The Cultural Roots of Technology Essay -- Environment Environmental Po

â€Å"A technology evolves within a culture and its particular demands and preoccupations, intertwined with that society’s particular environment (Teresi, 356)†. As the human race and daily life becomes more advanced, there are times when it becomes necessary to consider the variables that influence our society. These variables-religion, tradition, environment, etc. - make up the culture of a society. New technologies are created when the people living in a particular society feel that one of these variables needs to be expanded upon or changed (Discovery Channel, Feb. 11). A particularly relevant example is the United States Space program. The space program grew out of the Cold War in the 1960’s. The technological needs of this effort, specifically small computers, heat resistant ceramics, radio communication, and power cells lead to the products and devices that we enjoy today. Societies, with their specific cultural needs, influenced the development of their own technology. For example, the Chinese in ninth century A.D. were fascinated with perfumes, noxious bombs, explosions, gases, and smoke. They burned incense and fumigated their houses for health as well as spiritual reasons. In the Chinese culture, smoke and loud explosions were connected to the spiritual and supernatural world. Chinese priests invented gunpowder by combining charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur. Their military-centered society saw the advantages gunpowder gave them in battle situations as well. The Chinese were the first to invent land mines, fire lances, and grenades. When Europeans learned about gunpowder, they began experimenting (Teresi, 355-56). Before long, cannons and guns were invented and warfare would never be the same aga... ... purposes, would the history of war have changed? It is probable that gunpowder would have eventually been invented, but who would have discovered it and when? What was their culture like; would the smoke and fumes make them feel connected to supernatural beings or would gunpowder strictly be used for war? Just like the space program created cultural needs and wants over fifty years ago, culture continues to be the driving force for technological developments. Sources Chant, Colin, "Chapter 2: Greece" in Pre-industrial Cities and Technology, Routledge Press, 1999, pp. 48-80. Ehrlich, Paul R., "Ch.11: Gods, Dive-Bombers, and Bureaucracy" in Human Natures: Genes Cultures, and the Human Prospect, Island Press, 2000, pp. 253-279. Teresi, Dick, Lost Discoveries: The ancient roots of modern science, Simon and Schuster, 2002, ISBN 0-684-83718-8, pp. 325-367.

