Philosophy Paper : Personal Identity

When you think about yourself, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it your body, your conscious, your beliefs? Our identity is probably one of the most important aspects about ourselves. Many attributes can make up our personal identity such as style, hobbies, music taste, etc. There are two views which explain what an identity should consist of, both contradicting but appealing to the notion of personal identity.

To begin, psychological continuity, in a more technical formula, is defined by that in order for a person X to survive a particular adventure, it is necessary and sufficient that there exists, at a time after the adventure, a person Y who psychologically evolved out of X. (Korfmacher). What the definition states is that a person must have a direct psychological chain with the other, instantly becoming or conjoining into one mental state. An example to further explain this theory is the copy and paste problem. If person X’s brain was transferred to person Y’s head, then person Y would then become person X and would include person X’s beliefs, ideas, morals, thoughts, etc. A problem with this theory is that of revised psychological continuity. It entails four people be psychologically continuous, meaning person X’s brain must be split in three different parts. This could not work because for this to be an acceptable theory, person X must not exist anymore in order for person Y to exist.

The next philosophical view on personal identity is that of bodily continuity. The definition is that person X at T1 is person Y at T2, if and only if person X is the same organism as person Y. It is similar to the notion of psychological continuity, but instead of mental states and cognitive processes, it focuses on the physical state, or the body. Say someone is going through a portal and in order to successfully get to their destination they must convert to atoms and particles and such. So if this person gets through the portal and is in one piece, then it would be considered the same person right? Actually, the conversion of atoms during the transportation does not match the physical state as it primarily was, therefore contradicting bodily continuity.

Both theories contain flaws, but psychological continuity is the most agreeable one for me. If we switch bodies, just physical bodies, there is no correlation that because I traded bodies with someone it would automatically become me. I wouldn’t be able to talk, think, or process the world before my eyes if I was just a body. In that case, our mental state is the beholder of what makes us who we are. Our thoughts, beliefs, morals, styles, knowledge is all contained in one vessel. We can transfer said vessel into a robot with no determined appearance and it would become say me. It would carry everything that I consist of, it just wouldn’t look like me. It would think the way I do, talk the way I do, spew out knowledge that I have collected throughout time.

To finalize and collect thoughts, personal identity is more complex than we would like to think. There is no standardized and simple process or way we can communicate and portray this concept, which is why we use those of bodily and psychological continuity.

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Uniqueness and Complexity Human Mind

Most people, at some point in their lives, have noticed the uniqueness and complexity of the human mind. Unlike other substances, we cannot sense its being, see its color or feel its shape. But on the other hand, the mind contains our bodily sensations and even controls our movements. The constant talk inside that tells our stories and plans our future is too vivid for us to deny the existence of a mind. However, it seems hard to accommodate the mind in the material world of advancing natural sciences; then is the mind material or something else? Such question has raised the Mind-Body Problem, in which any three of four intuitively true propositions jointly entail a contradiction.

The propositions are as follows: (1)The human body is a material thing; (2)The human mind is a spiritual thing; (3)Mind and body interact; (4)Spirit and matter do not interact; (Mind-Body Problem Handout) where something material is defined as “spatial and subject to physical law”, whereas something spiritual is defined as “neither spatial nor subject to physical law” and having “consciousness and intentionality” (Mind-Body Problem Handout). Philosophers have been trying to solve this problem by objecting one of these four propositions.

Among them, Smart’s identity theory denies proposition (2) (“the human mind is a spiritual thing”) and claims that processes and states of the mind are identical to those of the brain. Different from the property dualist who argues that these mental processes and states are merely correlated with brain activities and yet are still spiritual, the identity theory places an equal sign between the mind and the brain, denying all its non-physical properties. Though the theory has solved the problem of mental causation (i.e. difficulty to know how mind and body causally interact if one is spiritual and the other material), it also implies that the only way to understand the mind - or the brain - is the neurophysiological approach. Thus, touch is just sensory neuron firing, joy is just the release of dopamine, intimacy is just the level of oxytocin, and many of our actions are merely conditioned reflexes. I think the most serious objection to the identity theory is objection 4.

It argues that the afterimage of seeing green is pinkish, and nowhere in physical space; however, the brain processes all take place in physical space, and none of them are pinkish. So the after-image cannot be identical to any of the brain processes. This objection seems plausible using Leibniz’s principle of the indiscernibility of identicals: if two things are identical, then the ‘two’ things must be indiscernible and so qualitatively the same. The brain processes, as described in neuroscience, are neuron firing and neurotransmitters releasing, which are all activities that can be located in a certain part of the brain (e.g. planning ahead happens in the prefrontal cortex and production of language happens in the Broca’s area, etc.). On the contrary, mental processes - the after image, for instance - has no such spatial property: As we look around, the after image turns as well. Also, the after image has a color, whereas we cannot say that the brain processes change color when we see certain images. According to Leibniz’s principle, such differences entails that the mental states cannot be identical to the brain process. Xinyu Kang Student ID: 1004894359 TA: Molly Dea-Step henson However, this objection does not refute the identity theory successfully.

Smart replied by distinguishing between mental states and mental objects. He argues that the after image itself is just a mental object and that it is the state of experiencing a pinkish after image is the mental state which is identical to the brain state. Therefore, the experience can again be located in the brain as any other brain processes, and certainly, the processes do not have any color. It is similar to pain. When we have a paper cut, we would not try to find a “pain object” on our finger and heal it by removing it. Although we are experiencing a painful finger, the pain is actually in the brain, where the central neural system receives information about the cut through neural pathways. Thus, it is meaningless to insist on locating these mental objects in the physical world or identify them with any brain activities. As for me, the identity theorem seems quite plausible. The constant development of science is increasingly turning mysteries into mathematical formulas and physicochemical properties. More and more “unexplainable” behaviors and cognitions of the human mind are currently explained through scientific approaches. With some knowledge of cognitive science and neuroscience, it is conceivable that the mind is identical to brain processes and one day we may locate any mental states in the brain.

However, I still think that we should be more cautious about using the equal sign between the mind and the brain. There are still too much unknown to us. For example, a person may have billions of thoughts in their entire life. We would be able to categorize these thoughts into different hemispheres, cortexes, or even small regions of the brain, but it is most likely the case Xinyu Kang Student ID: 1004894359 TA: Molly Dea-Step henson that two distinct thoughts - or mental states - can be located in the exact same place with the same physical constitution which produces them. With the logic from Leibniz’s principle of the indiscernibility of identicals, it could imply that they are not the same thing. In conclusion, Smart’s identity theory denies all the spiritual properties of the human mind and argues that it is identical to brain states. When defending his theory against objections, he clearly distinguished the concepts of mental objects and mental states. Although his view correlates to scientific development, we should not be so confident to assume the unknown

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Non-Traditionalism and Individuality

Non-traditionalism and individuality are used as the major formulators of personal identity. Throughout the use of poetry literature has played an important role in society. With the use of language, it has given it a symbolic tone to the readers perspective. Each author has their own style of writing and the message they are trying to convey to audience, finding a way to insert emotions and personal experience to form a connection. Walt Whitman and Dostoevsky were well known writers of fiction and poetry they both wrote about life and how they portrayed their views on society. In this paper I will be discussing the mode of expression between these two authors, how they shifted the typical modern literary philosophy with impacted different writing styles. I will examine similarities and differences in the works of the two authors. Specifically works from the “A noiseless patient spider by Walt Whitman, and “Notes from the underground” by Dostoyevsky

In Notes from the Underground, he makes symbolic importance with humankind, the author’s intent is to use conscious thinking which in fact got in the way because he believed himself to so smart. Having all these knowledges he knows he has been sick for many years yet, he chooses to seek medical professional help. “I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors (Dostoyevsky)”. Addition, another example was with confronting his colleagues he doesn’t do anything despite knowing they do not like him. With a sort of loathing…. I did not, of course, maintain friendly relations with my comrades and soon was at loggerheads with them, and in my youth and inexperience I even gave up bowing to them, as though I had cut off all relations (Dostoyevsky)”. Dostoyevsky feels that that conscious of his actions can lead to a disastrous outcome, so he chooses to do or say nothing. The poetic works of Whitman “A Noiseless Patient Spider” is a free verse analogy of Spider allows the transformation to intangible. Implying he wished he was more patient and wished he enjoyed things the way the spider did in making his web. In the first stanza, Whitman describes how the spider continues to spin the webs because it represents the pathway to experiencing the world. " It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. Ever tirelessly speeding them. (Whitman)”. The spider never gives up because he knows what do to survive and go on living.

Non the less, authors Whitman and Dostoyevsky had very similar themes in their writing concerned with human nature, self-identity of one personal self. In my opinion the mood of the two authors is desperate, lonely, and helpless act. It also depicts the difficult struggles of human life in wanting to be accepted by society at the same time the need to accomplish. Whitman and Dostoyevsky places excellent imagery and metaphors to express the spider weaving its web. In the second stanza he allows the reader to imagine “Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my so (Dostoyevsky)”.

Whitman characterize the spider as “isolated” alone referencing that it will never fully be complete unless he makes a big impact to society. Dostoyevsky has a different approach with dealing with society, the use of imagination thinking led the persona not to act in any way to change his outcome that is prevailing. For example, he states “I am cleverer than any of the people surrounding me. I have always considered myself cleverer than any of the people surrounding me, and sometimes, would you believe it, have been positively ashamed of it. At any rate, I have all my life, as it were, turned my eyes away and never could look people straight in the face (Dostoyevsky)”. The underground man views of humanity allow him to criticize society. He creates his own self identity for him free will is more important and allows each person to self of motivation for their actions.

In conclusion, the way the authors handle the concept of the ideal society and the independence to choose a personal identity. In Notes from the underground, he chooses to remain in his solitude life not making the best of it because he is used to his own bad habits. It can be argued that the choice he made is as a result of how he viewed the ideal society. Whitman in contrast feels that it is highly necessary to have an ideal society where everyone is equal and has a sense of belonging. “This idea is explicitly projected in A Noiseless patient spider (Whitman ). It is, therefore, important to conclude that both the authors employ the use of non-traditionalism and independence as the major formulators of the identity of individuals.

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Asad Haider’s Mistaken Identity

Asad Haider’s Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump is an interesting narrative that delves into the conception and ideological histories and processes of identity politics. The book focuses on the aspects of race as a part of identity. These liberal leanings that are thrown about on the left but are consistently a part of the mainstream discord. The term identity politics is ever evolving in its meaning because everyone is consistently projecting a particular meaning in advocacy of, or against the subject.

The term identity politics doesn’t have a concrete definition. It is a term that gets caught in political struggles and ideological battles; you can’t define it without reification but you cannot reify something that is generally dynamic. It is hypothesized that most radical politics emerge as a result of placing personal experience as the foundation of discourse, and rooting self-identity within the analysis. According to the liberal ideology it is theorized that the systems of oppression are all interlocking; between the categories of race, sex and social class.

Haider states that contemporary identity politics are a neutralization of movements against racial oppression. But in its current ideological form, Haider believes that identity politics have become an individualist method that are based on the demand for recognition. These individualist method takes identity as it’s starting point and fully undermines the concept of collective organization - the original intent of identity politics. Haider’s proposes the ideological trap that identity politics reinforces the norms that they were originally set out to criticize.

Haider believes that in order to overcome the traps of identity politics that must learn to reject identity as the foundation for thinking about the subject. If we cannot remove personal identity from identity politics then we will continue to undermine the collective organizations. “The framework of identity reduces politics to who you are as an individual and gaining recognition as an individual, rather than your membership in a collectivity and the collective struggle against an oppressive social structure ” (p.24).

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Human Rights – Human Needs and Demands

Human rights are those rights which are given to any individual due to only one reason that ‘He’ or ‘She’ is born as a human being. Human rights are the rights that are very crucial for human life. Human rights will be rights to specific cases and flexibilities for every single person everywhere throughout the world. These rights other than being principal and widespread in character, expected universal measurement. These rights give guarantee to make a man free. Universal nature of rights with no qualification of any kind is an element of human rights these rights perceive the essential human needs and demands. Each nation ought to guarantee human rights to its people. The human rights should discover its place in Constitution of each nation. Since the times of the Indus Valley Civilization, Indian culture has been the result of a union of different societies and religions that came into contact with the tremendous Indian sub-landmass over an extended length of time. According to Jawaharlal Nehru there is “a whole congruity between the most present day and the most antiquated periods of Hindu idea reaching out more than three thousand years”.

The privileges of man have been the worry of all human advancements from time immemorial. “The idea of the privileges of man and other basic rights was not obscure to the general population of prior period.”[footnoteRef:2] The Babylonian Laws and the Assyrian laws in the Middle-East, The “Dharma” of the Vedic period in India and the law of Lao-Tze and Confucious in China, have championed human rights all through the historical backdrop of human progress. The Indian idea sees the individual, the general public and the universe as a natural entire, everybody is an offspring of god and all living creatures are identified with each other and have a place with an all-illusive family. In this specific situation, Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi said –“ I would prefer not to think as far as the entire world. My patriotism incorporates the benefit of humanity when all is said in done. In this way my administrations of humanity”.

Human rights mean the dignity of a man, implies ensuring singular rights, shielding individuals from whatever other separation that forbids their rights, and mental harm, that sickens or damages. The approach good is to think, ‘I have to regard the person. We would prefer not to hurt this individual.’ What strikes to mind when we think about our childhood is great injustice and segregation, and there is a need to advance extraordinary dignity.

Human rights will be rights inherent to every individual, irrespective of nationality is, place of living arrangement, sex, national or ethnic starting point, colour, religion, language or some other status. These rights are altogether interrelated, associated and unified. These essential rights depend on shared qualities like poise, decency, fairness, regard and freedom. These qualities are characterized and ensured by law of the land.

Human rights are usually comprehended just like those rights which are natural in the simple reality of being human. The idea of human rights depend on the conviction that each individual is qualified to make the most of his/her rights without segregation.

People constitute the essential components of every composed society inside the state and the global group. In the present association of general public, the state has the essential undertaking to make states of life managing sufficient assurance of the individual and allowing sensible open doors for the full advancement of the person’s identity. As such, the acknowledgment of human rights is and will remain the first and will remain the only objective and reason for the state for all circumstances to come.

Both nationally and internationally and everywhere throughout the world and everywhere throughout the world, human rights have now turned into a live issue. The foundational standard overseeing the idea of human rights is that of the regard for human identity and its total worth, paying little mind to shading race, sex, and religion and different contemplations. Human rights are generally thought to be those essential good privileges of the individual that are fundamental for an existence with human pride and dignity. These rights are fundamental for the sufficient improvement of human identity and for human satisfaction. The points of an all-inclusive arrangement of human rights is to revise and restore human nobility in all social orders, where political and financial persecution exists and to soothe human wretchedness, to enhance and refine human life in all over the world. Without getting included definitional contentions, subsequently, human rights might said to be those central rights to which each man or lady possessing any piece of the world ought to be esteemed entitled just righteousness of having being conceived an individual. With the person as their perspective human rights look to ensure to the individual the base essential condition for seeking after an unmistakeably human life. As indicated by Francis Fukuyama, all people have a drive to be regarded, and that a definitive type of individual regard discovers fulfilment in the possibility of human rights. He contends that the procedure of history drives people towards affirmation of human poise. As indicated by him, it is the liberal just world that gives the perfect conditions to defend human rights.

David Selby says, “human rights relate to all people and are postured by everone on the planet since they are individuals, they are not earned, purchased or acquired, nor are they made by any legally binding effort”. According to A.A. said, “human rights are concerned with the dignity of the individual the level of self-esteem that secures personal identity and promotes human community.

Plato and Olton have stated that human rights are those rights, which are considered to be absolutely essential for the survival, existence and personality development of human beings. According to Scot Davidson, the concept of human rights is closely connected with the protection of individual from the exercise of state government or authority in certain areas of their lives; it is also directed towards the creation of social conditions by the state in which individuals are to develop their fullest potential.

In the words of M. Freeden, human right is a conceptual device, expressed in linguistic form that assigns priority to certain human or social attributes regarded as essential to the adequate functioning of a human being that is intended to serve as a protective capsule for those attributes; and those appeals for a deliberate action to ensure such a protection. Human rights is an old issue from numerous point of view. Most major, it is one approach to manage a man’s and people’s connection to open expert and for sure to whatever, remains of the general public. In the event that one has a human right, one is qualified for make a major claim that a scientist, or some other pieces of the general public, do or avoid accomplishing something that influences altogether one’s human respect.

All through history, each general public has tried to characterize the idea of human respect, in the feeling of trying to learn the characteristics and intrinsic estimation of every individual and his relationship to the society. These inquiries have been replied in different courses, regardless of whether based on social commitments and obligations owed by people.

As far as a social pecking order in view of birth and sex, through accommodation to will of regal or heavenly powers, or based on the superseding significance connected to the upkeep of social agreement. Constantly which has mirrored the moral, religious or political bases by which every general public has introduced its response to these inquiries to a huge degree in the qualities and systems that society has in turn been governed.

Human rights are intending to a more prominent social end, and it is the lawful framework that let us know at any given point in time, which rights are viewed as most key in public eyes. Regardless of whether human rights are believed to be basic, an ethical property of people that the state can’t negate the rights still must be recognized. It must be developed and systematizes in the legitimate framework. Fundamental to human rights is the idea of non-segregation. But that it may, on the off chance that one investigates the pages of the historical backdrop of humankind, this fundamental standard of non-segregation between individuals or of the all-inclusiveness of human rights has not generally been so plainly obvious. There has been a perpetual clash between the tip top’s view of their individual freedoms and the essential privileges of the average folks. Additionally, there has been dependably existed and keeps on existing a wide hole amongst hypothesis and practice between theoretical standards and their application and their implementation.

Therefore, the talk of human rights winds up intertwined with an exchange of formative procedures. In any case what is advancement? To rest, to dream, perchance to create; here is the rub. What is improvement? The numerous originations of advancement drifting around in monstrous writing are themselves the methods for misuse. That is the reason one is more alright with the articulation devastating social orders. Without a doubt, the purposes behind all, these are extremely perplexing to allow any whipping kid, substitute clarifications. Whatever it might be made to mean, development should at any rate mean this: individuals will be given the privilege to be and stay human. Add up to and proceeding with dejection and impoverishment open to individuals to lost their mankind. In general, public that considers human rights important ought to there be permitted a situation where individuals progress towards becoming sub-human that is, the point at which they perforce need to surrender even those resonantly recounted basic privileges of man, where individuals offer their spouses, kids or themselves with a specific end goal to survive or surrender the life. The articulation human rights surmise a level at which organic elements are presented with the respect of being called human. The bearers of human rights must have understood ideal to be and stay human, permitting them self governance of decision and arranging survival of themselves.

Human rights are one among the most intense ideas of the twentieth century. Human rights have a unique essentialness on the changing situation, particularly on the Post World War period. The Post World War Period has seen the quick advancement of human rights culture. The General Assembly of United Nations collectively embraced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. India authorized the assurance of Human Rights Act in the year 1993. Subsequently this research work is titled as “Implementation Of Human Rights In India: A Critic”. This investigation examines the significance of human rights and the assurance of human rights in India. While the general authenticity and prominence of the Human rights talk has developed. The study “Implementation Of Human Rights In India : A Critic” keeps the following objectives:

  1. To discuss the meaning, definition and implications of the concept of Human Rights.
  2. To trace the origin and development of Human Rights over the ages.
  3. To examine different national agreements, traditions and gatherings of Human Rights.
  4. To inspect the advancement of Human Rights in India and to analyse the institutional and constitutional shields.
  5. To evaluate the part of different national instruments which are working for the assurance of Human rights.
  6. To evaluate the significance of Human Rights in the present day of the world.
  7. To examine the historical establishments of human rights in india.

