To know oneself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

To know oneself - Essay Example The â€Å"know thyself† phrase by Socrates is engraved in the entrance of the Apollo temple at Delphi in order to illustrate the importance of knowing one’s self (qtd. in Hergenhahn 44-45). Socrates believes that the essence of something is necessary in order to understand an individual’s self. Essence for Socrates is a definition or a concept that is universally accepted and acknowledged. In relation to this, Rene Descartes believes that a person exist because he or she is thinking (qtd. in E. Paul, Miller, and J. Paul 76-79). Therefore, the ability for a person to think is the greatest manifestation of self and existence. Descartes strongly believes that the only manifestation of the self is the capacity to think. The universe that he believes in may be just a creative hallucination, but the fact that he thinks of hallucinating is a proof of his self and existence. Self, the ability to think, is not relatively related to the parts of a person’s body. Des cartes believes that self, so long as the brain functions, is present even without legs. Therefore, Descartes's argument can be put into simpler sense that a self, which is considered as the personal identity, is the same mind and body. This argument is the same with John Locke; he considers that consciousness, which is the ability to sense and perceive, is the ability of a person to think. He also suggests that no matter what type of body a person has, his or her self will always be the same all throughout his or her existence. The identity will always be the same no matter he or she changes a body. In this manner, a person’s understanding is formed through thinking. As latter stated, self exists because a person thinks, and when this happens, he or she perceives and is able to use his or her senses. Therefore, if a person thinks that he or she exists, then he or she is conscious and can understand. In the light of understanding, David Hume (qtd. in Traiger) and John Locke a ssume that it is consistent from the past to the present. Understanding through the person’s sense and perception is constant similar to one’s self. Immanuel Kant (qtd. in Kitcher) suggests that a person is rational and free if he or she is conscious of his or her self. This consciousness will allow an individual to identify the presence of things in the universe. A person can trust what he or she knows because he or she can identify the objects presented to him or her. The presence of self also opens the door of a person to be fully aware of the presence of things or the knowledge surrounds him or her. Therefore, self manifest knowledge and the presence of knowledge manifest the consistency of things that are known. It can then be inferred that the universal knowledge, truth, or facts that a person know can be trusted to be the universal knowledge, truth, or facts for others. Therefore, knowing and trusting one’s self and knowledge encompass the person’s ability to have a constant self. In summation, according to Descartes, a person’s essence is his or her ability to think. As the argument goes back to Socrates, knowing a person’s self is the ability to know the essence of him or her. Therefore, it can be concluded that once a person thinks, self is present. As a person thinks, the act of sensing his or her surrounding and the act of perceiving are also done. Thinking is simultaneous to the latter acts, which will bear knowledge to the self. For this reason, the knowledge

It is an article for my experimental economy class to summary Essay - 1

It is an article for my experimental economy class to summary - Essay Example Economists and none-economists students were selected for the study. The study was done in form of an experiment that required decision making within a period of about 30 minutes. It required the division of $10 in multiples of $0.50 between two people; a proposer and a responder. The proposer was to propose the division and the responder to decide if the division was acceptable or not. From the study conducted by Carter John and Irons Michael it is noted that economists generally accept less from others and keep more to themselves as compared to the none-economists. When another variable that helps to identify freshman economists and freshman non- economists was added, the freshman economists were still found to hold to the perspective of accepting less from others and keeping more. Therefore economists are born and not man-made. A third variable was also added to differentiate between the senior economists and the senior none-economists. This was meant to bring out any effects on the behavior of the economists as a result of learning economics. There were no clear learning effects realized from the experiment. Therefore, learning does not change the behavior of economists. The freshman economist and the senior economist all held the same perspective: They accept less and keep more to themselves (Carter and Irons 173). It was also realized that the choice of economics major students to major in economics was strongly related to their behavior. It was also found out that the economists were not only skilled in self interest calculation as facilitated by their deductive reasoning needed to recognize and decide on opportunities for economic gain. Economists are better at the type of thought processes that are related to rationality. They were able to give good figure of what a responder should accept and what a proposer should propose so as to maximize their monetary wealth keeping in mind that their partners

