Friday, November 29, 2019

Augustines Confessions Essay Essays - Aurelii, Church Fathers

Augustine's Confessions Essay In the Confessions, by Saint Augustine, Augustine addressed himself articulately and passionately to the persistent questions that stirred the minds and hearts of men since time began. The Confessions tells a story in the form of a long conversion with God. Through this conversion to Catholic Christianity, Augustine encounters many aspects of love. These forms of love help guide him towards an ultimate relationship with God. His restless heart finally finds peace and rest in God at the end of The Confessions. Augustine finds many ways in which he can find peace in God. He is genuinely sorry for having turned away from God, the source of peace and happiness. Augustine is extremely thankful for having been given the opportunity to live with God. Augustine uses love as his gate to God's grace. Throughout The Confessions, love and wisdom, the desire to love and be loved, and his love for his concubine, are all driving forces for Augustine's desire to find peace in God. The death of his friend upsets him deeply, but also allows him to pursue God to become a faithful Christian. Augustine often experiences darkness, blindness, and confusion while attempting to find rest in God, but he knows that when he eventually finds him his restless heart will be saved. Augustine started out in childhood with a restless heart because he had to live in two different worlds. These worlds consisted of that of his mother's religious faith, and the world of everything else. These two worlds confused and disturbed Augustine as a child. In his mother's world, talk consisted of Christ the Savior and about the mighty god who helps us especially to go to heaven. In the other world, talk was about achieving. It seems as if Augustine felt that if he were to live in both of these worlds, his life would turn out to be nothing. He believed he would not accomplish anything he would be remembered for. He became unhappy with the idea of his life amounting to nothing. This is why Augustine turned to love. He felt that love might help him have a direct purpose in life and would help him through his conversion. Love should not be that of evil. Saint Augustine searched for the answer of a question that asked if love reaches out hopelessly and harmfully, how can it turn around to be productive and wholesome to the human soul? Love became a necessity for all people. For Augustine, the answer to this question was love. The first love must be for the love of God in Augustine's mind. It must come before all other forms of love. Augustine states that, ?The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you? (I, 1). Augustine talks of many different forms of love. Another form that he talks about and demonstrates many times in The Confessions is the desire to love and to be loved. Augustine's relation to his mistress focuses on the problem of restless loves, while showing that A ugustine had the desire to love and the desire to be loved. For one thing, he went to Carthage wanting to be in love. He evidently was not in Carthage long before he found his mistress. Many young men stayed with a woman until the time came to marry them back then. This is what Augustine did. He states that, ?In those days I lived with a woman, not my lawful wedded wife but a mistress whom I had chosen for no special reason but that my restless passions had alighted on her. But she was the only one and I was faithful to her? (IV, 4). Wisdom itself meant that the one true order of the world is what makes everything stick together. Augustine later recognized this as God's truth and word, by which God had made all things. This wisdom came into the world as Christ. Augustine's conversion is clear in outline and was greatly influenced by different variations of love. From childhood he had loved the name of Christ and associated

Monday, November 25, 2019

ACT Score All Questions Are Analytical

The Secret to Getting a Perfect SAT / ACT Score All Questions Are Analytical SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It seems obvious that each ACT / SAT question must have exactly one answer, and this answer must be clearly and objectively correct. However, as we’ll explain below, that simple fact alone disqualifies vast swaths of reasonable questions that you otherwise see in everyday tests at school. This obvious fact also leads to a little-known secret that, when applied correctly, guarantees the cracking of each question.You don’t have to trust me read through this guide and ask any perfect or near-perfect scorer. They’ll agree on the secret. The premise is simple. Each ACT / SAT question must have exactly one right answer. This seems obvious enough after all doesn’t every multiple choice question have one right answer? It turns out that most multiple choice questions you’ve seen in life have relatively lax standards. Suppose your science teacher, Mr. Smith, gave you a multiple-choice quiz last week. Those multiple-choice questions are the same as those of the SAT / ACT right? Absolutely not! Mr. Smith is allowed to write imperfect questions. If there are two right answers, Mr. Smith will give some credit back. In the worst case, some students will have inaccurate scores. What if choice B is only a little more correct than choice C, and you put down C? Tough luck this question only counts for 2% of your grade anyway. A few bad questions a month is part of life. In short, the multiple-choice questions you are used to in school have much wider tolerances for error and fuzziness because they matter less in your academic career. Why the SAT / ACT Can't Tolerate Any Question Mistakes The ACT / SAT is a totally different ball game, a totally different league. The writers have to make a test that contains hundreds of questions, yet they can't make a single mistake. Not a single one of their questions can have two right answers or no right answers.Each question must have one right answer that stands objectively and clearly above all the other answers. This means that, if you put each question in front of 100 experts, all of must answer it exactly the same way, without any doubt. What happens if the SAT or ACT makes a mistake? The consequences would be tremendous. Many students on the margin would lose their scholarships. Students would literally lose their deserved acceptances to their dream colleges a product that the average family pays five to six digits for. Colleges who obsess about assembling the dream class would be going off flawed data. The truth is, the stakes are super high with the SAT / ACT, so there is no margin for error. Of course, the pain isn’t just to students and colleges it gets transmitted to the test makers as well. Even a few mistakes a year results in scandals (see the June 2015 SAT blowup over â€Å"just† 5 minutes timing difference). Both students and colleges will stop using the error-prone test. And, to kick it off, these mistakes have resulted in lawsuits that have cost the ACT / SAT hundreds of thousands of dollars to battle. Therefore, neither test can tolerate any chance of two right answers, no right answer, or any other question mistake. Why Each SAT / ACT Question Must Have One Very Clear Answer The ACT / SAT is also not allowed to have unclear answers or answers that rely on fuzzy reasoning. Suppose an ACT science question asked: How many planets are there in the solar system? A) 8; B) 9 †¦ It seems that the answer is pretty clear most scientists would say A) 8. But this level of clarity is not good enough for the ACT.Very recently we had nine planets, so some educators might argue that students who put down nine are answering as they’ve been taught and should be given credit; these educators would have a good argument. Other fringe scientists may not accept the consensus and argue that nine is still right. Also, the ACT runs the risk of a new planet being discovered between publication and test date. If two answers are close to each other in how good they are, this creates headaches for the test makers.First, the test makersmight make a mistaken judgment call and claim the slightly worse answer is the right one this leads to the horror show above. Another scenario is more insidious: it affects students who put down the â€Å"less good† answer but are at the cusp of a big prize. Maybe the student is right at the cutoff of a sports recruitment or a huge scholarship. She would be hugely incentivized to get the test to accept her answer as correct. In fact, many students do cause an administrative or legal headache for the ACT / SAT by making a fuss. With that environment in mind, you hopefully have a better understanding as to why the ACT / SAT can afford zero mistakes on the test. You should also understand why their multiple-choice questions can’t have a best answer that is