Black Images In Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Black Images In Film - Movie Review Example The film deconstructs the image of the black man and the idea of the slave that is the added burden of his image (that Griffith actually justifies using Woodrow Wilson's writings in "A History of the American People". La ltima cena reveals the Calibn theme (the Hegelian master-slave ideology), colonizer and colonized binary, which is mainly influenced by the Cuban poet Roberto Fernndez Retamar's 1971 essay on Cuban revolutionary aesthetics, entitled 'Caliban'. Apart from that Caliban is an important symbol for postcolonial Cuba, since it gives a voice to the slave and allows an inversion of gaze where the "Other" finally speaks in his own language, desperately usurped by the master. Caliban was the name of the half-man half-fish in Shakespeare's "Tempest", a direct metaphor of the anthropological 'cannibals', that served as a landmark discourse for justifying the colonial rule which aimed at civilizing the savages, mainly the African Americans or the blacks. Thus the Calibn theme is of particular historical interest within the Latin America cinema of the seventies, where it was seen as symbolic of colonialism and enslavement.3 However, unlike 'The Seventh Seal', which looks Christian on the surfa ce but is actually existential, 'The Last Supper' has an existential approach for grappling at Christian salvation through an anatomy of slavery. Thus, when an enlightened and pious aristocrat (a White) attempts to celebrate the Last Supper with his slaves, the hideous relationship between the class system and the religious establishment is made to question. The film explore and adopt an experimental approach to the problem of historical truth. Alea's black comedy, La ultima cena achieve an allegorical quality which becomes a distinctive trait of the entire movement: the ability to speak of subjects on more than one level at the same time, of the present while talking of the past, for example, or of politics while talking of religion. At the same time, the exploration of these themes quickly left the aesthetic of neorealism behind, as directors and cinematographers sought to create a visual style, which matched the legendary qualities of the subject matter. The Last Supper is a caus tic, anti-religious social satire and role-playing gets drunkenly out of hand, the result is a slave rebellion -- and it is time for property ownership to reassert its place of precedence in the scheme of things. During Holy Week at the end of the eighteenth century, a count visits his Havana sugar mill on a day a slave has run away. The count tells his cruel overseer, Don Manuel, to pick 12 slaves who will be guests at the count's table. Don Manuel objects, but to no avail. The twelfth guest is the recaptured runaway. During the dinner, using religious analogies, the count lectures his guests on the perfect happiness possible in slavery. They in turn tell stories and make requests. He promises no work on Good Friday, but he leaves early that morning and Don Manuel rousts the slaves for a long day cutting cane. They rebel. Which side will the count take D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) has been defined as a domestic melodrama; a landmark epic that originally was originally called The Clansman.. What makes the

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employment Law - Essay Example Based on the reported facts, at the onset before Tanya was actually hired by your company, she already concealed a material information prior to her employment, which was her medical condition as she suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia. Her present medical condition constrained her to report to daily to work if she is suffering an attack. Clearly, your company is already experiencing losses due to her absences. The constant conflict between Brian and Tanya must be resolved by the employer. Brian’s act of falsely accusing Tanya as â€Å"useless† and not being capable of carrying out her job already constitutes as a form of harassment (Isle of Wight Tourist Board v Coombes [1976] IRLR 413). As the boss of both Brian and Tanya, you are expected to resolve the friction between the two employees and to stop any form of harassment and to make sure to avoid it from happening again in the future. On the issue of incompetency of Tanya, it was recently discovered that she committe d major blunders in the company while she was still an employee because the banking records are inaccurate and what’s worse is that she even misappropriated a sum of money since the petty cash fund is short by a ?100, which was under her custody while she was still an employee. This is a gross misconduct on her part and considered as stealing money from the company. I. ANALYSIS Under the law, a constructive dismissal case will only prosper if it satisfies the requirements provided under the law. The Employee Rights Act of 1996 of Section 95(c) provides that the employee terminates the contract under which he is employed with or without notice in circumstances in which he is entitled to terminate it without notice by reason of the employer’s conduct (Employee Rights Act: 1996). In these circumstances, the employer’s behaviour constitutes a repudiation of the contract and the employee accepts the repudiation by resigning (Lewis 2009, p.210). In the case at bar, Ta nya informed the employer that she is no longer reporting to work because of the verbal conduct of Brian against her. Here, it is not the employer’s conduct or behaviour which forced Tanya to resign, but was caused by Brian’s verbal abuse on her. In all fairness to you as the employer, you made reasonable efforts to prevent the harassment from happening again by telling Brian to stop the verbal abuse on Tanya. However, Brian was still not able to resist throwing invectives against Tanya in the workplace. The day after her last fight with Brian, she immediately filed the case without going through mediation. On the other hand, under the Protection from Harassment Act of 1997, a person must not pursue a conduct (a) which amounts to harassment of another and; (b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of another (Protection from Harassment Act: 1997). Clearly, Brian is guilty of verbally abusing Tanya every time he accuses her of incompetence in from of peo ple in the office (Cortaulds v Andrew [1979] IRLR 85 ). Thus, this instance will fall as harassment on the part of Brian. As a general rule, the employer is liable for the acts of its employees under the principle of vicarious liability. However, the employer can avoid liability for discriminatory harassment if they can prove that they took such steps that were reasonably practical to prevent harassment from occurring. Furthermore, individual employees may also be liable, for