Math Anxiety Essay Example for Free

Math Anxiety Essay Math anxiety is a common attribute of many children and adults. It usually happens when a person is unprepared to be tested and when a student becomes frustrated from not knowing how to do mathematic operations. Students experience anxiety at different levels. For some, it may be a feeling of uneasiness and for others, it can consume them with feelings of a panic attack. For some people, just walking into a math class can start the math anxiety cycle. One might think that this only happens to students in public or private schools. However, even home-schooled students report that they have felt anxiety while studying math at home. Math anxiety can make a person feel as if they are paralyzed. A feeling of panic and paranoia can lead to a lack of confidence and a strong feeling of fear. A student sometimes begins to display passive behavior. The panic feeling discussed in the first paragraph is when the student feels helpless and cannot find a way to get rid of it. Paranoia is when the mind of the student tells the student that he/she will not be able to complete the math work – whether it is easy or difficult math work. Passive behavior is when the student feels as if he will never be able to understand math or feel any level of comfort when working with math. Therefore, students give up and then put forth no effort. But, probably the most common attribute of math anxiety is the lack of confidence a student feels when math is presented to him/her. When the student expects that he will never know the answer to the question, then he will probably spend most of his efforts in second guessing. Math anxiety is present in every classroom and every teacher wants to know how to get the â€Å"Math anxiety monster† out of the room. Once he is gone, math instruction can begin!

