Reflective Paper #2

Sammi Hintze Dr. Hawthorne October 20, 2012 Core 1 Reflective Paper #2 â€Å"I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe† (47). Its crazy to think that to the characters in Feed think our life is so complex, when really we have more technology than we need. People survived life without cellphones, computers, and even electricity, and now our world is becoming ultra-dependent on these things.After reading the book Feed, various arguments can be made about whether today’s society will turn into the world Feed predicts, and be technology dependent. Is our world going to turn into the society that is depicted in Feed? Life is being controlled by technology, and hardly anybody can go a day without technology, and wanti ng to be a part of it with new technology products coming out like Project Glass. It is hard to not believe that our world is going to turn completely technology dependent, like the one in Feed.In the past, you had to send a letter in the mail you travel to see them to communicate with someone; if you wanted to talk to someone, you would have to put the effort into it and take the time to write them and wait for a response back. Then with technology advancing, the telephone was made and you could call someone to talk to them instead of writing a letter and waiting for the person to respond. Technology kept advancing, and now in today’s society, we hardly talk on the phone; we text instead, which is quick, easy, and effortless. This is what technology has done to human beings as a whole.It has brought wonderful advancements, yet at the same time, technology has been a curse and changed the way we view each other. No one really communicates with each other now; only through tex ting do we talk. This is lowering our communication skills with people and making us more and more dependent on technology, and most people do not realize that. It’s scary to wonder what is going to happen in the future. In Feed, the characters will be sitting right next to each other, and instead of talking to each other, they will talk to each other through the chat that goes through their Feed.This is deteriorating people’s communication and personal skills. I am scared that this is what our society is slowly becoming; we already have some of the characteristics and portray some of actions that the characters do in the book. Our society is so dependent on technology that most people don’t even use libraries anymore. When people need to do research for their papers, the first line of thought is to search Google. If we don’t find what we want on Google, we try another online search engine. Our last resort is to look at a library for a book or use an ency clopedia.Having the Internet in the palm of our hands is causing more and more people to become lazy and not as smart and advanced as they could become. Now even to read books we are using technology. In today’s society, more people are reading books online rather than going to the library to rent them or even purchasing them. Is the future ahead of us going to be all-online? This is a scary thought that runs through my head all the time. I don’t want to be dependent on all technology. That is only going to hurt us, and we will never learn new things.Technology has given us a great number of benefits, but there is a cost. By giving technology the opportunity to run the show, we've lost sight of how to perform these tasks on our own. When a computer system goes down, society is halted until that system is up and running again. Technology is here to stay, but it will only control us as much as we allow it. Currently, it seems we are content to allow it to run the show, a nd as a result, we've become very much dependent on technology to the point where, yes, we are controlled.We do have the power to live upon our own free manual and gadget-free will, but we choose not to. Google has come out with a new product called Project Glass. This directly correlates to what the Feed is. Project Glass is a research and development program developed in the form of glasses that show a display in front of you. Project Glass displays information in a smartphone-like format. Project Glass is also like the hands-free life and could interact with the Internet with natural language, voice commands. Since technology has advanced so much, these Glasses would be like wearing a computer.People are not going to benefit at all from these glasses; it is only going to make people more dependent on technology and less dependent on their brains and learning. To summarize, when all is said and done, technology rules the roost in today’s society. Technology has brought us w onderful innovations and helped us enormously, but as each year passes into another, more and more we, as human beings, rely on technology. Society today is controlled by technology to such an extent that we would find it virtually impossible to live without it.

The Great Gatsby: Chapter 7 Analysis

The communication of this invitation through Gatsby suggests initially to Nick that ‘something was up'. The air tension is increased by Fitzgerald's use of pathetic fallacy: the weather is â€Å"Hot!†¦Hot!†¦Hot!† so that it, like the atmosphere in the chapter ‘hovered on the edge of combustion'. It is almost the last day of summer, appropriately. There is a feeling that the last chance for Gatsby; that the darker days of autumn and winter are on their way; that things are drawing to a close with the demise of the summer. The telephone call received by Tom at luncheon (from Mrs.Wilson) adds to the air of expectancy and tension. It is also the first time the reader has seen all of the main characters of the play gathered together, adding to the idea that the climax is due soon. Daisy and Jordan's skin is powdered over, suggesting a papering over of cracks, and the falsity of the situation. Nick contemplates ‘the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles', almost palpably desiring an escape. Daisy's public kissing of Gatsby, suggests that she is ready to make the relationship public, but her ‘clogging' on the fireplace suggests an almost hysterical desperation. Tom notes the change in the footing of their relationship, as Daisy exchanges apparently trivial comments that betray their intimacy : â€Å"you always look so cool†. His response to this is an attempt to shield Daisy from Gatsby, by trying to have her travel in his car to New York. He clearly recognises that ‘she had told him that she loved him'. Daisy's ‘presentation' of her child, Pammy, to Gatsby and the assembled company has striking effect upon Gatsby; she is concrete proof of the marriage between Tom and Daisy, inescapable evidence that Daisy has shared the last 5 years of her life with someone else. Tom agrees to Daisy's suggestion that they go to town as a welcome distraction from the almost surreal scene that appears to be brewing at the house. As the girls prepare for the outing, Nick notes ‘the moon hovered already in the Western sky', suggesting that time is again running out. As Tom gets whiskey, Fitzgerald has Gatsby explain the irresistible allure of Daisy's voice: â€Å"her voice is full of money†, This clarifies the whole moral stance of the characters in the text: drawn to the money in her siren's song. Nick thinks of her at this moment as † high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl† in a vision that simultaneously draws together the multiple images of silver, gold and white that Fitzgerald has used throughout the text to suggest money and wealth. The drive to town provides another opportunity for Gatsby and Daisy to be alone together as Daisy evades Tom's suggestion that he drive her ‘in this circus wagon' – Gatsby's car. This description clearly demonstrates the contempt of the patrician for the vulgar display of wealth by Gatsby, the parvenu.

Understanding of how networks work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Understanding of how networks work - Assignment Example ly works to classify and categorize information to supposed destinations; which were subsequently screened to the router switch for delivery of the packets to their intended destinations. The corporate firewall was identified to prevent unauthorized information to get in or to prevent classified information to get out. Further, the Internet was described as a spider web of interconnected networks where the packets travel to the intended interface. Another firewall was supposed to serve as a bastion of security that allows only the packets which meet the criteria to reach the interface or the web server where packets are finally received, opened, and unpacked to reveal the information that was sought in the first place. One learned that the process seemed to be complex initially; but when it was described in a clear and vividly simple illustration, those who use the networks are provided with a summarized and concise overview of how it actually works. One therefore understood why some information are not appropriately received and why sometimes, it takes quite a while before the information user seek are finally retrieved. The visual illustration provided an effective manner to apprise viewers of how the networks work in the simplest; yet effective

The Impact of Every Child Matters on Workplace Case Study

The Impact of Every Child Matters on Workplace - Case Study Example Aside from briefly discussing the context of â€Å"Every Child Matters†, this report will examine the different UK public policies such as Equality Act 2006, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, Employment Rights Act of 1996, Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, and Race Relations Act of 1976 as a way of examining how the promotion of cultural diversity within the educational system could help each child prepare and protect themselves as soon as they are ready to look for employment opportunities. After discussing the significance of cultural diversity in the work environment, strategic ways on how to develop and create an effective inclusive learning environment for children with or without learning difficulties will be tackled in details. Specifically, the educational support needs of each child vary depending on their individual learning capabilities. Some students are fast learners whereas students who were born with mental or physical health problems may have difficulty in learning (Learning and Teaching Scotland 2007). In order to remove all the barriers to learning, the Scottish government has exerted so much effort on increasing the social complexity of each school. Under the current Scottish Executive Education Department, the Education Act 2004 promotes an equal opportunity for education regardless of the mental and physical condition of a child. The said Act includes rendering additional short- and long-term support needs related to social, socio-economic status, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, disability or family and care circumstances which may hinder a child’s learning development (Scottish Executive Education Department 2004; Killean 2003). Similar to Children Act of 2004, â€Å"Every Child Matters† was developed to ensure that the educational and health services that each child will receive equal benefits regardless of their physical and mental condition.  

Self-Defense Is Not Just A Physical Technique Essay

Self-Defense Is Not Just A Physical Technique - Essay Example Self-defense lessons also offer women an unusual chance to discover the wide range of sentiments that frequently happen when we begin to recognize the altitude of aggression in our culture. It is an outstanding vehicle for discovering annoyance, sorrow, and terror, and for patter into the delight that arrives from finding your tone and determines your personal inner supremacy. As the law of self-defense has evolved, it has become recognition of our right to defend ourselves with lethal force when we reasonably believe we are confronted with an imminent threat, which threat we did not create and from which we cannot retreat with safety. Under those circumstances, the law is ready to justify, as self-defense, conduct that otherwise would be considered criminal (Women Self Defense, Online). Traditionally, self-defense has been defined as "the act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant" (Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1989). This definition, if strictly followed, would narrow the scope of instructional content to contain only the psychomotor learning domain. Holistic physical education instructional units must additionally account for the cognitive and affective learning spheres. Therefore, a conservatively modern understanding of self-defense must be adopted-- a task that can prove challenging due to the diversity of self-defense curricula (Mencken, Pg 113-114). Self-defense is only designed to be used defensively, never as an offensive weapon. Beyond that, if there are other means of protection available, the law directs us to use those rather than choosing to defend with deadly force. There are numerous institutes where teachings of self-defense are given. Some are specially meant for the courses given particularly for women, they may include some as follows: Home Safety Precautions Internet Safety Precautions Dating Safety Precautions Parking Lot Safety Precautions Walking Home from School Safety Precautions Outdoor Exercise Safety Precautions Socializing Precautions Sexuality Concepts Bystander Effect Drugs/Alcohol/Date-Rape Drugs Trusting Your Intuition Awareness of Physical Surroundings Statistics on Violence/Crime Trusting Strangers Dog Attacks (Jacobs and Ogle, Pg 13-14) Elements Of Self-Defense Self-defense is planned to operate as a shield, not a sword. For that reason, rules have developed historically requiring a showing that the person claiming to have employed self-defense was not acting as the aggressor but was, instead, defending next to imminent attack. It is virtually indisputable that as a general rule one should not be allowed exoneration by striking out preemptively, claiming that a future attack would have occurred had it not been thwarted. But battered women cases force us to reexamine the rules that have grown up to support the principle that self-defense is only defensive in that strict temporal sense. (Jacobs and Ogle, Pg 99) State Of Mind In my view, frame of mind and psychological approach is the supreme component of any personal Target Hardening policy. One has to make a decision at the instant that one is the marauder; that someone is the conqueror.

