Descartes theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descartes theory - Essay Example The essential property of a mind is that it thinks; the essential property of body is that it is "extended." Each thought is a modification of mind; each physical object, a modification of matter. Since mind is different from body (otherwise, they would not be two distinct substances), its essential characteristics must be different from those of body. This means that minds cannot take up space or be extended. If they were, they would be forms of body. Body, in contrast to mind, is that which is extended. Every form in which a material object can exist can be defined or described in forms of its extensional features-size, shape, position, movement. 2. Explain how Descartes' method of doubt was supposed to insure certain knowledge. What is the special role of innate ideas in Descartes' theory of knowledge Which ideas did Descartes considered to be innate How are innate ideas different from other types of ideas Descartes' method of doubt says that he wishes to examine those things which he thinks to be true and set aside all those beliefs of which there might be some doubt.

Racism in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Racism in America - Essay Example Therefore, racism respites on a pedestal of discrepancy worth of human beings and the authenticity of imbalanced behavior in accordance to supposed dominance and lowliness. (Johnson) America's Viewpoint towards Racism The issue of "Racism" is a threat which has weighed down USA all through its subsistence as a supreme country. (Johnson) In years subsequent the zenith of the "Civil Rights movement" of the 60's this threat has both augmented and retreated. (Johnson) In the United States of America, race beliefs commenced budding in the late 17th century, in combination with the lawful establishment of slavery for Africans and in the 18th century it eventuated in 3 main groups that were approximately definite and categorized i.e. "European Whites, Native Americans [Indians], and "Negroes" from Africa." (Ma) Regardless of lawful and societal endeavors to ban intermarriage or inter-mating, a number of genetic mixture still transpires. In retort, the United States resorted to a law to aid conserve the uniqueness of the "White/Black racial" as well as societal dichotomy. (Johnson) North Americans characterize anybody as "Black" who comprises African ancestors, an observable fact identified and introduced by historians over half a century back as the "one drop rule". (Ma) There is no communally endorsed in-between cataloging, albeit the census of 2000-01 allowed individuals to recognize two or more racial heritages. In the year 1940, the South Africa due to its chronological causes formed an outsized middle group of class so that basically three more or less elite races were recognized in law and every year, a governmental board was set to assess racial personalities and... This essay not only discusses the present situation with racism in the U.S., but also tries to develop the successful strategy for prevention of racism. These issues by the majority of close â€Å"black-white† acquaintances indicates that the sore and explosive severance have continued to persist among black and white Americans. The fact that this essay presents of both these authenticities highlights the requirement to publicly converse about the racism and its affects, rather than to overlook them. The essay also highlights the fundamental relationship among racial fascination and color-blindness. As a substitute of representing a turn down in the significance of race, the color-blind philosophy concurrently obfuscates and supports the American obsession on race. It is an undeniable fact that racism still exists in the United States of America. Over the centuries, the viewpoint of American whites for diversified races had not changed, making it difficult to fill the gaps bet ween populace. American people’s obsession with ethnic classifications is a consequence of that differentiation and not an origin of it. There is an intense need to raise the level of awareness and stop discriminating people on behalf of their culture and race. However, the last presidential elections were won by the â€Å"Barack Hussein Obama,† a black man, lighting the torch of hope that the ice of hatred between white and blacks have started to melt and in modern America the people are judged by their qualifications and talents and not by their race.

Law of Obligations 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law of Obligations 1 - Essay Example "an agreement giving rise to obligations which are enforced or recognised by the law. The factor which distinguishes contractual from other legal obligations is that they are based on the agreement of contracting parties". (Trietel 2003) "An expression of willingness to contract made with an intention (actual or apparent)that it shall become binding on the offerer as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed..and an acceptance "is a final and unqualified acceptance of the terms of an offer."(Cracknel 2001).Because of the interaction of the offer and its acceptance a validly enforceable contract between Andrew and Billy has been formed. Next, as the facts of the question state, right before Billy delivered the equipment Andrew changed his mind to having wireless enabled computers, and not the wired ones specified in the contract. He asked Billy to let him have the more expensive, wireless enabled computers rather than the ones they had agreed upon. The question which arises at this point is whether Billy can subsequently claim the extra 500. The courts are likely to view this 500 discount within the realm of the traditional definition of consideration , bearing the detriment/benefit dichotomy (Cracknell 2001).Consideration has been defined as " either some right ,interest ,profit, or benefit accruing to the one party or some forbearance ,detriment ,loss or responsibility given suffered or undertaken by the other".1 Andrew has offered Billy a practical monetary benefit which amounts to sufficient consideration to "close the deal"2. The court will not concern itself with the value of the consideration i.e. "consideration must be sufficient but not necessarily adequate"3.Therefore Billy cannot challenge the price of this transaction as it is up to him to go London as often as he likes and use the internet there for free at his caf. The waiver of fee in the internet caf is a monetary advantage no matter how inadequate it may seem in business terms and the courts will uphold this arrangement. Therefore in my opinion Billy will not be able to claim this 500 discount. The Claim for 2000 Although Billy will not able to claim the 500 discount , but when Andrew asks Billy to accept 8,000 instead of 10,000 in full settlement, this becomes a case of breach of contract. The payment of 10000 was an express term of the contract and by his refusal to pay he is breaching the contract. This means there is a breach of contract because Billy has performed his part of the contract and Andrew is avoiding his performance i.e. the payment of 10000.Therefore Billy will be able to repudiate the contract and get back his equipment as well as damages for any depreciation in the value of the equipment as well as any wasted expenditure.4 However Andrew has not totally refused payment. He is offering a partial amount of the payment in settlement of the debt because he feels that he will have financial difficulties. Billy accepts this money fearing that Andrew is going bankrupt. The acceptance should technically mean that he should not be allowed to claim back his 2000 .In this regard I would

