Prelude to Foundation Chapter 7 Mycogen

MYCOGEN-†¦ A sector of ancient Trantor buried in the past of its own legends. Mycogen made little impact on the planet. Self-satisfied and self-separated to a degree†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica 31. When Seldon woke, he found a new face looking at him solemnly. For a moment he frowned owlishly and then he said, â€Å"Hummin?† Hummin smiled very slightly. â€Å"You remember me, then?† â€Å"It was only for a day, nearly two months ago, but I remember. You were not arrested, then, or in any way-â€Å" â€Å"As you see, I am here, quite safe and whole, but-and he glanced at Dors, who stood to one side-â€Å"it was not very easy for me to come here.† Seldon said, â€Å"I'm glad to see you.-Do you mind, by the way?† He jerked his thumb in the direction of the bathroom. Hummin said, â€Å"Take your time. Have breakfast.† Hummin didn't join him at breakfast. Neither did Dors. Nor did they speak. Hummin scanned a book-film with an attitude of easy absorption. Dors inspected her nails critically and then, taking out a microcomputer, began making notes with a stylus. Seldon watched them thoughtfully and did not try to start a conversation. The silence now might be in response to some Trantorian reserve customary at a sickbed. To be sure, he now felt perfectly normal, but perhaps they did not realize that. It was only when he was done with his last morsel and with the final drop of milk (which he was obviously getting used to, for it no longer tasted odd) that Hummin spoke. He said, â€Å"How are you, Seldon?† â€Å"Perfectly well, Hummin. Sufficiently well, certainly, for me to be up and about.† â€Å"I'm glad to hear it,† said Hummin dryly. â€Å"Dors Venabili was much to blame in allowing this to happen.† Seldon frowned. â€Å"No. I insisted on going Upperside.† â€Å"I'm sure, but she should, at all costs, have gone with you.† â€Å"I told her I didn't want her to go with me.† Dors said, â€Å"That's not so, Hari. Don't defend me with gallant lies.† Seldon said angrily, â€Å"But don't forget that Dors also came Upperside after me, against strong resistance, and undoubtedly saved my life. That's not bending the truth at all. Have you added that to your evaluation, Hummin?† Dors interrupted again, obviously embarrassed. â€Å"Please, Hari. Chetter Hummin is perfectly correct in feeling that I should either have kept you from going Upperside or have gone up with you. As for my subsequent actions, he has praised them.† â€Å"Nevertheless,† said Hummin, â€Å"that is past and we can let it go. Let us talk about what happened Upperside, Seldon.† Seldon looked about and said guardedly, â€Å"Is it safe to do so?† Hummin smiled slightly. â€Å"Dors has placed this room in a Distortion Field. I can be pretty sure that no Imperial agent at the University-if there is one-has the expense to penetrate it. You are a suspicious person, Seldon.† â€Å"Not by nature,† said Seldon. â€Å"Listening to you in the park and afterward- You are a persuasive person, Hummin. By the time you were through, I was ready to fear that Eto Demerzel was lurking in every shadow.† â€Å"I sometimes think he might be,† said Hummin gravely. â€Å"If he was,† said Seldon, â€Å"I wouldn't know it was he. What does he look like?† â€Å"That scarcely matters. You wouldn't see him unless he wanted you to and by then it would all be over, I imagine-which is what we must prevent. Let's talk about that jet-down you saw.† Seldon said, â€Å"As I told you, Hummin, you filled me with fears of Demerzel. As soon as I saw the jet-down, I assumed he was after me, that I had foolishly stepped outside the protection of Streeling University by going Upperside, that I had been lured up there for the specific purpose of being picked up without difficulty.† Dors said, â€Å"On the other hand, Leggen-â€Å" Seldon said quickly, â€Å"Was he here last night?† â€Å"Yes, don't you remember?† â€Å"Vaguely. I was dead tired. It's all a blur in my memory.† â€Å"Well, when he was here last night, Leggen said that the jet-down was merely a meteorological vessel from another station. Perfectly ordinary. Perfectly harmless.† â€Å"What?† Seldon was taken aback. â€Å"I don't believe that.† Hummin said, â€Å"Now the question is: Why don't you believe that? Was there anything about the jet-down that made you think it was dangerous? Something specific, that is, and not just a pervasive suspicion placed in your head by me.