Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technology - Essay Example Before any kind of technology is released for use by humans, it is usually tested so as to make sure it has met the required criteria (Fazlollahi 203). 2. What Does Technology Entail? The word technology has been coined from the Greek word technikoes, which generally refers to an art which is related to skill. In other words, the term technology can be seen as applying art on science (Singh 1). This art is applied to create tools, develop skills and even collect materials that improve the quality of life of the human beings. Technology has really developed in many aspects over the years. For example, indigenous people used different ways of writing in order to store the information they collected using methods like writing on stones. With technology, writing has been made easy as papers and pens have been provided, and have made the work easy. In his work, ‘Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought’, Ong says that â€Å"although we take writing so much for grant ed as to forget that it is a technology, writing is in a way the most drastic of the three technologies of the word† (30). It initiated printing and electronics came about. Human beings have really embraced technology from in all aspects of life; when it comes to religion, education, social, and even in the political issues, technology is in use. There are different tools of technology that have improved the lives of human beings. This essay will embark on giving an analytical perspective about the computers and the human beings. Computers have changed the way human beings by making learning easy. 3. Computers Computers, which are tools of technology, have brought changes to the lives of humans, and especially in the way they operate and think. For example, the thinking capacity of the people before technology, such as those that lived during stone-age is different from the thinking capacity of people today. In her review, ‘How Computers Change the Way We Think’, Turkle says that â€Å"the tools we use to think change the ways in which we think. The invention of written language brought about radical shift in how we process, organize, store, and transmit representations of the world† (1). A computer is an electronic device which is used in processing data. The data it processes gets in in form of input and it is then processed on the basis of a set of instructions that are supplied and stored in the memory, in order give the required results in form of output. Every computer comprises of two basic parts namely; the hardware and the software. Hard ware refers to the visible or physical parts of a computer, such as the processor, display or screen, keyboard, disk drive, and mouse among others. The software refers to the particular instructions that give directions to the components, so as to perform the required operations (Ravichandran 2). The two parts function hand in hand and thus the computer is not complete if one part is missing, or in other words, it is useless without the two parts. When I was in primary school, I only had a slight idea of what a computer is, and did not know that with it, learning could be easier. In primary school and part of my high school education, learning was not very easy as everything was done manually; that is, the teacher had to write all notes on the blackboard for the students to copy. The school on the other hand, provided very few books that were supposed to be shared among students, such that the ratio was one book

