Comparative Study of Siddhartha (Hesse) and A Hero of Our Time Essay

Comparative Study of Siddhartha (Hesse) and A Hero of Our Time (Lermontov) - Essay Example A closer look at the two characters, however, makes several interesting revelations. Siddhartha was born a prince. But he was not happy with what he was and what he saw in the world around him [He was a source of joy for everybody, he was a delight for them all. But, he, Siddhartha, was not a source of joy for himself, he found no delight in himself (Hesse 4)]. He saw no meaning in the traditions and rituals of Hinduism and the Vedic culture, the only religion in India at that time. The curiosity to find the meaning and purpose of human existence made him restless. The same restlessness, radicalism, cynicism and scorn for the existing institutions characterize Pechorin. His flaws not withstanding, it must be said that Pechorin, much like the Buddha, was self-aware and self-absorbed [Pechorin: â€Å"Mine is an unfortunate disposition; whether it is the result of my upbringing or whether it is innate – I know not.† (Chapter IX)]. When the world tends to call Siddhartha a saint and Pechorin a nihilist, it indicates that the points where the two began their journeys were close though the points where they ended up might be poles apart. That was bound to be despite a high level of awareness because of the difference where their centers lied. Pechorin was self-centered and Siddhartha was other-centered [Siddhartha: â€Å"Once every desire and every urge was silent in the heart, then the ultimate part of me had to awake, the innermost of my being, which is no longer my self, the great secret.† (10)]. One advocated the conscious destruction of desire while the other believed in deliberately destroying the people who came in the way of his fulfillment of desires. Again, for both, these ends were more important than life itself. One of the prescriptions of the Indian asceticism was to starve the body so that the craving for worldly things would gradually be vanquished. Siddhartha had a correction to make. Though he was against overindulgence, his not ion was that a tired, inactive body and mind cannot prepare themselves for liberation or salvation unless the basic needs are fulfilled. This is in close proximity to the essence of Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation in which he gives physiological needs the importance that is due to them, but only to that extent. From this perspective, Pechorin has striking clarity as to what the basic needs of humans are. He declares without mincing words that power and lust are fundamental for happiness [Pechorin: â€Å"Ambition is nothing more nor less than a thirst for power. To be the cause of suffering and joy to another – without in the least possessing any definite right to be so – isn’t that the sweetest food for our pride? And what is happiness? Satisfied pride.† (Chapter VIII)]. One thing that can be established beyond doubt is that the characters under study were quite different from the rest because of their attitude. At a time when everyone else w as content with the way things happened, they were bored with them and begged to differ. This boredom made them set out on their journeys of exploration. They reacted to the events of life in a unique way. Both were unable to identify themselves with their contemporaries. They did not just want to live life but sought to feel life, to experience it. Siddhartha’s renunciation was as much motivated from this desperation as Pechorin’

The method for carrying Essay Example for Free

The method for carrying Essay My aim is to investigate the mathematical propagation of bad tomatoes This is essentially an investigation of patterns derived from a simple set of rules for this propagation, in the manner of a simplified life genesis program. The rules are as followed: 1. The first hour, any one of the tomatoes (depending on the investigation) turns bad 2. From that hour on, any tomato touched by a bad tomato will turn bad itself, on an hourly basis. 3. Tomatoes are constrained within an nn grid, which restricts propagation of bad tomatoes. As visible from the rules, this allows for creation of simple models to show the propagation of bad tomatoes. From these, I hope to derive formulae, or sets of rules if formulae are not possible, to make logical predictions. We shall define the variables as will be used in the description of this investigation as follows: n The hour in which a tomato turns g The grid size (g2) x The number of turned tomatoes in each n h The number of hours taken for all tomatoes to go bad t Total number of turned tomatoes (equal to g2) Contents Item Page number Introduction 1 Contents 2 Mapping of tomatoes in the middle of a side 3 Tomatoes in the corner 7 Conclusion. This grid represents the propagation of bad tomatoes in an nxn square, covering grids up to size 2424. Some of the results for this data are plotted on the table below: While at first it seems the patterns in this table should be obvious, this is deceptive. Only