Tao Of Pooh And Taoism Essays - Kingdom Hearts Characters, Film

Tao Of Pooh And Taoism In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff uses the characters from Winnie the Pooh to explain the fundamentals of Taoism. By observing the actions of Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Tigger, and Pooh, he decides that the action of the character Pooh best describes Taoism. The most important principle of Taoism is the Uncarved Block. Hoff uses Pooh to best explain the Uncarved Block. The principle of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. He uses these characters to show how things can be spoiled and lost and also how things can just work out. Hoff uses Rabbit to show that when you always have to be on the run doing something and being busy, usually you miss things and you do not enjoy life. It can often screw up things to always have to figure things out and always feel like you are important. He uses Owl to show that when you are always looking for a reason for something then it often makes things too complicated. Hoff uses Piglet in the sense that Piglet is always scared and hesitating things, if Piglet would not hesitate, he would get things done in a much more efficient way. He should just do, not think. Hoff explains the character of Eeyore by showing how he is always worried about things; he frets a lot. If he would not do that, then life would be much easier for Eeyore. And finally, there is Pooh. Hoff shows how Pooh does not think or ponder about things; he just does them. Things always work out for Pooh because of this. Pooh works along with nature and he does not try to interfere. Pooh leads a simple life. This can also be explained as the life and actions of a Taoist. Hoff's purpose of this book is a didactic purpose. He wrote the book to inform people of Taoism. He wanted to teach the ways and beliefs of a Taoist. He wanted to teach in a way that everyone could understand or relate too, that is why he used Winnie the Pooh. Everybody understands Pooh. He thought that it would be an easy and simple way to get the point across to not just the scholarly, but the normal public. For example, Hoff states: "...we won't try too hard or explain too much, because that would only Confuse things, and because it would leave the impression that it was all only an intellectual idea that could be left on the intellectual level and ignored." (p. 10) He uses each chapter of the book to teach a new principle of the Uncarved Block of Taoism. In each chapter he tells a Winnie the Pooh story and then explains how it relates to Taoism. Hoff writes a chapter teaching how cleverness does not always help, but it sometimes destroys things and is the reason that things do not work out. Hoff teaches that the Taoist believe that if you understand Inner Nature it is far more effective than knowledge or cleverness. He uses a poem "Cottleston Pie". The poem explains how things just are as they are and how people try to violate these principles with their everyday lives. He also uses a story of Tigger and Roo. Tigger tries to be something he is not and he ends up just screwing things up and getting stuck in a tree. Hoff also explains that working with Nature is best in the sense that you do not screw things up with a story about Eeyore getting stuck in the river. Everybody had been trying to think of clever ways to get Eeyore out of the river when Pooh said that if they just dropped a big stone into it, then it would just wash Eeyore ashore. He did it without even thinking, because thinking would complicate things, and of course it worked. Pooh worked with Nature and things worked out for him. As you can see, Hoff uses many different Winnie the Pooh stories to teach the uncomplicated ways of the Taoist. The only arguments that Hoff really presents is whether or not the Taoist way is the best way and whether or not it really works. When you look at it from the point of Pooh and the stories from The House at Pooh Corner you really believe that what the Taoist believe is the best

Facebook Should Be Banned

Facebook Should Be Banned Introduction Admittedly, social networks have become an indispensible part of human life. On one hand, such networks as Facebook provide many great opportunities to communicate and share opinions. On the other hand, Facebook may lead to many negative outcomes. Almost unlimited access to information often becomes a great problem for personal and social life.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Facebook Should Be Banned specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, Facebook can have such negative effects as privacy invasion, the destruction of relationships and it can even influence the development of society (e.g. Arab world protestors). Therefore, Facebook should be banned as it negatively affects the major aspects of human life. Privacy invasion Facebook is one of the most famous social networks which have more than 500 million users. Of course, this network provides lots of opportunities to communicate and find new friends. H owever, the tool is too imperfect. In the first place, there were several scandals concerning the network’s creators ‘sharing’ information. Reportedly, they sold personal information of users to certain companies. The network’s creators argued that users shared their information, so it meant the information was not confidential. Likewise, almost anyone can find some personal information and use it. The most vulnerable category of users is teenagers who may reveal their personal information to criminals without even understanding the potential danger. Therefore, Facebook should be banned to prevent privacy invasion and associated crimes. Destruction of relationships Furthermore, such networks also lead to destruction of relationships. Divorce lawyers claim that ‘cyber’ affairs lead to the increase of marriage breakdowns (Insley, 2009). Admittedly, many people find old friends with the help of Facebook. However, people also tend to substitute th eir real life communication by the cyber communication. The latter seems perfect and people focus on the imperfections of their personal lives. Eventually, many people break their real life relationships to build new ones which often terminate very soon. Therefore, it is important to ban Facebook to prevent people from the replacement of the real life by an unreal life. Basically, this can be compared with the ban of drugs which also lead to such kind of replacement.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The only difference that drug abuse has short-term consequences (health problems) whereas Facebook ‘abuse’ has long-term consequences (divorce, frustration, stress, possible drug abuse, etc.). Social effects Finally, Facebook can also affect the development of the society. For instance, many people claim that societies only benefit from the use of such soc ial networks as Facebook since people can be aware of the real situation in their country and in the world. Some argue that governments often suppress media trying to juggle with facts (Dunn, 2011). Admittedly, people should share opinions and information. However, sometimes the social networks may be used to foment riots. Some argue that the ban of Facebook and other social networks (e.g. Twitter) proves that governments try to limit communications in order to control nations. However, the example of Egypt or Libya shows that such tool as Facebook is not the primary tool of communication as the discussion of important issues continues even after the ban of social networks (Dunn, 2011). Therefore, Facebook should be banned as it can lead to unrest in society. Conclusion On balance, although some people argue that Facebook is a helpful tool of communication, it should be banned as it has too many negative effects. It can lead to increase of crimes and social unrest. It also negativel y affects personal lives of users as it negatively influences the development of real life relationships. Reference List Dunn, A. (2011). Unplugging a Nation: State Media Strategy during Egypts January 25 Uprising. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 35(2), 15-24. Insley, J. (2009, May 27). Cyber Affairs Cited in Breakdown of Real Marriages. The Guardian, n.p.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Facebook Should Be Banned specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

The strategies I will adopt to improve my academic performance to be Essay

The strategies I will adopt to improve my academic performance to be successful in College - Essay Example Some of the strategies that I have put in place to improve my academic performance include; First, time management is an important attribute that cannot lack in my recipe for success in academic success. Time management is an inevitable resource that can work in favour or against anybody. A student should know when to learn new concepts, study the concepts and prepare for exams. Crush programs in student life disorganise expectations. One should know when to party, when to study and have social sessions. Proper utilisation of available time will maximizes brain usage and may even create extra time for personal studies. Bearing all this in mind, I have developed various time management techniques ranging from drawing timetables and writing a diary to keep all my activities in time. Undeniably, performance depends on what has been grasped over a given period. Second, successful academic performance requires availability of learning materials. This ranges from physical, emotional and psychological factors responsible for streamlining success. When attending classes one needs to be physically fresh and clear minded. It, therefore, is important to avail all materials important for physical exercise. Attending to physical training, not only benefits the body but also helps in relaxing brain activities hence beneficial in the long term. Fresh brains have the ability to learn and grasp new concepts hence a strategy towards successful academic life. From this perspective, this will ensure good performance in the long term. A clear organization system plays a significant role in promoting success in all academic pursuits. Learner should know how to save and get countless hours from most of each class. In many instances, students fail to grasp what their teachers say due to inefficient systems. I have come up with various factors including strategies aimed at aligning my system myself to the education

