Conformity in Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Mindless and Obeying Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 features a fictional and futuristic firefighter named Guy Montag. As a firefighter, Montag does not put out fires. Instead, he starts them in order to burn books and, basically, knowledge to the human race. He does not have any second thoughts about his responsibility until he meets seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan. She reveals many wonders of the world to Montag and causes him to rethink what he is doing in burning books. After his talks with her, the society’s obedience to the law that bans knowledge, thinking, and creativity also increasingly distresses him. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows conformity in the futuristic America through schooling, leisure, and fright. The children in the society are never actually taught during school hours. Captain Beatty, another firefighter, tells Montag that the schools † Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of â€Å"facts† they feel stuffed, but absolutely â€Å"brilliant† with information† (61). The â€Å"teachers† (actually film) stuff the students with â€Å"knowledge†, making them feel smart, but they are never taught to question any of the information or form their own opinion on matters. Clarisse says, â€Å"Do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don’t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher† (29). In being taught not to question anything, including the law, education supports conformity. In a similar way, entertainment encourages obedience as well. In the culture that Montag lives in, it is expected in everyone to participate in the civilization’s entertainment sources: mindless television, the â€Å"shell†, and violent games. Television (a.k.a. parlor walls) are made up of a flat screen on a wall; sometimes it fills all of the walls instead of just one, and is made up of fast-moving, mindless flashing images of people known as the â€Å"family†. Every second they are on, they are screaming nonsense. Faber, Montag’s mentor, says, â€Å"The televisor is â€Å"real†. It is immediate, it as dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right, it seems to be right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest† (109).The residents  are provided with too much â€Å"excitement† at one time and do not have enough time or space in their minds to think. The walls are addicting. Therefore, more people take more time to sit down and watch the â€Å"family† rather than focusing on developing their own creativity and thinking. Whenever citizens are off the parlor walls, they listen to the â€Å"shell† which is based on the same concept of the parlor walls: to limit thoughts. The only difference between the two is that the shell is far more compact. Otherwise, the two are similar. In limiting access to time for feelings, television and the â€Å"shell† promotes conformity to the law. Games in the society work in a comparable way as the parlor walls and the â€Å"shell†. They show aggression and gore in every single one of them; whether or not it is a real life game or a video game. Seeing so much violence numbs their minds to all of the happenings around them. Clarisse mentions, â€Å"I’m afraid of children my own age. They kill each other. Did it always used to be that way? My uncle says no. Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks† (30). Even if mass genocide were happening around them, they would brush it away like shooing away fly. Being apathetic, they would not question anything happening around them, which encourages conformity to the government. Reinforcing entertainment and education, fear produces a foolproof obedience in the society. Even though most citizens are brainwashed by their schooling and leisure, some, like Montag, Faber, and Clarisse still rebel against the law. Therefore, the government creates severe punishments to be dealt out to generate fear in the rebels so that rebellions would not be staged. One of these punishments is to burn down the rebel’s house and put the resident in a crazy asylum. Another, the one Montag fears most, is the mechanical hound. It is made to force support from the citizens using the fear that the mechanical hound produces. Conformity is depicted in Fahrenheit 451 through tutelage, entertainment, and terror. The people should have access to knowledge and should think with their own minds. The book shows that having creativity and opinions, like Clarisse, is better than just being, quite literally, a robot. Fahrenheit  451 shows the citizens in the fictional society being controlled by foolish teachings, mind-jumbling amusement, and forced fear. Being mindless and obeying is not a choice. Everybody has to have a viewpoint of his or her own in life.

