Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Macroeconomic Condition of the USA in 1996-1999 Essay

Macroeconomic Condition of the USA in 1996-1999 - Essay Example It was a 2.1 increase from that of 1995, at the same time interest rates were low. The unemployment levels were as shown below in the period. In the year 1998 the economy experienced some of the best macroeconomic results that policymakers there were a tremendous outburst of volatility in the asset market. Although the GDP was above average in the year 1998, there was a consistent decline in growth. The economic condition worsened in 1990 making the economy more adverse (Iceland, pp. 12-57). The curve indicates the correlation between the quantity of real GDP and price level required by household. In the long run, the average demand curve and short run average curves intersect at a point on the long term average supply curve. In the presence of contraction policies the aggregate demand curve shifts to the left leading to a reduction in aggregate demand. In this case, price levels will fall but the output is not affected. On the other hand, if it were in the short run both output and price would drop. The aggregate supply shows how much is provided by a firm and at what price. In the long run, the curve is affected by events that lead to a change in the potential output of the economy. The term aggregate supply refers to the total value of services and goods that a country’s firms produce over a period. In case of a decrease in the long run supply curve, there will be a drop in the price level and an increase in the GDP. The health of the economy is by three economic indicators that include the gross domestic product, consumer price index and unemployment levels. For the economy to be termed as healthy there is a certain baseline that should be met. For a well-performing economy, the GDP should be growing at a rate of 2-3 % per annum reflecting a real growth pattern. An increase in any rate above 3% is possible but might be due to stepping on employee and environmental rights.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff

Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff Short Response to Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff My initial thought of this reading was that the title would be some metaphor for something else that happens. The story was short and straight to the point. It starts off with a man in a bank waiting, he has to wait in a long line due to going right before it closes. Anders starts off by seeming like a very irritable guy. Immediately he is annoyed with the two when in front of him. They are just complaining about everything. This is where we first see a sense of who Anders is. Two masked men come in to the bank making an attempt to rob it. Anders irritable attitude gets him in trouble a he starts making snide comments to the annoying lady in front of him. One of the men hears him. The man repeatedly tells Anders to be quite, but Anders does not listen. The man shoots Anders in the head, and then he his brain reflects on a distant memory. One from long ago that had much been forgotten. It recalls on a summer when Anders was out playing baseball with him friends. One friend brings a co usin who wants to play as well. When they ask him what position he wants to play he say short stop because ..Thats the best they is. Anders is shocked by what this boy has said, but it stays in his mind for the rest of the game. Memory is what builds this story. It is also what keeps this story going. We first start off with the scene of him in the bank, but eventually more to his recollection of a particular event in his life. Surprisingly he does not remember his first love, his daughter, or his wife. He remembers a time long ago playing baseball with friends. The memory is not one that you would expect from the first character we meet. Initially Anders is irritable and rude. Due to the use of memory in this story we see that Anders is not all bad. He once loved his job as a book critic, but the longer he did this the less he grew to like it. The actual memory that Anders draws on makes me think that this may have pushed him into the direction of being an editor. He remembers a friends cousin say Thats the best they is, he did not stop to fix his grammar but replayed what this boy said in his head. After being shot he plays a distant memory, but to him this is one that was really good for him. Anders memory definitely redeems him. My first thought of Anders is that I dont like him. He just does not seem like the type of person you would want to be around. On top of this, he is provoking one of the robbers. This memory takes us back to a time where Anders was happy. A young boy playing baseball with his friends. It shows us that Anders has not always been and irritable jerk, but a kind person. Someone who is accepting of you no matter. Due to circumstances throughout his life, Anders became a completely different person from that boy on the baseball field that day. Memory gives us a big look into his life, who he is and what he loves (or doesnt love). Memory and Identity The formation of identity comes from the World around you. I believe that your identity is formed based off of your family and environment. We learn morals and rules based off what our parents believe are good morals and rules to have. Each parenting style is different. I have always had more lenient parents while others have parents that can be pretty strict. This formed my identity. I never had to lie to do the things that I wanted. I would always tell my parents, and I knew that if they ever said no what I wanted to do probably wasnt a good idea. I would accept this and move on. Identity does not just come from your parents or your family, but from the places you visit frequently. You dont really form you identity until you are older. I am twenty, and still feel as if I am forming my identity. I often times ask myself Who is Kaylee Strahl? Who do I want to be? As we go to school we start to get a sense of our identity from a different perspective. We will be similar to the people we interact with frequently. I went to a really small school, this formed my identity in a different way. All of the people I graduated had a similar mind set. If you played sports or danced or other things like this. This also plays part in forming your identity. Memory and identity are similar because one has to build off the other. In order to form your identity we base it off the things that have happened in the past, our memory. Memory helps to shape us into the person that we eventually become. If there have been traumatic events in your life, your identity can change based off of that memory.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Justice in Oedpius the King :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Justice in Oedpius the King      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oedipus is not formally charged with any crimes.   He does manage however to commit incest, and murder.  Ã‚   His father is cursed.   The curse states that his son will kill him and marry his wife.   These facts are discovered in the introductory, "...if laius , king of thebes, had a son by jocasta, his queen, that son would kill his father and marry his mother. Laius in light of these facts has Oedipus abandoned as a child.   Another family raises him as their own.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oedipus was on his way to town when he encountered a carriage. Some negative events transpired and Oedipus kills the entire caravan.   He continues on towards the city only to find that a sphinx was terrorizing the city with a riddle.   It killed every man that answered the riddle incorrectly.   Oedipus arrived at the solution and saves the city.   He   is immediately proclaimed King.   He does not know he has killed the former King nor do the people.   He marries the queen which just happens to be his biological mother and has children by her.   " ...child of impurity, begetter in the same seed that created my wretched self."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oedipus does not try to defend his actions.   In fact he blames himself as quoted from the story "Light of the sun, let me look upon you no more after today!   I who first saw you the light bred of a match accursed, and accursed ." The consequences of his actions are harsh.   He stabs his own eyes out and his wife/mother took her own life.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Justice is defined as "the abstract principle by which right and

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Airbrushing Should Be Banned

Good morning/afternoon class. The topic that we have chosen for our debate is â€Å"That airbrushing should be banned. † We as the affirmative team believe that this statement is true. The points that I will be talking about today is that manipulating images can lead to self-esteem issues, the different types of disorders that photo shopping could lead to and the extensive cost of airbrushing images. To start off, the deceptive imagery of airbrushing can lead to major self-confidence issues. Even though younger girls are exposed to many different types of media and images, the younger generations are not usually able to tell the difference between normal photographs and air-brushed images. †¢This means that over time, young women are increasingly seeing and comparing themselves with images which are neither realistic nor authentic. †¢This can lead to severe self-esteem issues. Images that are altered and manipulated to give an impossibly thin look add to everyoneâ₠¬â„¢s insecurities about their bodies.This is exactly the reason why airbrushing should be banned. Secondly, these diminishing advertisements can sometimes lead to eating disorders. †¢Some people are particularly vulnerable to this pressure to be perfect and risk developing an eating disorder such as anorexia or being bulimic. †¢This is precisely why we're calling for the media to get real and show us bodies in all their gorgeous, natural glory. While it's true that most of us are aware that the majority of women in adverts have been airbrushed to within an inch of their life, sadly, the same can't be said for younger girls, who, from a very early age are constantly being bombarded with digitally altered images without realising just how much they've been manipulated. Do we really want our precious children to change who they are so that they can fit in with society’s perception of perfection?This highlights why any form of enhancing an advertisement should be banne d. Finally, I will address the extensive cost of airbrushing images that companies and we face. †¢Airbrushing images will not only damage young girls self-esteem but it would also take an astonishing amount of money out of the company’s budget. †¢Due to airbrushing, it will not only cost the business money, but also us to go under the knife to achieve these manipulative images from the pressure to be perfect.Are we really going to go to these extreme lengths to look like someone we’re not? This illustrates precisely why photo shopping needs to be expelled. AGAINST OUR ARGUMENTS †¢it’s a clever way for products to be sold, and to attract the target audience they are aiming at. †¢models are usually hired for the purpose to sell the product and being â€Å"Photo shopped† is probably some part of their contract. †¢retouching and photo editing is supposed to make the look of the model attractive, so it is able to sell the product. the models face will usually have to be the image of perfection and beauty to interest a reader to pick up a magazine, thinking that the content will be related to the cover image of beauty. REBUTTALS Would you buy a product from an advert where the model is looking flawless, and has great skin due to airbrushing techniques? Or where it shows the true beauty of someone, and that there should be no reason to change, and to just accept how they look? Should an image that is airbrushed be societies perception of perfection?