Atlanta's Historical Preservation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Atlanta's Historical Preservation - Essay Example Take no other metropolis for example than Atlanta, the grandiose heart of the South. "Parkside Partners Inc. and The Carter Real Estate Fund I LLC have formed a partnership to develop a two-building, class A office condominium project on about 3.5 acres in Technology Park/Atlanta in Gwinnett County. " The gem of the South is quickly turning into smog-ridden monument to consumerism. And lost in this shuffle of Starbucks-lifestyle is one of the richest histories in the United States. We can only hope that the Swan House and the Tullie Smith Farm will never be bulldozed in favor of a Gap. This is the travesty that modern-day Atlanta has become. This is what we have retained after two-hundred years of fascinating and sometimes violent history. We can see the now, let us examine the then. Late in the September of 1906, the energy that had been pent up by years of slavery and civil war exploded in Atlanta when mobs of whites assaults black citizens, killing dozens, wounding many more, and causing untold property damage. The racial tension began to build during the Reconstruction, when blacks started to exercise their newly found rights, giving rise to a group of wealthy black elites; a group that assaulted the sensibilities of the then-racist denizens of Atlanta. It was because of this that headlines on September 22nd, 1906 read, "...Frequent Assaults" But not all of Atlanta's past has been so radically violent.

Home Visit with Sallie Mae Fisher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Home Visit with Sallie Mae Fisher - Essay Example This paper will begin with such dialogue: Nurse: Good Morning, Salle Mae, my name is Jayden Kings and I will be your nurse today. From your history, I can see that you have a history of congestive heart failure, hypertension, and arterial fibrillation. What are the difficulties you are experiencing currently? Sallie Mae: Â  Pleasure to meet you, Jayden Kings. My name is Salle Mae. Currently, I am experiencing a decline in function of daily activities. Nurse: Â  The decline in function of daily activities is because of the acute medication condition at your age. It is common for older patients to experience such changes on their functional status after hospitalization. Do you check your weight? Sallie Mae: yes, I check my weight and I have discovered that I have been gaining weight at a very high rate. Nurse: weight gain is an indication that the body is retaining extra fluid, which is common in patients with congestive heart failure. However, you have to be strict with your diet or monitor your diet closely and ensure that you eliminate salt to prevent the body from retaining too much water. Whom do you live with? Sallie Mae: Â  I live alone since I am recently widowed and the death of my husband affects me so much. My daughter Thelma Jean lives in town, but she works full time and has family issues of her own therefore she cannot support me as well. Nurse: I am sorry for your loss Sallie. I now understand your frequent hospitalization for the past six months since you were hospitalized four times.

