Author: chris

Liberal speech: Internet

While referring to liberty of speech on the internet various forms and mediums are considered such as video, audio and writings. When posted on the internet such mediums usually have global access and consequently have the potential to influence more. I have always supported the projection and protection of internet speech subject to few conditions. Past observation indicates multinationals controlling the internet’s operations have the tendency to restrict speech in accordance to anticipated economic consequences. For instance, an internet provider may restrict access of certain video services with aim of directing the consumers to other desired video services. Some companies restrict access of certain religious or political resources through their servers aiming to maintain a specific demographic group of economic importance.

On the other hand, internet speech has resulted to mass political movements that have toppled regimes consequently vulnerable governments restrict internet speech. It has also led to top-class political secrets and strategies being exposed on sites such as wikileaks. Additionally, liberal internet use has seen vulnerable portions of the community such as children exposed to pornographic and other sexual literature. There are individuals and companies complaining of copyright infringement due to uncompensated access and use of their information on the internet. This makes the issue of internet speech multifaceted and difficult to place boundaries of control.

Certain restrictions are obvious infringements to the first amendment where freedoms of expression as well as religion are breached. For instance, three years ago it became known a company that was providing internet in America had restricted access to the King James Bible via its lanes. Additionally, companies are known to slow down by directing data requests or packets they consider unfriendly to internet lanes they deem slow. Companies such as Apple until recently did not allow their devices to access certain applications made by their competitors on the internet.

I prefer the restrictions put on the internet speech to be culturally then economically-based since the above examples indicate monetary reasons are most valued. Restrictions should focus on ensuring information is accessed on an individual’s request unbiased. This means the customer/consumer is allowed the freedom to choose what nature of speech they access without subtly being steered to other speech forms. This is because restrictions infringe on the consumer’s right of choice by decreasing the available options. Further  more, internet speech when liberal guards empowers individuals by providing information critical in making better decisions commercially, political and socially. Since the internet is currently, the prime source of information restricting speech would be equal to suppressing freedom of expression, democracy, religion as well as basic human rights of self-autonomy and choice. However, freedom denotes a certain degree of responsibility thus such as the case of alcohol certain restrictions on use and exposure of certain information is important. This protects vulnerable groups such as children from exposure to pornography or users with ill intent such as financial defrauding or social predators from taking advantage of the access available on the internet.

 

Evolution of the mobile phone

The mobile phone, also referred to as a cellular phone is described as gadget that is used to make and receive telephone calls via radio signals over a specific geographical area as specified by the user’s network provider. The mobile phone is a small handheld gadget that fits perfectly in the palm of the hand. It has gone under so many changes due to changes in technology coupled with the new customer preferences. The mobile phone operates only with the aid of the cellular network that allows the user to be connected from whatever location they please so long as they are within the network’s operation range. The mobile enables the user to use other services such as multimedia messaging, short messaging service, emails, internet access, short wireless communication such as Bluetooth and infrared (Agar,2004).

Mobile telephones date back to the early 1940s when the Second World War was in progress. Handheld devices were used by the United States military to communicate in the battlefield via radio signals. The mobile phones during that period were very different in almost every aspect except the radio signals as a communication medium. The mobile phone has evolved significantly such that there exists generations of the mobile phone namely the zero, first, second, third generation and the new fourth generations. These levels of generations clearly mark the stages that the mobile phone has undergone to meet the new consumer needs and the new technology that has prompted the new changes. The mobile phone was first put to use by the Mobile Telephone Service in St.Louis in the year 1946.by then there were few radio channels available to broadcast the signals of the mobile phone, which required the presence of a mobile operator to make a call set-up. In the year 1964, Improved Mobile Telephone Service was introduced that enabled the presence of more channels and automatic handling of calls, which facilitated the transition from one telephone technology to another. During that period, due to increase in demand for the technology arising from the increase in the number of users of mobile phones, there were new competitors who wanted a share of the market. A new competitor, Radio Common Carrier, arose and proved to be highly competitive. However, this service operated for the period between 1960 and 1980 when it was rendered obsolete after the entry of new player Advanced Mobile Telephony System (AMTS). This forced the regulators to enhance security by introducing new regulations to control the rapid growth of the cellular market. Mobile phone use was only limited to phones installed in vehicles in the period before 1973 (Agar, 2004).

The mobile telephone services were followed by modern telephone technology. These kinds of technologies are regarded as the zero generation of cellular phones. They were characterized by the push to talk similar to a walkie-talkie whereby the user only presses the buttons in order to communicate with a person on the other end. The new technology was very different from the initial radiotelephone systems in that they were available for commercial purposes to the public on the public switched telephone network. The mobile radiotelephones were characterized by the presence of a transmitter and were usually enabled to offer communication in two ways. In the year 1947, Bell labs engineers proposed the use of hexagonal cells for mobile phones. A mobile phone during this period had to be inside the coverage area of the network that was serviced by a single base station during a phone call. This meant that there was no connection if the cell phone moved from one place to another.

The first automated mobile phone system was first launched and used in Sweden in the year 1960. They named it Mobile Telephone System A, as it enabled the user to make and receive calls in the car by means of a rotating dial. The system also enabled the car phone to be paged. In addition, the calls made from the car were direct, and only incoming calls required the assistance of a mobile operator to determine which base station the phone was using. Later in 1962, an improved version of the system named, Mobile System B, was developed. It was a push button telephone that had transistors for better signal quality and for enhanced operation quality. It was used until the year 1983 and was regarded as a commercial success. In the year 1973, Martin Cooper a Motorola executive saw the development of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which was a bulky analogue phone that was overpriced due to the high demand. This marked the beginning of intense competition amongst companies seeking to develop the best products. The development in the technology saw a transition from the zero generation of mobile phones to the first generation. Unlike the previous generations, the new generation facilitated the use of several multiple cell sites and enabled the transfer of calls from one site to another as a user moved from one cell to another while still conversing on the mobile phone. The first cellular network in the world was developed in the year 1977, in Chicago, by AT&T after their proposal that they had placed in the year 1971 was accepted by the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1979, a first generation network was launched in Japan to become the first generation network to cover a complete geographical area of a nation. After this launch, Nordic Mobile Telephone Company was the first network provider to launch international roaming. Later in 1984, Bell Labs made a modern commercial mobile technology that used several base stations all controlled from a central location with each base station providing access to a small cell area. For minimal interference, the sites were put up in a way that the cells were to some extent overlapped and each base station using similar frequencies. More innovations enhanced the capabilities of these early networks to meet the increased demand by the cellular users. The base stations used different levels of transmission power that allowed varied cell size and a range of transmission. These changes allowed the reduction in the transmission power created room for new cells to be added thus smaller cells with greater capacities. This is still evident in the modern era by the presence of soaring cell site towers that do not have antennae present on top of their towers.