Burial Rituals of Native American Culture Essay

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people. Leslie Marmon Silko’s story entitled The Man to Send Rain Clouds describes a funeral service carried out by a Native American Pueblo family. Though many perceive the funeral service narrated in this story to be lacking in emotion and also lacking respect for the passing of their loved one, it portrays a ceremony that is quite common for the Native American communities. There is also a hint of conflict occurring between the characters in the story that are carrying out their traditions while including an outside religious figure in the ceremony. The death of an old man sets the stage for this story and tells of the way his family goes about preparing him for his journey into the afterlife. A feather is tied into the old man’s hair, his face was painted with blue, yellow, green and white paint, pinches of corn meal and pollen were tossed into the wind and finally his body was wrapped in a red blanket prior to being transported. According to Releasing the Spirit: A Lesson in Native American Funeral Rituals by Gary F. Santillanes, â€Å"Pueblo Indians care for their own dead with no funeral director involved. The family will take the deceased, usually in their truck, back to the home of the deceased and place him or her on the floor facing east to west, on a native blanket. Depending on the deceased’s stature in the tribe, his face may be painted in the traditional nature. A powdery substance is placed on the face of all the dead usually made of corn, traditional prayers and maybe dances are completed† (www. umn. du). The feather tied to his hair is a prayer feather and the painting of the face is to ensure that he will be recognized in the next world by his ancestors who have crossed over before him. The colors are representative of the earth, sky, sun and water. The sprinkling of corn meal and water are said to provide the dead with nourishment on their journey to the next world. The pollen is representative of the earth’s renewal from the rainclouds that will be sent back by the spirit of the deceased. Silko frequently refers to a â€Å"red blanket† that the old man is wrapped in for burial (149). The Native American people often leave a cord hanging from the blanket which wraps the body of the deceased and is thought to provide a way for the spirit to be released into the afterlife. All Native American cultures have strong beliefs in life after death, although the means of reaching the next life may vary from tribe to tribe. They traditionally believe that death is a part of a natural cycle in which their spirits are transported back and forth between this world and the spirit world so that they can bring renewal and new life when they return. Most consider this transition to be an honor or privilege since it will ensure the survival of their people. In Native American culture, it is believed that neglect of tribal rituals can result in death and sickness, because the spirit returns without blessings, having been unable to enter the other world. According to Who Were The Anasazi? Published by The Bureau of Land Management, â€Å"religious concepts and events were associated with seasonal tasks like farming (in spring and summer) and hunting (in fall and winter)† which would be a plausible explanation for the belief that the old man could send back rain clouds and also for cultural beliefs in the spirits returning to life (http://www. blm. gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc). Many tribes perform ceremonies which can include elaborate and colorful tribal dances. Modern rituals sometimes allow for outsiders to watch the ceremonies. During the burial process there are also practices that are more common to what many people consider to be normal. Bodies are dressed in nice clothing and some of their possessions are often placed next to them. The Native American people prepare food to be given to the families of the dead, members of the community visit to pay their respect to the deceased and at times a religious service is included. When these religious services are conducted, â€Å"they are held in churches on their native land† where â€Å"they have their native religious beliefs with their own gods† (www. umn. du). Native American â€Å"religious specialists draw wisdom from inherited traditions. Priests bring rain through ceremony and prayer. They are thought to have a special level of communication with the spirits† (www. umn. edu). The Native American culture often frowns upon outside religious rituals such as last rites being included in the ceremonies. This is thought to be partly because of the controversy surrounding the invasion of Catholics upon their land and partly because they believe that it will impair the transition into the afterlife and condemn the soul of the deceased. Pallbearers are employed to transport the bodies to the grave site, but in several tribes, no one else is allowed to touch the body or the grave. The pallbearers must eventually go through a cleansing ritual following the burial. Regardless of our cultural heritage, treating our loved ones with respect, tradition and dignity is usually our primary concern. Though we may not understand the practices of other cultures, it does not mean that methods by which burials are conducted are any less spiritual or correct. We all tend to believe in our own gods and the fact that there will be something else waiting for us when we pass from the world in which we exist. We all feel the need to make sure that our loved ones are properly prepared for their journey by whatever means our traditions dictate. The only differences seem to be the methods in which we believe will help us make that transition. There is no doubt that family cohesion and socioeconomic status play an important role in the overall success of the transition but with the proper support system, even those in disadvantaged communities can make the best of a bad situation.