just 20% better than the next choice. Now we’ll discuss how we can use this information to your bestadvantage. Every SAT/ACT question has exactly one correctanswer, and, once you learn this method, that correct answer will look very different from all the other options. Three Ways to Think About Having One Very Clear Answer OK, the SAT / ACT has to have one very clear answer that’s a little theoretical. How canyou think about the degree of clarity in a way that will help you on the test? For my students, I’ve come up with three rules that illustrate what â€Å"very clear† means. These rules get at the same single, central idea from three different directions. You should make note ofthese three rules to remind yourself on the test what clarity means. Rule 1: The 10x Rule of Clarity It turns out that the clarity of the right answer is so important that the best answer is not just 20% or 2x better than the next best answer, but in fact 10x better. That’s right, you might think D and E are close answers, but, to an infinitely knowledgeable test-taker, it turns out that E is actually ten times as good as D. Rule 2: Panel of 100 Experts Agree Another way to think about how clear the right answer must be is to realize that, if there were a panel of 100 experts, all of them would have to agree on what the right answer is. If even one or two of them disagree, suddenly the question is no longer objective it’s subjective and up for debate the test maker's worst nightmare. Because questions must be objective, a panel of carefully thinking experts must agree on the correct answer. Rule 3: Provably Correct One final useful way to think about how clear the right answer needs to be is to realize that it must be provably correct.If given a long enough time, you could write almost a math-style proof on why the answer is correct and the other choices are wrong. If you couldn’t write a math-style proof, then some part of the logic process has to be based on a â€Å"hunch." Hunches are neither clear nor objective, and therefore, the ACT / SAT cannot rely on these. Again, the ACT / SAT must have questions that can be solved using precise, analytical logic. How do these rules help? When you’re stuck on a question and two answers are looking very close to each other, you’ll realize this can’t be how the question is meant to be answered by the 10x Rule of Clarity. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to rely on a subjective judgment, where you catch yourself saying â€Å"my opinion is this† or â€Å"it seems likely that the answer is this," then the Panel of Experts rule will tell you that you can do more to answer your question. The most powerful rule, the one rule to rule them all, is the Provably Correct rule. This rule tells you that you never need to rely on fuzzy reasoning or a feeling to answer a question. If you have enough background information, enough time, and enough logic, you can prove that every answer you choose is correct. Thinking about the Provably Correct rule in the negative is also helpful. It means that, for all the wrong answers, you must be able to identify a fatal flaw that disqualifies them. Example Problems These rules also mean that, if you are getting stuck solving the hardest problems for you, the solution is not to â€Å"get better intuition† or â€Å"get subtler at fuzzy thinking† but rather to learn how to penetrate the analytical, logical core of each question. How do you apply these rules? One of the best ways to learn is to try them on real questions. For the rest of this article, we will demonstrate the rules on a math question, a grammar question, and finally a reading question. The rule will be most obvious in math, but most insightful in reading. For each of these three example problems, we will write math-style proofs to show beyond any doubt that the answer we choose is the right one. By proofs, I just mean breaking the problem down into very small but clear steps. No background on proofs ina math class is needed. I use the word much more loosely in this article, usually to emphasize that an explanation is crystal clear instead of fuzzy. Math Example The easiest place to start demonstrating these concepts is math. Math is the subject where it is most obvious that each question has one very clear, objective, provably correct answer. Since it is so obvious to everyone that math answers are objective, the following demonstration is less subtle than in reading, but it’s still useful to go through this example to learn. One of the most difficult ACT Math questions is as follows: Consider all pairs of positive integers w and z whose sum is five. For how many values of w does there exist a positive integer x that satisfies both 2^w = x and x^z = 64. (Statement 2) 0 2 4 8 Infinitely Many You can get at the single very clear answer by completing a proof, as I'll show you: First, we'll start with the information given to us. The two integers w and z must add up to five. That gives us four options for integer pairs for (w,z): (1,4), (2,3), (3,2) and (4,1). Let’s call the second sentence of the question above statement (2). Now we can prove for all four pairs above whether statement (2) holds: In each case, since z is a positive integer 2^w = x is a positive integer, we can ignore the restriction that x is a positive integer. For (1,4), statement (2) gives that 2^1=x=2. And x^z = 2^4 = 16 =/= 64. Thus, for the first pair statement (2) is false. For (2,3), statement (2) gives that 2^2=x=4. And x^z = 4^3 = 64 indeed. Thus, for the second pair statement (2) is true. For (3,2), statement (2) gives that 2^3=x=8. And x^z = 8^2 = 64 indeed. Thus, for the third pair statement (2) is true. For (3,2), statement (2) gives that 2^4=x=16. And x^z = 16^1 =/= 64. Thus, for the fourth pair statement (2) is false. Therefore, the above is a mathematical proof in the most original sense, that there are two pairs that satisfy the answer. The answer is two. This corresponds to B. Note that, as a mathematical proof, the above explanation is watertight. (I would know I've taken dozens of courses in theoretical math and spent countless hours writing proofs.) This proof passes the 10x rule of clarity (no other answer would be even 1/10th as correct). It would pass the panel of 100 experts rule in fact, I bet every single professional mathematician in the world would agree with the proof above. Finally, the proof is fully analytical it breaks the entire solution into small but obvious pieces. Proofs in reading, science, or writing won’t be nearly as perfect, but the above serves as a guideline for later in the article. Important Notes First, all proofs depend on a set of indisputable, underlying facts (in rigorous proofs, these are called axioms). Here, the two underlying facts I cited were that:1) a positive integer taken to a positive integer power is positive, and2) there are exactly four unique pairs of positive integers (w,z) such that w+z=5. Understanding these facts is assumed to be part of being an expert in math, and if you find yourself missing these facts when constructing proofs, then you know the problem is an underlying content problem. Most of the underlying facts in math and grammar, and some in reading, need to be memorized beforehand.If you lack these facts, no amount of logic and no amount of time will let you solve the problems. Second, the proof method is best used as training wheels, as an illustrative tool. On the real test, they are too time-consuming to use on more than a few rare occasions.On a real test, proofs are most useful in reading, then grammar, and least of all in math. After all, in math, the fact that there is a single, clear, objective, right answer is usually obvious. When are proofs useful then? Proofs are useful when you are stuck on the hardest 1-3 problems in each section and have extra time.Proofs are also useful when you are practicing the SAT / ACT. Whenever you feel a question has â€Å"two right answers," you can do a proof exercise to convince yourself that’s not the case. Also, I put the math proof first because it’s the simplest to understand; in fact, it’ll be the reading proof at the end that you’ll find most helpful on SAT / ACT training. How to Use the Proof Method on Math Problems Here are some general guidelines to follow when you start to solve math problems using this method: First, read through the question and break down the information it gives you. Then, identify the axioms, or indisputable math facts, you'll need to apply in order to solve this problem. This is where having strong mathematical knowledge comes in handy. If, for example, the question is about triangles, you should be able to quickly come up with all the triangle rules and information you know. After you've done this, you can start the proof. Work through the problem, making a new line for each new statement, until you've solved it and figured out your answer. Grammar Example The following question is from an ACT English section, and it's similar to a grammar question you might find on SAT Reading. Grammaris a great area to illustrate the Provably Correct concept because it’s an area where many students use fuzzy thinking. Many students, especially native English speakers, are used to â€Å"sounding phrases out† and choosing the one that â€Å"feels best.