Analysis of the article ‘What makes a good teacher?”

It is important to understand what students value most in teachers especially nowadays when the continuing employment of a teacher depends on the performance of students. Studies of what constitute an expert teacher are motivated by several factors. For instance, the study will help in conducting initial education to teachers, their appraisal and better curriculum reforms. The knowledge of a teacher should include the ability to contextualize and personalize the content for the learners as well as create strategies and principles of class management.In addition, the teacher should have knowledge of the characteristics of the learners and be able to interact well with them. It is also necessary to recognize the values and purpose of education. There are different ways that are used in the identification of expert teachers. The most common criteria are by reputation and performance of students in standardized tests as well the experience of the teacher. Another way of identification is by asking primary and secondary students their most effective teachers and qualities that made them that good.Expert teachers have highly organized knowledge bases with complex interconnected schemas which are easily accessed. Besides they have skills and routines that are executed smoothly and effortless. Expert teachers work towards their pedagogical goals while evaluating and monitoring their actions. This is through knowledge of the subject matter, the techniques of teaching it at different levels of learning and finally effective classroom management. A study was done to investigate views of a good language teacher to complement the findings of the characteristics which emerge from general education literature.The subjects were students of applied linguistics and TESOL in post graduate as well as diploma levels. Some had experience in teaching while others had none and they were from different cultural backgrounds. The methods used to collect data were interviews and questionn aires. The findings of the qualities of a good teacher starting with the most frequently mentioned were a teacher who understands the needs, expectations, strengths and weaknesses of students. Secondly, the knowledge of the subject matter plus an understanding of teaching techniques.Ways of keeping up to date with the language and the teaching methods of a particular language was the least mentioned. There are different views between teachers and students concerning what constitutes a good teacher. According to students, the two qualities of a good teacher that were repeatedly mentioned include the ability of a teacher to explain to students so that they can clearly understand. Another quality pointed out was being helpful, understanding, empathizing and leadership as well as organization.On the other hand, the two qualities seen as crucial by teachers were organization of the classroom and secondly fostering participation of the students. Other characteristics of a good teacher inc lude technical skills which mean knowledge of the subject matter, pedagogical skills as well as interpersonal skills and personal qualities. However, the simplest answer to what constitutes a good teacher is that good teachers care more about the learning of their students than their own teaching. Some people distinguish two types of teachers as the expert teacher and the good teacher.The expert teacher teaches good learning strategies for passing examinations while the good teacher teaches technical skills but places less emphasis on pressuring students to pass exams. Instead the teacher tries to understand them and establish good relations with them. Teachers can either be pragmatic or emphatic. The former refers to those who get good exam results while the latter refers to those who meet wider interpersonal, social and affective needs of the learner. It can however be argued that an expert teacher should have a combination of the two.Perceptions and qualities that make a good tea cher can therefore be summarized as keeping up to date with knowledge and skill, having personal qualities of being humorous and finally being patient and enthusiastic about the work. Article Response Pedagogy is the technique, principles and methods of instruction that a teacher uses to teach learners. There are many ways of teaching students and they vary from one teacher to another depending on the level of the learners as well as the content of the material that they are learning.Even though each teacher has a different way of teaching, the basic principles should be applied to avoid drifting away from the education perspective. What constitutes an expert teacher is an arguable topic that keeps changing between different individuals. This is because each individual is different and has his own way of understanding things. Therefore, the opinion of what makes an expert teacher may vary from one person to another. A good teacher should be able to relate well with students through knowing the learners characteristics well, being courteous and respecting them.The teacher has to be more understanding and establish good relations while at the same time try to teach them about life (Mullock, 2003, pp. 17). In addition it is important to learn the students strengths and weaknesses so that the teacher may have an idea about which teaching methods to use hence knowing where to put more effort. A good teacher must know the subject of study thoroughly and be able to simplify the contents for the learners.For this to happen, knowledge and understanding of the subject matter is required since it becomes the framework for constructing other forms of declarative and procedural knowledge that are important for teaching (Mullock, 2003, pp. 10). Moreover, the teacher should be capable of transforming content knowledge to make it more interesting and comprehensive for the learners. This can be done by using fascinating topics, activities and giving accurate and helpful feedba ck. Another important factor that contributes to a good teacher is interesting personnal characteristics.This include things like a good sense of humour, enthuthiasm during teaching, involving the students in heated debates as well as outdoor activities. Making a lesson interesting is a very good way of capturing the attention of students. Students will tend to look forward to the next lesson since they are enjoying the learning activity. Futhermore, it will be much easier for the students to remember the lesson and what they were taught if it was exciting rather than if it was boring. A teacher should develop strategies of teaching and planning their lessons in effective and creative ways.These skills help to execute basic skills smoothly and efficiently (Mullock, 2003, pp. 13). This is important in managing not only the lessons but also the students in a planned manner. In addition, the students will be organized in their work, hence being neat just like the teacher. A teacher sho uld be an opportunistic planner, that is, having the ability to think on their feet. This means the ability to develop contingency plans for situations that are likely to occur but were not expected. An expert teacher should never provide incrorrect information to the students.This mostly happens when a teacher is unsure of a certain fact and does not want to admit lack of knowledge to the students. Some teachers may argue here saying that to admit lack of knowledge means lack of credibility. However this is not the case since the teacher can always give the answer at a later date or time after doing a research. Giving out incorrect information is misleading a student. A good teacher should know what to teach and keep students in the instructional process to ensure smooth learning. Article ComprehensionThe article was easy to read since the terms used were comprehensive. The writer has explained everything in a simple manner and as such there was a smooth flow of ideas. The study do ne to investigate what makes a good teacher was thorough and each aspect was taken into consideration. In addition, the findings were clearly discussed and presented (Mullock, 2003, pp. 7). The article begins by introducing what other people have said about the subject. The topic of the article was also discussed briefly giving the reader an idea about what is going to be talked about.This include defining a teachers knowledge and what exactly a teacher should know (Mullock, 2003, pp. 4) The article has used a lot of comparisons which make reading not only interesting but also simple. This include comparing views of two categories of people and stating clearly the differences while giving lucid examples. An instance is where the writer has evaluated the opinion of both teachers and students on what constitutes a good teacher (Mullock, 2003, pp. 5). The information is then presented in a table for easy comparison and interpretation.Another association was between a ‘pragmaticâ €™ teacher and an ‘emphatic’ teacher with the distinctions plainly being presented in a table (Mullock, 2003, pp. 17). Finally, there are slight contrasting points that were obtained from the study done and the article has tried to elucidate them. An example is when a respondent distinguished two types of teachers, the expert teacher and the good teacher. The article explains clearly the different ways in which respondents views may differ and in the end gives a clear outlook (Mullock, 2003, pp. 17). There are however few parts of the article that were intricate.This was mostly because of use of difficult words. An example is the use of the words ‘lexico-grammar, phonology and semantic’ in a certain paragraph while trying to explain the knowledge of a language and how it works in making of a good teacher (Mullock, 2003, pp. 11). All the words have been used in one sentence without explaining what they mean. This article does not have an index to explain hard words. An index is important to a reader because whenever a complex term is encountered, it can always be checked out, assuming that the reader does not have a dictionary in hand at that particular moment.Some of the tables in the article which were used in data presentation were also not very clear especially in the numerical content. For example there is a table in the article that represented the most frequently mentioned characteristics of a good TESOL teacher. The characteristics have been listed clearly and comprehensively but the frequencies have been presented in a confusing manner (Mullock, 2003, pp. 10). It takes a reader a long time to be able to correctly interpret the data. This may lead to wrong translation or a misunderstanding of the facts.Important information obtained from the article Before I read the article, it was not clear to me what exactly a teachers knowledge should consist. Most people have the assumption that a teacher should only have technical ski lls, content knowledge and curriculum knowledge. However this article has clearly defined what knowledge of a teacher should include and it is much more than the three just mentioned above. It has defined the knowledge of a teacher as content knowledge and also pedagogic content knowledge which is the ability to simplify the contents for the learners.In addition a teacher should have general pedagogic knowledge, meaning to be familiar with the principles and strategies of classroom management and also have knowledge of characteristics of the learners. Finally the knowledge of education purpose and values has also been mentioned in the article (Mullock, 2003, pp. 4). This is important because having learnt what a teacher should know, it is up to the reader to ensure that they possess all these knowledge which will contribute to better teaching methods and practices.Furthermore, equal effort can be applied to each section when relating this knowledge so that a lot of concentration is not put on one side while ignoring the others. Having content knowledge means having the knowledge of the subject that you teach. This is important since a teacher should be conversant with the topic of study so that any problem presented by student concerning the topic can be tackled correctly and professionally. The article also mentions that a teacher should have knowledge of educational context.This means knowing the surroundings, the group, the classroom, the community and the district. Most teachers would ignore this and only concentrate on the students and the immediate surrounding which is the school. However light has been shed on the importance of expanding the knowledge of the teacher in respect to the external environment which would help in addressing some external problems that students may occasionally have. The article has also mentioned that a teacher should know the values and purposes of education (Mullock, 2003, pp. 4).Most teachers assume that their only purpose is to teach. However this article has stated that a teacher should know the importance of education and the values, aims and objectives of education. This is important because whatever a teacher teaches the students or whichever method is used to teach, it will be of quality since the teacher understands that education is more than just teaching. Another important point learnt from the article is keeping up to date with teaching techniques (Mullock, 2003, pp. 15). Majority of teachers only go for training once.After that, they plunge themselves into the teaching profession and start teaching until they retire. However this should not be the case since changes will always take place. Something new may be introduced for example a new subject, materials of teaching or even new modes of teaching. It is therefore important for teachers to refresh their courses after every few years. This fact was not clear initially but after reading the article, its importance was clarified. Article Re levance The importance of this article is that it will help in understanding the different ways that a teacher should use to teach students.The article has compared different views of what really amounts to a good teacher and helps in learning the correct techniques that should be adopted. The study done could help in dealing with a challenge that most teachers face which is variance of learners. Each learner has their own way of grasping things. The article has discussed what students think of how a teacher should teach. This can help through combining these factors and finding an appropriate way of teaching that will benefit all the students hence each one of them understanding the concepts being taught.This article has raised the issue of whether teachers should be taught how to teach. It does not matter if the teacher has had previous training. There are new changes every day that come with invention and teachers must keep up to date with such changes. Therefore just like their students it is necessary to always be on the lookout while coming up with new, easier and better ways of teaching. The study of teaching methods helps in improving teaching techniques which in the end will make a teacher be good in what he or she does.The article points out the need for further studies to correlate perceptions of a good teacher with behavior of teachers in the classroom context and with larger number of subjects of different languages and educational backgrounds (Mullock, 2003, pp. 21). The article has focused mainly on TESOL which is Teachers of English to Students of Other Languages. From the study, it is clear that for any teacher, knowledge of the subject matter is necessary. A language teacher should be fluent in the language being taught which includes in writing, reading, speaking and translation to the language the students are speaking.This means that the teacher should be fluent in both the language the students are speaking and the language the students a re being taught. The article has pointed out that students nowadays are more critical and less accepting of teachers whose language skills are poor (Mullock, 2003, pp. 20). Good TESOL teachers know the language and how it works. It therefore draws attention to the importance of knowing thoroughly the field of study or the subject matter to avoid critism from students.Finally the article has highlighted all the qualities that make a good teacher from different perceptions. It is not possible for a teacher to have all the characteristics and just like a student, a teacher has both weak and strong points. It is therefore up to the teacher to look at these qualities and find out which ones suits his or her personality and then find a way to make good use of these traits and apply them in teaching. From the article, it is also clear that teaching technique depends on the level of learners and the subject being taught to the learners.This helps a teacher to understand that a technique tha t may be successful to one group of learners may not be successful to another group. It can be concluded that the article has underscored important points of teaching techniques and qualities that make a good teacher hence answering a question that most teachers find complex about how to be a good teacher and what really constitutes to this. Reference Mullock, B. (2003). WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER? THE PERCEPTIONS OF POSTGRADUATE TESOL STUDENTS. Prospect , 18 (3), 3-24.

