The advantages of taking challenging courses Essay

The advantages of taking challenging courses - Essay Example Doing a difficult course is neither preparation nor acceptance to failure. Even with the impending possibility of failure, Challenging course has some advantages. In this paper, I will discuss contemporary benefits of taking a difficult course Taking challenging courses helps one to get used to doing difficult things. Life is not comfortable, and the easy way out is in most cases a wrong way out. Students who are used to doing simple tasks will neither have the courage nor skill of doing most things since almost everything in life is not easy. At some point in life, one will be confronted with a difficult task that has to be done. Challenging courses despite full of struggles make the learner adept and adaptive. College education is expensive and choosing the most challenging courses allows one to get value for money. Avoidance of demanding courses may mean a student is failing to acquire crucial knowledge. Challenging courses have more exposures and engagements. If students choose a simpler cause, such great deal of learning opportunity is missed out. Challenging courses allows the learner to discover new abilities as they push their minds to the limits. Students as everybody else are restricted by their thoughts and engaging in challenging tasks enables the learner to test their capabilities. Easy courses offer a comfort zone that does not challenge the student to explore his or her ability. As much as natural courses are considered to be fun, challenging courses are adventurous, and there is beauty in it as well. Failure in one way or another is an imposter that everyone tries to avoid. When is cannot be avoided, failure may lead to demoralization and low self-esteem. Challenging courses increase the possibility of failure but in turn train the student to deal with failure. Failure, in this case, does not confine to academic endeavors but also entail possible outcome of everything one does. When a student doing a difficult course is successful,

Elements of Religious Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Elements of Religious Traditions - Essay Example For example in the case of Judaism there are two forms of Torah, one is verbal and the other one is written. The Torah that is available in written form has been recognized as Tanakh or even named as the Hebrew Bible. The oral form of Torah has even been found in written form in the shape of Talmud which is a written commentary. On the other hand several religions that are indigenous in nature have not created a written format of their oral teachings. Similarly there are certain religions who do not follow any form of written text or tradition and their religious traditions are found in oral form and have been transferred from one generation to another in that form. The complexity of the verbal traditions is much harder to interpret and understand. Religious Traditions Say The second major issues in the study of religious traditions are to identify what particular teachings or particular stories and texts of a particular religion are trying to teach their members. The issue in identi fying what a particular teaching is trying to convey to its members is whether the teaching is a standard doctrine or a particular teaching is just a myth and have been handed down from one religion to another in verbal manner. What are religious teaching is trying to convey to its followers has certain functions. ... In certain teachings, this has been stated in quite an explicit manner. For example: in the case of religion of Shinto that is practiced in Japan, the birth of Islands in Japan are explained as a divine couple in which Izanagi and Izanami stirred up the floor of the ocean with the assistance of the trident of heaven and the drippings that were an outcome of this activity are recognized as the Islands of Japan (Ashkenazi, 2003, p.173). Their religion further states that the people living in Japan are the descendents of these beings that are semi-divine in nature. Religious Traditions Does The issue of what a particular religious teaching does for its members depends on the themes. One of the themes that religious traditions focus upon is the rituals and behaviors that an individual has to carry out throughout his/her life. These traditions teach their followers about the behaviors they are expected to exhibit as child, adult and as they become seniors. Religious teachings help individ uals throughout different transitions. For example: the vision quest that is a part of the people of Lakota is a story of how Lakota lived as a boy and then as an adult and these teachings inform its members that this is the right way of living their lives and this way will help them experience prosperity. Another major issue related to religious traditions is how these teachings operate to provide its followers with the complete access to what is considered as sacred. For example: In Christianity, winter marks the birth of their God and Christians celebrate this season in shape of Christmas. Religious Traditions Organizes The last issue that a religious tradition sorts to solve is how a particular religion is involved in the process of organizing its leadership. These