Murakami Harukis Norwegian Wood

Murakami Harukis Norwegian Wood Sex and Existence: A Third Choice of Human Existence in Murakami Harukis Norwegian Wood In Norwegian Wood, Murakami Haruki experiments to challenge the mainstream conceptions of sex, love and human existence, that he believes these three elements do not always coordinate with each other; and part of the reason why this novel is so celebrated even today is because it breaks what the media, the society, and the human instinct of being normal. Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life (25) is a famous quote from Norwegian Wood, and it provides a third perception of understanding life and death; similarly, a significant part of the novel discusses the relationship between love and sex, which Murakami sets different characters to perform a third way of human existence with different perspectives. To begin with, the best way to understand Norwegian Wood, is to not consider it as a romantic or teen novel, which normally conveys the idea that love conquers all (Hall Mar.16th); instead, treat it as an analytical novel which discusses the relationship among love, sex and human existence. The biggest reason that Murakami sets the main characters at young ages, such as sets Kizuki at his seventeen (and forever remains seventeen), Naoko at her twenty (and forever remains twenty), and Toru together with Midori at their twenties, is because that for post-pubertal young people, their bodies are mature enough to explore sexual world, but their minds are still not fully corrupted by the harshness outside school life, so that they have the ability to learn how to love by their bodies, yet appreciate love by their pure hearts. Naoko and Midori are two intriguing female characters in Norwegian Wood. Both characters are somehow abnormal, such as Naokos psychological anxiety towards sex, and Midoris unusual behaviour of standing naked in front of her fathers portrait. These behaviours are certainly not seen as standard code of conduct. In order to understand Naoko and Midoris abnormalities, it is important to analyze these two girls contrary views towards sex, life and human existence. In traditional romantic literature, the common plot is that the hero and heroine together overcome many obstacles, and live happily ever after. Since after so many difficulties they have been through, the ending usually ends with them having a blessed life to death for sure, and it is assumed that their sex life will be harmonious as well. However, it is not the case in Norwegian Wood. Naoko has difficulties to have a penetrative sex with her lover Kizuki, but she succeeds in doing it with Toru, though it is the first and the o nly time she gets sexually aroused. Moreover, the reason for Naokos suicide also needs to be noticed, although the reason is made implicit in the novel. However, it is certain that Naoko does not die for love. During the twenty years of Naokos life, she encounters two deaths of her loved ones. The first one is her sisters death. Naokos sister commits suicide at the age of seventeen, and Naoko as an eleven years old child witnesses her sisters dead body. Then six years later, Naokos beloved Kizuki ends his life in the same way, by committing suicide. These two deaths strike Naoko drastically, but not fatally. She manages to get into the college, although avoiding talking about the past when she meets Toru a year after Kizukis death, it is too assertive to conclude Naokos suicide as to either follow her true love, or merely disappointed with the world. There are not many evidences of which event triggers Naoko to commit suicide, but it is for sure that her only climax gives her both t he hope to carry on life, yet in the same time destructs this hope to live. The biggest fear of Naoko is her inability to perform sex with her lover as normal people do. Naoko constantly talks about that night on her twentieth birthday, and keeps question her inability to sex. This once in life sexual experience to Naoko is not only a natural physiological behaviour, but also contains the meaning of life, and this meaning is not merely limited to physiological needs, but being elevated to the meaning of continuing life. The first time Toru visits Naoko at the sanatorium, she speaks of her version of viewing the sexual intercourse with Toru: I [Naoko] was wet from the minute you [Toru] walked into my apartment the night of my twentieth birthday. I wanted you to hold me. I wanted you to take my clothes off and touch me all over and to get inside me. I had never felt like that before. Why is that? Why do things happen that way? I mean, I really loved him [Kizuki]. (112) It makes Naoko so confused that why she and Kizuki never succeed in having a penetrative sex, but why she can have one with Toru; if she loves Kizuki, why her body does not let him in; or is that if she loves Toru, why is she unable to let Toru in for a second time? Naoko keeps pondering over these questions, and the second time Toru visits her, she was less talkative than she had been in the fall (237). When Toru tries to have sex with her again, he discovers that Naoko is still unable to get aroused, and she once again questions her inability to have sex: Why dont I get wet? Naoko murmured. That one time was the only time it ever happened. The day of my twentieth birthday, that April. The night you [Toru] held me in your arms. What is wrong with me? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ What if I never get better? What if I can never have sex for the rest of my life? Can you keep loving me just the same? (239) By shaping a character like Naoko, Murakami raises a hypothesis that what if sexual impulse does not occur coincidentally with love, does it prove that there is a third choice of performing sexless affection or affectionless sex? Whether or not this hypothesis works, Murakami offers a possibility that there could be a third kind of human existence in life, other than having impulsive sex, romantic sex, or no sex life at all. Midori is in the contrary of Naoko. She is described both by herself and by Toru as a real, live girl with blood in her veins (267), and she always seems to be happy and relaxed; however, she is not born to be this optimistic, but rather she chooses to be this way. Similar to Naoko, Midori has a tragic life of losing her loved ones: her grandfather, grandmother, mother and father. Midoris mother dies of cancer, and before her death, she lives in the hospital for almost two years while Midori takes care of her everyday therefore has to delay school. Midoris father loves his wife so deeply, that he says to Midori and her sister, I [Midoris father] would much rather have lost the two of you [Midori and her sister] than her [Midoris mother] (71). Then two years later, her father dies of the same cancer as her mother. Unlike Naoko, Midori is not defeated by so many deaths, instead, she manages to live her life bravely. Every time Midori appears in the story, her activities are not limited to talking: she and Toru often eat together, drink together, she cooks, smokes, and does all kinds of things; whereas for Naoko and Toru, what they mostly do is writing letters and walking. These vigorous activities save Toru from drowning himself with Naokos pain, and Midoris strong vitality symblizes the only oasis in this novel of boundless depressed desert. Midoris vitality puts her in a somewhat awkward position in society, considering the novels setting is in the 1960s Japan; she does not cry at her fathers funeral, she unreservedly discusses sexual fantasies with Toru: asking