Attachment Styles and Relationships Essay Example for Free

Attachment Styles and Relationships Essay As human being there is the thought that love is difficult to understand. Why are some people attracted to the people that they are attracted to and what is it that draws them to each other? Understanding the dimensions of love and knowing attachment styles clear up some of the confusion. There are three dimensions of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment. These are known as the triangular theory of love (Sternberg, 1986, 1987). Intimacy refers to mutual understanding, warm affection, and mutual concern for the others welfare (Baumgardner, 2009). Intimacy is imperative to a relationship if it is going to last. With intimacy there is a bond or a closeness between a couple. If a couple has intimacy, they are connected on more of an emotional level than a couple who only experiences passion. Intimate couples have more of a chance to move on to commitment as well. While intimacy is a big step toward commitment, having intimacy does not necessarily mean that there will be commitment on anyone’s part. There may be nothing more to the relationship other than the passion and intimacy which is romantic love. As long as neither person plans to be with this person for a long time there is not a commitment. Passion means strong emotion, excitement, and physical arousal, often tied to sexual desire and attraction (Baumgardner, 2009). Passion can be lustful infatuation but is also an important element to a happy and strong relationship. A relationship without any of these components could be in danger of dissolving, however, in our society today, sex and passion is very important. The importance placed on sex by society is taught to children early in life, most before they know what it is. A couple without passion could lose the bond they have created through intimacy without any passion and risk them falling out of love. Commitment is the conscious decision to stay in a relationship for the long haul (Baumgardner, 2009). Being committed does not necessarily mean that there is intimacy and passion involved. Many couples decide to stay together for different reasons even though there is no love involved. Some couples stay together for the benefit of the children if there are any, others may be bused or have low self-esteem, or it may be ma simple matter of convenience. Consummate love combines high levels of all three dimensions to create a complete love. This is a love where some of the components may fade but are never completely gone. Intimacy, passion, and commitment may be stronger in some couples than others but they are happy and in tune with each other. These couples prefer the company of each other over going out with a group or crowd. They always touch or have some type of contact with each other and prefer to be close to each other most of the time. The attachment theory raises the intriguing possibility that some of our most basic, and perhaps unconscious, emotional responses to intimacy are shaped by the relationships we have with our parents (Baumgardner, 2009). Infant attachment styles look at the relationship between children and their caregivers. There is an assessment of attachment styles known as the strange situation test. This experiment involved an infant, the child’s mother, and a stranger in a room equipped with toys. The test involved seeing how the child would react when the mother left the room, then again when the stranger left and came back in a specific order. Most infants showed a secure attachment style. This style shows that the child is secure and confident while the mother is in the room, and as the mother leaves, shows some distress and plays with less of the toys. After the mother returns, so does the child’s confidence. Some of the children exhibited no signs of distress when their mothers left the room and even avoided the mother. This is avoidance attachment style. The anxious-ambivalent attachment style is the style used to describe the minority of children who both seek and avoid the mother’s attention. They played very little and showed great distress when the mother left the room. The parenting style of the mothers to these children were avoidant and almost neglectful, showing mixed feelings toward the child. There are four adult attachment styles also. Secure attachment, preoccupied attachment, fearful avoidant attachment, and dismissing avoidant attachment. Secure attachment style describes people who are confident in their relationship, with no anxiety or avoidance. A relationship of a couple with secure attachment style experiences positive emotions and sensitivity toward each other’s needs. The preoccupied attachment style represents people who want intimacy but have high levels of anxiety and low self-esteem. Their actions are centered more on themselves that those of the people they claim to love even though they may seem loving and caring. The fearful attachment style describes people who are high in avoidance and anxiety because of their low self-esteem and fear of being rejected. These people display a lack of love for themselves and therefore, feel they cannot be loved. These people show little to no trust toward people and may come off as hostile or distant. Dismissing avoidant attachment describes people who are high in avoidance and low anxiety. This type of people are usually self-reliant, independent, and confident. Basically their view is that they do not need other people because they, themselves, are all they need. Relationships with these people are usually without commitment and less intimacy than those of secure or preoccupied attachment styles (Baumgardner, 2009). People’s attachment styles define what their relationship will be like. For example, a person who exhibits the fearful avoidant attachment may be alone most of his or her life because they are too afraid of rejection to ask for or accept a date. People with secure attachment have healthy relationships and seem more satisfied with their lives. If a person is unhappy with themselves the idea that no one else could love them could destroy a relationship. To make sure both parties are equally happy, compromises and considerations need to be thought of. Getting to know all of the things a person likes and dislikes is the most exciting part of a new relationship. If done well, it will result in a well-rounded couple.

Citizen Kane By Orson Wells Essay examples -- essays research papers

Citizen Kane By many, Citizen Kane is one of the greatest films ever made. Orson Wells, at age 25, directed, produced, and starred in this film. Citizen Kane is a memorable film for countless reasons. The film brought about controversy because it fictionalized the life of William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper publisher. The film draws remarkable parallels with his life and his relationship with his mistress. There is also speculation that the film is loosely based on Wells’ life as well. This movie tells the fascinating story of the life and death of Charles Foster Kane, a narcissistic newspaper runner, politician, and a wealthy millionaire. What makes this movie spectacular is not only the acting of the actors, but the symbolism and cinematic effects. The techniques used by the cinematographer brought this film to life. This is what sets Citizen Kane apart from other films.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Symbolism has an enormous role in this film. â€Å"Rosebud† is the last word uttered by Cane. He then dies and takes his secret to the death. The film follows one reporter on his search to the truth. Throughout the film, the tragical existence of powerful newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane, becomes apparent. He spends most of his life in solitude. Although he was married twice, he always stayed alone. This was because of his incapacity of felling love, which was caused by his insecure childhood. Kane was unwillingly taken away from his mother as a young child; this s...

