Conflict between Science and Religion Essay Example for Free

Conflict between Science and Religion Essay There have been numerous dissensions between science and religion. The central belief that the earth was the center of the universe prior to the presentation of the Copernican system was held in the primacy of man in the scheme of things, as designed by the will of God. The presentation that the earth was not the center of the universe was met with criticisms. The objections were not helped when it was found that our solar system is not even at the center of the universe but rather located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy—one in a cluster of some two dozen galaxies, an infinitesimal part of a universe composed of millions of galaxies. One can only imagine how the religious sector reacted on the principle that our own Milky Way Galaxy is not even close to the center of the vast space of the universe. Conflict between science and religion climaxed when in 1859, Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution from natural selection in his work â€Å"On the Origin of Species† which was met with criticisms. The idea that God has not created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden was seen as an insult to Biblical teachings. Even today, evolution is a subject vigorously debated by those who support the theory and antievolutionists, especially those who call themselves creationists. Evidences show, however, that evolution indeed exists and continue to exist. The long evolutionary journey of species has even left its imprints upon the embryo of the individual organism. Despite conflicts between science and religion and an apparent steady movement away from religion, Arnold Toynbee held that man will turn from materialism to technology back to religion and spiritual values. For some time each religion will maintain its identity and minister to its own adherents, but as they are faced with a â€Å"shrinking† world, a positive tolerance will replace their traditional fanaticism.

Experiment: Attractiveness Halo Effect on Human Faces

Experiment: Attractiveness Halo Effect on Human Faces Matriculation Number: 140011607 Partial Research Report Abstract The aim of this report was to test for an attractiveness halo effect on human faces. This experiment was conducted in the University of Dundee and the participants were international undergraduate students of both genders. The independent variable was the level of physical attractiveness, while the dependent variable was the estimated IQ score the participants gave to the male and female faces that have been selected at random. The hypothesis predicted that there will be an effect of attractiveness of faces on their perceived intelligence, meaning that subjects would rate highly attractive individuals with higher IQ levels and those with less attractive characteristics with lower IQ. The participants were asked to rate for attractiveness (7= very attractive and 1= not attractive at all) ten male and ten female faces shown to them that have been selected at random from a pre-existing data set and afterwards provide an estimated IQ score. The obtained results signify that there is a hi gh correlation between high attractive faces and higher IQ scores. This is in accordance with previous research, such as the attractiveness halo effect that is the tendency to assign positive personality qualities to people bases on their looks and Eagly’s (1991) research which claims that attractive people are attributed with lots of positive traits. Introduction Individuals are confronted with many serious decisions in their everyday life where they are either judging others or being judged. Langlois Kalakanis (2000) demonstrated that physical attractiveness plays a significant part in decision-making in situations such as hiring decisions, voting behavior and romantic partner choices. Physical attractiveness is a complicated concept that reflects numerous significant factors. According to Pansu Dubois (2002) facial attractiveness consists one of the main determinants of total rankings of attractiveness. Furthermore, Thornhill Gangestad, (1999) claimed that with regard to the face itself, masculinity, femininity and symmetry all rise perceived attractiveness. People that are more attractive tend to be advantaged in several critical and appraising ways. The halo effect can help interpreting the ‘what is beautiful is good’ stereotype. The halo effect is a traditional corollary in psychology. It is the idea that one personâ€⠄¢s central positive (such as attractiveness) or negative characteristic, affect another’s person’s decision about their other characteristics (for example, intelligence). According to Eagly (1991) people regularly ascribe positive traits to attractiveness and negative traits to less attractive individuals. This belief leads to erroneous judgmental, attribution errors and regular human perceptual partialities. By using practical research, Edward Thorndike was the first contending the halo effect. The definition he gave to the halo effect was ‘a question that rises in data collection when there exists a conveyance from an estimation to another’. Moreover, he conducted a study in 1920 in which commanding officers of the American army requested to classify their soldiers on groups of guidance, intelligence, character and physique. The findings of the study showed that there exists a direct interaction among all negative and all positive characteristics. After his study has been completed, Thorndike extended his first definition of the halo effect to be ‘an expansion of a total impression of an individual (or of one specific characteristic) to affect the total impression of that person’. Additionally, this is the part that has been highlighted in this research. If an individual is considered attractive then this person is deemed to possess many more positive attribute s such as intelligence. Furthermore, there is some proof that the effects of attractiveness on perceived intelligence may vary between women and men. In a study conducted by Chia, Allred, Grossnickle and Lee (1998) that was examining the effects of gender and physical attractiveness on conceptions of academic success, initiative, accomplishment related characteristics, intelligence and ascriptions of effort in respect to academic success, it was found that men and more attractive people would be assessed more positively comparably to women and less attractive people. This study relates the above research on the halo effect as its aim is to test for an attractiveness halo effect in human faces, while providing an estimated IQ score. In addition it is hypothesized that there will be an effect of attractiveness of faces on their perceived intelligence. Method Participants The target population is restricted to the opportunistic sample of 152 international undergraduate students of both genders of the University of Dundee. 