Book Report †Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior Essay

The book, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, by Ori Brafman and his brother, Rom Brafman dives into the way that we make decisions. Why do humans make the horrible decisions we do when logic would tell us to act otherwise? There are several psychological influences that sway our decision-making ability according to the Brafman brothers. The authors look at several different factors, with a lot of fascinating and logic-breaking examples. This book will help you understand the decisions you make. In many circumstances times when logic would dictate that we take a certain action, we take the opposite. To illustrate, just ask yourself why you have stayed so long in a doomed relationship? Why was it so hard to sell a stock that has lost much of its value†¦or to sell your house if it will be for less than you paid for it? In their book, Sway, Ori and Rom Brafman explore our decision making process and what influences our behavior. Hence, the subtitle, The Pull of Irra tional Behavior is used. Sway opens with a convincing example — the historic KLM flight where the pilot made a seemingly irrational decision that cost the lives of 584 people in 1977, the largest airline disaster in history. The authors make the argument that because the pilot was so focused on getting to his final destination after being diverted; he was swayed into making a wholly irrational decision, which ended in tragedy. How was he swayed specifically? Well, the book revisits the KLM disaster a few times to flesh out the underlying irrational decisions likely being made by the pilot. The book is filled with such examples, such as people who have bid as much as $200 for a $20 bill. Why? Why would anyone pay more than the face value of a $20 bill? Well, the authors have the answers.Here I will describe all the major sways listed in the book. I will also give an example of the sway and why it affects people so harshly.1. We overreact to potential losses. Humans tend to focus more on the short-term consequences rather than the longer-term effects. This is illustrated well by AOL’s Internet options. For a while, AOL gave consumers access to the web through a pay as you go method. Customers would pay for every minute they used the Internet. Then, when AOL introduced a flat monthly fee, customers began signing up for that plan in masses. Customers wanted to make sure they avoided the perceived  losses from the pay as you go method, when in the long run; most users were losing money with the flat rate. 2. Loss averse. The more meaningful a loss is, the more loss averse we become, meaning we don’t want to give up our hold on the loss (even when it’s economically, emotionally or otherwise beneficial to do so). The best example of loss aversion is in the stock market. Inexperienced traders have the hardest time selling a plummeting stock. Say you invest in a stock for $10 a share and in a week the price rises to $20. Now it would be great to sell then. But then the next day the stock drops to $17 a share. For whatever reason, humans perceive this $3 difference as a loss, instead of a $7 gain (you invested at $10 and could sell at $17). So, the investor says, once it gets back to $20 I will sell. Then it drops to $15, then $12, then $6, and before you know it, you have lost money, when you could have gaine d $7 a share!3. Commitment. When we are committed to a relationship, decision, or position in our lives, it can be very difficult for us to see the better, healthier alternatives available. The best example of this in the book is the $20 dollar bill auction. Harvard Business School Professor Max Bazerman conducts this auction on the first day of his class. There are only two rules to the auction; first, bids are to be made in $1 increments. The second rule is a little trickier; the winner of the auction gets the $20, but the runner up still has to honor their bid, while receiving nothing. When the bidding gets closer and closer to $20 the students realize what is about to occur. The two people left in the bidding war both do not want to walk away with nothing, therefore instead of accepting defeat and losing $19 in the auction, somebody will bid $21. The students continue bidding, ignoring all rationality and drive the price upwards. Bazerman states that it once made its way up to $204. 4. Value attribution. Humans have a tendency to place certain qualities upon someone or something based on its perceived value rather than objective data. If we see something labeled a certain way, we’ll take that label at face value. The authors have two amusing examples of value attribution at work — a world-famous violinist is mistaken for a street musician in the subway and a SoBe energy drink that is only as valuable in helping improve your memory as you think it is. In the SoBe energy drinks case, the authors cite a study that measured test results after consumption of the energy drink. The subjects were put into three  categories. Those that had no SoBe, those that were told the powers of SoBe and then bought it at full price, and those that were also told the powers of SoBe but then received it at a discounted price. After taking a test, the results were measured to see if there was a pattern within the groups. The results showed that those who drank the SoBe at full price had better test scores than those who had no SoBe at all. But before we run to buy all the energy drinks we can afford, the group who drank the cheap SoBe performed far worse than those who drank no SoBe at all. When things are discounted off of their regular price, people tend to give the product or service a reduced value attribution. In other words, when we get a discount on something, we tend to unconsciously value it less than if we had paid full price.5. Diagnosis Bias. Humans have a propensity to label people, ideas or things based on our initial opinions of them. This includes our inab ility to reconsider those initial value judgments once we’ve made them. Again, the authors bring this sway to life with their examples of how players perform directly in relationship to their NBA draft pick number, amongst many others. A single word or label can color our entire perception of a person, closing off avenues of shared experience and seeing people for who they really are. Once a person is given a label (and even directly, a diagnosis), it’s hard for people to see people in a way that isn’t biased by that label. The authors also note that hiring interviews are actually a terrible way to identify possible employees. Turns out â€Å"first date† style interviews are completely unscientific and at the end of the day, quite horrible at helping managers choose a good employee.6. Fairness. People want and expect fairness in all of their dealings with other people, companies and organizations. It is vitally important for people to feel they have a voice. People want to be listened to and heard, even if nothing changes. Talking through our reasons for a price or our position in an argument or debate, explaining how we arrived at it, and communicating what we feel is the fair thing to do makes other people feel like we’ve treated them more fairly and reasonably. The authors cite a study done which pair’s strangers and offers up a chance at winning cash. The strangers are placed in separate rooms and told that they will never meet the other person, even after the study is over. Then the instructions are given to the first subject. They are told that there is $10 dollars to be split between them and the partner. They  have been chosen as the person to divide the money however they see fit. The catch is that the other person must agree to the offer. If the person does not agree, both partners will walk away with nothing. The same speech is given to the second pa rticipant except with minor changes letting them know that the other person will be splitting the money and that they have the power to say yes or no to the deal. The study showed that all splits of 50/50 were accepted and almost all of the uneven splits were denied. Even though people were offered some money, they chose to deny it because they saw it as â€Å"unfair†. People did not seem to realize that they were in a fortunate position just to be offered any money at all.7. Altruistically or Selfishly. Humans approach everything from one of these two viewpoints, but usually not both at the same time. When the two centers of the brain (altruism and pleasure) compete, pleasure usually wins. When the pleasure, self-interested perspective is operating, unexpected behavior or effects can occur. Essentially, a person cannot act in their own interest while looking out for others, because your desires to look out for number 1 will always win. This portion of the book also speaks on the most relevant portion to our class. It speaks on how rewards can damage someone’s work ethic when it is believe that they will actually help. It’s not that rewards for specific tasks or behavior are bad, it’s the possibility of a reward dangled ahead of time that can potentially result in destructive, unintended effects. It’s okay to reward someone after the fact, but don’t always create the possibility of the reward ahead of time. And know that money defeats/negates altruism.8. Groups. Groups can have profound effects on our ability to reason rationally. A study was done on individuals and their ability to ignore wrong information. Subjects were placed in a room with several other people and the task was given to all subjects; identify which two lines were the same lengths. Then, on the screen 4 lines would appear, two of which were the same length. The study made it very obvious too; no rulers were needed, for the lines were glaringly different. The catch was that only one person in the room was an actual subject, all other people were paid actors told to identify the wrong line. When the researchers asked the group which lines matched, all the actors would give the same incorrect answer, and the effects were powerful. 75% of the subjects incorrectly identified the lines because they did not want to go against the group. Then a second round began  and one actor was told to give the correct answer, or at least an answer different than the group. In almost all cases, the subject spat in the face of the actors and correctly identified the lines. The lesson to be learned here is that dissent is invaluable – you need a dissenter, even if you don’t agree with the specific dissent itself. Dissenters open up discussion and allow individuals to express their views. I highly recommend this book. It was nearly impossible for me to put down and only took me about a day to read. I think very economically and logically (or at least I would like to believe), so the book spoke to my every thought. The book offers a few solutions in the epilogue; solutions that help individuals think more rationally. However the solutions are very trivial. Suggestions such as â€Å"take a deep breathe and evaluate the situation† are recommended. The problem with these solutions is that the situations don’t allow for deep breaths! That is why irrational behavior takes place in the first place. Overall, the book was a great read and a valuable lesson.