Second Generation (2G) mobile systems emerged in the year ranging 1990 that used the GSM standard that enabled international wireless communications network (Meurling&Jeans, 1994). .The second-generation system was different in that they used digital transmission unlike their predecessors. The second generation was an era that was marked by significant usage of mobile telephones, more than any other period in time. The introduction of the second generation also enhanced the introduction of lesser phones that were considerable in size unlike their predecessors that were bulky. This was made possible by the technological advancements that occurred with time and the presence of higher density cells to enable growing usage. It enabled the user to be able to use the cell phone over a wider area of transmission and prolonged battery life. The Second-Generation also facilitated new short messaging service (SMS) (Meurling&Jeans, 1994).It was only available to GSM networks but eventually became available to other digital networks across the world. The first text message is said to have been machine generated and was sent in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1992 and later in the year 1993 the first man to man text message was sent in Finland (Meurling&Jeans,1994). The spread of text messaging was fueled by the presence of prepaid advents, which became the preferred method of communication among the young. This group communicates via text messages, as they consider them cheap yet effective to their needs.

Moreover, Second Generation (2G) also enabled the ease to access to media content via the mobile phones. In the year 1998, the ring tone became the first item downloadable via the mobile phone in Finland. This set a precedent such that there were more advertisements via the phone, which meant a new source of revenue to the network providers. The Second-Generation systems also enabled the introduction of mobile payments, which were first made in Finland and Sweden .In addition there were breakthroughs in internet connections via the mobile phone that became fully functional after its introduction in Japan by NTT DoCoMo in 1999 (Agar,2004).

The third generation was developed because of the market’s hunger for fast mobile phones that would enable the users to access the internet and get information with ease. The mobile phone has evolved to become a personal gadget that people use to manage personal tasks. This prompted mobile phone developers to make phones that had high performance to meet the consumer needs of mobile phones that have very high performance due to the complicated schedules of the users. The difference between the Second generation and the First generation is the use of packet switching. The Third generation uses circuit switching, unlike the second generation. The Third generation networks enabled the mobile phone users to access data at speeds of 2Megabytes maximum data rate for indoors and 384 Kilobytes for outdoor access. The development of the third generation brought about new vendors creating their own technologies in efforts to gain shares of a very lucrative market such as CDMA. The third generation technology brought about new ways of using the mobile phone and the development of new mobile phones that would meet the standards of the third generation technology (Morris, 2007).

Media streaming of television and radio content via the internet became possible due to the high data speed associated with the technology. This also enabled the development of new types of products such as the compact wireless router whereby the third generation technology enables the connectivity to several computers concurrently over the Wi-Fi broadband with the use of cables. Such devices are popular with the use of laptops due to their ease of portability. This has led to the development of complex devices that have 3G functions on their own by the use of SIM cards without the aid of the mobile phone. There are also satellite mobiles that were not present in the past. Earth satellites cover remote areas that do not have wired networks. The technology allows the user to make calls from anywhere in the world (Morris, 2007).

The changes that have brought about the evolution of the mobile phones have had both positive and negative impacts in the world. The communication in the periods when the telephone was a bulky gadget was only limited to certain areas and to certain people. In the current age people are able to communicate in spite of their locations. This is facilitated by the presence of network systems that enable movement of signals to very far locations outside their jurisdiction. When the mobile phone was developed, it became only a preserve for the affluent in society that meant that very few people were able to own a mobile phone, which is a total contrast to the current times. People are able to purchase mobile phones, which are at very low prices. The presence of numerous mobile phone producers has created more employment for people in a world that has seen several global economic meltdowns. The evolution of the mobile phone has enabled easier communication and cheaper modes of communicating such as text messaging and emails via the mobile phone internet. In addition, the costs of accessing the internet have drastically reduced owing to the easy access posed by mobile phones unlike the access via the computer, which is associated with higher costs. Access to the internet enables the people to communicate and do business across the world. This aspect has played a very huge role in globalization.

The use of the mobile phone is countered with many challenges such as; it increases the risk of accidents while used on the road due to reduced concentration on the roads (Heath, 2007). Accidents caused by mobile phones are attributed to the development of complex phones that require adequate attention to operate. The phone is considered an addictive device because it demands the user’s adequate attention. The new mobile phones are usually equipped with modern applications that are very entertaining to the user. The mobile phone poses health risks due to the exposure to the radiofrequency fields emitted by mobile phones. Research indicates that the use of the mobile phone pose a risk to exposure to diseases such as cancer and electromagnetic interference when they are used close to health devices such as pacemakers and hearing aids (Gezondheidsraad ,2002). Mobile phones also pose health risks such as change in the brain activity, reaction times and sleep patterns. There are however, no conclusive studies to prove these facts but research is still underway (Lin, 2009).Research shows that exposure to dielectric heat  as a result of microwave radiation occurs on the head while using the mobile phone, thus distorting the body temperature of the organs around the head such as the eyes and ears and its internal organs. In addition, research also shows that the frequent use of the mobile use can have devastating effects on the ears leading to impairment or reduced activity .The young generations are prone to the new technological advancements posed by the telephone due to their perceived notion of wanting to fit with their peers who dictate what they should use. This has a huge impact in their lives, as they tend to take what is said in the media as the gospel truth, whereas those are just efforts of trying to get these young people to purchase the mobile phones. Blood brain barrier is also an effect that is described to be because of frequent mobile use .the chemicals in the battery f the mobile phone leak to the brain by radiation leading to cancers in the brain (Gezondheidsraad, 2002).

Like any other addiction, the mobile phone use to an addictive level can be very devastating to the user and those that he or she has a relationship with due to misunderstandings arising from use of mobile phones. Some studies show that some people have lost jobs or even severed relationships they had considered very close due to the addiction of the cell phone. The studies suggested that 7% of people had stated they lost a job or a relationship due to an addiction with the mobile phone. The mobile phone has facilitated brainwash of young people who view what they see in the media as real life yet it is just entertainment for commercial purposes. Research shows that the mobile phone addicts develop negative psychological response by withdrawal such that they begin to live in solitude and develop this detachment form family and friends. Mobile phones are also claimed to cause sleep interruptions due to their effects on brain function. Studies show that people experience interrupted sleep as a result of frequent mobile use.

 

 

References

Agar, J. (2004). Constant touch: A global history of the mobile phone. Cambridge: Icon Publishers

Burgess, A. (2010). The contemporary emergence of health concerns related to mobile phones: A study of the origins and diffusion of mobile phone fears and anti-EMF campaigns. Saarbrucken: VDM Verlag Publishers.

Gezondheidsraad. (2002). Mobile telephones: An evaluation of health effects. The Hague: Health Council of the Netherlands.

Heath, M.A.(2007).West Virginia University .The impact of cell phone classification and experience on driver distraction Ann Arbor, Michigan : Proquest Information and Learning Company.

Lin, J. C. (2009). Health effects of cell phone radiation. Dordrecht: Springer Publishers.

Meurling, J., & Jeans, R. (1994). The mobile phone book: The invention of the mobile phone industry. London: Communications Week International

Morris, B. (2007). The Symbian OS architecture sourcebook: Design and evolution of a mobile phone OS. Chichester, England: J. Wiley & Sons.

