Tuesday, April 28, 2020
The Octopus Essay Example
The Octopus Essay Boleslav Akselrud Professor Schrepfer Facets of The Octopus In Frank Norrisââ¬â¢ first installment of his intended three part series on wheat, and the cropââ¬â¢s far reaching global implications, The Octopus: A Story of California, the author adapts the events and circumstances surrounding the 1880 Mussel Slough tragedy to paint the picture of the historically rugged and prospecting American westââ¬â¢s collision with large industrial capital and monopolized industry; specifically the railways of the Southern Pacific Rail Company. Norris adopts, and in some ways pioneers the naturalist style of writing at the turn of the twentieth-century, but The Octopus is not merely a work of fiction; the novel provides a realist perspective to a complex period of the American frontierââ¬â¢s history. While depicting this unique period of the American frontier, Norris is however, guilty of tailoring certain characters to fit his purposes, and taking advantage of his control of the readerââ¬â¢s emotions, specifically interpretations of good and evil, to align readers with his views of the betrayal of the farming industry by the unstoppable force of the rail industry. We will write a custom essay sample on The Octopus specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Octopus specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Octopus specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The book opens with an introduction to a set of grain farms in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Readers are introduced to Presley, a young man well-educated at an eastern college who chose to live on one of the local ranches, Los Muertos, due, in part, to the cleanliness of the air after nearly dying of tuberculosis. Presley is a writer, but at the beginning of the novel, he states that his artistic inspiration has all but failed him, also playing a hand in his relocation to the Valley. He was in search of a subject; [â⬠¦] he did not know exactly what; some vast, tremendous theme, heroic, terribleâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (Norris, 33) Presley will grow to be the most prevalent character in the book, and he would eventually find his inspiration, and make himself, and through him Norrisââ¬â¢ viewpoint heard. As Norris introduces Presley and other characters, he also lays the historic foundation for the plot of the novel. Norris writes of the landscape of the farms, adding historical b ackground all the while. He describes Presleyââ¬â¢s daytime bicycle ride through the farmland of the Valley, and through Presleyââ¬â¢s eyes, he tells the reality of farming in California. The land in the San Joaquin was settled due in large part to the laying of rails in the area. The government worked a deal with the rail company that would allow the railway to own half of the plots within a twenty mile radius of the tracks, in return for laying them. This land, however, was not very well suited for much, especially farming due to the lack of irrigation. Because of this, the rail company offered much of their undeveloped land to settlers, with the promise of allowing them to purchase this land at rates as low as $2. 50 per acre later. The allure of the west, and the spirit of the frontier yielded interest from many, but profits for this group were contingent not only on the success of the crop, which at the time of the novel was doing poorly from lack of irrigation, but also on the logistics involved in transporting it, and by extension, the railways. As Presley rode along on his bicycle delivering mail on his way to the old town of Guadalajara, he mused on the manifestations of the issue of climate: ââ¬Å"After the harvest, small though that harvest had been, the ranches seemed asleep. [â⬠¦] There was no rain, there was no wind, there was no growth, no life; the very stubble had no force even to rot. [â⬠¦] [On] the [â⬠¦] only [division of the ranch] whereon the wheat had been successful, [this was] no doubt because of the Little Mission Creek that ran through it. (Norris, 44-47) Clearly, the ranchers would have to improve the land in order to reap any benefit from it, but in a leaflet distributed by the rail company advertising the land, the Southern and Pacific Rail Company stipulated that land prices would not be increased due to improvements performed by the farmers, such as irrigation. The issue of the railroad is at the heart of Norrisââ¬â¢ novel. The author presents his work in such a way that clearly define s good and evil, leaving no place for ambiguity. Although he starts slowly, there can be no mistaking that his ultimate motive is painting the railways red. The first clear indication of this is evident in Presleyââ¬â¢s interaction with one of his close friends, an engineer for the Southern and Pacific Rail Company, Dyke. Dyke is initially portrayed as a salt of the earth employee, working without complaint for the company in order to dote on his daughter, Sidney. Dyke continues to explain to Presley that he has had his pay cut dramatically, and when arguing against this, the company simply fired him. Here, Norris uses this situation to express just how much of a monopoly Southern and Pacific had, and by extension, Norris sprouts the roots for the readerââ¬â¢s hatred of