103 of the people participated in the experiment were females and the other 49 were males. Materials This study is an experimental design as it has IV and DV. The independent variable is the level of physical attractiveness, while the dependent variable is the estimated IQ score the participants gave to the male and female faces that have been selected at random. The research hypothesis states that there will be an effect of attractiveness of faces on their perceived intelligence and the aim of the experiment is to test for an attractiveness halo effect in human faces. Descriptive Statistics will be used in order to test the hypothesis stated above. The materials used in this study where: Ten male faces and ten female faces have been selected at random from a pre-existing data set and displayed in a computer screen. The computer, which enable participants to see the pictures of the male and the female faces. The data collection sheet, in which participants wrote their ratings of attractiveness and the estimated IQ scores. Standardized instructions (Appendix 1). Procedure The opportunistic sample was obtained and welcomed in a silent room. Applicants were asked to sit to the desks. The experimenter informed the participants about the experiment by using a consistent set of instructions. Data collections sheets were distributed to the students. Students completed the survey by seeing the twenty different faces on the computer, rating them for attractiveness and provide an estimated IQ score for each face. After the participants completed the survey, the data collection sheets were collected by the experimenter. Once the data have been collected, faces were split into two groups based on the median of attractiveness and mean IQ score for each face was calculated. Students were debriefed about the nature of the experiment. Results Table 1 Mean number (M) of estimated IQ scores in faces with low and high attractive characteristics, plus standard deviations (SD) Table 2 Mean number (M) of estimated IQ scores in male and female faces with low and high attractive characteristics, plus standard deviations (SD) As can been seen in Table 1, faces with low attractive characteristics are estimated with lower IQ levels (M= 100.9, SD= 7.85) than faces with high attractive characteristics (M= 118.35, SD=15.55). A between-groups t-test revealed that faces with low attractive characteristics have significantly lower IQ levels than faces with high attractive characteristics, t (13.3) = -3.17, p = 0.007. As we can see in Table 2, column one, males with low face attractive characteristics are estimated with lower IQ levels (M=98.18, SD= 9.96) than males with faces with high attractive characteristics (M=129.84, SD=13.18). A between-groups t-test revealed that male faces with low attractive characteristics have significantly lower IQ levels than male faces with high attractive characteristics, t(8) = -4.29, p=0.003 As we can see in Table 2, column two, females with faces with low attractive characteristics are estimated with lower IQ levels (M=103.63, SD=4.55) than females with faces high attractive characteristics (M=106.86, SD=6.35). A between-groups t-test revealed that female faces with low attractive characteristics did not have significantly lower IQ levels than female faces with high attractive characteristics, t(8)= -0.9, p=0.38. Discussion The hypothesis that there will be an effect of attractiveness of faces on their perceived intelligence was supported. This means that participants rated people with faces with more attractive characteristics with higher IQ levels, where those with less attractive faces with lower IQ levels. This finding is similar to the study conducted by Thorndike in which he asked army officers to classify their soldiers on groups of guidance, intelligence, character and physique. The findings of the study, like in our experiment, showed that there exists a direct interaction among all negative and all positive characteristics and that participants rated more highly the ones that were more physically attractive than those who were not. The result also bolster the work of Eagly. In which is stated that people regularly mete positive traits to attractiveness and negative traits to less attractive individuals. In our example participants rated the more attractive people with higher IQ levels. Moreover, Chia, Allred, Grossnickle and Lee claimed in their study the existence of some proof that the effects of attractiveness on perceived intelligence may vary between women and men. They found that men and more attractive people would be assessed more positively comparably to women and less a ttractive people. This finding was supported in our experiment as men and more attractive individuals were rated with higher IQ levels while women and less attractive individuals were rated with lower IQ levels. In conclusion, the insinuation of our findings is that our opinion of others can be defective as a result of the tendency we have to generalize the personalities of people, or their ability to think based on positive traits they have, in this case, face physical attractiveness. References Chia, R., Allred, L., Grossnickle, W., Lee, G. (1998). The Journal of Social Psychology. Effects of Attractiveness and Gender on the Perception of Achievement Related Variables, 138(4), 471-473. Eagly, A., Makhijani, M., Ashmore, R., Longo, L. (1991). What Is Beautiful Is Good, But A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype, 110(1), 109-113. Langlois, J., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A., Larson, A., Hallam, M., Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 390-399. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.126.3.390 Nisbett, R., Wilson, T. (1977). The halo effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 35(4), 250-256. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.35.4.250 Shinners, E. (2009). Journal of Undergraduate Research XII. Effects Of The What Is Beautiful Is Good Stereotype On Perceived Trustworthiness, 1-3. Appendix 1 Before the begging of the experiment the experimenter gave the following instructions: â€Å"If at any time you feel uncomfortable and wish to leave the experiment you may do so.† â€Å"If at the end of the experiment you wish your results to be removed, they can be.† â€Å"All results will be kept in confidence.† â€Å"Open the computers, go to ‘My Dundee’ then to ‘Module Materials’ then to ‘Workshops’ then to ‘Research Report’ and then open the ‘Faces presentation folder’. ‘Use the data collection sheet to rate each of the faces and provide an estimated IQ score’ After completing the experiment we were asked to make sure we have completed all sections of the data collection sheet The final instruction was to close the PowerPoint and log out of My Dundee. Appendix 2 Raw Data

Defining Stakeholders and their responsibilities