Sinhala Text To Speech System Development | Research

Sinhala Text To Speech System Development | Research The system, which I am developing, called SINHALA TEXT TO SPEECH is a one kind of fully research project. This documentation briefly describes the functionality of my STTS and highlights the important and benefits of the project. So this system will allow user to enter sinhala texts and internally it will convert in to pronunciation form. Actually it will happen after user select the particular option (convert to voice) to convert it in to that pronunciation form. So totally this system is capable of accepting characters in sinhala language (sinhala fonts) and makes them in to sound waves, which can be captured by a technical object (speakers). User will able to select the voice type, which he/she like, it mean there are three option called child voice, female voice and adult (male) voice to select. By selecting that function user can hear the voice, which he/she like most. And the system will carry out several benefits to users, those who will use this system. The users who are not able to read sinhala, but those can understand verbally will encourage to use this system, because using this product they can overcome that problem very easily. If somebody needs documents with sinhala texts, then he or she can use this system to get that one. In today world there are no such systems for sinhala language like which I am going to develop. Table of Contents ABSTRACT 2 Table of Contents 3 SINHALA TEXT TO SPEECH 4 1.INTRODUCTION 4 2.AIM 5 3.STUDY PROBLEM 5 4.RELEVANCE OF THE PROJECT 5 5.LITERATURE REVIEW 6 6.SPECIFIC STUDY OBJECTIVES 7 7.PROPOSED APPROACH 8 7.1 User 8 7.2 Data 8 7.3 Input 8 7.4 Processes 9 7.5 Output 9 8.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND TCHNOLOGIES 9 8.1 Database Technology 9 9.PROJECT PLAN 10 9.1 ARCHTECTURE 10 9.1.1 Design Architecture 10 9.1.2 Text process Architecture 11 9.1.3 Voice Tag Selection Process 12 9.1.4 Voice Control Process 13 10.REFERENCES 13 11.Bibliography 14 11.1 SPEECH ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 14 11.2 SPEECH CODING 14 SINHALA TEXT TO SPEECH INTRODUCTION Sinhala Text To Speech is the system I am hoping to develop as my final research project. As a post graduate student I selected a research project that will convert the Sinhala input text into a verbal form. Actually, the term Text-To-speech (TTS) refers to the conversion of input text into a spoken utterance. The input is a Sinhala text, which may consist of a number of words, sentences, paragraphs, numbers and abbreviations. TTS engine should identify it without any ambiguity and generate the corresponding speech sound wave with acceptable quality. The output should be understandable for an average receiver without making much effort. This means that the output should be made as close as to the natural speech quality. Speech is produced when air is forced from the lungs through the vocal cords (glottis) and along the vocal tract. Speech is split into a rapidly varying excitation signal and a slowly varying filter. The envelope of the power spectra contains the vocal tract information. The verbal form of in input should be understandable for the receiver. This means that the output will be made as closer as the natural human voice. My system will carry out few main features. Some of them are, after entering the text user will capable of selecting one of voice qualities, means women voice, male voice and child voice. Also the user is capable of doing variation in speed of the voice. Actually, my project will carry out main few benefits to the users, those who intend to use this. Below I have mentioned the basic architecture of our project. Sinhala Voice Text in Sinhala And Voice and speed Selection Process Figure 1.1 AIM To develop a system, that can able to read text in sinhala format and covert it in to verbal (sinhala) form. And also, It will capable to change the sound waves, It mean user would able to select voice quality according to his/her opinion. There are might be three voice selections. These are kind of woman voice, kind of male voice and kind of kids voice. And user can change the speed of the voice. If somebody needs to hear low speed voices or high-speed voice, then he/she can change it according to their requirements. STUDY PROBLEM Actually before start this project I have accessed in to the Internet and collect more information regarding this particular field. First-of-all I have to provide a facility to enter sinhala font in to the computer. So, to overcome this matter I intend to use UNICODE. When we pronounce sinhala text, sometime we need use pronouncing voices of two texts. It means to create voice for some texts we need to combine another two text voices. So to have voices we should store voices to each and every text in the voice database. Then voices come from voice database according to the text which we entered. Actually after we entered text internally it (texts) get in to different groups. RELEVANCE OF THE PROJECT The thought of developing a Sinhala Text To Speech (STTS) engine have begun when I considering the opportunities available for Sinhala speaking users to grasp the benefit of Information and Computer Technology (ICT). In Sri Lanka more than 75% of population speaks in Sinhala, but its very rare to find Sinhala softwares or Sinhala materials regarding ICT in market. This is directly effect to development of ICT in Sri Lanka. In present few Sinhala text to speech softwares are available but those have problems such as quality of sound, font schemas, pronunciation etc. Because of these problems developers are afraid to use those STTS for their applications. My focus on developing an engine that can convert Sinhala words in digitized form to Sinhala pronunciation with error free manner. This engine will help to develop some applications. Some applications where STTS can be used Document reader. An already digitized document (i.e. e-mails, e-books, newspapers, etc.) or a conventional document by scanned and produced through an optical character recognizer (OCR). Aid to handicap person. The vision or voice impaired community can use the computers aided devices, directly to communicate with the world. The vision-impaired person can be informed by a STTS system. The voice-impaired person can communicate with others by providing a keypad and a STTS system. Talking books toys. Producing talking books toys will boost the toys market and education. Help assistant. Develop help assistant speaks in Sinhala like in MS Office help assistant. Automated News casting. The future of entirely new breed of television networks that have programs hosted by computer-generated characters is possible. Sinhala SMS reader. SMS consist of several abbreviations. If a system that read those messages it will help to receivers. Language education. A high quality TTS system incorporated with a computer-aided device can be used as a tool, in learning a new language. These tools can help the learner to improve very quickly since he/she has the access to the correct pronunciation whenever needed. Travelers guide. System that located inside the vehicle or mobile device that will give information current location other relevant information incorporated with GPRS. Alert systems. Systems that can be incorporated with a TTS system to attract the attention of the controlled elements since as humans are used to draw attention through voice. Specially, countries like Sri Lanaka, which is still struggling to harvest the ICT benefits, can use a Sinhala TTS engine as a solution to convey the information effectively. Users can get required information from there native language (i.e. by converting the text to native language text) would naturally move there thoughts to the achievable benefits and will be encouraged to use information technology much frequently. Therefore the development of a TTS engine for Sinhala will bring personal benefits (e.g. aid for handicapped, language learning) in a social perspective and definitely a financial benefit in economical terms (e.g. virtual television networks, toys manufacture) for the users. LITERATURE REVIEW Text to speech is very popular area in computer science field. There are several research held on this area. Most of research base on how to develop more natural speech for given text . There are freely available text to speech package available in the world. But most of software develops for most common language like English, Japanese, Chinese languages. Even some software companies distribute text to speech development tools for English language as well. Microsoft Speech SDK tool kit is one of the examples for freely distributed tool kit developed by Microsoft for English language. Nowadays, some universities and research labs doing their research project on Text to speech. Carnegie Mellon University held their research focus on text to speech (TTS). They provide Open Source Speech Software, Tool kits, related publication and important techniques to undergraduate student and software developer as well. TCTS Lab also doing their research on this area. They introduced simple, but general functional diagram of a TTS system [Ref. 2]. Image Credit: Thierry Dutoit. Figure5.1. A simple, but general functional diagram SPECIFIC STUDY OBJECTIVES Produce a verbal format for the input sinhala text. Input Sinhala text which may be a user input or a given text document will be transformed in to sound waves, which is then output is captured by speakers. So the disabled people will be one of the most beneficial stakeholders of Sinhala Text to Speech system. Also undergraduates and research people who need to use more references can send the text to my system, just listen and grab what they need. The output would be more like natural speech. The human voice is a complex acoustic signal, which is generated by an air stream expelled at either mouth, nose or both. Important characteristics of the speech sound are speed, silence, accentuation and the level of energy output. The tongue appropriately controls the air steam, lips with the help of other articulators in the vocal system. Many variations of the speech signal are caused by the persons vocal system, in order to convey the meaning and emotion to the receiver who then understand the message. Also includes many other characteristics, which are in receivers hearing system to identify what is being said. Identify an efficient way of translating sinhala text in to verbal form. By developing this system we would be able to identify and proposed a most suitable algorithm, which can be used to translate sinhala format to verbal form by a fast and efficient manner. Control the voice speed and types of the voice (e.g. man, women, child voice, etc.). Users would be capable of selecting the quality of the sound wave, which they want. Also they would be allowing to reset the speed of the output as they need. People, those would like to learn Sinhala as their second language to learn elocution properly by changing the speed (reducing and increasing). So this will improve the listening capabilities. Small kids can be encouraged to learn language by varying the speed and types. Propose ways for that can be extended the current system further more for future needs. This system only gives the basic functions. My system is feasible of enhancing further more in order to satisfy the changing requirements of the users. This can be embedded in to toys so can be used to improve children listening and elocution abilities. So those will Borden their speaking capacity. PROPOSED APPROACH Main function of my system is read sinhala digitized characters and speak out those words as closer sounds that human natural voice. 7.1 User My basic idea is to develop systems that cater all kinds of users. That mean who know the operate computer very well and also who is beginner to the computer field. Users only want to do insert text in sinhala. 7.2 Data In my database I am hoping to store voice tags, sinhala characters and pronunciation rules. And also I wish to introduce efficient algorithms for search relevant voice tags from the database. 7.3 Input Proposed system will get sinhala-digitized characters, voice selection as input. 7.4 Processes Get the sentence from the user and it will identified end of sentence by full-stop and it will separate two words by the space between two words. Those words will break down to smaller parts. Then after capture the relevant voice tags according to rules that I have given and merge those voice tags. Then after get voice selections that user given and process to give those sound effects. 7.5 Output Produce the related sinhala voices for text that is given by the user according to sinhala pronunciation rules as well as voice selection done by the user. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND TCHNOLOGIES 8.1 Database Technology Hope to use OO methodologies and Relational Database Management System (Microsoft ® SQL Serverà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ 2005) to develop centralized database on main server. A database management system, or DBMS, is software design to assist in maintaining and utilizing large collection of data [Ref. 3]. The SQL Server 2005 is design to work as a data storage engine for thousand of concurrent users who connect over a network, it is also capable of working as a stand-along database directly on the same computer as an application [Ref. 4]. DBMS provide some important functionality. Applications are independent from data representation, storage and location (data and location independence). DBMS is able to scan through million of record and retrieve efficiently (efficient data access). DBMS enforce integrity constrain and security permission on the data (data integrity and security). DBMS provide facilities to data and its efficient accessibility (data administration). DBMS schedule concur rent access to the data in such manner that user can think of the data as being accessed by one user at a time. Further, DBMS protects users from the effects on of system failures (concurrent access and crash recovery). There for hope to use Microsoft ® SQL Serverà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ 2005 to develop voice and text information database. PROJECT PLAN 9.1 ARCHTECTURE 9.1.1 Design Architecture Text in Sinhala Voice and speed selection Process Sinhala voice Figure 9.1.1 Speed selection Array of text (Sinhala) Process in detail Related Sinhala Voice Voice Database Process the Text Get the voice tags according to the Text and merge them Voice selection Voice controller Figure 9.1.2 Figure 9.29.1.2 Text process Architecture Detect full-stops, commas, brackets etc. Separate out numbers Get unique number to each letter and store it in an array Send the data in array to voice tag selection process Separate the text to sentences Group the text according to letters Sinhala Text Array of letter values Figure 9.1.3 This process gets a text as the input. It detect whether there are any full-stops, commas etc. to avoid confusions. If there any numbers in the text they are separate out and text is partition in to sentences. After that each letter in a sentence grouped, give a unique number store in an array. This array is send to the next process. 9.1.3 Voice Tag Selection Process Figure 9.1.4 Voice Database Get voice tags from voice Database Voice selection Array of letter values Merged Voice tag Merge voice tags to the order Send the merged voice tags to voice Control process Select the voice type This process gets the array, which gives from Text process and voice selection as inputs. By using these inputs this process gets voice tags for each letter and merge them. Merge voice tags send to the voice control process. 9.1.4 Voice Control Process Figure 9.1.5 Speed selection Sinhala Voice Store the voice text array Control the speed Voice speed Speak the voice array Merged Voice tag This process gets merge voice tags and voice speed selection as input. It organize the Merge voice tags according to speed selected. Then it will speak out speech each voice tag. REFERENCES [Ref. 1] Building Synthetic Voices, [Online] http://www.festvox.org/festvox/ [Ref. 2] An Introduction to Text-to-Speech Synthesis, [Online] http://tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/introtts.html [Ref. 3] Raghu Ramakrishnan, Johannes Gehrke/Database Management System Third edition 2001/ McGraw-Hill [Ref. 4] SQL Server Books, [Online] 1988-2005 Microsoft Corporation. Photography: Then And Now Photography: Then And Now Why is the photographic image so powerful iconic, how do they produce connections of timelessness, and emotional context + what are the perspectives around image making in addition what is its relationship to painting? In its first decades of its existence photography was labeled as sun painting a term coined to be contemptuous, and one which epitomized the mechanical character to the painters artistic freedom. Therefore because of this, photography has become an ever-growing field of investigation and argument. Photography and its role in art and the everyday is something which I would like to open up in this discussion, I have looked at various writers to aid this discussion as well as a series of classic and contemporary photographers. This dissertation will inform and open up concepts around photography whilst putting it under a microscope and examining it with sensibility. Photography as a medium has become a phenomenal sensation of capturing a still image; it inspired historical as well as literary imaginations. Photography was the possible brainchild of modern science, or of modern invention explicated by science, it oscillates between the realms of science, poetry fiction or fantasy. The registration of the first daguerreotype signaled first and foremost a mystery it also permeated this idea of it being the aura of a cultural creation, and if not a legend, rather than that of a scientific discovery. This idea is particularly evident in an account provided by critic Jules Janin in LArtiste of 27 January 1839, which extolled the daguerreotype as a modern realization of the biblical Fiat Lux 1, and in particular marveled at its ability to record the most minute detail (down to the grains of sand) as well as, even more improbably, the shadow of a passing bird2. Speaking to the camera detaches the visible from the capacities of the eye and brings forth the virtuality of the visible, in a sense the camera can be seen as the third eye which extends ones vision. The procedure of photography is a materializing which makes something material from apparition and through photography things can be seen differently. The ability to photograph was seen as a strange phantasmagoria and a method of hyping up the real, it posited bewilderment at the magic of the daguerreotype, combined with the urge to make the idea of photography as generic as possible. Many photographers change how we look and perceive photographic images. Eugene Atget -a surrealist photographer- was one of the first to refuse to photograph the face and body, Atget removed people from his pictures and with them the last remainders of cult value in the medium. His photographs of Paris were like scenes of a crime, desolate scenes of everyday objects as ordinary experience were revealed as strange and quite unsettling. In this way photographs acquired the first traces of political significance that all was not as it seemed at first glance. Atgets photography replaced the aura of the early image with the emptiness of the city view. He asks But isnt every square inch of a city a crime scene?3. Hippolyte Bayards 12 minute exposure entitled Self Portrait as a Drowned Man (1840) 4, presents us with a fictional image which shows how a photograph can deceive us. At the time was considered quite racy and controversial, nudity was something which was private and highly discouraged, and especially not something to be photographed. It presented a dichotomy of what was and what was not allowed. Latin Phrase Fiat Lux, let there be light The phrase comes from the third verse of the Book of Genesis. Quotefrom book From Walter Benjaminpage Bayard, Hippolyte. Self Portrait as a Drowned Man.1840, France. Instant death is not accessible, so the alternative is to feign death and stimulate the artificial arrangement of it. This staged photo montage displays a conspicuous protest against the cruel injustice of life. Nowadays, every calamity with fatal outcome is photographed in its horrifying representation within the media. We find photographs of death intriguing and visit monuments which represent places where vast amounts of people have died. Why is this? The feeling of being exempt from calamity stimulates interest in looking at painful pictures like war photos etc, partly because one is here and not there.Photographs therefore subtract feelings from something we experience firsthand, but it is the closest we can get to this experience. To summarize, one is vulnerable to disturbed events in the form of photographic images in a way that one is not to the real thing. Pictures are things that have been marked with all the stigmata of personhood and animation: they exhibit both physical and virtual bodies; they speak to us, sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. They present not just a surface but a face that faces the beholder as if pictures had feeling, will, conscious, agency and desire. 