Mount Everest Disaster: The PRINCE2 Perspective

our site – FREE ESSAYS – DISSERTATION EXAMPLES Introduction The Mount Everest Disaster of 1996was one of the greatest expedition failures in the history of climbing. Young, Hailey, and Neame (2010) focused on the leadership failures of the expedition, and found that a situational analysis should have been carried out. However, there were multiple errors in planning and strategy that led to the death of eight people that could have been avoided. Sullivan (2007) approaches the failures from the risk-assessment perspective, stating that judgements were not made based on the basis of risk assessment, and there were no calculations performed before the dangerous expedition started. The below review of the disaster will highlight additional issues: lack of flexibility, performance and quality monitoring, and the inability to focus on the objectives of the project. The author of the current review will argue that using PRINCE2 project management approaches would have improved the feasibility of the project, allowing the team to succeed, eliminate o r minimise risks, and remain focused on the desired outcomes. 2. Situational Analysis According to Young et al. (2010: 1), â€Å"climbing teams pre-determine turnaround times to signal descent or abandon summit efforts†. However, these turnaround times were estimates, and did not take into consideration weather conditions, the training level of climbers, etc. There were no calculations made regarding to major risks, such as performance reduction due to the lower oxygen level at high altitudes, dehydration, lack of sleep, and – most importantly – reduced decision-making abilities of leaders (Young et al., 2010). Further risks were not assessed, such as the surprise snowstorm that occurred between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. There were other risk factors that could have been addressed before the trip, such as the problems with radio communication. For example, the leaders assumed that two people were dead, and abandoned them, however, they were alive. By the time they returned to rescue them, they could not be saved. Leadership errors are also noted by Sullivan (2007), who concludes that the two leading guides were unable to make decisions about turning back without Fisher, with whom they could not communicate with. If they took the clients back to camp on time, noting that the turnaround time has passed, they could have saved their lives. 3. Why and How the Expedition Failed According to Sullivan (2007), several people believe that the severe weather conditions caused the death of mountaineers on the Everest in 1996. He, however, notes that â€Å"the weather was a risk that should have been considered more carefully by both leaders† (Sullivan 2007: 38). Based on that statement, it is clear that no risk assessment was completed, and no real-time situation monitoring was implemented. The other reason why the project failed is the lack of clear role definition in the leadership team. There was already a rivalry between Hall and Fischer (Sullivan 2007), and it was not clear who was responsible for supervising the Sherpas, waiting for clients, providing medical emergency services, or even tying the ropes. This confusion about ropes resulted in a lack of action and delay. Delay – in a mountaineering world – means more oxygen used, and less time to turn around. Therefore, the lack of planning and clear roles was also responsible for the disaster. As Sullivan (2007: 42) puts it: â€Å"commercial high-altitude mountaineering must be recognized as an activity of risk, not one of risk-taking†. Analysing the bad decisions made by Hall and Fischer, Roberto (2002) introduces the idea of the â€Å"sunk cost effect†. He provides a clear definition for this effect as: â€Å"the tendency for people to escalate commitment to a course of action in which they have made substantial prior investments of time, money, or other resources†. This, translated to the world of climbers and commercial mountaineers means that they carry on, despite they know they are failing at the task, in other words: they are overcommitted, and make irrational decisions. This was the reason why they did not turn the climbers around, and let them carry on against the odds. Even though they had a â€Å"two o’ clock rule†, as a latest turnaround time, they did not communicate this clearly with the team. 4. How PRINCE2 Could Have Improved Project Management4.1. Process FundamentalsThere were several failures regarding the project fundamentals. In PRINCE2, these are described as starting up a project, directing a project, initiating the project, controlling stage, managing product delivery, managing stage boundaries, and closing a project. Each of these fundamentals can be applied to a project of climbing the Everest. In the starting up phase, the leaders should have clearly identified the objective of the project: completing the climb and getting all climbers back to the base safely. In the directing phase, they should have ensured that all infrastructure and resources were available, in good working condition, and accessible. In the project initiation stage, the leaders should have communicated the rules and objectives clearly with the climber and the Sherpas. They should have created a common understanding of the project (CIPFA 2012). The main failures, however, occurred on the co ntrolling and product delivery stages. Resource commitments were