him to think of her while masturbating, she invites Toru to watch pornography at an adult theatre, and she is never shy of telling Toru her true feelings, of how much she desires him. Midoris independent, modernized characteristics and her value of existence of careless to the normalcy contradicts to Naokos belief of perfect union of sex and love. To conclude these two girls, Naoko stands for the possib ility of a third way of existence between sex and love, and Midori exhibits the possibility of a third existence of living without confinements. Naoko and Midori are like the two opposites of a scale, and Toru is the one to decide which side weighs more. In the first chapter, Toru already makes it clear that what happens in the book are all memories: I [Toru] was thirty-seven then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to the Hamburg airport (3), and this chapter ends with the monologue of Naoko never loved me (10). By reading this monologue, it is obvious that even twenty years pass by, Toru is still stuck in the memory of Naokos suicide. Toru tries to save Naoko, by having sex with her, by loving her, but both the efforts of love and sex can not solve Naokos psychological problems, and Toru never gets to understand the world of Naokos. On the other hand, Toru is drawn to Midoris vitality, and Midori always saves him, even at the end of the novel, Toru still seeks help from Midori: again and again, I [Toru] called out for Midori from the dead center of this place that was no place (293). There are four stages of Torus sexual development: to desire sex, to understand sex, to control sex, and to enjoy sex. The first stage of desiring sex, is reflected by the first half of the novel, when Toru starts to have sexual relationships with his first girlfriend in high school, with Naoko, and with other strange girls. Toru starts this relationship without envisaging it because of Kizukis death, since he was unable to find a place for myself [Toru] in the world around me (24), and immediately after graduation, he is devoted to leave Kobe without considering this girls feeling. The desiring of sex happens after Toru having sex with Naoko. As Toru recalls in his letter to Naoko, he honestly writes that the warmth and closeness I [Toru] felt for you [Naoko] at the moment was something I had never experienced before (41). To Toru, this is an extraordinary experience, because the other girls he has sex with are not the ones he has feelings with. Previously, when Toru has sex with st range girls, he always feels empty the next morning after; however, after his sexual intercourse with Naoko, he gets to taste the glamour of reaching climax both physically and mentally, he thereby feels hunger for women bodies: My [Toru] body was hungering for women. All the time I was sleeping with those girls, I though about Naoko, about the white shape of her naked body in the darkness, her sighs, the sound of the rain. The more I thought about these things, the hungrier my body grew (43). The first time when Toru goes to visit Naoko at the sanatorium, Naoko shows him her naked body at night, and it triggers Toru to recall their first night: A sense of imperfection had been what Naokos body had give me [Toru] that night as I tenderly undressed her [Naoko] while she cried à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I [Toru] am having intercourse with you [Naoko] now. I am inside you. But really this is nothing. It doesnt matter. It is nothing but the joining of two bodies. All we are doing is telling each other things that can only be told by the rubbing together of two imperfect lumps of flesh. By doing this, we are sharing our imperfection. (131) This whole passage of imperfection that Toru speaks forms a contrast to Naokos perfection theory, Naoko insists that if she is going to see Toru again, she wants her body to be clean of all this when I [Naoko] meet him [Toru] (246), and this hints Torus incomprehension of Naokos world. The second stage of Torus sexual development is to understand sex. Since Toru experiences several sexual activities with strange girls, he tastes the loneliness and emptiness that come after climax; at the same time, he knows that Naoko is getting further away from him after them having sex. Toru gets hurt by sex, and therefore, he chooses to not to have sex with Midori, because he realizes that youre [Midori] the best friend Ive [Toru] got now à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I dont want to lose you (250). The third stage of Torus sexual development is to control sex. Toru passes the first two stages, he becomes more familiar with sex, just like tobacco, and he does not want to be controlled by it. As he says to Midori, I [Toru] dont like having something [smoke] control me that way (70), and same for sex, he does not wish to let sexual impulses to overtake his love towards both Naoko and Midori; instead, he wants to remember that momentary experience he has with Naoko, and his commitment to Midori, so he does not let him have sex with other girls.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   The second time Toru and Midori lie down in the same bed, he still suppresses his thought of having sex with Midori, because he finds out that he falls in love with Midori: I [Toru] loved Midori, and I was happy that she had come back to me. The two of us could make it [having sex], that was certain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It had been all I could do to suppress the intense desire I had to strip her [Midori] naked, throw open her body, and sink myself in her warmth à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I loved Midori. And I had probably known as much for a while. I had just been avoiding the conclusion for a very long time. (267) The fourth stage of Torus sexual development is to enjoy sex. In the last chapter of Norwegian Wood, Toru has sex with Reiko. This time, their sex is relaxed, enjoyable, and meaningful. As Murakamis hypothesis of sex could be based on love, and it could also be independent without love, the sex between Toru and Reiko is the best proof to make this hypothesis established. To conclude Torus character as a whole, he represents Murakamis perception that sex is the basic element that exists in life, and it can be independent without love. Only with this view implanted to Torus character, he can love Naoko and Midori without the disturbance of sexual desire, and gives both Reiko and himself a new start with sex. The traditional treatment of sex in literature is to either blur or eliminate its description, in order to weaken its influence on love; whereas in Murakami Harukis Norwegian Wood, his descriptions of sex is simple but explicit, which declares his perception to sex as modernized and positive. Norwegian Wood starts with an end, and ends with a start, this paradoxical beginning and ending fits the life death opposite theory proposed in the book perfectly. By offering these paradoxes, Murakami offers a third choice of human existence, that his ideal lifestyle is never a two-point and one-line dynamic; instead, by examining and combining the extreme commonness and abnormality, a third choice of living is formed. No matter what this third existence is, it is a lifestyle that is unique, as Reiko says What makes us most normal, is knowing that were not normal (148). Word count: 2599 Works Cited Hall, Nick. ASIA 364 Modern Japanese Literature 1868 the Present. University of British Columbia. 16 March 2017. Class notes. Murakami, Haruki. Norwegian Wood. Trans. Jay Rubin. New York: Vintage International, 2000. Print.