by splitting the table into three regions do we see the separate patterns defining the table. These regions, as shown in the following table, allow patterns to emerge. These patterns do not, as you would expect, work down with different numbers in the same grids, but instead work across with the same number in different grids. In the first region (yellow), we see that, in every case, x is equal to n+n-1. The latter two regions (green and purple) are substantially harder, and require a sequential approach. Naturally, the first step in devising a formula, to take n and g and return x, is determining which region the number lies in. This is a simple matter of comparing g with n. Once we know the region, we can use a set op steps to calculate the number x. The method for carrying out this operation will be described shortly. The left grid shows an updated version of my results demonstrating the three regions yellow, green and purple, as well as some extra data formulated from the patterns observed. This is the first step in trying to formulate equations to work on all situations. Before moving on to the main essence of the project, finding a formula to derive x from n and g, we shall examine a few other formulae not directly related to this but still relevant to the investigation. Â  To find the total number of hours taken for all tomatoes to go bad within a grid, you use a formula depending on g. This formula also depends on whether g is odd or even: Â  If g is odd, then h=((g+1)/2)-1 If g is even then h=(g/2)+1 Â  In all square grid situations, t is always g2. The number of tomatoes to turn each hour in an infinite grid, starting on the side in the centre is equal to 2n-1. The total number of tomatoes that are bad after each hour is equal to n2. We shall briefly describe the patterns used to expand this table and in the following formulae: Yellow numbers always go up by 0 each grid size Green numbers go up by 1 Purple numbers go up by 3 Green/yellow boundaries go up by 1 Purple/green boundaries go up by 2 We now move on to analyse the main problem: the individual number of tomatoes to turn in each hour. This, as mentioned earlier, is a much more complicated program, and requires division of the grid into three regions. The following steps attempt to demonstrate how, and why, this is done. 1. The first step is to compare n with g, to work out which region the answer is likely to lie in. For this example we shall use two numbers, grid size 24 and tomato number 25. Compare n with g: If ng, x lies in the purple region If n=g, x lies in the green region If gn, x lies in green or yellow and further calculation is needed: If g is odd: if g= n-((g-1)/2) x is yellow, and if gn-((g-1)/2) then x is green If g is even: if g= n-(g/2) x is yellow, and if gn-(g/2) x is green We then move to region specific instructions: Yellow x =2n-1 Green x =g Purple. (Calculating purple numbers is substantially more complex) (Also note the existence of bln, a new variable we introduce here whose meaning will be explained later) Do n mod 3: N mod 3 = 0 then Bln = 2(n/3) N mod 3 = 1 then Bln = (2((n+2)/3))-1 N mod 3 = 2 then Bln = 2((n+1)/3) Do g bln Again, look at n mod 3: If 0, multiply last number by 3 and add 1 If 1, multiply last number by 3 and add 2 If 2, multiply last number by 3 and add 3 Therefore, by this process we can calculate any number from the grid size and the hour. For our example, g = 24 and n = 25, we would do the following: 1.n g, therefore x is purple 2. 25 mod 3 is 1, therefore bln = 2(27/3))-1 = 17 3. 24 17 is 7 4. 25 mod 3 is 1, therefore we: 5. Multiply 7 by 3 = 21 6. And add 2, giving 23 I have checked this with both an extended table of results (created using the patterns found earlier), and with a small excel macro designed to count the numbers of tomatoes turned each hour. Both yield the same result. Â  The left is the segment from my expanded table showing the result. The 23 in the middle of the table represents grid size 24 and hour 25 what my formula predicted. The left here is the automatic count from my macro. The data reads (for a 2424 table) hour,count (or n,x). This also agrees with my prediction. We shall here briefly explain how the purple formula works (formulas for both green and yellow are self-explanatory). I observed that the base line (the line marking the bottom of the purple section- representative of the number of tomatoes to turn bad in the final hour) of the purple section follows a three stage recurring pattern. Because we are working from the base line to reach our result, as the numbers go up by 3 each time, calculating the start point and value of the base line for each hour was essential. To work easily with a three -stage recurrence, we needed to work in base 3, the easiest implementation of which involves modulo arithmetic. By doing n mod 3, we work out which stage of the cycle represents the first grid size for tomatoes to turn in a particular hour. Once the cycle is split, we can show different formulae for each stage, derived from observance of the patterns.

