Charles Dickens and the Victorian Era Essay

The writer Charles Dickens created some of the most memorable fictional stories and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. He managed to represent features that were characteristic of this period. A clear example of this is ‘The Signalman† which was written by the author in 1865 and was based on a signalman who worked with the steam trains. There are two aspects of this work that portray the Victorian period. One distinctive aspect is the use of the supernatural device and the other is the use of the prejudices which were typical from this time. One important aspect in the story that gives a picture of the Victorianism is the use of the supernatural device. As the Victorian era progressed, the supernatural interest began to grow; consequently the Gothic genre began to gain in popularity. During this period literature reflected this interest through the prevalence of ghosts, mysterious apparitions, and unexplainable sounds in the literary w orks. (Craig, 2012) Dickens attempts to capture the superstitious beliefs that predominated during the Victorian period, using the supernatural theme in the story. It is shown through the signalman who is convinced that he is haunted or that there is a â€Å"ghost†. Meanwhile the narrator believes that these premonitions are merely coincidences, and that there is not any spectre but the wind. To sum up, Dickens tries to explore altered states of mind by which he was fascinated in the last part of his life and which will lead to the development of the imminent modern psychology afterward. Another important aspect is the use of the â€Å"prejudices† in order to depict an important quality of the Victorian world. The story illustrates how the Victorian society was judged by class. In this case, the narrator is surprised that the signalman is an educated man that has a low rank job which would be suitable for a lower classed person. It is shown when the narrator affirms ‘[†¦]he had been well educated, and (I hoped I might say without offence) perhaps educated above that station†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.(Dickens,1907, p.14 ). By analyzing this extract it can be inferred that Victorian society had their social classes clearly defined and  that each class had its own standards. Thus, an educated person was expected to belong to middle or upper class consequently that person was supposed to have a job appropriate to that class. All in all, indirectly, it could be said that the author is concerned about the prejudices and standards assumed to each social class. Nothing can detract from the fact that Charles Dickens was an outstanding writer who drew the attention of the reading public exploring social themes that took place during those times. Indirectly, the author illustrated the era he lived in, describing aspects such as the beliefs as well as the attitudes society had during the Victorian Era. On balance, there is not a shadow of doubt that Dickens challenges and is concerned on the popular Victorian beliefs that some people were more prone to vice than others. REFERENCES Craig, S. (2012). Ghosts of the Mind: The Supernatural and Madness in Victorian Gothic Literature. Retrieved from: http://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=honors_theses Dickens, C. (1907). The Signalman. Pickwick Papers. London. Everyman’s Library.

Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Nigeria Essay

Basically, Nigeria is a plural society and heterogeneous in virtually all the facet of life. The custom and tradition of Nigerians is so diverse to the extent that Nigeria as a country is now confronted with the problem of religion and ethnicity towards their political stability. The origin and history of ethnic conflict (societal wars and violence) can be traced from eternal (internal) state rivalry to external (physical). And its root cause is not very far from power competition and decision making over economic resources and other important human factor, like position. The implementation process has always involved more than one or two persons. In general concept, the author of this work traces conflict back to the first and early Patriarchal of human history and ever since then, there has been an increase (in various dimensions) of Conflict in the face of human world. Some are personal (internal) conflict, family, community, and group, intellectual, state, national and international in nature, to mention but few. In conforming to this idea, Badawi (2006) in his statement titled â€Å"World Apart† stated thus, â€Å"indeed the greatest discord today is among the descendants of Abraham. These are the people of the book, the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who had in fact shared a common beginning in the religion of Abraham†. In shedding more light in the above statement, Badawi statement goes far beyond religion, rather, he was tracing one of the earliest source of conflict which Badawi mentioned the off-springs of the said Abraham. Even before Abraham, there had been conflict, so it is as old as human history down to the Abrahamic period, to ancient kingdoms, Dukes, and Kings. In about 88 B. C. , King Mithriadates VI of Pontus invaded Roman territory in Asian Minor. He advised Asian debtors to kill their Roman creditors. Happy to reduce their credit card bills, the Asians massacred 80,000 Romans. Ethno-political conflicts have greatly shaped our present world and of course have its structural phenomenon, (William Easterly, 2001). For instances, the conflict we now call Israeli and Palestinian war, has been an ever-lengthening sort. The Assyrian, Babylonian war, by King Nebuchadnezzar of the hanging Garden in history, the Persia war, Alexander the Great (the Macedonian mad man in history), the German war of Adolf’s. Hitler, the Roman wars, narrowing all these down, we came to the horn of African continent which seem to be an epidemic field of conflicts of diverse kinds till date. The giant-lion of African continent, just like the origin of conflict is said to have stated very old in human history, even so in the case of Nigeria, which can be traced to the colonial period of history. Conflict takes different sizes and shapes with diverse reasons and purposes. Majority of the conflicts takes time before their escalation and at such, could have been transformed right at their respective early stages. The history of ethnicity and ethnic conflicts in Nigeria is also traced back to the colonial transgressions that forced the ethnic groups of the northern and southern provinces to become an entity called Nigeria in 1914. In the case of Nigeria situation, disturbing history of colonialism, this generated hatred and conflict among different ethnic groups. The task of addressing this seed of conflict planted by the British has been a complex one. After weakening the former diverse kingdoms, Emperors, etc now called Nigeria and reordering the groups’ politics, the colonial powers failed in nation building and providing for the people’s basic needs. Hence, unemployment, poverty increase, and due to these, conflict over scarce resources ensue. The Southern and Northern protectorates were also being amalgamated into a nation. Thereafter, the merging of different colonies into one country called Nigeria was forcefully done without the people’s consent. This was a major seed of conflict that is still troubling Nigeria today. This article is focused on the historical incidents of ethnic conflicts in within Nigeria societies, the cause of the conflicts and perhaps, the government actions towards ethnic conflict in the country. In conclusion, this paper will explore into decision-making (by the elites and those in authority) process has contributed immensely in generating the syndromes of conflict in the said state. The Nigerian political situation has witnessed more breaking of heads, than counting them. In fact, even when it has been convenient for heads to be counted, the outcome has always been the breaking of heads instead. Conflict in Nigeria is so intense because of lack of democratic behaviour. The head of the individual in the democratic context signifies citizenship. So when heads are broken in the Nigerian political community, the issue in respect of broken heads is citizenship. If conflict in Nigeria means the absence of democratic behaviour, it follows, therefore, that conflict in Nigeria is interwoven with the absence of democratic governance. Gurr (2000): has also shown that the incidence of conflicts at the global level declined in recent years with the deepening of democratisation. Nation-states where conflicts persist are those where what obtains is the democratisation of disempowerment (Ake 1996). Beyond the veneer of elections, the state remains ambushed, privatised, repressive and unpopular. The people who were tantalised by the prospect of a democratic revolution that would terminate decades of alienation and pauperisation have been short changed and given a ‘choice less democracy’ (Mkandawire 1999). The ‘credibility gap’ which fostered the De-linkage of the people from the state, and ignited social forces to struggle for democracy, is not being bridged (Rothchild 1995: 58). African peoples out of clear rational calculations sans atavistic attachments have turned their backs on the state ‘and given their loyalty to sub-national social formations such as the community, the sub nationality or ethnic groups’ (Ake 2000: 114). It is against this backdrop that the proliferation and exacerbation of violent ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria in the post-transition period can be appreciated. This article adopts an analytical framework that holds that The interface between ethnicity and democratisation is found in absence of effective citizenship and good governance in post-transition societies. In the circumstance that democracy does not go beyond the conduct of multiparty elections to include improvement in the quality of life of the people, there is frustration, and people who already feel alienated from the state are vulnerable and likely to be mobilised around counter-elites who exploit extant popular alienation from the state by whipping up sectarian sentiments. This has been the case in Nigeria and several multi-ethnic states of Africa (Osaghae 1994). Although the foregoing theoretical discussion has focused on ethnicity, the term ethno-religious is adopted because some of the recent violent conflicts to be examined were triggered by religious issues. The relevance of religion is also underlined by the fact that in Nigeria ethnic boundaries tend to coincide with religion, with the exception of the Yoruba ethnic group (Ibrahim 1999). The Nigeria state was amalgamated in the year 1914 by lord lugard. The various geographical areas or territory which was amalgamated to form Nigeria by the colonialist comprises of various cleavages, clans, towns even there were kingdoms and chiefdoms with diverse culture, language, religion, norms values, customs and political structures etc. The focus of the research monogram is to examine the role of religion and ethnicity in Nigeria nascent democracy. In Nigeria especially, religion plays a very vital and influential role in the society that has manifested itself as a potent force in the political development of the Nigerian state from pre-independence to post-independence. Hardly can the Nigerian state be talked about without reference to religion (Kukah, 1994; Falola, 1990; Kenny, 2006; International IDEA, 2000; Suberu, 2009). However, religion in Nigeria, at different levels, is mostly mentioned in negative terms. Or rather, historical events linked to religion tilts more towards its negative than its positive contribution to the Nigerian state. The Jihad, the civil war propaganda, the Sharia law controversy, the tensions provoked by the Nigerian accession to the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the incessant religious crises that have engulfed the Northern part mainly indicate that religion cannot be ignored or wished away in the Nigerian political development. Several religious crises have occurred in Nigeria. They have been documented as academic dissertations for some of them. This piece of work does not intend to start the discourse on religious violence anew but only recognizes the fact that as a recurrent phenomenon it is worth being explored further. Thus â€Å"Boko Haram† menace which gained global recognition and even press support ranging from July 2009 till date is a the central focus of this study together with other riots which has engulfed the Nigeria state from 1999 till date which most Nigeria educated elite believed that religion and ethnicity were the basic causes. The educated elite have conducted series of research on what the causes of this violent riots maybe. Most have concluded that it can be traced and linked to the failure of governance in Nigeria. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS The mistake of 1914 has polarised the Nigeria society together with its citizens in which loyalty to the State is a mirage instead people pay loyalty to their various families and ethnic groups the effect of this can be traced to 1967 civil-war which disintegrate the country or in the political system which almost lead to secession of the country with the easterner believed to be the aggrieved ethnic in the war. Similarly Nigeria has a long history of religious crisis which has affected the political instability of Nigeria. The maintasine riot of 1980 can be said to be the first major religious riot in Nigerian history, claiming about 800 lives. The Boko Haram insurgence in the northern part of the country which has been directed mainly against the Christians, they have suffered a lot both physically, psychologically, economically, spiritually and even politically in the far North which has led political writers and pundits to affirm that Boko Haram conflict has its roots in Religion. The thrust of this work will be to examine the underlying reasons behind political instability in Nigeria using religion and ethnicity as a paradigm. 1. 3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY. The study will cover the impacts of religion and ethnicity towards the stabilization or in- stabilization of the Nigeria political system it will cover how religion and ethnicity have impacted on the political stability of Nigeria. Furthermore the study will emphasize more on the role the government is playing in stabilizing the un-stabilized country. 1. 4OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The following can be regarded as the aims and objective of the study 1. To know the meaning of religion, ethnicity, political stability, and political instability 2. To know how religion and ethnicity have negatively impacted on Nigerian political development 3. To develop possible solutions and panaceas to the problems of religions and ethnicity to Nigerian political in-stability 1. 5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1 What meaning does religion, ethnicity and political instability carries 2 How has religion and ethnicity impacted on the political stability of Nigeria 3 what are the possible solutions to the problem of religion and ethnicity in Nigeria political system 1. 6 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY Many a developing countries of the world are currently experiencing the problems which ethnicity and religion have caused. The ethnic problem which led to the apartheid era in South Africa is also the same ethnicity and religion problem which has almost disintegrated the Nigerian State. Recalling back to what happen during the civil war in the late sixties and early seventies which led to the introduction of the national youth service corp. by the then military president General Yakubu Gowon which aim at integrating back the almost disintegrated country. Books, Journals, Magazines, Pamphlets, and lot of researches have been written and carried out respectively on the issue of ethnicity and religion, and its impact on the Nigeria political stability. This research work will serve as an additional material to the issue on ethnicity and religion to political instability in Nigeria, this work will focus more on ethnicity and religion and its impact on Nigerian politics 1. 7RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology will be based on secondary data collections ranging from books, Journals Newspapers, News Magazines, Pamphlets and even the Internet. In conducting any research basically there are two methodologies employed by researchers which are the primary and the secondary methods. This research work will be basically conducted using the secondary methodology as earlier mentioned. 1. 8DEFINITION OF TERMS Ethnicity: According to the oxford advance learners dictionary ethnicity can simply mean â€Å"the fact of belonging to a particular race† from the dictionary meaning we can deduced the fact that Humans believed in race and they have passion for race which leads to humans ethnocentrism i. e. highly ethnocentric in nature. Ethnicity has a strategic interaction of persons and other actors, who have different beliefs, attitude’s, values and goals as they decide particular conflict the distribution of resource’s and general issues of political rules within a context of norms, expectations and institutions. Any of the rule, expectation and institutions may be reversed, maintained or inverted by the individual who win the right to control them, in the course of those political negotiations that are sometimes called cooperation, and sometimes called war, and are usually somewhere between the two. In another sense, ethnic identity are political resources just like money or vote. Instrumentalist like Micheal Banton and Micheal Hecthtar, argue that ethnic identity are not inherent in group or socio-formation of people. They see ethnic identity as socio-capital brought to bear on the political negotiation table by different groups and at different times. Hutchinson and Smith also argue that ethnic identity are an important resource that political Elite employ in securing the support of the masses as a strategy for gaining a desired good. These goods and or goals are â€Å"measured in terms of wealth, power, and status and†¦ joining or national communities helps to secure these ends either by influencing the state, or in certain situations, through secession. Religion: religion on its own part can be regarded as the belief in the existence of God or gods and the activity that are connected in the worship of them. Religion can also be stress further by meaning one of the system of faith that are based on the belief in the existence of a particular God or gods. For example the Jewish religion, Christianity Islam and other world religion. Furthermore in the classical and ancient ages religion has achieved a lot in their politics for example the doctrine of Islam was used in many Arab nations has their constitution even up till the present age. The Ancient Romans, also, during the time of Constantine accepted Christianity as a religion and a mode of life which also affected their political terrain. Religion in the 21 century is now used narrowly towards Christianity and Islam even though other religion still exist but the former two religion have elevated to prominence that other religion are now beneath them. For instance about Political stability: can depict the mean of a system of politics in which the government of that State is experiencing a stable government and peaceful existence in the State or in otherworld’s a legitimately accepted government by the people. Democratically governed States are believed to be stable. In the global sense every political entity must be ruled democratically without internal oppression or external aggression. Any country of the world that is free from the aforementioned point are regarded as stable political system in other words internal oppression has cause a lot of havoc to many democracies of the world which has infringed on their stability as noted by Ojo 2002. Descent Rule: These covers a larger set of cases that we commonly understand to be ethnic than the rules that ethnic groups must have a myth of common ancestry or common origin. But it excludes several cases in which individuals routinely consider themselves, and are considered as members, of a group that we classify as ethnic even when their parents were not coded as members of this group. Take for example the category â€Å"Yoruba† when it was invented in Nigeria in the nineteenth century. At this time period, the parents of those who were classified as Yoruba were not themselves classified as Yoruba for the reason that this category did not exist during their lifetimes. According to Descent Rule, then, the category Yoruba in the nineteenth century would not be coded as ethnic. But the category Yoruba is universally coded as an ethnic category by all comparative political scientists, without making a distinction between time periods. As another example, consider the category â€Å"Backward Caste† in India, which included as members individuals who possessed a given set of last names and/or ancestral occupations. The category was introduced by the Indian Central Government in 1990. Within a few years, 52% of the Indian population classified itself and was classified as backward. Yet the parents of those who termed themselves â€Å"Backward Caste† were not coded by themselves or by others as â€Å"Backward Caste† because, as in the case of the first generation of Yoruba’s, this category did not exist during their lifetimes Democracy: According to Abraham Lincoln he defines democracy as the government of the people by the people and for the people. In this wise democracy connotes a system of government in which all the people in a country will have the outright say on the government of their country although in a representative manner meaning that they will elect representatives that will represent their interest in the government. Advanced countries if the world where democracy is practiced completely they have national identity as opposed to the developing world where they have ethnic identity. Advanced democracies always believe in secularism in which every religion is accepted and embraced not a system in which part will have cognisance to a religion and the other will believe in other religion causing serious tension in such states like Nigeria. Federalism : Elasar (cited in Akande, 1996:1)† the formation of European union (EU) which simply begun as a trading partnership for coal and steel is now moving towards a more integrated political union founded upon federal principle of governance†. The African union (AU) which is the federation of African counties where a central government intended to be created with sharing or division of power among the federating unit, even the world highest organization body united Nation have in some little degree, evolved the principle of federalism. Federalism is a system of government which embraces unity in diversity. Federalism as a system of government is one in which there will be central and regional governments each one autonomous of each other.

Anthropology Flashcards Example for Free (#5)

Anthropology the belief that people everywhere see the world in the same way. a teacher who has a special kind of student: professional anthropologist. Almost any individual who has acquired a collection of cultural behavior. the learned and shared knowledge that people use to generate behavior and interpret experience cultural knowledge people can talk about EX: language cultural knowledge people lack words for EX: phonemes process of discovering and describing a particular culture systems of cultural knowledge characteristic of subgroups within larger societies someone who teaches their culture to an anthropologist an individual who responds to questions included on questionnaires; the subject of survey research the belief that people everywhere see the world in the same way state of anxiety that results from cross-cultural misunderstanding belief and feeling that one’s culture is best anything we can perceive with our senses that stands for something else of cultural knowledge used to generate and interpret speech refers to the behavior that produces vocal sounds consists of the categories and rules for forming vocal symbols minimal categories of speech sounds that serve to keep utterances apart refers to the categories and rules for combining vocal symbols categories in any language that carry meaning refer to the categories and rules for relating vocal symbols to their referents combine meaningful utterances with social situations into appropriate messages relationship of an organism to other elements within its environmental sphere the way people use their culture to adapt to particular environments the world as people experience it with their senses the categories and rules people use to classify and explain their physical environment strategies used by groups of people to exploit their environment for material necessities. Hunting and gathering, horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture, and industrialism are subsistence strategies. subsistence strategy involving the foraging of wild, naturally occurring foods a kind of subsistence strategy involving semi-extensive, usually shifting, agriculural practices ex: slash and burn a subsistence strategy based on the maintenance and use of large herds of animals a subsistence strategy involving intensive farming of permanent fields through the use of such means as the plow, irrigation, and fertilizer a subsistence strategy marked by intensive, mechanized food production and elaborate distribution networks the knowledge people use to assign rights to the ownership and use of resources the part of a culture that involves the knowledge that people use to make and use tools and to extract and refine raw materials the rules that govern the assignment of jobs to people the group of people responsible for producing something the strategies for apportioning goods and services among the members of a group the transfer of goods and services based on price, supply, and demand the transfer of goods and services between two people or groups based on their role obligations. A form of nonmarket exchange the transfer of goods and services between a group of people and a central collecting service based on role obligation. The US income tax is a good example economies in which production and exchange are motivated by market factors: price, supply, and demand. Market economies are associated with large societies where impersonal exchange is common. the process that promotes economic, political, and other cultural connections among people living all over the world the economic incorporation of different parts of the world into a system based on capitalism, not politics people who flee their country of origin because they share a well-founded fear of persecution individuals who are given temporary visas to live and work in another country literally, more than one culture. Usually applied to situations where groups with different cultural backgrounds are part of a larger social aggregate the passage of a cultural category, culturally defined behavior, of culturally produced artifact from one society to another through borrowing the process by which a cultural custom, idea, of concept is transformed to fit the cultural context of a society that borrows it We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you’re on board with our cookie policy We will write a custom sample essay on