Mental Imagery Vividness Essay Example for Free

Mental Imagery Vividness Essay Abstract This review examined the hypothesis that mental imagery vividness can be used as a predictor of hallucinatory experience. Earlier studies provided supporting evidences to this hypothesis, showing hallucinating population has higher mental imagery vividness comparing to nonhallucianting population. However, as a result of varied operationalization and measurements of mental imagery, contradicting results abound, showing no significant difference of mental imagery vividness between halluciantors and nonhallucinators. No clear evidences can be used to determine whether the hypothesis is valid or not so far. On the other hand, development of neurological studies provided a new perspective for looking into the relationship between mental imagery and the experience of hallucination. Keywords: mental imagery vividness, hallucination, schizophrenia Mental Imagery Vividness as a Predictor of Hallucination: A Literature Review Mental imagery, as defined by Finke (1989), is an experience significantly resembling that of perceiving, but it occurs in the absence of an adequate physical stimulus. It exists in all of the seven sensory modalities, such as visual, auditory, and olfactory (Thomas, 1999). Mental imagery is believed to be in close relationship with some core psychological mechanisms such as perception and memory, and holding its unique role in contributing to cognitive performance (Kosslyn, 1994). For example, evidences suggested that visual imagery ability predicts visuospatial memory performance (Kail, 1997). Hallucination is an experience that largely resembles mental imagery, because of its perceptual nature as well as absence of appropriate stimuli (Sack, Van de Ven, Etschenberg, Schatz, Linden, 2005). Nevertheless, the two distinguish from each other by the individual’s ability of voluntary control, as well a s his/her ability to determine the source of the experience. Specifically, mental imagery is generally regarded as being actively generated and can be intentionally controlled, while hallucination is most times beyond intention and control. The operator of mental imagery is usually aware of its internal source, while not necessarily so hallucinator. (Bentall, 1990). Hallucination, especially the form of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), is an important hallmark of schizophrenia (Wible, 2009). AVH is the perception of voices in the absence of sensory input. AVH has distinct clinical significance, as it affects about 70% of patients with schizophrenia (Sartorius et al., 1978; Silbersweig Stern, 1996). Furthermore, there have been increasing evidences supporting that hallucination is not a rare case in non-clinical population, either. It is now believed to exist on a spectrum from comparably innocuous forms in non-clinical population to a more pathological manifestation in schizophrenics (see review by Bentall, 1990). Because of its significant implication in psychopathology, continuous work has been going on to find out the risk factors and predictors for hallucination. The relationship between mental imagery and hallucination has interested researchers for long because of their shared features. Among all the characteristics of mental imagery that are potentially related with hallucination, vividness has been most substantively examined. This review summarized theories and empirical evidences for the relationship between mental imagery vividness and hallucination. Although still in its budding stage, relevant neurological evidences were also examined. Theoretical Models Vividness of mental imagery can be defined as the degree of perceptual detail experienced when having a mental image (Oertel et al., 2009). It has been associated with hallucination and schizophrenia for decades. In 1883, Galton suggested that increased vividness of mental imagery might be associated with hallucinatory experiences (as cited in Aleman, Bocker, de Haan, 1999). Later in the 20th century, West (1962) and Horowitz (1975) proposed separate models suggesting that hallucinations were mental images derived from internal source, but mistakenly attributed to external source. More specifically, the model suggested that vividness of perception was typically higher than that of mental imagery. As vividness of mental imagery increased, it became more difficult for the individual to decide its source as internal or external, and eventually these images could grow into hallucinatory. This model suggested that mental imagery and hallucination shared fundamental features and were possibly on the same continuum. Johnson and Raye (1981) supported the importance of imagery vividness, stating that memories from internal and external sources could usually be differentiated by comparing the amount of sensory, contextual and semantic attributes of events. Mintz and Alpert (1972) developed their model relevant to mental imagery vividness as well. They proposed that vividness of imagery was not the only factor contributing to hallucination. According to their argument, increased vividness of imagery, and impaired reality testing, referring to the ability to recognize the distortions in one’s own perception, are necessary but not sufficient prerequisites to generation of hallucination. Bentall (1990) summarized predecessors’ work and introduced the concept of â€Å"reality discrimination† – the idea that â€Å"hallucinators mistake their own inte rnal, mental, or private events for external, publicly observable events†. They stated that one type of information used in the reality discrimination process was the amount of sensory information present in conscious: rich sensory information implied a perception being experiences, while poor sensory information implied a mental imagery. Following this argument, individuals who have the propensity to construct images rich in sensory details are more likely to experience their internal imagery as a perception experience, and thus resulting in hallucination. Barrett (1993) provided empirical evidences in support of the above hypothesis, yet he also pointed out some questions of the model. He