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Eleven

â€Å"The nameis Salvatore. As in savior,† he said. There was a brief flash of white teeth in the darkness. Elena looked down. The overhang of the roof obscured the balcony, but she could hear shuffling sounds down there. But they were not the sounds of pursuit, and there was no sign that her companion's words had been overheard. A minute later, she heard the french windows close. â€Å"I thought it was Smith,† she said, still looking down into the darkness. Damon laughed. It was a terribly engaging laugh, without the bitter edge of Stefan's. It made her think of the rainbow lights on the crow's feathers. Nevertheless, she was not fooled. Charming as he seemed, Damon was dangerous almost beyond imagination. That graceful, lounging body was ten times stronger than a human's. Those lazy dark eyes were adapted to seeing perfectly at night. The long-fingered hand that had pulled her up to the roof could move with impossible quickness. And, most disturbing of all, his mind was the mind of a killer. A predator. She could feel it just beneath his surface. He wasdifferent from a human. He had lived so long by hunting and killing that he'd forgotten any other way. And he enjoyed it, not fighting his nature as Stefan did, but glorying in it. He had no morals and no conscience, and she was trapped here with him in the middle of the night. She settled back on one heel, ready to jump into action at any minute. She ought to be angry with him now, after what he'd done to her in the dream. She was, but there was no point in expressing it. He knew how furious she must be, and he would only laugh at her if she told him. She watched him quietly, intently, waiting for his next move. But he didn't move. Those hands that could dart as quickly as striking snakes rested motionlessly on his knees. His expression reminded her of the way he'd looked at her once before. The first time they'd met she'd seen the same guarded, reluctant respect in his eyes – except that then there had also been surprise. â€Å"You're not going to scream at me? Or faint?† he said, as if offering her the standard options. Elena was still watching him. He was much stronger than she was, and faster, but if she needed to she thought she could get to the edge of the roof before he reached her. It was a thirty foot drop if she missed the balcony, but she might decide to risk it. It all depended on Damon. â€Å"I don't faint,† she said shortly. â€Å"And why should I scream at you? We were playing a game. I was stupid that night and so I lost. You warned me in the graveyard about the consequences.† His lips parted in a quick breath and he looked away. â€Å"I may just have to make you my Queen of Shadows,† he said, and, speaking almost to himself, he continued: â€Å"I've had many companions, girls as young as you and women who were the beauties of Europe. Butyou're the one I want at my side. Ruling, taking what we want when we want it. Feared and worshipped by all the weaker souls. Would that be so bad?† â€Å"Iam one of the weaker souls,† Elena said. â€Å"And you and I are enemies, Damon. We can never be anything else.† â€Å"Are you sure?† He looked at her, and she could feel the power of his mind as it touched hers, like the brush of those long fingers. But there was no dizziness, no feeling of weakness or succumbing. That afternoon she'd had a long soak, as she always did these days, in a hot bath sprinkled with dried vervain. Damon's eyes flashed with understanding, but he took the setback with good grace. â€Å"What are you doing here?† he said casually. It was strange, but she felt no need to lie to him. â€Å"Caroline took something that belonged to me. A diary. I came to get it back.† A new look flickered in the dark eyes. â€Å"Undoubtedly to protect my worthless brother somehow,† he said, annoyed. â€Å"Stefan isn't involved in this!† â€Å"Oh, isn't he?† She was afraid he understood more than she meant him to. â€Å"Strange, he always seems to be involved when there's trouble. Hecreates problems. Now, if he were out of the picture†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena spoke steadily. â€Å"If you hurt Stefan again I'll make you sorry. I'll find some way to make you wish you hadn't, Damon. I mean it.† â€Å"I see. Well, then, I'll just have to work onyou , won't I?† Elena said nothing. She'd talked herself into a corner, agreeing to play this deadly game of his again. She looked away. â€Å"I'm going to have you in the end, you know,† he said softly. It was the voice he'd used at the party, when he'd said, â€Å"Easy, easy.† There was no mockery or malice now; he was simply stating a fact. â€Å"By hook or by crook, as you people say – that's a nice phrase – you'll be mine before the next snow flies.† Elena tried to conceal the chill she felt, but she knew he saw anyway. â€Å"Abusiness proposition?† â€Å"Exactly. You came here to get a diary. But you haven't got it.† He indicated her empty hands. â€Å"You failed, didn't you?† When Elena made no reply he went on. â€Å"And since you don't want my brother involved , he can't help you. But I can. And I will.† â€Å"You will?† â€Å"Of course. For a price.† Elena stared at him. Blood flamed in her face. When she managed to get words out, they would come only in a whisper. â€Å"What – price?† A smile gleamed out of the darkness. â€Å"A few minutes of your time, Elena. A few drops of your blood. An hour or so spent with me, alone.† â€Å"You†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena couldn't find the right word. Every epithet she knew was too mild. â€Å"I'll have it anyway, eventually,† he said in a reasonable tone. â€Å"If you're honest, you'll admit that to yourself. Last time wasn't the last. Why not accept that?† His voice dropped to a warm, intimate timbre. â€Å"Remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'd rather cut my throat,† she said. â€Å"An intriguing thought. But I can do it so much more enjoyably.† He was laughing at her. Somehow, on top of everything else today, this was too much. â€Å"You're disgusting; you know that,† she said. â€Å"You're sickening.† She was shaking now, and she couldn't breathe. â€Å"I'd die before I'd give in to you. I'd rather – â€Å" She wasn't sure what made her do it. When she was with Damon a sort of instinct took over her. And at that moment, she did feel that she'd rather risk anything than let him win this time. She noticed, with half her mind, that he was sitting back, relaxed, enjoying the turn his game was taking. The other half of her mind was calculating how far the roof overhung the balcony. â€Å"I'd rather do this,† she said, and flung herself sideways. She was right; he was off guard and couldn't move fast enough to stop her. She felt free space below her feet and spinning terror as she realized the balcony was farther back than she'd thought. She was going to miss it. But she hadn't reckoned on Damon. His hand shot out, not quick enough to keep her on the roof, but keeping her from falling any farther. It was as if her weight was nothing to him. Reflexively, Elena grasped the shingled edge of the roof and tried to get a knee up. â€Å"Let go of me,† said Elena through her teeth. Someone was going to come out on that balcony at any second, she was sure of it. â€Å"Let go of me.† â€Å"Here and now?† Looking into those unfathomable black eyes, she realized he was serious. If she said yes he would drop her. â€Å"It would be a fast way to end things, wouldn't it?† she said. Her heart was pounding in fear, but she refused to let him see that. â€Å"But such a waste.† With one motion, he jerked her to safety. To himself. His arms tightened around her, pressing her to the lean hardness of his body, and suddenly Elena could see nothing. She was enveloped. Then she felt those flat muscles gathering themselves like some great cat's, and the two of them launched into space. She was falling. She couldn't help but cling to him as the only solid thing in the rushing world around her. Then he landed, catlike, taking the impact easily. Stefan had done something similar once. But Stefan had not held her this way afterward, bruisingly close, with his lips almost in contact with hers. â€Å"Think about my proposition,† he said. She could not move or look away. And this time she knew that it was no Power that he was using, but simply the wildfire attraction between them. It was useless to deny it; her body responded to his. She could feel his breath on her lips. â€Å"I don't need you for anything,† she told him. She thought he was going to kiss her then, but he didn't. Above them there was the sound of french windows opening and an angry voice on the balcony. â€Å"Hey! What's going on? Is somebody out there?† â€Å"This time I did you a favor,† Damon said, very softly, still holding her. â€Å"Next time I'm going to collect.† She couldn't have turned her head away. If he'd kissed her then, she would have let him. But suddenly the hardness of his arms melted around her and his face seemed to blur. It was as if the darkness was taking him back into itself. Then black wings caught and beat the air and a huge crow was soaring away. Something, a book or shoe, was hurled after it from the balcony. It missed by a yard. â€Å"Damn birds!† said Mr. Forbes's voice from above. â€Å"They must be nesting on the roof.† Shivering, with her arms locked around her, Elena huddled in the darkness below until he went back inside. She found Meredith and Bonnie crouching by the gate. â€Å"What took you so long?† Bonnie whispered. â€Å"We thought you were caught!† â€Å"I almost was. I had to stay until it was safe.† Elena was so used to lying about Damon that she did it now without conscious effort. â€Å"Let's go home,† she whispered. â€Å"There's nothing more we can do.† â€Å"I know.† For a moment Damon's proposition swam in Elena's mind. But she shook her head to clear it. â€Å"I'll think of something,† she said. She hadn't thought of anything by the next day of school. The one encouraging fact was that Caroline didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss in her room – but that wasall Elena could find to be encouraged about. There was an assembly that morning, at which it was announced that the school board had chosen Elena as the student to represent â€Å"The Spirit of Fell's Church.† All through the principal's speech about it, Caroline's smile had blazed forth, triumphant and malicious. Elena tried to ignore it. She did her best to ignore the slights and snubs that came even in the wake of the assembly, but it wasn't easy. It was never easy, and there were days when she thought she would hit someone or just start screaming, but so far she'd managed. That afternoon, waiting for the sixth-period history class to be let out, Elena studied Tyler Smallwood. Since coming back to school, he had not addressed one word to her directly. He'd smiled as nastily as Caroline during the principal's announcement. Now, as he caught sight of Elena standing alone, he jostled Dick Carter with his elbow. â€Å"What's that there?† he said. â€Å"A wallflower?† Stefan, where are you? thought Elena. But she knew the answer to that. Halfway across school, in astronomy class. Dick opened his mouth to say something, but then his expression changed. He was looking beyond Elena, down the hall. Elena turned and saw Vickie. Vickie and Dick had been together before the Homecoming Dance. Elena supposed they still were. But Dick looked uncertain, as if he wasn't sure what to expect from the girl who was moving toward him. There was something odd about Vickie's face, about her walk. She was moving as if her feet didn't touch the floor. Her eyes were dilated and dreamy. â€Å"Hi there,† Dick said tentatively, and he stepped in front of her. Vickie passed him without a glance and went on to Tyler. Elena watched what happened next with growing uneasiness. It should have been funny, but it wasn't. It started with Tyler looking somewhat taken aback. Then Vickie put a hand on his chest. Tyler smiled, but there was a forced look about it. Vickie slid her hand under his jacket. Tyler's smile wavered. Vickie put her other hand on his chest. Tyler looked at Dick. â€Å"Hey, Vickie, lighten up,† said Dick hastily, but he didn't move any closer. Vickie slid her two hands upwards, pushing Tyler's jacket off his shoulders. He tried to shrug it back on without letting go of his books or seeming too concerned. He couldn't. Vickie's fingers crept under his shirt. â€Å"Hey, Vickie, leggo. Don't do that.† But Dick remained at a safe distance. Tyler shot him an enraged glare and tried to shove Vickie away. A noise had begun. At first it seemed to be at a frequency almost too low for human hearing, but it grew louder and louder. A growl, eerily menacing, that sent ice down Elena's spine. Tyler was looking pop-eyed with disbelief, and she soon realized why. The sound was coming from Vickie. Then everything happened at once. Tyler was on the ground with Vickie's teeth snapping inches from his throat. Elena, all quarrels forgotten, was trying to help Dick pull her off. Tyler was howling. The history room door was open and Alaric was shouting. â€Å"Don't hurt her! Be careful! It's epilepsy, we just need to get her lying down!† Vickie's teeth snapped again as he reached a helpful hand into the melee. The slender girl was stronger than all of them together, and they were losing control of her. They weren't going to be able to hold her much longer. It was with intense relief that Elena heard a familiar voice at her shoulder. â€Å"Vickie, calm down. It's all right. Just relax now. With Stefan grasping Vickie's arm and talking to her soothingly, Elena dared to slacken her own grip. And it seemed, at first, that Stefan's strategy was working. Vickie's clawing fingers loosened, and they were able to lift her off Tyler. As Stefan kept speaking to her, she went limp and her eyes shut. â€Å"That's good. You're feeling tired now. It's all right to go to sleep.† But then, abruptly, it stopped working, and whatever Power Stefan had been exercising over her was broken. Vickie's eyes flew open, and they bore no resemblance to the startled fawn's eyes Elena had seen in the cafeteria. They were blazing with red fury. She snarled at Stefan and burst out fighting with fresh strength. It took five or six of them to hold her down while somebody called the police. Elena stayed where she was, talking to Vickie, sometimes yelling at her, until the police got there. None of it did any good. Then she stepped back and saw the crowd of onlookers for the first time. Bonnie was in the front row, staring open-mouthed. So was Caroline. â€Å"Whathappened !† said Bonnie as the officials carried Vickie away. Elena, panting gently, pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. â€Å"She went crazy and tried to undress Tyler.† Bonnie pursed her lips. â€Å"Well, she'd have to be crazy towant to, wouldn't she?† And she threw a smirk over her shoulder directly at Caroline. Elena's knees were rubbery and her hands were shaking. She felt an arm go around her, and she leaned against Stefan gratefully. Then she looked up at him. â€Å"Epilepsy?† she said with disbelieving scorn. â€Å"I think class was just dismissed,† Stefan said. â€Å"Let's go.† They walked toward the boarding house in silence, each lost in thought. Elena frowned, and several times glanced over at Stefan, but it wasn't until they were alone in his room that she spoke. â€Å"Stefan, what is all this? What's happening to Vickie?† â€Å"That's what I've been wondering. There's only one explanation I can think of, and it's that she's still under attack.† â€Å"You mean Damon's still – oh, my God! Oh, Stefan, I should have given her some of the vervain. I should have realized†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It wouldn't have made any difference. Believe me.† She had turned toward the door as if to go after Vickie that minute, but he pulled her gently back. â€Å"Some people are more easily influenced than others, Elena. Vickie's will was never very strong. It belongs to him, now.† Slowly, Elena sat down. â€Å"Then there's nothing anyone can do? But, Stefan, will she become – like you and Damon?† â€Å"It depends.† His tone was bleak. â€Å"It's not just a matter of how much blood she loses. She needshis blood in her veins to make the change complete. Otherwise, she'll just end up like Mr. Tanner. Drained, used up. Dead.† Elena took a long breath. There was something else she wanted to ask him about, something she'd wanted to ask him for a long time. â€Å"Stefan, when you spoke to Vickie back there, I thought it was working. You were using your Powers on her, weren't you?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But then she just went crazy again. What I mean is†¦ Stefan, youare okay, aren't you? Your Powers have come back?† He didn't answer. But that was answer enough for her. â€Å"Stefan, why didn't you tell me? What's wrong?† She went around and knelt by him so that he had to look at her. â€Å"It's taking me a while to recover, that's all. Don't worry about it.† â€Å"Iam worried. Isn't there anything we can do?† â€Å"No,† he said. But his eyes dropped. Comprehension swept through Elena. â€Å"Oh,† she whispered, sitting back. Then she reached for him again, trying to get hold of his hands. â€Å"Stefan, listen to me – â€Å" â€Å"Elena,no. Don't you see? It's dangerous, dangerous for both of us, but especially for you. It could kill â€Å"Only if you lose control,† she said. â€Å"And you won't. Kiss me.† â€Å"No,† said Stefan again. He added, less harshly, â€Å"I'll go out hunting tonight as soon as it's dark.† â€Å"Is that the same?† she said. She knew it wasn't. It was human blood that gave Power. â€Å"Oh, Stefan, please; don't you see I want to? Don'tyou want to?† â€Å"That isn't fair,† he said, his eyes tortured. â€Å"You know it isn't, Elena. You know how much – † He turned away from her again, his hands clenched into fists. â€Å"Then why not? Stefan, I need†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She couldn't finish. She couldn't explain to him what she needed; it was a need for connection to him, for closeness. She needed to remember what it was like with him, to wipe out the memory of dancing in her dream and of Damon's arms locked around her. â€Å"I need us to be together again,† she whispered. Stefan was still turned away, and he shook his head. â€Å"All right,† Elena whispered, but she felt a wash of grief and fear as defeat seeped into her bones. Most of the fear was for Stefan, who was vulnerable without his Powers, vulnerable enough that he might be hurt by the ordinary citizens of Fell's Church. But some of it was for herself.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Enron Scandal Essays

