Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay Example for Free

Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay B. F Skinner published Walden Two in 1948. The novel takes place in the United States shortly after the end of World War II. Rodge Rogers, whose first name is not given and Steve Jamnik became friends while serving in the military during the war. After the war, they find that it is difficult to return to a normal life, Jamnik and I are like a lot of other young people right now. We cant make up our minds. We dont know what we want to do (Skinner, 1948, p. 7). In an attempt to find the life they want to lead they visit Professor Burris, one of Rodges former professors, to discuss his ideas about utopia. Ironically Burris barely remembers mentioning the subject but finally recalls a fellow student he knew in graduate school named Frazier who had designed a utopian community named Walden Two. Burris contacts Frazier and arranges the three of them, as well as Castle, a colleague of Burris, Barbara Macklin, Rogers girlfriend, and Mary Grove, Jamniks girlfriend, to visit Walden Two (Skinner, 1948, pp. 7-15). When they arrive, Frazier shows them around the community and explains how it operates. They meet some of its approximate 1,000 inhabitants. The people appear to be happy. They live in communal quarters, share meals at communal dining halls and share the facilities of the community. Each of the adults works about four hours each day to provide for the needs of the community. They are not paid a salary because money is not used within Walden Two. The people in roles of leadership carefully monitor life in the community. If there is evidence suggesting a change should be made for the communitys good, it is made and its consequences carefully evaluated (Skinner, 1948). During their three-day visit, Burris and the others experience the community lifestyle. At the end of their visit, Steve Jamnik and Mary Grove love life at Walden Two so much the decide to stay. Rodge also likes the life there and wants to stay, but his girlfriend Barbara refuses to say so they both return to society. Castle likes nothing about Walden Two and returns to his regular lifestyle as a college professor. Professor Burris finds himself intrigued with life in the commune, but decides to return to his academic life. However, once he is at the station, he changes his mind and returns to Walden Two to live and gives up his life as a professor. I found this book disturbing, even threatening. As I read through the book, I found myself thinking of Orwells 1984 and Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. I felt like this even though 1984 wasnt published until the same year as Walden Two so it couldnt have influenced Skinners writing, and Skinner explicitly denies this with a vague reference to Huxleys work, I suppose you put phonographs in your dormitories which repeat I like to work in sewers. Sewers are lots of fun, said Castle. No, Walden Two isnt that kind of brave new world, said Frazier. We dont propagandize' (Skinner, 1948, p. 53). Although Walden Two was an insolated community, there is a latent undertone of expansion and trying to convert society as a whole to the Walden Two model. Castle argues with Frazier, Ill bet you have designs on the political machinery too . . . [youll] want to get the offices yourself, . . .. Yes, [Frazier responds] I must admit youre right. . . . As soon as were in the majority in any locality, we shall exercise our rights under a democratic form of government and take control' (Skinner, 1948, p. 231). As disturbing as the thought of communities such as Walden Two taking over the government is, this isnt really what disturbs me. Throughout the three-day visit, whenever anyone challenges Frazier about a point or questions something about the life in Walden Two, he always has what feels like a dispassionate, rehearsed response. Frazier is reminiscent of a used car salesmen who can deflect any criticism of the car he is trying to sell. He always has an answer at the ready that he delivers with a confidence and authority that appear to brush away the visitors objections as if they are unfounded and insignificant. It feels as if he is running a con game and the six visitors are the marks. According to Frazier Walden Two provides an ideal, satisfying lifestyle. It appears that all of the needs of Walden Twos inhabitants are provided with everything they need, they work only four hours per day, have recreation, and appear to have a great deal more freedom than people enjoy in the United States today. Despite this assurance, I would not want to live there. What Frazier has done has removed the individual person from consideration. There is a paternalistic quality that implies the managers of Walden Two know best and the inhabitants should just agree and enjoy the life there. In effect, Frazier/Skinner has reduced people to their basic responses to both internal and external stimuli. Of course this is precisely what Skinner, as a behaviorist, wants to do. For my part I prefer to think of myself as an adult person with a free will who takes an active part in living his own life. I would rather believe this, even if it is incorrect, than to submit to Skinners philosophy even if his theories were correct. References Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. New York: Macmillan.