argued that it was unclear where the locus of the imagery effects was. The imagery vividness discrepancy between individuals with and without hallucinations could be the result of either storage or retrieval difference of sensory information. Specifically, it could be that hallucinators were able to store more abundant sensory information than nonhallucinators; and it could also be that hallucinators were better at retrieving sensory information than nonhallucinators, with same storage capacity. Despite of some questioning opinions, there are very limited direct theoretical dissents or alternative models. Holt (1972) is one of the very few that he argued that hallucination and mental imagery involved independent systems and should not correlate with each other. However, this is not saying that the hypotheses of mental imagery vividness and hallucination have not been subject to scrutinize. A large amount of researchers have attempted to verify or disprove these hypotheses through empirical evidences. Below is an incomplete summary of the empirical studies that are relevant. Empirical Evidences Evidences in Support Mintz and Alpert (1972) provided empirical evidences in support of their own hypothesis. Their study found that auditory hallucinating schizophrenics had a significantly higher vividness of auditory mental imagery comparing to non-hallucinating controls. They also identified an impaired ability to assess the accuracy of auditory perceptions in hallucinating schizophrenics. Similar results were presented by other studies. Barrett (1993) found that nonclinical subjects with hallucinations had higher vividness of mental imagery, and at the same time, had lower control of these images comparing to nonclinical subjects without hallucinations. Barrett’s (1993) study differed from that of Mintz and Alpert (1972) in the sense that he assessed mental imagery vividness on all seven sensory modalities, with one single factor emerged after factor analysis – general imagery vividness factor. In another study by Bocker (2000), no group difference in perceptual acuity was identified between the schizophrenia group and the normal controls, suggesting perceptual degradation is not a reason for hallucination. For the hallucinating schizophrenia patients, the vividness for visual imagery was significantly lower than control, while that for auditory imagery was not. Although the decreased visual mental imagery contradicted with earlier studies, the relatively high auditory mental imagery ability suggested the possibility that auditory imagery for hallucinating patients was more percept-like and thus harder to differentiate, which is in line with the fact that most of the patients experienced hallucinations in auditory modality. Evidences in Contradiction Brett and Starker (1977) found no significant difference of auditory mental imagery vividness between hallucinating schizophrenics, nonhallucinating schizophrenics medical patients with no history of psychiatric problems. Starker and Jolin (1982) also found no significantly different vividness strength of auditory mental imagery between schizophrenics, possible schizophrenics, or nonschizophrenic psychiatrics, nor between schizophrenic subgroups of currently hallucinatory, previously hallucinatory, or nonhallucinatory. In fact, Starker and Jolin (1982) suggested that hallucinating schizophrenics might actually have less vivid auditory imagery than schizophrenics who had never hallucinated. Aleman et al.’s (1999) study revealed interesting results. In their study, hallucinating subjects reported higher imagery vividness than nonhallucinating controls when subjective (self-report) scales were used to measure vividness. However, the pattern was reversed (i.e. hallucinating subjects demonstrated lower mental imagery vividness) when objective measure was used. Van de Ven and Merckelbach (2003) examined the mental imagery vividness and fantasy proneness in non-clinical population with and without hallucination experiences. They found that although subjects with hallucination scored higher on mental imagery vividness than subjects without such experiences, their imagery vividness was highly correlated with their fantasy proneness. Further analysis indicated that hallucination experience was better predicted by fantasy proneness, comparing to mental imagery vividness. Sack and his colleagues (2005) incorporated in their study measures sensitive to cognitive capacity, in order to rule it out as a confounding variable. Their results showed that paranoid schizophrenics reported higher vividness of mental imagery in comparison to age- and sex-matched healthy controls, controlling for general intelligence and psychomotor speed of the subjects. More importantly, the higher imagery vividness of paranoid schizophrenics was not statistically dependent of the patients’ individual psychopathology, including the presence of hallucinations. The authors thus argued that mental imagery could be an independent trait marker of schizophrenia, and it operated on a separate system with hallucination for schizophrenics. Sack and colleagues (2005) also found that patient group performed worse on tasks that require involvement of mental imagery processes, which could indicate an impaired overall mental imagery ability. However, this performance deficit could be attributed to general cognitive capacity deficit. In comparison, Doninger, Silipo, Rabinowics, Snodgrass and Javitt (2001) conducted a study with a task that was more purely targeted at mental imagery ability without time constraint. Their results also revealed worse performance from schizophrenia patients comparing to healthy controls. Results of these studied implied the possibility that group difference in vividness of mental imagery is not due to an enhancement of mental imagery abilities, but to altered information processing. Oertel and colleagues (2009) conducted a further study to address the question that whether vividness of mental imagery is a trait marker of the schizophrenia spectrum (i.e. including non-clinical population with schizophrenia-like traits – schizotypy) that is independent of presence of hallucination. Subjects include schizphrenia patients, first-degree relatives of schizophrenics, as well as high- and low-schizotypy healthy controls. Results showed significantly higher mental imagery vividness across all modalities in schizophrenics, first-degree relatives, as well as high-schizotypy controls comparing to low-schizotypy controls, with cognitive abilities controlled. In replication of Sack et al.’s work, this study also revealed that the vividness of mental imagery and hallucinations were independent of each other. Results also indicated that first-degree relatives obtained highest score in vividness, and high-schizotypy controls’ score did not differ significantly from that of schizophrenia patients. The results strengthened Sack et al.’s (2005) argument that vivid