Defining Stakeholders and their responsibilities Stakeholder is a person,  group, or organisation that has direct or indirect  stake,  that is Support, in an organisation. Thay are called Stakeholders because they can affect or also be affected by the organisations  actions,  policies, and  objectives. Key stakeholders in a  business  organization are include  Creditors,  Customers,  Directors,  Employees,  Government  (as well as their   agencies),  Owners  ( that is Shareholdes) , Suppliers,  Unions, and the  Community  from which the business draws its  resources. Although stake-holding is usually self-legitimizing (those who  judge  themselves to be stakeholders are  de facto  so), all stakeholders are not equal and different stakeholders are  entitled  to different  considerations. For example, a  firms  customers are entitled to fair  trading  practices  but they are not entitled to the same consideration as the firms employees. In short, Stakeholders are groups of people who have an interest in a business organisation. Type of Stakeholders : ~ http://www.answers.com/topic/stakeholder-corporate Stakeholders can be devided in two different groups as shown above that is internal as well as external. It also can be called as Primary Stakeholders and Secondary Stakeholders. Not only that, but some stakeholders are those who might be both that is interal as well as external. For example company employee is by default internal stakeholder. But at the same time when he become the same companies customer he become the external stakeholder. Stakeholders of COCA COLA companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Q.)Who are the stakeholders of COCA COLA Company ? All most all the businesses have to keep in mind the effect of their activities on stakeholders. Coca-Cola is also not an exception. There are so many stakeholders in Coca Cola Company. They include all those stakeholders, who are most affected by or who most affect the way they do business. This includes Consumers/Customers, Suppliers, Manager, Owner(shareholders),Employees, Government regulators, Speial interest Groups, Non-Govermental Organizations (i.e. NGOs) as well as the local communities/society in which Coca Cola Company operate. Each and every Stakeholder has its own interests in Coca Cola Company and places different demands on them. The Company try to engage with each constituency according to its needs, using different engagement methods as appropriate. Consumer/Customers Consumers are the external stakeholders. In Coca Cola Company, Consumers are given very much importance because they have a very much influence on business strategy because, wherever possible, consumers want to buy products from those companies on which they trust. So Consumers are very much influential. Because all business is after all depends upon a customers. If there will be no customers, there will be no business at all. Suppliers Suppliers and business partners are vital to Coca Cola Companys success. Because they help them refresh the world, more than 1.6 billion times every day, through delivering necessary products and services for their business. Having a sound, stable and ethical supply base is important for growth of the Coca Cola Company and the footprint that the suppliers leave in local communities around the world. As a company, they have a responsibility to hold their direct suppliers to standards no less than those required by applicable law. So suppliers are also very much influential. Government agencies and civil society Coca Cola Company made wide-ranging industry commitments. Such as the   Action on Diet, Health and Physical Activity  . They are a member of the different  Union of European Beverages Associations  , which the EU Platform acknowledged as an example of best practice on how to develop and follow up the commitments made. Coca Cola also work with : ~National Government Agencies to implement  sports and fitness programmes ~National Environment Ministries to  protect watersheds ~Industry and Government Agencies to build sustainable  packaging management schemes and promote recycling So government is also influential at a a greater level. Creditors Creditors are the external stakeholder of the Coca Cola Company. The Coca Cola Company participate in  investor assessments  and conduct briefings specifically for the socially responsible investment community. They routinely include sustainability performance in their all annual financial report and investor road shows. So creditors are also influential at a certain level. Employees Employees are not just internal stakeholders, they might be also external stakeholders. Because when any employee purchase an item from the same Company in which they are employed they become external stakeholder. So just like other companies in Coca Cola Company also Employees are very much influential. So Coca Cola Company conducted  a survey about the key measures of employees engagement. In 2007 Coca Cola Company won several awards, which includes: ~ Best employer awards in Serbia and Poland. ~ Second place in the  Great Place to Work  survey in Italy. Owners (Shareholders) Owners are the internal stakeholders of the Coca Cola Company. They are the Primary stakeholders.In Coca Cola Company Stockholders have an immediate stake in a corporation because it is all about their money that is funding the company. If Coca Cola Company does well, their stock gains value and ultimately they earn more and more money. If the  business  does badly, simply they lose money. So shareholders are very very much influential in Coca Cola Company. Non-Govermental Organizations (NGOS) The Coca Cola Company always rely on NGOs and public-private partnerships to inform and guide their policies and initiatives, as well as challenge them as they work on complex and fast-changing issues such as climate change and others. Some of Coca Colas key stakeholders and partners includes the following: ~World Resources Institute ~World Wildlife Fund ~Carbon Trust ~Carbon Disclosure Project The NGOs also influential in Coca Cola Company. Stakeholders of Cancer Research UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Q.)Who are the stakeholders of Cancer Research UK ? Cancer Research UK is a non profit organization. But that doesnt mean that it doesnt have stakeholders. There are stakeholders just like other organization. Some examples of Stakeholders for a Non Profit Organization like Cancer Reseach UK are given here : Director, Trustees , Donors, Employees, Government, Patients, Doctors and Nurses, Fundraisers,Volunteer,Corporate partners like Tesco and BQ. Director The Director is a person who board typically chooses to have this one person who is ultimately responsible to carry out the overall wishes of the board. The director is always directly accountable for the work of the staff and supports the work of the board committees.  So director is a key stakeholder for Cancer research UK. So he is very much influential stakeholder. Board of Trustees Trustees are always much influential for any non profit organization. Cancer research UK also have a Bord of Trustees. They have to perform some duties likeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ ~Carry out the terms of the trust instrument ~Defend the trust ~Proper investment of trust assets e.t.c. So Board of Directors of Cancer Research UK are very much influential. Employees Employees are always influential for any organization, wether it is profitable or non profitable organization. So just like others here in Cancer Research UK, employees are very much influential. Volunteers In Cancer Research UK, volunteer are the most influential stakeholder as they are provide their help and time free of cost. Cancer research UK might cant operate without the help of the service of the Volunteers. So because of the given reason, they are very much influential in cancer Research UK. Donors Donors are the person who gives monetary and non monetary help to the organizations. In Cancer Research UK, Donors play an important role as they are the distinct from others as they give their support to an organization from which they know, they will not getting any monetary refund. So donors are influential in Cancer Research UK.

