The Invisible Gorila Essay Example for Free

The Invisible Gorila Essay A talent show is an event that participants perform their specific talents in order to win the first prize. Singing talent shows are quite popular lately because they don’t require participants to be in certain ages or professions. Talent shows are very entertaining so that people start to pay attention to them. In fact, in talent shows, not only contestants, but also judges and audiences, always project illusions. They misperceive something might not exist. In book The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons investigate six illusions that happen everyday in people’s lives. They use a lot of examples and scientific experiments to explain how different illusions affect people and reveal that human being’s thoughts are suffered from illusions. Among those six illusions in the book, illusion of confident, illusion of knowledge and illusion of cause have the biggest effect in talent shows. Contestants experience the illusion of confidence because they have unjustified confidence in their own abilities and they are not aware of their lack of skills. Some contestants don’t have skills but they act very confidently. Chabris and Simons state in Chapter 3, â€Å"In fact, those who are the least skilled are the most likely to think better of themselves than they should† (86). Least skilled contestants probably have never done anything relevant to music. They attend talent shows because they like singing or they want to be proved by aud iences. For example, in 2003, a student William Hung who was studying in civil engineering at Berkeley participated in â€Å"American Idol†. Since he couldnt sing and dance, his performance was funny and everyone was making fun of him. However, he was very confident and he thought he was doing his best. Indeed, when people are interested in something or just started doing something, they are more likely to feel confident because they dont know much about it. Furthermore, least skilled contestants don’t realize their actual competence. They mistake their confidence as real competence. When performing on stage, they think that even though they have not been trained before, their personalities or appearance can draw audiences’ attention. When constantans experience illusion of confidence, they are so confident that neglect the fact that they dont have abilities of performing. Except for contestants, audiences experience illusion of confidence as well. Not acting confidently doesnt mean a person has no ability. Yet sometimes audiences automatically treat confidence as a mark of actual competence of contestants. For example, when two contestants who have similar level of skills are performing on stage, audiences consider the one who looks more confident is better than the other. In 2007, there was a Taiwanese singing talent show called â€Å"One million Star. † Jam Hsiao was one of those contestants and he was quiet when asked questions. He told everyone that he wasn’t confident in communicating with other people. When audiences looked at Jam, they automatically thought Jam was not good at singing because he didnt show his confidence in front of other people. Nevertheless, He became totally different while performing and his beautiful and powerful voice attracted everyone. Since audiences are prone to believing a person is not confident, which may give a contestant an unfair disadvantage, but later when proven wrong may give the contestant a bigger advantage due to audiences having to compensate for the contrasting information. They become more likely to support contestants they doubt at the very beginning. Different with those least killed contestants, skilled ones experience the illusion of knowledge. People believe that they know things at a deeper level than they really do. Skilled contestants, who may have been trained for long time, have a lot of experience in performing in front of audiences. For instance, some of contestants who participate in â€Å"The Voice of China† went to musical universities before. As they said, they started learning musical instruments since they were kids and they have attended countless singing contests. They consider themselves as knowledgeable contestants for they have much experience. Compared to least skilled contestants, skilled contestants participate in talent shows because they think they know much about how to utilize knowledge they have learned than those who dont have many skills. Yet, knowing much about music doesnt mean those skilled contestants can definitely win contestants. The illusion of knowledge makes them not be able to properly determine their value because they are more likely to approve their merits and ignore shortcomings. Constantine Mouralis, who had a tony nomination before, participated in season four of â€Å"American Idol†. Constantine Mouralis started to improve his interest in music when he grew up. He sang in high school garage band and he appeared in Broadway roles. He was not only experienced, but also obtained a lot of awards before he competed on â€Å"American Idol. † He thought his ability was good enough compared to other contestants but he was eliminated at the sixth week. Although Mouralis was very skillful, other contestants who are better than Mouralis win eventually. In talent shows, judges project illusion of knowledge as well. Most judges are either famous singers or they are successful in the music industry. When they decide to choose the winner, they use their knowledge and experience to make decisions. They think the winner they choose will be successful after the show ends. Some contestants perform really well in talent shows and they fully show their talents to everyone and of course judges admit them too. After that, some of them are not famous due to all kinds of reasons. Foe instance, record companies decide not to give winners opportunities to release albums or winner contestants realize they want to do something else instead of being a singer. Judges make judgments because they think they know more about entertainment system than anyone else. The illusion of knowledge makes talent shows become unfair because judges are subjective when they make judgments. People are more interested in talent shows because some of them think that talent shows give them opportunities to be a professional singer. Apparently, these people are having illusion of cause. They infer causal relationships from coincidence. In entertainment system, parts of popular singers come from talent shows. They get a contract with record companies so that they can release albums after they win the talent show. Besides, since they are popular, they are invited to perform in many occasions. In fact, winning talent shows and becoming a famous singer are two different things so they have no causal relationships. However, people who want to participate in talent shows infer causal relationships from those coincidences. They believe that if they attend talent shows, they might win the first prize and they have a high possibility to be a famous singer. However, not everyone who comes from talent shows becomes famous. For example, in 2007, the champion of singing talent show â€Å"Super Boy† was really good at singing and he released his first album afterwards. Unfortunately, he wasnt popular and he never got the second chance to release other albums. Talent shows provide people opportunities to show their talents, but participating in talent shows and being famous have no causal relationships. Sometimes, the reason why contestants win talent shows is not only because they are better than anyone else. For record companies who want to make money, they prefer pick up contestants who have good appearance than those who have talent in singing but dont have beautiful faces. Thus, some factors which people think will cause contestants to win are not truly existed. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons’s explanations make me think illusions that happened in my life. People are beset by all kinds of illusions every day without noticing their existence. In talent shows, both skilled and least contestants have illusions since they are not able to determine their real abilities. People who win talent shows don’t mean that these people will be famous forever. On the contrary, people who failed in talent shows can still be successful. Besides, the reason why top singers and movie stars are famous is not only because talent shows give them opportunities to perform, other factors such as hard working and good luck can also be important for them. We need to pay attention to different kinds of illusions because sometimes they affect our decision-making. If we like singing and want to make music, we dont have to participate in talent shows because there are other ways for us to chase our dreams. After all, we should evaluate our abilities appropriately. If we are just interested in something but we dont actually have talent in doing them, we should have find out something else we can do to fulfill our dreams.

Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Victim

The Victim of Fate in Oedipus Rex The question has been raised as to whether Oedipus was a victim of fate or of his own actions.   This essay will show that Oedipus was a victim of fate, but he was no puppet because he freely and actively sought his doom, although he was warned many times of the inevitable repercussions of his actions. When first considering this topic, I speculated that maybe it was the destiny of Oedipus to suffer, but a friend asked me to explain why Oedipus, in the act of gouging his eyes out, cries explicitly:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No more, no more shall you look on the misery about me,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The horrors ... ...ology of the Great Myths and Epics.   Illinois: Passport Books, 1988. Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. Sophocles.   "Oedipus Rex."   An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al.   New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-one Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal: Not Unlike the Toaster, I Control the Darkness So I slept a little that day, and talked to my sweet love-ninja, Foo, a couple of times on the phone, then he came over and we left Jared with some blood for Lord Flood and the Countess when they awoke, and motored to the loft. It took like an hour to clean up all the broken glass and ash and stuff from the night before. We had just finished cleaning and counting the money and making out and whatnot when the alarm went off on the Countess's watch. And I was like, â€Å"Dude, I'm not ready.† And he was all, â€Å"Dude, you are more ready than anyone I've ever known.† And I was all, â€Å"OMG, I am so going to sex you to death if we live through this.† And then he was all bashful and pretended to be doing something technical so we were ready. Then, like an hour after sundown, I heard them coming. I was at the kitchen counter when the security door downstairs opened, and when I turned around they were just, like there. Lord Flood called them the Animals, but now they were kind of the roadkill. And I like touched the snap on my UV jacket, just to make sure it was there. So I was all, â€Å"Hey, vampyre scum.† And the formerly black and now gray one, who was like their leader, was all up in my grille, like, â€Å"We need the money, where is the money?† And I was like, â€Å"Step off, undead-tard. There's no money.† And he was like, â€Å"Don't fuck with us. Flood and the redhead took like six hundred grand from my apartment.† And I was all, â€Å"Actually, its like five hundred and eighty-three thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.† And he was all, â€Å"Give it!† And all seven of them were like gathering around me – even the born-again one the Countess had thrashed – like they were going to do the massive gang-suck on me, so I had my finger on my light button all the time, in case I needed to flash-fry the motherfuckers. But I stayed chilly and I was like, â€Å"Are you high?† And he was all, â€Å"No, I'm not high. No one is high.† And they all started whining and whatnot, all, â€Å"We can't even take a bong hit. We can't drink a beer. Our systems won't take it. Being sober sucks. We are useless undead stoners.† So I was all, â€Å"Step back and behold, bi-atches.† And I'm all taking a bottle of Stoli out of the freezer, and mixing in a glass with some of the blood from the pouches, just like the ones we left for the Countess and Lord Flood, and they're all drooling when they see the blood, so I was thinking, Dont' make me fry you. But then I give the glass to the gray vamp, and he's all, â€Å"Sweet.† And the others are like, â€Å"Me, me, me.† So I'm like mixing Bloody Marys all around, and the greasy hippyish one is like, â€Å"Can we dunk pot cookies in this?† And I'm like, â€Å"Of course, stoner vamp.† And they're all, â€Å"You are a goddess. And we are not worthy. And oh please, may we have some more?† Until they started to drop. So like two minutes later there's like this big pile of passed-out vampyres in the kitchen, and I'm all, â€Å"Yo, Foo, I got your shit ready.† And Foo comes out of the bedroom, all cute, holding his UV floodlight like he's going to save me, then sees that they are all out cold and gives me a big kiss and is like, â€Å"You rock.† And I'm like, â€Å"You have no idea, my Manga-haired love toy.† And he was like, â€Å"The sedative in the blood, blah, blah, four hours, blah, blah, nerdspeak, geektalk – â€Å" And I'm like, â€Å"Whateva, studmumn. Handle it.† So it took like two hours for Foo to do all his medical stuff with the Animals, taking some blood and doing various medical nerdism stuff to it, then putting it back in, but finally he was done and I called Jared to tell him that we were on our way to get Lord Flood and the Countess. So I like made the other call to make sure everything was all in order and whatnot, and Foo was all, â€Å"Are you sure this is what you want to do?† And I was all, â€Å"Foo, theirs is the greatest love of all time. It's the only thing to do.† And he was all, â€Å"Okay, as long as you're sure. Because we can do them the same as we did the others.