the rail company. Presley advises Dyke to attempt to find another rail company to work for, but when Dyke presses him to suggest another, he is silenced. ââ¬Å"Dykeââ¬â¢s challenge was unanswerable. â⬠(Norris , 56) Through this, Norris is able to express just how important the ââ¬Ëbenevolenceââ¬â¢ of the rail company was. Quite simply, the farms had been built around the rail, and thus almost every personââ¬â¢s finances depended on its policies and even its whims. Naturally, when a profitable industry smote the hopes of its dependents, a sense of anger is developed by the reader. In this sense, Norris takes advantage of the reader, and while not directly misinforming his audience, he plays on emotions to portray history in such a way that is privy to his agenda of depicting good and evil. Although it is difficult to condone the actions of the rail companies, throughout the novel Norris places such perspective as would justify others evil in light of the rail companyââ¬â¢s greed. After Dyke was fired by the company, he decides to pursue an agricultural approach to making a living. He invests his saved earnings in a plot of land upon which he can farm hops, but even before his first harvest is ready, he learns that the railway has more than doubled its former rates for transporting the crop. Realizing that this eliminates his profit margin, he does not even bother harvesting his crop, and before long he finds himself a drunk, spending weeks on end in Caraherââ¬â¢s saloon. He then decides to use his knowledge of the trains to become a robber and sometimes a murderer. Norris, however, through Presley finds ways to justify this evil, and even further justifies attempts on the life of S. Behrman, the designated local villain. Regardless of the authorââ¬â¢s intent, robbery and murder are facets of evil, but Norris places this above the actions of the rail company, using Dyke as a folk hero. In such pursuits, Norris jeopardizes The Octopus as a veritable historical source. History is not supposed to be subjective, and while this is often difficult to realize, such instances as described above display Norrisââ¬â¢ use of the readerââ¬â¢s emotions to align an audience to his cause, and ultimately hinder the effectiveness of the novel as a historical document. Norrisââ¬â¢ proliferation of this double-standard is evident not only in the heart wrenching betrayal of Dyke by the rail company, but also in the character of Magnus Derrick. Derrick owns the Los Muertos ranch, and is depicted by Norris as the proud champion of his laborers, called ââ¬Ëthe Governorââ¬â¢ by his respecting workers. This is the initial impression of the character, and it stays so, even when the uglier side of Magnus is shown. Magnus is described as an old school prospector, having made his money through the sale of his portion of the Corpus Christi gold mine in the middle of the nineteenth-century. With the crop not doing so well, and the threat of seizure of his ranch by the rail company, Derrick is faced with a moral dilemma. He must either enter the corruption of the day and submit to bribery, or lose all of his land and livelihood. When he is faced with certain defeat in the struggle with climbing freight rates, Magnus folds and aligns himself with the view that corruption is a necessary evil. The effects of this decision are far reaching, and Magnus finds himself blackmailed by the proprietor of the local newspaper who, on the rail companyââ¬â¢s payroll, had become privy to the corruption. After the novelââ¬â¢s version of the armed conflict at Mussel Slough, Magnus finds himself with a dead son, no land, and a conscience that drives him to insanity. Despite the clear lack of judgment by Magnus and the obvious evil that partaking in corruption implies, his poor decisions are excused by Norris as instincts to gamble everything that he retained from his prospecting days, in hopes of making the best for himself and his dependents. Norris further blames the rail industry for forcing Magnus into a situation where he could not come out the better, and thus can pin the blame for Derrickââ¬â¢s demise on the railway, regardless of how evident it is that Magnus had a hand in his own undoing. In Norrisââ¬â¢ eyes, there is no room for ambiguity, and he minces no words in the process of representing the Southern and Pacific Company as an evil machine. The namesake of the novel carries with it a dark connotation, and there is little doubt that this is strategically placed by the author. The rail industry is continually cast against the masses of workers, a manifestation of Norrisââ¬â¢ ever clearer populist agenda. When showing more of Presleyââ¬â¢s musings, he furthers the above views. ââ¬Å"[Presley] told himself that, as a part of the people, he loved the people and sympathized with their hopes and fears, and joys and griefs. â⬠¦] He had set himself the task of giving true, absolutely true, poetical expression to the life of the ranch, and yet, again and again, he brought up against the railroad, that stubborn iron barrier against which his romance shattered itself to froth and disintegrated, flying spume. His heart went out to the people. â⬠(Norris, 41 ) Norris continually describes the rail industry as a machine, devoid of humanity and inherently evil. At the end of the first chapter, this view is