† Seldon thought back, biting his lower lip. He said, â€Å"Its actions. It seemed to push its forepart below the cloud deck, as though it were looking for something, then it would appear in another spot just the same way, then in another spot, and so on. It seemed to be searching Upperside methodically, section by section, and homing in on me.† Hummin said, â€Å"Perhaps you were personifying, Seldon. You may have been treating the jet-down as though it was a strange animal looking for you. It wasn't, of course. It was simply a jet-down and if it was a meteorological vessel, its actions were perfectly normal†¦ and harmless.† Seldon said, â€Å"It didn't seem that way to me.† Hummin said, â€Å"I'm sure it didn't, but we don't actually know anything. Your conviction that you were in danger is simply an assumption. Leggen's decision that it was a meteorological vessel is also only an assumption.† Seldon said stubbornly, â€Å"I can't believe that it was an entirely innocent event.† â€Å"Well then,† said Hummin, â€Å"suppose we assume the worst-that the vessel was looking for you. How would whoever sent that vessel know you would be there to seek?† Dors interjected, â€Å"I asked Dr. Leggen if he had, in his report of the forthcoming meteorological work, included the information that Hari would be with the group. There was no reason he should in the ordinary course of events and he denied that he had, with considerable surprise at the question. I believed him.† Hummin said thoughtfully, â€Å"Don't believe him too readily. Wouldn't he deny it, in any case? Now ask yourself why he allowed Seldon to come along in the first place. We know he objected initially, but he did relent, without much fight. And that, to me, seems rather out of character for Leggen.† Dors frowned and said, â€Å"I suppose that does make it a bit more likely that he did arrange the entire affair. Perhaps he permitted Hari's company only in order to put him in the position of being taken. He might have received orders to that effect. We might further argue that he encouraged his young intern, Clowzia, to engage Hari's attention and draw him away from the group, isolating him. That would account for Leggen's odd lack of concern over Hari's absence when it came time to go below. He would insist that Hari had left earlier, something he would have laid the groundwork for, since he had carefully showed him how to go down by himself. It would also account for his reluctance to go back up in search of him, since he would not want to waste time looking for someone he assumed would not be found.† Hummin, who had listened carefully, said, â€Å"You make an interesting case against him, but let's not accept that too readily either. After all, he did come Upperside with you in the end.† â€Å"Because footsteps had been detected. The Chief Seismologist had [been] witness to that.† â€Å"Well, did Leggen show shock and surprise when Seldon was found? I mean, beyond that of finding someone who had been brought into extreme peril through Leggen's own negligence. Did he act as though Seldon wasn't supposed to be there? Did he behave as though he were asking himself: How is it they didn't pick him up?† Dors thought carefully, then said, â€Å"He was obviously shocked by the sight of Hari lying there, but I couldn't possibly tell if there was anything to his feelings beyond the very natural horror of the situation.† â€Å"No, I suppose you couldn't.† But now Seldon, who had been looking from one to the other as they spoke and who had been listening intently, said, â€Å"I don't think it was Leggen.† Hummin transferred his attention to Seldon. â€Å"Why do you say that?† â€Å"For one thing, as you noted, he was clearly unwilling to have me come along. It took a whole day of argument and I think he agreed only because he had the impression that I was a clever mathematician who could help him out with meteorological theory. I was anxious to go up there and, if he had been under orders to see to it that I was taken Upperside, there would have been no need to be so reluctant about it.† â€Å"Is it reasonable to suppose he wanted you only for your mathematics? Did he discuss the mathematics with you? Did he make an attempt to explain his theory to you?† â€Å"No,† said Seldon, â€Å"he didn't. He did say something about going into it later on, though. The trouble was, he was totally involved with his instruments. I gathered he had expected sunshine that hadn't showed up and he was counting on his instruments having been at fault, but they were apparently working perfectly, which frustrated him. I think this was an unexpected development that both soured his temper and turned his attention away from me. As for Clowzia, the young woman who preoccupied me for a few minutes, I do not get the feeling, as I look back on it, that she deliberately led me away from the scene. The initiative was mine. I was curious about the vegetation on Upperside and it was I who drew her away, rather than vice versa. Far from Leggen encouraging her action, he called her back while I was still in sight and I moved farther away and out of sight entirely on my own.