Who is Smarter? Essays -- Gender Equality Intelligence Education Essay

Who is Smarter? Who's smarter? There have been several tests given to young boys and girls to test their intelligence, the turnout has been that girls' overall average intelligence is higher than that of boys. Are girls just naturally born smarter or do the teachers have something to do with it? In David Thoma's article, The Mind of Man, he writes about how he believes that women teachers are the reason why boys score lower on tests and don't do as well as girls in school. "At kindergarten and primary school level, in which little girls out-perform the boys, the vast majority of teachers are female."(121) He focuses on the fact that boys are more rebellious and outgoing than girls. Thomas believes that becasue most boys have behavior problems the teacher becomes concerned with their social and not their academic life. Since girls tend to be more diligent and less rebellious, the boys are usually the ones that speak up more forcefully and are spoken to more often by teachers. "Surveys showed that woman teachers consistently praised girls more than boys, and equally consistently criticized the boys' behavior, often regarding it as a serious problem requiring remedial treatment."(121) He adds how women teachers always seem to find boys to be loud and aggressive. In a classroom setting little girls will usually be playing or working in a quiet orderly manner while boys would be doing the same thing in a noisy and disorderly way requiring more supervision. Thomas believes that because a female teacher has to constantly keep calling the boys' attention the teacher ends up having favorite, usually being girls because they are going through a process they have already been through. Although Thomas believes that traditional male... ...ects in their head. Females prove better at reading the emotions of people in photographs."(121) Overall, I don't agree with Thomas' statement that boys do bad in school due to female teachers. If this is the case then can we say that girls do badly with male teachers? What does Thomas mean by saying that boys need to behave in ways that are not natural to them? Does he mean that they need to behave in a disciplined manner? I believe Thomas kind of contradicts himself because he does say that "boys whose lives are led without structure and discipline do not find themselves liberated. Instead they become bored, frustrated and maladaptive. They fight. They misbehave and they perform badly, both at school and thereafter."(124) Works Cited Lunsford, A. Andrea, Ruszkiewicz, J. John. The Prescence of Others. Bedford/St. Martins: Boston, New York. Copyright 2000.

Philosophy Essay on Self Essay

I certify that this literature review is my own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any institute, college or university. Moreover, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the dissertation. Name Signed _________________________________________________ Date ___________________________________________________ The most fundamental of the questions man asks himself in his lifetime are, â€Å"what/who am I ? â€Å"and â€Å"what is my purpose? † The curiosity over this issue of ‘the self’ has spanned human thought for millennia rooting from societal notion that â€Å"life cannot be just bricks and cement†. Due to the inherent nature of these fundamental curiosities mankind has struggled from ancient times to uncover these mysteries. In the western-context, this brief essay will try to explore the dimensions of the â€Å"essence of self† ranging from medieval to the modern conception of self. It will review the theories of self starting with Aristotelian science and Christian doctrines and their eventual marriage by St. Thomas Acquinas’ moral theory. In effect, it then explores critical viewpoints and traces the development of Scientific Rationalization. Progressively, it debates Rene Descartes’ rationalist views shaping his dualistic conception of the self. Furthermore, it poses the contrasting empiricist views of John Locke where he places self-consciousness and memory as the variables to comprehend self. In addition, it contests David Hume’s proclamation of the self as fiction (Robinson, H. , 2012). The theories of self and identity gradually developed over a historical timeline resulting in modern thought on the subject. In this regard, it is important to understand its development initiation from religious conception in the west. Curiosity on these issues can be traced back to accounts of Aristotle, where he is of the view that everything in nature has a purpose and everything can be rationalized