamine the bringing of the lessons so as to better in the hereafter, encourages stepwise planning and this helps the instructor to consolidate parts of the lesson which students could non understand. We take the different degrees of our students into consideration while inventing activities, fixing learning AIDSs or taking learning stuffs. We try to supply students better larning experiences and heighten their battle in the acquisition activities. Since the thought behind OERs is leting users to accommodate, edit, usage and re-use the construct of instructional design tantrums in absolutely. As pedagogues we can utilize the resources and accommodate them harmonizing to the demands of our scholars so as to run into their several acquisition demands.2.8 Relationship between these constructsOpen educational resources are repurposed in order to run into the demands of students. The user supports portion of the resources which are relevant and discards the staying and if demands be some other pieces of information or media are added so as to be in line with the specific aims. Autonomous larning leads to autonomy. We can promote student liberty and autonomous acquisition by following learner-centered instruction in our schoolroom. The literature reviewed above is straight related to openness in instruction and the use of unfastened educational resources in schoolrooms.2.9 Deductions and findings from the literatureTo sum up, I have looked into the assorted theoretical facets of the use of OERs in schoolrooms. I can reason that harmonizing to the literature I reviewed, OERs: encourage womb-to-tomb acquisition, encourage usage different schemes and learning AIDSs to pull and retain attending of students, can open new avenues for scholars,2.10 Recommendations

Causes and Effects of Homework Essay

Homework is a thing that has been around for many years. While some assignments are big, and some are small, they both have one thing in common: they add a large amount of stress to the student’s life. Many things bring on homework: upcoming tests, grades, main ideas that must be learned. These are fair reasons to assign assignments, because they teach you new abilities and let you practice certain skills. With good reasons, there are unfair reasons as well. Teachers who have nothing better to do, students misbehaving, and students not reaching the desired stopping point in the teacher’s schedule. These causes put an abnormal amount of stress on the students. Read more:  How to write a good cause and effect essay. First, let’s focus on the good reasons. Homework can be a valuable tool in the teacher’s hands, but only if they know how to wield that tool properly. Giving students 2 hours of boring homework will not encourage the student to learn. They will just skim through, filling in the answers. On the other hand, if a teacher gives a one hour assignment that interesting and fun, then the student will be more enthusiastic about it, therefore absorbing the assignment instead of skimming over it. Homework allows the teacher additional time to teach the student. If certain skills are needed later on in life (or at least on the SAT exam), the homework would allow more time for the student to remember the skill. If there is an upcoming test (finals, SAT, etc.), assigning homework is a great way for the teacher make sure the student studies. With all of these benefits, there have to be some drawbacks. Teachers who assign a lot of homework, especially when it is due the next day, are feared. Students are stressed and can’t go into that teacher’s room without feeling dread at how long tonight’s assignment is going to take. One hour, two, or more? They wait in fear for the announcement of the homework assignment. After a grueling night of studying and writing, the students barely have enough time to sleep. They sleep in through their alarm, missing breakfast and their bus. Their parents have to drive their kids to school, which makes their parents mad at them, adding even more stress to the  students’ life. The student gets to school late, interrupting the class and receiving another tardy, and/or a detention. This puts them into a bad mood, and they can’t think about school because they are thinking about the detention. This leads to bad grades, more of their parents’ nagging, an d more stress on that individual’s life. See how one teacher’s long assignment can affect a student’s day. Terrible, isn’t it? While all of this stuff might not happen in a single day, some of it happens every day to a select few individuals. All of this can be avoided if plenty of time is given for each homework assignment, and if they are never due on Monday’s. If the teacher assigns the due date on Tuesday and reminds the class of it on Monday, the â€Å"I forgot it at home† excuse will no longer be valid. Overall, homework is a necessary evil; it teaches and gives you a headache at the same time. Some teachers should lighten up on the workload, especially math teachers. To sum everything up, a good analogy for homework is like taking prescription medication. A little is good for you, while an overdose can be a serious health risk.

