Project management as imperative for business organization Essay

Project management as imperative for business organization - Essay Example Project management has been depicted as a finely developed and a well recognized and accepted domain of professional expertise and as a sphere for academic study geared at promoting improvements in a system (White and Fortune, 2002). It likewise presents a logical and an efficient methodology to all phases of a project by ascertaining that every move and every step is meticulously conceptualized, supervised, monitored and accounted for. At the outset, its application was intended for big organizations with intricate systems and processes; however, contemporary techniques of project management can be modified and tailored to suit the needs of the smaller firms (Baccarini, 1999). In essence, project management is not just a process or a method; it is really more of a "mindset," thus, it is imperative for business organization owners or those in the higher echelon of firm management to be receptive to its potentials toward progress before it can be initiated as a constructive and a valuable process within the organization. Definition/Principles As a concept, project management has been in existence for centuries with its casual use of the Chinese and Egyptians that led to remarkable undertakings like the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids. Nonetheless, as a contemporary phenomenon, it has gained so much attention, focus and acceptance in the Information Technology industry as rapid developments continue to flow (Fox 2004). In a treatise centering on the significant components of effective project management, it has been inferred that - "In any project situation, there is a client/customer who has a unique need which requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specification. The effective management processes of planning, monitoring and control are required to translate the idea of change into tangible deliverables" (Cicmil, 1997). As it is, project management is a novel process whose implementation has become a great necessity in today's competitive market. To endeavor the completion of any project entails several elements and obstructions, among them are client special requirements, project complexity, organizational restructuring and project risks (Kerzner, 2003). With a methodical procedure in place, obstructions can be explained and courses of actions and suitable measures can be taken to either prevent or overcome them. Some of the many potential benefits project management provides include (Kerzner 2003): Identification of functional responsibilities ensuring that all activities are accounted for; Identification of time limits for scheduling; Measurement of accomplishment against plans; Early identification of problems; and Improved estimating capability PMI (2000) supplied a straightforward description and characterization of the term which depicts it as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project requirements." As the concept of project management surfaces, three core stimuli are involved (Baccarini, 1999): 1. Complexity - refers to the mounting intricacies of responsibilities and the necessity for higher levels in the spheres of expertise 2. Change - deals with progressively active settings and the continuous presence of pressure within organizations and the execution of change due to global competition 3. Time - refers to the demands for responsibilities, assignments and objectives to be

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM CHANGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM CHANGE - Essay Example The advantage is in terms of faster communication and effective information processing, which all becomes possible when firms have diversified information management systems (Dupouet 2013, pp. 6-15). Theoretical View According to modern business theorists, modernisation has brought volatile environments for businesses. Such environments are trendy and hence demand change in the organisation systems. The ability to adjust to the change has become prerequisite (Nowduri 2010). Without modification the firms cannot progress or even survive in the globalised business order. According to Bate’s study in 1994, there are two levels of organisation change: incremental and transformational (Macredie et al. 2005). The incremental change is stage-wise and is based on minor modifications just as change of an information system, processes or structure. Transformational change is radical and depends on the level of incremental change achieved within the organisation system (Marco 2012, pp. 2 20-229). Changing the information setup is a part of the organisation change process and to implement it, there are several issues that organisations have to address (Clarke 2012, pp. 79-81). This report will bring insight into theMIS change process in terms of two organisational setups including NHS (National Health Service) and Amazon. This is to bring a clear viewpoint on information system change by having a practical example of organisations presently operating. Information System Change in Amazon DATA Amazon is a leader in electronic sales and retail works on electronic data and information (Matthews 2012). The company has acquired electronic modules to manage customer based data. The nature of data is electronic, for which Amazon administrators utilise the excessive content management process (Soderstrom 2012). The reliance is highly on e-commerce and electronic management systems where information is spread to appear for international customers and the market. Amazon being a true market seller has brought diversified data management systems (K Laundon & J Laundon 2012, pp. 4-20). To manage online service activities, the enterprise has deployed advanced communication networks. These activities include site management, communication, interaction, flexible merchandising and transaction processing, which all have become possible by Amazon’s online information management system (Gorman 2012). The enterprise works on self-deployed information systems, and also has acquired commercial licensed systems for extensive information processing. This is all to ensure effective data management and communication, which are essential features of Amazon as an international business organisation (Gorman 2012). The real and most apparent change brought by Amazon was its transition from a small business enterprise into a large data holding corporation. It was all because of modifications made on the information side and in the World Wide Web business. Keeping data o f million customers at one time were not possible if Amazon had not planned its e-commerce activity. To organise the e-commerce operation, Amazon deployed an international data management mechanism (Pratt & Adamski 2011, pp. 1-30). This managed data of millions of customers at one time of operation and at a single time of retrieval. All of this was done in short time and with a maximum coverage of benefits. The design

Online Education for Brake System

Online Education for Brake System How many students who use the hydraulic brake system in my class? Development of an E-Course for How many students who use the  Hydraulic brake systems? The lesson aims to provide an online course for brake system (hydraulic) for TTC students. The proposed course is designed based on the approach of research based learning. Proposed design of the circuit is supported by the theory. The data will be collected from TTC students. The study will conduct survey and design an online course study the lesson aims to provide an online course for Automotive for TTC students, a new design for hydraulic course. The proposed course is designed based on the approach of research-based learning/ the proposed design of the circuit is supported by the brake system theory. The data will be collected from TTC students. The study will conduct surveys and design an online course/ study designs a prototype of hydraulic and test its function by asking the experts. The target group of my lesson is Automotive group of TTC and Refrigeration Air Conditioning students. Students will fill out the survey and the results will be presented and discussed during the c lass time. The expected result is to provide a new learning course for refrigeration brake system Provide a new function, improving the performance, solving the problem of hydraulic . Abstract Vehicle, traffic accident investigation, hydraulic drive braking system, braking system condition, braking process, braking efficiency, master cylinder, caliper, brake pads, brake drum, wheel hub, pistons, brake hose. Hydraulic system is just one system from multiple systems, which is common between the cars. The hydraulic system is work by different ways and easy maintenance and spare parts cheap ways compared with air system or electromagnetic system.The Brake systems most important in vehicles, planes and even trains, the brake system is the main workers in the slow movement of the car and turn it off, if the driver is driving a car or any vehicle moving at high speed and the brake at same moment damage, most be a crash or may be injured and even die.After a lot of traffic accidents since the invention of the car, most companies seeking to drive the security of all, and most important things the companies sought after improving the brake system in terms of performance and responsiveness in case of emergency. Definition First of all, the brake system its use to slow the vehicle or stop it. Second, brake pedal its moves the piston in master cylinder. Then the piston moves the brake oil inside the brake hose. After that, the brake pads or shoes get force to friction with dick brake and slow the vehicle or stop. Finally, stoplight a rec color will be switch on because the driver pressure brake pedal. Types of brake system 1-Disc Brakes This type circular shape, which is installed on wheel, caliper is who holds the disc brake. Hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder is the main reason for the pressure on the caliper piston to the friction between the pads and brake disk. This causes to friction and then stopped the car or slow down. 2-Drum Brakes The drum brake comprise brake drum attached to the wheel, brake shoes wheel cylinder, brake return springs, and wheel cylinder. The drum brake its use it most in big cars like GMC because higher weight of the vehicle. The drum brake gets the force or hydraulic pressure from master cylinder, then the wheel cylinder push the brake shoes against the brake drum. Because this thing will be friction between the shoes and drum, and will become the car is slow or stop. 3-Emergency Brakes This type its separated from brake system, its old system. This system was working by hand. The way it works as follows, when brake system Hydraulic no work or happened something cusses nonstop the wheel, the driver pull the cable around it. The emergency brake used in emergency situation, in container the other brake system fail. This system has become one of the important things related to safety, most of the modern cars use the system (ABS), the system working on the brake surprise, he was working on the tires from slipping on wet roads and after the rains, this system work monitors each wheel separately, when the car slipping what to do this system? ABS mechanism with the service brakes to decrease stopping distance and increase control and constancy of the vehicle during hard braking. It is important for TTC students to know more about the advantage of E-Learning. E-learning is using multimedia (video, text audio, pictures) together in learning. Students can learn any time and any place without problem. E-learning solve the problem of distance for those living faraway of universities. It is important in terms of documentation. Students can have the learning materials whenever it is needed. At TTC there are some examples of e-Learning practices. One of these platform is Bzoor where students can learn, get connected and have learning materials. 1.1. Benefit: The benefit of this e-course is use it anytime and you dont have to bring any materials with you so I will focus to use e-course to present my topic phishing which are part for risks in technologies. The study of Bolsunovskaya (2013) so the aim of the report is to explain what is e-learning and is important especially for students. The result was the students have knowledge about e-learning as they can use as video, text audio, pictures in anytime and it is important because solve the problem that face some students with distance for who lives faraway from colleges. As previous studies mentioned the aim if this study is to provide a new course for improving the skills and knowledge of brake system (hydraulic)for TTC students, the idea here is to solve the problem of understanding of hydraulicrisks for TTC students. The current study is going to answer the question of: How many students who use the hydraulic brake system in my class? David E, 1992, HYDRAULIC BRAKE SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS FOR OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT Shenshen Shi, 2016, AUTOMOBILE BRAKE SYSTEM -D. Andrikova AT EL, 2016Design of flat wheel braking control system with three modes of motion: rolling, sliding, locking Bolsunovskaya (2013), Resource Efficiency in TPU: Implementation of English Language E-courses. -https://www.howacarworks.com/basics/how-the-braking-system-works -http://www.levintirecenter.com/types-of-brakes.html

