How schools kills creativity Essay

Sir Ken Robinson present about how schools kills creativity in a very interesting way. In other words, he manage to grab people’s attention in all over twenty minutes of the presentation by telling jokes. According to Sir Ken Robinson these days students are educated to be a good workers rather than creators. Sir Ken said â€Å"Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.† children have a great ability in innovation because they are not afraid to make mistakes. According to Sir Ken if you’re not prepared to be wrong you’ll never come up with anything original. However, being wrong is not the same thing as being creative but you can’t be creative unless you make some mistakes. These days we teach our children that being wrong is the worst thing ever and that kills creativity in them. Every single child in the world is an artist according to Picasso and if they’re frighten to make mistake they won’t be able to create anything, thus we’re educating them out of their creative capacities as Sir Ken said. No doubt that what Sir Ken said is right and I totally agree with him. I think that the way that we are educating people these days is not right at all, because we are putting limits to their minds. In other words, we recruit people to be workers not creators and so people want their degrees just to get a good job. As a result, they get their job and that’s it they do nothing, if we will push all people to study and get their degrees 50 years later degrees will have no value. Many people have talent but they think they’re not as Sir Ken said â€Å"Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not — because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.†

Heat of neutralization Essay

Discussions: 1.Why theoretical value different from value obtained? It may heat loss to the surroundings. It may have parallax error during taking the reading. 2.Why is usually the cup used in this experiment made of polystyrene? To prevent heat loss to the surroundings because it is a heat insulator. 3.Why the heat of neutralization has a negative sign? The reaction gives out heat that results in the increase of temperature of the products formed. I. Discussion  During this experiment, the pressure in the lab will be constant or essentially constant. When pressure is constant, changes in energy (q) can be related to change in the enthalpy of reaction (ΔHrxn). 1  Energy changes accompany chemical reactions as original bonds are broken and new bonds are formed. Usually the energy change takes the form of heat. If heat is released from the reaction, the change in energy or enthalpy (∆H) is negative and the reaction is exothermic. Conversely, if heat is absorbed by the reaction, the enthalpy is positive and the reaction is endothermic. In this experiment you will measure the enthalpy (∆H) of an acid/base neutralization. A neutralization reaction occurs when acid and base combine to form water as shown in the example below. Overall Reaction: HCl (aq) + NaOH(aq) → NaCl(aq) + H2O(l) TIE: H + (aq) + Cl − (aq) + Na + (aq) + OH − (aq) → Na + (aq) + Cl − (aq) + H2O(l) or NIE: H + (aq) + OH − (aq) → H2O(l) Notice in the neutralization reaction above the Na + and Cl − ions, the spectator ions, remain unchanged. The only chemical reaction occurring is between the H + and OH − ions. Neutralization reactions have heat as a product since energy is released when H + and OH − form a H2O molecule. The heat flow, q, of a process like a chemical reaction can be studied by analyzing its heat exchange with its surroundings. The heat released by a system (a chemical reaction) is absorbed by its surroundings (often this is the solution). qrxn = qsystem = − qsurroundings The equation above says that the heat lost by the system is equal to, but of opposite sign from the heat gained by the surroundings. Thus if the heat change in the surroundings is measured then heat released by the chemical reaction can be calculated. Frequently, such a heat change measurement is done in an insulated container called a calorimeter. In a perfect calorimeter, all of the heat released by the chemical reaction would stay inside the calorimeter. Although our experimental setup utilizes a less  than perfect calorimeter, a â€Å"coffee-cup† calorimeter, the data collected is close to that for a perfect calorimeter. The heat flow into the reaction surroundings (solution), qsurroundings, from the neutralization reaction can be calculated using the following equation where m is the mass of the calorimeter contents, ∆T is the change in temperature, and Cs is the specific heat of the contents. We will assume that the solution in the calorimeter has the same physical properties as water, specifically that Cs = 4.184 J/g†¢Ã‚ °C. qsurroundings = m ∆T Cs In contrast when volume is constant, changes in energy (q) can be related to changes in the internal energy, ΔErxn.2 In this experiment the neutralization of sodium hydroxide (a strong base) with hydrochloric acid (a strong acid) and acetic acid (a weak acid) will be investigated. The base is present in slight excess and, therefore, the acid is the limiting reagent and determines the number of moles of acid and base reacting. Therefore, the heat flow from the reaction is: qrxn = ∆Hrxn (mol acid II. Objectives 1. To determine the enthalpy of neutralization of a strong base with a strong acid. 2. To determine the enthalpy of neutralization of a strong base with a weak acid. 3. To use Hess’ Law to determine the enthalpy of dissociation of the weak acid. III. Procedure – This lab is done is pairs. A. Preparation of Solutions 1. Each lab bench will need make the 0.5000 M acid solutions needed for this lab by diluting 1.000 M stock solutions of HCl and acetic acid. Read the label on the container to obtain the exact molarity of the acid solutions. It will be very close to 1.000M. Lab groups at each bench will share these solutions. 2. Each pair of students will need at least 120 mL of each acid. Accounting for errors and/or extra trials, a total volume of 500 mL of the 0.5000 M acids will be enough for 3 pairs of students. 3. The equipment available for the dilution includes 250.00 and 500.00 mL volumetric flasks. Your instructor will demonstrate how to perform the dilution. (Although volumetric glassware is not commonly used to make quantitative dilutions, the process is appropriate for the solutions used in this lab.) Recall the formula for dilution calculations: M1V1 = M2V2 For this dilution: M1 = 250.00 mL V1 = Molarity of the stock acid solution(known) M2, = Molarity of the dilute acid solution(solve for this – should be close to 0.5000 M) V2 = 500.00 mL 4. Include your dilution calculations in your lab book.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 13