Enron Scandal Essays Enron Scandal Essay Enron Scandal Essay Enron and why it was a failure Enron and why it was a failure Marcus E. Tucker University of Phoenix Enron and why it was a failure Enron, known today as one of the biggest business failures this country has ever seen. Enron who in the late ninetyâ„ ¢s controlled twenty five percent of all electricity and natural gas contracts traded worldwide, and was billed by Fortune magazine as Americaâ„ ¢s Most Innovative Companyâ„ ¢Ã¢â€ž ¢ for six years straight, became one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history in December 2001(MSN, 2008). This paper will explain how Enron failed as a company by using unethical business practices and also compare and contrast Enronâ„ ¢s leadership, top management and organizational structures to certain Organizational Behavior theories. Enron failed because it lacked proper leadership and poor decision making from its top executives. Leadership is a very important component of OB; it also is a huge reason behind Enronâ„ ¢s downfall. Enronâ„ ¢s top executives were good leaders; the only problem is that they were leading the company to destruction. One of the many definitions of a leader states Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (). Kenneth Lay was able to accomplish this task with his people, his employees bought into his beliefs and the culture of the company. He was not only able to gain a following from his employees, but also from outsiders who were invested in his success such as the United States government. Employees were working eighty our weeks and sacrificing their today for a better tomorrow, they believed that by working for Enron that they were going to richer than they had ever imagined. If Enronâ„ ¢s managers had made better decisions and had stuck to OB theories such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling they should have realized that the company was running unethically and blown the whistle on the company and its top executive officers. Enron should have been focused on the future, building a stronger structure and using ethical procedures that would help the company grow. The structure of the Enron did not give other managers or top executives the ability to make decisions for the company. Enronâ„ ¢s decisions were made by Lay or Skeeling, who had immense and unchallenged authority there should have been a board of directors who voted on the decisions and the direction of the company. If you were to compare Enronâ„ ¢s structure, to a company that has high ethical standards the two companies would be identical on the surface. If you were to take a closer you look you would find that Enron priced the value of its deepwater drilling operations higher than what its reserves merited. It claimed that contracts due in the future were worth more than they were. And most famously, it hid losses in partnerships, or what were legally called special purpose entities (). Reference: MSN?  (2008).?  Enron Scandal. Retrieved February?  22, 2009, from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701610398_2/Enron_Scandal.html.

Monday, October 21, 2019

After The Fall Essays - Marilyn Monroe, Joseph McCarthy, Free Essays

After The Fall Essays - Marilyn Monroe, Joseph McCarthy, Free Essays After The Fall After the Fall Arthur Miller has written many great plays in his life, such as A View from the Bridge ,Death of a Salesman ,The Misfits, The Crucible, and After the Fall. Out of all his plays it is said that After the Fall is the darkest plays he has written. I believe that this is a true statement, and that the reasons this is his darkest play is because it deals with his inner feelings on thing that he had to deal with in his life. The certain aspects that he touched in this play are his marriage with Marilyn Monroe , who was a great actress in her time. Marilyn is portrayed though the character Maggie who is a very innocent girl who, like Marilyn, was looked at mainly as a sex symbol. After the Fall also deals with Millers brush with authorities over communism in the 50s. To describe this concept Miller describes himself as a lawyer who is defending an old friend who is being threaded as being a communist or portraying communistic ideas in his latest book. Though out the play the main character, Quentin deals with his relationships with women. Two of the women who play very important roles are his wife Louise, and his mother ,Rose. Lousie tries to break out of the traditional idea that the wife is there to just cook, clean, take care of both the children and the husband, and be what is portrayed to me as a robot, where she does not have any thoughts of her own. Rose is what every Jewish mother is described as. She is seen as a strong woman, has a lot of say in what is going on, seems to have an icy touch when dealing with certain people, but is always trying to look on the good side of things. His mother is the ideal woman who Quentin holds every other woman in his life up to. The back round of most of the play is set in the early 1950 during the McCarthy trials. By 1950 the senate was in an era of anti-Communist hysteria. Senator Joseph McCarthy launched a series of highly publicized investigations in the State Department, Hollywood, and even the U.S. Army. This was intend to root out Communism. The aggressive attacks that McCarthy launched lead to a wide spread fear and suspicion though many sectors of American society. Since McCarthy had little evidence to back his claims up McCarthy fell into disfavor. In 1954 he was censured by the Senate for abusing his authority.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010

The Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010 The Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010 The Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010 By Daniel Scocco First of all we wish a happy 2011 to all our readers. Second, we compiled a list with our most popular posts in 2010, so that you can re-read your favorite ones and check if you missed any. Next Monday well resume the writing tips, so stay tuned! What Is Irony? (With Examples): Recently I was walking and talking with my co-worker, who happens to be a freelance writer and aspiring journalist. We were talking about the fact that our employers were providing us with a Thanksgiving lunch the day after Thanksgiving, and she said, â€Å"It’s so ironic!’’ â€Å"There’s† and â€Å"There are†: Contractions are supposed to be easy to say. For example, they’re for they are is easy to utter, but adding another re to there to create â€Å"there’re† produces a word difficult to pronounce. English words Don’t (usually) End with â€Å"u†: The spelling â€Å"thru† has an entry in the tolerant Merriam-Webster that jumps to through.The OED has no entry for â€Å"thru,† although the spelling is listed along with many other historical variations in the through entry. â€Å"Ma’am† and Regional Colonialism; Where I come from, children are taught that responding to grownups with a mere â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no† is impolite. â€Å"Yeah† is unforgivably rude. As a child I was taught to say â€Å"yes, sir, no, ma’am† and when I grew up, I continued to say it. When I lived in England, women whom I’d addressed as â€Å"ma’am† would sometimes smile and tell me that over there â€Å"ma’am† was reserved for the queen. 20 Computer Terms You Should Know: A great deal of jargon is used when talking about computers, and it’s surprising how often these terms are used incorrectly. Even published, successful novels sometimes do so. The following list provides an explanation of some of the more common computing terms you may come across or need to employ in your own writing. â€Å"Fun, Funner, Funnest†?: The word fun probably originated as a dialect pronunciation of Middle English fon, which as an adjective meant â€Å"foolish† and as a noun meant â€Å"fool.† The Middle English verb fonnen meant â€Å"to be foolish, to be infatuated.† 16 Manuscript Format Guidelines: If you submit manuscripts to publishers or agents, you’ve probably come across the demand that you use â€Å"standard manuscript format† (or â€Å"SMF†) for your submissions. However, it isn’t always spelled out what this actually means. Curbs and Sidewalks: In U.S. English, the word sidewalk refers to a paved footpath alongside a street or a road. The sidewalk is usually raised above the level of the road. The curb is a stone or concrete edging between the road and the sidewalk. 100 Writing Mistakes To Avoid – The Book: One of the fastest ways to improve your writing skills is to free yourself from the most common English mistakes: things like exchanging less with fewer, misspelling its as it’s, or placing commas where they are not supposed to be. This Sink Needs Fixed: The expression is often associated with Pittsburgh and â€Å"a narrow band in the middle of the country extending from the east coast to Montana.† I grew up outside those regional boundaries and am quite used to hearing â€Å"The lawn needs mowed† and â€Å"This sink needs fixed.† Taking and Bringing: Both bring and take have numerous meanings. One can, for example, take medicine, take the Fifth, take a liking to, take it on the chin, take a partner, take in a stray, take up for a friend, take out a date, and take an oath. 40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers: If you use Twitter, you’re probably already familiar with the idea of hashtags. These are simply a way of categorizing particular tweets by including within them a keyword prefixed with the hash or â€Å"pound† (#) symbol. PIN Number: To keep your writing as clear and concise as possible, you should generally try to remove unnecessary words. Sometimes duplication is fine – for artistic effect, for example – but as a general rule, it’s best to say things in as few words as possible. Corporate English: Thanks to reader Nick Corcodilos for sharing a link to an especially mind-numbing bit of English prose. I won’t publish the link he sent me, but I will give you an excerpt. Book Titles from Shakespeare: When I was receiving my secondary education in a small Arkansas high school many years ago, every student was expected to study four Shakespeare plays before graduating. The Letter â€Å"Z† Will Be Removed from the English Alphabet: Surprising as it sounds, it looks like the English alphabet will be losing one of its letters on June 1st. The announcement came from the English Language Central Commission (ELCC). No Talent for Writing: Unless the questioner wants to become an oral storyteller and tell these great stories to a live audience, or record them as audiobooks, the answer has to be, â€Å"Yes, you’re stuck.† However, I suspect that the person asking the question has made some attempt to put stories into writing, but is unhappy with the result. Post, Entry or Article?: My co-blogger and I have come across an interesting usage problem. We don’t know what to call what we write. It feels strange to refer to blog posts as â€Å"articles.† â€Å"Articles† sounds official, proper and very old media. â€Å"Posts† is the more common word, but it demeans the quality of the writing. 20 Movies Based on Shakespeare Plays: For me, April is Shakespeare’s month. I’ll be writing several Shakespeare-related posts this month, starting with Shakespeare in the movies. Story Writing 101: Since prehistoric times, when tales were told around fires and painted on cave walls, stories have been an essential part of our human experience. But what exactly is a story – and how can you write a great one? Don’t Be Burnt By â€Å"Inflammable†: In English, the in- prefix is often used to reverse the meaning of an adjective. Thus inactive is the opposite of active and inelegant is the opposite of elegant. So why isn’t inflammable the opposite of flammable? Mankind, Humankind, and Gender: My views on gendered language are perhaps too loose to meet the more extreme requirements of political correctness. For example, I don’t see anything wrong with using the word mankind in the sense of â€Å"all human beings living on the earth.† As I understand the word, it comes from an Old English construct in which man means â€Å"person.† 30 Religious Terms You Should Know: When I was growing up in small town America, stories about religion were generally confined to the Saturday church pages in the local newspaper. Catholics and Jews were the most exotic religious practitioners in town, and â€Å"atheist† was a strong term of disapprobation. â€Å"Completed Suicide†: My take is that, outside its valid use in medical literature, the expression â€Å"completed suicide† is being used as a euphemism by people who feel there’s more of a stigma attached to saying that someone â€Å"committed suicide.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of Phrases"Certified" and "Certificated"7 Sound Techniques for Effective Writing

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The Importance of the Employees Perception of Job Satisfaction Research Paper

The Importance of the Employees Perception of Job Satisfaction - Research Paper Example Benchmarks for evaluation of success can be defined by an organisational increase in retention of employees compared to past trends in the facility, with an increase in employee engagement of facility compared to past trends. The recommendation is to focus on the team and individual development to ensure that employees become fully engaged within their function and as team members. Therefore, by triangulating interviews and surveys from employee and management staff based on motivation, engagement, rewards and recognition, this, research will be able to identify weaknesses in the call centre with the ultimate purpose of making recommendations to improve job tenure. The employee's perception of job satisfaction, motivation and staff turnover will allow for evidence to suggest and identify the correlation between key points in managing employees to develop a continuous, stabilised workforce for Company A. This will lend to an affirmation on the importance of employee motivation in job satisfaction and a stronger understanding of ways in which motivation can lower employee turnover. Lowering employee turnover will, in turn, lower costs in training and development. The focus of the research based on the previous literature review and empirical evidence from Company A is to describe employee perceptions and managerial behaviours in relation to employee retention. ... Employee retention is a valid objective of any company, as the literature has shown. This is also relative to understanding the correlation between job satisfaction and staff turnover. These are strongly influenced by employee motivation and job satisfaction.  

Friday, October 18, 2019

Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Presentation - Essay Example Different scientist and researchers have taken it upon themselves to try and, understand the mechanism of the mysterious X chromosome as well as its inactivation amongst the female. i. A team of scientist in the Journal neuron noted a complexity in shutting and waking of chromosomes. Understanding the X- chromosomes mechanism of action, aids in the application of stem cells in treatment procedures (â€Å"The New York Times†). ii. Females have more genome diversity than males since different copies of X chromosome. Males have only a single X chromosome hence they do not possess genetic complexity compared to their female counterparts. The copies of X-chromosome possess different genes and this is an advantage since in case of a defective gene, there will be back up from another gene (â€Å"The New York Times†). i. According to a study done by Susumu Ohno, a Japanese biologist who first identified chromosome inactivation, one of the X chromosomes present in females usually becomes dormant and ceases producing proteins (â€Å"The New York Times†). ii. Another scientist by name Mary Lyon carried out a research by breeding mice. She realized that some offspring retained hair colour of their mothers and some retained that of their fathers. This explained chromosome inactivation since the colour gene is evident on the X chromosome (â€Å"The New York Times†). i. Following the discovery by Lyon, Jeremy Nathans from Johns Hopkins University together with his colleagues decided to investigate more on the works of Mary Lyon. They therefore carried out the following experiment. ii. Pictures from this experiment indicate that X chromosome inactivation leads to genetic diversity. Dr. Nathan hopes that his pictures could serve as an atlas in analysing effects of X chromosomes shutting in females (â€Å"The New York Times†). iii. The X-chromosomes form both parents could dominate opposite sides of an organ such like mothers X chromosome for the right and fathers X

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Final - Essay Example se has helped me to garner information on syntax, diction, style and grammatical concerns which are very important to portray my thoughts into scripts. I was aware of the theoretical nitty-gritty of all these but lacked the proper synchronization of all these rules in order to organize my planning and create something in letters. I have found my writings are grammatically and stylistically correct because I can communicate with my readers in an effective way. I can respond to different writing assignments in ways that do not only streamline my time but also produces better finished writings. I do not have to struggle with the topics as the sentences flow spontaneously in my mind and I simply need to place them in papers. The course has helped me to address my thoughts in such a way that invokes a spirit in me always when I sit with pen and papers. This serves as a great support to harmonize the feelings that were somehow lost in the maze of numerous manuscripts I often studied. Durin g my reading of any book, if any sentence captures my interest I always underline that part and try to recollect and reproduce the same in some of my writings in a similar situation. The course has taught me how to recreate those ideas in my thesis. Above all I have learnt to write with confidence and I know myself as a writer. I would also like to bring certain things to your notice that there are some difficulties which haunt me always whenever I write. First of all, I lack a sense of coherence and cannot string the right words together to produce the insightful content. I am sometimes unable to find those thought provoking phrases which might otherwise result into a marvelous piece of writing. Another potential drawback of my writing is that I cannot illustrate my ideas with simple examples or in trying to do so, I get lost in the labyrinth of winding sentences in which the main thought loses its track. My writings are not always devoid of jargons and this creates some