A Piece Of My Heart (book) :: essays research papers

The "other" Vietnam Vets Everybody knows about the men who served in Vietnam. They have at least heard of the mentally trying conditions during the war and the resulting "post traumatic stress syndrome" (PTSD) so many veterans suffered from, or heard of the issues concerning negative public opinion of veterans for their role in a hated war. However, few are aware of the female role in the Vietnam War; women, the "other" veterans, shared in all of these problems and issues along with the gun-toting men. They were the nurses, and in A Piece of My Heart by Keith Walker the stories of many women are presented to better understand just how the Vietnam War affected women. Working in places like evacuation hospitals exposed women to the endless flow of casualties from the battlefield, and these experiences took major mental tolls upon the minds of the women who had to assist them, especially in their considerations for the value of human life. Women experienced other problems upon returning home such as the same PTSD and outlashes by anti-war protesters. Women were veterans of Vietnam just like the men, and they experienced many of the same problems as a result of their role there. Women were exposed to an enormous amount of pain while in Vietnam. As veteran Rose Sandecki said, "[The Vietnam] War really did a number on all of us, the women as well as the men" (20). Nurses in Vietnam were exposed to a nonstop flow of casualties from the field. The landing of a Chinook with mass casualties on board had become a standard to Christine Schneider, a nurse in Da Nang. Practically every nurse’s story described the hospital scenes in Vietnam as "busy." Jill Mishkel explained that she experienced a minimum of at least one death per day. As Ms. Schneider described, "There was just too much death" (46). Ms. Schneider also mentioned, "Everybody was bad" (45); nurses only saw the bad because they were surrounded by it, day in and day out. Charlotte Miller described everything as "on a very negative basis" (324), and that she had to deal with these problems from twelve to fifteen hours per day, twelve to fifteen days in a row, a very rigorous schedule. Further emotional damage was incurred by the severity of the injuries that the nurses had to deal with. Nurses described situations such as little boys with their intestines hanging out, men with half their faces blown off, men missing their legs from a grenade explosion, paraplegics, quadriplegics, and in one case pulling someone’s shoe off and having the foot come with it.

How is Gatsby introduced by Fitzgerald? Essay

Jay Gatsby is presented by Fitzgerald first in Chapter One during a fleeting encounter between the Narrator (Nick Carraway) and Gatsby. Whilst Nick is resting in his garden after a fatiguing evening with Tom and Daisy Buchanan, ‘fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow’ and this is later revealed to be Jay Gatsby’s very first presence in the novel. Although he does not have any dialogue with any other characters and nor has he interacted with any other characters at this point, the reader can gain some insight into what his personality may entail. For instance, the fact that he ‘emerged from the shadow’ may allude to the possibility that he may have had a dark history and that there is something enigmatic about him. It is not a clandestine that Jay Gatsby lives a life of luxury as he possesses ‘more than forty acres of lawn and garden’ and his home is initially referred to as ‘Gatsby’s mansion’, implying that it is of a more than generous size. Furthermore, he holds a party once a week at his home and invites everyone- including Nick. This gives us a further insight into what Jay Gatsby is like. The fact that he holds a party once a week could be due to him wanting to keep his social status amongst his peers at a high level whilst it also acts as a constant reminder of his power and raises the question of whether he enjoys people being reminded of his power or whether he feels the need to remind himself. Moreover, in preparation for his parties, he has been known to waste ‘five crates of oranges and lemons’ during the weekend and every Monday they leave through ‘his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves’. This is representative of the over-indulgence of the rich at the time and the fact that the wastage is taken out through the ‘back door’ resembles the era of prohibition in the 1920’s whereby many things were done in secret. This could show how Gatsby is attempting to keep his faà §ade of being ‘The Great Gatsby’ by trying to negate any bad qualities he may possess or any immoral actions that he may commit. In addition to this, during the party, ‘a tray of cocktails floated’ around and this reveals to the reader that Gatsby was evidently breaking the law by serving alcohol at his party in 1922 prohibition America. Also indicating that he has a very high level of influence to be able to hold a party with such a  large number of guests and not one of them doubts his motives for serving alcohol – which could be a ploy to attract more people to his parties. Likewise, the guests that attend his parties are little more than carbon copies of each other, where many woman appear to be wearing ‘yellow dresses’. This is symbolic of their attempt to be something that they are not and try to fit in and conform to society’s need to be in the elite or rather, living the American Dream. When the reader finally meets Jay Gatsby, they are already under the influence of many rumours regarding Gatsby that many minor characters mentioned, such as the fact that he is a ‘nephew of cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’ or that he ‘killed a man’. However, when we meet him through the eyes of Nick Carraway, he gives him a ‘rare smile with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life’. This almost makes the reader forget about everything that Fitzgerald had informed us of because it appears as if we have just met the real Gatsby. From this we can infer that he is a person who has gone through a lot but is at least genuine and despite what he may have done, he is still ‘The Great Gatsby’. From my point of view, it seems that F. Scott Fitzgerald had spent the most part of the beginning of the novel building up an image of Gatsby that was someone who inherited their wealth, had possibly killed someone and was ambiguous. But I believe that this was so that the reader could be shown how the other characters in the novel viewed Gatsby before giving him a chance, and when we finally meet him, we are able to get to know him and slowly build up our own image that I believe will completely contradict the beliefs that the other people in the novel share of Jay Gatsby and by doing this we are able to view the many perspectives that people have of him, allowing us to create a better informed judgment on the controversial character.