How Entrepreneurs Differ from Other Business Owners Essay -- business

There has been a large amount of attention paid to the subject of entrepreneurship in the last few years; mainly because most people have chosen to go from working for somebody else to be their own bosses and work for their dreams. Yet, many still wonder what is entrepreneurship and what is that sets entrepreneurs apart from other regular business owners? Free-lance writer and expert in economic issues Jeanne Holden suggest: â€Å"There is no one definitive profile of an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs come in various ages, income levels, gender, and race. They differ in education and experience. But research indicates that most successful entrepreneurs share certain personal attributes, including: creativity, dedication, determination, flexibility, leadership, passion, self-confidence, and smarts." (Principles of Entrepreneurship) These attributes are what characterize entrepreneurs and set them apart from other business owners. The first one is creativity, which refers to the way entrepreneurs can come up with different and innovative business ideas; they create, develop and ...

Discuss the view that the influence of religion on UK society is declining

The UK is lucky to have such a vibrant, diverse and cultured population from migrants that have entered our small islands from the past few thousand years. However each time they make Britain there home, they bring there religion. This gives rise to the many religions and there denominations that have a presence. But what is a religion? According to the Penguin Dictionary of Sociology it is â€Å"A set of cultural ideas, symbols, and practices that focus on the meaning of life and the nature of the unknown. † Secularisation had been happening for long time before Nietzsche proclaimed, â€Å"God is Dead† and is a far more complex process than just a drop in church attendance. Marxists believe that religion is form of social control on the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. He saw religion as the opium of the masses, teaching them acceptance which was reinforced by hymns like ‘All things bright and beautiful' which had verses akin to â€Å"The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, and ordered their estate. † aided there exploitation by teaching them to accept there place in society because it was God wished. When Marx wrote this, churches had a high monopoly on truth so people would be more inclined to believe it. Looking at statistics of ex and current communist countries it is clear that secularisation is very high with the majority of Britain from Chinese decent claiming they have no religion, it is also known that countries that follow a Marxist, however stringently, doctrine that government officials must have no religion, this is very widely enforced within the Peoples Republic of China's administration but not as obligatory within the soviets of the USSR. With only one class there should be no reason for a religion to control society, however when countries became communist the did not all suddenly drop there views and become atheists, even if these values were taught at school, they were still taught in the home as primary socialisation always comes before secondary such as the school. The media openly ridicules religion by broadcasting comedies such as Father Ted and The Vicar of Dibley which portray very un orthodox Ministers and there they very un orthodox parishioners. But the media does not stop there it regularly comments on the flaws in religion through various mediums such as articles printed about the bonuses of secularisation and TV programs calling for religions to be abolished in the bid for world peace. However many of the Abrahamic religions forgot the second commandment â€Å"Though shall not worship false idols† but would God really smite the celebrities that use there fame to help highlight charitable work and those less fortunate than ourselves? However jealous a god he is, does he approve of celebrities such as The Pope or Grand Ayatollah? Even with there religious leadership they still fit the job description of a celebrity. Religions are often accused of being behind the times on items seen as very taboo yet have always been there, especially gay rights and abortion. Many religions see all human life as sacred and that abortion is an act of killing one of gods children so a sin, they also conform to functionalist view of homogonous, heterosexual, monogamous marriage been the only appropriate view on raising children. Within the past hundred years many laws have been passed that work towards an egalitarian society in which no person is superior or inferior to another such as gay rights, abortion rights and gender equality, which have been advocated for as long as Plato in his â€Å"The Republic† in which he sees men and woman indifferent albeit for childbirth and strength, to which he argues that some woman are stronger than some men. Moreover, some religious organisations have moved slightly with times, notably the Anglican faith which no allows gay and female Vicars, abortion in certain circumstances as well as divorce and remarriage. So as many equality principles have been oppressed by religion and are only recently winning it over, only one has been supported which is race equality, which was lead and fronted by one the most famous men in the world, a Methodist minister, Dr Martin Luther King. But to counter that the Dutch Reform Church openly supported Apartheid in South Africa, as well as many Far Right Political Groups mainly National Socialism Groups such as Hitler's Administration but also the BNP and NF groups which solely believe in Aryan Protestants to be the superior race, a dumbfounded patriarchal view that contradicts many statements within the bible including when Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins he removed all barriers including that of gender, race, and nationality. This is as said by the apostle Paul â€Å"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ then you are†¦ heirs according to the promise† (Galatians 3:28-29). Weber first introduced his theory of rationalization in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, He predicts a decline in religion due to industrial advancement, plurality of religions and a rise in science and technology to answer questions that gave rational answers juxtaposed to religions ambiguous statement of it was Gods will. He looks at the Protestant denomination of ‘Calvinism' who believed in predestination and worked hard to beat their anxiety on whether they would be accepted into heaven. Eventually this evolved from a monopoly on truth to a monopoly of industry with many Calvinites becoming successful capitalistic businesspeople, for which Weber argued was inevitable. A rise in religious pluralism also adds to secularisation as individual religions are loosing their monopoly on truth as they are co-habiting and recognising other religions. Many large religious buildings now have faith rooms in which all religions are welcome. Also some Christian denominations meet and work together as Christians this is called Ecumenicalism. Within the past 250 years scientific advancement has gone from virtually nothing to a vital part our lifes today, religion has caught along on this bandwagon as well, but to only a certain extent. Darwin's theory of evolution is still questioned by some many religious