not agreed, and this meant that some climbers had to attempt reaching the camp without enough oxygen. There was simply no project manager who could have controlled the activities and created a stage plan. If there were controlling stages introduced, for example times when teams would communicate and provide updates, it would have been noticed on time that there were serious problems that needed solving. In the controlling stage, tolerances are also agreed (Murray 2010). If PRINCE2 was applied to the project, the different participants could have agreed on the acceptable deviance from the turnaround time, and many of the problems and communication errors could have been prevented. Similarly, if the framework was used in the development of the project, the product (expedition quality and safety) delivery would have been more controlled and better managed in the Managing Product Delivery stage. Finally, it is important to note that in the Managing Stage Boundaries stage. According to CIPFA (2012), this is the stage where â€Å"at each stage end, the continuing viability of the project should be confirmed†. If stage boundaries were created by the leaders, â€Å"reality checks† could have been completed, and it would have been clear that there was no chance to get all the participants safely home without oxygen. Based on benchmarking and evaluation, the project could have been abandoned (turning back), or redirected, modified. In the closing stage, the leaders should have identified lessons learned. More importantly, however, they should have learned from experience before starting the project, as they had many expeditions behind them, already. Reflecting on past and potential problems could have improved the overall project’s outcome and design.4.2. Theme FundamentalsBased on the theme fundamentals of PRINCE2, it is clear that the weakest aspect of proj ect design was risk. Managing uncertainties, such as weather, the physical condition of participants, communication systems’ reliability could have helped avoid risks that led to the death of climbers. There was no clear understanding and consensus on quality attributes the project wanted to achieve, and the plans were clearly not matched to the needs of participants (Plans Theme Fundamental). It is also necessary to highlight the fact that there was no clearly defined plan on dealing with changes, such as weather conditions, lateness. All the conditions, such as slow pace, not meeting deadlines had a negative impact on the project’s baseline aspects (CIPFA 2012). Continuous assessment of the viability of plans should have been carried out, such as performance monitoring, and the escalation of intervention plans if the project does not go according to plans. This control is in place to help the project manager determine whether or not the project should go on or be aba ndoned.4.3. Further ConsiderationsAs the TSO (2009a) guidance states, the key features of PRINCE2 for project managers are the clear definition of roles, authorities, and processes. If this framework was applied to the Everest expedition, all participants would have known what was expected from them in order to help achieve the acceptable quality product (outcome) (TSO 2009b). Marsh (1996) further explains the benefits of PRINCE2 for complicated projects: according to the summary provided by the authors, this system allows the clear definition of the requirements related to the organization itself, users, project managers, the operation team, and other stakeholders. If Hall and Fischer determined what was the desired outcome of the expedition, and identified processes that were needed to achieve them, assigning each individual with tasks, an advanced business system could have been developed. They could have agreed on set time-scales and project boundaries.4.4. Application of PRINCE2 PrinciplesThe Oracle (2011) White Paper further explains the main principles of PRINCE2, and they can all be applied to the case examined in this study. The first principle is continued business justification. This relates to regular reviews of the progress of the project, and decisions made whether or not it meets the needs of the organization. If this principle was applied in the Everest expedition of 1996, it would have been found that – because of the lack of oxygen, severe weather, and lack of adherence to timescales – carrying on with the trip was not serving the interest of the stakeholders, and would not result in the outcomes planned by the team. Learning from experience is another principle that would have helped the leaders prevent risks. It is evident from Sullivan’s (2007) account that the two experienced leaders have experienced problems previously. If these problems and potential risks of their recurrence were assessed before the expedition, plans could have been made to address the issues. For example, both Hall and Fischer have taken inexperienced climbers on the same route, and knew that the lack of planning would result in groups breaking up. Hall did know about the lack of reliable radio communication, and decided not to address the issue. There were no managed roles and responsibilities; another principle of PRINCE2. Sullivan (2007) writes that one of the guides, Anatoli Bourkeev did not act as a guide at all. He was hours ahead of clients. This clearly shows that responsibilities and roles were defined, he would have stayed with the clients and carried supplementary oxygen. Managing by stages