13.Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal, Who, Befouled by the Wicked Taint of Rat Suck, Must Find Her Own Murderer How could I have known that my own tragic failure karma would reach out its slimy tentacles and engeeken my heroic Foo beyond the limits of our white-hot romance? ‘Kayso, I was major freaked about the cops almost getting the Countess and I needed to unburden on Foo, which I didn't have a chance, 'cause, as soon as I returned to the love lair, I ran into the comfort of Foo's arms, and rode him gently to the floor where I French-kissed him until he kinda gagged in ecstasy. Then he just threw me off him, like I was a gob of Bubblicious with all the licious chewed out of it. So he's like, â€Å"Not now, Abby. We have a crisis.† â€Å"You 'bout to have a crisis, nerdslice†-I go in my most authentic hip-hop ‘hood-ho accent-â€Å"crisis of my boot heel in your man marbles.† And he totally ignores my hurt feelings and is like, â€Å"Jared, get the door! She left the door open!† So Jared goes all stumbling across the loft to the door, and I'm all, â€Å"You're stretching out my boots.† And Jared is all, â€Å"Rat fog! Rat fog! Rat fog!† And I'm all, â€Å"Don't call me rat fog, bitch. Who held your hair when you drank that whole bottle of crme de menthe and hurled green for an hour?† And Foo's like, â€Å"Abby, look.† All pointing to the little plastic cages on the coffee table, which are kind of empty, then at this steam that's running around the outside of the room and blowing out from under the fridge in the kitchen and whatnot. And I'm, â€Å"‘Splain, s'il vous pla;t.† And Foo's all, â€Å"The rats came awake as vampyres at dusk. And Jared and I were feeding them with the blood that Jody left, by filling their little water bottles. But then when we turned around, the ones we were about to feed were out of their cages. And then we saw some of the cages were still streaming fog out, and the fog was going for the blood bags.† â€Å"And they bite,† goes Jared. â€Å"Yeah, they bite,† goes Foo. And he pulls up his pant leg and shows me where he's been bitten like a dozen times. And I'm like, â€Å"You can't go vamp without me.† And he's all, â€Å"No, I'd have to have some of their blood in me, and I was careful not to even get any on me.† Then all of a sudden there's a stream of mist coming up my boot (I was wearing my red Docs) and a little head starts to appear out of it. Then Foo snags a tennis racket from, like, out of nowhere and smacks the rat head, which goes flying across the room and hits the wall, trailing like a comet tail of mist. I know! A tennis racket. WTF? So I'm all, â€Å"Where did you get a tennis racket? Is that a secret thing with you?† â€Å"Missing the point,† sings Jared, like I'm totally missing the point. â€Å"Hello? We need to be freaked out that they're going to eat us, Nurse Oblivious.† And right then the mist starts taking form again and coming at me, and Foo bats another half-mist rat across the room. So I'm all, â€Å"Okay, good point. What are we going to do?† And I, like, gesture at the button on my sun jacket, because Foo has replaced the battery, which is out of a laptop, and I'm ready to toast some rodents. And Foo's all, â€Å"No, not yet. We have to figure out a way to study them. I need to turn them back to rats. And I have to figure out how this mist is manifesting. I mean, technically, it's not possible.† And I'm like, â€Å"You mean it's magic?† â€Å"I mean I've never even heard of anything like it in nature.† â€Å"Like magic.† He's like, â€Å"There's no such thing as magic.† I'm like, â€Å"The Countess said it was magic.† He's like, â€Å"My grandmother thinks the microwave is magic.† So I'm all, â€Å"It's not?† And Foo's all, â€Å"Magic is just science we don't understand yet.† So I'm all, â€Å"Told you.† And he like sighs all heavy and does his exasperated science face at me, and he's like, â€Å"We have to get them back in their cages. They can't feed when they are in mist form, so we just need to get them feeding and then we can catch them and put them in the cages.† And I'm like, â€Å"Can you believe that Tommy couldn't learn to turn to mist in five weeks and your rats did it, like, overnight? He must be a total tard.† â€Å"Or we have genius rats,† goes Jared, just as Foo is tennis racketing another rat head off his leg. So I'm all, â€Å"Nope, I don't think that's it. Why don't you just put out a little dish of blood and when they turn solid to drink it you can just tennis racket them into a box?† â€Å"We tried that. They figured it out,† goes Foo. And Jared's all, â€Å"See. Genius rats.† Then, to Foo, I'm all, â€Å"He has a thing for rats.† Foo's like, â€Å"Yeah. I got that. They turn back to solid when exposed to UV light, too, but then they start burning.† Then Jared's like, â€Å"Once, when Lucifer 2 got stuck in a drain pipe in our garage, we sucked him out with my dad's Shop Vac.† And Foo's like, â€Å"That's it. We can suck them up with a Shop Vac.† So I'm like, â€Å"That will just blow the mist out the other side?† â€Å"I can put a really weak UV LED in the barrel of the Shop Vac. Maybe that will be enough to turn them solid without burning them. I'll experiment a little while you're gone.† And I'm all, â€Å"Foo, you know it makes me hot when you talk all nerdy, but what do you mean, while I'm gone?† And he's all, â€Å"To get the Shop Vac. We don't have a Shop Vac.† So I look at Jared, all wobbly-assed on my Skankenstein ® boots, so he's useless, and I'm like, â€Å"Well, I'm not dragging a Shop Vac back on the bus or the F car. Give me your car keys.† And Foo's, like, big â€Å"OH NOEZ† mouth and anime eyes, like, â€Å"Whaaaaa?† And I'm like, â€Å"Unless you really do love your car more than me.† And he's like, â€Å"‘Kay.† And hands them over. Which, as it turns out, was really poor judgment on his part. More L8z. Gotta jet. The tow truck is here. ‘Kayso, it turns out that driving an actual car is way harder than it is in Grand Theft Auto: Zombie Hooker Smackdown. Even though there was only, like, minor damage, it could have been totally avoided if you didn't have to shift so much. Everything was good going to get the Shop Vac, because I only used first and second gear. It was coming home, when I started feeling confident and decided to see if there was a third gear, that it went kind of wrong. Still, all the screaming and crying on Foo's part was kind of over-emo, considering that after the tow truck lowered the Honda, you couldn't even see any damage if you didn't crawl under and look at where the fire hydrant had sort of rearranged a couple of wiry-looking things. And Hondas are totally waterproof for the most part, so no biggie, right? So, it was like this- I drive totally ninja all the way to the Ace Hardware in the Castro, but I didn't park because it involves backing up, which is not in my skill set. So I'm, like, double-parked, and I run in and this crusty guy behind the counter is all, â€Å"You can't park there.† And I'm like, â€Å"Fuck off, butt-munch, I have a guy.† ‘Kayso, I find my gay Builder Bob guy, and he's all, â€Å"Darling, how are you? Fab boots!† And I'm like, â€Å"Thanks, I like your apron. I need a Shop Vac.† And he's all, â€Å"What size?† And I'm like, â€Å"It needs to hold about a hundred rats.† And he's all, â€Å"Girlfriend, we need to party or go shopping and dish.† And I'm, like, totally flattered, because shopping is a sacred thing to gay guys, but I stay on mission, and I'm all, â€Å"In red, if you have it.† Because red is the new black and because it will match my Docs. And so we're going to the Shop Vac section, Bob is like, â€Å"So, how's the dark lord?† And I'm all, â€Å"Oh, he's gone. He tried to tear out my jugular vein, so the Countess threw him out the window and it hurt his feelings.† So Bob pats my shoulder and goes, â€Å"Men. What are you gonna do? He'll be back. The drill worked okay, though?† And I'm like, â€Å"Oh yeah. We got him out, but he broke both his legs because he was kind of eager.† Then Bob gets all protective Daddy-voice on me and is like, â€Å"Safety word, sweetheart. Everyone needs a safety word.† So I'm all, â€Å"‘Kay.† Then Builder Bob helps me get my Shop Vac into the car, because it turns out that it takes a vacuum big enough to sleep inside to suck up a hundred rats. ‘Kayso, then I drove and that thing happened with the car and the cops came and they were all, â€Å"You don't have a license and you're not allowed to drive on the sidewalk, blah, blah, oh my God my insipid cop life is so boring I should just eat my gun, bluster, blah, blah.† And I'm all, â€Å"Chill, cops. Call my cop minions Rivera and Cavuto, s'il vous plaà ®t. They will confirm that I am on a secret cop mission and should not be fucked with by pathetic day dwellers like yourselves.† Then I presented them with Rivera's card, which I whipped out of my messenger bag like it was my badge of badassness. So cop one, who is in charge because he has the car keys, is all, â€Å"I'll check this out, wait here while I go make radio noises in the car like a humongous loser while my wife is home boning some huge stud-muffin.† I'm paraphrasing. And in like two minutes, up pulls Rivera and Cavuto, and they have a dog now. His name is Marvin, and he's trs cute. He's all red, and like a Doberman or something badass, but he totally likes me and his little stubby tail was wagging and I let him drink some of the hydrant water out of my hand, and he did, even though there was plenty of water everywhere, but I guess it tasted like street and whatnot. So I'm like, â€Å"Hey, Rivera, tell these douche waffles that you and the ass bear are my bitches.† And Rivera is all concerned quiet cop voice, â€Å"She has mental problems.† â€Å"Head injury caused Tourette's syndrome,† goes Cavuto. â€Å"We'll handle this from here,† goes Rivera. So I got to ride in the back of the cop car with Marvin and the Shop Vac. It was really crowded and Marvin was all doggie licky love face, so my makeup was trs fucked up by the time we got to the loft. So I'm all, â€Å"Marvin loves me good long time, cops.† And Cavuto's all, â€Å"Figures, he's a cadaver dog.† And I'm all, â€Å"Sure, just make up things to make yourself sound cooler.† And Rivera's like, â€Å"Out. Tell your boyfriend we need our jackets ASAP. And after you deliver the message, go home. You're supposed to be at your mother's house.† ‘Kayso, they abandoned me on the sidewalk with my Shop Vac and drove off. I could see little tears of doggie despair in Marvin's eyes. So I text Foo that I need help getting the Shop Vac up the stairs and he comes down just as the tow truck pulls up, so all the crying and the screaming happens, and Foo is totally inconsolable, even when I offered him a hand job, which is really the best I could do on the sidewalk with people going by and whatnot, but I was rejected, proving, I think, that he really does love his car more than me. So it's like, Oh noez! And an inky-colored despair of rejection enveloped me like the black tortilla of depression around a pain burrito. I needed to mope and grieve for my lost innocence, but no. We had to fix the vacuum so it would suck vampy rat fog and turn it into vampy rat chunks. So while Foo wired science stuff into the Shop Vac, I had to get Jared down off the kitchen counter, where he had decided to stand and chuck a major spaz because he hit his rat fog tolerance level. And Jared's all, â€Å"Get them off me! Get them off me!† And he's swinging the tennis racket around like a friggin' windmill, when the rat fog isn't anywhere near him, but running around the edges of the room like a steamy baseboard. And I'm all, â€Å"You must chill, Spunk Monkey, my boots are scratching the counters.† Which Jared takes as his cue to start screaming like a little girl. (When Lily and I were going through our Gothic Lolita fashion phase, which we both abandoned later, me because I'd just gotten my lip ring and I kept dribbling lattes on my lacy parts, and Lily because ruffles made her ass look huge, we used to go to Washington Square Park and practice our horrified little-girl screams, but even without practice, Jared was way better than either of us ever was. I think maybe it's his asthma. Me and Lily could pown him at creepy staring, though.) Anyway, I was just glad that Jody took his dagger away from him, because someone could have lost an eye if he was still holding on to it when I swept his feet out from under him with the same stainless-steel torchiere lamp that the Countess had used on Tommy. (Although it was kind of bent now.) And he's all, â€Å"Ow, ow, ow.† And I'm all, â€Å"Your cross-dressing sissy-man kung-fu is no match for my superior household lighting kung-fu.† And he whines like, â€Å"I'm going home. You hurt me. You suck. This sucks. I have to go have family dinner-with my family-and I'm going to school tomorrow so you can just fuck off and die, Abby Normal.† And I'm like, â€Å"Fine, give me my boots.† And he's like, â€Å"Fine.† And I'm like, â€Å"Fine.† And it would have been way better if he could have just stormed out right then, but it took us about a half hour to get my boots off of him, with me sitting in the sink and him on the counter, guarding me with the tennis racket, because it turned out that I have a pretty low tolerance for rat fog trying to bite me, too. ‘Kayso, we got my boots off of Jared and he decided to stay and help because it turns out that even a stream of biting rat fog is more fun than family dinner. So Foo had the Shop Vac all scienced up with sunlight LEDs and whatnot and he turns it on and starts sucking in the mist with most awesome suckage. (Gay Builder Bob rocks hardware!) And it's so cool, because we can see the fog go in-then we can hear the thump as the sun LED turns the rats to solid again and they hit the inside of the plastic drum. And Foo is all yelling over the motor, â€Å"We may have to unload and put them in their boxes before we get too many. We don't want to open this and try to deal with a hundred rats.† And I'm all, â€Å"Why don't we just leave them in there until sunup and then they'll all be asleep?† And Foo looks at me, all surprised, and I'm like, â€Å"Shut up. I can be smart and hawt.† And he's all, â€Å"‘Kay,† which I don't know whether he meant sarcastically, or that I couldn't be smart, or that I wasn't hawt. But I never found out, because right then the Shop Vac starts making this, foof-thoop splat noise, and Jared lets loose with his little-girl scream. And it turns out that the exhaust of the Shop Vac is blowing vampy rats out the back side, which is the foof-thoop noise, and splattering them against the wall, which is the splat. And with every one, Jared is eeking. So it's like, Foof-thoopsplat-eek! Foof-thoop-splat-eek! Foof-thoop-splat-eek! I know! It would make a totally cool industrial beat for a dance groove. But I didn't sample it because there was stuff happening. And Foo is all, â€Å"Pick them up and put them in their boxes. Seal them with duct tape.† ‘Cause it turns out that vampy rats are pretty durable, and after they splat and slide down the wall, they are starting to pull themselves together again and sort of limp away, but slow enough to catch. But they're still all squishy and whatnot. So Jared and I just turn to Foo and give him our best, â€Å"Bitch, please,† look. So Foo's all, â€Å"Okay, then, you work the hose.† And I'm all, â€Å"Sure, now you want me to work your hose-â€Å" And he's all, â€Å"Abby, please!† Up until then I thought Foo was the most chill love ninja in the Bay Area, but it turns out that if his science gets a little sideways he goes to pieces. So I take the hose and start doing the rat suck, while Foo finds some rubber gloves and a spatula to scrape up the splatter pets. Then Jared gets the idea of shooting the rats right into their little plastic cages, which, as it turns out, kind of works after we blast a couple of them through the plastic and he starts holding the boxes against a pillow he tapes on the wall. And Foo starts duct taping on the lids before the vamp rats can pull themselves together. Then I'm all, â€Å"You know, if we could use this to shoot tiny dogs at the vamp kitties, we'd be finished with this nonsense in a day or two.† And Foo and Jared both roll their eyes at me like I'm high or something, when they are the ones sealing in mashed rats for freshness. ‘Kayso, by, like, midnight, we have all the rats boxed again, and most of them are kind of fixed, but some of them are still pretty fucked up from the flight, and Jared is all, â€Å"I'm going home. I have issues.† Which I know probably means that he is going to go home and break the news to Lucifer 2 that they are no longer BFFs because Jared has lost his rodent wood forever due to our night of rat carnage, which is a good thing, I guess. Then Foo is like, â€Å"I have to go, too. I have to meet with my academic advisor in the morning, and I have to prepare, then I have work in the afternoon.† And I'm all, â€Å"You can prepare here.† And Foo's like, â€Å"I don't think I can.† And he looks away. I was going to tell him that I had decided to become a creature of the night, but they were bailing on me, so I was all, â€Å"Fine. You two run along. I'll stay here.† And Foo was like, â€Å"Wait until dawn, then give each of them a water bottle of blood. They'll heal. But make sure you tape their cages back up so they can't escape. Blah, blah, biology, science, behavior, science word, science word, blah, blah.† So I kissed him like it was the last time, and went into the bedroom to lie down and wait until dawn, but there was like this huge maze made out of wood on our bed, so I went back out into the living room and chilled with the rats on the futon until dawn. I couldn't sleep anyway, because I was thinking of all the people I was totally going to get revenge on when I was nosferatu, after I found Jody and Tommy and rescued them, of course. ‘Kayso, like the Terminator (the liquid one, not the one that was governor), I will rise from the wreckage of my own metallic spooge to conquer all who oppose me. I know what I have to do. When Foo is at work, and Jared is at school, I shall use the blood that is blessed with the dark gift and become nosferatu. So suck it, bitches! ‘Kayso, at dawn, when all the rats stopped scrambling around in their little cages, I found one of the syringes that Tommy had gotten from the needle exchange program when he was pretending to be a junky, and I drew blood from the most healthy vamp rat we had. Then I had to decide to drink it or inject it, and after a while, I decided to inject it, which it turns out works just like in the movies and hurts way less than getting your eyebrow pierced. So then I lay down and waited for the vamping to come on. I thought about Foo, riding the BART all the way back to his parents' house in the Sunset instead of staying with me, and how that was kind of an assbag move on his part. And I thought of our time together, over six weeks, and how it would be hard on him when I was a superior creature of unspeakable evil and supernatural beauty. And I thought that maybe the Countess and Flood and I might have to live together in a mnage trois, and Foo and Jared might have to be our bug-eating minions, like Renfield in Dracula, except Foo would still have his fly manga hair and I would do him occasionally out of pity. And I cried a little, over the loss of my humanity and whatnot, because I realized that as soon as I was done saving Tommy and Jody, and enslaving Foo and Jared, I was going to sneak into Mr. Snavely's living room one night-come in as mist under the door-then form into my most awesome alabaster naked badassness and freak him completely the fuck out for failing me in Biology, and that it would be kind of an inhuman thing to do. And as I grieved, I fell into the deep sleep of the undead. I know. Trs awesome. But no! Now I'm awake, and it's still light out, and the vamp rats are still out and I don't have super powers and my evil is still totally speakable. Fucksocks! I forgot, I have to die before I change. I looked all over for that potassium chloride stuff that Foo said they killed the rats with, but all I found was the hammer, and I was all, â€Å"I don't think so.† So I went up to Market Street and thought I'd throw myself in front of a bus, but then, what if they left my body out in the sun and I burned up? So that was out. So then I was like, â€Å"Oh, duh, cut your wrists?† But it hurt like holy fuck, so I only kind of cut one wrist a little bit, and I bled for like a half hour and I wasn't even light-headed, so I was all, â€Å"Fuck this fun-free circus, I need an accomplice.† So I called the suicide hotline. And I'm all, â€Å"I need help.† And the guy is all, â€Å"What's your name?† And I'm all, â€Å"You don't have caller ID? What kind of lame hotline is this?† And he's all, â€Å"It says here that your name is Allison. Are you okay, Allison?† And I'm all, â€Å"No, I'm not okay. I'm calling the suicide hotline.† And he's all, â€Å"You don't want to commit suicide, Allison.† And I'm all, â€Å"Exactly, doofasaurus, I need someone to take me out. I need it to be quick, private, painless, and it shouldn't fuck up my hair too much.† And he's like, â€Å"But there's so much to live for.† So I'm like, â€Å"You're burning my minutes, fuckstick. I need a number for a hit man or one of those Kevorkian doctors.† And he's all, â€Å"I can't help you with that.† So I'm all, â€Å"Loser!† And I offed my phone. I can't believe it, but it turns out that the Motherbot was right. Sometimes, the only people you can trust are family. (â€Å"‘Scuse me, I barely suppressed a rainbow yawn when I typed that.) So here I am, waiting for my little sister, Ronnie, to get home from school so she can murder me, then hide my body under the bed until I return as the true Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Dark. This will be my last entry as a mortal. I have to go pick out an ensem for my death. I wonder how she'll do it? It better be painless or the first thing on my undead to-do list will be to open a bottle of Whoop-Ass P.M. on little sister.