† However, it’s also obvious that grammar follows hard, explicit logical rules like math does. And those hard logical rules, not your ear, are the only method guaranteed to get you every question right. Consider now the following question: Choose the best replacement for the underlined portion. A musician balancing a cello case, two Buddhist monks in saffron robes, and a group of stockbrokers in crisp, charcoal gray suits get on the subway at the Wall Street station. No Change. charcoal gray suits, charcoal, gray suits charcoal gray, suits Like math questions, you can follow a set of steps to solve English questions using proofs. Every question on the English section will relate to at least one grammar fact. Your first step is identifying which grammar fact they are referring to. This requires a strong knowledge of English grammar, but if you study enough, you'll be able to easily identify the particular grammar rule you need. For this example, the sentence has multiple phrases with the same grammatical structure; therefore, the grammar fact you need to use is parallel construction. Go through the answer choices, applying the grammar rule to each of them, until you have clearly identified one correct answer and three incorrect answers. This one fact is particularly important for this question: Grammar fact (parallel construction): When there are multiple phrases that have the same grammatical structure, these phrases are to be separated by a comma. Conversely, separation by a comma strongly suggests phrases are parallel. E.g. The US flag is red, white, and blue. The words â€Å"red†, â€Å"white†, â€Å"and blue† are parallel construction and separated by a comma. Now, let’s examine the answers. Note that the only difference is in the placement of the comma (if it exists at all). We will prove the right answer by deconstructing all versions and showing that all but one is nonsensical or ungrammatical. Choice A: No Change. The sentence is talking about â€Å"charcoal gray suits†. The word â€Å"charcoal† modifies gray (it’s a type of gray), and the phrase â€Å"charcoal gray† modifies suit. This makes sense. Also, the commas imply parallelism between the three nouns in the sentence: the group of stockbrokers, the Buddhist monks, and the musician. This is also correct. Choice B: â€Å"charcoal gray suits,†This option puts a comma at the end of the phrase. This separates the sentence into four suggested parallel phrases: A musician balancing a cello case, two Buddhist monks in saffron robes, and a group of stockbrokers in crisp, charcoal gray suits,get on the subway at the Wall Street station. The first three are noun phrases and contain subjects (musicians, monks, and stockbrokers, respectively). The fourth phrase, however; doesn't include a subject and is instead a verb phrase which violates suggested parallel construction This means that placing the comma after the word "suits" would not be signifying parallel construction. To be rigorous, you must be aware that, in addition to parallel construction, commas can only be used to set off nonessential clauses, along with a few other minor cases. The verb clause is an essential part of this sentence; without it the sentence would not make sense, and it wouldn't be grammatically correct. The placement of the comma for option B is therefore inappropriate. This disproves B. Choice C: â€Å"charcoal, gray suits† By our first Grammar Fact, this suggests that charcoal and gray are parallel. This means both are modifying the word â€Å"suits." The suits are both gray (makes sense) and charcoal (doesn’t make sense). The suits are not literally made of the same charcoal that you barbecuewith! This parallelism gives the sentence the wrong meaning and thus can be provably disqualified. Choice D: â€Å"charcoal gray, suits† By our first Grammar Fact again, the commas here would strongly suggest that the phrases â€Å"crisp," â€Å"charcoal gray† and â€Å"suits† are parallel. However, the first two are adjectives, and the final word is a noun, again violating parallelism and disproving this option as the correct answer. And there we have it, we have â€Å"proven† above that the right answer must be A. (To be even more rigorous, we would want to list all valid uses for commas and eliminate these cases in each of the answers above. This gets truly arduous, but it will advance this proof from â€Å"10x correct† territory to â€Å"100x correct† territory. This again is a demonstration between thetrade offsbetween full rigor and time spent.) Who Is This Proof Most Useful For? The proof is best used for a student who is stuck between two answers which both look right. In this case, many students have complained that they can’t tell whether A or C is correct after looking at the question long and hard. They both â€Å"sound† correct. A proof allows you to show that one answer must be very right while the others are very wrong. In the case above, we relied on the role of the comma in parallelism. You'll want to use this method practically, and only if youhavesubstantial time to eliminate all ambiguity. You can use it 1) on a real test if you have extra time left 2) if you are studying and want to conquer the most difficult questions 3) if you’re working on improving content and don’t mind spending extra time demonstrating to yourself why one answer is exactly right. Proofs aren’t infinitely powerful. After all, you have to know the underlying Grammatical Fact put out at the beginning. A proof doesn’t give you an answer if you don’t know the subject! Second, proofs take much too long to implement on all questions on a live test. In a live test, you absolutely want to eliminate some choices â€Å"by ear† when they sound egregious, and you absolutely want to take timing shortcuts that give you 90% of the accuracy in 10% of the time. However, even if you don’t do an actual proof on the test, just knowing that a proof must exist is incredibly empowering. Even when you are using intuition or fuzzy feelings, you then know that the intuition or feeling must be overlaying a cold, hard fact. If you are going by intuition, you know that the final word in the answer cannot possibly be just a feeling. Provably Correct is something that should totally change your perspective on an ACT / SAT questions. Reading Example ACT / SAT Reading is my favorite area to apply our rule to! This is because reading seems so touchy-feely, so subjective, that it’s tempting for students to think of the section as uncertain, subjective, and intuition-based. In fact, reading questions are exactly the opposite: they are certain, objective, and analytical. Reading is the opposite of math in that proofs are the least obvious but the most helpful tool to improve your score. Let’s get to the question: Consider the following paragraph: "We plan makers are accustomed to things turning out not quite as good as we had in mind. Our world view includes the â€Å"diminished excellence† component. Diminished excellence is a condition of the world and therefore never an occasion for sorrow, whereas flawed competence comes out of character and therefore is frequently the reason for the bowed head, the furrowed brow." In the last paragraph, a comparison is made between "diminished excellence" and "flawed competence." From the narrator's point of view, the conditions are different because the one is: A source of sorrow while the other is a source of pride. Based in the family while the other is based in the self. Inherent in the environment while the other is inherent in the individual. A sign that the individual can improve the world while the other is a sign that the individual can't. If you want to really learn the proof method, I strongly encourage you to work through this problem. Give yourself 10 or even 20 minutes if you need. Write out your logic and compare it against the rigor below. If you are confused, introspect about your confusion. In just a few moments you’ll see an explanation that will prove beyond a doubt that one of the answers is clearly 10x correct. What Not to Do First, let’s go over what a student using â€Å"fuzzy thinking† might do. Frank the fuzzy thinker might look at F and think, â€Å"The paragraph does mention one of them being sorrow, so this looks fine.† He may then go onto G and go, â€Å"Well, there was no discussion of family in this paragraph, so that’s clearly out.† For H he thinks, â€Å"Yes, one of them is about the world while the other isn’t, so let’s keep H.