5. With a kind of social or physiological power of their own: a power to attract the beholder, arrest and enthrall, transfix or paralyze the beholder, turning him or her into an image for the gaze of the viewer, the medusa effect. U.S Civil War Photographer Matthew Brady used the power of photos to create social and political photo essays, often centered around injustice and suffering. His images raised public response and outcry which led to positive social changes, they had the ability to change the nations noble, romantic view of war, and although Brady was simply recording events, his picture essays were powerful enough to change public opinion. Photographs can be quite allegorical; they have natural instinct to produce potent emotional responses. In Roland Barthess Camera Lucida, 6. a major part of this book is dedicated to a narrative telling of his bereavement for his dead mother, and through looking at his collection of old family photographs he can find her again. This concept is something that leaks into a large extent of our private lives, as photographers the majority of us have in our archives, portraits of people who are no longer living some of whom may mean an enormous deal to us. We have all gone through this procedure of en masse as a culture following the death of public figures that have touched us: Marilyn Monroe, John F Kennedy, John Lennon to name a few. Correspondingly, we look for the diabolical streak in pictures of persons who turn out to be mass murderers: Myra Hindley, Ted Bundy Etc. Photographs make us, as a collective, understand and appreciate our emotional attachments to them. This hidden agenda is something Barthes tries to permeate in our minds. Barthes was overwhelmed with the connections he found between the images, and time and death are themes which very much personify his writing. The reality here is, as Barthes tries to evoke, that death is ultimately concrete and that the actuality of the photos is palpable. We find ourselves being struck with such emotional attachment when we look at old photos of loved ones in addition to being face-to-face with what time and the instant mean in an image. The Aura in these pictures may be related with time because when we observe them, we sometimes feel nostalgic. The revelation of this is to reflect back to the genesis of his ideas, that the genius of photography provides a spectrum for which the subject really was there; and that he would conclude that death indeed was the rational and logical implication of every picture. Poring over images of the dead Quote : Freedberg, D.( 1991)The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response. University of Chicago Press, USA Camera Lucida : name of the apparatus, anterior to photographer, which permitted drawing an object through a prism. is an active part of grief, of mourning, of dealing with the actuality and immediacy of death. This ritual did not exist for anybody but the upper classes (obviously before photography was invented.) Photography marked the birth of the image and in1839 I believe would have been a milestone in the history of mourning rites and thanatology. Barthes looks carefully over these images with a keen hope of remembering. He seeks in sorrow and love for the loss of his mother in hopes of finding one picture which would represent his mothers spirit, he accounts the following when an old childhood photograph is found: My mother was five at the time (1898), her brother was seven. He was leaning against the bridge railingshe, shorter than he, was standing a little back, facing the camerashe was holding one finger in the other hand as children often do, in an awkward gesture. The brother and sister had posed, side by side, alone; under the palms of the Winter GardenI studied the little girl and at last rediscovered my mother. 7. What we can extrapolate from this examination of the Winter Garden photograph is that Barthes become comforted by its actuality, in the sense that the picture literally emanates his mother (although being a child Barthes never knew of.) He sees the photograph as a magic relic of his mother perpetuating love, there is an assertion of tenderness in the photo as she lends herself to the photographer and allows herself be photographed. He can then reassure himself of his mother and know that his heartfelt experience with her was real. Old photographs are ghostly semblances that materialize before our eyes and in our imaginations, this is certainly evident when Barthes sees this particular photograph; and through photographs we try to immortalize a significant moment in our lives. Photographs possess an extraordinary ability to touch us in ways that are supernaturally impossible. They retain a certain animation which cannot be possessed or captured in a painting or sculpture, they speak to us. Through speaking we understand and realize their true intentions and motivations, and this is what we learn from Barthes. The same ideas apply when we look at photographs of people who have committed crimes. A photograph is not just a picture of something or someone its what is attached to it that we hold that emotion. In the case of serial killer mug shots its the evil that you know behind that photograph or the sinister intention which reinforces the feelings of loathing, hatred and disgust Photographs are visual fossils, they make us think about and realize our own mortality and existence, and therefore have remained so timeless. Old photographs fill out our mental image of the past; the photos being taken now transform what is present into a mental image. The passing of time also adds to the aesthetic value of photographs. The Art of the portrait photographer may be to induce in his or her subjects a sense of presence and there-ness. Oddly photographs have the magical capabilities to move you back and forth through time, and because of this, the past always seems accessible except physically it isnt. The photograph becomes a kind of resurrection as it continues to live after the person is gone. It has the strange ability to evoke memories through imaginative recall and gives the texture and essence of things; it is not so much an instrument of memory as an invention of it or a replacement. August Sanders taxonomical portraits developed a philosophy that placed man within a cyclic model of society, by systematically photographing people from various classes, Sander hoped that by using light and photographing their facial features it would reveal and accentuate character, charisma, provenance or background. Quotation : Barthes, R. Camera Lucida. (1980:29-30). Walter Benjamin coined the optical unconscious as a realm of experience, as a similar way as psychoanalysis constituted as access to the psychic unconscious. It invests the photograph with intimacy as well as the capacity for illumination. It is another nature which speaks to the camera rather than to the eye.8. Photography is not only like its subject but homage to the subject; it is part of an extension of that subject. Photography has the power to capture a secret, and we have the power to see it. The viewer feels an irresistible urge to search such a picture for the tiny spark of contingency, of the Here and Now, with which reality has so to speak seared the subjectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. 9. Benjamin refers to a photograph- a portrait- of the photographer Dauthendey and his wife who had later committed suicide. Looking at the photograph we search the picture for a kind of evidence in the past, of what was to transpire in the future. (Perhaps a sign written on her face, her posture, invi sible to her fiancà © who stands alongside her, but visible to us looking at the photograph many years later, and with the knowledge that she would, after bearing him six children, kill herself). What we can conclude here is that Benjamin then, grants the viewer (as well as the medium of photography) a kind of desire for omniscience. The photographic image calls for translation, and can show traces of the past and point at something that is absent. On the basis of a partial assimilation to the model of painting and through the wake of modernism, the advent of photography has slowly gained acceptance within museums and that of the art market and thus making it a recognizable and distinct art form. But why have they thus far remained a provocative and intriguing form of art? Paintings and sculptures are a matter of interpretation from the artist; whereas with photographs to a certain extent- are a reflection of the real. It cannot just be seen in many ways as an art form but as a way of seeing and thinking. Photography represents a precious asset; they provide us with an encounter we would not think was possible without, however our perception of images and photography have greatly changed since the very first photograph was made. In its relation to painting, a photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image) it is a usurp reality and an interpretation of the real, it can be thought of as a trace which is directly sten ciled off the real like a footprint or death mask. It carries some of its simplest qualities to such perfection that it will become for even the majority of skillful painters a subject for observation and study. Its because of this perfection that the painter, therefore, will find this a quicker way to obtain collections of studies that he would only by much time, and trouble be able to collect no matter how talented the painter. Paintings, even ones which meet photographic standards of resemblance, are never more than the stating of interpretation. In Benjamin Walters Little History on Photography he makes a point that using photography killed painting10. There is a primitive notion which presumes that images possess the qualities of real things or that there is an inclination to attribute to real things the concept of original and copy, reality and image. There are many conspiracies surrounding the notion of what is real, as well as the criticism of reality as a faà §ade and the depleted sense of it. 8. Quotation: Gold,J.R. Film and Translation in the Writings of Walter Benjamin(2007: 602-622) 9. Quotation: Stamelman, R. Loss beyond telling: Representations of Death in Absence in Modern FrenchPoetry (1990:281) 10. Quotation: Walter, B. Little History of Photograph. (1931:PAGE UNKNOWN) In Sontags The Image World (On Photography) a lot of emphasis is made of the reproducibility of the image. Photography has become a mass art, a social rite, in which we document sequences of consumption. It can provide knowledge independent of experience and can capture, classify and store the Information in a way that provides possibilities for control not feasible under earlier forms of information storage. Feurbach observes that our era -prefers the image to the thing, the copy to the original the representation to the reality, appeared to the being 11. Photography does not simply reproduce the real; it recycles it- a key procedure of a modern society which consumes images. In the form of photographic images, things and events are put to new uses, and assigned new meanings. The camera offers the possibility of possessing complete record at all ages and through being photographed something becomes part of a system of classification and storage family albums, geology, medical training, police work etc. Photograph collections are used to make a substitute world. It can also been viewed as an instrument for depersonalizing our relation to the world. What Sonntag is trying to argue is that human beings have mistaken the copy for the thing itself and, as a result, have created a false division between the copy and the so called real. Sontag explains: Industrial societies turn their citizens into image-junkies it is the most irresistible form of mental pollution 12. Photographs are a form of acquisition; the possession of cherished people or things as a way of consuming events and a potent means of acquiring something as information, and more importantly gaining control over it. At one end of the spectrum photographs are objective data, at the other end they are items of psychological science fiction. Even the most banal photograph or document can mutate into an emblem of desire. Nowadays the lure of the image is starting to replace the real via advertisements, newspaper, TV, and digital. The situation is complicated by the fact that less than ever does the mere reflection of reality reveal anything but reality Bertold Brecht 13. Copying was seen as immoral, however Aristotles view of the imitative faculty is precisely what makes us human. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the mechanical reproduction of the photograph. Walter Benjamin had a keen relation to nostalgia and a poetic understanding of the world. He explains in A Small History of Photography that the beginning of image-making was seen as a fog which would blind you, using this metaphor politically he is referring it to something which is perhaps dangerous- that art would become nothing more than ideas, signs, allusions or concepts. There was very much a storm of moral fear, it was seen as being blasphemous and opened up ideas about god. That perhaps the photograph or that being photo graphed would contain the soul- a fetish or magical object. In addition to this the reproductive factor of photography was seen as taking away the aura away from the real thing, ideas surrounding forgery, fakery, copying were highly frowned on. Reproducing images was seen as deracination of authenticity and dissolution of aura and historical depth, because of its special condition it can be exploited by capital for advertising purposes. To an ever increasing degree, the work which is reproduced becomes the reproduction of a work intended for reproducibility. Due to the reproducibility of images, this condition opens up theories of the politicizing of art and 11. Quotation: Feuerbach, K. (1843) The Essence of Christianity. Quoted By Sontag,S. (1979-PAGENA) 12. Quotation: Sontag, S.The image World: Traces of the Real (1977-NA) 13. Quotation: Brech, B. Quoted by Walter,B in Little History of Photography (1931-NA) Releases questions like how might the photographer go about dealing with a practice that is not completely reducible to propaganda and modern advertising? The mechanical nature of the reproducibility of art and photography has changed modes of perception in which we have reduced objects and made them manipulable, It is necessary to create something artificial than represent the real., The singular, the unique is divested of its uniqueness- by means of its reproduction. 14. Process reproduction can reveal those aspects of the original that are unattainable to the naked eye yet accessible to the lens- which is adjustable and chooses its angle at will. Through photographic reproduction and with the aid of certain processes (such as enlargement and slow motion) can capture images which may escape natural vision. Today in the wake of proliferation and digital media, photography is in a state of dispersion, hybrid forms of photographic imagery mixing analogue and digital technologies have become the norm. Where much of the images we see are heavily manipulated. There are many reasons why we are infatuated with photography; the flowering of photography allowed for it to be available to everybody, anything in the world is material for the camera, one finds that there is beauty or at least interest in everything seen with an acute eye. The picture is treated as an expression of the artists desire or as a mechanism for eliciting the desires of the beholder. People werent used to seeing their image, so the photograph provided a difference sense of how we look. It awakened people into a new world. Photographs contain powerful presences present in them it preserves the object which is reason why there are superstitions around throwing away photographs of loved ones, as well as the obsession to photograph and to be photographed. Referring back to Barthes, photograph presents to us a spectral, corporal presence in addition to providing a means of reanimating what is unavailable. It imprisons and captures reality; this is something Barthes tries to burn into our consciousness. One cant possess reality, one can possess (and be possessed by an image) with photographic images one cant possess the present but one can possess the past. They imply instant access to the real to possess the world in the form of images is, to re experience the unreality and remoteness of the real. Pictures communicate as signs and signals, it is clear they have a sort of power to effect human emotions and behavior. Nowadays, we cannot live without photographs they are anywhere and everywhere. The logic of consumption is akin to lust, and therefore it cannot be satisfied because the possibilities of photography are infinite. I believe photography and image-making will continue to inspire and technologies will continue to expand. Presently, we find photography used for narcissistic purposes like surveillance. In an industrial society the camera becomes a spectacle for the masses and as an object of surveillance for rulers. It remains to be a source of great iconography as it is an art for all, which posits photography as universally accessible, and an addition to culture rather than science. Photographs will always and continue to be powerful mechanisms to change things or set things in motion, and it will continue to stand the test of time and document the vestiges of human condition until the end of our existence. 14. Quotation: Walter, B. Little History of Photograph. (1931:PAGE UNKNOWN)