compounded, once again through Presleyââ¬â¢s character. Presley saw again, in his imagination, the galloping monster, the terror of steel and steam, with its single eye, cyclopean, red, shooting from horizon to horizon; but saw it now as the symbol of a vast power, huge, terrible, flinging the echo of its thunder over all the reaches of the valley, leaving blood and destruction in its path; the leviathan, with tentacles of steel clutching into the soil, the soulless Force, the iron hearted Power, the monster, the Colossus, the Octopus. â⬠(Norris, 128) Although Norris describes an important period in the history of the American West, he is also an author, and The Octopus is a work of fiction. There are vast quantities of historical background in Norrisââ¬â¢ story, and even some parallels to real people and events, but the author can use his words to sway the thoughts of his readers, and at times Norris can demonize the rail industry while also justifying the actions of his protagonists. Thus, while historical novels may offer unique insight to events such as the Mussel Slough Massacre, the emotional control that the authors have can sometimes skew perspectives. Works Cited Norris, Frank. The Octopus: A Story of California. Gutenberg Project, 1995. PDF.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Free Essays on iMac
For years, Macs and PCs have been competing for home users. Apple has recently released the new iMac, and the notebook version of the iMac ââ¬â the iBook. Even though several years ago, Macs were better than PCs, now, PCs are better than Macs for home users in terms of performance and expansion options. To some consumers, performance is often the most important factor in buying a computer. Performance doesnââ¬â¢t necessarily mean how well the computer performs potentially, but only on specific tasks. Both iBook and iMac are designed for home users, most of whom neither care about number of floating-point operations per second, nor know what it means. Very few home users will pay $500 for Photoshop 5.0 to edit photos on their PC. The more likely uses for home computers are: word processing, browsing the Internet, and 3-D gaming. Since the most popular word processor is developed by Microsoft and allegedly optimized for Windows, it would be unfair to compare the Mac version of M S Word with the Windows version. However, comparing the performance in 3-D games and the Internet is fair. Even though PC Magazine specializes in PCs, it reviewed the iBook as soon as it came out. The article focused on performance of the iBook and compared it to a similar IBM-compatible notebook. Since there are no new IBM-compatible notebooks that match iBookââ¬â¢s specifications, PC Magazine decided to use the notebook they believed to be closest to iBook ââ¬â the IBM ThinkPad iSeries 1480. They have very few similarities: the both notebooks are available in different colors, and neither notebook has the fastest processor from its platform. Apple claims that its notebooks are ââ¬Å"up to twice as fast as comparable Microsoft Windows-based portablesâ⬠(qtd. in Hill 53). This statement is very vague ââ¬â it doesnââ¬â¢t say how they compared the portables, and what Apple meant by ââ¬Å"comparableâ⬠. Since similar statements have been made about iMac, speed will be discussed in ... Free Essays on iMac Free Essays on iMac For years, Macs and PCs have been competing for home users. Apple has recently released the new iMac, and the notebook version of the iMac ââ¬â the iBook. Even though several years ago, Macs were better than PCs, now, PCs are better than Macs for home users in terms of performance and expansion options. To some consumers, performance is often the most important factor in buying a computer. Performance doesnââ¬â¢t necessarily mean how well the computer performs potentially, but only on specific tasks. Both iBook and iMac are designed for home users, most of whom neither care about number of floating-point operations per second, nor know what it means. Very few home users will pay $500 for Photoshop 5.0 to edit photos on their PC. The more likely uses for home computers are: word processing, browsing the Internet, and 3-D gaming. Since the most popular word processor is developed by Microsoft and allegedly optimized for Windows, it would be unfair to compare the Mac version of M S Word with the Windows version. However, comparing the performance in 3-D games and the Internet is fair. Even though PC Magazine specializes in PCs, it reviewed the iBook as soon as it came out. The article focused on performance of the iBook and compared it to a similar IBM-compatible notebook. Since there are no new IBM-compatible notebooks that match iBookââ¬â¢s specifications, PC Magazine decided to use the notebook they believed to be closest to iBook ââ¬â the IBM ThinkPad iSeries 1480. They have very few similarities: the both notebooks are available in different colors, and neither notebook has the fastest processor from its platform. Apple claims that its notebooks are ââ¬Å"up to twice as fast as comparable Microsoft Windows-based portablesâ⬠(qtd. in Hill 53). This statement is very vague ââ¬â it doesnââ¬â¢t say how they compared the portables, and what Apple meant by ââ¬Å"comparableâ⬠. Since similar statements have been made about iMac, speed will be discussed in ...
