Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Co Existence Of Feminism And Naturalism - 1625 Words

Claire Schenken Mr. Carroll English IV AP 20 October 2014 The Co-Existence of Feminism and Naturalism in The Awakening As the book that simultaneously killed Kate Chopin’s career and synthesized traditional literary features, such as romanticism, with their new opponents feminism and naturalism, The Awakening bares a weighted name. The Victorian-era setting in which it was also written can be greatly accredited to these ideas, as the influx of new ideas regarding society, gender roles, and human life and love were upcoming and increasingly present, especially in the free-thinking Creole society that The Awakening’s protagonist, Edna Pontellier, resided. Chopin implements these new ideas through both naturalist and feminist values in her†¦show more content†¦Chopin’s integration of naturalist and feminist values throughout Edna’s rebellion against society are key in understanding the repression Edna felt. Both values can be primarily seen in Chopin’s contrast of Edna and her close friend Adele. Edna goes to reject the feminist attributes of Adele, who fit i nto society as one of the mother-women who â€Å"†¦idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels† (Chopin 51). Edna’s defiance of a standard patriarchal society embraces feminism as Chopin mocks society’s idea of women-as-angels and instead portrays her as a mother, but not a mother-woman, as her children do not define her like Adele’s do. Naturalist views are additionally seen through Edna’s relationship with Adele, a traditional Creole woman who â€Å"†¦[spoke] her mind, assert[ed] her sexuality, and otherwise [broke] loose from the constraints of convention (Fleissner 238). Viewing this complex combination of Creole’s freedom of speech and affection with restrictions on sexual autonomy, we must look solely to naturalism to understand Edna and Adele’s differences. While Edna is unfamiliar and confused by affecti on, as seen by Adele’s touch, Adele is comfortable with her identity as a sexual being and a mother-woman. This acceptance of life as a mother-woman can be explained by her natural

Monday, December 16, 2019

Common App Essay Topics 2018 Explained

Common App Essay Topics 2018 Explained Choosing Good Common App Essay Topics 2018 Actually, I'd been born into this sort of situation. Nevertheless, you probably have lots of questions as yet unanswered. No matter the circumstance, create a very clear picture of its private importance and that which you did, or would do, to fix the issue. Don't neglect to explain why the issue is valuable to you! You have to stay inside this length. At length, the detail of true speech makes the scene pop. Consult your parents to spell out the rear row to you. Learn more on the subject of essay length. But if you're struggling to earn a determination, take a peek at our Choosing A Common App Essay Topic guide. The function of the Common App is the exact same too. Bear in mind that the Common App provides you with creative license. Learn about the advantages of the Common App and get our expert tips on how to handle your time this fall. At exactly the same time, you will impress the college admissions folks greatly if you're able to present your capacity to learn from your failures and mistakes. This prompt is a great choice if you wish to explore a single event or achievement that marked a very clear milestone in your private development. The procedure for your experience is essential. Allow it to sit for a couple days untouched. Life After Common App Essay Topics 2018 Our Simple Truths about the College Essay provides you with a wide overview of what it is you're hoping to do to your 650-word chance to express a compelling and unique facet of yourself. Please be aware that a few of these college essay examples might be responding to prompts that are no longer being used. Excellent essays don't get written daily. Failure essays are the very best approaches to grab the interest of the admission officers. In case you haven't got a considerable failure to discuss, then move along a there are different topics to select from. Our experts understand how to bring out the finest in your writing, and will supply you with the feedback you should create a stick out essay. On the other hand, the initial six topics are incredibly broad with plenty of flexibility, so make certain your topic really can't be identified with one of them. Share an essay on any subject of your selection. All of these are things you're able to consider while working on this essay. In general, there's no single correct topic. Now's the time to begin contemplating how you will approach the essay prompts it's never too early to begin thinking about college admissions! Even an everyday issue with significance to you can be turned into an outstanding essay. You may even recycle a paper you may have written for a different goal! Because of this, attempt to care for the essay as a chance to tell colleges why you could be unique and what matters to you. Each is appropriate, and the grade of the essay is what the majority of matters. If you decide to answer this essay, you should identify an issue with meaning and importance to you. What you share can be meaningful in a number of ways. Because everybody has a story to tell. Talk about the folks who share your passion, or the people who inspired it. You are able to discuss the folks who share your passion, or the people who inspired it. For example, you can zoom in on one specific component of your background and identity and the way it informs the direction you look at and approach certain things. Either way, you will need to explain what made you decided the belief needs to be challenged, and what exactly you actually did. You should share a distinctive component of your background or upbringing. Responses should be personal, but make certain that your idea or belief isn't too controversial.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Financial Accounting A Case Study Of Felicity Flowers

Question: Discuss about theFinancial Accounting for a Case Study Of Felicity Flowers. Answer: Introduction: The overall study mainly focuses on identifying the significance of credit card acceptance, which might help Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd to increase their profits. In addition, the novice effectively calculates the average collection cost, which is spent by the company. Moreover, the study also shows the augmentation of credit card gains, which might help Felicity to earn interest on surplus cash. In addition, the research of Daniel regarding the growth of their competitors after the implementation of credit portrays the needs of strategic development. Preparing a Table for Portraying the Average Credit /Collection Cost of Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd: Average credit/collection cost % Amount 3yr average Monthly average Average monthly receivables $ 40,000 credit sales $ 1,350,000 $ 37,500 Collection cost $ 8,000 $ 666.67 Invoice collection costs 0.54% $ 7,290 $ 607.50 Total Average collection cost 3.19% $ 15,290 $ 1,274 Table 1: Showing the average credit / collection cost of Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd (Sources: As created by author) With the help of table 1, the overall monthly credit collection cost of Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd could be effectively evaluated. In addition, the average credit collection cost is estimated at around $1,274 per month. Furthermore, the average collection cost of sales conducted by the company mainly indicates the high expense. In addition, the bad debt is mainly accounted, which mainly amounts to $1406.25 per month. Thus, it could be concluded that risk from bad debts and increased collection payments might affect the overall profitability of Felicity flowers. Oikonomou, Brooks, and Pavelin (2014) mentioned that with the help of doubtful bad debt provisions and collection agencies companies are able to recover their overall lost cash. On the other hand, Wheelock and Wilson (2013) criticises that maintaining credit sales during an economic crisis might increase the overall debt and reduce their profitability. Portraying the Analysis to Show the Interest Earnings Forgone if Credit Cards were not Introduced: Interest rate earned % Amount 3yr average Monthly average Average monthly receivables $ 40,000 credit sales $ 1,350,000 $ 112,500 Average monthly cash surplus $ 72,500 Interest rate 7% $ 5,075 Total Average monthly interest rate earned on cash surplus $ 5,075 Table 2: Showing the interest earned from deploying credit card scheme (Sources: As created by author) In addition, table 2 mainly helps in depicting the overall interest, which might be earned by Felicity flowers by deploying credit card scheme. Furthermore, the average monthly income cash flow is depicted around $40,000 and surplus of their amount will be invested at 7% p.a. However, after the calculation for 3 year average sales, the monthly sales is depicted to be around $112,500, which helps the company to get a surplus of $72,500 monthly. Thus, the average monthly interest earned by the company might increase to $5,075. Furthermore, the limited information provided by Daniel could only provide the income, which might be generated after the deployment of credit card. Disney and Gathergood (2013) argued that due to changing policies adopted by banks the overall credit card payment might get delayed and reduce liquidity of the business. Portraying the Total Cost in Dollars of the Collection Cost of Carrying Accounts Receivable: Monthly cost of credit card % Amount on 3 year basis Monthly average amount Average monthly receivables 40,000 credit sales 1,350,000 112,500 Add interest earned 7% 72,500 5,075 Accountant cost 19,000 1,583.33 Credit card sales 4% 54,000 4,500 Invoice collection costs 0.54% 7,290 607.50 Total cost for carrying out account receivables monthly 1.44% 80,290 1,615.83 Table 3: Showing the total cost of carrying accounts receivable (Sources: As created by author) Monthly cost of Collection % Amount on 3 year basis Monthly average amount Average monthly receivables 40,000 credit sales 1,350,000 112,500 Accountant cost 19,000 1,583.33 Collection cost 8,000 666.67 Bad debt 1.25% 16,875 1,406.25 Invoice collection costs 0.54% 7,290 607.50 Total cost for carrying out account receivables monthly 3.79% 51,165 4,263.75 Table 4: Showing the total cost of carrying accounts receivable (Sources: As created by author) With the help of table 3 and 4, the overall different types of costs, which might be incurred by Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd is effectively evaluated. In addition, from the above table it could be concluded that uses of credit card scheme depicted by Daniel might help the company to reduce their costs and increase profitability. Acharya, Almeida and Campello (2013) mentioned that reduction in cost is the mainly priority of companies, which help them to increase retimed profits and cash reserves despite no change in sales figure. Recommending Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd to Introduce Credit Card: With the help of above analysis and tables, the implementation of credit card scheme might mainly help Felicity Flowers to decrease their debt and expenditure over collection cost. Furthermore, the decline in cost might help the company to increase its income from interest earned from excessive cash balance. In addition, current collection cost mainly increases its expenditure by $4,263.75 on a monthly average. However, by implementing the credit card scheme the company might effectively decrease its overall cost of expenditure to around $1615.83. Thus, it could be effectively seen that implementation of credit card scheme might eventually help the company to reduce their expenditure and loan amount provided to clients. In this context, Behr and Sonnekalb (2012) mentioned that reduced credit days to clients mainly hep in maintaining the required liquidity, which might support future prospects of the company. Depicting the Change in Recommendations of Non-Financial Qualitative Factors were Considered: After considering the research conducted by Daniel regarding the implementation of credit cards non-financial qualitative factors does not pose any threat to the recommendations. In addition, the non-financial factors like service quality, brand image and reputation are not in-stake if credit card is implementation. However, the implementation of credit scheme has mainly helped their competitors and might help Felicity Flowers to increase their sales to high number of customers. Das, Das and Mondal (2013) argued that frequent change in policy might mainly reduce productivity of the company, which in turn might decrease its revenue generation capacity. Conclusion: The overall study mainly helps in evaluating the significance of credit card scheme, which might be implemented by Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd in their operations. In addition, the novice effectively shows the calculation, which might be used in identifying the appropriate strategy for Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd. Lastly, the novice effectively depicts the overall cost, which might be incurred by deploying the credit card scheme in Felicity Flowers Pty Ltd. Reference: Acharya, V.V., Almeida, H. and Campello, M., 2013. Aggregate risk and the choice between cash and lines of credit.The Journal of Finance,68(5), pp.2059-2116. Behr, P. and Sonnekalb, S., 2012. The effect of information sharing between lenders on access to credit, cost of credit, and loan performanceEvidence from a credit registry introduction.Journal of Banking Finance,36(11), pp.3017-3032. Das, B.C., Das, B. and Mondal, S.K., 2013. Integrated supply chain model for a deteriorating item with procurement cost dependent credit period.Computers Industrial Engineering,64(3), pp.788-796. Disney, R. and Gathergood, J., 2013. Financial literacy and consumer credit portfolios.Journal of Banking Finance,37(7), pp.2246-2254. Oikonomou, I., Brooks, C. and Pavelin, S., 2014. The effects of corporate social performance on the cost of corporate debt and credit ratings.Financial Review,49(1), pp.49-75. Wheelock, D.C. and Wilson, P.W., 2013. The evolution of cost-productivity and efficiency among US credit unions.Journal of Banking Finance,37(1), pp.75-88.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Theory Observation Distinction Essay Example

