Sidneys and Freidbergs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Sidneys and Freidbergs - Assignment Example The sugar extraction was very complex and technical than what Europeans got used to, and ultimately resulting in sugar becoming food for the wealthy. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the sugar consumption rapidly rose in England resulting in sugar be seen as the necessity of the people regardless of the economic status. In the entire article, Mintz emphasized the importance of the spread of sugar cane in a cultural and economic sense. In addition, he examined how sugar functioning developed and transformed over time. It began as medicine to sweetener to preservative and now the food is in the form of molasses. In addition to the anthropological perspective, he looked at the historical meaning of sugar consumption. Mintz structured his article in chronological order by examining the sugar usage in each period. Initially, he suggested that he would examine the sugar cane usage though he argued that it would be hard to discuss it alone without involving other foods. Thus, the way he discussed foods, he pointed out that sugar cane gets linked with other foods that developed during diverse times revealing the world transformation. The problem with this article is that Mintz went too far in connecting his data with the main point. For instance, he took an individual general statement about the focus of Europe on the New World and argued that it was as if the writer had sugar thoughts when writing it. According to me, I think Mintz’s thoughts were a great stretch, now that the author did not say anything about the sugar. Thus, he should not have presented it as a fact in his article. Freidberg aims to show how the geographic perspective enriches the food’s historical analysis. He situates practices and norms in ecological and spatial contexts. The article examines the 20th-century food consumption history in Burkina Faso, specifically in Bobo-Dioulasso.

Human Beings Essay Example for Free

Human Beings Essay A. Holmes 2013 ENG140, Week 7, Assignment Stacey A. Holmes 2013 ENG140, Week 7, Assignment Essay 3 Summary and Response (Draft 2) Ivy Bridge at Tiffin University ENG 140 April 25 Essay 3 Summary and Response (Draft 2) Ivy Bridge at Tiffin University ENG 140 April 25 Author and world renowned Philosopher, Dr. Peter Singer who is currently at Yale University, defines terms such as â€Å"Personhood† and â€Å"Speciesism† rather distinctively, and he does it in a way, that does not fit in with most of societies’ ideas of what represents the meaning of either, personhood (such as an infant not being a â€Å"person† because it is not yet self-aware, but a dolphin being a â€Å"person† because it can recognize itself in a mirror) or discrimination (he describes individuals who eat meat as being speciesist, because he or she doesn’t take into consideration the feelings of the animal or the animal’s desire to continue on living). When asked the question â€Å"What is a person? † Most would answer by saying, â€Å"A  person  is a being, such as a  human, that has certain mental capacities or attributes constituting  personhood, which in turn could be defined differently by different authors in different disciplines and by different cultures in different times and places†. The definition for human being is â€Å"a member of any of the races of  Homo sapiens;  person; man, woman, or child† (Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged  Ã‚ © HarperCollins  Publishers, 2003). When asked to give the definition for a person, Singer, who is currently at Yale University; describes a person as â€Å"Someone who is aware of their own existence over time, is aware enough to realize that they are the same being that lived previously; who can expect to live into the future† (Singer, Peter. (2008, January 28th). Human Use of Animals [http://www. open. edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/human-use-animals]. Singer believes that some non-human animals have individuality and could be considered â€Å"persons†; describing some human beings who lack mental capacity and attributes (i. . intellectual disability, dementia, brain injury, mental illness and even infants) as non-persons, because there is†¦ no awareness of a past, present or future being. Singer says that these human beings are still showed compassion, respect, and regard. So, why aren’t we (human beings/persons) capable of showing that same compassion towards animals or non-humans? He argues that we should be able to recognize that animals are aware of their being, are aware of their past and present, that they have a desire to live, and are also very conscience of the way they are treated by human beings. He also believes that they understand suffering. He says that human beings or â€Å"persons† should be more evolved to think that there is no suffering for these animals. Singer thinks that we should be more concerned for them individually, think about what would be in their best interest, and take in consideration the things that could be bad for them or quite possibly, be harming them; rather than, using them for our own wants, needs, and desires. Society has a total disregard for animals and the fact that they are suffering, because our need for what the animal has to offer us is greater; lbeit sustenance, experimental purposes, etc†¦ (Singer, Peter. (2006, December 11th). The Colbert Report [http://www. colbertnation. com/the-colbert-report-videos/79412/december-11-2006/peter-singer]. Singer argues that this total disregard for animals’ is what he deems as speciesism (which is much like racism only targeted toward other species), and that those who practice thi s (speciesism) are speciesist (someone who has prejudices towards species other than their own). Singer says that â€Å"Some animals have a higher moral status than some humans and that our disregard for animal suffering is a deplorable moral