Meaning of Life Susan Wolf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Meaning of Life Susan Wolf - Essay Example The meaning of life comes from within us and is not granted from without. I find this as the most convincing as regarding the question to the real meaning of life. This is surely the greatest way to perceive life-one’s own life, the life of a nation, a species, the world, and all living things. The meaning of life comes to us when we do things that our heart and mind desires, things that seem of importance to us. Otherwise, doing things that draw boredom since they seem not of much interest ton us does not bring the meaning of living into us. We can realize the idea of meaningless existence and the meaningless of life if we keep on doing things that bear no fruits to us and brings nothing (Taylor 433). It surely has no meaning to perform an activity that has been drawn repeatedly but, have no direction and purpose of it. With this, the objective of existence is meaningless. Richard Taylor draws this idea from our lives, and that of the animals, the endless activities that get nowhere. However, he also says that if this is what one is willing to per sue then the idea of meaning of life comes in. At one point, we ask ourselves why we do things repeatedly without getting anything out of it, a perfect image of meaningless existence.... t that he wants to work on, he must have the ability to be able to contribute in a positive manner to that project, and lastly the project that he is working on should be worthy in an independent manner of its own. A man must be able to have the strength to look back at his life when it is about to get over, and at that time, be satisfied truly to an extent that he feels as if his life has had some meaning or the other. (A., 2010) â€Å"What is perhaps most distinctive about my conception of meaning, or about the category of value I have in mind, is that it involves subjective and objective elements, suitably and inextricably linked. â€Å"Love† is at least partly subjective, involving attitudes and feelings. In insisting that the requisite object must be â€Å"worthy of love,† however, this conception of meaning invokes an objective standard: it is implicit in insisting that an object be worthy of love (in order to make a contribution to meaning in the lover’s life) that not any object will do.† (Wolf, Susan) The main aim of living one’s life, writes Wolf, should be of an objective worth and not subjective worth. Wolf writes that most people try to base or model their lives on people who inspire them and make them feel as if their lives were full of and ‘in’ meaning. Most people pick and motivate themselves by understanding actions of people who have benefited humanity at large, for example Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein. She writes that people must be able to feel satisfaction and fulfilment in order to find a sense of meaning in their lives. However, a person must carry out his own actions and achieve everything that he does on his own and according to his own merit in order to feel like he has done something meaningful which will make him happy and worthy