Interpersonal Communication Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Interpersonal Communication Skills - Essay Example Culture is the factor that gives human beings their identity. Human beings are considered unique among the animal kingdom on the planet due to their culture and hence, culture is the basic concept in sociology (Kornblum 2012, p.46). The existence of social organizations like family, group, corporations etc., depends on the culture they adhere to (Kornblum 2012, p.46). All the aspects of social organizations like thinking and communicating with each other depend on the culture and hence, society cannot exist without culture (Kornblum 2012, p.46). Culture is defined as â€Å"all the modes of thought, behavior and production that are handed down from one generation to next by means of communicative interactions-language, gestures, writing, building and all other communications among humans-rather by genetic transmission, or hereditary† (Kornblum 2012, p.46). This definition shows that everything that is made by man becomes a part of his culture (Kornblum 2012, p.46). As culture i s ingrained in a person right from his birth, it gets deeply rooted in the heart and mind of a person. It is this aspect of culture that poses challenge for human beings when it comes to communicating with people from other culture. Interestingly, understanding other culture is not as easy as it seems, as even though culture is a social aspect of human being, it is also an inseparable personal part of identity. Culture is a complex set of beliefs and behaviors and hence is not a simple thing to understand (Kornblum 2012, p.46).

A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan Research Paper

A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan - Research Paper Example In this regard, the Chondrichthyes are deficient of the huge cutaneous bones that typify the Osteichthyes. The Chondrichthyes are regarded as the cartilaginous fish while the Osteichthyes are regarded as the bony fish. The mutual opposition of these distinctions and the body structure of the last common ancestor of gnathostomes have continued to be a topic of consensus among scientists (Zhu et al, 2013). In this paper, Zhu and colleagues (2013) identify and delineate a three-multidimensional well-maintained placoderm fish from Silurian of China with combined features of a placoderm-like cutaneous skull roof, shoulder girdle and braincase with osteichthyan-like cutaneous bones of the mandibular and hyoid arches, and a palatoquadrate sharing obtained attributes with crown gnathostomes. This is a thing that had not been seen before. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the skull roof is level and sturdily curved horizontally. Most of the braincase of the fish was covered with rounded , central and nape plates, winged by corresponding postorbital, peripheral and frontal and subsequent paranuchal plates along the route of the arterial intraorbital and primary lateral line grooves. Additionally, the petite and thin proboscis constitutes a snout, a premedian and premaxillary those seem to be attached mesially. The Dermal cheek comprised the jugal, maxilla and a quadrajugal with a sensory channel pattern. The trunk armour comprised of attributes similar to those of the early arthrodires such as phlyctaeniid. On the other hand, the analysis revealed that the braincase was wide and flattened, replicating that of the ancient arthrodires (Zhu et al, 2013). This review was executed to identify the phylogenetic position of Entelognathus and the effect of its typescripts on gnathostome organic evolution. The evaluation was carried out using a modified version of the data. Entelognathus was placed with arthrodires, crown gnathostomes and ptyctodonts by the severe accord of 1 17 most frugal trees. The results of the analysis put several acanthodians under the gnathostome and osteichthyan stem clusters. The phonetic resemblances between the chondrichthyans and acanthodians were translated as symplesiomorphies. Zhu et al’s (2003) results portrayed that the resemblances represent synapomorphies of the chondrichthyan entire cluster. The classification of all acanthodians in the chondrichthyan stem cluster indicates that macronery in the preceding mutual ancestor of crown gnathostomes. The results of the analysis also indicated that Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes had macromeric cutaneous bones and offered a new theoretical account for reviewing crown gnathostome variance. Personal Response This paper clearly brings out a comparison of the four groups of the jawed vertebrate. It makes it clear to me, as a reader, by indicating that two of the groups are still in existent while two are extinct. Additionally, from my observation, similarities and differe nces between the groups are well articulated through diagrams through the article. The article explains each of the body structures and skeletons before comparing them. For instance, the article shows that Osteichthyans and Placoderms have macromeric cutaneous skeletons dominated by a huge body plates while Chondrichthyans and Acanthodians have micromeric cutaneous skeletons that primarily consist of scales. The article has brought me at

Turism and Hospitality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Turism and Hospitality - Essay Example Information and Communication Technology (ICT) techniques are seen to be an answer to such a dynamic business environment. Five themes driving the future of international hospitality industry include information technology, assets and capital management, capacity control, safety and security, and management skills (Olsen in Olson and Connolly, 1999). With the example of airline reservation systems in the 60s to the Central Reservation Systems to the current Global Distribution Systems providing holistic tourism products such as information, reservations and linkages with stakeholders, ICTs have become indispensable. Further with the society changing into 'information knowledge society', business organizations are turning to newer information technologies for survival and competitiveness (Gratzer et. al, 2003). Go (in Buhalis, 1998) identifies some of attributes of ICTs acting as drivers of tourism globalisation. These include, 'cost drivers' in terms of increased efficiency, low distribution cost, low communication cost, low labour cost, minimisation of waste factor and facilitator of flexible pricing; 'market drivers' satisfying sophisticated demand, offering flexibility in operation, supporting specialization and differentiation, providing last minute deals and accurate information, supports relationship marketing strategies for frequent flyers / guests, there is quick reaction to demand fluctuation, multiple / integrated products can be offered and results in better yield management, corporate research and marketing research; 'Government and regulatory drivers' such as support from Government, deregulation and liberalisation and 'competitive drivers' as strategic tool, managing network of enterprises, value-added skill building, flexibility, knowledge acquisition and a barrier to entry . ICTs: Implications for Tourism Industry Poon (in Gratzer et. al, 2003) has described the implications for tourism industry caused by information and communication technologies (ICT). These include, change of rules in the industry; change in role of each player involved in the process of value-creation; facilitation of 'new, flexible, and high quality travel and tourism services that are cost-competitive with mass, standardized, and rigidly packaged options' and transformation of tourism from 'mass, standardized, and rigidly package nature into a more flexible, individual-oriented industry.' Marcussen (in Gratzer et. al, 2003) cites the example of European online travel market to be worth 14 billion Euros by 2006. Buhalis (1998) suggest a multi-dimensional strategic framework for use of information technology and illustrates the strategic implications of information technology for the tourism industry. Strategic Framework for Information Technology in Tourism (Source: Buhalis, 1998, pp. 417) Buhalis (in Buhalis, 1998) illustrates role of information technology in facilitating both intra- and inter-organisational communications and functions. Within a tourism organisation, information technology facilitates management functions such as 'strategic planning, competition analysis, financial planning and control, marketing research, marketing strategy and implementation, pricing

Overcoming Shyness Via Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Overcoming Shyness Via Writing - Essay Example This granted me the ability to edit my thoughts and create much more informative or effective thought patterns that I often translated into effective verbal speeches. More importantly, the exercises and assignments in this course gave me an opportunity to improve myself as an analytical writer. That is because the exercises and assignments demanded that I have a thorough understanding of the topic offered up for discussion. As a writer, this class helped me improve my brain functions as well as my written and spoken speech skills. I had no idea before attending this class that there were so many different writing styles available to people. Oftentimes, I would just use the normal, everyday practice of writing notes or using text messaging when communicating with others. Through this class, I learned how to express myself through the written word in different styles. Which I will admit, made me seem like a more interesting person than I actually was. I also learned that using different styles for different occasions signifies a high sense of respect and value that one has for the person I am communicating with. Not being a native speaker of the English language, I will have to admit that the topics being discussed in class, and assigned for the written assignments were somewhat alien to me. That unfamiliarity proved to be a problem for me as the class progressed because I needed to spend quite some time familiarizing myself with the topics up for discussion. However, I will admit that this challenge also proved to be beneficial to me because it helped me improve my writing styles and skills. I learned how to write in a specific style depending upon a specific writing format and also the kind of information that I needed to present.  