Managing organizational design and change Essay

Managing organizational design and change - Essay Example Persons must always come together to form an organization. A workable system and structure set up by more than two people forms an organization. (Fleming, 1989) describes it as a process of identifying and putting together the work to be performed, through definition and delegation of authority and responsibility, while establishing a relationship for the sole duty of ensuring that people work most effectively together in achieving set objectives. With systems and structures an organization is formed. This is by setting up of policies, rules, laws and chain management to run the whole set up structure. When a chain of management is put in place it is tasked with implementation of the set policies and rules. Policies form a critical phase in the running of the company. Leadership also forms a critical part in the running of an organization. With good and well governed leadership an organization is bound to excel and meet its targets and objectives. Lack of leadership and set policies and targets and organization will fail. This is an indication that an organisation is a group of people who have come together to work towards achieving a common goal guided by a given leadership. People with the same ideals, goals, and targets come together to form an organisation. The organisation is therefore tasked with the duty of achieving the set goals and target that have been made by various individuals. The leadership and management structure of any organisation is tasked with the duty of laying up structures and polices which ensures that an organisation is well run and organized. Organizations therefore implement the set policies and rules to ensure that their objectives are met. Organizations are formed to implement the policies and targets set up by the people who run it. Organizations can never be all the same. This is due to the varied nature of objectives of each organization. Depending on its objectives one organization will be

Marketing (South East Asian Region) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing (South East Asian Region) - Essay Example The business venture can prove to be successful if the company takes couple of distinct steps in the planning process for the foreign market. Such key steps for success in any foreign market are (John R. Darling et.al, 2004): In order to assess and analyze the market potential market research proves to be handy tool. The phenomenal growth in the number of marketing research departments suggests that this technique is being rapidly accepted by the business community. Marketing research itself comprises of studying the; Most of the theories of internationalization have their roots in industrial organisation and economics (from Coase in 1930s through Bain in 1950s to Williamson in the 1970s) and most of these theories were developed as a direct consequence of US MNCs desire to explore the markets of Europe and elsewhere. Since then the world has changed a lot with Asian nations like India taking a big lead in IT sector and China in manufacturing sector. The dominant change in the world economy is of course is the globalisation of markets. This phenomenon is a result of the convergence of the advances in technology, transport processes and production techniques. Globalization of markets and international competition are requiring firms to operate in a multicultural environment. People from different cultures may vary in convenience orientation not only because of time pressures but also because of the value placed on physical or mental comfort. For example, the oil rich consumers or Arabian Gulf coun tries place less value on time and more on high levels of comfort, as their oil wealth fuels convenience-driven demand. But in Southeast Asian nations money and time are more valued than the comfort. Southeast Asia comprises of huge developed markets like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, besides other significant markets like Vietnam and Myanmar. Southeast Asian markets have made tremendous efforts in restructuring recovering, and strengthening their economies since the 1997 crisis. This recovery is very much visible in the stock market indices of these nations. For example, Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) Thailand Index (SET) and Indonesia's Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index (JCI) have been on an upswing throughout the year 2006. These nations led by China and India are being termed as Asian tigers as a tribute to the consistent performances in their economies. Though there are country specific issues affecting the entry modes and the extent of entry by any MNC, still the overall environment appears to be investment

Traffic Light Project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14750 words

Traffic Light Project - Coursework Example 3.3.14 PCB board for Trafficl Light Controller No.2 Circuit.. 32 3.3.15 Traffic Light Controller Model (view no. 1) 32 3.3.16 Traffic Light Controller Model (view no. 2) 33 3.3.17 Traffic Light Controller Model (view no. 3) 33 4.3.1 Ambulance Safety Pass Traffic Light Simulation using Quick II Program. 37 4.3.2 System Block Diagram of Ambulance Safety Pass Traffic Light Controller.. 38 4.3.3 Circuit Diagram of Ambulance Safety Pass Traffic Light Controller.. 39 4.3.4 Insertion of limiting resistor between power supply and load... 40 4.3.5 Derivation of output voltage under no load and underload conditions.. 41 4.3.6 Traffic Lights Power Supply. 42 4.3.7 Power Supply Actual Circuit. 42 4.3.8 Recommended power supply for future projects.. 43 4.3.9 Remote Control Unit to activate and deactivateAmbulance Safety Pass traffic lights 43 4.3.10 Traffic Light LEDs........... 44 4.3.11 FAB Micro Controller 44 4.3.12 Actual circuits built for Ambulance Safety Pass Traffic Light Controller. 45 4.3.13 Model of road crossing and traffic lights... 46 4.3.14 FAB AF-20 Series Micro Controller.. 50 A.1 R-S Flip Flop... 52 A.2 Timing Diagram of the R-S Flip Flop.. 53 A.3 D Type Flip Flop. 54 A.4 D Flip Flop Symbol 54 A.5 Synchronization in a D type latch 55 A.6 Master-Slave D Type Flip Flop 56 A.7 D Type Flip Flop Finite State Machine.. 56 A.8 T Type Flip Flop Finite State Machine 57 A.9 J-K Type Flip Flop Finite State Machine 57 A.10 Edge-triggered D Type Flip Flop.. 58 A.11 Edge-triggered D Type Flip Flop with Preset and Clear.. 59 LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Basic Traffic Light Controller No. 1 Light Sequence. 8 3.1 Basic Traffic Light Controller No. 2 Light Sequence. 24 4.1 Ambulance Safety Pass Light...The third type of traffic light controller is for Ambulance Safe Pass Traffic Lights to allow safe passage of ambulances in both North/ South and East/ West directions. For this type of traffic light controller, a FAB intelligent micro controller unit is used to program the desired traffic light sequence that includes the ambulance safe pass sequence. The building blocks inside Johnson decade counters, astable multi-vibrator timers and the FAB micro controller such as logic circuits, flip flops, Karnaugh maps, truth tables and Boolean expressions are also presented in the Appendix section of the report. Traffic lights are an essential part of modern life, especially with the increasing number of vehicles that coincides with the increasing number of population. Traffic lights not only regulate traffic flow in the streets but more importantly prevent the occurrence of vehicular accidents. Roads without traffic lights are unimaginable. The traffic light controller is a sequential device that needs to be designed and programmed through multiple step procedures. A proper traffic light requires accurate timing, correct cycling through the states, and responds to outside outputs such as walk signals or ambulance safe passage. The objective of this report is to design and implement traffic light controllers for a simple North/ South and East/ West road crossing as shown in figure below.

Trainings Woeful Countenance Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trainings Woeful Countenance - Article Example The objective of the article is to use this exploration to emphasize that all contemporary training outcomes and interventions, mediated by Human Resource Development, should conform to ethical standards. Kopp and Desiderio successfully highlight the fallacious reasoning behind the physiognomy-based training manuals of the last century and sound a wake-up call for a critical evaluation of all contemporary training methods. Kopp and Desiderio draw the reader’s attention to several training manuals of the last century which are founded on the folk science of physiognomy, such as J. A. Hargrave’s Secrets of Selling, F.B. Goddard’s The Art of Selling, Ford Products and Their Sale and the Merton Method of linking physiognomic traits to job performance. The authors cite several of the axioms of this approach, which associate customer buying with the appearance of the face, or the shape of the skull: a Jew’s nose is acquisitive; a pointed chin is a mark of cunning; a broad forehead denotes idealism; a receding forehead indicates idealism. By this method, Kopp and Desiderio create a consensus among readers that â€Å"the sales training manuals that relied on physiognomy for their training techniques were at best, by today’s standards, politically incorrect and, at worst, blatantly bigoted, exploiting historical stereotypes† (2009, p. 136). The authors differentiate be tween the use of physiognomy in America as a tool to increase sales, and its use in Europe as an instrument to advance the agenda of racial discrimination. Having firmly established their case as to the illegitimacy of physiognomic traits as the foundation of training, the authors go on to interpret the implications in terms of contemporary practices in training and development. Kopp and Desiderio make the reader aware that the now discounted physiognomic influence which pervaded training in the early twentieth century was but