Theory Observation Distinction Essay Is there a genuine distinction between observable and unobservable entities? Why does it matter? How, and why, might one distinguish between theoretical and observational statements in science? I have decided to tackle both these questions because they feed into and relate to one another. They emphasize different aspects of a prevalent debate, all aspects of which I wish to touch on. Whether the question of a distinction between observable vs unobservable entities is synonymous to the question of a distinction between theoretical vs non-theoretical statements is itself a matter of debate. Quine advocates semantic ascent, the shift in which the language we use to refer to the world becomes something we talk about in its own right. Semantic ascent is a shift from questions about objects to questions about words or statements. He says we should ‘drop the talk of observation and talk instead of observation sentences, the sentences that are said to report observations’ (The roots of Reference). So obviously Quine thinks the two questions are equivalent. They have often been treated as equivalent questions, or at least not distinguished too carefully. I agree with Van Fraassen that we should at least note and respect the differences between the two ways of talking about what might be the same issue, and not make the category mistake of talking about theoretical entities, just for clarities sake. At any event Paul M Churchland disagrees with Quine that the two debates are parallel , He says â€Å"we agree (Churchland and Van Fraassen) that the observable/unobservable distinction is entirely distinct from the nontheoretical/theoretical distinction†. We will write a custom essay sample on Theory Observation Distinction specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Theory Observation Distinction specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Theory Observation Distinction specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This disagreement / confusion as to the very terrain, layout of the questions of the debate, arises because there is the ordinary language question of how do we naturally apply the terms ‘observed’ and ‘observation’, as well as the question of whether a principled O/T distinction can or should be drawn; as Gerry Fodor’s Granny says: â€Å"True there is an epistemologically important distinction, that it’s reasonable to call ‘the’ observation inference distinction, and that is theory relative. And, also true, it is this theory-relative distinction that scientists usually use the terms ’observed’ and ‘inferred’ to mark. But that is quite compatible with there being another distinction, which it is also reasonable to call ‘the’ observation /inference distinction which is also of central significance to the philosophy of science, and which is not theory relative. † It is this second principled O/T distinction that I will focus on as opposed to the ordinary language distinction, I do not think ordinary language arguments bear on the question of whether there is or should be a principled distinction. Although examining what inclines us one way or another in ordinary language usage may clarify factors that also influence us in an overall distinction, such as naturalness, entrenchment, flexibility and plasticity. After semantic ascent the question of whether there is an O/T dichotomy becomes one of whether all observation reports presuppose some theory. This slightly ignores the question of the ontological status of the entities, whether observed or unobserved, but this will come up when I tackle the subsidiary part of each question the â€Å"why make a distinction, for what purpose? †or â€Å"why does it matter if a distinction presents itself? I think the strategy of semantic ascent is useful and justified since the debate takes place in at least two domains, the perceptual/cognitive (internal) and the observational/inferential (public)â€Å"The strategy of semantic ascent is that it carries the discussion into a domain where both parties are better agreed on the objects (viz. , words) and on the main terms connecting them. Words, or their inscriptions, unlike points, miles, classes and the rest, are tangible objects of the size so popular in the marketplace, where men of unlike conceptual schemes communicate at their best. The strategy is one of ascending to a common part of two fundamentally disparate conceptual schemes, the better to discuss the disparate foundations. No wonder it helps in philosophy. † Quine word and object. But it is a bit confusing and difficult to translate debates or points between the two, and certain debates are clearer at the ground level rather than the meta-level. There are three classes of arguments that bear on the T/O distinction: 1. Meaning holism arguments. Which tend to work against the distinction 2. Ordinary language arguments. Which tend to work for the distinction 3. Psychological arguments. Which can work for or against As well as a specific argument by Grover Maxwell from the continuity of observation with inference which works against the T/O distinction. There are two extant modes for making the theory observation distinction – Fodor’s and Van Fraassen’s. Fodor defends the distinction against the implication from cognitive science that perception is continuous with cognition. Van Fraassen defends the distinction against Maxwell’s challenge that it is impossible to draw the line between what is observable and what is only detectable in some more roundabout way. Fodor and Van Fraassen have different reasons for drawing a distinction, Fodor, to defend realism, Van Fraassen to attack realism, strangely enough. Fodor to defend realism against Kuhnian relativism, and Van Fraassen to defend constructive empiricism, a form of anti-realism, against incoherence, and so pit it against realism. As Andre Kukla notes â€Å"It is not surprising that a realist and an anti-realist should agree on something; but it is curious that van Fraassens and Fodor’s defenses of the theory-observation distinction play diametrically opposite roles in their philosophical agenda’s. † Andre Kukla the theory observation distinction. But should we be driven by a philosophical agenda in debating a question? Or should we resolve the question and then decide on a position which accords with our answer? Shouldn’t we be neutral when we make philosophical decisions? Unfortunately in philosophy there is so little ‘evidence’ making up your mind is more a matter of achieving coherence, it is legitimate to allow justification to flow in all directions. The question of whether there is a T/O distinction is relevant to the debate between realists anti-realists and relativists in the following manner. So far as realists debate with anti-realists is concerned, the T/O distinction is optional for realists. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose by making it unravel. They have everything to gain, because the constructive empiricist position is incoherent without a T/O distinction. But so far as realists debate with relativists goes, realists have conversely everything to gain and nothing to lose by defending a distinction, they would defeat relativists. Kuhnain Relativism requires the lack of a theory neutral language with which to adjudicate our differences, so we get incommensurability, incommensurability leads to the irrationality of theory choice thus we get relativism. But realists cannot have an easy victory against both parties. I suggest that the realist denies the T/O distinction and so wins against the constructive empiricist. The lack of a T/O distinction does not entail relativism; a theory laden observation can still test a theory. To return to the question of whether we should be driven by a philosophical agenda in deciding a point, it must be remembered that we are concerning ourself with the question of whether there is a significant or principled O/T distinction. Its significance comes from its position within a larger debate. Frankly, everyone can admit there is some sort of distinction or difference between direct and indirect observation, the question really is how significant the difference is, whether a distinction can be drawn at a position significant enough to support any theory, the significance depends on the work it is made to do by larger theories. Paul M. churchland defines his scientific realism as a realism entirely in terms of his attitude towards the T/O distinction. He believes any attempt to draw the distinction, particularly Van Fraassen’s, is arbitrary. By any skepticism â€Å"our observational ontology is rendered exactly as dubious as our non-observational ontology† He is not an orthodox scientific realist; he is skeptical about the overall truth of our beliefs, the reference of scientific terms, and the convergence of theory towards truth. But he is skeptical about the success of all our theories, cognition at large, from a low to a high level not just scientific theories, and thus does not distinguish between the integrity of observables and the integrity of unobservables. He states that â€Å"global excellence of theory is the ultimate measure of truth and ontology at all levels of cognition†. Although churchland has exactly the same attitude to observables and unobservables, a cautious skeptical attitude, relative to his peers he has a slightly pro attitude to unobsevables, and a negative attitude to observables. This pro – attitude to the unobservables of science makes him a realist and his slightly negative attitude to the observables of everyday life make him a scientific realist â€Å"the function of science, therefore, is to provide us with a superior and (in the long run) perhaps profoundly different conception of the world, even at the perceptual level†. I agree with Churchland as to the theoretical character of perceptual judgments, I agree that â€Å"perception consists in the conceptual exploitation of the natural information contained in our sensations or sensory states† . Having done part of a module on â€Å"the brain as a statistician† I know that our perceptual judgments are statistical decision problems akin to gambling or any decision based on uncertain evidence. Because inputs are noisy – the external world and inefficient transduction creates noise- the question of whether a signal is present or not will reflect the relative probability that a signal is drawn from distribution A(noise only) or distribution B(signal + noise). Biasing factors are the probability of occurrence of a member of each category, information on which is drawn from memory. Perceptual decisions rely on perception and memory, or evidence and prior knowledge, prior knowledge being essentially a theory about the world. However I disagree with Paul Churchland as to the possibility of our being trained to make systematic perceptual judgments in terms of theories other than the common sense theory we ‘learnt at our mothers knee’ For one, I don’t think we learn our common sense theory rather it is built into our genetics. I do not think we are nearly as plastic as he makes out, on this point I go with Gerry Fodor, perception and cognition are not continuous, and perception can never make judgments in terms of grand theories which we can barely conceive. The boundary between what can be observed and