Negetive Effects of Technology Essay

In this century that we are living, there are many different ways to communicate and interact with the people we need. New developed technologies have made our lives much easier than the old days. Many people prefer to look at a screen and explore new things, do our homework, chat with our close ones, listen to a song, watch a movie, buy new clothes and so on. These are the things that we can do. Moreover, it saves time and money. One of the important decisions we make is to work at home in front of a computer. However, high developed technology has disadvantages like if we look at a screen it is bad for you health, we do not know if it is true and guaranteed for hundred percent. First, when we speak of the impact of technology on society, we always talk about the positive effects of technology and about how technology has made life easy. We talk about the Internet as an information resource and a communication platform and conveniently ignore the fact that an overexposure to it leads to Internet addiction. We often discuss how technology has made life easy but easily forget that it has made us overly dependent on it. see more:is technology making us lazy Have you thought of the impact of technology from this point of view? I am sure, most of you haven’t. Let us look at this aspect of technology here. People will (and are beginning to) miss out on face-to-face contact and thus their social skills will decline. It is possible that after decades of having no, or extremely limited human contact, that we will loose the ability to read body language. This could cause all sorts of misunderstandings and problems. Secondly, depending on a screen rather than meeting face-to-face is very bad for health. It will make our spine back ill. Sitting for long hours and looking to a screen also makes our eye bad. When i was little i played and watched movies on a computer for long hours because it is was fun. Since then my eye kept getting bad and i had to wear glasses. It really annoys me a lot when i play basketball and to run in the morning. What’s more, four days ago my back hurt because school started and i have been sitting for long hours and been looking at a computer screen Having limited human contact will cause us to have even less trust in others, and in turn, we will be even less friendly and even more stand-offish. Thirdly, for people who do their works by using the internet has also bad sides to the society. We are getting lazy and not going outside for a walk. Our movement gets limited only in our home. Also, it is making the person isolated from the society outside which the he or she is might become lonely just communicating with the computer. My best friend’s big brother doesn’t have any friends to go out with because he spends all of his time on he computer. I think it is a very bad habit for him to get isolated from the real life. Think of the days when there were no computers and no modern means of transport. Human life was highly restricted due to the unavailability of technological applications. Daily life involved a lot of physical activity. Life of the common man was not as luxurious as that of modern times, but he was more active. Exercise was integrated into routine physical activities. It was contrary to the sedentary lifestyle of today, which leaves no time for exercise and fills days with inactivity and laze. Today we don’t want to, and thanks to technology, don’t even need to, walk, move around or exert physically to get things done. We have the world is at our fingertips. We think of technology as a boon to society. I am afraid; it’s not completely a boon. The Internet has bred many unethical practices like hacking, spamming and phishing. Internet crime is on the rise. The Internet, being an open platform lacks regulation. There is no regulation on the content displayed on websites. Internet gambling has become an addiction for many students. Overexposure to the Internet has taken its toll. In this virtual world, you can be who you are not, you can be virtually living even after you die. Isn’t this weird? Children are spending all their time playing online and less or almost no time playing on the ground. Youngsters are spending most of their time social networking, missing on the joys of real social life. Moreover, we have become excessively dependent on technology. Is so much of dependency good? Is it right to rely on machines to such an extent? Is it right to depend on computers rather than relying on human intellect? Computer technology and robotics are trying to substitute for human intellect. With the fast advancing technology, we have started harnessing artificial intelligence in many fields. Where is the digital divide going to take us? How is our ‘tomorrow’ going to be? ‘Machines replacing human beings’ does not portray a rosy picture, does it? It can lead to serious issues like unemployment and crime. An excessive use of machines in every field can result in an nder-utilization of human brains. Over time, we may even lose our intellectual abilities. You know of the declining mathematical abilities in students due to use of calculators since school, don’t you? In conclusion, as technology is getting better people are trying to make their work easy and fast. From this we become lazy, weak and ill. It makes our immune system go bad and we have the ability to get the diseases fast. From all the examples above it shows face-to-face contact is still necessary in our lives and society.