Plato's Apology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plato's Apology - Essay Example mary charges, namely, that he is spreading sacrilegious ideas in the marketplace, that he is associating with the Sophists, that he is corrupting the young, and that he does not honor the gods of Athens. Surprisingly, this man did not choose to flee the city in the common form of resisting arrest and instead chose to appear before the court and speak in his own defense. It is generally considered a poor choice to have the accused speak for himself, and it could be argued that Socrates didnt do himself any favors in attempting to present his case. However, after participating in the trial, I must admit I strongly disagree with my fellow jurors who have sentenced this man to death. Through his defense against that charges that have been pressed against him, Socrates has caused me to understand just why his actions are so vital to the strengthening and preservation of our fine community. The first charge brought against Socrates was that he was spreading sacrilegious ideas. This charge was levied against him as a result of his conversational habit of constantly challenging others ideas. When defending himself against this charge, Socrates admitted he did engage in this practice, but not as a means of spreading sacrilege. He instead claims that this idea has been taken out of context and twisted by old enemies of his. He said they tell "of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause† (Apology: 944). Socrates insisted he didnt intend to make people question the gods, but was instead working to understand the Oracles statement that he was the wisest man alive. As any same man might, Socrates had difficulty believing such a statement and he was forced to undertake a series of inquiries looking ‘into the heavens and earth" to learn why the Oracle might have sa id such a thing. Rather than an attempt to encourage sacrilege, Socrates said this was a personal journey of

Assisted Suicides Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assisted Suicides Paper - Essay Example The debates over the right of patients to shorten their lives with the help of physicians will continue and there is probably no right or wrong side. Assisted suicide is a crime because it involves the death of the person who would live otherwise. Not a single person should be eligible to take away the life of another person, even though this other person is not willing to live. Drugs and medical devices are development to be safe and effective - the intended usage of drugs is to help patients to overcome diseases. Nevertheless, patients who physical and emotional pain caused by the diseases that cannot be cured, do not want to suffer and should be granted the right to stop their sufferings. For example, if the patient is unconscious and there is no hope that the condition will ever improve, the relatives might want to make a decision to stop his/her life. From the religious point of view, any assistance in this direction is a murder. From medical point of view, assisted suicide is wrong as well - the objective of healthcare is to make people healthier, not to kill them. However, from ethical standpoint, it is almost impossible t o label assisted suicide as murder or as a good deed because the rights and obligations of each side need to be taken into account. Moreover, the competent people should have the right to choose death - for example, through allowing to hasten death by treatment refusal. Suffering is not merely the physical pain, there are also psychological burdens and assisted suicide is the only possible way to relieve sufferings. Even though it is the human nature to have the interest in preserving life, the terminally ill individuals lack this interest and acquire the desire to die - the prohibition of assisted suicide might limit the personal liberty. From the other side, it is unethical to take the life of other people and morally wrong because of religious beliefs. It is also worth to make the distinction between two important concepts - active killing (assisted suicide) and passive (letting die). Assisted suicide is, therefore, equated to active killing. The most important point of argument is that assisted suicide has the potential to be abused - some groups of people who lack access to care might be forced to chose assisted death as the cost-saving strategy. In 1990, Dr Kevorkian has invented the Mercitron - the machine with improvements over the noose, shotgun and barbiturates which allowed the patients to choose the time and place of death and ensured the painless demise. He did not test the machine on animals or human beings until he assisted the suicide of Janet Adkins in June 1990. Afterwards, he was prohibited to assist suicides for eight months. Dr. Kevorkian's machine and assistance has caused debates in the whole country regarding the right of the physician to help people die and usage of medical devices and drugs not to cure but to kill people. The act he has done has led to the overview of existing laws. Michigan has become the first place in the world to legalize the assisted suicide. After the criminal trial of Dr. Kevorkian the Commission on Death and Dying has reached the conclusion that the practice of assisted suicide should be legalized (Walsh, 1994). The number of restrictions has been set to safeguard against the abuse. Oregon has developed the "Death with Dignity" which came into effect in 1998. Since that

Irish Revolt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Irish Revolt - Essay Example Popularly it is known as the Irish Revolt. When this Irish revolt happened the British were at the back foot due to the war against Germany and its economy was in shambles. So it was very difficult for the British to control the insurgency in Ireland. During this period there was a great deal of political violence and upheavel. The violence used by the British to suppress the rebels led to an over-whelming support for them. To seek complete independence the Irish Republican Army waged a guerilla war against the British from 1919-1921. Though the World War I had weakened the British but still the Irish knew that it would be a Herculean task to engage Great Britain in a conventional war. So, the Irish nationalists collectively took a decision to bleed Great Britain slowly by starting an unconventional war against it through guerilla war tactics and intelligence played a very vital role in this. Michael Collins was the Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army. He pinched th e British so much through his deadly tactics that he had an award of 10,000 over his head for 'dead or alive'. The IRA was particularly gruesome on those who took the bait to pass on information about Collins and immediately liquidated the person. Collins was equally vehement in acting against the British intelligence officers and played a vital role in executing a number of them. The British wanted to give a body blow to the Irish revolt by executing Collins and even raised a local force by the name of Black and Tans for the job. Despite that the local intelligence sources of the IRA were so effective that they on a number of occasions pre-empted the raids. There were a section of counterintelligence operatives in the IRA known by the name of Inner-Circle, and who were responsible for the penetration of various British installations. Their network spanned many nations and was able to penetrate deep in to various British facilities extending from Ireland to America and gathered hidd en messages that were later decoded and that in turn helped in the Irish Revolutionaries. The Inner Circle also established a central records center, known by the name of Brain Center within Dublin to effectively control and co-ordinate the counter-intelligence activities. This brain center also had detailed dossiers on many high ranking officials and the known intelligence officers and sympathizers of the British. The British intelligence service tried to penetrate the intelligence arm of the IRA and in its bid even planted a fake spy known by the name of Digby Hardy but the Irish intelligence had a inkling about his past and gathered lots of incriminating evidence against him. Eventually, hardy was expelled from Ireland. It came as a major humiliation for the British Intelligence and equally showcased the efficiency of the Irish Intelligence. In their penetration efforts IIS operatives were more consistent and successful than their British counterparts. The IIS had a number of Dub lin Castle officials on its payroll and extracted valuable information from them regarding the British military tactics and policies against the Irish Nationalists. The prominent among them were Ned Broy and James MacNamara. The IIS chief Collins also had a very valuable asset inside the British military intelligence who regularly passed information about the

BADM grad assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BADM grad - Assignment Example This is carried out either by making a proposal or provision of other options. Certain tasks are then pressed down to corporate units where there is maximum experience. People with input tasks are later on requested to offer applicable information through efficient decisions based on evaluation of facts, instead of looking for judgment on management. RAPID decision-making model can be used to clarify process tasks and accountabilities the dedication to the point the organization takes action. Good transaction judgment provides a grasp on the trade-offs in accordance with the roles and tasks of all workers in the organization. Roles and responsibilities create an awareness of the group that will fulfill the decision of the organization. The RAPID model is best suited for decision-making teamwork, while the RACI model is best suited for implementation teams. The RAPID model will also focus more on the function of every member in the team while making the decision in order to entice the recruitment of more experienced people. The RACI model intentionally operates within execution plan to initiate numerous downstream decisions that surface frequently. Even though both decision-making models follow al principles concerning assigning of tasks and responsibilities, the high effect of the RAPID model calls for transparency around import ant decision-making roles for all individuals in the team. The IOPT model is a simple instrument that determines that style to be used when creating answers to a survey. The evaluation of the IOPT model involves four styles and patterns. The â€Å"Snowflake† graphic, transparencies, â€Å"your way† table and Chickenpox are the styles employed by the IOPT models. The â€Å"Snowflake† graphic are templates that recognize features linked to different planned patterns. The patterns have been designed to superimpose individual groups’ profiles. These

The Building Blocks of Life Worksheet Essay Example for Free

The Building Blocks of Life Worksheet Essay Part 1: Mitosis and Meiosis Short-Answer Response Use Ch. 5 of BioInquiry and the â€Å"Comparing Mitosis and Meiosis† video as resources for Part 1 of this assignment. Write 75- to 100-word answers to the following questions. Why are the process of mitosis and meiosis both important to a living organism? Mitosis is the process of asexual reproduction of cells. This process is important in order for living organisms to continue to live. If mitosis didn’t happen the living organisms would die when the original cells died off rather than the original cells making new cells that are exactly the same. Meiosis is the process of sexual reproduction where gametes are produced. This is the process of offspring being made. Animals, humans, and other forms of life that reproduce by meiosis would become extinct without meiosis. When would an organism need to undergo the process of mitosis? Meiosis? Mitosis is the process an organism would undergo to reproduce the cells needed to live such as any cell that makes replicas of itself in order to continue to live or to repair itself. Meiosis is the process that is required to reproduce offspring. In order for there to continue to be life forms on earth meiosis is important to continue the cycle of life. Both processes of cell production are important. They work differently but has similarities. They are both just important in the cycle of life. What would happen if meiosis did not occur? If meiosis didn’t occur it would cause endangerment and extinction of species and life forms. Meiosis is an important process to continue all species that reproduce sexually. Meiosis allows sperm and egg to produce gametes which is the beginning of a baby. Without this process populations in all species  would be affected unless the species reproduces asexually. Reproducing asexually means that there is no fusion of gametes to create offspring. Asexual reproduction happens with one parent. It is common in bacteria, fungi, and plants. Part 2: Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration Matrix Complete the matrix. Use the following questions to aid in completion: What is the purpose of this pathway? Reactants: What does this reaction need to proceed? Products: What is produced because of the reaction? The role of ATP: Does it supply energy or store energy? Cellular respiration Photosynthesis Pathway Glycolysis Krebs cycle Electron transport Light-dependent reaction Light-independent reaction Purpose Break down one molecule of glucose into two molecules of pyruvate Part of a metabolic pathway involved in the chemical conversion of carbohydrates Mediating biochemical reactions that produce adenosine Triphosphate Provide energy for the light-independent reaction To make food and carbohydrates can be synthesized Where it takes place Cell cytoplasm Matrix of the mitochondrion Mitochondria Thylakoids Stroma Reactants ATP, NADH, Pyruvates, CO2, Coenzyme A, PGAL Acetyl CO-A, Oxaloacetate, Citrate, Alpha Ketoglutarate Hydrogen ions, Oxygen, NADH, FADH2 Light, water, ADP, NADP+ ATP, carbon dioxide, and NADPH Products H2O, NADH, ATP Carbon dioxide and ATP Water, ATP O2, ATP, NADPH ADP, NADP+,glucose The role of ATP Oxidizing glucose Finish oxidation of glucose and produce majority of NADH and the only FADH2 ETS accepts energy from carriers in the matrix and stores it to a form that can be used to phosphorylate ADP, Producing ATP for Energy Transports solar energy in the form of ATP to power other chemical reactions Uses ATP from ETC to convert CO2 into G3P. References Pruitt, N. L., Underwood, L. S. (2006). BioInquiry: Making connections in biology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.