Four Seasons Goes To Paris Essay

One of the worlds leading operator of luxury hotels in business for the last thirty years Four Seasons is successful due to exceptional personal customer service, adhering to standards, at the same time adopting to local customs and blending with the environment. While staying at Four Seasons guests can be assured they will get individual personal attention and exceptional service with no excuses whatsoever. At Four Seasons the hotel makes sure that the guest is comfortable and goes way out of the normal to do what the guest wants even if they have to bend the rules. The Four Seasons Hotel adheres firmly to its standards, according to the hotel management its standards are the foundations for all its properties, and every manager in the hotel has a clear perception of what the standards are, and they adhere to them, over a period of time these standards shape relationships between people and these relationships contribute in building a culture. The hotel has the policy that each individual property should blend with the environment, like if the property is in Chicago when a guest wakes up he should feel that he is Chicago, if the hotel is in Paris and the guest wakes up he should feel he is in Paris. In blending with the environment it still adheres to its standards of individual personal attention, prompt and exceptional service. Strong corporate culture with top management being in the firm for long time 25 + years, corporate and field managers thinking of themselves as part of a  family and treating each others as their own has been a big factor in the hotel’s success. The has a human resource Golden Rule which stipulates that â€Å"One should treat others the way they wanted to be treated themselves†. The firm believes in the fact that people make the strength of the company, the basic human needs stays the same all over the globe, people need respect, care, thoughtfulness. When the firm takes care of its employees as its own the employees takes care of the firm in return. An example of how this golden rule is implemented is the hotel provides the employee with several uniforms and there is nothing saying that they should change it once per day or at some specific time whenever they feel dirty they can change their uniforms, at the end it goes to their dignity almost no one feels comfortable in dirty clothes. Four Seasons has enough properties across the globe and has enough experience and expertise from different areas of this world with diverse cultures that its managers claim that they can go to any city or town and pull people who can follow its mission to provide the best luxury class environment for its guest. It says that even tough the culture and environment is really different but the process of opening a new property is exactly the same everywhere. With all these claim entering into business in France was a big challenge for the four seasons, they had to adhere to the American building code, adhere to the French laws for building and of the work force , modify the property to meet all these requirements and at the same time maintain the French George V look. The way four seasons entered the French market is one of the best ways to do business a business should adopt to the local cultures and blend in the environment, people are generally not that much in favor of a change and if  you blend with the local environment the local community will adapt to the new business in the area and things will go smooth. The hired a French interior designer whose policy was to make the guest rediscover the hotel and make them feel how much better the new redesigned place was. They had issues in adhering to the French labor laws. It’s a country with strong unions in short lots was different in what goes on in US so the firm had to change its way of working. In France they have an emotional way of doing things, the French did not take the company’s golden rule seriously they thought it was too American. They had an incredible pride in being French. The good thing about French is they can be very joyous and encouraging but at the same time French Temper also lashes out. It all ended up to how the four seasons came in to France was almost as important in what Four Seasons did. I would say they way they entered the French market was good but it required a great deal of tact and judgment. The way four seasons done business across the globe according to the policy of Diversity and Strength their belief in diversity and singularity should be a guide to any business entering the global market. Look at the case of McDonald its almost uniform and unique all over the world, now in its vision this mite be the good thing about it but people are generally not that easy to adopt to new tastes, if a community favors more spicy food then for starters they mite visit a McDonald restaurant for a change but in the long run they mite avoid it. Same goes if it sells food that is not consumed in that community no one is going to buy it.