Quality management Essay Example for Free

Quality management Essay Dialogue 2: Identify two (2) thought leaders relative to quality management. Research each to determine their core ideas and contributions. Synthesize your thoughts about each into a one paragraph (per leader) that contains important and meaningful statements about each thought leader, their contributions, and the relevance of the contribution today regarding the work of project managers. Joseph M. Juran Dr. Juran devoted 70 years to his books, thoughts, and life work revolutionizing the philosophy of total quality management. His developed quality management ideas work around the quality trilogy of Quality Planning, Quality Improvement, and Quality Control. Through the Juran Institute, Dr. Juran has maintained the capability to continually broaden the experiential learning of economist, scientist, and engineers around his work. Dr. Juran’s teachings and guidance focus efforts on the customer and their needs, optimizes the product for those individuals, optimizes the processes involved, and ensures that the process will actually produce the product. Dr. Juran understood that the human component (the customer, the manager, the scientist, the engineer) was an integral piece of the quality process. His lessons contributed to the rise of the Japanese economy after his hands on workings with the Union of Japanese Scientist and Engineers. The push of information today has allowed these theories to flourish. Customer satisfaction is an ever pressing position for large and small businesses. Today’s managers would be hard pressed to understand the human factor, if individuals like Dr. Juran did not lay the ground work to focus effo rts on the human factors. Genichi Taguchi Taguchi was a Japanese Textile Engineer that understood the processes and influences of small and large businesses. He realized there were variables within management’s control and others that we not. His major contributions/theories were the following: The Loss Function- an equation to quantify the decline of a customer’s perceived value of a product, as the quality declines; Orthogonal Arrays and Linear Graphs- tools to identify and isolate the items concerned when dealing with effective costs and time; Robustness- the identified course of developing products and processes that perform uniformly regardless of the uncontrollable forces.

Rekindle Dynamics Essay -- Emergency Management

There are few natural phenomena with the scope and complexity of a forest fire (Van Wagner [1]). Rekindles or reignitions that reburn an area over which a previous fire has passed but leaving fuel that later ignites due to latent heat, sparks, or embers (NWCG [2]) is an amazing part of that phenomena. For instance fuel complexes that exhibit heavy fuel loads and deep organic layers. Namely under the decomposing leaf litter there are a compact organic horizon in which the ground or subsurface fires will remain burning slowly (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3]). Near rivers, peat bogs, old forests, and large decaying logs are prone to such fire persistence. As a result of the dryness left after the passage of the main fire front. Especially in major dry spells or droughts (Henderson and Muraro [4], Alexander [5]). Such underground burning in a smouldering stage can erupt into flames when it gets the surface exposing this heated fuel to air (6). Throughout the summer of 2010, Portugal had 14,551 primary wildfires. 17.2% of them rekindled in an additional 2,497 fires, leading to a total of 17,048 which accounted for 95% of the total annual burnt area of 132,241 ha (Pacheco [7]). These figures might be worse. Several authors suggest that the amount of rekindled forest fires is higher than the officially reported (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8]). Expert-judgment elicitation in our interviews points to the double. Even assuming that the available information is correct, there are too many rekindles (Beighley and Hyde [9]). This is a concerning situation that has gotten worse over the years (ANIF [8]), and results from ineffective mop-up operations (Lourenà §o and Rainha [3], ANIF [8], Beighley and Hyde [9], ISA [10], Lourenà §o [11], Murdock... .... 387-395, 2005. [17] AFN, I., Monitorizaà §Ãƒ £o e Avaliaà §Ãƒ £o do Plano Nacional de Defesa da Floresta Contra Incà ªndios, 2009/2010 - Relatà ³rio Final Preliminar, Autoridade Florestal Nacional, 2011. [18] Fernandes, P. M., â€Å"Forest fires in Galicia (Spain): The outcome of unbalanced fire management,† Journal of Forest Economics, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 155-157, 2008. [19] Resoluà §Ãƒ £o do Conselho de Ministros n. º 65/2006, PNDFCI, 2006. [20] Oliveira, T., "Relatà ³rio da visita ao Chile," Protecà §Ãƒ £o Florestal, grupo Portucel Soporcel, 2011. [21] Ahrens, M., Brush, Grass, and Forest Fires, 0877650357, National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division, 2010. [22] Pacheco, A. P., Oliveira, T., & Claro, J., "Simulation analysis of the impact of ignitions, rekindles and false alarms on the performance of forest fire suppression," FEUP, University of Porto, 2012.