based on its intent and the purpose it served (Greetham, B. 2006, p. 213). This is referred to as the ‘teleological’ view, which contributed to the formation of medieval world view formed by Christian dogma and the Catholic church (Cavalier, G. ,1989). This Christian conception viewed the world as being God’s creation and expression of his will which was cosmologically meaningful and structured. The purpose of things under this theology is God given and is a part of the ‘grand plan’ (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). This categorises the medieval belief of self, where humans have a certain place and purpose and the self is understood in terms of the role it plays in the grand plan of things. The medieval Christian conception of self was greatly inspired by the work of 13th century theologian St. Thomas Acquinas. In his opus he bridged the gap between faith and reason by linking Christian dogma and Aristotelian thought (O’Callaghan, R. , 2010). In essence, he lived in a crucial juncture of western culture when the Latin translation of Aristotelian corpus was made available which in effect reignited the debate on relating faith and reason. His theories borrowed from Aristotle and Christian dogma and ethics which were consistently reaffirmed by the church over the centuries (auquinas from stanford). The aforementioned medieval religious conception of self forms the basis Acquinas’ ethical premise on how we ought to act (Greetham, B., 2006). Right and wrong actions based on their compliance with human nature and its place â€Å"God-given natural order†, categorized as natural or unnatural. Hence, the self bounded and confined to serving a purpose. However, this religious world-view came under intense criticism with the advent of scientific advancement and rationality in the 16th and 17th centuries. Scientific thinking developed under the likes of Descartes and Locke and was reasoned based on the accomplishments of Galileo and Newton(Zalta, E. , 2011). They disregarded the place of divine-will in their conception of self, basing it on mere experience, empirical evidence and mathematical formulations. This shift of conception is termed ‘demythologization’, where everything works without a purpose and results from mechanical interaction of particles regulated by universal laws which can be mathematically formulated (Greetham, B. , 2006). Consequently, began the search of the self by looking within for purpose and meaning. The modern view of self is articulated in the works of 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes. He pioneered the dualistic understanding of the human being, which is made up of the â€Å"mental substance (mind) and the physical substance (body)† (Warburton, N. , 1992). Here, the body has physical properties like having weight and using space, whereas the mind is a non-material substance, responsible for thought and experience and hence is the abode of consciousness. In his view, the self is a spiritual â€Å"subject of experience† which is fundamentally different from the body and nature, where the body inessential and the mind can exist independently. His radical scepticism led to the formation of the â€Å"Illusion argument†, where the bodily senses are deemed unreliable and thus the existence of the external world and body is uncertain. The only thing one can be certain of is that ‘I exist’. This is categorized under his famous proclamation -â€Å"Cogito ergo sum†, meaning â€Å"I think, therefore I am† (Cavalier, G. , 1989). In essence, â€Å"the self is essentially mental† and the search for purpose and meaning should be searched within ourselves instead of classifying it under totality of nature. In his endeavours, Descartes used the â€Å"rationalist approach† to knowledge, which solely relies on logic and scepticism . In contrast, his contemporary, English philosopher John Locke relies on the â€Å"empiricist approach†, where knowledge is acquired by the means of watchfulness and experience. His theology of self underlines the role of reason, consciousness and self-consciousness. As for Locke, he sees self-consciousness as a inseparable element in the conduct of any conscious action, like thinking and observing. The perception of the world by the senses, awareness of personal identity, actions performed and its retention (memory) over time is what constitutes self-consciousness (Robinson, H. , 2012). Personal identity here is quintessentially the self, in which memory is decisive variable as the consciousness of past actions is critical to being the same person; and selfhood is reliant on the consciousness and not the body. For instance, if a person