The methodology followed in the study is purely doctorial. It is rather a blend of historical, theoretical and practical aspects of human rights. A historical approach has been followed for the study of the origin and development of human rights in India. In analysing the judicial behaviour of the Supreme Court and High Courts as well as the role and function of National and State Human Rights Commissions, the methodology adopted is analytical. This study seeks to understand and evaluate the roles, powers and the functioning of National Human Rights Commission. The current work is totally based on reference books, case laws of various High Courts and Supreme Court, Natural Human Rights Commissions reports of various years, Articles and Commentaries of different jurists and writers on the issue.

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“Makropulos Case” by Bernard Williams

In “Makropulos Case”, Bernard Williams argues that death is necessary for life to remain interesting. The starting point of Williams' thoughts is the play “The Makropulos Affair” by Karel ?apek, in which the character, Elina, after drinking an elixir acquires an incredibly long life (342 years and beyond). Endless life led the character not to happiness, but to boredom and a feeling of cold indifference. She does not want to do anything, because the awareness of infinity paralyzes all activity: there is nothing that could not be put off until later. People for Elina become models: after all, any attachment is doomed to collapse. She knows everything in the world and everything is boring. Therefore, Williams in his paper writes about immortal life exhausts the joy of life and constructs the following arguments:

  • First – there are should be categorical desires in a meaningful life (because without them a person is going to live with random desires)
  • Second – by retaining the same character, it is possible that a person will just run out of categorical desires and will become bored
  • Conclusion – eternal life would not be meaningful because you will become bored and cease to be the same person (p. 426)

In this paper, I am going to me explain the conclusion from author’s perspective and provide an objection. However, what is immortality? In my understanding, this is the eternal existence of a person in physical form with personal qualities. Immortality can be appreciated when you are young and healthy. Life itself is unique in its past moments. No matter how short, it pushes people toward self-development, the achievement of goals, makes people strive for more. As soon as a person becomes immortal, the taste for life is immediately lost, the person no longer needs to evolve, because life will be put on repeat. Everything will change, and so a person may lose his mind due to changes.

According to Williams, in the immortal life there is no pleasure. I think that every person is visited by the thoughts: "If I were immortal ..." However, let’s think about what you will be like when you lose loved ones one after another. After a while, there will be someone who will help for a while to forget about that pain, but this is only for a while, because this person will go to another world and to an immortal person, again, they will be lonely, it will not hurt and there will be no sense to live. Immortality will force a person to isolate himself from the whole world, after all, there will be no one and nothing capable of filling that emptiness in the soul, formed during such a long existence on earth. This cannot be called life, because there is no joy from each new day.

A person after death continues to live in the memory of loved ones, in affairs, any teachings and achievements. An example is the people who contributed to our world: writers, historians, musicians, artists, scientists. The kind of people we remember to this day are immortal. They achieved this immortality by their work and diligence. Everywhere there are boundaries of beginning and end, and life is no exception. The end is the achievement of the goal set at the beginning of the path. Why live if there is no end to your life? It makes no sense. You just exist, and why exist, if you have to live?

Let’s back to author’s second argument. It means that if you change drastically enough to form new set of categorical desires, you cease to be the same person. Here, it is possible to make several objections. Williams claims that, if your character changes significantly over time, that it ceases to be YOU. But, Fischer challenges this claim. With the right amount of forgetfulness or change over time, and in the appropriate way, Fischer insists that personal identity would be retained. For instance, consider your beliefs, opinions, goals, dispositions, and so on at the age of 5, and compare them with yourself now. Surely, these things have changed dramatically! But, surely also you and that 5-year-old are one and the same person? What is important is that the change was gradual, and was the result of the right sorts of causal processes that suitably connect your present self to that earlier person. Fischer claims that there is no reason to think that such change could not occur eternally without jeopardizing or erasing your identity

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Memory Theory of Personal Identity

Many individuals tend to wonder what it truly means to have a personal identity. We often find ourselves asking who am I? What truly makes us who we are? Is it our memory or our physical appearance? According to our textbook, Bertrand Russell states, “Many philosophers, it is true, have held that philosophy could establish the truth of certain answers to such fundamental questions” (Russell 11). The true meaning of personal identity has been a subject of debate between many philosophers for quite a few centuries. One of the most common traditional theories of personal identity is the memory theory. Most individuals know what memory is, but they do not know how it can help define one’s personal identity. A well-known philosopher John Locke described his beliefs on this theory during the 16th century. The memory theory of personal identity is that any experience an individual remembers doing in the past and is aware of, it must belong to that individual.

This means that if an individual can remember something they experienced in the past, then that memory must belong to that individual which can help in defining the individual’s personal identity. According to our handout, the philosophical puzzle of the memory theory is “X = Y if and only if X and Y are psychologically continuous with one another.” Since I will be discussing John Locke’s memory theory it is important to understand his definition of Person, Personal Identity, and most importantly Consciousness. According to Locke, “A person is a thinking intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing at different times and places. Personal Identity means the sameness of a rational being; and as far as this consciousness can be extended backwards to any past action or thought, so far reaches the identity of that person. Consciousness always accompanies thinking and makes everyone to be what he calls ‘self’ and thereby distinguishes himself from all other thinking things” (Locke 115). Although the memory theory seems to be believable for many reasons, it does have its many criticisms. Therefore, an individual’s memories are a necessary part in defining an individual’s identity. This helps conclude that the memory theory of personal identity is correct. In this paper, I will demonstrate the many criticisms this theory has and how they apply in determining an individual’s true personal identity.

To begin with, the memory theory of personal identity has a few pros which helps determine the truth in this theory. An individual’s personal memories are formed by real past experiences. For example, if an individual gets in a car crash when they were a teenager and they still remember it several years later, that is their personal memory from a real past experience. John Locke defends this statement by saying, “it is the same self now that it was then; and this present self that now reflects on it is the one by which that action was performed” (Locke 115).

Within this statement, I believe John Locke is correct because he is simply saying if an individual does not remember the action that was performed then the individual did not experience the action. Another pro that helps determine the truth in this theory is personal identity can be defined in terms of one’s memory. John Locke states, “it is impossible for personal identity to consist in anything but consciousness” (Locke 119). As individuals grow and develop throughout life, what they do within their lifetime helps define their personal identity. This means that an individual’s memories of themselves from the past also defines the individual’s personal identity. A third pro that helps determine the truth in this theory is how individual’s stay connected to the past with memories. For individuals to stay connected to their past, they must reflect on memories of their past. For example, if an individual’s mother dies when they are young, the only way that individual can stay connected to their mother is through the old memories. Since the individual’s mother has died, they can no longer create new memories with their mother. Therefore, they must reflect on old memories of their mother in order to stay connected with her. Altogether, these pros help determine the truth in the memory theory of personal identity.

Furthermore, even though the memory theory of personal identity does have its pros, it also has a few cons. One of the most debatable claims is that losing memory of your past means you are a different person. Thomas Reid criticizes John Locke’s claim by using his example of a brave officer. Reid states, “Suppose a brave officer was beaten as a child at school. During his first battle he captures an enemy standard and later in life he becomes a general. When he took the standard, he was still conscious of being beaten as a child and when he became a general, he was conscious of his taking the standard. However, he had absolutely lost the consciousness of his beating” (Reid 147, 148). Reid is stating that even though the brave officer lost his memory of his past beating at school as a child, he is still the same person. Another debatable claim is when Locke speaks of consciousness. Thomas Reid questions if Locke meant memory when he uses the word consciousness.

Thomas Reid states, “It is impossible to make sense of this unless ‘consciousness’ means memory, the only faculty by which we have an immediate knowledge of our past actions” (Reid 148). Lastly, Joseph Butler another well-known philosopher also criticized Locke’s thoughts on memories and consciousness. Although he did agree with Locke that memories are insights to the past stages of the same identity, he did not believe that memoires constitute identity. Butler states, “And one should really think it Self-evident, that Consciousness of personal Identity presupposes, and therefore cannot constitute, personal Identity, any more than Knowledge in any other Case, can constitute Truth, which it presupposes” (Butler). According to Joseph Butler, this means that consciousness presupposes identity; however, it cannot constitute identity. Overall, these philosophers have continuously criticized Locke’s memory theory of personal identity but have failed to change my opinion of the memory theory.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of criticisms against the memory theory; however, I will now defend my position of the memory theory. Thomas Reid’s example of a brave officer was indeed a great example, but I do find some inconsistencies with his example. I would say that physically the officer is still the same person, but his consciousness/memory is most definitely different therefore it makes him a different person. I do not believe that every individual is the exact same person as they were in the past. As humans grow, our past memories begin to fade, this leads us to becoming different as adults than we were as a child. I believe his theory is also a good example for individuals who have amnesia or Alzheimer’s. If John Locke was alive today, I believe he would also consider an individual with amnesia or Alzheimer’s a different person as well. As the disease progresses the individual loses all memory of their past. Therefore, the individual is now without a personal identity because they are different than they were before. Similarly, Thomas Reid questions if John Locke’s definition of consciousness means memory.

Throughout Locke’s theory, he gives several examples of consciousness which allows any reader to strongly assume that he does, in fact, mean memory. It is known that Thomas Reid spent most of his time criticizing Locke’s every word. I believe Reid should have automatically known that by using the word consciousness Locke meant memory. Lastly, Joseph Butler also criticized Locke’s memory theory simply because he believed that consciousness cannot constitute identity. I disagree with Butler because Locke gave more believable examples of how consciousness does help define an individual’s identity. Every individual has past experiences that helps create part of their personal identity. If the individual cannot remember (for whatever reason) their past experiences, then they must be a different person despite any physical changes. All in all, regardless of the many criticisms against John Locke’s theory, I still believe that his theory plays a key part in defining an individual’s personal identity.

As can be seen, there are many pros and cons to John Locke’s memory theory of personal identity. Personal memories are formed by real past experiences, personal identity can be defined in terms of one’s memory, and we stay connected to the past with memories are all pros that help define the truth in Locke’s memory theory. Although these truths help define the memory theory, they did not provide enough evidence for some philosophers such as Thomas Reid and Joseph Butler. Thomas Reid criticized Locke’s memory theory the most simply because in his eyes the theory did not make any sense. Joseph Butler did agree that memories are insights to the past stages of the same identity; however, he criticized Locke’s memory theory because he believed that consciousness cannot create personal identity.

After reading the objections from both philosophers, I believe they both had inconsistencies in their objections because none of their theories were perfect. By using several theoretical situations, I believe any philosopher could argue against Thomas Reid and Joseph Butler’s theories. Despite creating good arguments against John Locke’s memory theory, they failed to change my position on the theory. Just because Locke’s theory was written several decades before Thomas Reid and Joseph Butler’s theory, it does not mean that it was entirely incorrect. If John Locke were alive today, I am sure he could provide great answers to their objections and any other philosopher that disagreed with his theory. Overall, I believe an individual’s memories are a necessary part in defining one’s identity because without memories, we have no personal identity.

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Philosophy of Self : Exploration

Philosophy of Self

In studying the topic of individualism and self-identity, we must ask ourselves which of the philosophies of self are most relevant today? After reading and analyzing the short story, The Masque of the Red Death I became fascinated with the human condition. Thanks to the insight and supporting nature of my English teacher I found a new passion for learning about philosophy. In order to encompass this message, I found a quote by the great Manly P. Hall, "To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books”. In order to tackle such a large question, I researched the philosophy concerning personal identity. This topic is important because it concerns everyone and the most fundamental part of ourselves. As the philosopher and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote, “the soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts”. A majority of the ancient Greek philosophers shared a cognitive approach that stemmed from the community, habits, and way of thinking that constitute a person’s life. Some philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle believed that the role of society and culture superseded the individual.

For the purposes of this paper, mind and self will mean the same thing. I will focus this paper on the internal aspect of reality, the development of knowledge from experience. To exist as a person is not to think but to be conscious of one’s thoughts. This philosophy was pushed by English philosopher and physician, John Locke. Locke maintained that we are born as a “blank slate”, what is essential is the minds’ existence is its awareness that accompanies thinking. The term “identity” is very ambiguous because it carries challenging questions such as: “How come that I feel like the same person in my whole life, although many crucial things change, like my age, friendships, occupation and beliefs, who do I want to be which kind of person and personality, and what enables me to feel being the same “I” in all that different roles with different qualities?”. The concept of identity for this paper will be questioned as a structure or form of “an individual’s self-relation and self-conception” (Sollberger). I agree most with Locke on his philosophical beliefs and with compare it with others.

The idea that the self is separate from an identity is shared by several philosophers such as David Hume and Buddha. The rationality of self-characterizes, in addition to other things, the states of personality that make one subject of experience unmistakable from all others. Current research on the idea of oneself are not along these lines on the idea of personhood, or individual personality. Oneself is comprehended as a brought together entity basically associated with cognizance, mindfulness, and organization. Different hypotheses on the supernatural idea of oneself have been proposed. Among them, the mystical idea of oneself has been examined to be that of an unimportant substance. David Hume indicated out that we tend to imagine that we are a similar or same individual that we were five years ago. Even though we have changed in many ways, an individual seems the same as her or she was at that period. To understand this, we may begin to understand which highlights can be changed without changing the hidden self. Hume, in any case, denies that there is a qualification between the different highlights of an individual and the strange self that evidently bears those highlights.

When we begin investigating, "we are never personally aware of anything other than a specific discernment; man is a group or accumulation of various recognitions which succeed each other with an unfathomable quickness and are in never-ending transition and movement" (Wilson). On Hume's view, these observations don't have a place with anything. Hume thinks about the spirit specific to a region, which holds its personality not by existing of some suffering center substance, however by being made of continually evolving components. The subject of individual personality at that point turns into a matter of describing the free attachment of one's understanding of themselves. Hume's position is fundamentally the same as Indian Buddhists' origination of oneself. The Buddha specifically assaulted all endeavors to think about a fixed self, while expressing that holding the view "I have no self" is likewise wrong. This is a case of the center route diagrammed by the Buddha and the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism.

John Locke was one of the thinkers who were against the Cartesian hypothesis that spirit represents individual character. Part XXVII on "Character and Diversity" in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding has been said to be one of the main present-day conceptualizations of awareness as the self-distinguishing proof of oneself. Locke gives his record of character and individual personality in the second release of the Essay. He holds that individual personality involves mental congruity. To summarize, he believed we have two different concepts of self: person and man. The person is linked by memories and the concept of it is of use in law for identifying guilt and innocence. What determines the person you are is what you remember thus being judged for what you did and remember (memories). Therefore, someone that does not remember breaking the law, is not responsible for it. However, his concept of man is linked to the object of our body. If someone did commit a crime but there was no memory, Locke would say it’s the same human being but a different person.

 

Contending against both the Augustinian perspective on man as initially wicked and the Cartesian position, which holds that man inherently knows consistent recommendations. Locke proposes a "vacant" personality, a clean slate, which is formed by involvement, sensations and reflections being the three beginning of every one of our thoughts, “the mind is not a ready-made substance that has certain properties and/or qualifications. it appears to be an entity that evolves toward a process of understanding. It is by permanent proximity of mind to sense data that the mind starts to distinguish the familiar from the unfamiliar. Through continuous contact with sense data, a person forms the idea of objects and of other people by receiving their impressions upon his mind. At the level of experiencing external objects and simple ideas then, the mind is passive” (Locke 1975, 118). Memory seems to assume individual character; therefore, it can't comprise a basis of it. In addition, personality is a transitive connection, while memory isn't, so the last can't be a rule of the previous. Lastly, there is the undeniable stress that personality appears to persevere through the loss of memory: it's difficult to believe that I would stop to exist were I to experience amnesia. It's for every one of these reasons that contemporary scholars working in the Lockean convention have needed to roll out critical improvements to the hypothesis to make it a practical contender for the connection among personality and morals.

As per Ubuntu philosophy, which has its origin in old Africa, an infant isn't a person. Individuals are conceived without “ena” and secure it through experiences and encounters after some time. As the Kenyan-born rationalist John Mbiti said in African Religions and Philosophy (1975): "I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am”. In fact, the Zulu phrase “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu" translates to a person is a person through other people. An individual who is Ubuntu is open and accessible to other people, doesn't feel undermined. An Ubuntu person has an appropriate understanding and self confidence that originates from realizing that the individual is in a community and interconnected world. Ubuntu theory uncover that an African society is humanist, network based and communist in nature. The Ubuntu philosophy in this manner doesn’t support any building of a single community inside African culture.

In Plato's teachings, Socrates frequently asks his Athenians to "Know Thyself", which was a well-known and repeated saying in 400 BC. He opposed the majority with his belief of self-knowledge. One's actual self, as per Socrates, isn't to be related to what we possess; our societal position, notoriety, or even our fame. Rather, Socrates held that our actual self is our the same as our soul. Subsequently it is fundamental that we commit measures of our consideration, vitality, and assets to making our spirit as great and delightful as could be. There is a consensus among psychoanalysts and philosophers that working to comprehend yourself better is a great idea. Why is this? If we are too concerned with the intricacies of ourselves, we may end up reluctant and can reduce our level of social interaction. On the opposite side, Ren© Descartes supersedes present day reasoning with thoughtfulness and the self as his beginning stage. He considered that no matter how thoroughly wicked his reasoning may be, he was having thoughts, so that must imply that he existed. In spite of the fact that Socrates is regularly portrayed as the "father of Western rationality," the French philosopher Ren© Descartes is generally considered the originator of present-day philosophy of self. As significantly impactful as Socrates and Plato were regarding the idea of oneself, their comprehension was impeded and restricted by the cognizance of their timespans.

Descartes introduced a totally new present-day viewpoint to the philosophy of oneself. Prior scholars had concentrated on investigating the central inquiries of human presence, for example: what is the idea of the real world, what is the "great life" and how we should act, does God exist, what is the idea of the spirit what is the perfect society? Descartes was determined to investigate the idea of thinking and comprehension in connection to the human self. He was certain that to build up the most educated and all-around grounded convictions about human presence, we should be unmistakable about the reasoning instrument we are utilizing. For on the off chance that our reasoning instrument is imperfect, certainly, our convictions must also be defective. The end is come to through a natural jump, as opposed to a contemplated examination of two premises. It is, all things considered, foolish to state that something can think but then not exist. By characterizing his fundamental self as a thinking person, and as only that, Descartes made a totally and drastic detachment of the psyche from the body. This radical separation is known as Cartesian Dualism, a foundation of his whole rationality. The psyche, as per Descartes, has no requirement for anything physical to be what it is. Oneself as a mind exists as a particular substance, as "thinking matter," and it appreciates a unique liberty from the universe of matter that is liable to the subject of science.

Ekhart Tolle would state that your brain is like a book even if it has words in it, content and characterizing attributes. He says that you are not that “data”, however the book itself. You may have ten chapters in that book, yet you are the book that they are composed on. Selves are a binding together; absolute account or portrayal of an individual. The word 'I' seemingly alludes to the individual and not oneself. As indicated by Kant, every individual is a self-ruling being fit for visualizing strategies that rise above any biological relationship such as: traditions, childhood, sexual orientation, race, and societal position. An origination of the self-governance of oneself will at that point assume an important job in the definition of human rights: every person is qualified for such rights because every human self-merit’s in as much as it is a self-governing operator. Kantian points of view have been declined in a few distinctive forms during recent hundreds of years; Kant established one of the most grounded and most fascinating hypothetical centers crediting a focal to oneself. Although, Kant himself held that his perspective on the brain and awareness were inessential to his primary contention. However, a portion of his thoughts came to have a tremendous effect on his successors. The Kantian perspective, and his view of consciousness and the mind are integral to intellectual science. There are three distinctive ideas that distinguish Kant’s perspective,

  1. The mind is a complex set of abilities (functions).
  2. The functions crucial for mental, knowledge-generating activity are spatio-temporal processing of, and application of concepts to, sensory inputs. Cognition requires concepts as well as percepts.
  3. These functions are forms of what Kant called synthesis. Synthesis (and the unity in consciousness required for synthesis) are central to cognition.” (Brook)

These principals are fundamental to contemporary view of the mind and cognitive science. His view of the mind was well documented in his Critique of Pure Reason and Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, first distributed in 1798 just six years before his passing. Kant didn’t hold any reliable perspectives on the investigation of the mind, the “empirical method for doing psychology that Kant discussed was introspection” (Brook). This reasoning is problematic for a number of reasons. For instance, having an investigation on the basis of an internal observation is impossible to quantify and mathematically model. The experience is only separated by thought, one subject only differs from their view, the item doesn’t change. The only testable study of the mind possible is investigating oneself, “distorting the state of the object itself” (Brooks).