Introduction to Michael Porters Five Forces

Michael E. Porter's five forces framework is used to evaluate the competitiveness, and hence the attractiveness and profitability of different markets and market segments. It is important for business managers to realize that a 5 forces analysis should be conducted at the level of strategic business units (SBUs), and not at the level of the whole organization. Many larger companies have several SBUs conducting business in different markets that serve many different customer segments. Likewise, these SBUs may have completely different suppliers, competitors and substituting products. Every SBU should therefore conduct its own analysis, and try to evaluate the attractiveness and profitability of its own markets and market segments. The five forces are shortly described below: Competitive Rivalry The evaluation of the rivalry between competitors helps to examine the degree of head-to-head competition in an industry. In Porter's â€Å"five forces† framework this issue is of course included, but is only seen as one of several forces that determine industry attractiveness. Commen reasons for high rivalry are depicted below:  § Low industry growth rates  § High exit barriers Undifferentiated supply of products  § Price wars to cover high fixed costs Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is usually based on the market entry barriers, which can be said to provide obstacles for newcomers to gain a foothold in any given industry. These barriers can take many different forms. Briefly, it can be said that entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to copy or imitate the existing players' competitive capabilities. Common forms of entry barriers are depicted below:  § Economies of scale  § Capital requirement of entry Access to supplies and distribution channels  § Customer or supplier loyalty  § Lack of experience in industry  § Legal restrains such as trade barriers Threat of Substitute Products The threat of substitute products, depends on the relative price difference between different products that can equally satisfy the same basic customer needs. Switching costs also affect the threat of substitution – which can be defined as the costs found by buyers in switching to a rivals product or service.  § Product for products substitution (e. g. e-mail instead of postal service) New products make older products obsolete (e. g. better cars require fewer automobile services) Bargaining Power of Buyers Important determinants of buyer power are the size and the concen tration of customers. Other factors are the extent to which the buyers are informed about other vendors and suppliers, and to the extent to which buyers can quickly identify other sources of supply. Common reasons for great bargaining power of buyers are depicted below.  § Great concentration of buyers – few buyers  § The cost of switching supplier is low  § Many equally competent suppliers  § Backward integration Bargaining Power of Suppliers If there are few suppliers of e. g. raw materials, these suppliers may eventually be very strong, and able to put pressure on the buying company. Likewise, if the switching costs related to switching supplier are high, the respective supplier may be very strong, and thus be able to put pressure on the buying partner concerning e. g. prices, quantities and quality. Common reasons for great bargaining power of suppliers are depicted below.  § Great concentration of suppliers – few suppliers  § Great switching costs related to changing supplier  § Forward integration The competition and attractiveness in an industry is strongly affected by these suggested forces. The stronger the power of buyers and suppliers, and the stronger the threats of entry and substitution, the more intense competition is likely to be within the industry, where less competitive industries are seen as more attractive and profitable. Using the 5 forces framework, business managers may conduct an analysis of the attractiveness and profitability of different markets, so that business managers can evaluate different courses of strategic action, and evaluate which forces may be most important for current and future business success.