was also not applied, as the leaders and guides were too focused on delivering the service clients paid for (Roberto, 2002). Even though another principle of the system is â€Å"Focus on Products†, it refers to fulfilling the product descriptions: in this case the product’s description would have been safe delivery of expedition, preserving the health and safety of participants, leaders, and Sherpas. However, several members fell ill, including Hall who had a previously developed chronic condition, and many people had to be rescued. Managing by exceptions was another principle that – followed – would have made the expedition safer and more successful. No alerts were made when problems occurred. As Roberto (2002: 145) writes: â€Å"The guides as well felt uncomfortable speaking up. Neil Beidleman, a guide on the Mountain Madness expedition, has indicated that he had serious reservations about people climbing well past midday. However, he did not feel comfortable telling Fischer and other team members that they should turn around†. In PRINCE2, risk registers are created (London South Bank University 2016), and they are accessed and updated by all participants. If this procedure was followed, the identified risk could have been dealt with appropriately: by management, rejection, elimination, or minimisation. Finally, PRINCE2 could have been tailored to the project environment, taking into consideration the challenges, the training level and health of participants, and the resources available. 5. Lessons Learned for Project Managers Several lessons can be learned from the Everest disaster of 1999. The main cause of the failure of leaders to keep participants, leaders, and Sherpas safe was the lack of clear quality measures, roles, and risk assessment. The project was not managed and monitored by stages, and communication was poor. The project owners did not ensure that all the resources needed for delivering a quality product (outcome) were in place (initiating a project). Based on the above assessment, it is clear that applying PRINCE2 principles, themes, and processes would have created better outcomes for the Everest expedition project. Bibliography CIPFA. 2012. PRINCE2 Quick Reference Guide. Ferguson, C. 2011. PRINCE2 for Small-scale Projects. Novare Consulting. London South Bank University. 2016. PRINCE2 Presentations and Lectures. Marsh, D., 1996. Project management and PRINCE. Health Informatics, 2(1), pp.21-27. Murray, A. 2010. White-paper: PRINCE2 AND Governance. Outperform. Document Number: 1042-01-01 Version Number: 1v0 Oracle. 2011. PeopleSoft Projects (ESA) Support for PRINCE2. An Oracle White Paper June 2011 Roberto, M.A., 2002. Lessons from Everest: The interaction of cognitive bias, psychological safety, and system complexity. California Management Review, 45(1), pp.136-158. Sullivan, P., Failure of Risk Management in the 1996 Everest Disaster. Discoveries. TSO. 2009a. Managing and Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2. The Stationary Office. TSO. 2009b. The Executive Guide to Directing Projects: within a PRINCE2â„ ¢ and MSP ® Environment, TSO 2009 Young, S., Healey, K. and Neame, V., The Everest Disaster.

The Associations Anxiety

The Associations between Anxiety and Psychological and Biological Factors Many people believe that anxiety exists in the occasions that give you a lot of stress. Presence of anxiety is mainly due to the environmental elements. In my opinion, anxiety is a result of imbalance of internal states of human being rather that purely caused by environmental factors. The external environment only triggers the disequilibrium of mental status but not all the person will experience anxiety under a same stressful situation. But first, we must understand what anxiety is and how it is formed.In this report, some case studies in General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) help to illustrate my point. First of all, anxiety is a combination of different emotions like nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. It is different from stress. Stress is only an unpleasant state in our body and leads to some biological arousal such as increase in heart beat rate and breathing rate. Stress can be caused by several kin d of emotion like nervous, embarrass or fear which is usually caused by external stimulus. Stress will disappear without the presence of the stimulus. However, for anxiety, formation of tress is more than environmental irritation.Under the same situation, some people will feel anxious but some may not. Different person have different level of stress and anxiety towards same stimulus. Thus, there must be something other than external causes in appearance on anxiety. It may be more related to the cognition of the person which is how the person Judge and value an object or issue as different people have various perceptions and determinations. In understanding which type of person with certain kind of Judgment tends to experience anxiety rather than Just tress, psychological factor including ego and personality can give an explanation to this phenomenon.Other than psychological aspect, some biological factors also lead to creation of anxiety in GAD patients. First of all, anxiety tends to associate with ego. A person with a weaker ego tends to experience stronger anxiety in high frequency. It can be explained by the model proposed by Sigmund Freud. Ego is to please the id which is referred to humans basic instincts, sex and