IP3 performance aprasals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IP3 performance aprasals - Essay Example  Excellent  High  Good  Fair  Average  Mediocre  Poor  Bad  Low Comments: 3. Coaching Skill Coaching Skill for problem solving, training, developing, and improving performance of employees  Excellent  High  Good  Fair  Average  Mediocre  Poor  Bad  Low Comments: 4. Delegation and Supervisory Skill Delegation and Supervisory Skill signifies the responsibilities of subordinates; recognizes the abilities and skills of employees and assigns task accordingly; counsels and guides the employees in any situation and encourages them to perform effectively in an independent manner  Excellent  High  Good  Fair  Average  Mediocre  Poor  Bad  Low Comments: 5. Planning and Scheduling Skill Planning and Scheduling Skill requires systematical distribution of task among the employees and making available utilization of resources; planning the entire task before allocation and creating proper time schedule  Excellent  High  Good  Fair  Average  Mediocre  Poor  Low  Bad Comments: 2.0 Justification The five specific skills have been mentioned with respect to the front-line supervisor. These skills are significantly required by the supervisors for effective functioning in the workplace. The performance grading form has been prepared by considering the skills and responsibilities of supervisor. The main purpose of rating is to provide feedback to the supervisors regarding their performance so that they can be motivated and can improve their performance standard. The rating scale from 1 to 9 has been considered which ranges from excellent to bad. The individual performance standard can be appraised from this rating scale. As there was no performance appraisal technique in the organization, thus the employees were less motivated and had no positive attitude towards the work. The leadership skill is essential for a supervisor as it relates to the direction of the employees and to lead them in proper way so that they can achieve the goals of the organ ization. Thus, for this skill, 20% weight has been assigned. The planning and scheduling is also an important skill of supervisor. The supervisor is required to plan the entire task of the employees and make proper time schedule for each employee. The skill has been provided weight of 20% based on its importance. The communication skill is a significant factor for the supervisors but this skill is not as important as compared to other skills. The skill enables a supervisor to make good interpersonal communication so that the employees can understand the problems that arise in workplace and can provide effective solution against it (Blair, n.d.). A front-line supervisor needs excellent coaching skill in order to train the employees, develop their inner competencies, resolve their dilemma and help them to improve the performance. The coaching skill is provided 20% weightage because this skill is extremely significant for supervisor. Proper coaching to the employees will help them to e nhance their skills and can also help them to resolve all the dilemmas that may possibly take place in their life related to critical situations of workplace. This skill also improves the efficiency of supervisor for regular training and guiding to the

An individual research based report on the rold of business and Essay

An individual research based report on the rold of business and conceptual modelling within the context of information systems d - Essay Example The framework of conceptual model develops the information systems as abstract models around which an organization environment is created (Davies et al, 2006). The conceptual model emphasizes the applications of the system rather than its functioning and implementation. Conceptual model is broadly termed as abstract model of the information systems. It finds widespread uses in modeling of electronic systems which are modeled in the form of circuits and systems. Circuit analysis techniques aid in representation of the systems in the form of conceptual models. These models then aid in solving various complex problems in industries like huge power plants and circuit boards designing. Purposes of Conceptual Modeling The purposes of the conceptual modeling are described below. Helping analysts in terms of perceiving the domain of enterprise Aiding communication between users and developers of the system Providing valuable input for the process of design and development Recording the origi nal requirements for referencing them in the future Importance of Conceptual Modeling The electronic systems have been part of many large industries and business environments. In past, the analysts employed vague methods for analyzing systems and always came up with wrong results and hence errors were found in implementations. They must analyze the users’ requirements in electronic systems with some formal approach that perceives the system in abstract manner. However, the analysts could understand the issue with the discovery of such method which could bring satisfactory results. They couldn’t manage to waste too much time in finding novel methods. The idea of conceptual models was developed that aids in timely detection of errors in analysis of systems and proceeds for correct implementation (Wand & Weber, 2002). Process of Conceptual Modeling The importance of conceptual models can be easily comprehended from its role in treating systems’ development. This pr ocess consists of analysis, design and implementation. Analysis section transforms the real world information system into the framework of conceptual model of the system. The design is related to conversion of conceptual model of the subject into information system. Implementation step is related to conversion of the information system into an implemented information system. Conceptual Modeling Language Conceptual modeling language (CML) is involved that defines various rules and regulations for representing components of the developed model. The components used in conceptual modeling of the system contain activities, relationships, entities, processes and objects. The CML shouldn’t be too restrictive to diminish the aspects found for the relevant systems. The modeling should take into consideration all the properties and dimensions of the system. It shouldn’t be too complex either making the situation rather complex (Lindsay et al, 2003). Conceptual Modeling Sources T he conceptual modeling can be drawn from the models of wisdom and general knowledge. Three sources are normally mentioned for making conceptual models

Vlaue proposition-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vlaue proposition-2 - Essay Example According to Weis (2014) for a business to be successful it needs to have a strong value proposition. Most companies have failure in sales due to weak value propositions. Barnes (2009) adds that a business could have the best features, the best executed presentation, and the best and stunning price in the market, but this will have no meaning if the customers are not able to understand the high-level proposition. The following value proposition is for Lab Vlieland which is an innovative company that deals with creative and smart ways of using energy and raw materials. The company aims create and share the island developed knowledge and experience with its environment; the island with the shore and especially with related festivals. According to Dussart (2010) customers purchase products or services to get particular jobs done and this is why it important for businesses to identify untapped jobs. These jobs are simply problems that the customers are still facing even after buying the goods and services initially. Lab Vlieland’s customers’ needs are to attain Eco friendly services that will eventually help the customer feel good about environmental conservation. The customer will also be able to get recognition in the community and the society. Knowledge and skills will also be acquired to support the community. Customers are able to achieve financial growth and revenue generation. As the company strives to meet the needs of its customers, much attention should be given to the desires that are not yet met despite the previous services having being offered to them. Lab Vlieland works with a range of customers and it might be hard to identify all the needs of the One needs to give a description of the benefits that the customer expects, desires or will be excited to achieve. According to Osterwalder & Papadakos (2014) it is important to

American Tool Works Essay Example for Free

American Tool Works Essay This course focuses on improving the performance of the firm and its supply chain through coordination among multiple sites, functions, and economic actors (customers and suppliers). Students will know how to design and implement strategies for structure and management, both cross-functionally, with the firm, and across an industry value chain among interacting firms. These strategies include restructuring supply chain facility networks, coordinating information and materials flow, managing supplier relations, and managing customer order fulfillment processes. The theme of the course is that strategies that enhance integration throughout the supply chain can lead to improved performance (in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, quality, customer satisfaction, cost, flexibility, etc. ), providing firms with a source of competitive advantage. TEXTBOOK: D. Simchi-Levi, P. Kaminsky, and E. Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies, 3rd ed. , McGraw Hill/Irwin, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-07-298239-8. READINGS:Additional articles and cases will be made available through WebCT and http://cb. hbsp. harvard. edu/cb/access/5023124 SOFTWARE:The Beer Game simulation software is available on the web and will be used for real-time ordering, planning, forecasting decisions in the supply chain. The Risk Pool Game is available on the CD that comes with the text. The Global Supply Chain Management Simulation is available through harvardbusinessonline. com and allows students to manage product design, procurement, and production for four simulated years. Excel will be used for inventory management, supply contracts, and for optimal resource allocation and distribution network configuration. PREREQUISITES: Second year standing COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. Recognize salient challenges and opportunities for managing supply chains. 2. Become familiar with supply chain strategies that have been adopted by leading companies. 3. Learn to use several analytical tools to assess tradeoffs and support decision making. METHOD: This course stress those models, concepts, and solutions methods that can be applied to the design, control, operation, and management of supply chain systems. The course includes lectures, case discussions, presentations, and hands-on, practical exercises and games to provide both a sound base of learning and an opportunity to test and develop skill. Students should do all of the assigned readings and cases before coming to class, and prepare for, and contribute to, class discussions. Excel is used to support the quantitatively intensive topics. STUDENT TEAMS: Teams will consist of about five students who will work together as the presenting and questioning teams for cases and articles as described below. The teams may allocate the work as desired, as long as all team members agree with the allocation. The team should let a member know if they are not performing at an appropriate level, and should contact the instructor if problems persist. Each team member will provide the instructor with an evaluation of their team members’ performance at the end of the term by allocating 100 total points (no self-allocation) between the other members. This information will be used to adjust team work grades. CASE PRESENTATIONS: Each student team will have the opportunity of serving as the â€Å"presenting team† for two of the cases and the â€Å"questioning team† for one of the cases that we will discuss in class. The â€Å"presenting team† will provide the background and content of the case, an analysis of what the company did correctly or incorrectly, and suggestions about what the company should do in the future. They should also address any questions given as part of the case write-up or indicated by the instructor. The â€Å"questioning team† will be responsible for questioning the presenting team, offering alternative solutions, and for leading the rest of the class in a discussion of the case. The questioning team will submit a written list of questions prior to the presentation. The members of the class will be asked to assess the performance of both teams. The instructor will incorporate the class evaluations into the presentation grades.