Comparing Rhetoric Styles of Kennedy and Clinton Essay

Comparing Rhetoric Styles of Kennedy and Clinton - Essay Example John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton were not only the greatest leaders of American politics in the twentieth century, but they were two of greatest American orators also. These two prominent leaders faced many rhetorical problems during their public meetings. This paper compares similar rhetorical problems faced by Clinton during his addressing in the 1992 American Legion Convention and Kennedy during his speeches to the Houston Ministerial Association in 1960. During his election campaign speech on September 12th, 1960, John F. Kennedy addressed Houston Ministerial Association which consists of ministers from the Protestant community. Kennedy himself was a firm Roman Catholic believer and he forced to speak about his stands on religion. Because of the increasing conflicts between the Protestants and Roman Catholics, the Houston Ministerial Association members were curious to know what Kennedy says about religion or the beliefs of Protestants and Roman Catholics. In other words, Kennedy was forced to solve the problem; how to uphold his religious belief without causing any insults to the Protestants. Same way Bill Clinton also faced the same type of dilemma during his speech in the 1992 American Legion Convention. Clinton was a strong critic of Vietnam War and he had no military service experiences when he was contesting in the 1992 presidential election. The general public had some concerns about Clinton’s abilities in performing well as the commander in chief of the United States.... Both Kennedy and Clinton faced the dilemma of convincing the audience; something beyond their proven abilities, values, ideals, beliefs etc. In short, public inertia was the common rhetoric problem faced by Kennedy and Clinton. Inertia is the property of an object to stay in its position until an external force changes its position. Both Kennedy and Clinton applied the external force through their speeches to change the beliefs of the audience. I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end, where all men and all churches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at both the lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood (Ken nedy) Here Kennedy tries to uphold his belief in secular values. He tries to convince the public that in an election campaign, religious beliefs and customs have less prominence in front of the interests of the country. He has stressed the importance of isolating religion from politics during this speech. He argued that America should never become a country which takes orders from the heads of different religions. He had also mentioned that any activity against a particular religion or community should be treated as the activity against the American. In other words, he neither supported his community (Roman Catholics) nor he opposed his opponent community (Protestants). He has maintained a neutral approach about religious beliefs throughout his speeches. Thus he

Women and Society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Women and Society - Assignment Example (333-340). Is the society ready to embrace the same sex marriages? The part on To Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected is an interesting one and it keeps explaining how enlightened women are constantly stereotyped as males in the society; some are even discriminated (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 350-357). I propose that these women be appreciated and even motivated to do more in the society. In this era, the society is expected to change its perspective and even learn that women can do well just as the men have in the previous years. In Women and Men Living on the Edge, it is unfortunate how the economic strains impact the humans (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 358-360). Worse still, the women suffer more in the case of such economic strains since they bear the burden of the children and even the entire family. The women still remain the disadvantaged group in contrast to their male counterparts. This can also be credited to their being in the private sphere at most times. In my opinion, I believe a family comprises of close persons. This does not mean that these persons need to be related by blood. If one has a very close person or friend that has always been there for their tribulations, then in my opinion, that is a family member. A family is simply a group of people with a common need, not necessarily background. I would justify the differences in pay based on an individual’s certifications. A person that is more learned needs to get a higher pay and vice versa. This is because such a person has a high level of expertise and experience in their work as opposed to a person that rarely upgrades their

Accounting Fraud as a Key Component in WorldCom Essay

Accounting Fraud as a Key Component in WorldCom - Essay Example Management failed to visualize and introduce efficient reporting and honest auditing and the investors and public were indeed lost billions of dollars due to their intentional fraud. (Zekany 101) In telecommunication industry, line costs are reimbursed to local telephone companies for the connection and termination of long distance calls. This forms major single principal expense for long distance call service providing telecommunication company. WorldCom treated these revenue expenses namely lines cost as a capital expenditure against accepted accounting norms like GAAP. By treating these costs as capital expenditures, it would be depreciated over time and this would obviously result in increased current year earnings before EBIDTA. The financial scandals in WorldCom necessitated a need for a law that will hold the CEO, CFO and CIO’s of companies answerable for noteworthy monetary transactions, a law that will reinstall investor confidence in Public companies, stop financial fraud and to introduce internal checks on financial transactions and monitor the conduct of public accounting. After WorldCom accounting scandal, now, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act forbids directors, company officers or their authorized agents from â€Å"deceptively† coercing, manipulating, influencing, or misleading external auditors for the rationale of making company’s financial reports considerably deceptive. Now, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, management of a company has to report all transactions in an open manner, the CEOs and CFOs of companies endorse financial statements of their corporations, after initiating steps to make sure that sufficient internal control checks and processes at all levels are set forth. (Zekany 101) WorldCom fraud reveals that management was exceptionally optimistic and assumed unusual risks including fraud.  

The English Theatre during the Tudor Era Essay Example for Free

The English Theatre during the Tudor Era Essay The rule of the Tudor dynasty in England, extended from 1485 to 1603, was established after The War of the Roses between House of York and House of Lancaster. A period of unusual isolation for England from the Continental trends, Tudor period witnessed the developments of drama from the religious plays to Interludes in royal courts and from there to the regular drama in the Theatres. Drama began as an offshoot of the practices of the church and was thus religious in intention. It developed through the Tudor period acquiring a secular character by substituting moral teaching for purely religious instruction. The characters underwent a corresponding change: they were no longer Biblical figures, as in the case of Mystery plays, but personified virtues and vices. The some famous examples of these moral plays, or Morality Plays, as they were called are Everyman, a late fifteenth century work of unknown authorship and The Castle of Perseverance. Another important development in the English theatre during the Tudor period was the Interlude. It was the transitional form between the Morality play and the regular drama, in which the allegorical characters were displaced. Unlike moralities they were meant for amusement and entertainment. It was John Heywood who rendered interludes a definitive place in the development of English drama. He was a court musician and provider of amusements to Henry VIII. The interludes were dramatized at feasts and celebrations to entertain the court and the nobility. Heywood’s well-known interlude Four P’s (about 1520) represented an amusing dialogue passed between a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Pothecary and a Pedlar. Heywood continued his position in the Tudor court during the reign of Edward VI and Queen Mary. In due course of time, the interlude dissociated itself and became independent species of drama that was true to life and more regular in form. The influence of new learning prompted the performances of Latin plays of Terence and Plautus in schools and colleges. The next step was to create English plays on the classical model. The result was the first regular comedy in English, Ralph Roister Doister by Nicholas Udall, produced during the brief reign of Edward VI. It was followed soon after by Gammer Gurton’s Needle, of doubtful authorship, performed at Christ’s College, Cambridge. In the following years several Senecan Tragedies were translated in to English, which provided the model for the first English Tragedy written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It was performed before Queen Elizabeth in 1561. It was followed by Tancred and Grismunda in 1568 and Misfortunes of Arthur in 1587. Another popular drama form that was inspired from Seneca during this period was the revenge tragedy. Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy (1586) established this kind of drama in England. The rest of the Elizabethan age saw the golden age of English Drama with the rise of the playwrights who were commonly called ‘the university wits’ and of course, William Shakespeare. The Tudor period saw the growth of Dramas from the royal courts to the theatres. With the advent of the Interludes, the demand for the entertainments of this kind led to the formation of small companies of actors maintained in the houses of noblemen. They wandered from place to place performing in inn-yards market places etc. First of the permanent theatre, which was called ‘The Theatre’ was built in Shoreditch in 1576. It was followed by the establishment of eight playhouses in London. The most famous of these early theatres were ‘Rose’, where the plays of Marlowe were performed; ‘Globe’in Southwark and Shakespeare’s ‘Wooden O’, where his masterpieces were first performed. The Art of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci The era of Renaissance saw the zenith of the European arts of painting sculpture, architecture and literature that was not surpassed in any age. Italy was the epicenter of the Renaissance the chief characteristic of which was humanism. It was a system of vision which extolled human worth and dignity, expressing deep faith in his great creative potential, proclaiming liberty and absolute rights of the individual. The works of veteran Italian artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Davinci announced the aforesaid spirit of Renaissance and their works are often considered synonymous with the Renaissance art. Humanism and Renaissance found brilliant expression in the realm of painting, sculpture and architecture. The artists of the time made use of biblical subjects, but their interpretation had little to do with the traditional religious attitude. Da Vinci’s The Last Supper and Michelangelo’s Pieta are examples. Often described as the archetype of ‘the Renaissance man’, Leornado Davinci is regarded as one of the most talented people ever lived, on account of his genius in several fields. Like all Renaissance artists, he looked upon art as an imitation of life. He is praised for stylistic innovations, especially his understanding of anatomical structure of human body in order to represent movement. The interest in human anatomy to find the mechanism underlying the gestures and expression was a feature of the Renaissance artists. Da Vinci’s interpretation of biblical episodes had the scent of human life, with all its earthly beauty and vigor. Annunciation, which is thought to be one of the earliest completed works by Da Vinci, portrays the Humanist face of Virgin Mary. Physical aspects of man’s existence were given prominence rather than that of the religious. He is best known for two paintings: Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The latter was yet another attempt by Da Vinci to humanise the biblical episode of the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. His mastery of depicting the expression is evident in the smile of Mona Lisa that baffled the centuries. Da Vinci’s contemporary, Michelangelo was also a multifaceted genius who proved his expertise as a painter, sculptor architect poet and engineer. His out put in every field during his long life was phenomenal. Two of his best known works, Pieta and David were sculpted before he was thirty. In spite of his low opinions about painting he contributed two important works in fresco: the decoration of the ceilings and alter walls of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican. He drew the subjects from Christian mythology but giving it an intense human interpretation thereby catching the spirit of Renaissance. These paintings, for example The Last Judgment and The Fall of Man are among the most works of art in the world. One of his greatest contributions to architecture was the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Michelangelo’s Pieta, carved in 1499, is another epitome of the Renaissance humanism. It is a representation of Mary with the dead Christ across her knees. Following the popular theme at the time he depicted the woes of mother and son as human beings and not as religious symbols. Many depictions of Mary and Christ as a child at that time represented Mary and Jesus as loving human beings. Michelangelo viewed art as something that sprung from inner motivation and from culture. While Da Vinci’s art sprung from the observation of nature and of man, Michelangelo saw nature as an enemy to over come. According to him every stone has a sculpture in it and the job of the sculptor was to chip away all that was not a part of the statue. References Dev, Arjun. (1997). The Story of Civilization. Vol. 1. New Delhi: NCERT.