aggressive, and at the same time it also mediate id with superego which is the moral of human beings. Ego helps maintain a healthy and stable psychological state and solve the internal conflicts between id and superego.When the internal conflicts cannot be solved, anxiety will appears which is an unhealthy emotions affecting people's behaviors. There are several factors leading to a weak ego but the main concern is the childhood development of the person which is further illustrated by a Neo-Freudian psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan. In Sullivan findings, person with unhealthy growth in childhood block one in building a healthy ego and hence affecting the developing healthy personality. People have unpleasant experience in childhood may result in stronger id or weaker superego.So, ego is not able to balance them and affect the development of healthy personality. Their behaviors may deviate from social norms which make them feel anxious when receiving negative consequences. Also, when people receive condition parental love, they tend to have weaker ego and lower self-esteem. Since their parents only express their cares to the children when they have good performance, they cannot accept their faults and always attribute the reason of failure towards homeless. Once they cannot fulfill their expectations or goals, they will suspect their own abilities and afraid of being blame by others.They overlook the environmental factors and overestimate personal factors. Ego is being destroyed as the central value has been doubted or even denied. This can explain the reason of people having weak ego and unhealthy personality tends to experience intense anxiety in higher frequency and thus proving the association between ego and anxiety . In a recent research done by Assai and her group mates (201 1), it reveals the relation between psychological and behavioral control and self-reported GAD symptoms. It is found that children's behaviors are greatly influenced by parents.Conditional love is actually a kind of parental control that love will be given only following parents' instruction. Under this circumstances, children do not receive chance to develop ego and understand who they are and what they really want to do. They over-rely on their family and thus cannot bearing risk. When they step out into school or society, they have to deal with different challenges individually. Therefore, heir ability to handle problems will be lower and thus experience higher stress level. Some of them may even anxious about things do not have to worry.It shows that excessive parental control which is an unhealthy childhood development leads to the symptoms of over-reaction toward a minor issue. Even though the object or event is sti ll ambiguous and not imposing direct danger to the person, (s)he is daddy interpret it as a threat and (s)he cannot adore anymore. Anxiety arouses and interfere the normal behaviors. In the studies carried by Boston Children's Hospital, children with GAD will anxious in true events, past behaviors, social acceptance, family matters, personal abilities and perceived personal.It has no â€Å"on-off' switch for the worries and they tend to get extreme perceptions. For normal children, they will still have these worries but it usually appears in the present of certain stimulus or occasions which trigger your thought. Stress on them is specified on targeted issue and will disappear after all. However, children with GAD are not easy to relax and concentrate since the stimulus for their worries refer to lower self-esteem and weaker ego which permanently exists before any changing to improve it. In the world, most of people have healthy and happy childhood period.Nevertheless, some of them still get anxious frequently. The appearance of anxiety seems not only associated with ego. In biological field, scientist studied the heredity of which characteristics, both superior and inferior, can be carried down to next generation. Personality can also be inherited by parents. People with type A personality is ambitious, rigidly, sensitive, impatient. They cannot easily accept failure. A little setback will trigger their nervousness and take precautions in order to turn the thing back to correct track. In there words, they have low adaptability and over-react to changes.They will have relatively higher stress level than normal person. Type A personality can be genetically inhered by last generation but also be shaped by environment. People staying at the high tension state over a long period of time, they will more likely feel anxious. For example, people work in the company which required high accuracy and stable performance with long working hours. They will experience extr emely high level of stress for long time. They afraid of the consequences of making a mistake and thus need to double check and make sure everything is competed and correct before submitting to boss.Those people may have chance to become perfectionism which they will force themselves act perfectly at any moment. They may be rigid that they cannot handle problem in a more flexible way. They will be impatient and try to finish all the cases as fast as they can. They are not able to relax and anxious of something that does not need to worry about at that time. Moreover, the deficiency of brain may also leads to anxiety. Some of GAD patients are diagnosed that part of the brain component or levels of neurotransmitters are abnormal. In