Recent feminist philosophical literature and perspective on the self has formed itself into three main subjects: “critiques of dominant modern, Western views of the self, reclamations of female identities, and reconceptualizations of the self as both a dynamic, relational individual beholden to unconscious desires and social bonds and an intersectional, multilayered phenomenon” (Willett). In contrast to the Kantian view of the self, feminist philosophers seek to provide alternative perspectives on the self. The feminist critique accuses dominant philosophers’ perspective of the self as masculine. They believe this because the conceptions regarding oneself reinforce a social identity. These conceptions ignore the intricacies of identity such as age, looks, sexuality, biological composition, and physical competencies. Even though we have made great progress in the status of women in society, we continue to place a special burden for their work. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Feminist Perspectives on the Self encompasses this perfectly, “For many feminists, to acknowledge the self's dependency is not to devalue the self but rather to revalue dependency, as well as to call into question the supposed free agency of a self that implicitly corresponds to a masculine ideal” (Willet).

Aristotle differed from Plato in his perspective on what a person on a very basic level is. Plato held that the genuine self of people is the brains that establishes their intelligence and that is distinguishable from their body. Aristotle opposes the idea and believes that the person is a composite of body and soul and that the spirit can't be isolated from the body. Aristotle's opinion on the self was developed on the basis on physical objects resulting for a combination of matter and form; the spirit of an individual is the structure of the human body. He was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist who covered a wide range of topics and pioneered the intellectual revolutions (Enlightenment, Reformation, and Renaissance). His published treatises remains a powerful current in contemporary philosophical debate. In answering the aforementioned question of which philosophies are most relevant, I have concluded that there is no single, most important one. Each famed philosopher held unique perspectives that establish a spectrum of opinions.

However, I agree most with John Locke. John Locke considered individual identity or oneself to be established on cognizance and memory and not on the substance of either the spirit or the body. Self-identity is not based on the soul because someone may claim to be a reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln yet does not have the same consciousness as him. In conclusion, we are the same person in that we remember our past and can function to have the same thoughts and actions we have had. This line of thinking establishes the insanity defense which is an affirmative defense declaring the defendant not responsible (held unaccountable) due to being unconscious, or unable to be aware of self and environment. For these reasons I have held that the philosophy of self pushed by John Locke is most relevant.

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Discuss in Light of his Treatment of Identity

What is freedom? How is it exercised? Do we have it? If such questions were asked to people around the world, then the responses would vary. However, one commonality between the answers would be that the concept of freedom includes that one consciously acts on a decision made. Two philosophers, both considered to be compatibilist, will agree that determinism is true and the freedom of spontaneity exists, but the biggest difference between both understandings of freedom is what is needed in order for one to say they have freedom. Locke, a compatibilist, establishes three main components one must have that will enable them to say they are free; true happiness, desire, and choices. On the other hand, Leibniz, instead argues that in order for one to be considered free they must exhibit spontaneity, contingency, and intelligence. Although Locke also argues for the freedom of spontaneity, his argument differs from Leibniz. Overall, this essay aims to establish a full understanding of both philosophers’ arguments on freedom and to arrive at a conclusion as to which argument is better. In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke generally defines freedom as the ability to act or not to act according to our choosing. In order to make a decision from our choices we must first grasp our desires and even before doing such, we have to understand pleasure and pain, true happiness, and misery.

Locke writes, “As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature, lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation for our liberty [freedom]” (Book II. xxi. 266. 16-20). From Locke’s understanding, the foundation of freedom merely begins with our own pursuit of true happiness. True happiness exists and we will continuously search for it. True happiness, as Locke would define it to be, is beyond happiness itself; there is not misery or uneasiness and those who reach this true happiness would be so content that they would stay with it forever (II. xxi. 261. 11-13). As more of a general understanding, Locke considers happiness as temporary, is it given through multiple instants of pleasure; whereas true happiness can be brought upon by a single substance and this form of happiness as infinite as the substance itself. Pursuing true happiness is continuous primarily because we first must experience happiness it its most subtle form in order to distinguish whether we are feeling temporary happiness or true happiness, which is everlasting. What once brought someone a sheer onset of temporary happiness can now either bring misery or just not enough happiness which is why we then would consider it temporary: this is why we continue searching for that true happiness.

However, those moments of general happiness, according to Locke, is the motivation for our desires. Since we are constantly searching and experiencing the pleasures and miseries of life, we do it as a form of judgement for what can really bring us to that state of utmost happiness, true happiness. Our desires are strong emotions for the pleasures we believe are absent in our present lives. They have the ability to gravitate us to what can either bring us pleasure or pain. Our desires are guides that will lead us to our true happiness. As the search for true happiness unravels so does our new found desires. “If it be farther asked, what ‘tis moves desire? I answer happiness and that alone….Happiness then in its full extent is the utmost pleasure we are capable of, and misery the utmost pain.” (II. xxi. 258. 14-15 & 26-27). From this we understand that for Locke our desires originate from our own pleasures and pains; in other words, our own happiness and misery. For example, when an individual has a desire for a specific candy bar they have had before, then that individual understands that the candy bar had once brought them pleasure so in such a case they would pursue the candy bar to experience that sensation again. However, this is simply a form of happiness through a general view and we make decisions like this everyday in order to satisfy ourselves for the time being until we get to our true happiness.

True happiness is different for every substance and to provide an explanation for what making a choice between true happiness and temporary happiness may look like becomes very difficult. In spite of that, I would say making a choice for something that would grant one true happiness over temporary happiness would be a decision where the substance has no hesitation and understands the result of their decision would complete them for the rest of their existence; it would make them whole. When making a choice for temporary happiness it creates room for hesitation and a chance to suspend desire, this is what one can argue to be the greatest distinction between true happiness and general happiness. With this understanding, Locke also proposes the metaphysical argument that determinism is true; an example of that is that one’s past can lead to desire in which creates a problem with Locke’s claim.The problem that follows is if one’s past can lead to their desires then they are not free due to their desires being influenced by their past; there desire is not truly their own. However, Locke then writes that with our desires then comes choices. Choices are how we end up in the situation in which we can either suspend desire or not. The suspension of desire is an example of the freedom of spontaneity; in which the choices to suspend or not suspend are all up to the individual himself and that both choices are hereby compatible. Since the individual is doing the action themselves, then that is how they are considered to have freedom.

Locke would define the freedom of spontaneity as the power to act upon one’s own choices and that is how the choice of suspending desire or not fits into the freedom of spontaneity. The ultimate choices our desires give us are, 1) pursue the desire and satisfy your happiness 2) suspend your desires in which will suspend your happiness or 3) find a new desire to achieve happiness. No matter which you choose, at the end of the day it is the individual who has the power of choice. Locke touches on the thought of one having the power to suspend his or hers desires, To prevent this [Examination] we have a power to suspend the prosecution of this or that desire, as every one daily may Experiment in himself. This seems to me the source of all liberty; Free will. For during this suspension of any desire, before the will be determined to action, and the action (which follows that determination) done, we have opportunity to examine, view, and judge, of the good or evil of what we are going to do; (II. xxi. 263. 24-31). In this, Locke is describing how free will is an asset to freedom and yet freedom does not depend on the will. The will is forbearing, and exercises the power of perferring. For example, one can exercise their free will be preferring to voluntary suspend their desire. This is why Locke believes not doing an action is also considered a choice; it is you exercising your will. Choices are internal to us as they fall within the boundaries of our own individuality. Whether one chooses to suspend their desires or not, the action itself varies between person to person and that is how individuality is demonstrated. The passage mentions before we take action we have the opportunity to examine, view, and judge what we believe is best for ourselves, this is another aspect in which grants us to express our individuality.

It is through these components; true happiness, desires, and choices, such as the suspension of our desires, in which Locke considers to be the tools that show we are free. These three components lead to freedom because without understanding what brings us, individually, general happiness then we are unable to formulate desires then even the choice to suspend our desires would not exist and so we would not be able to do the action of our choosing because there were no choices to begin with. The way true happiness is incorporated into this domino effect is that it would never be found due to our inability to judge and act upon our own choices; our actions depend on the three components and due to Locke’s argument for all three existing is how he formulates the general argument that we have freedom. Leibniz would counter the majority of Locke’s arguments, but when it comes to argue for freedom, both philosophers have more moments in which they agree with one another than disagree; however, Leibniz uses the opportunity to expand on the ideas of Locke and provide a different argument for freedom. Leibniz believes, the same as Locke, that determinism is true, in which for example, ones past can lead to/influence their future desires, “They seek what they already know, (G.W. Leibniz. New Essays, II. xxi. Theo 14). This is the same way of saying we gravitate toward what is familiar to us. Returning back to the example of deciding to take the candy bar because of a former experience with it in which the individual experienced pleasure and understands that the candy bar can continuously provide that temporary happiness. The individual sought for the thing they already knew would bring pleasure. Leibniz argument for freedom incorporates determinism being true, but intelligence the first component one can say Leibniz focuses on more on in addition to freedom of spontaneity and contingency. For Leibniz, we, as monads, are conscious of our actions and can take full responsibility for them due to reason and understanding. Having consciousness can only come from monads who are intelligent and rational. Secondly, Leibniz agrees with the idea of the freedom of spontaneity, however, his interpretation of it is anyone’s actions are produced through himself and those actions must be spontaneous. Finally, Leibniz believes in contingency being part of the freedom of man. Contingency is the metaphysical aspect of freedom, it is what could have been otherwise. For example, the crimes we know and knowledge of the existence of this world could have been otherwise in which makes them contingent. Leibniz is much known to be in support of the argument for priori knowledge, knowledge gained before birth and not through experiences.

With this understanding, Leibniz counter argues Lock’s claim on true happiness with intelligence. When Locke discusses true happiness, one can conclude that he believes it exists and can be achieved. On the other hand, Leibniz argues that there is no such thing for one to achieve, true happiness does not exist, Theo: I doubt that a greatest pleasure is possible. I am inclined to believe that it can increase ad infinitum, for we do not know how far our knowledge and our organs can be developed in the course of the eternity which lies before us. So I think happiness is a lasting pleasure, which cannot occur without continual progress in our pleasures; (New Essays On Human Understanding. II. xxi. 195. Theo). The way that intelligence, knowledge, is incorporated into this is we must know what our pleasures and pains are in order to discover happiness in its most general form. With the quote above, Leibniz believes in a forever happiness that constantly changes because as we grow and search for new desires then that can alter what our “great happiness” is. For Locke, true happiness is already present, as in we already know it is out there which is why we try to reach it, but for Leibniz our true happiness comes along as we grow, even then it has the possibility of changing every time.

We are aware of many things, within ourselves and around us...and we understand then when we have distinct ideas of them accompanied by the power to reflect...So ‘understanding’ in my sense is what Latin is called intellectu, and the exercise of this faculty is called ‘intellection’, which is a distinct perception combined with a faculty of reflection... Any perception which is combined with this faculty is a thought; (II. xxi. Theo 173. s14). In a reference to Descartes, we are a thinking thing and a ‘thinking thing’ creates thoughts and ideas that derive from reason and understanding that all fall under the umbrella of knowledge. As monads we are able to understand our own actions through reason, so for Leibniz, since the concept of understanding and rational though are all properties of knowledge it then becomes so that intelligence is ? part of freedom that. That is so because, as Locke, Leibniz understands freedom to be “the power to do one wills or in the power to will as one should…[freedom] is a matter of having the use of things which are customarily in our power, and above all with the free to use our body” (II. xxi. Theo 174. s8). In order to even execute our actions and exercise this power, we have to first understand them just as we have to understand and compose thoughts of what will grant us happiness. In addition, using reason to make decisions of whether to suspend a desire or not. That is how intelligence is part of freedom. As previously mentioned, Locke believes we have the power to suspend desire in terms of our free will. Leibniz takes the idea of suspending our desires further and claims the cause of one suspending our desires is due to that desire not providing enough pleasure or even in order to act on that desire it can be uncomfortable. For Locke, the suspension of a desire is more so due to the desire holding one back from reaching true happiness in the long run.

For Leibniz, the suspension for a desire is due to what the desire can do the individual in the present moment, The execution of our desire is suspended or prevented when it is not strong enough to arouse us and to overcome the difficulty or discomfort involved in satisfying it...the desire is strong enough in itself to arouse us if nothing hinders it. It can be blocked by contrary inclinations, either consisting in a mere propensity,... or amounting to an actual desire. But as these contrary inclinations, propensities, and desires must already exist in the soul, it does not have them within its power; and consequently it could not resist then in any free and voluntary way in which reason could play a part; (Leibniz. New Essays…, Theo. 196). Leibniz explains that reasons to suspend a desire already exist within us even before we decide that the desire no longer arouses us. The issue is we cannot ensure our minds will turn away strong desires and that is something Locke never considered. For Locke, we may not always suspend our desires but the choice to do so is always there. In Locke’s views we are capable of suspending any desire it is how we exercise our free will without taking into considerations that some desires carry stronger emotions behind them that would affect whether or not we wish to suspend them. Later in the same paragraph, Leibniz comes up with the solution that in order to suspend a strong desire, the mind must be prepared in advance of already suspending the desire; so moving from one thought to another thought and applying reason behind them would be the best way in suspending desires so strong. Leibniz suggests that the best way we prepare the mind is by “occasionally withdrawing into oneself” and asking ourselves questions such as, “What am I doing here?” or “Why am I here?”. In other words, to train the mind to apply the intellectual skill of using reason as evidence for suspending desires. Both philosophers believe in the freedom of spontaneity, which

is that we have the freedom of choice in terms of our actions. With this freedom it must be understood that the actions produced by any substance are produced through themselves. However, a problem with this argument is how is the freedom of spontaneity present when in situations where our actions are cause by another substance. For example, if a person was held at gunpoint and asked by the perpetrator to let go of all valuables with in the luggage the person carries, then the individual would do the action solely because their choices are either 1) don't and be killed or 2) do it and not be harmed or 3) do it and they still have the possibility of being harmed because it was never promised that no harm will come to them. Leibniz uses the word ‘constraint’ to argue this thought, As for ‘constraint’, it is useful to distinguish two sorts: physical, as when a man is imprisoned against his will or thrown off a precipice; and moral, as for example the fear of a greater evil, in which case the action, although in a way compelled, is nevertheless voluntary.

One can also be compelled by the thought of a greater good, as when a man is tempted by the offer of a too great benefit, although this is not usually called constraint”; (II. xxi. Theo 179. s14) The example of a person being asked to commit an action outside their will is an example of a moral constraint since the only possible and logical action one can make is to do what is being asked outside the freedom of their will in order to avoid being harmed from the greater evil. However, the action was not produced through the substance itself rather forced by another substance. This is the flaw of the moral freedom of spontaneity. Leibniz believes that because man would do what he must in order to be out of harms way and since the only option is to abide to what is being asked in order not to be harmed then the action is no longer voluntary, it is not spontaneous. Finally, Leibniz argues that contingency is the third part of human freedom. For Leibniz, contingency is what could have been otherwise. For example, we understand the crimes and the existence of this world but God could have possibly made another world or universe and in that other world such things like The Zodiac Killer crimes do not exist. The reason why Leibniz is incorporating contingency into his account of freedom is because as monads we can not be reduced to a single identity and that is due to the fact that we are continuously unfolding.

The constant unfolding is another reason as to why we are unable to achieve true happiness as I previously mentioned in this essay because as grow and change so does the substances that can give us true happiness.. Leibniz uses the motion of a ball in order to argue for contingency, “This conditional truth- If the ball is in motion in a smooth trajectory without any impediment, it will continue in the same motion-may be regarded as in a way necessary though fundamentally it depends not just on geometry but also on an assumption- but this non-conditional proposition- This ball is now in motion in this plane- is an entirely contingent truth, and in this sense the ball is a contingent unfree agent” (II. xxi. Theo 177-178. s9). With this, Leibniz is stating that under the first truth we are using an assumption to say that the ball will continuously be in motion whereas it can be otherwise that the ball is solely in motion in the plane and it is not in a continuous motion. What makes an action contingent is the possibility that the action could be done different in which can have a different end result. Contingency for Leibniz is a metaphysical necessity that is part of freedom. In conclusion, Locke and Leibniz have fairly similar thoughts on the freedom of man; however, I find Locke’s arguments and supporting evidence logically better the Leibniz. I can follow Locke's understanding of the freedom of man as he build on true happiness, desire, and choices. Locke adds even so his thoughts of the freedom of spontaneity to further his argument; although Leibniz offers a counter argument to Locke’s evidence on true happiness, it is not enough to not consider his argument as being logically better. 

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Human Nature Remains Unchanged

Socrates declared in order to live a good life it is a necessity ‘to know one self’. To have knowledge of who we are. But, what is the ‘self’? Before we can answer that question, first we must ask, what is knowledge? Knowledge is an irrefutable truth proven by evidence. As knowledge is absolute, belief is not. A belief can be irrational, knowledge cannot. You can have a false belief, but not false knowledge.

Philosophers of the enlightenment age often fell on either side of the epistemological coin of skepticism. Either being an empiricist, who believed knowledge could only be obtained through the senses or a rationalist, who believed knowledge could only be gained through reason. Knowledge was viewed in two categories: analytic and synthetic.

For Hume, who was an empiricist, experience was necessary for knowledge gained from the physical world. For something to be considered knowledge, it must be based on impressions or ideas derived from impressions. Impressions are sense data and emotions, while Ideas are thoughts and memories related to these impressions. Since Hume believed that knowledge relies on our perceptions, assertions of knowledge are ultimately meaningless. Thus, any metaphysical argument is worthless due to the lack of empirical evidence. Hume asserted that human behavior was governed by belief rather than reason, declaring “Reason is and ought only to be the slave of passion.”. Hume goes on explain the nature of belief, and why it has such a powerful influence on our lives, “The difference between belief and fiction is that feeling is attached to belief, excited by the nature of the situation the mind is placed in . . .this sentiment arises from the customary conjunction of objects.” Hume had a somewhat pessimistic view on humanity and our behaviors, saying,” Human nature remains unchanged in principle . . .

Our motives produce the same actions … Mankind is much the same through all space and time.” We are in definition thinking beasts, influenced by an external world in which we try to conceptualize. Hume thought that personal identity didn’t really exist. It was merely the human mind finding a connection between the sequence of relatable events. Our mind simply forms these memories and experiences into a unified whole which we use to define our personal identity, with no evidence of an underlying ‘core’ pulling these ideas together. Hume found the self to be the illusion, as this idea of self doesn’t persist over time. There is no you that is the same person from birth to death. We’re all just an ever bundle of impressions that our minds are fooled into thinking of as constant thing, because they’re retained in these bodies that more or less looks the same day after day. We cannot observe ourselves in a unified way, as there is no impression that ties the impressions together. We have no real ‘awareness’ of ourselves but only our experiences. There is simply no empirical evidence to suggest that we are nothing more than the culmination of memories and experience formed by our impressions. The correlation between these individual aspects does not imply causation by association.