† Finally, he goes onto J and thinks, â€Å"Well, yes, one of them is improvable, while the other isn’t†; so he keeps J. Frank has eliminated F because it feels a bit off to him, and he eliminated G because of a "feeling" he had. However, both H and J sound good. Frank would estimate that H sounds about twice as good as F, but J sounds the best of any of the answer choices, beating H by maybe 10-20%. Frank thinks the answer really depends on how you see the question it's subjective anyway, so he chooses J. Unfortunately for Frank, he chose the wrong answer. Even worse, the way he solved the problem demonstrates the worst of fuzzy logic! Rules That Frank the Fuzzy Thinker Broke Note that his final reasoning broke every one of our three â€Å"clear answer† rules. First, he thought that the best answer was only 10-20% better than the next, and at most 2-3x better than the third best answer, violating the 10x clear rule. Second, he thought the answer was subjective and broke the â€Å"consensus of 100 experts† rule. Finally, his reasoning lacked substantial analytical rigor. He relied on how he felt about the answers and used simple â€Å"word matching," breaking the Provably Correct rule. Breaking the Provably Correct rule on reading questions invariably shows some patterns. Frank illustrates some of them: Associative thinking: Frank saw the word "sorrow" in the paragraph and thought that, since answer F contains that word, it has a high chance of being right. Likewise, he ruled out G based on only the single word â€Å"family." While it is tempting to use word-matching to choose answers, this is the lowest form of non-analytical, fuzzy thinking. Reading questions are more subtle than hunting for the right word. Drawing inferences from the outside: To Frank, whether something is â€Å"inherent in the environment† (from the source paragraph) is the same as â€Å"a sign that the individual can’t improve the world† (answer J). However, this latter statement is actually not stated in the paragraph at all! Dropping or adding words to force things to fit: Frank keeps F even though the word â€Å"pride† isn’t anywhere in the paragraph. F otherwise seems like a good answer, so Frank ignores the minor inconvenience that an entire word is out of place. How to Solve This Problem Analytically With a Proof Now, let’s see why the above question is really not a subjective, â€Å"two good answers† situation. We’ll do this by bringing out our usual tool of analytical rigor, the proof. First, read the paragraph word-by-word slowly and carefully.Think about what each sentence means after reading it. Then, re-read the entire paragraph. I will start the proof by restating a large majority of the paragraph in my own words. The following statements are logically contained within the original paragraph: We are plan makers. We are used to things turning out less than our plan. The way we see the world includes a part called â€Å"diminished excellence." Diminished excellence is a condition of the world. Because of this, â€Å"diminished excellence† is not an occasion for sorrow. However, â€Å"flawed competence† comes out of character. Because of this, â€Å"flawed competence† is often why there is the bowed head, the furrowed brow. Each statement is a rigorous transformation of the original and totally implied by the original. We will use both the original and the implied transformation to prove the answers. Choice F: A source of sorrow while the other is a source of pride. The first part of this answer is true. It's true that one is implicitly a cause for sorrow. The paragraph states that â€Å"diminished excellence† isn’t a cause for sorrow, but the conjunction â€Å"however† implies strongly that â€Å"flawed competence† indeed causes sorrow. However, for all F to be true, the second part must be true as well; we must have a source for pride. Since â€Å"flawed competence† is taken by sorrow already, if F were true, then â€Å"diminished excellence† must be a cause for pride. Intuitively, â€Å"diminished excellence† doesn’t seem like a good cause for â€Å"pride†, but let’s prove it. The paragraph just says diminished excellence is a condition of the world and not a cause for sorrow. Nowhere do we have it explicitly said or strongly implied that â€Å"diminished excellence† is a cause for pride. This means F cannot be wholly true. Therefore F is wrong. Choice G: One is based in the family while the other is based in the self. Reading all the logical statements in the original paragraph, it is easy to see that no statement says anything about a family, nor anything that would imply a family (such as a group, relative, etc). Therefore, we can deduce that â€Å"based in the family† cannot possibly be a conclusion of the paragraph. Thus G is ruled out as an answer. (If you’re looking for extra credit, it is indeed true the paragraph says that â€Å"flawed competence† is based out of character, which is strongly associated with the self, so the second half of statement G is true. However half-true is just not good enough!) Choice H: One is based in the environment while the other is inherent in the individual. The paragraph clearly does state that diminished excellence is a condition of the world and thus the environment. This proves the first part of the statement as true. Now, the paragraph says the other term, â€Å"flawed competence," comes out from the character, which almost definitionally is inherent to the individual. This proves the second part of the statement as true. As a bonus, further reinforcing this proof is the fact that the entire paragraph is a parallelism between a concept with roots in the world, versus another with roots in character. This world vs. character contrast is exactly targeted by this answer which compares environment vs. individual. Thus H has very strong support, a proof in fact. Choice J: A sign that the individual can improve the world while the other is a sign that the individual can't. With fuzzy thinking, J looks similar to H. However, let us be precise. J says that one is a sign that the individual can improve the world. This first concept J refers to cannot possibly be â€Å"diminished excellence† since the paragraph does not say anything at all about the individual with respect to â€Å"diminished excellence†. Thus, if J were true, the first part of J must refer to â€Å"flawed competence†. It is true that the paragraph says â€Å"flawed competence† comes from the character and thus the individual. However, the paragraph says nothing about flawed competence being changeable. Also, even if â€Å"flawed competence† implied any potential for change, nothing in the paragraph speaks about the ability of this change to â€Å"improve the world†. Thus, J is disproven. As a bonus, you can also point out multiple other logically-rigorous, fatal flaws in J. For example, the paragraph says nothing about ifâ€Å"diminished excellence† modulates whether an individual can impact the world. The fuzzy thinking here is that the paragraph talks about two concepts that come from the world versus the individual, while choice J is instead talking about the impact of the individual on the world. Same concepts, but totally unrelated. It would be as unrelated as if the paragraph talked about the weather of New York compared to that of Los Angeles, and the answer talked about flights between New York and Los Angeles.Thus J is rejected too. We have written relatively objective, logical, and analytical proofs that show that H must be the right answer, and all the others must be wrong answers. Hopefully, if you thought the question was vague, subtle, and subjective before, the proof shows that the question is, in fact, analytical with a very clear, objective, and logical answer. For Reading questions, you'll want to first start by reading the passage, then transforming it into your own words, while keeping its entire original meaning intact, like we did in the example. Then, go through each of the answer options and compare them to both the original passage and your rewording to see if they are true. Remember, each part of the answer must be true. If only half the answer is true, then it is not the right answer. Takeaways From the Proof I hope that the proof above gives you confidence that, with enough time and application of logic, you can clearly show only one answer is true. By transforming what seems like a fuzzy question into cold hard logic, hopefully, the above demonstrated that, on the ACT / SAT, all questions are in fact analytical and provable. But if all questions are analytical, logical, and provable, then why doesn’t the ACT / SAT just directly test these skills in straightforward ways? The reason is that most of reading / English in academia is indeed subjective and often fuzzy. Who’s a better writer, James Joyce or Vladimir Nabokov? Subjective. What social actions did Orwell want to encourage in his readers by writing his bestseller 