Nick Adams as Code Hero of in Our Time

Ernest Hemingway is noted for having made many contributions to the literary world and one of his most notorious contributions is the Code Hero. The birth and growth of the Code Hero can be easily observed simply by watching the growth and development of Nick Adams throughout Hemingway's writing. In Our Time contains a various assortment of Nick Adam stories at various stages of his life and also shows the Code Hero at various stages of its development. In Our Time was the second book Hemingway had published. His first contained only three short stories and ten poems and had little to do with the Code Hero, making In Our Time the first time Hemingway revealed the Code Hero to the rest of the world. The technique and characterization contained in In Our Time is consistent with most of Hemingway's later writings, setting up In Our Time as a model of Hemingway's style and the Code Hero According to Professor Paul Totah of St. Ignatius, Hemingway defined the Code Hero as â€Å"a man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful. The Code Hero measures himself by how well they handle the difficult situations that life throws at him. In the end the Code Hero will lose because we are all mortal, but the true measure is how a person faces death. The Code Hero is typically an individualist and free-willed. Although he believes in the ideals of courage and honor he has his own set of morals and pr inciples based on his beliefs in honor, courage and endurance. Qualities such as bravery, adventuresome and travel also define the Code Hero. A final trait of the Code Hero is his dislike of the dark. It symbolizes death and is a source of fear for him. The rite of manhood for the Code Hero is facing death. However, once he faces death bravely and becomes a man he must continue the struggle and constantly prove himself to retain his manhood (Totah). The Code Hero is present in the majority of Hemingway's novels. Even the young man in Hills Like White Elephants contained many of the characteristics of the Code Hero such as free-willed, individualist, and travel. The individualism comes out in his desire to not have a child. It would solidify the group aspect of a family between him and the lady. The travel trait is obvious by the mention of the stickers on the luggage denoting the many places they had been. His free will comes out also in his desire not to be a father. If he were a father he would have to begin making decisions for his child and family, not just for himself. The first Nick Adam story, Indian Camp shows Nick as a young boy and also shows Nick as he experiences the main characteristic of the Code Hero, facing death bravely. Nick's witnessing of the Indian's suicide introduces him to death for the first time. Instead of being frightened or sickened by the experience, Nick stays strong and asks his father questions about it instead. The fear of darkness is also touched upon in Indian Camp. When Nick first goes to the camp it is dark and he sits in the boat with his father's arm around him, providing a sense of security. When Nick leaves the camp it is light outside. Nick runs his hand through the water, which is described as warm and provides the sense of security that his father had to provide during the night. The light shining on the water and warmth that Nick feels is also mentioned along with Nick's thought that he would never die. Nick draws strength and sanctuary from the morning as opposed to the night before. Nick's feeling that he would never die shows this as an early stage in his development into a Code Hero. He has not accepted the inevitability of death, yet. The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife also shows Nick developing into the Code Hero, although in a very subtle way. Nick is only involved in the end of the story but the few sentences that Hemingway writes about him are enough to show development. Nick is described as sitting in the woods reading. This shows him as someone who enjoys the outdoors. From this it can be derived that he enjoys traveling. He doesn't like being tied down to civilization; he'd rather be out exploring and setting his own path. This shows the free will and individualism of Nick. The description of him reading shows that he's expanding his knowledge. It's unimportant what he's reading; it just shows that he's expanding his knowledge of the world. From this he will form his opinions and beliefs, helping him create his own value and belief system. His parents' contradicting religious views reinforce this. Since he does not have one religion exposed to him he has to examine both. From this he will pick and chose the ideals he believes in. The End of Something and The Three-Day Blow show the development of Nick's individualism. Although his age is not mentioned, it can be assumed he has passed through adolescence and is becoming a young man. He feels that his relationship with Marjorie is becoming too close. He is losing his individuality as they become more of a couple, although he doesn't realize it. All he knows it that the relationship wasn't fun any longer and it was over for some reason he didn't know. Bill articulates the reason when he describes what married life would have been like for Nick. Nick would have had to settle down and get a job and raise a family. Bill also points out that Nick would have been marrying her whole family, not just her. Nick would have no longer been an individual; he would have been part of a group. He also would have lost his free will. He would not have been able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He would have had to factor in the family into his decisions. Bill further points out that Marjorie's mother would have been around all the time telling them how to do things and act. Nick's desire to travel is illustrated when he thinks about how he and Marjorie had talked of going to Italy and all the places they would go and see. Another characteristic revealed is honor. Bill states that Nick did the right thing by breaking up with Marjorie now while she still has a chance to meet someone else and settle down with him. It is implied that by Nick stopping things he actually helped both of them avoid a life that would have made them miserable. In The Battler Hemingway has Nick face death for the first time since that day at the Indian camp as a young boy. Nick is older now and is becoming a young man. Although death is not openly visible in the story, Nick does face it in two ways. The first is symbolic in the fact that although it is dark outside, Nick walks up to the fire and the stranger and begins a conversation. Nick bravely faced death in this instance. He didn't let the fact that it was dark, he was not near anyone that could help him, or that he didn't know the man stop him. The other way Nick faced death was his encounter with Ad. Ad said he was going o give Nick a beating but a man that could snap in and out of reality the way Ad did could easily beat Nick to eath. Nick is aware that he is in a dangerous situation, but he remains calm and doesn't show cowardice. He slowly backs away from Ad while trying to talk him out of the fight. Although he backed away, he didn't turn and run or begin crying and begging for mercy. He recognized the fact that he couldn't win a fight against Ad and used his intelligence to try and find ano ther solution. The Battler also shows Nick as a traveler. He is train hoping his way from town to town. Cross-Country Snow again shows the travel aspect of the Code Hero. Nick talks of wanting t travel all over Switzerland and Europe to ski and mentions having traveled a lot in the United States. The story also shows Nick being unhappy about giving up his free will and individualism. He has a baby on the way and it will change everything. He knows he will have to return to the U. S. He says he is happy now that he will be a father but he still emits regret at not being able to ski anymore. This is symbolic of more than skiing, though. It symbolizes his regret at not being able to just bum around Europe or travel around the States. It symbolizes a loss of his free will. His decisions will no longer affect just him. This ties in with his loss of individualism. He now has a family to think about and provide for. He is part of a small group and not just an individual. Despite all this, he faces it bravely. He says he is happy to become a father. In this way he faces the death of his free will and individualism bravely. Big Two-Hearted River shows Nick as a man and also reveals that he has acquired many of the qualities of the Code Hero. He is out in the woods and camping along the river alone, depicting his individualism. His camping and fishing show his adventuresome personality. His reminiscing of other fishing trips at various places reveals his love of traveling. Nick is always respectful of nature and the river. There is an aspect of Nick's fear of the dark as well. When he speaks his voice sounds strange in the darkness and he doesn't speak again. Despite this fear he is brave and camps out alone near the river. By this point Nick has nearly matured into the full Code Hero and fully into a man. Chapter IV is the conclusion of the growth of the Code Hero and Nick Adams. Nick is in a war, most likely WWI. He has been shot and he is staring into the face of death. He is also smiling. In this short one paragraph sketch, Nick shows his bravery, courage and endurance to face an extremely difficult situation and face death. At this point Nick proves his manhood and shows the final evolution of the Code Hero. The fact that Nick is a soldier fighting in a war reinforces his bravery and courage. His survival during the war displays his ability to endure and persevere through tough situations. Although it is a collection of short stories, Hemingway's In Our Time presents his famous Code Hero in various stages of its development through the development of one of his most famous characters, Nick Adams. Characteristics such as bravery, courage, endurance, free will, individualism, a desire to travel, a fear of the darkness and the ability to face death and the difficulty of life are prevalent in Nick as he grows from a young boy in Indian Camp into a man in Chapter VI. The Nick Adams stories contained in In Our Time do a great job of showing Nick at various stages of his life and in various stages of his development into the Code Hero, making the book a model of the Code Hero.