Applications of Positivism in Social Research

Applications of Positivism in Social Research Scientific methodology in sociology, the study of the social world, is most often associated with what is known as the positivist approach. In this essay, to determine whether or not it is indeed possible to apply scientific methods to the study of the social world, I will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of positivist sociology. â€Å"As developed by Auguste Comte, positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) This established knowledge was then to be used to affect the course of social change and it would help improve humanity. Comte’s work was in part a reaction to the ‘anarchy’ that besieged France in the wake of the revolution. Comte sincerely believed that scientific rationality could temper the raw human emotions that had lead to such chaos. Sociology, in his definition (and others), literally the science of society, co uld apply such scientific rationalism, empiricism and positivism to social life, thus improving it and preventing continued anarchy. â€Å"Comte believed that social life is governed by underlying laws and principles that can be discovered through the use of methods most often associated with the physical sciences.† (Johnson p231) One would identify the methods of positivism thus; careful observation measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions mathematisation (connects with all of the previous features; logic and systemisation of theory symmetry of explanation prediction; objectivity understood as value neutrality. â€Å"It consists in deliberately investigating phenomena with the expectations derived from the theory in mind and seeing whether or not the facts actually found agree with these expectations.† (Delanty p52) â€Å"If observed facts of undoubted accuracy will not fit any of the alternatives it leaves open, the system is in need of reconstruction.† (Delanty p53) Positivism, â€Å"Is above all a philosophy of science. As such, it stands squarely within the empiricist tradition. Metaphysical speculation is rejected in favour of positive knowledge based upon systematic observation and experiment. The methods of science can give us knowledge of the laws of coexistence.† (Marshall p510) However, as shall hopefully be shown later, these scientific methods can not show us anything about the inner ‘essences’ or ‘nature’ of things. Broadly speaking structuralism is, â€Å"Used loosely in sociology to refer to any approach which regards social structure (apparent or otherwise) as having priority over social action.† (Johnson p646) Positivism and structuralism are generally highly complementary, positivism effectively being the scientific methodology of structuralism. This can be observed in the works of Comte, Marx, Durkheim and the Vienna circle. Later theorists such as Parsons can also be described as both str ucturalist and positivist although in Parson’s case he does consider certain interpretivist sensibilities. Marx, Durkheim, Comte, the Vienna circle and many others all saw sociology as a science and all believed that social structure was the core component of society. â€Å"Perhaps one of the most important traits in naturalistic or positivistic sociology is the belief that social phenomena are patterned and are subject to deterministic laws much as are the laws governing the natural sciences. Sociological theory then becomes a quest for laws similar to the law of gravity or the law of material density in physics† (Poloma p3) The main difference between the social and natural worlds is that the subject of study in the social world is humanity. People, in basic terms, have a consciousness where as the subjects of the natural sciences, rocks or atoms or chemicals, do not. People are aware of themselves and their surroundings in a way that rocks, for example, are not. This, clearly, is a potential problem for positivist sociology. However, this problem is resolved, in positivist science, by arguing that the self-consciousness of human beings (the ability to think, act and feel) is not a significant factor in our ability to understand social behaviour. This, according to positivists, is because peoples behaviour is, at its genesis, always a reaction to some form of stimulation. This stimulation can be from their socialisation (as we shall see in Parsons work), or it can be something more direct like the need to earn a living or a confrontation with another human. This produces one of the criticisms of positiv ist sociology, as we shall see, action and the meaning placed on that action becomes unimportant for study, only the cause of the action, the stimuli, has any sociological value for positivists. The positivist view of sociology, of its aims, of its methods, is certainly a contentious one. Two of the first sociologists to question these methods, and the first that can be labelled as interpretivist, were Weber and Simmel. â€Å"Weber argues that sociology is not concerned with totalising explanations; only individuals have an ontological reality, society does not exist in that real sense, and so sociological explanations must be in terms of individual events and processes.† (Craib 1997 p51) Rickert’s term of Geisteswissenschaften (literally the sciences of the spirit/mind) greatly influenced Weber’s conception of what sociology should be. The ontological reality which Weber speaks of is that humans are very different from other natural beings. We have free will, an inner life, use symbols, possess language, live in culture and act meaningfully. This ontological reality ensures that humanity cannot be studied using positivist scientific methodology, or any other conventional scientific methodology, sociology must use other methods. While the natural sciences wish to explain natural events, sociology, as understood by Weber, Rickert or Simmel, wishes to understand social action. Social scientists should endeavour to understand social action in very much the same way as one attempts to understand other people, by communicating, through empathy, and through argument. These views are also associated with, and expanded upon, by the philosopher Peter Winch. (Winch 1958) As Weber states, â€Å"Even the knowledge of the most certain propositions of our theoretical sciences – e.g., the exact natural sciences or mathematics is, like the cultivation and refinement of the conscience, a product of culture.† (Delanty p110) In many ways the objective ‘fact’ of scientific enquiry is a fallacy. â€Å"Sociology differs from the natural sciences in that it does not deal with a pre given universe of objects. People attribute meaning to their social world and act accordingly.† (Baert p97) Weber, in his Methodology of The Social Sciences, points out that all knowledge of cultural reality is always from a particular point of view. The philosophical idea that there is no truth, only human opinion is prevalent in this argument. Simmel emphasises and expands upon this point, â€Å"In the last resort the content of any science doesn’t rest on simple objective facts, but always involves an interpretation and shaping of them according to categories and rules that are a priori of the science concerned.† (Stones p74) Any scientific conclusion, be it in the field of physics or sociology, has to be interpreted by its author, then represented by that same author and then reinterpreted by those that read it. In these interpretations any ‘truth’ or ‘law ’ is surrendered to human opinion, human meaning, human understanding. This criticism of positivist sociology is probably best illustrated by a discussion of a classic positivist sociological text, Emile Durkheim’s suicide study. In his study, Durkheim analysed the differential distribution of the occurrence of suicide by country and region. Durkheim professed to have found suicidogenic currents (Durkheim 1963) in society; the pressures to commit suicide, the laws of suicide. â€Å"These are called ‘social currents’†¦They come to each one of us from without and can carry us away in spite of ourselves.† (Delanty p28) Through a positivist, scientific methodology, Durkheim identified the pressures to commit suicide were greater in regions where the Protestant faith was dominant, and weaker where Catholicism dominated. Durkheim’s account posits an external force (suicidogenic currents) as the cause of suicide cause and effect. (Durkheim 1963) However why suicide occurs tends not to be the issue. To say that suicide is caused, not entirely obviously but in part, by the following of the Protestant faith is to assume that the term suicide is a simple one, a fixed one, with no room fo r differing meanings. This view is wrong. What is of importance is how a suicide comes to be defined as such by the coroner’s court. One must remember that a suicide is not an objective fact, but a interpretation, an interpretation that can be influenced by the coroner’s own personal feelings. If a ruling of suicide is likely to cause the deceased’s family pain and suffering, as is likely if they are Catholics, then the coroner may be inclined, where ever possible, to not record a suicide verdict, but an accidental death instead This alerts us to the problematic nature of Durkheim’s, and positivist sociology in general, reliance on statistics. For Durkheim takes those statistics as giving a ‘true’ picture of the incidence of suicide. But do they? Are they rather a representation of the interpretation of suicide as opposed to cold hard objective fact? Interactions/ interpretive work on suicide states that suicide statistics are a construction involving police, courts and coroners. Thus for a death to be counted as a suicide involves a complex social process concerning meaning and interpretation, two unquantifiable characteristics of humanity. Thus suicide is not just the effect of a societal cause, but an interpretation of events, thus not a positivist, scientific event. Therefore if sociologists wish a knowledge of social life, they cannot explain social actors’ action in terms of cause and effect. Rather, they must seek out what the social actors themselves say they are up to, wha t they mean. â€Å"Comte’s view shifted in later life, under the influence of Cloitilde de Vaux. He came to see that science alone could not be a binding force for social cohesion as he had earlier supposed. He argued that the intellect must become the servant of the heart, and advocated a new ‘religion of humanity.’† (Marshall p509) Comte, the originator of the positivist sociological methodology shifted his emphasis away from positivism in his later work, thus exposing the inherent problems and weaknesses at its methodological core. â€Å"Positivism has had relatively little influence in contemporary sociology for several reasons. Current views argue that positivism encourages a misleading emphasis on superficial facts without any attention to underlying mechanisms that cannot be observed.† (Johnson p231) For example, we cannot observe human motives or the meaning that people give to behaviour and other aspects of social life, but this does not me an that meaning and motive are nonexistent or irrelevant. The best way to illustrate the above points is to set them within the context of a positivist sociological study, in this case Parson’s work on personality. For society to function, it is logical according to Parsons to deduce that the individual members of society have to agree with society’s rule. â€Å"For Parsons, the social system is†¦made up of the interactions of individuals. Of special concern is†¦ that such interactions are not random but mediated by common standards of evaluation. Most important among these are moral standards which may be called norms.† (Hamilton p155) When people in society interact the interactions themselves, the emotions that seemingly control them, the goals that the individual actors (people) are hoping to obtain, they are all in fact controlled by the norms of society. â€Å"The concept of order is located predominantly at the level of the social system itself and the cultural system becomes a mechanism of the functioning of the social system.† (Hamilton p146) These norms are adopted and agreed by each member of the society for Parsons and this is his consensus theory. Imp ortantly Parsons’ theory suggests that the power of societal expectations, the power of norms, is more pervasive than merely being a moral standard that mediates interaction and personal relationships. They are in fact the organisational foci of personality, of people themselves. â€Å"Socialisation is the process by which we learn to become members of society, both by internalising the norms and values of society, and also learning to perform our social roles (as worker, friend, citizen and so forth.)