imagery is a trait marker of schizotypyrather, and could be related to the genetic liability to develop schizophrenia. However, longitudinal studies including premorbid data are required for further investigation. Bell and Halligan (2010) repeated Oertel et al.’s study on high- and low-schizotypy population with a larger sample size, yet with a different measure of schizotypy and a specific assessment of visual mental imagery. Their results revealed no significant difference on visual mental imagery vividness between the two groups. Explanation for Results Variation Although large variations exist across different studies, it is not justified to say whether the hypothesis of high mental imagery vividness predicts hallucination has been rejected or not. The main reason for failing to do so is that procedures, especially the measures of mental imagery, of these studies varies a lot, thus leaving considerable space for alternative explanations. Specifically, some of the measures were subjective scale (i.e. self-report), while some of the measures were objective (i.e. behavioral tasks). On the other hand, some of the measures assess mental imagery vividness of a single sensory modality, while some of them assess mental imagery vividness as a whole across all seven sensory modalities. S ubjective Measure vs. Objective Measure of Mental Imagery Kosslyn, Brunn, Cave and Wallach (1984) had presented an insignificant relation between performance on an objective task of visual imagery acuity and a self-report imagery vividness measure, indicating that subjective and objective measures of imagery vividness may not be necessarily measuring the same constructs and/or processes. Aleman et al. (1999) pointed out that objective and subjective mental imagery measures could yield contradictory results within the normal population. This distinction could be true for clinical population as well. For example, Mintz and Alpert (1972) utilized subjective measures (suggestion paradigms or self-report measures) and obtained the finding of an association between increased mental imagery and hallucinations, while Bocker et al. (2000) used a more objective mental imagery task, resulting in insignificant difference of mental imagery performance between patients and controls. Aleman et al. (1999), who generated contradicting results of subjective and objective measures in one study, summarized the disadvantages of subjective and objective measures. For subjective measures, the process of introspection is involved, which is an ability varied across individuals, and can be especially impaired in hallucinating and/or schizophrenia populations. Also, the effect of social demand could influence a subject’s self-report, depending on how the concept of mental imagery vividness is interpreted. Subject’s idiosyncratic definition of imagery vividness also heavily impact his/her self-report. For objective measures, tasks are not real-life resembling, which can fail to evaluate one’s true capacity in daily life. In addition, commonly used objective measures fail to purely target at the vividness of mental imagery alone, other processes such as conceptualization and reasoning are in effect as well. In addition, the contents of cued mental images could largely vary across individuals. Standardized scoring procedure fail to take into account these confounding processes and experiences, indicating that high imagery vividness does not guarantee a high score as it is designed to, and vice versa. General Mental Imagery vs. Single Sensory Modality Mental Imagery Barrett (1993) introduced the idea of general imagery vividness factor. If that is a valid factor, then measurement of general mental imagery vividness and measurement of single sensory modality imagery vividness could be more different than the mere part-whole relationship. Mintz and Alpert (1972) measured auditory imagery vividness only, and Barrett (1993) measured general mental imagery vividness. These two studies both resulted in significant difference of imagery vividness between halluciantors and controls. However, Brett and Starker (1977) and Starker and Jolin (1982) both measured auditory only imagery vividness and resulted in no significant difference between hallucinators and controls. In addition, in replication of Oertel’s (2009) study, Bell and Halligan (2010) changed the general imagery vividness measure to a visual-specific mental imagery measure, and their results differed from that of Oertel et al.. Bell and Halligan (2010) proposed that vividness per se might not be modality specific, and this argument is in line with the modality-independent salience dysregulation theories of psychosis and the psychosis continuum (Murray, Lappin, Di Forti., 2008). Neurological Evidence Despite of the fact that neurological evidences for mental imagery and hallucination experiences did not start to bloom until late 20th century (Linden et al., 2010) and that there is no specific neurological evidence for mental imagery vividness’s relationship with hallucination, this session is included as it provides new perspectives on how experiences of mental imagery and hallucination overlap. Evidences from earlier studies suggested that imagery and hallucinations were associated with overlapping neural networks (Allen, Laroi, McGuire, Aleman, 2008). McGuire et al. (1995) and Shergill et al. (2001) found that auditory mental imagery and auditory hallucination were involved with overlaps in fronto temporal language circuits. In terms of the main difference between hallucination and mental imagery – voluntary controllability, Linden et al. (2011) speculated that it was generated from the altered forward model of sensory productions. Forward model (Wolpert, Ghahramani, Jordan, 1995) stated that perceptual consequences were predicted upon known actions, and the prediction in turn influenced the actual experience of the self-generated action. The forward model could be in effect in speech production. According to it, self-generated speech is subject to prediction of resulted sensory experience. This hypothesis was partially supported by Linden et al.’s (2011) study. They found that the voice-selective area on the banks of superior temporal sulcus (STS) was consistently activated during auditory hallucination and voluntary auditory mental imagery. This area had been regarded as reacting to external sensory stimulation only, but it was later speculated of having been monitoring the self-generated speech in mental imagery and hallucination. Linden et al. (2011) identified in their study that the monitoring and modulating functioning of relevant auditory regions were disturbed in nonclinical hallucinators, resulting in the likelihood of attributing internally generated speech to external sources. These budding evidences suggested that hallucination and mental imagery indeed share fundamental neural networks and do not operate on completely distinctive systems. However, detailed