Where to Buy Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate

Where to Buy Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate Copper sulfate pentahydrate (also known as copper sulphate pentahydrate or simply copper sulfate or copper sulphate) is the chemical used to grow bright blue copper sulfate crystals. Its easy to find online, but there are shipping restrictions to some locations, plus the weight of the chemical typically makes shipping comparable to the price of the chemical. Fortunately, copper sulfate is a useful chemical that you may be able to find in a store... if you know where to look. Stores That Sell Copper Sulfate I found copper sulfate at Home Depot as Zep Root Killer, which is labeled as copper sulfate pentahydrate and is sold with septic tank and drain cleaning chemicals (not with other garden root killers or with other plumbing chemicals). This product contains solid granules of copper sulfate. Its very easy to work with. If you wish to use it to grow crystals, dissolve it in hot water and then use a coffee filter to remove large impurities. Less commonly, you can find copper sulfate granules sold as an algicide for ponds. Ask for an algicide solid or powder and make certain the product is labeled as copper sulfate or copper sulfate pentahydrate. Its fairly easy to find copper sulfate solutions, but youll probably need to evaporate off some water to get the concentration you need.

Saint Hippolytus of Rome essays

Saint Hippolytus of Rome essays Hippolytus of Rome was one of the most prominent 3rd-century theologians in the Christian Church in Rome. He was born in 170 C.E. and died in 235 C.E. in Sardinia. Even though the exact place of his birth is unknown, it can be inferred that he was indeed probably born in Rome or is of Eastern descent. Hippolytus became a member of the Roman clergy and became a notable writer for the church. He was extremely talented in writing and learning, which won over the church easily. His intellect was known to exceed that of the bishops, who he refuted and showed no mercy. Hippolytus was one of the last Christian authors in Rome to write in Greek. He was often considered to be a student of Saint Irenaeus in Gaul since they both were passionate in heresy or difference of opinions. Especially since he wrote Kata pason haireseon elenkhos or The Refutation of all Heresies, it is regarded to as one of his chief works. The work consists of ten books in total. Books one through four describe the Greek philosophy, religion, and the variety of Gnosticism systems that arose from these pagan sources. In his last book he even provides a history of the Jewish chronology and explains orthodox Christian faith. Gnosticism was the important unorthodox movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit . He discouraged the easing of the penitential system which he thought was brought by the increase of pagan converts into the Church (New Catholic Encyclopedia). Hippolytus was an intellectual because he sought out heresies through enlightening himself. He focused on the Greco-Roman philosophers, magicians, astronomical tellers, and the mystery religion.' His studies of astronomy and astrolo...

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Automatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal commands. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands. When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements. This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman animals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson Riggs, 2007). The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it prom otes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin Chartrand, 2003). Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella Paus, 2000). In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are often used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition). Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observed hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, Prinz, 2000 ). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000). This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task instructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation. Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibility when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms. Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants. In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), participants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task). In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show t hat automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli. In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the same stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation. In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it is likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage. In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual. We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22. Â ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand action s and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at which one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background. For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96Â ° x 13. 33Â °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5Â ° x 13. 5Â °), closed (7. 0Â ° x 11. 2Â °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5Â ° to 7. 1Â ° x 2. 6Â ° to 3. 1Â °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘open’, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’. Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses). Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of approximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility. After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task). They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiprobable and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about here As predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli. The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing further confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions. These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 23 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p lt; . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p lt; . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p lt ; . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p lt; . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses. For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, within group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F lt; 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency. Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of actions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality. The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (199 6, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding. Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses. Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment, children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behav ior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation. These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Bekkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. R. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , Gallese, V. , Seitz, R. J. , Zilles, K. , Rizzolatti, G. , Freund, H. J. (2001). Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study. European Jour nal of Neuroscience, 13, 400-404. Charman, T. , Baron-Cohen, S. (1994). Another look at imitation in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 403-413. Darwin, C. (1989). Voyage of the Beagle. London: Penguin Books. 18 Actions speak louder than words Heyes, C. M. , Ray, E. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behavior, 29, 215–245. Heyes, C. M. , Bird, G. , Johnson, H. , Haggard, P. (2005). Experience modulates automatic imitation. Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 233-240. Kilner, J. M. , Paulignan, Y. , Blakemore, S. J. (2003). An interference effect of observed biological movement on action. Current Biology, 13, 522–525. Lakin, J. L. , Chartrand, T. L. (2003). Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , OMalley, C. , Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19 Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de lEducation, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1. RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions for the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23

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Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing - Essay Example Either way, each person needs to look at the facts and decide for themselves if the treatment is worthy or worthless. Understanding exactly what EMDR is and how it works is needed before being able to make an informed decision as to whether it works or not. Developed in 1989 by Francine Shapiro, the concept was that by focusing on a traumatic event while either refocusing on following an object causing eye movement, tapping, or touching an object over time would alleviate the stress and traumatic feelings associated with the memory (Kitchiner, Roberts, & Bisson, 2006). The eye movement was supposed to refocus the memory or desensitize it and reprocess with a new positive affirmation or memory (Devilly, 2005; Karatzias, Power, McGoldrick, Brown, Buchanan, Sharp, et al, 2007; Kitchiner et al, 2006; Lee, Taylor, & Drummond, 2006; Taylor, Thordarson, Fedoroff, Maxfield, Lovell, & Ogrodniczuk, 2003). Much research has been conducted in regard to this therapy and there seems to be no middle ground in the fall out of the results. People either believe the treatment works or not. Proponents of EDMR have conducted studies, both observational and empirical and have found that the rapid eye movement is an investigatory action which is known to help disassociate the patient from the traumatic memory.

Ethical Argument of The Omnivore's Dilemma Essay

Ethical Argument of The Omnivore's Dilemma - Essay Example k, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan has raised this issue as well, calling for an alternative to present day’s farming practices, when it comes to raising cattle for food. It is evident, that a change is, indeed, warranted, especially when it comes to the feedlot, and feeding of the cattle, because, as Pollan puts it, we â€Å"are what [we] eat eats too† (84). It would be, perhaps, best if we reverted to the old days of localized animal farming, where the cattle would be raised as close to their natural and evolutionary pattern as possible. The feedlots of today are not a modern inception; they came into being round about the time of the Second World War, when food had to be produced at a much cheaper and quicker way to feed the troops, while taking into account the lower number of men available for farming. While they were efficient for this purpose, they did not take into account the havoc the system may play on the various natural processes involved in cattle raising, both on the cattle and on the consumers thereof. First, animal farms were moved from main cities and cattle were displaced from â€Å"widely dispersed farms in places like Iowa to live in densely populated new animal cities† (Pollan 67), termed CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). This creates problems on its own, as now the cattle waste that was once used to fertilize the farm goes to waste and ends up polluting the environment. Though, as it would later be explained, the manure of the cattle on CAFOs is no longer so tenable either. The calves that are born into the present animal farms are allowed their natural diet of mother’s milk and grass for only six months, after which they are taken away to the CAFO, to be fed an unnatural diet of â€Å"corn, for no other reason than it offers the cheapest calories around† (Pollan 68). Corn is not a natural food for the cattle, which results in many health problems for them; their stomachs do not digest corn well. Marvels of evolution,

