Nike- an Ecnomic Report - 3357 Words

CHAPTER 1: COMPANY BACKGROUND Nike is the world s leading designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a range of sports and fitness activities. Nike is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon and owns facilities in Tennessee, North Carolina and The Netherlands. The company operates in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Nike’s primary product focus is athletic footwear designed for specific-sport and/or leisure use. Nike is the world s largest supplier of athletic footwear, with an estimated share of 50% of the $20 billion market. Sports apparel and equipment are also sold under the Nike banner. Nike is classified under the Footwear manufacturing and marketing†¦show more content†¦Barriers to Entry: The athletic footwear industry is a very competitive and mature market. The leaders of this industry are very well established. Leaders like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas have made the industry what it is today. In order to have an edge over the leaders, companies must be able to compete at all levels such as reasonable pricing, efficient production, and high product quality. These things are difficult to achieve without the resources of an established manufacturer. Another key barrier to entry is the access of traditional distribution channels. Lesser-known brands are viewed by retailers as b eing too risky to replace an established brand name like Nike or Reebok on the shelf. Thus, high startup costs, lack of distribution channels, brand equity and cutthroat environment hinder the entry of new competitors. Non Price Competition: In a monopolistically competitive market like that of footwear industry, there is just a slight difference between the products manufactured by various companies such as Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma etc., and hence the companies rely heavily on non price competition. They mainly use advertising to flaunt their products and try to get consumers to buy their product over another. The goal of product differentiation and advertising (non price competition) is to make price less of a factor in consumer purchases and make product differences a greater factor. There is a lot of non price competition

Proposal Tax Policy For A New Er Promoting Economic Growth...

In Kevin Milligan’s proposal Tax Policy for a New Era: Promoting Economic Growth and Fairness, a dual income tax system has been introduced that would boost economic growth and increase tax fairness. The new system contains a single, low rate on all capital income, coupled with a higher top tax bracket on wages. This essay, however, will focus on analyzing Miligan s arguments in reforming the tax system. In this report, Milligan mentions two trends that raise concerns for current Canadian tax system. The first one is the increasing income concentration. More and more money was earned by relatively small portion of people. This has triggered some equity issues because the proportional tax that high earners pay does not higher that those†¦show more content†¦To reform the system, there are three steps. First, the tax base should be cleaned: focusing on taxing labor compensation stocks and cutting unnecessary tax costs such as tax credits. Compensation can be divided in to several options including employee stocks and wages etc. Now if stock options are tax exempted, people are likely to choose stocks instead of salaries. Therefore tightening employee stocks tax can prevent tax avoidance and lead to efficiency. Besides, cutting tax credits can save huge amount of revenue for government. However, he mentions that high salary earners tend to have high responsiveness in terms of rising tax. Now if they cannot find a way to avoid taxation of their compensation, it is more likely for them to ask for higher compensation (in this case, more stocks) from their companies. Once companies agree to increase the amount of their stocks, this tax on stocks is ineffective because income of high earners will remain unchanged. Another critic here is that politically speaking, tax credits can be considered as strong instruments to attract voters’ support. Simply reducing tax credits could collect extra revenue, however parties may not want to sacrifice their v ote-getting techniques. Therefore the dual tax system may not gain support from politicians. Second, in terms of simplifying the capital gain tax, Milligan suggests a flat-rate tax should be established and with a range between dividend and capital income

TRash Free Essays

Individualistic cultures- cultures that tend to emphasize the Individual, his or her success and achievement, and a sense of â€Å"l†- In contrast to collectivist cultures that emphasize group membership and a sense of â€Å"we† 6. Collectivist cultures- cultures that tend to emphasize group membership and a sense of ‘*we† rather than in contract to individualistic cultures 7. Bilingual education- a curriculum for non-English-speaking and English-speaking students in which two languages are used for instruction and bicameralism is emphasized 8. We will write a custom essay sample on TRash or any similar topic only for you Order Now Limited English proficient- a designation for students with limited ability to understand, read, or speak English and who have a first language other than English . Multiculturalism- a set of beliefs based on the importance of seeing the world from different cultural frames of reference and valuing the diversity of cultures in the global community 10. Ethnicity- a shared feeling of common identity that derives, in part, from a common ancestry, common values, and common experiences 11. Race- a concept of human variation used to distinguish people on the basis of biological traits and characteristics 12. Molesters- groups of people who share certain characteristics and are smaller In number than the majority of a population students and Hispanic, African American, etc students 4. Stereotyping- the process of attributing behavioral characteristics to all members of a group 15. Individual racism- the prejudicial belief that one’s ethnic or racial group is superior to others 16. Institutional racism- institutional racism policies and practices, intentional or not, that result in racial inequities 17. Affrication schools- schools that focus on African American history and cultures for African Americans 18. Indian education act of 1972 and 1974 amendments- a federal law and subsequent amendment designed to provide direct educational assistance to Native American tribes and nations 19. Bicameral- the ability to function effectively in two or more linguistic and cultural groups 20. Multicultural education- education that provides equal educational opportunities to all students- regardless of socioeconomic status 21. Multicultural curriculum- a school curriculum that addresses the needs and backgrounds of all students regardless of their cultural identity and includes the cultural perspectives, or voices, of people who have previously been silent or marginalia 22. Sex role stereotyping- beliefs that subtly encourage males and females to inform to certain behavioral norms regardless of abilities and interests 23. Sex role colonization- socially expected behavior patterns conveyed to individuals on the basis of gender 24. Women’s educational equity act- a 1974 federal law that guarantees equal educational opportunity for females 25. Gender bias- subtle bias or discrimination on the basis of gender; reduces the likelihood that the target of the bias will develop to the full extent of his or her capabilities 26. Gender-fair classroom- education that is free of bias or discrimination on the basis of gender. How to cite TRash, Papers

Budget free essay sample

Here you should describe how you arrived at your sales forecast in section 2. 1. You should also provide any detailed calculations that led you to the sales forecast values. You should also summarize any research or figures that led you to make this sales forecast. Note: your description of assumptions should also include a reference to an authoritative, outside (non-text, etc. ) resource cited in â€Å"Section 6. 0 Works Cited†. Here you should provide a screenshot of your capital expenditure budget, also listing the sources of data and assumptions that led to each line item in table format. Briefly describe the total investment and, if necessary, why major items are necessary to achieve the company’s strategy. Note: on the internet, you can research â€Å"capital expenditures† in the Internal Revenue Code – not on the IRS website – and that will help you identify the types of expenditures that should be distinguished from other expenses. From there, you can research the internet for examples of capital expenditure budgets to get an idea of the formatting or review the examples at http://office. We will write a custom essay sample on Budget or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page microsoft. com/en-us/excel-help/ Briefly describe the NVP, IRR, accounting rate of return, and payback period for all 5 years of this analysis. Indicate the discount rate you used, and how you arrived at it. Note: your description of assumptions should also include a reference to an authoritative, outside (non-text, etc. ) resource cited in â€Å"Section 6. 0   provides examples of each of the Section items required below, so review those examples and tutorials very carefully to ensure maximum points.

Japanese Anime Essays - Mecha Anime And Manga, Mazinger, Shnen Manga

Japanese Anime Japanese Anime First of all, for those of you that don't know what Anime and Manga mean I'm gonna tell you that those are two Japanese words. Anime can be translated as Animation Movie (cartoon) while Manga means Comics. Please note that many people think that Manga are only R-rated or X-rated Japanese comics but this is not true! All Japanese comics book are considered Manga! As far as I'm concerned the great and constant production of Anime begins in the year 1958 when Toei Doga produced the animated version of a famous ancient Chinese legend: The White Snake. It is from 1963 that the Anime big business started to grow faster thanks to Osamu Tezuka and his house of production (Mushi). Tetsuwan Atom was their first production: the cartoon was done in black and white and was a true success. Atom was the first small robot of Nippon animation and later on, many young authors will be inspired by Tezuka's drawings. In the same year we also had the first prototype of a giant robot: Tetsujin 28 go created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It was however poorly realized and didn't earn too much success but it's important to remember because it set the basis for the so called 'Robot Anime' a new genre that will flourish around the '70s when Go Nagai will create the best Robot Anime Series ever done: Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, UFO Robot Grendizer, Getter Robot and GetterRobotG. Mazinger Z is one of the most popular Japanese mangas of all time, which was originally written by Go Nagai. Here are the basics of what it is about. Mazinger Z is a giant robot built by Dr. Kabuto to fight the evil mechanical monsters created by Dr.Hell. Dr.Kabuto and Dr.Hell were two famous scientists: during an archeological expedition in Rhode's Island they found the ruins of an ancient society that had a technology so advanced to be able to build giant robots (called 'mechas'). When Dr.Hell realized how powerful those robots were, he had the idea to rule the world! Dr.Kabuto didn't like the crazy ideas of Dr.Hell and decided to retire. However he was still working on two scientific projects: -a new alloy he called Super Alloy Z processed from Japanium (a new element found only in the stratum of Mount Fuji); -a new powerful source of energy called Photo-Atomic Energy. He decided to use his new discoveries to build Mazinger Z: a giant robot even more powerful than those mechas he found in Rhode's Island. He knew that Dr.Hell was a mad scientist and the only way to stop him was to destroy all the mechanical monsters he found before he could activate them. Mazinger Z made with Super Alloy Z and activated by the Photo-Atomic Energy was the last hope. Years later when Dr.Hell was ready to conquer the world, he ordered his servant Baron Ashura to kill Dr.Kabuto because he was the only one to know about his monsters and maybe the only one who could potentially slow down his conquest of the world. Baron Ashura destroyed Dr.Kabuto's house but fortunately just before his death Dr.Kabuto was able to show to his nephew (Koji Kabuto) his secret laboratory and the giant robot he built. Koji got really mad because of his uncle's death. He runs toward Mazinger Z willing to learn how to use it as soon as possible. Unfortunately Dr.Kabuto couldn't explain the complex instructions to correctly operate Mazinger Z but after few tries Koji was able to land with the pilder (also known as Jet Piloter in some version of the series) into Mazinger's head and from there take control of Mazinger's body. Few days later, Dr.Hell showed his monsters to the world; they start destroying everything in their path but a new hero was already there to fight them: Koji Kabuto, now perfectly able to control his Mazinger Z destroyed all of Dr.Hell's monsters! The story will be quite the same later, Dr.Hell will build more and more powerful monsters, Mazinger Z will have to desperately fight with all of them, but at the end he'll be victorious. In the series other two robots are involved: Aphrodite A is a

Impact of Television essays

Impact of Television essays "I believe that television is going to be the test of the modern world, and in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our own vision, we shall discover either a new and unbearable disturbance of the general peace or a saving radiance in the sky. (Qtd. In Murray 7) This quotation, by E.B. White, was written at the dawn of the television. White was right, it would either be beneficial or detrimental to society. Ever since the first television station was licensed in 1941, our lives have been affected by the presence of television. However, this effect is not negative. Despite the selection of shows that appeal to us negatively, it is used as a simple means of entertainment that appeals to the ethical in us as well as an invaluable source of cultural enrichment. Television is also an excellent aid in preparing children for school and assisting in educating children after they have begun school. Every day millions of people turn to their televisions as a form of escape from the pressures and stress of day-to-day life. The television, to them, serves the purpose of entertaining them for a half hour or an hour at a time. What people dont realize is that some shows also deal with ethical issues. Some sitcoms, such as the popular NBC produced show Friends and CBS Everybody Loves Raymond, are meant solely for entertainment but deal with everyday ethical dilemmas. Humor is not the only approach used in television entertainment. Shows, such as ABCs NYPD Blue, use thick plot lines and heavy drama to draw the viewer in entangling them in an intricate web of law and order. Even though some shows are meant only for entertainment, some shows make it a point to dive into major ethical based plot lines, an example of this can be found in CBSs Touched by an Angel. All of these shows, no matter the target audience, somehow delve into the difficult world of e...

Costing and Economics of Textile Production Essay

Costing and Economics of Textile Production - Essay Example A company will invest in country in which support infrastructure is available; a company will invest in a country with good transport network, good energy and electricity services and good communication network, a country with poor infrastructure will not be appropriate to invest in as it will not enable smooth running of the company. Poor infrastructure will not enable the company to transport its goods on time and this may also cause an increase in the cost of production of its goods and therefore it will be less likely for the multinational company to invest. Some countries have abundant resources and factors of production, example raw materials used for production or even abundant skilled and cheap labour, when such advantages exist then there is a high likelihood for a multinational company to invest, a good example of this is why many multinational companies invest in third world countries, because there is abundant and cheap factors of production. However multinational companies will be less likely to invest in countries where such advantages do not exist.