Death Penalty Outline Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Death Penalty Outline - Coursework Example by Sangiorgio will help in understanding how death penalty violates human rights standards, and how numerous states have started shifting away from this sentence. Death penalty is cruel and unfair based on race and ethnicity. Schweizer (2013) argues that capital punishment is unfair especially to the black people who live in the United States. Courts also pronounce this sentence based on the resources and benefits that they get from the plaintiff or the defendant. The article by schweizer (2013) will help in analyzing the cruelty and unfairness of capital punishment. Capital punishment wastes time, energy, and finances. Courts have to spend a lot of time and money while implementing death penalty. These resources would have been used in preventing crimes that are punished through death penalty. McLaughlin (2014) will help the research in understanding how death penalty wastes resources. Capital punishment prevents defendants from enjoying the due process of the law. Since new laws are created every day, defendants should be allowed to benefit from the upcoming laws instead of taking away their lives. An article by Sarver (2013) will help in understanding how death penalty prevents victims from enjoying the due process of

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Reaction paper - Essay Example This declaration which states that â€Å"The whole of Israel throughout the world is uniting to declare an economic and financial war on Germany†¦Fourteen million Jews scattered†¦tight to each other†¦declare war against the German persecutors,† was actually issued before Hitler’s government officially began restricting the rights of Jews (The Barnes Review 41-45). In addition, the speech of Benjamin Freedman, himself a former Jew, actually revealed that the Zionists guaranteed â€Å"We will guarantee to bring the United States into the war as your (Britain’s) ally, to fight with you on your side, if you will promise us Palestine after you win the war† (Freedman n. p.). This only proves one thing: the elite always has ulterior interests in provoking a war, and that because they are elites, this is never mentioned in history. Works Cited Freedman, Benjamin. â€Å"Germany and the Jews: The Role of the Jews in WWI and WWII.† mailstar.net. Peter Myers, 2009. Web. 26 April 2011. The Barnes Review.

J&J Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

J&J - Assignment Example Also they cannot mention about the risk of death on the warning label because people with suicidal tendencies may start using it. The drug earns yearly revenue of $1.3 billion so it is not possible to completely shut down its production. In order to solve the quandary, the J&J Company should make it sure that the public is well aware of the risks associated with the medicine. Instead of advising only about using it on the prescription of a doctor, it should state clearly about the potential hazards it poses to specific organs. The Company should also restrict its use as an over-the-counter drug and should only allow it to be given by a qualified doctor. This would ensure that the people do not overuse the drug. Clearly, it would reduce their sales by a large margin but it would save a lot of money it loses in legal proceedings. Also millions of lives would be saved and the company would regain its good reputation which has been tainted by various incidents of deaths. Works Cited East on, Thomas and Stephen Herrera. J&J's Dirty Little Secret. Forbes, 1998. Print.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Reaction paper - Essay Example This declaration which states that â€Å"The whole of Israel throughout the world is uniting to declare an economic and financial war on Germany†¦Fourteen million Jews scattered†¦tight to each other†¦declare war against the German persecutors,† was actually issued before Hitler’s government officially began restricting the rights of Jews (The Barnes Review 41-45). In addition, the speech of Benjamin Freedman, himself a former Jew, actually revealed that the Zionists guaranteed â€Å"We will guarantee to bring the United States into the war as your (Britain’s) ally, to fight with you on your side, if you will promise us Palestine after you win the war† (Freedman n. p.). This only proves one thing: the elite always has ulterior interests in provoking a war, and that because they are elites, this is never mentioned in history. Works Cited Freedman, Benjamin. â€Å"Germany and the Jews: The Role of the Jews in WWI and WWII.† mailstar.net. Peter Myers, 2009. Web. 26 April 2011. The Barnes Review.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease Research Paper - 1

Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease - Research Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that food is not only important for the maintenance and development of an individual, but also in the performance and reproduction of life. It has been estimated that during a person’s entire lifetime, a person consumes approximately 30 tonnes of food on proportion in professedly endless dietary categories. However, as digestion takes place, the food is broken down into basic nutrients necessary for the well being of the individual. Therefore, it is safe to assume that food is chemistry. In the process of digestion, the mixture of chemicals present in the food is broken down into four basic categories: nutrients, non-nutritive naturally occurring components (which include antinutritive and natural toxins), man-made contaminants and additives. Taking that into consideration, it is safe to say that nutrients make up for more than 99.9% of the food contents. Nutrients can be classified into carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fats, and min erals. These constituents are referred to as macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients can be described as primary sources of strength and building elements for humans, whereas micronutrients, on the other hand, are only required in comparative volumes. Micronutrients can be obtained in vitamins, minerals and trace elements, and are still essential in ample amounts to ensure proper performance of all body cells. Furthermore, micronutrients such as water do not necessarily provide individuals with energy. The majority of micronutrients are critical nutrients for life processes, often synthesized by the body. For that reason, these necessary nutrients can be received from the food that we eat. Most significantly, macronutrients are constituent and indispensable ingredients of our diets, often found in carbohydrates, water, fat, and protein.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Case study: Eating Disorder