Embracing Diversity

Embracing diversity By:College:Course:Professor:Date:Anthropology is the scientific study of humans as social organisms and how they interact with each other in a social gathering or community set up. It entails the study of human ancient, current and cultural changes, physical stature, language characteristics and archaeology. An anthropologist interest lies in comprehending human diversity and way of life in an explicit manner. The four main branches of anthropology which include biological, cultural, archaeology and linguistic clearly elaborate what it entails to be human (Lavenda-2013). Biological anthropology talks of how the evolution of humans is genetically influenced and not enhanced by the surroundings. Cultural anthropology is centered on the study of structural system of individuals sharing a common belief or norm. Linguistic anthropology majorly revolves on the psychology of speech, composure and use in human beings. Moreover, archaeology constitutes of the systematic study of human remains through excavation, dating the human remains to know the period of existence and analysis. Anthropology is all about the acquaintance of the unfamiliar with proven facts and provides knowledge that deciphers facts from rumors.Cultural anthropology is a very enticing part of anthropology because it does not only enable one to acknowledge cultural diversity but also develop globally conscious individuals. As mentioned earlier, this part of anthropology explicitly looks human cultures, belief, daily activities, values, ideas, means of livelihood and parts of social and cognitive organization (Lavenda-2010). There are two means by which an anthropologist can study culture due to its abstract nature; empiricist approach, whereby he mainly relies on observation of the human behavior in a particular community set-up and subjective approach in which the researcher understands the structure of ideas and meanings that exist in a member a certain culture. The primitive perception that I personally had about humanity has been scraped off as a result of the in-depth study of cultural anthropology. Individuals and communities were initially characterized by their social, economical and political factors within their localities. Evolutionism has showed a conceptual comprise due to the easy interaction of individuals as a result of the modern evolution of technology that has made every corner of the world accessible to any person. The level of interactions between individuals from a similar ecology niche has almost become non-existence due to the replacement with television programs, movies and soci al electronic devices. Despite this, the social interaction circle has grown larger as a result of technology which enables an individual interact with more people different from parts of the world over a short period of time. This study has personally helped me get over the notion that Muslims are associated with terrorism. I initially felt fear when I was in an environment filled with Muslims; well, not Muslims alone but any individual wearing a veil. This mostly applied to Muslim women that wear the veils covering up their faces, leaving out the eyes. I can attribute this fear from to the society I grew in; I was used to my Christian community before I came to campus. The laws and beliefs we had were so strict that we feared other dominions, this seclusion was driven into us by the clergy; to make us believe that people that had different beliefs and practices were potential risks and could harm us at any time. The primitive notion that was instilled in me always had a bearing to this question; if they are good people, why do they find it relevant to cover their faces that much? The definite answer was that they had something to hide; not only secrets but sinister motives. Religious profiling and the threats that came to our country and get aired on national television also cultivated the fear in me. It would have never reached this point if my parents would not have been reacting to the issue with so much disgust as they used to do. My elementary and high school environments were more or less the same because all my schooling up to university level were based in the same strictly Christian district. There were some primitive practices we used to do that I now see them to have been very hurting if not shameful to the face of evolution and humanity at large; there was no shaking of hands or exchanging pleasantries with non-Christians, no accepting gifts from them and worst still, avoid all conversations. I can't imagine that I would literally snob them! I must admit that I had a tough time adjusting to the campus environment. I was always tensed in my first semesters when a non Christian would sit next t me. I remember a particular case when I came to a lecture late and found all seats occupied except one; next to Sikh, I literally missed that 2 hour lecture and had to struggle with my continuous assessment test. It is during that course that I made a turning point and my point was later boosted when I got to learn about anthropology. The struggle I had in my first continuous assessment test was the same one I had in the second. Ironically, the Sikh boy who I was evading was the same one that noticed my problem and came to help. At first I was adamant but with lack of options I thought; why not give it a try. I must admit that that is the sweetest memory I hold dear and use it to enlighten my rural folk later on. With that act of compassion I learnt that religion does or dress code does not define someone's character. Study of anthropology has helped know the value that I hold about my culture and the justifications I give to the are the same ones that any other person would give in support to their religion and culture. It also taught me that judging or profiling others because f ethnicity and background is a heinous notion; if everyone was to discriminate then the world would be an unbearable place to stay. All we could be witnessing are endless fights and ultimate wars. Cultural anthropology thus, aims at enabling the native of a particular culture objectively and rationally understands their own culture to deduce what makes them stand out from the other cultural groups hence upholding the aspect of self acceptance. Besides, it enables one apply the knowledge gained from familiarizing with different cultures to alleviate human challenges and misconceptions rather than causing ethnic conflicts. The collective study of different cultures enables scholars to identify the similarities and unique aspect of various cultures, hence embracing diversity.References:Robert H LavendaCore concept in cultural anthropologyRobert H LavendaAnthropology: What does it mean to be human?