1984? Again, subjective. Many interesting and difficult academic subjects are inherently subtle and subjective. I can tell you this from firsthand experience, from writing countless college essays on topics like film studies and the Jewish Bible. Since much of real academia has a feeling of intuition, subtlety, and subjectiveness, the ACT / SAT wants to mimic these factors. They dress their questions up to look as subtle and fuzzy as possible. But we know from the beginning of the article that the ACT / SAT cannot afford truly fuzzy or subjective questions.Therefore, the fuzziness is a ruse. It becomes a set of trap answers for the student. The core of any ACT / SAT question is a hard, analytic question, and if you only see a fuzzy question, this means you haven’t seen the core of the question yet! Conclusion Now that you know that each SAT / ACT answer is provable, you’ll no longer approach difficult questions the wrong way. It is so common for students to think that they need to develop a finer sense of intuition or better fuzzy thinking to get the hard questions. In fact, what you should be working on is a fast analytic breakdown of every question. You can definitely do this yourself, and the above steps offerpretty good guide-by-examples of how to do it. For those interested, we also should mention that PrepScholar trains you in this method as well. Our program will detect when non-rigorous thinking is the major source of your errors. We see this mostly in high-performing students trying to nail those final questions, but we also see it to some degree in all students. Our program will provide you with lessons that teach you how to be analytic and give you practice problems for you to apply your new skills. If you liked our lesson here, give our program a free try: What's Next? Ready to try this method on your own?One of the best ways to prepare for standardized exams is to take practice tests. Check out our official SAT practice tests and official ACT practice tests. Aiming for a top score?Learn how to perfect your score on the SAT or ACT! Want to take your studyingone step further?Read aboutthe pros and cons of each type of test prep and learn which method is the best for you.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Journalism - Writing Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Journalism - Writing Technologies - Essay Example Her arguments, especially those that suggest how language evolved out of mathematical algorithms, will also be compared with other theoretical models such as the remediation concept as posited by Bolter and Grusin (2000). Language and Code Codes refer to the advanced writing techniques that translate natural languages to executable programs through a structured process of gradual refinement. The argument about how codes are increasingly becoming part of society is anchored on the logical evolution of language. Hayles pointed out that it has always changed across different periods of human history, adapting and changing according to the social triggers that disrupt the language systems. According to Aitchison (2001), such social triggers accelerate deeper causes and hidden tendencies that lie dormant within a language (Aitchison, p153)2. The explanation of this phenomenon can be quite complex and could assume scientific, psychological and cultural perspectives. Nonetheless, they revea l the agreement that languages are bound to be affected by the speakers’ environment. This is the raison d’etat behind the conventional claims about the impact of the code in modern society. Technology has dominated much of human activities with the way computers and other information and communication machines have increasingly become integrated in man’s way of life. There are, for instance, those who will argue that life will be difficult without a mobile phone or work cannot be performed without the Internet or computers. What happened was that technology became indispensable and machines have influenced human faculties and activities. Technological codes have been integrated in several aspects of human lifestyle such as how codes are embedded in commercial product cycles and into the wider capitalist system itself. These reasons, however, belong to a school that conventionally explains how technology impacts language and writing. Hayles has suggested a diffe rent perspective in interpreting the role of codes in language and its development. She invoked a growing school of thought that argues how the universe is fundamentally computational, elevating code as some lingua franca not only of machines but of all physical reality (Hayles, p15).3 In the context of writing, for instance, there is the claim that its earliest precursor is mathematics and not pictures that many believe led to syllabic writing and phonetics (Liu, 2010, p315).4 This position made writing a complex set of semiotic situations rather than mere recording of what is spoken. This theory has enabled Hayles to explain a deeper relationship between code, language, society and technology. She was able to develop a paradigm that is based on the concept of computation. Code, Writing and Speech As has been stated previously, code is a writing technique that translates language into a form understood by machines. Therefore, if Hayle’s theory is to be believed, it resembles other forms of language such as writing and speech. The outcome of the process is similar to those used in human processing of visual information, including perspective and stereoscopy (Hayles, 1999, p275).5 This nature, including Hayles invocation of Derridean metaphysics, demonstrate how code assume a certain degree of materiality as has been supported as well in how codes have penetrated the represented world. This is the basis for

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Marketing Communications in Tourism & Leisure Industry Essay

Marketing Communications in Tourism & Leisure Industry - Essay Example In this regard, the critical theory is applicable to the noble cause of whl.travel’s campaign in promoting sustainable tourism through empowering the local communities to take a leading role in building the tourism industry in their respective communities. The goal of critical theory in tourism is to empower the members of the local communities to be the main actors in promoting the tourism industry (Tribe, 2008). Indeed, it is the duty of every business to ensure that they achieve their profit goals but there is also need to create a fine balance between their activities and the need to safeguard the interests of the culture of the local people in communities they will be operating in. Thus, the cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Usually people grow up in a particular society that shapes their basic beliefs and values and they absorb the w orldview that defines their relationships with others. Therefore, different cultural characteristics affect the marketing decision making process of a particular organisation that operates directly within the community. For instance, people have different views about themselves, others, organisations, society, nature as well as the universe (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). It is therefore imperative for the organisations operating in the tourism industry to adopt the environmental perspective. This is â€Å"a management perspective in which the firm takes aggressive actions to affect the public and forces in its marketing environment rather than simply watching and reacting to them.† (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004, p.132) Evaluation of Marketing Communications by whl.travel In order to evaluate the marketing communications used by whl.travel, it is important to give a historical background of the organisation in order to gain a clear understanding of the whole concept. According to i ts official website (2011), â€Å"the WHL Group is a private company incorporated in Hong Kong and is owned and operated by a team from Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria, USA, Vietnam and Zambia.† Whl.travel launched its campaign after realising that it was important to incorporate the cultural values of local people in emerging tourist markets especially in the developing world. The strategy it uses is unique in that the booking site for all tourist facilities in the areas it is operating in are owned and operated by the local people. The major aim of this strategy is to empower the local people to have control of the tourism industry while at the same time promoting their local culture and environment through sustainable practices. Culture exchange is promoted and there are various marketing communication strategies used to achieve this initiative. A company’s marketing communication mix is also called the promo tion mix and it is defined as â€Å"a concept of marketing communi