Mini-Literary Analysis on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 1818

Human beings are all born innocent. However, the activities and experiences of life dictate whether we maintain this innocence or lose it. Mary Shelly’s novel “Frankenstein,” depicts victor Frankenstein as a demigod for the creation of a being. The scientist thirst for absolute knowledge and stretching his abilities to the limits, results to him creating a monster that he later rejects. His attitude towards the monster leads to the monster’s despicable rage on humans. The theme of loss of innocence is detailed in the novel’s plot setting and characterization. This is through the various ways the characters in the novel lost their innocence.

The plot is centered on the conflict that haunts Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who creates a monster. Immediately after laying sight of his creation, he feels disgusted and rejects it. “I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived”(43). After Frankenstein rejects his creation, he gets to meet with a family that highlights his sensitive side. The family also rejects the creature leading to its utter destruction of the entire surrounding. The monster narrates of the destruction saying he acted as an enraged beast that had broken free off its shackles busting everything else standing in the way and scampering through the woods with haste like a stag (121).

An innocent Justine is accused of a crime she did not commit. This crime was however, committed by the creature in the process of adding to Frankenstein’s misery. Frankenstein changes his mission to eliminating the creature he had earnestly created. The monster’s decision to attend Frankenstein’s wedding is construed as an opportune time for the creature to attack him. Instead of being attacked, he later finds his wife murdered. He describes the scene by saying that she lay there still and cold, strewn across the bed with her head dangling form the bed with her hair providing cover for her disfigured facial appearance (179).

When Frankenstein is a mere seventeen years old, he undertakes the mission of creating a monster. This is after undertaking six years of study at the University of Ingolstadt. The creation is done in an old deserted room in the city of Ingolstadt. Frankenstein’s loss of innocence is initiated the moment he rejects his creation. He narrates how he felt after he saw his creation saying that he detested returning to the deserted house he was staying. He felt the urgency of hurrying on forward even though it was raining given a “black comfortless sky” (44).

From the onset, Frankenstein harbors the admiration of traveling abroad. This leads him to his travel to England. This is how he gets to meet with Henry at Strasbourg and together they travel to Rhine River and then to London. Frankenstein goes to the north and locates a remote island where he undertakes to create the female that the creature had demanded. By agreeing to create a female for the monster, he continues to lose his innocence. The creature requests, “Oh! My creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request”(131). However, this mission is short-lived since Frankenstein later abandons the project and returns to France where he spends time with his wife Elizabeth to enjoy their marriage. The abandonment of the project enrages the monster even more and pursues Frankenstein. The monster attacks his family and kills the wife, Elizabeth. In the process, the monster loses some of his innocence. After the loss of his love, Frankenstein laments that virtue has twisted its form and become a shadow in his life. The affection and happiness that he knew and experienced have disappeared and now is engulfed with bitterness and loathing despair and comes to the point that he cannot find a soul from which to seek sympathy.

Loss of innocence is also depicted by the characterization in the novel. The loss of Frankenstein’s father marks his loss of innocence. Frankenstein narrates of the loss that he no longer is aware of what has become of himself. He says that he lost all sensation with the chains of darkness being the only things he now identifies with. When the authorities accused Justine for the murder of William, Elizabeth lost her innocence as her faith had been betrayed. Elizabeth had all the time believed on the innocence of Justin. However, the felt betrayed after the judge pronounced her guilty of the murder and the latter confession by Justine. This leaves her downcast as she says the she no longer knew of how to have faith on human goodness, because the Justin she had so passionately loved and taken as a sister become the source of her pain through her betrayal. However, it is later indicated that Justin had not committed the offense. Justin’s innocence is lost after she confesses to the crime and is convicted.

In conclusion, we find that many of the characters in the novel end up losing their innocence. The loss of innocence in part of Frankenstein is highly important of all the other characters. This novel attempts to highlight the consequences of our actions whenever we undertake to pursue an activity that has not been clearly thought through.

 

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary W. Frankenstein Mary Shelley. New York: Best American Life Institute, 2010. Print.

McDonald’s Packaging Crisis

McDonald is regarded as the world’s largest food chain. Current statistics indicate that on average, close to sixty eight million customers are served by the company all over the world on a daily basis. With its headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States of America, the company started on humble beginnings dating back to the year 1940. The company started as barbeque restaurant being run by Richard and Maurice McDonald. Ray Kroc became a partner in the year 1955 and later purchased the entire entity and oversaw its worldwide growth. However, with growth, comes along inherent issues. McDonald has been faced by a myriad of issues with one of the most intense being the packaging crisis. The polystyrene “clamshell” sandwich containers used by the company were deemed as environmental pollutants even though the containers represented a small percentage of the entire municipal solid waste (McDonald’s Corporation, 1990).

The company endeavored in undertaking several steps aimed at alleviating the crisis. The first step undertaken by the company involved the commissioning of Stanford Research Institute with the mandate of undertaking a conclusive research on the environmental impact of the polystyrene “clamshell” sandwich containers. The results were to be compared with paperboard packaging. The research evaluated the various aspects of the two alternatives involved from the time of manufacture through disposal. The Stanford Research Institute found that the plastic packaging system was preferable due to its low environmental impact. The underlying reasoning was that the covering of the paperboard rendered it un-recyclable whereas the polystyrene was recyclable and the production process utilized minimal energy.

The company took up the environmental challenge as an opportunity to come up with a responsible environmental strategy. The underlying endeavor of the company was to design a dynamic capability leading into a culture of making environmental action a going concern within the company encompassing the entire company’s activities. By engaging with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the company altered its conventional linkages with the market with the introduction of environmental concerns throughout the company’s value chain. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as a non-market environment did not have the intention of being rewarded for its involvement with the strategy (Environmental Defense Fund and McDonald’s Corporation, 1991).

The recommended course of action for the company is engaging with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). By dealing with a non-market, the company was able to improve the image and quality of its chain system. The image change was facilitated by the resulting improvement in terms of environmental concerns. There was an immense increase on the number of boxes collected by the suppliers, in addition to the creation of a market for the recycled material. The company realized the first-mover advantage in comparison to its competitors. This was resultant of the privileged association with non-market players (Stillwell, Contz, Kopf, and Montrome, 1991).

The company was able to accomplish three goals by its association with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The company was able to perceive the underlying issues as being significant in the company’s entire value chain activities. With this regard, all solutions to the underlying problems were to be incremental and complementary to the other procedures and measures undertaken by the company. The company was able to make environmental responsibility a going concern in the same respect as conventional business conduct. The company was therefore able to win back the trust of its clients and thus repair its image. This is indicated by the positive response depicted by customers in depositing recyclable material in containers and the increase in company sales.

 

References

Environmental Defense Fund and McDonald’s Corporation.(1991). “Waste Reduction Task Force Final Report,” Oak Brook, IL: McDonald’s.