examinations of the activity of these neural networks in terms of different features of mental imagery and hallucination, as well as differed neural system contributing to their differences are still in need. Conclusion Mental imagery vividness has interested researchers for long because of their potential relationship with the experience of hallucination. However, empirical studies have resulted in contradicting results. Earlier studies proposed that increased vividness of mental imagery is a predictor of hallucination, and they have found that higher mental imagery vividness was related with hallucination experiences. Nevertheless, many of the later replications with various methodological modifications failed to reproduce any significant relationship. Because of the variations of measurement of mental imagery vividness, it is hard to decide whether the hypothesis of the relationship between mental imagery vividness and hallucination can be rejected or not. The development of neuroscience based study methods provided a new perspective of testing the hypothesis. Current neurological studies have focused on neural activity comparison between general mental imagery process and hallucination experience. More specific studies targeting at features of mental imagery and hallucination are needed to provide a higher-level understanding of the relationship between the two experiences. Reference Aleman, A., Bocker, K.B.E., de Haan, E.H.F. (1999). Disposition towards hallucinations and subjective versus objective vividness of imagery in normal subjects. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 707-714. Allen, P., Laroi, F., McGuire, P., Aleman, A. (2008). The hallucinating brain: a review of structural and functional neuroimaging studies of hallucinations. Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 175-191. Barrett, T.R. (1993). Verbal hallucinations in normals, II: Self-reported imagery vividness. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 61-67. Barrett, T. R., Etheridge, J. B. (1992). Verbal hallucinations in normals, I: People who hear ‘voices’. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6, 379-387. Bell, V., Halligan, P. W. (2009, April). Additional data on whether vividness of visual mental imagery is linked to schizotypal traits in a non-clinical population [Letter to the editor]. Psychiatry Research, 178, 568-569. Bentall, R.P. (1990). The illusion of reality: A review and integration of psychological research on hallucinations. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 82-95. Bocker, K. B. E., Hijman, R., Kahn, R.S., de Haan, E. H. F. (2000). Perception, mental imagery and reality discrimination in hallucinating and non-hallucinating schizo phrenic patients. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 397-406. Brett, E. A., Starker, S. (1977). Auditory imagery and hallucinations. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 164, 394–400. Doninger, G.M., Silipo, G., Rabinowics, E.F., Snodgrass, J.G., Javitt, D.C. (2001). Impaired sensory processing as a basis for object-recognition deficits in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1818-1826. Finke, R.A. (1989). Principles of mental imagery. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Holt, R. R. (1972). On the nature and generality of mental imagery. In P. W. Sheehan (Ed.), The function and nature of imagery. New York, NY: Academic Press. Horowitz, M. (1975). Hallucinations: An information processing approach. In R. K. Siegel, L. J. West (Eds.), Hallucinations: Behavior, Experience and Theory (pp.163-196.95). New York, NY: Wiley. Johnson, M. K., Raye, C. L. (1981). Reality monitoring. Psychological Review, 88, 67-85. Kail, R. (1997). Processing time, imagery, and spati al memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 64, 67-78. Kosslyn, S.M. (1994). Image and brain: the resolution of the imagery debate. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Kosslyn, S. M., Brunn, J., Cave, K. R., Wallach, R. W. (1984). Individual differences in mental imagery ability: A computational analysis. Cognition, 18, 195-243. Linden, D. E. J., Thornton, K., Kuswanto, C. N., Johnston, S. J., Jackson, M. C. (2011). The brain’s voices: Comparing nonclinical auditory hallucinations and imagery. Cerebral Cortex, 21, 330–337. McGuire, P., Silbersweig, D., Murray, R., David, A., Frackowiak, R. Frith C. (1996). Functional anatomy of inner speech and auditory verbal imagery. 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1984 Vs Brave New World :: compare contrast

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm each make commentary regarding the governing of society. Each story involves a so called perfect society, or Utopia. The people are given what they want, only to discover it wasn’t really what they desired. It seems that both authors are telling us their idea of what’s wrong with society, and how extreme these wrongs could become if we government to think for us. The way in which each story gives its warning is different. I will explore this. Throughout the novel Winston tries to avoid the control o Big Brother, by committing many almost illegal crimes, such as keeping a diary or sneaking around with Julia, his mistress. Winston is eventually caught, and tortured by "the Party" for his crimes, until he is ‘restored’ and learns to love big brother. 1984 contains a warning about the future. Though not specifically about computers, since it was finished in 1948 "Big Brother" can be viewed as playing the role of a computer. The way big Brother, and tele - screens work can be linked to the commanding control computers have over society today. With the increasing amount of electronic business and the accelerated expansion of the Net the amount of personal information raging from tax file numbers to favourite colours available on line is aiding increasing governmental desire for a paperless world where you can be eliminated, monitored, or altered with the tap of a key. Although many similarities exist between Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984, the works books though they deal with similar topics, are more dissimilar than alike. A Brave New World is a novel about the struggle of Bernard Marx, who rejects the tenants of his society when he discovers that he is not truly happy. 1984 is the story of Winston who finds forbidden love within the hypocrisy of his society. In both cases, the main character is in quiet rebellion against his government which is eventually found to be in vain. Huxley wrote A Brave New World in the third person so that the reader could be allotted a more comprehensive view of the activities he presents. His characters are shallow and cartoon-like in order to better reflect the society in which they are entrapped. In this society traditional notions of love and what ideally should come out of it have long been disregarded and are now despised, "Mother, monogamy, romance.