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Here Are The Most Important Skills Needed For the Future
Here Are The Most Important Skills Needed For the Future For many decades now, people have been predicting the future of just about all industries: robots. And while that hasnââ¬â¢t quite come to pass, weââ¬â¢re already seeing automation and technology take over our working lives. More than ever, our work and communication are online, with fewer human touchpoints. Just look at email: if you were in the workforce 10à or 15à years ago, email was present, but not necessarily the driving force of office communication. And although weââ¬â¢re still a good way off from having a fleet of robots running our lives, itââ¬â¢s a great idea to start thinking about the kind of skills needed for the future.1. Technology Trends2.à Information Overload3.à Flexible Employees4.à Your BrandTechnology TrendsTechnology is the most obvious shift that will happen in all of our lives in the near future. After all, itââ¬â¢s only about 10à years ago that the iPhone was just a secret prototype kicking around Appleââ¬â¢s Cupertino campus. Cut to today: good luck finding people shuffling along a sidewalk and not gazing down at a smartphone screen.And while youââ¬â¢re not expected to be able to predict exactly what the hot new tech will be, you can make sure youââ¬â¢re aware of the cutting edge tech trends in your field right now, and think about where those might be going. For example, if you work in retail, POS (point of sale) software has really affected how salespeople work with merchandise and the public. Another example is office communication systems, like using Googleââ¬â¢s Gmail, Gchat, and Hangouts to foster communication between people in the company.Regardless of your field, the trend is likely to be two-fold: a) bringing people together regardless of whether they work in the same office, state, or hemisphere; and b) finding ways to make manual processes, like payment or presentations, digital to free up resources for other tasks.If youââ¬â¢re the person who has 14à devices plus your fitness tracker linked up in one big web of efficient information harmony, great! You likely have the tools to be ready for whatever comes along, tech-wise. Keep an eye on trends in your field, like:New tools and software, especially ones that improve efficiency or customer service. What is your industry able to do now that it wasnââ¬â¢t able to do before?Social media. How is social media used by the movers and shakers in your industry?Security trends in your industry. How is customer or company data protected?Mobile technology, also known as the Internet of Things. Are there any particular apps or devices that are relevant to how your company (or your field) does business?Working to stay updated on trends can help you figure out where to target your attention as you move from one job to another, and can really help you flesh out your resume and/or your personal brand.If youââ¬â¢re not as tech-savvy as you would like, thereââ¬â¢s nothing stopping you from fixing that! It just takes a little time and catching up, and then youââ¬â¢ll be ready to trendspot with the best of them. There are plenty of ways to bolster your tech creds:Take classesSites like Lynda.com offer online tutorials and classes that you can take at your own speed, on your own timeline. You can search for specific programs or general areas where you want to expand your knowledge. Also, productivity expert Steve Pavlina has a great to-do list for expanding your tech know-how: 10 Ways to Improve Your Tech Skills.Learn by doingFor example, if you want to learn coding to add it to your resume, all the online tutorials in the world arenââ¬â¢t the same as getting in there and figuring it out. Once you get a baseline sense of how to do things, either from research or a class youââ¬â¢ve taken, set time aside to get in there, play around with apps or programs, and really get a sense for how things work.Talk to expertsYou know what people really like talking about? Things theyââ¬â¢re good at. Find people in your field (or your company), who really know their stuff, and ask them if they could walk you through their process for the skills you want to add to your own repertoire. BONUS: you also get to know people in your field, and build your network.Information Overloadââ¬Å"Big data,â⬠or using stats and information to make smart decisions about how to work efficiently, whom to hire, how to address new challenges, etc. will play a huge role in the workplace in the next ten years. Analytical skills and problem solving skills will come in very handy here. If these are areas you want to build, you can start now:Analytical Thinking: Why You Need It and How to Get BetterAmp up Your Career by Improving Your Analytical Skills6 Ways to Enhance Your Problem Solving Skills5 Ways To Hone Your Problem-Solving Abilities And Become An Expert In Your FieldFlexible EmployeesThe digital office looks less and less like the traditional one we all know, with a beehive of people typing away and gathering ââ¬Ëround the coffee machine. With better connections and communication all the time, itââ¬â¢s less essential that everyone be physically in the same room to collaborate. As you move forward through your career, consider ways you might be able to adapt to that kind of changing office. Working remotely or working as a contractor are ways that your daily work life might change. Being open to flexible work arrangements can open up new opportunities that you might not have anticipated if youââ¬â¢re wedded to the idea of working 9 to 5 in a cubicle of office.Your BrandOne trend that doesnââ¬â¢t seem to be going away anytime is the one where you develop and live your own brand. Right now, this entails having clean, career-relevant social media profiles, and keeping up by creating new content that establishes you as a player in your field. Moving forward, the trick will be to keep pace with the hot social media trends of the time- you donââ¬â¢t want to be the guy on MySpace when everyone else has moved on to Twitter 2.0.If you are that guy (or gal) whoââ¬â¢s a little behind the time, social media-wise, donââ¬â¢t fret- this is an easy fix! It just involves a little bit of legwork and spring cleaning.If you already have social media accounts:Make personal or social accounts private whenever possible, and untag yourself in those embarrassing photos of you doing a kegstand at Spring Weekend. Similarly, those posts about your hobby of making macramà © portraits of British royalty should be pushed behind the privacy wall as well. You want your career brand to float to the top of those search results.Expand your network. Start connecting with other people in your field- that way, youââ¬â¢ll be in a better position to start dialogues with influential people in your industry.If you want to increase your social media presence, Aaron Agius at Entrepreneur has some great tips for where to start building your brand:1. Choose sites that work well with your career and goals.For example: if youââ¬â¢re in an industry that values image and style, Instagram might be your best bet. If you work in a business that moves fast and values quick insights, Twitter might be the way to go.2. Keep posting content.A site with little traffic and nothing new to offer isnââ¬â¢t going to do much to help your personal brand.3. Leverage big voices.Follow (and engage with) people who are big fish in your industryââ¬â¢s social media pond. Depending on how big their following is, you may not get much one-on-one interaction, but retweets/sharing content shows that youââ¬â¢re active.4. Use marketing to your advantage by using campaigns and contests to get your brand out there.What it comes down to is this: none of us can predict the future, and no one should even try. What you can do is put yourself in a place where you have a base of skills, and the kind of flexible thinking that will allow you to take advantage of opportunities six months from now, or 10 years ago.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Develop business aptitude skills including communication, Assignment - 1