psychological studies, neurotransmitters are important in regulating humans behaviors and mental health.Especially for GAB, serotonin and endorphins, they are relatively significant in maintaining emotions. GAB is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which contr ibutes to canceling the effects of the excitatory SSP. Decrease in level of GAB leads to anxiety as the person will always has high activity level in brain transmission and keep him at a relatively high tension state. Serotonin involves in regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating and aggression. Abnormal amount of serotonin leads to difficulty in getting sufficient rest and become aggressive. Endorphins help to relief pain and some pleasurable emotions.Lacking of endorphins make the person hard to neither enter into positive emotions nor eliminate the negative moods. The person will become irritable and sensitive and thus not able to relax. A GAD patient, James, whose brain was not functioning well and having imbalance level of various neurotransmitters, turned him into an anxious person. He was easily distracted by minor thing and often nervous. He could not sleep well and complained of headache. It serious disturbed his cognition and he could not have clear mind to make Judgmen t. He might than always has bad performance which brings him stress again.Other than neurotransmitter, defective in brain also cause the instability of emotion. Other than abnormal level of neurotransmitters, James also suffered from malfunction of temporal lobe located in cerebrum which processes and coordinates stimuli received for learning, thinking, remembering and conscious awareness. Temporal lobe is responsible in process of various sounds and sights stimuli and managing the long term memory storage. As a result, he had difficulties in memorizing instructions and recognizing the work. He always forgot simple procedures.By comparing to normal person that can finish targets, James tends to have weak self-esteem and thus give a lot of pressure and blame himself of the failure. Besides, malfunction of some emotion centers such as magical also lead to GAD. Researchers have found that some GAD patients have larger volume of magical. Magical plays a central role in the fear response and aggression. Also, it promotes the fight or flight response which they person will either attack or escape hen facing dangerous. The enlarged magical is easier be triggered to alter people and hence creating fear and aggression.It can explain why the patient will feel anxious to stimuli which do not carry any threat. Brain activity is influenced by the magical so that they always get nervous. Therefore, existence of anxiety is affected by the brain structures. All people experience stress but people with psychological or biological problems tends to develop anxiety over same level of pressure. People act differently towards under the same environment the aforementioned evidence and studies suggest a utter way to understand anxiety that psychological and biological factors may have greater association with anxiety.

Bible

There are many accounts in the Bible that state God as the creator. Genesis 1 and 2 are both creation stories but slightly differ in their accounts; Genesis 1 is a day by day account of all the things God created in not so much detail whereas Genesis 2 explains the creation story in a way that focuses more on the creation of man and woman than just the lands. Having two accounts of the creation story means that it is easier to come up with your own conclusion as to how the earth was created. The first line of Genesis 1 is â€Å"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth† There is no explanation as to where God came from or why He is there, He just exists and creates the heavens and the earth. This alone is showing God as the creator. Genesis then carries on to state all the things God created all with no scientific or physical proof or evidence as to why and how God is doing so. â€Å"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them† This quote is from line 27 and is on the 6th day. The repetition of the word ‘created’ is enforcing to the reader that God is the creator of everything and this is done so that there is no doubt in the readers mind whether God is the creator or not. God creating man and woman in his own image is showing that we are superior to other beings such as animals which shows that God is the humans superior. Being made in Gods image is his way of blessing the humans in life as we are made in the ‘Creators’ image. â€Å"Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote is saying that God is passing down his ‘ruler ship’ on to the humans. This means that God is starting to ‘back away’ from his previous role and now feels that he has created a world that the inhabitants (humans) can look after. Genesis two is another creation story but has a few differences to Genesis 1. While Genesis 1 speaks a lot more of the specifics of how and when each part of the earth was made, Genesis 2 speaks a whole lot more about the creation of humans rather than the land. The most time that the creation of land is mentioned is at the beginning of Genesis 2. â€Å"This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-â€Å" This is the first thing said in Genesis 2 and it is stating that God is the creator. It says that God created both the heavens and the earth; there is never any question or vagueness