has memories from a past life as Salvador Dali, then he is the same person in the current life with a different body. These arguments however appear ambiguous upon correlation with Descartes’ accounts. However, Locke’s accounts differ where cites that it is not necessary that thinking, observation etc. to be the products of a non-material substance and leaves a prospect open that they could be of material origin. The self, Locke argues, is resultant from â€Å"continuity of consciousness† and not a ‘substance’ as proposed by Descartes (Greetham, B. , 2006). Then again, there is a fallacy in these arguments; if the self is continuity of consciousness and memory retention then without the memory of past actions accountability for the actions is cannot be held (Cavalier, g., 1989). For instance, it could be hypothesized in Locke’s view, that a person who committed murder as a child, who grew up to become a doctor and then as an old man he cannot remember his crime as a child, hence in effect, he cannot be held responsible for the murder. Eighteenth century philosopher David Hume continued in the empirical approach, maintaining that authentic knowledge is solely acquired on the basis of direct experience (Robinson H. , 2012). He borrows from Locke, however, he reaches drastic conception where he conceives the self as fiction. Thereafter, he entirely disregards the â€Å"substance view of the mind†. He bases his conception strictly on experience or ‘perception’ and maintains that the existential claim for the inner substance should be discoverable by experience (Greetham, B. , 2006). Through his experience, Hume, found no such substance but instead only a variety of perceptions where there is no identity or self binding them. Academics refer to this view as the â€Å"bundle theory of substance†, where different perceptions are in eternal flux (Robinson H. , 2012). However, Hume fails to identify a unifying  factor and puts forth a vague understanding of the mind just being a bundle of perceptions. Consequently, the Cartesian theory of self gained an upper hand as it offers the unifying substance of mind in the conception of the self (Greetham, B. , 2006). The aforementioned theories of self significantly influence the post-modern conception of the self, as the subject has a tendency to develop over time (Cahoone, L. , 2003). These western theories have borrowed from Eastern conceptions of self, which indicates ancient interaction between the west and the east. (Cavalier, G. , 1989). In the contemporary world, the twentieth century has been the fore-bringer of brisk industrialization in the western world, begetting fast-paced consumer societies, where the people have little or no time for personal fulfilment (Cahoone, L. 2003). This along with advent of cultural pluralism, scientific rationalization and secularization of notions of religion has led to burgeoning interest in the conception of self (Olsen and Timothy, 2006, p. 139). On a personal basis, the theories of self explored here provided a clearer picture on the gradual development of understanding of self with a historical context and an insight into how these theories have shaped post-modern notions on the same (Collinson, P. et al, 2000). Descartes’ accounts and his emphasis on the soul substance worked as a bride between my eastern thought origin and modern western conception on the subject. However, Locke’s and Hume’s empirical approach and their emphasis on discovering self through experience is also profound to my conception of self. Their conclusions however appeared radical and absurd especially in the case of Hume where proclaims the self as being fictional. References: Cahoone, L. (2003). From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology. Carlton: Blackwell. Cavalier, G. &. (1989). Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Collinson, P. &. (2000). Fifty Eastern Tihnkers. London: Routledge. Greetham, B. (2006). Philosophy. Norwich: Palgrave Macmillan. Jamal, T. a. (2009). The Sage Handbook of Tourism Studies. London: Sage. O’Callaghan, R. et al. (2010, December 21). Saint Thomas Aquinas. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://plato. stanford. edu/: Olsen, D. H. and Timothy, D. J. (2006). Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys. Oxford: Routledge. Robinson, H. (2012, Demember 21). Dualism. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://plato. stanford. edu/: Warburton, N. (1992). Philosophy. Abingdon: Routledge. Zalta, E. (2011, September 21). Aquinas’ Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy. Retrieved May 1, 2011, from www. http://plato. stanford. edu/: .