Video game addiction Essay Example for Free

Video game addiction Essay A. Rationale: Development in technology brings many things that change human’s life. One of these things is online gaming that is provided by Internet. Online gaming is one of widely used leisure activities by many people, especially, young people. They think they are playing just for fun or just like a past-time without knowing a lot of effects of playing these games are more than they think. In Vietnam, there are more and more people who play online games and even are addicted to it. Playing online games, according to some research is beneficial. It stimulates the mind of the players to be more active, especially, puzzle games. It helps people relax after a hard-working day. Playing these games makes the players experienced different feelings because it is as if the players are really taking part in the challenges and so on. Despite those benefits, playing online games also causes negative effects. It takes much time and money of players, keeps them away from school and social activities, maybe make them more violent. The situation has been very popular with the young and become a concerning issue in our society. Many children and teenagers aren’t fond of any activities but be keen on online games. The Online-Game addiction seems like addiction drugs which causes a lot of serious consequences for themselves, for their families and for the society they live in. It is high time for all of us to do something to limit this urgent situation. Therefore, the study is conducted to investigate the effects of the Online-Game addiction and suggest some effective solutions to help young people overcome it. Particularly, our study is carried out with the students of two secondary schools and two high schools in Danang city. B. Literature review: In recent years, online games have been affecting a lot of people, especially the young. The number of young people attracted by online games is increasing. Online gaming has a great influence on health and study of the young. Therefore, there are more and more people pay attention to this state. The purpose of this section is to provide a solid background overall information for the research by reviewing previous studies, researches and other materials relating to the research. They are organized in a thematic review. According to a research of Chalton and Danforth of the American. Medical Association –The AMA concluded that online game addict may be emotionally or socially isolated and lonely. Besides, Anderson, Gentile and Buckley also have view-points about the effects of online games especially violent games. In their reports in January, 2007, they claimed that those who engaged in games that are more violent also engaged in more behaviors that are violent. Besides, they emphasized that the children who were witnessed to have increased their aggression were the same children who played more violent video and online games over the course of the school year. In Vietnam, there are also a few conferences discussing this problem. Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh –Vietnam Institute of Sociology claimed that younger gamers tend to imitate the actions they have shown in the game, it creates the increase in violent acts of aggression in some children and make them lose feeling when they see violence. In Dongnai Internet and Online Game Addiction Conference (6/8/2009) Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien presented the speech on â€Å"How are addicted to games† stated that bad games can make litigants face to many difficulties and obstacles in their studying activities, work, communication and social relations. In summary, the researches, articles and statistics above are worth mentioning as they have studied on the topic relating to this study. They all aim at the purpose of alerting the online game addiction. However, different from the researches above, this study investigates negative effects, outside expressions of it and propose some solutions to reduce the problem. C. Aims, objectives, research questions: 1. Aims: This study aims at investigation into the Online – Game addiction in the young in Danang. 2. Objectives: The research is intended to: To find out some information on the effects of the addiction online games on young people’s health, studies and personalities. To suggest the effective ways including the management of the Government and responsibilities of their family in dealing with the problem. 3. Research questions: How does the problem affect the young’s studies, health and personalities (characteristics)? What must the Government do in order to manage Game programs? What are the responsibilities of their parents in this problem? D. Scope of the study: The study is confined to the effects of the issue on the young aging 12-18 in Danang city on their study, health and personalities. Exactly, the study is conducted with the students in 2 secondary schools and 2 high schools in Danang city. II. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A. Research design: This is a qualitative and quantitative research. B. Research methods : 1. Sampling : a. Subjects: We are going to work with 300 students at 4 schools in Danang city: 2 secondary schools (Trung Vuong,Tr? n Hung D? o) and 2 high schools (Quang Trung, Phan Chau Trinh). The fact that, people whose age from 12 to 18 years old play online games more than ones at other ages. b. Instruments: We will survey with questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire allows us collect a wide a mount of data in a relatively short amount of time and data can be also controlled and analyzed easily. The interview helps us get more in-depth information, obtain personal behaviors and attitudes of the populations. The questionnaire will be delivered to the students on the first week of the study. The participants will be asked to answer 18 questions including: 4 open questions and 14 close questions. With close questions, they will write up their answers to the topic of the research. There are 4 parts in the questionnaire: Part I: The effects of online gaming on students’ studying (questions 1-6) Part II: The reasons why young people play online games (questions 7,8) Part III: The effects of online gaming on students’ personalities (questions 9-13) Part IV: Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online game addiction (questions 14-18) Besides, a short interview is going to be continued after we collect the questionnaires. We will have direct conversations with 20 respondents among 300 ones in order to observer their attitudes towards the online-game addiction. The information of the interviews is record with cassette recorder and then transcribed. 2. Data collection: a. Phase 1: The purpose of phase 1 is to collect data which will be used for the survey in phase 2 that will in turn be used to test in phase 3. In this research our group will spend 3 week to have meetings with some of student groups in the high schools and the secondary schools above. The purpose of the meeting is to know whether they may be willing to participate in later stages of data collection One-week close monitoring of time addict game: Our group will schedule 30 minute -periods of daily continuous monitoring with 10 participants in every week. During the first week of the project, our group will meet them after they finish their lessons in their school. We will work closely with participants to talk about any thought during the whole conversation. We will ask them to provide two kinds of background information. b. Phase 2: Survey design and test Data collection in this phase will be limited to 20 surveys to identify the weakness in the survey design + Personal information including: gender, age and current studying result. + Kinds of entertainment including : reading, playing online games, doing a sport†¦ and how much time they spend on each kind. c. Phase 3: Survey data The purpose of phase 3 is to test the hypotheses. The surveys will check these answers from the questionnaire to find out how much time students spend on game, and the difference in gender and age in people playing in game. 3. Research hypotheses: a. It is hypothesized that addicting to Online Games could lead young people to get bad results in their studying. b. It is supposed that maybe addicting to Online Games makes the young unsociable III. TIME LINE: Reading materials and collecting data: from 10 September to 30 September Analyzing data: from 8 November to 10 November Writing the report: from 10 November to 13 November IV. PROPOSED OUTLINE: Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Resonale Literature review Aims, objectives, research questions Scope of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 1. Research design 2. Research methods 1. Sampling 1. Subjects 2. Instruments 2. Data collection 1. Phase 1 2. Phase2 3. Phase3 3. Data analysis 1. Qualitative analysis 2. Quantitative analysis 3. 2. 4. Research hypothesis Chapter 4: DISCUSSION OF FINFINGS 4. 1. The effects of online – game addiction in the young 4. 2. The responsibilities of families and society 4. 3. Some solutions for the problem Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 5. 1. A summary of the development of the study 5. 2. Implications 5. 3. Limitations 5. 4. Suggestions on restricting of the online gaming V. REFERENCES: 1. Anderson C. A. , Gentile D. A. , Buckley K. E. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. USA: Oxfort University Press. 2. Brady, Sonya S. , Matthews, K. A. (2006). â€Å"Effects of media violence on health-related outcomes among young men†. Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine. 160. 341-347. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://archpedi. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/abstract/160/4/341. 3. Charlton Danforth. (2007). â€Å"Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing†. Computers in Human Behavior. Vol 23(3). 1531-1548. 4. Gershoff, E. T. (2002). â€Å"Corporal punishment by Parent and Associated Child Behaviours and Experiences†: A metal analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539-579. 5. Grusser, S. M. , Thalemann, R. , Griffiths, M. D. (2007). â€Å"Excessive computer game playing†: Evidence for addiction and aggression? Cyber Psychology Behavior. 10. 290-292. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://www. liebertonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1089/cpb. 2006. 9956 6. Kinh Luan. (2009). â€Å"Struggling to find solutions to manage Game Online†.retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://antg. cand. com. vn/News/PrintView. aspx? ID=68787nd. 7. Nguyen Tran, Huong Le. (2009). â€Å"Young internet addicts return to real life†. Vietnamnews. 8. Tien Nguyen. (2009). Tam ly tri lieu. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://tamlytrilieu. com/nghien-gameonline. htm. 9. Wood, Richard (April 2008). â€Å"Problems with the concept of video game addiction: Some case study examples. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. 6. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://www. ijma-journal. com/content/abstracts/6/2/00001 VI. APPENDIX: A. QUESTIONNAIRES This questionnaire is just a survey to find out information about the current online-game addiction of young people. The data you provide will be used for this purpose only. Your honest responses to the questions are a great help to our research. Please, circle your choices or write up your answers frankly as you will not be identified in any discussion of the data. I. The effects of online gaming on your studying: 1. Do you think online games are interesting? a. No, I just play for fun when I have nothing to do b. So so c. Yes, really interesting 2. How many hours do you spend on online games a day? a. 2 hoursb. 3 hoursc. 5 hoursd. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3. Have you ever put your homework aside to play online games? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 4. How does online gaming affect your studying? a. Motivateb. Do not relate c. Deteriorated. Do not know 5. What do you like to do if you own a computer which is linked Internet? a. Search for information for my studying b. Listen to music c. Play online games d. Others, please specify. 6. Do your learning results get worse since you play online games? a. Not at allb. A littlec. Muchd. Seriously II. The reasons why young people play online games? 7. Why do you play online games? a. Just play for fun b. Appealed by your friends c. Bored with my current world and want a new world d. Have no friends to play with e. Others, please specify†¦ 8. What do you think about when you are free? a. The way to solve a difficult mathematic exercise b. The performance to show in the activity of my class next time c. The plan for weekends with your family or your friends d. The level you must achieve in a online game III. The effects of online gaming in your personality 9. Do you often take part in school or social activities? a. Very oftenb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 10. Do you think playing online games is more interesting than any other kind of activities? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 11. Have you ever been angry with others because you lost an online-game competition? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 12. What do you feel about a day without playing online games? a. I have a lot of things to do which are more important than it b. It is not a matter, I will play it in other time c. It is so pity, if only I could play it today d. I can’t stand a day without online games 13. What do you often do at weekends? a. Help my parents with housework b. Go out with my friends c. Play online games whole day d. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. IV. Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online-game addiction 14. Do you think the online-game addiction in the young should be concerned profoundly? a. Yesb. Noc. Do not know 15. Do you know any person around you who addicted to online games? If yes, who? a. Nob. Yes- myself my friends my relatives. 16. Can you control yourself in playing online games? a. Yesb. No 17. Do you think that addicting to online games affect the player’s life seriously? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 18. If you could, what would you do to avoid addicting to online games? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. THE END†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Thank you for your cooperation! B. INTERVIEWS I would like to invite you to participate in this interview to gather in-depth information about your views, experience and attitudes towards the online-game addiction. Your sincere and accurate answers will be a great contribution to our survey. Thank you for your kind attention! You will be asked to answer these 5 following questions: 1. How do you think about that the government prohibit people from playing online games? 2. What do people, especially the young do in their spare-time without playing online games? 3. Do you think playing online games too much can cause some problems in the player’s health such as: obesity, short-sighted eyes, mental disorder and so on? 4. According to you, who will have to be responsible for the online-game addiction in the young? 5. Can you propose any solutions for this issue?