† And I was all, â€Å"No, that won't work. They have to be together. And you don't have to live at home anymore. We'll have a completely sweet love lair.† So we did it. Blue watched from the alley across the street as the Animals came out the security door, empty-handed, and stumbled into the street. She knew she should have gone herself, but that whole getting-burned-up thing had taught her that perhaps it was better to delegate. That they didn't have her money was bad enough, but that they didn't have her money and heat was coming off of them was disastrous. â€Å"Those dumbfucks can't get anything right,† she said to herself. â€Å"I'm going to have to kill them all over again.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said a voice from behind her. She whipped around, leading with her long fingernails in a swipe that would have taken off half a man's face. Elijah caught her hand. He'd found another tracksuit, this one powder blue. â€Å"It's time to let it go. The genie must go back in the bottle, I'm afraid.† â€Å"Let me go, I need to go get my money.† â€Å"No, my dear, you don't want to do that. The residents of that loft have recently developed a very unpleasant fashion sense.† â€Å"You're fucking with my income, paleface.† â€Å"You don't need to worry about that anymore.† â€Å"Meaning what?† â€Å"It ends here. Come with me, my dear.† â€Å"You want me to come with you? I don't even know you.† â€Å"Yes, but we share a special relationship.† â€Å"Special? You beat my face into the hood of a Mercedes.† â€Å"Well, yes. Sorry. To the innocent my behavior can sometimes be distasteful.† â€Å"Yeah? Innocent, I've fucked thousands of guys.† â€Å"Yes, well, I've killed enough to fill a city.† Blue shrugged. â€Å"Okay, you win.† â€Å"Revenge is a dish best served cold anyway, don't you think?† â€Å"Or not at all,† said a male voice behind Elijah. Elijah and Blue turned. Three of them stood there in their long coats, looking like sculptures, looking eternal, like they could wait forever. â€Å"Can just anyone sneak up on me now?† said Blue. â€Å"Time to go, Elijah,† said the African woman. â€Å"None of you would be here if it weren't for me,† Elijah said. â€Å"Yes, and we would have been hunted down and killed a long time ago if we hadn't adhered to your rules.† â€Å"Ah, my rules,† Elijah said, looking down now. â€Å"How many left to clean?† Elijah looked across the street to the loft windows, then at Blue. She raised an eyebrow, smiled a little. â€Å"She's the only one left.† He lied. â€Å"Then finish it.† â€Å"I'd rather not,† Elijah said. The Emperor of San Francisco wept for his city. He had done what he could, called the police, alerted the newspapers, even tried to take to battle himself, but by the time he'd gathered the courage to return to the Marina Safeway, it had been finished, and he could do nothing more than speculate to the uniformed police officers how the window had been broken and why the store was empty. They'd tried to track down the night crew, but none of them seemed to be home. And his city was plagued by vampires. Now the Emperor wept and consoled the troops, rubbing Bummer behind the ears and gently patting Lazarus on the ribs as he lay sleeping on the dock. The fog was coming slow off the Bay tonight, not windblown like it was so often here. He heard footsteps before he saw them, then there were five of them. The fiend, the three in the long coats he had seen come in the night before, and a blond woman in a blue party dress. They walked past, and only the fiend turned and paused. The Emperor held Bummer tight, afraid that he would burst into one of his barking fits and all would be lost. â€Å"Old man,† said Elijah. â€Å"The City is yours again.† Then he joined the others at the end of the dock. The Emperor could see their motor yacht waiting outside the breakwater – it had to be two hundred feet long, far too big to enter the marina. â€Å"Very well, then, shall we go?† said Elijah. â€Å"Can I get a coat like that?† asked Blue, nodding toward the tall blond man. The blond man said, â€Å"You'll get one when you learn the secret handshake and get your decoder ring.† Blue looked at Elijah. â€Å"Is he fuckin' with me?† â€Å"Yes,† said Elijah. He offered her his arm. She took it, and stepped down into the longboat. The Emperor watched the vampires disappear into the fog. Rivera had six uniforms in SWAT gear with a battering ram ready to take down the door, so he and Cavuto were more than somewhat surprised when it opened almost as soon as they knocked. A shirtless, sleepy-looking Chinese guy with spiky hair stood in the doorway. â€Å"Yes, can I help you?† Rivera held up the warrant. â€Å"I have a warrant to search this apartment.† † ‘Kay,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Abby, cops are here.† The skinny broken clown girl appeared at the top of the stairs in a kimono. â€Å"Hey, cops,† said Abby Normal. â€Å"What are you doing here?† Rivera said. â€Å"I live here, cop.† She popped the p. Rivera hated that. â€Å"Actually, it's my apartment,† said the Chinese guy. â€Å"Do you need to see ID?