individuals however these are mainly creationists. Weber suggested that eventually the mystical ideas would be succumbed by scientific ones. Durkheim (1965) suggests that religion was about celebrating the rules of your society and making the citizens keep to those rules. Yet, he argues, that as a society becomes more complex religion struggles to bind individuals due to industrialization and social fragmentation that regulate religion into a corner of where it becomes one of many beliefs and fails to unify members of society. Secularists and Antidisestablishmentarians have fought along side the broad left and broad right respectively, but hardly any battles have been as severe as the Spanish civil war (1936 – 1939) The Republicans were secularists and some of the more radical groups within in them such as the Stalinists NKVD committed terrible atrocities against the catholic church in Spain such as massacring clergy and destroying churches and monasteries. While the Nationalists were led by the infamous General Francisco Franco and had largely fascist yet catholic views and ties. They suppressed the terrorist secularist activities by executing teachers that promoted the removal of the church from education. Clear Statistics prove a decline in church attendance (All Protestant and Roman Catholic) from 30% of the population in 1900 to 12% in 1990, Hamilton (? ) Table 1. However a Social Attitudes Survey (1992) cited in Haralambous et al (2000) table 7. 19 pg 479 states that 75% of people believe in at some point God with or without scepticism, while the remaining 25% either stated they were Atheists, no answer or that they did not if there was a God and believed there was no way to find out. As 75% of people still believe in God at some point, this adds to the point that people may not be attending churches but still are retaining faith and does indicate a rise in Atheism. Davie calls this â€Å"believing without belonging†. Returning back to the Penguins Dictionary of Sociology's definition of religion in no point of the description does it state that one has to attend a specific place of worship to practice there religion. This adds to the point that people have not stopped believing in god but merely openly practicing in public, this could be that a conventional church does not fit in with there views of a religion or their lifestyles. In America Evangelical Christians have used the TV to their advantage and started to broadcast live sermons, this is taking the idea of songs of praise to a new level and with channels emerging such as GOD channel, religious sermons can make it into our homes – if we choose. Furthermore, Christian Church attendance was only mentioned above so what would be held for other religions and the attendance at there place of worship. Other data suggests that Christianity is just for Christmas According to UK Census Data (2001) 71. 6% claim to be Christian, 2. 7% to be Muslim, 1. 0% to be Hindu, 0. 6% to be Sikh, 0. 5% to be Jewish, 0. 3% to Buddhist and 23. 2% either have no religion or did not state one. However, comparing this with data from Social Trends 30 (2000) cited in Moore (2001) pg 417 suggest that while Christianity may be on the decrease other religions are not. Islam in the UK had increased 380% from 130,000 individuals in 1970 to 495,000 individuals. As well the amount of people stating their religion as Sikhism increased 250% from 1970 to 1990. Interestingly, participants of other non-Christian religious institutions had increased 231% over the twenty-year period, these could be institutions that conform to the description of a religion but are either world rejecting or world affirming. World rejecting religions promise savoir on judgement day and normally have very tight, strict rules and regulations placed upon their members, and most of all see the world as a bad place in which will not make it into heaven. World affirming religions on the other hand are too promised savour but do not have as many tight restrictions on its members but maybe one or two, such as no sex before marriage or no drinking alcohol and most importantly do not see the world as a bad place. There are many methodical issues raised when researching any religion topic, let alone secularisation. There are many points to include when research is undertaken for instance the reliability of the data, would a different research get the same results or if a different sample of participants and method of data collection was used. Is their a true representative sample, this would be important as Britain is a highly religiously diverse country and a poor sample could obscure the results. How valid is the data actually gained; is it what the researcher aimed to find in their question or is it irrelevant due to an ambiguous question. Religion is a very private matter and a researcher must question there self on how far they may be intruding on a participant's life or institution. Finally a researcher must be sensitive to the data and interaction with participants, as beliefs are very sacred to a person they must be fully aware of their customs so that they do not offend. Secondary sources must be looked at with great care and what they say applied today for example a woman practicing herbal medicine would not be seen as anything bizarre in today's world but 400 years ago burnt at the stake for witchcraft. In conclusion the debate of secularisation has rage on with the sociological world for many year, yet a unified decision has yet too be and probably won't be made. Bellah (1967) and Luckman (1996) both argue that religion is not in decline but is merely changing form. They say that the public side of religion may be in decline but the private side of religion and personal belief is not. Berger (1967) on the other hand says that religion is loosing its traditional place within society saying how the growth of science and technology has questioned it, and suggests that religion, as a way of life is no longer in capacity to do so. Wilson (1966) described secularisation as â€Å"the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose their social significance† But even though there is a drop in church attendance, society is not loosing its belief in a religion. Many religions have religious buildings to worship their god, yet with some religions it is not compulsory to attend them regularly, such as Islam and Judaism – perhaps Christianity has to learn from its religious ‘relatives'. On the contrary Voas (2005) gives evidence for a significant rise in church attendance around Christmas time, which can rise by 330% in some diocese in Anglican Britain. Perhaps this suggests that Anglicans choose to go to church only at special religious occasions. Many sociologists looking at secularisation focus on Britain and do to take into account other countries that have taken a huge rise of fundamentalism such as the USA and Iran, which are closely linked too politics. Fundamentalists, such as the Christian Coalition, helped shape the policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations, Bruce (1995). Finally Stark and Bainbridge (1990) suggest that secularisation and strong religious belief alternate in a cyclical pattern. From this I agree with Bellah and Luckman that religion is not in decline but merely changing the form in which it presents its self within society, as there is more corroboration between researchers that suggest people have not lost faith.