Police Brutality Essay

Police brutality occurs daily across America. Police brutality can come in various forms, counting lethal and nonlethal force. Comprehending the exact commonness of police brutality is complex, because of the inconsistency in describing police brutality. The trouble in differentiating among justified and unjustified force. Police interactions often can be misconstrued, or sometimes turned around against an officer. Questionable behavior and complaints against officers can be filed by even the most violent of criminals. Often, the officer may restrain a potentially dangerous citizen, and be accused of excessive force. Overall, this results in not only a mark against the institution of law enforcement and the officer specifically, but also in a lack of action in the future enforcements. Does the use of excessive force serve as purpose in reducing and controlling crime? How is the public affected by police brutality? How does mass media affect police brutality? This essay will further carefully examine the problems of police brutality. The use of excessive force could be used negatively or positively in reducing and controlling crime. Police officers have a rough profession to do, and some of the circumstances they face are as intense as they are risky. The use of force is essential to controlling suspects, and to avoid suspects from harming officers and others. Suspects often become forceful when detained or when they believe they have little or nothing to lose. In a flawless system authorities would use only a reasonable amount of force essential to subdue and apprehend the suspect, but such a text-perfect theory fails to take into justification the actualities of life. Many circumstances of alleged police brutality comes from unnecessary force clashes. Hostile suspects are tough to control and police must rely on training, non-lethal, and lethal force to maintain suspects. Further, use of force by a police officer has a possible deterrent outcome on crime. In demand to accomplish deterrence, these influences are essential: inevitability of detection, harshness of punishment, and swiftness of  penalty. Permitting police officers to use any technique needed to detain and take suspects to justice would let police officers to achieve all required basics to deter future criminal conduct. The criminal would be deterred from committing crime under the awareness that if caught by the police, direct and harsh reprimand would be inflicted. This moment would deter criminals from future crimes, but also citizens learning of the strict punishment. In fact, in a 1991 study of 57 U.S. cities, economist Dale Cloninger found an inverse relationship between the rate of civilians killed by police and the non-homicide violent crime rate: for a one percent increase in police killings, violent crime decreases one-sixth of a percent. Numerous disputes against allowing unjustified use of force by police, considering this cruel mien has harmful consequences for the public. In addition to the weakened faith in the police on the social level and the confrontational consequences for police officers, police brutality also destructively affects the victim, who will probably undergo physical injuries and psychological effects from the event. The cause and implication of these injuries is reliant on the kind of force used against the suspect; injury could vary from bruises on the minor level, to eternal physical disfigurement, emotional damage, or death on the severe level. All wounds from excessive use of force have led to reduce faith in police officers. Other concerns could lead to the victims of brutality, with increased discrimination and revengeful offending because of a restraint to call the police. When the police use excessive force on a suspect even when a suspect is not resisting, the public’s level of skepticism against the police is amplified. If people trust an authority is genuine, they will willingly comply with the guidelines, choices, and social measures of the authority. Excessive force by police can inflame powerful community responses, predominantly when it is unjustified or has the form of being unjustified. For example, there was a strong negative reaction in the aftermath of the shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland (2009) and the shooting of Shawn Bell in New York City (2006), and riots occurred after. Communities regularly react negatively to police brutality; urban communities nearly constantly respond negatively to police assaults of minorities. These actions hurt  police-community dealings and can weaken citizens’ perceived respect for police authority. In some cases, the community also experiences the impact of police brutality on its victims. Citizens acquire majority of their info regarding police activity from the media. The media often present a slanted picture of the role of police to the public. When police brutality arises, it often appears in the media, receiving attention to the problem and inspiring reform. Eliminating police brutality from society is an apparently impossible mission, particularly if society gives police officers authority and discretion. Mass Media has a massive effect on police brutality; the types of actions that are brought on by police brutality brings negative media attention, further damaging the reputation of the police within society. An example of the power of the media exposure with police use of force can be seen in the â€Å"Don’t Taser Me Bro!