Contemporary issue related to a sociological theory Term Paper

Contemporary issue related to a sociological theory - Term Paper Example The society is made of individuals and the cultural and societal norms is based on the shared meanings and understanding of the individuals within the society. This indicates that the shared meanings create the values placed on objects that society purchases and consumes. This also directs the consumer behavior, by which the private owners take advantage of, monopolizing the production and the market for certain products, like cellular phones or internet connection. Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism explains how products are given their values, how it affects the structure of capitalism and how these values and the exchange of value affects the social structure existing in the society. Fetishism is defined as an unusual display of devotion or intense attachment towards a certain object believing that it possesses extraordinary abilities and power (Morrison, 2006). Marx argues that individuals tend to fixate on objects believing that they have inherent value, something that is extraordinarily powerful. This makes the object valuable, according to the value the society placed on it. Capitalism is seen to promote the values of objects according to the group that owns the means of production. The value of each product or service is based on how capitalist see the product’s value and how the masses would accept the product. One good example for this is when the sms became a worldwide phenomena. Aside from the benefits and features along with it, everybody was going gaga over texting. Everything has its price and value, but in a sociological approach such as marking strategies, these capitalists create the want and the need of their products in the market. By attacking the market in a psychological manner creating the want, the value of a service and product will be set by these capitalist. This is an advanced strategy in business. In addition to that,

Theories of Human Communication, the social media and the Arab spring Essay

Theories of Human Communication, the social media and the Arab spring - Essay Example The first wave of such a change was felt with the advent of mobile phones and the short messaging services (SMS) offered by them. Electronic media like e-mail and instant messaging followed next. Just when it seemed that communication couldn’t get any better, social media and networking via the internet took over, bringing people from every nook and corner of the world together onto a single platform. Though the world has been called a ‘global village’ since the beginning of this century, it was in this decade that the label served its true purpose. Human communication has attained a new definition, and is now at its full force through social media. Social media has been the major driving force behind the Arab uprising that is reverberating in the Arab world today, and it is only through social media that people are at freedom to voice their thoughts and fight for what they deserve. According to S.F. Scudder, "All living entities, beings and creatures communicate. They communicate through movements, sounds, reactions, physical changes, gestures, languages, breath, etc†1. This statement is a part of the theory of communication and is known as the ‘Universal Communication Law’. Indeed, communication is an integral part of living, and it is impossible to survive without it. Communication models and their relevance in today’s times Adler and Rodman, in their insightful book, Understanding Human Communication, describe two different modes of communication, namely linear and transactional. According to the linear communication model, â€Å"communication is like giving an injection: a sender encodes ideas and feelings into some sort of message and then conveys them to a receiver who decodes them† (12). Face-to-face contact and other conventional channels like writing are included in this form of communication. The transactional model of communication is more fluidic and relational. There is a â€Å"simultaneous sen ding and receiving† of messages. This kind of communication includes mass media2 and social interaction. Face-to-face communication is decreasing rapidly, with the advent of social networking and electronic means of communication. In fact, many major surveys have pointed out that those who are more prone to the use of social networks are less likely to maintain face-to-face interactions in daily life. This brings us to the relevance of the linear mode of communication. While it is still a necessity in daily commute, human communication in recent times is largely based on the transactional model. Everyone is turning towards video conferencing, instant messaging, tweeting, and social networking in order to â€Å"stay in touch† with acquaintances. How social media defines our lives today An assessment of the impact of social media, in recent times, indicates that a majority of the population depends on the internet for most of their daily needs. As described by Adler and R odman: Until recently, most social support came from personal acquaintances: friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and so on. In the last ?fteen years, though, there has been an explosion of â€Å"virtual communities† in which strangers meet online to share interests and concerns, and to gain support from one another on virtually every problem. The most popular support topics include medical conditions, eating disorders, sexual orientation, divorce, shyness, addictions, and loneliness (140). As is evident from this scenario,