The Hukou System in China

No other creatures in the animal world form anything like cities. The closest resemblance would be a bee hive or an anthill, however in contrast to human agglomerations; they are closed to non-natives and not based on voluntary exchange (Bartlett, 1998, cited in O'Sullivan, 2009). The hukou (household registration) system, implemented in China in the late 1950's and still being enforced today, assigns a hukou location to every Chinese citizen that curtails self-initiated moves and limits migration from rural to urban areas (Fan 2005). These restrictions create agglomerations much ike those described by the hives and the hills of nature, and it is questioned whether such restrictions are preventing Chinese cities from obtaining a socially optimizing equilibrium. This essay looks to discuss the determinants of city size, the effects of the hukou system on these determinants and hence evaluate whether Chinese cities are induced to The size of a city can be distinguished between its size in terms of land mass and its size in terms of population. For this issue we shall mainly focus on population. Ravenstein's (1889, cited from Fan, 2005) laws f migration introduced the notion that people move in order to better themselves economically. In this view, migration is considered as the individual's response to regional differentials in economic development. Similarly, neoclassical theory views migration as an outcome of geographic differences in labor demand and supply (Sjaastad 1962, cited from Fan, Firms and hence labor force are attracted to cities as they provide agglomeration economies and economies of scale, efficiently concentrating infrastructure and other common resources via labor-pooling, knowledge pill-overs and economic competition, thus raising productivity, and hence wages (O'Sullivan, 2009). Ultimately it is a migrant's utility that influences their decision to migrate from place to place. O'Sullivan (2009) relates the utility of a worker with the total workforce within a city, From this example it can be shown that cities may be too large, but not too small. The utility curve reaches its maximum with 2 million workers in a city so a region with 6 million workers will maximize utility with 3 cities, where utility has adjusted until workers are indifferent between the two cities. If cities are too small, so for example if there are 6 small cities each with 1m workers, there is an unstable equilibrium because the utility curve is positively sloped at this point. If a worker moves from one small city to another they create a utility gap as the population in one has decreased – and hence utility – while the other increased. This gap encourages even more movement, and as self-reinforcing effects generate extreme outcomes, the extreme outcome is that everyone will move from one city to another, making the city ‘disappear'. However when you have two large cities, with m workers each, when a worker moves and a utility gap is created, utility is actually higher in the smaller city (perhaps due to congestion and overcrowding in the now larger city) making migration self-correcting rather than self-reinforcing. Migrants will then either move back to the smaller city, or existing inhabitants of the larger city will move to the smaller one until a stable equilibrium of 3 million workers. The hukou system's restrictions will limit worker's ability to migrate between cities and it is almost certain that an optimum equilibrium state will not being reached. Workers will be contained within the region they currently reside and while it may be possible for equilibrium to be reached within the region, it limits the probability of it being optimal dramatically. This reflects Andes'(1995) view that political forces, more so than economic ones, drive urban centralization, hence cities are induced While migration may be a major factor in the determination of city size, â€Å"cities are engines of economic growth† (Lucas, 2001, cited from O'Sullivan, 2009), regardless of migration restrictions. Krugman (1991) says that economic growth is induced through agglomeration economies, with lements of labor-pooling, knowledge spill-overs and technological innovation. With these elements, growth can be induced by increasing the productivity and income of human capital (O'Sullivan, 2009), learning and innovating production and management techniques from one another (Porter, 1990 cited from Glaeser, 1992) and hence as a result of a combination of the previous two, results in technological innovation, further increasing productivity and efficiency (Krugman, 1991). As a result of internal economic growth, O'Sullivan (2009) depicts this graphically again with respect to worker's utility and population, Figure 2. Growth induced by innovation shifts the utility curve outwards. People will then want to move to the innovative city and close the utility gap until a new equilibrium b and s. This however brings about an important point. The new equilibrium can only come about if labor migration exists. With the hukou system, migration is restricted which will result in innovative cities always having a higher utility than those who don't and hence because of such a disequilibrium, the majority of Chinese cities in effect are induced into being ‘too small'. The equilibrium j cannot be reached as nnovation cannot â€Å"become contagious† across cities, in which both cities will innovate at the same time. Jacobs (1969, cited from Glaeser, 1992) further supports the notion that internal economic growth alone is not sufficient as most important knowledge spill-overs come from outside the industry, and as a result of labor migration restrictions, such knowledge is limited to flourish growth. Scherer (1982, cited from Glaeser, 1992) presents evidence strengthening Jacob's view, indicating that around 70% of innovations in a given industry are used outside the industry. To summarize, labor mobility underpins the validity of O'Sullivan's theories on utility and population size within a city and the ideas of internally induced growth put forward by Lucas, Krugman, Glaeser and O'Sullivan. Without labor mobility, labor cannot close utility gaps, therefore not allowing the theoretical possibility for them to become too big, but not too small. A city's internal ability to induce growth is limited in Jacob's view if the majority of increases in productivity and innovation as a result of knowledge spill-overs arguably come from outside he industry, and hence city. The hukou system's power to restrict labor movement, restricts the possibility of â€Å"human containers shipping complex, uncodified information† (Storper, 2001) required for innovation from one interprovincial city to another, hence limiting the ability for growth. Chinese cities in effect, are forced into being ‘too small'. In conclusion, Myrdal (1957) argues a stable equilibrium assumption implies that a social process follows a direction, this in his view is wrong. It can be possible that some exogenous change has such strength and irection to bring the system to rest, however it is not a natural outcome and is furthermore unstable. Such a state can also be achieved through policy intervention – the hukou system in this case. Storper (1989) adds to this saying â€Å"growth is the pivot on which industrial geography turns, and change is the only constant in a world of persistent disequilibrium. Metaphorically, such an equilibrium (or disequilibrium relative to a less restricted system) resulting from the hukou system, contains provincial regions separately from one another rather than allowing a concoction give ise to a mass growing system. It can be argued however that smaller cities can be more desirable than those heavily under the influence of urban sprawl, exempting the dis-economies of increased congestion and commuting costs (Bruekner, 2000). But the strength and benefits of agglomeration economies in pushing cities to grow outweigh such by-products, as these can be addressed because of the innovation that is created. However, as discussed in this essay, there is much resentment against the hukou system. Huifeng (2010) presents a joint editorial in 13 Chinese mainland newspapers hat called on the nation's top legislative body to abolish the hukou system, as the strict population controls have split the country into rural and urban areas. He continues to say as the mainland has developed in recent decades, concerns have been expressed that the system may be doing more harm than good, with the divide between the urban and rural populations growing into a chasm. If the restrictions were lifted, a natural flow will be brought about onto the Chinese economy, allowing Chinese cities and regions to converge towards O'Sullivan's optimal equilibrium's, no longer rendering them ‘too small'.