Macro Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Macro Economics - Assignment Example The ECB is thinking of buying corporate bonds as an option if it believes that more measures are needed to increase money into the European economy. Though such an idea does not seem to be imminent, investors snapped up stocks and sold the euro based on ECB’s thinking. Investors are moved by signs that ECB is considering more policy measures to increase money in the European economy if current measures such as low interest rates, new bank lending facility as well as a program to buy particular types of debts fail to boost economic growth and inflation. France’s CAC 40 went up by 2.3 percent and Germany’s DA rose by 1.9 percent. In the same vein, Spanish stock rose by 2.4 percent and Italian stock went up by 2.8 percent. The ECB’s current initiatives are geared toward adding money supply to the economy by increasing the amount of assets on its books. ECB creates new bank reserves by printing money to purchase assets. The graph below shows there is a decrease in money supplied in the European economy. The European Central Bank (ECB) has to put into play policy measures that will move the graph to the right as shown by the arrow. These measures include low interest rates, buying of corporate bonds as well as new bank lending facility which will add money to the economy and push the graph to the right in order to boost economic growth and inflation. The nominal interest rate must decrease to encourage the demand for money back to the equilibrium. It is worth to note that an decrease in the nominal interest rate will decrease the demand for savings and so increase the demand for money. Cox, Josie and Blackstone, Brian. â€Å"European Stocks Jump as ECB Mulls Buying Corporate Bonds† http://online.wsj.com/articles/european-stock-markets-edge-higher 1413878920?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection (accessed October 21,

Recruitment of a Star Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Recruitment of a Star - Essay Example 27). This allows for loyalty and dependency. He is the best fit or candidate for the job because of the above positive aspects as well as the intelligence he demonstrated during the interview. Letting Peter go was the biggest mistake that Stephen Conner made because he faced the biggest problem of finding the right replacement as soon as possible (Groysberg et al. 1). Time was the significant factor for Stephen since it was that time when the organization was in dire need of an experience, skilled and senior analyst so as to get started with PowerChip Company, their new client (Connor & York, 2011). Other than that, Stephen faced a lot of concerns from the organization’s senior executives regarding his decision of allowing Peter go. As a matter of fact, the senior executives were very disappointed with his decision to make Rina a substitute for Peter because Rina was an assistant to Peter and had joined the organization only three years ago yet they needed a senior and highly qualified analyst (Groysberg et al. 2). The organization needed a senior analyst who is amazingly intelligent and with very superior analytical skills just like Peter (Connor & York, 2011). So a candidate that needed to succeed or supplant Peter must possess the same characteristics or be of the similar cadre so as to fit on the same shoe quite easily. Peter was at all times a hard worker and an achiever and his priorities were resource management, time management as well as competency at work (Groysberg et al. 4). Therefore, to find the best fit or replacement look alike of peter, there must be a new Peter that has the similar skill set as well as attitude. From the list of the four candidates, the best fits are Sonia and Seth because of the following reasons. Sonia is a hard worker and an achiever. Despite the fact that she is working in a boutique, Sonia’s performance following the previous three years has tremendously grown

Violent Video Games Children

Violent Video Games Children The Effects of Violent Video Games on Children Computer video game is one of the most popular trends among children as well as young adults. From the time it was invented it has evolved into a more exciting and challenging media games of all time. The technological advancement has made it even more exciting for the players to religiously play and challenge themselves of what are the things in store for them while they are playing. The graphics and sound effects fascinate its audience, as if they are really there in the setting of the situation, especially those three dimensional computer machines which are seen mostly in computer arcades. The ability of the player to control and maneuver the situation made it more even exciting. Violent video games have been one of the most sought themes among the players. But with the increasing number of people engaged into this computer games, a lot of issues has also been raised, as to the negative effect and the benefit of these violent video games to children and young adults. This essay wi ll argue that violent video games do have a negative effect on children. Early experiments using physiological measures of arousal such as: galvanic skin response, heart rate and respiratory changes found that children are emotionally responsive to even animated television violence. The effects of violent video games on young adults arousal levels and aggressive thoughts have been measured. Results indicated that college students who had played virtual reality game had a higher heart rate and exhibited more aggressive thoughts in a post test, than those who played a non-violent game (Grossman DeGaetano 70-71). These physiologic changes stimulate the sympathetic system which creates excitement and this â€Å"good† feeling makes them to do it repeatedly. Similarly, as cited in an article in AllPsych Journal entitled, The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children, The Academy of Pediatrics states â€Å"More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children, desensitizes them to violence and makes them believe that the world is a ‘meaner and scarier place than it is† (Tompkins). According to Tompkins, if children become accustomed and believed that this violent behavior is acceptable and normal it will be hard to change that belief as they grow older. She also relates this to the study of domestic violence where in a person exposed to this violence tend to be either abused or abuser. She further explains this by citing the Columbine incident as an example, where in the two students, who committed a violent act are video fanatics. Their exposure to violence was linked to their violent act since both of them came from a good family. Moreover, â€Å"reward increases imitation† (Gentile 136). And this process of rewarding in computer games makes it more addicting because children tend to be reinforced when they are rewarded, which in psychology termed as â€Å"positive reinforcement† but this reward system in computer games defeats the true purpose of â€Å"positive reinforcement†, that good acts should be rewarded in order to reinforce the action, where as computer rewarding rewards its players after killing or defeating their opponent. Furthermore, â€Å"Participation in violent video games cast a negative cloud over the childrens views of interpersonal interactions. One research revealed that preschoolers most likely experienced fear and anxiety when they saw bloodied victims and watched expressions of emotional distress in connection with the medias constant showing of the events of September 11th and their aftermath† (Cantor, 2002). These experiences that are internalized by children, unconsciously affects their behavior, and when they are placed in situations similar to what they have seen, the child could become anxious and restless. On the contrary there are opposing reaction from different sectors regarding this matter, the president of the Interactive Software Association, Doug Lowenstein stated, â€Å"I think the issue has been vastly overblown and overstated often by politicians and others who do not fully understand, frankly this industry. There is absolutely no evidence, none, that playing a violent game leads to aggressive behavior† (qtd in Bushman Anderson 353). But how can we expect them to see the negative effect of these violent video games, well in fact what they mean is purely business. Likewise, Steven Johnson said: â€Å"The most debased forms of mass diversion-video games and violent television dramas and juvenile sitcoms-turn out to be nutritional after all (9). It is nutritional in the sense that learning comes along while playing these violent video games, such as mastery and control and hand-eye coordination. But this paper totally disagrees with this notion. There are more appropria te ways of learning these things, without jeopardizing the minds of these children of what is good and what is wrong, such as art camps, and other indoor and outdoor activities that utilizes the body, where in physical, psychological and emotional aspects are given importance, which builds friendship and the values of sportsmanship, as well as maintaining a healthy active body, which computer games dont give. Furthermore, computer video games promote isolation, aggressive behavior and a sedentary life style by sitting long hours in front of these computers. In conclusion, violent video game has a significant effect on children, not only on their behavior but also on their physiologic state as well as the emotional state especially that of a vulnerable individual. The government sector should be more critical and sensitive on how to protect its citizen with this kind of media. Parents on the other hand, who have the first hand decision whether to buy this violent video games or not, since they are responsible in giving money or buying this for their children, and what ever decision they would take they should know the consequences of the possible effects of these materials to their children. And users of this video games should be reminded that everything in excess is not good. Annotated Bibliography Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature. Psychological Science 12.5 (2001): 353-359. Apr. 2008 Dr. Craig A. Anderson, a professor and chairman of Department of Psychology in Iowa State University. He is a distinguished professor and Director of the center for the study of violence. Most of his current researches focus on aggression especially on the potentially harmful effect of exposure to violent entertainment media. Dr. Brad J. Bushman, a professor in University of Michigan, has a PhD in social psychology in University of Missouri. His focuses are the consequences and causes of aggression. In this research, the authors used methods such as literature search literature, criteria for relevance, coding frame and meta-analytic procedures, to test if violent video games will result to increase aggression in children and young adult. They found out that after conducting the experiment using experimental and non-experimental designs, in both male and female, that it poses public health threat to children and youths including college individuals. Exposure is negatively associated w ith prosocial behavior, and the long term effect on the development of aggressive behavior is absolutely related to exposure to violent video games. This is in contrast to the study made by Tompkins in 2003, which shows no proof that signifies either negative or positive effect of media violence. It is important in this research as it illuminates the side taken by this paper. Cantor, Joanne. The Psychological Effects of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents. Joannecantor. 19 Apr. 2002. HEC  Montreal. 19 Apr. 2008 . Joanne Cantor is an expert on the effects of the mass media on youth. A Professor Emerita and Director of the Center for Communication Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a well-known expert on children and the mass media. Joanne Cantor and her associates have conducted a program of research to explore developmental differences in media-induced fright reactions based on theories and findings in cognitive development. This study illustrates the effects of media events and images are less bothering on older children, where as other things become potentially more upsetting. This gives another highlight to the side taken by this research that there is a significant negative effect on the part of the children. Gentile, Douglas A. â€Å"Media Violence and Children: a Complete Guide for Parents and Professionals†. London: Praeger Publications, 2003. Douglas Gentile, a known developmental psychologist and a research director for the National Institute on Media and the Family. He conducts many researches about children and adult. In this book, he contends that learning comes from repetition. The fact that the violent games require violent acts to be played over and over again creates an ideal learning situation. But what the players are learning is antisocial behavior and the idea that violence is a good way to resolve conflict. He used data from other books, studies made by different authors, and other references in order to come up with a book that serves as guideline for parents and professional with regards to the effect of media violence to children. One important insight was when he said that the difference between television and computer games when it comes to the response of the individual is that violence in televisions are rarely sustained, because of commercial gaps and changing of scenes, in contrast to video games whe re violence is continuous. Where in players should always be alert for hostile enemies and must constantly choose and enact aggressive behaviors, exposing children to continual stream of violent scene. In contrast with the book of Grossman and DeGaetano, where in the authors were more subjective of the subject matter; by trying to make a call and make action on media violence, Douglas A. Gentile showed neutrality on the issue and focused more on how to guide parents and professionals decide on the issue after presenting the datas. Grossman, Dave, and Gloria Degaetano. â€Å"Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: a Call to Action Against TV, Movie Video Game Violence†. First ed. New York: Crown, 1999. LT. Col. Dave Grossman, who is a retired US Army and a professor of military science in Arkansa State University. He is the author of On Killing: Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, and specialized in the study of psychology of killing, which he called â€Å"killology.† Gloria DeGaetano is a known educator in the field of media violence, and the author of Screen Smarts: A Family Guide To Media Literacy. The authors, used datas from different resources: books, journals, researches of different authors, in order to come up with a book which calls for an action against T.V.., movie and video game violence The book talks about different factors as to the effect of media violence on children. They are very much concern of the negative effects of this violence in media as well as video games to children. They presented in their book the negative effects of media violence to society, that in reality there are a lot of children and teenagers engage themselves in to violent acts, and the disadvantages that this gives to the individual, their family and the society. This research used this book, because it gives a distinct description on what this paper is trying to point out, that there is significant negative effect on the childs behavior, it does not only gave comprehensive details, but the insights of the authors made it more meaningful. Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad is Good for You. Canada: Riverhead Books, 2005. Steven Johnson, who is a well-known author Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life, and a distinguish writer in New York, put emphasis on his book that violence on television and video games are not really bad for children. For the author, the kind of education that video games are giving is not learned in classroom situations or cannot be seen in museums. There are benefits in playing violent computer games. He wants to tell the reader that the learning in computer games enhances cognitive faculties, not dumbing them down. In his book, he made comparison between reading books and playing video games. According to him, reading books or novels enhance our imagination, while playing video games help you to choose the right decision by evaluating facts, examining situation, and by considering your long term goals. In contrast with the study made by Bushman and Anderson and that of Joanne Cantor, where in the two believed that there is significant negative effect of violent video games on children. Tompkins, Aimee. The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children. AllPsych Journal (2003). 20 Apr. 2008 . Aimee Tompkins used the reports of the studies made by the Academy of Pediatric Society, The National Coalition on Television violence and cited stories where in violent video game fanatics were involved in shooting incidents and killing people, in order to assess the psychological effects of violent media on children. After presenting and analyzing the studies made, the author concluded that there was no proof either positive or negative long term outcomes of violent media and that parents should pay more attention on the activities of their children. In contrast on the result of the study made by Bushman Anderson, that there is a significant effect on the behavior of children by increasing their aggression. This study was given importance in this essay because it gave another perspective on the issue discussed.