A Review of Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

A Review of Of Mice and Men Essay Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in 1939, during the Great American Depression. It tells the story of two men striving to understand their own unique place in the world. Traveling in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other and the dream they share: to one day settle down in a farm of their own and count out their days. Eventually they find work on a ranch, their hopes are doomed as Lennie becomes a victim of his own strength leaving their dream to be crushed. Much of Of Mice and Men is based upon Steinbecks life and experiences. He highlights many social issues which he experienced first hand. For example, the climatic changes in the West of America resulting in destruction of fertile land, this had supported the homesteaders represented in the novel by the promised joy dreamt of by the workers in the story. Another problem shown in the novel is the great financial collapse of 1929 which heralded the Depression that increased unemployment and poverty through the United States. Because of these problems intinerant American workers were exploited by farm owners on low pay and appalling conditions. They were only in demand for short periods of time causing them to have to save enough from seasonal work to support for the rest of the year and their extreme mobile lifestyles. Most of the characters in the book face many of these problems or are suffering from them especially the main characters, George and Lennie. George is a small, intelligent man. He is very strong-minded but also like most of the characters in the book very dreamy. He is very keen to change the monotomy of his present situation. Lennie, is a huge, lumbering, kind but child-like man. Although he has a terror of violence he is a man of great physical strength, something he is quite unaware of causing him to be clumsy. Lennie has an obsession with petting small animals that occurs throughout the book. He is very passive it is for this reason, in my opnion that George and Lennie are the incomplete halves of one whole person. George keeps Lennie by his side partly for comfort and friendship, but mainly as he is very strong and can work on a farm better than most people. Lennie is both an advantage and hindrance to George. George also supports Lennie, helps him and puts ideas in his head, wh ich keep him motivated but mainly acts as a fatherly figure. On arrival at the ranch one of the first characters George and Lennie meet is Candy, the oldest ranch worker who is coming to the end of his life. Candy is a very warm character in my opnion. He shares the dream that George and Lennie do, and therefore they become attractive friends to him. He is a gossip and tells the newcomers of the ranch workers and owners. He tells George and Lennie about Curley and his newly wed wife. Curley is a small man, because of his height disadvantage he dislikes tall men. He is continually agressive and always trying to show his masculanity. He is humilated by his wifes disastifaction and needs to boost his confidence. Curleys wifes name is never mentioned in the book it is for this reason she comes across as Curleys possession. She is portrayed in the book as a tarty, flirtatious woman, who is friendly to the men who work on the ranch. She claims not being understood in the book. Curleys wife has often been caught by other members of the ranch giving S lim and Carlson the eye. Slim is a friendly and gentle character compared to the others. He is a dignified master craftsman. Slim in my opnion is descibed by Steinbeck as an idealised character, however, his words and actions are quite realistic. Carlson is the more agressive character, we do not know that much about him but he usually appears in violent scenes. He is not a very sensative man. One of my favourite characters is Crooks. Crooks is a literate black cripple who tends horses. He interests me because his natural personality has been taken away from him by years of racism which I am very against. He is a very lonely character and has been automatically rejected in the novel by the other characters. My other favourite character is Lennie because of his unusual personality and need for a father figure despite being a fully grown man. In my opnion one cannot help but to feel sorry for Lennie. Within the story their are many themes, important ideas that run through the book. One of my favourites is dreams, each character has their own dream which is used throughout the book. The majority involve the American Dream, to be able to live off the fatta the lan. Curleys wifes dream revolves around Hollywood and being a moviestar but her dream she believes was ruined by her mother. She is also lonely just like many of the other characters, this is another theme in the book. Each of the workers is an induvidual and works for themselves. They all seek comfort in different things such as Candy in his dog. However, quite early on in the book Candys dog is killed, this is the first mention of violence. Throughout the book the world of the men is filled with unneccesary violence. The killing of the dog is quite similar to that of Lennie at the end of the book. Alot of authority is shown within the book aswell such as the condition of the workers living area and the Bosss clothes, black and severe. However I feel the book is centred on the idea of mutual dependence. Each of the main two characters depends on each other hugely. But this relationship, at the end of the book, is breached and George takes advantage of Lennie who trusts him, and kills him, so that his dream is secured. The book is written in an easy to read form, it is not in the country language they would of spoken, but in proper English the majority of the book. The story is out of date of course, but the actual language and style used in the book is quite modern. I really like the way that Steinbeck at the beginning of each chapter gives you a vivid description of the surrondings. It is for this reason that although there have been many films made of this book nothing can compare to the pictures the pages of this book generates inside your minds eye and as you turn the final page these pictures stay with you. At first glance the story was not very enthralling but as I got deeper into the plot I started to really enjoy it. As I got more into the book I started to think more about the themes and characters of the book which drew me in to it even more. It is the kind of book that is not only a story but also holds an interesting background behind it and applies to the history of America and the Great Depression. It is for this reason I feel it deserves its title as a classic and I would recommend it to any reader.

Dark Matter Essay -- essays research papers

There is perhaps no current problem of greater importance to astrophysics and cosmology than that of "dark matter". The controversy, as the name implies, is centered on the notion that there may exist an enormous amount of matter in the Universe that cannot be detected from the light that it emits. The evidence of dark matter is from the motions of astronomical objects, specifically stellar, galactic, and galaxy cluster/supercluster observations. The basic argument is that if we measure velocities in some region, then there has to be enough mass there for gravity to stop all the objects from flying apart. When such velocity measurements are done on large scales, it turns out that the amount of inferred mass is much more than can be explained by the luminous mass. Hence we infer that there is non-luminous matter in the Universe, i.e. there is dark matter. Dark matter has important consequences for the evolution of the Universe. According to standard cosmological theory, the Universe must conform to one of three possible types: open, flat, or closed. A parameter known as the "mass density" - that is, how much matter per unit volume is contained in the Universe - determines which of the three possibilities applies to the Universe. In the case of an open Universe, the mass density (denoted by the Greek letter Omega) is less than unity, and the Universe is predicted to expand forever. If the Universe is closed, Omega is greater than unity, and the Universe will eventually stop its expansion and recollapse back upon itself. For the case where Omega is exactly equal to one, the Universe is delicately balanced between the two states, and is said to be "flat". Dark matter candidates are usually split into two broad categories, with the second category being further sub-divided: baryonic and bon-baryonic. Then, under non-baryonic, hot dark matter (HDM) and cold dark matter (CDM) are its types. Depending on their respective masses and speeds, CDM candidates have relatively large mass and travel at slow speeds (hence "cold"), while HDM candidates include minute-mass, rapidly moving (hence "hot") particles. As leading possible candidates for baryonic dark matter, there are black holes (large and small), brown dwarfs (stars too cold and faint to radiate), sun-size MACHOs, cold gas, dark galaxies and dark clusters, ... ...e seeking them in a Stanford laboratory by watching for radiation as they excite crystals of germanium in a detector, but they haven't detected any yet. Soon they will try an even more exotic search by moving their equipment to an old iron mine 2,400 feet deep in northern Minnesota where one or two WIMPs, if they really exist, might very occasionally make their existence known. The detectors are hockey puck-sized superconducting crystals of germanium and silicon. These pure crystals are cooled to about 500 degrees below zero. A particle hitting a detector disturbs the molecular structure of the crystal and registers as a slight temperature increase. Because WIMPs easily pass through most matter, they can pass through the shields and register a signal. To date, the detectors at Stanford have registered a handful of signals, but an analysis suggests that these were caused by stray particles that originally came from cosmic rays and managed to penetrate the 35 feet of rock over the detectors. The ever-so important question what is dark matter will not be answered tomorrow. More data has to be taken, the theories have to tweaked, and many physicists must continue to work together.