Heart: Definition and Life Essay

What is your definition of success? Before you can achieve success, you need to define what success means to you. Unless you have a clear vision of what success is to you, you cannot work towards it. Success means different things to different people. For some, monetary reward is a measure of success. Yet others have multiple definition of success. 1. The Different Areas They measure it across a few areas. It can be career, health, spiritual, emotional, time or financial. As an example, one can be successful in one’s career but not emotionally. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive – so you can add areas that are relevant to you. To find your own definition of success you need to dig deep within yourself and question your values in life. What are your strengths andweaknesses? What are the things that are important to you? By answering these questions you can then come closer to your own definition of success. Be aware that this can be a long process. You may not get the answers so quickly. But it is alright. Define your measure of success, one at a time. Let’s take your career as an example. What would your definition of success be for your career? To make the managerial level by a specified time? Then dig deep to see what are your own strengths and weaknesses. Which would help you achieve it. Which of your weakness is a barrier, and does it go against your values? For me, I value time with my family. However, my work requires me to work late nights and long hours. I will need to adjust my own definition of success. Which would take priority? 2. It Is A Journey When defining your success, remember this important thing. Success is a journey. It has multiple peaks and not one ultimate pinnacle. One success builds on another. Setbacks and mistake will also help you build success. At different periods of your life, success is defined differently. In our career, at a more junior level, your success can be defined by exceeding your job requirements or getting a promotion. Or success can be defined in a few respects. They can be: 1. Your relationship with your boss; 2. Your relationship with your peers; 3. Your dealing with other departments; and 4. Your learning curve. You may add other areas as you move up the corporate ladder. One of my definitions of success in my career at this point – is the number of staff I mentor to higher levels within my industry. When they achieve a certain level of skills and knowledge and are respected by clients, business partners and industry peers – I have achieved some amount of success as far as my career is concerned. Therapists Spill: My Definition of Success By MARGARITA TARTAKOVSKY, M.S. In the fall, clinician Joyce Marter and her husband hosted their friends for a dinner party at their Chicago home. Among the couples — all in their 40s with school-aged kids — conversation turned to the adventures of parenting and the tricky stage of adolescence. This sparked a dialogue about how they gauge success. Marter’s knee-jerk reaction was to say that success excludes dicey circumstances such as driving under the influence or dropping out of school. â€Å"Thankfully, I quickly regrouped from this position of fear-based and judgmental thinking and realized I do not truly believe any of those experiences or other life challenges mean somebody has failed or is not successful,† she said. Hardships make us human and give us the opportunity to grow, she said. None of us is perfect or remains unscathed in life. Marter’s guests offered myriad definitions, everything from education to prosperity to resiliency to health to happiness. So what is succes s? What does being a success look like? Below, Marter and other clinicians spill their views on success. According to Marter, also owner of the counseling practice Urban Balance, success is authenticity and mindfulness. Success is to live life openly, authentically, and lovingly in a way that is aligned with the highest good of self and others. Furthermore, when one is mindfully rooted in the present moment and engaged in relationships and work that promote a loving growth of human consciousness, one is joyous and prosperous. And so, this is my wish for myself, my children and for all humankind. Christina G. Hibbert, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist and postpartummental health expert, summarized success in three words: faith, love and joy. To be successful in my work means that I am able to touch others’ lives, to help them know they are not alone, and to impart some bit of joy or wisdom that will leave them better than before. To be successful in my family means to love — to listen, to say I’m sorry when I’m wrong, to encourage, uplift, and to always strive to give the best of my time, talents, and heart. To be successful as a human being means to continually examine myself, my motives, and my works; to connect spiritually, listen to what my Creator has in mind for me, and trust the process — to be open to learning and improving, and willing to share myself and serve gladly. I guess overall, for me, success = faith, love, and joy (my three-word motto) — striving to do and be my personal best in work, family, and as a human being, forgiving myself when I’m not, picking myself back up, and diligently pressing forward again. For Deborah Serani, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the book Living with Depression, success lies in the everyday, in the journey from setting a goal to realizing it. For me, success is when I set a realistic goal, enjoy the journey as it unfolds and dwell in the momentary satisfaction when it all comes together. From cooking a new recipe, to learning a new yoga pose or taking a challenge that stretches my comfort zone, it’s the entire experience that offers me a sense of well-being. Success can be found in little things and big things. The key is to enjoy the ride once you set out on your material or existential destination. Ryan Howes, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the blog â€Å"In Therapy,† also prefers to focus on the flight, instead of the landing. I try (really, really try!) to view life as a journey rather than a series of goals to be attained. I always feel less stressed and better able to focus on today when I’m in that mindset. With that framework, I try to view success as something to which I aspire rather than a goal with a finish line. For me, success is achieving a healthy balance between the most important areas of my life. These include family and social relationships, occupational pursuits, hobbies, diet, exercise, rest, my spiritual life, and the continued pursuit of self-understanding. I don’t think I’ve achieved this balance yet, as I only seem to maintain focus on one or two areas at a time. I may never find a way to keep all these plates spinning at once, but I will try for the rest of my life! Jeffrey Sumber, M.A., a psychotherapist, author and teacher, described success as a triumph over trials and fear. Success is overcoming challenges internal and external that at one time felt impossible or overbearing but with hard work and discipline I was able to rise above the fear or anxiety. For most people success is a shifting concept, which transforms over time. It’s been for John Duffy, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the book The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens. Today, his view includes being of