Solutions to the Church Music Controversy Essay -- Music

Solutions to the Church Music Controversy There are many different approaches churches are taking to solve the controversial issue of the use of instrumental accompaniment to singing and contemporary ways of worshiping in churches. Contemporary churches are encouraging the use, whereas traditional churches are preaching against the use and are educating the people of their churches with what God and the Bible say about music. Some churches that use instruments in their services are holding different services for different types of audiences, like one for the elderly that will use the more traditional songs and hymns, and then another for the youth, or divorced, or the single people, or the married. Then there are those who say that this should not be something churches should even be arguing about, and that there are worse things happening in the church that should be focused on eliminating. In the article, â€Å"Churches Use Hip-Hop to Draw Teens† of the Rockford Register Star, reporter Edith Webster writes from an interview with minister Ralph Hawthorne, director of Let’s Talk It Out; which was part of the ‘Summer Showcase 2003’ program in Rockford, Illinois, â€Å" ‘Summer Showcase 2003’ includes free food, giveaways, a puppet show and a variety of gospel music for the entire family, but the young people will most likely be all into the gospel rap. ‘There is a generation of people who are unreached,’ said minister Ralph Hawthorne,’ † and to justify his actions he claims, â€Å" ‘To get the gospel out and to be relevant, we need to not change the message but maybe change the method’ † (Webster). Assuming that this is how God wants His message to be taught, I think there exists a tremendous amount of wrong in this way of think... ...Works Cited Deville, Nancy. "Gospel Singing at Mass is Break from Tradition." The Tennessee [Nashville, TN] 24 Jul. 2003: M1. InfoTrac Custom Newspapers. TexShare. Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 29 Oct. 2003. Furr, Joe E. "Working Around Tradition."17 Nov. 2003. Christian Homesite. 29 Oct. 2003 . Smith, James B. Rich Mullins His Life and Legacy: an Arrow Pointing to Heaven. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000. Webster, Edith C. "Churches Use Hip-Hop to Draw Teens." Rockford Register Star 2 Aug. 2003: 6C. InfoTrac Custom Newspapers. TexShare. Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. 29 Oct.2003. Zondervan Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985, 1999, 2002.

tough choices :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I was asked to think back about something memorable and to write an essay about a life’s lesson learned. In high school, soccer was very important to me. It was my favorite sport. My freshman year I decided to pick and focus on only one of the many sports I had played in the passed. I came to the conclusion that I should play soccer considering it was one I was strongest at. I also enjoyed soccer more than the other sports I had played because it was a tough sport, which was a challenge to me. During the years I played high school soccer I made a decision in which when I look back on, I think I could have handled differently. I never spoke up. I would just do what I was told to do. Whatever I was told to do I did it the best I could. I thought that cooperating, listening and giving it my best shot is what would get me ahead before someone else. But I was wrong and that has cost me dearly. As a freshman I played soccer for Paramus Catholic High School. I started as a forward on their junior varsity team. As the season went on the varsity coach noticed my aggressiveness and moved me up to play with our varsity team. To be picked out of all the girls on the team I can’t tell you of a better feeling of self-pride. Then as a sophomore I transferred to Hackensack High School. There, I again started as a forward for their junior varsity team. Later into the season I was brought up to practice with varsity. I practiced with varsity but only played in a couple of games. Imagine my disappointment, I joined the soccer team to play, not sit on the bench. I worked so hard in practice to prove myself but it got me nowhere, not even a chance. So I asked to be moved back down to junior varsity where I could play. At least on the junior varsity team I was recognized for my efforts. As a junior I tried again and made the varsity team at tryouts. I was excited because we had lost a lot of seniors and I expected to get more playing time. Upperclassmen always played over underclassmen. But I was wrong. Instead I sat the bench and freshmen played over me. tough choices :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I was asked to think back about something memorable and to write an essay about a life’s lesson learned. In high school, soccer was very important to me. It was my favorite sport. My freshman year I decided to pick and focus on only one of the many sports I had played in the passed. I came to the conclusion that I should play soccer considering it was one I was strongest at. I also enjoyed soccer more than the other sports I had played because it was a tough sport, which was a challenge to me. During the years I played high school soccer I made a decision in which when I look back on, I think I could have handled differently. I never spoke up. I would just do what I was told to do. Whatever I was told to do I did it the best I could. I thought that cooperating, listening and giving it my best shot is what would get me ahead before someone else. But I was wrong and that has cost me dearly. As a freshman I played soccer for Paramus Catholic High School. I started as a forward on their junior varsity team. As the season went on the varsity coach noticed my aggressiveness and moved me up to play with our varsity team. To be picked out of all the girls on the team I can’t tell you of a better feeling of self-pride. Then as a sophomore I transferred to Hackensack High School. There, I again started as a forward for their junior varsity team. Later into the season I was brought up to practice with varsity. I practiced with varsity but only played in a couple of games. Imagine my disappointment, I joined the soccer team to play, not sit on the bench. I worked so hard in practice to prove myself but it got me nowhere, not even a chance. So I asked to be moved back down to junior varsity where I could play. At least on the junior varsity team I was recognized for my efforts. As a junior I tried again and made the varsity team at tryouts. I was excited because we had lost a lot of seniors and I expected to get more playing time. Upperclassmen always played over underclassmen. But I was wrong. Instead I sat the bench and freshmen played over me.