† incident from the University of Florida in 2004. Student Andrew Meyer was arrested during a forum with visiting U.S. Senator John Kerry, after he demanded access to a closed microphone, confronted the senator with questions, and then forcefully resisted officers who attempted to remove him. After the officers’ decision to use a Taser gun on Meyer, controversy and media attention exploded. In addition to negative consequences for police officers, there could be negative penalties for individual officers, with civil liability suits, criminal prosecution, and job loss. The media often feature widespread instances or patterns of misconduct by officers or by entire police administrations; it has steered to greater police liability and administrative change. Mass media has the influence to spread anywhere and when an event similar to Andrew Meyer occurs it’s one of those cases. Moreover mass media doesn’t just have impact for just the officers; it marks the victims in the sense that they need to live with public knowledge of the tragedy that impacted there life at that certain point in time. Mass media also has role in altering public confidence in police officers. After media exposure of police misconduct, blue ribbon panels, or commissions, have been given the task of investigating the nature and degree of the misconduct, corruption, or brutality to introduc e reform. In Conclusion, I feel that police brutality has immense impact on the world, just because you don’t see it in front of your eyes doesn’t mean it’s not happening. There are police brutality cases and events that happen that are unknown to people. Perhaps no issue can impact on the personal and professional career of a law enforcement officer more than a lawsuit alleging excessive use of force. Most officers will use non-deadly force far more frequently than they will use deadly force. The constitutional standard for using any force, whether deadly or not is the Fourth Amendment standard † objective reasonableness.† In Graham V. Connor; Based on totality of circumstances the reasonableness of particular use of force must judge from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene rather than the 20/20 vision of hindsight. There is no perfect answer when using force. In the eyes of the media or public, use of force is always going to be unjustifiable, until the public and the media, are educated on the standards that the court uses to determine if the use of force was justifiable. I don’t think police brutality will go away that easily, but I think in time cases of police brutality will be reduced. â€Å"Work cited† Frost A. Natasha â€Å"NEWS MEDIA AND POLICE.† _Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement._ Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2005. _Credo Reference_. Web. 14 February 2013. Boggess, Lyndsay N., Christopher Donner, and Jonathan Maskaly. â€Å"Police Brutality.† Key Issues in Crime and Punishment: Police and Law Enforcement. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 12 February 2013. Chevigny, Paul G. â€Å"Police Brutality.† Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 12 February 2013. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Legal Division Handbook â€Å"USE OF FORCE† Homeland Security: Publications, 2010

7 Rules for Identifying People by Place Names

7 Rules for Identifying People by Place Names 7 Rules for Identifying People by Place Names 7 Rules for Identifying People by Place Names By Mark Nichol George R. Stewart, if he is remembered today at all, is noted as the writer of Earth Abides, a seminal work in the science fiction subgenre of the postapocalyptic novel. But to some language geeks he is hailed as an onomastician, a scholar of place names. Stewart, in the 1930s, is perhaps best known in the latter role for proposing a schema for how to identify someone according to their place of origin or residence. Journalist and scholar H.L. Mencken was reportedly so impressed with the following distillation that he named them Stewart’s Laws of Municipal Onomastics: 1. Add -n to a place name ending in -a or -ia (Atlantan, Californian). 2. Add -an to a place name ending in -i or sounding like -e (Hawaiian, Baltimorean). 3. Add -ian to a place name ending in -on (Washingtonian). 4. Change -y to -i and add -an to a place name ending in -y (Schenectadian). 5. Add -an to a place name ending in -o (Ohioan). 6. Add -ite or -er to a place name ending in a consonant or a silent -e (New Englander, Seattleite). 7. Delete -s and add -tan to a place name ending in -polis (Annapolitan, for Annapolis). That’s an impressive and helpful set of rules. Unfortunately, many people didn’t get the memo, so we find the rules widely broken. For example, someone from Florida is a Floridian, not a Floridan, and one writes of San Franciscans, not San Franciscoans. Parisians breaks the rules (it should be Parisite ouch or Pariser), as does Chinese (Stewart’s rule dictates Chinan). Then there are classical affectations like Cantabrigian (Cambridge), Novocastrian (Newcastle, in Australia), and Oxonian (Oxford); more or less well-known foreign language alterations such as Flemish (Flanders), Madrileno (Madrid), and Muscovite (Moscow); and references some famous, others obscure based on state nicknames, think â€Å"Bay Stater† (Massachusetts), Hoosier (Indiana), and Nutmegger (Connecticut). Thus, like many other attempts at codifying human behavior or custom, Stewart’s laws are breached as often as they are observed, but they’re still a useful guideline. Ultimately, though, let your fingers do the walking through a dictionary, geographical dictionary, atlas, or other resource. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a Sentence50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy ProductsHow to Send Tactful Emails from a Technical Support Desk

