Shakespeares Othello - Othello and Iago :: Othello essays

Othello and Iago The tragedy "Othello" by William Shakespeare is a story based upon the revenge of two characters, Othello and Iago. These two characters help to prove Murphey's Law which states that if something wrong can happen it will: for Othello it is the wrongful killing of his wife and friend, for Iago it is getting caught for his actions and finally being tortured. Many historians, actors, and readers would like to argue that Othello and Iago are very complex but at a closer look you will notice that their actions are purely based upon revenge for their iniquities. "I follow him to serve my turn upon him," said Iago (9:45). From the beginning of the story Iago has a cruel intent bent on destroying Othello merely because the job that he sought after was given to young Cassio. Exactly why his hatred burns so bright is unclear because it was not uncommon to lose a position to another soldier. With or without reasonable justification for revenge, Iago immediately starts to tear Othello apart by informing Brabantio (Desdemon's father, Othello;s wife) that she is out with a black ram and committing unjust acts. As time progresses Iago becomes more wrapped up in his lies that he even begins to believe that Othello has slept with his own wife, Emelia, and now he has even more reason to hate "the Moor", "I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that `twixt my sheets `has done my office"( 55:429-431). Iago is so obsessed with his revenge on Othello that he does not care what happens to anyone else so long as he is happy. In the process of hur ting Othello he manages to have Roderigo killed, Cassio severely injured, his own wife Emelia is slain by his own hands, Desdemona dies at the hands of her husband Othello, and after everything Othello kills himself. Sadly Iago accomplishes his revenge but with so many casualties and then he himself is tortured and killed for his part in the great conspiracy, but before he is punished he has to see that Cassio will be the one to take Othello's place (a strange irony since it was Cassio that Iago was jealous of).

European History Essay

When questioned in regards to the Enlightenment, an individual may give the general description that it was a time period ranging from the mid seventeenth to late eighteenth century that stressed the cultivation of philosophical, intellectual and cultural movements. However, they may not be aware of specific implications it had on former central powers such as the church. Although the scientific revolution was a stepping stone to the destabilization of the church, it was the enlightenment that ultimately removed the church from the central control of cultural and intellectual life. The scientific revolution is a time period in history roughly from 1500 to 1700 that is known as one where advances in European mathematical, political and scientific thought occurred. A â€Å"founding father† of the scientific revolution was a polish scientist by the name of Nicholas Copernicus, whose conclusion that it was the sun, not the earth that lies at the center of the solar system, was a d irect contradiction to the church, which strongly believed the vice-versa or the Geo-Centric theory. (Merriman,290) It was this initiating step that led other scientists to further question and test traditional church beliefs. An example of this is Galileo Galilee and his creation of a telescope that would confirm the geocentric theory, although for which he was decreed a heretic and put under house arrest. (Merriman 296) In the â€Å"Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633† we can directly see Galilee’s theories being refuted by the church in the following quote: â€Å"The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures†¦ The proposition that the earth is not the center of the world, nor immovable, but that it moves, and also with a diurnal action, is also absurd, philosophically false, and, theologically considered, at least erroneous in faith†¦.Therefore: We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo . . . have rendered yourself vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy.† (2) Here we can see the church counter-arguing Galilee’s theory by stating that it contradicts the Holy Scriptures, the biblical text that virtually controlled how individuals interpreted the world. Through Galileo’s thought’s individual’s became encouraged to see the world through measurable means such as experiments and evidence, as oppose to biblical texts that told otherwise. It was only after scientific discoveries such as the one above that philosophers started questioning the natural world. It was discoveries such as the one above that influenced great thinkers such as Isaac Newton, whose discoveries altered not only scientific thought but views about religion for decades to come. (Merriman,300) A Prussian philosopher by the name of Immanuel Kant, who lived from the mid seventeen hundreds to the early eighteen hundreds, was influenced by these ideas of empiricism and reason. In his 1784 publication â€Å"What is Enlightenment† Immanuel Kant write s: â€Å"Sapere aude! (Dare to know) Have courage to use your own reason. If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me†¦I need not trouble myself. I need not think, if I can only pay – others will easily undertake the irksome work for me.† (1-2) This can be interpreted that Kant is advising individuals to use their own sense of logic and to understand the natural world. Here, we can see that traditional church ideas are being pushed away for ones of a logical nature, hence a church that is surely losing its grip on the people of Europe. This idea of tradition church ideas being replaced can be further seen in Kant’s writing when he states: â€Å"The escape of men from their self-incurred tutelage – chiefly in matters of religion because our rulers have no interest in playing guardian with respect to the arts and sciences and also because religious incompetence is not only the most harmful but also the most degrading of all.† (12) The interpretation that can be derived from this is that Kant believes that church officials have no concern for the development of man and wish for them to remain uneducated about the world in which they reside. Moreover, the argument can be made is that because the church’s negligence in accepting evolving scientific theories, people came to understand that the need to stray from church beliefs in order to grasp their own sense of understanding was unmistakable, therefore ultimately decreasing the churches once high standing in the lives of early Europeans. The scientific revolution, a corner stone for mankind, whose implications are being felt to this very day, was in addition responsible for the development of a time period known as the enlightenment. Characterized as a movement of philosophical, cultural, and intellectual gains, in addition the enlightenment was responsible for the decentralization of church power in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Scientist such as Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilee, and Isaac Newton influenced individuals through their theories which stressed using empirical evidence and reasoning to define the world they dwell in. It was through these ideas that Europeans came to understand the Church’s denial to accept reason and empiricism, decentralizing the churches one’s great grasp over society. Works-Cited Kant, Immanuel. â€Å"What is Enlightenment?† Internet Modern History Sourcebook. 15 November 2012. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/kant-whatis.html. Merriman, John. A history of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the age of Napoleon. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. London: W.W.Norton and Company Inc., 2010. N. pag. Print. â€Å"The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633.† . Web. 15 Nov. 2012. .