Comparison of the Marriage and Courtship of the Tuaregs and the Research Paper

Comparison of the Marriage and Courtship of the Tuaregs and the Americans - Research Paper Example The Tuareg can visit the girl of his choice whom he met at the abal and they may converse together but usually, they exchange jokes as a part of their dating, making the meeting an enjoyable one where they are both happy. The woman during the visit does her best to please the visiting man by doing him little favors like cooking the best food, mending the man’s clothes and playing the violin for her visitor. Dating to Americans is similar to this practice wherein men usually visit the women. Nevertheless, with the demands of the modern world, they usually dine out and the visitation lasts for just a few hours wherein the only favor given to the man is the food prepared, without the mending of clothes and playing the violin, not unless the woman has the skill and is requested to play. Food probably is the common denominator not only to the Tauregs and Americans but in all cultures in such an occasion where both parties get to know each other better. Communication to the American s is more open and not limited to joking, though dating is not without jokes thrown at each other and the partners are still nice to one another. Looking at the process of courtship the Tuareg’s undergo, it could be said they similarly accept dating as a pre-engagement practice (americanfamilytraditions.com). Tuaregs follow the same steps as the Americans do wherein after the dating process comes the proposal. To the former, proposal requires a lot of work for the man because he has to seek the approval of all of his close kin which according to Nicolaisen & Nicolaisen (723) not only include the parents but the siblings as well. The number of people needed to approve of the marriage proposal is not the one... Comparison of the Marriage and Courtship of the Tuaregs and the Americans Courtship to the Tuaregs is as exciting as that enjoyed by the Americans and yet, not of the same practice but of the thrill their different cultures bring along in the process. For the desert people, a practice called abal summons young single men to court young single women. Older men are not invited in the courting session but the occasion is strictly set for the younger generation to meet a probable future spouse. In this courtship, attractive girls are surrounded by young bachelors who show interest in a maiden and may sit with them for hours with some who just look at her while others attempt to chat with her or even touch her (Nicolaisen & Nicolaisen 722). Moreover, the men do not just attend the abal as they are, but have to use veil. Courtship to the Tuaregs is strictly observed and similarly considered important as with the Americans. The Americans, though have their own freedom to choose how they court. The heavily veiled Tuareg groom is led by a company of young men to the wedding tent where these are comparable to the American Groom’s men. Correspondingly, a group of women accompany the veiled Tuareg bride to the wedding tent in a slower speed than the men, also similar to the American Bride’s maids who assist the bride in the procession, keeping her looking beautiful and comfortable throughout the ceremony. After the procession, the Tuaregs complete the practice the following day but to the Americans, party would be over after the reception.

Ethical Argument of The Omnivore's Dilemma Essay

Ethical Argument of The Omnivore's Dilemma - Essay Example k, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan has raised this issue as well, calling for an alternative to present day’s farming practices, when it comes to raising cattle for food. It is evident, that a change is, indeed, warranted, especially when it comes to the feedlot, and feeding of the cattle, because, as Pollan puts it, we â€Å"are what [we] eat eats too† (84). It would be, perhaps, best if we reverted to the old days of localized animal farming, where the cattle would be raised as close to their natural and evolutionary pattern as possible. The feedlots of today are not a modern inception; they came into being round about the time of the Second World War, when food had to be produced at a much cheaper and quicker way to feed the troops, while taking into account the lower number of men available for farming. While they were efficient for this purpose, they did not take into account the havoc the system may play on the various natural processes involved in cattle raising, both on the cattle and on the consumers thereof. First, animal farms were moved from main cities and cattle were displaced from â€Å"widely dispersed farms in places like Iowa to live in densely populated new animal cities† (Pollan 67), termed CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). This creates problems on its own, as now the cattle waste that was once used to fertilize the farm goes to waste and ends up polluting the environment. Though, as it would later be explained, the manure of the cattle on CAFOs is no longer so tenable either. The calves that are born into the present animal farms are allowed their natural diet of mother’s milk and grass for only six months, after which they are taken away to the CAFO, to be fed an unnatural diet of â€Å"corn, for no other reason than it offers the cheapest calories around† (Pollan 68). Corn is not a natural food for the cattle, which results in many health problems for them; their stomachs do not digest corn well. Marvels of evolution,