Platos Republic Essay - 1025 Words

Platos Republic In Plato’s Republic, Glaucon is introduced to the reader as a man who loves honor, sex, and luxury. As The Republic progresses through books and Socrates’ arguments of how and why these flaws make the soul unhappy began to piece together, Glaucon relates some of these cases to his own life, and begins to see how Socrates’ line of reasoning makes more sense than his own. Once Glaucon comes to this realization, he embarks on a path of change on his outlook of what happiness is, and this change is evidenced by the way he responds during he and Socrates’ discourse. The first change in character begins with Glaucon’s position on whether or not the unjust soul is happier than the just soul. This is seen in Book 4, 445b,†¦show more content†¦In Book 7, during Socrates’ explanation of the Allegory of the Cave, Glaucon’s changed perception is further revealed. When Socrates’ begins talking about the allegory at 515c, Glaucon describes Socrates’ image as being â€Å"strange†, where Socrates’ interjects to tell him that the people he is describing are â€Å"like us†. This seems to spark Glaucon’s interest even more. Glaucon shows his feelings at another point in Socrates’ story, when he speaks of how the cave dweller who had left the cave would rather suffer in the sun than be back in the cave, sharing the opinions of the other dwellers and living as they do. Glaucon’s comment is that he thinks the man would â€Å"rather suffer than live like that.† This remar k shows that he, although he does not say it outright, would prefer to live embracing knowledge and awareness then to live with what is familiar and comfortable. This is confirmed further, during 519d, when Socrates suggests that those who have made the ascent go back down to enlighten the other prisoners in the cave, and Glaucon opposes strongly, saying that an injustice would be committed â€Å"by making them live a worse life when they could live a better one†. Glaucon’s statement indicates fear – he worries about going back down to the cave or, returning to his former ignorance. This shows that Glaucon has not only embraced the idea of the cave, differing from his initial confusion, but he has alsoShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Platos Republic Essay458 Words   |  2 PagesPhilosophy is a Greek word meaning love of wisdom. Throughout Platos Republic, wisdom plays an important role. According to Plato, education is wisdom. In the passage, 518d, Plato discusse s the true meaning of education vicariously through Socrates. Some literary mechanisms can be found in the passage and I will show how they fit in the text and how they contribute to the main themes of Platos Republic. In Book VII Socrates has finished listening to other opinions and is now formulatingRead More Platos The Republic and Aristophanes The Birds Essay1193 Words   |  5 PagesPlatos The Republic and Aristophanes The Birds   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is evident, by Platos The Republic and Aristophanes The Birds, that ones vision of an ideal state is not the same mystical utopia. Platos Republic is an well-ordered society that emphasizes the development of the community, which leads to its people believing in this philosophy. Cloudcuckooland, the idea of two lazy Athenians, is an unorganized society that lacks the substance to make it a workable society. I would much rather liveRead More The Importance of Thrasymachus in Plato’s Republic Essay923 Words   |  4 PagesThe Importance of Thrasymachus in Plato’s Republic   Ã‚      Dr. Malters’s comments: This student does two things quite remarkable for an undergraduate student. In his compact essay, not only does he display an in-depth understanding of complex perspectives on justice put forth by the protagonist Socrates, he deftly explains how Plato has artfully made rude objections by a seemingly minor character early in the dialogue function