blind spot† (Singer, Peter. (2008, January 28th). Human Use of Animals [http://www. open. edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/human-use-animals]. I am bipartisan to his argument; I can neither agree nor disagree with his philosophy. Singer makes some valid points in his argument. He says that animals â€Å"non-humans† have the same capacities or attributes that some human beings have, implicating that a non-human could potentially be categorized as a â€Å"person†. He also states that we should recognize that animals or non-humans have an acknowledgement of self and of suffering. Lastly, Singer speaks of the way that human beings or persons should care for animals. These can be categorized as â€Å"reasonable assumptions†. I believe that animals could be categorized as persons. Because, I do believe that they are fully aware, just as aware (if not more, than some human beings) as we are, of their past, present and future being. I also believe that animals are aware of their suffering and, who is causing the suffering. I also think that as human beings we should show more compassion, respect and regard toward animals, in all aspects, of our need, use, want or desire for them. But, as a Christian, I believe that all things serve a â€Å"Divine Purpose† and that mankind (human beings) remains at the top of the food chain. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every  moving  thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat† (The Holy Bible, KJV, Genesis 9:1-4). Scripture says that all things on the Earth are for us (human beings) and that there isn’t anything that we could not eat (or use for our purposes) other than another human. If God can take into the consideration the â€Å"feelings† of the beings that He created, and still give them to us (humans) for sustenance. Then who are we (the created) to say that it’s wrong? Well, Singer also suggests that even infants aren’t fully aware of there being, there present, past and/or future and I say to that; If they were afforded the time then they would certainly be aware of these things. So, that statement holds no validity for me. I could understand if his philosophy, applied only toward those that have any intellectual disabilities, dementia, brain injuries, and mental illnesses his statement would have more substance. But, at some point and time; infants would eventually be considered persons. When looking back at my own experience with infants (my children and grandchildren), I felt as if the child’ knew exactly who I was and that we had this â€Å"mutual understanding† and affection for one another. Or it could be very possible for the infant to never fully develop. Who knows with life, it’s too unpredictable. But once again, that is just the nature of life, I do not believe that we were meant to know or have knowledge of everything. I respectfully disagree with Dr. Singer’s analysis of infants. But, I think that his analysis could be applied to people who lack in mental capacities. This subject for me is simply the rules of nature, no more, no less. It is just in the laws of nature to be either prey or predator. Animals’ or non-humans may have full awareness of their suffering and we as humans should create a better environment for animals (that we use for our â€Å"purposes†) so that they don’t have to endure a tremendous amount of suffering. Farmers, Scientist and the general public alike should make changes in the laws that regulate the treatment of animals. Society as a whole should not be so vain to think that we are the only species on Earth that can feel, love, think, and desire, hurt and/or suffer. But, I disagree with Singer when he suggests that we start treating animals with the same moral composition that we show our fellow human beings. Animals are just, simply put†¦not our equals. Yes, my mother who suffers from dementia is going to receive better treatment from me than my dog, cat, fish, bird, llama etc†¦That will never happen (animals as humans equals) in my opinion. I don’t see a comparison between my mother, who has taken care of me for the majority of my life, and an animal. Human beings should start treating the animals’ that provide us nourishment, clothing, friendship and the list goes on, with more compassion and allotting them the quality, respect and dignity of life that someone could say to them in the end â€Å" You lived a full, dignified and â€Å"good life†. References Singer, Peter. (2006, December 11th). The Colbert Report [http://www. colbertnation. com/the-colbert-report-videos/79412/december-11-2006/peter-singer] Singer, Peter. (2008, January 28th). Human Use of Animals [http://www. open. edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/human-use-animals]

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Telecommunication Information Technology Essay

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Telecommunication Information Technology Essay Currently technologies develop very fast, making it hard for people to keep up with them. The development of these technologies causes changes in all aspects of life. Regarding professional life, new technologies influence the way of working. Telecommuting is a new way of working, which makes use of those new technologies, in which high speed internet is most important. Telecommuting or telework is a way of working in which an employee is able to stay at home and work on his or her own computer instead of having to go to an office. For the sake of cost reduction and global environment improvement, telecommuting is heavily recommended by lots of organizations. Telecommuting is a new way of working that is presented to be a environmentally cleaner, cheaper and more flexible way of working. However, could telecommuting be only positive for the employee and his or her employer? There might be some disadvantages concerning this new way of working. This paper gives an insight in the advant ages and disadvantages of telecommuting, both