† (Marshall p624) The family, for instance, is controlled by the same norms as society because it is that society, just it is a smaller component of it. The subsystems of society are analogous to body parts in the Parsonian model, they are all essential, each provide their own unique function and all interrelate, interpenetrate and are dependent upon one another. Analogous to the human body where each body part has a specific function to perform, and all of those parts work in unison to keep the structure going, so society is organised. Immersion within these subsystems, such as the family leads to internalisations of norms and objects, and this in turn creates personality. Because personality is internalised from society, â€Å"The foci of organisation of both types of system lies in†¦the value systems.† (Parsons p357) The values of society are the values of people, or personality. People are not just guided by the norms of society, but their very personalities are organised by the very same norms and principles and morals, according to Parsons. Thus peoples actions are quantifiable, reducible to a law since they are mediated by common standards. As gravity is a constant, so are the norms of a society and therefore of personality. The positivist law here is that personality, every action of a human is controlled by the same standards of evaluation as society. The person’s personality is derived directly from society, it is society. Thus a scientific study of society is possible because there is cause and effect, there is a reaction to stimuli. Socialisation is the stimulation that people react to. For Parsons, laws can be discerned from humanity because people will react in predictable ways, mediated by norms, to the stimulation of events and socialisation. Thus sociology can be scientific, empirical and positivist. A major problem with Parson’s work is that it reduces human personality to being produced and organised solely by societal expectations and norms. This societal determinism fails to acknowledge or explain where certain feelings, motives and actions originate. Goffman argues that â€Å"it is . . . against something that the self can emerge. . . Without something to belong to, we have no stable self, and yet total commitment and attachment to any social unit implies a kind of selflessness. Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wider social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull.† (Goffman 196 p305) A favourite example of this for Goffman was that of mental patients in asylums. The total institution of an asylum probably forces more strict adherence to societal expectation than most other social situations by using methods such as drug induced control and disciplinary measures such as EST. Yet in the se institutions, despite being forced to play the role of the mental patient, to conform to societal expectation), patients still resisted those expectations. The hoarding of banned materials being an example of this. The motivation to do this does not come from internalisation of norms, as the correct way to behave is to not horde banned items. It comes from a need to keep ones own identity, to satisfy needs and drives and wants. These needs drives and wants are absent from the Parsonian model and a full understanding or explanation of society and social actions needs to take them into account. â€Å"The maintenance of this surface of agreement, this veneer of consensus, is facilitated by each participant concealing his own wants behind statements which assert values to which everyone present feels obliged to give lip service.† (Goffman 1990 p20-21) The norms and laws that Parsons believes to control personality and society, are revealed by Goffman as only being a veneer. Furthermore Goffman states that other feelings and motives in fact influence social action, not just norms. If, as Goffman claims, the so called common standards of evaluation that Parsons identifies are in fact a veneer that hides other motives and feelings, then the actions of humanity are not as easily quantifiable, reducible to a scientific, positivist law, as Parsons first shows. Freud’s metapsychology deals with the general structure of mental life. For Freud there were three psychic structures. The first, the id, contains, â€Å"those basic drives we have by virtue of being human, of which sexuality is the most important.† (Craib 1989 p3) The Id is often equated to by Freud as being like an infant, demanding immediate satisfaction irrespective of societal expectations. The Id makes up the greatest part of the unconscious and it is in this unconscious realm of basic biologically influenced drives that the motivational forces that Parson’s can not identity come from. The Id influences personality. It is important to remember that, as opposed to biological instincts driving us to act like a shark would, a mindless automaton, â€Å"the unconscious is composed not of biological instincts but of the mental representations we attach to these instincts.† (Craib 1989 p4) Thus each individual creates their own mental representation for the ir drives thus meaning that every persons internal world has a different geography. This clearly poses problems for the positivist approach to personality and society and social action, as represented by Parsons here, for if reaction to stimulation is not predictable because each person acts differently, then universal scientific laws can not be established. The second structure of personality according to Freud, the ego or the ‘I’ is the central organiser of mental life. The third, the superego is thought of as the conscience. â€Å"The superego is the internalisation of external control which demands the renuncification of instinctual satisfaction in order that society might be formed and maintained.† (Craib 1989 p21) The superego is the part of personality that Parson’s identifies the part that internalises norms. The basic drives of the id demand immediate satisfaction, immediate gratification of those drives, these demands are contrary to the superego norms and morality, and the conflict has to be resolved by the ego. Our consciousness, predominantly consisting of the ego and superego, protects us from our own id impulses that, if they were followed, would leave it impossible for us to exist within society. Freud stated that â€Å"Civilisation depends upon repression†¦If we tried to gratify all our d esires, sexual or otherwise, as and when they arose, society, civilisation and culture would vanish over night.† (Craib 1984 p195) For Freud the ‘I’, is the resolution of the conflict between the id biologically directed drives, and the superego’s societal restraints. Therefore personality is the site of the, hopefully, resolved conflict between the normative mind evaluated by common standards as Parsons identifies, and the basic id drives. These Id drives, as I shall show, influence personality thus influence social action and society. This being the case then Parsons’ explanation for personality is insufficient and so is the positivist claim for the scientific study of society. The positivist tenants of careful observation and measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; mathematisation; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation prediction and objecti vity cannot be applied to individualistic Id drives and impulses. â€Å"The desire to kill anyone who frustrates us thus becomes unconscious, but none the less remains.† (Craib 1989 p24) Evidence for these desires for Freud appears in slips, where the unconscious desire can ‘slip’ into conscious conversation. â€Å"Freud quotes the husband who supposedly said, ‘If one of us two die, I shall move to Paris.† (Craib 1989 p24) One can not scientifically measure how these unconscious desires influence and effect social action, especially since it can be so hard to identify them as existing in the first place. â€Å"A feature of human life is that an instinct such as the sexual instinct is not directed at any one object, but has to be socially channelled, in our society usually towards members of the opposite sex.† (Craib 1989 p4) â€Å"Human beings are restrained by social organisation from a free and good expression of their drives. Through its oppression, society forces people into neuroses and psychoses.† (Craib 1989 p19) For Freud the very problems that he and other psychoanalysts dealt with were in fact often as the result of the repression of id drives by the superego and societal repression. As such the very existence of neuroses and psychoses can be seen as evidence to the fact that this conflict does indeed exist, that the resolution of this conflict does indeed produce the ‘I’ with all its faults and problems. To fully understand society, sociology needs to be aware of societal pressures, the Parson’s personality through positivism, but also nee ds to recognise the other meanings and emotions that cannot be quantified, cannot be analysed scientifically. Sociology needs to use interpretivism and positivism together. In terms of this example, Parsons positivist models needs to be considered at great length and detail as he does indeed identify a huge force in shaping society, that of norms and how they do penetrate into the psyche and personality. However, a study that only concentrates on the positivist methodology misses the crucial aspects of personality that Goffman and Freud identify, and that is not in the interest of any sociologist. â€Å"Positivism may be dead in that there is no longer an identifiable community of philosophers who give its simpler characteristics unqualified support, but it lives on philosophically, developed until it transmutes into conventionalism or realism. And even if in its simpler philosophical forms it is dead, the spirit of those earlier formulations continues to haunt sociology.† (Halfpenny p120) In conclusion positivism’s attempt at scientific sociological methodology, though fallacious is admirable and certainly many of the aspects of positivism should be considered desirable. As quoted elsewhere, â€Å"positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) The desire for reliable, valid knowledge is of course a relevant and important sociological aim and some of the tools that positivism uses to try to reach such knowledge are useful and wort hwhile. Careful observation, measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation and prediction and objectivity, if all of these tenants of positivism can at least be attempted in a sociological study then that sociological study will indeed be the better for it. However, sociological study needs to recognise, as Comte himself did, that these aims, in their fullest, are unobtainable and that those aims are not ends in themselves, rather a very rough guide to sociological methodology. As I have hopefully shown above, sociological analysis needs positivism, needs scientific methodology, but a carefully tempered and monitored positivism. The aim of sociology is understanding and that understanding should not be limited by methodology, especially a methodology that is inherently flawed. Positivism shows us how to analyse data, data that is essential to soc iological understand, but that data must not be treated uncritically thus a synthesis of positivism and interpretivism is recommended. To study the social world using a strict scientific methodology is impossible, that does not, of course, mean that scientific methodology is not a useful and critical tool in sociological study. Bibliography Baert, P, 1998. Social theory in the twentieth century. Polity press Craib, I, 1984. Modern social theory. Wheatsheaf books Ltd Craib, I, 1989. Psychoanalysis and social theory the limits of sociology Wheatsheaf Craib, I, 1997. Classical social theory pub by Oxford university press Delanty, G, 2003. Philosophies of social science. Open university. Durkheim, E, 1963. Suicide, a study in sociology. Routledge Goffman, E, 1961 Asylums. Doubleday Anchor Goffman, E, 1990. The presentation of the self in everyday life. Penguin Halfpenny, P, 1986. Positivism and sociology. Routledge Johnson, G 2000 The dictionary of sociology Blackwell Hamilton, P, 1992. Talcott Parsons critical assessments. Routledge Marshall, G 1998. Oxford dictionary of sociology. Oxford university press Parsons, T, The structure of social action Free Press 1949 Poloma, M, 1979. Contemporary sociological theory. MacMillan Stones, R, 1998. Key sociological thinkers. Palgrave Winch, P, 1958. The Idea Of a Social Science. Routledge