Monday, November 18, 2019

A Critical Analysis of Teaching and Learning Coursework

A Critical Analysis of Teaching and Learning - Coursework Example Therefore, good clinical and academic settings are necessary for students to achieve effective learning results. Consequently, present day nursing educators exert a high value and emphasize much on students to learn in a clinical environment (Doenges & Morehouse, 2003). In this respect, this paper intends to outline instances where teaching and learning are effective in nursing environment. Additionally, it also seeks to outline barriers that exist to effective learning and teaching in the clinical nursing environment and select strategies along with their implementation details and processes. In a nursing environment, one of the instances where teaching and learning is effective is that which has an interactive network between forces present in a clinical setting and that which influences the overall student’s clinical learning results (Ozkahraman & Y?ld?r?m, 2011). It comprises everything that surrounds a student, including clinical staff, equipment, patients, setting, and e ducators (ABA, 2005). Thus, an environment in which a student sets is an imperative element in the whole process of learning. In addition, instances where teaching and learning are effective exist in an environment where practice has a considerable percentage in the overall grading of learning (Andrews & Roberts, 2003). This is because practice provides learning opportunities that enable students to achieve proficient clinical skills as well as the stated outcomes (Begley, 2004). With reference to medics, discrepancy exists between and among theory, practice, and the aspects of both theory and practice. The reason is because practitioners and educators work from different angles. One is from practice while the other is from teaching (Brown, 2005). As such, in order to be in a position to meet the clinical learning requirements of all students, an educator must introduce the spectrum of practice and interaction (Chappell & Aston, 2004). This means that in nursing profession, there mu st be interactions between students and clinical staff since practice is essential for the former’s future exposure to the real market (Clarke, 2003). The third instance in which learning and teaching are effective is where the surrounding environment presents a platform for tackling challenges and engaging in continuous discourse with deep thought (Begley, 2003). In such an environment, students gain an innate understanding of the real nature of their profession (ABA, 2002). Furthermore, students undergo many experiences that are imperative and cognitive for learning exploration and description, hence acquiring or rather attaining the most competent level of knowledge. In a challenging environment, learners participate in qualitative research, which is an ultimate part of effective studying as it provides complex fraternities of understanding and knowledge application (Aston & Molassiotis, 2003). This instance gives room for collection of data rich in phenomenology and reexa mines the experiences that are usually useful and meaningful for attaining a pragmatic outcome. This instant stresses and provides consent for acquisition and practice of ethical codes. All of the three instances stated above are effective because they validate and refer all themes of teaching and learning to original descriptions and formulate, examine, and move significant statements as well as their meanings with regard to the appropriate transcriptions (Condell, Elliot, & Nolan, 2003). They all support the basic and important assets of a conducive clinical learning environment and account for accurate data that are essential for a broader aspect of teaching

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Nervous Systems And Sensory Organs

Nervous Systems And Sensory Organs You take a needle and prick your finger, your response is probably to get your finger away from the needlepoint quickly and maybe yell ouch. You take the same needle and poke a protist, sponge, cnidarian, or worm with it and they will all probably exhibit a similar response, at least they will all retreat. But how can this be possible? Protists are unicellular organisms that dont have a system to communicate after coming in contact with a stimulus. Similarly, sponges just sit on a rock all day, they also dont have any nervous functions. Cnidarians on the other hand have a nerve net, but how do they coordinate responses without a brain? All of these questions, along with how body plans relate to nervous system evolution, will be answered as this paper explores the evolution of the nervous system and sense organs from protists to the vertebrates. The Protists The classification of protozoans has been changed a lot through time. Cavalier-Smith (1993) came up with what he called the simplest definition of the kingdom Protozoa. They are eukaryotes, other than those that primitively lack mitochondria and peroxisomes, which lack the shared derived characters that define the higher derived kingdoms of Animalia, Fungi, and Plantae (Cavalier-Smith, 1993). Even though protozoans are simple unicellular organisms, they can still respond to many of the same stimuli higher order organisms respond too. Take for example that science class most students have. You put paramecium under a microscope and try to touch them with a probe, or watch their response to the light from the microscope. Most of the time when the anterior membrane of Paramecium is mechanically stimulated the ciliary power stroke reorients so the cell swims backwards, or retreats (Ogura Machemer, 1980). If the posterior membrane is stimulated the cilia beat towards the rear, causing the organism to move forward (Ogura Machemer, 1980). The light from the microscope can affect both the photoreceptors and thermoreceptors of the protists. The unicellular alga Euglena shows two regions of peak sensitivity to light during photokinesis at 465 nm and then again near 630 nm and during phototaxis 490-500 nm (Leys et al., 2002). Euglena is phototactic and its system consists of locomotory flagellum, an eyespot, and a photoreceptor (Gualtieri, 2001). As the organism moves, the eyespot senses the amount of light that reaches it and therefore pushes the Euglena in the direction of more light (Gualtieri, 2001). But moving towards light also means a change in temperature, especially if the light source is close to the organism. Paramecium cells are themo-sensitive and tend to accumulate at temperatures they were cultured at (Toyoda et al., 2009). They become used to their membrane fluidity at this temperature, and small temperatures changes drastically change this fluidity (Toyoda et al., 2001). If the temperatures change too much the Paramecium will retreat away from the heat in order to survive (Hennessey, Saimi, Kung, 1983). Protists also have chemosensory responses to certain odorants and tastes. Rodgers, Markle, and Hennessey (2008) found G-protein coupled receptors in the Paramecium. They tested whether Paramecium and Tetrahymena could respond to the common higher order organisms odorants and tastants (Rodgers, Markle, Hennessey, 2008). If they are affected by the odorants or tastants they will do an avoiding reaction, which can be seen when the organism is leaving an attractant or enters a repellent (Valentine, Yano, Van Houten, 2008). The Tetrahymena was more sensitive and could detect all of the tastants sampled, while Paramecium only detected four or the ten (Rodgers, Markle, Hennessey, 2008). Since Paramecium feed on bacteria Valentine, Yano, and Van Houten (2008) showed that they are attracted to bacterial metabolites such as, folate, acetate, glutamate, cyclic AMP, Biotin, and Ammonium. So an organism without a nervous system or sense organs has the ability to respond to many of the same env ironmental factors that higher order organisms respond too. Poriferia Similar to the protozoans, sponges lack definite body symmetry and also lack nerves and cell junctions, allowing no communication between cells (Leys et al., 2002). Sponges do respond to both light and mechanical stimuli. Recently, some sponges have been found to respond to light by contracting their cilia (Leys et al., 2002). Most larvae, via their cilia, are sensitive to light near 440 nm and again at 600 nm causing them to respond by straightening and bending (Leys et al., 2002). Although sponges lack neurons they are sedimentary feeders and therefore need ways of dealing with excessive particulates in their feeding currents (Tompkins-MacDonald Leys, 2008). Cellular sponges have the ability to close the openings to their incurrent canals, constrict the size of their intake canals, and even carry out a series of slow contractions that expel unwanted material (Tompkins-MacDonald Leys, 2008). The syncytial