The novel Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

The novel Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century (1860-1861). It is said to be one of the classics of the English literary heritage and several film adaptations have been made of it. It first appeared in a weekly magazine called All the year round. Great Expectations is a book in which Dickens returned to the theme of a youths discovery of the realities of life. An unknown person provides the young hero, Pip, with money so that Pip can live as a gentleman. Pips pride is shattered when he learns there source of his Great Expectations. Only by revising his values does Pip restore his life on a foundation of empathy rather than on social position. In this coursework I shall be comparing two film versions: David Leans 1944 black and white version starring John Nutts and the 1997 colour version directed by Alfonso Cuaron which features, Ethan Hawke; Gwyneth Paltrow; Anne Bankcroft and Robert Deniro. I intend to compare the opening chapters in the two film versions, in which the young Pip/Finn encounters a scary convict who later becomes a momentous figure in Pips life.  Both films start with the adult voice of Pip/Finn reflecting on his childhood. The David Lean (1944) version closely follows the actual text whereas Alfonso Cuarons Version follows a sequential order but digresses greatly from the text. As the credits began rolling there are a variety of styles of music. The first style that we hear is a full orchestra and it then harrows down to only one flute which plays a childish style of music which is obviously representing the young PIP. Afterwards it goes into a romantic mood and after that a sad mood. It finally becomes a symphony of emotion to signify the films happy ever after ending. In the opening scene we start with a long shot of Pip and the tracking of pip across the field. At the camera is tracking Pip we see many images of death, for example as Pip is running the audience see a number of Jibbets. As Pip is running the audience is able to see how closely David Lean has followed the text. The marshes are seen to be just a long black horizontal line and the river a long horizontal line but not much thicker. The sky is also just a row of angry red lines and dense black ones. The camera again zooms in on Pips face to show us his apprehension as he climbs over the wall. The audience is able to see many gravestones are crooked and a lot of plants and weeds are overgrown. This suggests that this churchyard is uncared for. This adds tension to the opening scene because we wonder why this young child is there. All throughout the opening scene there is wind sound affects. The wind is an eerie sound which also adds to the tension of the scene. When I was watching Pip I felt a lot of sympathy because I had seen from the gravestone that both of his parents had died and learned that his only relative was his sister who he lived with and she wasnt exactly a ray of sunshine. Alfonso Cuarons version also starts with the credits first which is unusual for a modern day film. As the credits begin there is soft music with very exotic instruments such as a rainpie. The letters of peoples names appears in a fluid pattern, which gives us a watery feeling. This s a good technique as it sets the audience up for the opening scene where things are not necessarily as they seem. The first thing the audience sees is the character of Finn Pip) looking at the fish and then climbing into the boat. Finn takes out a notebook and begins to draw. At this point there is virtually no tension as there is an ordinary boy who is playing in the sunshine and frankly looks quite happy. There is none of the heart tugging emotion that is apparent in Leans black and white version. Finn then climbs out of his boat and carries on looking for more fish to draw. All of a sudden there is a big cloud of red forming underneath the water then a hand comes out of the water and grabs Finn and we realise that this is the convict. This method is more effective than Leans version because it is so unexpected; there is virtually no tension at all up to this point. Whereas Leans version builds the tension up so high that we actually expect something to happen to PIP. I assume that David Lean directed his film as he did in order to retain the essential authenticity of the book. This was important for Lean to do because the book has a way of taking you out of your own reality and this was what the people of 1944 needed to get away from the Second World War. Whilst the 1997 version is not trying to reproduce a historical piece- it is a modern version of the plot transposed to America. I believe that Cuaron did this in order to make the film more realistic, so that the audience could feel that this can happen to anybody. In doing this Cuaron lost the essence of the plot, with its fairytale ending. The similarity that I have seen in the two films is the contrast of Pip/Finn compared to the convict. The directors are both trying to balance Pip/Finns innocence compared to the convicts corruption. Lean does this by keeping Pip polite and sincere all the time while the convict is strangling and pushing him etc. Cuaron does this by making the convict swear to scare Finn; I feel that Cuaron does this because he thinks he needs to do more to shock the modern day. The main differences between the two versions are the location, setting and background. For example Cuarons version had an American actor doing Finns voiceover, it took away some of the reality of the film because I feel that Great Expectations is so typically English. I can agree to some extent that both films had a strong opening which is essential in a film. The reason for this is because if there is a weak opening t the film you will not want to watch the rest of it; the same when reading a book if the first few chapters are not engaging you will not want to finish the book. Generally I preferred David Leans version because it kept to the book. Maybe I might have differently if I hadnt read the book first, but the 1997 version deviated from the book so much that I was confused which character was meant to be which. Lea I felt was also much more effective in setting up the story. Although both films id follow a chronological order, David Leans 1944 version kept very closely to the text where as the coloured version altered the location and dialogue of the novel.  David Lean built up the tension first using sound effects I.e. wind and bustling trees, the dreariness of the marshes and using the numerous visions of death I.e. the jibbet and the crooked gravestones.