service to others and being satisfied with his life. My definition of success has shifted greatly over the years. I used to think I had to accomplish something that others deemed â€Å"great† in order to consider myself successful. Today, I find success in happiness, kindness, and helpfulness. I find success in loving, connected, available relationships, in my family and elsewhere in my life, including my relationship with myself. In order to feel fully successful, I feel I need to continue to find new ways to reach out to others and give of myself. Finally, I don’t think I could ever feel successful without a degree of happiness, contentment and humor. Success has many faces. The definition just depends on who you ask. And that’s the magic of success: You get to figure out what it looks like for you. Subject: Mentoring tips on definition of success In the next message to the electronic community I will ask participants how they define â€Å"success† for themselves. Here are examples of how this question was answered by a group of successful teens and adults with disabilities. These responses might provide some inspiration as you interact with the teens in our community. To me, having a successful life is being able to do things independently for myself and not always have someone there to do things for me. It’s achieving my goals on my own terms and at my own pace. (high school student with a mobility impairment) Success is a relative term. If you achieve what you want to and are happy, then I think that is success. It could be applied to life in general or to individual tasks in life. (college student with a mobility impairment) My definition of success is achieving personal goals, whatever they may be. Some goals are considered small by some people and enormous by others. What matters is that they are personal; each individual has his/her own formula for personal success. (college student who is deaf) I remember what my high school voice teacher told the class as we prepared for our senior solo. She said, â€Å"Success comes in CANS, and failure comes in CAN’TS.† (speech language pathologist who is blind) Succeeding is accomplishing my dreams. However slowly I am moving toward that, to some degree I am succeeding. (high school student who is blind) Even though you might not have obtained that set goal, you are successful if you tried your best. (college student with a brain injury) To me, success is being able to do whatever it takes to lead a productive life. (young person who is blind) Success? That’s an easy one. BE HAPPY. (high school student with a learning disability) What’s Your Definition of Success? ————————————————- Success is a tricky sucker to define, isn’t it? Society as a whole tends to judge success by status and material wealth, but I think we both know that’s utter bollocks. I’ve worked with some fabulously wealthy yet unhappy people and you cannot ever really define an unhappy person as a successful one. My Definition Of Success If asked me for my definition of success it would simply have been, â€Å"somebody who is happy†. As happiness is at the top of everybody’s wish list, then by default it must define an element of success when an individual achieves it. Last week I was working through the core values process with client, Courtney Townley. One of the most crucial elements of a value elicitation is understanding what the client means by the words they give me. Too many values are open to interpretation and may mean different things to different people. So to presume that just because I think success equals happiness that other people must think the same is arrogant and stupid, which isn’t a good combination for a Life Coach. One of Courtney’s values was unsurprisingly enough ‘success’. I asked her what she meant by the word and she was really struggling to come up with an answer. We did the values exercise anyway, but I asked her to think about what success meant to her and to e-mail me the answer so I could get a better understanding of what we were aiming for. Her response was awesome and makes my job very worthwhile. I immediately asked her if I could include it in a blog post and she graciously agreed. Courtney’s Definition Of Success â€Å"Tim, You probably thought I forgot my homework assignment? I didn’t. I chewed on the question all week: †what does success mean to me?† I wrestled with the question a lot, found it intriguing and much more complex than I initially though it would be. First, I answered the question that success to me is living a balanced life full of happiness, but as I dug deeper I didn’t like that answer so much for two reasons. 1. I do believe that happiness is ultimately a choice regardless of the situation. 2. Some of the most rewarding/successful experiences of my life happened at a time when my life was completely unbalanced. So I chewed and chewed some more. Finally I was able to digest this better: I define success as listening to that subtle voice within, what I perceive to be my truth talking, and obeying by saying YES†¦ despite the sacrifice, hard work or difficulty that may result. I feel most successful when I honor my authenticity (which is probably why is it one of my top values). On the other hand, I feel most unsuccessful when I am a slave to someone else’s agenda or working to build someone else’s dream rather than my own†¦which is probably why I have been self-employed for the past 8 years. I feel most successful when I am honest about who I am (the good, the bad and the ugly)†¦.talented and powerful and at the same time fearful and imperfect, and charging forward without getting too caught up in any one characteristic of myself, and without being too attached to the outcome of what I set out to do. I do it because my heart told me to do it, I don’t do it because I am certain of where it will lead me, which is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. You said to me last week that everyone has fear, but because some people have confronted their fear more often, it seems that it is more natural for them to move into action without getting paralyzed by the fear. That was a huge â€Å"Ah-Ha† moment for me†¦..success is making a HABIT out of acknowledging the fear and resistance, but moving forward despite it. Success is saying YES to my journey, YES to my life’s adventure, YES to my heart’s song and knowing full well that does not mean it will always be comfortable, balanced, easy or pain free, but I do know it will be RICH and REWARDING and SIGNIFICANT beyond measure for me. I know if it is all of those things for me, my truth will also touch others, which will build even more success! To feel successful I know I need (based an my history of success) to dig both feet in deeply to my endeavors, be fully committed to my choices and finish what I start. Hope that gives you a little insight:) Courtney† Is she kidding me? It gave me a huge amount of insight into what makes Courtney tick. It’s one of the most important answers that you can figure out. Right now. How do you personally define success? For you. Take into account all of your current responsibilities, your strengths, your trials, your season of life and your dreams†¦ Whether it is defining your success as a parent or a business owner or anything in-between, I think we could avoid so much heartache, disappointment, sense of failure and the chronic epidemic of comparisons if we realistically answered this one question for ourselves.