Analysis of Vertovs Film :: essays research papers

In the clown player’s 1991 film â€Å"The Drug Movie†, the art of cinema verite is taken to heights of realism not seen since Roberto Rosselinni’s triumphant â€Å"Rome, Open City†. By combining realistic settings, lighting, sound, etc. with keenly observant camera placement, the filmakers draw us into a world very few of us ever actually see outside the comforts of a theater. Dziga Vetov, in his essays on the nature of man as seen through the â€Å"Kino-Eye†, touched upon something that the makers of â€Å"The Drug Movie† are obviously very aware of. That is, the camera, more so than anything human, will see to the core of its target. Beyond the actors, beyond the sets and special effects, is the soul of the film. If the emotion is pure and the situations genuine, than the camera is but a window to the truth. The Clown Player’s have crafted a finely nuanced example of this cinematic honesty with â€Å"The Drug Movie†. The film’s opening is startling and immediately draws us into the unfolding drama. We are given a brief glimpse of a very annoying girl mentioning her hometown of â€Å"Coral Springs Florida!†. The scene quickly shifts to static than the glare of an incandescant ceiling lamp. Within this brief montage, the filmaker’s have raised our expectations and shifted them within a few brief moments. This masterful use of cinematic manipulation is but a foreshadowing of the upcoming events. Nothing is what it seems and nothing can be predicted. Like life, this celluloid canvas is painted with the ever-shifting brush of the unknown. From the lamp, the camera pans to our players. Three males, two white, one black sit around table. As they talk, their dialogue is somewhat muted and difficult to decifer. It soon becomes painfully obvious that we the viewer are not privy to this cabal. Again, the Clown Player’s continue to exhibit complete control over their audience. As the camera cuts in for a closer view of the group, we finally hear the topic of their intense exchange. Two of the men are working diligently on a model car. One of them, Lance ( Chriss Celentano, beautifully underplaying his rather nebbish character) is thoroughly absorbed in his work. Across from him, Dirk (Big A in another of his unfortunately underdeveloped characterizations) flips through an instruction book. The clowns have blocked their scene in order for the viewer’s attention to fall upon the young man seated at the head of the table.