Develop business aptitude skills including communication, presentation, and leadership abilities - Assignment Example Having several meetings would help in a better analysis of the problem and many issues will be highlighted which may have been missed in a meeting otherwise. It is strongly recommended that the teams comes prepared for every meeting and if the team is too big then the researcher can even break the teams into several sub teams as a few team members may provide a better insight of the problem. Coming prepared for the meeting always helps. The researcher can even ask all the teams to come up with a list of the problems that they think is the problem and if they donââ¬â¢t want to discuss it they can just hand over that page and may be the results are surprising. The researcher should basically look at avoiding two major types of conflict types at the meeting. One is the real profession differences and the other is power struggle and the issues related to personality types (Michelle, 2002). There are chances that different teams donââ¬â¢t like each other so there are a lot of chance s to conflicts to rise. There may be a few members of the team who know a lot but due to certain team pressures canââ¬â¢t say anything so the researcher needs to have strong analytical skills so that he can interpret the situation better. The researcher is suggested to be alert in the meetings as he has to sense the increasing tension in the atmosphere. He needs to quickly analyse who the troublemakers are. In a situation where there are chances for the situation to get tensed so it is better to state the rules for the meeting in advance. For instance, the meeting rules can include things like Individuals not allowed to speak until they raise their hands and just one person is allowed may speak at one time, the researcher needs to keep summarizing what has been said so that everyone understands. One more rule can be that everyone is invited to contribute and not just one person is to over the discussion. Two important questions for IT people One very important question to ask is about the software they are using and reason for using it. The other question can be the benefits and problems they have associated with the current system. The third question can be which system or software they plan to use in future and what are its pros and cons. Two important questions for manufacturing people Two very important questions to be asked from the manufacturing people are the processes that are using currently and what are the problems associated with it. After this the researcher needs to identify the gap areas and come up with suggestions. Two important questions for marketing people Marketing plays an extremely important role in making any business successful. So a lot of important questions are lined up for the researcher to ask. One very important question is to ask the success of the current marketing plan. Ask them how properly they have identified their markets. What do they think is the market potential for their product? And also ask the marketing strategie s that their competitors are using and what measures and procedures do they use o check the competitors strategy. Two important questions for distribution people One of the very important teams in such a business kind is the distribution team. The efficiency of the distribution channel and how quickly they respond to the orders and what feedback they get are few
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Marketing - McDonald's Restaurant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Marketing - McDonald's Restaurant - Essay Example The utilization of logos is made out within the commercial while describing the manner in which McDonaldââ¬â¢s is clean and utilized to view the food in affirmative terms. This is a commonsensical appeal to articulate the reasons for McDonaldââ¬â¢s being an excellent setting to eat. The preceding element of McDonaldââ¬â¢s is a Cheerful Place comes within logos. McDonaldââ¬â¢s are attempting to influence and lurch in parents of kids into McDonaldââ¬â¢s by articulating the facts of excellent food, hygiene, their spill proof covers and napkins, which fit similar to a bib. Parents would like good, as well as quality foodstuff for their kids in a hygienic environment. However, these logos are attempting to call to the parents using the amenities they encompass of spill proof covers and napkins, which fit similar to a bib and articulating that their kids will not get to one another. Taken as a whole, that is the reason that this commercial aims a family unit (Abrahams 1). Lo gos is utilized to try to persuade parents that McDonaldââ¬â¢s provides a place where they do not have to be concerned about their children and being so muddled when they take pleasure in their dine. The commercial lays emphasis on the actuality that they contain pill proof covers, as well as napkins as colossal as bib. McDonaldââ¬â¢s utilizes this appeal to establish to parents that while they are attempting to have an excellent time together with their family unit, they do not have to fuss about the clutter their kids make, making their life quite easier for them. Therefore, quality and hygiene could also match up to what might be termed as passion. No one would have the capacity to give a clean, as well as healthy eatery without excitement into making the foodstuff cooked and pleasant. This... This paper talks about the short story and popularity of the restaurant. McDonaldââ¬â¢s Commercial from the year 1967 is rhetoric to put McDonaldââ¬â¢s on the market. In McDonaldââ¬â¢s commercial, it seems that they, in fact, wanted to give emphasis to respectability. It points out how children are not expected to talk to unfamiliar persons, and are not allowed to take things such as foodstuff from unfamiliar persons. It has not just the children articulating this, but McDonald himself pronounces it. By carrying this out, they are attempting to depict themselves as an organization with far above the ground ethical values. They are attempting to make themselves made out like a fraction of the family unit. When Ronald declares that children are not expected to take foodstuff from strangers, the child replies that he is not an unfamiliar person he is Ronald McDonald. The child articulates it in a tenor, which points out that he is someone highly dependable and recognizes him ex tremely well. To sum up, the paper approves that to present day, McDonaldââ¬â¢s has utilized various, dissimilar slogans within United States marketing, as well as a few additional slogans for chosen nations and areas. The McDonaldââ¬â¢s commercials feature pathos, logos, ethos, as well as kairos to a great deal. These rhetorical features enable McDonald to be viewed as a place of happiness or being cheerful, quality services and food, in addition to hygiene. All this rhetorical features give McDonaldââ¬â¢s restaurant an eminent standing in business.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Creativity: The Most Common Tool to Explain Human Origin?