for employees and employers. First, telecommuting is described more thoroughly, followed by the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting. Gap: many articles write about the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting, though there are contradictions between them, in this paper is tried to give views from different angles, in order to create a better overview is the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting. What is telecommuting? Telecommuting, also known as e-commuting or e-work, is the term used when individuals take advantage of the many technological advances to work from anywhere they desire, giving themselves flexibility in their hours and work locations (Helsin, 2007). Furthermore, it is important to note that telecommuting should be approved by the employer whereas telecommuting is a topic of which opinions differ. Not every organization allows its employees to work at their home instead of at the actual office. Telecommuting seems to be mainly driven by a change in management attitudes, improvements in technology, savings in office costs and the demand from the staff (Haynes, 2000). While saving costs is an aspect which counts for every organization, the choice to use teleworking seems to depend on the demand from staff and management. An exhibit by Harpaz (2002) displays that the biggest countries in telecommuting in 2002 were the USA (27%), Sweden (15%), The Netherlands (14%) and Finland (17%). The reason for such a high rate of telecommuters in the USA could be the size of the country, as the long distances make staying at home a good alternative. Counties like Sweden, The Netherlands and Finland are Europeans best developed countries regarding ICT facilities, which are needed for telecommuting. Telecommuting seems to be adapted quite a lot, for sure in countries in which the driving aspects of telecommuting are present. Advantages of telecommuting Flexibility in work locations and time In the majority of the current households, both partners have a fulltime job. It is hard for two people who both have a fulltime job to balance their professional and private life, especially while they have children. A common occurrence is young children staying at a day-care from 7.00 AM until 6.00 PM. As soon as they have finished their dinner, they already need to go to bed. In order to see each other more frequently, so to balance the combination of a private and professional life, telecommuting is a useful way of working. While conducting telecommuting, one gets more autonomy on his or her distribution of time. This rise of flexibility gives telecommuters the possibility to pick up the kids after school, instead of leaving them at a day-care, or, in case of no kids, to let the dog out. Despite of the advantage for the employee to be able to be more flexible in his or her work, for the employer it is hard to check what the employee is actually doing while he or she is not at the office. A change in management attitude is crucial for telecommuting to become successful in an organization (Haynes, 2000). DISADVANTAGEEMPLOYER Self-discipline: work according to self-imposed schedule; not enough/ addicted to work(because of irregular working times) Reduction of travelling costs and time An important problem which is to be solved by telecommuting is the cost and waste of time due to travelling to and from the office. Working at home eliminates the expensive fuel costs and the time one would lose by having to drive to his or her office. Another advantage is that while more people work from home, less traffic jams would occur. Not only these direct benefits like saving time and costs are important, not having to drive to work means there would be less frustrations in traffic and one is able to sleep longer. The employee will probably become more satisfied, which will have a positive influence on the motivation and productivity. So telecommuting has very positive effects on employees regarding the travelling costs and time. Professional flexibility By conducting telecommuting, a person is no longer attached to his or her physical office, so the combination of two jobs could be more likely. Though, for lots of people having two jobs would be too time expensive. While people do not longer feel as connected to their job as they used to when they were physically present at the office, job-hopping becomes more likely. People tend to have the strong desire to have more control over their own careers. Because they feel less connected to an organization when they telecommute, they feel more free to quit and find another job. This development is not only an advantage for the employee, it could be an advantage for an employer as well. Employers could make use of those frequently switching employees by temporarily hiring them when they are needed for a project and by dismissing them as soon as they are no longer needed or when they do not work as good as is required. On the other hand, this development could become a disadvantage for orga nizations as employees could tend to switch jobs that frequently, that it becomes hard for organizations to manage their human resources. Thus professional flexibility as a result of telecommuting could be an advantage for employees as they will be able to combine two jobs or to make use of job-hopping. Reduces office size The use of telecommuting could result in lower costs in organizations. While organizations always target on saving costs, current economic difficulties will make organizations even more aware of saving costs. Organizations are not only able to reduce costs because of the earlier mentioned travel costs which will be saved, but also because the offices could become smaller. Organizations used to need to facilitate at least one desk with a computer for each employee, because of a part of the staff is staying at home, the office size can be reduced. This will save money, not only for the less square meters