McDonald’s Corporation. (1990). McDonald’s Packaging — The Facts. Oak Brook, IL: McDonald’s.

Stillwell, J., Contz, C., Kopf, P., and Montrome, M. (1991). Packaging for the Environment, New York: American Management Association.

Modernism Essay Assignment

Modern architecture, as the name suggests is the latest architecture that dissociates itself from the earlier architectures. Modern architecture dates back to the late 19^th century when technology came in. The modern era architecture began towards the end of the 19^th century when architects started to reconcile architectural principles to the emerging technology. This resulted from the modernist movement that sought to bring newer designs to suit the technologically growing society with the intention of creating buildings that follow a function. In addition, more ideas of how one should live in the industrializing society were changing. With technology, new architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright were able to design better buildings that would consider functionality as their basic philosophy, among other ideas (Mcrae, 2009).

Modern architecture is characterized by simplified structures. The difference between the modern architecture and preceding architecture is simplification of the buildings, and elimination decoration to follow function. Modern architecture is more designed to suit function or purpose of the structure. The other difference is the materials used (Mcrae, 2009). Due to technological advancement, steel and glasses were used in building of the houses, which was not there before. It is during this time that the famous phrase ‘form follows function’, was heard, where the architects were able to build buildings that would serve specific purposes. The principle is that the shape of the building should be determined by what it is intended for, such as offices, industrial, or residential. The phrase was derived from the Architect Sullivan in 1896 when he sought to differ from the previous form of architecture where function was determined by the form. In his idea, form should come after the function has been considered.

On the other hand, during the pre-modern period, houses were built using stones, bricks, and stained glass. More so, design was much or almost the same in shapes, and the function of the building was not considered before the houses were constructed. The traditional architects designed buildings according to how they perceived them best, giving many details to the finish. Any person who wanted the house would have to fit their function inside the already built house or building. Therefore, it was easy to note that all functional buildings, whether offices or factories, had little difference.

Another characteristic of form of the modern architecture is the lack of ornamenting the buildings. In the pre-modern period, all buildings would be decorated with finely finished patterns crafted by hand. In the modern era, the architectures sought to realize optimal utilization of machines in architectural work. While human beings would be pleased to see well-crafted or ornamented finishes in their buildings, technology did not need to do that. Rather, technology sought the simplest form; therefore, could not make such carvings. It is for this reason that modernistic architecture looks simple since there are no complicated decoration in the finishing of buildings, rather, they are made of straight smooth and definite shapes. With the modern era, ornamented buildings look superfluous rather than appealing.

During the early stages of modern architecture, an understanding of the phrase that forms follows functions increased tremendously. People knew that buildings are supposed to be determined by the function they will be serving and the materials in order to have an intrinsic value and beauty, without needing to be ornamented like the traditional structures. There was a different perspective concerning buildings, where people drew away form the traditional forms where buildings were heavy structures made of bulky materials. Instead, the modern architects viewed buildings as voluminous spaces enclosed in light with thinner curtain walls supported by thin pier. This was inspired by the ability of machinery to make such walls. The modern houses are made of the basic materials that include concrete and stone, glass and metal, which allowed simpler structures. The space of the house was designed for the basic things that a person would need. They also differ in style form the traditional structures that used gabled roofs with stained windows that allowed minimal light. Instead, the modern architecture sought to allow in more light through the windows, while roofs were flat, making the buildings resemble boxes. The philosophy here was to have just enough space for the basic needs of the person. Without ornamenting, the materials used to build would be left bare making it even simpler to build.

The basic form of a modern house has been a simplified, leaving space that does not require ornamenting, and allows in more light through windows designed so. The basic shapes are rectangular and square, making them look like boxes (Mcrae, 2009). However, with more advancement, many designs of the modern architecture have resulted, with houses not only being designed to follow function, but also the landscape of the area, especially for residential houses. In addition, the structures are designed to include curved walls inside to allow smooth distribution of air, but still maintain the basic forms of the basic modern architecture.

With this idea, that form should follow function, which became the adopted philosophy concerning architecture, many architects were able to design houses according to the needs of their customers. In addition, the modern architecture also changed the way people lived through coming up with independent designs from the traditional ones that considered culture. With houses designed according to function, they could not follow all cultures and traditions of people since the architects had a view that people should fit to their work, rather than follow their traditional values (thinkquest.org, 2011). Modern architects believed that all human beings have the same basic needs.

The philosophy of modern architecture follows on five factors that define the art. The first philosophy of modern architecture is the popular phrase that form follows function as mentioned (mysticmadness.com, 2012). This suggests putting the purpose of the house the first priority during planning. The building should consider easy access of the most important parts of the house such as the living room. It also means that function of the house such as the living room should be designed to fit its purpose, while the bedroom should also be designed to meet function. With the bedroom, since it a place to sleep required small space while the living room will require more space.

The other philosophy was ornamenting being a crime. This was to mean ornamenting of buildings should be eliminated, and buildings left with space. People now preferred the geometrical voluminous shaped buildings without ornaments. Ornaments in the modern architecture are considered out of fashion, and only make a building too complicated as well as hard to maintain. Traditional architecture used ornaments to conceal the structure of the buildings. Without the ornamentation, the buildings were easier to maintain, and easier to follow function as well as avoiding unnecessary details. The walls of modern houses are straight and boxy without any decorations that conceal them (mysticmadness.com, 2012).

Use of new materials is another philosophy suggesting drawing away from the traditional materials. The modern architecture is characterized by use of new materials different from the traditional ones. Modern architecture is characterized by modern materials that use reinforced concrete and steel as well as wood. The modern architecture uses sincere materials where wood is used just as it is and looks the same way on the building, while concrete should look as concrete. In addition, these materials are used in a large scale with concrete having the capability of being poured into any form. The new materials are stronger than the traditional materials, which were stones and bricks. Though they are still used today, they are used minimally (mysticmadness.com, 2012).

The other philosophy of modern architecture is the sowing off the structure where there is more emphasis on the structure of the building. Traditionally, structure of the buildings was hidden as much as possible through ornamenting. Traditional architecture had no value for the structure of the building; rather, they considered the ornamenting as the center of the buildings. Modern architecture focuses on the structure as its central part. The structure becomes the beauty of the house. With modern architecture, people are concerned with how their houses look both from the exterior and interior (mysticmadness.com, 2012).

Finally, modern architecture uses the philosophy of breaking away from history. The philosophy suggests that anything traditional is out of value. The modern architecture did not have value for anything that was done before, which enables the architects to bring down traditional buildings to replace them with modern high-rise buildings in the urban centers. This was a break from the historical architecture, where the architects sought to create an entirely new way of designing buildings (mysticmadness.com, 2012).

The social ideas of the modern architecture are focusing on how people should live, instead of looking at the current situation people are living in. Modern architecture tends to change people’s views  on living. The architects of this era focused on the idea of human beings having the same basic needs. The modern architects do not consider the differences of people’s needs, including cultural and social differences. The modern architects used their own creation to design houses with an aim of making people adopt the new designs. With their own ideas and designing houses to follow function, they forgot that a culture does determine function. For instance, building a house in India requires having a room to make a shrine. There were ideas such as living in apartment houses would be better for social meetings, and that detached houses may be good, but do not provide solutions for how a modern person should live.