Creativity: The Most Common Tool to Explain Human Origin? Has Creativity Been the Most Common Tool to Explain Human Origin? Bryan Perezà Abstract The creative process is directly involved in the development of theories that explain the mans origin. In like manner, the religion and the science are connected by their provenance. The contemporaneous beliefs and the cultural stories from ancient civilizations are also influenced by creativity, equally, evolution shows a creative development located in some stages that shows morphological and psychological changes. This paper evaluates the creative influence in the development of theories which explain the mans origin. Web sources and also relevant books were used to identify and link different points of view about the topic. The most remarkable results locate the creativity as the process that humans develop all along, with attention to chronological interpretations such as the evolution stages and also common points in different religious and cultural beliefs. Finally, the conclusion stablishes how creativity may influence the theories postulation, issue where it should be as obj ective as possible to attempt to explain facts instead of thoughts. Introduction It is said that God has created man in his own image. But it may be that humankind has created God in the image of humankind (Hanh, 1999). Sometimes, people ask themselves how everything around them was created. What or Who is the creator of everything? Answers to these questions are generated by the same common people, children, teachers, youths and scientists, who constantly ask for explanations about their origin. This origin is usually related to some theories (creationism and evolutionism), which come from a process of investigation and a little part of imagination. Even when these theories explain facts (National Center for Science Education, n.d., para. 3), scientists do not have enough evidence about the first yoctosecond of the Universes existence. They may be obligated to complete the missing piece of the puzzle with some ideas elaborated by their creative minds. The evolution theory has undergone some changes throughout history. It is a consequence of the creative influence on the development of new theories. For interesting topics, creativity is really useful. Scientists should be conscious of the information they provide with their theories. Mans creativity has been an important part of the explanation of his origin, this statement is sustained in three relevant aspects: mans creation theories with a common theme about a creator, human evolutive process and its refutations, and lastly, the creative development that leads to reason beyond simple ideas. Common theme in creation theories Have been heard about humans out of yellow and white corn (Batz, 2012)? Or maybe Lake Titicaca Story? Those are theories that explain mans origin on the Mayas and the Incas creation. In another part, the Creationist theory is really linked with these, concluding that there are different theories about mans origin, but all of them have a common point of a unique Creator. Humans origin theories To understand the influence of creativity on these humans origin theories, it is necessary to explain three common examples. As the Bible says: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Gen. 1:27 English Standard Version). For Christianism, like a monotheistic religion, God is the only explanation for all questions about how man has come into existence until now. In another place the Mayas theory tells that the Creators (à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦) wanted to create human beings with hearts and minds who could keep the days (Batz, 2012). This last phrase complicated the situation for the Mayas gods, because they had to create three different types of humans. The first group was made of mud, but rain destroyed them and moreover they could not speak. Gods tried again, and created mans of wood, but these did not revere them. When these deities finally created humans out of yellow and white corn who could talk, they were satisfied (Batz, 2012), because these had intelligence and respect for their creators. In a last comparative theory, Incas converge in a general idea. God Viracocha created Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo[1], who emerged from the Lake Titicaca and walked guided by a wooden bar directly to El Cuzco, place where they found the Inca Empire (Cobo, 1979). Creativity on this common point As it is remarkable, the theories have showed a common theme in the idea of an only Creator or Creators. For Christianism, the human being was created from mud, while for the Mayas, muds man was a failure. The Incas, for their part, create a couple similar to Adam and Eve in Christianism but one more time, their God was who create everything around. Except for Christianity, the others are polytheistic, but this does not change that in almost every culture around the world, the religion of a particular culture began with a concept of a masculine, creator God who lives in the heavens (Zukeran, 2007). In the same line, creativity is therefore, responsible for this common point. Human beings develop creative ideas from 6 resources- intellectual processes, knowledge, intellectual style, personality, motivation, and environmental context (Sternberg Lubart, 1991). In consequence, it is thinkable that Individuals may be driven to try to create a sense of coherent self-identity through time, in particular in self-narratives of their development (Feinsten, 2006, p.26); in other words, past civilizations have developed the necessity to create a God in who believed and whom they can worship. To sum up, the similarities founded reflect that there is a common point that prevails between the theories analyzed, this point reflects the creative influence that man uses to explain his own origin in a religious context. Human evolutive process