tissues of glass sponges allow action potentials initiated at single or mult iple sites to propagate through the entire animal, stopping the feeding current (Tompkins-MacDonald Leys, 2008). When Tompkins-MacDonald and Leys (2008) tested this response they found that by probing the interal body wall, allowing light to touch the outer body wall, or by knocking on the outer body wall pumping was stopped. This shows that a sponge, although not having an nerves or cell junctions can still respond to its environment. Cnidaria and Ctenophora Cnidaria and Ctenophora are the most basally branching lineages with specialized sense organs. The Cnidaria are radially symmetrical and have a nerve net where the sensor and ganglionic neurons and their processes are interspersed among the epithelial cells of both layers (Watanabe, Fujisawa, Holstein, 2009). Sensory structures that form part of epidermis are found in all animal phyla. Cnidarian neurons do not cluster to form a central nervous system or ganglia, which is why the nerve net is considered the simplest nervous system (Sarnat Netsky, 2002). In cnidarians sensory structures consist of naked sensory neurons whose dendrite is formed by a modified cilium (Jacobs et al., 2007). Sensilla are individual sensory neurons, or small groupings of sensory neurons, that typically function in one of the following; light detection, mechanoreception, and chemoreception (Jacobs et al., 2007). Photoreception and chemoreception involve G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and membrane ion c hannels, similar to what was observed in the protists (Jacobs et al., 2007). Jacobs et al. (2007) believes that sense organs and kidneys in bilterians may have evolved from groupings of choanocytes in sponges. Cnidarian sense organs are usually associated with the free swimming form that resembles a jellyfish (Jacobs et al., 2007). Neural regionalization is most evident in the medusozoans that have rhopalia , an eye system with lenses (Watanabe, Fujisawa, Holstein, 2009). Other cnidarians contain simple eyes. A statocyst is a dense array of mechanosensory cells that serve as a touch plate (Jacob et al., 2007). In most cnidarians the rhopalia, sense organ, alternate with tentacles, appendages, similar to how vertebrates have organs associated with appendages (Jacobs et al., 2007). Photoreceptors responsible for contractions in Hydra in response to blue light at 470 nm, are consistent in spectral location and shape with a rhodopsin-based photoreceptive system (Leys et al., 2002). One of the newest findings deal with coral larvae and their exterior cilia being able to detect and respond to underwater sound fields (Vermeij et al., 2010). Vermeij et al. (2010) setup six chambers directed towards underwater speakers playing day and night reef sounds. Free-swimming coral larvae moved predominately towards the speakers independent of chamber orientation (Vermeij et al., 2010). This study was done because fish larvae used it as well. Platyhelminthes The flatworms have true bilateral symmetry (Reuter Gustafsson, 1995). Some flatworms have a nerve net like Cnidarians. Others have a central nervous system that consists of anterior ganglia, the brain, and one or several pairs of longitudinal nerve cords that are connected in a ladder-like configuration (Reuter Gustafsson, 1995). The peripheral nervous system is just a meshwork of nerves that are interconnected to the central nervous system (Reuter Gustafsson, 1995). Platyhelminthes has eyes, a light sensing organ, on the dorsal side of the body composed of two cell types: pigment cells and photoreceptor cells (Inoue et al., 2004). The pigment cells form an eye-cup while the visual neurons are located outside the eye-cup (Inoue et al., 2004). The eyes do not allow Planarians to see distinct images, but allows them to be repulsed by bright light, a condition known as negative phototrophism (Hyde, 2003). Not only does the head bear a pair of eyes, but a also a pair of ear-like lobes called auricles. Auricles have nothing to do with hearing; instead they are involved in mechanoreception, chemoreception, and pressure reception (Hyde, 2003). Nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has been established as a genetic and genomic model organism (Zhang, 2008). C. elegans does not have a visual or auditory system so it depends on chemosensation to detect bacteria to feed on (Zhang, 2008). C. elegans has exactly 302 neurons, 32 of which are chemosensory because they have ciliated endings that are directly exposed to their external environment (Troemel et al., 1995). Free-living nematodes use amphids and phasmids as sensory structures to seek food and avoid harmful situations, while parasitic nematodes use amphids to actively or passively see a host (Srinivasan, Durak, Sternberg, 2008). Amphids are either enclosed in the amphid sheath or exposed to the environment (Zhang, 2008). Ascaris lumbricoides (A. lumbricoides), a larger nematode, contains 298 neurons (Srinivasan, Durak, Sternberg, 2008). Each group of neurons reacts to certain stimuli. For example, some respond to salt (ASE chemosensory neurons), others respond to volatile al dehydes, ketones, and alcohols (AWC olfactory neurons), and yet others respond to chemical, mechanical, and osmotic stimuli (ASH neurons) (Srinivasan, Durak, Sternberg, 2008; Troemel et al., 1995). Mollusks, Annelids, and Arthropods There are three different nervous systems seen in mollusks alone. Bivalves tend to have no cephalization, while slowing moving mollusks have some cephalization, primary to connect senses and motor information while moving through the environment (Gregory, 2006). The cephalopods require complex sense organs and so they are highly cephalized Gregory, 2006). The cephalopods are known for their well-developed eye, that functions almost exactly like the human eye, which is why they such good eye sight (Oceanic Research Group, 2007). Annelids and Arthropods have repeating segments and an anterior brain. Each segment contains its own ganglion, which controls the muscles of that segment (Gregory, 2006). The nerve cord of both phylum runs directly through all of the segments (Gregory, 2006). These two were grouped together because they are very similar in function for being two different phyla. Vertebrates Amphioxous, part of the phylum chordata, are only capable of a few reflexive responses. They do not have the ability to recognize tactile stimuli, so all stimuli are interpreted as a threat and the organism curls away in defense (Sarnat Netsky, 2002). This reaction demonstrates how neurons that feel the stimuli on one side of the body are transmitted and affect motor neurons on the other side of the body (Sarnat Netsky, 2002). The neuron that served this function was known as the decussating interneuron (Sarnat Netsky, 2002). This is the underlying groundwork of the vertebrate nervous systems. Vertebrates have bilateral symmetry, complex sense organs and complex behaviors, requiring a very cephalized, complex nervous system. Vertebrates consist of two nervous systems, the Central and Peripheral. The central nervous system (CNS) contains the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is composed of the nerves running through the body. The CNS has been conservative in its evolution, especially when looking at the senses of the vertebrates (Hodos Butler, 1997). The receptor types are either monopolar or pseudomonopolar neurons, each consist of parallel pathways connecting the receptors to the primary central neurons, which are located inside the sense organs where the stimuli is processed (Hodos Butler, 1997). Nerves are bundles of neurons, without cells bodies (Gregory, 2006). Most nerves contain both sensory and motor abilities (Gregory, 2006). There are both cranial and spinal nerves. There are multiple cranial nerves in all vertebrates, with humans having 12, and they are responsible for both sensory and motor information (Brown, 2003). The nerves are numbered using roman numerals from 1 to 12 (Brown, 2003). Brown (2003) described all of the following cranial nerves. Cranial nerve I is the olfactory nerve and it carries the sense of smell to the olfactory bulb of the brain. Cranial nerve II is the optic nerve and it carries visual information to the brain. Cranial nerve III is the oculomotor nerve and it provides motor ability to the four-extrinisic eye muscles, muscles of the upper eyelid, and intrinsic eye muscles. Cranial nerve IV is the trochlear nerve and it gives motor ability to the superior oblique eye muscle. Cranial nerve V is the trigeminal nerve and it provides sensory info rmation from the face, forehead, nasal cavity, tongue, gums and teeth. Cranial nerve VI is the abducens nerve gives motor ability to the lateral rectus muscle of the extrinisic eye. VII is the Facial nerve that provides humans with facial expressions. VIII