Southwest Airlines’ crazy recipe for business and personal success Essay Example for Free

Southwest Airlines’ crazy recipe for business and personal success Essay Southwest Airline Company Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southwest Airlines is an organization in the Airline industry and it has remained to be a competitive leader in this industry since its inception. It is the America’s largest low-fare carrier and domestically it serves huge number of customers than any other Airline. This organization operates more than three thousand flights daily. Southwest Airlines operate under an environment with intense competition; however, its marketing strategy has helped the organization to have a competitive advantage over its competitors. In all southwest Airline marketing communications, it positions itself in America as the only short-haul, low-fare, point-to-point, high frequency carrier that is fun to fly. Once the organization enters into a particular market the following changes are experienced; economic mini-boom occurs, tourist traffic increases and air fares go down. Airline industry is highly volatile, however southwest airline has remained relevant in the industry and also profitable every year meaning that it has been profitable for a period of 31 years. For most of year 2000, the organizations 9 billion dollars market capitalization is more than the combined market capitalization of every other Airline in United States. Southwest airline market strategy has ensured cost efficiency thus increasing the profit margins for the organization. Some of the most marketing strategies adapted by this organization include: using smaller airports which are less congested thus saving time, flying one type of aircraft only, and eliminating seating assignments and meal service. Even though southwest airline has been using these same marketing strategies, no other airline has been able to clone southwest’s success productively (Freiberg Freiberg, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to secure its market position successfully, southwest airline has been forced to be extremely cost-efficient. In this regard, southwest has designed a business model which uses short-hauls, single aircraft type, hub -and -spoke versus point-to-point, secondary airports all aimed at reducing the costs. Most organizations in the airline market utilize information technology like a platform aimed at sharing information from a given unit of business to another. However, southwest airline upholds a different approach. Southwest has strengthened the on-site operations agents’ roles who are entrusted with the responsibility to turn around every flight of southwest as fast as possible. In the airline market the operations agents have a responsibility for handling 3 to 5 flights at any one time but southwest strategy ensures that their operations agents are responsible in handling one flight turnaround. Southwest has established a c ulture where even pilots are willing to assist in loading luggage so as to help in getting away in time thus saving time. This demonstrates flexible job boundaries existing throughout the whole organization where any individual is very ready to pitch in wherever needed (Lauer, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Avoiding delays is the key to profitably running an Airline with turning around the planes. In the airline industry market, in a case where a delay is experienced in the airline market, they try assessing whether this was as a result of led by the ramp agents, baggage handlers, refuellers or any other functional department. However in Southwest airline delays are recoded to be team delays. Through being less precise concerning the delay cause and assessing performance through metrics which matter to the consumers. In this regard southwest focus more on learning ways of avoiding a repeat of such instances in the future compared to accountability. Airline industry in United States has experienced high price in regard to intra-Texas air travel and southwest was envisioned and was able to respond to this issue through coming up with the suitable solutions (Freiberg Freiberg, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southwest provides a travel product which is in built around flights which are targeted to particular ticket pricing and demographics that is simplified in order for the passengers to realize what they actually getting for their money paid. Before the entry of southwest Airline into the airline market, passengers and business travelers were used to be pampered, paid full price however in the end they ended up being disappointed. Southwest strategies usually gave insomnia to other normal executives from the Airline industry. Southwest strategy shows an organization which is very unusual and very devoted towards their consumers and employees (Lauer, 2010). A niche exists in the Airline market where southwest Airline has extensive potential of future growth. Southwest has been built on foundation of strategic management. This strategy has helped this organization in taking it into a new level of superiority and expanding of the airlineâ€℠¢s market. Therefore southwest possess an aggressive strategy, planned to be a constant success (Lauer, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are definitive and clear boundaries between employees working in diverse functional areas in most Airlines. Most workers are able to interact well with their fellow peers however ignore those others who are below them in the organization hierarchy. In cases where there are delays employees tend to blame those who are lower in hierarchy than them for the delay. However, in south west they have created a culture where all employees treat others with respect despite of their levels in the organizational hierarchy (Lovelock, 1992). All employees acknowledge the distinct responsibilities played in keeping planes flying by different functional departments. Therefore everyone’s contribution to the organization contributes to the success of the organization and thus every individual is respected and acknowledged. This respect by all employees of the organization helps in appreciating the contribution of one another to the organization and there is a tendency to act productively in achieving the larger organizational goals (Bahreini Willis, 1988).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southwest Airlines has utilized the following ten relationships in generating extraordinary performance; investing in front-line leaders, outstanding business relationship, hiring and training for relationship excellence, using conflicts in building relationships, using broad performance metrics, bridge work-family divide, creating the positions which span boundaries, partnering with the unions, build the supplier relationships, highly flexible job descriptions and using highly flexible job descriptions. These all ten organizational relationships are exceedingly complementally; however they only generate benefits when they are all utilized and implemented. In this regard these relationships work in unison and not in isolation. Substantial benefits of these relationships can be realized only all ten are present. This in turn realizes both negative effects and positive effects. The negative effects will be that it will necessitate making var ious changes on many fronts concurrently to attain it. On the other hand, the positive effects are that an organization which follows lead of southwest airline company and establish strong organizational relationships can accomplish great success. However, the outcomes of using the ten relationships as in the case of southwest can be both long lasting and impressive. Therefore, any company can improve efficiency and quality of its performance through adapting these relationships to its own specific needs (Tadajewski Brownlie, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leadership in southwest Airlines is a distribute process. Senior management team is popular in the public arena however most of the actual work is performed by the supervisors who with frontline employees on a daily basis. Southwest Airline in reality has more supervisors per frontline worker compared other all other Airlines, and the organization succeeds at training these supervisors in providing leadership on issues occurring on daily basis. Supervisors in Southwest present the bulk of the organization’s counseling and coaching. Southwest also makes a conscious and deliberate effort of hiring employees who are excellent in working as a team (Lauer, 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This organization also endeavors at enhancing team building skills through offering their employees training for relational competence. In other organizations, there is an attempt of retaining and attracting high performers, but southwest instead of hiring the elites it gives high priority while hiring to those individuals who are capable of integrating with other team members smoothly. Therefore, this organization recruits individuals who uphold right attitudes and then offer them with the necessary experience and skills they require to succeed. Southwest has distinct labor relations and this has helped to eliminate occurrences of employees strikes in the organization. An Airline industry is an oligopolistic market where every seller supplies a huge portion of entire products which are sold in the marketplace. Since the cost of setting up a business is normally very high the number of the organizations entering in this market is usually l ow. Organizations in this market are able to control over the prices that they charge. Therefore, when one organization offers fair prices than others, then its competitors also usually introduces similar promotions. Southwest has been facing excess competition from other airlines however through exemplary marketing strategies an Airline that paying for jet fuel using a personal credit card and borrowing tools has grown to be a record-breaking profitable Airline company. Southwest was one of the factors that led to end of the airline industry regulation, therefore getting rid of the barriers facing those entering the industry and also encouraging competition. Southwest was primarily responsible for keeping, Love, midway and Hobby airports open (Stone, 1980).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southwest is still the leader in the airline industry and it is a no-frills carrier. In this regard, this Airline offers no reserved seats, no catering and no first-class. The primary goal of this organization is making air travel affordable to those individuals who could not afford it previously and not profit maximization. Southwest makes profit on average if only the last five seats on a plane are filled. This Airline as a regional carrier is unique. Southwest is popular among the passengers since they carry their customers’ non-stop from point A to point B. southwest provides no interline connections with the other airlines, except for Icelandic Air connections. This helps in wise use of time since airplanes are not delayed by ticket counter lines or connecting travelers. Their strategies have also helped in reducing the unemployment rates in United States. This is because in a case where an airplane spends exceedingly twenty mi nutes at the gate this will increase the local rates of unemployment (Pride Ferrell, 1995).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, southwest employs marketing strategies which helps in ensuring that the organization is the most popular among the passengers. The southwest also has a culture of respecting all their stakeholders despite their hierarchy or role in the organization. All southwest employees’ works as a team and they are very motivated which improves their job satisfaction and productivity in the organization. All these marketing strategies highly contribute towards the success of southwest Airline Company. References Bahreini, M. H., Willis, J. F. (1988). Microeconomics: concepts, analysis, and applications. Redding, Calif.: CAT Pub. Co.. Freiberg, K., Freiberg, J. (1996). Nuts!: Southwest Airlines crazy recipe for business and personal success. Austin, Tex.: Bard Books. Lauer, C. (2010). Southwest Airlines. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. Lovelock, C. H. (1992). Managing services: marketing, operations, and human resources (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Pride, W. M., Ferrell, O. C. (1995). Marketing: concepts and strategies (9th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Stone, M. (1980). Marketing and economics. New York: St. Martins Press. Tadajewski, M., Brownlie, D. T. (2008). Critical marketing: contemporary issues in marketing. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Source document