Effectiveness of Different Coaching Styles in Sport

Effectiveness of Different Coaching Styles in Sport Sports Coaching CONTENTS (JUMP TO) Principles and best practice in coaching The effectiveness of different styles of coaching in different contexts How models of coaching can help practitioners References Principles and best practice in coaching The ideal of sport has changed markedly in the past fifteen to twenty years (Polley, 1998)[1]. What was once seen as leisure and/or a recreational activity is now viewed primarily as a vehicle through which one can instigate deep-seated cultural and societal change. This is especially true in the UK which has a particularly insipid connection to sport with a variety of games considered endemic in British society; indeed, many of the most popular sports in the world were played first in Britain and their governing bodies still reside within British state borders. As a result, as Dawn Penney (2000:59) declares, sport, society and equity are interlinked to a degree that has only very recently been acknowledged by academic, specifically sociological, study. â€Å"Physical education and sport are part of our social and cultural worlds. The relationship is dynamic, with the policies and practices of physical education reflecting, but also clearly shaping (reproducing and/or challenging), the values and interests of broader society.†[2] It is for this reason that the concept of ‘best practice’ has attained a new level of significance in recent years relating specifically to the adoption of the finest possible academic, psychological and ethical procedures especially with regards to children and young people so as to prepare them mentally and physically for the multiple demands of adult life whether this be in a sporting or non‑sporting context. ‘Best practice’ utilises research conducted primarily between the years 1950 to 1980 with the implementation of these strategies taking place over the past thirty years. It is a wholly recent phenomenon and, as such, is lacking in some areas of research compared to other fields of sociological study. However, in the twenty first century the amount of attention devoted to the subject is likely to increase with the dual spectre of globalisation and commercialisation making sports a highly lucrative hub of activity. The principles governing the concept of ‘best practice’ are centred upon the twin aims of forging a common sense of unity and teamwork within a group of players and at the same time to nurture individual skill and flair on a one-to-one basis so that the more gifted players’ skills are honed without neglecting the primacy of the team as the over-riding ethos of ‘best practice’. This essential dualism which resides at the epicentre of ‘best practice’ coaching concepts is inherently affected by the evolution of sports players as they grow up. For instance, young players (aged six to ten years old) are much more inclined to gravitate towards the individual element of sports and competition with the group dynamic coming at a later age (developing primarily between the ages of twelve and sixteen). For this reason, there is no ‘best way’ to ‘best practice’; no right or wrong. Rather, there is a great exchange of fluidit y between concepts, principles and practices that should be implemented on an individual basis. This is as true of coaching adults (clients) as it is of coaching youngsters where Jennifer Rogers (2007:7-10)[3] has outlined six core principles that ‘define’ the role of the coach in the modern era. These are: The client is resourceful (the coach’s sole aim is to work with the client to achieve all of their potential – as defined by the client). The coach’s role is to spring loose the client’s resourcefulness. Coaching addressing the whole person: past, present and future. The client sets the agenda. The coach and the client are equals. Coaching is about change and action. The common denominator outlined by Rogers is that coaching is always triggered by change – be it a change in age, in circumstance, in style or technique. Furthermore, because change is the currency in which the coach does business, there is bound to be wildly fluctuating styles of coaching that fit wildly different social and cultural contexts and it is towards these different styles and contexts that attention must now be turned. The effectiveness of different styles of coaching in different contexts It has been shown that the evolution of young people greatly affects the implementation of coaching methods pertaining to the precarious balance between coaching the individual and the group dynamic. This is necessarily dependent on the kind of sport being coached: team sports such as football require a dedication to the team ethic while sports such as tennis and golf stress the individual element of competition. Sports such as cricket combine the team ethic with a heavy emphasis upon individual ability, certainly with regards to batting, which is a very solitary skill that requires intensive levels of concentration and individualism (Palmer, 1999)[4]. Thus, in the first instance, effective coaching requires the practitioner to tailor his or her coaching style to the sport in question and then to further tailor these coaching techniques to the age group of the team or individual being coached. This inherent diversity in coaching styles is also true of the economic context of coaching adults. Certain sports require greater levels of economic participation than others. Golf, for example, is an expensive sport that demands that the participant is well funded so as to purchase the necessary equipment such as clubs, bags, clothing and, most importantly, membership to a golf club. The same can be said of tennis and cricket where the equipment is a vital part of the ultimate success or failure of the technique of the client in question. Economic context is also important with regards to the psychological element of coaching with the social, cultural and political problems of urban poverty playing an important part in the types of coaching techniques which are likely to yield the best results from any given demographic. There can be no doubt that a coaching style employed for a group of middle class practitioners with free access to capital, time and resources is going to be marke dly different from the kind of coaching style deployed for children and adults who do not have access to the same luxuries and who therefore are going to respond to different coaching techniques. Economic context, demographic context and age context are further compounded by the increasingly common problem of multiculturalism and, specifically, globalisation, which has obvious consequences for teachers, mentors and coaches operating at all levels of society throughout the UK. When one thinks, for instance, of the impact of language upon coaching (relaying tactics, pointing out areas of strength and weakness, and, most significantly, attempting to instil a team ethic) one can see the extent to which the role of the coach is inexorably intertwined with the fate of mass movement of peoples across the planet in the twenty first century. As Jones (1997:27) declares, â€Å"there is no more important task within the wider coaching process than that of communication.†[5] Bains and Patel (1994) have long pointed out the blatant under‑representation of Asians playing professional football in England despite some areas in the Midlands and the North-West of England having u rban areas with a higher than 50% ratio of ethnic communities. â€Å"Recent Sport England national statistics confirmed that people of South Asian origin have markedly lower participation rates than other minorities or the indigenous population.† (Collins, 2003:75)[6] This anomaly with regards to the high numbers of Asians living in modern Britain and the disproportionately small number of Asians playing football, it has been argued, is due to coaches indulging in outmoded stereotyping when it comes to coaching players from the Asian community. Asians are still seen as primarily academic achievers over sports players and where they are perceived as sports players they are still pigeon‑holed in typical Asian images of cricket players; rarely are they ever seen as potential professional footballers. Likewise black players are still seen as primarily quick, powerful players; rarely, the tactical brains or the spiritual heartbeat of the side. This cultural element to sports coaching is exacerbated by the historical gender divide between males and females in a sporting context. Here, just as with ethnic people, stereotypes remain the dominant coaching paradigm. Girls and women are expected to play traditionally female sports such as netball, hockey, lacrosse, swimming and tennis. This, however, is in direct opposition to the growing numbers of women playing traditionally male‑dominated sports such as rugby, cricket and football with the latter in particular experiencing a veritable boom in female interest since the beginning of the 1990s. â€Å"A generation ago, sport was a core, patriarchal institution in a larger, contested gender order. Now, with the dramatic growth of girls’ and women’s athletics participation, sport no longer simply or unambiguously plays this reactionary role in gender relations. Sport is now more internally contested.† (2002 introduction xxii)[7] It is, in the final analysis, up to the sports coach to take each of these mitigating factors and contexts into account so that the practitioner is able to coach skills and techniques that are relevant to the contemporary era as opposed to perpetuating anachronistic stereotypes that do little to advance civilised society in both a sporting and non‑sporting context. How models of coaching can help practitioners Studying different models of coaching represents the scientific element of sports mentoring whereby the student and practitioner can attempt to explain the essence and purpose of coaching via the development of models (Fairs, 1987:17-19)[8]. It can be separated into two distinct camps: the ‘of’ coaching camp and the ‘for’ coaching camp. Models ‘of’ coaching are based upon empirical research investigating best practice while the ‘for’ coaching models are idealistic representations that arise from attempts to identify a concrete set of assumptions about the coaching process. The majority of practitioners tend to employ a symbiosis of the two models incorporating an ‘of’ and ‘for’ model of best practice. In this way, empirical data can be used in a realistic setting that takes into account the age, skills and other contexts that affect the coaching process. However, these two models of coaching underline the e xtent to which academia and intellectual analysis has come to dominate the empirical study of sports performance when in fact the first hand experience of established practitioners ought to form the basis of all models of coaching sports. The difference, essentially, comes down to one of theory and practice with the concept of ‘expertise’ necessarily clouded by the arguments of the academics and the professionals respectively. Once again, though, the individual element of the coaching process must be highlighted so as to reflect the inherent complexity that takes place within the field of sports with vastly differing levels of skill and ability being matched by the vastly different psychological reactions to slumps in form and technique. It is, ultimately, up to the national governing sports bodies to ensure that the primacy of holistic coaching practice does not become relegated at the expense of literature, theory and academia (Lyle, 1999:1-24).[9] For this reason, organisations such as Sport England have been established by the central government in a bid to impose a centralise model for sports development on regionalised sports bodies so as to directly influence and aid practitioners. The primary model deployed by Sport England is the â€Å"traditional sports development continuum† – a pyramid which locates foundation as the core, base value followed in hierarchical terms by participation, performance and, finally, excellence (Bramhan et al, 1999:3). This generic model is dovetailed by more advanced models for practitioners to use with athletes at a professional or elite stage in their sports. As is so often the case it is the Australians who represent the pinnacle of academic research into the coaching process with the revolutionary ‘Old Way, New Way’ technique correction model offering an intensive ‘one session’ approach to the problem of proven performers suffering seemingly inexplicable dips in form and technique with the case of Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie standing tall as the most prominent example of therapeutic success achieved via sports practitioners embracing new means of solving old problems. ‘Old Way, New Way’ is consequently a manifestation of the much sought after collaboration between academic researchers and sports practitioners which works on a psychological as well as a physical level in a bid to continue the sportsperson’s quest for skill development and continuous technical improvement. References Bramhan, P., Hylton, K., Jackson, D. and Nesti, M. (1999) Introduction, in, Bramhan, P., Hylton, K., Jackson, D. and Nesti, M (Eds.) Sport Development: Policy, Process and Practice London and New York: Routledge Collins, M.F. (2003), Social Exclusion from Sport and Leisure, quoted in, Houlihan, B. (Ed.) Sport and Society: a Student Introduction London: SAGE Fairs, J. (1987) The Coaching Process: The Essence of Coaching, in, Sports Coach Journal, Volume 11, Number 1 Jones, R.L. (1997) Effective Instructional Coaching Behaviour: A Review of Literature, in, International Journal of Physical Education, Volume, 24, Number 1 Lyle, J.W.B. (1999) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice, in, Cross, N. and Lyle, J.W.B. (Eds.) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice for Sport Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Messner, M.A. (2002), Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press Palmer, G.V. (1999) Cricket Coachmaster: Batting Mechanics London: Gary Palmer Penney, D. (2000) Physical Education: In what and who’s Interests? , in, Jones, R.L. and Armour, K.M. (Eds.) Sociology of Sport: Theory and Practice London and New York: Longman Polley, M. (1998) Moving the Goalposts: A History of Sport and Society since 1945 London and New York: Routledge Rogers, J. (2007) Coaching Skills Buckingham: Open University Press 1 Footnotes [1] Polley, M. (1998) Moving the Goalposts: A History of Sport and Society since 1945 London and New York: Routledge [2] Penney, D. (2000) Physical Education: In what and who’s Interests? , in, Jones, R.L. and Armour, K.M. (Eds.) Sociology of Sport: Theory and Practice London and New York: Longman [3] Rogers, J. (2007) Coaching Skills Buckingham: Open University Press [4] Palmer, G.V. (1999) Cricket Coachmaster: Batting Mechanics London: Gary Palmer [5] Jones, R.L. (1997) Effective Instructional Coaching Behaviour: A Review of Literature, in, International Journal of Physical Education, Volume, 24, Number 1 [6] Collins, M.F. (2003), Social Exclusion from Sport and Leisure, quoted in, Houlihan, B. (Ed.) Sport and Society: a Student Introduction London: SAGE [7] Messner, M.A. (2002), Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press [8] Fairs, J. (1987) The Coaching Process: The Essence of Coaching, in, Sports Coach Journal, Volume 11, Number 1 [9] Lyle, J.W.B. (1999) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice, in, Cross, N. and Lyle, J.W.B. (Eds.) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice for Sport Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann

The Theological Dilemma of Pain and Suffering Essay -- The Problem Of P

The existence of pain and suffering in a world created by a good and almighty God is a fundamental theological dilemma and may be the most serious objection to the Christian religion. In the book, The Problem Of Pain , author C.S. Lewis addresses the issue of pain as a mere problem that demands a solution; he formulates it and goes about solving it. "If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both" (p. 16). According to Lewis, this is the problem of pain in its simplest form. In his attempt to solve the problem of pain Lewis evaluates the past and the origin of religion, he offers his interpretation of the various justifications for why pain exists in today's society, and explains how one should deal with pain in order to live out God's will in the future. This essay will examine these rationales and will conclude with a n analysis on how Lewis handles the four foundational sources for understanding the will of God through scripture, tradition, history, and modern context. Lewis evaluates the past in order to explain the problem of pain. He does this by examining the origin of religion and discussing the three elements associated with all developed religions, in addition to an added one in Christianity. The first element is the experiences of the Numinous. Humans are capable of sensing the divine and spiritual presence through the Numinous. The Numinous is a mixed feeling of awe and dread and distinct from fear. Lewis states that there are two possible views of Numinous. The first is that it is simply in the mind and serves no biological function; yet will not disa... ...ainst the traditional and historical interpretations of the scriptures in the Bible. In addition, in becomes apparent early on in his book that Lewis does not believe the Adam and Eve story can be taken seriously by his audience at a literal level in a Darwinian age. In conclusion, Lewis relies heavily on scripture, tradition, and history to explain evilness in terms of the Fall of man, to reject theories of Monism and Dualism, to justify how a good Creator could make a bad creature, and to convey the concept of hell. Conversely, Lewis relies on modern context when questioning God's omnipotence. All in all, Lewis relies to some extent on all four foundational sources in order to understand the will of God and attempt to solve the problem of pain. Works Cited Lewis, C. S. The Problem of Pain. New York: Macmillan, 1962. Print.

Fantastical Ideas and Gothic Tendencies in Jane Eyre Essay -- Jane Eyr

Fantastical Ideas and Gothic Tendencies in Jane Eyre The novel, Jane Eyre, is infused with fantastical ideas and gothic tendencies. The novel is an example of Bildungsroman heroine with the title character Jane maturing from childhood. We see her spiritual, psychological and social development. Through this development Bronte manages to join both fantastic elements with a more realistic structure by weaving in references to fairy tales, dreams, mythic imagery and plot twists. Fantasy is used by Bronte to inform the reader of any emotional subtexts in the novel. Jane's dreams are a good indication of her feelings and provide the reader with a window into her emotions. This use of fantasy plays a major role and it helps Jane's character develop as a Bildungsroman heroine because it highlights her emotional and spiritual journey. The fantastic symbolism and imagery used throughout the novel are as important to the narrative as the plot because it allows the reader to understand many emotions and true characteristics of the protagonists. The novel is littered with faintly gothic references to folklore, ghosts and sprites. The core of the story lies in Jane's descriptions of what goes on in her mind and it is here that we see Bronte's most imaginative and fantastic imagery. Jane imagines herself in a fairy tale. When she first encounters Rochester, Jane writes, "I remembered certain of Bessie's tales, wherein figured a North-of-England spirit called 'Gytrash', which, in the form of a horse, mule or large dog haunted solitary ways and sometimes came upon travellers as this horse was now coming upon me." Here, reality becomes distorted which reveals new truths about the characters and their surroundings.... ...out Jane, from fantasy to reality. Bronte uses fantasy with Jane's character to underline the distinction between childhood and adulthood. Jane tends to invert adult and children's values in the same way. The fact that Jane is still finds fairy tales scary, infers that she possesses a fanciful, girlish nature. The imagery used when she meets Rochester for the first time gives the reader an insight into her immaturity. It is not until later on that Jane sees Rochester's "beastliness". A more mature adult knows that humans can be a lot worse in reality and more frightening than any "monster" in a fairy tale. The feature of fantasy is a creative ploy, which Bronte uses to enhance the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. The reader is given further insight and understanding of relationships with the magical and mystical imagery and vocabulary.

Benefits of Internships :: Career Jobs

Readings for the 21st Century No Time for Fun Most internships are good to have because they volunteer and help before they become an employee. Companies find interns from the interns coming to them. Corporations and companies get the interns because most interns want to look for good jobs they want, because most of them have college credits, and are looking for experience. Companies and corporations get interns because they are looking for a good record of good experience in the position they are applying for. There are many benefits for the interns. Although, internships are usually thought of as benefiting the actual intern, they offer the employer many benefits as well. Internships are great for the employer because of the help they give, costs they don’t have to pay for, usually, boosted credentials, such as: qualifications and they benefit from potential future employees. The job above the interns, employers, gets lots of help from interns in lots of ways. 2 Interns help from anywhere form, building, cleaning up, and â€Å"specialized camps and summer-abroad programs†(Lab, 77). Interns make the employers job a whole lot easier. They don’t have to work as much as they would if an intern didn’t care to help. But the interns make sure they do, only to make a positive effect on the employer to hire them with more satisfaction. â€Å"Princeton Review got so many tutoring requests in the ritzy Hamptons this year that it had to rent a summer house to accommodate all the tutors.†(Labi,77). â€Å"Tony Bialoruki, 18, of Toledo, Ohio, was a caddy before trading in his golf clubs for a toolbox last summer to help build an orphanage in Guatemala.†(Labi,77) Employers, companies, and corporations enjoy having interns around. Most of the employers don’t have to pay for interns to come and gain experience. They find it nice to have them come and learn, and have experience which makes the job easier and get better at the work they have for them. And companies can save money just for having an intern with great qualities work for them, and make the companies look good for what it deserves. â€Å"The job market is as strong as we have seen it in decades.†(Labi,77) On the other hand, â€Å"Wall Street, New York City, interns can earn up to $seven hundred dollars weekly, and sometimes get bonuses of $two thousand to $three thousand dollars†(Labi,77) Boosted credentials benefits the employer by the intern’s qualifications such as, a college