The Black Swan

Before the discovery of Australia, all the world had never seen a black swan before. An impossible accomplishment in someones life before this time was referred to as â€Å" a black swan.† The mere sight of one black swan after the discovery of Australia negated the thousands of years of sightings of white swans and thinking they were the only species of swan. This generalization that was put on the term â€Å"black swan† before the british occupation of Australia is just an example of the illustration of the human mind and how one sighting can alter the mindset of thousands of years of thinking. The author Nassim Taleb has donated his whole life to philosophy, uncertainty, probability and finance. Starting as a chauffeur, Nassim worked his way up to become a businessman trader and later a university professor. By using his theory of Mediocristan and Extremistan, Taleb explains how the impact of the highly improbable affects all of us and personally each person has a handful of â€Å"black swans† which alter our lives for the better , or the worse. Mediocristan are easy to predict events that are easy to mentally compute, while extremistan are events that are unpredictable and affect the world in a major way. The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb is a nonfiction philosophy book that expresses one mans theory on rare human events that happen without warning, yet greatly impact the world as we know it. This book can be seen as a memoir of Taleb’s life and how his research has been his black swan, and has driven him to take risks and go greater distances than he would have without the incentive. The purpose of this book is to inform the reader of the impact of the highly unpredictable. A black swan , in terms of an event has 3 properties, 1. It is hard to predict based on historical information, 2. Low predictability – High consequence , 3. The events are perspectively unpredictable yet retrospectively predictable. The black swan events happen in everyones lives, or at least â€Å"affect† everyone lives. For example one of the most famous black swans in recent history is the invention of the computer and world wide web. Originally seen as a stock bubble by intel, is now a multi trillion dollar industry and a large part of the world are in contact with it. The book embarks on many peoples journeys and encounters with black swans, all encounters were unexpected but altered the peoples lives in a major way. The book takes place in Lebanon but mostly New York, where ironically many of the black swans happen. Having to do with different mathematical formulas, Taleb’s book hits the major focal points of rare events and that everyone encounters them making all people black swans in there own way. This book should be read by anyone interested in philosophy or the stock market. Although people don’t see it this way, but the stock market is directly affected by black swans and such things mentioned in the book as Gaussin’s bell curve or mediocristan and extremistan. These formulas and theory’s affect the market and affect the life of people. This book was very interesting and after reading it, the reader gets a different view on life and how major events in there life time, ex. ( 9/11, invention of the computer†¦) affect there life and impact there day to day progress as a human being.