Tasks and Functions of Management

Tasks and Functions of Management Executive Summary As retrieved from Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary; manager is defined as the person who is responsible for managing an organization which is mainly associated with the management which is described as the control and organization of something. (Cambridge University Press, 2008).This assignment gives a good understanding on the roles played by a manager in a management. We are able to understand effectively the do’s and don’t’s briefly on a managerial roles and managements styles for future undertakings. Based from Task 1, the managerial roles and mangement styles is deifined and explained based from an organization im involved on achieving appropriate goals of the organization. Meanwhile, the Task 2 identifies the problems or limitations faced by manager in effective decision making and how it affects the organization and management. This manager’s role and managerial styles with the barriers to effective decision making faced by managers is being explained briefly in few parts which includes the introduction, management and organization, barriers to effective decision making, and also conclusion and recommendation on the task given. The findings consist of understanding about the management, managers and their functions with the roles played by them such as interpersonal roles, informational roles, and also decisional roles. Besides that, the history of the organization with the coordination of effort, common goals or purposes, division of labor and the hierarchy of authority is being discussed in here. Not only that, the barriers types such as personal confidence, confirmation bias, anchoring bias, and illusory correlations is also being discussed for better understanding. Lastly, it can be concluded that, by completing the given task, one can able to identify the important criteria that a manager must consider always in making a decision with suitable recommendations for developing alternative solutions to the occurring problem for the best decision making barriers. Introduction To perform a variety of roles in an organization we need to study the management in order to examine the role that managers expect .These roles were solely developed by a researcher who is;Henry Mintzberg in late 1960s after a careful and in-depth study of executives at work. (Burgaz, 1997) If a manager has to achieve the goal in a organization, he has to follow the ten managerial roles which are divided into three categories. The categories are interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. The efficiency and effectiveness to manage an organization is the priority progress. Thus manager’s neglect or these processes are executed. The problem might be wrongly defined, or goals misidentified. Insufficient solutions might be generated, or they may have be evaluated incompletely. A satisfying choice compared to maximizing choice may be made. Implementation poorly planned or executed, monitoring may be inadequate or nonexistent. Decision making are influenced by few categories which can be divided to such like; subjective psychological biases, time pressures, and also social realities. 2.0 Management and Organizations The 21st century has brought with it a new workplace, one in which everyone must  adapt to face the rapid challenges and opportunities. The economy has become global and organizations have to transform themselves to serve new customer expectations. Knowledge based and performance driven is the method of the new economy. The themes widely used in the present context area are such related to ‘respect’, participation, empowerment alongside with teamwork and also self management. In the dark light of the above challenges a new kind of leader is needed to guide business through turbulence. Managers in organizations do this task. 2.1 Functions of Management In any organization, the most important issue is management. So, we should plan out things done systematically in order to be efficient and effective. Make sure that the plans are followed and the goals are met. Good management is the fundamental of a business. Maintaining a business is to achieve some success. To be more and more efficient is what almost every organization as well as a corporation and government strives for. Organizations often carry out important decisions based on how different alternatives will be efficient. Despite that, many organizations and managers undergo hard time to understand the difference correlatively between efficiency and effectiveness and often get â€Å"wrapped around the axle† debating semantics rather than actually evaluating the alternatives at hand. (Ted Schneider, 2008) These concepts are often use little consistency and in some areas drastic change lead to be interdependent. This proves that managers are well dedicated and plan system atically. 2.2 Who are Managers Managers are defined as an organized group of people whose purpose is solely to achieve the objectives and desired goals of an organization for the organization’s benefit. To get a better review of the discussed ideas and views expressed by academicians and involved practitioners; that managers are simply known as at the lowest level of management. Then, followed by the middle managers who manage between the first line level and the top level of the organization. Therefore the top level managers who are responsible for making decision and establishing plans and goals that effect the entire organization. 2.3 Managers Task Table 1: 10 Management Roles. Category Roles Interpersonal Roles Figurehead Role Leader Role Liaison Role Informational Roles Monitor Role Disseminator Role Spokesperson Role Decisional Roles Entrepreneur Role Disturbance Handler Role Resource Allocator Role Negotiator Role A manager is someone who coordinates and supervises the work of other people so that goals can be achieved. Besides that, managers too have to carry out additional task such as Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. These functions provide a useful structure for management knowledge. Firstly, Planning can be defined as striving for goals and immerge plan for coordination purpose. Secondly, Organizing meant by setting up the work formation to achieve goals. Thirdly, Leading is to lead or guide people with the integrity to achieve goals. Finally controlling focusing and supervising the quality of the work. Mintzberg described Managerial work relates to ten roles those are divided into three categories. Firstly interpersonal roles are the figurehead, leader and liaison. Secondly was an informational role which relates to monitor, disseminator and spokesman. Finally is the decisional roles which caters the entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. Thu s, clearly notify the interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. 2.3.1 Interpersonal Roles Figurehead role perform the ceremonial duties. Leader role motivate and support the workers and Liaison role involve duties with other unit bodies. 2.3.2 Informational Roles Monitor role for environmental issues. Disseminator role is that to exchange or interchange knowledge in their departments. Spokesperson role part their knowledge by sharing information outside their companies. 2.3.3 Decisional Roles Entrepreneur role is to adopt and adapt to change. Disturbance handler role set an alert supervision to clear out any serious problem. Resource allocator collects and handles resources. Lastly, negotiator role compromise with update schedules, current projects, available resources, goals achievements and injecting employees to the company without fail. 2.3.4 Company History Jack Cohen from a market stall in East London founded in 1919. Currently we operate in 12 countries around the world, 530000 employees and serve thousands of customers daily. We are efficient in our sales experience. Nowadays, we believe that we do the right things to satisfy all walks of life that prefers our service. In Malaysia, from 2001 till today, TESCO had been the best Hypermarket. The mangers at TESCO prefer the interpersonal roles to welcome customers warmly, introducing new benefits and support charitable organizations. Besides this, managers motivate and encourage staffs to achieve the objectives. At TESCO, managers regularly acknowledge employees with celebratory lunches and gifts certificates. Moreover the managers exchange ideas outside their units. Evidence shows managers spend most of their sharing ideas and information with other ‘VIP’ groups. 2.4 Management Style Management style is a managerial parlance often used to describe the how of management. It is a function of behavior associated with personality.(McGuire.R, 2005).A way which is used to manage an organization can be referred as management style. Management style is â€Å"the adhesive that binds diverse operations and functions together†. It is the philosophy or set of principles by which the manager capitalizes on the abilities of the workforce.(Nwadukwe Uche.C, 2012).Management style is often mistaken for a procedure on how to do the management framework for doing. A management style is essentially a way of life to operate throughout the organization and to be able to permit an executive to rely on the initiative of the personnel of an entity. The four often used managerial styles in an organization are leadership and management style, autocratic style, democratic style, laissez-faire. In this organization, Tesco; the management choose democratic style to achieve the goals of the organization. Inputs are gathered and decisions as well as the responsibilities are shared is a way of how the democratic style is being implemented. This can be done where the manager ignites a meeting among the team member from the same department to brain storm and to make appropriate decision involving the specified task and to have a faith and trust on the team members to have the capability to develop the appropriate direction to fulfill the decision made. 2.5 An Organization Basically, an organization as known and not necessarily a legal entity, corporation or low liability company(LLC) is a person or group of people intentionally to achieve a common goal. A business organization varies in size from one person to thousands. Therefore essential aspects have to consider about the organization’s goal. These features are explicit; therefore deliberate and recognized or implicit in an operating unrecognized with the term â€Å"behind the scenes. (Koontz.H, 1997) Usually during the strategic planning process, these features are carefully considered and established ideally. Upon completing, well consider deeply on dimensions and concepts that are very common to organizations. The prominent psychologist, all the organizations together share four characteristics which is coordination effort, common goal or purpose, division labor, and hierarchy of authority. 2.5.1 Coordination Effort The well known quotation agrees that two heads are sometimes better than one; Individuals who join force together and be able to coordinate their mental and or physical efforts can accomplish many great and exciting things. (David A.Nadier) Great inventions and sky scrapers were erected by the talent and desire of an individual. Hence, collaboration and coordination only implies with multiple thoughts. 2.5.2 Common Goals or Purposes Managerial force and the Labor force coordinate with mutual interest, it ensures to achieve the target goal of the organization. 2.5.3 Division Labor An organization can use its human resources efficiently by systematically dividing complex tasks into specialized jobs. Division of labor permits in each organization member has to become more and more proficient by repeatedly doing the same assigned specialized task. The advantage of division of labor is well known to all of us. It is better to divide human resources into diversification tasks. When experience and proficiency exceeds, an organization can utilize its human resource to carry out the complex tasks into specialized jobs. Thus, division of labor is a healthy decision that can be implemented. 2.5.4 Hierarchy Of Authority Figure 1: The Hierarchy of Authority in TESCO,Malaysia. Table 2: Acronim of Hierarchy of Aunthority in TESCO,Malaysia. Acronim: AGM Area General Manager SGM Store General Manager TM Trading Manager SM Section Manager If an organization is to achieve the targeted goal, then it should follow a strict and rigid system of management. Thus providing the necessary guidelines and resources which procedure a conductive working environment. A leader should take charge and his commands are followed. Thus, authority should be given to such leaders in order to follow orders effectively and efficiently. Coordination of effort is difficult to achieve without a clear hierarchy of authority. Accountability is mainly enhanced by having such leaders so called ‘managers’ in an organization. 3.0 Barriers to Effective Decision Making Effective decision-making is an interdisciplinary process that involves applying social psychology, group dynamics and management theory (K.Borchardt, 2010). A vital part in making a good decision is actually checking the problems which can be solved by one. However, neglected difficulties, such as cognitive biases, often cause the most challenges in making effective decisions, which ends up making poor decisions. These mental barriers are often subconscious. Cognitive biases present both in individuals and teams often choose options and making decisions. However, there are ways to identify and leap over problems. The most important fact is that to ignore and break off from these barriers such as the personal overconfidence, confirmation bias and anchoring bias. 3.1 Personal Overconfidence Psychologists diligently have shown that human beings are precisely systematically overconfident in making judgments†. (A.Roberto, 2009) Personal overconfidence leads to poor judgment and often faces high-risk decisions for not prepared for any factors. This is more common to high performers who are very self-confident and ready to bear the risk. 3.2 Confirmation Bias A contractor who possesses a lengthy history of good work performance and a good working relationship can also lead to confirmation bias. In an organization groups decision making encourages confirmation bias. 3.3 Anchoring Bias Anchoring bias is the term used for the notion that we sometimes allow an initial reference point so it could distort our estimate. (S.Nickerson, 1998) Anchoring bias can occur when negotiating renewal of a contract or negotiating a new contract. Anchoring bias can also occur when the cost of supplying goods or services specified in the contract changes. This misjudge can lead to losses for the organization which can affect the whole managerial management. 3.4 Illusory Correlation Illusory correlation can be best described as the fact that we sometimes jump into conclusions about the relationship which is between two variables with no relationship exists.(Borchard, 2010). As an example, a manager whom hires someone under him may place too much reliance on a job candidate’s verbal presentation skills, believing there is a strong correlation of these skills with the skills required for excellent job performance. Second rate candidates are more preferably to be selected or hired through this illusory correlation. 4.0 Recommendation This task helps the student to understand fully on how manager should make effective decision making and it is recommended that managers need to focus on the relevant and irrelevant considerations as well as understand fully the act and consequences arise from the decision made. Besides that, other effective decision making theories are also suggested to improve the quality of management and managerial styles. Those theories are such like: Rational Decision Making Tradeoff Behaviour Decision Making Psychology Resistance to Change 5.0 Conclusion Eventually there are many roles in an organization which involve ways to handle various situations according to their management. In an organization managers can describe the managerial roles used to familiarize with the management style so they can achieve the goals of the organization. At this moment the managers can handle or face any barriers by making decision very effectively. In this situation, we should learn how to make decision very carefully and dont be so overconfidence in order to improve ourselves in a more effective decision making. References A.Roberto Michael The Art Of Critical Decision Making [Book].- 2009.- p. 56. Borchard John K. Overcoming Barriers to Effective Decision Making [Book].- [s.l.]: Contract Management, 2010. Burgaz Assit.Prof.Dr.Berrin Managerial Roles Approach And The Prominent Study Of Henry Mintzberg 1960 [Journal].- 1997.- p. 2. Cambridge University Press Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary [Book].- [s.l.]: Cambridge, 2008.- Vol. third edition. David A.Nadier Michael L.Thusman,Nina G.Hatvany Managing Organization[Journal]// Little ,Brown And Company Boston Tronto.- p. 42. Koontz.H Heinz Weihrich Managerial Roles Approach And The Prominent Study OfHenry Mintzberg 1960 [Journal].- 1997.- p. 10. McGuire.R Which Management Styleto Use [Journal].- London: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2005.- 275: Vol. 9. Nwadukwe Uche.C Court Oggele Timinepere Management Styles and Organizational Effectiveness : An Appraisal of Private Enterprises in Eastern Nigeria [Journal].- Nigeria: American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 2012.- no.9: Vol. 2. S.Nickerson Raymond Confirmation Bias : A Libiquitous Phenomenon Occurring InMany Guises [Journal]// Review of Clinical Psychology.- 1998.- p. 58. Ted Schneider Brian Leslie Efficienc Vs Effectiveness : Defining The Difference[Journal]// Switch Point LLC.- 2008.- p. 1. Weblite Tesco Homepage [Online]// http://www.tesco.com.my/.- 09 08, 2014. APPENDIX Principles and Practices in ManagementPage | 1