Comparison and History of the Catholic Church

Comparison and History of the Catholic Church Did Early Modern (c. 1450-1700) Catholics have a better appreciation of the need for rituals than Protestants? INTRODUCTION The years 1450 to 1700 were a time of great transition and contradiction in Europe. The intellectual, scientific, and cultural enlightenment of the Renaissance was blooming prodigiously, yet the dominant societal force was almost invariably religion, particularly Roman Catholicism, whose sole domination gave way to an uneasy – at best – power-sharing relationship with its so-called bastard child, Protestantism, whose birth was circa 1517. Though Protestantism was a just reaction to the hypocritical corruption and tyranny of the bloated Catholic bureaucracy, whose raison d’etre had become as much about the perpetuation of its own control over Western civilization than about spirituality and enlightenment, both strains of Christianity nevertheless were intensely patriarchal, hierarchical, and structured, and as such relied heavily on a variety of traditions and rituals to perpetuate social and religious continuity and stability during a time of turmoil. It was a tw o-way dynamic, also – it is difficult to overestimate the degree to which common people in the Early Modern period framed their existence and its meaning through Christianity: The pattern of the cosmos, the history and destiny of the world, and the ordering of social, political and domestic relations were all explained in biblical and theological terms. †¦ Faith and ritual affected people at many different levels, making spiritual, intellectual, emotional and visceral appeals. Public and private affairs alike were deeply infused by religion.[1] Given that the notion of separation of church and state was foreign to commoners and even most educated people of the time, the line between the Church and governments was blurry or nonexistent, and thus the Church occupied the metaphysical and psychological persona and space of The Great Father Figure, with whom interaction was governed by, and who maintained order and meted out blessings and punishments through a variety of rituals: prescribed rites, ceremonies, and sacraments. These ranged from the mundane to the sublime; the vulgar to the dignified and were interwoven into the fabric of everyday life for tens of millions of people during the aforementioned 250 years. While doubtlessly there was much sincerity of intention from the Church (Catholic or Protestant in variety) in terms of attempting to bring spiritual edification to its followers, the Church also had what seemed to be an almost genetically encoded need to exert and perpetuate its power. Rituals were a key component t hese ongoing efforts, because after all, â€Å"ritualization is first and foremost a strategy for the construction of certain types of power relationships effective within particular social organizations,†[2] in this case power and relationships that were both benevolent and punitive in both nature and habit. Though the average citizen was still devoutly religious and found much solace in religious practices and rituals, the Catholic Church’s fortunes had ebbed somewhat by 1450 in comparison to the virtually unrestricted power it had enjoyed for several centuries prior. The devastating human cost of the bubonic plague, a.k.a. The Black Death, had not only severely undermined the conventional economic structures that held Europe together, but had also severely undermined the populations’ faith in the power of Catholic Church. The Church, despite predictable assurances and dicta proclaiming their power over sickness and death as the living representative of Christ on earth, was utterly powerless to curtail the shocking and inescapably vast tragedy of the Black Plague. Between 1347 and 1351, it is estimated that the Plague killed between a third and half of Europe’s entire population – tens of millions of people. The Church promised they could cure the sick and ba nish the disease, but they of course could not, as their entrenched hostility to science had left them with a blind spot with respect to medicine, to say nothing of their complicity in perpetuating the socioeconomic structures which facilitated unsanitary living conditions suffered by most common people – the chief reason for the spread of the Plague. Ironically, however, the morose and somber zeitgeist that was predominant in Europe after the Black Plague, the result of the collective grief of a civilization having lost a colossal part of itself, resulted in some people clinging even more tightly to the structures and rituals of their religion. Though life itself was fragile, fleeting, and often seemed to unfold with a cavalier cruelty, the structure and order of religious ritual provided the belief, authentic or not, that there was some structure and order to the greater universe. â€Å"†¦Sterility, bankruptcy, or death could strike anyone at any time, but rituals pro vided a countervailing principle of order†¦ Rituals brought the cosmic order into daily life by giving person access to divine power.† [3] Nonetheless, the inescapable conclusion drawn by many people was that the Church, rituals or no rituals, was impotent to stop the greatest human tragedy anyone had experienced. As such, the atmosphere in the decades comprising the tumultuous wake following the Plague was one in which people were far more willing and interested in secular and scientific approaches to problems like disease, poverty, and other common woes. This shift contributed heavily to both the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation itself. The advent of the Renaissance, agreed upon by most scholars as being around the middle of the 15th century, coincided with what is termed Early Modern Catholicism, a religion that found itself directly competing for the people’s relevance and trust with subversive elements within Renaissance science, art, and literature which began in Italy and quickly spread throughout Europe. Some elements of the Renaissance were intentionally subversive in attacking the Church; others had subversive effects inasmuch as the scientific or philosophical conclusions they reached were not in accord with Church doctrines. In particular, scientific advancements rooted in the use of empiricism – which demanded verifiable, tangible proof instead of faith in abstractions or religious dogma – presented a direct challenge to the authority of the Church. The collective work of a succession of scientists, including Copernicus, Gilbert, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, and Newton, seriousl y undermined a variety of official Church positions that seem ludicrous in retrospect, such as the insistence that the solar system – and indeed, the universe – revolved around the Earth. The Catholic Church’s reaction to the shifting tides was its own rather fierce effort to reassert its power and relevance in both earthly and spiritual domains through a variety of methods ranging from clumsy and violent suppression of ideas it deemed impertinent or blasphemous, to a Reformation within itself (the Council of Trent, 1545-1563) to counter the great schism in Christianity caused by the Protestant Reformation. A constant theme, though, was a perpetual Catholic insistence on the use and value of rituals both for less noble purposes of control and power, as well as more noble humanitarian and spiritual purposes. Even the Protestants, breaking so strongly with the Catholics as they did, recognized the value of rituals and utilized them to both perpetuate and increase their numbers and institutional strength as they competed with Catholics to win the souls and minds of the Renaissance-era Europeans. To understand these rituals is to understand, at least from one perspective, an era so far removed from our own that it is difficult for many people to comprehend the times as much beyond ornate barbarism. Europe of the era was more than such a one-dimensional reality; it was, as all history is, a history of human beings struggling to make sense of their lives, people who â€Å"during the Early Modern period exhibited a highly sophisticated sensitivity to rituals. As the English jurist, John Selden put it in his Table Talk (London, 1689), ‘to know what was generally believed in all ages, the way is to consult the liturgies.’†[4] Indeed we shall, paying close attention to whether Catholics or Protestants seemed to have a better comprehension of why people might embrace and/or cling to ritual. CATHOLIC VIEWPOINT After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church ascended to the role of the most powerful and far-reaching organization on the planet, thanks in part to the vestigial influence it inherited from its incestuous intertwinement with the civic element of the Roman Empire itself –Emperor Flavius Theodosius had declared Christianity the state religion in 391 A.D., an extremely fortuitous turn of events given the centuries of vicious persecution endured by Christians at the hands of the Roman government. However, the Catholic Church claimed its legitimacy and roots as far back as the initial years after Christ’s death, holding the (later controversial) institutional conviction that its papal lineage was descended directly from the apostle (and later saint) Peter, whom is considered under Catholic tradition to be the first Pope. The Pope was, and is considered to this day to be the Vicar of Christ, acting on His behalf and wielding His authority; the Pope carries the of ficial title ‘Vicar of Christ and the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church.’ In keeping with such an inflated sense of importance, the Pope is considered infallible, a state of perfection the Church maintains was and is granted by Jesus himself: Christ endowed the Churchs shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms†¦ The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium [the Pope] proposes a doctrine ‘for belief as being divinely revealed,’ and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions ‘must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.’[5] Other relevant tenets of Catholicism included the notion of a separation of man from God due to sin. The Church offered a chance to be reunited with God through a combination of faith and good works, and served as an essential intermediary between man and God/Christ. The byzantine structures and rituals of the Church served as means of manifesting the means for reconnection and for better or for worse, the Church – from the Pope on down – has always had an authoritarian and arbitrary control over what those means were and are, including the invention and perpetuation of any number of rituals which are not necessarily literally prescribed by Biblical texts (though the Catholics would argue they in fact are). Nonetheless, the Church believes the infallibility of the Pope endows it with the power to do whatever it deems fit to enable mankind to reconnect and reunite with God through the Church, which is a sine qua non intermediary between God and man – in fact, acco rding to Catholic doctrine, â€Å"the Churchs first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God.[6] The sacraments, plural, are in fact a key component of Catholic ritual, and are considered actions that are integral demonstrations and requirements of faith. ‘Sacramentals,’ or signs and symbols that manifest spiritual power, often went hand in hand with the sacraments. The sacraments were intended to confer the grace of the Holy Spirit on the faithful; sacramentals were intended to facilitate cooperation with God by serving as reminders of His glory. There are seven sacraments: Baptism – the initial sacrament, involving the immersion in or pouring of water on the head of a newborn. It is intended to free the person from original sin and ‘mark’ the person as belonging to Christ and embark him or her on a Christian path. Confirmation – the second chronological sacrament, intended to signify a deepening and solidifying of a person’s walk with Christ and membership in the Church. It is generally administered to young adults who have undertaken biblical study and church-sponsored activities to deepen their faith and illustrate their commitment to good works. The Eucharist – unlike the first two sacraments, the Eucharist is administered numerous times – weekly participation is generally considered mandatory, if not obligatory. Perhaps the most important Catholic sacrament, the Eucharist involves the sharing of bread and wine between Church and churchgoer to honor Christ’s sacrifice of his body and blood in a ritual He described to his disciples during the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20). The Catholic Church holds that during this ritual, the bread and wine literally become, in every manner except physical appearance, the body and blood of Christ and invokes the spiritual ramifications therein. This divine process is known as transubstantiation; the bread and wine are transformed into both the physical and spiritual substance of Jesus’ body and blood. Reconciliation – known currently as the confession process and consists of a priest bestowing spiritual healing on a person who has increased his or her distance from God by sinning; it involves four elements: the confession of sin; the person’s authentic contrition and wish to reconcile; the priest’s recommendation for penance, i.e., what the person can do to make up for the sin(s); and lastly, the priest’s absolution. This sacrament, more than any other, cements the Church’s mandatory role as an intermediary between God and man. Anointing of the Sick – a special blessing and spiritual healing administered to a sick person, which also includes last rites for the dying. Holy Orders – the sacrament by which a lay believer is endowed with the privileges, powers, and responsibilities of church leader, specifically a bishop, priest, or deacon. Only a bishop can administer this particular sacrament. Matrimony – a couple marries in the presence of a church official, though by tradition the couple is understood to be administering the sacrament to one another. Once a couple has accepted the sacrament of marriage, the Church holds that the union cannot be dissolved. Though ostensibly purely religious or spiritual in nature, the sacraments in fact touched every major rite of passage in a person’s life – birth, the transition to adulthood, marriage, sickness, and death, as well as everything in between – the temptation to sin, the acts and consequences of sin, the celebration of the idea that Jesus gave his life so that sin would not permanently estrange mankind from God. In addition to mandating participation in the sacraments, the Catholic Church also recognized the value of allowing them to intermix and intermingle with the various local secular (and sometimes even pagan!) customs and celebrations that went along with the same rites of passage. In this way, the church made itself indispensable by insinuating itself into every facet of daily life. And for good measure, the church fortified its societal value by declaring itself indispensable for good measure, on no less an authority than the Son of God Himself. If the sacraments were the ritualistic cornerstones of the Church’s religious and social interaction with the flock, then sacramentals were the symbols and tools used to facilitate the rituals, and in some cases assumed ritual elements themselves. Sacramentals included such actions as the making of the sign of the cross to bless oneself; the use of holy water to bless a physical space, object, or another person; the display of blessed icons; and exorcisms. Though linked in some sense, the sacramentals were not necessarily dependent on sacraments’ ceremony within churches, i.e., they permeated everyday life outside of the church, thereby extending its authority. The words of a modern Catholic, theologian Scott Hahn, perhaps best sum up the best intention these Early Modern Catholic rituals and their elements: â€Å"God [has] a particular and characteristic way of dealing with His people down through the ages. He made covenants with them, and he always sealed these coven ants not with an abstract lecture on the nature of salvation and law, but with an outward sign, a physical sign.