Frank Lloyd Wright was among the pioneers of modern architecture. He was born in 1867, and contributed to the ‘Prairie’ and ‘Usonian’ styles in American residential houses. Works of Frank are very much consistent with the modern architecture considering he was among the pioneers. He is famous for many works such as the ‘Falling Water House’, which he designed partly on a waterfall. Just like modern architecture, this building uses reinforces concrete and steel to support it above the waterfall. From its interior, light penetrates easily without difficulty, and has no ornamentation. Its structure from outside looks like several rectangular shaped boxes and vertical walls placed on each other with simple walls. In addition, to represent his organic style, the house conforms to the landscape and its walls look much as the stones around. The building falls away completely from the traditional styles. Slabs of the building are supported by concrete with the walls between using more glass and steel.

Another building built by Frank is the ‘Larking Administration Building’ in New York. The building, built in 1906 is one of the public works done by Frank considering he did few public works. The building id characterized by reinforced concrete, steel and glass. Although the concrete is more than the glass, the building takes the basic form of a modern building with definite rectangular shapes and smooth flowing walls. The building takes sincere style where the materials used are not concealed using ornamenting. The building looks relatively simple with straight flowing walls and piers.

Frank introduced a philosophy of his own, known as organic in 1908. Organic architecture in his description was architecture to represent principles of nature as seen through the intelligence of men. He sought to build natural looking buildings (Elman, n.d). Organic architecture involves respecting the building materials, and harmony between form, design and function of the building. The meaning of his philosophy was that a building has a natural relationship with the site as well as time. His philosophy suggested that a building was a product of its site and time. His idea was to design buildings that blended with the place they were built and during which time it was built (Elman, n.d).

Two years before his death, Frank published a book concerning his philosophy in architecture. In his book, he claimed that buildings should have a relationship with the land upon which it is built. He also addressed the issue of a relationship between human beings to the landscape, use of newer materials that included glass and steel with a focus to come up with a spacious architecture to develop a character for buildings. This was his notion of style in architecture. His philosophy and ideas have been used by many people to design houses (Elman, n.d).

 

Work cited

Elman, Kimberly. Frank Lloyd Wright and the Principles of Organic Architecture. pbs.org, n.d. Web. February 18, 2012.

Mcrae, Shelly. Characteristics of modern architecture. helium.com, November 02, 2009. Web. February 18, 2012.

Mysticmadness.com. Characteristics of modern architecture. 2012. Web. February 18, 2012.

Thinkquest.org. Modern Architecture and its impact on social structures. thinkquest.org, 2011. Web. February 18, 2012.

Why Haiti Matters

Haiti as a nation has been prone to several different disasters, political instability, and economic problems since the time it was discovered. Columbus first discovered Haiti when he explored it on December 6 1492. It is a Caribbean country, which is on the western side of the Islands of Hispaniola. It has a government, which is elected by the people, that is, it has a democratic government. It is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the whole world. It was the first black nation to attain independence and the first Caribbean state to throw away the French as their colonialist and abolishes slave trade in the early nineteenth century. It has been hit by several crises raging from political crisis to health crisis. In conjunction to this, lately Haiti was hit by another crisis, which is the earthquake that led to almost flattening its capital city Port-au-Prince. Despite all this problems, Haiti is of great importance to the US due to various reasons.

One of the ways in which Haiti matters is in the re-writing of the history after the world war one. America has been an oppressor of Haiti by supporting France in the colonization of Haiti. It is in this opportunity where Haiti has been hit by a crisis that America can re-write the history by saving the lives of people of Haiti and the Haiti government (The New York Times, 2011). America can re- write the history by trying to help the government restore peace and order in the country. Additionally, America can try to re-write their history by trying to build Haiti in all ways possible without the interference of the affairs of the Haitian government.

Haiti matters to the American government due to the amount of heroism it has produced. It was the first black nation and Caribbean nation to attain independence and yet it was very poor to afford to maintain Louisiana. Additionally, it matters because it has never stopped fighting for its independence despite the huge opposition it has been facing from the United States government. Therefore, it means that Haiti has been one of those nations that have been struggling to survive from political interference, earthquakes, and poor economic background. Despite all this, they have been able to survive.

Haiti also matters more in relation to racists. This means that Haiti has no excuses from all its political problems and other crisis that might be affecting it. Haiti has been an excellent example of people who are loyalists, ready to die for their country despite the economic situation that the country is in at any particular moment. Haiti people have never been affected by what others nations think about them. Due to this, they had been able to bring back stability and economy in their country but because of the crisis, they have been pulled back. However, they are not ready to give up and they have gone ahead with hope of building a better nation.

Haiti is very important to the different investors who want to help in the building of the nation. At this point, America can become an external investor of the nation, which can build it to a better nation, and additionally, it can benefit from it from the various investments that have been in the country (Pion-Berlin, 2009). However, these investments do not have to be bad but they have to be those, which are boosting the economy of Haiti as opposed to the earlier days where most of the investments that were done by America were to oppress it.

Lastly, Haiti matters to us because it can be used as a teacher to teach the history of how the slaves gathered to defeat the colonialist, the French. Haiti was filled with slaves who came together, fought one of the most powerful nations in the whole world, and won the battle. Additionally, Haiti has taught us to look deeply into the matter or in any situation and not let the media deceive a way of thinking. In conjunction, Haiti has also offered us with a very important information or word of wisdom and shown us that it is still a brave nation, which can persevere any kind of problem (Pion-Berlin, 2009).

Therefore, it can be concluded that Haiti matters to the US more than they think despite of the many crisis and the poor economic status they have. It is a nation filled with a lot of history, which dates back from the time of the colonial power. Haiti matters because it also led to the end of slavery and helped the black nations in discovering that they can also be able in defeating the colonial powers. Lastly, Haiti is a teacher to many nations in its books of history of how gained it independence.

 

References

The New York Times. (2011, April 4). Haiti. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html

Pion-Berlin, D. (2009, January 01). Defense Organization and Civil–Military Relations in Latin America. Armed Forces & Society, 35, 3, 562-586.

Artificial Cardiac Pacemaker

Artificial Cardiac Pacemaker improves quality of lives and saves lives

Since ancient times, people have viewed the human heart as more than a physical component of the body. The heart is thought to be the source of emotion, the seat of the soul, and the hub of each person’s existence. For several years, researchers, and doctors left the organ unexplored and untouched for fear that it is too fragile, and too critical to withstand the severities of surgery. It was until the researchers saw the potential of saving lives and improving the quality of life that they started exploring the heart. From then, dedicated researchers have invented many significant medical technologies, but the most important is the artificial cardiac pacemaker. The research paper will investigate whether an artificial cardiac pacemaker improves quality of life and saves lives of patients with heart-related problems or not.