Americas First Serial Killer :: essays research papers

In a later time, Minnie R. Williams would have been called a â€Å"Dallas girl.† She grew up in Big D, received a quality education at Boston’s Conservatory of Elocution and she had money. The money came following the death of the kindly rich uncle who had taken her in as an orphan. Minnie inherited his estate, including some real estate in Fort Worth appraised at nearly $50,000. After her out-of-state schooling, Minnie lived in Dallas with her sister Nannie (who had been raised by another uncle) before deciding to return to Boston for additional studies. While there, she met a good looking fellow named Harry Gordon. In addition to being handsome, he was smart. And, like Minnie, he had money – or at least said he did. Smitten from the start, Minnie soon signed letters to her sister as Mrs. Harry Gordon. The newlyweds moved to Chicago in March 1893. Later that spring, Minnie wrote Nannie and asked her to come to Chicago to see the world’s fair then under way. The sister arrived in June. In early July, Nannie wrote her aunt that she, Minnie and her new brother-in-law planned to visit Europe. That letter, written July 4, 1893, was the last time anyone ever heard from either of the two sisters. Later that summer, their relatives engaged the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency to find the two young women. Meanwhile, an affable Midwesterner got off the train in Fort Worth to handle a little financial business. At the Tarrant County Clerk’s office he filed a deed signed over to him by his wife, Minnie Williams Gordon, preparatory to making improvements to the property. Gordon soon hired a contractor to build an expensive three-story stone and frame building on the lot. With construction still under way, Gordon borrowed $20,000, using his real estate and the planned improvements as collateral. But Gordon seemed to have trouble making the loan payments. Before long, he borrowed something else – someone’s horse – and â€Å"consolidated† his debt by riding that horse out of state with most of the bank’s $20,000 in his pocket. The Pinkerton men on the case succeeded in unraveling it, tracing Gordon to Boston. When Bean Town police arrested him on Nov. 17, 1894, he confessed to scamming folks in Texas. But he did not confess all at first. When he lived in Chicago, he said, â€Å"I fell in with a typewriter girl [Minnie] and furnished a house on the outskirts of the city, where we lived together.

The European Revolutions of 1848 Essay -- European History

The revolutions of 1848 were widespread and affected about 50 countries in Europe, considering the previously separate lands of Germany and Italy. These revolutions were extremely violent and costly. In terms of lives, tens of thousands were lost during battles with several thousand more being lost in executions. Over 100,000 individuals were jailed or exiled as well. While these individual countries had significant nationalistic grievances, such as anti-Austrian attitudes in Italy, anti-Russian and anti-Turkish opinions in Rumania, anti-Habsburg in Prague and Budapest, German patriotism divided German as did Polish patriotism in Poland; it was the political and economic struggle that were the prevailing catalysts for the revolutionary uprisings. There was widespread economic crisis in the European continent in the mid 19th century. Agricultural failures from 1845-1847 which resulted in increased food prices impeded the people’s ability to buy food. The people in Berlin were so angered over the cost of food that they rioted for four days. A third of the German population was on government relief by 1847, resulting in the number of Germans leaving for the United States in search of farmland to increase dramatically. In Prussian Silesia and Austrian Galicia over a quarter of a million people died as a result of starvation. Anger over the ancient regime of government and its political tyranny was viewed as the single most important cause of the numerous revolutions. Heightened political awareness due to the invention and extensive use of the printing press was instrumental in fostering political awareness of new ideas such as liberalism, nationalism and socialism. Additionally, many of the countries were aware of the succ... ... positive results of the uprisings were the spread of parliamentary governments, the allowance of manhood suffrage in France and briefly, in Austria, the elimination of lord owned and tenant farmed land in Central Europe, the beginnings of the German and Italian unification movements, and the establishment of Hungary as an equal partner with Austria under Hapsburg rule. Works Cited Western Civilization: A Brief History, Complete [Paperback] By Marvin Perry, Publisher: Wadsworth-Cengage Publishing; 7th edition 2010 pp 333-347 â€Å"Sparknotes† http://www.sparknotes.com/ Linked from â€Å"Sparknotes† The Revolutions of 1848 (1848) http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1871/section1.html â€Å"Fordham University† http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.asp Linked from â€Å"Fordham University† Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/index.htm

Offer and Acceptance Essay

For this case the major issue is whether a valid contract is made between Tina and Yatie, and whether the the offer by Yatie was revoked or not. According to (Miller & Jentz, 2010) every contract will involve atleast two parties. That is the offeror and the offeree. The offerer is the party who makes the offer, and the offeree is the person to whom the offer is made to. OFFER As per (Clarkson, Miller, Jentz, & Cross, 2009) an offer is a promise or commitment to do or not to do a certain thing. And there are three elements for an effective offer to be legally bounding from the common law. They are: the intention must be serious, its terms should be definite, and must be communicated to the oferee. In this case Yatie sends the offer letter proposing to supply hancrafts to Tina. The offer clearly satisfies these elements. Firstly it is evident that Yatie’s serious intention as she requested a written acceptance from Tina, as an objective aproach. If we look in to the case of Lucy v. Zehmer, 196 Va. 493; 84 S.E.2d 516 [1954], the parties signed a document which was for the sale of land and it was binding. Similarly in this case the intention to create legal relations is evident from the Yaties request to Tina to send a written acceptance. Secondly it has clear terms (to supply handcrafts) of what they are going to do. The offer from Yatie was clear in this case, and unlike in the case of Ahmad Meah & Anor v. Nacodah Merican [1890] 4 Ky 583 where offer was too vague. And for the last element, the communication of the offer was complete when it was received by Tina (the intended party) on 4th September 2011 and when it becomed knowledge to Tina, in line with the section 4(1) of the Contracts Act 1950: Act 136 (CA) So the offer by Yatie was complete. ACCEPTANCE Looking into the acceptance, Tina’s acceptance was communicated by her staff Anis. Acceptance is the voluntary agreement to the terms of the offer by the offeree (Clarkson, Miller, Jentz, & Cross, 2009). As Tina requested her staff Anis (an agent for Tina while Tina is the principal) to noitify her acceptance of the offer to Yatie. According to (Schneeman, 2010) because of the fiduciary relationship between the agent and the principal, the agent can act on behalf of the principal. If Anis accepted the offer as in the case of Powell v Lee [1908] 99 LT 284, then the acceptance will be held as not communicated. But in this case Anis was given actual authority from Tina by granting expressly verbally to accept the proposal of Yatie by asking to fax the acceptance. When Anis telephoned on 7th September 2011 to Yatie’s office to confirm the acceptance, that is also acceptance enough, as in the case of Tinn v Hoffman [1873] 29 LT 271 the ruling was although a writen acceptance is requested, other methods such as telegram and verbal messeges can be used as means of acceptance. Even in the case of Adams v Lindsell [1818] EWHC KB J59 it was held that that the acceptance was communicated although the acceptance letter got misdirected and delayed. Therefore Tina’s acceptance will be effective on 6th September 2011. When Anis posted the letter on 6th September 2011, the acceptance was completed; as from that moment onwards the control of delivering the message is out of control by Anis on behalf of Tina. Section 4(2)(a) of CA affirms so for the acceptor. And according to (Miller & Jentz, 2010) for such situations the ‘mail box rule’, which is also reffered to as the ‘postal rule’ or the ‘deposited acceptance rule’ will apply. And this rule was formed to avoid the confusion of situations similar to this case of Tina and Yatie. CONSIDERATION Consideration is the reason for the promise. And if there is no consideration in an agreement, the contract would be void as per Section 26 of CA. In this case Tina commited to receive Yatie’s offer of handicrafts supply, and the commitment is consideration enough as per Section 2(d) of CA. Yatie will expect Tina to complete her transaction. And with Tina’s acceptance, her commitment will probably have affected her other business activities, and she also probably have rejected other business opportunities and offers due to her commitment to Yatie. So the consideration has passed between Yatie and Tina. REVOCATION When the revocation of the offer is sent the acceptance is already posted. And the outcome is that the revocation by the offoror will only be effective when the revocation becomes knowledge to the offeree. But when the oferee dispatches the acceptance, it will instantly be effective. The case of Byrne v Van Tienhoven [1880] 5 CPD 344 illustrates the acceptance & revocation of the offer by postal rule. In that case the facts are that the revocation of the offer will only be communicated when the offeree receive it. And not on the date the offeror posts the revocation. Section 4(2)(b) of CA gives the condition that the offerors revocation will only be completed when the intended party is aware about it. And for the revocation SMS on 8th September 2011 by Yatie would not apply, as it was sent after the acceptance by Tina which was on the 6th September 2011. For example even if the Yatie’s SMS was sent before the acceptance, the revocation will still not be effective because as per the section 4(2)(b) of CA. But if we look into the case of Holwell Securities v Hughes [1974] 1 WLR 155, the postal rule was overruled, since the defendant had specified to give the acceptance notice in writing before a certain deadline and was held that the offeror should actually receive it. Based on this ground, Yatie can claim that she had specified the acceptance to be given in writing and she did not actually receive the acceptance. But if we look into the section 5 (3) of the CA, a proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance, and is complete as against the proposer, but not afterwards. And thus the above said case (Holwell v Hughes) is overruled by the contracts Act. And in this case offer, acceptance and consideration were complete. And revocation by Yatie was not complete since Tina did not receive it before her acceptance. So, looking in to the facts, its highly probable for a valid promise to exist between Yatie and Tina.

