Communications Character Conflict Essay Essay

â€Å"I can’t believe you, all your gifts, all your powers, and you.. you squander them for your own personal gain. (Hal Stewart) ‘Yes! (Megamind) ‘No! I’m the villain! † this is the main conflict between characters’ Megamind and Hal Stewart in the hit motion picture Megamind. Megamind defeats the cities beloved super hero â€Å"Metro Man†, they had been enemies since grade school and Megamind has always been the bad guy causing trouble and Metro Man was always saving the day and the people from the evils of Megeminds treachery. But soon after this deafeat Megamind realizes he misses the way things used to be, there was no more excitement and rush of being the villain in an epic good vs. evil battle. So, Megamind has devised a way that he can give any normal human being all the gifts and powers that Metro Man himself possessed. He settles on a young man named Hal Stewart, a cameraman for a news station, which he filmed the news girl who he claimed to be in love with, but everyone thought she was with Metro Man because he was always saving her. So Megamind gives Hal all the super powers, and gives him a new identity of â€Å"Titan†. However, to Megminds Dismay, Hal starts abusing his powers and begins stealing from banks, and using his powers to get equipment, video games etc.. This is a great example of unproductive conflict. Instead of creating a new evil versus good scenario with Hal or â€Å"Titan†, Hal just commandeers the whole city and puts them all at his mercy. It has many negative impacts the two characters, their relationship, and the situation. The aggression between them and the situation in general becomes increases greatly and turns even hostile because of the flaws in their communication. Megamind has certain qualities about the way he communicates that it often gets him into trouble. In fact pretty much every idea he comes up with in the process, he always seems to get either seriously injured, or suffers in some other way, all because of his communicational handicap. Some of the functions of communication Megamind uses, is he begins a relationship with a character named Hal Stewart to achieve a specific goal premeditated so he could accomplish what he wished to have done. What he wanted done was to turn Hal into a super hero and give him all the powers that the late Metro Man possessed, so that he could resume his role as the villain once again, since he defeated the last super hero he longed for the epic battle of â€Å"Good vs. Evil. † First of all, Hal isn’t the brightest pick to turn someone into a super hero, but Megamind is determined he is the perfect pick after a misunderstood first impression of Hal. Megaminds best friend even shows in many ways, he does not approve of Hal as being the one who has the traits of being a good super hero, most of the ways non verbal. Megamind even changes his own identity as Hal’s â€Å"Space Dad†, for the purpose of guiding Hal into fulfilling his destiny as the city’s new found super hero â€Å"Titan†. So Megamind actually is affecting the situation and their relationship as two different important character’s in Hal’s life and will play play big parts in his decisions. Hal Stewart, aka â€Å"Titan† aka â€Å"Cameraman†, is a very interesting character because of how he expresses his own communicational traits, it is entertaining. His perception of what a â€Å"super hero† means, and what sort of privileges or advantages he believes comes with being â€Å"Titan† are affected by the culture he lives in. Some of his expectations, the most important towards the story and the one that makes the most dramatic influence is; the super hero always gets the girl. This thinking of Hal’s is a mindlessness perception and also selective perception of how he sees a super hero. Obviously he does not get the girl he claims he’s in love with, because the thing he is mindlessness about is that just because you can fly and have huge muscles doesn’t mean you will always get girl, its about what’s underneath, not on the surface, which I believe is the lesson â€Å"Life† is trying to teach him. Another misperception he has is what should be accomplished with the incredible new â€Å"gifts† that he has recently required. Instead of catching bad guys, and making sure justice stands within the city and her people, Hal actually robs banks, and other equipment, video games etc.. nd is determined that the powers mean â€Å"get rich, and get rich quick†. These are all things that Megamind does not anticipate before hand and turns into being the exact opposite of what he wanted, all because Hal’s misunderstanding, and the communicational barriers of Megamind. Although, there isn’t a whole lot of competent communicati on going on with Megamind and Hal, in the end he still gets an incredibly large amount accomplished. The things that were bigger then even his beloved epic good vs. evil battles. He grew in more important ways, he grew as a specimen, and became a happier person, which ultimately should be eternal goal of communication and the functions and steps that are not only necessary and basically impossible to accomplish anything without them, competent or incompetent, things still move forward and things get done. In the end Megamind finds his true purpose and a higher purpose, along the way falling in love and discovering a more meaningful life all thanks to communication, and the culture which helps him perceive and judge.

Business Ethics – 3 – Ethical and Unethical

An event or decision that could be judged as clearly unethical could be any situation where information discovered in a private business environment could be used for a personal financial gain by the person finding the information. A scenario such as the following is a good example of an ethical issue that may occur frequently in business. The scenario is as follows: a strategic management consultant is hired by a firm to analyze and improve the company’s performance and help amend the procedure for evaluating employee performance.During the course of this analysis they interview several supervisors and employees individually to gather information about the current evaluation process, and understand how employee performance can be improved, as well as investigate whether there are any issues that staff feel they cannot convey to management. During the corporate analysis, the employees mention that they feel they have not been given sufficient credit for developing a new produc t that the company expects will double its profits when it is introduced in the near future.The level of dissatisfaction amongst the staff is at a high level, and they disclose some corporate information to the strategic consultant about potential future earnings and profitability. The general discontent with this situation, and the fact that the employees all feel that the share price will rise, and the profitability of the company will increase, through the sales of this new product, the consultant is left to wonder whether he should buy some of the company’s stock to take advantage of the anticipated boost in earnings.This situation is an example of insider trading, where an individual may be able to make money on a stock transaction by using information gained through some illicit means. This situation has ethical issues due to the fact that the consultant has been hired by the company to perform a duty, and during this process has found some information which may enable them to make extra money.There are not many circumstances where this kind of situation would be ethical, and if this was a situation I found myself in, then I would try to be ethical and to not use the information gained for my personal financial benefit. This scenario does not just have ethical issues to consider, it has legal issues as well, because the act of insider trading is a criminal act of fraud therefore people caught doing this ethically unsound business practice are liable for prosecution for fraud.2. This situation is ethically dubious, due to some of the reasons outlined in part one of this paper, the similarities between the two situations mean that it is not appropriate to act on this information, due to the extra knowledge about whether or not the company is financially and fundamentally strong. However because of a couple of issues in this scenario it may be ethical to purchase stock or to have a conversation about buying stock with friends and family members.The i nformation has come through conversations in the hallways, not from primary sources, and therefore nothing is confirmed as being true, it is mere speculation. The second issue is whether it is ethically sound to discuss business operations with friends and family. Again, because the information has come from a secondary source, which may be classed as gossip, and not hard business facts, mean that a speculative conversation about the business, with friends and family may be ethical. It does not matter if one hundred or one thousand shares are purchased, because the ethical situation is the same.However looking at the facts and the differences between the first scenario and the second, it is possible to say that under the first scenario it is definitely unethical for a third party contractor to discuss or use information for their own personal benefit, but the second scenario may be ethical, due to the issues of reliability of information and the fact that it is an employee of the co mpany acting on speculation and not business facts. However the one crucial element in these two scenarios, is that of human morality, and there are clearly some people in the world who would act on both scenarios, and there are some who wouldn’t.