Through this advancement, scientists have greatly improved the quality of life of many people around the world (Kirk, 2001). It was while at NRC studying hypothermia that John Hopps acquired the microwave and high-frequency heating skills that would later lead him to produce the first artificial cardiac pacemaker—a significant device that would save millions of lives.  This device is an exceptional example of a fundamental technology that has vastly allowed the advancement of patient-care to be there for more than fifty years and possibly continue for another one hundred and fifty years. Of significance about the technology, is that it perfectly does what it is supposed to do.

Back in the 18^th century, medical researchers already apprehended that electrical stimulations contracts muscles. Charles Kite in 1788 described the concept of recovering cardiac arrest patients by using electrical discharges (Kirk, 2001). Early pacemakers were bulky, and powered by external power source, therefore, were too large for implantation into the human body.  In 1947, the invention of the transistor paved the way for invention of implantable devices.  In an endeavour to cut down on the amount of voltage required to restart the human heart and augment the length of time electronic pacing could be realized, Walton Lillehei produced a pacemaker that had leads directly attached to the heart’s walls. In 1958, a battery was fixed to the power supply, making the artificial pacemaker portable, which permitted patients to be mobile. This as well allowed patients to use the artificial pacemaker continuously as opposed to only for emergencies—still Lillehei’s pacemaker was external (Kirk, 2001).

Wilson Greatbatch and William Chardack were behind the invention of the first implantable artificial pacemaker, which, was first implanted in a patient in 1960. Furman developed the present technique, which involves inserting an artificial cardiac pacemaker. According to Barold et al. (2010), Furman used the method of inserting the leads into a patient’s vein and then stringing them up into the heart’s ventricles. With the leads inserted in the vein, lower voltages were required to regulate the patient’s heartbeat. As of today, approximately two million people are living with an artificial pacemaker in the United States, i.e. one person in every 160 people has an artificial pacemaker (Barold et al., 2010). Nowadays, pacemakers are comfortable and reliable. They help patients to get back to their almost normal lives.

In a normal heart, the pumping action is coordinated by the pacemaker region of the heart in the right atrium, a kind of natural pacemaker that creates electrical impulse. There is a transfer of the created electrical impulse to the atria, causing the atria to contract and pump blood into the ventricles. After close to 150 milliseconds, another transfer of the impulse to the ventricles takes place—they contract and pump blood from the heart. Unfortunately, the natural cardiac pacemaker can malfunction, resulting in abnormal heartbeats. Such arrhythmias can turn out to be very serious, causing heart attacks, blackouts, and to the extreme death.

An artificial electronic cardiac pacemaker is a medical device that uses electrical impulses to regulate the heartbeat. The pacemaker maintains a patient’s adequate heart rate. An artificial pacemaker consists of the pacing wire and the computer component. The computer component consists of the battery for the power source and the required programmable electronic parts. The pacing wire forwards the patient’s impulses from the computer component whenever a patient’s heart needs the impulses as determined by the predefined discharge rate. The gadget’s components are tremendously flexible to withstand any bending and twisting caused by body movements. When using the artificial pacemaker, a few mouse-clicks deliver customized information and permit patient tailored functionality.

A few weeks after implantation of the device, majority of the patients resume normal life and forget about the device. A specialist checks the device regularly. After enduring the initial checks, the patient only returns to the specialist for an annual check to measure the strength of the impulse, to monitor the battery’s life, and to monitor the device’s discharge rate. Thus, a patient’s lifestyle is not modified to a great degree after the device’s insertion. The only disadvantage in life quality is that a patient cannot engage in activities involving intense magnetic fields, since they may greatly harm the electronics fitted in the device.

Artificial cardiac pacemakers can and prevent death. In reality, pacemakers are an unusual accomplishment, reflecting what can result from prolific research activities among engineers and physicians. From the initial design made in the 1960’s, artificial pacemakers have been implanted millions of patients, therefore, preventing deaths of many patients. Considering the significant importance of artificial pacemakers in today’s medical science, the number of patients depending on the support of the devices as well as the steady development of the implants and their functionality, it appears, that there can not be any negative blow on the society. Pacemakers have been reported to improve the quality of life for many patients. In 2006, Fleischman researched the effect of artificial cardiac pacemaker implantation on the quality of life of 2000 patients (Barold et al., 2010). She noted that patients under study experienced noteworthy improvement in their quality of life after the surgery, mainly in their physical activity. In this study, patients aged below 75 experienced the best improvement in the quality of life.

Biventricular artificial cardiac pacemakers are usually used for patients experiencing heart failure. Coupled with an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), an artificial pacemaker is a great life saving blend. The electrical impulse generated by a cardioverter-defibrillator is more powerful than the one generated by a pacemaker. Together, the two prevent a patient’s abrupt death by sending an immediate electric shock to the heart whenever an anomalous heart rhythm is sensed. Pacemakers reduce hospitalizations by 36 percent and reduce death, or mortality rates, by 23 percent (Barold et al., 2010).

Over the past decades, extensive research into entrenched systems for medical applications was conducted. Although much of the research has targeted specific technical problems, advances in the researched areas resulted in embedded solutions that will profoundly affect the society. Underlying most of the developments is the unparalleled improvement of information technology. Some of the resulting gadgets are not only supporting and improving the quality of life—they are even saving several lives a day. Artificial cardiac pacemakers are indubitably one of the triumphant developments in medical science.

 

 

References

Barold, S., Stroobandt, X., & Sinnaeve, F. (2010). Cardiac pacemakers and resynchronization: An illustrated guide, 2^nd edition. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kirk, J. (2001). Machines in our hearts: The cardiac pacemaker, the implantable defibrillator, and American health care, 1^st edition. Boston: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

 

 

Gay Marriage

Introduction

After the Massachusetts Supreme Court announced that allowing homosexuals to marry was giving them their constitutional right, enough debates, questions, answers, arguments, opinions and theory have been raised to last us a lifetime. All this has taken place between those who are in support, against and the ones who are not sure. Katha Pollitt has made her statement clear, homosexual marriages should be legalized.

The major concern in all these topics is whether the marriage institution will be degraded/ threatened or not. What will happen to the old meaning of marriage we have known it to be since a time we cannot even recall? Homosexuality has been practiced for many even before Christ (B.C). However, taking it to another level i.e. allowing marriage cannot be taken lightly. My thesis statement is it should remain Adam and Eve.

Discussion

I am in agreement with Pollittt. Marriage was not created for procreation purposes only. However, it does not mean homosexuals should be given a right to marry on that ground. There is a sense of security that comes with the presence of male and female (father and mother) in a family. It is termed as a complete family even when there are no children. Those two are the building blocks of a nation. Whether homosexual marriages are be legalized or not, there are certain facts that will remain unchanged.

Men and women are and will never be the same. There are certain characteristics or behaviors men have and women have, which are different from each other, that enable them make them who they are and hence compliment each other. For example, women are more emotional than men are. This plays as an advantage and a disadvantage to them especially when matters of emotions are involved. This is why the men should be around when there are some decisions to be made. Having two males together or two females together may bring forth such an imbalanced family.