Time Management Essay -- Business Management Studies

Time Management The largest percentage of my time went into sleeping which isn’t a surprise, however tracking how I used my time made it obvious that further time management was needed to achieve my maximum potential. Such improvements would be to the undesirable categories: Structured and Un-structured leisure, a decrease by half the amount of hours used by these categories would assist my private studies and improve my overall academic performance. This should lead to a third of my time into travelling, eating, class contact, structured and un-structured leisure. And another third into private study and finally the last third into sleeping. Trying this new arrangement of time keeping provided to be a positive outcome in my day to day activities as it provided a strong backbone to my time management. In general, the hours used by the other categories are acceptable to maintain some balance and relaxation for the mind and body to sustain motivation and some social life. Overall reflection on personal strengths and weaknesses re time management based on evidence in my diary. The f...

Rizal – Man of Mystery

Rizal was really Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper is polled as Great Britain’s most evil person on BBC History Magazine. His hatred for women and savage killing of at least 5 prostitutes is a tale of horror still talked about today. His case was never solved thus his identity is one of the world’s great mysteries. How is this related to Rizal? Our national hero Jose Rizal was in London during the killings from May 1888 to January 1889. He was copying a book, â€Å"the Sucesos de las islas Filipinas† staying in the library for the whole day.But not much is known of his whereabouts at night. Other than his mere presence in London, the killings link to Rizal because he was a doctor. Skilled with the surgical knife, he even performed on his mother’s eye. Jack the Ripper’s victims were brutalized with strategic cuts on the neck and incisions that took out the uterus from the abdomen. In his many letters sent back home, not once did he mention the killing s – undoubtedly the biggest news of that time.When Rizal departed from London in 1889, the killings stopped. In 1986, the present day owners of the house Rizal stayed in reported finding preserved human innards and a confession letter from Rizal. Most obvious of all, the links is that Jack the Ripper and Jose Rizal shared the same initials. Illustration depicting how Jack the Ripper cut his victim Reflection I was really shock and horrified while reading this article. I never ever thought that Dr. Jose Rizal our national hero would be a murderer.About the story of Jack the Ripper, I already saw a part of it but in anime form from the anime Black Butler because I am really an anime lover, but I really thought that it’s just a story, not real. That’s why I’m really surprise when I had read the article. I was almost convince by the evidences presented though, as well as the letters by Jack the Ripper that was left at the crime scenes and the preserved human innards found at the house where Rizal stayed. But after thorough thinking, I said to myself that this wasn’t the kind of hero we have.Our hero is not a murderer but a passionate one. If he was that violent, then he would have agreed to Andres Bonifacio have a bloody war using swords, and other deadly weapon against the Spanish colonizers. But, he didn’t agree to Andres Bonifacio because what he wants is a silent war and not the bloody war, where lots of life would be wasted. So, with that perspective of mine, I don’t believe that Dr. Jose Rizal is Jack the Ripper. And, there’s also one question that keeps running in my mind, who name Jack the Ripper as Jack the Ripper that it even coincides to Dr.Jose Rizal’s initial letters to his name? And another is that the preserved human innards at the house where Rizal stayed were only found out almost a century after that is Dr. Jose Rizal left the place in year 1889, and yet it had been discovered only al most a century after that is in year 1986. If it had been discovered sooner, it would have been a strong evidence I guess, but it took a long time before it had been discovered. And if ever it would be true, then I guess it’s not that really a big deal since Jose Rizal is a doctor, and he even operated his own mom.Who knows he’s on a study of something at that time, trying to discover something new for his career. Another is, he has a purpose why he went to London at that time and that is to copy a book entitled â€Å"the Sucesos de las islas Filipinas† and certainly not to murder. To sum it all, I really don’t believe about the content of the article. Though, there are evidences presented, still it’s not enough to judge Dr. Jose Rizal. Because for me, he is a passionate man who even wrote â€Å"Mi Primera Inspiraccion† or My First Inspiration that is especially dedicated for his mother.

APUSH Research Paper Essays

APUSH Research Paper Essays APUSH Research Paper Paper APUSH Research Paper Paper The late 1800s and early 1900s, during the era of post Emancipation, the United States was a period of identity exploration, enlightenment, and empowerment, as well as interdivision, discrimination, and adaptation for the African American peoples. Social revolutionists like Marcus Garvey and role modeled entrepreneurs like Madam CJ Walker were among the many blacks that influenced the national black community during their time of struggle and search for societal and economical direction. Walker and Garvey both strived for the advancement of their people, but had different long term effects on blacks and plans for the future. Walkers use of Eurocentric ideals to beautify Black features socially and economically carried her higher than any woman, let alone black woman, in the business world. Her use of advertisements created a standard of black beauty in America that would gain acceptance. Garveys efforts to create a movement glorifying Afrocentric culture and lifestyle resulted in criticism from his own people and federal attention. These historical fgures in the African American community were a part of a long lasting conflict of identity within the black race and the continuation of developing a black American culture completely different than African culture, creating a disparity between what it means to be African and African American. Madam CJ Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was the first one of her family born into freedom in 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. With the time periods lack of indoor plumbing, central heating, and electricity, most Americans bathed infrequently, causing people like Walker to experience hair loss and scalp disease. Walker experimented with home remedies to find a cure. Soon, she developed her own line of hair care and moved throughout the ountry to major industrial cities like Pittsburgh and Indianapolis to spread its use. In Pittsburgh, Walker established Lelia College in 1908 to educated hair culturists and expand her empire. It was in Indianapolis that she opened her headquarters and factory. With her success, Walker believed in empowering the black community by providing a place where they can develop skills to become successful entrepreneurs. Her institutions taught and trained black women to build and manage themselves in the business world. She also gave lectures on social, economic, and political issues sponsored by black institutions. As time went on and blacks dispersed throughout American society, racial violence and discrimination in the South became the social norm. Jim Crow Laws enacted in 1876 during the annexation of Reconstruction legally separated blacks from whites and created the hatred of the black race. After the East St. Louis Race Riot, Madam CJ Walker united with the leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in their efforts to bring lynching as a federal crime. Through her efforts to support black advancement, Walker donated large amounts of her earnings to rganizations like the NAACP, black schools, orphanages, and retirement homes and was acknowledged in 1918 at the biennial convention of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) for making the largest contribution to save the Anacostia a $250,000 estate in New York which was built by the first licensed black architect in New York State, Vertner Tandy. Never before had a black woman from the south born of slave parents climb the social and economic ladder to success and become the wealthiest African-American woman in America and known to be the first self-made female American millionaire. Between the 1890s and early 1900s, blacks struggled with white acceptance, and often went to extreme measures to make themselves appear to have enough white blood in them to fend themselves from the worst types of discrimination. Slavery deprived Africans of the natural oils and herbs they used to maintain healthy hair, thus forming the definition of the word nappy as foaming to describe the kinky matted texture of the slaves hair which has become a way to further stigmatize Black hair. The nations social, political, and economic system had been determined by racial appearance and standards. Madam CJ Walkers hair care product advertisements often depicted European features on a black woman, insinuating that the more white you are, the more beautiful, socially accepted, and capable of achieving a better life you are. On one label, Walker herself is depicted with long, straight hair and light skin. This label sends the message to her customers that they too can achieve this luscious, Eurocentric hair when they use this product, ensuring a more appealing and Americanized view of black beauty. Another ad for Madam CJ Walkers miracle products shows a woman with White features, ossibly portraying that Walkers products could work on any type of hair, or advertising a look that everyone should achieve to maintain their society-approved womanhood. Despite Walkers astounding accomplishments as a post- Emancipation black woman, her inventions and goals toward helping blacks achieve success contributed to the appreciation of Eurocentric culture, ideal of self-hatred within the black communities, and growth of the belief that African features were not beautiful. These adaptations to American societal standards were a means of survival for Walker and ther blacks who used Eurocentric ways to create a culturally accepted life for themselves. These ways of living and gaining recognition in the white communities created a divide between blacks who glorified and strived to uphold Afrocentric traditions like Marcus Garvey. Jamaican political leader, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was born in 1887 and became many things including a resolute proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. He founded many pro-black Communities League, the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands. His ability to actualize a mass movement and economic empowerment for Africa created the ideal of Garveyism. Influenced by Booker T. Washington, Garvey became intelligent as a child from reading books from his fathers extensive library. He attended Birkbeck College in London, taking Eurocentric education to use to his advantage in applying his knowledge to leading a nation of mentally and economically broken people. The early 1900s in the northern states of America was a period of Black advancement and pride. During the Harlem Renaissance era, when blacks developed a culture of rts, literature, politics, and a new social identity, Garvey began publishing his widely spread newspaper, Negro World, in August of 1918. As the editor, he used the paper as a means to spread black nationalism through an everyday primary source to those of African ancestry at home and abroad. Garveys Negro Magazine gave blacks a literary social life (inspiration) that was never attainable as slaves. The magazine was strong with words of motivation and pride that encouraged blacks to keep fighting and be proud of their ancestry. This decision of following Eurocentric or following Afrocentric ideals and culture divided blacks along intellectual lines. Ga o. ey was criticized by his own race for wanting to empower blacks and bring them back to their homeland, where they can populate and live without the poverty, violence, and racism in America. In an excerpt from the article Africa for Africans from Garveys paper, Negro World, he speaks on those who are opposed of his efforts to continue the Pan-African Movement. One editor and leader went so far as to say at his Pan- African Congress that American Negroes could not live in Africa, because the climate was too hot. All kinds of arguments have been adduced by these Negro intellectuals against the colonization of Africa by the black race. Some said that the black man would ultimately work out his existence alongside of the white man in countries founded and established by the latter (Garvey). Garveys written ideas of people going back to their original continents to restructure cultural peace are expressed in this excerpt from Negro World. He writes about his feelings towards the Negro intellectuals, he calls them, who are in denial and opposed to his ideas of an Afrocentric empowerment movement. The criticisms and oppositions from educated blacks in seeing themselves inherently different from Africans follows the issue of the growing distance between Africans and African Americans. It also presents the fear that white supremacists will have yet another reason for racial violence towards blacks, as expressed in a letter sent to Harry M. Daugherty, United States Attorney General. African American leaders opposed to Garveys plans to spread among Negroes distrust and hatred of all white people, write this source entitled, Garvey Must Go, in hopes to enforce Federal involvement to capture Garvey. This letter tries to make clear that not all blacks follow Garvey, to make known that these specific blacks in New York writing the letter are good and obedient civilians. This document describes Garvey as a foreign violent menace to all Americans and seems to want security from the whites in power so they dont begin to think that all blacks in America are preparing to rebel. And so the interdivision amongst blacks intellectually and economically, resulted in Garveys long-term goals positive way to advance Negro Americans in society, however, inspired religions, such s the Nation of Islam and Rastafari movement, and inspired more Afrocentric pride in the years of the Harlem Renaissance and further development of Americas black culture. The combination of Eurocentric and Afrocentric cultures began to create the African American culture. Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller was a celebrated black female artist and the daughter of a barber and hairdresser/wig maker in 1877. In Philadelphia, she was encouraged to use her creative mind to sculpt. As she became older and influenced by Eurocentric culture, she was able to get a decent education nd study art under sculptors in France. Upon arriving back to Philadelphia in the early 1900s-20s, she realized her art style became subdued. She began engaging in the African American experience by creating pieces rooted in black culture during the Harlem Renaissance. Her sculpture Ethiopia Awakening displayed a woman in African garments symbolized her appreciation for her African heritage and symbolized what was happening to the black community as a whole during the Renaissance and spread of Garveyism. Female artist Augusta Savage was also nfluenced by African American leaders like Garvey and W. E. B. DuBois, this black woman artist was inspirational during the period of black excellence in music, art, literature, and ideals†the Harlem Renaissance. Savage not only sculpted pieces that projected black culture, history, and united pride, but busts of both Garvey and DuBois, symbolizing their leadership as admirable and responsible for the flourishing of the Afrocentric black community in the 1920s. This racial consciousness and gratification for the black race benefitted in American society as well. This infant of African American culture embodied American education and values as well as African features and traditions. The cultural transformation of the Black Community during the late 1800s and early 1900s influenced all aspects of being black in America. By adapting Eurocentric values African Americans were able to fight and survive in American society. Madam CJ Walker, Marcus Garvey, and a united but divided black community, who were stripped of their kingdom, language, and customs during slavery, used the coexistence of Afro and Eurocentric ideals, traditions, and cultures to create one of their own.