over which a company needs to pay rent, but also because there will be lower electricity costs. Thus, next to the reduction of travel costs, telecommuting can result in lower costs because of the smaller size of an office that is needed. Increasing health The effects of telecommuting on the employees health are doubtful. It is hard find whether they could be allocated to the section of advantages or to the disadvantages. Earlier described advantages state that the fact that an employee could become more flexible in working times, could make them more satisfied. On the other hand, an employee who works at home seems to need to make sure there is a good balance between private and professional life in order to avoid a burn-out (Peters, 2010). In order to create this balance, an employee needs to have the adequate facilities at home, which contain a decent working place with access to new technologies. Also, the employee would need to have a place where he or she could get some distraction from work occasionally. So in order to work from home, while taking care of its health, an employee should be able to create a balance between private and professional life and make sure there are adequate facilities. Disadvantages of telecommuting Isolation A crucial difference between working at home and working at an office is the presence of colleagues. The fact that someone works all alone throughout a day, could affect its performance. Although it does not count for all people, many people seem to need to have the feeling of belonging to a team (Harpaz, 2002). This psychological aspect of being separated from the office environment which contains colleagues, new developments and occurrences is for many people very important. Those people like to interact with colleagues and to share what they are doing. So although people seem to feel better when they stay at home, because they are able to see their partner and children more frequently, the lack of having colleagues around could affect the quality of their work in a negative way. Other disadvantages of working at home are that some people would like to be seen and others would like to have responsibilities at the office (Novay, 2011). Security risks The fact that an employee works at home, means that important documents with information need to be accessible from home. For an organization this gives the risk that confidential documents could be stolen from the desk at the employees home or his or her car. Most employees live in a surrounding which is less secured than the actual office. As soon as an employee is about to work at home, his or her manager will not be able to check where those important documents might be (Sturgeon, 1996). Again, for an organization it is important to trust employees, otherwise telecommuting will not work properly. Documents could be divided in physical documents and electronic documents. For organizations it could be hard to secure the physical documents, however the electronic documents could be secured a little better. By providing employees a laptop, on which they can work at home, with the best security software, the chances of spyware might be reduces. Still the employee needs to preserve the laptop on a secure location, in order to make sure the laptop itself will not be stolen. Depending on the measures both employers and employees take, the security of information could be reduced, however the problems with the security of information will remain to be a big disadvantage of telecommuting. Conclusion There have been a lot of articles written about the advantages and disadvantages, however it has been showed that the arguments given in those articles differ in some parts. This paper states the most important advantages and disadvantages given in those articles. It is generally believed that telecommuting is an important new trend in professional life, because of its many advantages. In short, flexibility in work locations and time, reduction of travelling costs and time, professional flexibility, reduces the office sixe and the increase of health seem to be the most important advantages. Though, there are also disadvantages of telecommuting: isolation and security risks. On this basis, it may be concluded that the phenomenon telecommuting has some disadvantages alongside of the advantages. While in this paper it shows only two disadvantages towards five advantages, this does not indicate that those five advantages weigh heavier than the two disadvantages. I think that an organizat ion could only have its employees to telecommute while keeping both advantages and disadvantages in mind, because there are two sides. The employees themselves should consider both sides as well. Given this, it could be said that for many people it is interesting to make use of telecommunication. It might be very useful to be able to work during a time schedule that works best for someones home situation and also for his or her career. Whether telecommunicating is good for someones health is not certain and seems to depend on each person individually, there are people who cope better with the autonomy they get in dividing their time in personal and professional moments. Telecommuting seems to be a good way to combine the extreme busy life people currently tend to have, the environmental issues everyone wants to improve and . Assuming that the techniques will improve during the coming years, telecommuting could probably only get easier to apply. Regarding the advantages and disadvant ages, it would probably be hard to choose for a professional life in which telecommuting would be applied throughout the entire week. I think that telecommuting is useful, but only if it would be used during one or two days a week, in order to keep away isolation risks and to make sure that employees keep up with news on the office floor. Telecommuting is useful for both employees and employers, though too much use of telecommuting could cause risks.