Case study: Eating Disorder Psychopathology refers to maladaptive behavior/s that causes distress to an individual and is brought about by a psychological disorder (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2004). A number of factors contribute to the development of psychopathology: collectively referred to as the vulnerability-stress model (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2004). This model breaks the stressors down into three categories: biological causes, social causes and psychological causes (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2004). There are four dominant psychological theories of psychopathology that govern treatment: Psychodynamic Theories, Behavioral Theories, Cognitive Theories and Humanistic and Existential Theories (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2008). Eating disorders are classified as a form of psychopathology. Bulimia Nervosa, in particular, is an eating disorder characterized by bingeing episodes; followed by extreme actions that serve to induce immediate weight loss, such as purging (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2008). Chassler (1998) states that bulimic nervosa sufferers turn to food as a way of alleviating their negative emotions. Food provides a form of distraction from their problems and comfort; this leads to bingeing episodes (Chassler, 1998). The purging occurs as a way of ensuring that they do not gain weight after their bingeing episodes (Chassler, 1998). Individuals that suffer from bulimia nervosa tend to have been highly preoccupied with their shape and weight prior to developing the disorder. (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf Jantschek, 2007). Individuals developing this disorder tend to be highly dissatisfied with their bodies and many adolescent girls with low self-esteem tend to believe that all of their failures stem from the way that they look (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf Jantschek, 2007). These bulimic individuals follow cultural and societal norms that promise greater self-esteem to those who are slimmer (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf Jantschek, 2007). Interestingly, Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf and Jantschek (2007) discovered that bulimic women evaluated their own bodies in a skewed manner; however, they found no such disturbances in their cognition related to other womens bodies or to what they assumed men might find attractive. It is also believed that those suffering from bulimia nervosa are mainly motivated by the desire to fulfill the expectations that men have about womens bodies (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf Jantschek, 2007). Lacey and Evans (as cited in Anestis et al., 2009) were the first researchers to divide bulimic nervosa patients into two distinct subgroups: multi-impulsive versus uni-impulsive. The multi-impulsive subgroup exhibits impulsive behaviors that include not only binging and purging but also one of the following behaviors: substance abuse, stealing, sexual promiscuity or self-injury. However, Harnden-Fischer and Westen (2001) have found that separating bulimics into subgroups runs the risk of confining a range of complicated personality factors into a single category. These factors seem to be, characterized by emotional dysregulation, intense and labile affect, interpersonal desperation and impulsive efforts to escape distress and seek gratification. (Harnden-Fischer Westen, 2001, p. 558). Herzog, Keller, Sacks, Yeh, and Lavoril (as cited in Blinder, Cumella Sanathara, 2006) found that 60% of those individuals with bulimic nervosa, who participated in their study, also had a co morbid Axis I diagnosis. Blinder, Chaitin and Goldstein (as cited in Blinder, Cumella Sanathara, 2006) discovered that co morbidity with other Axis I disorders generally resulted in a poorer prognosis for bulimic nervosa patients. Blinder, Cumella and Sanathara (2006) found that the disorders that are most co morbid with bulimia nervosa are mood disorders, substance abuse (mostly alcohol abuse) disorders and anxiety disorders. Bryant-Waugh and Lask (as cited in Blinder, Cumella Sanathara, 2006) highlighted another factor that is thought to contribute to a poor prognosis: the development of bulimia nervosa at an early age. Another factor that is believed to contribute to the possible development of bulimia nervosa is that of family dynamics. Humphrey and Strober (1987) found that those individuals with parents who have a history of alcohol abuse and obesity, which are ill disposed towards said individual, show them no affection and give them minimal attention, are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa. Humphrey and Strober (1987) suggest that bulimic individuals did not learn good coping mechanisms because of being overwhelmed by their family environment; coupled with the pressure to be slim, leads to bingeing and purging behavior. The bingeing episodes may also act as a substitute for the nurturance that they never had (Humphrey and Strober, 1987). Arikian et al. (2008) also found that a family history of the father abusing alcohol, and the mother suffering from severe depression, resulted in a poorer prognosis for the bulimic individual. This essay will focus on a particular subject, namely, Molly. The article will investigate Mollys case and proffer possible solutions. Biographical Information THE CASE OF 5 Molly is nineteen years old and a second year tertiary student. She arrived to the session wearing tight jeans and a white sweater with coffee stains on one of her sleeves. Her scarf was out of place. Her hair was untidy and messy and her eyes were sunken with dark rings around them. There were no problems with her making eye contact although she displayed no emotions throughout the interview. She appeared to be very tired as evidenced by the repeated yawning and rubbing of her eyes. This led to the smudging of her mascara. Mollys aunt was worried about her and insisted that she see a psychologist at U.C.T.s Psychology Clinic. She was not doing her university work and was also having trouble sleeping. She had been caught bingeing and purging, which was a long-term problem, and was currently in a considerable amount of mental pain. She was also extremely suicidal. History of the Presenting Problem Molly was first exposed to trauma at a young age. Her parents were arguing loudly every night and Molly took it upon herself to stop them by banging with a toy on her door. This strategy worked for many years and led to Molly believing that she was the one who was responsible for keeping the peace between her parents. Molly was embarrassed to bring her primary school friends home as her father had an obvious alcohol dependency issue and was obese. Humphrey and Strober (1987) state that family discord; parental obesity and substance abuse are often seen to be some of the contributing factors to bulimia nervosa. During her primary school years, her fathers extreme negative reaction to her bad report cards flying into a rage and forbidding her to have supper -left Molly feeling unloved, unwanted and rejected. Both her parents would often drink heavily, until they passed out, and so were not there for Molly when she needed parental guidance and support. Added to this was the comparison that was always made between Molly and her younger brother, Luke. Luke was praised as much as Molly was berated; leading to a deep-seated pain and a sense of never being good enough. This level of family neglect all contributed to Mollys eventual development of bulimia (Humphrey and Strober, 1987). Molly attempted suicide in an effort to punish her parents, and herself, for the way in which they treated her. This demonstrates a tendency to rush into behaviors that lessen the negative affect that Molly feels, and Anestis et al. (cited in Anestis et al., 2009) discovered this tendency to be a predictor of bulimia. Molly went to live with her mother after her parents divorced. Her mother suffered from depression and this is seen to be a contributor to Mollys bulimia as Arikian, Keel, Miller, Thuras, Mitchell and Crow (2008) state that severe maternal depression could lead to a poorer prognosis. Molly gained weight once she entered puberty and this led to the other children taunting her, at school, about her weight. She blamed her weight as the main source of her torment: a strong predictor for bulimia (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf Jantschek, 2007). Her friends were the ones who first exposed her to bulimic behavior. Even though she claims that many people engage in bulimic behavior, she nevertheless states the need to purge in secret. Molly lost weight due to the bingeing and purging and this behavior was reinforced by her friends telling her how good she looked and by boys starting to take an interest in her. Molly started having sex with multiple partners, beginning at age 13. This behavior has continued into her university years. This can be seen not only as an expression of impulsivity but also as a form of reassurance seeking, two behaviors often associated with bulimics (Anestis et al., 2009). Diagnosis The DSM-IV can be used to assist in diagnosing Molly. Axis I refer to clinical disorders: Molly suffers from bulimia nervosa. This is her primary diagnosis. Co morbidly, she also suffers from substance abuse and depression. Axis II refers to either personality disorders or mental retardation. Molly does not appear to have any personality disorders, even though she does display some features of a borderline personality disorder. As it is stated in Nolen-Hoeksema (2004), her impulsive behaviors, like sexual promiscuity and alcohol abuse, are all symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. However, she is not subject to the continuous vacillation between the extremes of only idealizing or only despising individuals, as described by Nolen-Hoeksema (2004). Nolen-Hoeksema (2004) states that a Borderline Personality Disorder is characterized by angry outbursts, due to an unstable mood, and alternates between feelings of low self-worth and feelings of grandiosity. However, in Mollys case, h er angry outbursts are brought about due to a lack of sleep and not due to unstable mood, though she does suffer from that with respect to depression; it seems that she always feels herself to be of low self-worth. Axis III refers to general medical conditions. Molly does not have any general medical conditions. Axis IV refers to psychosocial and environmental problems. Molly comes from a broken home and has poor relationships with both her parents. They have neglected her, been hostile and highly critical of her, since her days in primary school. Therefore, Mollys social support comes from, mainly, her aunt who suggested that she visit a psychologist. Molly had weight problems at school that led to her being taunted and extremely unhappy. Her friends at the time, in high school, introduced her to bingeing and purging behavior. Molly began to get attention from boys and reacted to this by being sexually active from a young age. This behavior continued into her university years. Molly is not doing her university work and says that she needed to take some time off from university. She is under added pressure as her primary caregivers were arguing over how Mollys third year at university was to be financed. Her bingeing and purging episodes escalated dramatically following her visit to her pare nts and stepparent. Axis V refers to the Global Assessment of Functioning. A score of 20 characterizes Molly. Her symptoms are very serious as they can lead to her death or, at the very least, multiple physical problems. She is high in suicidal ideation, and this should be taken seriously and not ignored, and cannot continue with her studies at the present time. Her interpersonal relationships with men are marked by risky sexual behavior and her relationship with her parents serves to exacerbate her bulimic symptoms. She also seems to have no friends. The primary diagnosis is one of bulimia nervosa. There are many factors that point to this diagnosis and that fulfill the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Molly binges on junk food, such as chips and ice cream throughout the day, which is followed by purging. She was also eating in secret thus pointing to a lack of control over her behavior. This behavior started when Molly was thirteen so it has definitely been going on at least twice a week and for longer than three months. Molly was haunted by being overweight at school and attributed all of her problems to her weight, as evidenced by peoples praise of her thinness and by boys starting to take an interest in her. Thus, her preoccupation with her weight is significant. Molly also has two co morbid diagnoses: depression and substance abuse. Her symptoms of depression include emotional symptoms such as waves of mental anguishà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ which occurred more often, lasted longer, and grew in intensity and flat affect. Her physiological and behavioral symptoms of depression include serious sleep problems and feelings of fatigue as she yawned frequently and rubbed her eyes repeatedly. Her cognitive symptoms of depression include suicidal thoughts and a sense of hopelessness and worthlessness: she says, I thought to myself, nobody cares whether I live or die, so why bother with hospitals? She has major depression as her symptoms have lasted for around two weeks and they interfere with her functioning. Mollys second co morbid disorder is substance abuse. She drinks heavily on the weekends and often gets drunk. She continues to consume alcohol despite having periods where she blacks out and wakes up in bed with someone she has no recollection of even meeting. This is said to have happened frequently. These are hazardous behaviors, as Molly could be assaulted by or contract a sexual disease from any one of these men. The differential diagnoses in this case are substance abuse and depression. Depression is a differential diagnosis as Molly meets the diagnostic criteria of depression but this was ruled out, as the primary diagnosis, despite Mollys initial suicide attempt, as Mollys depressive symptoms appeared after her bulimia nervosa developed and can be seen as one of the symptoms thereof. As Blinder, Cumella and Sanathara (2006) state, Perhaps prolonged illness and chronicity in EDs initiate adverse relational experiences, nutritional causality, and affective blunting that predispose longer-term ED patients to depressive symptoms. Molly also could have been given a primary diagnosis of substance abuse but, once again, this behavior occurred long after the bulimia nervosa began and could be seen to be another symptom thereof. As Hildebrandt and Sysko (2009) state, A significant percentage of treatment-seeking individuals with BN are also diagnosed with a co-morbid disorder, with approximately 20 to 80% classified with a lifetime major depressive disorderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and Among individuals with eating disorders, patients with BNà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ report a higher prevalence of alcohol or drug problems. Case Formulation There are a number of psychological theories that underpin Mollys case but, perhaps, the most fitting theory is that of the psychoanalytic theory, a subset of psychodynamic theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2008). Freud developed psychoanalysis and this theory is largely based on the idea that all behavior stems from unconscious processes. As stated in Nolen-Hoeksema (2004), Freud termed the phenomenon of when a persons defense mechanisms are no longer useful as they are harmful to that individual, the neurotic paradox. One could say that Molly suffers from the neurotic paradox: she has unresolved, and angry, feelings towards her parents and sublimates these feelings by bingeing and purging. Nolen-Hoeksema (2004) mentions Freuds notion of repression: memories or feelings that an individual cannot or does not want to face and so, these memories or feelings, are banished from said individuals consciousness. One could also say that Mollys bingeing and purging stem from her repressing her angry fe elings towards her father, turning them inwards and making use of maladaptive strategies to cope. Many of Mollys problems stem from her family upbringing and the relationship that she has with her primary caregivers, her parents; as will be demonstrated below. Sugarman and Kurash (as cited in Chassler, 1998) state that the bingeing episodes are a way of reconnecting to the mother and the purging occurs out of a fear of being swallowed-up by the mother. This theory points to Molly expressing her anger and disappointment at her mother for not being there to show her the love and support that she needed and so, in this way, Molly is trying to fulfill her need for maternal love in other ways. As Woodall (as cited in Chassler, 1998, p. 403) has pointed out, the bulimic nervosa sufferer uses food as a, reliable transitional object as a way to undo the mothers frightening unreliability. Bowlby (as cited in Chassler, 1998) first established the concept of attachment: a theorizing of the way in which humans are driven to form attachments to certain others. A healthy and nurturing attachment to a primary caregiver leads to a well-adjusted child (Chassler, 1998). However, disturbances in this attachment lead to all kinds of psychological problems developing (Chassler, 1998). As a child, Molly was exposed to her parents hostile feelings towards one another: expressed in their fighting matches. This can be seen to be a disruption in the positive attachment that should have developed between Molly and her parents (Chassler, 1998). Twice in her life, she felt as though she were responsible for her parents behaviors: (1) as a child when she would knock on the door in an attempt to get her parents to stop fighting and (2) when living with her depressed mother, now divorced, and feeling responsible for her mothers emotional wellbeing. As Humphrey (as cited in Chassler, 1998, p . 406) states families of bulimic nervosa sufferers tend to be, higher in conflict, chaos, detachment, neglect, dependency and contradictory communications than normal families. Igoin-Apfelbaum (as cited in Chassler, 1998) found that there are a higher percentage of broken homes among his bulimic nervosa participants than among his control participants. This hostile environment became unbearable for Molly during her primary school years. Her fathers emotional abuse led to Molly feeling worthless and, perhaps, seeing as he attacked her intellectual ability, she felt that she could succeed in another way by controlling her weight and being attractive. Molly may have a genetic predisposition to developing depression as her mother suffers from depression (Blinder, Cumella Sanathara, 2006). Mollys parents both abused alcohol and her father is described as being obese; these are two factors that are linked to the development of bulimia (Humphrey Strober, 1987). Being in direct contact with her fathers obesity may have contributed to Mollys obsession with being thin. Lilenfeld et al. (as cited in Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009) found that individuals with bulimia nervosa with a co morbid disorder of substance abuse mostly have relatives who themselves have a substance abuse problem. Treatment Keel et al.(as cited in Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009) posits that alcohol abuse and eating disorders stem from different etiologies that mutually bear influence upon one another. O Malley et al. (as cited in Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009) found, in his study, that successfully treating the substance abuse disorder did not completely eradicate the bulimic syndrome Therefore, Molly, who has co morbid alcohol abuse and bulimia nervosa, may require an integrated cognitive behavioral therapy treatment that addresses both disorders (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). There are specific modules that Hildebrandt and Sysko (2009) highlight as being the most significant targets that their integrated cognitive behavioral therapy should attempt to heal. Addressing motivation to change is key as adherence to recovery is necessary, in order to prevent relapse (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). Addressing interpersonal relationships, making use of techniques gleaned from psychotherapy, is crucial as interpersonal conflict often serves to exacerbate the bulimic and substance abuse behavior (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). Addressing reward sensitivity can be done in the form of cue exposure, which has been shown to be successful for both substance abuse and bulimic behavior (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). However, cue exposure may not be appropriate for outpatient therapy as it could lead to alcohol consumption after the session (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). Addressing impulsive behaviors is a necessary part of the treatment and dialectical behavior therapy has been found t o be effective in treating the bulimia nervosa sufferers impulsive behaviors (Hildebrandt Sysko, 2009). For as Hildebrandt and Sysko (2009, p. 95) have stated, The DBT model for BN conceptualizes binge eating and purging as a means of controlling emotions, and emotion dysregulation is therefore considered to be primary problem with ongoing bulimic behaviors. Conclusion: Gender Bias Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf and Jantschek (2007) found bulimic women, whose perceptions of the body shape and size of women that men find attractive, did not differ significantly from that of men. However, they also state that cultural norms indicate that adolescent girls hope to attain self-confidence by achieving a level of thinness. Therefore, women feel that they have to attain a particular level of thinness in order to be desired by the opposite sex. This places women under tremendous pressure. The media contributes to this pressure by displaying images of women who have attained this ideal thereby intimating that it is within every womans power to achieve similar results. Men are under more pressure to be successful in monetary terms as this can snare a mate, whereas women are under more pressure to be physically appealing in order to attract men. This is evident in Mollys case as she states that boys began being interested in her once she had lost her weigh t. Therefore, it is apparent that bulimia nervosa would have a greater propensity in women than it would in men.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