Assess the effectiveness of strategies used to manage the impacts of glacial processes

Guidance:Candidates:(i)should show knowledge and understanding of the problems arising from the impact of glacial processes and landforms on human activity or from the impact of human activities on glacial environments;(ii)should show knowledge and understanding of the strategies put in place to manage these impacts;(iii)should show an assessment of the effectiveness of the above strategies; better candidates should make an assessment of the effectiveness of the strategies discussed throughout, whereas the average candidate may only assess the strategies in passing or perhaps briefly in their conclusion.Candidates need to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the problems arising from the impacts of glacial processes and landforms on human activity or the impact of human activity on glacial environments. There may be a discussion not only of the nature, but also of the seriousness of the impacts.In order to assess the effectiveness of strategies adopted to deal with the im pacts, candidates will need to briefly describe the strategies. Strategies will vary depending on the glacial environment chosen. The assessment should involve an evaluation of both the positive and negative aspects of the strategies adopted in relation to the aims of the strategies implemented.Assess the effectiveness of strategies used to manage the impacts of glacial processes and landforms on Human activity.Problems arising from glacial processes and landformsStrategies used to deal with these (remember to assess +tive and -tive) Many strategies have been put in place to manage the impact of glacial processes. The types of glacial processes they would be managing range from erosional  processes Glacial processes- avalanche, ablation glacial (flooding) & fluvioglacial deposition (landslides) Landforms- pyramidal peaks, arà ªtes, troughs, hanging valleys, lakes, outwash plainIn glacial environments such as the French Alps human activity is very popular with up to 100 million to urists going for holidays each year to enjoy the winter sports available. However strategies must be put in place to control the glacial processes in order to make the area safe to minimize the negative impact on humans. The methods used include prevention and control measures by both soft and hard strategies, but are they successful?An avalanche is a type of glacial process and to deal with it strong, resistant buildings are constructed, as are avalanche barriers on the slopes and trees are planted near to pistes and woods made denser so as to break the flow as well as to hold the snow together reducing the risk of an avalanche starting. The choice of strategy is very much dependent to the nature of human activity, the density of the settlement and the impact the strategy could have on the surrounding nature.Another factor that must be considered is the frequency and intensity of the avalanche as well as the potential impacts like fatality ad damage to buildings and infrastructure. In Verbier Austria they have introduced a way to categorize areas which are at risk of avalanches by creating red and yellow zones. In the red construction of any kind is banned while in the yellow specific safety measures must be applied and a strict building code followed. This should result in buildings that will withstand avalanches, protecting the people inside, even though they will not do anything to stop an avalanche actually occurring.The town of Gà ¤ltur in Austria is predominantly a yellow zone however when the huge avalanche of 1999 struck it was during the day when people were returning the their homes so weren’t able to be protected by this strategy thus the death toll was 4000. Though a great deal of money is being invested in the various strategies, more pressure is being put on the planners, as the alpine towns are swelling thus putting themselves at further risk of avalanches as more and more trees are being cut down and the safe areas to build are almost full forcing more buildings in to the danger zones.Glaciers aren’t the only threat developing towns in the upland have to face. As the globe is going through climate change the rates of ablation in glacial areas is much higher. This is made worse by the increased popularity of the areas for tourists who access them through cars and planes, which contribute to the pollution. Furthermore activities like skiing and snowboarding damage the soil under the snow making it weaker, and young trees are damaged while older trees are removed for ski lifts or roads. These factors all accumulate in the potential danger of landslides, which can also be caused by the fluvioglacial deposition during the summer periods adding to the instability of the land.To deal with landslides, planners ensure that fragile areas are not being used to allow for the regrowth of vegetation. In resorts in the French alps the only means to get there is via train so no extra cars are present. Also codes of conduc ts are enforced to avoid young saplings from being damaged so that the soil in the future will be held together and strengthened by the presence of the roots. However, many of these strategies are there only to lessen the impact of an already present issue. They can not stop landslides from happening as they have little influence over the rate of ablation of the glacier.Rapid retreat of glaciers increases run-off, contributing to the growth of glacial lakes and the conversion of some supraglacial lakes to moraine-dammed lakes. These lakes tend to breach the weak and unstable loose moraine dam, with catastrophic impacts downstream. Strategies for predicting future glacier lake formation are important for an early planning of safety measures, The Ngozumpa Glacier project aims to study the response of glaciers to climate change and to gain data to predict hazards like lake outbursts and slope failures. Glaciers in the Himalayas are some of the most prominent glaciers to undergo shrinka ge due to global warming.In the past years there have been many glacier lake outburst floods with many more unstable lakes currently being monitored such as the Tsho Rolpa in Nepal. These unstable glaciers have engineering projects conducted on them to lower the levels and mitigate the hazards. But, these works are not only expensive but are logistically difficult due to the fragile high altitude environment. However they can be used to develop the potential of hydropower production.Another area with which Hydropower potential has been explored is using hanging valleys. These occur where the main valley has been eroded at a much higher rate than the tributary valleys. After glaciation the latter are left at a higher altitude ‘hanging’ above the main valley. Streams that flow from such tributary valleys fall steeply creating waterfalls. The kinetic energy of the water is turned into electricity. The owners of the power stations must ensure that enough water is in the str eam/river at all times to protect that habitat which can mean that no electricity is produced in the summer. I believe that many of the strategies in place to manage the impacts of glacial process and landforms on human activities are successful as we have better knowledge and technology to deal with them. Yet I do not think that they are utterly effective as they are all very expensive and the majority are to limit the impact rather then to stop it from happening in the first place.