about God creating the heavens and the earth it is all very matter of fact. Although Genesis 2 doesn’t always speak of God ‘creating’ things it often personifies God in such a way that he is planting or making objects. â€Å"And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-â€Å" This quote doesn’t say that God created the trees but made them grow from the ground, this is essentially saying that He created them as it was the first sighting of trees but is said in a different way as so not to force the ‘creation’ down your throat like Genesis 1 does. This is so that you can come to your own conclusion about which one is more plausible or correct but there is still no doubt as to god being the creator. Job 38 from the Book of Job is a story of how Satan and God have a disagreement where Satan was saying that Job only worships God because he is prosperous in his life, God then agrees to take away all his possessions and leave him with nothing to show Satan that Job would still worship him even if he was left with nothing. Job’s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar try to comfort Job but they end up doing the opposite and tell Job that the reason for all his losses is because he has sinned and now God is making him suffer. In the end Job has had enough and questions God, this makes God angry and then Job has a better understanding and realises that he should have trusted God all along. God then returns all of Jobs health and possession in better amounts than they previously were. This story is God showing his power and his superiority to humans. â€Å"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? † This is God saying that he is mightier than any human and they do not compare to His power. This is also showing that God is omnipotent and that we know nothing compared to him. This is all enforcing that God is the creator and better than all the humans. â€Å"Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn it’s place,† This is saying that God has dominance over everything in the world, humans and nature. After Gods account of all his majestic works (such as the world and humans) and power, Job has to acknowledge God’s right as creator to do as he pleases and to not be questioned. Job is essentially the personification of all humans who do not believe god as the creator, Job doubted God and his ability so god became angry; this is supposedly what happens every time someone doubts God. Psalm 8 is a song about the lord God and his creation. â€Å"You have set your glory above the heavens† While this quote form the first verse isn’t directly linked to God being the creator it is saying that God has stated his glory in a way that so far in this psalm we do not know yet, we know that God has glory which could mean he has done something great. â€Å"When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers† Now we start to work out what it is that causes God to have glory, â€Å"the work of your fingers† we are literally told that God has made the heavens with his ‘fingers’. This personification of God shows that people saw him as one of them but also appreciated his greater power, this could possibly relate to humans being made in God’s image. â€Å"you made him a little lower than the heavenly beings† This quote is, like Job 38, stating God’s dominance over the humans. God made humans a little lower than heavenly beings so that they knew their place and that they were lesser than himself ‘the creator’.

Teaching about Religions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Teaching about Religions - Essay Example The course ids fit for high school students who need to gain familiarity with different ideologies and belief systems exhibited by different religions. Introducing the course at the high school level will produce students with open minds and who exhibit tolerance for the religious beliefs of other people. In order to successfully implement this project, there is a need for all stakeholders involved to approve the introduction of the course. This memo describes both the primary and the secondary audience, which comprises of different levels of stakeholders. The primary audience includes the board of the school, parents, teachers, and the students. The school board is the key decision maker in a high school setting. There is a need for the board to understand the potential outcomes of introducing a course that teaches students about the different religions and countries. The board comprises of people with professional experience and expertise, who have the vision of ensuring that the school registers a positive impact on the society. Evidently, introducing this new course serves to register an immensely positive impact. Moreover, the school board should consider the relevance of the course and determine whether the school has the required resources by offering the course. It is critical to consult staff and parents because of their position in the school’s decision-making process. The staff’s opinion is critical because they will actively participate in the delivery of the course content to the students. Parents need to be aware of what their children learn in school and should form part of the student milestones in the education system (Lester, 2011). Students from the ultimate stakeholders because they stand to benefit from the course. Therefore, it is significant to consider their opinion on the potential benefits of the course to their individual and social lives.