Intellectual Standards

Becoming a Fair-Minded Thinker Weak versus Strong Critical Thinking Critical thinking involves basic intellectual skills, but these skills can be used to serve two incompatible ends: self-centeredness or fair-mindedness. As we are learning the basic intellectual skills that critical thinking entails, we can begin to use those skills in a selfish or in a fair-minded way. For example, when students are taught how to recognize mistakes in reasoning (commonly called fallacies), most students see those mistakes principally in the reasoning they already disapprove of rather than in their own reasoning.They develop some proficiency in making their opponent’s thinking look bad. Liberals see mistakes in the arguments of conservatives; conservatives see mistakes in the arguments of liberals. Believers see mistakes in the thinking of nonbelievers; nonbelievers see mistakes in the thinking of believers. Those who oppose abortion readily see mistakes in the arguments for abortion; those wh o favor abortion readily see mistakes in the arguments against it. We call these thinkers weak-sense critical thinkers.We call the thinking â€Å"weak† because, though it is working well for the thinker in some respects, it is missing certain important higher-level skills and values of critical thinking. Most significantly, it fails to consider, in good faith, viewpoints that contradict its own viewpoint. It lacks fair-mindedness. Another traditional name for the weak-sense thinker is found in the word sophist. Sophistry is the art of winning arguments regardless of whether there are obvious problems in the thinking being used.There is a set of lower-level skills of rhetoric, or argumentation, by which one can make poor thinking look good and good thinking look bad. We see this often in unethical lawyers and politicians who are more concerned with winning than with anything else. They use emotionalism and trickery in an intellectually skilled way. Sophistic thinkers succeed o nly if they do not come up against what we call strong-sense critical thinkers. Strong-sense critical thinkers are not easily tricked by slick argumentation.As William Graham Sumner (1906) said almost a century ago, they cannot be stampeded . . . are slow to believe . . can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without certainty and without pain . . . can wait for evidence and weigh evidence . . . can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices†¦ Perhaps even more important, strong-sense critical thinkers strive to be fair- minded. They use thinking in an ethically responsible manner. They work to empathize with the viewpoints of others. They are willing to listen to arguments they do not necessarily hold.They change their views when faced with better reasoning. Rather than using their thinking to manipulate others and to hide from the truth (in a weak-sense way), they use thinking in an ethical, reasonable manner. We believe that the world already has too many ski lled selfish thinkers, too many sophists and intellectual con artists, too many unscrupulous lawyers and politicians who specialize in twisting information and evidence to support their selfish interests and the vested interests of those who pay them.We hope that you, the reader, will develop as a highly skilled, fair-minded thinker, one capable of exposing those who are masters at playing intellectual games at the expense of the well-being of innocent people. We hope as well that you develop the intellectual courage to argue publicly against what is unethical in human thinking. We write this book with the assumption that you will take seriously the fair-mindedness implied by strong-sense critical thinking.To think critically in the strong sense requires that we develop fair-mindedness at the same time that we learn basic critical thinking skills, and thus begin to â€Å"practice† fair-mindedness in our thinking. If we do, we avoid using our skills to gain advantage over othe rs. We treat all thinking by the same high standards. We expect good reasoning from those who support us as well as those who oppose us. We subject our own reasoning to the same criteria we apply to reasoning to which we are unsympathetic.We question our own purposes, evidence, conclusions, implications, and point of view with the same vigor as we question those of others. Developing fair-minded thinkers try to see the actual strengths and weaknesses of any reasoning they assess. This is the kind of thinker we hope this book will help you become. So, right from the beginning, we are going to explore the characteristics that are required for the strongest, most fair-minded thinking. As you read through the rest of the book, we hope you will notice how we are attempting to foster â€Å"strong-sense† critical thinking.Indeed, unless we indicate otherwise, every time we now use the words critical thinking, from this point forward, we will mean critical thinking in the strong sens e. In the remainder of this chapter, we will explore the various intellectual â€Å"virtues† that fair-minded thinking requires. There is much more to fair-mindedness than most people realize. Fair-mindedness requires a family of interrelated and interdependent states of mind. One final point: In addition to fair-mindedness, strong-sense critical thinking implies higher-order thinking.As you develop as a thinker and internalize the traits of mind that we shall soon discuss, you will develop a variety of skills and insights that are absent in the weak-sense critical thinker. As we examine how the various traits of mind are conducive to fair-mindedness, we will also look at the manner in which the traits contribute to quality of thought (in general). In addition to the fairness that strong-sense critical thinking implies, depth of thinking and high quality of thinking are also implied.Weak-sense critical thinkers develop a range of intellectual skills (for example, skills of ar gumentation) and may achieve some success in getting what they want, but they do not develop any of the traits that are highlighted in this chapter. For example, some students are able to use their intelligence and thinking skills to get high grades without taking seriously the subjects they are studying. They become masters, if you will, of â€Å"beating the system. † They develop test- taking and note-taking skills. They develop their short-term memory.They learn to appeal to the prejudices of their teachers. They become academic sophists— skilled only when functioning on the surface of things. They may even transfer these abilities to other domains of their lives. But such skill development does not entail those skills that presuppose the traits we shall now examine. [pic] Figure 1. 1 Critical thinkers strive to develop essential traits or characteristics of mind. These are interrelated intellectual habits that enable one to open, discipline, and improve mental func tioning. [pic] Figure 1. 2 These are the opposites of the intellectual virtues.Our natural disposition to develop them is an important reason why new need to develop countervailing traits.. Let us turn to the component traits of the strong-sense critical thinker. After we take up each individual trait as that trait stands in relation to fair-mindedness, we will highlight the significance of the trait as a contributor to the general development of high levels of thinking. What Does Fair-Mindedness Require? First, the basic concept: To be fair-minded is to strive to treat every viewpoint relevant to a situation in an unbiased, unprejudiced way.It entails a consciousness of the fact that we, by nature, tend to prejudge the views of others, placing them into â€Å"favorable† (agrees with us) and â€Å"unfavorable† (disagrees with us) categories. We tend to give less weight to contrary views than to our own. This is especially true when we have selfish reasons for opposing views. If, for example, we can ignore the viewpoint of the millions of people in the world who live in extreme poverty, we can avoid having to give up something to help them.Thus fair-mindedness is especially important when the situation calls on us to consider views that we don’t want to consider. Fair-mindedness entails a consciousness of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to one’s own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings or selfish interests of one’s friends, community, or nation. It implies adherence to intellectual standards (such as accuracy and sound logic), uninfluenced by one’s own advantage or the advantage of one’s group. The opposite of fair-mindedness is intellectual unfairness.It is demonstrated by the failure of thinkers to feel any responsibility to treat points of view or ways of thinking significantly different from their own by the same standards that they treat their own. Achieving a truly fair-m inded state of mind is challenging. It requires us to simultaneously become intellectually humble, intellectually courageous, intellectually empathetic, intellectually honest, intellectually perseverant, confident in reason (as a tool of discovery and learning), and intellectually autonomous.Without this family of traits in an integrated constellation, there is no true fair-mindedness. But these traits, singly and in combination, are not commonly discussed in everyday life, and are rarely taught. They are not discussed on television. They are not part of the school curriculum. They are not tested in standardized testing. Your friends will not ask you questions about them. In truth, because they are largely unrecognized, these traits are not commonly valued. Yet each of them is essential in fair-mindedness and for development of critical thinking.Let us see how and why this is so. Intellectual Humility: Having Know1edge of Ignorance We will begin with the fair-minded trait of intelle ctual humility. Intellectual humility may be defined as having a consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one’s native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively. This entails being aware of one’s biases, one’s prejudices, the limitations of one’s viewpoint, and the extent of one’s ignorance. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows.It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs. The opposite of intellectual humility is intellectual arrogance, a lack of consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, with little or no insight into self-deception or into the limitations of one’s point of view. Intellectually arrogant peopl e often fall prey to their own bias and prejudice, and frequently claim to know more than they actually know.When we think of intellectual arrogance, we are not necessarily implying a person who is outwardly smug, haughty, insolent, or pompous. Outwardly, the person may appear humble. For example, a person who uncritically believes in a cult leader may be outwardly self-effacing (â€Å"I am nothing. You are everything†), but intellectually he or she is making a sweeping generalization that is not well- founded, and has complete faith in that generalization. Unfortunately, in human life people of the full range of personality types are capable of believing they know what they don’t know.Our own false beliefs, misconceptions, prejudices, illusions, myths, propaganda, and ignorance appear to us as the plain, unvarnished truth. What is more, when challenged, we often resist admitting that our thinking is â€Å"defective. † We then are intellectually arrogant, even t hough we might feel humble. Rather than recognizing the limits of our knowledge, we ignore and obscure those limits. From such arrogance, much suffering and waste result. For example, when Columbus â€Å"discovered† North America, he believed that enslaving the Indians was compatible with God’s will.He did not inwardly—as far as we know—recognize that it was only through his intellectual arrogance that he could believe he knew â€Å"God’s will. † Intellectual arrogance is incompatible with fair-mindedness because we cannot judge fairly when we are in a state of ignorance about the object of our judgment. If we are ignorant about a religion (say, Buddhism), we cannot be fair in judging it. And if we have misconceptions, prejudices, or illusions about it, we will distort it (unfairly) in our judgment. We will misrepresent it—make it appear to be other than it is.Our false knowledge, misconceptions, prejudices, and illusions stand in the way of the possibility of our being fair. Or if we are intellectually arrogant, we will be inclined to judge too quickly and be overly confident in our judgment. Clearly, these tendencies are incompatible with being fair (to that which we are judging). Why is intellectual humility essential to higher-level thinking? In addition to helping us become fair-minded thinkers, knowledge of our ignorance can improve our thinking in a variety of ways.It can enable us to recognize the prejudices, false beliefs, and habits of mind that lead to flawed learning. Consider, for example, our tendency to accept superficial learning. Much human learning is superficial. We learn a little and think we know a lot. We get limited