what must be inferred is largely determined by fixed architectural features of an organisms sensory / perceptual psychology† Gerry Fodor Observation Reconsidered. Paul Churchland directly contradicts this saying â€Å"our current modes of conceptual exploitation (perception) are rooted, in substantial measure, not in the nature of our perceptual environment, nor in the innate featu res of our psychology, but rather in the structure and content of our common language†. How plastic the brain may be is an empirical point, and I think Gerry Fodor wins the debate with his analysis of the muller-lyer illusion. Fodor says the robustness of the muller lyer illusion attests to the imperviousness of perception by cognition. There are both perceptual plasiticities and implasticities. Kuhn was impressed by the plasticities, but it is time to dwell more on the implasticities. â€Å"To the best of my knowledge, all the standard perceptual illusions exhibit this curious refractory character :knowing they are illusions doesn’t make them go away† However I don’t think Fodor is being entirely empirically accurate. Some illusions such as the concave – convex illusion, in which heavily shaded circles appear as concave when the shadow is at the top of the circle, and convex when the shadow is at the bottom of the circle, which occurs because we have a strong prior belief / prior assumption that light falls from above, can be reversed or at least nullified if you really try. The famous duck rabbit can definitely be flipped at will. And the old hag, young girl illusion, personally I can never see the old hag unless it is explained to e, then I can. But anyway Fodor makes his point, we cannot always see just what we want to see or think we should see. I agree with Gerry Fodor that perception is fairly modular, and is not (probably) affected (much) by conscious explicit knowledge. Certainly the muller lyer illusion is fairly robust And I think far too much is made of the duck rabbit illusion – Kuhn says â€Å"it is as elementary prototypes for these transformations of the scientists wo rld view that the familiar demonstrations of a switch in gestalt prove so suggestive†. But I do not think they are anything more than just that – suggestive – because a scientist, does not, cannot form an image or representation of quarks and leptons in any way analogous to a duck or a rabbit, so this image cannot ‘flip’. Paul Churchland seems to think we can form such images, but personally I cannot. I see the western sky redden as the sun sets not â€Å"the wavelength distribution of incoming solar radiation shift towards the longer wavelengths†. However I would say our inability to alter our perception does not damage churchland’s essential point which was that perception relies on theory, implicit theory. A very entrenched embedded theory, but theory all the same. Churchland thinks the distinction between the theoretical and the non-theoretical is just a distinction between freshly minted theory and thoroughly thumb-worn theory whose ‘cultural assimilation is complete’. I think some ‘thumb-worn theory’ is actually entrenched in our biology. But maybe individual differences come into play here, maybe some people are more plastic than others, or innately sensitive to some aspects of reality than others, maybe our biology is not universal. Paul Churchland says that the person with perfect pitch is not a physiological freak but a practiced observer. But I think it most likely that there is something unique about them. Maybe I am closed minded in the sort of visualization Churchland encourages, maybe that’s just me, I had no luck with seeing in the fourth dimension even after reading ‘Flatland’ and ‘speculations on the fourth dimension’ whereas other people (the authors) claim to have, still I’m a bit skeptical. Paul Churland’s thought experiments where he gets us to imagine various other beings, with radically different physiology, beings that can visually see infra-red heat for example, raises the idea of the possibility of other sensory modalities. And although we cannot communicate with them, so they are not part of our epistemic community, there are animals on our planet who presumably sense different things to us, such as bats and dolphins. Van Fraassen insists that is ‘observable’ must be observable to us unassisted, and as we currently are, an anthropocentric conception; â€Å"the limitations to which the ‘able’ in observable refers are our limitations qua human beings. † It could be argued that Van Fraassens anthropocentric conception of the observable is not just anthropocentric, but parochial. Alternatively it could be argued that van fraassen draws the line arbitrarily: according to Van Fraassen we can observe planets using a telescope, but we cannot observe viruses using a microscope, because planets are something we could observe without any augmentation of the senses, where we close enough to them, and indeed some of them we can observe from earth, our natural position, (venus) whereas under normal conditions viruses cannot be seen. I do not agree with this objection to Van Fraassen, I think where he draws the line is one natural place to draw it if it has to be drawn, but it is just that I don’t agree with him that the drawing of the line here is very significant. I am a realist and I believe unobservables are generally as real as observables. From his drawing of the line, van Fraassen only believes in observables. Fodor lightly passes over the fact that â€Å"perceptual analyses are undetermined by sensory arrays† and are only resolved by Bayesian reasoning from previous evidence / experience, and that â€Å"the appeal to background theory is inherent to the process of perceptual analysis† Fodor Observaiton reconsidered. I think this fact is indisputable, and it is in this respect that perception and cognition are similar as Paul churchland maintains, both are theories and â€Å"global excellence of theory is the ultimate measure of truth and ontology at all levels of cognition† . The impossibility of our being trained to make systematic perceptual judgments in terms of theories other that the common sense theory we ‘learnt at our mothers knee’, the implasticity of actual human perception, is irrelevant in drawing a theory observation distinction, both perception and cognition are theory dependent. But Granted as Fodor points out against Kuhn scientific knowledge doesn’t actually percolate down to affect the perceptual. Kuhnian perceptual theory loading does not occur. There is some natural barrier. Is this barrier the location of the O/T distinction? I think it probably is if there is one. It is significant, but not significant for the anti-realist, it does not decide our ontology. It is significant in the realists fight with relativism since observations are theory laden, but are not necessarily laden with the high level theories that they must adjudicate between. So perceptions are laden with perceptual theory, but not laden with quantum theory. Fodor makes the O/T distinction in such a way that it is significant for realists against relativism, but not significant for anti-realists. â€Å"Fodor isn’t looking for a notion of observationality that underwrites our granting epistemic privilege to observation statements. He’s looking for a notion that will ward off the incommensurability arguments. And for that purpose anything that produces consensus will do† Andre Kukla The theory observation distinction. Now to explicitly tackle the questions, â€Å"why make a distinction, for what purpose? †or â€Å"why does it matter if a distinction does or does not present itself? †. I have already touched on the answer to these questions when outlining the role of the distinction (or lack of) in larger debates between anti-realists, and relativists. The question of the O/T distinction has epistemological significance; it concerns the epistemic bearing of observational evidence on theories it is used to evaluate. This is part of the debate between realists and relativists. The relativists holding that observation is an inadequate basis for choosing between rival theories, the realists claiming it is an adequate basis, or there is at least something which is an adequate basis. Observational evidence also plays important and philosophically interesting roles in other areas including scientific discovery and the application of scientific theories to practical problems. But we will concentrate on theory testing. It seems that if all observations are theory laden then there is no objective bedrock against which to test and justify theory. The classic or common view of science is that scientific knowledge is derived from the ‘facts’ or observations. Two schools of thought that involve attempts to formalize this common view of science are the empiricists and the positivists. An extreme interpretation of the claim that science is derived from the facts implies that the facts must first be established, and subsequently a theory built to fit them. This is the baconian method building a case from the ground up. This is not how science actually proceeds. â€Å"our search for relevant facts needs to be guided by our current state of knowledge, which tells us for example that measuring the ozone concentration at various locations in the atmosphere yields relevant facts whereas measuring the average hair length of the youths in Sydney does not† A F chalmers What is this thing called Science?. But the fact that science is guided by paradigms does not support kuhnian relativism. Kuhnian relativism can only be established if incommensurability is, that is if high level theory-loading of observation were established. As I have already argued along with Fodor, observation may be loaded with low level perceptual theory but not with high level conscious and elaborate theory. Proponents of competing theories often produce impressively similar observational data, this indicates perceptual theory loading is not that great. If science were blinded by paradigms that would be a different matter. Against semantic theory loading; Often observations reported non-linguistically, pictorially with tables of numbers etc. Late 20th century philosophers may have exaggerated the influence of semantic loading because they thought of theory testing in terms of inferential relations between observational and theoretical sentences. Against Salience or attentional loading scientists under different paradigms attend to different things. Yes, but doesn’t always happen. And scientists may appreciate the significance of data that is brought to their attention that had not been noticed. Attentional loading is not inevitable and not irredeemable. So observation is and adequate basis for adjudicating between theories (unless the theories are underdetermined by data). In conclusion I would say there is no absolute T/O distinction, but there is enough of a difference, enough bottom up flow of justification, to defeat relativism. A. F. chalmers: what is this thing called science? Paul M Churchland: Scientific realism and the plasticity of the mind Paul M churchland: The ontological status of obsservables: In praise of superempirical virtues Gerry Fodor: observation reconsidered Andre Kukla: the theory observation distinction W. V. O Quine: Word and Object Bas Van Fraassen: the scientific image