The concept of ‘self’ is produced by our habit to assign a unified existence to any collection of relatable parts. Locke, who was also a empiricist, rejected the concept of ‘original sin’ and also the notion of ‘innate’ ideas, believing ‘Tabula Rasa’, that the human mind is a ‘blank slate’ at birth and we our influenced by the impressions of an external world. Experience makes who we are. Locke proposed a concept known as ‘Memory Theory’, which asserts that our idea personal identity persists over time because we retain memories of ourselves at different points, and each of those moments are connected to the one before it. As we our formed by experiences, each new experience changes who we are. Thus our ‘self’ is constantly changing. Unlike Hume, who saw this as evidence that the idea of personal identity was illusionary, Locke stated, “For as far as any intelligent Being can repeat the Idea of any past action with the same consciousness it had of it at first, and with the same consciousness is has of any present action; so far it is the same personal self.”.

Descartes argued for rationalism, believing that human reason was sufficient to understand the world. Where experience is anecdotal, reason is based in logic. Any knowledge that was gained pertaining to the external world was through intuition of the mind, asserting that, “Thinking is the only attribute that belongs to us that cannot be separated from us independently . . . This body is not known empirically but rather by understanding the mind. Things are not known from the result of the senses, but because they are understood.”. Descartes believed that certain concepts innate to our human condition helped us to gain understanding. In relation to dualism, the separation between body and mind, saying, “The mind is separate to the body, as the body is divisible and the mind indivisible.”. Descartes asserted that the mind is the ‘existing’ aspect of our self and the body to be a mere extension, stating famously, ‘Cogito ergo sum” which means “I think, therefore I am” and “All thinking things exist”, based on his argument formulated in his work ‘Meditations’.

Descartes concept of substance helps further to understand the connection between the ‘self’ and the mind. ‘Substance’ is something that exists independently of the external world, in this instance the mind. ‘Essence’ of the mind would be thought itself, and the ‘Modes of Substance’ would be various types of thinking we experience. Thus, we can interpret Descartes idea of the self to be an abstract individual consciousness intrinsic to the human condition. Kant opposed the empiricist assertion of ‘Tabula Rasa’, that the mind is a blank slate at birth, influenced by the sensory experience of an external world. He found this model to be inadequate at identifying the reasoning behind our beliefs. As certain aspects of our beliefs influence experience through means of the mind. For example, if I hold the belief in divine intervention, and experience a near fatal ‘close call’, I’d naturally assume that a supreme being had an interest in my personal wellbeing.

My belief in a higher power influenced my perception of this experience to be of a extraordinary nature. We ultimately define experience through our mental reasoning as we draw conclusions from the cause and effect of actions. According to both rationalists and empiricists, the mind is of a passive nature. Where rationalists proposed that the mind possessed innate concepts and empiricists asserted that the mind is a blank slate which receives ideas. Kant argued that the mind is not passive but rather active, playing a significant role in the structuring our reality. Experience of an external world is only possible if the mind provides a systematic structuring of theses representations in which to draw conclusions from. Kant believed that we are born with these innate mental structures. Kant argued that we cannot be sure of knowledge that cannot be known empirically, as we can only experience objects that exist in time in space.

Even though Kant was partial to certain empiricist ideas, it was not a sufficient explanation of our experiences. Opposing the notion that we only receive and record sense data, Kant asserted that we actively order, organize, select and interpret these impressions. Thus, the mental structuring of experience makes understanding of this knowledge possible. The epistemological and metaphysical theories formed by the observations empiricists and rationalists analyzed, failed to sufficiently identify the way in which we understand knowledge. This is due to these skeptics only considering the results of the minds interactions with the external world and not the nature of the minds influence itself.

In conclusion, Kant’s concept of Knowledge is that it is constructed by an active mind through both reason and experience. This ‘unity of consciousness’ is the metaphysical framework of the self.

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Theory of the Uunconscious

Freud's, theory of the unconscious challenged different parts of Locke’s, Butler’s, and Hume’s theories of personal identity. Although Freud was pretty straightforward with his arguments towards his thinking of personal identity, the three philosophers come up with their own theories which are challenging to some ideas Freud brought up during his theory.

First, Freud believed that the unconscious mind was a force of feelings and thoughts. He believed that the unconscious mind came from memories that was caused from the outside our conscious awareness. He also mentioned that most of its content was very negative and can often be unpleasant. He gives a great example of the unconscious and conscious mind through using “iceberg” to explain his points. He believed that the ice above the water is our conscious mind and the part where we cannot estimate how big or small the icebergs are will be our unconscious mind. He further explains that he believes unconscious mind is mostly affected through our emotion, feelings, and desires. He gives tern such as life and death to explain his points that life mostly resembles survival and death resembles trauma, aggression, and anger.

However, some of his ideas were viewed differently and was a challenge towards their theories of personal identity. Firstly, John Locke’s belief was that “person” and “man” were two different concepts. He believe that man was a particular of living and person as a thing of an intelligent being. He also stated a point where “if x is at t1 and y is at t2 and if x has a consciousness of experience of the Y then they are the same.” This shows that John Locke was convinced that the consciousness is a substance from memory rather than soul, or the body which led to his idea of “memory” theory.

Secondly, Butler first criticizes Locke’s memory theory and leads on to his idea of the self and it should be more than just a substance. Although he agreed that memories are perceptions to the past of the same identity, he did not believe that they are what created identity. His point was straightforward that consciousness exists before identity and that memories are something that “me” is coming up with the term memories to remember its past self. He also stated that people act in a respected way for its future identity which also proves that consciousness comes before identity. He sums up his point by giving an example of a boy and that even with the idea of forgetting and remembering cannot change the outcome of the general. Thus, since the experiences are as real to the boy as it is to the general and that memory could not change that. This also challenges the idea of Freud's idea of the unconscious mind as in memory.

Finally, Hume believed in the idea of the self as a bundle which was called the “bundle” theory. According to Hume, he was convinced that our identity is an illusion and that without any perception the person would be rather unconscious than alive. He strongly believe that senses that we feel were always changing and that the world itself is even always changing. He then furthers his point by saying that if the world is changing then the senses show that nothing stays the same. For example, if acorn grows into a tree then how could we tell if it is the same thing? He explains that people use their mind which is imagination to percept the idea which explains his belief of identity as an illusion towards people. Hume believed that continuity was a mental habit that people made to define their self or identity. He elaborates that we cannot have direct link to our identities just like how we cannot have direct link to the outside world and that what we have been is just our inner depictions.

As a result, these different theories such as memory and bundle shows that different philosophers had different points and beliefs about personal identity. It challenged many ideas that some time were similar and different. Since points such as whether memory comes first before identity or not challenged many ideas between Freud’s theory of the unconscious mind.

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Dualism, the Identity Theory

Dualism is the view that the mind and the body are fundamentally distinct entities. There are two main types of dualism, substance and property Dualism. Both types of Dualism are formed from the mind-body problem, which is, what is the relation between our mental lives and the physical aspects of our brains and bodies? Substance or Cartesian Dualism views the mind and body as distinct substances and is the view Descartes (318). Property Dualism, argued for by Jackson, believes mental properties and physical properties are distinct properties of being (372).

Substance Dualism is supported by Descartes cogitos, along with the wax example. Descartes first cogito is I have convinced myself there is nothing in the world. If I can convince myself of something, then I exist. Therefore, I exist. Cogito two is suppose an all-powerful malicious deceiver is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. If I am being deceived, then I exist. Therefore, I exist. On the other hand, the wax example can be explained as wax can originally be identified by senses, but if it melts those properties change. This example shows that substances possess properties which are judged by the mind (Descartes, 317). Jackson uses Qualia, qualitative aspects of phenomenal experience or the what it is likeness of conscious experience, to back his theory (366). His view is supported by the knowledge argument. The knowledge argument is Mary, before her release knows all the physical facts concerning color vision, but Mary does not know all the facts concerning color vision, because she learns something new when she is released and sees color for the first time. Therefore, there are non-physical facts and physicalism is false (Jackson, 367).

The Identity Theory is the view that every type of mental state, event, or process is identical to some type of brain state, event, or process (Smart, 334). A few of the methods to support Identity Theory are reduction, Leibniz’s law, argument from introspection, and Occam’s razor. Reduction is the idea that x reduces to y if x is nothing over and above y. An example of this would be temperature is mean molecular kinetic energy (Churchland, 379). Similarly, Leibniz’s law is if x is identical to y, then x and y share all the same properties. If x and y do not share all the same properties, then they are not identical (Churchland, 378). The argument from introspection is the qualia of my sensations are knowable to me by introspection. The properties of my brain states are not knowable to me by introspection. Therefore, the qualia of my sensations are not identical to the properties of my brain states. Churchland disputes this claim because it begs the question. There is no proof that brain states are not knowable by introspection (Churchland, 377). Lastly, Identity Theory is supported by Occam’s razor, a methodological principle of parsimony (simplicity) in theorizing. Simply put it means don’t multiply entities beyond necessity. Occam’s razor supports Identity Theory over Dualism because Identity Theory is the similar theory (Smart, 334).

Functionalism is the view that mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made. In his paper Putnam extensively goes over pains as brain states (51). There are four features claimed by functionalist theory. The first feature is realism. Reality is a necessary feature of psychological states if they are going to have specific explanations and effects. An example would be a truck tipping over because of a high center of gravity. The center of gravity is not the full explanation though and didn’t tip the truck over. Second, physicalism and functionalism are compatible. “Physicalism appears to be true because no empirical theories of physical, chemical, biological, and social phenomena introduce any entities that are neither strictly physical (roughly, part of physics) nor made out of physical parts” (Polger, 339). Therefore, functionalism denies the need for mental “stuff”. Third, psychological states can make a causal difference in the world. While, Dualist theories must either deny the causal power of the psychological or reject the causal power of the physical. Fourth,

Putnam believes functionalism to be better than identity theory because functionalism leaves room for the addition of organisms. With functionalism pain is pain no matter what creature feels it even though the brains are all made of different materials and function in their own ways.

Functionalism strays from identity theory off the bat when Putnam states that even though it may be true that pain and the brain state for pain are the same, the concepts are not, just as the concepts of temperature and molecular energy are the same thing, yet different concepts (52). Linking psychological states to brain states limits them to humans or beings with known neurological inputs and outputs (Polger, 337).

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Who we are and what Makes Us and what Makes who we are

Do we really know who we are? Science has given us some scenarios to consider that seem far out and not possible. However, the issue of who we are is not that clear. characteristics of personality as well as its qualities play an important role in uncovering the essence of the philosophical relationship between the human being and the universe. They simultaneously help to understand why the human world is so different from the natural world and why it remains human only on the basis of preserving the wealth of individual differences between people. Overall, the question of personal identity and understanding what a person is, is one of the corner-stones of modern philosophical thought. Personal identity raises the issue of the true meaning of being addressed as a human being with the deep understanding of the goal of the presence of human beings on Earth other than for biological survival and reproduction. The latter allows seeing the moral and spiritual development of a person as the key towards comprehending the personal identity of human being.

It is possible to start the assessment of the role of personal identity and the comprehension of what does it mean to be a man with the notion that a human being is a biological species for who culture has become a means of adapting to the environment (Onjefu and Olalekan 2). Clearly, every person shapes personal identity, acquiring certain external physical, and internal characteristics, values, and qualities. Thus man is not born with a personal identity, but acquires it throughout the development of his, or her personality within the pattern of social interactions (Ventegodt, Andersen and Merrick 1177). Overall, a human being is the highest stage of development of living organisms on Earth, a subject of labour, a representative of a social form of life with communication and consciousness manifestations. It is possible to say that a human being is a concept that characterizes the qualities and abilities inherent in the entire human race (both biological and social). As philosophy uses the concept of an “individual” to identify the representative of the human race with clear biological generic characteristics, it implies that a human being is born as an individual. However, acquiring personal identity as a human being in terms of possessing consciousness, manifesting abstract thinking, speech, human feelings is possible only under the condition of social influence, interaction with other people, and existence under the effect of multiple social factors (Ventegodt, Andersen and Merrick 1181). Therefore, life, development, psyche, behaviour, and upbringing in society, is the consequent transformation into a personality.

Over the centuries, the philosophical concept of personality has been used to characterize the spiritual and moral origin of a person. The most important quality of a human being, as a personality, is his goal-setting activity. A man is, first of all, an active social subject capable of changing his or her environment (Trisel 12). Further, a man is a thinking (functional consciousness, intellect) and mentally healthy person who has his or her own culture. All these qualities are inextricably linked. Therefore, a personality is not only a carrier of social relations, but also a human being who has an effect on them in accordance with their individual characteristics, properties and abilities, experience and intelligence, organization and professionalism, as well as their own culture environment (Onjefu and Olalekan 3). In other words, being a human being implies manifesting biological, psychic, and social components, which together contribute to the formation of personal identity.

By realizing oneself as a personality and distinguishing oneself from the environment, a man unwittingly comes to the idea of the meaning of his or her existence. The meaning of life pertains to the category of the moral choice of each human being This is an independent conscious choice based on those values that orient a human being towards performing acts aimed at the satisfaction of the desire to possess something and to use all human potential (Trisel 8). It is a human being with personal identity who decides whether certain acts are worth of performing on the way of reaching a certain goal. In a positive moral sense being a personality implies urging for self-realization, striving to implement the need to create, give, share with others, and sacrifice oneself for the sake of others. From this perspective, the mission of human life is to reach its potential, to be able to find an opportunity for self-realization, to find ones unique talents without violating any moral laws. A highly moral person is a conscientious person who always acts according to his or her conscience and in case of any violations feels a deep sense of shame. Moral debt is also closely associated with personal identity along with such traits as dignity or honor. A man of honor respects himself and considers it beneath his dignity to commit immoral acts. If a personality respects itself, then, as a rule, it respects the dignity of others. At the same time, a man of honor cannot stay indifferent to meanness, lies, cowardice, dishonesty, etc (Trisel 19). He despises dishonest people and does not hide his contempt. As Nietzsche notes, such person “lives in trust and openness” to the society, as well as put the debt to society above his or her own individual needs.

Thus, being a human being with personal identity means to have a goal for living, to manifest high moral values, to continuously develop, as well as to comprehend the essence of the notions of compassion and readiness to make a sacrifice for the benefit of another human being. The presented analysis reinforces that fact that high moral level of social identity contributes to the understanding of the goal of living on the planet as a human being besides the satisfaction of physiological needs and accumulation of possessions. Thus, manifesting socially useful and highly moral creative behaviour is what being a human being means. The latter allows seeing the moral and spiritual progress of a human being as the primary aspect of interpreting what it means to be a human being with persona identity.

Works Cited

Onjefu, O. and Olalekan, A. “Human Communication as a Correlate of the Essence of Man: A Philosophical Perspective”. Arts and Social Sciences Journal, vol.7, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-4.

Trisel, Brooke A. “Human Extinction, Narrative Ending, and Meaning of Life”. Journal of the Philosophy of Life, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-22.

Ventegodt, Soren, Andersen Niels and Merrick Joav. “Quality of Life philosophy II: What Is a Human Being?” Scientific World Journal, vol. 3, 2003, pp. 1176-85.  

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Food Paths Project

Overall, the Food Paths Project allowed me to map out the path of a chicken salad from production to consumption. I was also able to identify the factors that influence this process and analyze the implications of it. More so, through the work on the Food Paths Project I was able to develop a better depth of knowledge on the Effective Communication, Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning learning outcomes.

The multiple strategies utilized in the process of doing this project demonstrated Effective Communication. For example, a chicken salad is a very broad meal with a lot of different ingredients. These ingredients have a lot of information on them online and in order to decide which information to include, I had to be aware of the context, audience and purpose the ingredients had on our project. For grilled chicken we decided to use Tyson chicken which narrowed down the information that was available. We ended up having to condense the information and give a brief presentation outlining the different components to our project. With that being said, making active choices and organizing my information allowed me to have a successful project and thus demonstrate my development in effective communication.

The multiple strategies utilized in the process of doing this project also demonstrated Critical Thinking. I think the most relevant example to this is through all of the mini assignments leading up to the project. Focusing on one component at a time allowed for more thinking to be done on one topic. Specifically, the assignment on breaking down the food labels of each ingredient was beneficial because it helped me to be able to interpret and evaluate information in order to ultimately develop a conclusion. In doing this for eggs, I stated how they have a specific way of grading and labelling the eggs to be either AA, A or B and the explanation and implication of each. In order to develop this conclusion, I had to decide which sources to use and make sure they were relevant to the project. Overall, I developed a presentation that took time to formulate and thus demonstrating my development in critical thinking.

Lastly, the multiple strategies utilized in the process of doing this project demonstrated Ethical Reasoning. For example, as I mentioned earlier, we used Tyson chicken and in doing so I was able to learn about the process of this chicken and how the chickens are raised. Personally, I felt that the chickens were treated horribly and that the ethical dilemmas of this situation were being overlooked. The process consists of chicks being sent to boiler farms where they are fed scientifically formulated foods to promote faster growing with less feed. Finally, they are slaughtered and feathers, heads, legs, etc. are removed to prepare chicken for sale. It is evident for this project we recognized ethical issues and thus demonstrated my development in Ethical Reasoning.

Through the Effective Communication, Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning learning outcomes, they can be directly applied to the Food Paths Project. Overall, the Food Paths Project was a good learning experience that was engaging and essentially got me interesting in looking into what I am eating outside of class.

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Amusement Parks Industry

Political

There are many political factors playing a role in the amusement and theme park industry. In 1964, the United States Department of Agriculture created the Animal Welfare Act which required companies that have animals in exhibits to treat them fairly. Many parks within this industry have some kind of live animal show or exhibit. Animals in these parks must be licensed and inspected by the USDA to assure the animals are being treated properly and taken care of (USDA, 1992, p. 14-15). Also, many animal activist groups have pushed for more extensive laws regarding the treatment of animals. While this has helped push parks into finding and implementing improved methods of training and handling the animals, these groups will continue to add pressure whenever something goes awry. Consequently, these groups have pushed for boycotts from customers when an instance of animal abuse is revealed. It is imperative in this industry to go above and beyond in regard to the law in order to keep business as usual.

Another factor that plagues the industry is property taxes. With hundreds of acres making up amusement parks, finding ways to get around these taxes and pay less can be a great challenge. Many lawsuits have been filed to challenge the tens of millions of dollars worth of property taxes. Some theme parks have attempted to work around these taxes by putting cows on unused land surrounding the parks to be able to classify the area as farm land. While this has worked in the past, taxes have risen to new heights. This has led to new lawsuits being filed with claims of unfair land evaluations and appraisals. As property taxes rise and parks continue developing land for new amusements, their evaluations will surely rise to new heights, which will decrease profitability (CBS, 2017).

Economic

Level of consumers’ disposable income has a massive impact on the Amusement and Theme Park Industry. As the population’s disposable income increases, people are more likely to go on family trips, participate in outdoor activities and spend more money in general. As the disposable income increases the Amusement park industry sees an upward trend in income. Same goes for the opposite, as the income goes down income for the parks decreases.

Labor costs also affect the amusement and theme park industry. The state of the local economy in which the park is located can have an effect on the amount of labor costs that parks incur to operate. For example, if the minimum wage is raised in the area of the parks operation, the parks labor costs would go up and it would negatively affect the operating cost of the park as well as its net income. Healthcare provided to amusement park employees has a big impact on labor cost which directly affects a net income of a company. In 2010 the Affordable Care Act was implemented. This act caused labor costs to significantly increase due to companies paying for more extensive healthcare for the employees. The act had a major impact on the economy, including the amusement and theme park industry. Also, because a lot of the work required of amusement park and leisure activity employees is seasonal and very simple to perform, many employees in this industry do not have extensive training in other areas outside of the tasks that they are asked to perform on a shift-by-shift basis.

Many companies within the amusement park industry have multiple long-term fixed assets, short term loans for payroll and . Interest rates play a major role in how they finance these various assets which are critical to their company. As interest rates rise companies pay more to their interest bills which lowers their profit margins. Same goes for the opposite. If interest rates decrease, the profit margins rise due to the lower interest bill. Often times these companies have short term loans for payroll. These loans have interest rates tacked on which directly affects the payroll and interest expense a company incurs, eventually affecting their net income.