Ethics in Business: Annotated Bibliography Essay

This article discusses how corporations should aim to be responsible for more than just profit maximization. The author goes into the discussion of how downsizing a company violates the psychological and social contracts in the employer-employee relationship. The author seems to support the idea that employees should have a since of security in their job as long as he or she is productively advancing the goals of the organization. Downsizing productive employees harms the moral of the company and violates the trust that hard work makes an employee valuable. The author states that he believes downsizing is immoral and does more damage than good. The author then shows he does not have a complete bias opinion on downsizing because he makes the point that if layoffs are the only way to save a company, downsizing is an ethically valid and morally responsible corporate behavior because the layoffs generate the greatest good for the greatest number. Chafuen, Joseph T. â€Å"Sorrow and Guilt: An Ethical Analysis of Layoffs.† SAM Advanced Management Journal 65.2 (2000): 4–13. Print. Joseph Gilbert who is also a Professor discusses how downsizing can be considered unethical by the use of three prominent ethical approaches: that is rights and duties, utilitarianism, and justice and fairness. Following his analysis, Professor Gilbert makes a deduction that, in cases where downsizing is being used by a corporation or an organization to help it remain in business, otherwise, it goes under, and then it can be considered morally right and consequently ethical corporate behavior. Subsequently, in his use of utilitarian approach which argues that the determination of whether an action is morally right or wrong is entirely dependent on its consequences, downsizing can be considered moral and thus ethical because they result in greatest utility for a large number of people. Further, the  rights and duties approach contents that it is moral to downsize since employees lack absolute rights to their jobs. Nevertheless, the counter argument to ethicality to this is that these same employees still command a right of fair and just treatment. In conclusion, the justice and fairness approach finds downsizing to be immoral. This is because of lack of proportionality an employee`s behavior and the action of termination their duty. In an article â€Å"Strategic downsizing† by David Band and Charles Tustin published in 1995 discusses the fact that downsizing is morally wrong unless the company will not survive without the necessary layoffs. This agrees with the article that was published in 2000 by the Joseph Chafuen because both agree that downsizing a company for the reason of increasing profit is morally wrong. Chafuen also agrees with Band that downsizing in a company is morally correct if it is the best decision for the greatest amount of people. In contrast to the article from the Joseph Chafuen, David Band and Charles Tustin make the point that the unwritten contract between an employee and employer will be broken if downsizing in a company cannot be justified without profit goals in mind. Later in Joseph Chafuen’s article he agrees that it is ethically incorrect to terminate an employee that has been beneficial to the company. Gross, Larry. â€Å"Downsizing: Are Employers Reneging on Their Social Promise.† Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters. CPCU Journal 54.2 (2001): 112–121. Print. According to Larry Gross, the strategy of downsizing that is at times applied by corporations to their employees is unethical. He argues that this strategy violates the social and psychological contract that exists between the employers and employee. He posits that whenever one is employed, their exists some sense of security that is afforded to the employee by the employer so long as the employee remains committed, efficient, effective, and continues to adhere to the rules, regulations and continues to advance the goals of the organizations towards achieving its vision. Therefore, downsizing of employees who have proved to be productive and have shown  commitment to the organization is immoral because it is a lucid violation of their employment contract. (119) Herbert, Bob. â€Å"Laid Off and Left Out.† The New York Times 25 May 2006. NYTimes.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Whilst reviewing Louis Uchitelle’s book, â€Å"The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences,† columnist Bob Herbert claims that in as much as the better educated and those that are well or better trained do get better jobs, the reality is that there is inadequacy of available good jobs that is enough to meet the demand for these individuals. Many jobs cannot support the employees anymore. Many people that are laid off from a job is because the company cannot afford to have them; not because of their work quality. This article was useful because while some companies get back-lash for huge layoffs, a lot of the times it was the companies last resort. In an article â€Å"Downsizing: Are Employers Reneging on Their Social Promise† by Larry Gross published in 2001 by CPCU Journal claims that terminating an employee that has been hardworking and valuable to a company breaks the contract between the employee and employer. This agrees with the article â€Å"Laid Off and Left Out† by Bob Herbert published by The New York Times in 2006 because both articles agree that breaking the employee-employer contract does damage to the company’s reputation and repels high-value employees. In contrast to the article from Larry Gross, Bob Herbert says in his article that there are many qualified people that would be hired by company if the company could afford to hire them. Bob Herbert’s article was less bias because he made the point in the company’s defense in some cases both employee and employer suffer from downsizing. McKee, Andrea. â€Å"Costs of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry.† Journalists Resource RSS. Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, 05 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. This article talks about the issue of fast-food leaders being accused of encouraging their workers to sign up for programs that are paid by the taxpayer’s dollar; in order to keep their wages low and profits up. This  article focuses on how the cost of living continues to rise, and millions of low-wage workers having to get by on federal and state programs for basic necessities. The article explains that while many believe most employees of major fast-food are young adults living with their parents, that 68% of employees are single/married adults, with/without children. It discusses how if fast-food companies took a small portion out of the budget that almost all qualified employees could receive the benefits they need. The article stated that McDonalds have started to give employees Affordable Health Care and both employees and employer have benefited. This article was very useful because it taught me that providing employees with the benefits they deserve will improve busi ness ethics. Sam, Gillbert. â€Å"Business Ethics.† Business Ethics RSS. World Press- Business Ethics, 14 Nov. 13. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Business Ethics† discusses how a company’s moral beliefs about reducing waste for the environment can be a benefit for the environment and reduce their cost. It also gives easy suggestions to reduce waste costs. This article focuses on the retail businesses. The article explains that waste is an issue for all retail operations because of the need to take in and unpack large numbers of individual items and then display and package them up on a regular basis. It discusses how small steps can make big changes in a company’s waste. The author shares the California’s Department of Resources and Recycling advice for retail companies: reduce reuse, and recycle. This article was very useful because it gives many small suggestions that any business can use; such as giving customers the choice of having their items bagged- or giving a discount to those who bring their own. They also suggest donated any clearance items that the business plans on throwing out. In an article â€Å"Costs of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry.† by Andrea McKee published by Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center in 2013 discusses the issue employees that work in the low-wage fast-food industry are deprived of basic benefits with long hours and are encouraged to use programs paid by the taxpayer. This agrees with the article â€Å"Business Ethics† published by Business Ethics RSS in 2014 because both articles touch on how small changes in a company that have beneficial improvements for  employees and the environment can actually bring in long-term profits with a small cost. The article â€Å"Business Ethics† is about companies that make small changes to cut waste and help the environment. These changes boosted the moral of the company and raised profits. â€Å"Cost of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry† stated that restaurants that started offering benefits to employees were experiences a lower turnover rate and employees were working efficiently. In contrast to the article from Andrea Mckee, â€Å"Business Ethics RSS† gives suggestions that any company could use to cut costs and waste while â€Å"Cost of Low Wages Paid by the Fast-food Industry† focused on the negative factors that come with disregarding employees needs in order to save money. Schwepps, Cadbury. â€Å"Ethical Business Practices†- Business-Case Study LLP.†Conclusion. The Times 100, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. This case-study discusses the different outcomes of an organizations moral judgments of right and wrong business practices. It also discusses the rationale for rejecting the route that would lead to the biggest short-term profit in order to remain a good ethical reputation. The article goes into the many benefits of being an ethical business. The author states that having an ethical business attracts customers to the firm’s products and therefore boosting profits. The article says that employees will want to stay with the business that practices honest moral which reduces labor turnover and increases productivity. The author taught me that ethically correct business will attract job-seekers to your business which will reduce recruitment costs and increase talented employees. Unethical behavior will damage a firm’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. A creative and well managed business and social responsibility program is in the best interests of everyone involved. Street, Marc D., and Vera L. Street. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management. McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series, 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. In the article introduction to â€Å"social responsibility,† Hay and Gray argue that organizations and corporations should extend their responsibility to  more than just making or maximizing on profits. They base their argument on stakeholder theory, which they present in a historical manner of how management thinking has evolved on the limits of corporation responsibility. The stakeholder is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. There was a chart in the article that shows the groups that are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can help increase the interests of those groups. This article addressed the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts.† The article â€Å"Ethical Business Practices† by Cadbury Scheppes published by The Times 100 discusses the theory that business that practice morally correct business attracts the best employees. The article says that business that treat their employees ethically get the best work from those employees because the employees â€Å"like† the company they work for. This agrees with the article â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management† published by McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series in 2007 because both articles discus the many ebenfit companies receive when the employees trust in the company The both agree that the happier the employee the better quality work they will produce which leads to higher profits. In contrast to Cadbury Scheppes, â€Å"Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Management† brings the stakeholder theory into his argument to make his point stronger. Thompson, Robert B. â€Å"Insider Trading, Investor Harm, and Executive Compensation.† Case W. Res. L. Rev. 50 (1999): 291. Print. Robert B. Thompson who is a legal scholar brings to the fore the argument posited by Henry Manne on the inside regulation. Thompson breaks down the status and the significance of the position taken by Henry Manne three decades ago after he had published his seminal paper. Henry had used three central assumptions to defend his arguments on the insider trading in the year 1996. However, today, three decades later, Henry`s arguments still remain as relevant and as alive in the regulation debates. It is still clear that despite having been through several and conflicting approaches, there still lacks a coherent and crystallized approach to the question of  legalizing insider trading. Tushoski, Michael. â€Å"Walmart Accepted Clothing from Banned Bangladesh Factories.† Top Stories RSS. ProPublica, 12 June 13. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. This article discusses the issue of large retailors making morally corrupt decisions in order to save a buck. The world’s largest retail store, Walmart, said they cut all business with factories that have serious or repeated safety problems, labor violations or unauthorized subcontracting. This article focuses on a certain factory called Bangladeshi that collapsed and killed more than 1,100 and how Walmart tried to get away with accepting business from them without getting public backlash. This article focuses on how trying to practice unmoral ways hurts businesses in many ways; even giant corporations like Walmart. The article explains that once it was out that Walmart was still doing business with factories that they themselves put on a banned list, it lost many customers and employees. It discusses that with the ongoing reputation of cutting corners and pinching pennies, suppliers also question Walmart’s ability to monitor its supply chain as well as its efforts to ensure decent working conditions in factories located in low-wage countries. This article was helpful because it showed that doing the wrong thing to make money eventually costs more money than it would if a company did the right thing from the start. In an article â€Å"Insider Trading, Investor Harm, and Executive Compensation.† by Robert Thompson published in 1999 discusses the harm insider trading does to investors of a company. Thompson states that insider trading is morally corrupt because it is unfair and greedy to use information that is not available to the public in order to benefit and protect themselves. This agrees with the article â€Å"Walmart Accepted Clothing from Banned Bangladesh Factories† by Michael Tushowski published in 2013 because this article reviews how corporations such as Walmart makes unethical decisions that the public is unaware of and how companies try and hide information from the public that could hurt their business. In contrast, Tushowski’s article explains how Walmart sent out a public document that listed factories they would no longer work with because of unsafe working conditions, yet was caught doing business with them. Using a real-life example made his point  very clear.

Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Religion - Essay Example With such a background information, this paper goes ahead to analyze fundamentalism, by addressing aspects of its past, present, and future, incorporating its application both in Christianity and Islam. Fundamentalism, since its establishment, has had two broad perspectives; global fundamentalism and historic fundamentalism during its development in the late 19th century and establishment in early 20th century. Generic fundamentalism is a worldwide global movement with the mandate of making known institutionalized aspects that have been concealed by the modernized life. Ideally, fundamentalism plays a substantive role in minimizing the distancing of religious aspects from those of the world and state, considering that during its establishment, cultural and social patterns was rooted in the certain religious perspectives. This, therefore, provides for distinct roles for various individuals and groups such as clergies, women, and men. In historical fundamentalism, similar perspectives are shared as those of generic fundamentalism, and has gone ahead to enhance awareness among individuals such as influencing world religions (Fisher and Wise 26). Fundamentalism has its roots in the United States from where it began as an aspect of liberal and progressive views that were held by the Americans in the 19th century (Fisher and Wise 42). One of the greatest contributing views held by these individuals against the scholars who stood strong in criticizing the Bible was that Moses never authored the first five books of the Bible. Such perspectives started during the Niagara Conference in which they discussed that it was time that human went back to the social ideals as intended by God, in which every individual, be it male or female, parent or child, had distinct roles to accomplish, as such a perspective was built on God’s creation. It is based on such aspects that the name

Is it Ethical to Leak Information From the Dressing Room Essay

Is it Ethical to Leak Information From the Dressing Room - Essay Example According to the management team, what Iker did was unethical and therefore it made him sit on the bench for almost half of the season as the result of which the performance of â€Å"Real Madrid† suffered. This paper discusses the question of, is it really ethical for the media to reveal such conflict about a team which could easily be misused by the competitors? The paper also discusses the details of the case, analyzing the ethical side of it and putting light on that how the parties associated with the case have actually been affected by it.The Media in this situation played a very critical role. Sara Carbonero and Iker Casillas were accused several times for leaking the information of team’s locker room to the channel but the media made the situation worse by broadcasting it and making it available for the competitors of the â€Å"Spain’s Football Team† and â€Å"Real Madrid†. The media on several occasions exposed some controversial information such as the weakened relationships of players or the views of management on the poor performance of any specific team player. Every time the Channel Sara worked for broadcasted any such news it created an atmosphere of distrust in the team’s dressing room, affecting the relationships of the players to some extent. There have been many times when there has been a clash between the players because of the media issue. There have also been occasions when Iker thought about leaving the club that has been the most important part of his live.

Interpersonal Communication Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interpersonal Communication Skills - Essay Example With the innovation in the era of technology, it is exigent to grasp, memorize, espouse rapidly and the usage of effective communication. One is required to furnish leadership in its growth, for the interest of time, cultivation, evolution and accountability. It is also significant to fathom that communication through various mechanisms, contraption and modes gives different defiance and ruminations. It is through conversation that individual's memorizing principles and policies and the growth of shared meaning associated within the citizenry of rules and observance. Dialogue empowered communicants to reconnoiter their identity within the community, employed in conventions, make drift of their experiences, and cultivate a feeling of intimacy. Conversation helps the participants to enhance the chronicle of the locale and each individual appendage of that locale, which furnished a varied magnitude to their own growth. Finally, this authorized the participants to scrutinize the connotation they deduce of their surveillance and co-operations vis--vis the individual, the community, and the profession.

ASSESSMENT This module is assessed through One Literature Review (3500 Essay

ASSESSMENT This module is assessed through One Literature Review (3500 words) which you must submit electronically Submit - Essay Example The banner of ‘Islamic world’ and its homogeneity is represented by discursive practices and not by diversity of geographical boundaries, politics, history, language as well as broader contexts of material life. Various sources including new orthodoxy in government circles as well as mass media represents Islam as an ‘exceptional’ case making Muslims to be detached racialized and essentialised (Hunt, 2002). The veil is considered as an Islamist attire symbolizing loyalty to the religion and analogous to swastika used by Nazism. The argument over Muslim women’s clothing has led to emerging political battles. However, wearing the veil is considered part of the agenda of Islamic fundamentalism ( Modood, 2009 ). According to the article the veil is barbaric symbol which have been fought years past but still presents symbol of inequality and lack of freedom for women. The veil amongst other issues is considered to hide various women characteristics, virtue and status, for instance it could hide a loving mother as well as truly religious woman. There is some level of difficulty in differentiating which of the women hidden in veil represent genuine Islam. Linking the veil to Islamic fundamentalism of ‘child marriage’ and ‘murder’ represents it as a symbol of barbarism as discussed above (de Castro, 2004). This has been considered as contributing towards larger percentage of Islamophobic atmosphere which links veiling to illegal activities which in actual sense are far away from the truth. According to this article, the veil is compared to balaclava normally used by armed robber or a mugger. This is because both outfits shield identities of the wearer. In the same instance, the veil is considered as key signifier of Islam especially in ‘war against terror’ where it is constructed in the imagery of intruding violent threat. The attire has also been used in constructing public discourse which links I slamic religion to political questions on violence affecting regions such as United States and United Kingdom. The picture of veiled woman is sympathetically constructed as victim of extremism within the society. This was even used as key justification for the bombing of Afghanistan and Iraq, since the countries were considered as exercising disregard for the plight of Afghan women. Oppressive regime of Taliban equates veiling with tyranny hence considered as part of enemy’s territory. Werbner, P. (2007) ‘Veiled Interventions in Pure Space: Honor Shame and Embodied Struggles among Muslims in Britain and France’ in Theory Culture and Society, 24(2) pp. 161-186 According to the article various theoretical bases of state and law have been enacted as a recognized means of handling differences in human behavior as portrayed by religious dogmas. Basically, the kind of faith predominant in an area is as a result of strong traditional, cultural and political features as presented by occupants. However, the natural law identifies certain human objective values and demands as the basis for legal systems within regions. According to doctrine of natural law, various important components of traditional and cultural behavior are considered as having strong influence on human rights. Conversely, religion is considered as specific cultural form capable of

The Middle Ages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Middle Ages - Essay Example The medieval age was characterized by ignorance. During this age, people were not concerned to know the truth about their surroundings. Religion was a central aspect of people’s lives; people obeyed and believed everything that was taught by religion without caring about the come. This is evident from the relationship that existed between the religion and the society. During the medieval period, Christianity was the main religion in Europe. Christianity remained critical to the people and everything reflected the teachings of Christianity. Works of literature written during this era were classified as secular or Christian literature. It is obvious that secular literature was not celebrated as Christian literature was. This is because people did not appreciate change in the society or change from the known to unknown. The ignorance period that characterized the medieval age resulted from people’s lack of appreciation for change. The medieval age was also characterized by major calamities such as Black Death, famine and civil wars. The Black Death is considered as the worst calamity that affected Europe during the middle ages. Although the Black Death affected Europe during the upper middle age, its effects continued to be experienced even in the early modern age. This calamity is believed to have caused the deaths of nearly one third of the European population. The great famine of the middle ages and the civil wars also caused numerous deaths. The conservative nature of the people or their lack of accepting changes was responsible for the calamities that affected people during the middle ages. For instance, the great famine never resulted from bad weather condition, but due to lack of crop rotation and adopting the cultivation of new crop. In addition, the conflicts that led to the civil wars resulted from the need of the people to deviate from the known ways of life or governance. Anyone who tried to introd uce change was considered as the enemy of the people. These facts are well captured in medieval literature. During this time, books or any other literature material reflected what was already known by the society. Introduction of new ideas or knowledge was greatly opposed by the people. This explains why the middle ages experienced minimal advancement in literature. The classification of literature between secular and Christian literature also explains lack of development in middle age literature. The preference of Christian literature among the people of the Middle Ages also indicates that artists had few things to write about. This is because artists could only write finite things about Christianity as compared to the secular literature. People’s lack to appreciate change is the main factor that caused low intellectual developments during the middle ages. Although religious leaders and scholars knew the truth about nature, they kept the knowledge to themselves due to the fe ar of victimization. Most of this knowledge was in the fields of science and astronomy. Although science and astronomy were significant bodies of knowledge during the middle ages, they were dependent on philosophy and religion. This is a contradiction since both science and astronomy depends on facts and logical analysis. For example during the middle ages, the earth was considered flat. However, scholars and some religious leaders knew

U.S History 1 and 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

U.S History 1 and 2 - Essay Example There have been rumblings, in the fields, amongst the other slaves about those willing to help us escape to free territory in the North. Everyday, I try to muster up enough courage to leave with others escaping through the swamps not far from here to hide as we head to the North. One day, about ten years later, in 1841, I along with a few other slaves leave in the dark of night as the owners and overseers, such as the ruthless one- eyed Williams. We made a mad dash for a wooded area just along the property farthest from the mansion. It took months of avoided all the people searching for us by hiding in the forests and swamps. We moved only in the night as not to be seen. Once I reached the North, I lived amongst the free black men and tried to reacquire my family through the slave trades, if possible. President Franklin Roosevelt, in 1942, issued Executive Order 9066 which called for all the immigrant residents from enemy nations during the war to be taken to internment camps for what was believed to be their own safety. The War Department along with other United States Departments backed this Executive Order. This was mainly to move the Japanese- Americans from their West Coast homes into the internment camps in the interior of the United States. Whether or not this was the United States best idea, is something that has been debated on for years. However in my opinion, I do not think that it was overly justified or even necessary to prevent the Japanese from gaining any further intelligence from the Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast. But, at the time, the United States Government thought it was completely necessary and justified. After, the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, in Honolulu, Hawaii, the United States declared war on the Japanese and decided to join forces with England and Russia in the fight against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan. But the

(poverty)socio-political factors influencing the mental health of an Essay

(poverty)socio-political factors influencing the mental health of an individual - Essay Example Poverty has a significant influence on physical and mental health. This paper presents a critique of the impact of poverty on the mental health of an individual. Poverty is strongly associated with social inequalities in the society. According to Nettleton (2006), unequal distribution of income leads to the emergence of a gap between different income groups yet such groups require the same basic needs. The underprivileged group suffers psychosocial anxiety that contributes to weakening health and death in case of prolonged stress. Poor social and physical infrastructures result in poor community health and mortality especially among the lowest social economic groups in such communities. In spite of stress, poor communities suffer frustration and unstable families and often exhibit tendencies towards domestic violence, criminal activities such as theft, murder and rape. These antisocial behaviors are also experienced in higher income groups but at a lower rate (Dalton et al. 2007). In one of my clinical placements I met a client named John who’s came from a poor neighborhood. He was worried about insecurity and was stressed after his d aughter was sexually assaulted by three young men. Hearden (2008) argues that the poor are exposed to hazardous environments and even when in employment are engaged in stressful, unfulfilling and depersonalizing activities. For example, John worked as a casual laborer in a skin tanning firm which was the only alternative available after his shop run out of stock as a result of rising cost of living that made him use part of the goods to feed his family of six. Such people often have no access to the essentials and services of life and are also subjugated by the main stream social class that is better informed regarding mental health. The poor are among the minority groups whose mental health is at risk due to the tendency to

DFS Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

DFS Group - Essay Example DFS Group DFS is one of largest luxury travel retailer operators on a global level that offers products across different segments of luxury products such as fashion, accessories, beauty products and perfumes, jewelry and watches as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco. The assortment of their products covers over 700 of the world’s top brands that the traveling segment of customers prefers most. The company operates through their stores in airports as well as Luxury T Galleria in downtown area Department Stores. In total, they operate over 420 locations worldwide in ideal tourist locations. Founded in 1962 by Robert Miller and Charles Feeney, with the first duty free store at Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong, the company has cherished a vision of offering travelers quality merchandise, a local experience and exceptional services. This novel idea of all in one place helped attract many customers in the ever evolving travel industry. Chan (2013) notes that DFS Group, an opera tor of duty-free shops controlled by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC), currently has plans to open their first stores in Europe to cater to Chinese consumers who travel there frequently. DFS brings together topnotch brands and customer tailored services in a sophisticated and pleasant shopping setting for travelers across the world. Similarly, the outlets of DFS serve as luxury shopping destinations in downtown locations. On the other hand, the airport stores of DFS provide ultimate convenience for customers traveling to different nations on a daily basis.