Week7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week7 - Assignment Example The package, which is a small white box, holds the plastic container at an upright and tight position, preventing it from spilling or crushing due to sudden impact that can occur mostly when the products are being transported. The package represents a beehive and the ridges embossed on it represent planks of wood that are joined together by nails that appear as dots on the box. The box is embossed with the Klein Constantia symbol, which informs consumers that the Knees Bees is a product of Klein Constantia. The bee appearing on the diecut slit on the box invites the consumers to open the package, which also contain images of bees and small diecut bees at the base of the container, which denotes that inside the container is a factual honeycomb. The image of the bee on the outer surface of the packages, those inside the container and the small diecut bees at the base of the box easily informs the consumer that the packaged product has some association with bees. The consumer can easily interpret this to mean that the product inside the container is honey; this is because honey is the most common product that is produced by

The Service Blueprints to Determine the Services Level Essay

The Service Blueprints to Determine the Services Level - Essay Example The fundamental concept of marketing that is used to model the service marketing involves the philosophy of customer orientation. In this case, the customer is considered to be useful in determining what the organization’s activities are and their purpose in life. The principle states that all activities carried out within an organization are basically for the good and benefit of the customers.The philosophy of service marketing involves taking into consideration the interests of the customers, maximizing and satisfying their needs and wants. The purpose of service marketing is to generate profits that can enable the company to run its operations in the right manner. The blueprint of a service is based on facts such as illustrating the actions and time involved when undertaking different actions of service for an individual or an organization. The actions involved in service delivery have an execution time that is allocated to it in order to enhance a certain level of toleranc e within an organization.This process entails the determination of the customers’ needs and later on looks for factors aimed at ensuring that the internal objectives of a business are met within a stipulated period of time. It also involves describing the activities that are used to design and manage services such as schedule, project plans, detailed representations, design plans and service platforms for an organization.The importance of the process in the marketing mix is that it determines how a service should be created and how it will be delivered to the customer to meet their needs and requirements. The major characteristics of the service process in the marketing mix include divergence, complexity, service location, customer participation as well as the service itself which may be technology or process based.

Introduction to Estimation and Analysis of Variance Research Paper

Introduction to Estimation and Analysis of Variance - Research Paper Example The One – Way ANOVA is thus named, since it compares the variance of the different groups as a function of one Independent Variable. The ANOVA can only be conducted if certain conditions have been met – the data collected is either on an equal interval or ratio scale; the cases are independent of each other, the data comes from a normally distributed population, and that the population variance for the groups is equal. An example of a situation in which it would be possible to apply the One – Way ANOVA static would be one in which the efficacy of different training methods was to be measured. Suppose that a group of novices was to be taught a particular trade, and there were a number of ways in which the novices could be trained. It is possible to study the results of different kinds of training on group’s o novices and use the One – Way ANOVA to identify the most effective training method. ... Thus the levels of the independent variable are categorical; and exclusive. For this example, it is possible to examine four types of training methods – Classroom teaching; On-the-job training; Guided Practice, and Simulation Training. Thus, the Independent variable – Type of Training – now has four levels - Classroom teaching; On-the-job training; Guided Practice, and Simulation Training. The effect of these techniques is tested on the way in which the individual completes a day of independent activity at the end of the training period. Thus, it is possible to say that at the end of the training period, the novices are tested to evaluate their level of learning. On the basis of this understanding it is possible to say that the Dependent Variable in this example is the Learning Exhibited by the novice, as measured by a test of skill. If this experiment were to be conducted; it would require the testing of a hypothesis. The null hypothesis for a One – Way A NOVA is – â€Å"There is no difference between the groups on learning that may be associated with the type of training†. Assuming that the study expected to find a difference in the learning exhibited; the alternative hypothesis â€Å"There will be a significant difference in the learning exhibited by novices as a function of the training method† may be put forth. In the event that there is a significant difference between the four groups – that is – the ANOVA static is significant at the chosen level; it becomes necessary to conduct a Post – Hoc test like the Tukey’s HSD. This is because, a significant ANOVA result indicates that there is a significant difference between the groups; but it does not indicate which groups differ significantly from each other. In order to ascertain this; i9t is

Motivation Techniques in Workforce Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Motivation Techniques in Workforce - Case Study Example Big Ray’s company is supposed to have good human resource policies (Bernanke 23). It gives fair treatment to all employees and has a no-layoff policy. It is recommended that the human resource managers be motivating their employees to be more productive by offering incentives. The incentives include a medical cover, gifts etc.   There is a need for Big Ray’s company to promote a team spirit where everyone in the organization is made to believe that they â€Å"are in this thing together† (Bernanke 25). This will apply to all managers and employees. Great things will be achieved when people work together.   Communication problems are supposed to be resolved in order to enhance loyalty. Lack of communication is interpreted by employees as not caring. Open and frequent communication with employees at Big Ray’s company will build trust and diminishes fear. Communication is important because employees will air their grievances and make suggestions. This is important at the Big Ray’s company because of the nature of the job. This should be maintained because it boosts the morale of workers.   Motivation is important in any work because it increases job performance (Bernanke 27). Employees who are motivated to work by being given bonuses increase their output than their counterparts who are not given bonuses, financial incentives etc.   Employees work well in an environment that is free of too much noise and health hazards. For example, the area where the materials at Big Ray’s company is handled, cut and processed is loud and dangerous. This is supposed to be reduced in order to compete with their competitors who offer good working conditions to their employees.

Mark & Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Mark & Spencer - Essay Example The analysis has been carried out using Key performance indicators (KPI), which are essential in determining the nature of performance being shown by the company, has been outlined in the appendices. The balance scorecard and the strategy map formulated can serve as an effective guiding tool for the company, which when followed in a proper way, can be utilized to predict its effective future plan. This study contains suitable recommendations based on the key parameters used for the purpose of analysis which can serve as a benchmark for the company to evaluate its performance thereby comparing them to the performance of other peer organizations. The recommendations made can contribute significantly towards the identification of the company’s strength and weaknesses in the HR division and help it to bring about improvements in its financial and non-financial performances. In the end, critical discussion and evaluation has been done suggesting the usage of balanced scorecard anal ysis and strategy map. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Vision and Strategy 4 3. Balanced Scorecard for Marks and Spencer PLC (Human Resource Division) 5 3.1. Financial Perspective 5 3.2. Customer perspective 6 3.3. Business Operations perspective 6 3.4. ... Having a worldwide presence, M&S offers varied line of products to its customers ranging from clothing; home ware and food retail (Reuters, 2013). The report will conduct a thorough analysis of the human resource division of M&S thereby identifying its vision and strategy. In addition to that, a balance scorecard and strategy map will be formulated from the Human Resource Division perspective depicting the alignment between the strategies adopted and their significance towards the company’s goals and targets. 2. Vision and Strategy The HR team of M&S deals with ‘people’ side of the organization which adheres to find the right mix of talented people to join them and then ensuring their happiness & growth alongside the growth of the company (Marks and Spencer, 2013). Their vision is to employ a rigid and disciplined workforce where the leadership team along with the workforce will ensure that all their tasks are directed towards the achievement of the strategic obje ctives (Marks and Spencer, 2013). Their focus lies in making the workforce understand their strategy, embrace it and motivate them towards supporting strategy execution. In addition, they also want to ensure the integration of a competent workforce (especially people holding the key positions) and imparting them the necessary knowledge and skills through various training programs whereby, the workforce can be of significant contribution towards achieving sustainable success (Huselid, 2005b). The strategies of M&S’s human resource division can be best explained by the HR architecture that they follow. Employing the right mix of qualified HR personnel whose competencies can be aligned to the needs of the business (Marks and Spencer, 2013).

My Idea of a Professional Teacher Essay Example for Free

My Idea of a Professional Teacher Essay A student is nothing without his/her teacher. Without them we would know nothing and be nothing. The teacher is the one that helps the student understand everything around him/her. The teacher’s pride and glory is to know that he/she helped create a student that would someday live a successful life. When the word â€Å"professional teacher† was said, Sir Camacho comes to my mind. Even though there are a lot of great teachers in Regional Science High School, I chose him because he is a teacher that everyone likes, he is a teacher that is strict but very fun to be with, and he is a teacher that turns something so hard to something very understandable, he is a teacher that understands his students, and helps them in times of need. I remember the first day of being a junior; Sir Camacho was our first subject teacher, I thought he was a very strict teacher that wants every lesson he teaches to be understood by the students immediately, but I was proven wrong. We got along very well and he even shared his experiences to us—his students. Aristotle loves him, he gives us some advices, and we share some secrets with him. I consider Sir Camacho as one of the great teachers that taught me. He is a man that can be a teacher at the same time a friend. Words can’t be enough to describe how much I’m thankful of him and the great knowledge he shared us. Sir Camacho should really be called Superman.