What is innovation and how businesses encourage it Assignment

What is innovation and how businesses encourage it - Assignment Example On the other hand, being innovative does not necessarily mean inventing, but it means changing the business model and being adaptive to changes in the environment in order to deliver better products or services. Effective innovation must be part of the entire business strategy, where innovative culture is which lead the way to innovative thinking and creative way of solving problems within an organization. 3. Leadership in innovation-empower and train employees to think innovatively from the top management to the subordinates. Transformational leadership and motivation are the driving force behind innovation in most businesses. 5. Seek advice. Make use of available resources, grants, business advisors and assistance to enhance innovation in your business. This may comprise seeking protection of Intellectual Property (IP) for commercialization of ideas. Group innovation is the pillar of every successful business. It’s what it differentiate a successful business from other competitors, and supports it to grow and prosper (Davila, 2006). Innovation is not only about one-off improvements and ad-hoc ideas. Business can nurture an innovative culture in their organizations so as to encourage a continuous flow of new ideas. The management should let their teams know that you expect innovation. The leadership and the employees should not put innovative ideas on the back burner or in the too-hard basket without a good reason. Businesses should offer a culture that supports questioning and risk-taking. If in case the employees are not feeling connected to your organization, there’s no motivation for them to be innovative. Organizations ensure that their staff are in the loop on their strategies and challenges, and bring on board their input. Employees who get involved in early plans and processes will be motivated to complete them. Businesses also empower the staff to make decisions and take necessary action. Employees who are trusted to attempt

Nice Wood Developing a Competitive Edge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nice Wood Developing a Competitive Edge - Essay Example The nature of the Nice Wood Product business is that in the lumber industry where operations include picking, cutting and curing wood. Their products are composed predominantly of standard types and different grades of lumber that complies with the following specifications: 2x4s and 2x6s used in framing as well as plywood and particle board. Likewise, current technological breakthroughs have been reported to automate several phases in the firm’s operating cycle, including the picking, cutting, and curing phases. The new technological applications provided opportunities for New Wood to facilitate the processes (including cutting wood in a variety of standards; new types of kilns accelerating the curing process and lading technology was noted to significantly enable the processed wood to be placed in containers) and thereby, potentially increase their chances to be more competitive in the international market. C. Core Competencies The core competencies noted for Nice Wood were t heir â€Å"established client base and strong relationships throughout the industry† (Case facts, n.d., p. 1). Further, it was also disclosed that â€Å"the company is a close-knit operation and senior management values the skills and loyalty of its workers† (Case facts, n.d., p. 1). These facts indicate the Nice Wood Products possess a team of highly skills workers who could have potentially manifested loyalty and a low turnover. Further, their consistent delivery of high quality products has gained strong relationships with loyal clients who are to stay with them amidst the financial and economic challenges. D. Description of Product The product, wood processed lumber, is classified as industrial goods, where these are used to create or make other products. Likewise, these products could be further categorized into the raw materials subcategory. As raw materials, these â€Å"are graded according to quality so that there is some assurance of consistency within each g rade. There is, however, little difference between offerings within a grade. Consequently, sales negotiations focus on price, delivery, and credit terms. This negotiation plus the fact that raw materials are ordinarily sold in large quantities make personal selling the principal marketing approach for these goods† (eNotes, 2012, par. 19). E. Key Milestones The key milestones that Nice Wood