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Basic Unix Commands (1) Essays - System Administration, Passwd

Basic Unix Commands (1) Essays - System Administration, Passwd Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science CSCI 211 UNIX Lab Basic Unix Commands (1) Dr. Jiang Li Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Todays Focus System login Directories and files Basic commands (directory and file related) id, passwd ls, chmod man cd, pwd Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Logging in Connecting to a remote machine: Well connect to the Linux Server via SSH (available in putty) The servers address is 138.238.148.14 After connection, you are presented with a login prompt Input your username and password to login After logging in, youre placed in your home directory(where your personal files are located) Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Putty Connection Interface Input the servers address in Host Name text box Choose SSH as the connection type Use the default port number 22 Click Open button to connect to the server Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science The Command Prompt After you login, you will see the command promptat beginning of each line You can type your commands after the command prompt A command consists of a command name and some option(s) called flag(s) In Unix and Linux, everything (including commands) is case-sensitive. Command promptCommand(optional) flags(optional) arguments Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science idCommand Users and Groups Linux is a multi-user/group system Each user belongs to one or more groups Each group contains one or more users id Get the information of the login account Users id, username, group id and groups names that the user belongs to Example [prompt] $ id uid=51931(hguo) gid=14082(cgroup761) groups=14082(cchome761),16207(admin_nonprod),16210(admin_ prod) Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Setting a Password passwdcommand You can use passwdto change/setting a password for your account You need to input your old password for authentication, then input your new password two times Example [prompt] $ passwd Changing password for hguo. Enter login(LDAP) password: New password: Re-enter new password: Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Directories In Unix, files are grouped together in places called directories, which are analogous to foldersin Windows Directory paths are separated by a forward slash: / Example: /home/scs/howard The hierarchical structure of directories (the directory tree) begins at a special directory called the root, or / Absolute paths start at / Example: /home/robh/classes/sycs211 Relative paths start in the current directory Example: classes/sycs211(if youre currently in /home/robh) Your home directory ~ is where your personal files are located, and where you start when you log in. Example: /home/yourusername Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Directories (contd) Following symbolshave special meanings you need to know ~: Your home directory ..: The parent directory .: The current directory Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Files File is a logical unit used to store users and/or system data Ultimately, Linux is a collection of files stored on the hard disk Filename Unix filenames are much like the filenames on other OS. But unlike Windows, Unix file types (e.g. executable files, data files, text files) are not determined by file extension (e.g. foo.exe, foo.dat, foo.txt) Many file-manipulation commands use only 2 letters e.g., ls, cd, cp, mv, rm, nl, etc. Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science List the Content lscommand One of the most frequently used command LiSts the contents (and their attributes) in a specified directory (or the current directory if no arguments are specified) Syntax: ls [args> ] Example: ls backups/ List the contents in backups directory Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science The lsCommand with -l ls l This command gives more information about the files present in the current directory. Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Notes on access permissions Example: (a) drwxrwxr (b) -rwxr-x- First character: directory (d) or file (-). Then, 3 groups of 3 letters (total 9 letters) Owners permission, Group members, Others Within each group Readable (r) / Writable (w) / Executable (x) No permission is represented by a dash (-) Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Notes on access permissions Example -rwxrwxrwx Everybody can read, write and execute the file Lowest security, highest accessibility -rw- Only the owner can read and write the file Highest security, lowest accessibility Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science chmod-Modify Permissions Syntax: chmod [OPTION] mode FILE/DIR Examples: chmod u+rwx myfile chmod go-w mydir Remove write permission on group&others for mydir directory r: readable w: writeable x: executable u: user g: group o: others +: assign -: remove Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science The lsCommand with -a ls a Using (-a) flag shows allfiles/sub-directories, including visible files and invisible files Invisible files filename start with dot sign e.g.: .profile, .bashrc, ., .. Jiang Li, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science Getting help with man man(short for manual) documents for commands man cmd> retrieves detailed information about cmd> man kkeyword> searches the short descriptions and manual pages for keyword(faster, and will probably give better results) fiji:~$ man k password Passwd (5) -password file

Friday, November 22, 2019

Carbon Dioxide Poisoning Causes and Treatment

Carbon Dioxide Poisoning Causes and Treatment You are exposed to carbon dioxide every day in the air you breathe and in household products, so you might be concerned about carbon dioxide poisoning. Heres the truth about carbon dioxide poisoning and whether its something you need to worry about. Can Carbon Dioxide Poison You? At ordinary levels, carbon dioxide or CO2 is non-toxic. It is a normal component of air and so safe it is added to beverages to carbonate them. When you use baking soda or baking powder, you are purposely introducing carbon dioxide bubbles into your food to make it rise. Carbon dioxide is as safe a chemical as any youll ever encounter. Then Why the Concern Over Carbon Dioxide Poisoning? First, its easy to confuse carbon dioxide, CO2, with carbon monoxide, CO. Carbon monoxide is a product of combustion, among other things, and is extremely toxic. The two chemicals are not the same, but because they both have carbon and oxygen in them and sound similar, some people get confused. Yet, carbon dioxide poisoning is a real concern. It is possible to suffer anoxia or asphyxiation from breathing carbon dioxide, because increased levels of carbon dioxide may be related to decreased concentration of oxygen, which you need in order to live. Another potential concern is dry ice, which is the solid form of carbon dioxide. Dry ice generally is not toxic, but it is extremely cold, so if you touch it you risk getting frostbite. Dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas. The cold carbon dioxide gas is heavier than the surrounding air, so the concentration of carbon dioxide near the floor may be high enough to displace oxygen, potentially posing a danger to pets or small children. Dry ice does not pose a significant hazard when it is used in a well-ventilated area. Carbon Dioxide Intoxication and Carbon Dioxide Poisoning As the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, people start to experience carbon dioxide intoxication, which may progress to carbon dioxide poisoning and sometimes death. Elevated blood and tissue levels of carbon dioxide are termed hypercapnia and hypercarbia. Carbon Dioxide Poisoning Causes There are several causes of carbon dioxide poisoning and intoxication. It may result from hypoventilation, which in turn may be caused by not breathing often or deeply enough, rebreathing exhaled air (e.g., from a blanket over the head or sleeping in a tent), or breathing in an enclosed space (e.g., a mine, a closet, a shed). Scuba divers are at risk of carbon dioxide intoxication and poisoning, usually from poor air filtration, not breathing at the normal rate, or simply from having a harder time breathing. Breathing the air near volcanoes or their vents may cause hypercapnia. Sometimes carbon dioxide levels become imbalanced when a person is unconscious. Carbon dioxide poisoning can occur in space craft and submarines when scrubbers arent functioning properly. Carbon Dioxide Poisoning Treatment Treatment of carbon dioxide intoxication or carbon dioxide poisoning involves getting carbon dioxide levels back to normal in the patients bloodstream and tissues. A person suffering from mild carbon dioxide intoxication typically can recover simply by breathing normal air. However, it is important to communicate a suspicion of carbon dioxide intoxication in case the symptoms worsen so that proper medical treatment may be administered. If multiple or serious symptoms are seen, call for emergency medical help. The best treatment is prevention and education so that conditions of high CO2 levels are avoided and so you know what to watch for if you suspect the levels may be too high. Symptoms of Carbon Dioxide Intoxication and Poisoning Deeper breathing Twitching of muscles Increased blood pressure Headache Increased pulse rate Loss of judgment Labored breathing Unconsciousness (occurs in under a minute when CO2 concentration rises about 10%) Death Reference EIGA (European Industrial Gases Association), Carbon Dioxide Physiological Hazards - Not Just an Asphyxiant, retrieved 01/09/2012. Key Points Carbon dioxide poisoning results in a condition called hypercapnia or hypercarbia.Carbon dioxide intoxication and poisoning can elevate pulse rate and blood pressure, produce a headache, and result in poor judgement. It can result in unconsciousness and death.There are multiple causes of carbon dioxide poisoning. Lack of air circulation, in particular, can be dangerous because breathing removes oxygen from the air and adds to its carbon dioxide content.While carbon dioxide can be toxic, it is a normal component of air. The body actually uses carbon dioxide to maintain proper pH levels and to synthesize fatty acids.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Heart of Darkness - Essay Example He says: He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination—you know. Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate. This quote serves as pre-emptive explanation for why Marlow could not deny the power Kurtz held over other humans, despite his barbarity. Marlow then goes on to establish his love of reason and things that are real. In describing the appearance of several natives along the shore, Marlow relates: It was something natural, that had its reason, that had a meaning. Now and then a boat from the shore gave one a momentary contact with reality. It was paddled by black fellows. You could see from afar the white of their eyeballs glistening. They shouted, sang; their bodies streamed with perspiration; they had faces like grotesque masks—these chaps; but they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement, that was as natural and true as the surf along their coast. They wanted no excuse for being there. They were a great comfort to look at. For a time I would feel I belonged still to a world of straightforward facts; but the feeling would not last long. Something would turn up to scare it away. The love of the real and tangible, of work, effort and improvement are themes Conrad returns to again and again through Marlow. The character Marlow likes belonging to a world where things really are as they appear. He does not like intrigues, rumors, or deviousness. He likes steel plates and rivets, honest emotion and truthfulness. The honest work, the seat and effort of the natives was solace to Marlow as he was surrounded by plotting privateers. Marlow’s distain for intrigues and falsehood is embodied by the station manager. Of him, Marlow says: He was obeyed, yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect. He inspired uneasiness. That was it! Uneasiness. Not a definite mistrust—just uneasiness—nothing more. This character is so loathsome to Marlow that he doesn’t even inspire a single honest emotion. The manager is held in contempt in every way by Marlow. The only possible complement that can be said of the man is that he survives, but even that is not attributed to any sort of effort on his part. It is simply a result of his constitution. In fact, the whole of the station is repugnant to Marlow. He states: There was an air of plotting about that station, but nothing came of it, of course. It was as unreal as everything else—as the philanthropic pretense of the whole concern, as their talk, as their government, as their show of work. The only real feeling was a desire to get appointed to a trading-post where ivory was to be had, so that they could earn percentages. The station was a mash of plots and intrigues that were so contrived as to never even come to any account. The inhabitants of the station held titles but acted in no manner to accomplish the work associated with the title given. Work, and the importance of it is mentioned by Marlow on several occasions in telling his story. This is important because it is a vital link between himself and Kurtz. Marlow reveals his feelings towards work when he stated: I don't like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work,—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Correlation between Safety and Judgement (Pychology Static Research) Essay