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of Mice and Men   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story Of Mice and Men, there are two main characters, names George and Lennie. On their journey, they encounter many different themes, such as the toughness of life and euthanasia. Friendship is also a very important theme, probably the most important, because these two people’s friendship grows and crumbles. The last theme is also very important; it is the question of fate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friendship is a very complicated word. What does it mean? Does it mean always protecting someone, looking out for them, or does it mean killing them you so someone else will not torture them? Whatever it means, it happens in this story between the two main characters, George and Lennie. George used Lennie for protection; he also looked out for Lennie’s feelings. But he killed Lennie in his darkest hour, so he would not be tortured after Lennie killed Curly’s wife. What does it mean? No one really knows the hole meaning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life is hard, plain and simple. Nothing comes easy to anyone, whether it is deciding someone’s fate or just giving one person who may be different respect. For all the characters in this book, something stands in the way of their life being perfect. Like George has to protect Lennie from being hurt mentally but also wants to fit in with the rest of the people. Or Crooks, who just happened to be, black and crippled and has to sleep in a different bunkhouse than the rest of the farmhands. So life is hard and sometimes there is no way around it, but the best thing you can do is cope with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euthanasia means a rightful killing. This happens many times in the story, George killing Lennie and Carlson killing Candy’s dog. But is there such thing as euthanasia? George was not happy when he had to kill his best friend, and Candy was not happy to see his dog die. So what does that mean? Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of Mice and Men   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story Of Mice and Men, there are two main characters, names George and Lennie. On their journey, they encounter many different themes, such as the toughness of life and euthanasia. Friendship is also a very important theme, probably the most important, because these two people’s friendship grows and crumbles. The last theme is also very important; it is the question of fate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friendship is a very complicated word. What does it mean? Does it mean always protecting someone, looking out for them, or does it mean killing them you so someone else will not torture them? Whatever it means, it happens in this story between the two main characters, George and Lennie. George used Lennie for protection; he also looked out for Lennie’s feelings. But he killed Lennie in his darkest hour, so he would not be tortured after Lennie killed Curly’s wife. What does it mean? No one really knows the hole meaning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Life is hard, plain and simple. Nothing comes easy to anyone, whether it is deciding someone’s fate or just giving one person who may be different respect. For all the characters in this book, something stands in the way of their life being perfect. Like George has to protect Lennie from being hurt mentally but also wants to fit in with the rest of the people. Or Crooks, who just happened to be, black and crippled and has to sleep in a different bunkhouse than the rest of the farmhands. So life is hard and sometimes there is no way around it, but the best thing you can do is cope with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euthanasia means a rightful killing. This happens many times in the story, George killing Lennie and Carlson killing Candy’s dog. But is there such thing as euthanasia? George was not happy when he had to kill his best friend, and Candy was not happy to see his dog die. So what does that mean?