Modesty in islam

Prophet Muhammad Muslims believe that Mohammad is the last and final Messenger of God to be sent to humanity. He was sent to complete the mission of the previous Messengers (including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others) of calling people to believing in God and following the guidance and teachings of God. Muslims regard Prophet Mohammad as their highest role model and they aim to follow in his footsteps in all of their actions. This is why Muslims hold Prophet Mohammad in very high regard, and are seriously hurt when anyone tries to belittle him.Mohammad was born in the city of Makkah in Arabia in the year 570 AD. He was an orphan, having lost his father even before his birth, and was therefore raised by his grandfather and his uncle. Although he was from a noble family and tribe, as an orphan he had a difficult childhood. He later started to work as a trader, and through his dealings with the people was known to be extremely honest and trustworthy. In fact, he was nicknamed â€Å"the trustworthy† by the people of Makkah. At the age of 25, Prophet Mohammad got married to his wife Khadija.Mohammad (pbuh) always detested his people's way of life. He did not approve of their idol worship, nor did he approve of the lifestyle that ncluded drunkenness and illicit relations between men and women. Therefore, Mohammad (pbuh) regularly went away from the city to the desert to contemplate life and to seclude and distance himself from the actions and lifestyle of his people. At the age of 40, Mohammad (pbuh) started to receive revelations from God through the angel Gabriel. These revelations were the word of God, conveyed to Mohammad (pbuh) through the angel Gabriel.Mohammad (pbuh) was told by God that he was chosen as a Messenger to his people, and that the revelations he was receiving were the holy Qur'an and they were a messege from God to all of humanity. He was also nstructed to deliver the message to his people, and to teach and guide them. The revelations conti nued for 23 years until shortly before the death of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Although Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was known by his people as â€Å"the trustworthy†, many of them refused to believe in him when he started to teach his message to the people.The leaders of Makkah and the rich classes rejected the message not because they did not believe that Mohammad (pbuh) was saying the truth, and not because they did not believe that the Qur'an was the word of God. In fact, many of them later admitted that they had a feeling in their hearts that it was he truth. However, they rejected the message in order to protect their wealth and power. Mohammad (pbuh) taught people that all humans are equal, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or tribe. He taught slaves that they had rights and that they were equal to their masters.He taught that the rich must pay a portion of their wealth to the poor. Mohammad (pbuh) was a revolutionary, fghting for freedom. His mission was to free humanity from worshipping false idols, to free the poor from the stranglehold of the rich and to free people from the oppression imposed on them by priests of false religions. All of these teachings scared those who were in power at the time. The leaders were afraid that they will lose their positions of power and leadership, which they had gained based only upon the false pretense that their tribe or tamily was superior to all others.The rich were atraid that they will nave to share their wealth with the poor, even though they had collected this wealth by taking advantage of the poor. The masters were afraid that their slaves would start to ask for their rights. The priests were afraid of losing their unjust hold on people's lives, which they were using to enrich themselves. Mohammad (pbuh) and his followers, the Muslims, were persecuted severely. They were subjected to torture, imprisonment, expulsion, economic and social boycotts. Many of them were killed because of their beliefs. But th ey remained patient and steadfast, and they held onto their new religion of Islam.Mohammad (pbuh) continued to teach his message to the people in secret and in public. After 13 years of enduring these conditions, the Muslims emigrated to A1-Madinah, a city more than 400 km (260 miles) north of Makkah. The Muslims established the first Muslim nation in A1-Madinah, and were ble to practice their religion freely for the first time. As the Muslims began to gain more followers and establish their power in A1-Madinah, their old enemies in Makkah became very uneasy. They saw that the balance of power was switching in favour of the Muslims as Arab tribes started to accept Islam.They attacked the Muslims and after several battles, the Muslims gained the upper hand. The Muslims then sent a large and well equipped army to Makkah to end the attacks once and for all. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) instructed his army not to harm anyone who did not engage them in fghting. Upon seeing the strength of the Muslim army, the people of Makkah surrendered without much fighting. The Muslims entered Makah once again, this time in a position of power. The Muslim army captured many prisoners, including many of those who had persecuted, tortured and killed Muslims for 13 years before they emigrated to A1-Medina.The prisoners were gathered in front of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). He asked them: â€Å"What do you think I will do to you? † Knowing how they had treated Mohammad (pbuh) and his followers, the prisoners were afraid that their fate would be death as a punishment for their crimes. However, in an ttempt to ask for leniency, one of them replied: â€Å"You are a kind brother and nephew to us†, reminding Mohammad (pbuh) that they were his people and many of them were from the same tribe as Mohammad (pbuh).Mohammad (pbuh) replied to them: â€Å"You are all free to go! † After this point, the spread of Islam became even faster. Arab tribes began to come to Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) one by one to declare their Islam. Within ten years, Islam had spread throughout Arabia and became one of the main powers in the Middle East. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) passed away at the age of 63, leaving behind a message and a legacy that has survived to our day. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) accomplished his mission of delivering the message to humanity.He has left us with the holy Qur'an (the word of God) and the Sunnah (the teachings of Mohammad (pbuh)). Through his sacrifices and those of his followers, Islam today is the largest and fastest growing religion in the world. One out of every five people in the world is a Muslim. It is for this reason that Michael H. Hart (an astrophysicist born in New York City in 1932), in his 1978 book â€Å"The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History†, ranked Mohammad (pbuh) as the single most influential person in the history of the world.