Correlation between Safety and Judgement (Pychology Static Research) - Essay Example However, as the safety of a person depends on interpersonal skills as well as communication skills, the positive attitude also helps in gaining self confidence as well as keeping away from disasters in life. The usage and application of interpersonal skills depend on the surroundings and the ability of the individual to use his communication skills as per the needs. In this paper, 41 people of age groups 18 and 21 are analyzed according to the above mentioned aspects. The individuals selected are the people aged between 18 and 21 years, having mean age as 20 years. Hence, Mean age =20. Range = 3. Majority of the participants are Caucasian and the families belong to middle class. Participants visited the psychologist's lab all at a once, when they are given a test regarding their decision making and judgment. After that they met psychologist once in a month and out of 41 three of the participants visited once in three months for the first one year. Hence, for 38 participants the yearly visits were 12 and for three of them they were 4 each. Consequently, when the values of yearly visits are calculated, there are 38 values of each 12 and 3 values of each 4. The standard deviation for the above values is 11.4 and is nearer to the majority of the values in the visits data and hence the researchers considered the results. In the second year for the first six months, all the participants are asked to visit once in two months and all the participants fol lowed the instruction. In the next six months of the second year, they were asked to visit once in three months and at the last visit, the consequences of their judgment have been compared. Method In the research the individuals are given two consequences and are asked for answers. The first one is about an uncomfortable situation that demands a judgment to come out of it safely and the second one is about a normal situation that talks about the future situation. The participants responded according to their confidence level and amount of attribution. Researchers classified the 41 participants into groups according to their confidence levels and amount of attribution. As amount of attribution depended on confidence level, participants are divided into three groups basically having high confidence level as well as attribution (A), the high level of self control with resourcefulness (B), the participants having less confidence as well as self control (C). In group A, there are 12 participants, 13 participants in group B and 16 participants in group C. The division of the participants into three groups has been done based on the conversations during the visits in the first year. Moreover, researchers found that the resourcefulness of participants while taking a decision. While considering the resourcefulness, the researchers graded the decisions of the participants according to different situations that come over in the course of one's life according to the individual's community and profession. The safety and judgment results are as following according to the confidence, attribution levels of the groups. It is clear from the following graph, that the self control group that have high resourcefulness has shown greater safety for their judgments in the course of time.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Pest Analysis Essay Example for Free

Pest Analysis Essay Knowledge Representation question and answers 1. Consider the following statements a) Reema is a super star. b) All super stars are rich. c) All rich people have fast cars. d) All fast cars consume a lot of petrol. Use predicate logic and inference rules to draw the conclusion â€Å"Reema’s car consumed a lot of petrol†. a. List any two knowledge representation techniques. b. Write Modus Ponens rule. c. Define disjunctive normal form with suitable example. 2. Consider given sentences: It is crime to steal Ram stole in exam Is Ram criminal? Write above sentences in First Order Predicate calculus and use resolution algorithm to answer Is Ram Criminal? 1. Why are propositional logic statements converted into conjunctive normal form (CNF)? Convert given clause to CNF. d. Define logical consequence. e. Why is propositional logic used? 3. Consider given sentences: Ram is a boy. Gita is a girl. Ram is husband of Gita If girl has husband then she is married. Write above sentences in First Order Predicate calculus and resolution algorithm to show Gita is married. . Represent the following paragraph using predicate logic and convert each sentence into clausual form. â€Å"The law says that it is a crime for an American to sell weapons to hostile nations. The country Nono, an enemy of America, has some missiles, and all of its missiles were sold to it by Colonel West, who is American. † a. In propositional logic what is meant by contradict statement? b. What is meant by conjunctive normal form? Show the relation between universal quantifier and existential quantifier a. Define conjunctive normal form and disjunctive normal form. b. Why is predicate logic better than propositional logic? Parse the sentence â€Å"Ram is a good boy† using bottom up parsing 1. Represent the following sentence using propositional logic:- â€Å"If the unicorn is mythical, then it is immortal, but if it is not mythical, then it is a mortal mammal. If the unicorn is either immortal or a mammal, then it is horned. The unicorn is magical if it is horned. † Also prove using resolution that unicorn is magical and unicorn is horned.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Human Eye in Space :: essays research papers

Human visual hardware is a result of a billion years of evolution within the earths atmosphere where light is scattered by molecules of air, moisture, particular matter etc. However as we ascend into our atmosphere with decrease density, light distribution is changed resulting in our visual hardware receiving visual data in different format. Some Aspects to Consider: 1. Visual acuity is the degree to which the details and contours of objects are perceived. Visual acuity is usually defined in terms of minimum separable.Large variety of factors influence this complex phenomenon which includes : # Optical factors- state of the image forming mechanisms of the eye. # Retinal factors such as the state of the cones. # Stimulus factors such as illumination, brightness of the stimulus, contrast between the stimulus and background, length of time exposed to the stimulus. * Minimum separable: shortest distance by which two lines can be separated and still be perceived as two lines. "During the day, the earth has a predominantly bluish cast..... I could detect individual houses and streets in the low humidity and cloudless areas such as the Himalaya mountain area.... I saw a steam locomotive by seeing the smoke first..... I also saw the wake of a boat on a large river in the Burma-India area... and a bright orange light from the British oil refinery to the south of the city (Perth,Australia.)" The above observation was made by Gordon Cooper in Faith 7 [1963] and which generated much skepticism in the light of the thesis by Muckler and Narvan "Visual Surveillance and Reconnaissance from space vehicles" in which they determined that a visual angle of ten minutes was the operational minimum, and that the minimum resolvable object length [M.R.O.L] at an altitude of 113 miles would be 1730 ft. This limitation of acuity was revised the next year to 0.5 seconds of arc for an extended contrasting line and 15 seconds of arc for minimum separation of two points sharply contrasting with the background. Orbiting at 237 miles in the skylab it was possible to see the entire east coast [Canada to Florida Keys] and resolve details of a 500 feet long bridge based on inference. Of Interest is the fact that even though the mechanical eye [camera systems] can resolve objects greater than fifty times better than the human eye, without the human ability to infer, interpretation of the data is meaningless. Conclusion: Visual acuity in space exceeds that of earth norm when objects with linear extension such as roads, airfields, wake of ships etc. 2. Stereoscopic vision: the perception of two images as one by means of fusing the impressions on both retinas. In space one has to deal with a poverty of reference points.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

`Examine the role in the witches in “Macbeth” Essay

In Shakespearian England witches were said to be in league with the devil. Shakespearian audience believed that witches were always up to no good and people thought they were wicked and devious. Old, Single or widowed women (who often kept pets for a companion) were often blamed as being witches and their pets were kept as servants. In those times people blamed any unexplained happenings such as bad weather, gone off food, deadly diseases, deaths of livestock and even murders. Despite this people were still fascinated by witchcraft they went to see horrifying plays just like we in modern days go to the cinema to watch horror films. Shakespeare wrote a play about witches to please King James 1, he was on the throne at the time when the play was written. King James wrote a book about witchcraft called Demonology because he was fascinated about witchcraft. Shakespeare knew he would win the king over by making a play like this. The witches were only in 3 scenes in Macbeth but they influence the atmosphere across the whole play. In the opening scene the audience would be thrilled because the witches created a theatrical atmosphere. The atmosphere was very negative because there was terrible weather â€Å"thunder and lightning† this would make the scene very frightening because of the loud noises of the lightning. The witches speak in riddles this unnerves the audience by their chants and riddles for example†fair is foul and foul is fair hover through the fog and filthy air†. The audience would find Macbeth is daunting because of the eerie atmospheres of the scenes and the spooky witches. At the beginning of act 1 scene 3 the three witches are talking about the things they have done to other people. Shakespeare does this because he shows what the witches are capable of. â€Å"I will drain him dry as hay† the first witch said this because she wanted to show what she could do. The three witches meet Macbeth and Banquo â€Å"upon the heath†. Meanwhile the witches predict that Macbeth and Banquo’ sons will be kings in the future. They say two facts that Macbeth is going to be thane of Cawdor and thane of Glamis. The witches do not tell Banquo or Macbeth what to do. Macbeth thought that it’s because the witches predict he is going to be thane of Cawdor. â€Å"Do you not hope that your children shall be kings, when these that gave the thane of Cawdor to me promised no less to them?† This shows that Macbeth trusts the witches by everything they predicted and he thinks that the witches gave him the role of being the king. Macbeth doesn’t believe he is the thane of Cawdor at first but eventually he learns he is. Banquo was really frightened about what the witches claimed but Macbeth was really excited. â€Å"two truths are told as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme† this shows Macbeth like what the witches tell him particularly that he is going to be king however, he has mixed feelings. â€Å"Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs (against the youth of nature)?† this shows Macbeths reaction changes. In act 2 scene 3 Shakespeare makes the atmosphere dark and terrifying. â€Å"There’s husbandry in heaven their candles are all out† the dark represents evil and negativity which could be seen as a warning of trouble to come (foreshadowing). Macbeth’s original fear is demonstrated in his hallucinations after his immoral act of murdering. Macbeth shows signs of possessions â€Å"me thought I heard a voice say sleep no more† He says I thought I heard voices†. Macbeth shows he feels guilty by saying â€Å"amen stuck in my throat† he says this to show how he felt and whether he was regretting of the crime he just commit. The witches powers were demonstrated by strange happenings for example â€Å"tis’ said they eat each other† this was said because horses started eating each other which was very unusual and peculiar. This information was in the play to horrify the audience. Act 4 scene 1 begins with the witches chanting this reminds me of a spell. The witches always use trochaic tetrameter the effect of that makes it sound like a chant. The ingredients have unpleasant things in common for example animal parts and poisons. The most horrible point in the spell was â€Å"finger of a birthstrangled babe, ditch deliver’d by a slab† this means a baby born in a ditch from a prostitute strangled at birth. The Shakespearian audience would be horrified at the contents of the charm. In act 4 scene 1 Shakespeare included the spell in the scene to portray real witches and to show they made wicked spells considered associated with evil. The rhythm used is called trochaic tetrameter the effect of it makes it sound like a chant; trochaic tetrameter is always 4 beats per line. The witches added body parts of a Christian, Shakespeare knew it would affect the scene because people in those times didn’t trust non Christians and thought they were up to no good. Macbeth believes when he goes back to see the witches that they will tell him what to do. The witches make three prophecies, the first one warns†beware Macduff: beware the thane of fife† Macbeth thought to himself when this was shown I don’t believe Macduff anyway. The second one warns â€Å"a bloody chid† â€Å"for none of women born shall harm Macbeth† Macbeth felt he was invincible and decides to get Macduff and his family killed anyway. The third prophecy warns â€Å"Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinare hill shall come against him† this was meant by Macbeth will never be defeated until great Birnam wood comes and lives in his castle. Macbeth felt very pleased and assertive. The witches realise that Macbeth is now evil through the words they use just before he comes in â€Å"By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes† Macbeth asks the witches if Banquo’s sons will be kings. The witches reply†seek to know no more† they try to tell the truth and are warning him he doesn’t want to know. Macbeth realises he is evil and under the witches spell we know this because he says â€Å"infect’d be to air where on they rides and damn’d all those that trust them!†. â€Å"Macduff was from his mothers womb untimely ripped† At that point Macbeth realises the witches were deceiving him all along. One of the main reasons that Shakespeare included the witches in the play was because they influence the theme of deception across the whole play. The witches introduce the theme of deception in the opening scene act 1 scene 1 where they say â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair† this affects not only Macbeth but all the characters this is shown when lady Macbeth says â€Å"look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it†. Later on Macbeth realises he has to be deceitful in order to succeed he says â€Å"false face must hide what the false heart doth know†. The witches talk in riddles when they say â€Å"Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam to high dunsinare hill shall come against him† Macbeth misunderstands this he thought this was impossible that the forest will come to his castle but the soldiers cut down the trees and bring the forest to the castle Macbeth is dumbfounded. Shakespeare creates typical witches to scare the audience the type of witches that fly, induce nightmares and stop people from sleeping. The witches predict the future but Macbeth thinks they are telling him what to do he then shows demonic possessions â€Å"I had almost forgot the taste of fear† Macbeth showed lack of fear. Shakespearian audience would go to see Macbeth to get a thrill for entertainment just like we nowadays go to the cinema to watch a horror film. The witches create an atmosphere of evil throughout the whole play.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Week final assignment