Life and career Essay

Singer’s parents were Viennese Jews who escaped the German annexation of Austria and fled to Australia in 1938. His grandparents were less fortunate; they were taken by the Nazis to Lodz, and were never heard of again. [1] Singer’s father imported tea and coffee, while his mother practised medicine. He attended Scotch College. After leaving school, Singer studied law, history and philosophy at the University of Melbourne, gaining his degree in 1967. He received an MA for a thesis entitled Why should I be moral? n 1969. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, obtaining a B. Phil in 1971 with a thesis on civil disobedience, supervised by R. M. Hare, and subsequently published as a book in 1973. [2] After spending two years as a Radcliffe lecturer at University College, Oxford, he was visiting professor at New York University for 16 months. He returned to Melbourne in 1977, where he has spent most of his career, apart from many visiting positions internationally, and until his move to Princeton in 1999. Animal LiberationPublished in 1975, Animal Liberation[3] was a major formative influence on the animal liberation movement. Although Singer rejects rights as a moral ideal independent from his utilitarianism based on interests, he accepts rights as derived from utilitarian principles, particularly the principle of minimizing suffering. [4] Singer allows that animal rights are not exactly the same as human rights, writing in Animal Liberation that â€Å"there are obviously important differences between human and other animals, and these differences must give rise to some differences in the rights that each have. [5] So, for example an animal does not have the right to a good education as this is meaningless to him, just as a male human does not have the right to an abortion. But he is no more skeptical of animal rights than of the rights of women, beginning his book by defending just such a comparison against Mary Wollstonecraft’s 18th-century critic Thomas Taylor, who argued that if Wollstonecraft’s reasoning in defense of women’s rights were correct, then â€Å"brutes† would have rights too. Taylor thought he had produced a reductio ad absurdum of Wollstonecraft’s view; Singer regards it as a sound logical implication. Taylor’s modus tollens is Singer’s modus ponens. In Animal Liberation, Singer argues against what he calls speciesism: discrimination on the grounds that a being belongs to a certain species. He holds the interests of all beings capable of suffering to be worthy of equal consideration, and that giving lesser consideration to beings based on their having wings or fur is no more justified than discrimination based on skin color. In particular, he argues that while animals show lower intelligence than the average human, many severely retarded humans show equally diminished mental capacity, and intelligence therefore does not provide a basis for providing nonhuman animals any less consideration than such retarded humans. Singer does not specifically contend that we ought not use animals for food insofar as they are raised and killed in a way that actively avoids the inflicting of pain, but as such farms are few and far between, he concludes that the most practical solution is to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet. Singer also condemns most vivisection, though he believes animal experiments may be acceptable if the benefit (in terms of improved medical treatment, etc. ) outweighs the harm done to the animals used. [6] Due to the subjectivity of the term â€Å"benefit†, controversy exists about this and other utilitarian views. But he is clear enough that humans of comparable sentience should also be candidates for any animal experimentation that passes the benefit test. So a monkey and a human infant would be equally available for the experiment, from a moral point of view, other things being equal. If performing the experiment on the infant isn’t justifiable, then Singer believes that the experiment shouldn’t happen at all — instead, the researchers should pursue their goals using computer simulations or other methods. Applied ethics His most comprehensive work, Practical Ethics,[7] analyzes in detail why and how beings’ interests should be weighed. His principle of equality encompasses all beings with interests, and it requires equal consideration of those interests, whatever the species. The principle of equal consideration of interests does not dictate equal treatment of all those with interests, since different interests warrant different treatment. All have an interest in avoiding pain, for instance, but relatively few have an interest in cultivating their abilities. Not only does his principle justify different treatment for different interests, but it allows different treatment for the same interest when diminishing marginal utility is a factor, favoring, for instance, a starving person’s interest in food over the same interest of someone who is only slightly hungry. Among the more important human interests are those in avoiding pain, in developing one’s abilities, in satisfying basic needs for food and shelter, in enjoying warm personal relationships, in being free to pursue one’s projects without interference, â€Å"and many others†. The fundamental interest that entitles a being to equal consideration is the capacity for â€Å"suffering and/or enjoyment or happiness†; mice as well as human beings have this interest, but stones and trees do not. He holds that a being’s interests should always be weighed according to that being’s concrete properties, and not according to its belonging to some abstract group such as a species, or a set of possible beings, or an early stage of something with an as yet unactualized potential. He favors a ‘journey’ model of life, which measures the wrongness of taking a life by the degree to which doing so frustrates a life journey’s goals. So taking a life is less wrong at the beginning, when no goals have been set, and at the end, when the goals have either been met or are unlikely to be accomplished. The journey model is tolerant of some frustrated desire, explains why persons who have embarked on their journeys are not replaceable, and accounts for why it is wrong to bring a miserable life into existence. Although sentience puts a being within the sphere of equal consideration of interests, only a personal interest in continuing to live brings the journey model into play. This model also explains the priority that Singer attaches to interests over trivial desires and pleasures. For instance, one has an interest in food, but not in the pleasures of the palate that might distinguish eating steak from eating tofu, because nutrition is instrumental to many goals in one’s life journey, whereas the desire for meat is not and is therefore trumped by the interest of animals in avoiding the miseries of factory farming. In order to avoid bias towards human interests, he requires the idea of an impartial standpoint from which to compare interests. This is an elaboration of the familiar idea of putting oneself in the other’s shoes, adjusted for beings with paws or flippers. He has wavered about whether the precise aim is the total amount of satisfied interests, or instead the most satisfied interests among those beings who already exist prior to the decision one is making. Both have liabilities. The total view, for instance, seems to lead to Derek Parfit’s Repugnant Conclusion[8] — that is, it seems to imply that it’s morally better to have an enormous population with lives barely worth living rather than a smaller population with much happier lives. The prior-existence view, on the other hand, seems questionably indifferent to the harm or benefit one can do to those who are brought into existence by one’s decisions. The second edition of Practical Ethics disavows the first edition’s suggestion that the total and prior-existence views should be combined in such a way that the total view applies to sentient beings who are not self-conscious and the prior-existence view applies to those who are. This would mean that rats and human infants are replaceable — their painless death is permissible as long as they are replaced — whereas human adults and other persons in Singer’s expanded sense, including great apes, are not replaceable. The second edition dispenses with the requirement of replacement and the consequent high population numbers for sentient beings. It asserts that preference-satisfaction utilitarianism, incorporating the ‘journey’ model, applies without invoking the first edition’s suggestion about the total view. But the details are fuzzy and Singer admits that he is â€Å"not entirely satisfied† with his treatment of choices that involve bringing beings into existence. Ethical conduct is justifiable by reasons that go beyond prudence to â€Å"something bigger than the individual,† addressing a larger audience. Singer thinks this going-beyond identifies moral reasons as â€Å"somehow universal†, specifically in the injunction to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’, interpreted by him as demanding that one give the same weight to the interests of others as one gives to one’s own interests. This universalizing step, which Singer traces from Kant to Hare, is crucial and sets him apart from moral theorists from Hobbes to David Gauthier, who regard that step as flatly irrational. Universalization leads directly to utilitarianism, Singer argues, on the strength of the thought that my own interests cannot count for more than the interests of others. Taking these into account, one must weigh them up and adopt the course of action that is most likely to maximize the interests of those affected; utilitarianism has been arrived at. Singer’s universalizing step applies to interests without reference to who has them, whereas a Kantian’s applies to the judgments of rational agents (in Kant’s kingdom of ends, or Rawls’s Original Position, etc. ). Singer regards Kantian universalization as unjust to animals. It’s their capacity for suffering/happiness that matters morally, not their deficiency with respect to rational judgment. As for the Hobbesians, Singer attempts a response in the final chapter of Practical Ethics, arguing that self-interested reasons support adoption of the moral point of view, such as ‘the paradox of hedonism’, which counsels that happiness is best found by not looking for it, and the need most people feel to relate to something larger than their own concerns. Abortion, euthanasia and infanticide Consistent with his general ethical theory, Singer holds that the right to physical integrity is grounded in a being’s ability to suffer, and the right to life is grounded in, among other things, the ability to plan and anticipate one’s future. Since the unborn, infants and severely disabled people lack the latter (but not the former) ability, he states that abortion, painless infanticide and euthanasia can be justified in certain special circumstances, for instance in the case of severely disabled infants whose life would cause suffering both to themselves and to their parents. In his view the central argument against abortion is It is wrong to kill an innocent human being; a human fetus is an innocent human being; therefore it is wrong to kill a human fetus. He challenges the second premise, on the grounds that its reference to human beings is ambiguous as between human beings in the zoological sense and persons as rational and self-conscious. There is no sanctity of human life that confers moral protection on human beings in the zoological sense. Until the capacity for pain develops after â€Å"18 weeks of gestation†, abortion terminates an existence that has no intrinsic value (as opposed to the value it might have in virtue of being valued by the parents or others). As it develops the features of a person, it has moral protections that are comparable to those that should be extended to nonhuman life as well. He also rejects a backup argument against abortion that appeals to potential: It is wrong to kill a potential human being; a human fetus is a potential human being; therefore it is wrong to kill a human fetus. The second premise is more plausible, but its first premise is less plausible, and Singer denies that what is potentially an X should have the same value or moral rights as what is already an X. Against those who stress the continuity of our existence from conception to adulthood, he poses the example of an embryo in a dish on a laboratory bench, which he calls Mary. Now if it divides into two identical embryos, there is no way to answer the question whether Mary dies, or continues to exist, or is replaced by Jane and Susan. These are absurd questions, he thinks, and their absurdity casts doubt on the view that the embryo is a human being in the morally significant sense. Singer classifies euthanasia as voluntary, involuntary, or non-voluntary. (For possible similar historical definitions of euthanasia see Karl Binding, Alfred Hoche and Werner Catel. ) Given his consequentialist approach, the difference between active and passive euthanasia is not morally significant, for the required act/omission doctrine is untenable; killing and letting die are on a moral par when their consequences are the same. Voluntary euthanasia, undertaken with the consent of the subject, is supported by the autonomy of persons and their freedom to waive their rights, especially against a legal background such as the guidelines developed by the courts in the Netherlands. Non-voluntary euthanasia at the beginning or end of life’s journey, when the capacity to reason about what is at stake is undeveloped or lost, is justified when swift and painless killing is the only alternative to suffering for the subject.