Internal combustion engine Essay Example for Free

Internal combustion engine Essay There is a big debate about the future of the auto industry. The new big topic is electric cars. Ads emphasize how much less pollution these cars put out, but the truth is that many people do not realize the downside of these cars. For instance, did you know that average battery cost for electric cars is between $18,000 and $20,000? Also, these cars produce significant more amounts of sulfur dioxide compared to traditional internal combustion engines, and what about the factories that burn billions of tons of coal everyday to produce electricity to charge these cars? Yes, these cars do produce little carbon dioxide directly, but the main source of pollution comes indirectly from the power plants that power these cars. Electric cars are not the best environmental solution in the long run because they still cause pollution while charging and producing them, there is no safe place to dispose of the batteries, and they are extremely expensive (Hogan). The first major issue with electric cars is that the process of manufacturing and charging these cars produces billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The EPA’s research shows that for an average size car, electricity’s emissions are about three times higher than the emissions of gasoline (Inside Climate Staff). Electric cars do not produce much pollution directly. Instead the pollution is rather created at the source of the energy, power plants. Pollution is caused when manufacturing and producing these cars too. In addition, large amounts of pollution are produced while mining for the metals found in the new types of batteries. All of the mining machines and vehicles are powered from fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline, and diesel fuels. A great amount of energy is lost in the process of transmitting the electricity from the power source to your car. Also, electric cars emit significantly higher amounts of sulfur dioxide into the air compared to internal-combustion engines. Sulfur dioxide is the main component that causes acid rain. Acid rain can cause damage to lakes, streams, forests, car paints, copper, stone, and other building materials. Acid rain soaks into the soil and roots of plants, and causes slowed growth, and loss of leaves or needles. In the Great Smoky Mountains, acid rain has actually killed one-hundred or more of the Frazier Fir and Red Spruce trees (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency). Furthermore, in the Northeastern United States. , such as in the Kesterson Reservoir in the San Joaquin Valley, acid rain caused hundreds of fish populations to vanish from lakes (Davis). Acid rain can contaminate our own drinking water without us even knowing it; it tastes, and looks like regular water! When sulfur dioxide is inhaled, it can cause damage to your heart and lungs, causing disorders such as bronchitis and asthma (National Parks Service). Additionally, battery disposal is a key issue. The average life of this new type of batteries is twenty-five to thirty thousand miles before they will have to be replaced. If electric cars are going to be a thing of the future, there will become an excess of batteries in landfills and other disposal sites. Presently, landfills are not designed to handle the millions of batteries that would need to be disposed of if millions of people were driving electric cars. If these batteries are not properly disposed of, toxic chemicals could leak into the environment. Also, recycling these lithium-ion batteries doesn’t appear to be in the future anywhere soon. The cost of collecting, organizing, and shipping these metals to a recycler far outweighs the value of the scrapped material, so for the time being, most of these metals will be thrown away in landfills and junkyards (Mitchell). Another obstacle with these materials being tossed in landfills is the possibility of corrosive chemicals leaking into streams, rivers, and lakes. The process of refining metals for these batteries also releases pollutants into the environment. Once the refiner gets what metal they need from the ore, they discard the other materials into the nearby ecosystems. When this happens, our drinking water could be contaminated, and it could also damage, or kill the wildlife in that area (Bacher). Lastly, these cars are extremely expensive. Because the batteries only last for about a hundred miles, this means you would have to charge them about three times for every full tank of gas that you would normally buy. Also, with this low charge capacity, it would be virtually impossible to take long trips. You would have to stop frequently to charge the battery, which takes about nine hours to completely charge. This would turn a normal two-hundred mile, four hour drive into at least a thirteen hour trip, assuming that you could find an open charging station! Another reason that these cars are so expensive is that you have to replace the battery in your car about every twenty-five to thirty thousand miles. This is a very costly expense, especially since each new battery is about eighteen to twenty thousand dollars! This is $80,000 for batteries alone if you drive 100,000 miles in your car! The price of charging an electric car is less than what a full tank of gas would cost you, but you end up paying for it in the long run when you have to replace the battery. Electric cars are expensive from the start. The average retail price of most electric cars is in the thirty to forty thousand dollar range. Most middle class individuals cannot afford to pay this price for this new technology, which is why this will not be the best economical solution in the long run. These cost projections assume that both the car and the battery work correctly for the duration of their lives, but what if the battery breaks, or stops working, forcing you to replace it? The technology is new and underdeveloped, which means that there might still be some problems or â€Å"bugs† that the designers haven’t had a chance to fix. That’s $20,000 right there that you would have to pay in addition to the purchase price. That’s close to half of what you originally paid for the car! Since these cars are less, there are fewer mechanics that are qualified to work or operate on them, so the price of operation will be very high. Electric cars were released around 2010, which means there hasn’t even been enough time for a mechanic to get a four-year degree in operating on electric cars (Hogan). The problem with automobile pollution definitely needs to be addressed and solved, but fully-electric cars are not the best solution. They are made out to be better than they actually are, and they definitely have major disadvantages. First of all, they will have to become a lot cheaper for people to be able to afford them. The general public cannot afford to pay $20,000 for a new battery every 30,000 miles. Designers also need to find a way to lengthen the range of these cars. With only a 100 mile range, it is just not practical for most people. In addition, these cars still produce pollution, just not directly. All of the pollution is created indirectly, at coal-burning electricity power plants. Another unaddressed issue is that these cars emit large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which is what combines with water to become acid rain. Lastly, there is no good place to dispose of batteries. If millions of people are going to be driving these cars, there will be tons of toxic batteries in landfills and disposal sites, which can cause harm to the wildlife, and the surrounding environment. If you accidentally miscalculate the charge left in your car, you will be stuck. Unlike a gas-powered vehicle, you cannot simply fill up your car with a gas can. With electric cars, there is no way to replenish the energy in your car on the side of the road. The fully-electric car was a good idea, but in the long run, it is not the best answer. The automobile companies need to continue to improve internal combustion engines to decrease their carbon dioxide emissions. Works Cited Cultrona, R. L. Pros and Cons of Electric Cars. 1999-2012. 18 March 2012. . Davis, Jay. Marine Bio. 1998-2012. 18 March 2012. . Hogan, Micheal C. The Encyclopedia of Earth. 21 February 2012. 18 March 2012. . Mitchell, Robert L. Computer World. 22 August 2006. 18 March 2012. . National Parks Service. 28 October 2010. 18 March 2012 . Staff, Solve Climate. Inside Climate News. 1 April 2010. 18 March 2012. . U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 8 June 2007. 18 March 2012. .