Lexicalization Definition and Examples

Lexicalization Definition and Examples ...Lexicalization is the process of making a word to express a concept. Verb: lexicalize. Here are some examples and observations from experts and other writers: Examples and Observations The OED (1989) defines lexicalize (1) as to accept into the lexicon, or vocabulary, of a language, and lexicalization as the action or process of lexicalizing. In this sense simple and complex words, native as well as loanwords can be lexicalized. Thus, Lyons (1968:352) says that the relationship of the transitive (and causative) concept of to cause someone to die is expressed by a separate word, to kill (someone). Quirk et al. (1985:1525f.) restrict lexicalization to words formed by word-formation processes, explaining it as the process of creating a new word (a complex lexical item) for a (new) thing or notion instead of describing this thing or notion in a sentence or with a paraphrase. The use of words is more economical because they are shorter than the corresponding (underlying) sentences or paraphrases, and because they can be more easily used as elements of sentences. Thus one does not say someone who writes a book [...] for someone else, who then often pretends it is their o wn work, one says ghostwriter instead . . ..(Hans Sauer, Lexicalization and Demotivation. Morphology: An International Handbook on Inflection and Word-Formation, ed. by Christian Lehmann, G. E. Booij, Joachim Mugdan, and Wolfgang Kesselheim. Walter de Gruyter, 2004) Lexicalization and Idioms Despite a certain lack of consensus about the meaning of idiom, the identification of lexicalization with idiomatization is widespread . . .. Indeed, according to Lehmann (2002:14) idiomatization IS lexicalization in the sense of coming to belong to an inventory, and Moreno Cabrera (1998:214) points to idioms as the best examples of lexicalization. Lipka (1992:97) cites examples such as wheelchair, pushchair, and trousersuit, which have specific and unpredictable meanings. Bussmann [1996] considers idiomatization to be the diachronic element of lexicalization, which occurs when the original meaning can no longer be deduced from its individual elements or the original motivation of [a] unit can only be reconstructed through historical knowledge, as in the case of neighbor, cupboard, or mincemeat...Bauer identifies a subtype of lexicalization which he calls semantic lexicalization (1983:55-59), instancing compounds such as blackmail, mincemeat, townhouse, and butterfly or derivatives s uch as unquiet, gospel, and inspector which lack semantic compositionality (because semantic information has been either added or subtracted). Antilla (1989 [1972]:151) adduces examples such as sweetmeat, nutmeat, Holy Ghost spirit, widows weeds clothes, and fishwife, which are morphologically transparent but semantically opaque as instances of lexicalization. (Laurel J. Brinton and Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Lexicalization And Language Change. Cambridge University Press, 2005) It is important to note, however, that idiomatization is only one aspect of lexicalization, which is why the two terms should not be used interchangeably (as is sometimes the case). Rather lexicalization has to be regarded as the cover term for a range of phenomena, semantic and non-semantic. Bauer (1983: 49) also emphasizes that opacity is not a necessary pre-requisite for lexicalization since [s]ome lexicalized forms [...] may remain perfectly transparent, e.g. warmthwhich must be considered lexicalized because the suffix -th cannot be added synchronically to an adjective to provide a noun.(Peter Hohenhaus, Lexicalization and Institutionalization. Handbook of Word-Formation, ed. by Pavol Ã…  tekauer and Rochelle Lieber. Springer, 2005) Pronunciation: lek-si-ke-le-ZAY-shun Alternate Spellings: lexicalisation

Critical Analysis of the Article from both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE Essay - 3

Critical Analysis of the Article from both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE aspects - Essay Example This is where the authors claim to have an alternative paradigm which can attempt to answer this paradox. Based on this assumption, authors therefore have recommended a different and alternative approach of rental/access perspective. The authors therefore claim that based on viewing services from this lens will offer a greater insight into the development of products as services as well as to view the time in more elaborative manner in order to design services and products in complimentary manner. Thus the authors have attempted to challenge the basic ideas formulated to define and discuss the services marketing due to the changes that took place due to internet and other forms of services which require less or no human interaction. Services in such perspectives therefore require a comprehensively different and unique paradigm to understand and define services. What is also the stronger point of this article is the fact that it has attempted to reconcile the ideas that has emerged from both the European scholars as well as the American scholars. The need to have dialogue and reconciliation of ideas therefore can provide a common ground to undertake future research on the topic of services marketing. The conclusion of this article indicates that due to emergence of new and fundamentally different and more fluid business models, it is necessary that the more robust frameworks must be developed in order to accommodate the relative changes that take place. This article however, does not provide the way as to how the different changes that unfold themselves into the future can be captured with the existing frameworks. Till new paradigm emerged and services marketing take an entirely new shape, existing theoretical models must be changed or designed in such a manner that they must undertake to capture these changes. This article also lacks in providing

Should U.S immigration law be changed to allow more workers from Essay

Should U.S immigration law be changed to allow more workers from Mexico to enter legally - Essay Example The U.S government is trying create legislation concerning Mexican immigrants who legally enter the country and regulating the number of Mexican illegal immigrants. Despite a lot of controversy, the U.S government has not resolve the problem yet. Mexican immigration is a problem that the people of America and Mexico can not resolve easily. In this paper, I will identify the concerns of people who think illegal Mexican immigrants have negative impacts on the U.S economically and socially. Even though there are some people who advocate accepting Mexican immigrants, there are a lot of people still in opposition of Mexican immigration. A high percentage of U.S. citizens are opposed to Mexican immigration. These citizens are made up of a majority of low-income people, various minorities, and blacks. These people compete with the illegal Mexican immigrates for lower paying jobs. The illegal Mexican immigration brings out economical problems. According to Steven A. Camarota, over 55 percent of Americans are against the amnesty of illegal Mexican immigrants. In addition, 62 percent of these Americans come from low-income households and are opposed to accepting Mexican illegal immigrants (Camarota, p.1). Since, the illegal Mexican immigrants are cheap labor; low-income natives are concerned the illegal Mexican immigrants will lower the average wages. Furthermore, because employers prefer to hire illegal Mexican immigrants, for cheap labor, the economist are worried about the increased unemployment rate of natives. Economists are also concerned that illegal Mexican immigrants will have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. The illegal Mexican immigrants not only lower the wage of low-income natives, but they also increase the unemployment rate of uneducated youth. The inflow of illegal Mexican immigrants into U.S industry makes the supply of workers increase. Naturally, the excess supply of workers reduces average wages; the employer than can keep

Prisoner's Dilemma Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prisoner's Dilemma - Research Paper Example In the prisoners dilemma game I was stuck in jail with Lucifer. We were in separated cells. In a prisoner dilemma game there is no way for the prisoner’s to coordinate their actions (Varian). The two options in the game are to cooperate or defect. Cooperate implies to cooperate with each other by denying the crime. Defect means to talk to the police and tell on each other. The first strategy that I choose was to cooperate. I was sure that Lucifer would do the same. Lucifer did not follow my lead and defected. The implication of this strategy was that I was going to jail and Lucifer was going to go free. I decided to run the simulation once again to implement a different strategy. During the second simulation run I decided to cooperate once again. Lucifer cooperated with me. The game was run 13 times and Lucifer kept cooperating. The final outcome was mutual cooperation the best potential outcome for both parties. Under this scenario we both received jail time but at a reduced sentence. I decided to try the simulation a third time to try a different strategy. The third strategy I used was to be a traitor and implement a pure defect strategy. Lucifer became the sucker in the game. My won the game with a final score of 78-13. The strategy that I used was risky in real prisoner dilemma game because if both parties defected we both get the maximum jail time.

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Example for Free

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Communication is the most important factor for young children’s learning and social development. Humans have the unique skills of language and speech to enable the sharing of information, knowledge and feelings with others. Early childhood educators have an important job to nurture and support the development of communication in children. Communication skills are required in order to deliver the right message and convey it properly to the child. These involve body languages and facial expression. Without this, an educator loses the connection with a young child since one appears to be cold. As an example, when one smiles while delivering the message, the child will be more interested with what you have to offer in contrast to a stern look. Listening skills are those that are used in obtaining information and messages from others. It is imperative that you have the ability to receive feedback from the child so that you may know their needs. It helps to understand what a person thinks and feels and hence to understand the child closely. Skills for managing the process of communication will help the educator in recognising information required and developing a strong hold on the rules of interaction and communication (MacCallion, 1988). Communication has been described as the process where information is transmitted from one person to another. This includes the use of both verbal and non-verbal means to convey a message. Non-verbal communication includes facial expression as well as body language. Good communication skills involve listening, reading, writing and speaking. An early childhood educator deals with children between the ages of birth and 8years. It is at this age when the child learns to relate with others as well as society. Good communication skills are therefore essential for early childhood educators as they may influence the relationship between the teacher and children (Hubley, 1993). Teaching involves sending and receiving information from the students. Good communications skills will encourage the students to participate in the teaching process. This helps portray school as a place where the students can share ideas as well as relate with society. At this early age, most of the children perceive school as a place that separates them from their family. It is likely that most of the children at this age will prefer to stay at home rather than attend school. Good communication skills will help encourage students to appreciate school as a place of learning as well as a place they can express their own ideas (Joram, 1998). Good communication skills are essential in early childhood education. This is because at this age the child is learning how to express themselves both verbally and non-verbally. Children develop communication skills by exploring, sharing and interacting with adults through their own environment. According to recent studies, children at this age learn by observing how their parents and caretakers behave. It is therefore essential that the educator has good communication skills as this will affect how the children express themselves and learn in the future (knott, 1979). The main aim of early childhood education is to encourage academic, emotional and physical growth. However at this age the learning abilities of a child are not fully developed. In a recent study the concentration span of an adult is below 15 minutes while that of a child is less than 5 minutes. This means that the educator has to find ways to engage the child to maintain a longer concentration span. This involves the use of illustrations as well as demonstration that help capture the interest of the child. Good communication skills are essential in aiding the educators’ ability to maintain the child’s concentration span (Joram, 1998). Early childhood education involves the use of play as the mode of education. This is important in nurturing the child’s development as well as learning. Good communication skills are essential in providing an environment where the children feel free to play with each other as well as participate in the class activities. Play involves participation by the children as well the educator. It is essential for the early childhood educator to be able to create a nurturing environment where the child is confident to interact with others and express themselves. The role of the educator does not solely lie in teaching but also protecting  the child in the absence of their parents. The educator should promote the child’s wellbeing both at school and home. As an example an early childhood educator may notice that children are not interested in the book corner yet all the children enjoy story time and also enjoy looking through the books afterwards, however they will not look at the books in the designated area. With further observation and interaction with the children, it is discovered the children have a fear of the photo of a clown that is hanging above the book corner. Good communication skills cannot be ignored in providing an environment where the child feels able to express their fears openly. Listening, observing and interacting are a key role in enhancing good communication skills (Robinson, 2007). It is essential that the educator observes the children playing before participating in the play themselves. This helps the teacher understand the strengths and weaknesses of the children. It also helps the teacher avoid imposing adult ideas in the children’s play. Observation is a key aspect in developing good communication skills. It is through observation that the educator is able to take an initiative role. This means coming up with new ideas or processes that are based on the children’s ideas (McCarthy, 1996). Good communication skills can enable a teacher to organise parent teacher conferences which provide the opportunity for teacher and parents to discuss developmental skills, children’s work and to plan for future learning experiences. The educator can also engage the young child in cooperative learning where children complete a project or task. Pairs work best in kindergartens. The tasks are in such a way that success of the performance is based on the pair rather than the individual. A good educator should therefore be able to ensure that communication is established in such learning experiences (Wubbels, 1992). Use of illustrations has been shown to build the imagination of a child immensely. Good communications skills emphasis on the power of expressing yourself not only by facial and gestures but also employing other teaching materials such as illustrations. By illustrating sections of a story or particular events, children can improve their interpretation and  comprehension. Children employ responses and personal understanding when they see story characters visually. This develops a child’s imagination and the ability to visualise and interpret printed and spoken information (Hubley, 1993). The importance of communication cannot be stressed further when it comes to early childhood education. Communication skills are core of almost all activities that are practiced at this early age which dictates the type of person that one will grow to. Neither can the importance of communication skills be neglected or ignored. Effective communication promotes the interest and needs of the young child. The child will show interest only if the teacher is loaded with gestures, confidence and softness. Improving of the communication skills have been shown to bring about a tight bond between the childhood educator and the child. The most important aspects of life are greatly influenced by good communication skills. This leads to respectful and meaningful relationships between the educator and child. In order to feel and have the bliss of healthy emotions at home, there is a need to develop communication skills when it comes to children. Some educators are not worried when it comes to communication and therefore emotional attachments are rare. Emotions connect human beings in a complex fashion. It is therefore paramount that early childhood educators acquire good skills of communication to ensure that the young brain is able to gather as much as possible and express as much. In doing so, the young child would be able to learn more and the literacy and learning capability levels of the general population could reach unimaginable levels. Reference List MacCallion, M. (1998). The Voice Book. London, UK: Faber Faber. Hubley, J. (1993) . Communication Health. London, UK: Macmillan. Joram, E. (1998). Transforming obstacles into opportunity. Teaching and teacher education, 14 (2), 175-191. doi:10. 1016/S0742-051X(97)00035-8 Knott, P. (1979). Nonverbal Communication during Early Childhood. Communicating with Young Children 18 (4) 226-233 http://www. jstor. org/stable/1476648 Robinson, M. (2007). Child Development and Behaviour 0-8: A Journey through the Early Years. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. McCarthy, P (1996). Speaking Persuasively. Sydney: Allen Unwin.

Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Yaroslav Gromov In present time, the question about sustainable use of natural resources has become very important all over the world. People start to realize that nature cannot provide more resources that it has, and that the natural resources consumed a lot. Therefore, there should be found a way how to solve this particular problem energy crisis. Consequently, we should answer the question if the widespread of renewable energy is as serious alternative to the use of fossil fuels or not. There is no correct answer to this question, but if we definitely want to say ‘yes or ‘no, it will be better to weighting up the pro at contra. So let us find out the causes why renewable energy is a serious alternative to the fossil fuels. First of all, fossil fuels are non-renewable. Natural gas, coal and oil are the most common example of fossil fuels, and they are the three main types of fuel that people mostly use and depend on. Seitz (2008) states that ‘according to many analysts the world would not run out of oil, but in a few decades shortages will become prevalent. According to the Energy Information Agency, approximately 93% of the worlds energy sources are fossil fuels, and renewable energy is just about 7%. (2, 2008) Also burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, which is the greenhouse gas that leads to global warming and seriously damages our planet. Secondly, renewable energy sources, such as hydropower energy, solar energy and wind energy are renewable, efficient and non-polluting or causing little pollution. They are simple: all you need is sunlight, running water and blowing wind. Lastly, expanding the use of renewable energy will have a positive impact on employment, according to more than a dozen independent studies analyzing the impact of clean energy on the economy. Greater reliance on renewable energy would have large, positive impacts on economy, creating significant numbers of new jobs, driving major capital investment, stabilizing energy prices, and reducing consumer costs. (Flavin C. 2006, p.10). By contrast, employment in the fossil fuel industries has been in steady decline for decades, in large measure due to growing automation of coal mining and other processes. (Flavin C. 2006, p.10). As these three types of renewable energy were mentioned let us discuss them more specific. Hydropower energy is the most developed technology for renewable energy. The main potential that this type of energy has is that it can be used in multipurpose area. For example, benefits of hydropower are flooding control, irrigation and public water supplies. (6) Hydropower energy is usually generated form falling water, causing little pollution and it is a type of clean energy. Hydropower resources are usually divided into two main categories. As it is mentioned, the first category is resources that require man-made dam structure with high hydraulic heads; the second one is a â€Å"run-of-river† system that require minimum dam structure and with low hydraulic heads. (4, 2000, p.44-45). Similarly, World Bank (2004) believes that hydropower can play significant role ‘in poverty reduction in developing countries. In addition, World Bank (2004) also claims that ‘currently about 19 percent of the worlds electricity is produced from hydropower and that the greenhouse gas emissions ‘from most hydropower plants are relatively low. It is also important to weight the facts about advantages and disadvantages of hydropower energy. On the one hand, hydropower is a clean energy source. It does not pollute the air like fossil fuels do. (6) Hydropower plays a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The maintain cost is relatively low. It is renewable. The technology is reliable and proven over time. (7). On the other hand, if water is not available, the hydropower plants will not produce electricity. (6) USGS (7) reports that hydropower energy is not perfect and has some disadvantages. For example, ‘high investment cost, inundation of land and wildlife habitat, changes in reservoir and stream water quality, displacement of local populations. Solar energy is the second type of renewable energy that was mentioned in this essay. Solar energy is the second most common type of renewable energy. Basically solar energy is the energy of sun. It helps us to survive on our planet, it heats us, it makes threes grow up, and, mostly everything on our planet depends on solar energy. It is possible that ‘our current life cannot continue if we remain economically dependent on fossil fuels, as Hermanns (2004, p.4) claims, but as for me, we cannot predict the future and we do not know what will happen tomorrow. So Hermann claims that something is unlikely to happen./p> It is not so easy to talk about advantages and disadvantages of solar energy. Speaking about advantages of solar energy it is necessary to mention some of them. Firstly, solar cells can be used almost any place around the world. Secondly, solar cells silent and non-polluting. In addition, they require little maintenance and have log lifetime. Finally, solar cells can be easily used in places where there is no main electricity. Now let us move on to the disadvantages of solar energy. The main and most important disadvantage is initial cost. Lastly, solar cells are totally depends on weather, and can be used just during daytime and sun hours. It is because the only time when cells can generate electricity. (9) The last and possibly most interesting type of renewable energy is wind energy. There is an interesting point about wind energy. Wind is a form of solar energy; it is ‘caused by the heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the rotation of the earth, and the earths surface irregularities (11). Seitz (2008, 141) reports that wind as an energy source was generally used for power as well as for the cooling houses, adding that wind energy source started to gain respect all around the world. In recent years the widespread of wind energy has been extremely rapid, but, for example, ‘despite that rapid growth, wind energy amounted to less than 1% of U.S. electricity generation (10, p.15). But as any other type of energy wind energy also has advantages and disadvantages. According to the Committee on Environmental Impacts one of the advantages is that ‘wind energy has the potential to reduce environmental impacts, because it does not result in the generation of atmospheric contaminants or thermal pollution (10, p.15). Another good point about wind energy is that it is ‘one of lowest-priced renewable energy available today (11). In conclusion there is a very serious question if the widespread of renewable energy is as serious alternative to the use of fossil fuels or not. Three main types of renewable energy were considered. So there is a chance in the nearest future that renewable energy sources will fully displace fossil fuels. It may happen, but not very soon and probably just when there is nothing to extract or mine. Now both renewable and non-renewable energy will be used simultaneously. People are not ready yet to abandon fossil fuels, and are not ready for spending huge amount of money for renewable energy. References Christopher Flavin. (2006, September). American Energy. The Renewable Path to Energy Security. Worldwatch Institute. Energy information administration. Renewable Energy Consumption and Electricity Preliminary Statistics 2008. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/alternate/page/renew_energy_consump/rea_prereport.html John L. Seitz. (2008). Global issues: an introduction. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Committee on Programmatic Review of the U. S. Department of Energys Office of Power Technologies. (2000). Renewable Power Pathways : A Review of the U. S. Department of Energys Renewable Energy Programs. National Academic Press. World Bank Staff. (2004). Water Resources Sector Strategy: Strategic Directions for World Bank Engagement. World Bank Publications. U.S. Department Of Energy. Energy efficiency and renewable energy. Advantages and disadvantages of Hydropower. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_ad.html USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). Water use: hydro electronic power. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html Scheer, Hermann. (2004). Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future. Earthscan Publications Ltd. Bristol University. Advantages of solar energy. http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/ledlie/advantages_of_solar_energy.htm Committee on Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects. National Research Council. (2007). National Academies Press U.S. Department Of Energy. Energy efficiency and renewable energy. Advantages and disadvantages of Wind Energy. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_ad.html

Television and Media - Family Life With, and Without TV :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Family Life With, and Without TV Just about everyone in the United States owns and watches television. Consequently, we've become accustomed to a fairly predictable and monotonous home life. Every working day, we come home, pick up the mail, switch on the TV. Every night, we cook dinner, clean up the kitchen, watch some TV. Every weekend, we do the shopping, finish the chores, and settle in to watch a movie. And why not? It's relaxing to hunker down on the sofa at the end of a tiring day and it doesn't take any energy to flip through the channels with the remote control in one hand and a bowl of buttered popcorn in the other. In my family, we grew up with the TV on. Every weekend, we watched Gunsmoke and Bonanza together as a family. Every year, we made special treats for the Wizard of Oz. I wouldn't have developed my love for cooking if I hadn't watched Graham Kerr as the Galloping Gourmet every day after school. I was hooked on Drawing With John Nagy and years later graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design. Television isn't all bad. It placates us and creates a comfortable background while we take care of business at home and when we're tired it lulls us to sleep. TV is a companion for the elderly and a convenient babysitter for the young. It makes burglars think we're home when we're not. It entertains us cheaply with live action sports, incomparable performing arts and singular events of the world all in living color. It educates us about everything from the cells in our body to the galaxies in the universe. Besides, what would life be like without TV? Could we stand the silence? How would we relax? What would we do with so much time on our hands? Let's take a look at how the average American family might react in a sudden shift to life without TV. Mr. and Mrs. Jones decide to unplug the TV and put it in the garage starting Monday night. They want the family to spend more quality time together. No one takes Mom and Dad seriously and the family jokes about it all weekend. There's a little tension in the air Monday night.

Diffusion Of Responsibility Theory

Responsibility theory is like human responsibility, social responsibility and is related to legal responsibility. It is an ethical theory that says, everyone has its responsibility and are accounted to the society whether an individual, a bigger one like a town, a company, or the government. It is of importance to basically magnify its simple principles. Social responsibility is the answer to the inquiries on why people are subjected and often times ending up in to blaming, admonishing, and punishing each other.It is simply voluntary; it is on the subject of giving more than, further than and beyond what is called for by the law or the â€Å"legal responsibility†. Wherein you a person is accounted and responsible not because there exist a law, a rule, or an order from a higher being in position. There exists a basis of volunteerism. Diffusion of Responsibility Theory If you have a neighborhood or someone who is in trouble or in a snag and a group of people are standing, watchi ng around, they usually tend to do nothing. This common scenario has been well studied.Distinctively, the idea of diffusion of responsibility is merely cycling in this. The theory here is that responsibility diffuses or disperses across and among the group such that no individual could feel enough and aware himself enough to step forward and get involved. Some analogous situations may also occur like in situations in committees, when a thing has been existing around them waiting to be accomplished yet ignored after sometime, students are subjected to the establishment of blame, admonishment and punishment.And in this case, responsibility theory has some noteworthy advantages. Social responsibility in a huge way is important for it is a principled, moral or ideological theory that a person whether it is an administration, a conglomerate, an organization or an individual has accountability to the society or the general public. This theory is voluntary: it is on the subject of giving m ore than, further than and beyond what is called for by the law. This â€Å"called for by the law† is simply the â€Å"legal responsibility† and this is somehow not in the boundaries of volunteerism principles.Wherein you a person is accounted and responsible not because there exist a law, a rule, or an order from a higher being in position. In here, a person can’t promise a free accountability for his people. It is out of his deep willingness to do a certain thing and only accounted and responsible when he is obliged by something: for example, it could be a law or a rule. To explain this topic further, let us have this simple basis example. By law, a conglomerate’s or a corporation’s main responsibility is to produce money (income) as much as possible for shareholders and make it a point that they obey the law.Social responsibility even with no contact onto the people involve, accompanies organizations being responsible for the people as well as f or the environment they affect. This organizations or companies have the ethics, moral responsibility to do so with regards to their power and influence. They certainly have this dominance or power to help people or, could be at the least, not harm them. This responsibility theory is a principle of law that connoting every being whether it is a small group like village, town, or the big ones like companies, government or could be just an individual has its own accountability to the society.In this responsibility theory, I couldn’t miss out mentioning these two universal rules because I believe it somehow relates each other and crosses each others’ principle. First is, The Golden Rule: Do unto others what you want others do unto you. And second, The Utilitarian Principle: here is where you behave in a way that could result in for the benefit of the greatest number and for the greatest good. The connection among them is like this.Let’s say, some people emphasize t hat industries or companies have no responsibility (social responsibility) other than to augment their firms, enlarge returns, and abstain or desist from appealing in deception and fraud. It just means that the more they seek to maximize returns; they almost more often than not incidentally do what is good for the society. Building on the diffusion of the theory of responsibility and added subject matter- volunteerism, one way or another certainly it squabbles that a sense of responsibility originate transversely the personal and social domains of individuals who volunteer.