Application Of The Behaviourist Perspective Psychology Essay

Application Of The Behaviourist Perspective Psychology Essay Operant conditioning is a process of learning, it was found by Burrhus Frederic Skinner BF Skinner. Skinner invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner Box. He innovated his own philosophy of science called radical behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology – the experimental analysis of behavior. His analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, which has recently seen enormous increase in interest experimentally and in applied settings. Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which an individual’s behavior is modified by its consequences; the behavior may change in form, frequency, or strength. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of voluntary behavior or operant behavior. Operant behavior operates on the environment and is maintained by its consequences. Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian condi tioning or respondent conditioning) is a form of learning in which the conditioned stimulus (CS), comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus (US). (A stimulus is a factor that causes a response in an organism.) The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. The US is usually a biologically significant stimulus such as food or pain that elicits a response from the start; this is called the unconditioned response (UR). The CS usually produces no particular response at first, but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned response (CR). Classical conditioning differs from operant or instrumental conditioning, in which behavior emitted by the subject is strengthened or weakened by its consequences (reward or punishment). This perspective is most useful in explaining our different ‘Learned’ behaviours. It lets us look at a specific behaviour and see where we got it from and how we got it. Changing behaviour is where we change our behaviour sometimes because of maybe a fear or phobia. Classical conditioning is used for explaining these but it is also good for helping us change these behaviours. There is a method to change phobic behaviour, this is called ‘Systematic Desensitisation’. You would put together a list of things that relate to the fear, and relax to the point where you are comfortable enough to look at the thing without being scared. Then you would move up to the next level of it. For example, if you were afraid of spiders, you would get comfortable with seeing a picture of a spider, then the next level would be having a spider in the room with you but in a cage, and this could progress up to you being able to hold the spider. This is called a ‘Hierarchy Of Fear’. Classical conditioning has also been used to treat other things like alcoholism, they are given a drug, when that drug is mixed with alcohol it causes them to feel sick and be sic k. They then associate alcohol with sick and unpleasantness. Application of the Social Learning Theory Social Learning Theory suggests that many things can influence our behaviour. This could be things like; Peers, Siblings, Parents, Television, Sports, Personalities and celebrities. If we see someone we admire behaving in a certain way, we are more likely to imitate them. Albert Bandura is a famous Psychologist at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory and the theory of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. He felt that learning did not have to be conditioned or reinforced all the time. New behaviour could be could be learnt by observing others. Observational Theory refers to learning of a new behaviour through watching someone else perform the behaviour. This behaviour can be learnt but does not have to be reproduced unless the individual is motivated to perform the new behaviour. Role Theory suggests that because we live in a certain culture, come from a certain religion or are friends with certain types of groups, we adopt certain roles as we are expected to live up to certain expectations. It also suggests we change our roles to suit our environment. Bandura also thinks that our behaviour is influenced by the presence of others.

Morning warm-up, QA and QC procedures for Varian Linear Accelerator Research Paper