Computer Ethics and Information Systems

â€Å"Computer Ethics and Information Security† a. Introduction The consideration of computer ethics fundamentally emerged with the birth of computers. There was concern right away that computers would be used inappropriately to the detriment of society compromising information security, or that they would replace humans in many jobs, resulting in widespread job loss. Ethics- Guidelines or rules of conduct that govern our lives, work, behavior and communication in both public and private undertaking. Ethics are a set of moral principles that govern an individual or a group on what is acceptable behaviour while using a computer.Computer ethics is a set of moral principles that govern the usage of computers. One of the common issues of computer ethics is violation of copyright issues. Duplicating copyrighted content without the author’s approval, accessing personal information of others are some of the examples that violate ethical principles. Security – is the deg ree of protection to safeguard a nation, union of nations, persons or person against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition.Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction Computer Ethics- is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. b. Discussion Computer Ethics Ethics deals with placing a â€Å"value† on acts according to whether they are â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad†. Every society has its rules about whether certain acts are ethical or not.These rules have been established as a result of consensus in society and are often written into laws. When computers first began to be used in society at large, the absence of ethical s tandards about their use and related issues caused some problems. However, as their use became widespread in every facet of our lives, discussions in computer ethics resulted in some kind of a consensus. Today, many of these rules have been formulated as laws, either national or international. Computer crimes and computer fraud are now common terms. There are laws against them, and veryone is responsible for knowing what constitutes computer crime and computer fraud. The Ten Commandments of computer ethics have been defined by the Computer Ethics Institute. Here is our interpretation of them: 1) Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people: If it is unethical to harm people by making a bomb, for example, it is equally bad to write a program that handles the timing of the bomb. Or, to put it more simply, if it is bad to steal and destroy other people’s books and notebooks, it is equally bad to access and destroy their files. ) Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work: Computer viruses are small programs that disrupt other people’s computer work by destroying their files, taking huge amounts of computer time or memory, or by simply displaying annoying messages. Generating and consciously spreading computer viruses is unethical. 3) Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files: Reading other people’s e-mail messages is as bad as opening and reading their letters: This is invading their privacy. Obtaining other people’s non-public files should be judged the same way as breaking into their rooms and stealing their documents.Text documents on the Internet may be protected by encryption. 4) Thou shalt not use a computer to steal: Using a computer to break into the accounts of a company or a bank and transferring money should be judged the same way as robbery. It is illegal and there are strict laws against it. 5) Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness: The Internet can spread untruth as fast as it can spread truth. Putting out false â€Å"information† to the world is bad. For instance, spreading false rumors about a person or false propaganda about historical events is wrong. ) Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid: Software is an intellectual product. In that way, it is like a book: Obtaining illegal copies of copyrighted software is as bad as photocopying a copyrighted book. There are laws against both. Information about the copyright owner can be embedded by a process called watermarking into pictures in the digital format. 7) Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization: Multiuser systems use user id’s and passwords to enforce their memory and time allocations, and to safeguard information.You should not try to bypass this authorization system. Hacking a system to break and bypass the authorization is unethical. 8) Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output: For example, the programs you write for the projects assigned in this course are your own intellectual output. Copying somebody else’s program without proper authorization is software piracy and is unethical. Intellectual property is a form of ownership, and may be protected by copyright laws. ) Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write: You have to think about computer issues in a more general social framework: Can the program you write be used in a way that is harmful to society? For example, if you are working for an animation house, and are producing animated films for children, you are responsible for their contents. Do the animations include scenes that can be harmful to children? In the United States, the Communications Decency Act was an attempt by lawmakers to ban certain types of content from Internet websites to protect young children from harmful material.That law was struck down because it violated the free speech principles in that country's constitution. T he discussion, of course, is going on. 10) Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect: Just like public buses or banks, people using computer communications systems may find themselves in situations where there is some form of queuing and you have to wait for your turn and generally be nice to other people in the environment. The fact that you cannot see the people you are interacting with does not mean that you can be rude to them. Ethical Issues :- †¢Computers in the Workplace Computer Crime †¢ Privacy and Anonymity †¢ Intellectual Property †¢Professional Responsibility †¢Globalization Computers in the Workplace. Computers can pose a threat to jobs as people feel they may be replaced by them. However, the computer industry already has generated a wide variety of new jobs. When computers do not eliminate a job, they can radically alter it. In addition to job security concerns, another workplace concern is health and safety. It is a computer ethics issue to consider how computers impact health and job satisfaction when information technology is introduced into a workplace.Computer Crime. With the proliferation of computer viruses, spyware, phishing and fraud schemes, and hacking activity from every location in the world, computer crime and security are certainly topics of concern when discussing computer ethics. Besides outsiders, or hackers, many computer crimes, such as embezzlement or planting of logic bombs, are committed by trusted personnel who have authorization to use company computer systems. Privacy and Anonymity. One of the earliest computer ethics topics to arouse public interest was privacy.The ease and efficiency with which computers and networks can be used to gather, store, search, compare, retrieve, and share personal information make computer technology especially threatening to anyone who wishes to keep personal information out of the public domain or out of the hands of those who are