McDonald’s quality service

McDonald’s quality service is very evident in every outlet it has all over the world. Arguably, serving its customers in an apt and courteous manner, each customer whenever not satisfied is aptly attended to. This is one standard protocol which is implemented in each McDonald’s restaurant. Each crew member is trained and oriented by the head store manager and its store area managers, in order to be efficient in handling the needs of its various customers. In able to make speedy service possible and to ensure accuracy and security, many fast food restaurants have incorporated hospitality point of sale systems (Ray Kroc, Grinding it out: The Making of McDonald’s, 1977). This makes it possible for kitchen crew personnel to screen orders place at front counter and drive through at the actual time. Wireless systems allow orders placed at drive through speakers to be taken by cashiers, as well as kitchen personnel. Drive-through and walk through configurations will allow orders to be taken at one register and paid at the succeeding window. Modern point of sale systems can operate on computer networks using a wide array of software programs. Sales records can be generated and remote access to computer reports can be given to corporate offices, managers, troubleshooters, and some authorized personnel. With this in mind, quality service at McDonald’s is assumed and secured for the betterment of its loyal customers and the company as well. While fast food restaurants usually have a dining area in which customers can eat the food on the premises, some orders are designed to be taken away, and traditional table service is rare. Orders are generally taken and paid for at a wide counter, with the customer waiting by the counter for a tray or container for their food. A â€Å"drive-thru† service can allow customers to order and pick up food from their cars. Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten â€Å"on the go† and often does not require traditional cutlery and is eaten as a finger food (Ray Kroc, Grinding it out: The Making of McDonald’s, 1977). Common menu items at fast food outlets include fish and chips, sandwiches, pitas, hamburgers, fried chicken, french fries, chicken nuggets, tacos, pizza, and ice cream, although many fast-food restaurants offer â€Å"slower† foods like chili, mashed potatoes, and salads. The quality service of McDonald’s doesn’t end there. The company gives a premium on each customer’s health in order to reciprocate the loyalty a customer gives to the company. Some of the large fast food chains are beginning to incorporate healthier alternatives in their menu as well. For instance, white meat, snack wraps, salads and fresh fruits are made available. However, some people see these moves as a tokenistic and commercial measure, rather than an appropriate reaction to ethical concerns about the world ecology and people's health. McDonald's announced that in March of 2006, the chain would include nutritional information on the packaging of all its products. Yet amidst the quality service that the company provides, some customers and lobbyists are not contented with what the prominent fast food chain does to suit the various needs of its customers. Because of commercial emphasis on speed, uniformity and low cost, fast food products are often made with ingredients formulated to achieve a certain flavor or consistency and to preserve freshness. This requires a high degree of food engineering, the use of additives and processing techniques substantially alter the food from its original form and reduce its nutritional value. Wal-Mart The Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is chain of grocery stores launched by Wal-Mart in 1998. These stores are designed to be the opposite of vastly enormous superstores. These smaller stores are supposed to entice shoppers with easier parking, less crowded aisles and faster checkout.   Neighborhood Market stores offer a wide variety of products that includes a full-line of groceries, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, photo developing services, and a limited selection of general merchandise. Generally, located in markets with Wal-Mart Supercenters, they supplement Wal-Mart's strong food distribution network. As of May 31, 2007, there were 118 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Yet customer service has also gone downhill in a big way. For instance, a   customer waited over a half hour for someone to come and assist me in the bicycle department, finally leaving because no one could be bothered. One of the cashiers called and called for assistance to no avail. The woman in the infant department, which she believed to be the department head, that wouldn't even begin to try to get me a price on an unmarked car seat. She told the customer that it must be the same price as another seat which was nearby that was clearly a better quality, more expensive seat. The Customer feel like the people of this area are being taken advantage of and being treated poorly because of the fact that places to shop are so limited here. Half of the time some people can't find what they are supposed to be looking for, simply because it isn't in stock anymore. You can forget about finding any decent shoes. What has happened to the quality at Wal-mart? I know many people who share my feelings about the way Wal-mart has become, and many of us are considering paying a little more elsewhere to get the service and quality that we prefer. Furthermore, their idea of â€Å"merchandising† has increasingly gotten so cheap and sloppy. If you're looking for let's say sunglasses, don't dare imagine that they'd all be in the same logical area — they are scattered on strips hung at end of aisles in practically any department. How do they control their inventory? Now their inventory approach would be confidential and unpredictable, after all it is Wal-Mart, not Nordstrom's. The apathy at Wal-Mart is not proper. You are then left to â€Å"fend for yourself† at the â€Å"baggage carousel† and hope that you retrieved all your bags, as the next order is already hot on your heels. With this in mind, some customer would rather shop on Wal-Mart online. This gives the customers a convenient way of shopping with the use of the internet. It is practical for some people who spent most of their time at home. One simply can browse through the variety of products by choosing a category. For customers, this is a hassle-free and not time consuming at all. The customer spares himself from some obnoxious employees that cannot attend to you whenever you need assistance to find a certain product. Yet this is not a solution to the demands of customers. Quality service must be assured in every Wal-Mart store. The company must set standard protocols for an employee to perform their job in an objective manner. Perhaps, Wal-Mart is not even considering such yet they have quality assurance with the products that they sell. So, why not imply quality assurance with regards to employee-customer relationships? Wal-Mart is like the â€Å"McDonald’s† of department stores because they customer satisfaction and quality service are overlooked and not given proper attention by its company executives. For the employees to perform their job well, the company executives should not hire them simply for the sake of having personnel at their prominent department store. References: Ray Kroc, Grinding it out: The Making of McDonald’s, 1977 Wal-Mart 2006 Annual Report, 2006                        

Experiential Knowledge versus Intellectual Knowledge Essay

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has for a long time stirred the issue on the tug between experiential knowledge (the sort of knowledge that is gained in the â€Å"streets† and practiced mostly by Huck) and intellectual knowledge (the kind of knowledge being taught in schools and by people like Widow Douglas and Miss Watson). The issue can most of the time be phrased as that between being logical and following the practical consequences of one’s logic as opposed to following the dictates of society. This is a theme that was developed early on in the book and extends up to the end. Huck, for example, defies society and chooses his own logic in Chapter 1 when he told Widow Douglas that he would prefer to go to hell since this would mean a change of scenery and being with Tom. It is known for a fact that â€Å"heaven† should be the de facto choice of destination for everyone. To choose to go to hell, with our without reasons for wanting to do so, plainly means going against what is conventional. Time and again, Huck has dealt with the part of his conscience that told him that keeping and cuddling Jim, a â€Å"property† of Miss Watson versus his natural sympathy for the man (Bennett 3). These and many other instances in Huckleberry Finn illustrate the clash between the obviously wrong societal teaching that racism and slavery is good and having sympathy and compassion for the slaves as bad versus the instinctive knowledge that sympathy and compassion towards a slave is worthwhile. In this paper, this clash between experiential knowledge, i. e. , knowledge gained by oneself through the exercise of personal logical induction and deduction gathered through experience, and intellectual knowledge, i. e. , knowledge gained through different societal instruments, shall be dealt with. More specifically, this paper shall address the issue of which of these two â€Å"knowledges† has more importance. Being an issue that is of no light matter, this paper would need to look beyond Huckleberry Finn for aid. As such, Philosophy, Ethics, and Education seem to be the most promising areas of knowledge that address the issue. Hence, this paper shall look in these directions to settle the issue. Specifically, this paper shall have the following parts: on wisdom and knowledge as personal or societal; morality as inauthentic or authentic; and educations as geared towards making the person â€Å"fully† come out versus education as socialization. The paper shall end with a conclusion. Wisdom as Personal or Societal Philosophy has dealt with the question on the source of wisdom a number of times and through different thinkers. Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle are known to deal extensively about this issue, and as such, their philosophies shall be utilized. Since Aquinas is known for extensively working on Aristotle’s works, merging the works of these two thinkers shall not pose any problems. Before anything, it would be best to first give a definition of wisdom. At least in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition, wisdom is a kind of knowledge that is â€Å"of paramount importance in directing human existence towards its purpose or end† (Artigas 17). It is that kind of knowledge that aids man to be a better human being, not only by providing particular knowledge, but most specially a universal knowledge that speaks of the human being’s nature, purpose and end. In the end, wisdom ought to lead to the human being’s happiness, happiness defined as a life that is flourishing. All these ideas seem to be abstract, so it would be best to concretize a bit. At least for Aristotle, living a life that is full of human flourishing means living a virtuous life in a community that allows for the continuous development of the individual. According to the Aristotelian philosopher Martha Nussbaum, this refers to a life wherein virtues, human relations, reason and other physical capabilities are allowed to flourish by the society (Nussbaum 76-78). More concretely, this means experiencing real friendship, practicing justice, exercising prudence and a host of many other virtues that Aristotle spoke of in the Nicomachean Ethics in a society that value and nurture these. It is allowing a person to have meaningful relations, to engage in activities that nourish one’s â€Å"senses, imagination, and thought,† to have bodily health, to engage in play, to have autonomous control over one’s environment and so on (Nussbaum 76-78). So far, it seems that wisdom ought to be acquired for the benefit of the individual that would most probably emanate into the good of society. That is well and good, nevertheless, we still have not answered the question as to how wisdom itself is acquired. In this respect, Aquinas has an answer. Thomas Aquinas is known for the Natural Law Theory. The theory states that â€Å"man is born with the natural facility to know the basic truths or principles or the moral order as ‘the good is to be done and promoted and the evil to be avoided’† (Panizo 56). In this respect wisdom, i. e. , knowledge about what is good and what is to be avoided that ought to lead to happiness and human flourishing, is not only something that man is capable of; in fact, man is born with this natural facility. Human beings are born with the disposition to want what is good and to avoid what is evil. Thinking about it, this medieval theory seems to make a lot of sense. Is it not true that no human being ever does something which for her/him is plainly without good or any sort of benefit? Even actions that may be considered as evil by many still have some sort of perverted â€Å"goodness† in it. Actions such as murder, drug trafficking, etcetera, still give â€Å"pleasure† to those who engage in them. But, does this mean that these actions are morally good? Aquinas would not agree. He would say that though nature has granted man the capacity to know what is good and evil and to want good over evil, still, error may happen. Error occurs once the basic principle, â€Å"good is to be done and sought after, evil is to be avoided† (Aquinas 197) is applied. In fact, there is a hierarchy of difficulty when it comes to the application of this basic principle, the most difficult application of it called â€Å"remote conclusions† are described as â€Å"not easily drawn by ordinary people, for they involve education in theology and philosophy, and deep reflection† (Panizo 59). These involve judgments on issues like euthanasia, divorce, abortion, etcetera. We have reached a point then when natural wisdom, i. e. , wisdom depending on reason alone, becomes insufficient. Life is so full of instances when â€Å"remote conclusions† are needed and called for. The sad thing is, this knowledge is hard to come by and a human being is left with no option but to listen to the dialogues of the people in the academe. For Aquinas and Aristotle, experiential knowledge is not enough. It could only get us so far. This then brings us to the discussion of the place of â€Å"intellectual knowledge† in Philosophy. According to Aristotle, human beings need a role model to live a flourishing life. An excellent person is considered the standard for most of us who are still aiming for human flourishing, for a life of virtue. An excellent person is defined as he/she whose wishes â€Å"will be what is wished in reality† (Aristotle 65), i. e. , the wishes of the excellent person is that which is truly good for the human being. An excellent person is the exact opposite of the base person to whom â€Å"pleasure would seem to cause deception since it appears good when it is not† (Aristotle 65). Thus, modeling is Aristotle’s system of knowing what is worth imitating and what is not. To add to this, it must be recalled that for Aristotle (as with the other Greek thinkers), education has an indispensable role in bringing an individual to perfection. This is the very reason why the Academy and the Lyceum were established. In these schools, individuals from different cities merge to further their knowledge, to share each other’s knowledge and in this sense socializing each other. Hence, at least in Aristotle and Aquinas’ philosophy, though natural wisdom or experiential knowledge may be the starting point, this is not enough. Intellectual knowledge is still necessary since remote conclusions are always called for to ultimately be happy and live a flourishing life. Authentic and Inauthentic Morality Beyond the epistemology of Aristotle and Aquinas is the perspective that morality or ethics may be inauthentic or authentic. This is the very idea of Michael Moga in the book, Toward Authentic Morality. According to Moga, one’s sense of right and wrong can either be wholly dependent on one’s culture (i. e. , inauthentic morality) or it could come from one’s personal choice (i. e. , authentic morality). This is the very same clash between the self and the society that we have been talking about. According to Moga, most people ascribe to inauthentic morality. This is the sort of morality that gives in to social pressure, that kind of pressure that forces us to act and think in a particular way without exactly knowing why such an action or thought should be considered moral. We would not have to go very far to understand inauthentic morality. Most adolescents and teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure when it comes to many facets of their lives. The very persistence of racism and discrimination speak of a poorly reasoned morality that rest on social acceptance. In fact, Moga sets out the characteristics of inauthentic morality. The following are the characteristics of this type of morality. Inauthentic morality is characterized by being based on certain rules and values affirmed by culture; it is universal in its application, i. e. , it is valid for everyone; they impact individuals as set of morality that is external, i. e. , the source of morality is something outside the self; these laws are anonymous; the individual is haunted by fear and shame; the moral obligation is something that comes from authority; and it is fluctuating in influence (Moga 35-39). This is the sort of morality experienced by the typical teenager who follows his/her group’s choices. Such an individual follows rules not her own, a set of rules she may find difficult to follow since it is something external, nevertheless the breaking of such group rules result to fear and shame. This teenager considers the lead of the group as the one vested with authority to enforce such rules. Though this morality is most stark among teenagers, adults may very well be living this sort of morality. We would only have to look around shopping malls to see how many adults go with the flow without thinking why. Supposedly at the other extreme is authentic morality. This morality results from one’s personal decision to accept a set of values and morals after necessary reflection. Again, this sort of morality has characteristics: it is personally chosen and accepted; it is based on a rational appreciation; it is not based on fear or shame; morality as an expression of one’s freedom; and it is based on what one personally cares for, i. e. the very principles that one values (Moga 39-41). This is the sort of morality of individuals who have taken enough time to think over his/her morals. This would be represented by an individual who does an action and could very likely explain and be personally involved in the very principle of one’s actions. This would be the individual whose sense of morality is not dependent on â€Å"what others will say† but rather on a clear set of personally chosen moral principles. Though individuals must all aim for authentic morality, Moga insists that both moralities are important. In the first place, all human beings undergo the inauthentic morality stage where parents become the sole authority from whom morality emanate. Nevertheless, we should not stay this way. After being exposed to different sets of moralities, it is the individual’s responsibility to think and chose which of these moralities shall be made personal. Thus, at least in the Ethical perspective, the social and the personal ought to go together, though in the end, the social should be for the personal. Conclusion We have seen that at least in Philosophy and Ethics, there really is no real clash between the personal and the social, between intellectual knowledge and experiential knowledge. Clashes happen in Philosophy when error exists in the mind and nothing is done to correct the error. This error may of course exist not only with individuals but also in groups such as those in the academe. Nevertheless, we have clearly stated above that intellectual knowledge is there not to ram down society on the throats of individuals but rather to further perfect experiential knowledge for the sake of human flourishing. The same may be said in the field of ethics. Both authentic and inauthentic moralities are there and both have uses in society. Nevertheless, in the end, inauthentic morality ought to be the material source of inputs for the eventual authentic morality of a person. Morality only becomes stagnant when there is no interaction between the inauthentic and authentic. To answer the question which of the two knowledges is more important, we could qualifiedly say that both are important as long as there is minimal error and that the ultimate purpose is human flourishing.