Children, whether biological or adopted, need father and mother figures in the family. If homosexuals are to marry, they will also be allowed to have children by whatever legal means. Picture a child introducing his/her parents to the other children. How will they put it? Whom will they introduce as the father and who as the mother? Whether we like it or not, a woman can only play the role of a mother. Of course, there are few exceptional, but the majority can only act as mothers and so is the case of the males. Bringing up a child in the family that is imbalanced is not doing right to the children. Many might argue that there are children who are brought up by single parents and they turn out to be fine but bringing up a child in a family with two “singles” is just too much. There are roles each play that cannot be substituted by the other.

One thing is quite sure; the legalization of gay marriages will change the society. The education in schools will have to be changed so that there is the inclusion of homosexual families into the syllabus, homosexual families/couples will be invited in schools so that they can talk to the children about homosexuality, and many other changes. The definition of marriage is definitely changing. It is being given another meaning. It is no longer ‘the coming together of a male and a female..” but “the coming together of two human beings…”

Until recently, homosexual marriages have not been allowed in many states in the world. Does it mean that the people were acting out of malice? Had they foreseen something? In simple terms, it means that as long as one is in love with the other, or as long as one feels like marrying the other, they can simply walk in one of the law offices and get the knot tied.

As it has been known for long, most churches are not with this statement made by the court. This might be unfortunate for those who would like to get married in church for most churches do not initiate such marriages. To them, marriage is still between a man and a woman. Majority of the people are known to be Christians. Christians follow the Bible and the Bible is against homosexuality. In fact, there was a man (Lot) in the bible who was willing to give up his virgin daughters to some men so that they would not have relations with other men.

Pollitt, who admits not to be a marriage person, may not fully understand the role heterosexual marriages play in the upbringing of a nation. Marriage has nothing to do with civilization. It may be change in order to make it better, but not to change its entire meaning. Andrew Sullivan who has written an article about gay marriages (For Gay Marriage), also feels that gay marriages should be allowed as it discriminates against homosexuals by denying them the right to marry. On the other hand, William Bennett who has written an article discouraging homosexuality (Against Gay Marriages) says that legalizing gay marriages is stripping marriage off its meaning.

Conclusion

As long as we may feel that we are welcoming civilization and equal rights to all, there are some things we cannot change. A mother was born a mother and she cannot play the complete role of a father no matter how hard she tries. The same case applies to a father. It no longer about the separation of the church and state but what we have not only known to be right but also feel it. Heterosexual marriages have stood the test of time as being the right marriages and thus defining the marriage. Including homosexual marriage into the recipe will only bring an outcome of a confused generation in future.

Sustainability in Business Model

Sustainable business is termed as the business that meets the needs of the current world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. There are many intangible, hidden and unarticulated costs of business models. These cannot be quantified especially when it comes to sustainability. Therefore, various comments are raised on how individuals can deal with difficult-to-quantify costs.

I agree that sustainability is not over-usage of the term but rather misusage. Sustainability has been misused for many years without getting answers to the problem. The concept is elusive but it is up to ideologies of sustainability to help clarify the concept and use the word in a proper way. Many companies have taken the label of green or sustainability in order to gain a competitive advantage in the competitive market but fail to integrate sustainable principles into their developments. Sustainability is becoming complicated by the fact that it applies to a multiple of interrelated dynamic issues of environmental, social and economic developments (Stoner and Wankel, 2010).

One can deal with difficult- to-quantify costs in many ways. Dealing with a sustainable challenge is difficult. However, individuals who have genuine concerns about the planet, the human race and the future concern seek to support the business. They do it in a commercially sustainable way without damaging the environment in the process. Creating market pull for the benefits of sustainability products requires a problem-solving method that identifies the environmental challenges in the value chain. The real financial cost in sustainability comes from products that solve particular customer problems. Many industries need to focus on capitalizing on products that their customers may distinguish (Freemantle, 2006).

Creating market pull with direct customers and end use products. In order to quantify costs, companies should reach out to the sustainability function of customers. This will make them to understand the value of the environmentally preferable aids, information and supplies. This can either be through establishments of revenue targets for some of its products offering with sustainable attributes. In addition, industries can appeal to the consumers to demand the attribute through collaboration with direct customers or alone. This will help in solving the problem of quantifying costs.

Through market segmentation and market substitution, an individual identifies specific market segments that are natural buyers for the sustainable attributes. This is because they have compliable obligations or commitments that are voluntary to improved performance. Substituting services for products can be done through change of trading conditions. This will enable customers to pay for the services but not the products, which aligns business incentive on effectiveness, durability and recycling.

Sustainability can be about the resources and it is too wide especially when it comes to human behaviors in the sustainable industrial society. People do not increase their consumption freely at their own will. Of course, there is the possibility that people can try to avoid such consumption restrictions. Others in the society consume less to maintain certain consumption limits in order to balance with the natural resource in the society. For instance, in Poland Spring, they purchased the land that was around its springs and left it natural and undeveloped to preserve the environmental resources (Russell, KPMG and Confederation of British Industry, 2002).

It is not simple to achieve fully sustainability. However, both production and consumption needs to be controlled carefully. It is possible that efficiencies in resources use can allow some growth in perceived consumptions that is increased satisfaction of wants with the same amount of output. That is why it is not easy to abandon plastic bottles when deciding the amounts to produce. Therefore, people need to move beyond the sustainability concept in its current water-down format and expand upon their understandings of its core principles.

Sustainability is one of the most overused concepts in many areas. Many business companies usually include the term in their missions at least in every second sentence or in press release. Even in lifestyle, many so-called sustainable homes use it even when they have huge bank debts and family borrowings to pay for it. Sustainability includes even financial factors whether it is a building or a way of life. Therefore, when talking about sustainability, one must determine financial values, market values and find out the solutions to overcome them (Freemantle, 2006).

Under managed in sustainability depends on the relative optimism with which one views the structure of a certain productive economy. One has to focus on its supply and the way it utilizes resources properly. In addition, the capacity to which the government manages the economy than it has done before significantly reveals if the economy is under managed or not. Another reason is the importance of accumulated learning in manufacturing process. In this context, a clear service role suggests the economy, not as under managed but as one, that supports manufacturing using technological services.

Even though we cut down and reduce the use of plastic through recycling for better environment and business purposes, still sustainability cannot be the definition. This is because recycling can cause air pollution since many plastics are made from hydrocarbon monomers. We have not yet achieved sustainability. Many plastics undergo the composition process of carbon and hydrogen and there are some other elements involved such as oxygen, nitrogen and chlorine. All this chemicals when they combine with air cause pollution to the environment thus the definition is still not achieved. However, recycling of plastics helps in quantifying the costs that may arise especially in the over exploitation of natural resources.

References

Freemantle, A. (2006). The sustainable business handbook. Cape Town, SA: Trialogue.