and its refutations It has been thought that evolution is the most acceptable theory to explain the mans origin. The theory bases its main argument on the most evidence that has been discovered through time, nonetheless, this theory has its own refutations, too. On this way, scientists are creative people who beyond postulate a theory, postulate a creative bond that establish the evolution as the explanation for the mans origin. The process of the evolution A Belgian priest, astronomer and professor of physics, Georges Lemaà ®tre proposed the Big Bang theory in 1933. For Catholicism, it was declared as a scientific validation, however, Lemaà ®tre resented this proclamation, stating that the theory was neutral and there was neither a connection nor a contradiction between his religion and his theory (Landsberg, 1999). As it is seen, this theory has a religious origin; but at the same time, it is considered like a valuable explanation for the current science. Lemaà ®tres thought gave birth the Evolution theory by explaining the Earth origin, place where human beings evolved from apes. It was only late in the Tertiary period (about 3-4 million years ago) that one of the branches of the Primates evolved into humans (à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦) Human fossils as well as molecular genetic and biochemical evidence demonstrate the existence of early life forms, which developed before and prepared the present living beings (Facchini, 2002). Do the refutations show a creative intervention of scientists? A 2010 study found no net fruit fly evolution after 600 generations (Thomas, 2012). This fact demonstrates that scientists do not concordat in a common explanation for the evolution process. In addition, another evidence tells that the transition from an amphibians three-chambered heart to a mammals four-chambered heart would require either a new internal heart wall that would block vital blood flow (Thomas, 2012). On the other hand, fossils are the main evidence to support the evolution theory; but as Ph.D. John D. Morris says, fossils appear abruptly in the record, fully formed and fully functional without less adapted ancestors in lower levels that would have preceded them in time (2003). This shows that fossils do not explain evolution as such, so it may be considered that scientists created the bonds between missing links of the evolution theory. The article Scientists are more creative than you might imagine, shows that the improvising brains (à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦) let the ideas bubble to the surface (Ossola, 2014). Some lines after, the article explain that its going to be the same phenomenon on scientists. Thus, it is reasonable to identify that scientists may develop an involuntary process of creativity when they try to explain unlinked ages of the evolution theory. The reason of all Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value (Robinson, 2006), thus, it is possible to ask, how may the people create their own origin story by using their creativity? The creative development leads to establish questions or answers about this topic. Scientific postulations and also religious theories have a little influence of subjective thoughts. Indeed, the creativity is much more than an innate quality, it is a state where it is possible to create something. It is exemplified in the students who may demonstrated this by developing their skills into the schools. So, teachers have the big duty of drive the way students learn and what they need to learn (Segan, 2016), because it is changing rapidly. The reason of all comes from this fact, even with the scarcity of modern (à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦) supplies in poor parts of the world (Childress, 2007), creativity may be developed in every sense; including the development of new theories applicable to the subject of evolution or the mans origin. The reason of all also involves a great link between actual teachers and future scientists, something similar to the educational development of Finland (Faust, 2011), where the creativity is one of the pillars of the education. Therefore, the creative process shows that creativity is the question and the answer for this topic, it is involved in developing or repairing ideas to connect everything related in a theory postulation. In conclusion, the explanation for the mans origin is due to the creative process. This idea is based on three relevant aspects: theories of mans creation, human evolutive process, and lastly the creative development that leads to establish questionable answers about our origin. For the etymology of the Incas and also the Mayas, their existence comes from a gods creation. Historically, the Christianity changed these thoughts into a conventional belief in an only almighty God, who answers every question about human existence. On the contrary, the evolution theory postulates a continuous process of development during several generations in past ages of life. The creative intervention is located in every theory. Humans have a psychological need for a transcendent being that provides meaning and hope to their existence in this vast impersonal universe (Zukeran, 2007). This phrase clears the idea about how the man may include his own thoughts in objective statements like theories. Sometimes, creativity is underestimated in several ways, especially for science works, but it is an inherent quality of the human existence; so, the creativity influences our thoughts. The human being and his origin is a questionable topic. There are some theories of how he could exist from the first period of time. Creator or creators, evolution or not, the creativity was shown as the question and the answer for this topic because it is involved in developing or repairing ideas to connect everything related in a theory postulation. [1] The first couple of human beings in the Incas theory.