perce ived as potential threats. The variety of privacy-related issues generated by computer technology has led to reexamination of the concept of privacy itself. Intellectual Property. One of the more controversial areas of computer ethics concerns the intellectual property rights connected with software ownership.Some people, like Richard Stallman, who started the Free Software Foundation, believe that software ownership should not be allowed at all. He claims that all information should be free, and all programs should be available for copying, studying, and modifying by anyone who wishes to do so. Others, such as Deborah Johnson, argue that software companies or programmers would not invest weeks and months of work and significant funds in the development of software if they could not get the investment back in the form of license fees or sales.Professional Responsibility and Globalization. Global networks such as the Internet and conglomerates of business-to-business network connecti ons are connecting people and information worldwide. Such globalization issues that include ethics considerations include: †¢Global laws †¢Global business †¢Global education †¢Global information flows †¢Information-rich and information-poor nations †¢Information interpretation The gap between rich and poor nations, and between rich and poor citizens in industrialized countries, is very wide.As educational opportunities, business and employment opportunities, medical services, and many other necessities of life move more and more into cyberspace, gaps between the rich and the poor may become even worse, leading to new ethical considerations. Common Computer Ethics Fallacies Although computer education is starting to be incorporated in lower grades in elementary schools, the lack of early computer education for most current adults led to several documented generally accepted fallacies that apply to nearly all computer users.As technology advances, these f allacies will change; new ones will arise, and some of the original fallacies will no longer exist as children learn at an earlier age about computer use, risks, security, and other associated information. There are more than described here, but Peter S. Tippett identified the following computer ethics fallacies, which have been widely discussed and generally accepted as being representative of the most common. The Computer Game Fallacy. Computer users tend to think that computers will generally prevent them from cheating and doing wrong.Programmers particularly believe that an error in programming syntax will prevent it from working, so that if a software program does indeed work, then it must be working correctly and preventing bad things or mistakes from happening. Even computer users in general have gotten the message that computers work with exacting accuracy and will not allow actions that should not occur. Of course, what computer users often do not consider is that although the computer operates under very strict rules, the software programs are written by humans and are just as susceptible to allowing bad things to happen as people often are in their own lives.Along with this, there is also the perception that a person can do something with a computer without being caught, so that if what is being done is not permissible, the computer should somehow prevent them from doing it. The Law-Abiding Citizen Fallacy. Laws provide guidance for many things, including computer use. Sometimes users confuse what is legal with regard to computer use with what is reasonable behavior for using computers. Laws basically define the minimum standard about which actions can be reasonably judged, but such laws also call for individual judgment.Computer users often do not realize they also have a responsibility to consider the ramifications of their actions and to behave accordingly. The Shatterproof Fallacy. Many, if not most, computer users believe that they can do littl e harm accidentally with a computer beyond perhaps erasing or messing up a file. However, computers are tools that can harm, even if computer users are unaware of the fact that their computer actions have actually hurt someone else in some way. For example, sending an email flame to a large group of recipients is the same as publicly humiliating them.Most people realize that they could be sued for libel for making such statements in a physical public forum, but may not realize they are also responsible for what they communicate and for their words and accusations on the Internet. As another example, forwarding e-mail without permission of the author can lead to harm or embarrassment if the original sender was communicating privately without expectation of his message being seen by any others. Also, using e-mail to stalk someone, to send spam, and to harass or offend the recipient in some way also are harmful uses of computers.Software piracy is yet another example of using computers to, in effect, hurt others. Generally, the shatterproof fallacy is the belief that what a person does with a computer can do minimal harm, and only affects perhaps a few files on the computer itself; it is not considering the impact of actions before doing them. The Candy-from-a-Baby Fallacy. Illegal and unethical activity, such as software piracy and plagiarism, are very easy to do with a computer. However, just because it is easy does not mean that it is right.Because of the ease with which computers can make copies, it is likely almost every computer user has committed software piracy of one form or another. The Software Publisher's Association (SPA) and Business Software Alliance (BSA) studies reveal software piracy costs companies multibillions of dollars. Copying a retail software package without paying for it is theft. Just because doing something wrong with a computer is easy does not mean it is ethical, legal, or acceptable. The Hacker's Fallacy.Numerous reports and public ations of the commonly accepted hacker belief is that it is acceptable to do anything with a computer as long as the motivation is to learn and not to gain or make a profit from such activities. This so-called hacker ethic is explored in more depth in the following section. The Free Information Fallacy. A somewhat curious opinion of many is the notion that information â€Å"wants to be free,† as mentioned earlier. It is suggested that this fallacy emerged from the fact that it is so easy to copy digital information and to distribute it widely.However, this line of thinking completely ignores the fact the copying and distribution of data is completely under the control and whim of the people who do it, and to a great extent, the people who allow it to happen. Hacking and Hacktivism Hacking is an ambivalent term, most commonly perceived as being part of criminal activities. However, hacking has been used to describe the work of individuals who have been associated with the open -source movement. Many of the developments in information technology have resulted from what has typically been considered as hacking activities.Manuel Castells considers hacker culture as the â€Å"informationalism† that incubates technological breakthrough, identifying hackers as the actors in the transition from an academically and institutionally constructed milieu of innovation to the emergence of self-organizing networks transcending organizational control. A hacker was originally a person who sought to understand computers as thoroughly as possible. Soon hacking came to be associated with phreaking, breaking into phone networks to make free phone calls, which is clearly illegal.The Hacker Ethic. The idea of a hacker ethic originates in the activities of the original hackers at MIT and Stanford in the 1950s and 1960s. Stephen Levy outlined the so-called hacker ethic as follows: 1. Access to computers should be unlimited and total. 