† â€Å"Yeah, that would be nice, kid,† said Cavuto. He whipped the kid around and marched him up the stairs as the kid read the warrant. â€Å"Do not bruise the Foo, cop,† said the broken clown girl. Rivera turned to the uniforms and shrugged apologetically. â€Å"Sorry, guys, I guess we got this one.† They shuffled away. â€Å"What are you guys looking for?† asked the Chinese kid. â€Å"Maybe we could speed this up.† â€Å"We're looking for Thomas Flood and Jody Stroud. He's the one on the lease for this apartment and the one down the street.† â€Å"Oh, yeah. I'm subletting,† said the Chinese kid. â€Å"Steven Wong,† Cavuto read off the kid's license. Rivera was feeling very, very bad about this. They had found one more body in the Mission with the blood-loss-and-broken-neck MO – the guy had been naked, supposedly someone had stolen his powder-blue tracksuit, so they logged it as robbery, but then, a week ago, the killings stopped. That didn't mean it was over. He'd made the mistake of thinking it was over with these two before. Rivera had finally gotten the Christian kid at the Safeway to file charges on the redhead for assault. After a long talk with the other stoners, they'd gotten the Flood kid on the arrest warrant for conspiracy. They'd also implied that somehow Flood and the redhead had gotten their share of the old vampire's money. Maybe they had left town. If they had, well, good, but he still had a slew of unsolved murders. â€Å"You're subletting from Thomas Flood?† â€Å"I never met him, actually,† said Steve. â€Å"We arranged it through the rental agent.† â€Å"Yeah, so step off, cop,† said the skinny girl. Rivera looked around the apartment. There was no need to tear the place apart. Obviously everything in here was new. Mostly decorated in Pier 1 Imports cheap wicker motif and some punky Urban Outfitter flair, which he guessed was the input of the creepy little girl. The bronze sculptures were out of character, though. A life-sized nude of a young woman, a large snapping turtle, and a life-sized bronze of a couple posed as if in Rodin's The Kiss. â€Å"These must have been expensive,† Rivera said. â€Å"Not really. I know the artists,† the Chinese kid said. â€Å"Some biker guys down the street.† â€Å"Foo's in biotech,† said the broken clown girl. â€Å"He makes like stupid money, cop.† â€Å"Yeah, that's swell,† said Rivera. He'd watched this neighborhood turn from a rust slum of repair shops and the odd ethnic restaurant to a gentrified hive of hipster professionals in remodeled lofts during the dot-com boom, and it had never turned back. The whole neighborhood was full of kids who spent the equivalent of Rivera's annual salary on a car they wouldn't drive a dozen times a year. This kid apparently was just another one. â€Å"So you don't know these people?† Rivera said, pointing to the warrant. Steven Wong shook his head. â€Å"Sorry, I've never met them. I send my rent directly to the rental agency. You might check with them.† â€Å"Okay then. Sorry to bother you.† â€Å"Okay then?† Cavuto said. â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"They're not here, Nick. These two don't know where they are.† â€Å"But, that's not enough.† â€Å"Yeah? You want to spend some time talking to Allison here, see what you can find out?† Rivera nodded toward the broken clown girl. Cavuto had tried to keep someone between himself and the skinny girl since they'd come upstairs, but now he looked at her full on and shuddered. â€Å"No, I guess that's it.† He turned and lumbered down the steps. â€Å"You need to check your girlfriend's ID,† Rivera said to Steve. â€Å"You may not be old enough for her.† Then he turned and left as well. â€Å"Chill, Foo,† Abby said. â€Å"They're gone. They won't be back. Let's go shopping.† â€Å"Abby, are you sure about this? It seems cruel.† He patted the life-sized sculpture of the couple embraced in a kiss. â€Å"I heard the Countess say once that it was like being in a dream. They just sort of float, all peaceful and dreamy. The main thing is they're together.† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"Theirs is the greatest love of all time. It would be wrong for them to be apart, Foo.† â€Å"Well, I think we should just change them back. Now that we know the process works.† â€Å"Someday.† â€Å"Now.† â€Å"The Countess doesn't want that.† â€Å"It's wrong.† â€Å"How can it be wrong? It's my idea, and I am their dedicated minion and whatnot. I control the dark.† She ran and jumped into his arms. â€Å"I guess you do,† he said. â€Å"Okay, let's go shopping for stuff for our most fly apartment.† William arrived back at the loft just after dark, feeling very much rested and well fed from his hospital stay, but craving a sip or two of the good stuff, and terribly worried about Chet. He let himself into the stairway with his key, but when he rang the bell, no one answered, so he sat down to wait for the redhead and that guy to bring his bottle. He hadn't been there ten minutes before he heard the meowing at the door, and his heart leapt as he opened the outer door to find Chet, his red sweater still intact, purring outside. â€Å"Come on, boy. I missed you, buddy.† William scooped up his kitty and carried him into the stairwell. As soon as the door closed, Chet, the huge shaved vampire cat, was upon him.