†[7] Perhaps, then, the sacraments and sacramentals were the physical symbols of these covenants. But benevolent as they may have been in intent, they were not always benevolently exercised – or exorcised, as it were – in practice. Indeed, the latter sacramental in the aforementioned list, exorcism, was a way in which the Church wielded the punitive element of its vast power over its followers. To challenge the role of the church in any way was an act of heresy punishable in any number of fashions ranging in magnitude from excommunication to exorcism to execution. For a religious institution priding itself – publicly, at least – on facilitating spiritual redemption and forgiveness of sin, the Church unfortunately was an active participant in a litany of barbaric and genocidal pursuits that relied on the circular logic of its own self-declared absolute spiritual authority to legitimize activities that as often as not had to do with irrational, cruel, or selfish human agendas, more than bona fide efforts spiritual edification or purification. (Regrettably, the former was often cloaked in the guise of the latter.) Nothing if not consistent in its methodology, the Church utilized a panoply of rituals, of varying degrees of formality compared to the sacraments, including sacramentals in an arbitrary fashion, to maintain order and mete out justice. According to Church writings, One of the most remarkable effects of sacramentals is the virtue to drive away evil spirits whose mysterious and baleful operations affect sometimes the physical activity of man. To combat this occult power the Church has recourse to exorcism, and sacramentals.[8] Exorcism, though certainly more rare than, say, weekly celebrations of the Eucharist, provided ample pageantry, drama, and the ability to instill fear and awe in the populations which, despite the advances of the Renaissance, were still heavily steeped in superstition. One particularly noteworthy (and gruesome) story is recounted in great detail within a 1703 report entitled The Cheats and Illusions of Romish Priests and Exorcists, delivered to the Archbishop of Canterbury in England to foment anti-Catholic sentiments amongst Protestants. The report, translated from French to English, describes the unfortunate fate of a one Father Urbain Grandier, the Catholic parish priest of St.-Pierre-du-Marchà © in Loudun, France, who was accused of witchcraft in 1630 by a group of nuns. The sisters claimed Grandier had wielded his considerable spiritual authority to command demons to possess them and force them to exhibit a variety of unholy behavior. In reality, Grandier was guilty of indiscre et disregard of his vows of celibacy and otherwise living a more ostentatious life than the Church deemed proper for a priest, which had made him some enemies within the Church hierarchy and local community. To complicate matters, Grandier had earned the specific wrath of his superior, Cardinal Richelieu, about whom Grandier had penned an unflattering and acerbic tract. The nuns made a public spectacle of their putative possession; â€Å"They uttered cries so horrible and so loud that nothing like it was ever heard before. They made use of expressions so indecent as to shame the most debauched of men, while their acts, both in exposing themselves and inviting lewd behavior from those present would have astonished the inmates of the lowest brothels in the country.†[9] An exorcist was dispatched who, not coincidentally, was an enemy of Grandier, and in addition to conducting the exorcism ritual in public, he also urged the nuns – who were faking the entire spectacle â₠¬â€œ to continue and heighten the freakishness of their antics. He was soon joined by other exorcism â€Å"experts† from Loudon and within short order, thousands of people were watching daily as the exorcists shouted, read Bible verses, sprinkled holy water, genuflected, and theatrically performed sections of the Catholic Rite of Exorcism, a codified, specific, and comprehensive ritual of its own. In short order, the public outcry against Grandier became so overwhelming that the Cardinal was ‘forced’ to arrest him. He was tortured brutally by a surgeon ordered to probe for the ‘Devil’s Mark,’ an arbitrary defined body feature which could be anything from a mole to a birthmark, supposedly serving as evidence the Devil had branded his servant: â€Å"the barbarous surgeon would make them see that the other parts of [Grandier’s] body were very sensible, he turned the probe at the other end, which was very sharp pointed, and thrust it to th e very bone; and then the abundance of people [outside] heard complaints so bitter, and cries so piercing, that they [were] movedto the heart.†[10] It only got worse from there. The Cardinal refused to allow Grandier a civil trial and instead, forged a confessional document which – laughable now, but frightening at the time – was a contract between Satan and Grandier bearing ‘signatures’ of hellish figures such as Astaroth, Beelzebub, and Leviathan, and Lucifer himself. (See Figure A.) The Cardinal deemed this evidence enough to deny Grandier any recourse through the government courts and his tribunal sentenced Grandier to a horrific form of torture known as ‘the boots,’ which were â€Å"wedges that fitted the legs from ankles to knees. The torturer used a large, heavy hammer to pound the wedges, driving them closer together. At each strike, the inquisitor repeated the question. The wedges lacerated flesh and crushed bone, sometimes so thoroughly that marrow gushed out and the legs were rendered useless.†[11] Grandier confessed nothing under the torture – which was carried out by the local priests. He cried out to God that his accusers were hypocrites with their own agenda, enraging the priests, who tried to silence him by dumping holy water on him. Eventually, the sadistic priests were so enraged by their failure to extract any information about ‘accomplices’ out of him that they burned him alive and conscious (generally, the victim was at least strangled to unconsciousness first), in front of a huge crowd. In this, one of far too many examples in the Early Modern Era, the grotesque rituals of exorcism and witchcraft, one as ungrounded in rational science as the other, had served a dual purpose – to reinforce the Church’s position as a mighty force against the Devil, who ostensibly roamed the earth in search of victims and accomplices, and also to send a clear message to those who were listening that it was both unwise to stray too far from the Church’s teachings and even less wise to cross paths with Cardinal Richelieu, who clearly had no qualms about vulgar and public displays of power. The Church could be benevolent if the flock toed the line, i.e., the seven sacraments, but indescribably cruel and merciless when threatened or insulted – utilizing the same symbols and rituals employed in its benevolent acts. Of course, without a public appetite for grotesque spectacle – hardly unique to the Early Modern period, the Church rituals would not have been quite so effective. In any case, the success of the Church’s carrot-and-stick approach to herding the flock can hardly be doubted. Another self-justified ritual that the Catholic Church utilized to ensure its own relevance and staying power was the system of indulgences. Indulgences were pardons granted by the church for all or part of a temporal punishment mandated by sins, as opposed to the eternal punishment, pardon for which was granted by the sacraments of baptism and reconciliation. As the Church states, An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.[12] An arbitrary penance for temporal punishment, for example 10 days of feeding the poor because one had suffered from impure thoughts, was assigned as part of reconciliation, but an indulgence granted by the Church – who believed it had an inexhaustible bank account of spiritual goodwill could dispense with any such temporal punishment if it chose to. Indulgences were usually meted out in time measurements: days, weeks, etc. Further complicating matters was the Church’s belief that those believers who died without having dispense with the totality of accumulated punishments for their temporal sins would have to wait in Purgatory – a halfway house of sorts between earth and Heaven – until those temporal sins were paid off. The Church granted itself the power to bestow indulgences not just to individuals for their own sins, but also to family members on behalf of relatives whose souls were believed to be Purgatory’s state of limbo. If this paradigm were not already complicated and suspect as it was, the Church further muddied the practical and moral aspects of indulgences by allowing money to enter into the equation. The most notorious example, in fact, was one of the straws that broke the proverbial camel’s back and helped cause the Protestant Reformation. In 1517, Pope Leo X announced that indulgences would be awarded to those Catholics who gave alms to assist in the spectacularly ambitious (and expensive) rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The project had not been undertaken for entirely spiritual motivations; Pope Julius II, a notorious egomaniac, had wished for a burial place whose grandeur would match his own sense of self-importance, given the association with St. Peter himself. The notion of even using the term ‘alms’ in conjunction with the project was also suspect, given the Church was not exactly known for being impoverished; if any financial strain was present, it was of the Church’s own making. Nonetheless, the sale of these indulgences was sanctioned blessed by the Vicar of Christ, who appointed a loyal lieutenant to tour Europe collecting money. This most enthusiastic salesperson was a Dominican Friar named Johan Tetzel, who was Leo’s commissioner of indulgences for Germany. The certificates he issued (see Figure B) provoked outrage from many fellow Catholic figures (or at least those who possessed enough personal power to dare challenge the Church) because of their suspect language: â€Å"By the authority of all the saints, and in mercy towards you, I absolve you from all sins and misdeeds and remit all punishments for ten days.† Some took this to mean the Church was willing to forgive sins in advance and therefore was sanctioning sinful behavior; worse, the language was inconsistent with Catholic theology, insofar as indulgences were intended to render unnecessary the punishments mandated by temporal sin. (The sin i tself was already forgiven and required no absolution; penance was the requirement and the indulgences were penance vouchers, if you will.) In addition the muddled theology, Tetzel’s marketing campaign was shameless. As he traveled around Europe gleefully raising money, he employed the slogan â€Å"as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.†[13] For many Catholics, even the most loyal and faithful, the rituals had become detached from their spiritual moorings. PROTESTANT VIEWPOINT One church figure who found the selling of indulgences repugnant was Martin Luther, a Franciscan monk and priest at the Castle Church in Saxony. He was deeply concerned that those with more money could buy their, or their dead relatives’, way out punishment for temporal sins, or worse, that some of the poor – who would often travel to the Vatican to donate what little money they had – were being exploited by the Church instead of receiving its blessings without the strings of money. A bold man, Luther preached three sermons criticizing the current method of administering indulgences between 1516 and 1517. Indulgences were not Luther’s only point of deep disagreement with the Church. He believed the Church’s self-perceived role as mediator between God and man, and the rituals it employed in that role, had become dangerously distorted and had lost their spiritual authority. Accordingly, he wrote his 95 Theses, which gained widespread distribution thro ughout Europe within two months, thanks to a new invention of the Renaissance – the printing press. 95 Theses directly challenged the Church, accusing it of greed and debasing itself by overindulgence in worldly matters, and asked for a debate and clarification from the Church regarding the theological basis for the administration of indulgences. (Luther was careful not to assert that the Pope did not have the right to grant them, just that the methodology was suspect and corrupt.) Additionally, and perhaps more shockingly, Luther openly questioned the infallibility and supreme authority of the papacy. Pope Leo X was outraged and demanded on several occasions that Luther recant and declare his submission to the Church, but Luther refused and Leo excommunicated him in January 1521, then declared him a heretic and banned his writings in July of the same year. Luther was spared a more gruesome fate, a la witch, by virtue of his good relationship with Elector Frederick of Saxony, who was expected to become the next Holy Roman Emperor and whose good graces Pope Leo wished to maintain. Frederick arranged to have Luther taken into protective custody, and Luther spent the remainder of his life dependent upon the protection of sympathetic princes. Luther’s boldness unleashed a series of transformations known as the Protestant Reformation, that had profound political effects on Europe that would reverberate for years to come in clashes of Protestants vs. Catholics – many of them bloody. But from a religious and social perspective, Luther ushered in a re-examination, and ultimately, a reorganization of the way Christianity defined and facilitated the relationship between God and man, including the role and use of rituals. The essence of Luther’s grievances was not necessarily his objection to indulgences, though perhaps they were the catalyst. Luther represented a new philosophy, which eventually was embodied in the various offshoots of Protestantism, all of which refused to accept that the Church was a required intermediary between God and man, nor were the arbitrary and complex procedures – often manifested in required rituals such as the sacraments – necessary for salvation or the maintenanc e of faith. In essence, the Church had become more style than substance. Eventually, due to the philosophical groundwork laid by theologians such as St. Augustine and expounded upon and propagated by Luther, the Protestant movement came to hold salvation was earned by the act of faith alone, not faith and good works as the Catholic Church insisted. Luther wrote: Beware, therefore, that the external pomp of work