information and generalize hastily from it. We confuse memorized definitions with concrete knowledge. We uncritically accept much that we hear and read—especially when what we hear or read agrees with our intensely held beliefs or the beliefs of groups to which we belong .The discussion in the chapters that follow encourages intellectual humility and will help to raise your awareness of intellectual arrogance. See if you, from this moment, can begin to develop in yourself a growing awareness of the limitations of your knowledge and an increasing sensitivity to instances of your inadvertent intellectual arrogance. When you do, celebrate that sensitivity. Reward yourself for finding weaknesses in your thinking. Consider recognition of weakness an important strength, not a weakness. As a starter, answer the following questions: ? Can you construct a list of your most significant prejudices? Think of what you believe about your country, your religion, your friends, your family, simply because others—parents, friends, peer group, media—conveyed these to you. ) ? Do you ever argue for or against views when you have little evidence upon which to base your judgment? ? Do you ever assume that your group (your family, your religion, your nation, your friends) is correct (when it is in conflict with others) even though you have not looked at the situation from the point of view of the others with which you disagree? Intellectual Courage: Being Willing to Challenge BeliefsNow let’s consider intellectual courage. Intellectual courage may be defined as having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has strong negative emotions and to which one has not given a serious hearing. Intellectual courage is connected to the recognition that ideas that society considers dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified (in whole or in part). Conclusions and beliefs inculcated in people are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for oneself what makes sense, one must not passively and uncritically accept what one has learned.Intellectual courage comes into play here because there is some truth in some ideas considered dangerous and absurd, and distortion or f alsity in some ideas strongly held by social groups to which we belong. People need courage to be fair-minded thinkers in these circumstances. The penalties for nonconformity can be severe. The opposite of intellectual courage, intellectual cowardice, is the fear of ideas that do not conform to one’s own. If we lack intellectual courage, we are afraid of giving serious consideration to ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints that we perceive as dangerous.We feel personally threatened by some ideas when they conflict significantly with our personal identity—when we feel that an attack on the ideas is an attack on us as a person. All of the following ideas are â€Å"sacred† in the minds of some people: being a conservative, being a liberal; believing in God, disbelieving in God; believing in capitalism, believing in socialism; believing in abortion, disbelieving in abortion; believing in capital punishment, disbelieving in capital punishment. No matter what side we are on, we often say of ourselves: â€Å"I am a(an) [insert sacred belief here; for example, I am a Christian.I am a conservative. I am a socialist. I am an atheist]. † Once we define who we are in relation to an emotional commitment to a belief, we are likely to experience inner fear when that idea or belief is questioned. Questioning the belief seems to be questioning us. The intensely personal fear that we feel operates as a barrier in our minds to being fair (to the opposing belief). When we do seem to consider the opposing idea, we subconsciously undermine it, presenting it in its weakest form, in order to reject it. This is one form of intellectual cowardice.Sometimes, then, we need intellectual courage to overcome our self-created inner fear—the fear we ourselves have created by linking our identity to a specific set of beliefs. Another important reason to acquire intellectual courage is to overcome the fear of rejection by others because they hold certain beliefs and a re likely to reject us if we challenge those beliefs. This is where we invest the group with the power to intimidate us, and such power is destructive. Many people live their lives in the eyes of others and cannot approve of themselves unless others approve of them.Fear of rejection is often lurking in the back of their minds. Few people challenge the ideologies or belief systems of the groups to which they belong. This is the second form of intellectual cowardice. Both make it impossible to be fair to the ideas that are contrary to our, or our group’s, identity. You might note in passing an alternative way to form your personal identity. This is not in terms of the content of any given idea (what you actually believe) but, instead, in terms of the process by which you came to it. This is what it means to take on the identity of a critical thinker.Consider the following resolution. I will not identify with the content of any belief. I will identify only with the way I come to my beliefs. I am a critical thinker and, as such, am ready to abandon any belief that cannot be supported by evidence and rational considerations. I am ready to follow evidence and reason wherever they lead. My true identity is that of being a critical thinker, a lifelong learner, a person always looking to improve my thinking by becoming more reasonable in my beliefs. With such an identity, intellectual courage becomes more meaningful to us, and fair-mindedness more essential.We are no longer afraid to consider beliefs that are contrary to our present beliefs. We are not afraid of being proven wrong. We freely admit to having made mistakes in the past. We are happy to correct any mistakes we are still making: Tell me what you believe and why you believe it, and maybe I can learn from your thinking. I have cast off many early beliefs. I am ready to abandon as many of the present beliefs as are not consistent with the way things are. Intellectual Empathy: Entering Opposing Views Nex t let’s consider intellectual empathy, another trait of mind necessary to fair- mindedness.Intellectual empathy is an awareness of the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place of others so as to genuinely understand them. To have intellectual empathy is to be able to accurately reconstruct the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than one’s own. This trait also correlates with the willingness to remember occasions when one was wrong in the past despite an intense conviction of being right, and with the ability to imagine being similarly deceived in a case at hand. The opposite of intellectual empathy is intellectual self-centeredness. It is thinking centered on self.When we think from a self-centered perspective, we are unable to understand others’ thoughts, feelings, and emotions. From this natural perspective, we are the recipients of most of our attention. Our pain, our desires, our hopes are most pressing. The needs of others pale into insignificance before the domination of our own needs and desires. We are unable to consider issues, problems, and questions from a viewpoint that differs from our own and that, when considered, would force us to change our perspective. How can we be fair to the thinking of others if we have not learned to put ourselves in their intellectual shoes?Fair-minded judgment requires a good-faith effort to acquire accurate knowledge. Human thinking emerges from the conditions of human life, from very different contexts and situations. If we do not learn how to take on the perspectives of others and to accurately think as they think, we will not be able to fairly judge their ideas and beliefs. Actually trying to think within the viewpoint of others is not easy, though. It is one of the most difficult skills to acquire. Intellectual Integrity: Holding Ourselves to the Same Standards to Which We Hold Ourselves Let us now consider intellectual integrity. Intellectual integrity is defined as recognition of the need to be true to one’s own thinking and to hold oneself to the same standards one expects others to meet. It means to hold oneself to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one’s antagonists—to practice what one advocates for others. It also means to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one’s own thought and action, and to be able to identify inconsistencies in one’s own thinking. The opposite of intellectual integrity is intellectual hypocrisy, a state of mind unconcerned with genuine integrity.It is often marked by deep-seated contradictions and inconsistencies. The appearance of integrity means a lot because it affects our image with others. Therefore, hypocrisy is often implicit in the thinking and action behind human behavior as a function of natural egocentric thinking. Our hypocrisy is hidden from us. Though we expect others to adhere to st andards to which we refuse to adhere, we see ourselves as fair. Though we profess certain beliefs, we often fail to behave in accordance with those beliefs. To the extent to which we have intellectual integrity, our beliefs and actions are consistent.We practice what we preach, so to speak. We don’t say one thing and do another. Suppose I were to say to you that our relationship is really important to me, but you find out that I have lied to you about something important to you. My behavior lacks integrity. I have acted hypocritically. Clearly, we cannot be fair to others if we are justified in thinking and acting in contradictory ways. Hypocrisy by its very nature is a form of injustice. In addition, if we are not sensitive to contradictions and inconsistencies in our own thinking and behavior, we cannot think well about ethical questions involving ourselves.Consider this political example. From time to time the media discloses highly questionable practices by the CIA. These practices run anywhere from documentation of attempted assassinations of foreign political leaders (say, attempts to assassinate President Castro of Cuba) to the practice of teaching police or military representatives in other countries (say, Central America or South America) how to torture prisoners to get them to disclose information about their associates.To appreciate how such disclosures reveal a lack of intellectual integrity, we only have to imagine how we would respond if another nation were to attempt to assassinate our president or trained American police or military in methods of torture. Once we imagine this, we recognize a basic inconsistency in our behavior and a lack of intellectual integrity on the part of those who plan, engage in, or approve of, that behavior. All humans sometimes fail to act with intellectual integrity.When we do, we reveal a lack of fair-mindedness on our part, and a failure to think well enough as to grasp the internal contradictions in our tho ught or life. Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration Let us now consider intellectual perseverance. Intellectual perseverance can be defined as the disposition to work one’s way through intellectual complexities despite the frustration inherent in the task. Some intellectual problems are complex and cannot be easily solved. One has intellectual perseverance when one does not give up in the face of intellectual complexity or frustration.The intellectually perseverant person displays firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of others, and has a realistic sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended time to achieve understanding or insight. The opposite of intellectual perseverance is intellectual laziness, demonstrated in the tendency to give up quickly when faced with an intellectually challenging task. The intellectually indolent, or lazy, person has a low tolerance for inte llectual pain or frustration.How does a lack of intellectual perseverance impede fair-mindedness? Understanding the views of others requires that we do the intellectual work to achieve that understanding. That takes intellectual perseverance—insofar as those views are very different from ours or are complex in nature. For example, suppose we are a Christian wanting to be fair to the views of an atheist. Unless we read and understand the reasoning of intelligent and insightful atheists, we are not being fair to those views. Some intelligent and insightful atheists have written books to explain how and why they think as they do.Some of their reasoning is complicated or deals with issues of some complexity. It follows that only those Christians who have the intellectual perseverance to read and understand atheists can be fair to atheist views. Of course, a parallel case could be developed with respect to atheists’ understanding the views of intelligent and insightful Chri stians. Finally, it should be clear how intellectual perseverance is essential to almost all areas of higher-level thinking. Virtually all higher-level thinking involves some intellectual challenges that take intellectual perseverance to overcome.It takes