† â€Å"And yet,† said Hummin, who seemed intent on objecting to every suggestion that was made, â€Å"if that ship was looking for you, those on board must have known you'd be there. How would they know-if not from Leggett?† â€Å"The man I suspect,† said Seldon, â€Å"is a young psychologist named Lisung Randa† â€Å"Randa?† said Dors. â€Å"I can't believe that. I know him. He simply would not be working for the Emperor. He's anti-Imperialist to the core.† â€Å"He might pretend to be,† said Seldon. â€Å"In fact, he would have to be openly, violently, and extremely anti-Imperialist if he was trying to mask the fact that he is an Imperial agent.† â€Å"But that's exactly what he's not like,† said Dors. â€Å"He is not violent and extreme in anything. He's quiet and good-natured and his views are always expressed mildly, almost timidly. I'm convinced they're genuine.† â€Å"And yet, Dors,† said Seldon earnestly, â€Å"it was he who first told me of the meteorological project, it was he who urged me to go Upperside, and it was he who persuaded Leggen to allow me to join him, rather exaggerating my mathematical prowess in the process. One must wonder why he was so anxious to get me up there, why he should labor so hard.† â€Å"For your good, perhaps. He was interested in you, Hari, and must have thought that meteorology might have been useful in psychohistory. Isn't that possible?† Hummin said quietly, â€Å"Let's consider another point. There was a considerable lapse of time between the moment when Randa told you about the meteorology project and the moment you actually went Upperside. If Randa is innocent of anything underhanded, he would have no particular reason to keep quiet about it. If he is a friendly and gregarious person-â€Å" â€Å"He is,† said Dors. â€Å"-then he might very likely tell a number of friends about it. In that case, we couldn't really tell who the informer might be. In fact, just to make another point, suppose Randa is anti-Imperialist. That would not necessarily mean he is not an agent. We would have to ask: Whom is he an agent for? On whose behalf does he work?† Seldon was astonished. â€Å"Who else is there to work for but the Empire? Who else but Demerzel?† Hummin raised his hand. â€Å"You are far from understanding the whole complexity of Trantorian politics, Seldon.† He turned toward Dors. â€Å"Tell me again: Which were the four sectors that Dr. Leggen named as likely sources for a meteorological vessel?† â€Å"Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, and North Damiano.† â€Å"And you did not ask the question in any leading way? You didn't ask if a particular sector might be the source?† â€Å"No, definitely not. I simply asked if he could speculate as to the source of the jet-down.† â€Å"And you†-Hummin turned to Seldon â€Å"may perhaps have seen some marking, some insigne, on the jet-down?† Seldon wanted to retort heatedly that the vessel could hardly be seen through the clouds, that it emerged only briefly, that he himself was not looking for markings, but only for escape-but he held back. Surely, Hummin knew all that. Instead, he said simply, â€Å"I'm afraid not.† Dors said, â€Å"If the jet-down was on a kidnapping mission, might not the insigne have been masked?† â€Å"That is the rational assumption,† said Hummin, â€Å"and it tray well have been, but in this Galaxy rationality does not always triumph. However, since Seldon seems to have taken no note of any details concerning the vessel, we can only speculate. What I'm thinking is: Wye.† â€Å"Why?† echoed Seldon. â€Å"I presume they wanted to take me because whoever was on the ship wanted me for my knowledge of psychohistory.† â€Å"No, no.