Health and Sanitation in Victorian London :: European Europe History

Health and Sanitation in Victorian London Diet, Health, and Sanitation in Victorian England are so interrelated that it is difficult to examine one without being led to another. A.S. Wohl sums it up when he states: "It is rather commonplace of modern medical opinion that nutrition plays a crucial role in the body's ability to resist disease and the experience of the World Health Organization indicates that where sanitary conditions are rudimentary and disease is endemic (that is, where nineteenth-century conditions prevail, so to speak) diet may be the crucial factor in infection" (Wohl 56). However, there was often a vicious cycle at work in these trying times and it is difficult to point to the root causes of some of the contagion that infected people. Also there were various philosophies, some not as instructive as others, being practiced in the early part of the nineteenth century that tried to explain sanitation problems and poverty. When can see how pervasive this problem was as it made its way into much of the literat ure at the time. Its representation was rather grim. Works such as Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist and Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton represent the harsh reality of these conditions. While much of the investigation into the sanitary conditions of the times focused on the working classes, disease and poor sanitation also found their way into the higher classes of society. However, there often remained the prevailing stigma that a dirty body and poor sanitation was the result of some sort of moral failing. Graham Benton puts his finger on this view rather succinctly in his piece which recently appeared in the Dickens Quarterly: "'And Dying Thus Around Us Every Day': Pathology, Ontology and the Discourse of the Diseased Body. A Study of Illness and Contagion In Bleak House." Benton suggests that: "although contagious disease refuses to recognize boundaries of class, it has become aligned with the disenfranchised and disavowed segments of society, and, more significantly, disease became emblematic of other unrelated but equally horrific social ills" (69). Whatever the motivations to end the plight of contagion and unsanitary conditions might have been at the time; it is fair to say that when the spread of disease crossed the invisible boundaries of class that people were spurred into action, albeit not as quickly as they should have. While poor drainage and waste disposal procedures can be seen as a direct result of fever and epidemic; it is important first to look at the dietary practices of the working classes which would greatly contribute to their squalid living conditions.