intellectual perseverance to learn how to reason well in math, chemistry, physics, literature, art, and indeed any domain. Many give up during early stages of learning a subject. Lacking intellectual perseverance, they cut themselves off from all the insights that thinking through a subject provides. They avoid intellectual frustration, no doubt, but they end up with the everyday frustrations of not being able to solve the complex problems in their daily life. Confidence In Reason: Recognizing that Good Reasoning Has Proven Its Worth Let us now consider the trait of confidence in reason.Confidence in reason, in the long run, is based on the belief that one’s own higher interests and those of humankind at large will be best s erved by giving the freest play to reason, by encouraging people to come to their own conclusions by developing their own rational faculties; faith that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people can learn to think for themselves, form insightful viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think clearly, accurately, relevantly, and logically, persuade each other by appeal to good reason and sound evidence, and become reasonable persons, despite the deep-seated obstacles in human nature and social life. When one has confidence in reason, one is â€Å"moved† by reason in appropriate ways. The very idea of reasonability becomes one of the most important values and a focal point in one’s life. In short, to have confidence in reason is to use good reasoning as the fundamental criterion by which to judge whether to accept or reject any belief or position. The opposite of confidence in reason is intellectual distrust of reason, given by the threat that reasoning and rati onal analysis pose to the undisciplined thinker. Being prone toward emotional reactions that validate resent thinking, egocentric thinkers often express little confidence in reason. They do not understand what it means to have faith in reason. Instead, they have confidence in the truth of their own belief systems, however flawed they might be. In many ways we live in an irrational world surrounded by many forms of irrational beliefs and behaviors. For example, despite the success of science in providing plausible explanations based on careful study of evidence gathered through careful and disciplined observations, many people still believe in unsubstantiated systems such as astrology. Many people, when faced with a problem, follow their â€Å"gut† impulses.Many follow leaders whose only claim to credibility is that they are skilled in manipulating a crowd and whipping up enthusiasm. Few people seem to recognize the power of sound thinking in helping us to solves our problems and live a fulfilling life. Few people, in short, have genuine confidence in reason. In the place of faith in reason, people tend to have uncritical or â€Å"blind† faith in one or more of the following. They often— but not always—have this faith as a result of irrational drives and emotions: 1. Faith in charismatic national leaders (think of leaders such as Hitler, able to excite millions of people and manipulate them into supporting genocide of an entire religious group). 2.Faith in charismatic cult leaders. 3. Faith in the father as the traditional head of the family (as defined by religious or social tradition). 4. Faith in institutional authorities (police, social workers, judges, priests, evangelical preachers, and so forth). 5. Faith in spiritual powers (such as a â€Å"holy spirit,† as defined by various religious belief systems). 6. Faith in some social group, official or unofficial (faith in a gang, in the business community, in a church, in a p olitical party, and so on). 7. Faith in a political ideology (such as communism, capitalism, Fascism). 8. Faith in intuition. 9. Faith in one s unanalyzed emotions. 10.Faith in one’s gut impulses. 11. Faith in fate (some unnamed force that supposedly guides the destiny of all of us). 12. Faith in social institutions (the courts, schools, business community, government). 13. Faith in the folkways or mores of a social group or culture. 14. Faith in one’s own unanalyzed experience. 15. Faith in people who have social status or position (the rich, the famous, the powerful). Some of the above are compatible under some conditions, with faith in reason. The key factor is the extent to which some form of faith is based on sound reasoning and evidence. The acid test, then, is: Are there good grounds for having that faith?For example, it makes sense to have faith in a friend if that friend has consistently acted as a friend over an extended time. On the other hand, it does not m ake sense to have faith in a new acquaintance, even if one finds oneself emotionally attracted to that individual and that person professes his or her friendship. As you think about your own thinking on the nature of different kinds of faith, and the extent to which you have appropriate confidence in reason and evidence, ask yourself to what extent you can be moved by well-reasoned appeals. Suppose you meet someone who shows so much of an interest in your boyfriend or girlfriend that you feel intensely jealous and negative toward that person.Would you shift your view if you receive evidence by a dependable friend that the person you are negative about is actually exceptionally kind, thoughtful, and generous? Do you think you could shift your view, even when, deep-down, you want your boyfriend or girlfriend to reject this person in favor of you? Have you ever given up a belief you held dear because, through your reading, experience, and reflection, you became persuaded that it was no t reasonable to believe as you did? Are you ready and willing to admit that some of your most passionate beliefs (for example, your religious or political beliefs) may in fact be â€Å"wrong†? Intellectual Autonomy: Being an Independent Thinker The final intellectual trait we will consider here is intellectual autonomy.Intellectual autonomy may be defined as internal motivation based on the ideal of thinking for oneself: having rational self-authorship of one’s beliefs, values, and way of thinking; not being dependent on others for the direction and control of one’s thinking. In forming beliefs, critical thinkers do not passively accept the beliefs of others. Rather, they think through situations and issues for themselves and reject unjustified authorities while recognizing the contributions of reasonable authority. They thoughtfully form principles of thought and action and do not mindlessly accept those presented to them. They are not limited by accepted ways of doing things. They evaluate the traditions and practices that others often accept unquestioningly.Independent thinkers strive to incorporate knowledge and insight into their thinking, independent of the social status of the source. They are not willful, stubborn, or unresponsive to the reasonable suggestions of others. They are self-monitoring thinkers who strive to amend their own mistakes. They function from values they themselves have freely chosen. Of course, intellectual autonomy must be understood not as a thing-in-itself. Instead, we must recognize it as a dimension of our minds working in conjunction with, and tempered by, the other intellectual virtues. The opposite of intellectual autonomy is intellectual conformity, or intellectual dependence.Intellectual autonomy is difficult to develop because social institutions, as they now stand, depend heavily on passive acceptance of the status quo, whether intellectual, political, or economic. Thinking for oneself almost certai nly leads to unpopular conclusions not sanctioned by the powers that be. There are always many rewards for those who simply conform in thought and action to social expectations. Consequently, the large masses of people are unknowing conformists in thought and deed. They are like mirrors reflecting the belief systems and values of those who surround them. They lack the intellectual skills and the incentive to think for themselves. They are intellectually conforming thinkers. Even those who spend years getting a Ph. D. in a field may be intellectually dependent, both academically and personally.They may uncritically accept faulty practices in the discipline as it stands, uncritically defending the discipline against legitimate critics. The result often is unwarranted human harm and suffering. One cannot be fair-minded and lack intellectual autonomy, for independent thinking is a prerequisite to thinking within multiple perspectives. When we intellectually conform, we are only able to think within â€Å"accepted† viewpoints. But to be fair-minded is to refuse to uncritically accept beliefs without thinking through the merits (and demerits) of those beliefs for oneself. Recognizing the Interdependence of Intellectual Virtues The traits of mind essential for critical thinking are interdependent. Consider intellectual humility.To become aware of the limits of our knowledge, we need the intellectual courage to face our own prejudices and ignorance. To discover our own prejudices in turn, we often must intellectually empathize with and reason within points of view with which we fundamentally disagree. To achieve this end, we typically must engage in intellectual perseverance, as learning to empathically enter a point of view against which we are biased takes time and significant effort. That effort will not seem justified unless we have the necessary confidence in reason to believe we will not be tainted or â€Å"taken in† by whatever is false or mislead ing in the opposing viewpoint.Furthermore, merely believing we won’t be harmed by considering â€Å"alien† viewpoints is not enough to motivate most of us to consider them seriously. We also must be motivated by an intellectual sense of justice. We must recognize an intellectual responsibility to be fair to views we oppose. We must feel obliged to hear them in their strongest form to ensure that we are not condemning them out of ignorance or bias on our part. At this point, we come full circle to where we began: the need for intellectual humility. To begin at another point, consider intellectual integrity or good faith. Intellectual integrity is clearly a difficult trait to develop. We are often motivated—generally without admitting to or being aware of this motivation— to set up inconsistent standards in thinking.Our egocentric or sociocentric tendencies, for example, make us ready to believe positive information about those we like and negative informat ion about those we dislike. We likewise are strongly inclined to believe what serves to justify our selfish interests or validate our strongest desires. Hence, all humans have some innate mental tendencies to operate with double standards, which is typical of intellectual bad faith. These modes of thinking often correlate quite well with getting ahead in the world, maximizing our power or advantage, and getting more of what we want. Nevertheless, it is difficult to operate explicitly or overtly with a double standard. We therefore need to avoid looking at the evidence too closely.We need to avoid scrutinizing our own inferences and interpretations too carefully. At this point, a certain amount of intellectual arrogance is quite useful. I may assume, for example, that I know just what you’re going to say (before you say it), precisely what you are really after (before the evidence demonstrates it), and what actually is going on (before I have studied the situation carefully). My intellectual arrogance makes it easier for me to avoid noticing the unjustifiable discrepancy between the standards I apply to you and the standards I apply to myself. Not having to empathize with you makes it easier to avoid seeing my self-deception.I also am better positioned if I lack a need to be fair to your point view. A little background fear of what I might discover if I seriously consider the consistency of my own judgments can be quite useful as well. In this case, my lack of intellectual integrity is supported by my lack of intellectual humility, empathy, and fair-mindedness. Going in the other direction, it will be difficult to use a double standard if I feel a responsibility to be fair to your point of view, to see that this responsibility requires me to view things from your perspective empathically, and to do so with some humility, recognizing that I could be wrong, and you, right. The more I dislike you personally, or feel wronged in he past by you or by others wh o share your way of thinking, the more pronounced in my character the trait of intellectual integrity and good faith must be to compel me to be fair. Conclusion True excellence in thinking is not simple the result of isolated intellectual skills. There are inevitable problems in the thinking of persons who, without knowing it, lack the intellectual virtues. Instead, they frequently display the traits of the undisciplined mind. To the extent one is unconsciously motivated to believe what one wants to believe, what is most comfortable to believe, what puts one in a good light, what serves one’s selfish interest, one is unable to function as a rational person.