How Entrepreneurs Impact an Economy

Introduction As economies continue to integrate due to globalisation and formally closed economies like India and China march toward total liberalisation, entrepreneurship is on the increase. A close analysis of developed and industrialised economies indicates a common denominator that stands out amongst all of them, which is the important role played by entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in such economies.This phenomenon has proved to us that if an economy is to develop fully, entrepreneurship should be allowed to flourish. Therefore it is the objective of this paper to critically analyse the impact of entrepreneurs in any given economy. In this paper the writer will identify and discuss the many benefits afforded to an economy through entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship and the disadvantages of the same and draw conclusions on the overall impact of the entrepreneurs. InnovationIndividuals often resort to entrepreneurship for one of the following reasons, because they find a market n iche and have the solution to profit from such niche, because they have been unable to find suitable employment or a suitable means of income and therefore have resorted to using their creativity to generate an income for themselves, or because they have the technological know-how and the financial resources (or able to source all of the above) necessary to generate income by satisfying a need in the marketplace.Irrespective of which of the above led an individual to become an entrepreneur it is clear that innovation and creativity is the driving factor and therefore it can be stated that the biggest impact of entrepreneurs to an economy is the innovative contribution that they make. Job Creation As stated in the previous section one of the main reasons that individuals tend to become entrepreneurs is because they are unable to find suitable jobs.As a result, by being enterprising, creative and finding a market niche, not only are they able to generate an income for themselves but a lso to employ other individuals in their business operations. Therefore one of the most positive impacts that entrepreneurs make on an economy is job creation and the reduction of unemployment levels within that economy. In developed countries we see that almost 40 – 50% of the workforce are employed in small and medium scale business enterprises that were started up by very enterprising individuals.Likewise in countries like India we see that millions of women have been able to pull their families out of poverty through self employment and entrepreneurship that has been made possible by different Non Governmental Organisations and due to the availability of such resources through micro finance etc. Africa is another good example of small scale entrepreneurs helping to reduce poverty and help many avoid destitution. Therefore based on everything that has been stated above it is apparent that entrepreneurs can cause a great degree of impact on an economy through job creation a nd income generation.Increased Competition Another positive impact of entrepreneurship on an economy is the increasing level of competition in that economy as new entrepreneurs join the fray in existing domestic markets. While one may venture to say that this will only lead to market saturation, the upside of such a phenomenon is that it causes all the players in the market to re-evaluate their operational capabilities, increase value addition, lower costs and become more efficient.Thus it can be stated that competition reduces likelihood of monopolies and oligopolies in the marketplace and is beneficial to the customer and the economy as a whole. Increased Productivity One of the advantages of increased competition in an economy is that individuals and firms continue to source methods that can better improve their operations, use resources more efficiently and most importantly reduce costs while adding value. All this often results in an increase in productivity in an economy and a increase in the gross domestic product (GDP), which is indeed a benefit for the economy.While opponents tend to state that when productivity increases the unemployment can often increase, thus reducing the positive impacts, it is the opinion of the writer that increased productivity which can then lead to increased unemployment will then cause more individuals to be creative, find niche markets, become entrepreneurs and begin generating more employment opportunities, thus re-inventing the wheel and driving the economy forward.New Markets As stated in the previous section increased competition in the marketplace can cause saturation and as a result many entrepreneurs maybe driven to seek new markets for their products and services or adapt market penetration tactics.Either way such a phenomena of increased competition, which ultimately causes individuals to look for new markets can be considered as a positive impact on the economy and therefore entrepreneurs can be considered to pla y a very important role in the economy. As integration of economies continues due to globalisation entrepreneurs often tend to look for markets that are outside of their domestic sphere thus generating foreign revenue and increasing the prosperity of the economy as a whole.While this maybe a very simplistic explanation of the impact that entrepreneurs make on an economy, it is also safe to say that the employment generation, increased competition, market expansion, market penetration and sourcing new markets all result in income generation that ultimately help an economy to become more prosperous, draw millions out of poverty and generate funds for social welfare activities that ultimately uplift the living standards of its citizenry.Negative Impacts of Entrepreneurs The single largest negative impact of entrepreneurs on an economy is the plundering of resources, which can have a disastrous affect on the environment. While such negative impacts are mitigated to some extent in develo ped economies due to the enforcement of environmental protection standards and regulations, this is not the case in developing economies.Further entrepreneurship requires a certain degree of business knowledge and know how, without which entrepreneurial ventures can often fail, which can also cause many financial hardship that in extreme cases can even lead to destitution. Social Entrepreneurship Today we see the realm of social entrepreneurship growing exponentially which is a very positive sign and has helped to draw millions out of poverty, decrease unemployment, decrease the number of people dependent on social welfare and all in all uplift the living standards and quality of life of millions.Further social entrepreneurship initiatives are also often seen as ‘green initiatives’ that take into consideration the impact on the natural environment and therefore strives to keep this at a minimum, thus increasing awareness about such issues, avoiding plundering of natural resources and conserving the environment wherever possible. Therefore it can be stated that the negative impacts of entrepreneurs on an economy can be mitigated to some extent through social entrepreneurship. ConclusionBased on everything that has been discussed above it is apparent that the positive impacts of entrepreneurs on an economy, far outweigh the negative impacts. Job creation, reduction in unemployment levels, increased competition, opening new markets, increasing productivity, foreign income generation and poverty alleviation are some of the positive impacts that entrepreneurs have on an economy. However this is not to say that there are no negative impacts such as the wastage and plundering of resources, yet taken as a whole it is apparent that the entrepreneurs positively impact an economy.