Sociocultural

The amusement park and leisure activity industry is heavily influenced by a combination of several sociocultural factors. The social class and age distribution of the targeted consumer are the main drivers for the industry. Leisure activities typically see an increase when the economy is good and families are experiencing periods of financial stability or more disposable income, therefore spending more money on non-vital things like amusement park admission. Middle class families, typically with children somewhere between the ages of 10 to 19 years old, are the primary consumers that make up the majority of this segment. Other notable drivers are financially independent adults without children or with fewer financial responsibilities. This group typically has a higher disposable income and can afford amusement park tickets more frequently even in times of economic recession.

Labor in the amusement park industry can be a hard asset to fill. It can be difficult to find part time or seasonal employees for the seasons in which amusement parks operate. Not many people are willing to be a ride operator or concessions attendant in the blistering hot summer months. Amusement parks must provide some sort of incentives to attract and retain the right employees year after year. A primary source of employees are high school and college students home from school for the summer who want a typically low stress, less demanding job.

Another sociocultural driver that influences the amusement park and leisure activity industry is consumers and non-consumers attitudes toward animal and environmental conservation and the use of animals and undisturbed land for entertainment. There is a growing social movement of animal activists adopting the belief that animals should not be held in captivity or used for entertainment purposes. There is also a similar movement dealing with the use of land and the environment for new commercial ventures where many activists are against big companies buying and clearing land to build new facilities on. As these trends grow, amusement parks that feature animals in captivity or use animals for shows may see a decrease in ticket sales because many people may view these activities as unethical and will refuse to purchase tickets for admission.

Technological

Competitors are seeking new ways to develop and introduce technologies into their parks to give customers better experiences. Technology is constantly changing and improving, and taking advantage of different systems before other competitors do can create a competitive advantage. From virtual and augmented reality to artificial intelligence, the theme park industry is researching and exploring new avenues to attract customers to their parks. Also, the introduction of interactive displays and updated live shows give families reasons to come back. Presenting the same shows every year will get stale and give customers a reason to go somewhere else for their next vacation, while constantly updating technologies will help entice families to come year after year (Wyatt, 2019).

New technologies are also helping the design and development of new rides. Customers want higher and faster roller coasters, and innovation is the answer to supplying these rides while remaining safe. Providing new and exciting rides every few years that are unique to the company can help persuade families to go to one theme park over another.

The theme park industry also utilizes technology to obtain data from their customers. They are able to collect personally identifiable information such as credit card numbers and spending habits to be able to market and promote new products and attractions. “Big data” is finding its place in theme parks to track the customers to be able to better serve their needs and fulfill their wishes. These things can be tracked through theme park apps, credit cards, or wearable devices provided by the park. While some are concerned with these practices being creepy or invasive, the parks will continue to implement them to help their customers have an enjoyable time (Augur, 2016). 

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The Importance of Cleanliness

The mid-nineteenth century was a period of time where individuals started to become more aware of their health and overall well-being. During this time the public had no real prior knowledge of self-care and overall health, which eventually lead to many health fads. The overall concept of cleanliness had become a necessity in regards to addressing an individual’s health. Women were seen as the ones that were needed to take care of the families health and needed to be healthy so that they could live long enough to raise their families. Beecher believed that, “the person who decides what shall be the food and drink of the family[…] decides what shall be the health of the family.” (Beecher 94) The overarching concept of cleanliness started to include: exercise, food, bathing and taking care of their bodies.The access to doctors at this time was limited for most, even though medical knowledge was very limited. Individuals relied on these various aspects of this cleanliness fad in order to know if their body was in a healthy state.

Beecher believed that spending time outdoors in the fresh air prevented diseases and afforded your organs the ability to function properly. “Playing in the open air is very beneficial to children.” (Beecher 118) Since they could not see into their body and how their organs were functioning, getting fresh air was a way to show that your organs could filter the air properly, if not then diseases would begin to arise. Getting fresh air would be appealing to individuals during the mid-nineteenth century, since it allowed them to see their bodies functioning properly internally as well as externally. Through their skin getting tanner, taking even breaths or the perspiration, they can know that by examining the result of what’s happening externally that everything that is internal is functioning properly.

By joining a large group of people into a smaller and colder environment, Beecher believes that this will aid the human body in expelling the dirt within our pores. Between the cooler temperature of the room and the “excitement” of being around others, individuals’ heart rates increase and lead to them sweating. When the room begins to cool, their heart rate eventually slows down and their organs are able to carry out their necessary functions once again.

Personal hygiene and the upkeep of ones physical appearance had not become an everyday essential until the mid-nineteenth century. Beecher explains that bathing every day opens up the pores in the skin so that the dirt and bacteria can leave the body. There are many contaminants out in the world and by bathing once a day, your body does not get backed up with a layer of dirt over the skin. In addition to bathing once a day, it is necessary to change undergarments and clothing that touches the skin everyday. Clothes that touch the skin can trap heat and dirt, therefore by changing them everyday, individuals are able to continue with their personal hygiene regiment. Another aspect of personal hygiene that Beecher discusses is being able to brush your teeth twice a day. “Saliva contains tar-tar,” and if you do not brush often then that tartar builds up, which eventually would have to be removed by a dentist. (Beecher 122)

Food and exercise play a large role in health and Beecher states that the amount you eat should be equivalent to the amount of exercise you get per day. A majority of people eat excessive amounts when they are bored or have access to it, however with minimal exercise it can be detrimental to your health. “Three fourths of the women, in the wealthier circles, sit down to each meal without the feeling of hunger.” (Beecher 98) Although this is the case, women tend to eat just for the social aspect with their family and the fact that the food is present. Reducing the amount of meat that one ingests, or removing it all together, can prove to be a healthier and sufficient way to nourish children. Animals carry sickness and diseases, therefore if you were to only have meat once a day or none at all, you can lower the risk of being infected with various ailments.

These health fads that Beecher discusses in her book seem as if they would be common sense, however during the mid-nineteenth century the concept of health and taking care of oneself was brand new. Unlike modern citizens, these individuals lacked the ability to know if their body was healthy, therefore these fads caused reactions in the body that allowed for them to know everything was working properly. For children, these fads aided in the maturing of their bodies and minds, while starting health routines that could help them live longer. Individuals during this time were eager to learn and advance and through the cleanliness fad they are able to take a different approach to health. The cleanliness fad became more appealing apposed to others because it was all inclusive, which means people from various economic classes, ages, and weights can do these simple things in order to better their lives physically and mentally.

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Female Genital Mutilation Demands Assistance

Female Genital Mutilation is analyzed as a widespread issue that needs further recognition as a procedure that has no medical or religious justification. Legislation, enforcement, and additional measures must take place to fight for an end of the practice that has harmed over hundreds of girls and women. By allowing the practice to continue based on religion and/or social traditions, the risks remain the same in addition to maintaining the inequality and discrimination against females. The reader will start by learning and understanding the background of female genital mutilation, including its causes and effects. Following, the extent of the issue will be discussed to determine how big the problem is. The desire of international response would finally be discussed with the arguments opposing the international approach to follow with the conclusion.

BACKGROUND OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

The United Nations defines FGM as “all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.”The practice expanded and was exercised for centuries because of the fallacious argument that the procedure controls a woman’s sexuality. Additionally, based on cultural values and ethics, the procedure is also considered to enhance purity, modesty, and beauty. Four significant types of FGM have been classified as the following: clitoridectomy, excision, infibulation, and the fourth consisting of all the other harmful procedures such as piercing, pricking, or scraping the genital area. Clitoridectomy refers to the partial or whole removal of the clitoris. In addition to partially or completely removing the clitoris, excision also removes the labia minora. By creating a covering seal, infibulation narrows the vaginal opening by cutting and repositioning the labia minora or labia majora with or without removal of the clitoris. From infancy to young adult years, girls and women undergo the procedure by “traditional” and/or “professional” cuttors who use razor blades, scissors, or ceremonial knives. Regardless of the reasons and/or whom is conducting the procedure, the World Health Organization expresses that FGM has caused adverse results. The organization stated the following:

“FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and

women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women ...The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.”

Those who undergo FGM are subjected to health consequences, social consequences, and economic costs. If the main concern is to control a woman’s sexuality, then a primary concern may be health risks. The World Health Organization identified several immediate and long-term health risks following the FGM procedure. With the risks shown through the above chart, it becomes inevitable that the life of a female is in danger. Ultimately, FGM has no health benefits. Instead, it causes more harm for the girl and for the woman who at most times cannot deny the procedure to happen. By continuing and enforcing this practice, communities of women still remain discriminated and are subjected to the inequality that has violated their rights of life, health, security, and their own womanhood.

EXTENT OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

In 1996, the United States criminalized FGM within the states, in addition to banning the deportation of a girl to undergo the practice elsewhere. Unfortunately, there have still been cases among US cities, ranking New York with the highest number of incidents (Garsd, 2017). In 2012, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution, aiming to ban FGM worldwide. All UN members participated in the universal agreement, yet the political will of individual countries and/or communities to implement and enforce the law has been viewed as weak with rare prosecutions. Today, FGM has affected more than 200 million girls and women. It is essential to emphasize that this is not just an African problem. Although it had been predominantly practiced in Africa, the procedure has spread to many more countries including Yemen, Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan, Sudan, Egypt, Mali, and Guinea. However, various countries have expressed mixed thoughts about the continuation of FGM. In UNICEF’s 2013 study, they found the following results. In Gambia, 82% of girls and women who have undergone the procedure think the practice should continue, compared to 5% of girls and women who have not been cut. Whereas 41% of girls and women in Ethiopia, with no education, support the continuation of FMG, 5% of girls and women with secondary or higher education do not. Girls and women in Liberia, from the poorest households, are twice as likely to have experienced the procedure than those from the richest households. Additionally, 85% of boys and men think that FGM should be discontinued in Cameroon.

By looking over two decades, the chart demonstrates a decreased trend of prevalence in the percentage of women undergoing FGM. It is important to note that only the ages of 15 - 49 are considered throughout the chart; therefore, we are missing significant data from girls under the age of 15. While some countries show they may be committed to abandoning the procedure, others show little to no significant change, perhaps due to religion requirements and/or traditions. UNFPA (2018) states, “More than half of girls and women in four out of 14 countries where data is available saw FGM as a religious requirement.” However, UNFPA argues that despite it being a cultural tradition, “Culture and tradition provide a framework for human well-being, and cultural arguments cannot be used to condone violence against people, male or female.” Therefore, this is not an excuse for one not to change and adapt. To ensure safety from the hazards of certain practices, behavior should be changed; harmful procedures should and can be given up without necessarily disrespecting and/or abolishing meaningful aspects of a given culture or religion. Unfortunately, in some countries, FGM has increased in recent years promoting that the issue is challenging to completely abolish internationally, and thus may be in need of additional global responses.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

In order to ensure the protection of women and girls affected by FGM and enforcement of legislation, most governments have ratified international conventions and declarations since 1948 all the way up to recently. The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development articulates that violence against women is a widespread phenomenon. To better understand, it mentions, “In a number of countries, harmful practices meant to control women's sexuality have led to great suffering. Among them is the practice of female genital cutting, which is a violation of basic rights and a major lifelong risk to women's health.” The procedure does not just occur in one country. As previously discussed, the practice had expanded; therefore, the victims of FGM increased as well. More women suffered as they tried to honor their husbands’ desires. More young girls, including infants, suffered so that they would later be socially accepted. As a social norm, it is challenging for a state or country to fight against the human violation alone, especially when it is recognized and practiced worldwide. Additionally, we are focusing on females - a minority group that has been faced with discrimination and inequality for over decades. Men, in which as privileged individuals run most legislations, have to come to the same terms. Not only should they recognize that there is a problem, but they should speak and take action to attack it. Garsd (2017) claimed, “We cannot please someone else’s culture while we are harming a child. It is child abuse. It is happening to minors. It is happening to someone who doesn’t have self determination.” We can also argue that we cannot please someone else’s culture while we are harming a woman. It is human abuse. It is happening to women worldwide. It is happening to someone who hasn’t been honored the same rights as a man has been born to have. By seeking legal international help, we ask men for help. We ask the most powerful. By getting the most powerful to assist, we later see smaller institutions, communities, groups, and individuals advocate and take action. Although international responses may prioritize protection and empowerment of women and girls, there may still be criticism against ruling for an international approach (Bodenner, 2015). Some may argue that it is a woman’s decision to undergo the procedure in some communities. Others will argue that they are most positive that they have found or can find the most proficient, effective way to conduct the procedure without harming the individual. In many cases, the religious traditions or cultural reasoning behind the practice closes a consideration that the procedure may be harmful in the first place; thus, there is no need for international intervening.

CONCLUSION

Female genital mutilation has been practiced for several decades for various reasons including continuing honor, ensuring purity, approaching womanhood, and more. In major cases, the procedure is primarily done to control a female’s sexuality. FGM has caused more harm and illnesses than any good - if good at all. Not only are females subjected to the horrific effects of the procedure, but they continue to be denied human rights and face discrimination. Over 30 countries are involved. From very low prevalence countries to very high prevalence country, the issue of the matter is that it still takes place despite individuals’ desires to end the practice. To express complete disapproval, national legislation, in addition to international treaties and conventions, have been established. Although several countries have demonstrated a significant decrease in FGM procedures, there are still more countries who practice it today to continue their social norm.  

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Plate Tectonics and it’s Role

It’s been a few weeks since we began Science class and we’ve learned a lot of interesting things, and some of those things include, landforms that form at convergent boundaries, landforms that form at divergent boundaries, how convection currents work inside the earth, the theory of plate tectonics, and don’t even get me started on the process that adds new material to the ocean floor. And fun fact, very few people actually remember what they learn during the first few months of school. And that’s understandable. However, you need to understand that everything you learn in school is really important whether you realize it or not. And you might think, ‘Oh I’m never gonna need those things that very few people end up using after they graduate college!’ and yes, you’re probably right, however, learning these things not only gives you something really cool to break the ice with but it also matters to people around you. Being able to reflect on what you have learned over the years is really cool when you’re older.

Remember when we learned about convergent boundaries all those months ago? Well at those convergent boundaries multiple landforms form. Just people there are a lot that doesn’t mean that we’re about to explain all of them. Today we’re only going to explain two of them - and those two landforms happen to be mighty mountain ranges and volcanoes. Not all volcanoes are the same. The characteristics that identify the different types of volcanoes include their form, size, types of eruptions and even the type of lava flows they produce. However, how volcanoes form is going to knock your socks off! Volcanoes are formed when magma from within the Earth's upper mantle works its way to the surface. At the surface, it erupts to form lava flows and ash deposits. Over time as the volcano continues to erupt, it will get bigger and bigger And if you thought that was cool then you're going to find mountain characteristics even cooler. Mountains, however, have some different characteristics, and those include, they rise prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief. Mountains generally are understood to be larger than hills, but the term has no standardized geological meaning, but did you ever question how they actually form? I know I did, so let’s quickly explain that as well, movements of tectonic plates create volcanoes along the plate boundaries, which erupt and form mountains. A volcanic arc system is a series of volcanoes that form near a subduction zone where the crust of a sinking oceanic plate melts and drags water down with the subducting crust. That is how mountains and volcanoes form along convergent boundaries, and very few people actually remember about the opposite of convergent boundaries, which are

On the flip side, divergent boundaries also form landforms, and are you wondering what characteristics these landforms have since you forgot them? Well to be exact divergent boundaries actually end up forming, mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary. When the two plates pull apart, magma rises to fill the crack on each incline. As the magma pushes above the mantle, the pressure decreases and cools down the hot, molten rocks. Some characteristics for Mid-Ocean Ridges is, when the two plates pull apart, magma rises to fill the crack on each incline. As the magma pushes above the mantle, the pressure decreases and cools down the hot, molten rocks. Some characteristics of a rift valley are linear-shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges, and obviously, to understand this you need to understand what type of crust of diverging, and the type of crust that is diverging is, the magma also spreads outward, forming new ocean floor and new oceanic crust. When two continental plates diverge, a valley like a rift develops. In conclusion, divergent boundaries are cool, and you should pay more attention when people talk about them in class.

Now, remember when we learned about convection currents? Yeah, well do you remember anything about how they work inside the Earth? Neither do we, so today we’re going to explain it, not just for you but for us as well. Convection currents work in many different ways, one including, convection currents are the movement of fluid as a result of differential heating or convection. In the case of the Earth, convection currents refer to the motion of molten rock in the mantle as radioactive decay heats up magma, causing it to rise and driving the global scale flow of magma. Another way they work is actually quite interesting, the Earth is made out of a number of different layers, and though we live on the crust of the Earth there are miles of Earth beneath our feet. Yet most of the Earth beneath us isn’t solid, it is made out of semi-liquid molten rock that cycles and flows through convection currents in the mantle.

There’s also a thing called plate tectonics, and nobody ever remembers how they came to be! Now, of course, everything in Science started off with a theory, even the simpler things we take for granted; like gravity. That was once just a theory and people thought that ‘When things go up, they must come down’ was the dumbest statement, however, if that started off as a theory and it’s that simple then plate tectonics also started as a theory. Now, how to begin describing the theory of plate tectonics without sounding too geeky or smart? Well, the easiest way to begin is to tell you what the theory of plate tectonics states which is, it explains the formation, movement, and subduction of Earth’s plates. Another fun fact about plate tectonics is, plate tectonics is the geological theory that states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle. Although that sounds cool and all, plate tectonics get boring after like five seconds thus, we’re moving onto another subject, still science though, so if you're tired of it then I apologize, but too bad.

Now, for whatever reason whoever created this assignment decided to call seafloor spreading, description of the process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor, don’t be fooled by this insane fact. But today we’re going to explain how they actually work. The theory that ocean floor moves like conveyor belts, carrying continents along with them, is literally all that seafloor spreading explains. At the mid-ocean ridge, molten material rises from the mantle and erupts. The molten material then spreads out, pushing the older rock to both sides of the ridge. As the molten cools, it forms a strip of solid rock in the center of the ridge. Then more molten material flows into the crack. This material splits apart the strip of solid rock formed before, pushing it aside. Henceforth, even though we all forgot what they meant seafloor spreading is very important.

In conclusion, plate tectonics has many important layers, from landforms that form at convergent boundaries, to a description of the process that continually adds new material to the ocean floor, you should pay more attention during science class because what you learn is really, really important! Please, pay attention during science class because everything matters in the long run, and if you don’t pay attention then you're gonna regret it later in life, and if you regret it later in life you're gonna question why you never pay attention in eighth-grade science class.  

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The Discovery of Marie Cury

Through human history, war has always developed new technologies that are advancements outside of war. World War I and World War II were the most influential periods in human history in terms of technological improvement. When Marie Curie created the x-ray she created one of the most important recent medical advancements. When Lewis Nixon invented sonar he allowed submarines to have a system of navigation underwater. When Fritz Haber introduced poison gas to the world he brought warfare into the modern age. With the creation of penicillin, Alexander Fleming helped revolutionize medicine. Robert Watson innovating radar made it possible to detect objects in the air. The atomic bomb also brought warfare into the modern age and shaped modern international politics. There were many inventions created by scientists in World War I and World War II that impacted each war significantly, such as advances in health care, technology, and weaponry.