How Single Events Propel a Child from Innocence into Adulthood :: Childhood Adulthood Development Essays

How Single Events Propel a Child from Innocence into Adulthood To show how single events or experiences propel a child form innocence into adulthood, I shall use the following texts, "Jane Eyre" a novel by Charlotte Bront, "The Flowers" a short story by Alice Walker, "The Stolen Party" a short story by Liliana Heker, "The Lesson" a poem by Edward Lucie-Smith and finally "Diana, Her True Story-In Her own words" an autobiography by Andrew Morton. Childhood is a muddled time where children are oblivious to what goes on in the surrounding environment, they think that everything is good and safe and are just unaware of the reality. Children generally learn the truth from their actions, parents, and sometimes it is a single event, which will be remembered from that moment on, to open their eyes to the real world. I am going to show how this change in a person occurs in the texts above. "Jane Eyre" a novel by Charlotte BrontÃÆ'Â «, the novel is written in third person narrative, given form Jane's point of view, giving the story a very honest, personal view on her life. "Jane Eyre" is about a young girl of 10 years old called Jane; she grows up as an orphan due to the death of her parents when she was a year old. She was sent to live with her aunt in Gateshead. She is not accepted into the aunts' family and she is open to daily cruelty and neglect throughout her childhood. Near the beginning of the book Jane is sent to the "Red Room" this is to punish her bad behaviour. The experience of being unfairly treated, is the first time she realises how unfair people and life can be towards her, because she is being punished for something her cousin started, by picking on her. Miss Abbot and Bessie already have a bad opinion of Jane, and with this bad action she is open to the worst punishment in her eyes possible, the Red room, and to make Jane more afraid Miss Abbott says "say your prayers, Miss Eyre, where you are by yourself, for if you don't repent something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney and fetch you away", by saying this actually being in the room has been made worse something more to be afraid of. Charlotte BrontÃÆ'Â «'s description of the red room is sombre, full of darkness and mystery, but to Jane a frightening room, but this is most due to the talk about it previous to being in it. The room is described with "red" being the main surrounding feature of the room,

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Red Badge of Courage Essay: Battle for Adulthood :: Red Badge Courage Essays

A Battle for Adulthood in Red Badge of Courage    Throughout the novel, The Red Badge of Courage, written by Stephen Crane, a theme is portrayed within a battle that takes place during the Civil War. It is that each person must find the courage to win his or her won battle for maturity or adulthood. A soldier, who is also the main character, Henry Fleming, exemplifies this theme.    Henry Fleming begins as an immature soldier who enlists in the army without knowing a reason why. Henry has a romantic view of the war, and expects it to be glorious: â€Å"They [battles] might not be distinctly Homeric, but there seemed to be much glory in them. He [Henry] had read of marches, sieges, conflicts, and he had longed to see it all.† Henry obviously lacks maturity because he was very determined to enlist in the army, but tries to blame the government for being at war.    Henry starts to realize that there are no heroes and that there are no individuals: â€Å"He had grown to regard himself merely as a part of a vast blue demonstration.† Therefore he is beginning to fight the battle within himself into adulthood. Henry looses some of his selfishness and gains concern for others, another stepping stone: â€Å"He felt the subtle battle brotherhood more potent even than the cause for which he was fighting.† Henry deserts a dying soldier and runs from a battle, but recognizes that running away was wrong. It isn’t a mature action, but he is mature to realize the magnitude of running.    With the knowledge of his past mistakes, Henry goes into battle without thinking about the past and fights heroically. After a general makes a derogatory remark about Henry and his comrades, it reveals Henry’s change of attitude. He accepts the comment without rebellion and fights with courage. Because of the success of fighting bravely, Henry has the self-esteem to deal with his mistakes as an adult. As a mature person he can learn from his mistakes.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Aqa as Philosophy Revision Notes †Reason and Experience Essay