Where are you going, where have you been - Loiuse Essays

Where are you going, where have you been - Loiuse Essays Where are you going, where have you been - Loiuse English 102 - Literature for Composition - Professor Stepp 09/15/2014 Where are you going, where have you been - Loiuse Where are you going, Where have you been " by Joyce Carol Oates' story is about a young girl, at the edge of adulthood. Just like any teenager she sneaks around, going to a drive-in restaurant to meet boys rather than to the movies like she told her family. She is rebellious and flippant and does not have a good relationship with her mother. She seeks to makes herself sexually attractive to explore he new self but her search for independence has a tragic outcome as she is yanked out of adolesence and places her firmly into adulthood. This habit of always needing to feel that she is beautiful is an indication that Connie is suffering from insecurity, or having an unstable sense of self. This insecurity makes her completely vulnerable to the will of others, and is one of the things that eventually leads her to run off with Arnold Friend at the end of the story. The character of Arnold Friend brings the magic of the evil type to the story. After much scrutiny it seems that Arnold is not just a simple villain. He takes great interest in Connie and he initially demonstrates his power by telling her details about herself as well as detailing what her family was doing. However, there is much more to Arnold. His supernatural abilities, though not particularly flashy, are definitely present. A closer examination reveals that Arnold Friend may be a personification of the devil. One hint is the fact that Connie could not figure out what his real age was; the devils reputation is that of agelessness. At first she describes him as a boy at the restaurant, then after she stares at him she realizes that he is much older than her when lines appeared at the corners of his mouth. although he pretends to be a couple of years older. She also notices that it seemed as if his hair was a wig. However, the most solid evidence that Arnold is the devil is the awkwardness of his stance. Connie noticed that it seemed that One of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasnt in it. It pointed out to the left, bent at the ankle. As the story climaxes and comes to an end, the extent of Arnolds devilish power becomes evident as Connie, interestingly, succumbs to his bidding and goes with him. This follows the premise that the devil does not take a soul as he has the power to do; he entices the person to give it to him instead. Arnold friend was the obvious villain, while Connie was the distinguishable protagonist with a rebellious spirit. Like any fairytale, she jumped headlong into trouble, leading to her tragic end. In the conclusion of this story, Connie was taken somewhere from which she could not return. Though she was not the only one to blame, Connie had become a different person to her family than who she was to the world. In one sense, Connie had already sold her soul to the devil by not being true to herself; Arnold Friend was simply there to collect.

Huck essays

Huck essays Emotion, language, perception and reason are natural processes and in order to have a sense of self it is vital to be acquainted with the world. Epistemologies are essential to the development of schemas, concepts and bias that establish self. Without metaphysical curiosity and collective knowledge one is unable to acquire universal and self-knowledge. In the picaresque novel; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the mystifying Mississippi River provides its travelers with collective knowledge and persuades them to explore humanity. Huck, the cynical protagonist is exposed to untainted life and the hypocrisy of civilized society, as he travels down the murky river. Much like the Mississippi River, Huck is in flux, as he is prepared and often forced to modify his attitudes about humanity without endorsement. Mark Twain has made use of the episodic setting of the river, as well as the emerging action to illustrate the significant meaning of the novel. Through the reciprocal action and reaction of setting, Twain portrays Hucks moral evolution. Initially the Mississippi River is the ultimate symbol of freedom from hypocrisy and injustice of society to young Huck, who has yet to develop a personal concept of right and wrong. Throughout the novel Huck is willing to come to his own conclusions about important matters, even if these contradict societys norms. Yet at this point in the novel he is still a boy and is still influenced by others, especially his friend Tom, who obtains an obstinate reliance on romance novels and the authorities, which often results in egotistical acts of stupidity. In chapter ten, Huck demonstrates a similar act of idiocy by placing a dead rattlesnake near Jims sleeping place and causing the dead snakes mate to bit the runaway slave. The incident is not only a representation of Hucks childish stupidity, but is a biblical image of the Garden of Eden, where snakes lurk on an ...

When Content Mills Give You Lemons, Make Lemonade That Pays

When Content Mills Give You Lemons, Make Lemonade That Pays A few years ago, I found myself in a bind. I graduated with my MPS in Publishing and had big plans of earning a full-time income from some sort of writing and publishing. As a single mother who has worked from home for over a decade, returning to the traditional workforce was not an option. I had no It wasn’t long before my search for a writing opportunity led me to  Crowd Content. As far as content mills go, it seemed to be midlevel. I created a writer profile, took a skill level test and started claiming jobs. The general rules are that a writer may accept four jobs at a time, the deadlines are ridiculously tight and inflexible, and gaining â€Å"favorite† status from clients is important. If a deadline is missed or a client complains, the writer is demoted. I quickly accepted jobs of all kinds. I wrote product descriptions for online vape stores, press releases for Las Vegas lingerie parties, and fin tech and legal blog posts. I wrote until 1AM and woke up at 5AM to write some more. Meeting the insane deadlines was an act of futility. But, my skill level was â€Å"4 Star† and I was earning 6 to 7 cents per word, so it added up. After a couple of months, I was consistently making $1800/month. Not a full-time salary, but a start. It didn’t take me long to figure out that even if I worked for eight full hours each day, I would never make more than $3,000/month and that fell remarkably short of my goal. I would have to work smarter, not harder. So, here is what I did: 1. Identify the Big Fish A few of my content mill clients stood out and with a bit of research, I had a list of seven clients that I would love to work for outside of the content mill. 2. Focus on Relationships Content mills desperately try to limit contact between writers and clients to preserve their profitable workflow. I worked within their system to build strong relationships based on reliability and high quality work with my seven clients. These clients expressed frustration with the rigidity of the platform and so we had that in common. 3. Pitch With some research, I contacted my list of seven through either email or social media. (If the content mill knows that you are usurping their platform, they will ban you, so make sure that you are prepared.) My pitch looked something like this: â€Å"I have been writing for your company for a few months. I plan to leave Crowd Content because of the inflexibility of their platform, but would like to continue writing for your company. I am guessing that you pay 12 to 15 cents per word for my blog posts. If you are interested in hiring me outside of Crowd Content, pricing will only be 10 cents per word for future blog posts.† Five of the seven clients replied and hired me outside of Crowd Content. They are now paying less, and I am making more in fewer hours. I complete complex projects that were not supported