Hidden Connections

[pic] EMMANUEL KWAME ANTWI ID: UD16761BBU24478 SEMINAR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT I â€Å"D† THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (ESSAY) ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY HONOLULU, HAWAII DECEMBER 17, 2011 INTRODUCTION The Hidden Connections is a book authored by Fritjof Capra. In this book,  Capra relates today’s dynamic and complex human life styles to the symbiotic lives of  different interrelated and interdependent organisms. Specifically, he is trying to apply the ideology of obscurity assumptions to the close scrutiny of the magnitude of the interactions and correlations of mankind. He states in the book that if we are to maintain a future life, we need to learn to respect the rules of nature, the rules and principles that nature has inevitably adapted to advance and sustain what he calls the web of life. This book  explains and clears just how much the hypothetical thoughts and scientific theories which are much ignored by most of the world that operates outside the margins of science can practically be applied to resolving most of the problems that threaten the existence of this planet. This book brings to light the interrelation and interconnections of science in relation to our  societal and social organizations which most of us are not aware. This can be the reason why he titled the book ‘The Hidden Connections’, it is because most of the world’s population is either unaware f this understanding, or may be just negligent of its reality. According to a presentation by Darian Schiffman (academics, AIU) quoting from Capra (2002 p. vvi), the book basically has two goals, which are; to bring forth a new understanding of life through the presentation of a conceptual framework that integrates life’s biological, cognitive as well as social dimensions; and t o offer a clear systematic approach to some pertaining questions we have that negatively and aversively affect our world. This study purposes to critically analyze the message in this book, to look at every aspect of  human life that it addresses, I believe Capra himself being a physicist of prominence and an award winner in the science department, importantly with enough time, examined and fully dissected the theoretical scientific principles in every possible way and in their applicable nature, that in the end saw the connectivity of these scientific articulations to our own social lives today. At the same time, he saw in the most significant way the effect the things that we do as humans are going to later affect us if we do not change the organizational principles that govern and direct our lives today. The   book also   touches   almost   all   the   significant   aspects   of human   life   and   boldly substantiates just how each of these aspects affects the other if not well maintained. Generally, the book brings the world to understanding the extremes of destruction our current principles have on nature, making future life almost unimaginable. In the same vein, the book proposes the possible amicable measures that we can take to preserve our world, especially world leaders and world environmental organizations. For long the world has being striving towards globalization, this book addresses both the challenges and dangers of such a motive, addressing the complications of biotechnology and its nature. The book simply brings together the scientific world and our own social world, and pragmatically defining these worlds’ relationship and probable dependence. THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (THE BODY) The Nature of Life: Mostly, this would direct a person to the question â€Å"what s life? † a question which will clearly trigger an outburst of mental assumptions some driven by general thought, and some oriented by experience. An encyclopedic thesaurus Word Web, life is defined as being the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities, or  the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living. This may sound quite simple and brief, but Capra looks at it in quite broader perspective, and defines it in even more detailed way, pin-pointing specific aspects that make up the definition of life. Capra explains in some way that no man or organism is total island, in one way or another  every organism depends on other organisms, no wonder I personally a ‘symbiotic’ kind of  relation where one organism of a different specie cannot live without the other, the interdependence of organisms where each organism benefits from the other. The practical of  such relationship is that of plants and animals, animals basically cannot make their own food so they depend on the photosynthetic process of plants, through which plants make food, at the same time releasing oxygen which animals do need forth the process of respiration. Maturana and Varela (1980) quoted by Capra (2002), in their definition of life came up with the concept of ‘autopoiesis’ which factually mean â€Å"self-making†, this concept particularly amalgamates   two defining characteristics or aspects of cellular life which are the physical boundary and the metabolic network; and in contrast to the surfaces of crystals or large molecules, the boundary of an autopoietic system is chemically distinct from the rest of the system and it participates in metabolic processes by assembling itself and by selectively filtering incoming and outgoing molecules. Therefore, the definition of a living system as an autopoietic network means that the phenomenon of life has to be understood as a property of  the system as a whole, just as much as Pier Luigi (2008) mentions that life cannot be attributed to any single molecular component, not even to the DNA or RNA but only to the entire bounded metabolic network. ‘Autopoiesis provides a clear and powerful criterion for distinguishing between living and nonliving systems. For example, it tells us that viruses re not alive, because they lack their  own metabolism. Outside living cells, viruses are inert molecular structures consisting of  proteins and nucleic acids. A virus is essentially a chemical message that needs the metabolism of a living host cell to produce new virus particles, according to the instructions encoded in its DNA or RNA. The new particles are not built within the boundary of the virus itself, but outside in the host cell,’ Capra (2002). So, the autopoiesis th eory strongly supports and founds the Santiago theory in some way. It explains and provides answers to many other  questions that surround the issue life and its natural defining features and traits, it can as well symbiotic relationships, organizations, and social networks of organisms. During the process of respiration, animals release carbon dioxide which plants need for the process of photosynthesis, so plants need animals for the carbon dioxide, and plants animals need plants for the oxygen. We (animals) primarily need each other to survive. God created a world that nourishes, restores, and preserves itself it were not for human activities that have degraded to total ruin, for example, a livestock farmer lets his/her livestock feed on the pasture, as they graze, they drop dung on the pastures which will in the next rain season dissolve to nourish the soil as fertilizer, promoting an even better outgrowth of  pasture, therefore the soil nourishment depends on the livestock, and the nourishment of the livestock depends on the soil. Capra looks at life as not being solely determined by the inherent design but views it as an evolving process that engages a complete epigenetic network or external factors, making it continuously responding to both physical and chemical constrictions we exert on our environment. There is one common character that all living organisms share and this is unquestionable. They all have cells, be it animals, people, plants, or microorganisms such as bacteria, virus or  fungi, all of them have cells that build up to give a structure. Despite transitions and extreme conditions, the genetic blueprint of organisms has so far stayed intact in most cases, some have succumbed to the inevitability of evolution, but some have been the same for thousands of years and the dependence upon another species of organisms have been carried on and on. In his definition of life, Capra (2002:6) uses the bacterial cell to clearly delineate what life is all about, he states that when a cell is viewed under a microscope one can easily notice that inside it a metabolic processes that uses special macromolecules consisting of elongated chains of atoms, and two of such macromolecules are common in all living cells, and these are proteins and the nucleic acid (the Deoxyribonucleic Acid-DNA and the Ribonucleic Acid-RNA). Basically, there are two kinds of proteins as well; the enzymes act catalysts for most metabolic processes, where as the structural proteins form part of the cell structure. The DNA and the RNA within the cell work hand-in-hand determining that crucial bond defining the cell’s genetic and metabolic features. The Santiago Theory: Maturana and Varela (1980:13) in theoretical definition of the Santiago theory say all living systems are cognitive systems, and that living as a process is itself a process of cognition, and the two further cement that ‘this statement is valid for all organisms in spite of whether such organism got a nervous system or not. Initially in the world of philosophy Rene Descartes (1596-1650) emphasized the Cartesian View which promotes dualism as follows which suggests that the body operates like some kind of  machine, having material properties of extension and motion, that it operates within the doctrines of physics; and further articulates that the mind and soul on the other is kind of none-material, making it a unit without extension and motion, and follows not the rules of physics. Descartes stressed that it is only the human beings that have minds, and that the mind acts together with the body at the pineal gland, a tiny pine-like endocrine gland located close to the central part of the brain which produces melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating the patterns of sleeping or waking up as well as other seasonal functions. This understanding generally relates that it is the mind that basically and pragmatically controls the entire, and that at the same time the body can as well manipulate the reasoning of the mind, especially in cases where a person acts out of an emotional intuition. This theory looks at cognition as a component quite indispensable in the issues of systems, it practically implies that almost every activity that takes place or transpires in the system processes require cognition, which Capra stipulates as taking place in phases as follows, ‘Cognition, is not a representation of an independently existing world, but rather a continual bringing forth of a world through the process of living. The interactions of a living system with its environment are cognitive interactions, and the process of living itself is a process of  cognition. In the words of Maturana and Varela, â€Å"to live is to know†. As a living organism goes through its individual pathway of structural changes, each of these changes corresponds to a cognitive act, which means that learning and development are merely two sides of the same coin. The first type, known as â€Å"primary consciousness,† arises when cognitive processes are accompanied by basic perceptual, sensory and emotional experience. Primary consciousness is probably experienced by most mammals and perhaps by some birds and other vertebrates. The second type of consciousness, sometimes called â€Å"higher-order consciousness,† involves self-awareness—a concept of self, held by a thinking and reflecting subject. This experience of self-awareness emerged during the evolution of the great apes, or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"hominids,† together with language, conceptual thought and all the other characteristics that fully unfolded in human consciousness. Because of the critical role of reflection in this higher-order conscious experience, I shall call it â€Å"reflective consciousness. Reflective consciousness involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images, which allows us to formulate values, beliefs, goals and strategies. This evolutionary stage is of central relevance to the main theme of this book—the extension of the new understanding of life to the social domain— because with the evolution of language arose not only the inner world of concepts and ideas, but a lso the social world of organized relationships’ Capra (2002:38-39). According to Capra (2002:34) ‘the central insight of the Santiago Theory is the identification of cognition, the process of knowing, with the process of life. Cognition, according to Maturana and Varela (1980), is the activity involved in the self-generation and self-perpetuation of living networks. In other words, cognition is the very process of life. The organizing activity of living systems, at all levels of life, is mental activity. The interactions of   a   living   organism—plant,   animal   or   human—with   its   environment   are   cognitive interactions. Thus, life and cognition are inseparably connected. Mind—or, more accurately, mental activity—is immanent in matter at all levels of life. ’ This to me sounds more prudent and quite rational in comparison to the other perceptions, in opposition to Rene’s theories the Santiago Theory is more clearer and comprehensible even for low class students, it brings to life the real life situation that we all experience everyday, it makes one see the connection and dependability of organisms upon other organisms, taking into perspective, the biotic and abiotic factors on nature. According to the online encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2010) Descartes believed that this special gland was the ‘seat of the soul’ an understanding he purported with many reasons stated respectively as follows; firstly, he understood that the soul is unitary or one and this to him meant the pineal gland was an entity despite it being proven hemispherical; second to this he discovered that this gland was positioned near the ventricles making him believe the cerebrospinal fluid worked through the nerves to control the body, as well as regulating the processes manipulated by the pineal gland. and finally Descartes despite figuring-out that both human beings and animals had the pineal gland he still resolved that only humans had minds advancing in his mind the idea that animals cannot feel pain or are insensitive to pain. Unfortunately the Cartesian view gets questioned and in the process challenged by the Santiago Theory which takes a totally different stand from the philosophy o f Descartes. The Santiago Theory vehemently recognizes the reality of cognition, normally defined as the ability or the process of knowing, or the activity involved in self-generation and self-perpetuation of living systems, entailing that cognition is actually the life itself, Maturana &Varela (1980). The Santiago theory moves away from Descartes’ view of life and instead studies the mind from a systematic understanding and has so far given to the interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science; and according to Capra (2002:34), this theory holds the ‘Organizing activity of all living systems at all levels of life, is actually mental activity’. Therefore, the old perception of the mind as a ‘thinking thing’ has progressed into a view of  the mind as being a process where the ‘entire structure of the organism participates’ Capra (2002:37). Many other views have so far been brought forth to oppose Descartes view, but the Santiago Theory has so far been the first scientific hypothesis that has really questioned and practically overcame the Cartesian dissection of mind and matter, and from the optimistic point of view, this theory is believed to have far-reaching implications. Generally, this theory has brought the mind and body/matter together viewed as two harmonizing and complementary aspects defining the phenomenon of life. So far, the theory has already brought substantial knowledge and understanding concerning the beginning with a simple micro cell, the mind, the matter, the process and the structure at all levels which have so far proven to be inseparable and interdependent in one way or another, this unites the mind, matter and life. In the Santiago theory (Capra, 2002:34-36) it is clearly stated that as ‘a living organism responds to environmental influences with structural changes, these changes will in turn alter  its future behavior. In other words, a structurally coupled system is a learning system. Continual structural changes in response to the environment—and consequently continuing adaptation, learning and development—are key characteristics of the behavior of all living beings. Because of its structural coupling, we can call the behavior of an animal intelligent, but would not apply that term to the behavior of a rock. As it keeps interacting with its environment, a living organism will undergo a sequence of structural changes, and over time it will form its own individual pathway of structural coupling. At any point on this pathway, the structure of the organism is a record of previous structural changes. The Santiago theory advances the issue of higher order consciousness or ‘reflective consciousness which involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images’ Capra (2002:39). This inevitable capability gives human beings the repertoire to create a value system and act cordially. In the simplest of perception, this theory drives us take a person’s subjective and prejudiced experience into some version which has been conventionally ignored by science. The Santiago specifically states that mind is no thing rather a process operating through the brain relating that brain and mind is actually one between process and structure. It is also of some degree of importance to note that this eradicates the idea that the brain is the only compartment involved in the process of  cognition, clearly illustrating the fact that in all vertebrate organisms the immune system is actually a complicated network of unrelenting interconnectedness, just as much as the nervous system serving similarly the vital co-ordination purpose. According   to   the   Wikipedia   (2010)   on   the   Santiago   theory,   cognition   appears   as   a consequence of continual interaction between the system and its environment, delineating that the   continuous   interactions   between   system   and   the   environment   triggers   two-sided disturbances