History of Bolsheviks in Russia Essay

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolsheviks were the majority faction in a crucial vote, hence their name. They ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and founded the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which would later in 1922 become the chief constituent of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks, founded by Vladimir IllyichLenin, were by 1905 a mass organization consisting primarily of workers under a democratic internal hierarchy governed by the principle of democratic centralism, who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary working class of Russia. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism. Bolshevik revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky commonly used the terms â€Å"Bolshevism† and â€Å"Bolshevist† after his exile from the Soviet Union to differentiate between what he saw as true Leninism and the regime within the state and the party which arose under Josef Stalin but as we will get to know there are similar traits to the Bolsheviks regime and that of Stalins. The Bolsheviks were journalists long before they were state leaders, and they never forgot the impact of a well-aimed message and the role of media. Newspapers were the life-line of the underground party. Formative ideological and political debates were conducted in them; reporters and deliverers evolved into party cadres; and readers became rank-and-file supporters. At times, newspapers smuggled from abroad kept the Party alive; and Lenin’s editorials often forestalled factional division. Revolutionary struggle taught Bolsheviks the value of mass media, and confirmed their belief that culture is inherently partisan. In times of political turmoil, they exploited it skillfully. Illegal front-line newspapers helped turn soldiers against the Great War; effective propaganda helped win the Civil War. Yet the revolutionaries knew that the same weapons could be used against them. When they took power, they protected themselves by denying the opposition access to public opinion; printing presses, theaters, movie houses were all eventually confiscated and placed under state monopoly. The Bolsheviks considered these measures necessary and just to maintain power and control as the ruling and dominant political party. Soviet authorities were never ashamed of their monopoly on different aspects of culture. Culture was a weapon of class struggle as identified by similar events in the Chinese Revolution as the media and its variety of channels would amplify the rate and effieciancy of propaganda. Allowing the enemy access to mass media would have seemed criminally stupid. To debate the ethics of censorship was a waste of time; the Bolsheviks’ concern was how to mold popular values, how to reach the masses, reflect the wishes of the state and censure alien ideals. This essay will look at the reason why the Bolsheviks were convinced that a stringent control over the media through a monopolistic system was necessary for holding unto political power but would eventually lead to press freedom for the masses due to a systematic process of internally socializing the Soviet Union with a strong appeal to the working class which would help solidify the Bolsheviks political power in the long term. With a strong thought that they overly represented the working class, the control over the media represented one of the strongest tools to control and effectively influence the social working class in the Soviet Union. 1 Bolsheviks and the Media The early twentieth-century media suited Bolshevik purposes. Under Bolshevik sponsorship, they spoke with one powerful voice, unweakened by dissent or excessive subtlety, unencumbered by complexity. Red propaganda depicted a world of stark contrasts: Bolsheviks were valorous and self-sacrificing; the Whites were cruel and debauched. It was no time for half-tones or self-conscious irony. Bolshevik propaganda might seem heavy-handed, yet judging by its success, much of the public did not resent the overbearing tone. Opponents on both the left and right were no match for the Bolshevik blitz, and some, like the Whites, were particularly ineffective in shaping public opinion. Discussions of Soviet mass culture have usually dwelt on its administration and rhetoric more than content and reception. This is unfortunate, because mass culture was a rare example of equilateral negotiation in Soviet society. The culture gap could not be forced as it stood as an obstacle to the unity of the nation behind one unilateral political party. The economy could be socialized; industry could be whipped into higher production; and citizens could be made, at tremendous cost, to behave as they should. But socialist society demanded not that people just say the necessary things, but also think them in private. Socialism had to be internalized. Many Bolsheviks saw the mass media as the path from ideology to internal thought. It converted abstract phrases into concrete images. Propaganda demanded the cooperation of three groups: the Party and state, which provided the content; the skills of writers and artists, who made ideas into image; and the audience, which received and digested the images. Leaders, artists, and citizens all acknowledged the wishes of the other. The audience craved interesting material; the state needed its values represented by symbols; artists desired an arena for their creative energies (and a respectable living). One side-the audience-stayed mute about its thoughts, yet even at the height of tyranny, no mass audience could be forced to watch a movie or read a book. After claiming to represent the working class and finally taken power in Russia, the Bolsheviks saw themselves as the rightful representation of the working class. Though the Bolsheviks felt they were right in claiming to represent working class within their many promises and strong influence, they were not justified in making this claim in the end. The party felt it had won the right to represent the proletarians by promising freedom and self-government, but after demonstrations such as the Kronstadt Rebellion and the formation of the Cheka, it became apparent that the Bolsheviks had betrayed the working class. Firstly, the Bolsheviks felt that they were a clear representation of the working class. One of the main reasons for this assumption was Lenin’s irresistible promises to the working class. In Lenin’s work â€Å"Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited Peoples† he outlines the rights and privileges promised by the Bolshevik party if they should come into power. One of the first rights he outlines is â€Å"The sovereignty of the people; i. e. , the concentration of the supreme power of the state in a unicameral legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people. Lenin sets out to demonstrate how the Bolshevik party stands for people’s representation in government, to further show the proletarians that the Bolshevik party is a â€Å"people’s party†. Lenin then goes on to point out that workers should be given the right to â€Å"Unrestricted freedom of conscience, speech, press and assembly; the right to strike and to form trade unions. † Because these new rights and freedoms were never available to the proletarians under the Tsarist regime, the promises made by the Bolsheviks were too good to pass up. In addition, the strength of the influence of the Bolsheviks’ served to gain support of the working class to the extent that other parties could not reach. Alex Shotman demonstrates how he and many others like him were influenced more by Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks , than any other party leader. The result of this debate and many others like it demonstrate how Bolshevik influence dominated in comparison to that of any other party. Because of the many promises and strong influence of the Bolshevik party, its members felt that they were justified in representing the working class. The validity of this idea, however, proved to be questionable after the Bolsheviks came into power. 2. Monopoly and the Media The Bolsheviks established a state monopoly of the media that absorbed literature, art, and science into a stylized and ritualistic public culture–a form of political performance that became its own reality and excluded other forms of public reflection. Although Lenin had control he wasn’t completely supported by the people of Russia. To gain support Lenin made a secret police force, which was in charge of erasing any opposition to the party. The Bolsheviks were also renamed the Communists. Freedom of press was cancelled, unless you supported the Communist cause. The government took control of all ways of life. Lenin also made peace with the germans as he knew if war continued, the revolution wouldn’t fully work. Although some were angery with the losses Russia had in the treaty, the Bolsheviks were in control, though it was not a steady form of control. There was still widespread opposition and soon a civil war broke out. he socialist ideologyon the freedom of press viewed it from two categories. Firstly the Leninism-marxism was completely against the idea of freedom of press as either absolute or abstract. The argument embodying this was that in a capitalist society the notion of freedom of press applied only to the Bourgeoisie and therefore the right to freedom of press applied to only a small percentage of the population. The first action to implement restrictions on the freedom of speech was the introduction o f the Decree of the Press authored by Lenin himself. The Decree and form of press which advocated for opposition and insubordination to the ruling communist party. An excerpt from the Decree below details the the thought of Lenin on how the monopolising the press would later benefit the masses and the working class: â€Å"For the bourgeoisie, freedom of the press meant freedom for the rich to publish and for the capitalists to control the newspapers, a practice which in all countries, including even the freest, produced a corrupt press. For the workers’ and peasants’ government, freedom of the press means liberation of the press from capitalist oppression, and public ownership of paper mills and printing presses; equal right for public groups of a certain size (say, numbering 10,000) to a fair share of newsprint stocks and a corresponding quantity of printers’ labour. † He recognised both the revolutionary potential of the workers’ press, see for example a number of his early articles such as Where to Begin and What is to be Done, and the reactionary role of the bosses’ papers (as did Marx later in his life). However, the class nature of society had actually corrupted the press, according to this resolution. Against the bosses’ newspapers, the revolutionary government set up a commission to examine the links between the capitalist press, shareholders and who owns, funds and organises the bosses’ newspapers. However, at this stage of the revolution the bosses’ press had not been suppressed, that came soon after with the invasion of Soviet Russia by 19 different armies and attempts to undermine the revolution. Sadly, these measures of suppression in part laid the basis for the later dictatorship of Stalin and the snuffing out of freedoms alone with wholesale state terror and murder of millions. In one way the suppression of the press proved Marx’s original point about human freedom but in a far more terrible way. 3. Aftermath of Monopolising Freedom of the press in the Soviet Union The Bolshevik leadership took it for granted that the revolutionary changes that they would carry out in the area of property relations, that is economic reforms, would result in equal revolutionary changes in culture. Thus in the first decade of their rule, the Bolsheviks would allow a degree of tolerance for independent creativity as well as developing government policies to mould the thoughts and behaviour of its citizens. The Bolsheviks were prepared to use propaganda on a scale never before used by any government to create a people attuned to the ideological dictates of their rulers. To this end, Lenin created a series of institutions to manage every aspect of public activity. The Supreme Council of the National Economy was formed to direct and coordinate all aspects of the communist economy. All matters dealing with the security of the State were entrusted to the Cheka and the Revolutionary Military Council handled every aspect of the Civil War. To manage the social revolution, Lenin consolidated all cultural organisations into a single large bureaucratised institution called the Commissariat of Enlightenment (=Narkompros) under the leadership of Anatolii Lunacharskii until (1929). Lunarcharskii was the Cultural Commissar and his all â€Å"counterrevolutionary newspapers were closed. a State monopoly over newspaper advertising was created. Lenin hoped to restrict the publication of anti-government newspapers by denying them advertising revenue. However, despite this, some 3,000 anti-Bolshevik newspapers continued to be published between November 1917 and June 1918. July-September – all independent newspapers were closed down by the Bolsheviks. On 27 May 1919 a state monopoly on paper was created. The state could now control the publication of all books. 6 June 1922 saw the censorship of all publications and pictorial matter was placed under the control of Narkompros. Publications of he Communist Party and its affiliates the Communist International and the Academy of Sciences were exempt. Due to these rules of censorship any semblance of independent thought disappeared from public life in Russian. From 1918 onwards, authors and painters learned to practice the art of self-censorship because they knew that the government censor would be keeping a strict vigilance on the work. Despite this however, Stalin was to in troduce even more severe censorship laws after 1928 to further ensure that the government controlled the mind and the social development of the ‘communist citizen’.

the effects of Alcatraz essays

the effects of Alcatraz essays Between the years 1934 and 1963 one of the most infamous prisons in history was operated. Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary earned a reputation for being one of the most feared prisons in the world. Its maximum security escape-proof environment was built to house the most villainous criminals of its time. For 29 years, under four wardens, Alcatraz Penitentiary succeeded as being a place of isolation and reformation for a total of 1,567 inmates. During the 1930s a crime wave crashed through American towns and cities. The primary cause for the eruption and eventual spread of criminal activity, during this period known as the Gangster Era, was the legal prohibition of intoxicating drinks. Gangs such as the Toughy Gang were involved in robberies, dealing with post offices and mail-delivery vehicles, around the country. Other well-known offenders included Al Capone, machine gun kelly, albert bates, harvey baily, and john dillinger (all who ended up in alcatraz, except for dillinger who was killed by the police). It was clear that the local law enforcement agencies were unable to combat the threat these men posed to the community. Even when they were captured and incarcerated, it was not uncommon for them to escape and continue their dealings in a new city or state. The increased element of criminal activity in American cities made it clear that America needed a place to isolate its most dangerous public enemies. The government recognized the benefits that such an institution would provide. If this group of men, known as the toughest two percent, were isolated from society and even from other prisoners in the state institutions, a great burden would be lifted from the federal system. The attorney general at the time, homer s. cummings, consulted president Franklin Roosevelt about the concept of building a prison for the sole purpose of reforming and iso...