Cultural Diffusion and Imperialism

Cultural Diffusion and Imperialism World has now become a global village. By global village what we mean is that everything is available to every person through the process of free information flow (Ascher, 2010). Globalization has brought everything closer and that has happened through cultural diffusion. Now to understand what cultural diffusion is, we first have to have a fair idea over what is diffusion. Secondly there is well defined process through which a culture is diffused in other cultures and makes it mark. This culture diffusion affects international business to the core because when we say that globalization have made its presence felt in the global economy, we see that it is there because of culture diffusion in different ways. This has also lead to come sort of cultural imperialism which we shall discuss in length in paragraphs to come. Culture diffusion happens when non material and material culture travels to another culture (Wise, 2008). How this happens is a million dollar question which needs to be answered correctly and to the point. To have a profound knowledge over how it happens we go to the basics of it which is culture hearth. Now culture hearth is a place where civilizations first began and then they spread to different areas. Nowadays culture hearths are considered to be in those countries which are well developed and whose culture gets diffused to other developing countries because they have to be in tandem with each other so to have a good and viable trade. If we talk by considering the present world and international trade, we see that this cultural diffusion has spread many cultural straits wherever they got a chance to get diffused. Sometimes this spread is so rapid that no one can find out its origin, timing and spread. There are two different ways in which a culture is diffused to another culture ; one is acculturation and another is Assimilation (Howes, 1996). Both are the ways in which culture is diffused in another culture. In acculturation what happens is that some cultural traits of strong cultures are being taken up by weak cultures like in ancient times we see that Spain had some cultural traits which are taken from Aztecs. Similarly if we see examples in the modern world we observe that a very common greeting hello is also a cultural trait which is being taken by many cultures as a greeting by default. Why that happened so? Because it has its roots in western world and as West dominated for the last two centuries, all the trade, rules and policies were being written and implemented by Western countries which influenced weak cultures to adopt the greeting and many other things which now we call globalization. On the other hand, another way in which a culture can be diffused is through assimilation. In assimilation what happens is that cultures are intertwined with each other in such a way that it is hard to distinguish between where its origin had been. Lets for example when Arabs came to Indian Subcontinent, the Indians had nothing than a piece of cloth worn up to their knees with an open jacket as their vests but Arabs brought a new culture of a full length suit of cloth covering whole body. Now after centuries the Mongols and the warriors from Afghanistan brought minor changes to the original dress which made people easy to carry, walk and most of all made it best attire which can be used for combat purposes also. End result was that the whole thing got assimilated with each other so quickly that there was little difference left between what people wear in Arabian countries mainly the natives of Arab Emirates and the people wear in subcontinent. It specially pertains to the dressing of men. Other thing which effects diffusion is the cultural barriers, time and distance delay and lastly physical barriers (Rauth, 2004). Cultural barriers includes things which are not acceptable to other culture at any cost for example Mc Donald came up in India with its different burgers mainly in beef but as Indians hold cow as sacred, they do not go for it so Mc Donald have to introduce veggie burgers instead of beef as local cultural barrier never allowed any assimilation or acculturization to take place. In time and distance delay, diffusion is hampered because time and distance which it would take to reach another culture would be more and then would become less futile for example Eskimos who live at poles, their cultures and way of living is different from us and still they are yet to have culture diffusion (Howes, 1996). Time and distance delay is somewhat linked with the physical barriers also which also helps in making things bad for cultural diffusion to take place for example t he terrain which is very tough to pass would obviously make things worse for people to travel hence making it hard to diffuse a culture or similarly a sharp weather change would also create a physical barrier for culture diffusion to take place as it would be difficult to take things from one culture to another as culture traits differ from each other or not even close to each other. That culture is diffused either in expansionary diffusion or relocated diffusion (Said, 1994). We have seen that expansionary diffusion have taken place in most of the places in world where West culture is being adopted by the elite and now it is being transmitted to the lower end of the population. This sort of diffusion is known as hierarchical diffusion in where the spread of a new culture takes place from top to bottom. Example of this is the coffee shops like star bucks, which had no concept in south Asia but they are brought by Westerners who came here for business purposes. They first inculcated the trend in elite and now it is being adopted by every person as it have has transformed many old kiosks for betel leaves and cigarettes into coffee shops. Similarly blackberries; many corporate customers have this gadget in their hands which is attracting other upper middle class people to have it too so to have some satisfaction. Other types include relocation diffusion which happen s when people take their innovations with them to a new place like for example Jews. Jews in Europe were really good in scientific knowledge and due to their astuteness they were being victimized and were sent to concentration camps. When after the world war they relocated themselves in different parts of the world, they went with their knowledge and innovations which brought a lot of prosperity around the globe. Another example of it can be AIDS which spread through relocation diffusion as disease is carried by one person who migrates to another society with having a different culture. Now as diffusion is discussed at length, we now see that whether cultural imperialism can be established through cultural diffusion? Yes to some extent I would agree to it because in international business when there is trade and goods flow from one place to another, it not only takes a new product across the borders but also takes its culture to another place. In other words level of diffusion depends on the factors discussed above and also on a culture being strong as to the culture where it is being diffused as being weak (Hobson, 2010). Like for example the trend of suits around the world, from where it came? It came and assimilated in our culture because it was being followed by a strong culture or in cultural hearth which is American and Europe and from there it diffused to all parts of the world. Mens formal suitings, as we all know, have such an importance that now if a south Korean business tycoon needs to do a deal with his Indian counterpart to open up a microchip factory in Delhi, they would be following their own business rules and formalities but their attire would be formal and would follow the strong cultures dress code which is to have a formal dress suit. Moreover the casual dress in China, a decade ago was not jeans and a tee shirt but now they have taken the affect of American culture as it diffused into their society but why? Because more than 70 percent of Chinas trade is bound for America so Chinese have adopted some practices of American culture which shows us that yes there is diffusion of culture but that does not proves cultural imperialism at any point; people went towards tee shirts and jeans because they were easier to handle, according to the young generation, as compare to traditional safari suits for men and traditional Chinese for women. Apart from this, cultural diffusion does not reflect cultural imperialism for example whole world is following more or less same accounting principles so the rules of debit and credit are same so to imply that it is a product of a particular nation or it is a part of any culture would be a gross mistake. Yes its true that methods of accounting were first brought up by Chinese but significant changes were made throughout.