† Hummin lifted his right forefinger as if lecturing a young student. â€Å"W-y-e. It is the name of a sector on Trantor. A very special sector. It has been ruled by a line of Mayors for some three thousand years. It has been a continuous line, a single dynasty. There was a time, some five-hundred years ago, when two Emperors and an Empress of the House of Wye sat on the Imperial throne. It was a comparatively short period and none of the Wye rulers were particularly distinguished or successful, but the Mayors of Wye have never forgotten this Imperial past. â€Å"They have not been actively disloyal to the ruling houses that have succeeded them, but neither have they been known to volunteer much on behalf of those houses. During the occasional periods of civil war, they maintained a kind of neutrality, making moves that seemed best calculated to prolong the civil war and make it seem necessary to turn to Wye as a compromise solution. That never worked out, but they never stopped trying either. â€Å"The present Mayor of Wye is particularly capable. He is old now, but his ambition hasn't cooled. If anything happens to Cleon-even a natural death-the Mayor will have a chance at the succession over Cleon's own too-young son. The Galactic public will always be a little more partial toward a claimant with an Imperial past. â€Å"Therefore, if the Mayor of Wye has heard of you, you might serve as a useful scientific prophet on behalf of his house. There would be a traditional motive for Wye to try to arrange some convenient end for Cleon, use you to predict the inevitable succession of Wye and the coming of peace and prosperity for a thousand years after. Of course, once the Mayor of Wye is on the throne and has no further use for you, you might well follow Cleon to the grave.† Seldon broke the grim silence that followed by saying, â€Å"But we don't know that it is this Mayor of Wye who is after me.† â€Å"No, we don't. Or that anyone at all is after you, at the moment. The jet-down might, after all, have been an ordinary meteorological testing vessel as Leggen has suggested. Still, as the news concerning psychohistory and its potential spreads-and it surely must-more and more of the powerful and semi-powerful on Trantor or, for that matter, elsewhere will want to make use of your services.† â€Å"What, then,† said Dors, â€Å"shall we do?† â€Å"That is the question, indeed.† Hummin ruminated for a while, then said, â€Å"Perhaps it was a mistake to come here. For a professor, it is all too likely that the hiding place chosen would be a University. Streeling is one of many, but it is among the largest and most free, so it wouldn't be long before tendrils from here and there would begin feeling their soft, blind way toward this place. I think that as soon as possible-today, perhaps-Seldon should be moved to another and better hiding place. But-â€Å" â€Å"But?† said Seldon. â€Å"But I don't know where.† Seldon said, â€Å"Call up a gazeteer on the computer screen and choose a place at random.† â€Å"Certainly not,† said Hummin. â€Å"If we do that, we are as likely to find a place that is less secure than average, as one that is more secure. No, this must be reasoned out.-Somehow.† 32. The three remained huddled in Seldon's quarters till past lunch. During that time, Hari and Dors spoke occasionally and quietly on indifferent subjects, but Hummin maintained an almost complete silence. He sat upright, ate little, and his grave countenance (which, Seldon thought, made him look older than his years) remained quiet and withdrawn. Seldon imagined him to be reviewing the immense geography of Trantor in his mind, searching for a corner that would be ideal. Surely, it couldn't be easy. Seldon's own Helicon was somewhat larger by a percent or two than Trantor was and had a smaller ocean. The Heliconian land surface was perhaps 10 percent larger than the Trantorian. But Helicon was sparsely populated, its surface only sprinkled with scattered cities; Trantor was all city. Where Helicon was divided into twenty administrative sectors; Trantor had over eight hundred and every one of those hundreds was itself a complex of subdivisions. Finally Seldon said in some despair, â€Å"Perhaps it might be best, Hummin, to choose which candidate for my supposed abilities is most nearly benign, hand me over to that one, and count on him to defend me against the rest.† Hummin looked up and said in utmost seriousness, â€Å"That is not necessary. I know the candidate who is most nearly benign and he already has you.† Seldon smiled. â€Å"Do you place yourself on the same level with the Mayor of Wye and the Emperor of all the Galaxy?† â€Å"In point of view of position, no. But as far as the desire to control you is concerned, I rival them. They, however, and anyone else I can think of want you in order to strengthen their own wealth and power, while I have no ambitions at all, except for the good of the Galaxy.† â€Å"I suspect,† said Seldon dryly, â€Å"that each of your competitors-if asked-would insist that he too was thinking only of the good of the Galaxy.