Quantitative Data Problem Solving - 1790 Words

The use of quantitative data to solve a problem may seem as everyday and common sense-ish as any other problem solving style; perhaps even more so as it seems to make so much sense. First though – what exactly is quantitative data? It is measurable (through a suitable measure such as dollars, degrees, inches, millimeters) and verifiable data. It is however, amenable to statistical manipulation. Quantitative data defines whereas qualitative data describes (BusinessDictionary.com, 2010). Why then, don’t we – as a society – use it more? It would seem that our biases toward everything from race and gender to reality and fantasy get in the way. One need look no further than the classic movie â€Å"12 Angry Men† (Rose Lumet, 1957),†¦show more content†¦Next is attachment (Bazerman, Loewenstein Moore, 2002), where we value some relationship, reputation or arrangement in such a way as to become motivated to please the other party. This motivation may cause us to overlook, ignore or discount any data or evidence that would put the relationship in harms way. A third scenario is discounting (Bazerman, Loewenstein Moore, 2002), where the immediacy of something might diminish a future consequence. People are far more responsive to the ‘here and now’ than the ‘there and may never be’. A final scenario is escalation (Bazerman, Loewenstein Moore, 2002), where we may explain away indiscretions by blaming some other inconsequential event or situation. We escalate the importance of an excuse to overpower the thing or circumstance – or data – that doesn’t seem to fit our need at that moment in time. For example, one will blame the traffic for arriving home late when the data will show the person left work late. However, the escalation of the traffic patterns will keep us from getting in trouble for arriving late. Real data would clarify the actual circumstance, but let’s not let t he truth get in the way of a great story, or excuse. Fortunately, all of this bias can be identified, and the following section provides some alternatives which allow us to use data over bias. Decision by data versus bias There are certainly strong argumentsShow MoreRelatedImproving Second Graders Communication Of Mathematical Thinking976 Words   |  4 PagesThe article analyzed in this paper is the mixed research study titled Using Math Journals to Enhance Second Graders’ Communication of Mathematical Thinking. The quality of the research problem stated in the article was well put together. The researcher stated the problem clearly and identified why it was a problem. The gap in the literature the study is attempting to fill is communication of mathematical thinking. 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The Image Of Nursing - 1280 Words

The Image of Nursing Nurses has created a particular image on society and within their profession realm, that depicts them as quite a unique individual, specializing in delivery of quality, compassionate and caring care that is so unique in a meaningful way. With the media involved, the images, both reflect and reinforce the social aspect of nursing throughout the continuum of care. This essay will seek to explore common and complexed images of nursing and tell a story of how those images can play a part in the reflecting and the various status of the nursing we know today. Images left on our patients In the hospital settings, patients see the nurse as that caring person who sits and hold that baby in a cradling position as if they were†¦show more content†¦The media did not do any justice in depicting stories about the values of the nurse, yet alone the integrity, until the CAN ( The Center of nursing advocacy, 2007) decided to enlist a program where nurses were honored and rewarded for outstanding achievement in care. From the advent of the introduction of improved curriculum to now include the highest level of achievement for nursing, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), where nurses can not only write prescriptions and treat independently, but can advance to research, enabling better evidence based practices (Andrews l. D., 2007). The patients appears, from various studies, to be more apt to follow instructions from the nurse over the doctor, as they see the nurse as giving a more personalized treatment, and a working relationship, exten ds far out from being a patient in the hospital, to home care services where they are happy to receive quality care in the comfort of their own home. The Friendly Face of Nursing Although, today, there are many male nurses, the overwhelming site of a nurse, is that smiling female who seems to care so much about your comfort. The friendliness in which she asks â€Å"how are you today Ms Job†? The peace of mind seen on the patient’s face, tells that the joy of that closeness has certainly formed a bond (Johnson Johnson, 2007). 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The Image of Nursing describes how people in and out of the profession seeRead MoreThe Professional Image Of Nursing2443 Words   |  10 PagesThe professional image of nursing does not have a very glamorous history. The subservient, handmaiden to the physician stereotype that has historically been accepted is still widely accepted by the general population today. Efforts have been made to show nursing practice as an indepe ndent profession of its own, but much work still needs to be done (Catalano, 2015, p. 9). This paper will serve to show how nursing is portrayed by the media, and accepted by the public; it will also highlight ways inRead MoreImage and Voice of Nursing 1895 Words   |  8 PagesThe nursing profession is one of many portrayed by the media. In its simplest form media is how information is shared and stored. Media covers a wide range of services, advertisements, brochures, pamphlets, TV shows, films, novels, and magazines, digital, electronic, it goes on and on. 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Images of the Virgin Mary nursing Christ were originally intended not as pornography, but as visuals that depicted the nourishment of a child. The social setting of when these images emerge helps explain why these images of exposed breasts were perceived as tolerable. During the mid-fourteenth century Europe experienced a severe food crisis. With the fertilities

Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy Essay

In Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes begins a quest into his own mind and existence by putting all of his beliefs up for questioning in order to determine what can be certain and what can be doubted. He realized that he was able to doubt if he had a body in instances of dreaming or of illusions. But, he was unable to doubt the fact that he had a mind because the mind is the â€Å"the thinking thing† that processes all the doubts of his existence. Descartes’ mechanism into figuring out the truth is to doubt everything. Descartes argues that the mind and the body are completely separate entities because of the minds capability to exist on its own. Despite the fact that his argument is well assembled and explained, there are a few doubts and situations which make it unclear as to whether the mind really has a purpose without the body. The dualism of the mind and the body is explained and argued in Mediation VI: â€Å"I am merely a thinking thing and not an extended thing, and because on the other hand I have a distinct idea of a body, insofar as it is merely an extended thing and not a thinking thing, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body and can exist without it.