For each article, address the following: a. Create a bibliographic citation in PAP format for each article b. Summarize the article, addressing the following questions: I. Who? I. What was done? Iii. How was it done? Iv. What were the findings? V. What contributions has this research made? C. Describe in a meaningful way, how the article contributed to your knowledge and understanding about your selected research topic. D. Critique the article: I. Is this article well-written and well-researched? Ii. Did it/does it lead to new ideas and findings in the selected researched area? E.Synthesize your understanding of the article with what you have learned throughout the course to describe the new learning that took place as a result of reading and thinking critically about the article. A. ADD. (1997, Par 06). Dayton Daily News. Retrieved from http://search. Prostitutes/ This article was published in the Dayton Daily News. The main focus of this article was the simple definition of what At tention deficit hyperactivity disorder is. It explained that it individuals with this disorder are unable to pay attention and are very impulsive. It states that children with this disorder often do not do well in school.No matter what their intelligence level is, they still will not do well in school. The article listed many symptoms that include having short attention spans, forgetful, do not meme to listen well, do not pay attention to details and individuals also fail to finish things they Start. This article listed many symptoms that I were not aware were part of it. At the same time many of the symptoms seem to describe many children in preschool and kindergarten age. Which it surprised me that the article stated that children need to be diagnosed before the age of 7.But I was glad to see that some of the symptoms have to create a real hardship in the lives before the individual can be diagnosed. This article was helpful in the sense that it was very simple and straight to the point. It loud be good to have as a reference in order to maybe talk to parents if problems become apparent with a child. B. Sorrows, K. F. (2009). ADD: urban teachers' knowledge, beliefs and classroom practice. (Order No. 3361083, University of Massachusetts Boston). Prosiest Dissertations and Theses, , 234-n/a. Retrieved from http://search. Prosiest. Mom/ deceive/305140059? Cacao anti=32521. (305140059). This article was written by Karen Sorrows in 2009. This article talked about the importance of teacher intervention with students that have ADD. These students were from the urban area where medical intervention is less likely to append. The article also discusses how a teacher may juggle the needs of students with ADD and the others students who do not have the disorder. It talks about the interrelationships between urban elementary school teachers use and effectiveness of research based interventions for ADD.The study showed teachers' knowledge of ADD and the support they recei ve from the school districts. This was a very useful article in the way that it showed that there are support groups and other teachers deal with students with ADD. It allows a community for a teacher to go to and get any idea and or help if they deed it. It helps put in perspective that there are many families and children that are affected by this disorder that are unable to seek medical help and it is up to the teacher to try to make the best of the situation for the children sake. C. Dovish, S, van, d. O.. Wires, R.W. , print, P. J. , & M. (2013). What part of working memory is not working in ADD? Short-term memory, the central executive and effects of reinforcement. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41 901-17. Did:http://DXL. Did. Rover. MM 0802-013-9729-9 This article was written by several authors that included Dovish, Van, Wires, ND Primps. This article talks about the defects in the working memory that are common with ADD. In children that have ADD their working memory is what is affected the most. Both cognitive and motivational deficits are aberrant working memory performance.This is a good article in the sense that it helps individuals understand the inside working of the mind of a child who has ADD. It helps show the memory that it affects and controls. From the visual to the short term memory, there is more to ADD then we know. I found this article very interesting and it is very informative on the details of he workings of the brain of an individual with ADD. 5. Summarize the overall findings of your research including the summary, description, critique, and synthesis completed for each individual article. A.In the article that I read I found that there are fewer children that are affected with ADD than prior thought. It is said that only 5% of children are affected with ADD. It also gave me some insight on what some of the symptoms are. Even though some seem very extreme, the symptoms are very treatable. Most children with ADD are able to b ecome functioning parts of society once they become adults. It is said that all children no matter what their intelligence level maybe still have problems academically in one way or another. I also learned that many parents blame the school systems for their child's ADD problems.They blame the teachers for not being able to â€Å"teach† properly or looking for a way out of teaching their children. ADD is a genetic disorder that runs throughout the family. 6. Describe two applications this research and your deepened understanding of this educational psychology topic have to the following: a. Academic goals I. My research has really opened my eyes on how children with ADD feel and hat they may go through. It is a very sad and yet very challenging. Plan to try to keep up on all the information that I can in order to make sure that each student gets the best education possible.I know that some children with ADD can be difficult in the classroom and with other students, but it is my job as an educator to stay current with all that is happening and any new teaching techniques. Taking extra classes and helping parents as much as I can is always an option. I will also learn to distinguish the difference between a child acting out and a child who may have ADD b. Personal goals I. I know that what have researched will help in my future teaching career. I plan on teaching middle school history and children at that age can be very trying at times.I can only hope that the proper steps were taken in prior years through possible academic assessments and other symptoms to get children the medical help that they need in order to do well through the middle school years. Can only hope that if by chance I do encounter a child with ADD I have learned the proper tools in order to give the child the best education I can. C. Current role I. In my current role as a mother, wife and a full time employee I can see that I eave seen many individuals with many (but not all and not c onsecutively) symptoms of ADD and to be honest it can be very frustrating at times.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant

God’s Existence According to Anselm & Kant Anselm’s ontological argument begins with the idea that God is something of which nothing greater can be conceived. He recognizes that some people say there is no God. However, while they may not believe in God, they understand that they are denying his existence. Therefore, God exists even to the nonbelievers understanding. Anselm also states that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. He also tells us that existing in reality is greater the existing only in the understanding. If existing in reality is greater, then God had better exist in reality, as well as in the understanding. Otherwise, we could conceive of something better, and God would no longer be the greatest conceivable being. Anselm’s argument is presented to the reader in an a priori form he structures it into four main premises and a single, final conclusion, making his argument hard to object against. The premises also do not rely on experience for their validation. Anselm’s argument turns anyone who says, â€Å"I don’t believe in God.† Into a bit of a fool, and it also makes this statement one of contradiction. The fool understands the definition of God but denies that God exists. An easier way to look at Anselm’s ontological argument is to become that fool, for a moment, and imagine that God exists in the understanding, solely. Now, given Anselm’s definition, this means that a being than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding, solely. This same being can be conceived to exist in reality. Even if we don’t believe that it is actually true, we can imagine a place where it is true. However, keeping in mind that it is greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we ... Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant Free Essays on God’s Existence According To Anselm & Kant God’s Existence According to Anselm & Kant Anselm’s ontological argument begins with the idea that God is something of which nothing greater can be conceived. He recognizes that some people say there is no God. However, while they may not believe in God, they understand that they are denying his existence. Therefore, God exists even to the nonbelievers understanding. Anselm also states that whatever is understood exists in the understanding. He also tells us that existing in reality is greater the existing only in the understanding. If existing in reality is greater, then God had better exist in reality, as well as in the understanding. Otherwise, we could conceive of something better, and God would no longer be the greatest conceivable being. Anselm’s argument is presented to the reader in an a priori form he structures it into four main premises and a single, final conclusion, making his argument hard to object against. The premises also do not rely on experience for their validation. Anselm’s argument turns anyone who says, â€Å"I don’t believe in God.† Into a bit of a fool, and it also makes this statement one of contradiction. The fool understands the definition of God but denies that God exists. An easier way to look at Anselm’s ontological argument is to become that fool, for a moment, and imagine that God exists in the understanding, solely. Now, given Anselm’s definition, this means that a being than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding, solely. This same being can be conceived to exist in reality. Even if we don’t believe that it is actually true, we can imagine a place where it is true. However, keeping in mind that it is greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we ...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

