Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians - Essay Example The article indicates that initially the Yir Yoront group lacked knowledge concerning metals. Consequently, the group’s culture observed a technology characterized by customary Stone Age tools. The group primarily survived through hunting, fishing, gathering fruits and vegetables from the bush (Sharp 34). Furthermore, the group lacked cultivated plants and kept a dog as their only tamed animal. In contrast to other groups of the time, Yir Yoront developed stone axes that contributed substantially to their economy because it defined their cultural practices. However, toward the end of the 19th century, the metal tools and other European materials started penetrating the Yir Yoront land. Adoption of steel axes led to various changes to the group’s way of life. This included erosion of cultural practices. Although Yir yoronts attempted to resist the influence coming from Europeans, their effort was unproductive since European’s culture eventually spread within the g roup (Sharp 23). This article explains the dynamic nature of culture by highlighting the consequences of intercultural interactions. I support the author’s concepts that the introduction of steel axes among the Yir Yoronts led to the transformation of their social way of life. The Axe occupied a relevant position in the context of the Yir Yoront’s culture. Consequently, processes performed by the too had the potential of affecting the behavior of the group. Steel axes were more effective than stone axes. This meant that they offered an advanced approach of doing things. The modern development provided tactical approaches capable of making work easier. The traditional approaches could not match the developed technology. This forced the group to abandon its ineffective procedures. This indicates that a culture that presents appealing processes that lead to development can always affect the culture of another group. The Yir Yoront eventually had to borrow cultural concepts from the

Utopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Utopia - Essay Example Sargent starts by pointing at the need for utopia for individuals in the society. But the utopia Sargent envisages is not that which presents a perfect state as this is impossible in the contemporary world. Instead, he describes utopia to be situations that strive to better humanity and give hope to individuals. The critical thing in her redefinition is not the perfect states but a better state, which sees the betterment of all situations and circumstances. A good life gives hope to those leading it and provides quality for human life, it is so critical because when people lose hope they lose their worthiness of life. In these situations humanity stares at extinction as a hopeless generation has no future. Sargent stresses that utopia is not at fault but what is at fault is the notion that there only exists one type of utopia. This is because there exists three segments of utopia that are the design or theory, the utopian movement and the utopian studies (Sargent 11-17). Sargent poin ts at the need for humanity to sustain hope; hope is the gateway to a better life and a wonderful future. Sargent points out that the link between a successful life and a life of despair is the ability of humanity to cling to hope. If one ever loses this vital component then they lose their sight on a bright future, which would definitely lead to betterment of life. According to Sargent utopia is the mother of humanitarian movements, these seek to ensure a better society by facing off with retrogressive groupings or practices in the society. Another example of a believer in utopia is John W. Friesen and Virginia Agnes Lyons Friesen who detail existence of several different utopian societies. Through their book The Palgrave Companion to North American Utopias, the two authors assert that every human being in the past and in the current aspires to live in a utopian society. The illustration of this statement is given by citing a number of utopian North America societies. They go furth er to point that achieving a utopia society is possible at least to the extent of Sargents definition, the way to achieve such a society is well detailed in their book (Friesen & Friesen). Defining Utopia brings more problems than it solves, as people have different conceptions on what it is and how it can be defined. Some of the definitions that have been forwarded define utopia as a creation of the mind where people and systems act and operate efficiently. In trying to define utopia other related terms come into the limelight such as dystopia and anti utopia. Dystopia is the extreme opposite of utopia and represents a situation where all things and people are messy. However, Sargent holds that utopia is not an extreme condition of goodness but a more realistic situation of a better society or situations. Situations that give people a chance to better their lives and embrace change which is beneficial to them. The ability to better lives and embrace change is the drive behind socia l movements which share in the dream of a utopian community. These movements seek to help people embrace change and motivate them to better their lives by remaining hopeful. This also explains why these movements seek to be all inclusive, because they hold that unification is not a divided calling but an inclusive call which seeks to integrate humanity in entirety. Dystopia also becomes an integral situation in defining a utopian state as dystopia represents a situ