† (AT 78). Our capability to understand certain things without the influence of the other is evidence that it is possible for our thoughts to be independent and uninfluenced. Descartes explains how all the things we clearly and distinctly understand must be made by God. God allows our mindsShow MoreRelatedDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy807 Words   |  4 PagesConner Ruhl Professor Copley Philosophy 1000C 4 May 2015 Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes was the first great philosopher of the modern era, He had a new approach which was focused on scientific and mathematical truths. Descartes came to reject the scholastic tradition, one of which he was educated, due to his pursuit of mathematical and scientific truth. Much of Descartes work was done to secure advancement of human knowledge through the use of the natural sciencesRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1079 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes argues for the ideas and philosophical beliefs behind skepticism. In his writings, he describes the fallibility and importance of the body of man and through extension the senses with which we observe the world. This paper will first show that within Descartes’ writings the body is an extension of the mind. Secondly, this paper will prove that the senses are a false form of understanding which leads to the deception of the mind. FinallyR ead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1318 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophical Questions November 2, 2017 Cogito Ergo Sum Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy and his questioning of our existence in reality is a question which philosophers have tackled throughout time. Cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am, a phrase brought about by Descartes is the backbone of his whole philosophy of our existence in reality. As long as we are thinking things, we exist. When we look at this approach to our existence we must first deny that any sensory data that we receive is believableRead MoreDescartes Meditations Of First Philosophy857 Words   |  4 PagesChristopher Joao Philosophy- 201 Mr. Jurkiewicz 4 March 2016 Descartes’ - Meditation #2 Rene Descartes was a French philosopher born in 1596. He is considered by many the father of modern philosophy and continues to have tremendous influence in the philosophical world to this day. The book, Meditations of First Philosophy, consist of six meditations and describes one meditation per day for six days. In meditation two, he claims that we have better knowledge of our own minds than of the physicalRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1264 Words   |  6 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy is a first-person record of Descartes’ descent into the bowels of disbelief, in order to eradicate all flawed belief from his life. In his first meditation, Descartes explains his argument for universal doubt, which leads him to doubt every truth he has ever established. Even the veracity of his sense perception is doubtful, as he renders those perceptions useless by arguing that in dreams, sense perceptions create the wildest of fantasies that can not beRead MoreDescartes Meditations On First Philosophy1712 Words   |  7 PagesDescartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) contains six Meditations. 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Employee Motivation and Retention Engagement †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Employee Motivation and Retention Engagement. Answer: Introduction Employee motivation and retention is one of the critical aspects of the human resource that must be considered for the effectiveness of workers. It entails putting in place strategies that are likely to improve the worker's desire and morale to work for the company. The strategies also help the employees to increase their desire and willingness to continue working for the company. Failure to consider the motivation and retention strategy makes the company lose the maximum productivity of the workers. Besides, it makes it difficult for organizations to retain the best skill and talent in the market. This is critical and helps the organizations to gain a competitive advantage over other players in the industry (Srivastava Shailesh, 2008). Currently, most companies are making efforts to adopt the best strategies that motivate and retain the employees. There are various approaches that have been used to motivate the employees as the way to yield the best out of the available labour. The strategies revolve around their remuneration to ensure that they are well compensated and improved communication system to reduce the misunderstandings that may arise from the communication discordance due to a poor method of communication. Besides, companies are employing other strategies such training and performance appraisal system. These approaches are essential in promoting the motivation of the employees and their retention to work for the organization for a longer period (Khanna, 2008). It is vital for organizations to understand the value that comes out of the motivated workers. Some organizations fail when they view motivation strategies as the imposed unnecessary cost to the organization. Motivation strategies are not necessarily expensive, and thus, all organizations need to embrace it. In this case study, Microsoft Corporation had a good history of good relations with the employees, however, at one point the company introduced cost-cutting measures which made radical changes to the employee motivation and retention activities that had been in place for the previous years. The changes brought about many issues regarding the employee motivation. This necessitated a later human resource transformation to improve the employee motivation and retention. The Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) is a technology company that was formed in 1975 by William Gates and Paul Allen. The company has grown over time and is now multinational serving clients from in almost all countries of the world. During this year, the company developed the first programming language called Altair Basic which was an improvement of BASIC programming language. The language got familiarity over time and later became a standard programming language used in almost all the computers on the planet. Later in 1977, Microsoft embarked on selling FORTRAN and 1978, it sold COBOL. In the same year, 1978, the company got a chance to develop a version of BASIC for the 8086 processor after the Intel Corporation came up with a new 16-bit microprocessor (Foley, 2008). Microsoft got a significant breakthrough in the year 1980 when it got a contract with IBM to develop an operating system that IBM was about to launch to the market. Microsoft developed Q_DOS which was used in the IBM computers. The Q_DOS was later renamed to MS-DOS. This made Microsoft achieve a greater step and later specialized in the provision of the operating systems. Since then the organization has grown and released many other operating system products that serve the entire globe. It later produced the windows operating systems, providing a graphical interface for the users, which now has a substantial market share in the industry (Angelo Ricky, 2009). The growth in Microsoft reveals the strong organizational skills that the company has had through its CEO Bill Gates. The organization made a good team that delivered timely quality software products. Besides, Microsoft had an excellent organization culture that motivated the employees to deliver the best. These attributes have made the organization to stay on top of other players in the technology industry and has now remained to be the industry leader in producing the operating systems. These factors helped to get the best out of the employees through their increased performance. This, in turn, helped to improve the profitability and sustainability of the organization (Bhatnagar, 2007). Employee Motivation and Retention at Microsoft Microsoft has been known for a long period in the industry to be among the best companies that embrace the best employee motivation and retention strategies in the market. The company is known to have a strong organizational culture that attracts and retain the best talents in the market. This was among the key drivers of the success of Microsoft in the industry. Motivated employees are productive, and this directly