Online Therapy Paper Essay Example for Free

Online Therapy Paper Essay This paper is related to an online therapy. This paper consists of the elements and contents of the information that is found on any online therapy website along with the information of the professionals that are involved in that therapy. The paper also outlines the way in which most of the communication relating online therapy. The paper will also highlight the policies and regulations that provide fundamentals to run an online therapy. The paper also comprehends the state regulation authority to observe and scrutinize online therapy. The paper will also present the information relative to the ethical and security issues like confidentiality along with informed consent. The paper will end up with a small discussion regarding the benefits and risks of the online therapy. The first selected website of online therapy that retrieved was www.lzcybershrink.com where the services are advertised by Elizabeth Zelvin. Elizabeth Zelvin is acknowledged as a licensed clinical social worker along with a psychotherapist. All services are provided by the single person that is her. Ms. Zelvin as retrieved from her biography holds 20 years of experience and was involved in a private service in New York State. Ms. Zelvin handled communication relating online therapy through implication of a chat room setting. This chat room provides opportunity to clients to arrange a schedule of treatment and appointment with Ms. Zelvin before actual arrival through employing email. The professional involved provide a password for her patients and start conversation through signing in at same time through online setting. The cost is offered based on  ½ hour, hour and email exchange. The cost of a 30 minute chat is set at $65 while a 60 min chat is priced at $100 while a single email exchange costs $45. The service accepts most of the online payment systems and credit cards but the payment have to be done before the actual schedule of therapy. The website also shows advertisements regarding the books and songs she has written along with the poetry. The website is whole relating the promotion content of the Ms. Zelvin. (Zelvin, 2009) The other website that was retrieved as an online therapy website is www.live-counselor.com. This website provides services of online therapy employing a chat room for communication purposes. The website involves 200 different professionals that are therapists, counselors, along with some social workers available. The website consists of live counselors who provide a mediating service to make connections of the clients with the  required therapist, counselors and the social workers. The site provides support with addictions, coping with crisis or physical conditions, eating disorders, parenting, personal development, personality and emotional disorders, and relationship issues. The service provided is charged per minute. The rates range from $1to $1.89. Registration of credit card is done before starting of conversation. Live-counselor is just a moderator and has not required setting appointments yet the clients may sign-in anytime their service provider is available. The profile of professionals shows a mark on them while they are online. The site does not have any other content besides service providers biographies, disclaimers in regard to not taking responsibility f or anything that occurs on the website, and the billing process. (Live-Counselor, 2009) The third website relating an online therapy was retrieved from www.serenityonlinetherapy.com. The website provides the information regarding the therapy via email or a chat-room set-up. The website centralizes on a single service provider that is Carl Benedict, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in the State of Maryland†. He got the experience of 12 years as therapist and provides services in mental health clinic along with a hospital. Mr. Benedict counts for a three years experience in online therapy. The price of chat is charged as $50 for 60 minute chat along with a discount offered as a package for the clients of online therapy. Many categories of articles are uploaded by Mr. Benedict regarding various issues clients might be experiencing like as, depression, childhood trauma, addiction, parenting, grief and loss, and duel diagnosis. The website also shows some inspirational poems along with some sayings to motivate the clients by Mr. Benedict. (Benedict, 2009) All states in the US, except California, license professional counselors. The state counsel or licensure boards administer the application processes and procedures that have been established by law in each state. The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) website lists the contact information for each states, except California, Board of Mental Health Practice. The website empowers and enables clients the ability to check the credentials of professionals who are offering online therapy and make an informed decision of whether or not to hire that particular professional. (NBCC, 2009) For the reason of advancement in technology and science there do arise some ethical and security issues. It is depicted that online therapy give rise to issues  like; security, which concerned that either online therapy is safe and effective, either there is chance that clients provide true information relative to the consent, along with the confirmation of clients and professionals as real who are involved in communication process while in chat rooms. All three websites retrieved for this paper provide disclaimers on them to make clients and professionals on safe side while online therapy like If you hav e serious thoughts of hurting yourself or others, dial 911 or if you have a chronic mental illness requiring intense treatment online therapy is not an option for you(Benedict, 2009). The three websites visited all use chat room settings for communication purposes. A password is provided to the client who registers himself by making payments through credit card. That specific password is then used by the client whenever he wants to sign in not only in chat room but also for the therapy session. The client has no way of knowing what type of security software or measures the online therapist is using to protect their personal information. Nothing guarantees that the client is who he or she claims; in a traditional setting the client and the therapist know who is present. Online therapy present some barriers regarding the options of making payment and the client is also going through a risk to pay for an online therapy session. All three websites involve a credit card payment which provides risks to clients in terms of leaking of their credit card and personal information because of providing information online. On other hand in physical setting the credit card is only swiped or the payments can be done through cash and cheques. The client holds every control regarding his personal information while in a physical office or clinical setting along with having every possible payment option for making payments. Some of the ethical issues also arise because of the technology advancements, like as is it ethical to provide online therapy when there no guarantees that the client and therapist say he or she is. In an office setting at least the client and the therapist can use ids to ensure identity. Online therapy does not require medical records; how is the therapist supposes to know the physical and mental health of a client? The therapist has to rely on self-disclosure which is taking a big risk on the therapists behalf. How can a therapist tell if the client is fully participating in therapy? In a traditional setting the therapist can rely on body language which is how most human communication is made. This part of  report presents some risks that are involved while involving oneself in online therapy. A traditional therapy session allows for a therapist to get a full picture of the clients well-being by having access to medical records and being able to read a clients body language. Another uncomfortable element with online therapy is because clients likes to know who is helping him, what he or she looks like for security reasons, and the inability to read body language is upsetting. Some benefits that are derived from online therapy in terms of clients are discussed in this part. An example of advantage is anonymity; this helps those clients who face some social difficulties in a traditional therapy setting and hence can find it advantageous to be in their comfort zone while at their own home. Clients having difficulties to approach a regular and dependable transportation can be benefited by the online therapy. This technology also facilitated those clients who lack the presence of any local therapist and thus can get the opportunity to find someone online for that help and assis tance. Online therapy is an alternative for clients and is the clients choice to decide what works best for him or her. After going through an in-depth study of the online therapy it is recommended that the client has to measure the both sides of the online therapy before deciding for himself what to implement. Individual needs vary from person to person so we cannot say what work best for whom. It is also depicted that the technology on one side is exciting as well as controversial at the same time. References Benedict, C. (2009). â€Å"Services†. Retrieved from: http://www.serenityonlinetherapy.com Live-Counselor. (2009). â€Å"Services†. Retrieved from: http://www.live-counselor.com The National Board for Certified Counselors(NBCC) . (2009). Retrieved from: http://www.nbcc.org. Zelvin, E. (2009). â€Å"Elizabeth Zelvin†. Retrieved from: http://www.lzcybershrink.com.