Comparing Where the Scattering Began and Wherever I Hang

After analysing â€Å"Where the scattering began† by merle Collins and â€Å"Wherever I hang† by Grace Nichols, I found that both poets displayed the subject of adjusting to another culture effectively but, in very different ways. Grace Nichols used a very light hearted and simple style which I think reflected her relaxed attitude to life. This poem opens the reader’s eyes to her relaxed culture through the simple language. All though the poem is clear in its context, for some of the readers it can be quite hard to understand if the accent is not known. The dialect gives the readers an insight to the dialect of the poet herself and the Caribbean culture is also displayed in the warm inviting tone; this suggests that the culture is friendly and welcoming. I noticed that the poet included repetition of nouns to add emphasis at the beginning of the poem. Grace Nichols quotes: â€Å"I leave me people, me land, me home. † Perhaps the poet is generally conveying that she has come from a completely different world, and reveals to the readers that she regrets leaving her country because she includes specific happy memories of her home. The humming-bird could possibly be a metaphor of the beauty she sees within her country; this colourful, small, modest bird could essentially represent the country through the eyes of Grace Nichols. She Quotes: â€Å"I forsake the sun and the humming-bird splendour† But she sees England as a land of hope and possibility. Gradually as the poem progresses she â€Å"becomes accustomed to the English life† and â€Å"changes her calypso ways†. Cleverly as she becomes adjusted to the different culture, the poet’s language changes also, this is to emphasise the fact that her habits have changed. This poem illustrates the confusion of adjusting to another culture, even after many years, when she begins to become more accustomed to an English life, she still feels divided between her home and England. The confusion is displayed before the readers in one line: â€Å"To tell you the truth, I don’t really know where I belaang†