translates to better quality and profit margins to the organization which in turn gives the company a greater competitive advantage (ACAS, 2010). The employee motivation and retention culture continued until the late 1900s when the company stated experiencing key human resource issues that affected the company in many different ways. The experts argued that the issues happened at Microsoft were mostly attributed to the fact that the company had grown and achieved more and thus forgot about the organizational culture that has been guiding it. The company had initially been active in embracing its culture that advocated and focused on various important issues. These factors included the challenging working environment, the risk-taking culture and embracing the innovative culture. The organizations ignorance of the important HR aspects in the system led to frustrations of the employees in many different ways (Berger, 2009). In the year 1999, Microsofts management decided to make a restructure in the HR practices. The company focused on bringing about changes in the HR with a vision of improving the profitability of the organization by removing some of the programs that the company believed that they should cut down the cost which will, in turn, increase the organization's profitability. Most of these programs had a negative impact on the employee motivation and thus hampered with their welfare. These factors had negative impacts on the workers whereby it reduced their motivation which in turn brought about more different issues in the organization (Gerhart, 2007). Employee Motivation and Retention Issues at Microsoft Some employees of Microsoft experienced discrimination at the workplace. There are some African American employees were discriminated in various ways which even made them file a case in court. The case brought it out clearly that these workers were discriminated along different lines such as performance evaluation methods whereby they could not getter a higher rating during performance evaluation. They were also rejected to more top offices in the organization due to discrimination in promotions. Besides, there were many cases where the Blacks got unfair terminations of their jobs, unlike other employees. Additionally, they also felt discriminations in the compensation terms, and they argued that they were denied bonuses and other benefits that others got. The discrimination case raised the eyebrows of the organizations management, especially to the outside market. The management argued that the company policies advocates for a 100% non-tolerance of racial discrimination. Therefore, this shows that in as much as the company had the policies in place to eliminate the discrimination issues, it had not adhered to it. Therefore, this bought it out clearly that this HR issue happened just because the company was reluctant to enforce its policy. It already had the laws in place but did not enforce them. Besides, some other groups of people also complained about the description. For example, the contractual employees also complained about the discrimination in a company such as failure to receive training unlike other employees (Griffin, Neal Parker, 2007). Microsoft has a history of being tough and strict to its employees. Microsoft faced the issue of the tough leadership which was also too strict in everything that the workers did. They were encouraged to work hard and give their best in the company. The company had an organizational culture for perfection which has been helping to achieve more. However, for the aspect of rough leadership brings about employee related issues. When the employees were subjected to strictness, such as the strict timelines and perfection, it needed a better leadership. Rough management team brought about a lot of pressure to the workers and since they were forced to deliver under bad rough leadership. The company lost direction in the aspect of taking risks. The company no longer accommodated employee mistakes and everybody was to avoid all kind of errors that might be committed in the workplace. The employees were forced to be accountable for their actions to negative issues in the company. Every worker was liable to their mistakes that might have been committed during working. They were expected to give explanations of errors that they happen at the work place during the process of undertaking the duty and in some cases even pay for them. Such an environment made the employees fear to do activities that might impact any form of negativity to the organization. Thus, the workers reduced their innovative culture due to the fear of the risks associated with trying out things. Therefore, this lowered the productivity of the workers in the company (Wood Menezes, 2011). Management and Bureaucracy Microsoft started as a small company and was doing well with the existing management structure. This was because the management system was able to accommodate its small business. As time went by, the organization started expanding to reach various nations around the globe. The aspect of growth necessitated the entrance of new people into the management team. The new people included the managers that have been appointed d top fill the gaps that exist in the organizations. Since the company was still the market leader through it perfection culture, it gave little regard to the implications or the impact of its expansion (Gerhart, 2007). Failure to review the management structure led to increased bureaucracy in the management system of the company and this had a negative impact on the organizations performance. This made it difficult for the junior employees to be heard and most often they were disregarded. Besides, making a small change in the operations required approval level which discouraged most of the employees in airing their grievances. Managing the grown population of diverse characteristics made it necessary for the management to make it efficient reduce bureaucracy in the systems (Cosack, Guthridge Lawson, 2010). Microsoft led the technological market for an extended period. Through its perfection culture, the company was able to produce the quality and timely products that satisfied their customers. The culture gave the company a bigger competitive advantage over other industry players (Cook, 2007). When the company remained at the top, it became reluctant and believed that everything was done right there. Thus, the lack of competition affected the performance and management of the Microsoft which in turn brought about the human resource issues (Chakraborty Gupta, 2010). Strategies to Improve Employee Motivation and Retention at Microsoft When Brummel assumed office, she made reforms in the communication system of Microsoft. She introduced a system that encouraged and facilitated a smooth communication system in the organization both up and down vertical communication and also the horizontal communication. She introduced various programs such as the listening tour,' where she moved from one town to the other to get have the opinions and voices of the workers especially the junior staff. The improved communication system made it easy for the organizations management to hear the grievances of the employees and thus make efforts to sort them out. Also, the improved communication system gave the management an opportunity to have the opinions and the ideas that the company can embrace for its betterment. Additionally, a good communication system helps to improve the employee motivation (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2008). Workers get a sense of belonging to the organization when their views are heard and acted upon. Thus, this is one of the aspects that motivated the employees to make them more productive, which in turn increases the profitability of the organization (Cullinan, Bline, Farrar Lowe,2008). For a long time since its establishment, Microsoft has had a forced curve system which entailed ranking the employees and awarding those on top only. The forced curve system' had issues