Friday, January 17, 2020
1:45 British Time, 11th September 2001 Was When the Unthinkable Happened Essay
1:45 British time, 11th September 2001 was when the unthinkable happened. One of the tallest buildings in the world was hit by a passenger jet. The people on the streets of New York could only watch in shock, horror and disbelief as the low-flying aircraft headed straight for the northern tower of the world trade centre. The jet headed for roughly the 65th to 70th floor of the tower. In a split second, the jet disappeared into the side of the tower, exploding as it did so. Only ten minutes later, when television crews had been alerted to the scene by the first incident, another low-flying aircraft was spotted. Live on US television, the jet banked left and disappeared into the southern tower, exploding as the first one had. As I stated in the first sentence, this all happened at about a quarter to two in the afternoon. On arriving home from school, I still wasnââ¬â¢t aware of what had happened a couple of hours ago. I went down to the newsagents down the road to buy a magazine. I noticed that the shop assistants were paying very close attention to the radio, yet it still didnââ¬â¢t come to me that something was up. At around half past four I turned on the television and couldnââ¬â¢t believe what I saw. There were images of the disaster, being shown over and over again. It didnââ¬â¢t come to me immediately how serious the incident was. As I carried on watching, I began to understand more clearly the significance of the disaster. And seeing images of people coming out of the buildings with blood all over them made me wonder who on earth would want to do a thing like that. The slow motion replays of the crashes showed how the jets simply tore through the walls of the towers like cardboard, and exploding as they went through the walls. It was painful to watch, and sickening to think of all the people on board the plane and inside the buildings. These terrorist attacks had been extremely well planned. Both of the jets were on domestic flights, where the security is not as tight as international flights are. It would be easy, experts say, to take a knife on board. In addition to this, both the flights would have been 6 hours long had the disaster not happened, so there was a lot of fuel on board which would have aided the fire spreading down through the building. It really hit home to me how dreadful it must have been inside the buildings as television pictures showed numerous people jumping to their death from the towers. How desperate must the situation inside have been to jump from 80 floors up? I dread to think. Soon the situation worsened. I gasped with horror as pictures of one of the towers collapsing to the ground were broadcasted by the English stations. It was simply horrible to see, and the dust created was so thick that some of the pictures showed nothing because of the dust in front of the camera. A few minutes later the other tower disappeared from that famous New York skyline as well, and the terrorists had fully succeeded. The terrorists must have also been able to fly the aircrafts. Surly no American pilot (or any nationality pilot for that matter) would fly an aircraft into the Twin Towers, whether threatened with a knife or not. I canââ¬â¢t believe that American Airlines would be so careless, as the crime rate in America is extremely high anyway. Of course I am not saying that any normal American would want to fly a plane into a major building in their own country, but if there was a mentally disabled person who got on a plane with a knife you never know what they might do. If security on these flights had been tighter none of this would have happened, surly. The disbelief was still around for many days after the disaster actually happened, and fire fighters were still searching through the rubble, hoping to find a few survivors among the mess. A few days after the crashes, it was thought that the person responsible was Asuma Bin Laden. As time went on it became more and more certain that Bin Laden was responsible, and eventually the man himself admitted as much on Afghan television. He is now the most sought after person in the world, with George W. Bush offering a $25,000,000 reward for anyone who can tell the USA where Bin Laden is hidden. Even thought Iââ¬â¢m not American, everytime I see Bin Laden on the news, anger builds up inside me. How could someone do what he did? He doesnââ¬â¢t look like someone who has killed thousands, but he has, and heââ¬â¢s possibly the most hated man in the world. Having been to New York, (and incidentally, opting to go up the Empire State Building rather than one of the Twin Towers, which I now slightly regret), I feel that I can relate more to what has happened than I would have been able to otherwise. The photos I have of the skyline of New York obviously include the Twin Towers, and I can imagine how wrong the skyline now looks. When I look back on the photos, it makes me wonder why those buildings, which fitted into the skyline so well, are nolonger there. Why did Bin Laden do this? In conclusion, my feelings now, compared to my feelings right after it happened havenââ¬â¢t really changed. Having found out who was responsible, I now know what direction to put my hate towards, and the initial shock has faded, gradually. But when September 11th is mentioned, I still spare a thought for the people in the buildings and on the aircrafts and their families. I dearly hope that nothing of this nature ever happens again. And to finish I think that it is worth asking the question: If God does exist, where on earth was he on September 11th?
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