Marie Curie grew up in Warsaw in Russian occupied Poland. Marie Curie was an excellent student, but Marie faced some challenges that discourage her from studying. As a woman during the 19th century, it was difficult for her to get a education. Therefore, Marie enrolled in the Floating University, which was a secret institution that provided education to Polish youth, along with her sister. Marie had saved her money by working as a tutor. Then Marie eventually moved to Paris and earned both physics and mathematics degree. There Marie met her husband Pierre Curie, a French physicist, who ended up becoming her lab partner. In 1896, Marie discovered that uranium spontaneously emitted mysterious X-ray-like radiation that could interact with a photographic film. This discovery was very important because it meant that the strength of the radiation depended completely on the element's quantity and was not affected by physical or chemical changes.( Davis 1) This theory helped to disprove the Long-Standing Model of atoms as indivisible objects. In 1898, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie found two new elements polonium and radium by researching pitchblende. Before Marie Curie discovered x-rays, broken bones, the location of the bullets, and internal damage were treated by doctors best guess and less technological treatments. However, Marie changed the landscape of medical research and treatments when the world war I began. For example, Marie cured thousands of soldiers at a battlefront by starting mobile radiology units during World War I to examine radiation's effect on tumors and trained many doctors who were in charge of the treatment. X-Ray saved millions of soldiers life, because made it easier for the doctors to locate broken bones and to remove bullets from the soldiers’ bodies. Today, X-ray is used to kill cancer cells, broken bones, radiation therapy, airport security, and revealing counterfeit art.

The British used their submarines for patrols and support the surface fleet. In the other hand, the Germans used their submarines, u-boats, to attack the British merchant ships and battleships. U-boats clearly gave the Germans its one truly effective naval weapon during World War I. For instance, in September 1914, three British battleships were sunk by one German u-boat in one day. U-boats showed its murderous potential because the u-boats were able to sneak up on its target without being seen. These surprise raids displayed an illegal and diplomatic problem. Under international law at that time, an attacking warship of any side was first required to stop a merchant ship and inspect its cargo. If cargo was found to be assisting the enemy side then the attacker was expected to allow the merchant crew to leave their ship safely. Yet, the German u-boat commanders did not stop. Instead, the German u-boat commanders began to bend the rules, first by sinking merchant ships without warning than claiming that their targets were carrying military weapons. In addition, the Germans convinced the world that they were sticking to international law. (U-boats 1) The Allies were desperate to find a solution to stop the German u-boats. It was Lewis Nixon who designed the very first Sonar type listening device. This rescuer, Lewis Nixon, was born on April 7, 1861, in Leesburg, Virginia. Lewis Nixon graduated from the United States Naval Academy. Then went to the Royal Naval College to study naval architecture. There he started developing sonar, which is a method that is used to locate and identify objects underwater through sound waves. At first, sonar was created as a way of detecting icebergs. By 1918, Britain and the United States had developed sonar that could send signals out and receive sound signals back. To put sonar to the test Lewis attached sonar on a naval vessel. Fortunately, sonar was able to send 'ping' sound around its surroundings underwater and receive sound off the objects nearby. (Vergara 1)therefore, in World War I, sonar was used for finding U-boats and underwater mines.U-boats not only killed innocent traveling merchants but started the age of unrestricted warfare. Today sonar is used as a defense, Bathymetric Studies, Pipeline inspections, offshore wind turbines, detecting explosive dangers underwater, search and rescue missions, underwater communication. (CoreEL 1)

Fritz Haber, an undisputed genius, born on December 9, 1868, in Wroclaw, Poland. He was raised in a strict Jewish family. From an early age Haber was exceptionally good at the sciences, so he found his major in the field of physical chemistry. In 1913 with the help of a German chemist, Carl Bosh, Fritz created Haber-Bosch Process. Haber was appointed as the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical chemistry and electrochemistry in 1911. When the war started, Haber was recruited as the head of Germany's gas warfare division. Fritz dropped everything for this golden opportunity. Fritz created a gaseous compound to harm or kill human beings. Fritz initially came up with an acid substance called Xylyl bromide. However, Xylyl bromide froze too easily and was worthless in battles. Fritz then came up with a new substance called chlorine. (Stoltzenberg 75) Fritz's poison gas's first action, the first large-scale gas attack in military history, was on April 22, 1915, in Belgium. Germans attacked French, Canadian and Algerian troops with more than 150 tons of the poisonous gas. This battle gave Fritz confidence with his invention because the chlorine gas proved to be horribly effective resulting in more than 10,000 injuries and deaths. To be specific, many soldiers died in a painful way, because fluids built up in their lungs. Fritz other inventions included mustard gas and a gas mask. Mustard gas was more effective than the chlorine gas because it was heavy and could settle in the enemies' trenches. Inventing a gas mask for German troops was crucial because the allies started to use chemical weapons as well. In today's world, scientists use the Haber-Bosch Process as a fertilizer. Ammonia can be converted into nitric acid, a key ingredient for explosives, but it can also be made to produce fertilizer. Fritz Haber accidentally saved more lives than anyone in human history. What Fritz intended to be a deadly weapon, unexpectedly turn out to be one of the important discoveries ever being created. To be precise, half or nearly third of the world population depends on the Haber-Bosch Process fertilizer today. (IChemE 1)Fritz was rewarded with the Nobel prize for chemistry for improving the standards of agriculture and well-being of mankind in 1918.

In 1914 Europe was involved in bloody trench warfare where soldiers in all sides were attacked with automatic rifles, mustard gas, artillery fire, and various newly developed weapons. However, the biggest cause of death was infection. Countless wounded soldiers were on the field hospitals desperate for treatment. (Bradford 1) Inexperienced doctors and nurses were working day and night to fight against the inevitable death these young brave soldiers faced. These doctor's only defense was antiseptic, which was proved to be useless because the effects were the same to the patients as no treatment was used. Soldiers were extremely lucky to survive from even the slightest cuts or injuries from the battle. Alexander Fleming was soon to rescue the wounded from the battles. Fleming dedicated his life to understand in fighting against infections. Fleming was born in Ayrshire Scotland to a farming family. Fleming performed well at school. Fleming moved to London to attend the Royal Polytechnic School. Fleming ended up training in St. Mary's Hospital Medical School. Fleming became assistant bacteriologist and took up the research position under his professor in the immunology department. When the Brtish joined World War I.Fleming was forced to be sent to the front line treating wounded soldiers. When Fleming returned from his service, he began to study the effects of antiseptics. After Fleming returned from a month-long holiday, Fleming found a petri dish in his lab that all the bacteria had died where the mold was growing. Within a few months, Fleming managed to grow pure samples of the fungus and extracted a mold juice. This mold juice could kill off many various bacteria. (AFD and D of P 1)Penicillin, first antibiotic or bacterial killer, helped tremendously throughout World War II by saving millions of people. Flemings pioneered one of the most influential medical discoveries of the 20th-century.

The myth that “Einstein flunked at math” is not entirely accurate. Although,Albert had a learning disability, Albert had mastered calculus on his own by the age of fifteen. This genius, Albert Einstein, was born on 14 March 1879 in Ulm, Germany. Albert Einstein performed well at both his Swiss Polytechnic and at the Munich secondary school. But skipping classes to spend more time in the lab and showing little respect for his professors created a complex problem for his intended career path. Therefore, Albert had to settle for a job at the Swiss patent office with the help of a friend's father. Although Albert had to work six days a week, Albert still managed to make some time for physics. Albert discussed the latest work with a few close friends and publishing a couple of minor papers. In 1905 Albert Einstein published four extraordinary papers known as the Annus Mirabilis papers, each on a different topic such as time, mass, space, and energy, that was designed to completely change our understanding of the universe. (Rhodes 443) The last and fourth paper of the Annuus Mirabilis, Einstein implied that mass and energy, solid and the other ethereal, were actually equivalent. with this relationship, Einstein was able to formulate what was to become the most famous and consequential equation in history E=mc^2. The Relativity Theory,E=mc^2, helped to develop the atomic bomb known as the Manhattan project. Although Albert Einstein wrote a letter to warn that the use of the atomic bomb will bring a disastrous result, President Harry S. Truman believed that more lives will be lost if they attempted to invade Japan to surrender. Therefore, President Harry S. Truman ordered to use the new weapon, the atomic bomb, to bring the war to end the war faster. 'Truman has been told that an invasion of the Japanese mainland would cost 500,000 to 1 million American lives. The argument for the bomb is that it could shock Japan’s government into an unconditional surrender, which the U.S. government demands.'( Ramsey 1) The result of the atomic bomb was deadly just as Albert Einstein has predicted. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945 killed 200,000 people immediately and the long term effects resulted in more death. Some of the long term effects included, Leukemia, birth complication, Cataracts, and negative effects on the environment. The use of the atomic bomb ended the world war I, but started the cold war in return.

Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt was born on April 13, 1892, in Brechin, United Kingdom. Watson attended the University of St. Andrews.In the beginning, Watson started as a meteorologist working on devices for locating thunderstorms. Watson had learned that radio waves can be used to detect and locate aircraft. After months of experiments he invented radar also known as radio detection and ranging. Radar was used for both military and civilian purposes. (How the Brain Learns Best)

In conclusion, I believe that Marie Curie's invention, X-ray, had the most impact on the world. X-rays are used regularly for a variety of reasons daily. For instance, X-rays are used to remove cancer cells, broken bones, radiation treatment, airport safety, and exposing counterfeit art. Although Marie achieved many accomplishments her journey was not always smooth. Marie Curie had to deal with an invisible barrier, gender discrimination, that discouraged her from studying. Marie not only shocked the world with her creativity but also encouraged many other women to reach their dreams. For example, Marie won the Nobel prize for chemistry in1902 making Marie the first female Nobel Laureate, becoming the school's first female professor, in 1911 Marie won the Nobel Prize for chemistry becoming the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. For these reasons, I believe that Marie had the most influence both on and off the war. The outcome of Marie Curie, Lewis Nixon, Fritz Habor, Alexander Fleming, Robert Watson, and Albert Einstein's revolutionary research set the groundwork for our understanding of physics, chemistry, technology, medicine, and nuclear physics. Carl Sagan puts it like this “Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than the lives that have been lost in all the wars in history.” (Carl Sagan). Whether the result was for good or evil, all of these scientists' discoveries launched a new era, unearthing some 

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Harmful Effects of Pollution

One of the largest growing issues in the world today is air pollution. In 2013, 87% of the world’s population lived in areas that exceed the World Health Organizations air quality standards 2. There are many air pollution tracking programs that provide real-time air quality reports around the world. When viewing these you will notice Africa has barely any of these real-time tracking systems operating and in place, particularly not Sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 1). There are many know problems related to airborne pollution, primarily respiratory complications and disease, giving us cause to look deeper as to what problems might be present in the region.

When looking into the region, one finds that Nigeria has the highest emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants of any country on the continent (Figure 2). Majority of this is concentrated throughout the south of the country, around Warri and the Delta region, as well as Lagos, which is the 2nd most populous city in Africa. Focusing on these areas there have been many studies citing how contaminated the air is, where cities like Onitsha has been recorded to have an astounding 30 times more the WHO’s recommended level of PM10, a particulate size able to enter into the lungs 3.

These pollutants can be categorized in two broad categories, outside the home and inside the home pollution. Outside the home pollution consists of the pollution from petroleum rigs and extraction plants such as those common along the southern coast, and the fumes from traffic congestion that is present in Lagos and surrounding areas (Lagos has been documented as the most traffic congested city in the world on multiple occasions). In home pollution comes from a variety of in home tasks such as cooking with fire wood, using a generator to power cell phones/radios/laptops, burning kerosene at night for light or heating.

Looking at both categorizations, it is difficult to assess the individual effects of either and to entirely solve the pollution they both present. With that being said, oil control is a very politically motivated where without proper government reform it would be difficult to address (made more difficult in Nigeria, who is in constant contention as the most corrupt country in the world). In addition, traffic is an extremely difficult problem to solve due to the lack of infrastructure funding and present corruption. Thus, in this proposal we look to study and begin solving parts of the health detriments that arise from pollution coming within the home as it has been documented that many locals are concerned by the conditions present in these areas and report experiencing increased respiratory issues.

The biggest issues present is the lack of current literature on the health effects in Nigeria and much of Africa. There is a lack of continuous air quality monitoring despite an international effort in the 1990s to monitor air throughout the country, an initiative which failed due to a lack of maintenance for the meters, arising from a lack of money not being set aside and lack of expertise by local personnel for maintenance 4. There is still a lot of research that needs to be conducted to have a better knowledge on how to tackle this problem, specifically in regard to how to potentially alleviate local traffic which causes an extreme excess of fumes, and how to approach individuals understanding of the dangers of pollution. Later I will outline a brief set of steps taken and mention how these will be measured.

While only a few studies have looked into the direct relationship between daily ambient and personal black carbon particle concentrations, considering the large amounts of time are spent in the home, it is unsurprising that these two are presumed to bare important effects on a person’s health 5.

Although there is difficulty in pinpointing the exact effects of household pollution on an individual, we do know the effects of pollution on a person’s health as well, including specifically the effects of types of pollutants that are produced from various house hold activities typical of many Nigerian households. We know that poor indoor air quality with little pollution can contribute to the development of infections, lung cancer and chronic lung diseases including asthma 6. With burning of gasoline one produces Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs), which can cause severe throat irritation, eye irritation, lung irritation, nausea, and damage certain organs and the central nervous system. One of the suggested recommendations given by the American Lung Association is to keep buildings smoke free as possible, particularly if one is not cooking. Another problem with in residential wood burning are the threat is poses on lung health, causing severe coughs, asthma attacks, heart attacks, premature death and other effects. Wood-burning, along with kerosene burning, are one of the major sources for particle pollution and increases Carbon Dioxide levels significantly within a home affecting lung tissue repair(hypercapnia) 7. There are vulnerable individuals such as those with pre-existing lung problems, primarily the elderly, and children who are more susceptible to the harmful effects on an increase CO2 and Nitrogen Oxides 8.

These pollutants can be categorized in two categories, outside the home and inside the home pollution. Outside the home pollution consists of the pollution from petroleum rigs and extraction plants such as those common along the southern coast, and the fumes from traffic congestion that is present in Lagos and surrounding areas (Lagos has been documented as the most traffic congested city in the world on multiple occasions). In home pollution comes from a variety of in home tasks such as cooking with fire wood, using a generator to power cell phones/radios/laptops, burning kerosene at night for light or heating.

Looking at both categorizations, it is difficult to assess the individual effects of either and to entirely solve the pollution they both present. With that being said, oil control is a very politically motivated where without proper government reform it would be difficult to address (made more difficult in Nigeria, who is in constant contention as the most corrupt country in the world). In addition, traffic is an extremely difficult problem to solve due to the lack of infrastructure funding and present corruption. Thus, in this proposal we look to study and begin solving parts of the health detriments that arise from pollution coming within the home.

The biggest issues present is the lack of current literature on the health effects in Nigeria and much of Africa due to pollution, or even pollution tracking. There is a lack of continuous air quality monitoring despite an international effort in the 1990s to monitor air throughout the country, an initiative which failed due to a lack of maintenance for the meters, arising from a lack of money not being set aside and lack of expertise by local personnel for maintenance9.There is still a lot of research that needs to be conducted to have a better knowledge on how to tackle this problem, specifically in regard to the effects pollution have outside of just an individual’s health, how they affect the social and economic landscape of the individuals affected by these problems.

This issue is of uttermost importance, and the benefits that can be reaped by studying the effects of intervention on these individuals cannot be stressed enough as it is a rapidly increasing problem. There are numerous health effects associated with high level of pollution in the home, some of which were highlighted earlier regarding lung problems, cardiac complications, cancer and birth defects. Here I will highlight some methods this study intends to take to better understand and improve what individuals are going through. First, we must collect data to begin understanding the issue at hand in its entirety and in collecting this data it may be used to shed light on the abysmal state of air quality in most of Nigeria so others may engage in initiatives to help combat this or even to give grounds to serious policy measures to improve the situation at hand. The first part of this study will involve measuring air quality in Onitsha over a period of one year, to get an understanding on air quality during all times of the year, both in several outside locations as well as levels within several different households. Coupled with measuring the air quality in several homes, we will track the individual’s health who are living in their homes as well as those individuals who won’t be receiving measures intended to mitigate the pollutions effects. Additional to all this tracking, which can be conducted rather inexpensively, we will study how reducing the need to use pollution emitting equipment through solar powered appliances affects the health and general livelihood of the individual. This approach is being taken to have a dual effect on both the health of individuals endangered by high levels of pollution as well, as improving the economic and social wellbeing of participants. Current research from a variety of groups has found that individuals in Kenya and Uganda are reaping enormous economic and social benefits through these measures although the health impacts are unclear and have not been studied10. Although the approach isn’t solar power centered, in India there have been many other initiatives to replace current cook stoves, one of the primary causes of indoor pollution, with smoke-less cook stoves that have been found to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by 50% as well as reducing consumption of fire wood in certain villages by 40-55% according to the UNDP11. Combining the ideas of both in which each presents either a health or economic benefit, we are perusing this project on investigating if this form of in home pollution reduction is viable in Nigeria. There is little prior comparison for this initiative as it is new in Nigeria and has therefore not been studied in nearly any capacity. This project will open a door as the daily cost of solar panels when paid with an as-you-go model (the trial will not charge as it is a pilot and is focused on the effects) amount to an average of 43cents, which is about half the cost in other African countries of acquiring wood or kerosene. This will free a lot of time for individuals, give them greater economic freedom and most importantly will likely improve individual’s health.

Methods (Very short version):

The study will consist of 4 main parts taking place over the span of a year.

A) Track air pollution in and outside the home

B) Measure individual’s health, specifically as relates to potential pollution related problems

C) Provide solar power for individuals

D) Study economic freedom and social benefits from solar power in addition to changes in health and air quality

Part A will consist of using low cost air quality sensors, an emerging and highly effective method to measure air quality in more localized areas12. These sensors are highly effective and many are priced at under $2500, one of the most used and effective in field work as used by the UN Environmental Programe, the EPA is the TSI AirAssure-PM2.5 which costs $1000 and is regarded as one of the most durable air-sensors, as well as most importantly it is highly accurate at high levels of pollution and is able to measure relevant particle sizes (PM 1, 2.5, 10)13,14. In addition, this selection is made after careful analysis of a variety of different models under the $2500 for the most accurate results, referencing studies by the EPA and others14,15. We will purchase 41units, where 20 are to be used in homes receiving treatment, 10 in other control homes without solar energy, 10 used to monitor ambient air quality in strategic locations around Onitsha( such as major roads, community gathering areas and other), and one extra unit to account for potential damages or malfunctions.

Part B will consist of taking various measurements of an individual’s health as if checking for respiratory or cardiac disease at the beginning of the trial and once every week over the period of the year to see changes in condition. We will be measuring all individuals in a given household, the average size of a Nigerian household being five people16, meaning for 20 treated homes and 10 control homes we will monitor the health of about 150 individuals.

Part C will consist of distributing a series of low-cost solar equipment to 20 designated homes, where through a variety of units selected to mimic M-KOPA’s success in other countries are, the cash price falls between $5,500-6,900 per set. This set currently includes M-KOPA 6000 Control Unit, 24-32? Flat Screen Digital TV, 60W Solar Panel, TV Remote Control, TV Aerial, 2 x Solar Lights with high and low setting, 2 x Solar Tube Lights, Solar Rechargeable LED Torch, Solar Rechargeable Radio, 2 x Phone Charging Cables, 1 x 6m Solar Light Extension cable17. As part of this study, we will not be offering the TV and relevant materials such as remote an TV aerial, which we assume will likely lower the cost of one of these full cost bundles. With transportation of the units, which are already on the continent, we will estimate costs per bundle to be about $7000, which after buying 20units will give us a total of $140,000. It is to be known for this study the participants will not be charged although the model is based on a pay as you go subscription where near total access to electricity costs less than $1-$1.50 a day for 500days.

Part D will consist of monitoring changes in general activity such as length of time worked and how that affects house hold income, factoring the additional free time not used to collect wood, kerosene and other materials, as well as the amount saved if they were spending $1-$1.50. We will ask about weekly happiness, and track if it has significantly changed over time, as well as evaluate if there are changes in free time which participants deem as beneficial. Many of these will likely have some correlation to health but are also extremely important indicators of quality of life.