Emily Dickinson Essay -- essays research papers

An Analytical Essay on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was a woman who lived in times that are more traditional; her life experiences influence and help us to understand the dramatic and poetic lines in her writing. Although Dickinson’s poetry can often be defined as sad and moody, we can find the use of humor and irony in many of her poems. By looking at the humor and sarcasm found in three of Dickinson’s poems, "Success Is Counted Sweetest", "I am Nobody", and "Some keep the Sabbath Going to Church", one can examine each poem show how Dickinson used humor and irony for the dual purposes of comic relief and to stress an idea or conclusion about her life and the environment in the each poem. Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst Massachusetts; a small farming town that had a college and a hat factory. There, she was raised in a strict Calvinist household while receiving most of her education at a boarding school that followed the American Puritanical tradition. She seldom left her hometown; virtually, her only contact with her friends came to be made through letters. As a young woman, Dickinson rejected comforting traditions, resisted male authority, and wrestled alone with her complex and often contrary emotions. Although she was claimed to be a high-spirited and active young woman, Dickinson began to withdraw from society in the 1850's. The many losses she experienced throughout her life, the death of her father, mother, close neighbors, and fr...

Cloning is Not What it Used to Be :: Cloning Argumentative Persuasive Argument

Cloning is Not What it Used to Be      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On Sunday, February 23, 1997, Scottish researchers broke one of nature's greatest laws by cloning a lamb from a single cell of an adult ewe.   This breakthrough opens the door to the possibility for the cloning of other mammals including humans.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This remarkable achievement is being looked at as a great advancement in animal agriculture.   But this achievement could lead to ethical questions of standard.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Researchers lead by Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, Scotland, showed that a fully differentiated cell from the mammary tissue of an ewe could be manipulated in such a way as to produce a genetically identical copy of the animal that the DNA was acquired.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Scientist long believed that once a cell became differentiated, that most of its approximately 100,000 genes shut off.   Only a few genes remained active to allow the cell to perform its specific function of life.   All efforts to reactivate the shut-off genes have failed.   English researchers have came the closest by teasing frog body cells to develop into tadpoles.   The tadpoles, however, never matured into frogs.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Scottish researchers have failed many times with sheep cells before their success, but the task was perfected and accomplished.   Now this accomplishment has made it possible for the cloning of almost any mammal, including humans.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To the average person, exactly how the technique works is unclear. Scientist predicted that by making cells dormant and bringing them close to death, something happens to break the chemical locks (barriers) that keep most of the genes inactive. The mammary cell is inserted into an unfertilized sheep egg cell that has already had all of its own genetic material removed.   By fusing the cells together tricks the egg into thinking that it has become fertilized.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After being fused together, researchers believe that the chemical machinery inside the egg cell goes to work to reprogram the mammary cell genes into starting over again, as if they were brought together as sperm and egg. The cell divides, produces an embryo, fetus and a newborn that is identical to the animal from which it was cloned.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the United States government prohibits government funds being spent on human cloning research, and ethicists decry it, nevertheless, human cloning could be achieved, Neal First said.   First is a professor of animal biotechnology and reproductive biology at the University of Wisconsin.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, there is no apparent reason to clone humans. A duplicate body does not mean a duplicated mind.

Ambition in Life – Essay

I firmly believe that school is much more than what we understand it to be. Education enlightens a person in the same way a lamp brightens a dark room. But in order to ignite the light of education in a person, a teacher plays the role of the lamp carrier. Through my educational life I've considered education as a process to not only gaining knowledge but also a method of igniting our thoughts, and the process of development of a person starts from his early school age. In the developing country like India where half of the population lives below the poverty line, a movement to give the children their right to equal education is required. Having come across students who dropped out of schools because of lack of interest, I feel the urge to be a part of system where a teacher is not only qualified to teach but who can also be a mentor to the students. Teach for India is one such initiative which is working on motto of ending inequity in education and ideas of educating children beyond the conventional methods of our educational system. I realized that by being a Teach for India fellow not only I will be imparting knowledge to the young ones but will also help them in grooming. So it work not only for education sector it also work for community development. I purposely want to join the fellowship as oppose to working in other education-focused organization are as follow:- 1 . Having received the best education myself, I understood the power of knowledge and the impact it can have on the society. By putting me in the class room of young guns of India , Teach for India provide me the chance to advertise new generation not to make the mistakes which they seems to make in absence of proper resources and guidance. 2 . Prior to and during the two-year Fellowship, Teach For India provides Fellows with adequate leadership training to ensure that they are successful leaders in any field once they complete the Fellowship. 3 . Finally and foremost thing it makes me feel me proud to be a good citizen of India who has contributed to some extent to my motherland.