Discrimination and the Arts Essay Example for Free

Discrimination and the Arts Essay 1. W.E.B Du Bois makes a strong and persuasive argument about â€Å"double consciousness† and racial struggle in America. ANSWER THIS QUESTION: Do you agree that â€Å"art†Ã¢â‚¬â€broadly defined—can be an antidote or a form of resistance against certain kinds of discrimination? 2. Take a position on this issue by first exploring at least three of our course texts, starting with Du Bois and leading through several of our other readings (Martin Luther King, Alice Walker, bell hooks, or any of the other writers we’ve read in this unit or the previous unit on disability). IN OTHER WORDS, you must use Du Bois and at least two other authors in Cultural Conversations. Is there, for example, an art to the practice of nonviolence such as King describes, or to the use of language discussed in Linton and Slackjaw? 3. Ultimately, your exploration of these connected ideas should lead to a clear position of your own, and you must demonstrate in this paper that you can synthesize a number of differing ideas in the pursuit of your own argument. We will discuss strategies to do so in class. 4. Provide an example from contemporary culture of people resisting (or not resisting) discrimination. Use this example to demonstrate your position on art as resistance. Consider questions such as: would art have helped the less empowered people fight back? Did art play a part in the arguments against discrimination? In what ways does art address discrimination in your example? You may use print or web sources for this example as long as you document these carefully. In addition, you must define what you mean by â€Å"art† in order to construct a strong argument. 5. Include in your paper an acknowledgement and rebuttal of an opposing or counter-argument. This section of your paper may be short, but it is a vital aspect of your paper, so don’t forget to include it. IN OTHER WORDS, give the other side of your answer to the top question about art as an effective form of resistance and then argue against it. If you answer â€Å"yes,† then say how people could argue â€Å"no† and argue against them. 6. You will need to use at least five sources for this paper: THREE from Cultural Conversations (Du Bois plus two others) and TWO related to your example (they can be nonscholarly). 7. GRADING BASED ON: forming a thesis, showing originality, constructing and organizing your argument, using  textual evidence, showing you understand the main themes of the course/unit, meeting stylistic and grammatical standards, and finding and using sources. 8. Use MLA format and citation style. Also use 1 inch margins and Times New Roman or similar font. No cover page please. Number your pages and include a header with your name and my name on it. Staple your paper. Don’t forget a title. Proofread. W.E.B. Du Bois Marcus Garvey Booker T. Washington Langston Hughes Anna Julia Cooper Frances E.W. Harper Anonymous Reviewer Lifting the Veil of Ignorance, B.T. Washington Memorial at Tuskegee University From Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952): â€Å"Then in my minds eye I see the bronze statue of the college Founder, the cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above the face of a kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding.† Bob Marley â€Å"Redemption Song† â€Å"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery None but ourselves can free our minds.† Langston Hughes â€Å"I, Too, Sing America† Frances E.W. Harper â€Å"The Burdens of All† From W.E.B. Du Bois’ Criteria of Negro Art: PAGE 160: â€Å"The apostle of beauty thus becomes the apostle of truth and right not by choice but by inner and outer compulsion. Free he is but his freedom is ever bounded by truth and justice; and slavery only dogs him when he is denied the right to tell the truth or recognize an ideal of justice†¦ Thus, all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists†¦ I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda. But I do care when propaganda is confined to one side while the other is stripped and silent.†

Cardiac Activity and Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) Waveform

Cardiac Activity and Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) Waveform Lachlan Donnet-Jones Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the leading causes of mortality in Australia. One of the primary causes of SCD is cardiac dysrhythmias, such as, Ventricular Tachycardia (VT). The most effective treatment for life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias is defibrillation. This essay will examine the relationship between cardiac activity and the Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) waveform, and discuss how defibrillation may terminate this dysrhythmia, allowing the heart to return to a normal rhythm. The typical healthy adult heart will have a resting heart rate of between 60 and 100 beats per minute (Saladin, 2011). When the heart beats abnormally fast, it pumps less effectively, which decreases the level of perfusion to the tissue of the body, including the heart itself. This rapid heart rate increases the hearts muscle tissues (myocardium) demand for oxygen, and without intervention, can lead to the death of myocardial cells, which is known as a Myocardial Infarction (MI) (Huazers, 20). Each year in Australia approximately 55,000 people suffer a heart attack, or an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). This is equal to 150 heart attacks per day or one in every 10 minutes (Heart Foundation). The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that over 350,000 Australians will suffer an AMI at some point in their lives (ABS, health survey). In Trappes’ 2012 research article, Trappe notes that there is no single factor that causes an AMI, it is a multifactorial problem, however, approximately ninety percent of AMI’s are caused by tachyarrhythmia’s (Trappe, 2012). Before one can gain a thorough understanding of dysthymias, it is necessary to develop a fundamental grasp of the heart’s electrical conduction system and the associated physiology and pathophysiology. The primary function of the electrical conduction system is to transmit electrical impulses from the sinoatrial node (SA node) (normal site of conception) down to the atria and ventricles, triggering a contraction of heart muscle (myocardium) and controlling the heart rate. In a normal sinus rhythm, originating from the SA node, there are three phases; atrial depolarisation, ventricular depolarisation and atrial and ventricular repolarisation. The SA node is found within the wall of the right atrium proximal to the entrance of the superior vena cava. Similar to all electrical nodes within the heart, the SA node is composed of pacemaker cells which generate automatic and regular electrical impulses. These electrical impulses travel through the walls of the right atrium, causing contraction of the heart muscle (myocardium), to the atrioventricular node (AV node) via internodal conduction tracts (anterior, middle, and posterior). A final SA node conduction pathway, known as Bachmann’s bundle (interatrial conduction tract), transmits electrical impulses across the heart to the left atrium. On an electrocardiogram (ECG) this atrial depolarisation is represented by the P wave. The fibrous annulus is a non-conductive layer of tissue which prevents the electrical impulse from travelling outside the perimeter of the atrium. The primary function of the AV node is to process the electrical impulses from the atria to the bundle of His in a way that slows the impulses arrival at the ventricles by approximately 0.12 seconds. This delay allows for the atria to empty and the ventricles to fill before the next contraction. After the bundle of His, the electrical impulse will travel down the right bundle branch and the left common bundle branch. These bundle branches continue to subdivide into smaller branches, the smallest of which connect to the Purkinje network, an elaborate mesh of minute Purkinje fibres which spread throughout the ventricles. In a normal functioning heart it will take an electrical impulse approximately 0.2 seconds to travel from the SA node to the Purkinje network in the ventricles. On an ECG, this is shown as the P-R interval. At this point the impulse causes the ventricles to contract, pumping the blood out of the ventricles and into the systemic circulation. This depolarisation of the ventricles is represented by the QRS complex. Immediately following a QRS complex, is a period of time in which there is no electrical activity in the myocardium. This is known as the S-T segment and is normally represented as a flat line, level with the isoelectric line of an ECG. The proceeding T wave represents the repolarisation of the ventricles to their resting state. If at any point in this process the electrical impulse is disturbed, it can create a cardiac dysrhythmia, such as if the SA node were to produce rapid electrical impulses, resulting in tachycardia (fast heart beat). Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) is a type of tachycardia that originates within the inferior chambers of the heart, called the ventricles. The ventricles are the primary pumps of the heart, therefore, when they are compromised it can quickly deteriorate into a life-threatening dysrhythmia, such as, ventricular fibrillation (VF) or asystole (Chou, 2008). The diagnosis of VT is made by examining the rhythm seen on a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Although numerous diagnostic criteria have been developed, such as the ‘Brugada Criteria’ (Brugada, 1991), the following are the most commonly accepted (Riley, 2008). The rate of VT is above 100 per minute, typically 150 to 200, with a regular rhythm. The R-S complex is absent in precordial leads, and there are three or more consecutive Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) present (AV dissociation). The ectopic pacemaker is below the Atrioventricular node (AV node), therefore, the PR interval is irrelevant. In addition, different ambulance services will have their own specific diagnostic criteria for VT, for example, Ambulance Tasmania (AT) Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG’s) state that the rhythm must present with QRS complexes of over 0.12 seconds, and be sustained for a period of over 30 seconds (sustained VT). VT can be classified using three methods; morphology, episode duration, and symptoms. In regards to morphology, there are two primary categories of VT; monomorphic and polymorphic. Monomorphic VT has numerous causes, but is determined by consistent appearance across all leads of an ECG. A common reason that the beats from each lead appear the same, is because the impulse is being generated from an increased rate of automaticity in a single point from the left or right ventricles. This means that the pacemaker cells, such as the Purkinje fibres in the left and right ventricles, that are able to reach an action potential on their own accord (automaticity), have increased the rate at which they fire impulses (intrinsic rate). Another reason for monomorphic VT is due to the presence of a re-entry circuit within the ventricle. A re-entry circuit occurs when an electrical impulse constantly travels in a constricted circle within the heart, as opposed to moving from one end of the heart to the other, like a normal electrical impulse circuit. Although monomorphic VT has many causes and contributing factors, the most common cause is scarring of the myocardial tissue from a previous MI episode. The scarred tissue left behind does not conduct electrical impulses, and therefore, the potential for a circuit around the scar can result in tachycardia. This is similar to the aforementioned re-entrant circuit, and is a common cause of other dysrhythmias, such as, atrial flutter (Af) and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Scar-related monomorphic VT is predominantly prevalent in patients who have a previously survived a MI, particularly in those who have damaged myocardium as a result (John, reference). Unlike the cons istent rhythm seen is monomorphic VT, polymorphic VT is an irregular rhythm that has constant variations in its morphology. A second method to define VT is studying the duration of the episode. Three or more consistent contractions on an ECG, originating from within a ventricle at over 100 beats per minute, is determined as VT. If the tachycardia rhythm terminates itself in under 30 seconds, it is considered non-sustained VT. If the rhythm continues beyond 30 seconds, it is considered sustained VT. The final method to classify VT is reviewing symptoms. When a patient is in VT, the loss of co-ordinated atrial contraction and high heart rate can impair cardiac output (CO), and therefore, they will not have a palpable pulse. This is known as Pulseless VT. Pulseless VT is concomitant with an absence of cardiac output (CO), and therefore, according to AT clinical practice guidelines, is to be treated as worst case scenario, which is ventricular fibrillation (VF), a shockable rhythm (CPG Reference). In a report from the American College of Cardiology, Zipes et. al note that VT can occasionally be accompanied by reasonable cardiac output and may even present as asymptomatic, however, the heart will not tolerate this rhythm for a sustained period of time, and will eventually deteriorate to pulseless VT or VF. Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) with a bundle branch block (BBB) or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is commonly misdiagnosed as VT (Trappe). This is due to the similar diagnostic characteristics, such as, wide QRS complexes and high heart rates, which are mutual in all wide complex tachycardia (litfl). It is important to differentiate the two because certain medications used to treat SVT could potentially worsen the patient’s condition. As Trappe notes in his research article ‘Treating critical supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias’, it is always beneficial to treat for the worst case scenario, in this case, VT (Trappe, 2010). This opinion is mutual in regards to Ambulance Tasmania CPG’s, where it recommends treating for worst case scenario. Once a shockable dysrhythmia has been recognised, it is necessary to intervene with an external source of electrical activity to correct the hearts rhythm. Defibrillation is the standard and most effective treatment for cardiac dysrhythmias, such as VT and VF (Reference). Defibrillation is the process of using a device called a defibrillator to deliver a therapeutic measure or ‘shock’ of electrical current through the heart. The current delivered, aims to depolarise a critical mass (Critical mass theory**) of the heart muscle (myocardium), interrupting the dysrhythmia and allowing the heart’s natural pacemaker, the SA node, to return to a normal sinus rhythm. Defibrillators are becoming widely available in the form of transvenous, implanted (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), or external (automated external defibrillators) devices. Despite the different forms a defibrillation device may present in, they all operate on the same principle. There are two different methods of delivering an electrical shock from a defibrillation device; monophasic and biphasic waveforms. Monophasic is the ‘old’ method in which the electrical current travelled in one direction through a patient’s chest. The second method is using a biphasic waveform, meaning the current is delivered to the heart in two vectors (two directions). Due to the use of two vectors, the peak electrical current needed to revert a dysrhythmia is decreased to 200 joules, as opposed to 360 joules of a monophasic waveform. Due to the high voltage (360 joules) used in monophasic waveform it can cause superficial burns to the patients skin. Additionally, _____ found the use of a biphasic waveform to be more effective at returning the heart to a sinus rhythm and resulted in less damage to myocardium, leading to better patient outcomes (Reference) . ____ notes that for the aforementioned reasons, monophasic waveform defibrillation is quickly being replaced with biphasic (Reference). Page 1 of 5