ESL Pronunciation Exercises - Short Vowels Consonants

ESL Pronunciation Exercises - Short Vowels Consonants The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same consonant sound followed by similar vowel sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. Pairing similar phonemes to improve pronunciation skills is also known as the use of minimal pairs. Minimal pairs change words by one phoneme so that the basic pronunciation pattern remains the same with one slight - minimal - difference. This allows students to really focus in on the slight difference in jaw, tongue, or lip placement needed to make the various phonemes. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds.Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct.Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines.Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: The big bat bet he could beat the others. - Dont worry too much about the sentence making much sense! ih - pronounced ih as in hit ee - pronounced ee as in see eh - pronounced eh as in let ae - pronounced ae as in cat big beat bet bat pig peep pet pat did deal death dad tip teeth tell tap gill gee! get gap kill keep kept cat sip see set sat zip zeal zeppelin zap ship sheet shelf shaft gin jeep jell jack chip cheek chess chat hit heat help hat Vowel Sounds eh - as in let, ih - as in hit, ee - as in see, and ae- as in catlong ah - as in car, short ah - as in gotlong uh - as in put, short uh - as in up, oo - as in through Diphthong Sounds ay - as in day, ai - as in skyou - as in home, ow - as in mouse, oi - as in boyieh(r) - as in near, ehi(r) - as in hair

Saturday, November 2, 2019

What Is Neoliberalism In The United States Research Paper

What Is Neoliberalism In The United States - Research Paper Example Unlike in other countries such as the Western Europe and Japan, the United States has been very successful in terms of the use of neoliberal policies in this country. This explains why the United States is considered the leader of imperialist countries (Dumenil and Levy 9). In general, the concept of neoliberalism is based on the classical liberal economic practice that was widely used in the United States for many years way before the Great Depression took place in 1930s (Dumenil and Levy 1, 12). However, between the mid-1930s up to mid-1970s, the US government decided to implement the use of the â€Å"interventionist† approach rather than the typical classical liberalism (Kotz). When Ronald Reagan was elected as the President of the United States back in 1980, the US government started supporting the use the classical liberalism in making public policies which aims to limit labor power, deregulate industries and agriculture within and outside the United States (Harvey). The main purpose of this study is to discuss the significance of neoliberalism in North Atlantic states particularly in the case of the United States. As part of analyzing the impact of neoliberalism in the U.S., this study will first discuss what neoliberalism is all about followed by discussing how neoliberalism in the United States has affected the developments in â€Å"deregulation† and â€Å"privatization† of public companies. What is Neoliberalism? According to Dumenil and Levy (5), neoliberalism is the â€Å"new phase in the evolution of capitalism†. Basically, the word â€Å"neoliberalism† is commonly used as a general term for economic liberalization of public policies and advocates (Fish; Boas and Gans-Morse). Since we are already in the era of globalization, a lot of academic institutions have considered neoliberalism as a â€Å"central guiding principle of economic thought and management† (Harvey). However, the question remains as to what n eoliberalization really mean and why the United States has been very supportive of neoliberalism? As defined by Mirowski and Plehwe (13-14), neoliberalism is â€Å"the priority of the price mechanism, the free enterprise, the system of competition and a strong and impartial state†. It means that neoliberalism strongly believe in the idea that a society should never be considered as a product of natural development. Instead, people should continuously promote the importance of having a free society that is subject to a â€Å"free market economy† or an â€Å"unregulated capitalist system† (Harvey ; Kotz). In general, the neoliberals strongly believe that a free market competition could challenge each business entity to improve not only their knowledge in managing a business but also maximize the use of technology. By giving each person the freedom to choose, neoliberals explained that business people can support the increase in the country’s overall economi c performance. It means that the business people are expected to become more focused in finding ways on how they can effectively increase their production efficiency and output, progress in the use of machineries and information technology, and promote distributional justice in order to increase the annual U.S. economic growth. As a free country that practices free trading, Kotz explained that the U.S. government has a limited role in its economic development. In general, the neoliberals consider the presence of state intervention as an external factor that can trigger more problems on the part of the business sectors. The public policy under neoliberalism

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Evaluation - Essay Example In addition to this, programs should be conceptualized and a distillation of what is most significant while eliminating numerous prerequisite and key requirements should be done. In this manner, scholars with financial issues can work off-campus while others can benefit from year or semester-abroad programs. To be more specific, laboratory classes can be improved too, particularly in ENGR 104. It would be useful and interesting to create and evaluate a means of assessing the best way in which the objectives are achieved. According to Lord, 2011, specialists in the assessment sector can cooperate with the faculty members committed to laboratory development to strategize and test assessment methods relative to objectives. In this context, out of the three labs of this semester, the â€Å"the greatest invention† is the one I enjoyed most, while the â€Å"heart rate† is that which I liked the least. This is for the reason that, for the greatest inventions, I could probably reflect on engineering geniuses in laboratories experimenting, connecting, and redesigning devices until perfection, yet these are processes that change everything around us. In future, I would enjoy seeing effectiveness of real laboratory equipment as opposed to simulated ones. It would be more brilliant to see if an engineering student learning online can differentiate between a simulated and a physical

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Insurance in a risky world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Insurance in a risky world - Essay Example Flood insurance reduces the fear to purchase a house in flood risk areas since it covers one building and all his or her property against damage that flooding can cause. This paper is a report to a friend who is thinking of buying a house on Trent Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1LQ, but is worried about the likely cost and availability of buildings insurance to cover the risk of flooding (Liedtke 2007, P. 7). The aim of the report is enlightening her about the factors to consider whether to buy an insurance cover and the factors that may affect the availability and likely price of insurance against flood risk in the next three years. There is no need to worry or fear buying a house on Trent Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1LQ. This is because one is able to buy an insurance cover for his or her house and its contents. The insurance cover is advantageous since it will cover a number of flooding events such as a canal or a river bursting its banks, sea flooding caused by high tide or storms, and ground or surface water flooding caused by heavy rains. It is acknowledgeable that flooding results in damage and loss of properties, forcing people to incur unexpected costs, replacing the damaged and the lost properties. Although buying a house on Trent Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1LQ is a risk, the insurance covers almost all these costs when flooding occurs. According to Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan (2007), the insurance sector is playing a vital role in regards to flooding and addressing the challenges faced by both the insurers and insurers when dealing with the effects of climate change on risk management strategies (p. 3). According to The Money Advice Service (2014), there is no need to worry buying a house in a risky world since the insurance sector covers various costs due to flooding. Such costs include repairing, restoring, and drying out your households, replace or replace your damaged belongings and