is the vestibulocochlear nerve and it innervates the hair cell receptors of the inner ear. IX or the glossopharyngeal nerve moves the pharynx, soft palate, and posterior region of the tongue. X is the vagus nerve, it is the longest nerve, and provides sense transports from the ear to the taste buds to the throat. Cranial nerve XI is the spinal accessory nerve and it is involved in swallowing and powering muscle movement for the upper shoulders, head, and neck. Lastly, XII is the hypoglossal nerve and it moves the muscles of the tongue (Brown, 2003). As you can see the ability for control of all of these senses and movements makes for a very complex nervous, something that was never seen in earlier organisms. The spinal nerves are connected directly to the spinal cord by two roots, the dorsal (strictly sensory) and ventral (strictly motor) (Gregory, 2006). All of the above are seen in the PNS, which is then subdivided into the Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System. The Somatic Nervous System is the voluntary system, including all of the nerves that serve the skeletal muscles and exterior sense organs (Gregory, 2006). Reflexes are also seen in this nervous system. Just like in the lower organisms, vertebrates respond to stimuli. Except vertebrates have a much more complex stimulus-reflex system. Remember how a Paramecium came in contact with a stimulus and retreated until adaptation occurred? Vertebrates have the ability to think about coming in contact with a stimulus, they dont have to come in contact with everything they see because they have the somatic nervous system (Gregory, 2006). The other subdivision is the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for actions without conscious control; examples are heart beating and smooth muscle actions (Gregory, 2006). Everything in the PNS needs a place to send its information too and that is why there is the central nervous system. In the more primitive animals the brain, or ganglia, was there to simply send out reflexes to external stimuli (Gregory, 2006). The vertebrates have evolved a very complex brain because they have the ability to respond to reflexes, hold memory, learn, and think (Gregory, 2006). The brain has three divisions, the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain. The important portion when talking about senses is the midbrain because it receives sensory information and sends it to the forebrain to be processed (Gregory, 2006). In fishes and amphibians it is geared towards reflexes associated with visual input (Gregory, 2006). The cerebrum in reptiles, birds, and mammals receives sensory information and coordinates motor responses (Gregory, 2006). There are four lobes the frontal (motor functions), parietal (sensory receptors from skin), occipital (vision), and temporal (hearing and sm elling) (Gregory, 2006). Similar to decussating interneuron in Amphixous, vertebrates have the corpus callosum that contains neurons that cross from one side of the brain to the other, allowing communication between both sides (Gregory, 2006). Conclusion Bioluminescence is when luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin to excited oxyluciferin that then relaxes to produce a visible photon (Akilesh, 2000). The most common colors for bioluminescence are blue and green, although red and violet can be seen as well (Akilesh, 2000). Bioluminescence was developed in order to protect the organism. For example dinoflagellates flash their light during night or dark cycles to distract predators and reveal their predator to higher predators (Akilesh, 2000). Another example is the cookie-cutter shark, whose belly lights up, and is covered during the day by another organ. When the shark swims up in the waters its neck does not have the bioluminescence and so it appears to be a small fish and when bigger predators get close it attacks (Akilesh, 2000). Bioluminescence is seen more in aquatic organisms, probably because it is more beneficial to them in the mercy waters. This paper talked about the different phylum from protists all the way to vertebrates. Protists being unicellular and having no nervous system still had the ability to respond to many different kinds of environmental stimuli. Sponges have no symmetry and they are also able to respond to environmental stimuli, although usually larvae respond to more. Cnidarians have radial symmetry and therefore a corresponding nerve net, which helps them respond to environmental stimuli. Platelyhelminthes are the first to have bilateral symmetry and to go along with that their nervous system extends the length of its body, with centralization in the head, or anterior end. They also have to ganglia at the end of each nerve cord and the nerve cords are connected to allow both sides of the body to move together. The mollusks have a wide range of diversity in their nervous systems, ranging from nerve nets to highly cephalized cephalopods. The segmentation of annelids and arthropods allows each segment to be controlled individually but the nerve cord still runs through each segment. The vertebrates have the most evolved nervous system. This is because they have the ability to respond to stimuli, hold memory, learn, and think. This means that we dont have to come in contact with everything in the environment to understand it. The more complex a body plan becomes the more complex the corresponding nervous system becomes as well. A simple body plan doesnt have the room to house a huge brain, and therefore simple or no nervous systems are seen. Literature Cited Akilesh, S. (2000). Bioluminescence: Natures Bright Idea. Retrieved from: dujs.dartmouth.edu/2000S/06-Biolumen.pdf Brown, W. (2003). Cranial Nerves. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu/~anat/Neuro/CranialNerves/CN.htm Cavalier-Smith, T. (1993). Kingdom Protozoa and Its 18 Phyla. Microbiological Reviews, 57(4), 953-994 Gregory, M. (2006) The Nervous System: Organization, Overview of Nervous System in the Animal Kingdom [PDF document] Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/michael.gregory/files/bio%20102/bio%20102%20lectures/nervous%20system/nervous1.htm Gualtieri, P. (2001). 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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Exploring Subjectivity in Teaching Philosophy ABSTRACT: In the teaching of philosophy, we need to be connect with everyday life. Students in introductory courses can be more motivated when philosophical problems have personal significance. Take the topic of 'selfhood.' Introductory textbooks generally begin with the oracle at Delphi: "Know thyself!" But this motto is usually treated as the search for general knowledge of the individual or of human nature. Is it possible for a student to acquire some knowledge about him or herself during this course and reflect on it in a philosophically relevant way? Can personal experience help in understanding philosophical concepts such as this one? These are the questions which I address. Since I think that philosophers have yet to develop didactical tools for these purposes, I will present techniques derived from Gestalt therapy which can be useful for the teaching of philosophy. The aim is not change but experience itself, with awareness serving as the basis for philosophical analysis. The characteristics of this experience-based pedagogy are: (1) three dimensional inquiry: questioning basic concepts or assumptions and opening new questions, both based on personal experience; (2) experiential work involving a problem, a theory, and an example; and (3) mutual influence between theory and experience, i.e., an interrelationship between the personal and the 'educational' gestalt. "Know Thyself!" This oracle at Delphi which was Socrates' motto inspires many philosophers but also psychologists and even psychotherapists. Each of them has good reasons for insisting that this is his domain. Several questions could be raised: Was Socrates a philosopher or a 'psychologist'? What kind of knowledge is this self-knowledge? How do these domains differ and do they have something in common? How are they related to spirituality? And many others. My interest, however, is more narrow. Although we can suppose there is an overlap between philosophy, psychology and psychotherapy, in this paper I will focus on the overlap between teaching philosophy and psychotherapy. More precisely: how can Gestalt principles and techniques help in the teaching of the topic of selfhood. I will outline some theoretical background of the importance of Gestalt in relation to didactics of philosophy and describe some possible applications. When I ask whether Socrates was a philosopher or a psychologist, this is also a question about what kind of knowledge is involved. Do I really want to know myself or do I just search for general knowledge about human nature?