Compensation trends in the United States Essay

The current trend of globalization, technical revolution and competition, has had dynamic impact on the compensation trends worldwide, as well as within United States. The whole ladder of compensation from agriculture to Information technology has seen an upsurge in compensation. The economic conditions, the political support and the globalization have played an important role in setting the curve for this trend. There is greater awareness, increased skill, enhanced efficiency and wider range of choices. The human resource has become a more valued, competitive and specialized force affecting the future of economy and industry. They have the bargaining power, and capacity to mould the pattern of growth in every arena of service, research, education, health and industry. â€Å"The RAND Corporation, in a report prepared at the request of the U. S. Department of Labor, says three trends will shape the labor force and employment relationships in the coming years: a slowing in the growth rate of the workforce, an acceleration in technological advances, and continued globalization. † (RAND, 2004) â€Å"The Emerging Trends in Human Resources† looks into many trends which would affect the future compensation package for people in United States. He categorizes them in workplace trends which would affect the employers and employees with better technology, higher health insurance, outsourcing, aging and other factors. Demographic factors like growth, retirement and aging. The organizations will need to respond with more strategy to retain and recruit new employees as well as train and upscale them. The political emphasis on economy, growth and outsourcing will guide the future trend dramatically. The trends of the society will dictate the nature of the work force and the balance of the compensation. International trends like expansion of businesses globally, rise of Asian market and emerging off shoring giants like India, china, Philippines and others add more to the competitive edge. (Greene, 2006-2007) Most companies have turned to total rewards and pay-for-performance programs as a vehicle for maximizing return on investment and employee potential. Variable pay is now a major part of compensation design for nearly 80% of U. S. companies, according to our Salary Increase Survey. Having the best people is more important than ever, especially in a business environment focused on value creation. In fact, many experts believe that attracting, motivating, and retaining the best talent is one of the greatest obstacles to growth over the next decade. Smart companies are finding ways to get the most from their investment in compensation and rewards without sacrificing the ability to compete for talent. (Hewitt, 2007) According to the report, titled, â€Å"The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States. † (RAND,2004) These trends have important implications for vital aspects of the future workplace and workforce and for the U. S. economy. These trends will affect the size, makeup, and skills of the labor force, the kinds of work and its settings, and worker compensation. Understanding these trends will help workers, employers, educators and policymakers make informed decisions that reflect changing realities. (RAND,2004) There is tremendous promise in the rise of competitive compensation package in most fields with better opportunities for growth in Unites States. The demand for skilled human resource will pave the way for next decade in business, healthcare, services, engineering, IT, and many other fields. This is the period of strategic planning, wide range compensation and timely rewards. Work Cited (2-23-2004). RAND Report Predicts Trends in Labor Force. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from BLR Compensation BLR. com Web site: compensation. blr.com/display. cfm/id/153659 Greene, Keith J. (2006-2007). HR SPHR. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from SHRM Web site: www. fmi. org/humanresources/Emerging_Trends_Presentation. pdf Rothberg, Deborah (29-AUG-2006). Study: Skills Shortage Boosts Salaries. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from e WEEK Careers Web site: www. careers. eweek. com/article/Study+Skills+Shortage+Boosts+Salaries/18739 _1. aspx (2007 ). Compensation & Rewards. Retrieved February 23, 2007, from Hewitt Web site: www. hewittassociates. com/Intl/NA/en US/OurServices/ServiceHRC. aspx? cid=2402