as a structuring device for nearly all the important ideas examinedRead More Comparing Platos Republic, Mores Utopia, and Gurneys Dinotopia1395 Words   |  6 PagesPlatos Republic, Mores Utopia, and Gurneys Dinotopia    Throughout history, mankind has struggled to lead better lives and improve their society for future generations. What do we continuously attempt to improve? What kind of changes are we trying to institute? In other words, what is an ideal society? Many people have very diversified views about a perfect civilization. In Platos Republic, Sir Thomas Mores Utopia, and James Gurneys Dinotopia, three imaginary societies are describedRead MorePlatos Explanation of an Ideal State in his Work, The Republic1878 Words   |  8 PagesThis question has sparked debate since the very formation of organized political society. In Plato’s The Republic, Plato seeks to define justice and in doing so he seeks to explain the ideal just state. In Plato’s explanation of an ideal state, there is an extreme emphasis on unity and harmony. The reason unity and harmony are so important to Plato are because they are responsible for bonding together Plato’s ideal state and protecting it from tyranny. Plato explains at great length the framework whichRead MorePlatos Republic1243 Words   |  5 PagesIn Platos Republic, Socrates goes to great lengths to explain and differentiate between the ideas of opinion and knowledge. Throughout society, most common men are lovers of sights and sounds. Lovers of sights and sounds like beautiful sounds, colors, shapes, and everything fashioned out of them, but their thought is unable to see and embrace the nature of the beautiful itself (Republic 476b). The few who do recognize the beautiful itself are followers of the sight of truth, the philosophersRead MorePlatos The Republic1054 Words   |  4 Pages In Plato’s The Republic, the theory of appointing a ruling class is a major aspect in his political theory of a just state. As communicated through Socrates, Plato believed in the appointment of only a few citizens of the just city that possess a soul that craves all truth, knowledge, wisdom, and through proper education are competent enough to rule the just state and to decide on legislative policies. In my paper, I will be arguing against Plato’s political theory of who is best fit to be chosenRead MoreEssay on Plato’s The Republic1168 Words   |  5 PagesPlato’s The Republic In the simile of the cave We are asked to picture a group of people sitting inside a dark cave, their hands and feet are bound in such a way that they can only look at the back wall of the cave. Behind the chained prisoners a fire is burning, and between them and this fire a path runs along which men carry figures, the shadows of these figures are projected onto the back wall of the cave. The prisonersRead MoreEssay on Platos Republic981 Words   |  4 PagesPlatos Republic Plato, one of the most ingenious and powerful thinkers in Western philosophy, born around 425 B.C. Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Dominant among his ideas is an immense discourse called The Republic. The main focus of Plato is a perfect society. He outlines a utopian society, out of his disapproval for the tension of political life. Plato lived through the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in which much of Greece was devastated. This created poverty and political confusionRead MorePlatos Republic3750 Words   |  15 PagesBook I What is justice? Why should we be just? Cephalus - Justice means living up to your legal obligations and being honest. - Socrates - Its like returning weapon to a madman.. hell kill people. Polemarchus - Justice means that you owe friends help, and you owe enemies harm. - Socrates - we are not always friends with the most virtuous, nor are our enemies always teh scum of society Thrasymachus , sophist - Justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger-- it does not