The Effects Of Living At Walden Essay -- Henry David Thoreau Walden Ph

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau gave us what would become his most famous non-fiction book, Walden; or life in the Woods. In this, Thoreau describes his project at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau decided that he was going to live â€Å"deliberately† in the woods for over two years and live off of a limited economy and isolate himself from society in order to gain a more objective understanding of it. But one has to ask the question, what does Thoreau mean that he wants to â€Å"live ‘deliberately’†? Thoreau himself said that he wanted to â€Å"live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.†(Thoreau, 61) He wanted to live deliberately because he believed that the way we live in society is not really living, it is superficial. It is superficial because of our dependence on material things that in Thoreau’ s mind don’t really matter and can be sacrificed without risking what Thoreau would call actual living. Thoreau believes our dependence on material items is so great that we do not see the majesty of what this world has to offer, we cannot experience the grandeur of nature. So the living â€Å"deliberately† would mean to live with the basic essentials, building a little shelter to shield from harsh elements, living off the food we can grow or gather, and to cut ourselves off from immense contact with society in order to figure out our real purpose in the world. I would argue that Thoreau not only truly lived deliberately and became better versed in the ways of society, but also more versed in alternative ways of viewing something that is common in life, the human brain for example. Living deliberately is show... ... side was spiritual, not unlike the spiritual retreats or pilgrimage of religions. The third side is more neurological, reaching into his own mind and into those of his readers. After spending time in the woods, it would appear that Thoreau reached more insight into his own mind and its inner workings, developing something most people don’t have. I believe it would be safe to assume that almost no one would take the sight of a thawing bank and compare it to the neurological workings of the brain. Works Cited â€Å"Brain† Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 11 Nov. 2008, 13:21 UTC. 11 Nov. 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brain&oldid=251094037 Thoreau, Henry David, William John Rossi, and Henry David Thoreau. Walden ; and, Resistance to Civil Government: Authoritative Texts, Thoreau's Journal, Reviews, and Essays in Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992.

Christianity and Abortion :: Papers

Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from Christianity and Abortion :: Papers Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from

Boots secures its Wellbeing Essay -- essays research papers

Boots secures its Wellbeing The Wellbeing Web site, launched by Boots and Granada, had to establish systems to identify and screen out online fraudsters without inconveniencing its genuine customers. Susan Amos reports When chemist Boots and leisure giant Granada launched Wellbeing.com, a Web site that sells goods ranging from toothbrushes to exercise bikes, they realised that like all major online shopping ventures it faced a significant threat from fraudsters. They wanted to make it easy for genuine consumers to buy, while keeping fraudsters at bay those who use computer-generated credit card numbers to buy goods, and do not pay for them. When an order is placed on Wellbeing.com, its bank, Barclays Merchant Services, checks that the credit card number is genuine, that the card is not stolen and that there are funds available. However, this system provides little safeguard against a number being used fraudulently if the card has not been stolen. To add further checks, Wellbeing turned to Texas-based ClearCommerce's Enterprise Merchant Engine an integrated fraud management system. Kevin Figgitt, third party operations manager at Wellbeing, says Enterprise Merchant Engine is very easy to use. 'You set up a number of rules. According to what the customer types in, it returns codes and you can decide what action to take for each response code,' he says. The software can refer a customer to a contact centre to complete a transaction or block purchases entirely. The eng...

Powdered Coconut Husk, Okra Mucilage, Water Hyacinth and Starch as Alternative Plastic Composites Essay

The present condition of our country regarding the use of plastics demands that people explore other means whereby proportionate products can be produced out of raw materials which are commonly disregarded. One of these is the utilization of solid wastes which could yield excellent useful results. Largely an agricultural country, Philippines provides various local raw materials, the utilization of which may lead to the country’s industrialization. Philippines provide ample farm products having great possibilities for some purposes. An example of which is the coconut husk fiber or cocos nucifera. Although some use this for making native products, this study used this for an alternative bioplastic product making it more different than the usual ones. Water hyacinth, which is commonly found almost in some rivers and considered as another solid waste is to be used also in this project study. Although it has the same function as the coconut husk fiber, this is used to lessen the number or amount of water hyacinth in our environment because of its abundance and bad effects. To improve the quality of the bioplastic product,the researchers used okra wherein mucilage can be found which lessens the brittleness of the said product because of the so called, glycirin. Another concerned material in the study is cornstarch. It is the source of polymer which is said to be the building blocks of the eco-friendly plastic product. What makes this study different is that the researchers used raw materials which are seldomly used in a more different way and utilize it to make a new product which could yield useful results. Moreover, the main purpose of this study, is to make plastic that can be decomposed easily since it uses raw materials, to use starch instead of chemicals and to utilize some of the solid wastes in our society. Plastic is a versatile and potentially indestructible material, which makes it ideal for a number of commercial and household uses. Indeed, plastic has become a substitute for many items which used to be made from other substances, such as plastic bottles for drinks, condiments and many other more. In many cases, this is extremely useful and convenient. However, usage of plastic has caused many environmental downsides. This is because, plastic is so resilient that even burying it deep within the Earth doesn’t keep it from impacting the environment. Although plastics can be recycled, many people still burn them and we all know that it is harmful to the environment. It may also affect people’s health because plastics contain many chemical additives which causes illnesses like endocrine disruption which can lead to cancers, birth defects, immune system suppression and developmental problems in children. And worse it can also lead to toxicity of living organisms and marine animals. This ecological problem impelled the development of new materials that can be substitutes in producing biodegradable plastic which led us to think the utilization of eco- friendly materials that can be an alternative in making bioplastic. Scopes and Limitations The research study was concerned with utilizing coconut husk fibers or cocus nucifera and water hyacinth in producing a bioplastic product. The research focused not only on the simple production but also the quality of the said product in terms of brittleness and flexibility. Mucilage was obtained from okra where glycirin is found and improves the brittleness of the product. Furthermore, this study is also concerned in using cornstarch as the source of polymer considered as the building blocks of the product. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this study is to produce an alternative plastic made up of organic materials. Another purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: 1. What will be the organic material used in making the plastic? 2. What content(s) is/are most effective in making the bioplastic more efficient than than Plastics- any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are moldable. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, but many are partially natural. Biodegradable Plastics- plastics that will decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments. Biodegradation of plastics occurs when microorganisms metabolize the plastics to either ssimilable compounds or to humus-like materials that are less harmful to the environment. They may be composed of either bioplastics, which are plastics whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, or petroleum-based plastics which contain additives. Glycerol- (or glycerine, glycerin) is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids known as triglycerides. Glycerol is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity. Polymer- is the main building block of all plastics. It is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units. These sub-units are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. Although the term polymer is sometimes taken to refer to plastics, it actually encompasses a large class of compounds comprising both natural and synthetic materials with a wide variety of properties. Mucilage- a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Starch- or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store. It is the most common carbohydrate in the human diet and is contained in large amounts in such staple foods as potatoes, wheat, maize (corn), rice, and cassava. Starch is made of two basic components: amylose and amylopectin. Amylose- is a very long and straight polymer like we want to have in our study. Amylopectin- on the other hand is a branched and short polymer meaning it will yield brittle and weak plastic which is not good. Vinegar- a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid (CH3CO2H) and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. By adding a small amount of vinegar to the plastic, we can break up some of the branches of the amylopectin which otherwise would make it brittle. Water hyacinth- is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in height. The leaves are 10–20 cm across, and float above the water surface. They have long, spongy and bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black. An erect stalk supports a single spike of 8-15 conspicuously attractive flowers, mostly lavender to pink in colour with six petals.