The Nomoramide the synthetic morphinomimetic drug project Essay

The Nomoramide the synthetic morphinomimetic drug project - Essay Example The 'painfree' project appears a rather 'painful' project. Potential of the drug Nomoramide (painfree) appears to be immense, as specialists as well as General Physicians are fully convinced and have echoed their support for the drug, but the major drawback in managing the project has been a lack of sound understanding and respect for the views different departments within the company. Project management as such is a set of principles, practices, and techniques applied to lead project team and control project schedule, cost, and performance risks in order to in delight the customers. But in case of 'painfree' the end result appears to be resulting in a rather painful experience for the company as well as for the customers. The project appears successful to the extent that it succeeded in convincing the General Physicians and specialists about the usefulness of the drug. It generated lot of curiosity about the company and the product, which can go a long way in generating marketing potential for the company in the long run. It appears the company has been able to make good use of its contacts in the regulatory and licensing departments of the governments in different countries, yet it appears at loggerheads with authorities like BGA for continuously ignoring the genuine concerns of the people, which is resulting in restriction of the use of the drug to the post-operational pain, in Europe. In US though the company appears to have convinced in regulatory authorities regarding the drug’s unrestricted acceptance with specialists and GPs able to prescribe it for pain relief. The project team chose to launch the drug in Germany in November when accidents cases are at its peak and a large number of migraine cases are linked to the dark season of the year. The launch was a big success with over 700,000 packages being sold from November 1994 to March 1995. The drug even received rave reviews form experts, medical journals and magazines. But in the absence of adequate market communication from the company, about the precautions after the intake of the drug, the cases of orthostatic hypotension soon started reaching alarming levels. The company could have retained the successful beginning, if it had immediately launched an information campaign for consumer and medical fraternity informing them about the precaution like taking rest after the drug intake, no doing physical exercises etc. But the company appeared grossly under-prepared for taking up such an initiative. This resulted in damaging the credibility of the drug and the company. Therefore, despite a promising start and good product the Painfree project appears to have earned limited success. Ans 2: From the available documents it is more than evident that the project was not managed in a very professional and successful manner. It appears unsuccessful on several counts; i. In this market driven economy when we talk about global village concept, any company studies the market with long term perspective, in such a manner that the customer feels being valued. Data and information is gathered from the market regarding the competitor's position, availability of alternatives, outcomes of similar launches etc. In case of a new drug launch additional care is to be taken regarding its side-effects, safety of the consumer etc. To this end extensive researches are carried out for testing the effects of the drug, data is also compiled from existing studies etc. Here it appears the company, despite