Just Another Scar :: Personal Narratives

Just Another Scar It began on one smoldering hot day in Tucson. This was another usual day for the residents of Tucson, so hot we could cook an egg on the sidewalk. My dad was outside working on the car, sweating more and more with every turn of the wrench. My brother was shooting hoops in our driveway trying to improve his skills. With the sun shining down and the bouncing of my brother’s basketball I realized I needed to be outside having fun and getting tan as well. I grabbed my sunglasses, laced up my Nike’s and headed outside for some fun in the sun. I played an intense game of one-on-one with my brother. Of course he beat me drastically. My dad had paused occasionally to cheer me on and then continued working on the car. The sun was getting hotter and I was getting weary of playing basketball. I decided to take a ride on my bike. I had this incredible bike that I got the year before for my 13th birthday. It was a vibrant teal color with black stripes below the handlebars and along the side. It was my first mountain bike. I checked my tires to make sure there was enough air and pulled my bike out into the driveway. Our driveway is not concrete so it was hard to get started and ride my bike to the road through the deep piles of gravel. Once I got onto the road it was exhilarating. The sun was scorching, so it felt good to have the cool breeze blowing through my hair. I turned right onto the street and started to ride, I had just gotten used to changing gears while streaming down the road so I was ecstatic. I live in a neighborhood that has tons of hills, so I knew right away that my bike ride was going to be a fun one. I wore shorts and a tank top so I felt the sun beating down on me from above. There was a slight hint of barbeque in the air and it made my mouth water. The trees were rustling around me and I was off! I darted around the first corner of my neighborhood and sped off down the hill that followed. I was good enough to take my hands off the handlebars while I was riding because the momentum of the bike kept me going straight, it was like being on a roller coaster, throwing my arms up in the air and ride. Just Another Scar :: Personal Narratives Just Another Scar It began on one smoldering hot day in Tucson. This was another usual day for the residents of Tucson, so hot we could cook an egg on the sidewalk. My dad was outside working on the car, sweating more and more with every turn of the wrench. My brother was shooting hoops in our driveway trying to improve his skills. With the sun shining down and the bouncing of my brother’s basketball I realized I needed to be outside having fun and getting tan as well. I grabbed my sunglasses, laced up my Nike’s and headed outside for some fun in the sun. I played an intense game of one-on-one with my brother. Of course he beat me drastically. My dad had paused occasionally to cheer me on and then continued working on the car. The sun was getting hotter and I was getting weary of playing basketball. I decided to take a ride on my bike. I had this incredible bike that I got the year before for my 13th birthday. It was a vibrant teal color with black stripes below the handlebars and along the side. It was my first mountain bike. I checked my tires to make sure there was enough air and pulled my bike out into the driveway. Our driveway is not concrete so it was hard to get started and ride my bike to the road through the deep piles of gravel. Once I got onto the road it was exhilarating. The sun was scorching, so it felt good to have the cool breeze blowing through my hair. I turned right onto the street and started to ride, I had just gotten used to changing gears while streaming down the road so I was ecstatic. I live in a neighborhood that has tons of hills, so I knew right away that my bike ride was going to be a fun one. I wore shorts and a tank top so I felt the sun beating down on me from above. There was a slight hint of barbeque in the air and it made my mouth water. The trees were rustling around me and I was off! I darted around the first corner of my neighborhood and sped off down the hill that followed. I was good enough to take my hands off the handlebars while I was riding because the momentum of the bike kept me going straight, it was like being on a roller coaster, throwing my arms up in the air and ride.

Behaviorism: Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay -- Psychology

Behaviorism: Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Castle closed the book deliberately and set it aside. He had purposefully waited half a decade to read Walden Two after its initial publication, because, years after parting from Frazier and his despotic utopia, he could not shake the perturbation the community inspired. But, eight years later, he had grown even more frustrated with himself at his apparent inability to look at the situation calmly. In a fit of willfulness, he had pulled the unopened volume from its top shelf, and now he was hoping that that had been a good idea. His daily temperament, to say the least, had suffered from his continual aggravation. Something had to be done about this. As an experiment, he guessed, Walden Two was a success. He himself had seen the happy community and clearly remembered the horrid time he had had debunking it. It was certainly harder to criticize Walden Two than it was to debunk democracy and the outside society; Frazier had made sure to drive that point home. The inhabitants were clearly at peace, and he was struck by the story Burris told of the woman who sat in a chair, enjoying her rest and carefully not looking at her own garden. He hadn’t known that Burris’s doubts were so strong that he had to make his own observations. Castle’s mostly academic mind approved heartily. He supposed the woman was happy. She was obviously too old to be a second-generation Walden Two inmate, and so had not been subtly forced to be unselfish and content. She willingly subscribed to the Code and accepted the rules that told her not to gossip, to refrain from gratitude, and not to admire her own flowers. She led a placid, comfortable life and he supposed that most elderly people, havin... ...ything was automatically on the same level of constant happiness. Walden Two was memorable as a community, not for its individuals. Its people were a mass of subjects, and Frazier did not admit that there were people who could not be made to conform. Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s were medical problems that could not be ignored and they threw the idea of â€Å"nurture, not nature† on which Frazier’s concepts rested, entirely off-balance. Behaviorism could not control every single aspect of life; that would be like trying to teach someone with no right arm to knit using his hands. And Castle knew that if he could resent being treated as part of a unit instead of a unique individual, millions of others would, too. Feeling a savage flood of perhaps incomplete triumph, Castle practically threw the book back onto its shelf. He, for one, refused to give in to Frazier. Behaviorism: Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay -- Psychology Behaviorism: Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Castle closed the book deliberately and set it aside. He had purposefully waited half a decade to read Walden Two after its initial publication, because, years after parting from Frazier and his despotic utopia, he could not shake the perturbation the community inspired. But, eight years later, he had grown even more frustrated with himself at his apparent inability to look at the situation calmly. In a fit of willfulness, he had pulled the unopened volume from its top shelf, and now he was hoping that that had been a good idea. His daily temperament, to say the least, had suffered from his continual aggravation. Something had to be done about this. As an experiment, he guessed, Walden Two was a success. He himself had seen the happy community and clearly remembered the horrid time he had had debunking it. It was certainly harder to criticize Walden Two than it was to debunk democracy and the outside society; Frazier had made sure to drive that point home. The inhabitants were clearly at peace, and he was struck by the story Burris told of the woman who sat in a chair, enjoying her rest and carefully not looking at her own garden. He hadn’t known that Burris’s doubts were so strong that he had to make his own observations. Castle’s mostly academic mind approved heartily. He supposed the woman was happy. She was obviously too old to be a second-generation Walden Two inmate, and so had not been subtly forced to be unselfish and content. She willingly subscribed to the Code and accepted the rules that told her not to gossip, to refrain from gratitude, and not to admire her own flowers. She led a placid, comfortable life and he supposed that most elderly people, havin... ...ything was automatically on the same level of constant happiness. Walden Two was memorable as a community, not for its individuals. Its people were a mass of subjects, and Frazier did not admit that there were people who could not be made to conform. Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s were medical problems that could not be ignored and they threw the idea of â€Å"nurture, not nature† on which Frazier’s concepts rested, entirely off-balance. Behaviorism could not control every single aspect of life; that would be like trying to teach someone with no right arm to knit using his hands. And Castle knew that if he could resent being treated as part of a unit instead of a unique individual, millions of others would, too. Feeling a savage flood of perhaps incomplete triumph, Castle practically threw the book back onto its shelf. He, for one, refused to give in to Frazier.