Gandhi as a Leader Essay

Gandhi is one of the most prominent political leaders of 20th century. According to experts he single handedly motivated the people of brutalized and oppressed country to fight a non-violent battle against the mightiest empire of the world at that time. His leadership style is talked discussed across schools, universities, management institutes, political circles and corporate organizations across the world. This paper will shed light on what was Gandhi’s leadership style, how it was so effective and what is its relevance in today’s world. For a leader and first and foremost is the knowledge of his/her followers. This can come either with understanding them closely or coming from them. Gandhi came from normal background. He suffered the atrocities himself for example he was thrown out of a train on railway station because he wasn’t white and can’t travel first class. Gandhi didn’t take that humiliation silently but decided to resist it through various conventions. Secondly he identified with the common people and decided to leave the western style wardrobe with much more minimalist one as the masses in India could only afford that. He decided to live simply and sleep on ground like masses of Indians at that time. By living like them and traveling third class in train people able to identify with him (Communication ) and realized that here is the man who not only know what they are going through but also living it with them. Gandhi motto was not ‘I know what you are going through’ but that was of ‘we have to fight it out together to get freedom’. When Gandhi started India was a divided countries ruled by either Britishers directly or number of patrons of British who were equally brutal in oppressing people. Gandhi knew that if India has to get Independence than every section of Indian society has to contribute to it. With his influential he tried to bring the neglected sections of the society into mainstream and motivated them to fight for a common cause. Gandhi strategy (Planning) was clear, he wants to challenge the morality of the most brutal force on the face of earth and want to gain independence for India with a non violent struggle. His belief in non violence was unshakable so much so that once in the course of civil disobedience mob got violent and burnt down the police station. He refused to take it as an aberration and called off the civil disobedience movement. Secondly the planning of the struggle is also done in an evolutionary way. Gandhi understood that if the britishers leave at once there will be a vacuum and that will be filled by the violent sects of the society which are comparatively more organized compare to liberal power in the beginning of the struggle. In the beginning Gandhi launched struggle for right for independent primaries with in the british rule. Once able to achieve them he designed the campaign for no taxation and finally a full blown struggle for complete freedom (Vision). The relevance of Gandhi has not decreased over the years, infact it has significantly increased given the trigger hungry world we live in. Martin Luther King Jr followed the example of Gandhi in resisting racism and fought for civil rights by challenging the morality of ruling America. A bullet for bullet gives the oppressor the right to oppress more and way to fight oppression is not subjecting to it and resisting it by questioning the morality of it. Knowledge@Wharton (2006) Gandhi, Mandela, Mother Teresa, a Tree, a Pillow †¦ Images of Leadership from Future Leaders. Retrieved on 25th Feb from http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. edu/article. cfm? articleid=1417 Gandhi (1926). My Experiments with Truth. Govt of India Publication.

IT-Management Essay

Assignment # 10 Question 1: Global Information Systems are the systems developed for the multinational users in order to provide free flow of information within the divisions of a single company and between the MNCs. Question 2 Think globally and act locally means a product should suit the regional and cultural preferences of the local people and at the same time the product line should be global and strategic planning needs to be centralized Question 4 Yes every website is a global IS, because there is a free flow of information through the website and almost all the websites are now catering to global customers irrespective of their location. Question 5 If I were an executive of a multi lingual website, I would strike a balance between manual interpretation and software based translation, because at the end of the day the quality and accuracy of translation is more important. Question 7 Data privacy laws are different in United States and European Union and there is a discrepancy in the collection & use of personal data in US and European countries. Question 10 It is important to provide the Time Zone converter in the Global SCM because the shipping and delivery time and the payment time should match with the time zone of the customers and the suppliers. Assignment # 11 Summary of the Case: Fairchild Semiconductor is world leader in design & manufacturing of microprocessors. It has 36 offices in 17 countries.   Fairchild ships more than 17 billion units of its products annually to as many as 45 countries. The company has assembly and testing facilities in China, Malaysia & Philippines. The work-in-progress is often shipped from one country to another and back to the original country for further processing. Fairchild integrated the software called Trade Export Solution into its ERP system. It helps automate the global logistics. The software has helped Fairchild cut costs by readily providing the trade compliance documentation, avoiding shipping delays, reducing the shipping staff and standardizing the shipping procedures worldwide. Question 1 Answer: The software reduces the risk of logistic & shipping delays due to non-compliance of export & import laws and regulations of country including US homeland security issues. Question 2 Answer: The software helps company cut the costs by shortening the shipping duration; avoiding shipping delays; minimizing the duties; by providing fastest delivery and by reducing the shipping staff. Question 3 Answer: The integration of Management Dynamics’ software into ERP system helps automate the global logistics. The digital forms are generated, the information on fastest & least costly carriers is provided, various costs related to shipping and exports are calculated automatically, the trade compliance documentation is readily available saving the labor-intensive search and shipping procedures are standardized worldwide. Question 4 Answer: The standardization of processes is important in Fairchild because the company has its global presence in 17 countries and the work-in-progress is often shipped from one country to another and back to the original country for further processing. Also it is easier to implement the benchmarked procedures in the new facilities, in future.