Definition of Postzygotic Isolation in Evolution

Definition of Postzygotic Isolation in Evolution Speciation is the divergence of two or more lineages from a common ancestor. For speciation to occur, there must be some reproductive isolation that occurs between formerly reproducing members of the original ancestor species. While most of these reproductive isolations are prezygotic isolations, there are still some types of postzygotic isolation that leads to making sure the newly made species stay separate and do not converge back together. Before the postzygotic isolation can happen, there must be an offspring born from a male and female of two different species. This means there were no prezygotic isolations, like the fitting together of the sex organs or incompatibility of the gametes or differences in mating rituals or locations, that kept the species in reproductive isolation. Once the sperm and the egg fuse during fertilization in ​sexual reproduction, a diploid zygote is produced. The zygote then goes on to develop into the offspring that is born and hopefully will then become a viable adult. However, offspring of two different species (known as a hybrid) are not always viable. Sometimes they will self-abort before being born. Other times, they will be sickly or weak as they develop. Even if they make it to adulthood, a hybrid will most likely be unable to produce its offspring and therefore reinforce the concept that the two species are more suited to their environments as separate species as natural selection works on the hybrids. Below are the different types of postzygotic isolation mechanisms that reinforce the idea that the two species that created the hybrid are better off as separate species and should continue with evolution on their own paths. The Zygote Is Not Viable Even if the sperm and the egg from the two separate species can fuse during fertilization, that does not mean the zygote will survive. The incompatibilities of the gametes may be a product of the number of chromosomes each species has or how those gametes are formed during meiosis. A hybrid of two species that do not have compatible chromosomes in either shape, size, or number will often self-abort or not make it to full term. If the hybrid does manage to make it to birth, it often has at least one, and more likely multiple defects that keep it from becoming a healthy, functioning adult that can reproduce and pass down its genes to the next generation. Natural selection ensures that only the individuals with favorable adaptations survive long enough to reproduce. Therefore, if the hybrid form is not strong enough to survive long enough to reproduce, it reinforces the idea that the two species should stay separate. Adults of the Hybrid Species Are Not Viable If the hybrid can survive through the zygote and early life stages, it will become an adult. However, it does not mean that it will thrive once it reaches adulthood. Hybrids are often not suited for their environment the way a pure species would be. They may have trouble competing for resources such as food and shelter. Without the necessities of sustaining life, the adult would not be viable in its environment. Once again, this puts the hybrid at a distinct disadvantage evolution-wise, and natural selection steps in to correct the situation. Individuals that are not viable and not desirable will most likely not reproduce and pass down its genes to its offspring. This, again, reinforces the idea of speciation and keeping the lineages on the tree of life going in different directions. Adults of the Hybrid Species Are Not Fertile Even though hybrids are not prevalent for all species in nature, there are many hybrids out there that were viable zygotes and even viable adults. However, most animal hybrids are sterile at adulthood. Many of these hybrids have chromosome incompatibilities that make them sterile. So even though they survived development and are strong enough to make it to adulthood, they are not able to reproduce and pass down their genes to the next generation. Since, in nature, fitness is determined by the number of offspring an individual leaves behind and the genes are passed on, hybrids are usually considered unfit since they cannot pass down their genes. Most types of hybrids can only be made by the mating of two different species instead of two hybrids producing their own offspring of their species. For instance, a mule is a hybrid of a donkey and a horse. However, mules are sterile and cannot produce offspring, so the only way to make more mules is to mate more donkeys and horses.