Morning warm-up, QA and QC procedures for Varian Linear Accelerator System - Research Paper Example In this paper Morning warm-up, QA and QC procedures to be broadly considered within any organization/hospital in relation to the Linear Accelerator System are discussed. It is stated â€Å"Daily, monthly, and annual quality control (QC) of linear accelerators are part of the major tasks of the medical physicist to verify that patients are receiving proper radiation treatment."1  The control tests consist of the measurement of beam output, verification of the beam energy, and determination of the beam flatness and symmetry in a linear accelerator parlance. However, QA and QC procedures cover wide areas aiming all- round quality in the system Introduction In a computer assisted Varian radiation therapy machine, â€Å"a computer controls the operations of the machine to automatically set the position of the gantry relative to the couch for treatment of a patient. The automated motions of the gantry and the couch are simultaneous for decreasing the setup time. In addition, the comput er includes a collision avoidance program which averts collision between the couch or patient, and the gantry†. 2 A linear accelerator (LINAC) device is used for external beam radiation treatments for cancer and other radiation therapies such as Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT).... It is stated â€Å"To overcome the problem of differential heating, it is important to slowly increase the heating of a cold tube insert. The warm-up process must be carried out first thing each morning and repeated during the day if the workload is insufficient to keep the tube warm. The manufacturer’s guidance should be followed, but in general the warm-up period will be between 10 and 20 min. "3(p146)   However, in a Varian machine, automatic warm-up program is in-built and gets activated when the temperature falls below the operating temperature. However, standard QA and QC procedures with regard to morning warm up in general is essential for quality in operations and service. Warm-up tests are carried out by the morning warm-up therapist by following standard procedures as laid down with reference to several factors and the tolerance levels. Quality Control and Quality Assurance Quality Control or Quality Assurance is a comprehensive and ongoing exercise. According to ISO definition, â€Å"Quality control  is a set of activities intended to ensure that  quality requirements are actually being met.† and â€Å"Quality assurance  is a set of activities intended to establish confidence that quality requirements will be met† .4 Both Quality Control and Quality Assurance are the parts of Quality Management which includes direction, control and coordination in relation to quality. The efficacy of the system could be ensured through proper maintenance of records, review of the activities with reference to the objectives, periodical preventive maintenance programs and continuous monitoring of the safety measures. QC/QA Procedures for Varian linear accelerator system Varian states5 that

Constructivism Theory of International Relations Essay

Constructivism Theory of International Relations - Essay Example Based on these articles, I would like to point out that these scholars conducted a well organized and extensive research. They had to choose to carry out a research on this theory in order to create more awareness and inform their respective audiences on all the contributions, controversies and the gaps in this theory which need more researchers to study. In the choice of their methodology, I would like to recommend that it was properly done. It seems that they knew about the main objective of their research. Thus, they identified and used the most appropriate variables which would help them in answering their research questions and the hypotheses. Both of these scholars knew about the predictions that would determine their findings. This explains why there was no failure in the whole of their research. After identifying the research topic/issue, they settled on literature review in which they conducted several documentary analyses in order to get more information about this theory. They did this by choosing the most appropriate and relevant set of documents to use. Thus, their work became more credible and authoritative to be relied upon by other scholars for carrying out their future researches (Rodney, B.H., 2009). This area or f research is quite important for these scholars. Although several scholars have researched on it, because, as Richard and Christian suggest, a lot still need to be done in order to fill up the missing links. Based on their findings that this theory is valuable for the contemporary society.

Modern Organisational Theory and Applied Science Assignment

Modern Organisational Theory and Applied Science - Assignment Example The abovementioned makes the question of methods effectiveness and appropriateness to each certain case extremely important. This project will examine the appropriateness and effectiveness of qualitative research methods in organizational studies as well as provide an overview of the specific characteristics and methods of qualitative research. Historically, quantitative approaches and methodologies have been the first and foremost choice in the area of professional organizations and management research. The quantitative bias can probably be explained by the origins of modern organizational science which relies heavily on the natural sciences such as mathematics, economics, and sociology. Quantifiability and precision have traditionally been among the most essential features of these sciences and quantitative paradigm was undoubtedly the best choice to maintain and reinforce them (Patton and Appelbaum, 2003: 60). The primary task of a qualitative study is to provide the researcher with data that relates to a specific context or setting, for example, explaining participants' perception of an organization, understand participants' understanding of various phenomena, reveal their experiences, motivations, etc. At the same time, extrapolation of the qualitative study results in other similar situations and contexts is also an important aspect of qualitative research (Hoepfl, 1997). There is a definition of qualitative research found in the literature. Strauss and Corbin (1990) define qualitative research as "any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification" (p. 17). Denzin and Lincoln (1998) describe qualitative research as "...multi-method in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them' (Denzin and Lincoln 1998: 3). Cassel and Symon (1994) claim that the most characteristic feature of qualitative research is "...a focus on interpretation rather than quantification, an emphasis on subjectivity rather than objectivity" (p.7). These three definitions identify the basic distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research and highlight the key features of qualitative me thodology mentioned above. It shall be noted though that quantitative and qualitative research shall not be perceived as absolutely antagonistic to each other: "qualitative research usually does use some form of quantification, but statistical forms of analysis are not seen as central" (Mason 1996: 4).