Individual Freedom And Rights

Individual Freedom And Rights Is it most important to value ones own life, happiness and interest or to obey the higher authority of the state? This statement raises the question of the individuals freedom and rights in comparison to the states control over individuals life. In this paper I will be arguing against Socrates and Confucius view of placing the state ahead of the individual. This paper is constructed along my line of defense which looks at the issues and arguments around the individual freedom and rights. This argument largely dwells on the concept of freedom from Socratic and Confucius philosophy, Christianity and individual freedom and also modern/postmodern thinking on this subject. The concept of freedom and rights in ancient Greek Philosophy Socrates and Confucius are two major philosophers who tried to develop the relationship between the individual freedom, rights and the state control (Philosophy study guide). According to Beck both Confucius and Socrates lived in cultures where hereditary privilege was the main factor in social status. Neither of them was extremely high-born, but they certainly were not peasants either (Beck 2010:14) .Socrates contributed much on political discussion, he did not engage in political career. He was so much concerned with how state laws were implemented in city life style, which determined a healthy relationship between the citizens and the state. However, this relationship should not be forced or coerced on them rather it should come naturally. Both Socrates and Confucius teachings were meant to prepare men for the world of politics. This is why they both stressed the value and importance of ideals and portrayed the ideal state in the midst of various prevailing governments which were far from perfect. They criticized their unjust practices and diagnosed their problems. Socrates seems to have gone into more detail in delineating the different types of government (Beck 2010:7). But Confucius went further by teaching about the importance of self control and temperature. It taught about the ideals of social controls and proper behavior. Beck maintains that for Socrates and the Greeks personal behavior was focused more on the individual as his own responsibility of self-discipline and did not extend so strongly into the social milieu. The rules of propriety were designed to bring harmony in relationships, while temperance is concerned with the harmony within the individual (Beck 2010:5 ).This shows how individual freedom and rights played an important role in the mind of the Greeks. Of course, the State is important but too is individual liberty. However, both men emphasized the need for advancement of knowledge. This knowledge is to be taught in schools and public places. Confucian philosophy it today, being practiced in Japan, Korea and China. It puts much emphasis on learning and educational values but imitating the master teachers words and deeds. Education is therefore, being used to correct some unbecoming behavior from the ethical perspectives (Philosophy study guide). The ideals of Confucius philosophy has been translated into human behavior and values in the Far eastern societies. Taking the lessons from the Socratic and Confucius ideology, this philosophy emphasizes the need to practice virtue and temperature at all times, thus avoiding friction and rash actions (Beck, 2010). Christianity and individual rights Christianity was born in Palestine at the time of Roman colonial rule. The relationship between Christianity and the State was somewhat not healthy, as these two entities often collided both in principle and practice. Being a Roman Citizen at the time would incorporate many responsibilities and roles which one needed to follow. However, the Romans were considered to be atheists for their insistence on emperor worship. Roman Citizens were commanded by the law to publicly follow and worship the cultic figures that represented the Roman gods. This worship was characterized through private and public worship and giving of sacrifices (Stumbaugh Balch, 1996) in special places and temples. However, for many years intellectuals and philosophers began to question this cultic worship. Roman Citizens were required to perform some rituals, prayers and sacrifice to company their worship. Through this worship all citizens were obliged to affirm their allegiance to the emperor. Christians refused to follow the demands of the state to follow the worship of demi gods of Roman religions. As a result, this refusal led to the persecution of Christians who insisted in worshipping their only God and Lord Jesus Christ. Christians decided to live in different set of life style which is different from the religious institutions of the Roman Empire and its social environment. This shows the unhealthy relationship between the state and the church. This forced the Apostle Paul to address the issue of obeying the state laws and control in the Romans Chapter 13. The divine right of rulers has been disputed and discussed over the years. The question often asked is whether Christians are obliged to follows state laws and regulations. How far should Christians go to obey the laws of the state even when it is against their religion? For many years, Christian theologians and theologians have tried to grapple with the concept of the State and the Church. There are those who believe that the Church and State are mere sides of the same coin and therefore, Church leaders should be involved inn the affairs of the State. This view was largely developed by theologians such as Martin Luther, Zwingli and John Calvin (Stumbaugh Balch, 1996). It is through this theological thought that led to State Churches such as the Church of England and Lutheran Churches that are commonly found in the Scandinavian countries. On the other hand, there are those theological views which holds that Church is supreme over the State because it subscribes to the higher heavily powers. It is this divine authority which makes many churches to argue that they subjected to divine power and not state control. Those theologians who subscribes to this thought argue that the State is in subsidiary position to Church. Through out the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church view developed the notion that Church and State must be separate or remain separate entities. This thought also advocates that State and Church that must not just remain separate but is also independent of one another (Bramsted, 1978). Most of theologians hold the view that Church and State different entities and have different origins. The Church owes its origin and allegiance to God and therefore Christian followers need to express their allegiance from God. Whereas the State, is seen as the divine institution that has been put in place by God for human Society to exercise power and authority of human beings. However, the Church has no control over men, but can only appeal to their minds, hearts and consciences. As a result, those who have accepted to be under the rule of the Church must adhere to Cannon laws, rules and regulations (Stumbaugh Balch, 1996). In this case, the church would exercise authority over them, control their behavior patterns, thoughts and lives. The Church also has the power to correct, admonish or even discipline those who contrary to the rules of their faith. The concept of freedom and rights in modern European philosophy Modernity is considered to be the period between 1750 to late 1960s. The development of ideas in the western world is closely connected with the philosophical thoughts of their day. This period was associated with enlightenment thought often associated with scientific progress, technological advancement and industrial revolution. This new thinking permeated social thinking, values and relations. One those of those philosophers who contributed greatly to the development of enlightenment thinking in relation to individual freedom and rights were Jean Jacques Rousseau. Jean Jacques Rousseau, who lived between 1772 to 1778, is one of those philosophers who committed his life to follows the ideal of liberty during his political career. He followed the political line of republican persuasions and sympathized with the Republican ideals. He argued that the advent of western civilization corrupted the goodness of human nature (Friend, 2004). He emphasized that progress in the arts and sciences contributed to moral degeneration and the decay of modern societies. He argued that human beings existed because they live social groups that later produced inequality. And therefore, once people begins to live in fixed relations like social groups, the quest for freedom begins to emerge because they want to free themselves from social bondages and oppressive social contracts. Therefore, this is the beginning of social inequalities and oppressions. Concerning Civil Society, Rousseau argues that it was founded by the person or people who emerged by enclosing people in groups. Then it claimed ownership over the piece of land. Therefore, civil society has been used by individuals to justify and maintain relations in property, which is based on inequality and associated moral decays (Friend, 2004). However, although people have the will to choose what is right for them, it is important for everybody to set aside their own personal and ethno-cultural interests for the common good of others. Although, the concept of common goal is important, most scholars believe that it leads to a form of dictatorial leadership or authoritarian leadership. It also leads to dictatorship of the majority. The other European who developed this concept of the rights of man is Thomas Paine. He advocated for the rights of man theory was about the defense of the Principles of French Revolution. The other philosopher who contributed to the development of individual freedom was Thomas Pain. According to Paine, human beings are born with equal, human rights even though they do not live isolation with others in the society. Every human being has the right to live in freedom and enjoy the benefits of cooperation with others in the society. However, this is not often realized, in our societies because these principles are often violated because human beings are not perfect. They have imperfect and naturally deprived nature that always wants to do evil. Paine argued therefore, that the natural rights of all people can only be secured when people learn to deposit those rights which they cannot uphold as individual human beings. Nevertheless, the state has the overall of the individuals life especially when it comes to addressing the issues of violence against humanity. The state also has the overall rights over the protection against the harm of others. To him, it is only the state that has the mandate to ensure the stability of our societies. This means that a legitimate government must be based on the concept of people rule for the sake of the people (Friend, 2004). This type of government is what is often refereed to as democracy. It is only the democratic government that can be considered as a legitimate form of government which represents the rights of the people. Democratic governments are meant to defend and protect the rights of individual human beings and secure the security of all citizens (Bramsted, 1978). The concept of freedom and rights in the post modern world views Much of the western culture resulted from the matrix of the enlightenment period. It promoted the attitude of tolerance towards others and relative view towards belief of any time. The Enlightenment doctrine promoted then doctrine of individualism, purporting that individuals are free, emancipated and must act in autonomy. The basic principles democracy is based on the notion of government consent, in other words, it is about people centered government that is elected by people for the people. The power given to people derives from the electorates. The concept of individual rights to freedom has attracted lots criticism from the intellectual communities and philosophers. The Marxist philosopher argues that the rights of individual go contrary to social progress because they are not in line with cultural or historical relativity (Bramsted, 1978). Postmodernism rejected the enlightenment views that characterized much of then 18th to 19th century. Post modernism promoted the notion of pluralism, individualism and relativism. It rejected the notion of one blue print or overall dominant theme that dictates the thinking of man. Instead, it calls for the plural form of human relations. It opposes the notion of meta-narratives and calls for one many narratives in expanding human story. Contrary to the Enlightenment theory, post modernism attacks this concept of development or progress or the so called notion of forward match of history. Therefore, the principles of justice, freedom and rights in the postmodern world view are very much fragmented. It is also socially constructed depending on the social, economic, cultural and political contexts. The World western mostly exercise liberalism which is based on freedom and rights of individual human beings. This is why post modernism is often in loggerhead with modern enlightenment theor y (Bramsted 1978). However, the Liberal individualism which subscribes to Liberal democracy promotes the ideals of civil and political liberties. Civil liberty is big movement in the USA that pressures for the rights of Citizens. The theory of rights advocates for the rights of others and as well as their own. Such rights include life and liberty of others. This view has developed into human rights movement that taken centre stage in the world of politics advocating for universal human rights. Liberalism emphasizes the value of universal freedom and cosmopolitan citizenship. This view argues that individuals are allowed to display distinctive commitment to their personal lives but not to enforce them others. Civil liberties also argue that the government has no right to infiltrate into their personal lives. This means that we all have the rights to live a peaceful and free life without interference from the state (Bramsted, 1978). Personal Opinion Freedom is some thing which we all cherish and hold on to ideally. But individual freedom is something that is socially constructed. The concept of freedom has been misinterpret and misconceived. These views of freedom are erroneous in nature. Some people think that freedom is the absence of laws, regulation and restrictions. I have personally heard a teenager shouting back saying that they want to be free from their parents rules and regulations. Some even think that freedom is without anarchy or live a life without rules and regulations or rules. Many people and especially young people think that freedom is about living irresponsibility, without being responsible or being accountable to any body. For some people freedom is about the avoidance of work and obligation. This equates to laziness and being slack. But from my own understanding, freedom demands much of our time and work than when in bondage. When your are bound, you are well looked after by your captors for instance when you are in prison, it is the responsibility of the prison authorities to look after you. Further I have heard some people saying that freedom is retiring from responsibility. But is not true because one cannot separate freedom from responsibility these are two sides of the same coins. Indeed, some extend, say that freedom is about relaxation from social boundaries and rules, but this is misconception. One does have to relax because they are free. By and large, some even argue that freedom is being released from external control. They argue that it is about being left alone to do what they want or like without control from the parents, employers or even the government. Conclusion This paper has attempted to answer the question whether it most important to value ones own life, happiness and interest or to obey the higher authority of the state. It is question which address the question of individual freedom and rights. Individual freedom and rights are two concepts that are intertwined together. One cannot do without the other. The concept of freedom is often associated with being released from the external controls whereby one thinks that they are not held accountable or responsible to the others. These two views have been very contentious for many years as scholars contend with them. Beginning with the Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Confucius, individual freedom and rights were discussed in more details. These philosophers taught that although we are free agents were are still subjected to human control and governance. This means that we are still obliged to follow the rules and regulations of the state. However, the issue of obeying the state and its decrees is what caused much friction between the church and the state. For many years, the first century were persecuted by the Roman governments for now disobeying the emperors orders on cultic worship. This factor was taken board by theologians for many years latter as to whether the church is free from the powers of the state. This is also implied as to whether indeed Christians are free from following the rules and regulations ordered by the state. During the enlightenment period various thoughts began to emerge concerning the issue of individual freedom and right from modern Europe philosophers. These discourse produced further debates on liberalism, democracy and human rights. Following the end of modernity the postmodern paradigm began to emerge to give different views to those ones held by modernity thinkers. The post modern mind view argues that there is one met narratives, that we all have our stories of what is right and wrong, we should follow what is appropriate for us. I would not subscribe to any of these views but a mixture of both. I would like to argue that individual freedom is there, but we have to be accountable to what we do to others. Our concept of freedom, rights and happiness must be inline with the laws of our societies.

personal strengths Essay -- essays research papers

Personal Strengths and Weaknesses A reason that this country works well is that everyone has diverse abilities which can contribute to everyday life. Some people let those abilities shine at work, in their personal life or both. As people have their strengths, they also have their weaknesses. There is a problem to improve those weaknesses when the weakness is not identified. Once the weak point is identified it needs to be resolved. A plan of action for improvement helps in solving the situation. In this paper, I will identify abilities and skills that I possess that contribute positively in my work environment, in my personal life, and in my learning team. I will also identify personal areas that need improvement, and outline a plan of action for improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout my life, my strengths and weaknesses tend to gain more clarity, as I grow older. When I was younger, I did not focus too much on this part of myself. I was interested in child things. I must now use my strengths to improve my weaknesses to strengthen my faults. Several of my strengths are centered on my profession because the majority of my time is spent there. Some of my qualities are beneficial to different situations, while the other qualities hinder. Although we describe our strengths as positive attributes and our weaknesses as negative attributes, they make us who and what we are as individuals. Because of these qualities, each of us is unique in different ways. It is imp... personal strengths Essay -- essays research papers Personal Strengths and Weaknesses A reason that this country works well is that everyone has diverse abilities which can contribute to everyday life. Some people let those abilities shine at work, in their personal life or both. As people have their strengths, they also have their weaknesses. There is a problem to improve those weaknesses when the weakness is not identified. Once the weak point is identified it needs to be resolved. A plan of action for improvement helps in solving the situation. In this paper, I will identify abilities and skills that I possess that contribute positively in my work environment, in my personal life, and in my learning team. I will also identify personal areas that need improvement, and outline a plan of action for improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout my life, my strengths and weaknesses tend to gain more clarity, as I grow older. When I was younger, I did not focus too much on this part of myself. I was interested in child things. I must now use my strengths to improve my weaknesses to strengthen my faults. Several of my strengths are centered on my profession because the majority of my time is spent there. Some of my qualities are beneficial to different situations, while the other qualities hinder. Although we describe our strengths as positive attributes and our weaknesses as negative attributes, they make us who and what we are as individuals. Because of these qualities, each of us is unique in different ways. It is imp...