Breast Cancer Report Awareness For A Lifetime - 1928 Words

Miami Dade College – Kendall Campus Breast Cancer Report Awareness for a lifetime Vanessa Rodriguez. Human Anatomy and Physiology II (BSC2086) – Lecture Dr. R. Moradi. MD September 19th, 2015 Table of Content: 1. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 2. Causes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 3. Signs/Symptoms †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... 4-5 4. Diagnosis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5-6 5. Specific/Curative †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6-7 6. Prognosis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7-8 7. Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8-9 8. Bibliography †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 I decided to write about this specific topic since it has been also part of my life. My grandmother was a breast cancer†¦show more content†¦Most cancers form tumors, but not all tumors are cancerous. Some tumors are benign or noncancerous as those like freckles and moles which stop the growing process and do not spread to other parts of the body and therefor do not create new tumors. Malignant or cancerous on the other hand interfere with body functions and draw nutrients from the body tissues due to the tumors they create. Cancers continue to grow and spread by direct extension or through a process named metastasis, whereby the malignant cells travel through the lymphatic or blood vessels eventually forming new tumors in other parts of the body. There are many types of cancer since it can be spread or appear in basically any part of the body. The word itself encompasses more than 100 diseases that are potentially life-threatening, with the exception of some types of skin cancers. Breast cancer is among these possible diseases and to understand it better you also need to comprehend the basic anatomy of the breast. The normal breast consists of milk-producing glands that are connected to the surface of the skin at the nipple by narrow ducts. These are supported by connective tissue made up of fat and fibrous material. Blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic channels to the lymph nodes make up most of the rest of the breast tissue. So now knowing all of this what is really breast cancer? So, breast cancer is the patient’s own cells that have multiplied uncontrollably and those