Dress for Succes

When I think of the phrase â€Å"Dress for Success! † I think of a person getting ready or preparing for a big job interview. Like when person goes to a job interview wearing a muscle shirt and shorts for a job that requires you to cook food. Or when a person wears super fancy clothes to an interview that requires you to clean bathrooms. â€Å"Dressing for success† is like a guide telling you what you might need to wear to make a good impression. Dress for success means to dress for the occasion. You want to dress for the occasion because you don’t want be out-of-order. An example of this is going to church in pajamas. That is an example of dressing out-of-order. Schools are even making their dress codes better. They don’t want the kids to dress themselves in tank tops and super short shorts. Some girls do that just to fit in. Those girls are dumb. Dressing for success doesn’t only apply to job interviews, but for many other things. If you’re running for long distances, you don’t want your everyday clothes to slow you down. How coul you fix this simple problem? You could get the appropriate clothes for running and it would help you by taking off unneeded weight and make you not get tired as quickly. When you are applying for a job interview, you should look nice. If you want to get a job at a bank, you should wear nice pants and a nice shirt, or a dress. If you are applying for a job at Hot Topic you could probably wear a T shirt from your favorite band and skinny jeans. Avoid too many body piercings though. When you go to a job interview or someones funeral you have to dress with respect. And nice. You don’t want your butt or boobs hanging out. You want people to think your decent and well-behaved. Another example is when you wear a tank top and some booty shorts to school. That’s not a good thing to wear. You got to wear non-distracting clothes. When you come to school you don’t really have to dress for success but you don’t want to come looking a hot mess. Come looking decent. I think dressing for success is important because people will make assumptions about you. If you’re in Wal-Mart and you’re wearing old pajamas with holes in them in all the wrong places, people will think you’re weird. If you’re at a school dance, casual, and you wear a wedding dress, people will think you’re lame and weird. If you go to prom wearing a dressing robe, people will NOT dance with you. When I think of dress for success I think of†¦ Say you wanna go to Adventure. Your friends are dressed in booty shorts and tank tops but there are hundreds of people they’re looking at you, is that really how you wanna dress? People don’t want to see girls in booty shorts walking around at the age of 11 or 12. I think people should dress a certain way. One reason is if you own a fortune 500 company and you wear flip-flops and a tank top. The workers won’t take you seriously.

Exploring Deborah Tannen’s “Sex, Lies, and Conversation

Miscommunications Deborah Tannen’s â€Å"Sex, Lies, and Conversation† is a brief look at how men and women communicate with one another and the cross-culture differences between their individual styles and needs for conversation. Women often say that men do not listen or do not want to talk. Tannen gives reasons why women tend to believe that men are not listening, and shows that just because men have a different approach to communicating does not mean they are not listening to what women are saying.She uses several different examples to back up her statements including early childhood differences in communication between girls and boys, the body language men use and how women tend to interpret it, and how women tend to receive information while communicating. Men and women have very different expectations when it comes to communicating with one another. The way women converse varies greatly from the way men tend to converse. Even young girls and boys have very differen t ways of communicating with one another.Young children tend to play with other children of the same gender, and the boys and girls tend to have completely different social interactions with one another. Tannen states that â€Å"these systematic differences in childhood socialization make talk between women and men like cross-cultural communication, heir to all the attraction and pitfalls of that enticing but difficult enterprise (51). † We see in women and in young girls, talk creates intimacy and intimacy creates friendships, but men and boys tend to bond more on doing things with one another rather than talking to each other.Even the stance men take when talking varies from a woman’s. Women tend to think men are not listening to them based on the position men take when carrying on a conversation. Most women, when talking, tend to look one another in the eye. Men on the other hand tend to look around the room, occasionally catching a glance at the person they are con versing with. Women also tend to stay on one topic for longer periods of time than men. Women are also active listeners and tend to â€Å"make more listener-noise, such as ‘mhm,’ uhuh,’ and ‘yeah,’ to show ‘I’m with you’ (53). Men tend to be more silent listeners. All these misinterpretations of communication tend to drive a wedge between men and women. A big reason communication fails between men and women is a lack of understanding the different ways in which men and women communicate. When women expect the person they are communicating with to face them directly, make listener-noises, and stay on topic, it is easy to see how they view men’s unfocused attention, silent listening, and scattered topics as men not listening to what they are saying. These differences begin to clarify why women and men have such different expectations about communication in marriage (54). † Women use talk as a form a gossip, where men a re usually more antagonistic in conversation. Women tend to be offended by the oppositional form of communication, and men find the random babblings of a woman to be useless and unimportant. Understanding these differences as cross-cultural rather than individual can help forge solutions to these problems without placing blame on the individual. Communication between men and women is certainly cross-cultural.Some examples of this theory are early childhood differences in communication between girls and boys, the body language men use and how women tend to interpret it, and how women tend to receive information while communicating. The differences between men and women should not be judged but rather accepted and respected. If they can do that, improvement in our communication will surely follow. Men and women will always communicate differently, but at least if they understand the differences they can move forward. ? Work Cited Tannen, Deborah. â€Å"Sex, Lies, and Conversation. â €  The Norton Mix. Ed. Sieg, Judy. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. Print.