Knowledge and Belief †¢ People can believe things that aren’t true. †¢ For you to know something, it must be true and you must believe it. †¢ Beliefs can be true or false. †¢ Beliefs can accidentally be true, but it isn’t knowledge. Types of Knowledge †¢ Analytic – true by definition – â€Å"Squares have 4 sides†. †¢ Synthetic – not analytic, true or false in the way the word is – â€Å"Ripe tomatoes are red†. †¢ A priori – doesn’t require sense experience to know – â€Å"all bachelors are unmarried†. †¢ A posteriori – can be established through sense experience – â€Å"Snow is white†. All Analytic propositions are known a priori. This doesn’t mean that all a priori propositions are analytic. The main question is â€Å"Are all synthetic propositions a posteriori? † i. e; do we have some knowledge that doesn’t come from sense experience? It is this question that forms the debate between rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism vs. Empiricism †¢ Main dividing questions are: â€Å"What are the sources of knowledge? †, â€Å"How do we acquire it? †, â€Å"How do we get concepts? †. †¢ Rationalism gives an important role to reason. †¢ Empiricism gives an important role to the senses. †¢ Why can’t we use both in acquiring knowledge? Rationalism. †¢ Rationalism claims that we can have synthetic a priori knowledge of the external world. Empiricism denies this. †¢ Rationalists argue that it’s possible for us to know some synthetic propositions about the world outside our own minds, e. g. Maths and morality. Empiricists argue that it is not. †¢ Both rationalists and empiricists accept that we naturally have certain thoughts and feelings inside our minds. Empiricism †¢ An advantage of empiricism is that it allows us to quickly see how we ascertain our knowledge – through our senses by perceiving how the world is, which is a causal process – it requires no mental reasoning. †¢ Empiricists also claim that this is how we acquire our concepts – through our senses. †¢ Once we understand the acquired concepts, we gain analytic knowledge. If we have knowledge that doesn’t come from sense experience – how do we get this knowledge? Rationalists argue that we either gain this knowledge from ‘rational intuition’ or ‘insight’, which allows us to gain this knowledge intellectually, or we just know these truths innately as part of our rational nature. Rationalists may also argue that some, or even all of our concepts are innate of come from rational insight. Do All Ideas Derive From Sense Experience? John Locke – Mind as a ‘Tabula Rasa’ †¢ Locke argues that all ideas derive from sense experience. †¢ He says that the mind at birth is a ‘tabula rasa’ – a blank slate that gets filled up with ideas from the senses. †¢ He refutes the claim of ‘innate ideas’. †¢ Ideas can either be part of a proposition: â€Å"He had the idea that it would be fun to take the day off†; or they can be concepts: â€Å"the idea of yellow†. †¢ Locke says that all our concepts derive from sense experience, and that we have no knowledge prior to sense experience. From Locke’s definition of ‘innate idea’, it follows that everyone with a mind should have the same ideas. However, there is no truth that every person (including people lacking reasoning skills) can assent and agree to. So perhaps, with Locke’s definition, innate ideas are ones that we known as soon as we gain the use of reason. Locke refutes this, saying that we aren’t lacking reason but the knowledge of ideas. For example, a child can’t know that â€Å"4 + 5 = 9† until the child can count up to 9 and has the idea of equality. It is the same thing as knowing that an apple is not a stick – it’s not a development of reason, just the gaining of knowledge of ideas. So therefore, if we must first acquire the concepts involved (through sense experience), the proposition cannot be innate, as no proposition is innate unless the concepts used are innate. Locke argues that the mind has no concepts from birth, and so no truths or concepts can be innate. A Different definition of ‘innate idea’ †¢ Locke’s definition and argument against innate ideas hasn’t been criticized †¢ People who believe in innate ideas don’t accept Locke’s definition †¢ Nativists maintain the view that innate ideas are those which cannot be gained from experience †¢ Nativists tend to argue on how concepts or knowledge can’t be acquired from sense experience †¢ Because we don’t know all concepts from birth, there is some point when we become aware of our concepts †¢ Rationalists argue that experience triggers our awareness of our innate concepts. Experience as a ‘Trigger’ †¢ Children begin to use certain ideas at certain time, and their capacities develop, so why can’t their concepts and knowledge also develop? †¢ Children begin to use certain ideas at certain times †¢ Experience still plays a role – a child must be exposed to the relevant stimuli for the knowledge to emerge, e. g.language. †¢ An idea is innate if it cannot be derived or justified by sense experience. Empiricists on Arguing Concepts John Locke 1. The senses let in ideas 2. These ideas furnish an ‘empty cabinet’ 3. The mind grows familiar with these ideas and they’re lodged in one’s memory 4. The mind then abstracts them, and learns general names for them 5. The mind then has ideas and the language by which it can describe them †¢ However, what does it mean to ‘let in ideas’? †¢ We contrast ideas with sensations, e. g. the sensation of yellow isn’t the same as the concept of yellow †¢ Locke fails to make this distinction David Hume †¢ Hume believes that we are directly aware of ‘perceptions’ †¢ Perceptions are then divided into ‘impressions’ and ‘ideas’ †¢ Both Locke and Hume divide impressions into ‘impressions of sensation’ and ‘impressions of reflection’ †¢ Impressions of sensation come from our sense data and that which we directly perceive †¢ Impressions of reflection derive from the experience of our mind, such as feeling emotions. †¢ Hume says that ideas are ‘faint copies’ of impressions †¢ Therefore, there are ideas of sensation (e. g. the idea of red) and ideas of reflection (e. g. the feeling of sadness, happiness) †¢ Concepts are a type of idea. †¢ Hume’s theory of how we acquire ideas (from copying them from impressions) is a theory of how we acquire concepts) †¢ Locke and Hume both have slightly different versions of how we acquire ideas with which we can think †¢ We start with experiences of the physical world which we get from sense data and experiences of our mind †¢ For Locke, this gives us ideas once we employ our memory to reflect on these experiences †¢ According to Locke, this makes it sound that the remembered experiences are the ideas with which we think †¢ Hume corrects this, and says that we remember and think with the copies of the sensory impressions. Simple and complex concepts †¢ A complex idea is just an idea made up of several different ideas, e. g. a complex idea (a dog) is made up of simple ideas like shape, colour and smell. †¢ This complex idea has a complex impression †¢ We can therefore form complex ideas by abstraction. †¢ As an objection, rationalism raises the question of where do non-empirical ideas come from? †¢ Empiricism is appealing, as we seem to intuitively trust our senses and it easily answers such questions. †¢ However, there are complex ideas that correspond to nothing from our sense experience, e. g. unicorns or God. †¢ So do all ideas derive from sense experience? †¢ Empiricists argue that these complex ideas are made up from simple ideas, which are copies of impressions (e. g. a unicorn is the simple concepts of a horse, a horn, and the colour white, and combined together they give us a unicorn) †¢ Hume and Locke argue that when creating complex ideas, one can only work with the materials that our impressions provide – simple ideas †¢ Complex ideas are no more than altering or abstracting these simple ideas †¢ Therefore, empiricists answer this rationalist objection So Are There Innate Concepts? †¢ What would an empiricists’ analysis of complex concepts like self, causality, substance, etc.be? †¢ These concepts must either be innate, or reached using a priori reasoning †¢ Hume accepts that these complex concepts cannot be derived from experience †¢ However, he states that each of these concepts has no application †¢ These concepts are confused, and we should always use concepts that can be derived from experience †¢ For example, we don’t experience our ‘self’, we experience a changing array of thoughts and feelings. †¢ To come up with the idea of ‘self’, we’ve confused similarity with identity †¢ We do the same with the idea of a physical object †¢ A physical object exists independently of experience, existing in 3d space. †¢ But can experience show us something that exists independently of experience? †¢ If I look at a desk, look away, and then look back again, the desk must have existed when I wasn’t looking at it. †¢ I can’t know that my experience was of the same desk, only that the experiences are similar †¢ When coming up with the concept of a physical object that exists independently of experience, I confuse similarity with identity. †¢ Hume concludes that these concepts are incoherent confusions †¢ This can be objected though †¢ This makes most of our common-sense understand and analysis of the  world incorrect – we know that our concepts are coherent. †¢ Empiricism now seems to challenging to accept, as it makes our concepts ‘illusory’. †¢ The fact that we cannot derive the aforementioned from experience shows that they are innate †¢ Empiricists therefore have a flawed argument – explaining our most abstract concepts is an argument that these concepts are not derived from experience. †¢ Does this therefore mean that they’re innate or arrived at through rational intuition? †¢ One reason to think they’re innate is that children use these concepts before they develop rational intuition. †¢ Rationalists therefore argue that experience is the trigger for the concept Does all knowledge about what exists rest on sense experience? Hume’s Fork †¢ We can have knowledge of two sorts of things: ‘Relations between ideas’, and ‘matters of fact’ †¢ Relations of ideas are propositions like ‘all sons have fathers’ †¢ Hume argue that all a priori knowledge must be analytic, and all knowledge of synthetic propositions must be a posteriori †¢ Anything that is not true by definition (‘matters of fact’) must be learned through the senses †¢ Hume’s ‘matters of fact’ are essentially analytic truths. Matters of Fact †¢ Hume says that the foundation of knowledge of matters of fact is what we experience here and now, or what we can remember †¢ All our knowledge that goes beyond the aforementioned rests on casual inference †¢ For example, if I receive a letter from a friend with a French postcard on it, I’ll believe that my friend is in France. †¢ I know this because I infer from post mark to place †¢ I think that where something is posted causes it to have a postmark from that place. †¢ If the letter was posted by my friend, I believe that he is in France. †¢ I ‘know’ this because I rely on past experiences. †¢ I don’t work out what causes what by thinking about it †¢ It is only our experience of effects and causes that brings us to infer what cause has what effect. †¢ Hume denies that this is ‘proof’ †¢ He says that knowledge of matters of fact, beyond what we’re experience here and now relies on induction and reasoning about probability. Induction and Deduction †¢ The terms relate to a type of argument †¢ Inductive is where the conclusion is not logically entailed by its premises, but supported by them †¢ If the premises are true, the conclusion is likely to be true. †¢ The French letter example is an example of inductive reasoning. †¢ A Deductive argument is an argument whose conclusion is logically entailed by its premises †¢ If the premises are true, the conclusion cannot be false †¢ E. g. Premise 1: Socrates is a man; Premise 2: All men are mortal; Conclusion: Socrates is mortal. Using a priori intuition and demonstration to establish claims of what exists †¢ Rationalists argue against Hume, saying that some claims about what exists can be grounded on a priori intuition. †¢ A priori demonstration, or deduction, is deduction that uses a priori premises †¢ Rational intuition is the view that you can discover the truth of a claim by thinking about it  Descartes †¢ Descartes says that we can establish the existence of the mind, the physical world and God through a priori reasoning. †¢ He attacks sense experience, and how they can deceive us †¢ We can’t tell if we’re being deceived by an evil demon through our senses, as what we are experiencing will be false †¢ We can establish that we think, and therefore we exist, even if our senses do deceive us (as we don’t need our senses to know our mind exists) †¢ This conclusion of thinking and doubting that we exist was gotten to by pure reasoning. †¢ He also establishes that the mind can exist from the body. †¢ Descartes says we don’t know what causes these experiences †¢ It could be an evil demon, God, or the physics world exists exactly how we perceive it. †¢ If it was God, it would mean he was a deceiver as we have a very strong tendency to trust our senses †¢ If it was a demon, God must have created this demon to deceive us, and because God is perfect by definition, this would mean God isn’t a deceiver, and so he can’t have made a demon – so there must be some kind of a real world †¢ Through a priori intuition and reasoning, Descartes says that the external world must exist, because God exists, and he would not deceive us. Conceptual Schemes and Their Philosophical Implications †¢ Humans don’t all have the same concepts †¢ There are two distinguishable elements to our experience: the data of the senses, and how this data’s interpreted by our concepts †¢ By the latter, it implies that different people would impose different conceptual scheme if they have different concepts. †¢ Conceptual relativism claims that because our conceptual scheme affect how people experience and understand reality, people with different conceptual schemes have different realities. An Implication: Conceptual relativism. †¢ We assume people have different ‘realities’ because we can’t translate their to ours †¢ It assumes language ‘constructs’ reality to say reality is relative to our conceptual schemes †¢ It would mean that reality is dependant on language, which isn’t true – we express our realities by language †¢ A proposition in one conceptual scheme can be true without needing to be express in another set of scheme. †¢ This means that there isn’t one set of scheme with how the world works †¢ An objection is that people argue that the relation between experience anc conceptual schemes doesn’t make sense. †¢ Benjamin Whorf says that languages organize our experience of the world †¢ This is like trying to organize a wardrobe itself and not the clothes in it †¢ If a conceptual scheme organizes our experience, then our experience must be comprised of individual experiences †¢ Conceptual scheme all have a set of experiences in common †¢ We can pick out individual experiences like smelling a flower, feeling cold, etc. †¢ Any conceptual scheme with these sorts of experiences will end up similar to our own, despite the concepts one hold and their language, and so translation between two different conceptual schemes will be possible. †¢ There may be small parts that can’t be translated, but this only leads to a very mild form of conceptual relativism. †¢ We can’t necessarily combine conceptual scheme †¢ An example is that we can have more or less colours in our vocabulary, and so can describe things in different ways. †¢ The Greeks thought that there was only one colour – bronze, and that everything else was a different shade of bronze. †¢ This doesn’t mean they saw everything in what we call ‘bronze’, it’s just how they described their experiences. †¢ We can therefore only state things depending on the concepts we have.