How Reiki Is Considered As A Form Of Healing Essay

This assignment evaluates the topic of reiki, which is considered as a form of healing. To begin, it provides a definition and highlights reiki’s application in mainstream medicine. This forms scientific assumptions of the use of the scientific method. This highlights credibility, methodology and reliability as a precursor of application to public health. As a result, it firstly demonstrates credibility through the process of gathering scientific facts from reliable sources. Journals are found using the British Psychological Society (BPS) and PsycINFO. This subsequently provides empirical research for critical review. Secondly, it explores methodology from a selection of these journals. It includes the necessity of operational definitions, value and measurement, and construct validity. Finally, it therefore demonstrates the reliability of results as scientific data, to infer robust conclusions. This will provide the basis of the argument to evaluate if reiki is science or pseu doscience. Reiki Application Firstly, reiki is described as an ancient Japanese form of therapeutic healing (Baldwin, Rand Schwartz, 2013; Baldwin, Wagers Schwartz, 2008; Cuneo et al., 2011; Diaz-Rodriguez et al., 2011; Richeson, Spross, Lutz Peng, 2010; Shore, 2004). Its efficacy claims to improve human welfare—a shared perspective of many science applications (Anderson, 1998). Its mechanism is theorised as a natural phenomenon (National Center for Complementary and Alternative MedicineShow MoreRelatedEssay on Reiki2081 Words   |  9 PagesAssignment # 4 - Reiki jodirt AU ID: 2423950 Alternative Therapies September 23, 2006 â€Å"Reiki is a laying on of hands touch healing system of incomparable ease and power† (Stein, 1995, p. 8). In simpler terms, it is a Japanese form of stress reduction and relaxation that in turn, promotes healing. Reiki can be defined in several ways, however, each relates back to healing through energy. â€Å"The Reiki energy has intelligence far beyond human knowledge, and all it takesRead MoreAnxiety Disorder1440 Words   |  6 PagesThe mental illness I chose to write about is one that my mom suffers from which would be panic disorder. A panic disorder is a form of an anxiety disorder. The history of anxiety disorders dates back before medical records were recorded. In the sixteenth century, anxiety was known as hysteria. Professional had different opinions on the cause of this disorder, for example, witchcraft, had to do with the uterus until men were found to have the same condition, the person is a hypochondriac, and demonsRead MoreEffectiveness And Safety Of Cam Practices3522 Words   |  15 Pagesnon-mainstream medicine is used together with standard care it is considered complementary medicine, such as acupuncture to assist with cancer treatment side effects of chemotherapy. When non-mainstream medicine is exchanged for standard care it is considered alternative medicine, such as chelation therapy that removes excess metals from the blood when treating heart disease. A few of the non-mainstream or unconventional medical approaches are considered integrative medicine, although there is a limited amountRead MoreBreast Cancer : A Malignant Tumour Essay1854 Word s   |  8 Pagesregular/irregular) as well as discussing how long the lump has been there for and whether it is painful. The doctor will also discuss about previous breast lumps and family history. The next stage is a mammogram and/or ultrasound scan. A mammogram is a safe low dose x-ray of the breast tissue that indicates any suspicious areas (This method can detect cancer far before a lump can be seen or felt). An ultrasound scan (sonography) uses sound waves to form an image of the breast tissue, usually usedRead MoreComplementary and Alternative Medicines Essay914 Words   |  4 PagesComplementary and Alternative Medicines Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are medicines that are not considered conventional medicine. Conventional Medicine is also known as Western Medicine and is often practice by medical professional like medical doctors, nurses and therapist. The boundaries between CAM and conventional medicine are not fixed, and because CAM has recently become more accepted, the treatment combination of CAM and conventional medicine increased and the boundariesRead MoreMedicine As A Body Of Knowledge1730 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout history mankind has dealt with birth, death, sickness and health. Trial and error lead to building a body of knowledge on how to deal with these significant life events, and certain illnesses, and was passed on from generation to generation. Treatments included herbs, spices, oils, foods, body treatments and manipulations, mediation and many other items through trial and error and believe. Medicine, in the broadest of terms came to mean something different for each person, based onRead MoreLife Modification For Community Leaders1342 Words   |  6 Pageswith complementary and alternative medicine. Now-a-days, the people have a considerable interest in complementary and alternative medicine. Complementary medicine is the treatments that are used along with standard medical treatments but are not considered to be standard treatments. One example is using acupuncture to help lessen some side effects of cancer treatment. Moreover, Alternative medicine is the treatments that are used instead of standard medical treatments. According to the National CenterRead MoreThe Use of Traditional Medicine in the Caribbean2583 Words   |  11 Pagescontrolling the food you eat. Reflexology- a form of alternative medicine in which the soles of the feet are massaged. Complementary or Alternative Medicine (CAM) -any range of medical therapies that fall beyond the scope of conventional medicine but may be used alongside it in the treatment of disease. Reiki- a Japanese healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch to activate the natural healing process. Integrative medicine-relationship-basedRead MoreTherapeutic Touch Is A Form Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine1700 Words   |  7 Pagesof Nursing â€Æ' Abstract Therapeutic Touch is a form of complementary and alternative medicine utilized among the Pediatric population to provide holistic healthcare. Developed in the 1970’s by Dora Kunz a psychic healer and Dr. Dolores Krieger, PhD, RN (Natural Medicine, 2015) therapeutic touch is generally not well accepted in Western medical practices due to lack of research and supporting effectiveness in evidence. Understanding what TT is and how to utilize it in practice is important in deliveringRead MoreHealth Spa6419 Words   |  26 Pagestheir mind and body needs can be met. The business will be set up as a partnership with Steve Long, Debby Long, and Linda Hill-Chinn owning equal portions of the operation. Products and Services SoulSpace offers a wide variety of mind and body healing services and products. The salon aspect of the business will provide both males and females with any type of hair styling services. The spa business is devoted to providing holistic methods of massage, body work, and energy work. This is all done