The Psychology Victimization of Miss Lonelyhearts Essay

The Psychology Victimization of Miss Lonelyhearts - Essay Example This paper analyzes the psychological victimization of Miss Lonelyhearts. It argues that Miss Lonelyhearts is a victim of his society, relationships, and his own spiritual and emotional disintegration, and his psychology has become too nihilistic that he could no longer feel his humanity and find meaning in his existence. Society has victimized Miss Lonelyhearts through the capitalist labor system that treat people as means to corporate ends. Capitalism has numbed Miss Lonelyhearts and made him incapable of acknowledging and responding to human suffering (Scheurich and Mullen 572). He receives many letters that range from the mundane to the terribly appalling. One letter is from a vain girl with no nose, while the other confides that his mentally-ill sister has been raped, and he does know what to do. These letters, however, are not trivial for they represent a â€Å"great mass of suffering† that have interrelated social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions (Scheurich and Mullen 573). Particularly recurrent is the demand for material goods and physical attraction. Correspondents are concerned of their physical appearance to institutions or individuals that they regard as important. People are also complaining of getting more money and not feeling that they have enough wealth to satisfy their needs, as well as others, and so life has become a means of pursuing materialist existence. Capitalism is represented in this pursuit of superficial happiness that spans physical and material needs (Bromige 4). In addition, capitalism exists in the labor markets and its dynamics. Workers like Miss Lonelyhearts are trapped in jobs that are monotonous and exploitative, but they cannot easily find new ones for lack of better job opportunities. Furthermore, their managers treat them as means to corporate ends. Shrike uses Miss Lonelyhearts as an emotional punching bag. He also demeans correspondents, because their plight is not truly important to him. Shrike fin ds joy in using people and ensuring readership for his newspaper. Different social relationships also oppress Miss Lonelyhearts. Miss Lonelyhearts is a victim of a bully at the workplace. Because of his emotionally and spiritually exhausting job, he often feels unwell and looks for means to alleviate his inner turmoil. One time, after being sick and staying in his room for three days, Betty nudges him to leave his job. Miss Lonelyhearts admits that he took the job as a joke, but the joke no longer means anything to him. Pleas for advice force him to examine his own values and conditions, and he, too, has turned into â€Å"the victim of the joke† (Bromige 3). Shrike breaks into the room and mocks him to live at the South Seas: â€Å"I take your silence to mean that you have decided against the soil. I agree with you. Such a life is too dull and laborious. Let us now consider the South Seas† (West). The South Seas represent the expanse of opportunities that are paradoxic ally not available to Miss Lonelyhearts. He can only dream about his attempt to escape his world. Miss Lonelyhearts also victimizes his own identity by not resolving his inner conflicts. He uses Betty and other people to fill his emptiness. For instance, in a vacation, he spends time with Betty, but he does not feel better afterwards. The same feeling of

Is try and relate the problem of Internet privacy with the problem of Essay

Is try and relate the problem of Internet privacy with the problem of intellectual property - Essay Example Due to this violation of laws and rules governing intellectual property can easily be violated seeing that there are no measures to log information on the people flouting the laws. This is as seen in free file sharing websites where one may download and even upload copyrighted works from and to the internet respectively. Therefore, such websites do not appear to have any form of the privacy policy this are usually open to abuse by users and the general public, where intellectual property is plagiarized and used for personal and commercial gain at the expense of the original owner. This is due to lack of logging of user details or information in order to keep track of such users who violate intellectual property regulations blatantly, and with sheer disregard of ethical issues. Information from privacy policies is meant to ensure that the user of the internet has an idea of what he or she is doing and what information of a personal nature can or will be logged. For this reason piratin g or plagiarizing information from the internet is an easy as a website can easily be sued for violating a privacy policy that an internet user has agreed to; meaning that intellectual property is stolen under the guise of privacy policies over the internet. In addition, the privacy policies found on the internet only dictate the terms of usage of the website that one visits or the expected behaviour of the said websites. This means that the privacy policy has little to do with the intellectual property therein the said sites, or even its terms of usage. Instead, the terms of usage concerning intellectual properties are found in the copyright statement, which talks of how to legally intellectual property (Kinsella, 2011). Privacy policies are created to safeguard internet users from having their details collected and used for personal or commercial purposes by unscrupulous people. With this in mind, copyright laws are meant to take care of the needs of intellectual property where th ey define how certain aspects of intellectual property can or may be used. These two policies work together for the good of all parties involved in the usage of objects in question. However, with the rapid development in technology and new ways of violating policies governing intellectual property all thanks to discovery of new loopholes not covered in the conventional regulations (Castillo, 2011). This means that the two are facing similar challenges in application of updates to help prevent violations of privacy and copyright issues. This is as seen with the upcoming ways of stealing intellectual works over the internet, which was not originally covered in older books as compared to those that exist currently. On the internet privacy policy part there are similar changes in which new ways of collecting user information is discovered almost every day leading to new challenges in regulating the use of user information. The only positive side to the collection of information is on th en customization of content over the internet. All this is while intellectual property has no upside to infringement except possibly for its exposure to larger numbers of people if the content was used on a legal basis. This translates directly to that internet privacy policy and problems related to intellectual property face similar problems when it comes to the application of technology. There