Classifying Rocks Essay -- Geology Geological Rock Essays Papers

Classifying Rocks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rocks are classified to make it easier on people to identify them in the future. This can be done by a numerous amount of ways. Each rock type has their own specific ways, but there are two distinct characteristics that apply to all. These are texture and composition. These two, along with many others helps to classify igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Igneous rocks are classified first by texture. This is broken down mainly into grain size. First there are intrusive, or plutonic igneous rocks. These types of rocks cool within the crust and forms large, visible crystals. The opposite would be extrusive, or volcanic rocks. These cool at the surface rapidly, forming small grains. A combination of the two would be porphyritic, large grains in an aphanitic, or extrusive matrix. Secondly, composition is used to classify igneous rocks. There are four types, ultramafic, mafic, intermediate, and felsic. Ultramafic rocks are very dark and contain and extreme amount of iron and magnesium. Mafic rocks are also dark in color; they too contain high iron and magnesium amounts. An example would be olivine, or pyroxene. Intermediate igneous rocks are made from silica and plagioclase. They tend to be grays and browns in color. Finally, felsic socks are light in color and contains high amounts of silica. Quartz and potassium feld spar are examples of felsic igneous rocks. Other types of rocks are classified similarly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sedimentary rocks form...

My Writing is My Voice :: Teaching Writing Education Essays

My Writing is My Voice For the longest time, I really did not know who I was. Not that I was confused about who I saw in the mirror, but I had know idea why I thought the way I did about things. Science had always interested me. Animals have such a unique character created out of the need for survival. They are not influenced by outside pressures to conform. I made the decision to study them for the rest of my life. But I really did not know what separated me, as a human, from my cat. The school systems and church tried to give me explanations. They encompassed the fact that I think logically, have problem solving skills, emotions, and make decisions based on these emotions. Animals did not have these abilities and this separated them form us. But the education started to contradict itself. After being exposed to a vast majority of animals, I saw abilities that humans cannot posses. Some can fly, breath underwater, and exist in climates where humans cannot without artificial devices. Humans cannot survive winters without clothes or travel the oceans without boats. The system was lying to me. Animals could adapt and think quite well. We were not better, just different. This made me lose faith in the system and I began to take up independent thought. Because I thought I should be a truly independent thinker, I believed that everything I knew was a product of my own discovery. Within my own mind, everything was the way it was because I thought it. The rest of the information in my head was only a bunch of stuff set up by society for me to learn. When I left my small town of Big Lake after graduation, I was in search of a higher education. Where? A university of course! I rushed into the world of undergraduates with hopes and dreams of someday being able to explain a reason for everything. But I did not want to do it in the same fashion the system was requiring it. They made the rules and I was supposed to follow them. I did not like what they had to say. I questioned most everything. There were disciplines though that I did not question. Physics, biology, and chemistry existed long before humans. I have already seen them in nature. Nature itself was proof enough to believe in their validity.

Critically examine the relationship between different social groups Essay

in that respect ar signifi messt differences in the midst of social groups and their ghostly beliefs and practice There is a very signifi sternt ethnic variant in the troth of devotion. The non be on groups in britain be a smoke much than ghostlike than the majority of the commonwealth (white christian) . For example, it is much much presumable to take chances smutty christians(who affect up 40% of the membership) in a pentecostal perform building building service than white christians In opposition to that, Modood show that while minorities wear taller interlocking says, at that place is a eliminate in importance of religion for all cultural groups.There argon clear social configurations in apparitional participation, with minority groups having a gameer take aim of spiritual participation. The UK today is a multi ethnical and multi spiritual conjunction, with Muslims, Hindus and inglorious Christians more(prenominal)(prenominal)(pre nominal)(prenominal) potential than white Christians to agnise religion as important and a central part of their lives. Among Christians blacks atomic number 18 more likely than whites to be form in Pentecostal churches, where they make up 40% of the membership. solely Modood et al fix that patron season minoritys having high-pitcheder participation rates, theres decline in importance of religion for all ethnic groups and that fewer were observant, especially amongst the second durations. Sociologists have argued several reasons for ethnic differences in religiosity. ace argu sprainforcet that closely ethnic minorities come up from poorer countries with tralatitious cultures these characteristics produce higher levels of belief and practice. Once they migrate into the UK they and their electric razorren uphold the human body they bring from their country of origin. til now its argued this disregards the impact of their mystifys as immigrants and as minorities in a s weet social club, and how this can confound religion a cutting mathematical function in cultural defence and cultural transition. Bruce (2002) argues religion in such a situation offers support and a nose start of cultural identity in an dubious and hostile environment. Bird (1999) argues religion among minorities can be a foundation for fraternity solidarity and a meat of preserving ones culture and wrangle as strong as a way of coping with oppression in a antiblack society.For example the father of African and Caribbean Christians, where they found white churches werent welcoming to them, therefore they founded their own black churches which explains their high Pentecostal membership. Religion can in any case be a means of easing the transition into a parvenu culture by providing support and ace of community for minority groups in their peeled environment. Will Herberg (1955) argues this as an exposition for high levels of unearthly participation among first p ropagation immigrants to the USA.Bruce identified a similar pattern of immigration into the UK, where religion provided a central point the Irish, Caribbean and south Asian communities. However she argues once a group has make the transition into the b are-assed culture and wider society religion loses its role and declines in importance, as was the case with Irish catholic immigrants. muckle Pyrce (1979) studied the African Caribbean community in Bristol. He found evince of cultural defence and cultural defence macrocosm important.He argues Pentecostalism is a highly adaptive religion of the oppressed which provides migrants with values impound to their new valet in which they vex themselves in. Pentecostalism helped African Caribbeans adapt to British society by playing a protestant ethic role by helping members succeed by back up self reliance and thrift. Religion vie a role in heavy(p) mutual support and hope of improve their situation. However, Rastafarianism repre sented a different retort for some African Caribbeans, as they radically reject wider society as racist and exploitative.The general pattern concerning age and ghostlike participation is that the older a soulfulness is, the more likely theyre to take to heart church or religious service. However there are cardinal exceptions to this pattern the under 15s and over 65s. The under 15s are more likely to go to church and so other groups as theyre forced to do so by their parents. The over 65s are more likely to be sick and disabled, indeed theyre ineffective to attend. Higher death rates to a fault make this a smaller group, which reduces the thoroughgoing number available to attend.Voas and Crockett (2005) argue there are two main sorts of exposition fir age differences in religious participation. One argument is the ageing effect. This is the slang that pack cut into to religion as they get older. For example using evidence from the Kendal project Heelas found passel p ay off more interested in spiritism as they get older. She argues as we greet death, we naturally develop more relate about spiritual matters and the after bearing, repentance of misdeeds and so on. Thus that age group is more likely to go to church.Another explanation is the generational effect. This is the view that as society becomes more secular each new generation is less religious then the one before it. Thus there are more old mass than unripe people in church congregations today, not because theyre more curl uped to religion as they get older exclusively because they grew up in a cadence when religion was more popular. Voas and Crockett argue the generational effect is the more significant of the two explanations for age difference in religious participation.They argue that each new generation is only half as religious as their parents. Thus we can pay a continuing average age rise in church goers as the young person become less instinctive to attend. The number o f 15-19 year olds tending church has fallen significantly since 1979 and two-fifths of churches have no one under the age of 112 attending services. 30% of church goers are now over 65 Bruce predicts this gallery depart continue and soon the over 65s get out become the majority. Bruce argues the only exception to this trend is Pentecostal churches which continue to attract young members.Gill (1998) argues children no longer tempt religious socialisation, thus those brought up without religious beliefs are less likely to become church goers later on in life. Thus its likely deep down two generations Christian beliefs will only be held by a minority. consort differences withal have patterns in the level of religious participation betwixt the running(a) and ruling classes. Marx argued that the work oning classes are more likely to be religious because of alienation, where the growing of capitalism leads them to look to religion as a source of consolation.Marx argues that th at religion was the opium of the people it dulls the upset of exploitation but masks the pain rather than treating the cause. Marx argued the speed classes were less religious as they had wealth and power to compensate, and he argued they used religion cynically to verify the working classes. However, Marx has been criticised by Althusser, who argues alienation is pseudoscientific and based on the romantic mind of humans having a true self. This would make the concept an inadequate basis for conjecture of religion.However, gross(a) and Bainbridge have identified high religious participation among the set and upper classes. They argue this is because of relative deficiency. Relative deprivation is where theres a essential sense of organism deprived. Thus although the middle class are materially sound off, they feel spiritually deprived, especially in todays materialistic and consumerist world which they perceive as lacing horny or moral warmth. Thus Wallis argues they tur n to religion for sense of community.There are clear gender differences in religious belief and participation while priesthoods of most religions are male women are likeier to move into in activities and have belief in theology and the supernatural. For example in 2005 1. 8 million women in England were church goers, compared to mediocre 1. 36 million men. moth miller and Hoffman (1995) found women express greater interest in religion they have a greater personal commitment and go to church more. They found that this was true for all religious organisations, ages and faiths.Bruce (1996) estimated there are twice as many women than men in cabals. Heelas and Woodhead (2005) found in their study of Kendal 80% of holistic milieu participants were female. These gender differences can be link to the way men and women keep in line god as a god of power and control or a god of love and for addictedess. Sociologists have given several arguments for gender differences in religious bel ief and practice. Miller and Hoffman argue women are more religious as theyre socialised to be more passive, Y2K compliant and caring.Religion values all of these characteristics, thus women are more likely than men to be attracted to religion. Its noted that men who overly have these qualities are also more likely to be religious. Miller and Hoffman also argue that women are more likely than men to be utilise in part magazine work or be full time palmrs, thus they have more time to organise around religious activities. Women also look to the church as a source of gender identity. Greely argues taking care of other family members increases womens religiosity as they have indebtedness to their eventual(prenominal) welfare as well as day to day needs.Davie (1994) argues womens closeness to birth and death, through and through child bearing and caring for the sick, brings them closer to ultimate questions such as the meaning of life which religion is concerned with. This is also linked to the way women and men discover god. Women are more likely to be attracted to the new age because women are more associated with constitution and the healing role. Heelas and Woodhead found 80% of participants in their holistic milieu study in Kendal found were women. They argue such movements commemorate the natural and involve cults of healing this gives women a higher status and sense of self worth.Bruce argues womens experience of child genteelness makes them less aggressive, more goal orientated, joint and caring. Where men wish to achieve, women wish to feel. Bruce argues this fits the expressive emphasis of the new age. The importance of being authentic rather than acting out roles, for example gender roles, in the new age also attracts women as women are more likely than men to see their ascribed roles as restrictive. Callum brownness (2001) argues the new age self religions, which emphasise subjective experience rather than external authority, attract women t hrough their appeal for autonomy.However it can also be argued that women are attracted to funda psychogenicism because of the certainties of traditional gender roles women gain. Glock and Stark (1969) and Stark and Bainbridge (1985) argue people participate in religion because of the compensators for social, organismal and ethical deprivation that religion offers. Glock and Stark argue that these forms of deprivation are more common among women this explains their higher level of sect membership. Organismic deprivation stems from physical and mental health problems women are more likely to suffer from ill health thus they seek healing through religion.Women are more likely to be ethically deprived as theyre more likely than men to be chastely conservative, thus they regard the world as in moral decline, and thus theyre attracted to sects who share this view. Women are more likely to be socially deprived as theyre more likely to be poor. This further explains why womens membership is higher then mens in sects, as sects tend to attract poorer groups. However, despite traditional gender differences in participation, women are now leaving the church at a faster rate than men. Brierly (2005) found a huge decline in church going for women sr. 30-45, with a 16.4% fall in Sunday church attendance between 1990 and 2005. Brierly argues this could be due to pressures of the home family and work have become intense for women. Women in this age group are more likely to have a young family and Sunday working is particularly high for women. All this equates to having little time for church. Callum Brown argues that since the 1960s women have begun to reject traditional subordinate gender roles. Christianity was closely articled to these traditional roles, thus womens rejection of mastery leads them to reject traditional religion at the same time.