Investment Bubble Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment Bubble - Personal Statement Example Virtually, a spiral sets in with more investment coming through causing more escalation in price of the said asset. Within few months price soars beyond imagination of all and the level of rationality. Even at this level, buying keeps supporting the price. Those who were not the part of this boom feel like having missed the bus and decide to plunge into it with all available resources. Soon, price reaches to a level, which cannot be justified by any of the known established investment theories even after discounting all future cash flow streams in a most optimistic scenario. Such a level of price cannot be sustained for a long period of time and discerning speculators start unloading at the peak of the heat. Price starts falling quickly and gullible retail investors who are in thousands cannot fathom that ‘bubble has burst indeed’ and hold on to their investment causing them insurmountable loss in the asset wiping their most of the capital. It will be worth exploring and to live some of the investment bubbles in a different class of assets across the world before identifying the key issues involved with an investment bubble versus a long term investment. Japanese Stock Market Bubble It will be interesting to track the movement of Nikkei 225 between the period of 1983 and 1991to understand how did the stock market burst eventually. The index which was hovering Source:http://www.chartsrus.com/chart.php?image=http://www.sharelynx.com/chartstemp/free/chartind1CRU.php?ticker=^N225 around 8,300 in 1983 peaked to more than 38,000 in December 1989. The boom period continued for almost 6 years giving a stupendous rise to the stock price. For many, it was a great period of investment giving them return of 500% or more. However, the bubble burst after that and index came down crashing to nearly half at 19,000 within a year. It plunged further down to 14,000 by third quarter of 1993. The most tragic part is that the exactly after 20 years Nikkei touched the sa me level of 8,300 that is where it started off in 1983. It was a complete reversal and complete washout of investment. (Japan Nikkei 225 2011) Investment Bubble versus Long Term Investment Above incident raises several issues worth contemplating. A common understanding among investors is that the investment always rises with time and with the expansion of economy, but here a totally different phenomenon has surfaced. Anyone who invested in Japanese stock market in 1983 and stayed with the investment until 2003 virtually had no return on his or her investment though it may be termed as a long term investment without resorting to any speculative activity. Investor is back to square one. This certainly defies the theory that a long term investment always pays. Japan has certainly progressed between 1983 and 2003 that is evident from the GDP figures. In 1983, Japan’s GDP was $10,987.22 (Japan GDP - per Capita 2011) in terms of purchasing power parity point of view which grew to $ 33,884.84 in the same terms. It is true that the bubble has burst but how to justify the same valuation even after 20 years. This indicates that the rise and fall of the investment is not always linked to the time and economic expansion in general. It is a quantum of the money chasing targeted asset plays a pivotal role in the appreciation of an asset. Bubble in Precious Metal In another class of asset namely Gold, the situation is again not much different. During economic or

MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MARKETING - Essay Example Conformity may engender a force that in itself threatens to destroy the essence of competition. For competition requires the creation of differential advantage. But competing institutions have a tendency to become alike and to imitate each other, and thereby eradicate the differences that comprise the essence of competition The main opportunities are reduced prices and increased international operations, improved service quality and low barriers to trade. Thus, the main threat is negative publicity and critique of fast food industry and obesity problems caused by restaurants like MacDonald’s (Macdonald’s Home Page 2009). Modern technology is the necessary and sufficient condition for the creation of mass culture. Our society with its mass culture emphasizes higher standards of living and expanding expectations. But this massification has been assailed. Ours has been termed the homogenized, Philistine society. The mass media, television, movies, newspapers, and magazines, which are among the tools of market communication, have been proclaimed the purveyors of a mass culture that has a relatively low common denominator. The tendency to conformity is tempered by dynamism and change. Marketing analysts should be well aware of the significance of sociological factors; they have been described as socio-graphics. Predictions of them give indications of the dimensions of future markets. 2. VALS typology is an interesting and useful tool to analyze customer-based strategies and evaluate their strengths and drawbacks. Thus, this typology is not accurate and objective as it describes only eight types of buyers and market segments. Buyer behavior is more complex that it is described by VALS typology. Economists and marketing people seem to have differing perspectives on the value of life-style concepts and findings. In most economic studies (although these are exceptions), the life style of a