User Interfaces for Environmental Decision Support Systems Article

User Interfaces for Environmental Decision Support Systems - Article Example Cleaning products were distinguished using eight environmental and health associated scheme features. These features are as follows. I.  Skin Irritation: availability of chemicals in the cleaning of manufactured goods that creates the basis of swelling of skin or redness. Quality values vary from the most significant to the least preferable ones which entail insignificant, minor, reasonable, or physically powerful implications.II.  Food chain exposure (FCE): the ingredients employed in cleaning manufactured goods that have the possibility of being brought in to the food chain through being eaten up with smaller aquatic vegetation and animals that are eaten by larger animals. Bio concentration factor (BCF) is the measurement factor that is computed to acquire food chain (Maciag, Hepting, and Slezak 36). III.  Air Pollution Potential (air): manufactured goods that may have volatile organic compounds (VOC) meaning that compounds that have possibility to shape impressive pollutants like smog. These pollutants are extremely disastrous to human life. IV.  Product Contains Fragrances (frag): the fragrances that are included in the cleaning of manufactured goods to improve, or mask, their ‘natural’ odor. V.  Product Contains Dye (dye): is the dye that has been included to the cleaning of manufactured goods to modify the color of the product. VI.  Product uses Recyclable Packaging (rec): it is the cleaning of manufactured goods that are wrapped up using recyclable packages (Maciag, Hepting, and Slezak 41).... II. Food chain exposure (FCE): the ingredients employed in cleaning manufactured goods that have the possibility of being brought in to the food chain through being eaten up with smaller aquatic vegetation and animals that are eaten by larger animals. Bio concentration factor (BCF) is the measurement factor that is computed to acquire food chain (Maciag, Hepting, and Slezak 36). III. Air Pollution Potential (air): manufactured goods that may have volatile organic compounds (VOC) meaning that compounds that have possibility to shape impressive pollutants like smog. These pollutants are extremely disastrous to human life. IV. Product Contains Fragrances (frag): the fragrances that are included in the cleaning of manufactured goods to improve, or mask, their ‘natural’ odor. V. Product Contains Dye (dye): is the dye that has been included to the cleaning of manufactured goods to modify the color of the product. VI. Product uses Recyclable Packaging (rec): it is the cleaning of manufactured goods that are wrapped up using recyclable packages (Maciag, Hepting, and Slezak 41). VII. Product is a Concentrate (con): it is the cleaning of manufactured goods that are wrapped up using minimized packaging, like packing cleaned manufactured goods in a recyclable plastic bag, which operates like a refiller for use in its original wrap up. VIII. Product Reduces Exposure to Concentrate (exp): the refining of products that minimizes exposure to concentrated wrap up. Students from the University of Regina were employed to conduct various tasks, among them being to accomplish the pre-task and post-task questionnaires. In the post task questionnaires, participants had to rank the features of the system using four point scaling (insignificant, somewhat

Global warming proposing solutions essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global warming proposing solutions - Essay Example Air pollution is the basic cause of global warming. The air has been enormously polluted by the smoke escaping from chimneys, and the burning of fuels in automobiles. Man made causes are the biggest contributors of the global warming. Fuels made from such organic materials as oil and coal are called as fossil fuels. When they are burnt, fossil fuels give off gases rich in carbon content. These gases are known as greenhouse gases. These gases include but are not limited to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO). The methane present in ground is collected along with the oil or coal that is extracted from ground. Population is another major cause of increase in global warming. More people require more vehicles. Thus, more vehicles are on the roads to burn the fossil fuels and generate methane and carbon dioxide. Also, the residue of animals that is often dumped into barren lands or even farms is rich in methane. To accommodate the food related needs of the growing po pulation, more cattle are kept because they are the fundamental source of food and dairy products for humans. Their manure is also rich in methane. Even if people become very prudent in their activities and use of things in every day life, they would still give rise to global warming because all living animals and humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Humans replace the oxygen in atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and cause global warming. In fact, humans not only replace atmospheric oxygen with carbon dioxide, but also eradicate the fundamental source of oxygen. Millions of trees are cut every year to accommodate the needs of humans. People require wood to construct homes and make things of everyday use. Trees have to be cut in order to gain wood which cuts short the source of oxygen in the atmosphere. Thus, humans are making every effort they can to increase the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and in turn, increase the global warming. Global warming is causing a lot of problems. With the increase in temperature, more and more glaciers are melting away every year and this water pours into rivers and seas. The resulting increase in the sea level is the main cause of the frequent and severe hurricanes, cyclones and tsunamis. The rise in temperature of water on the surface of sea facilitates in the building up of tsunamis. Natural disasters have blanketed the world in the recent years. Every year, many areas are flooded with water which is a potential threat to the life of animals and humans. Many people lose their lives in tsunamis. Glaciers that are melting away are depriving many animal species of their habitat. Glaciers are the primary source of food and shelter for polar bears. The rate at which glaciers are melting away presently will soon make the polar bears extinct from Earth completely. Also, thousands of cattle are drowned in floods whenever they occur. In addition to that, many people die of severe heat in the summer season every y ear because every summer season is getting much hotter than the preceding one. Air pollution has made people acquire many diseases. Thus, global warming is a big threat to life on Earth in many ways. Owing to the dangers associated with the rising temperature on Earth, there is dire need to take such measures that would reduce global warming. In order to control global warming, things of everyday use should be recycled and reused. The reliance on oil and coal should be minimized. Use of HVAC should be minimiz