Russell, J., KPMG, & Confederation of British Industry. (2002). Business sustainability.

London, UK: Caspian.

Stoner, J. A. F. & Wankel, C. (2010). Global sustainability as a business imperative. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

 

 

Pro-social Behavior

Daniel Batson is of the opinion that true altruism exists. He believes that people’s empathy towards others enables them to help. He admits that the egoistic orientation towards helping others should not be dismissed lightly. This is where people help others so that they can reduce their own distress and this is not considered true altruism. The problem of identifying true altruism stems from the fact that empathy and egoism are motivational concepts and they are therefore not easily observed. Evidence to show empathy as a cause of true altruism can be acquired from observing the differences in behavior between egoistic and altruistic interpretation. Egoistic helping is when a person helps another so that he or she can get personal gains such as praise, material rewards and self-esteem, or so that the person can avoid personal pain such as guilt, shame, punishment and social castigation (Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley, & Birch, 1981).

True altruism increases the other person’s welfare by reducing his distress or increasing his benefits. Altruism can result to the benefiting the person who is helping but the benefit experienced should be unintended. Providing a way of escape can help determine whether the person offering help is doing so for his own benefit or he is truly altruistic. When the chance for motivating is egoistic, the helping rate is determined by the ease and cost of escape. In this case, the chance for helping will be low when the difficulty for escape is easy. However, a person who has a more difficult chance of escape will feel compelled to help. When the motivation for helping is altruistic, the ease or cost of escaping does not determine whether a person will be of help to another person. People are more likely to identify with those who are similar to them and they will feel more empathy for them (Batson et al., 1981).

In arguing against true altruism, Cialdini observed that people who help others because they are altruistically motivated feel enhanced sadness when they see the victim suffering. This sadness and sorrow is what compels them to help the individual. The helpers help for egoistic reasons, mainly to relieve the sadness they are feeling. Helping has a rewarding component and it is used to restore a person’s mood. Not all negative moods are restored or increased by helping. Gratifying events such as praise and money reduces the sadness that the person is feeling but it does not increase empathic concern. Cialdini noted that persons who had high empathy showed high scores of helping but this changed when they received a sadness cancelling reward such as money. He concluded that the reason why people were compelled to help others was so that they could reduce personal sadness but not that they were empathetic (Caldini, Schaller, Houlihan, Arps, Fultz, & Beaman, 1987).

Distress and empathy are not the only motivators that compel people to help others. For instance, in an accident scene, a person may be moved to help the victim by calling an ambulance. In this case, there is no distress or feelings of sadness felt by the person. He or she may simply be late for work and the accident may be causing a traffic jam. He or she may also help because he sees other people helping. It does not matter whether he feels any compassion for the victim or whether he is saddened by the event. Money and praise cannot act as sadness cancelling rewards in all circumstances. There are instances where they will not work and they may even seem as an insult. For instance, a person who decides to rescue a child from a burning building may just decide to do so because he or she pities the child and does not want him to come to harm.

Religion also plays a role in pro-social behavior. Some people help because they are required to do so by their religion. Helping the poor is common among major religions such as Christianity and Islam. It does not involve reducing sadness or sorrow; rather the believers are convinced that they have to do this to fulfill their religious obligation. This can best be illustrated by the work of mother Teresa who helped the poor for no benefits but she did so as a way of fulfilling her religious beliefs. People who have experienced trauma usually find comfort in helping others (McGinley, Carlo, Crockett, & Raffaelli, 2010). People who have undergone various tragedies in life such as those who have been victims of rape and drunk driving establish organizations and groups where they help other people who are undergoing similar circumstances. This helps them to overcome the trauma they faced. While they seek to benefit psychologically, they do not do this out of self-interest, but rather they help others so that they can help them heal and in the process, they also benefit.

Scholars have developed different theories to help explain why people help others. Egoistic motives are explained by social exchange theory, which asserts that people help others when the rewards they are expecting are greater than the costs. Helping other people is usually costly even if it is done for selfish reasons. Costs include things such as time and putting oneself in danger. Wealthy people who help others financially also experience a loss since they could have spent their money on other things. Costs can also include shame and embarrassment, depending on the circumstances. It may also involve some element of pain such as when one is burnt or chocked as he or she tries to rescue someone in a burning building. The social norm theory proposes that people learn pro-social behavior through socialization. Sometimes, people help others so that they can in turn be helped by others in future. They see helping others as a future investment, which will bring in returns in future.

People can help strangers or the people they know. Social responsibility compels people to help strangers and other people that they might never meet. For instance, a person may feel compelled to help someone who knocks on their door on a rainy night and the same person may donate to a charity that helps people in poor countries to get medicine. People are more likely to help their relatives than strangers. Parents are more altruistic towards their children than children are towards their parents. While this may be because of different reasons such as life experience and responsibility, it may also be explained by the fact that parents believe that their genes will survive as long as they help their children. Describing pro-social behavior from an evolutionary perspective can help one to understand this fact (Larsen, Ommundsen & Veer, 2008).

As the debate of pro-social behavior continues, it has become quite difficult to find the real motive why people seek to help others. Helping others is a personal decision and preference. The difficulty in finding the real motive comes from the fact that individuals are all different. Faced with similar circumstances, people will react differently to a situation. In many cases, people are led by both altruistic and egoistic motivators. Someone may decide to donate blood purely for the sake of helping another person. After donating blood, the person feels satisfied knowing that he will help a life somewhere. If that person is given some money at the end of the exercise, he may accept the money and he will benefit in this way. Money did not determine whether he will give blood but it was an unexpected benefit.

Serving humanity seems to be a more important issue than finding the reasons why people do it. Those who choose to help others help to make the world a better place. They ease human suffering by assisting those people who are in need. They might be doing so for purely selfish reasons such as recognition, but in the end, their actions have served humanity. Others may help for purely selfless reasons and they may never receive recognition for what they do. For instance, people who donate their money to charities anonymously, or those who dedicate their lives to serve the people in the most remote areas on earth may not be known elsewhere. They however continue to serve irrespective of the differences they have and this selfless act serves humanity. True altruism exists in a few people but those few continue to make the world a better place and they are a source of hope to those who would want to emulate them.

References

Batson, D. C., Duncan, D. B., Ackerman, P., Buckley, T., & Birch, K. (1981). Is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40 (2), 290-302

Cialdini, B. R., Schaller, M., Houlihan, D., Arps, K., Fultz, J., & Beaman, L. A. (1987). Empathy-based helping: Is it selflessly motivated? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52 (4), 749-758

Larsen, S. K., Ommundsen, R., & Veer, K. (2008). Being human: Relationships and you: A social psychological analysis. Netherlands: Rozenberg Publishers

McGinley, M., Carlo, G., Crockett, J. L., & Raffaelli, M. (2010). Stressed and helping: The relations among acculturative stress, gender, and Pro-social tendencies in Mexican Americans. The Journal of Social psychology, 150 (1), 34-57