Essay on Frederick Douglass

Essay on Frederick Douglass Essay on Frederick Douglass Semester Project Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass was one of the most prominent figures of the abolitionist movement, a movement that fought to end slavery. A brilliant speaker, Douglass engaged in a tour of lectures, and became recognized as one of America’s first great black speakers. Douglass also wrote a personal narrative in 1845 titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Taylor 34). Through his book , Frederick Douglass aimed to educate the uninformed Northern audience of the time. Douglass writes that before his book, the only side being shown to the North was the Southern Slave Master's side. This biased point of view did not paint an accurate picture of life in the South. In the book's preface, William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips express that this book is unlike any other slave narrative that has been published to this point because this book has been written by an actual slave who escaped from the horrors of slavery and lived to tell his story. Amani 2 Frederick Douglass was born to an African American slave mother, Harriet Baily, and a white slaveholder (Douglass 12). Since childhood Douglass was enslaved by many different families including the Lloyds and the Aulds. While working for the Aulds the slavemasters wife Sophia taught young Douglass how to read. When the Slavemaster, Hugh Auld, found out that Douglass was learning to read he became furious because it was unlawful to teach a slave to read. Hugh Auld believed that if a slave knew how to read and write that this would make him unfit to be a slave(Douglass 52). Douglass learned from his master’s outburst that if learning how to read and write was his pathway to freedom, then gaining this knowledge was to become his goal. Douglass later had a ruthless master by the name of Covey who was also known as the â€Å"nigger-breaker†(Douglass 80). One day Covey began tying Douglass to a post in preparation for a whipping, Douglass said, â€Å"At that moment from whence came the spirit I don’t know, I resolved to fight (Douglass 81).† Covey and Frederick fought for almost two hours until Covey finally gave up. After this, Douglass was passed on to other slaveholders until eventually he was then sent again to Hugh Auld in Baltimore and was hired out to a local shipbuilder so that he could learn the trade. Within a year, he was an experienced caulker and was being paid wages, which he in turn gave to Hugh Auld (Douglass 15). Through this job Douglass managed to pull of a successful escape disguised as a sailor. Frederick Douglass was one of the most influential men of the anti-slavery movement, as well as being a supporter of woman’s rights. As great orator he often used his first hand experience as a slave to help build support for the abolitionist movement. After r eading the book I felt that Douglass’s purpose for this narrative was primarily to educate northerners about the reality of slave life. â€Å"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man† was my favorite quote from the book (Douglass 53). This quote made the message of the book clear to me because the narrative is about all the hardships Douglass faces as a slave yet he still becomes a free man in the end. In 1845 when the book was published slavery was commonly practiced throughout the United States (Taylor 22). The publication of this narrative not only gave northerners a closer look at slavery, but also evidence to refute arguments made supporting slavery and it exposed the scenic picture of slavery painted by slaveholders. The narrative was mainly for the northerners to see the south for what it truly was, but the narrative had a world wide impact as it was translated into many languages such as French, German, Dutch, and Russian. In relation to the 19th century discourse on slavery, Douglass challenges many ideas throughout his narrative. For example, Douglass learned to

Orwellian - Definition and Examples

Orwellian s To describe something as Orwellian is to say that it brings to mind the fictional totalitarian society of Oceania described in George Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In Orwells novel, all citizens of Oceania are monitored by cameras, are fed fabricated news stories by the government, are forced to worship a mythical government leader called Big Brother, are indoctrinated to believe nonsense statements (the mantra WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH), and are subject to torture and execution if they question the order of things. The word is sometimes used to describe a particularly anti-libertarian government policy, but it is also sometimes used to describe the peculiar, nonsensical thought process behind Oceanias social structure- a thought process in which ideas that are obviously self-contradictory are accepted as true based on the fact that an authority figure is asserting them. Orwellian Policies The Bush administrations No Child Left Behind program (which is unfunded and therefore technically leaves children behind) and Clear Skies Initiative (which weakens anti-pollution regulations and therefore technically makes skies less clear) are often cited as examples of Orwellian policies, but so are Londons omnipresent surveillance cameras and North Koreas patriotism indoctrination camps. The best way to understand what does and does not constitute Orwellian policy is to read Nineteen Eighty-Four itself. Secondhand descriptions of Oceania do not do justice to the oppressive, mind-wracking atmosphere described in the novel.