2. All information should be free. 3. A uthority should be mistrusted and decentralization promoted. 4. Hackers should be judged solely by their skills at hacking, rather than by race, class, age, gender, or position. 5. Computers can be used to create art and beauty. . Computers can change your life for the better. The hacker ethic has three main functions: 1. It promotes the belief of individual activity over any form of corporate authority or system of ideals. 2. It supports a completely free-market approach to the exchange of and access to information. 3. It promotes the belief that computers can have a beneficial and life-changing effect. Such ideas are in conflict with a wide range of computer professionals' various codes of ethics. Ethics Codes of Conduct and ResourcesSeveral organizations and groups have defined the computer ethics their members should observe and practice. In fact, most professional organizations have adopted a code of ethics, a large percentage of which address how to handle information. To prov ide the ethics of all professional organizations related to computer use would fill a large book. The following are provided to give you an opportunity to compare similarities between the codes and, most interestingly, to note the differences and sometimes contradictions in the codes followed by the various diverse groups. Information SecurityInformation security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction Information Security Attributes: or qualities, i. e. , Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA). Information Systems are decomposed in three main portions, hardware, software and communications with the purpose to help identify and apply information security industry standards, as mechanisms of protection and prevention, at three levels or layers: physical, personal and organizational.Essentially, procedures or policies are implemented to tell people (administrators, users and operators)how to use products to ensure information security within the organizations. Confidentiality Confidentiality is the term used to prevent the disclosure of information to unauthorized individuals or systems. For example, a credit card transaction on the Internet requires the credit card number to be transmitted from the buyer to the merchant and from the merchant to a transaction processing network.The system attempts to enforce confidentiality by encrypting the card number during transmission, by limiting the places where it might appear (in databases, log files, backups, printed receipts, and so on), and by restricting access to the places where it is stored. If an unauthorized party obtains the card number in any way, a breach of confidentiality has occurred. Confidentiality is necessary (but not sufficient) for maintaining the privacy of the people whose personal information a system holds. [citation needed] IntegrityIn information security, integrity means that data cannot be modified undetectably. [citation needed] This is not the same thing as referential integrity in databases, although it can be viewed as a special case of Consistency as understood in the classic ACID model of transaction processing. Integrity is violated when a message is actively modified in transit. Information security systems typically provide message integrity in addition to data confidentiality. Accessibility For any information system to serve its purpose, the information must be available when it is needed.This means that the computing systems used to store and process the information, the security controls used to protect it, and the communication channels used to access it must be functioning correctly. High availability systems aim to remain available at all times, preventing service disruptions due to power outages, hardware failures, and system upgrades. Ensuring availability also involves preventing denial-of-service attacks. Authent icity In computing, e-Business, and information security, it is necessary to ensure that the data, transactions, communications or documents (electronic or physical) are genuine.It is also important for authenticity to validate that both parties involved are who they claim they are. Non-repudiation In law, non-repudiation implies one's intention to fulfill their obligations to a contract. It also implies that one party of a transaction cannot deny having received a transaction nor can the other party deny having sent a transaction. Electronic commerce uses technology such as digital signatures and public key encryption to establish authenticity and non-repudiation. c. ConclusionImpact of Computer Ethics on Information Security The relationship between information security and computer ethics does not look, on the surface, readily obvious, and even appears remote. It is, however, credible. Culture, customs, trust and privacy that characterize security fall within the realm of ethics. Computer ethics alert information security management to ethical considerations and warn potential offenders of ethical consequences in situations where the technical tools or the legal measures fail.In these cases, an ethical decision may be helpful in bringing about a solution. Furthermore, this conclusion is consistent with the following premises with respect to technical controls, computer laws and computer ethics: †¢Premise 1: The information security management community has applied control tools to meet the information security objectives of safeguarding confidentiality against unauthorized access, upholding integrity and maintaining availability. However, detecting computer crime is difficult, because the act is either traceless or difficult to trace.Quantifying the damage is problematic since the victims all too often withhold reporting the crime for reasons including fear of recrimination and bad publicity. 8 Therefore, the technical control tools are ineffective, wi th respect to legal issues. †¢Premise 2: Computer laws have been enacted in various nations at an ever-increasing rate since the late 1980s, when business and the society at large were forced to face the magnitude and severity of damage not experienced prior to computer crimes. There has been a dramatic increase in specialized legislation to combat criminal behaviors related to computer crime, which include traditional crimes committed with the use of a computer and a variety of new, technologyspecific criminal behaviors spawned by the rapid emergence of computer technologies and the exponential expansion of the Internet. 10 However, despite the additional new laws, prosecution is deterred because the legal proceeding is a tardy, time-consuming and expensive process, even when there are well-justified intentions to proceed with legal action.Also, legislation always lags behind the event such that either no appropriate laws are found or the new law is too late for the case in ha nd. Hence, computer laws are at best a deterrent to computer crime, not a guardian of information. †¢Premise 3: Computer ethicists assert, on the one hand, that special ethical issues are raised because computers are special technology, and query, on the other hand, why there should be computer ethics since, for example, there is no such thing as telephone ethics even though the telephone is a special technology that makes a profound change on the way individuals communicate with others. 1 However, information security is worthy of ethical consideration as many decisions in information technology affect a wide range of stakeholders. National and international computer societies have promoted codes of ethical practice and even written these codes into their constitutions. As technology advances, computers continue to have a greater impact on society.Therefore, computer ethics promotes the discussion of how much influence computers should have in areas such as information securit y, artificial intelligence and human communication. As the world of computers evolves, computer ethics continues to create ethical standards that address new issues raised by new technologies. Reference http://www. isaca. org/Journal http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/ethics-computer/ http://www. cmpe. boun. edu. tr/~say/c150/intro/lit10. html