related to bias. It was subject to biases and thus, many employees felt the unfairness in the system which reduced their motivation to work for the organization. The approach denied the workers an opportunity for equal access and their rights to get the incentives or appraisals. The discrimination that exists in the method is also one of the factors that made the African American employees go to court to sue the company. Naturally, all the human beings feel good and motivated when their efforts are recognized. Brummel introduced reforms in the appraisal system from the forced ranking system to the commitment performance. The new approach eliminated the chances of bias in the appraisal system. The system does not restrict the number of people who have the opportunity to be rewarded and makes everyone a possible candidate for the reward (Incomes Data Services, 2008). Thus, it increases the equality in the systems, and some workers do not feel discriminated by the system. Therefore, the reform of the appraisal system played a critical role in ensuring that all the employees are motivated and stay willing to continue working for the organization (SUFF, 2010). Microsoft made radical changes in the employee benefits as a way to curb its related issues. Some of these changes in the benefits include the inclusion in food availability, transport, child care, health benefits and other essential discounts. These benefits played a critical role in impressing the employees to get their commitment and motivation once again. The benefits made most of the employees to find working at Microsoft to be one of the best experiences and thus felt comfortable to continue working at the place (Chakraborty, 2010). Workers always feel to belong to the place and part of the organization when they receive the benefits from the company. Thus, employee benefits re critical for every business organization that seeks success. The initial state did not sufficiently consider the motivating the employees through a better motivation plan, and thus, the new approach was likely to impact positively to the motivation of the workers. It also gave Microsoft an opportunity to offer competitive salaries and benefits like other organizations. The employee benefits are one of the major employee motivation factors (Janas, 2009). An employee who receives sufficient remuneration and benefits are comfortable and have a peace of mind they are much productive. Therefore, the employee benefits reformations played a critical role in motivating and retaining the employees. Workplace Setup Microsoft introduced a new setup of the workplace as a way to make the workers feel comfortable within the working environment. The approach was creative and was one of the better ways to address the human resource issues that the organization was facing. The new creative workplace encouraged the more communication among the workers. It made the employees work from close positions which helped them to build a team which is productive to the company. This method encourages the unity and corporation of the team (Taylor, 2008). Besides, it promotes a comfortable working environment, thus increases the productivity of the workers. The introduction of the creative office setups was initially seen irrelevant and a waste of resources, however, this was not the case. The workplace environment encouraged the employees to work together and made all of them feel valuable to the organization. This was a big step towards achieving the employee motivation and retention. Besides, the new setup made the employees of Microsoft learn how to trust each other, and increase their bonding at the workplace. Thus, the new workplace designed played an important role in motivating and retaining the employees. Recommendations In as much as Microsoft is performing well towards achieving a better human resource system, there are various aspects the company should continue to focus upon as a way to motivate and retain the employees further. Firstly, there is need to adopt training and development. Employee training is one of the critical aspects that help the employees to feel comfortable and motivated to work for the organization. Workers always want growth of their knowledge and skills. The employees view companies that provide training and development programs to be the better employers who encourage their career growth in their life. Thus, it is critical for Microsoft to come up with a program that makes all the employees receive the training and development in their various job position. Secondly, it is also recommended that Microsoft integrates the best HR practices into its culture. The organizational culture is one of the most powerful aspects that help to implement the company's best practices effectively. Besides, it is also a right approach towards integrating and educating the people about the new reforms. Thus, capitalizing on the organizational culture is likely to yield more in the implementation of the changes. In its culture, Microsoft should discourage the toughness and harshness of the junior staff towards the senior ones in the company. This will relieve the workers from stress and make them more productive due to comfortable working terms. Therefore, the integration of the best HR practices into the organizational culture will be the best approach towards solving issues in the HR system of Microsoft. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that employee motivation and retention is one of the critical aspects the human resource of every company must embrace. Motivated employees are more productive than those who are not. Thus, this directly translates to the increased profitability of the company, which in turn gives the company a greater competitive advantage over others in the industry. There are various employee motivation and retention strategies that companies are embracing. These approaches revolve around communication, the employee remuneration, the workplace among others. It is recommended that companies also embrace training and development of the course. The best approach to implement these HR practices that encourage employee motivation and retention is through integration into the corporate culture. 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(2010). Retaining key employees in times of change,' McKinsey Quarterly, no.3, pp135-139. Cullinan,C.,Bline,D.,Farrar,R.Lowe,D.(2008).Organization-Harmvs.Organization-GainEthicalIssues:AnExploratoryExaminationoftheEffectsofOrganizational Commitment, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 80, no. 2, p225-235 Foley, M. (2008). Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in Post-Gates Era. Wiley, Gerhart, B., (2007). Horizontal and the Vertical Fit in Human Resource Systems, in Perspectives on Fit, eds. C. Ostroff and T.A. Judge, New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 317 348. Griffin, M., Neal, A., Parker, S. (2007). A New Model of the Work Role Performance: Positive Behavior in the Uncertain and Interdependent Contexts. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 327 347. ICMR Center for Management Research, pp. 1-16 Incomes Data Services. (2008). Improving the Staff Retention. HR Studies, No 863. London Janas, K. (2009). Keeping the good people during bad times. Workspan. 52, 66-70. Khanna, S. (2008). "Increasing the Employee Retention through Employee Engagement A challenge for HR," Annual Handbook of Human Resource Initiatives Srivastava, V. Shailesh, R. (2008). "Employee Retention: By Way of the Management Control Systems, ACM Ubiquity, 9.16, pp.22 - 28. SUFF, R. (2010). Labour turnover rates and the costs: IRS survey 2010.IRS Employment Review. 14 June, 9pp Taylor, C. (2008). Employee Retention Strategies: Learning and Development's Vital Role in Keeping the Great Talent, Maitland Center Parkway Maitland, FL: Talent Keepers 1060. Wood, S. Menezes, M., (2011). High involvement management, high-performance work systems, and well-being. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22, 1586-1610.