Integrity: Core Issues in Ethics and Person Essay

Integrity is not just one of the seven army values a soldier should live by, it is the basis and foundation of trust, responsibility, respect, and honesty. If a soldier or anyone for that matter does not have integrity they will not be able to succeed in their profession, relationships, and in life. The more honest choices a person makes the more he can be trusted, but not just his word will be trusted, that person will gain more responsibility, better leadership positions, and more importantly more respect that person will gain. The more you lead your life by integrity the better and easier it will be. When asked a question you should be honest and you should think about your answer so that you are relaying correct information. Integrity has many meanings, doing what’s right legally and morally, being honest, upright, and decent in our dealings with others. When we are guided by integrity, our thoughts, actions, and words are in line with each other, our actions align with ou r principles. Our conduct speaks for us, better than words ever could. It becomes the basis for both reputation and self-respect. Integrity demands courage. No matter who you are talking to you should be honest not untruthful, even if it makes someone upset. You should live with integrity everyday of your life no matter what. Developing integrity requires internal honesty, because we can’t be honest with others unless we are honest with ourselves. It requires self-awareness, since we cannot accurately communicate what we do not know. Integrity is not just a word, it’s a code to live by to lead a life of honesty and respect. If everyone in the world were to live with integrity the world would be a much better place to live in. people would be honest, respectful, and they would do the right thing no matter what. If a person with integrity were to find a wallet for instance, that person would try to find the rightful owner of the wallet. If the owner was not found they would turn the wallet into the police station or to a lost and found where they had found it. Having integrity means you don’t do anything or say anything that deceives anyone. You do not lie, you don’t cheat, and you do not even bend the truth. Having integrity can also mean you having personal courage. Having the personal courage to stand up for what is right no matter the circumstances is very important to one’s integrity, if you see someone doing something wrong it is important to correct them politely so now they know what’s wrong and they can fix it before the problem gets to bad or out of control. A person should be straight and honest about everything no matter the consequences. You should never try to even deceive someone because they will find the truth about it. People of integrity can be counted on to stand up for what it right, even if it is unpopular, and to do the right thing even when there is no one around to see. Integrity allows other people to trust you because they know that we value our commitments and seek to live by them. Every soldier in the military should live with integrity because we are all a brotherhood, everyone is a family in the military. We should all be true to ourselves, civilians, and especially our fellow service members. Integrity does not discriminate either. It does not matter who asks the question, who is looking, or who is not looking you should always be truthful, and do the right thing no matter what. If a person alone and they know or even think they’re doing something wrong they shouldn’t do it, that is showing integrity and showing others who you think may not be looking that you can do the right thing and be trusted when someone might need it most. Without integrity no one can trust you, e ven if you are telling the truth, no one will believe you because you have already broken their trust in you. They will not only check up on you constantly but they will also not believe you until they confirm it for themselves. When you show the lack of integrity to someone they have to take time out of their day and away from their families to either square you away or find out the truth, which makes it much worse on you if you did lie about something. It is always best to tell the truth the first time though you may be punished for messing up it will be a lot easier to tell the truth than to lie about it and have to make up more lies to cover up the lies you already made. You must have the courage and honor to tell the truth the first time. Not only is lying morally wrong but it will break the bond of a man’s word and it will take a very long time to make it up and rebuild that trust again. You cannot have responsibility without having integrity either. No one will trust you to do anything or to put you in charge of anything because not only can they not trust you because you lied to them but because you have failed them at what they expected out of you. At a first impression people will have trust in you unless you lie to them or show you a reason not to trust you. If you lie to someone you show them not only that you are a liar but you have no respect for that person. Everyone deserves respect but the level of respect they deserve determines on the level of respect they show for other people and the amount of responsibility they can show a person. You must also have self-respect to have integrity if you don’t respect yourself you cannot respect anyone else in this world. If someone put you in charge of other men you are responsible for their well-being, they should be able to come to you with any problem that might arise in their lives Honesty is the biggest factor of integrity in my opinion, to have integrity you MUST have honesty. You must be able to show a person that you can be trusted, but first you must have honesty in yourself. Without having honesty in yourself it is impossible to be honest to other people. it is much easier to tell someone the truth first off than to lie to them because you will not only have lied once but you will have to make up more lies to cover up the first lie and more lies to cover up those and when someone finds out the truth it will be much worse on you than it would’ve been if you had just told the truth in the first place. If you lie to someone once you will continually lie to them unless you stop the lying and come forth with the truth and stand there take your punishment and learn from your mistakes right away and not have to keep making them. your reputation also depends on integrity because if you show a constant lack of integrity you show not only the person who is dealing with you but you show the others around you that you cannot be trusted and they will not want to do anything for you because you will have burned your bridges with them. Your integrity is now gone and your reputation is ruined. Your reputation is something that take a very long time to rebuild much like someone’s trust. It all depends on the persons trust that you lost on how long it takes you to rebuild that trust. Once you finally do regain someone’s trust it is important to keep that persons trust because if you break their trust again you become a habitual liar and you will lose their trust again and possibly forever. Integrity is also a major factor in deal making. If you make a deal or make a commitment you must stick to that deal. Having integrity is like having a contract, though it may not be in writing or an actual legal document it is however like a handshake. When you say you will do something you will do it if you have integrity because it is the morally right thing to do, it is a man’s word and he must have the intestinal fortitude to stick to his word as if it was a contract. A person’s word is all they have in this world because if someone word cannot be trusted they will not make it anywhere in life especially if you make the lack of integrity a habit. Having integrity shows a person you can be trusted with just about any task you are put in charge of. You will do that task and not only do it right you will exceed that person’s expectation. When you are assigned a task it is important to do it right the first time because not only will you have to go back a second time and do the task over again but in the military it could mean someone’s life at stake. A person must give every task they are assigned with over one hundred percent so that not only are the expectations met but they are exceeded by far. The army value integrity is put in place for a reason. That reason is to make an honest, trustworthy, responsible, and honorable soldier. All seven army values tie in together so that if you follow all seven you will be a trustworthy, honest, responsible, and respectable soldier. It is important to have integrity for many reasons because without it you cannot be trusted, responsible and squared away. Once you live your life with integrity you will be trusted more, be able to take on more responsibility, but you will build your reputation in other people. References http://www.army.mil/values/

Is our behavior is ethical Essay

As generally known there are great difficulties concerning this question. The problem really lies in defining the term ethics. Once this has been defined (assuming it is possible) answering the question above is rather simple. One only has to ask whether a behavior is in accordance with that definition or not. Hence in this essay I focus on defining ethics, as far as possible. Socrates was the one, who first introduced the concept of ethical philosophy by claiming that his slave boy, whom he had discovered actually was able to think on his own, should since he was human be treated in a humanitarian way. Many philosophers have since the ancient Greek civilization given their subjective views on the question of what ethics is. To get a better grip on this question I think one should first look at the extremes. One philosopher in this category is Nietzsche. He claimed that ethics are laws created by the weak to protect the weak and that these laws are hindering the strong and creative from reaching his/her full potential. This might sound cruel; nevertheless I think he does have a point. In nature all the weak genes are extinguished due to natural selection, while the moral laws, which man created, will save these defective genes and eventually make us weaker, perhaps resulting in our extinction. Ethics is also a major problem when it comes to scientific progress. It is not allowed to do experiments, which is in any way painful, to human beings. This indeed has not been good seen from a scientific point of view. Especially in the field of psychology, where humans are the subjects examined, does the ethical rules make it difficult to carry out important experiments. Nietzsche meant that discarding some moral laws and acting more instinctively would be good for mankind in the sense that this would give more space for irrational thinking. On the other extreme we have those who claim that there are ethical principles, which one should follow no matter the circumstances. Christianity is one such â€Å"philosophy†. The Bible was meant to be a complete ethical constitution with laws or principals applicable to any situation one might come across. These laws and principals are summed up in the Ten Commandments, which are according to the Christians rules everyone must follow in all situations. Utilitarianism is a third extreme view proposing that the ethical correctness in a behavior should be measured in its consequences, i.e. an action is good if it increases the sum of happiness in the world. There are problem with this perspective, however. Applying this claim as our basic rule of thumb the next question would be; how do we know what amount of happiness is caused by a certain behavior, and how can we measure it? Since we do not even have a good definition of happiness (it is a very subjective term) this seemingly simple rule turns out to be rather complicated and evasive. These three perspectives all seem reasonable when first explained, though serious flaws exist in each perspective. What would the world look like if leaders, in possession of weapons of mass destruction, would act in accordance with their animal instincts? Christian rules also appear imperfect when put into an extreme situation. Imagine yourself standing in a street corner; suddenly a terrified person runs by, two seconds later another out of your mind looking man with a knife raised over his head comes and asks you if you saw in which direction the first man went. Should you tell him the truth? If you are a true Christian you should, since lying is wrong according to the Ten Commandments. The utilitarian perspective seems good since happiness will increase. However, wouldn’t this ethically otherwise horrible action such as World War 2? It has after all had many positive effects such as the creation of the United Nations i.e. the long tern effect has increased happiness on the earth. A world ruled according to this principle would also mean an end to all individual rights. If killing someone would make people happy then it would be justified to execute that individual. Anders Rasmussen, D1099019 My conclusion so far is that it is wrong to make ethical laws or principals; there will always be situations such as the ones exemplified above where it is not appropriate. I think that ethics is subjective and should remain so, since creating laws will most likely lead to misinterpretations and a more inhuman society. Ethics is after all one of the prime things that makes us human. This though is not to say that we should live in total anarchy, people that obviously do harm to mankind should be punished. I believe in rules as long as they don’t take away the individual responsibility. Accepting that ethics is something each individual has to take into consideration in each situation the next issue would be what tools are we in possession of when deciding the ethical correctness in a certain behavior, and more importantly, what tools should we use? John Stuart Mill, a famous utilitarian, claimed that it is through reason, and reason only, that one should decide what to do. Using logical reasoning one should derive as many consequences as possible and measure the happiness they bring and upon these grounds we should decide what to do. Reason I think is very important when it comes to decisions. It is much more objective than the intuition, which is our second tool. To say that we should only use reason, however is to underestimate our intuitive moral sense. Usually when making a decision we have an inner voice that tells us what is good and what is bad. Totally discarding this intuitive feeling, as Mill proposes, is to deny that it is often right (looking at visible the consequences). Freud’s personality theory illustrates our intuition very well. He said that our personality is made up by the ego, the superego and the Id, the ego representing the reasoning and the two latter our intuition. The Id is the animal-like, innate, egoistic instincts seeking satisfaction by uttering sex and aggression energies. The superego is our moral values, which has been inflicted upon us by our surroundings. If the intuition was just a mixture of these two quite opposing forces I would as John Stuart Mill not trust it, but I think that most people are able to separate these two forces from each other and tell, which will is coming from the Id and, which is coming from the superego. It could be seen as a struggle within between the devil and the angel, where we are the ones who have to decide who we should listen to. As long as we do not let the Id (our innate needs) get the upper hand, but instead listens to our superego, the intuition is a very useful tool when taking hard decisions. There are some problems though about the superego. If our values are inflicted upon us by the culture in which we have grown up (a Christian would probably say that they are given to us from God) and thus differs from one culture to another (we can by looking at the world tell that this is the case!) clashes might occur when different societies meet. Since different subjective meanings about what is right and what is wrong will be shared by one society. It is in such situations, when the intuition fails to settle argument, that we should use our more objective tool†¦ the reasoning. Conclusion: First of all we should not create a strict ethical constitution telling us the exact answer to the question â€Å"How do we know if at all that our behavior is ethical?† We should not let the moral philosopher become an engineer. Instead it is the individual that should, in each unique situation, use all available tools and act the way he or she finds most appropriate in the particular situation i.e. â€Å"how do we know, if at all, that our behavior is ethical is a question which will have different answer in different situation and we must therefore ask ourselves this question as often as possible. This is not a â€Å"perfect† system, and it will always create conflicts among us. Still I think taking away all moral responsibility is to take away what makes us human. Truly believing that you are acting ethically is as ethical one can ever get, as a human being. References: Richard.D.Gross (1996): Psychology – The science of mind and behavior, third edition, Hodder & Stoughton Bryan Magee (1998): Story of philosophy, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London Mastering philosophy, second edition (2001), Anthony Harrison-Barbet