Critical Thinking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critical Thinking - Assignment Example The key question that was asked was very simple: Why? As the commission said in the report, â€Å"Why did they do this? How was the attack planned and conceived? How did the U.S. Government fail to anticipate and prevent it? What can we do in the future to prevent similar acts of terrorism?† Much like the public on September 11, 2001, the parties involved in this report were also in a state of shock, asking themselves how and why such a thing could come to pass on American soil. Much of what the committee needed to put together their report was already in evidence, gathered by various agencies as soon as possible after the actual events of September 11, 2001. The committee in the report was very mindful that they were writing â€Å"with the benefit and handicap of hindsight†, meaning that in looking back, there were various events and actions, such as â€Å"not discovering false statements on visa applications, or not recognizing passports manipulated in a fraudulent manner†, as well as reports delivered to the United States government from around the world, that had they been linked together in any way would have probably led them to realize that the real threat of the attacks did not lay abroad in another part of the world, as they had originally thought, but right on American soil. One of the biggest concerns of the 9/11 Commission was the lack of centralized response system to the emergency situation once the attacks were underway. The report specifically states that â€Å"the defense of the U.S. airspace depended on close interaction between two Federal agencies: the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).† However, there were fundamental problems even in the communication between the two agencies, as there was no protocol in place or procedure to follow in the case of a hijacked airplane being used as a weapon,

Discussion questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Discussion questions - Coursework Example Developing accurate expectations about the position to be occupied by aspiring employees is vital since it saves both individual and the company considerable time and resources. Inflated job expectations always results in new employees quitting the jobs after short stints (Schmitt, 2012). A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a recruitment approach employed by an organization in view of communicating vital aspects of the roles prior to offer of a job. This approach protects the merit system, enhances employee commitment and reduces turnover. Moreover, RJP provides the potential employee with a clear picture of what to expect as regards to the job (Schmitt, 2012). The elements of an effective recruitment action plan comprises of time horizons of recruitment activities. It also stipulates the approach of classifying applicant pool targets while also identifying the most appropriate techniques of contacting the targeted

The Difference between Slaves and Servants Essay

The Difference between Slaves and Servants - Essay Example When it comes to putting servants to work, the nature of the work depends on the master being â€Å"merciful or cruel†. When the master shows mercy the work given to servants is light and they are well taken care of in terms of the food given to them and their lodgings. Under a cruel master, however, â€Å"servants have very wearisome and miserable lives6†. Upon arrival, many servants do not even know how to make their cabins and are at the mercy of the other servants who may choose to help them or not. Thus fresh arrivals may have to spend a few nights under the open sky before they can make their own lodgings. Their daily work schedule begins with work at 6 in the morning, a break at 11 and then back to work at 1. They will work again until six in the evening and then go back home. Living in places which provide little cover, they are exposed to the elements such as â€Å"the cold of the night†. Their situation leads Ligon to say, â€Å"Truly, I have seen such cruelty there done to servants, as I did not think one Christian could have done to another†. However, this does not make the life of the slave a bowl of cherries since they too faced cruelty and were apt to fight for their freedoms. The servants, however, decided to rebel against their masters in a bloody plot to kill the masters and overthrow the ruling of the island. Unluckily for the servants, the plot was discovered and the leaders of the plot were put to death. This method of resistance is certainly a result of the cruel treatment given to the servants. The slaves, however, seem to be more accepting of their lot in life and since they are treated somewhat better than the servants, are more apt to show their resistance in more subtle ways. They may even express their feelings with music or by looking towards the â€Å"heaven for revenge†.

An Ideal Classroom in an Ideal School Assignment

An Ideal Classroom in an Ideal School - Assignment Example The paper will then discuss Stewart’s ideas about the purpose of effective systems of schools with regards to bringing about high quality education to all children, relating this to what obtains in Nigeria and considering how the existing system compares to the designed ideal classroom in an ideal school.  Tthe paper presents ethics and ideologies around the designed effective systems in an ideal school and classroom, in addition to its underlying principles, highlighting the key features and values that underpin the belief in effective systems in schools. The will also consider innovations to be considered by educators, governments in order to improve their systems. Finally there will be a presentation of succinct statements with a summary of the proposal.  This discussion highlights that  the justification of what forms part of the curriculum has its connectivity to the school system that is purposeful, practical and handy, designed to positively impact the existence o f an all-inclusive learner. Stewart believes in visiting schools because they act as microcosms of the nearby society. He also held the conviction that one can understand the past struggles, current tensions besides glimpsing an immense hope of what is in store for them. This paper agrees that it is this strong assertion that provides a driving force and desire of parents from both economic spheres as well as the government for children to get a good school. What comes to mind is what constitutes a good school.  

The Shallows Agreement and Partial Disagreement with Nicholas Carrs Essay

The Shallows Agreement and Partial Disagreement with Nicholas Carrs Approach to Internet Privacy - Essay Example For purposes of this particular analysis, the author will analyze Nicholas Carr’s â€Å"The Shallows†. Rather than delving into it point by point agreement for rebuttal of Carr’s piece, this author will attempt to integrate the analysis based upon Carr’s of the means by which more and more websites such as Google and Facebook seek to track their online users and glean potentially harmful levels of personal preferences and surfing history. As a means of such an analysis, it is the hope of this author that the reader will be able to integrate with one of the most important issues that exists within the realm of technology during the current era; the right an expectation to privacy. Although it is always been a policy of firms seeking to maximize their profits to endeavor to gain valuable information with regards to their client base, the extent to which websites such as Facebook and Google have gone to extract this information from their users is unprecedented. One of the trade-offs to the readily available information and use of social networking that both of these sites, as well is a host of others, display is the facts that they provide lengthy, nuanced, and ultimately confusing privacy policies that are written in what can only be described as many pages of legalese (O’Brien & Torres 69). Naturally, such privacy policies are intended not towards protecting the privacy of the individual Web server; rather, they are designed to protect against any liabilities that the firm may incur based upon their otherwise unscrupulous gathering of information of their users. It is the belief of this particular researcher that such practices are highly unethical and represent breaches of consumer confidence that in any other industry would be taken as an affront to consumer privacy and respect. Unfortunately, the level to which government is willing to safeguard the users of these monolithic and highly lucrative firms are extraordinarily limited (Carr 105). Although it is beyond the scope of this analysis to offer an in-depth discussion of why this might be, it is the belief of this particular researcher that the line between industry and government is particularly blurred both with respect to Facebook and to Google. This blurring has not helped the consumer/web surfer whatsoever; rather, it has only helped these firms to further market their products and seek to gain valuable information with regards to the habits and preferences of the millions of individuals that use their services on a daily basis. In the past, cooperation between the government and private firms has rarely turned out to the overall benefits of the end consumer. Although s uch a situation is possible, the level and extent to which government is currently reliant and highly cooperative with the likes of Google, Facebook and others does not bode well for the right to privacy from the end user/consumer (Gilbert 8). Naturally, the key concern is not center necessarily upon the fact that Google and others are seeking to track and retain this information; rather, the key issue becomes what did they intend on doing with such information/how will they use it/for how long will they keep it and who ultimately has access to it? Recently, I was so troubled by the level to which so many websites sought to place tracking cookies on the computer that I downloaded an ad on to Mozilla Firefox which is called â€Å"Ghostery†

An Ideal Classroom in an Ideal School Assignment

An Ideal Classroom in an Ideal School - Assignment Example The paper will then discuss Stewart’s ideas about the purpose of effective systems of schools with regards to bringing about high quality education to all children, relating this to what obtains in Nigeria and considering how the existing system compares to the designed ideal classroom in an ideal school.  Tthe paper presents ethics and ideologies around the designed effective systems in an ideal school and classroom, in addition to its underlying principles, highlighting the key features and values that underpin the belief in effective systems in schools. The will also consider innovations to be considered by educators, governments in order to improve their systems. Finally there will be a presentation of succinct statements with a summary of the proposal.  This discussion highlights that  the justification of what forms part of the curriculum has its connectivity to the school system that is purposeful, practical and handy, designed to positively impact the existence o f an all-inclusive learner. Stewart believes in visiting schools because they act as microcosms of the nearby society. He also held the conviction that one can understand the past struggles, current tensions besides glimpsing an immense hope of what is in store for them. This paper agrees that it is this strong assertion that provides a driving force and desire of parents from both economic spheres as well as the government for children to get a good school. What comes to mind is what constitutes a good school.  

Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Example for Free

Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Social psychologist, Dr. Robert Cialdini has researched basic principles that govern how one person may influence another. You will read about these six principles in his 2002 article The Science and Practice of Persuasion. Social Performance Aristotle first called humans social animals. People tend to gather, play, and work in groups. Groups fulfill a variety of functions such as satisfying the need to belong, providing support and intimacy, and assisting in accomplishing tasks that individuals could not accomplish alone, etc. In Chapter 13 of the textbook, groups will be defined as two or more people working together on a task in which the outcome is quantifiable. This discussion will focus on two major areas that have been researched since the end of the 19th century: social facilitation and social loafing. Social Facilitation At first glance, these terms seem to be opposing behaviors: social facilitation refers to the fact that people work harder in groups, whereas social loafing describes their tendency reduce their efforts when in groups. The difference, it appears, is how people view the individuals in their groups–whether they perceive those in the group as being with them us or against them. If group members are against them, they perceive them as competitors, evaluators, or sources of comparison, which is likely to increase or facilitate their efforts. If they are with them, sharing in the demands of the task and evaluation, they are likely to loaf or reduce our efforts. These findings appear counterintuitive. Research on social facilitation began with Triplett (1989) who observed that cyclists pedaled faster, or performed better, when others were present than when performing alone. He argued that the other biker was a stimulus, arousing a competitive instinct in the cyclist. He tested his theory by asking children to wind fishing reels either alone or beside other children. The majority of the children turned the wheel faster when working alongside another child than when reeling alone. Allport (1924) termed this effect social facilitation. Still, it seemed that many disagreed about whether the presence of others increased or decreased performance on tasks. Zajonc (1965) renewed interest in social facilitation, and suggested that the presence of others enhanced a dominant response–which is the most probable response on a given task. If the task is simple and well-learned, the dominant response will be facilitated. For example, if you were a skilled concert pianist, performing in front of others would increase your proficiency on the task; you would play beautifully. Since you are not skilled at this art, being observed by others would no doubt cause anxiety and would result in quite the opposite effect, inhibiting your performance. Zajonc was suggesting that the presence of others increases drive. Others were still arguing that it was the evaluation or the competition associated with others being present that produced the drive. Whether it was mere presence or evaluation apprehension that increased the drive, the drive theory remained the dominant thought of the time. Alternative approaches to social-facilitation effects fall into three classes: The first was the continued thought that the presence of others increases drive by evaluation apprehension. The second thought suggested that the situation places demands on the individual to behave in a particular way; individuals are engaged in self-presentation and self-awareness. The third idea argued that the presence of others affects focus and attention to the task, meaning that the task becomes cognitive. Hence, the controversy over whether it is the mere presence of others or evaluation that causes social facilitation is unresolved. Social Loafing Social facilitation research demonstrates that the presence of others sometimes enhances performance, yet at times reduces it. But, how does working with others affect motivation? Many would argue that groups should energize and motivate. The tendency for individuals to work less hard on a collective task than on an individual task is called social loafing. For example, those group projects at work or school where a few individuals did the majority of the work–social loafing. Research in this area has been conducted in a way that makes individuals believe that they are either working alone or working with others–then measures efforts toward the task. For example, Ringelmann (Kravitz Martin, 1986) had volunteers pull on a rope as hard as they could in groups of varying sizes. Their efforts decreased as group sizes increased. This was explained in two ways: their motivation decreased as groups size increased or maybe the larger groups were not able to coordinate their efforts efficiently. Researchers sought to tease apart these two factors, focusing on motivation. You can imagine that it was difficult to devise methods that lead participants to believe they were either working alone (when they were not) or with others (when they were working alone), which lends to the difficulty of studying social loafing. However, over 100 studies (Steiner, 1972; Griffith, Fichman, Moreland, 1989; Jackson Williams, 1985; Henningsen et al. , 2000) have tested the effects of groups on motivation, and social loafing has been replicated in most of these studies. Other theories have attempted to explain social loafing. Social impact theory states that when a group is working together, the expectation is that the effort should be diffused across all participants, resulting in diminished effort. Arousal reduction postulates that the presence of others should increase drive only when they are observers and reduce our efforts when they are coworkers. Evaluation potential suggests that social loafing occurs because individual efforts are so difficult to identify during a collective task; one can easily hide in the crowd or may feel they will not be acknowledged for their hard work. Dispensability of effort argues that individuals may feel their efforts are unnecessary or dispensable. The group simply does not need them. An integrative theory: the collective effort model states that individuals will work hard on a task only to the degree to which they believe their efforts will be instrumental in leading to outcomes they value, personally. Hence, the value they place on the task (and their efforts) depends on their personal beliefs, task meaningfulness, favorable interactions with the group, the nature of the rewards, and the extent to which their future goals are impacted by the task. Social loafing can be moderated, or reduced, when individuals efforts can be identified or evaluated, when individuals are working on a task they deem as important or of personal relevance, or when individuals are working with cohesive groups or close friends. Individual differences or characteristics also influence who engages in social loafing less because they value collective outcomes. For example, a need for affiliation, a hard work ethic, or high self-monitoring can influence effort. It should be clear that the mere presence of others is arousing. It appears that if others are competitors or evaluators they facilitate motivation to work harder. If individuals see others as a part of themselves, they can hide behind them or their efforts can get lost in the efforts of others. Further research in this area can help us determine how our view of others affects our motivation and performance. Social Influence Processes of Control and Change Social influence is one of the primary research areas in social psychology and refers to the ways in which opinions and attitudes influence the opinions and attitudes of others. Two types of social influence can be identified in groups: influence aimed at maintaining group norms (social control) or changing group norms (social change). The most common form of social control is conformity, where an individual complies with or accepts the groups views. Since the influence is typically within a context of a group of people influencing an individual, it is referred to as majority influence. Another type of social control is obedience, where individuals obey an authority figure, often against their will. For group norms to change, a small subset of the group must resist the majority view, which is termed minority influence. If minorities never resisted, group opinions would persist, fashions would never change, innovations would not come about, etc. It must be clear that the term majority refers to the larger group of people who hold the normative view and has power over others. Minority groups tend to be small, hold nonnormative positions, and wield very little power. This study textbook is concerned with two influence processes: processes that ensure that others adhere to the groups position (social control; conformity and obedience) or processes that aim to change the groups position (social change: innovation and active minorities). Social influence has studied how individuals conform to the majority, often by giving an obvious erroneous response to a question. According to Festinger (1950, 1954), this occurs because there are social pressures for groups to reach consensus, especially when there is a group goal. Individuals seek social approval and seek others to verify their opinions. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) distinguish between normative social influence (conforming to expectations of others) and informational social influence (accepting information from the group as reality). Another view is that people conform over concerns for positive self-evaluations, to have good relationships with others, and to better understand a situation by reducing uncertainty. Social influence also addresses why people comply with acts that clearly cause harm to another. The study of obedience is intimately tied to one social psychologist–Stanley Milgram (1963). His post-WWII research aimed to understand why people willingly engaged in the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. People probably preferred to believe these were evil, disturbed men who were intrinsically evil? However, many of them claimed they were not responsible for their behavior. After all, they were simply following orders. In Milgrams (1963) classic study, he led participants (who were assigned to be teachers) to believe they were administering harmful shocks to the learners each time they made an error on a task. The experimenter (the authority figure) demanded they increase the level of shock for each incorrect response. As shocks increased, the receiver (the learner, who was out of the sight of the teacher) responded with distressed reactions. However, the teacher was encouraged, even demanded, to continue the experiment, even though he believed the learner was experiencing extreme distress. The question was, to what extent normal people would obey the instructions of the authority figure and administer harmful levels of shock to harm another individual. Milgrams results showed that a full 65% of all participants administered every level of shock, surpassing levels believed to do fatal harm to subjects. Milgrams findings have been replicated with consistent results. Why did they obey? Milgram offered the following explanations: (a) they had entered into a contract with the experimenter and did not wish to spoil the experiment; (b) they were absorbed in the experiment and lost sight of the implications of their actions; (c) the participants are acting for the experimenter; they may be pushing the buttons, but they are not responsible, the experimenter is. Notice these are all situational explanations; participants were put into a powerful role relationship with the experimenter. However, when the experimenter was not visible, or another participant played the role of the experimenter, obedience rates decreased, but did not fall to zero, indicating the role relationship did not fully account for their obedience. Milgrams research remains some of the most intriguing and influential in social psychology. Minority Influence Moscovicis (1976) book Social Influence and Social Change, he argues that minorities can create conflict by offering a different perspective, thereby challenging the dominant or majority view. Moscovici claims that people trying to avoid conflict may dismiss the minority position, and possibly denigrate it. However, when the minority demonstrates commitment to their position, the majority may consider the minority view as a viable alternative. He called this the minoritys behavioral style–meaning the way the message is organized and communicated. By standing up to the majority, the minority demonstrates that it is certain, confident, committed, and not easily persuaded. Researchers have compared majority and minority influence. Conversion theory is the dominant perspective and argues that all forms of influence, whether minority or majority, create conflict that individuals are motivated to reduce. However, people employ different processes depending on whether the conflict is the result of majority influence or minority influence. Comparison process suggests that people focus attention on fitting in, or complying with what others say. Their goal is to identify with the group and comply with the majority position, often times without examining the majoritys arguments in detail. Social comparison can drive majority influence, but cannot motivate minority influence, according to Moscovici (1976), because people desire to disassociate themselves with undesirable groups. Because minority groups tend to be distinctive, they stand out, and this encourages a validation process where some examine the judgments in order to confirm or validate them–to see what it is the minority saw or to understand the minoritys view. This process can lead to increased message processing which results in an attitude change on an indirect, latent, or private level. Convergent-divergent theory is proposed by Nemeth (1986) and simply states that people expect to share the same attitude as the majority and to differ from the minority (the false-consensus heuristic). Stress is the result of realizing that the majority has a different perspective than oneself, especially if one is in the physical presence of the majority. Stress narrows ones attention and majority influence, and then leads to convergent thinking. Minorities, on the other hand, do not cause high levels of stress, since they hold different views, which allows for less restricted focus of attention and leads to a greater consideration of alternatives that may not have been considered without the influence of the minority view. This results in creative and original solutions. Other theories that integrate minority and majority influence include mathematical models, objective-consensus models, conflict-elaboration theory, context/comparison model, and self-categorization theory. More contemporary models include social-cognitive responses with an emphasis on information-processing such as the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic systematic model we discussed in an earlier chapter. New research continues to develop. Conclusion This module reviewed social psychological research that has made great contributions to the understanding of human behavior. Early research (e. g. , Triplett, 1898; Zajonc, 1965) led to the beginning of the relatively new field of social psychology.