Budget will currently be under $500k after factoring wages of those involved, transportation, approval and other miscellaneous expenditures. With remaining budget we will try and service more trials in more homes if possible.

Overall, we hope to examine and monitor air quality within the home to see changes in individual’s physical health as well as economic well-being. At the WHO’s 2018 Annual Summit one of the key topics of conversation was pollution and the health problems associated with such. Representatives from different countries agreed that the first step was to begin setting up air quality measurements with which the data could be looked at to best determine which course of action would be most suitable to all individuals involved4. In this study, we hope to establish continued monitoring and release this data in hopes to grow this air quality monitoring to the rest of the world and other regions. We hope to provide economic freedom for individuals through improvements in health allowing them to live their daily lives to a fuller capacity as well as by removing the economic burden of dirty energy while looking at what realistic, cost effective methods would work in a larger population.

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How to Reduce Pollution

How can nanotechnology be used to reduce water pollution caused by coal in the United States?

Pollution is defined as the presence of or introduction into the environment of a substance or object that has toxic effects to the constituent biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors. This can be witnessed through “garbage patches” or large areas in the ocean littered with pollutants ranging from microplastics to abandoned commercial fishing nets. These pollutants can spread across hundreds of miles on the surface and into the depths of the ocean (NOAA, 2019) and can be detrimental to both animal and human health coming in the forms of air, water, sound, light pollution, etc.. Water pollution affects every single organism on this planet, whether it’s from the lack of clean drinking water or a famine, due to crops dying as they receive polluted water.

One of the leading causes of water pollution is the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. David R. Hodas (2007), a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Law at Williams College, defines the process of creating fossil fuels as, “Over tens of hundreds of years the dead plant and animals accumulated by the ecosystems ... is ‘cooked’ by the heat from the sedimentary pressure.” (Hodas, 2007, p. 599). This means that fossil fuels are relatively plentiful but not renewable and can be used in a plethora of ways, such as electricity and fuel. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2015), a collective scientific national academy of the US states that, “The United States gets 81% of its total energy from oil, coal, and natural gas, all of which are fossil fuels.” (NASEM, 2015). However, before these fuels are used, they need to be extracted from deep in the Earth’s crust and processed in refineries across the US and abroad.

The most common way to extract coal is through surface mining and mountaintop removal which is the safest way as death rates significantly decrease with the use of this mining versus traditional shaft mining. Mountaintop removal occurs through the use of explosives allowing the seams of coal to be scraped off and transported to refineries. Jon Gensler (2010), a native of southern West Virginia and a former officer in the US Army, explains, “I had returned home ... and ... was thrust into the reality of the modern coal industry and the wasteland created by mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.” (Gensler, 2010, p.64).

This destructed landscape is a signature part of the extraction of fossil fuels and researchers from Lund University (2011) try to prevent the problem that Jon Gensler depicts by researching the use of biofuels instead of fossil fuels. Biofuels can be made out of any plant material and generally burns cleaner reducing pollution caused by emissions and the extraction process. The yearly surplus of harvested crops can be used to produce this fuel with the leftover being used as feed for livestock (Bird, Zanchi, Pena, Havlik, & Frieden, 2011, p. 13-14). But, this is not possible as the industry surrounding fossil fuels, and especially coal, is very powerful and wouldn’t allow for these plans to be carried out. Xunpeng Shi (2006), a Principal Researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, states, “Coal contributes greatly to social and economic development. It triggered the industrial revolution and has driven industrialization in the past several centuries.” (Shi, 2006, p. 314). Due to this historical dependence, mentioned by Xunpeng Shi, on coal in the United States, the nation is still dependent on it as it is the source of energy for 62.7% of its electricity, as stated by the US National Library of Medicine (NIH 2017).

Rebecca Leber (2012), a reporter in Washington D.C. specializing in environmental and climate policy, discovered that coal companies have spent a total of over $66 million on lobbying in the government since 2011 and this number only increases through the years (Leber, 2012) which shows just how much power the industry has gained due to this historical dependence defined by Shi. This factor also makes it difficult to switch energy sources from coal to other renewable forms meaning pollution from the burning and extraction of coal increases every year. This pollution affects water supplies around the world because the extraction of coal means that deforestation must occur and this exposed soil can wash into nearby bodies of water as there are no roots to hold it together. This new sediment can increase turbidity, the degree of cloudiness, which decreases the amount of sunlight that can reach aquatic plants, preventing them from performing photosynthesis. This eventually decreases the concentration of dissolved oxygen to the point where marine life cannot survive because they cannot perform cellular respiration.

Another marine problem is the acidification of the oceans due to an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. A group of researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science headed by Elizabeth Mcleod (2013), studied these effects and found that the ocean absorbs around 93% of the carbon in the atmosphere and with increasing levels of CO2 being released every day, the amount of carbon in the ocean increases proportionately, causing acidification. The effects of this phenomena can be drastic as coral reefs need very specific conditions in order to thrive and as the oceans become more acidic and the average temperature of the planet rises, they are not able to survive leading to global bleaching or death of the reefs.

Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet and as they slowly diminish, so do marine populations. This has severe repercussions for humans as many countries’ citizens depend on fish from reefs as their staple food and only source of protein (Mcleod et al, 2013, p. 20-26). Nanotechnology pertains to machines engineered to perform tasks on a nano scale or 10-9 meters. Although nanotechnology is still in development, it is being researched and improved using the funding of millions of US dollars from the government, reflects Mihail Roco (2006), the founding chair of the US National Science and Technology Council subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (Roco, 2006, p. 39). Ilka Gehrke, Andreas Geiser, and Annette Somborn-Schulz (2015), professors at Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology in Germany, substantiate Roco’s summary with evidence of developed technology including descriptions of potential solutions to problems involving pollution, such as enzyme-functionalized micrometers that would remove CO2 from the water decreasing the acidity of the oceans (Gehrke, Geiser, Somborn-Schulz, 2015, p. 1).

Nanotech is often compared to carbon capturing and sequestration which is a method of capturing CO2 emissions and pumping them underground into the Earth’s crust in order to keep it out of the atmosphere. This technology is already available but quite expensive and difficult to use on a global scale to help reduce the emissions that oceans would absorb. This technology also wouldn’t be able to account for the pollution that is created during the extraction process and would only be able to reduce gases released during the refining process, making it a weak solution that would not be able to solve the entire problem. A simple solution for water pollution caused by fossil fuels is to use renewable sources of energy, such as wind or geothermal.

This would not only help reduce emissions and the CO2 in the atmosphere and water, but would also decrease the pollution caused by extraction. This could be done through converting old shaft mines into geothermal energy hotspots or old coal mining towns into wind energy towns. But, this is not possible as the economy in the US was created around coal and other fossil fuels that helped shape the country in the past, granting them the financial power to monopolize the market. This implication makes using nanotechnology to monitor and clean up pollution the best and most practical solution as it would create minimal pollution itself and would be relatively inexpensive as its use has already started to spread. 

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the 1982 Comparison

The 1982 film Blade Runner was inspired by Phillip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which illustrates a story where a man hunts androids that are hiding out on Earth. Although the premise of the movie stays consistent to that of the novel, it is easy to see why the film was just inspired by the novel and not based on the novel. In both stories, Rick Deckard begins to exhibit sympathy towards these replicants/androids he is tasked with killing. However, the movie and novel present Deckard’s empathy in vastly different approaches. The movie presents this empathy with Deckard struggling with self-identity, thinking he may be an android himself. While the novel depicts empathy as a main focus with introducing a religion called Mercerism and the love for his wife, neither of which are mentioned in the film.

In the film Deckard, who is trained to kill replicants, begins relating to the androids he meets. Now, in the film, it is common knowledge that this is not supposed to happen, almost impossible actually, for a human to have any feelings towards the replicants. However, Deckard begins to relate to the androids and thinking of them as being fairly similar to humans. He begins becoming familiar with the emotional feelings the replicants have and the satisfaction they experience from being alive. At one point in the film, Roy, a replicant Deckard is tasked with killing, saves Deckard from falling to his death. Roy then dies but it is important to note that Deckard did not kill him, Roy’s lifespan expires. That moment was very impactful for Deckard because he sees the humanity in Roy, a replicant. He was trained and taught they the replicants were evil and needed to be eliminated from society, but Roy’s very impactful act of saving Deckard’s life shows that the replicants do in fact have empathy for humans, thus making Deckard feel sympathy towards them. Deckard goes on to make himself take the Voight-test, a series of questions and analyzations that determine whether or not the taker is a replicant or human. Deckard passes the test in flying colors, it says he is definitely human. Yet, Deckard is still not convinced he is indeed human. This creates his empathy for the replicants and is another detail that alters his opinion on killing them.

The novel takes a very unique approach to illustrating the empathy Deckard begins to feel towards the androids. The novel introduces the religion Mercerism which emphasizes that all life is sacred and no one should harm one another. Deckard’s wife is a very strong believer of this religion while he is not; which is kind of a given for someone who is hired to kill. However, Deckard’s love for his wife is highlighted through the novel and is a main reason he even does what he does. His main purpose of even being a bounty hunter is to make his wife happy by replacing their electric sheep with a real goat, something that is very sought upon because animals are on the verge of being extinct. Therefore, it is shown that Deckard is not really doing the job just to kill, but to make his wife happy.

Unlike the film, Deckard in the novel is absolutely a human and he never questions his identity. However, when Deckard participates in the Voight-test, he discovers he is beginning to feel empathy for the androids. Deckard even eventually ends up having attractions to an android Rachael, where they are also involved in sexual actions. Another android, Pris, is discussed to be an identical looking replicant to Rachael and Deckard is tasked to kill her. Rachael knows this and feels empathy for Deckard, knowing he is having a hard time killing Pris because they look identical. Rachael goes on to tell Deckard that she would retire Pris. This means a lot to Deckard and shows how sympathetic androids are. Later into the novel, Deckard begins to grow a giant understanding for Mercerism, having religious visions and rethinking a lot of his decisions. He begins to understand that being human is similar to that if being an android; humans were created with no extra purpose than the machines they created.

In both stories, Deckard begins to show sympathy for the androids he is paid to retire because he begins to determine them as very human-like. However, both stories consider different approaches to the way Deckard has a change of heart. In the film, Deckard experiences first hand the humanity and sympathy the replicants have. He sees that they just want to live a normal life for as long as possible. While in the novel, Deckard goes on to understand his empathy for the androids by a religious vision he experiences and understanding that the purpose of their existence is no different than his.   

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Dred Scott V. Sandford’s Impact on History

The issues of the extension of slavery into western territories greatly contributed to the Civil War. The opposition between free and slaves' states was pretty intense and birthed the creation of new Compromises. In order to please both sides, popular sovereignty was granted to both parties. However, it only changed the already delicate situation between the North and South. Northerners were opposed slavery spreading, meanwhile southerners believed it to be a traditional way of life. An enslaved man named Dred Scott was born into slavery in Virgina. Many believe Scott has both negative and positive impacts in history. Some say he was a major influence on the Civil War, while other argue we was a turning point to the freedom of African Americans. The case decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford had many political and legal consequences and accomplishments.

Scott was at the forefront of national politics. He intended for his voice to be heard and would stop at nothing till his freedom was granted. However, he had many opposers to his case especially since he didn’t know how to read or write. A reporter on his case stated that African Americans were “...beings of an inferior order . . . unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations.” (Vaughn 2013) This was very unfortunate political officials did not consider them citizens regardless if they were free or a slave. Slaves were considered property and there was not much that could be done to change the minds of the people.

Luckily, Scott worked to spark a change and because of his effort many northerners seeked to become abolitionist. He was no foreigner to living in a free state as his owner took him to Wisconsin to live yet serve as a slave. This influenced him to sue for freedom. Many considered if this was a legit case or not. Former protestors said, “Dred Scott was not a citizen of Missouri within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, and not entitled as such to sue in its courts.” (Vaughn 2013) Scott had minimal political support in his case.

Based off the color of their skin, slaves were stripped off their rights. Unfortunately, it was illegal for a slave to be freed in a free state without the master's permission. If a slave is the property of a master, then they can be taken into any territory and held there in slavery. In the Supreme Court, it was deemed that Congress had no power to ban slavery from the territories. However, Scott refused to accept that and continued to challenge the legal aspects of slavery. Many believe that Dred Scott’s failed legal battle for freedom helped set the stage for the looming national struggle over slavery. (Phillips 2012)

Scott had no right to sue, but many were glad he did. This was a key contributor to the Civil War and may even be considered the first shot fired. However, Scott’s main motive for pursing this case was to uproot his family from slavery. He had a wife and two daughters, and each was born into slavery, but felt entitled to be a free citizen. Although it took a while to make the decision, he knew it would be what's best for his family. “The Scotts chose those that preserved their family stability and survival, even if doing so put off the ultimate decision to establish their freedom legally.” ( VanderVelde 2011)

Filing for freedom was not a popular activity. If a slave wanted to pursue a filing suit for freedom; it was not something that a slave did lightly. The petitioners seeking their freedom would always spend months or years waiting in jail. Researches state that at the same time, the courts were unwilling to free African Americans on their own recognizance while they were suing for freedom. (VanderVelde 2011) If this case slaves would be returned to their masters, that was troublesome because they would not be happy about being sued by their slaves. In many cases, some were placed in jail to wait for the disposition. In this sense, suing for freedom sometimes made their living circumstances worse.

Overall, the Justices ruled against Scott and did not support his freedom. Later, he was freed but died from tuberculosis. Scott was freed by an abolitionist who was appalled that his new wife owned slaves. Scott spent the rest of his short life in St. Louis and is highly spoken about in history classes all over the United States. The courage Dred Scott had set the standard for the freedom of African Americans made the 14th Amendment possible.    

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Changes in Life Depicted in who Moved my Cheese?

There are certain circumstances in life that can cause a change and there are different routes a person can take to adjust to it. For example, when a change occurs in someone's life, even more an unexpected change, some people will immediately adapt and make things happen, some will use an 'It's not fair' attitude and wait for something to happen. In the turmoil, some people may choose to seek opportunity and see change as a positive thing. The message in the book “who moved my cheese?” is clear about being ready to find new cheese because nothing in life is guaranteed or certain. It is up to the individual to make the decision on how to deal with it.

'Who Moved My Cheese?' is a book that talks about the changes in life, when and how one should react to it, and the troubles we can all find ourselves in if when we don't follow that change. This story is about four characters, two mice Sniff and Scurry, and two 'little people.' Hem and Haw. The character in the story lives in a maze chasing cheese. The cheese is symbolic to life and the changes that can happen in an instant and represent all that we chase after and what we all believe will make us happy. This story describes the trials and troubles we all have in our daily lives.

These Four characters searched for their cheese as a routine of their everyday life. Which always lead them to find what they were looking for. During this season in their life is when they were most comfortable and happy. Eventually, that changes when the cheese was moved to another location that was not part of their normal routine. For Sniff and Scurry, they immediately embraced their change and went to look for some cheese so that they could be once happy again.

On the other hand, the little people Haw and Hem were not as an adaptable to the change. In fact, they refused to accept it and chose to live in denial for a long time. Haw, a main character in the book decided that he needed confront his fears and go out into the unknown, while his friend, Hem, continued to deny t and stay fearful of the change that had taken place while Hem waited for his cheese to be returned. Haw had to make a choice and decided to move on and go look for new cheese as he started to get ready to leave and tried to persuade his friend to go with him.

Hem and Haw would go back and fourth before decided to make a move. Hem would say to his friend, 'You're not really going out into the Maze again, are you? “Why don't you just wait here with me until they put the Cheese back?' Eventually Hem understood that the cheese permanently changed and he believed that the cheese would not be put back in its original place and later due to this change he agreed that it's time to find New Cheese and that he knew had to approach it with positively.

Nothing in life is permanent except change. Change is in the very nature of our existence. When you think of philosophers like Buddha who believed that “Change is in the very nature of being and every new day is different from the previous day” it puts life in perspective on how things can change in an instant and there can be good and bad time. To some life is cruel and merciless and to others its good things that can come out of hard times. People who look at change as a bad thing usually are afraid of success and the unknown. They punish themselves in looking at the negative as the norm instead of looking at ‘light at the end of tunnel concept”. For example, when someone loses a job or gets laid off and then later starts a business. If this individual did not go through a bad like this then they might have not wanted to use their hardship to open their business.

Change can create success. For individual who sees good come out of a hard time also sees life as a challenge, a way to discover and innovate, a key for success and a gateway to wealth. No matter how hard things seemed to become these kinds of people find they persevering in darkest moments, they continue to move on, believing that the situation is the cause to succeed and get the most out of their lives. You achieve the utmost satisfaction and fulfillment if you are determined with all your mind, body and soul. On the flipside, life can be miserable if you take change and everything it brings for granted and or wait on fate to play itself out.

There are multiple reasons that propel us to call for change. First, change is the key component for an individual willing to acquire personal growth. Secondly, a person may want to change in order to acquire significant insights that will allow them to lead to a targeted objective. Thirdly, one may need to create change in their life for purpose of flexibility. This type of change allows one to become flexible in conforming to new challenges, circumstances that may occur in their life. Rather than acting out or being complacent an individual who embraces change is able to adapt aggressively to the new unexpected situations.

Change is equally important for any individual seeking improvements in their daily life. It can help improve relationships, finances and business or work. In absence of change, stagnation and complacency can occur and consequently improvement and personal development is inhibited. It is essential to utilize change and strength during these hopeless situations.

I experienced the biggest change in my life when I end my service to active duty in 2010 and decided to become a fulltime student and join the Army Reserve. This change was very drastic and scary for my family and I. At that time, I had no type of education with the exception of my GED. Prior to the military, I dropped out of high school when I was sixteen years old. I was one of those individuals who looked at life as merciless and cold and like Hem Haw was afraid of the unexpected

I always wanted to continue my education but was fearful of trying again and the change that would happen in myself. I would make numerous attempts but with no vision or plan. I allowed my poor choices as youth to control my life. As I started to excel in the military I knew I had to make a change and that it wouldn’t be easy. So I then decided to end my service, move back to New York and apply to LaGuardia Community College.

Going back to college was extremely hard for me at first. I had to change my whole lifestyle. At times I would feel insignificant, redundant and stressed when I was taking classes. I even felt like giving up at times. However, I knew there was no going back and I had to be determined and disciplined. Due to me determination and hard work, I graduated with a 3.0 GPA from LaGuardia Community, Received a good job working at the Bronx Veterans Hospital and I am currently attending my last semester at Metropolitan college of New york.

It is my opinion that my change created a better life for me. I couldn’t imagine where I would be if I didn’t decided to go back to school a few years ago. My life has been such a rollercoaster but the good and the bad made me stronger and change is now something I would never fear in fact I would fully embrace.   

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Hidden Figures Analysis

The book Hidden Figure echos the image of gender inequality and racial discrimination during the 1930s to 1960s in the U.S. It was written by Margot Lee Shetterly and published in 2016. The book portrays the lives of three female mathematicians: Katherin Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, along with Christine Darden, and how they all stood up against discriminations as African-American women.

Before significant contributions were made from the minorities during World War II, gender and racial discriminations were major issues. According to the book, the science field was heavily dominant by white males during the mid 1900s. This is because of the perception of gender roles during that time when women were expected to do house chores and take care of children. Based on studies, up to 80% thought that it was wrong for wives to go to work. Katherine Jonhson was forced to drop out of school because she was expected to start a family.

Dorothy Vaughan, though was persistent in pursuing her dream of getting a master degree in mathematics at Howard University, had no other choice but to stop as well so she could support her sister to go to college. Because of this perception, “United States still struggled to find a place for women and Negroes in its science workplace, and in society at large” during this era. A part of which contributed to this was because of the lack of of education women received, especially the African-American population. Lower education received results in lower income, “Black counterparts might earn 50 percent less” than white males. This is why they had to take on more than one job to be able to support their family. In the book, Dorothy Vaughan had to work in the military laundry so she could make enough to send her children to school.