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Social Work Practice

Social Work Practice A Summary of my Understanding of Critical Reflection with Social Work Practice INTRODUCTION Reflective social work practice is a key learning and development process in social work courses which enable social work trainees to apply theories and models in critical and challenging situations in practice to enhance professional developments (Scragg and Knott, 2007). Great emphasis is placed on developing skills of critical reflection about, in and on practice and this has developed over many years in social work. Reflecting about, in and on your practice is not only important during practice learning and education to become a social worker, but it is considered a key to continued professional development. Social work is a profession that acknowledges life-long learning as a way of keeping up to date, ensuring that research informs practice and striving continually to improve skills and values for practice (Parker, 2004). Contemporary social work educators and practitioners are increasingly emphasizing the value of reflective practice as a rich source of social work theories an d skill development that conceptualize formal learning theory (DCruz et al, 2007). This essay will explore my understanding of reflective social work practice and the application of key theories and models of reflection to promote best social work practice. Schon(1993) considers critical reflective practice to involve thoughtfully considering ones own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline (Ferraro, 2000). In order to put this into perspective, I will begin this essay by looking at the development and nature of critical reflective practice followed by my understanding of critical reflection and its application within social work. Also I will look at the merits and demerits of critical reflective practice in social work. The next section will involve a critical account of my development of reflective practice in my practice learning opportunity (PLO). Zhao (2003) defines reflective practice asan ability to reflect on experiences, to employ conceptual frameworks, and to relate these to similar and dissimilar contexts so as to inform and improve future practice. Kondrat (1992) explained that reflection on practice in social work has been associated with attempts by practitioners to distance themselves from their experiences and thereby achieve a more objective view of their practice (cited in DCruz et al 2007). However according to Fook (2002) critical reflection places more emphasis and importance on understanding how a reflective stance uncovers power relations, and how structures of domination are created and maintained (www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO inductionsession.html) [accessed on 22/09/2009]. Also critical reflection, as an approach to practice and the generation of knowledge, values the practice wisdom of practitioners and seeks to generate theory from practice experience inductively (DCruz et al 2007). As a practice skill, critical reflection has been developed as a process that is taught to practitioners and students to enable them to enhance and research their practice (Fook, 1999, 2002). DEVELOPMENT OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE A review of development of reflective practice in contemporary times indicates a substantial knowledge base. The thinking about critical reflection and reflective practice has evolved over many years, through carefully constructed theories, research and application. Dewey (1938) suggested that people only begin to reflect when they identify an issue as a problem to be overcome and recognize that this can create an air of uncertainty about the outcome (Parker, 2004). Schon (1987) is widely credited with the extensive development of reflective practice and thereby increasing the popularity of reflective practice in social work practice. His work was built on the ideas proposed by John Dewey, where he describes the process of change and understanding in professional learning and development from a technical- rational approach to an approach based on reflection-in-action (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/) [accessed 20/09/2009]. He asks social work practitioners to engage in a re flective conversation where they could blend theoretical knowledge with their own personal experience to gain a greater understanding of a specific situation. Schà ¶n is of the notion that real life practice situations could be messy, involve uncertainty, and may challenge our preconceptions and beliefs. It is clear that Schà ¶ns idea of a reflective practitioner requires honesty and openness to engage in a critical reflective conversation to improve social work practice. However, he admits that this level of openness may occasionally be problematic if students are required to share their reflections with supervisors or fellow students due to power imbalances within the practice (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters) [accessed 20/09/2009]. Schà ¶n (1984) and Kolb (1983) separate works have given critical reflective practice the credibility in contemporary social work practice, where they have employed basic principle of reflecting on experience to improve action and professional practice (Saltiel 2006). In recent years the concepts of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action have become widely influential, in professional educa tion and training where a wide range of teaching methods have been developed to encouraged students to reflect on their practice and integrate theory with action ( Saltiel, 2006). Schon (1983) realising the risk reflection-in-action could create in the future as it become habitual and routinised, advocated for a much more formalised methods of reflection known as reflection-on-action. This is a reflection after an event has occurred by revisiting previous judgements in a more analytical way designed to make tacit knowledge explicit (Taylor, 2006).   WHY CRITICAL REFLECTION FOR LEARNING IN SOIAL WORK PRACTICE? Reflective practice is split into two interrelated components, practice and reflection, which are clearly not just as simple as doing and thinking. Practice, is an event which is usually, but not always, observable, which Michael Eraut (1994) calls practice performance. It includes cognitive and affective aspects as well as the behavioural. On the hand reflection, implies a number of processes which are largely linked to the practice event (www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm) [accessed 19/09/2009]. Calderhead (1989) defined reflection broadly; as an acquisition of attitudes and skills in thinking. It is a process of becoming aware of the influence of societal and ideological assumptions, especially ethical and moral beliefs, behind professional practice. The two components are clearly not discrete since good practice will, for example, consist of the practitioner eliciting the clients or service users reflections on the practice. The various processes of reflection as outlined particularly by Schon (1987) can be summarised as the analysis, synthesis, evaluation and feeling. However, critical reflection transforms practice by challenging existing social, political and cultural conditions (Clift et al., 1990). It involves ethical and moral criticism and judgements (www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm) [accessed 19/09/2009]. My practice learning experience at Age concern has challenge my knowledge and values in working with my supervisors, colleagues and service users and more importantly my experience acquired from FASU in my PLO1.   At Age Concern the environment was quite friendly but intimidating and the workload was demanding as much was expected of me.   However, by deploying reflective techniques such as self and peer assessment, reflective conversation, engaging in collaborative discussions with my team members and critically reflecting on my practice and professional development I got grip with the practice. I always engage in a reflective conversation with my supervisors and peers where I blend my theoretical knowledge acquired from formal learning with my own personal experience to gain a greater understanding of situations. Schà ¶n (1987) is of the view that real life practice situations can be messy, involve uncertainty, and may challenge our preconceptions and beliefs. It is clear from Schà ¶ns idea that a reflective practitioner requires honesty and openness to engage in a critical reflective conversation. However, this level of openness may occasionally be problematic if students are required to share their reflections with supervisors or fellow students (www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/) [accessed 20/09/2009]. Working with service users who are fifty years and above and experiencing social inequalities and deprivation in different circumstances was very challenging. My openness and honest attitude towards my service users helped me to record events in the right perspectives. Thereafter by critically reflecting on the actions taken during practice transforms my understanding of the theories and models and how to improve my social work practice. According to Fook (2002) critical reflection places emphasis and importance on an understanding of how a reflective stance uncovers power relations, and how structures of domination are created and maintained (www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO induction session.html) [accessed on 22/09/2009]. My understanding of critical reflection coupled with a supportive learning environment at Age Concern, made me to appreciate better how theoretical knowledge and skills are vital to best social work practice. It seems to me that critical reflective practice offers a highly challenging paradigm of learning. It is more of inductive learning than a deductive learning as the case may be in formal learning contexts such as Higher Education Institutions. MERITS AND DEMERITS OF CRITICAL REFLECTICE PRACTICE Under appropriate environmental conditions, critical reflective practice can help individual social workers and students to enhance their personal and professional development in practice. Appropriate conditions include: a supportive environment, social workers readiness to undergo self-reflection, individual space for individual workers to undergo critical reflective practice, workers own reflective practice and awareness of ones limits and breaking point (Yip, 2006). A supportive environment does not only imply a supportive organizational context, including colleagues and supervisors but how it encourages empathic rapport that is crucial for constructive self-reflection in reflective practice (Calderhead, 1989). It is obvious that mutual support and open sharing among colleagues is the best breeding ground for constructive critical self-reflection. Notwithstanding the supportive environment, the individual social workers open-mindedness is critical for spontaneous and critical self -reflection in reflective practice (Atkins and Murphy, 1993). Moreover, according to Fisher (1997) critical reflective practice is learning tool for social work students that provide solutions to a wide range of practice theories and models available and enables practitioner-learners to theorise their practice drawing on knowledge embedded in practice. The technique of critically reflecting on previous practice aim to promote the development of practitioners abilities to generate understanding of their practice, their theories of action and the values they hold. Another attraction of reflective practice is the hope that it seems to hold out for personal professional development and transfer of learning from one setting to another (Yip, 2006). Martyn (2001) argues that reflection can help people to make sense of the circumstances presented to social workers in complex situations, relating them to agency requirements (Payne, 2001). Critical reflective practice can be a rewarding experience resulting in self-enhancement in both personal and profes sional development. Contrarily, unsupportive setting can mostly be destructive to many social work students self and professional development. Such unsupportive conditions include an oppressive social environment, highly demanding working environment, social workers unresolved past experiences from previous learning placements as well as supervisors- students relationships. An oppressive environment implies a setting where there is an imbalance of power that is oppressive to the individual worker and discouraging professional development (Miehls and Moffatt, 2000). Sometimes it may be a highly critical supervisor, apathetic colleagues, a working team full of oppressive politics and dynamics, or insecurity and uncertainty in the social workers employment. In an oppressive environment, social workers may be obliged to disclose their weaknesses and shortcomings or their unpleasant practice experiences to supervisors within the agency; such disclosure may then be used against the worker as an excuse to abus e, to exploit, to undermine and even to dismiss them (Yip, 2006). Secondly, critical self-reflection in reflective practice demands that social workers subject their inner space and autonomy to self-analysis and self-evaluation (Boyd and Fales, 1983). Self-observation and self-dialogue also demand reflective distance that originates from the social workers own initiative and readiness (Voegelin, 2000 cited in Yip, 2006). However, a demanding workload in terms of a many caseloads, diversity of work, challenging clients may cause exhaustion and stress. This makes critical self-reflection in such settings a real nightmare and may be more of an additional burden rather than to assist the social worker or student. CONCLUSION In conclusion, this essay is an attempt to summarise my understanding of critical reflective social work practice and how it impact on my professional development as a social worker. My practice learning at Age Concern shows that related parties, such as supervisors, agency administrators, social work colleagues or social workers need to create appropriate conditions and relationships for social workers in training to develop their skills and knowledge on critical reflective practice. When social work students critically reflect on challenging issues in their placement, they develop the requisite skills and knowledge which could impact positively on the lives of service users. In reflective practice, social work students are to be encouraged to undergo self-reflection to develop models and theories that would enhance their social work practice. On the other hand, related parties should also be careful to avoid inappropriate conditions that may create possible limitations to the professional and self-development of social workers. Moreover, other researches emphasize on how different conditions affect the self-reflection process of social work students in reflective social work practice. In summary under appropriate conditions, social workers critical self-reflection can be very constructive, resulting in self-enhancement, leading to improvement in social work practice and enables students to plan and focus on what they need to do to improve social imbalance in society. REFERENCES Atkins S. and Murphy, K. (1993) Reflection: a review of literature Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18, pp. 1188-1192. Boyd E. M. and Fales, A. W. (1983) Reflective learning: key to learning from experience, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 23(2), pp. 99-117. Calderhead, J. (1989) Reflective teaching and teacher education Teaching and Teacher Education, 5(1), pp. 43-51. Clift, R., Houston, J. and Pugh, M. (1990) Encouraging Reflective Practice in Education, London, Teachers College Press. Dewey, J (1933) How We Think. Boston: D.C. Heath Co Dempsey, M., Halton, C. and Murphy, M (2001) Reflective Learning in Social Work DCruz, H., Gilligham, P. and Melendes S (2007) Reflexivity, its Meaning and Relevance for social work: A critical review of the literature, British Journal of Social Work 3(1) pp. 73-90 Education: Scalffolding the Process, Social Work Education, 21(5), pp.585-595 Evans, D. (1991) Assessing Students Competence to Practise. London. CCETSW. Ferraro, J. M (2000) Reflective Practice and Professional Development, Eric ClearingHouse Teacher Education, Washington DC Fisher, T (1997) Learning about child protection, Social Work Education, vol16 pp. 93-111 Gould, N. (1989) Reflective learning for social work practice, Social Work Education,8(2), pp. 9-19. Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall PTR. Miehls, D. and Moffatt, K. (2000) Constructing social work identity based on reflexive self, British Journal of Social Work, 30, pp. 339-348.Own Practice, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Ruch, G. (2000) Self and social work: towards and integrate model of learning, Journal of Social Work Practice, 14(2), pp. 99-112. Schà ¶n, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, New York, Basic Books. Schà ¶n, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Franciso, Jossey Books. Schà ¶n, D. (1993) Reflective Inquiry in Social Work Practice, Hong Kong, Centre for the Study of Social Work Practice. Sheppard, J. (2000) Learning from personal experience: reflections on social work practice with mother and child and family care, Journal of Social Work Practice, 14(1), pp. 38-50. Taylor, C. and White, S. (2001) Knowledge, truth and reflexivity: the problem of judgement in social work, Journal of Social Work, 1(1), pp. 37-59. Voegelin, E. (2000) In Search of Order, St Louis, University of Missouri Press. Yip, K (2006) Self-reflection in Reflective Practice: A note of caution. British Journal of Social Work, vol. l36 pp.777-788 Zhao, F. (2003) Enhancing the Effectiveness of Research and Research Supervision through Reflective Practice Walker., McCarthy, P., Morgan, W., Timms, N. (1995) In Pursuit of Quality: Improving Practice Teaching in Social Work. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Relate Centre for Family Studies. www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/MA PLO induction session.html www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/ www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000468.htm www.courses.hull.ac.uk/modules/