Animals - Metazoa - The Animal Encyclopedia

Animals - Metazoa - The Animal Encyclopedia Animals (Metazoa) are a group of living organisms that includes more than one million identified species and many millions more that have yet to be named. Scientists estimate that the number of all animal species- those that have been named and those that have yet to be discovered- is between 3 and 30 million species. Animals are divided into more than thirty groups (the number of groups varies based on differing opinions and the latest phylogenetic research) and there are many ways to go about classifying animals. For the purposes of this site, I often focus on six of the most familiar groups- amphibians, birds, fishes, invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles. I also look at many less familiar groups, some of which are described below. To begin, lets take a look at what animals are, and explore some of the characteristics that distinguish them from organisms such as plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and archaea. What Is An Animal? Animals are a diverse group of organisms that include many subgroups such as arthropods, chordates, cnidarians, echinoderms, mollusks, and sponges. Animals also include a vast array of lesser-known creatures such as flatworms, rotifers, placazoans, lamp shells, and waterbears. These high-level animal groups may sound rather strange to anyone who has not taken a course in zoology, but the animals that we are most familiar with belong to these broad groups. For example, insects, crustaceans, arachnids, and horseshoe crabs are all members of the arthropods. Amphibians, birds, reptiles, mammals, and fishes are all members of the chordates. Jellyfish, corals, and anemones are all members of the cnidarians. The vast diversity of organisms that are classified as animals makes it difficult to draw generalizations that are true of all animals. But there are several common characteristics animals share that describe most members of the group. These common characteristics include multi-cellularity, specialization of tissues, movement, heterotrophy, and sexual reproduction. Animals are multi-cellular organisms, which means their body consists of more than one cell. Like all multi-cellular organisms (animals are not the only multi-cellular organisms, plants, and fungi are also multi-cellular), animals are also eukaryotes. Eukaryotes have cells that contain a nucleus and other structures called organelles that are enclosed within membranes. With the exception of the sponges, animals have a body that is differentiated into tissues, and each tissue serves a specific biological function. These tissues are, in turn, organized into organ systems. Animals lack the rigid cell walls that are characteristic of plants. Animals are also motile (they are capable of movement). The body of most animals is arranged such that the head points in the direction they move while the rest of the body follows behind. Of course, the great variety of animal body plans means that there are exceptions and variations to this rule. Animals are heterotrophs, meaning they rely on consuming other organisms to obtain their nourishment. Most animals reproduce sexually by means of differentiated eggs and sperm. Additionally, most animals are diploid (the cells of adults contain two copies of their genetic material). Animals go through different stages as they develop from a fertilized egg (some of which include the zygote, blastula, and gastrula). Animals range in size from microscopic creatures known as zooplankton to the blue whale, which can reach as much as 105 feet in length. Animals live in virtually every habitat on the planet- from the poles to the tropics, and from the tops of mountains to the deep, dark waters of the open ocean. Animals are thought to have evolved from flagellate protozoa,  and the oldest animal fossils date back 600 million years, to the latter part of the Precambrian. It was during the Cambrian period (about 570 million years ago), that most major groups of animals evolved. Key Characteristics The key characteristics of animals include: multi-cellularityeukaryotic cellssexual reproductionspecialization of tissuesmovementheterotrophy Species Diversity More than 1 million species Classification Some of the better known groups of animals include: Arthropods (Arthropoda) - Scientists have identified more than one million arthropods species and estimate that there many millions of arthropod species that have yet to be identified. The most diverse group of arthropods is the insects. Other members of this group include spiders,  horseshoe crabs, mites,  millipedes,  centipedes, scorpions, and crustaceans. Chordates (Chordata) - There are about 75,000 species of chordates alive today. Members of this group include vertebrates, tunicates, and cephalochordates (also called lancelets). Chordates have a notochord, a skeletal rod that is present during some or all of the developmental stages of their life cycle. Cnidarians (Cnidaria) - There are about 9,000 species of cnidarians alive today. Members of this group include corals, jellyfish, hydras, and  sea anemones. Cnidarians are radially symmetrical animals. At the center of their body is a gastrovascular cavity that has a single opening encircled by tentacles. Echinoderms  (Echinodermata) - There are about 6,000 species of echinoderms alive today. Members of this group include feather stars, star fish, brittle stars, sea lilies, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. Echinoderms exhibit five-point (pentaradial) symmetry and have an internal skeleton that consists of calcareous ossicles. Mollusks (Mollusca) - There are about 100,000 species of mollusks alive today. Members of this group include bivalves, gastropods, tusk shells,cephalopods, and a number of other groups. Mollusks are a soft-bodied animals whose body has three basic sections: a mantle, a foot, and a visceral mass. Segmented Worms (Annelida) - There are about 12,000 species of segmented worms alive today. Members of this group include earthworms, ragworms, and leeches. Segmented worms are bilaterally symmetrical and their body consists of a head region, a tail region, and a middle region of numerous repeated segments. Sponges (Porifera) - There are about 10,000 species of sponges alive today. Members of this group include calcarious sponges, demosponges, and glass sponges. Sponges are primitive multi-cellular animals that have no digestive system, no circulatory system, and no nervous system. Find out more:  The Basic Animal Groups Some of the less well-known animal groups include: Arrow worms (Chaetognatha) - There are about 120 species of arrow worms alive today. Members of this group are predatory marine worms that are present in all marine waters, from shallow coastal waters to the deep sea. They are found in oceans of all temperatures, from the tropics to the polar regions.Bryozoans (Bryozoa) - There are about 5,000 species of bryozoans alive today. Members of this group are tiny aquatic invertebrates that filter food particles from the water using fine, feathery tentacles.Comb jellies (Ctenophora) - There are about 80 species of comb jellies alive today. Members of this group have clusters of cilia (called combs) that they use to swim. Most comb jellies are predators that feed on plankton.Cycliophorans (Cycliophora) - There are two known species of cycliophorans alive today. The group was first described in 1995 when scientists discovered the species Symbion pandora, more commonly known as the lobster-lip parasite, an animal that lives on the mouth parts of Norwegian lobsters. Cycliophorans have a body that is divided into a mouth-like structure called a buccal funnel, an oval mid-section, and a stalk with an adhesive base that clasps onto the setae of the lobsters mouth parts. Flatworms (Platyhelminthes) - There are about 20,000 species of flatworms alive today. Members of this group include planarians, tapeworms, and flukes. Flatworms are soft-bodied invertebrates that have no body cavity, no circulatory system, and no respiratory system. Oxygen and nutrients must pass through their body wall by means of diffusion. This limits their body structure and is the reason these organisms are flat.Gastrotrichs (Gastrotricha) - There are about 500 species of gastrotrichs alive today. Most members of this group are freshwater species, although there are also a small number of marine and terrestrial species. Gastrotrichs are microscopic animals with a transparent body and cilia on their belly.Gordian worms (Nematomorpha) - There are about 325 species of gordian worms alive today. Members of this group spend the larval stage of their life as parasitoid animals. Their hosts include beetles, cockroaches, and crustaceans. As adults, gordian worms are free-living organi sms and do not require a host to survive. Hemichordates (Hemichordata) - There are about 92 species of hemichordates alive today. Members of this group include acorn worms and pterobranchs. Hemichordates are worm-like animals, some of which live in tubular structures (also known as a coenecium).Horseshoe worms (Phoronida) - There are about 14 species of horseshoe worms alive today. Members of this group are marine filter-feeders that secrete a tube-like, chitinous structure that protects their body. They attach themselves to a hard surface and extend a crown of tentacles into the water to filter food from the current.Lamp shells (Brachiopoda) - There are about 350 species of lamp shells alive today. Members of this group are marine animals that resemble clams, but the resemblance is superficial. Lamp shells and clams are anatomically quite different and the two groups are not closely related. Lamp shells live in cold, polar waters and the deep sea.Loriciferans (Loricifera) - There are about 10 species of loriciferans alive t oday. Members of this group are tiny (in many cases, microscopic) animals that live in marine sediments. Loriciferans have a protective external shell. Mud dragons (Kinorhyncha) - There are about 150 species of mud dragons alive today. Members of this group are segmented, limbless, marine invertebrates that inhabit the seafloor sediments.Mud worms (Gnathostomulida) - There are about 80 species of mud worms alive today. Members of this group are small marine animals that live in shallow coastal waters where they burrow in the sand and mud. Mud worms can survive in low-oxygen environments.Orthonectids (Orthonectida) There are about 20 species of orthonectids alive today. Members of this group are parasitic marine invertebrates. Orthonectides are simple, microscopic, multi-cellular animals.Placozoa (Placozoa) - There is one species of placazoa alive today, Trichoplax adhaerens, an organism that is considered to be the simplest form of non-parasitic multi-cellular animals alive today. Trichoplax adhaerens is a tiny marine animal that has a flat body that consists of an epithelium and a layer of stellate cells.Priapulans (Priapula) - The re are 18 species of priapulids alive today. Members of this group are marine worms that live in the in muddy sediments in shallow waters up to 300 feet deep. Ribbon worms (Nemertea) - There are about 1150 species of ribbon worms alive today. Most members of this group are marine invertebrates that live in seafloor sediments or attach themselves to hard surfaces such as rocks and shells. Ribbon worms are carnivores that feed on invertebrates such as annelids, mollusks, and crustaceans.Rotifers (Rotifera) - There are about 2000 species of rotifers alive today. Most members of this group live in freshwater environments although a few marine species are known. Rotifers are tiny invertebrates, less than one-half of a millimeter in length.Roundworms (Nematoda) - There are more than 22,000 species of roundworms alive today. Members of this group live in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats and are found from the tropics to the polar regions. Many roundworms are parasitic animals.Sipunculan worms (Sipuncula) - There are about 150 species of sipunculan worms alive today. Members of this group are marine worms that inhabit shallow, intertid al waters. Sipunculan worms live in burrows, rock crevices, and shells. Velvet worms (Onychophora) - There are about 110 species of velvet worms alive today. Members of this group have a long, segmented body and numerous pairs lobopodia (short, stubby, leg-like structures). Velvet worms bear live young.Waterbears (Tardigrada) - There are about 800 species of waterbears alive today. Members of this group are small aquatic animals that have a head, three body segments, and a tail segment. Waterbears, like velvet worms, have four pairs of lobopodia. Keep in Mind: Not All Living Things Are Animals Not all living organisms are animals. In fact, animals are just one of several major groups of living organisms. In addition to animals, other groups of organisms include plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and archaea. To understand what animals are, it helps to be able to articulate what animals are not.  The following is a list of organisms that are not animals: Plants - green algae, mosses, ferns, conifers, cycads, gingkos, and flowering plantsFungi - yeasts, molds, and mushroomsProtists - red algae, ciliates, and various unicellular microorganismsBacteria - tiny prokaryotic microorganismsArchaea - single-celled microorganisms If youre talking about an organism that belongs to one of the groups listed above, then you are talking about an organism that is not an animal. References Hickman C, Roberts L, Keen S. Animal Diversity. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2012. 479 p. Hickman C, Roberts L, Keen S, Larson A, lAnson H, Eisenhour D. Integrated Principles of Zoology 14th ed. Boston MA: McGraw-Hill; 2006. 910 p. Ruppert E, Fox R, Barnes R. Invertebrates Zoology: A Functional Evolutionary Approach. 7th ed. Belmont CA: Brooks/Cole; 2004. 963 p.