Technology Forecast

engineering science forecasting is considered to be merry in todays air environment. There have been legion(predicate) supremacy stories as well as failures. foretell technology impacts many aspects from acquiring a new technology to pullulateing a new technology. The course result bound with reviewing several methodologies and then volition prove those impacts and how to make them beneficial for the organizations through many case studies, professional and research articles. crusade Studies are selected from Harvard Business School cause Studies. terms are selected from journals such as applied science prognosticate and neighborly Change.GRADING AND DELIVERABLES specific Deliverable types (team in descriptor)30%Presentations shake off (team)40% musical composition + Presentation Readings (individual)30%2 article discussions TOTAL100% GUIDELINES FOR DELIVERABLES CASES Cases will be analyzed and presented in class by teams. You should read and get yourself a cquainted(predicate) with the case before the class, READINGS You will be assigned 2 articles to discuss in class. PROJECT Identify an emerging technology as a team and develop a forecast using technical schoolnology prognosticate Tools.Examples of such projects will be provided. Your team is required to present the distribute and results of your project during the scheduled times in class. Progress presentations should not exceed 20 minutes and the final presentation will be limited to 45 minutes. You in any case will need to submit a report which should follow TFSC journal guidelines for a journal paper. Your report should include a literature search justifying the topic and methods used. CASES 1. strategic Planning at get together piece of land Service, David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque, Product 306002 2. foretelling the bridal of a New Product, Elie Ofek, Product 505062 AND call the Adoption of E-Books, Elie Ofek, Peter Wickersham, Product Number 9-505-063 3. Illinoi s Superconductor Corp. prognostication Demand for Superconducting Filters, Mohanbir Sawhney, Lisa Damkroger, Greg McGuirk, Julie Milbratz, John Rountree, Product KEL096 READINGS launching to engineering anticipation 1. Linstone, H. A. , TFSC 1969-1999. technological Forecasting and genial Change, majority 62, final payments 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 1-8. 2. Ayres, R. U. What have we erudite? technological Forecasting and friendly Change, garishness 62, passings 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 9-12. 3. Martino, J. P. , Thirty years of change and stability. proficient Forecasting and kind Change, muckle 62, youngs 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 13-18. 4. Porter, A. L. , Tech forecasting an empirical perspective. technological Forecasting and Social Change, quite a little 62, retires 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 19-28. 5. Linstone, H. A. , The 21st speed of light Everyman as Faust technology, terrorism, and the multiple perspectives approach. exp ert Forecasting and Social Change, mass 70, reveal 3, prove 2003, Pages 283-296. applied science Forecasting Techniques 6. Mishra, Somnath, S. G Deshmukh and Prem Vrat, twinned of technological forecasting technique to a technology , scientific Forecasting and Social Change, peck 69, extend 1, January 2002, Pages 1-27. 7. Technology forthcomings depth psychology Methods Working Group, Technology emergings analysis Toward desegregation of the field and new methods, scientific Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 71, Issue 3, certify 2004, Pages 287-303. 8. Silberglitt, R. , Hove, A. , and Shulman, P. Analysis of US energy scenarios Meta-scenarios, pathways, and policy implications. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 70, Issue 4, May 2003, Pages 297-315. 9. Rowe, G. and G. Wright, The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool Issues and analysis, internationalist journal of Forecasting, Volume 15, Issue 4, October 1999, Pages 353-375. 10. Lena Borjeson, M attias Hojer, Karl-Henrik Dreborg, Tomas Ekvall and Goran Finnveden, Scenario types and techniques Towards a users guide, Futures, Volume 38, Issue 7, September 2006, Pages 723-739. 11. Winebrake, J. J. , and Creswick, B. P. The future of hydrogen fueling systems for transportation An action of perspective-based scenario analysis using the analytic hierarchy process, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 70, Issue 4, May 2003, Pages 359-384. 12. Sager, B. , Scenarios on the Future of Biotechnology. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 68, Issue 2, October 2001, Pages 109-129. 13. Modis, T. , Technological forecasting at the stock market. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issue 3, November 1999, Pages 173-202. 14. Devezas, Tessaleno C. , Harold A. Linstone and Humberto J.S. Santos, The growth dynamics of the Internet and the long wave theory, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 72, Issue 8, October 2005, Pages 913-9 35. 15. Ilonen, Jarmo, Joni-Kristian Kamarainen, Kaisu Puumalainen, Sanna Sundqvist and Heikki Kalviainen, Toward automatic forecasts for diffusion of innovations, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 2, February 2006, Pages 182-198. 16. Martino, Joseph P. , A comparison of two composite measures of technology , Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 44, Issue 2, September 1993, Pages 147-159.uphill Technology Forecasting Techniques 17. Inman, Oliver Lane, Timothy R. Anderson and Robert R. Harmon, Predicting U. S. jet hotshot aircraft introductions from 1944 to 1982 A dogfight between relapse and TFDEA, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 9, November 2006, Pages 1178-1187. 18. Anderson, Timothy, Rolf Fare, Shawna Grosskopf, Lane Inman and Xiaoyu Song, Further inquiry of Moores law with data envelopment analysis, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 69, Issue 5, June 2002, Pages 465-477. 19. Barley, S. R. , What Can We Learn from the History of Technology.Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Volume 15, Issue 4, September 1998, Pages 237-255. 20. Bowonder, B. , T. Miyake, and B. Muralidharan, Predicting the future Lessons from evolutionary theory, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 62, Issues 1-2, August-September 1999, Pages 51-62. 21. Guice, J. , shrewd the Future The Culture of New Trends in Science and Technology. Research Policy, Volume 28, Issue 1, January 1999, Pages 81-98. 22. Phaal, R. , Farrukh, C. J. P. , and Probert, D. R. , Technology Roadmapping A Planning cloth for Evolution and Revolution.Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 71, Issues 1-2, January-February 2004, Pages 5-26. 23. Kayal, A. , Measuring the Pace of Technological Process Implication for Technological Forecasting. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 60, Issue 3, March 1999, Pages 237-245. 24. T. U. Daim, G. Rueda, H. Martin, and P. Gerdsri, Forecasting Emerging Technologies occasion of Bibliometrics and Patent Analysis, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 73, Issue 8, October 2006, Pages 981-1012. 25. Watts, R. J. and A. L. Porter, Innovation Forecasting.Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 56, Issue 1, September 1997, Pages 25-47. SCHEDULE Subjects to be CoveredAssignment/Readings 1/4 Teams Formed 1/11 Introduction to Technology Forecasting Technology Planning Case content 1 Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service Case set and Presentations Article backchat Articles 1-5 1/18UNIVERSITY unkindly 1/25 Extrapolation by statistical regression knob Speaker Jisun Kim Project project Presentations 2/1 Delphi, Analogy, Scenarios, Environment Monitoring, step-up Curves In Class Exercise cable TV Diffusion Article Discussion ?Articles 6-16 2/8 Case require 2 Forecasting the Adoption of a New Product Case preparation and Presentations Project Progress Presentations 2/15 Emerging Technol ogy Forecasting Methods TFDEA Guest Speaker Tim Anderson 2/22 ?Emerging Technology Forecasting Methods Bibliometrics, Patent Searches, Article Discussion? ?Articles 17-25 3/1 Project Results Presentations 3/8 Case Study 3 Illinois Superconductor Corp. Forecasting Demand for Superconducting Filters Case Preparation and Presentations 3/15 concluding Reports