Ethics Of Hans Jonas Philosophy Essay

Ethics Of Hans Jonas Philosophy Essay Science and philosophy though are separate disciplines they co-exist with each other. Hans Jonas a prominent thinker not only has succeeded in bridging the gap of science and philosophy but also has taken science especially the Biology to the realm of philosophy. He has constructed Philosophical Biology. He is also known for his ethics of responsibility. As, one of the most prominent thinkers of 20th century, he has written on diverse topics such as the philosophy of biology, ethics, social philosophy, cosmology, and Jewish theology with a view to understand morality as the root of our moral responsibility to safeguard humanitys future. Jonass greatest work, The Phenomenon of Life sets forth a systematic and comprehensive philosophy of phenomenology and existentialism. In this paper I have tried to adumbrate his thought on life philosophy rather thematically with a special reference to Phenomenon of Life. I have also touched upon his most celebrated ethics of responsibility briefly f ollowed by my own reflections. 1. Life and Biography Hans Jonas was a well-known Jewish thinker, an early and influential biomedical ethicist, and an equally early and influential philosopher of technology. Jonas was born in 1904 in Monchengladbach, studied under Martin Heidegger at the University of Freiburg before Hitler came to power and Heidegger became chancellor of the university. He received his doctorate in 1928 from the University of Marburg. In 1933 he fled Germany and, in 1964, publicly repudiated Heidegger because of his Nazi connections. Jonas taught in Jerusalem and Canada before becoming a professor at the New School for Social Research in New York in 1955, where he was chair of the philosophy department (195763) and Johnson Professor of Philosophy (from 1966 until his retirement in 1976).  [1]  He Died in February, 1993 in New York. Jonass career is generally divided into three periods defined by the three works just mentioned, but in reverse order: studies of Gnosticism, studies of philosophical biology, and ethica l studies.  [2]  Jonass major works in English include:  The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God  and  the Beginnings of Christianity  (1958),  The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology  (1966), and  The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of Ethics for the Technological Age  (1979).  [3]   2. Philosophical Biology in The Phenomenon of Life The Phenomenon of Life is a collection of essays, written over a period of more than fifteen years. The book covers topics ranging from the metabolism of an amoeba to the meaning of immortality. There are discussions of Orphic religion, natural selection, gnosticism, DNA, ancient versus modern mathematics, cybernetics, the relative strengths and weaknesses of seeing, hearing, and tactile-feeling, the being of images, theory versus practice, the images of man and the image of God. In this book he critiques the fundamental assumptions underlying modern philosophy since Descartes, primarily dualism. Jonas is exactly right to argue that life does need a distinct ontological category, and that the neglect of life in the Cartesian dichotomy of matter and mind is an important element in the historical path that leads to modern nihilism.  [4]  The book deals with organic facts of life and self-interpretation of life in human being. The themes dealt are not only of organic world such as m etabolism, sentience, motility, emotion, perception, imagination, mind etc. but also moral and metaphysical themes.  [5]   In the preface of The Phenomenon of Life, Jonas identifies the work as an existential interpretation of the biological facts. This description is significant: Jonas would attempt to carry what was valuable in the existentialist approach forward to interpret an area that philosophers had long neglected: the world of facts about living things; about hunger, about nourishment, about growth and about death. The very proposition that philosophy ought to interpret facts demonstrates Jonass unorthodox orientation. For Jonas, the old division of labor between the natural sciences, on the one hand, which deal in facts about nature, and the humanities, on the other, which concern themselves with values and concepts salient to the mind or spirit-this old division of labor is precisely the problem that must be overcome in order to get nature right. 3. Life, Death and the Body of Being and Philosophical Aspects of Darwinism Jonas says that when human being began to interpret the nature of things he found life everywhere. It means the primitive man found life in everything. Jonas calls for the construction of a philosophy of nature as the Greek philosopher Aristotle did long ago. By this he means that every philosopher must return to fields or to the working land. In this context his questions are: What is the difference between a human being, alive, and a corpse? What is there in man besides chemicals that constitute the human body? Some might be quick to answer, a human being is not just a body; he has a soul. But what is meant by this? Is the soul something to be opposed to the body-a sort of spiritual substance that inhabits a body and lives out its own destiny apart from that body? This was neither Jonass view nor Aristotles before him.  [6]  The position of these philosophers is closer to that which Friedrich Nietzsche expressed with his usual eloquence when he wrote in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: Body am I, and soul so speaks a child.  [7]  And why should one not speak like children? But the awakened and knowing say: body am I entirely, and nothing else; and soul is only a word for something about the body. Nietzsche says that the soul is a word for something about the body, we have an idea what that something is-its mortality, its relationship to death. An easy but significant answer to the question what is a living thing? is this: A living thing is something that can and will die. Unlike non-living matter-including the nonliving matter that makes up living bodies-the whole living body has a provisional sort of being. When death arrives, the extinction of an existing thing occurs. What is clearly gone in death is the bodys organization. Extinction of organism equals loss of organization. When the organism is alive, first, it is not a static thing, like the organization of marble into a statue or of wood and iron into a hammer. It is rather, a never ceasing, ongoing pro cess. Biological science calls this process as metabolism. Jonas describes metabolism philosophically: In this remarkable mode of being, the material parts of which the organism consists at a given instant are to the penetrating observer only temporary, passing contents whose joint material identity does not coincide with the identity of the whole which they enter and leave, and which sustains its own identity by the very act of foreign matter passing through its spatial system, the living form. It is never the same materially and yet persists as its same self, by not remaining the same matter.  [8]  Aristotles thought that all living beings nourish themselves, struck the idea of the mode of being as discovered by Jonas. A living thing does not simply exist-it exists by being constantly active, constantly reaching out into the world to capture those material parts it needs to preserve itself. Out of these captured elements, the organism builds itself anew or generates the energy needed for this building. Plants employ roots and leaves, a nimals employ gills, lungs, teeth, stomach-and also, on the hunt, legs and arms, eyes and ears, attention and memory. As Jonas conceives it, life, from the most simple to the most complex, is active and purposeful.  [9]  Organism and environment together form a system which determines the basic concept of life. Jonas remarks that the triumph which materialism achieved in Darwinism contains the germ of its own overcoming. Though by proving Darwins evolutionism it seems that mans metaphysical status is reduced due to his animal descent, in the realm of life as a whole mans dignity is restored. If man was the relative of animals, then animals were the relatives of man, and in degrees bearers of that inwardness of which man, the most advanced of their kin, is conscious in himself.  [10]  But man remains distinct, because of self-consciousness. 4. Is God a Mathematician? The third essay in The Phenomenon of Life considers the meaning of metabolism using the quote of Sir James Jeans. Jonas notes that a living being is one that is never the same from one moment to the next perpetual self-renewal through process. James remarks, From the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.  [11]  Two questions can be asked on this statement: What does it mean and is it true? The question regarding the truth gives rise to another question namely, is the great architect of the universe is also the architect of amoeba. He must be both, or he is neither. For the amoeba is part of the universe and must be accountable for by its creative principle. The observation of James is the continuation of the long tradition from Platos Timaeus to Leibniz. Leibniz observes, Thus it is wonderfully made known to us how in the very origination of things a certain Divine mathematics or metaphysical mechanic s is employed and the determination of the greatest quantity takes place.  [12]  When God calculates and employs thought, the world is made.  [13]  Kepler deeply imbued with the Pythagorean faith in the mathematical essence of things and the consequent harmony in the world, said that God, too kind to remain idle, began to play the game of signatures, signing his likeness into the world, with the result that all nature and the graceful sky are symbolized in the art of geometry. Galileo believed that the great book of the universe is written in mathematical language, using symbols such as triangles, circles and other geometrical figures. Philosophy is written in the book of the universe.  [14]  The final answer to the question, Is God a Mathematician? is a distinct No. 5. Animal vs. Plants Jonas considers what differs from animal to plant i.e., motility, perception and emotion. The ability to move using the evidence of perception leads to the idea of freedom. Plants possess immediacy in life between environment and the organism; animals are more separated than this being required to treat the environment as different from them to some degree at least. For the animal the environment is always at a distance, but for plants the adjacent surroundings in one permanent context forms the environment. Motility, perception, and emotion make it possible for animals to have a genuine relation to a genuinely articulated world. These powers are, in fact, all manifestations of a common principle, tied to a common fact about animal life. The common fact is that the mobile animals live at greater distance from their relevant environments; thereforethe common principleanimal life is mediated life, animal life is rooted in the gap between subject and object, which gap is spanned by the distance-disclosing and distance-bridging powers of perception, locomotion, and appetite. Jonas argues, persuasively, that appetite is the heart of animality, prior to the more externally recognizable powers of perception and locomotion. Distance is requisite for desire, but it is desire which drives motion, guided by perception, to turn the over there into here and the not yet into now. It is desire which, while seeking to efface the spatial and temporal gaps, paradoxically, maintains the gaps (and the objects across them) as matters of interest, even as the gaps are spanned under its spur. Jonas concludes: The great secret of animal life lies precisely in the gap which it is able to maintain between immediate concern and mediate satisfaction.  [15]  Wakefulness and effort, want and fear, suffering and enjoyment give depth to the animal soul. 6. Cybernetics and Purpose According to cybernetics, society is communication network for the transmitting, exchanging, and pooling of information. Jonas analyses the ideas of cybernetics and some differences between machines and organisms noting that machines act by feedback mechanisms whereas organism is concerned in existing, this applies also to society where the cybernetic idea of information is empty. He draws out a crucial implication of the passionate nature of animal life. He shows the error in the efforts of cyberneticians and behaviorists to explain away the apparent goal-directed behavior of animals in terms of mechanical inputs and outputs and self-regulating feedback mechanisms. Exploiting the distinction between serving a purpose and having purpose, and using a marvelous example which compares a so-called self-steering torpedo and the same torpedo manned by a human pilot, he shows that all machine models of purposiveness fail because, unlike living things, machines are not creatures of need. It is the concern of life with its own continued existence that qualifies incoming data as messages, and then only if they are relevant to the organisms purpose; it is only such self-concern that energizes the active response as an action fit to the organic purpose. Concern, or, in the higher animals, desire, appetite, and emotion, is more basic than the outward-looking functions of perception and locomotion which it holds together. Animals, no less than man, are teleological beings; animals, no less than man, aim at their own good.  [16]   7. Image-making and the Freedom of Man Hans Jonas sheds light on philosophical anthropology where he shows the specific difference of human being in the animal kingdom. He deliberates on the properties of an object which determines the image. According to him the properties of image include:  [17]   1. The most obvious property is that of likeness. An image is an object that bears a plainly recognizable likeness to another object. 2. The likeness is produced with intent. It is not the natural resemblances like mirror images, shadows, and the like. 3. The likeness is not complete. It is not duplication. The incompleteness of the likeness must be perceptible. 4. The incompleteness of image-likeness includes omission and selection. 5. Incompleteness also involves dissimilarity and alteration of selected features. 6. The object of representation is visual shape. Vision grants the greatest freedom to the mediacy of representation. 7. The image is inactive and at rest, though it may depict movement and action. There is static presence because the represented, the representation, and the vehicle of representation are different strata in the ontological constitution of the image. The properties required in a subject for the making or beholding of images involve the ability to behold something as an image; and to behold something as an image and not merely as an object means also to be able to produce one. The requirement seems to be the ability to perceive the likeness. Animals perceive either sameness or otherness, but not both in one. Human persons have the apprehension of similitude. 8. Gnosticism, Existentialism and Nihilism The similarity and difference between two positions or movements of thought is: one is conceptual, sophisticated and eminently modern i.e., existentialism and another from misty past, mythological, crude i.e., Gnosticism. Jonas wrote on Gnosticism which was a widespread movement in late antiquity in the early era of Christianity. The Gnostics, often understood to be Christian heretics, held the view that the cosmos is a prison for the human soul; that the world is not Gods creation, but the work of lesser deities intent on keeping the soul imprisoned and apart from God; that all attachments between a human being and the world, his appetites, aspirations and conscience, are expressions of ignorance that must be overcome through true knowledge; and that this knowledge only comes as a gift from the savior beyond the world who can show the soul the way out.  [18]   The movement of modern knowledge called science has by a necessary complementarity eroded the foundations from which norms could be derived; it has destroyed the very idea of norm as such. To make his point fully emphatic, Jonas writes: Now we shiver in the nakedness of a nihilism, in which near-omnipotence is paired with near-emptiness, greatest capacity with knowing least for what ends to use it.  [19]   9. Heidegger and Theology This essay deals with how Martin Heidegger understands of Theology as interpreted by Jonas. Originally the Biblical word was equalized with the Greek logos. Philo Judaeus gives a reflection on Christian Theology through the etymology of the Biblical name Israel. It means He who sees God and Jacobs acquiring this name is said to represent the God-seekers progress from the stage of hearing to that of seeing, made possible by the miraculous conversion of ears into eyes. Philos views on knowing God rests on the Platonic supposition the truest relation to being is intuition, beholding. This eminence of sight gazed from the religious perspective enhances ones relation to God and also to the word of God. Philo quoting Exodus, All the people saw the voice (20: 18) comments: Highly significant, for human voice is to be heard, but Gods voice is in truth to be seen. Why? Because that which God speaks is not words but works, which the eye discriminates better than the ear (De Decalogo, 47).  [ 20]  After Philo the Christian Theology underwent a turn from the original hearing to the call of the living in other words the conversion of ears into eyes When we speak of Heidegger there is much secularized Christianity in his thought. The concepts like guilt, care, anxiety, call of conscience, resolution, authenticity-inauthenticity have a purely ontological meaning. Theology is also a primal thinking though it is derived from a revelation. But for Heidegger Revelation is self-unveiling of being. Heidegger adopts many Judeo-Christian vocabularies in his philosophy such as guilt and conscience and call and voice and hearing and response and mission and shepherd and revelation and thanksgiving etc. He says: Only from the truth of being can essence of the holy be thought. Only from the essence of the holy is the essence of deity to be thought. Only in the light in the essence of deity can that be thought and said which the word God should name.  [21]  Heideggers formulation c an be put in this way, philosophical thinking is to being as theological thinking is to the self-revealing God. Hence theology should be primal thinking concerning God.  [22]   10. Jonass Thought on Biology Organisms are, of course, as much a part of the physical universe as atoms and planets and cosmic nebulae. An organism is a whole and not just a collection of simpler parts. Nature is not a place of purposes but rather of bodies filling the void of empty space.  [23]  A living organism including human being-is a being that must always be at-work in order to stay the whole that it is. What Jonas adds to this account is an existentialist philosophers emphasis on the role of death. The existentialists, including Heidegger, think only about the consciousness of death, the anticipation of death that characterizes mankinds existence. But Jonas thought about death as a biological event. Mankind is not the only creature who walks in the valley of the shadow of death. All life is fragile and provisional; all life is wrested moment by moment from the threat of non-being. The key ontological divide is not between human beings and the rest of nature-it is between living nature and that which does not live and, so, cannot die. The essential feature of all life, then, is, first, the primacy of form over matter-the ontological persistence of an individual through material change-and, second, the purposeful action of the living individual to keep itself in being against the threat of non-being. The imputation of purpose to all life processes is perhaps the core of Jonass heresy. It is essential, for Jonas, those categories which modern philosophers and scientists have consistently applied only to mankind-purpose, intention, interest, care-should be seen as present throughout the organic world. To be alive is to exhibit an interest in continuing to be. Jonas formulates this at one point by saying that, through metabolism, life says yes to itself.  [24]  Jonas characterizes the essential property of all living things as a kind of freedom. Living things are free in that they exist independent of, though not apart from, their material.  [25]   11. The Imperative of Responsibility Jonas is best known for his neo-Kantian ethics of responsible caution in the face of the awesome power of modern technology, especially the power of modern biotechnology, including genetic engineering. He offers answer to the question what makes mankind unique?, Man is the only being known to us who can assume responsibility. The fact that he can assume it means that he is liable to it. This capacity for taking responsibility already signifies that human being is subject to its imperative: the ability itself brings moral obligation with it. But the capacity for taking responsibility, an ethical capacity, lies in mans ontological capability to choose knowingly and willingly between alterative actions. Responsibility, therefore, is complimentary to freedom; it is an acting subjects burden of freedom.  [26]  Jonas tells us: Responsibility exists with or without God and, naturally even more so, with or without an earthly court of justice. Responsibility is sown into the fabric of Bei ng. Jonas argues that it does and that we must learn how to think of the planet that sustains our being and the God-like nature that evolution has-wondrously and mysteriously-realized in our species as vulnerable things that must stay our hand and constrain our choices.  [27]  According to Jonas, we must consult our fears and not our hopes when understanding technological ventures that can have a potentially devastating impact on what it means to be human (and therefore ethical). The Imperative of Responsibility centres on social and ethical problems created by technology. Jonas insists that human survival depends on our efforts to care for our planet and its future. He formulated a new and distinctive supreme principle of morality: Act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life.  [28]  Francis Bacon states that nature can be commanded only by being obeyed.  [29]   Critical Remarks and Conclusion Hans Jonas, a pupil of Heidegger, departs from his mentors work and reaches out into the depths of the deeply thinking mans way of understanding The Phenomenon of Life . The philosophy of Jonas is more than challenging in this technological era. I found it relevant for many reasons. a. His division of living and non-living beings is a new thinking which goes beyond anthropocentric division of man and rest of nature. This new aspect brings in the terrain of plants and animals to human life. They are nothing less in terms of living beings. Only non-living beings have neither birth nor death. This thinking paves the way for new ethical imperatives, respect for life and deep ecological concerns. b. His application of philosophy to science especially to biology is relevant. He tries to interpret nature in a holistic sense which upholds the meaning to life, proper use of technology etc. He acknowledges that human existence cannot be grasped without acknowledging radically different kinds of relation. c. The philosophy of Hans Jonas found in The Phenomenon of Life is a hard reading and bit complicated to understand in a first attempt. But as one goes or digs deep there are gems of thought and concrete experiences. The life and thought is worth studying for a present student of philosophy. His philosophy is a clarion call to study and do philosophy as well. It places humans as responsible citizens of cosmos to safeguard nature and surroundings. Thanks to his thought.