Theme of Revenge in Hamlet

In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is so prominent that it could be considered its own character. The vengeance in Hamlet is essential to the development of Laertes, son of Polonius, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway. Revenge is an unnecessary evil causing humans to act blindly through anger rather than through reason. Referring as far back as Hammurabi’s idea of â€Å"An eye for an eye,† revenge is merely a chain of wrongdoings stimulated each time by a reciprocated act of evil.Revenge is set to conquer anyone who comes to seek it. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet while there is the theme of revenge, that theme is divided into two separate entities. There is Laertes’ active seeking of vengeance and â€Å"Hamlet’s inner struggle to take action. † (Shmoop 1) Laertes is extremely quick to take action to avenge the murder and suicide of his only remaining family. Returning home from an adventure for his own e ducational purposes, Laertes learns of his father murder by a sword through a tapestry.Upon arrival, Laertes finds his delusional sister, Ophelia, too involved in her songs of â€Å"Hey nonny, nonny† to really understand anything happening at that moment. Ophelia drove herself to an actual insanity from death of her father, or perhaps the rejection of Hamlet. Hours later, Ophelia is found in a pond after she committed suicide. Laertes wishes to seek revenge on Hamlet for his direct and indirect cause of his family’s deaths. Claudius is now also presented with his chance for his own revenge against his nephew, or his son in accordance with his incestual marriage.However, Claudius is only seeking â€Å"revenge† for fear of being found out, and hides his cowardice by helping Laertes kill Hamlet. Hamlet is a completely different example from Laertes. Through his father’s ghost, Hamlet is given the task of avenging his father in his untimely death. â€Å"Reve nge his foul and most unnatural murder. † (Act I, Scene iv, Shakespeare) Hamlet was given multiple opportunities to take the life of his uncle, but failed to do so. Not even sure of himself or of the request the father of his ghost, that he may or may not have seen, demanded. To be certain of Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet decides to re-enact the murder of his father with the production of The Murder of Gonzago (known also as the play within the play or The Mousetrap). † (Shakespeare-online 2) â€Å"The play’s the king Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. † (Act II, Scene ii, Shakespeare) However, even when he is completely sure Claudius is guilty of killing his own brother, he still finds trouble acting. Hamlet finds Claudius after the play to exact his revenge, but finds Claudius praying.With his sword at the ready, he starts to talk to himself about how he cannot kill his uncle while his father is â€Å"Doom'd for a certain term to wal k the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. † (Act I, Scene iv, Shakespeare) Hamlet actually manages to convince himself to not act now, and that another opportunity will present itself. If Hamlet had only taken the time he used to talk to himself to quietly listen he would have notice Claudius’ inability to utter a prayer, leaving the perfect opportunity untaken.What does separate Hamlet from others around him is his reason for his revenge. Hamlet achieves his revenge in the final scene of the final life. â€Å"In large part his course to the fifth act is the result of his moral sensitivity, his unflinching discernment of evil and his determination that it shall not thrive. † (Prosser 1) His â€Å"hatred of corruption† and his â€Å"vision of what man should be† fueled him through all his pretenses into his final moments.While â€Å"Hamlet is definitely a great e xample of a typical revenge tragedy† (NovelGuide 4) he is unique in the way he hesitates in his path to destroy what is evil and to preserve whatever little good is left. Hardly mentioned at all, there was another character in Hamlet that received his revenge at the end of the play. Fortinbras, prince of Norway set off to regain the lands of Denmark, which were lost to King Hamlet Senior years ago. Fortinbras was returning to win back his lands, which he did, and he did so very peacefully.Fortinbras regained the lands that were rightly his, as there were no more heirs to the Danish throne. Horatio almost foreshadows the movements of Fortinbras, but no further of him is mentioned until the end of the play. â€Å"Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimproved mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes, For food and diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in't; which is no other— As it doth well appear unto our state—But to recover of us, by strong hand And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So by his father lost. (Act I, Scene I, Shakespeare) Fortinbras choice for revenge is the only one that ended up with no more murder involved. All three characters, Laertes, Hamlet, and Fortinbras, were so obsessed with avenging their father’s death, nobody survived to be able to gloat about his victory, except for Fortinbras. Revenge is characterized by a chain of bad choices with another individual feeling he is obligated to make the situation fair once more. Hamlet by William Shakespeare is powerful play that exemplifies the cruelty of revenge and how much anger and how little reason are truly involved.There is never a real need for revenge, as more of it will eventually lead to the demise of everyone involved. Thousands of years before Shakespeare wrote his plays, Hammurabi created the first law book, almost foreshadowing the dangers of revenge. â€Å"An eye for an eye will lea ve the whole world blind†, while murder for murder will only lead to more murder. Works Cited â€Å"Elizabethan Revenge in Hamlet. † Novel Guides. Web. 1 Jan 2013. ;http://www. novelguide. com/ReportEssay/literature/shakespeare/elizabethan-revenge-hamlet;.Prosser, Eleanor. â€Å"Hamlet and Revenge. † HowlandPak. HowlandPak, Web. 1 Jan 2013. ;http://howlandpowpak. neomin. org/powpak/cgi-bin/custom_page_display. pl? id=thomas. williams;cp=28;. Mabillard, Amanda. â€Å"Revenge in Hamlet. † Shakespeare Online, 12 2011. Web. 1 Jan 2013. ;http://shakespeare-online. com/playanalysis/revengetragedy. html;. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. London, England: 1603. Print. â€Å"Shmoop. † Hamlet. Shmoop University, Inc. Web. 1 Jan 2013. ;http://www. shmoop. com/hamlet/;.