Having so many jobs prevented women and other minorities from being able to afford the time and money to access education. “In 1940, just 2 percent of all black women earrned college degrees, and 60 percent of those women became teachers” proves the dominance of white males in the science field, as women with higher education were expected to become teachers. Any women who wished to chase after their dreams and career had to give up their future of getting married or else they would create conflicts with their partner within the household. This trend rather improved during World War II, where men were sent to war and job demand was high. Women and minorities had more job opportunities, however, it did not last long as men returned from the war.

Through the stories of the four African-American women in the book, the audience is taught that there were limitations for being born a certain gender or race during this time period in the U.S. It was long until black female mathematicians were welcomed to work, however there was still discrimination. This is portrayed through the fact that when black women were employed by white engineers, they were forced to work in segregated areas at the National Adviosry Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Areas showing clear discrimination includes “colored bathrooms” and “colored computers”, which the only things employees off color wwere allowed to use. As black mathematicians, these employees did not receive the credit they deserved. They would get double-checked on because others did not think as highly of their work as white men’s. It is significantly more difficultue for a woman of color to receive a promotion, even when they are more skilled than men. This is demonstrated through Dorothy Vaughan’s request for a promotino that was denied withouth any reasonable explanations.

After years of asking for a promotion, Dorothy Vaughan finally received what she deserved, “The idea of installing the first black manager in all of NACA’s expanding national empire caused them to demur, lest they stoke the racial anxieties among members of laboratory and in the town.” There was a bias towards male employees so women and minorities had to work many times harder to possibly receive similar treatments. Another instance of this inequality is shown through Katherine Johnson, when she entered a flight research division group and a white male got up instantly to stay far away from her. Along with that is Mary Jackson, who felt like she was being “demoted from professional mathematicians to a second-class human being” when her request of using the same bathroom with everyone else was rejected and laughed upon. At NACA, the attitude of “they were women after all” was very common.

The lives of the four African-American women in the book were clearly affected by the American Cold War. When Dorothy Vaughan was concerned about her position after World War II ended, President Eisenhower signed the treaty of The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) to encourage equality, securing her job. She remained at NASA and learned to program rocket launching herself. On the other side, Mary Jackson became NASA’s first black female engineer. On October 4, 157, NACA began its new chapter of researching on space travel, which created an opportunity for Katherin Johnson to showcase her talents in helping send an American Astronaut to outerspace. Women population in the science field and specifically in NACA increased tremendously, which led to NACA’s announcement of ending double standard regarding race that existed in the country at the time. Katherine Johnson was able to bring her career to a new level: calculating rocket trajectories into space, preparing space technology, building spacecrafts and figuring out the safety of each project. The Lunar Landing Mission Apollo 11 and USA’s first orbital flight of John Glenn were successful with her contributins.

My perception of the present days or my understanding of the 20th century history did not change after reading this book. Even when there is an increase in female corporate leaders and world leaders today, there are still parts of our society that believes women or minorities do not fit to certain jobs and create stereotypes about them. There are still unfair and mistreatments in the workplace. Eliminating bias and objectively leveraging people based on their skills to create a better world for mankind will take a much longer time than we expect. Nevertheless, women and minorities have contributed significantly to American economy. In my opinion, the stories of the four women are of unsung heroes. If not for their hard work and drive for a change, the USA's national ranking of science would not have been in top ten of the world.

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Inspirational Singer Selena Quintanilla Perez

Selena Quintanilla was a very famous singer she was called “mexican madonna” , and “queen of tejano music” her dad said he saw she had the voice to become a singer at the age of six. She was the lead singer in her family band at the age of ten.

She was born on April 16, 1971. Her dads name was Abraham Quintanilla, her mother's name was Marcella Samora, she had a sister named Suzette Quintanilla, she also had a brother named A.B. Quintanilla lll. Selena was the youngest child. She grew up speaking English but her dad taught her how to sing in spanish.Her dad took her out of school in 8th grade because she needed to be more functional with her schedule because she was becoming a famous singer and going on tours the teachers had thrented her dad to report him too texas board of education. She received high school diploma at 17 from American school of correspondence in chicago and was also accepted at louisiana state university.

Selena's sister Suzette found Chris and selena flirting right away told her dad her dad took Chris off the bus and told him his relationship with selena was over he then later on fired Chris and told Selena to go with Chris if she wanted to be together with him . In April,1992 she married Chris Perez even though her dad said he could ruin her image and did not approve their relationship but later on in the marriage he accepted it and learned to love his son in law. She was often criticized in the 1980s and was often refused bookings at venues across Texas for performing tejano music a male dominated music genre. She won the female vocalist award in 1987. She was also very active in her community and donated her time to civic causes.

I choose Selena as my person because she showed to not give up no matter what and to do what makes your happy. She died in Corpus Christi at the age of 23 March 31, 1995 from a homicide and sadly passed away from a ballistic trauma

right before she almost made it to the doors of the hotel to get help . She was buried at Corpus Christi . She was honored by a star on the Hollywood walk of fame November 3, Mayor Erie then proclaimed “Selena day” in Los Angeles, her life story became a movie. Selena's family and her former band, los Dino's held a tribute convert concert on April ,7, 2005 a week after the 10th anniversary of her death.          

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Hidden Figures Book

Known as the American Dream and boundless story of the black women who changed and helped win the space race, a book written by Margot Lee Shetterly. It was printed in the United States of America and published by HarperCollins, New York. At the same time, a hardcover edition was published in 2016 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Making reference to the author, Shetterly is a non-fiction writer, researcher and businesswoman born in 1969 in Hampton, an independent city of Virginia. She graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, after that she moved to New York and worked many years in investment banking at J.P Morgan and later on Merrill Lynch Bank of America Corporation. Posterior, she switched to the media industry and started working at Volume.com an HBO funded website.

It is very important to mention that Hidden Figures a number one New York Times Bestseller, is the one and only book that rocketed Margaret to fame in her writer career. Although that is her only published work, she has done other important things like founding The Human Computer Project in 2013, an undertaking that is recovering the names and achievements of all the women who worked in the areas of mathematics, computers and science at the NACA and NASA.

Making emphasize on the style of the book which is a narrative work; the author wrote it in third person and in the past tense. Furthermore, the main theme and ultimate goal of the writing is to show the world the importance women have, that their intelligence can be used to do amazing things in different areas of life. That women are necessary in this world. At the same time, it demonstrates how all of the characters were able to overpower the obstacles in their lives through suffering, perseverance and community backing. Since Margot grew up around scientists because her father was working with NASA, she knew where to find information in the different organizations. One of the major used sources was the Black Newspapers chronicled, primarily her father was her main source to write because he knew everything about women working at the NASA.

The intended audience of the book could be women specifically and people who are interested in knowing the story of how NASA was founded and the beginnings of the organization itself. People interested in knowing how they worked by the 1930’s and 1960’s. While reading the book it is very clear that there is a connection between it and history, as said before, the writing is non-fiction, therefore based on a real story. It talks about important topics like: equality, fairness, and inclusion. Also, the struggles for racial and gender justice at work specifically for women.

To sum up, I really enjoyed the book; it is interesting and I feel proud to know women made and are still making great changes in the labor world. I find it fascinating how the author portraits as a narrative the three stories and makes the reader feel everything those three women are. I would definitely read it again and makes me feel interested in knowing more about the NASA.

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Hidden Figures Film Analysis

Introduction

The movie industry has come a long way since its beginning in the 1890’s. New developments in equipments have emerged, genres have grown and expanded, and the industry makes billions each year with its films. Many things have been improved, including the portrayal of minority characters on screen. Equality with the actors themselves and the characters they have portrayed has been a defining feature. Going away from supporting roles and getting more and more lead parts, black actresses and actors are no longer being overlooked, like they had been in the past. Seeing the evolution in change from Birth of a Nation, to award winning films, like Hidden Figures, it is great to see how the industry has changed for the better. I chose to focus on this area because of a Ethnicity in Film class that I took and it is an area that I really enjoyed learning about. It is sad to think how people were treated in the past, and even with their contributions and accomplishments in movies were still overlooked because of the color of their skin. It is great to see the changes that have been made to allow these actors and actresses to be given the parts they deserved, and parts that are not offensive and are great role models for those who watch it.

Explanation of Communication Topic

Movies have come a long way in history and Hidden Figures is a great example of that. While having three, serious lead roles that portrayed by black actresses, it shows how far the industry has come. In Donald Bogle’s book, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, he discusses how black women in the 1980’s rarely had a chance to have role of importance. Instead of having any roles of sustenance, they were casted into flashy roles, such as “Tina Turner, in metal-meshed mini dress, as Aunty Entity in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985); [and] the young sex kitten, Lisa Bonet, used as the most exotic of tragic mulattoes in Alan Parker’s Angel Heart (1987)”(Bogle 263). These women were put into the same roles, just different variations for different movies. Any roles that any value to them were given to white actresses. Hidden Figures is a representation of history that did happen and this movie showcases the it. The movie made sure to focus on Katherine, Mary and Dorothy, not sidestepping them to whitewash the movie by focusing on the others involved like Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), or Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons).

There are many communication theories that could explain many aspects of why this racism used to exist in films. Muted Group Theory stood out the most during my research. Muted Group Theory talks about how since “language is man-made women remain reduced and excluded. Because words and norms have been created by men, women are disadvantaged in public. As women become less muted and more vocal, the dominant position of males in society will diminish.” (Communication Theories). In research done by Cheris Kramarae, discussing the theory, talks about how “people attached or assigned to subordinate groups may have a lot to say, but they tend to have relatively little power to say it without getting into a lot of trouble” (Kramarae). This theory is shown throughout multiple times in Hidden Figures with the “computers” and the working relationships between the men and the black women. I am looking into this theory specifically in how the group of black women in the movie were treated and the public disadvantages they faced during the time period.

Explanation of Media Object

In the movie, Muted Group Theory was shown a lot throughout the movie. It was mainly targeted to the black women, known as the computers, and the treatment they faced from their white male colleagues and even the white women as well. In a journal article, written by Miriam Lieway, discussed the racism and subsequently theory that was shown in the movie between Vivian Mitchell, the white female supervisor to the “computers,” a group of African American women computing calculations. She was the one that constantly turned down the application for any promotions for Dorothy and denied Mary’s application for more engineering training, repeating that is was just the way things were and that they should be happy that they even have these jobs. The article discussed how within the very sexist and racist workplace, Vivian went along with it like it was nothing. She managed the computers in a way that they were dispensable.. The article points this out in how she would speak of “NASA and rules, she used the pronouns we, us, our. When she referred to the Black women she used you or they. Even when asking for help, she could not overcome the mindset that Dorothy was the ‘other.’” (Leiway).

In this movie, there are also parts where the characters are shown breaking the Muted Group Theory to try to overcome the obstacles that are put in their way. There is a paper written by Danyelle T Ireland, and other colleagues on “how students in STEM fields who are members of intersecting marginalized groups have distinctive experiences related to their social identities, other psychological processes, and educational outcomes.” The paper looks into the lives of black and female students and their education. They looked into how the different racialized and gendered experiences influenced the educations that they received. In their analysis, they highlighted “the ways that researchers have employed intersectionality to make the experiences of Black women and girls in STEM education more visible, or ‘unhidden.’” (Ireland). Specifically with Mary, she faced the most discrimination with education, having to go to a judge to get special permission to attend classes at an all white school for graduate-level physics courses. Even though the judge did grant her permission, she had to attend only the night classes, being hidden by the darkness of night. She pushed through barriers to continue her education to land a job that she had a huge passion for and pushing through the gender and racial barriers that were put before her.

Conclusion

Hidden Figures is a contemporary film that shows the hardships of the civil rights movement and segregation in daily life and in the workplace. Katherine Goble (Johnson), Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, portrayed by Janelle Monáe, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer, are three woman who fought for their right to be heard in their jobs, working for NASA. During the movie, they have a chance to prove themselves worthy, as well as proving their coworkers that they are wrong about them and the importance of their contributions to put a man in to space. Normal moviegoers may not see all of the importance of this film. Some may see it as another form of entertainment, but it is a part of history that many had not known about beforehand. The cast is also diverse, with three black actresses as the top billed actor/actresses in the movie. This is valuable and shows how Hollywood is expanding in ways to make more diverse films that aren't just there for comedy, but is there to experience. It is not just the movies that have evolved since its creation, but the people who are involved with it as well. Socially as opinions changed, so did the movies. It is hard to not want to burn all of the horribly racist films from the past, but importantly is is what happened and these old films should not be forgotten, but seen as an example of what we should not return to. Author J. Emmett Winn discusses how “the representation of African Americans in these films within the socio-political context of their times” (Winn) and the changes that the United States government made on its view of racism in filmmaking. 

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Why do Black Lives Matter

In the City of Chicago, shootings appear to be at an unsurpassed high. The rising debate of the shootings of unarmed African Americans exists in the City of Chicago, yet many significant urban areas and metropolitan regions. Generally open examples incorporate the lethal shootings of Michael Brown of Ferguson, Trayvon Martin of Florida, and Philando Castile of Minneapolis. These and comparative examples have started a wealth of fights and clamor from individuals all through the country. The Black Lives Matter development was set off to alarm general society of the absence of significant worth for African American lives the country over. 

Subsequent to going to class with black hoodies and plastic fastens that said "BLACK LIVES MATTER" to point out shootings of unarmed African Americans, understudies Margery Washington and David Schultz were suspended from Homewood High School of District 299 in the City of Chicago. Their suspension would proceed until they got back to school in the legitimate uniform. They returned two days after the fact in the appropriate uniform and continued with their folks, to record a claim against District 299. 

As another Justice of the United States Supreme Court, I perceive this as not just an issue concerning the understudies' privileges and the United States Constitution yet additionally raises the subject of ethics and convictions. It is considered a right as a resident to intentionally have an assessment of an occasion that is influencing one's local area and friends and family. They hold the right of the right to speak freely of discourse as inhabitants of the United States of America under the First Amendment. Albeit this case can be contended on terms of ethical quality, as we are individuals, it must be chosen in court dependent on law and resolutions. Putting together reasoning with respect to everything except legitimate established and lawful investigation would be unlawful. I must remain as an impartial party. 

What should initially be inspected are the understudies' purposes behind suspension. They one, wore black hoodies with their hoods up and two, wore plastic fastens that said "BLACK LIVES MATTER" on the hoodies. We realize they wore them to show support, and can't really expect that they conflicted with the clothing standard of direct to dissent and get an emerging from the understudy body, educators, and authorities. There was no example of upheavals from the understudies, squeezing of perspectives, verbally expressed conference, or conduct that would be considered improper by educators and school authorities. The two understudies were not causing an upheaval, submitting demonstrations of viciousness, or making any unsettling influence, in contrast to the instance of Blackwell v. Issaquena County Board of Education, 1966 where the solicitors bothered understudies who didn't wear opportunity buttons. They didn't assemble, start or press anybody to pay attention to their perspectives or convictions yet basically utilized a type of visual imagery. 

In spite of the fact that educators and school authorities hold the position to authorize school and school locale rules and approaches, Justice not set in stone, "state government funded school specialists, in the release of their obligations, are not completely absolved from the prerequisites of the Fourteenth Amendment regarding the opportunities of articulation and affiliation" Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969. On account of secondary school understudies, Washington and Schultz, a similar decision ought to be applied as the 1969 legal dispute. On the off chance that understudies have rights however can't practice them while not causing a danger, hurt or on account of school participation: unsettling influence to the learning climate, then, at that point, those contradicting an understudies right are not really withstanding to the Bill of Rights inside the U.S. Constitution. 

I have gone to a last decision and trust Sophomores of Homewood High School, Margery Washington and David Schultz, are under no issue. The understudies practiced their involved protected right of the right to speak freely of discourse in a suitable way, calmly and with least unsettling influence as could be expected. I see the authorities of District 299 as liable of unfair suspension of both Washington and Schultz.

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Why do Black Lives Matter. (2021, Mar 26). Retrieved November 4, 2025 , from
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Effect that Spanking has on Kids

The article states that kids who have anxiety and depression as children have a high likelihood of these mental illnesses getting worse. This fact should be common knowledge and helps to show that ignoring an issue isn’t healthy. The article states that even 3 year olds can have mental illnesses like depression and anxiety although it’s extremely hard to detect. Few experts believed that depression and anxiety were things children could have. That is at least until the 1980s when some researchers found that children who were seven had these illnesses. Then in the 1990s it was found that kids as young as even three could have depression and anxiety. Nowadays it’s strange to think we ever believed a human younger than a certain age was said to not be able to have depression and anxiety. The illnesses do manifest differently in really young children, so it does make sense we never noticed it.

Young children can show the illnesses in things such as aggression, difficulty eating, or hyperactivity. Depression and anxiety can cause many physical symptoms such as either overeating or difficulty eating, insomnia or oversleeping, as well as major fatigue no matter the amount of sleep a person gets. Studies show that about 10-20% of preschooler suffer from these mental illnesses and about 2% suffer from suicidal thoughts. Although if the rates were more accurate the rates would most likely rise. Since these kids are often quiet their struggles are overlooked.

Studies show that depressed brains respond less to rewards than healthy brains. One scientist hooked up 78 kids to a brain monitor and found that 53 of those kids had depression. After finding which of the kids had depression the scientist tested a method of treatment for the depression by using a one way mirror to monitor the parent and child while communicating to the parent through a microphone. The treatment was designed to reduce the amount of guilt and shame that often accompany depression. The kids who did the treatment started doing better than the kids who didn’t, and the treated children also showed brain patterns more similarly to healthy children.

I’m super glad that people are researching this stuff and noticing these things. I’m pretty sure I had my mental health issues even as a child because I remember sobbing in a corner in my upstairs bathroom daily. When I was crying upstairs I always wondered what the point of life was. I questioned what it would be like to die when I was young. I really was in a bad spot back then when I was five or seven. I just thought those things were normal. I wish something like this was happening back then and I wish I could’ve been a part of it. Anxiety and Depression have been super rough on me during my life. It’s excruciatingly hard to get out of bed almost all the time because you don't get any good sleep. Every day, you wonder if everyone secretly hates you, you wonder what it would be like if you just disappeared from everyone’s lives. You usually assume that yes, everyone hate you they’re just too nice to tell you otherwise and you assume that no one’s lives would change if you were gone and maybe their lives would even be better. You hate yourself more than others hate you. 

I reached a point where I’m just numb to everything. I put on masks so often it feels normal. I know many people with mental illnesses, and they say the same thing. I’ve got a therapist so everything is better, but I wish I was able to catch this earlier instead of waiting until the brink of losing it and just… I bet you can guess. These memories are still kind of painful for me to remember, and I wish I could go back to younger me and say that everything would be alright just be patient. If I’m honest back in that place I was in I believed nothing would get better. When you’re in that dark of a place you feel helpless. You feel like you should just quit trying. Why try if it won’t get better, right? It was stupid. I’m fine now. Still not great, but I’m improving. I can feel things like joy again so I’m at least proud of myself for that. I still need to work on my self confidence. I also need to put less pressure on myself, but I’m trying. I feel really happy people are out there trying to help out those who can’t quite tell for themselves that something isn’t right. When you feel those things as a child, you just assume everyone feels the same way. Then you grow older, realize they don’t, and stress out over it. I’m proud in humanity for at least taking strides to realize that adults aren’t the only ones with these issues and that kids’ mental health is just as important.

Overall, I’m extremely proud in humanity for focusing on mental health and realising it’s a real thing to worry about. I know the technology we have for diagnosing young children isn’t great but it’s getting better. I hope we keep making strides towards a better future where children can get the help they need to feel like the best them they can be. 

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Effect That Spanking Has on Kids. (2021, Mar 26). Retrieved November 4, 2025 , from
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