viewed as problems forcing the system to use its functional specialization routine to find solutions to the perturbations. It is of importance to note in this theory that the system slowly adapts to its environment positioning itself to face-up to the disturbances or  intrusion in order to sustain survival. This therefore means the resulting complexity  complicatedness of living systems is cognition emanating from the bilateral perturbations in the system/environment outline. The theory is really making the scientific world dig deep into these discoveries, eradicating misunderstandings and doubts, setting up the facts straight from experimental experience and observations. Extending the System Approach: Capra, resorts that the systematic understanding of life practically allows the world to see and comprehend the fundamental unity to life, that different living systems exhibit similar patterns of organization, Capra (2002:81),. This understanding can practically be applied to our communities, and the impact will definitely be significant. The defining blueprint of the systems is quite complicated, but can be understood, Capra (2002:81), when we extend this understanding and nowledge, applying it to the social domain we actually apply our ‘knowledge of life’s basic patterns and delineating principles of  organization, and specifically apply our understanding of living networks to social/societal reality’. The living networks in our social communities work just like the brain in its environment; the two diverse situations easily match and model each other. Capra views his extension of the systems approach to the social domain as exp licitly including the material world, which is quite unusual since traditionally social scientists were not interested in the world of matter. He basically mentions that ‘our academic disciplines have been organized in such a way that the natural sciences deal with social structures, which are perceived to be especially the rules of behavior; stating that in the near future this strict division will no longer be possible since the key challenge of this new century for social scientists, natural scientists and everyone else will be to build ecologically sustainable communities, designed in such a way that their technologies and social institutions, their  material and social structure do not interfere with nature’s hereditary ability to sustain life;†¦the design principles of our future social institutions must be consistent with the principles of  organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of life. A unified conceptual framework for the understanding of material and social structures will be essential this task’ Capra (2002:19). The Social Network: In every society or community there must be a distinctive social kind of  network and on the issue of this kind of network Capra states that social networks use communication, which normally takes place in multiple feedback loops, as some measure to reproduce itself and its culture, and thus its value and belief. This actually addresses social reality. Capra mentions that wherever there is social organization there is power courtesy of  the inevitable conflicts of interest, and it is in these situations where ‘power plays a central role in the emergence of social structure’ which happens to provide people with rules or  principles of behavior, Capra (2002:90). Normally the ‘social networks generate material structures buildings, roads, technologies, etc, which become structural components of the network; and they also produce material goods and artifacts that are exchanged between the network’s nodes. However, the production of material structures in social networks is quite different from that in biological and ecological networks. ‘The structures are created for a purpose, according to some design, and they embody some meaning; and to understand the activities of social systems, it is crucial to study them from that perspective†¦perspective of meaning includes a multitude of interrelated characteristics that are essential to understanding social reality. Meaning itself is a systemic phenomenon: it always has to do with context. Webster's Dictionary defines meaning as â€Å"an idea conveyed to the mind that requires or allows of interpretation,† and interpretation as â€Å"conceiving in the light of individual belief, judgment, or circumstance. In other words, we interpret something by putting it into a particular context of concepts, values, beliefs, or circumstances. To understand the meaning of anything we need to relate it to other things in its environment , in its past, or in its future. Nothing is meaningful in itself’ Capra (2002:83-84). According to Wenger (2006), organisms in an environment develop a common practice which characterizes the shared manner of how things are executed and relate to each other, a reality that allows such organisms to attain their unifying course, and in most cases after a while such practice turns to be a significant bond within the participants. This book clearly depicts from its author that when we try to extend this new understanding of life to the social domain, we immediately come up against a bewildering multitude of phenomena, rules of behavior, values, intentions, goals, strategies, designs, power relations that play no role in most of then on-human world but are essential to human social life, however though, these different characteristics of social reality all share a basic common feature that provides a natural link to the systems view of life developed in the other chapters of the book, Capra (2002:73). Normally this is how social networks come into being, and such communities have special aspects in common such as; that impeccable looking common understanding, the general involvement of the community members, the regular round of activities that the members become   accustomed   encompassing   the   accepted   rules   of   behavior,   attitude   and comprehension which are normally sustained in due course, Wenger (2008). It such attributes that end up becoming differentiating principles of a community, despite emanating from the ordinary; they primarily become the identifying traits for a specific community. From the most general of perspectives, the social networks of mankind are defined by minor  and major aspects that maintain and sustain the network, and the connectivity in the entire metaphor, the same critically resembles the systems in the human beings and most other  organisms. In any typical social network there are strict outlines that define and regulate behavior and attitudes a practice that results in the creation of ethics and norms that different societies resort to consider for societal order. Capra states that ‘at all scales of nature, we find living systems nesting within other living systems, networks within   networks. Their  boundaries are not boundaries of separation but boundaries of identity. All living systems communicate with one another and share resources across their boundaries’. This clearly shows the possibility of social networks in another living web of networks interacting just as normal. Organization and Change: In most cases where an effort to bring change has been made and proven to be futile due to feeling and assumption that people resisted the intended change, the general conclusion made is the people resisted is refused to buy into the introduced change, be it for their good and benefit. Capra defiles and contradicts this idea and calls it false, stating that people only resist having change if such change is not negotiable meaning if such change is simply imposed on them, normally societies or communities would appreciate and support change if their input on the idea is sort. It makes them feel part of that change, and part of a social community that operates systematically. When we transfer on the metaphor of  an organization from machine to the living systems we actually begin to view organizations as communities with collective identities that share common values. During an interview by Barbara Vogl (2010) with Capra mentioned in answer to he question concerning self-organization in our individual lives and organizations could be useful in helping us see how to get through the anxiety in our period of transition and passing into the  new paradigm thinking, he replied and said ‘Well I think self-organization and the newer  understanding of life and com plexity, when it is applied to the social realm and human organizations, can help people to find their authenticity as human beings The old paradigm model is a mechanistic model where people are seen as parts of a big machine and the machine is designed by experts who either sit at the top of the organization or are brought in from outside as consultants. Then this design of new structures is imposed upon the people who work in the organization and they are pigeon-holed in certain departments with well-defined boundaries. So the underlying model is that of a machine working very smoothly. What self-organization tells you, among many other things, is that creativity is an inherent property of all living systems. All living systems are creative because they have the ability to reach out and create something new. In the last 20-25 years we have begun to understand the dynamics of this creativity, in terms of emergence of new structures and in terms of  instability, bifurcation points, and the spontaneous emergence of order. This is the underlying dynamics of creativity at all levels of life. When people understand this they will realize that human individuals as well as groups of individuals are inherently creative. So when you have an organization and you want to design a new structure and you bring in outside experts and then impose this structure on the organization you have to spend a lot of energy and money to sell the idea to the employees and the manager. Since human beings are inherently creative they will not accept the idea as it is. Since this will deny their humanity. Therefore, you can give them orders and they will nominally adhere to the orders but they will circumvent the orders; they will re-invent the orders and will modify it, either boycott it or embellish it, adding their own interpretation’. This to me implies the fact that for anything to be of some level of importance and value to the people, the people need to understand it first, have some insight on its implications, put on balance the advantages and the disadvantages, enabling them to be able to define the situation in its true context. Organizations or companies with collective identities do exist in sharp contrast to the ‘economical company, whose priorities are determined by the purely economic criteria Capra (2002:105). In further expatiation of this situation Capra states that ‘organizations cannot be controlled through direct interventions, but can be influenced by giving impulses rather than instructions, Capra (2002:112). In most cases interventions end up causing tension and stampedes in communities, but impulses which are normally conditioning can gradually bring about the desired change. Capra continues to point out that it is the meaningful disturbances that normally trigger structural changes within an organization, instead of force Capra(2002:112). The general deduction is that if you intend to bring about change, it is best that you involve the people as the subject of that change, for such change will directly affect them so they should be consulted about the change before it is applied, so if you involve people in the creation of change, then definitely change will be come. Organization in an economy: Organization plays a major role in shaping the economy of  our social communities and the world at large. The Hidden connections discuses the most probing issues in the world today, starting with politics, sociology, education, ethics, philosophy and design, and the book’s main theme is change in these important aspects of our  lives. In an interview with Ecotecture (2002) addressing the issue of economy, Capra states that he calls for change of values, a change of politics, a change of attitudes, with the general goal of building a sustainable society and the future that is sustainable, and believable for our  children, and further explained as an example that ‘in order to change the economy in such away that it becomes sustainable, one needs to understand the world economy, which today is a network of computers, a network of flows of money and information and power that extends globally. So we need to understand how we can introduce a different set of values into the global economy. ’ He extends that ‘in order to do that, we need to understand the relationship between living networks and values and human choices and politics. So it needs certain kind of philosophy and†¦spiritual stance/background, but it also needs the scientific understanding. ‘He clearly stipulates that in addit ion to being living communities, organizations are as ‘social institutions   designed   for   specific   purposes   and   functioning   in   a   specific   economic environment’ Capra (2002:125). Economic Globalization: Global economics has been under promotion for two decades now, all in effort to encourage standardization in the rules that regulate and control international trading. Globalization literary refers to the process of making something gain global and internal recognition and acceptance, a transformational process of turn simple local or  national rule or principle into an international law, or understanding. It is a process by which people of the world are fused together into a distinct society that share a common understanding and work as an entity; it enjoins the economical, technological, and socio-cultural together with the political authorities of this world, Croucher (2004:10). Upon this Jagdish (2004) substantiates further that globalization is quite often used to imply economic globalization which means the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spreading of technology internationally. In chapter seven of the Hidden Connections Capra (2003) further explained and brought more light on the definition of economic globalization in the following statement during the conference; â€Å"During the past three decades, the information technology revolution has given rise to a new type of capitalism that is profoundly different from the one formed during the Industrial Revolution, or the one that emerged after the Second World War. It is characterized by three fundamental features. Its core economic activities are global; the main sources of productivity and competitiveness are innovation, knowledge generation, and information processing; and it is structured largely around networks of financial flows. This new global capitalism is also referred to as â€Å"the new economy,† or simply as â€Å"globalization. †   In the new economy, capital works in real time, moving rapidly through global financial networks. From these networks it is invested in all kinds of economic activity, and most of what is extracted as profit is channeled back into the meta-network of financial flows. Sophisticated information and communication technologies enable financial capital to move rapidly from one option to another in a relentless global search for investment opportunities. The movements of this electronically operated global casino do not follow any market logic. The markets are continually manipulated and transformed by computer-enacted investment strategies, subjective perceptions of influential analysts, political events in any part of the world, and most significantly by unsuspected turbulences caused by the complex interactions of capital flows in this highly nonlinear system†. However, Capra (2002) further extends that in order for the global economic automatization process called ‘automaton’ to properly work it has to be programmed by human actors and institutions giving rise to the new economy comprising of two crucial components, which are values and operational rules. Capra does not hide the fact that these automated global financial network processions do ‘†¦assign specific financial value to every asset in every economy’, he clears that this is no perfect measure though, because ‘it involves economic calculations based on advanced mathematical models, information and opinions provided by market valuation firms, financial gurus, leading central bankers, and other  influential analysts, as well as unregulated information turbulences’; which mean that ‘the tradable financial of any asset subject to continual adjustments is an emergent property of the automaton’s highly nonlinear dynamics. However, underlying all evaluations is the basic principle of unfettered capitalism: that money-making should always be valued higher than democracy, human rights, environmental protection or any other value†¦ in the process entirely changing the principle’. Basically, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was initiated the mid-1990s to watch over and determine economic globalization; so far politicians and business leaders promised that economic globalization would benefit all the people in all countries worldwide through the process of  free trade, but instead of really sticking by this promise the organization has been responsible for a ‘multitude of interconnected fatal consequences’ Capra (2002:129), that are affecting especially developing countries, that are still in their developing stage in most aspects; which brings me to the next question that Capra addresses in this book, and that is the consequences of economic globalization. Every decision one takes despite the level at which the decision is taken there will always be advantages and disadvantages, benefits and consequences and the process of economic globalization has not been an exclusion from this natural phenomenon, in this case most of  the powerful and controlling nations are benefiting the most, and the some nations are really suffering from the entire operation. According to Capra (2003), ‘The impact of the new economy on human well-being has been mostly negative. It has enriched global elite of  financial speculators, entrepreneurs, and high-tech professionals. At the very top, there has been an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, and global capitalism has also benefited some national economies, especially in Asian countries. But overall its social and environmental consequences have been disastrous. The rise of global capitalism has been accompanied by rising social inequality and polarization, both internationally and within countries. In particular, poverty and social inequality have increased through the process of social exclusion, which is a direct consequence of the new economy’s network structure. As the flows of capital and information interlink worldwide networks, they exclude from these networks all populations and territories that are of no value or interest to their search for financial gain. As a result, certain segments of societies, areas of cities, regions, and even entire countries become economically irrelevant. Thus, a new impoverished segment of humanity has emerged around the world as a direct consequence of globalization. It comprises large areas of the globe, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa and rural areas of Asia and Latin America. But the new geography of social exclusion also includes portions of every country and every city in the world’. Capra (2003) further explains that ‘According to the doctrine of economic globalization known   as   Ã¢â‚¬Å"neo-liberalism,†   the   free-trade   agreements   imposed   by   the   World   Trade Organization (WTO) on its member countries will increase global trade; this will create a global economic expansion; and global economic growth will decrease poverty, because its benefits will eventually â€Å"trickle down† to all. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed. Global capitalism does not alleviate poverty and social exclusion; on the contrary, it exacerbates them. Neo-liberalism has been blind to this effect because corporate economists’ have traditionally excluded the social costs of economic activity from their models. Similarly, most conventional economists have ignored the new economy’s environmental cost — the increase and acceleration of global environmental destruction, which is as severe, if not more so, than its social impact. One of the tenets of neo-liberalism is that poor countries should concentrate on producing a few special goods for export in order to obtain foreign exchange, and should import most other commodities. This emphasis on export has led to the rapid depletion of the natural resources required to produce export crops in country after country — diversion of freshwater from vital rice paddies to prawn farms; a focus on water-intensive crops, such as sugar  cane, that result in dried-up river beds; conversion of good agricultural land into cash-crop plantations; and forced migration of large numbers of farmers from their lands. All over the world   there   are   countless   examples   of   how   economic   globalization   is   worsening environmental   destruction;   and since money-making   is the dominant   value of global capitalism, its representatives seek to eliminate environmental regulations under the guise of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"free trade† wherever they can, lest these regulations interfere with profits. Thus, the new economy causes environmental destruction not only by increasing the impact of  its operations on the world’s ecosystems, but also by eliminating national environmental laws in country after country. In other words, environmental destruction is not only a side effect, but is also an integral part of the design of global capitalism’ Capra (2003). One can clearly see that in scientific perspective the world is not really benefiting from the issue of economic globalization considering the number of consequences the whole program brings and foretells for the future in relation to the benefits, personally I see more disadvantages and more consequences accumulated in the entire operation coming in the name of money making and development. The worst part of this whole motion is that its future impact on the natural vegetation of the world is really unpleasant, trees are being cut out in the name of development, and minerals are being extremely extracted at rate that the replenishment process is by many times left behind, fumes and harmful gases from factories and industries are being emitted in the atmosphere, marine resources have been exploited without the really consideration of the impact such activities may have o the world environment in the near future, or the impact on the biodiversity of lives in different habitats on the planet. So far the principles of ecology are not so difficult to comprehend and follow, Capra (2002) simplifies them as follows; Networks: As we have already seen in this essay the unrelenting networking of organisms, networks within networks. We also saw just how living systems communicate with one another and share resources even beyond the margins of their reach. Cycles: This must be gener al knowledge at this time in life, we generally should accept the reality that all living organisms feed on continual flows of matter and energy within their  environment to sustain life, and acknowledge the reality that all organisms produce waste. It is also of greater to note that the ecosystem itself does not produce any waste because one organism’s waste happens to be the next specie’s food, so in the end nothing really goes to waste, almost everything is useful in one way or another making matter cycle continually through the web of life. Solar energy: We all need sunlight, both plants and people. Sunlight is the common source of  vitamin D for animals, and green plants transform sunlight to chemical energy by the process of photosynthesis, making plants the ultimate source of food for both animals and human beings on the entire planet, running the ecological cycle accordingly. Partnership: It is of greater importance to note that the exchanges of energy nd resources in an ecosystem get sustained through pervasive co-operation, stating the verity that life came by co-operation, partnership and networking. Diversity: Under this aspect Capra mentions that ecosystems achieve stability and resilience through th e richness and complexity their ecological webs, and the greater the biodiversity, the more the resilience and buoyancy. These clearly show just how nature adapts and adjusts to its natural environment or any other factors that triggers reactions of the organisms. Dynamic Balance: Ecosystem is no stationery realms; they are actually flexible and ever  fluctuating, and its flexibility come as consequence of multiple feedback loops that keep the system in the state of dynamic balance. Therefore all ecosystem variables fluctuate around their optimal values. If only we stick by these principles, and do everything in careful consideration of the involved dangers we would really be on the right path by now. So far our ignorance and negligence is slowly making us pay through what we choose to call ‘natural catastrophes’ when in reality these are no more natural calamities but rather man-made, our activities are making our world prone to harm. I really wouldn’t say we do this unknowingly considering the level of both the general, social and scientific knowledge of the world at this moment. Everybody is educated today making it quite easier for any transmission of information. The people in the science departments of the world fully understand the consequences of the activities they invent and institute in the name of science and invention. This is what makes Eco-literacy and eco-design subjects of concern to the future-concerned citizens of this planet, for if we get the people to understand this reality the situation may improve towards a positive and conducive future. The Role of NGOs: Everybody that is an inhabitant of this planet is practically and directly involved in either destroying it or restoring it. In one way or another we all contribute to this paradoxical situation, each one of us fall into one of these categories, and this include the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The encyclopedic online dictionary Wikipedia, 2010) defines NGOs as follows, ‘A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or  legal lessons that operates independently from any government and a term usually used b y governments to refer to entities that have no government   status. In   the   cases   in   which   NGOs   are   funded   totally   or   partially   by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some wider  social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term â€Å"inter-governmental organization†, the term â€Å"non-governmental organization† has no generally agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are called â€Å"civil society organizations† or referred to by other names’. These   organizations   are   operated   separately   from   governments;   they   are   stand-alone organizations that globally strive for the betterment of the ordinary or common people world-wide. There are so far both local/national and international Non-Governmental Organization in the entire world established for a diversity of activities, as they see fit, sometimes according to local, national, international or even global needs; they can either be charitable orientation; service orientation; participatory orientation; or empowering orientation type, and are always non-profit making organizations. These organizations’ primary aim is to help promote and encourage collaborations, relationships or partnerships between NGOs in all countries throughout the world, so that together and as an entity we can more effectively cohort with the United Nations (UN) and each other so that we are able to create a more peaceful, serene, just, equitable and sustainable world for our generation as well as for the upcoming future generations. According to Capra (2002) ‘At the turn of this century, an impressive global coalition of  nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), many of them led by men and women with deep personal roots in the sixties, formed around the core values of human dignity and ecological sustainability. In 1999, hundreds of these grassroots organizations interlinked electronically for several months to prepare for joint protest actions at the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The â€Å"Seattle Coalition,† as it is now called, was extrem ely successful in derailing the WTO meeting and in making its views known to the world. Its concerted actions have permanently changed the political climate around the issue of  economic globalization’†¦ and furthers that ‘At the second of these meetings, the NGOs proposed a whole set of alternative trade policies, including concrete and radical proposals for  restructuring global financial institutions, which would profoundly change the nature of  globalization’. So far ‘the global justice movement exemplifies a new kind of political movement that is typical of our Information Age. Because of their skillful use of the Internet, the NGOs in the coalition are able to network with each other, share information, and mobilize their members with unprecedented speed. As a result, the new global NGOs have emerged as effective political actors who are independent of traditional national or international institutions. They constitute a new kind of global civil society. This new form of alternative global community, sharing core values and making extensive use of electronic networks in addition to frequent human contacts, is one of the most important legacies of the sixties; and if it succeeds in reshaping economic globalization so as to make it compatible with the values of human dignity and ecological sustainability,’†¦during the sixties the most important and enduring legacy of that the world community developed has been the creation and subsequent flourishing of a global alternative culture that shares a set of core values. Although many of  these values e. g. environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, global justice — were shaped by cultural movements in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, their essential core was first expressed by the sixties' counterculture. Therefore, many of today's senior progressive political activists, writers, and community leaders trace the roots of their original inspiration back to the sixties’ Capra (2002). This is basically the much the NGOs strives to do, to restore the world to its naturally vegetative state, to help the poor and the needy, and hope to help those ravaged by natural catastrophes such as flooding, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, famines and many other calamitous situations. Many countries that struggle economically or affected by any kind of difficulties have benefited from these non-governmental organizations in many ways such as in food relief programs, volunteer teachers from a diversity of developed countries, financially sponsorships, and further educational sponsorships, and many other  ways. Bunge (2002:233) mentions that the rational first step at the moment is to wade towards sustainability, and the second step being the one that involves Eco-design where ‘we need to apply our ecological knowledge to the fundamental redesign of our technologies and social institutions’ and as stated in process bridging the separating opening between the two,(technology and social institution). When we all work towards this idea, the idea of improve and caring for our world we would change a great deal of the happenings around the world; which could practically lead to the quick restoration of our planet before we bring it its total destruction. The reality that we are destroying our vegetation which is our natural source of  food and oxygen, we are actually putting ourselves at risk. Plants need us (animals) just as much as we need them, they depend on us the same way we depend on them. Upon this is part played by non-living objects such as water, air, the soil and all o ther abiotic matters that are vital to our sustenance of life. They form part of ecosystem even if they are non-living, they contribute greatly to self-sustaining abilities of our planet and form part of the web of  life in one way or another, without water plants would wilt, and animals would die of thirst, and without air both plants and animals would suffocate, and with no soil there wouldn’t be plants for us to feed on. So this is life in its real form, all contributing factors are vital to the sustainability of life in the future. Conclusion This essay is quite practically applicable in our real life situation; it fully conveys the primary hypothesis of the Capra’s book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. It simplifies the complicate and great amount of information he whole book contains, and most of all it is highly educative and reasonable, compromising of almost every component that matters in life on this planet. In this assignment, I learned the importance of understanding the trend of life as well as the flows of ene rgy within the unrelenting interconnecting chains of life. It is simple; I learned that plants need dead organic materials for food, herbivorous animals feed on those plants, and the carnivorous animals feed on those herbivorous animals and later they all die providing manure back into the soil which plants will suck-up once again to grow, simply explaining the theory of producers and consumers. I also learned in this study that despite the efforts made by Rene Descartes to define life and help the world understand there are some facts which would have helped him define it even better if only he paid more attention to important factors that save as the basis of life. The Hidden Connection is a book if taken seriously and put to action can bring back our world to its initial natural state. The book clearly defines just how we have destroyed our natural world. In the development of weaponry, back in 1945 atomic bombs were created with devastating long lasting effects on the environment, and the vegetation alike including all the living organisms within its reach. Wasn’t this supposed to be a scientific breakthrough in the science of war? But in the end this defined the ultimate weapon with which man will completely destroy the whole world. Technology so far came up with many efficient measures of doing things increasing productivity in the process, many cars and machineries that emit harmful gases into the atmosphere have been heavily produced, huge upon tremendous amounts of fossil fuel gases have been gushed out into the atmosphere sucking out the gases important to the maintenance of the ultra-violet ray protective ozone layer and this has resulted in extreme temperature in our world today. Technology once again increased productivity in the agricultural sector so as to sustain the world’s ever growing population, and so they introduced genetically modified products that also have effects on the animals that feed on them including human beings, thus breaking the natural rules of replenishment. This was meant to be a scientific break-through as well but later backfired. Fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and many other  chemicals meant to advance humanity and help prevent the world from starvation have turned out to fatal substances, whereby when washed down the streams during rain and flood seasons they affect the water upon which most wild organisms and animals depend for water, the animals drink such water and get affected, some die from the effects, while some develop resistance to the effects but continue to carry the resulting illness of which people will kill for meat, and eat the infected meat which will clearly cause negative consequences. If we want to save the world for our children, we really have to act now before it gets too late. Preventing our world from getting destroyed by our activities is a better alternative than trying to salvage the remaining patches after destroying. This is why Capra suggested the ecological alternative, repairing the world by us can be difficult, but the good thing is that our world has natural abilit ies to restore itself if given a chance of restoration. At this moment in time, there are millions of totally extinct species that once existed and defined the beauty of our world. We can still save and manage to replenish the remaining species if taken into serious consideration the suggestions made by Capra in his book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. Bibliography 1. Barbara Vogl, (2010). PATTERNS- Interview with Fritjof Capra. http://www. haven. net/patterns/capra. html (Accessed on 11/14/2011) 2. Bhagwati, Jagdish (2004). In defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University PressCC 3. Capra, Fritjof (2002b). Where Have All the Followers Gone? Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the Sixties, December 1, 2002. Mindwalk, http://www. terehesshu/english/capra2. html (Accessed on 11/13/2011) 4. Capra, Fritjof, (2002). 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