Low-Costs in Aviation Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Low-Costs in Aviation Industry - Essay Example The proliferation of low-cost carriers came into being after the 9/11 attacks that were directed towards the Americans. According to the Irish career boss, lowering the cost in the aviation industry will result to carriers accessing a pool of passengers that would be used to replace high-income passengers that would not be using air travel. According to him, low-cost flights would serve the needs of cost conscious passengers. These passengers are concerned with making saving or using the minimal amounts on travel expenses. Low-cost flight carriers target passengers who are keen on cost related issues.Managers have determined that price is the largest determinant that influences consumer decision-making processes. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the managers to ensure that their products and services are priced lowly. In the aviation industry, lowering flight charges would facilitate increased traffic for carriers. This will, in turn, lead to increased profitability for the org anization. In this context, managers are required to initiate measures that would ensure that despite the carrier having cheap services; it makes profits.For instance, some managers took advantage of the 9/11 attack to buy new air crafts, which enabled them to exercise low-cost activities (Dunn, 2009). Managers are concerned with incorporating innovative activities in their flights at a relatively low cost. Such innovations and features would attract customers to carriers.

Diels-Alder Reaction Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Diels-Alder Reaction - Lab Report Example Characterization of the products is through chemical tests discussed in Mayo pages 266. The experiment cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride were reacted with the aqueous solution to form an n organic compound in crystal form. The composition of the cyclopentadiene does make it possible for such a reaction to proceed; it has 5 carbon rings that contain 2 carbon- carbon double bonds, which are separated by single alpha bonds. Purification of the crystalline product is typically accomplished by pipetting the solution from the underlying crystal products and consequently drying it. Diels-Alder reaction entails the preparation of the six-membered carbocyclic rings, which are conjugated diene with an alkene. The reaction of the product takes place in the single step to produce carbon-carbon bonds with the four stereocenters. The product is the adequate for the direct characterization. The reaction entails two reactants that are the butadiene and maleic anhydride, which both results to the functional groups to the corresponding product. In addition, the infrared spectrum of t he segregated material depicts the observation. The spectrum of the 3-sulfolene is representative on an alkene sulfone. Thus, the underlying macro group train for an unconjugated five-membered ring alkenes fits the underlying data rationally. The non-polar ought to exhibit a more solubility in petroleum ether in place of the hexane. It is mainly due to stronger van-der-Waals forces in the ether. Due to the presence of larger alkanes in petroleum ether, more intermolecular forces exist than hexane. For this reason, the presence of petroleum ether; the solubility is high for polar molecules yet with the increase in solubility denotes the decreased yield, hence less product. The presence of the two stereocenters coupled with the long range rotating is linked via the pie system of the alkene. The whole H spectrum is