Banking System in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Banking System in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Investments will be conducted outside the fence and will be allowed to fail without the government stepping in. This report is predicted to be one of the biggest shake-ups in banking within the United Kingdom in a generation. This commission was formed by the United Kingdom in June 2010 by Sr. John Vickers and is comprised of two main proposals. One proposes a retail ring-fence for UK banking operations and measures to upgrade the loss absorption of UK banks. The second proposes improving issues affecting UK banking markets and focuses mainly on attention to financial stability. The following information will attempt to show how over reliance on the banking industry in the United Kingdom has affected the economy in an economic downturn or recession. It also will show what effects deregulation has had on the United Kingdom economy and the banks. It will also delve into the economic downturn, the history, its effects, and what is going on now. And finally how can the United Kingdom avo id a double dip recession. ... also says that it is necessary for the state or international entities to take part because business forces and normal banking activities are not able to provide the required funding. This thought can be justified if there is evidence present that shows market failure or any deliberate government policy that contributes to this sector. This gives the impression that dangers are present regarding how banks compete. Banks compete unfairly on terms of deposit, misdirected resources in any economy, and build losses that eventually have to be supported by the public through government budgets (Latter 1997). Latter points out that as a matter of principle, it is better to give support to regions of the economy in as clear means as possible and with as little damage as possible to the forces driving the market. He further adds that this could mean subsidies might come directly from the fiscal budget or interest rate subsidies rather than less visibly through the bank itself. All banks shoul d be able to compete for business and control their own subsidies (Latter 1997). Causes of the banking crises are continually being debated. Several have been attributed to the structure of the banking system, while others have been attributed to macro/micro forces or regulatory factors. Others include harmful strategies of specific banks, operational failings, and fraud. When dealing with macro forces, triggers can includes the collapse of asset prices in real estate, a sharp upheaval in interest rates, or a sharp fall in the exchange rate. Another trigger could be a sudden slowdown in general inflation or the beginning of a recession. Banks have typically prospered in a high inflation environment. Another problem that is noted is sharp shifts in related pricing, or dropping of subsidies

Business related topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Business related topic - Essay Example The laborers provide highly  crucial  service to the company and contribute to a significant  amount  the success of the company. They  ensure  the  match  in availability and quality with  consumer  expectations safeguarding the reputation of the company. As such, it is  right  that they  have  comfortable  conditions such as health coverage and decent pay  consequent  with  reasonable  working hours. This  way  they also are able to  give  their best raising  output  levels. Legally, there are safety regulations and accepted conditions that such laborers can  get. Adhering to such might save the  company  from legal problems and avoid its name tarnished. It would also improve operational efficiency, thus increasing  output, reducing labor costs, and increasing profitability. Though the company executives  ascertain  that the company is taking care of its employees (Duhigg  and  Barboza  7), there are still complaints on the same. In order to ensure that both the company and laborers are  comfortable, representatives from both sides need to meet and discuss their issues. They can agree on  crucial  issues and  do  away with unnecessary expenditures. Such agreements and their implementation need to be left open for  scrutiny  by the public and government institutions thus ensuring they adhere to regulations. This would also help  lay  the truth in the  open  and  hold  either side  true  to their

The Problems With the U.S. Education System Essay

The Problems With the U.S. Education System - Essay Example Private schools have a much higher level of success than public schools. Costing between $10,000 and $30,000 per year, their enrollment is limited by economic class, and though not immune from problems, they are generally more isolated from the catalysts found in our public school system. For the most part, the students are of similar class and background which limits the stratification caused by group conflict. However, public school systems are subject to geographical, economical, and political influences which can cause great disparity in the quality of public education. With the more diverse location and population of our public schools, educators are forced to confront and negotiate the conflict among groups. The system needs to accommodate parents, school boards, teachers, and students. In the hierarchy of the power structure the students, the least empowered, tend to form in various groups with common bonds or a common cause. Economic class will group with members of a like class. Racial and ethnic groups will form in a common force against the authority. Genders will bond to advance the goal of equal rights. As the groups gain self-identity, they begin to stratify into recognizable entities, each with an identifiable level of authority or power. As each group competes for more power, it can cause violence in severe cases or may take on subtler ramifications.