† â€Å"I am sure they would,† said Hummin, â€Å"but so far, the only one of my competitors, as you call them, whom you have met is the Emperor and he was interested in having you advance fictionalized predictions that might stabilize his dynasty. I do not ask you for anything like that. I ask only that you perfect your psychohistorical technique so that mathematically valid predictions, even if only statistical in nature, can be made.† â€Å"True. So far, at least,† said Seldon with a half-smile. â€Å"Therefore, I might as well ask: How are you coming along with that task? Any progress?† Seldon was uncertain whether to laugh or cage. After a pause, he did neither, but managed to speak calmly. â€Å"Progress? In less than two months? Hummin, this is something that might easily take me my whole life and the lives of the next dozen who follow me.-And even then end in failure.† â€Å"I'm not talking about anything as final as a solution or even as hopeful as the beginning of a solution. You've said flatly a number of times that a useful psychohistory is possible but impractical. All I am asking is whether there now seems any hope that it can be made practical.† â€Å"Frankly, no.† Dors said, â€Å"Please excuse me. I am not a mathematician, so I hope this is not a foolish question. How can you know something is both possible and impractical? I've heard you say that, in theory, you might personally meet and greet all the people in the Empire, but that it is not a practical feat because you couldn't live long enough to do it. But how can you tell that psychohistory is something of this sort?† Seldon looked at Dors with some incredulity. â€Å"Do you want that explained.† â€Å"Yes,† she said, nodding her head vigorously so that her curled hair vibrated. â€Å"As a matter of fact,† said Hummin, â€Å"so would I.† â€Å"Without mathematics?† said Seldon with just a trace of a smile. â€Å"Please,† said Hummin. â€Å"Well-† He retired into himself to choose a method of presentation. Then he said, â€Å"-If you want to understand some aspect of the Universe, it helps if you simplify it as much as possible and include only those properties and characteristics that are essential to understanding. If you want to determine how an object drops, you don't concern yourself with whether it is new or old, is red or green, or has an odor or not. You eliminate those things and thus do not needlessly complicate matters. The simplification you can call a model or a simulation and you can present it either as an actual representation on a computer screen or as a mathematical relationship. If you consider the primitive theory of nonrelativistic gravitation-â€Å" Dors said at once, â€Å"You promised there would be no mathematics. Don't try to slip it in by calling it ‘primitive.' â€Å" â€Å"No, no. I mean ‘primitive' only in that it has been known as long as our records go back, that its discovery is shrouded in the mists of antiquity as is that of fire or the wheel. In any case, the equations for such gravitational theory contain within themselves a description of the motions of a planetary system, of a double star, of tides, and of many other things. Making use of such equations, we can even set up a pictorial simulation and have a planet circling a star or two stars circling each other on a two-dimensional screen or set up more complicated systems in a three-dimensional holograph. Such simplified simulations make it far easier to grasp a phenomenon than it would be if we had to study the phenomenon itself. In fact, without the gravitational equations, our knowledge of planetary motions and of celestial mechanics generally would be sparse indeed. â€Å"Now, as you wish to know more and more about any phenomenon or as a phenomenon becomes more complex, you need more and more elaborate equations, more and more detailed programming, and you end with a computerized simulation that is harder and harder to grasp.† â€Å"Can't you form a simulation of the simulation?† asked Hummin. â€Å"You would go down another degree.† â€Å"In that case, you would have to eliminate some characteristic of the phenomenon which you want to include and your simulation becomes useless. The LPS-that is, ‘the least possible simulation' gains in complexity faster than the object being simulated does and eventually the simulation catches up with the phenomenon. Thus, it was established thousands of years ago that the Universe as a whole, in its full complexity, cannot be represented by any simulation smaller than itself. â€Å"In other words, you can't get any picture of the Universe as a whole except by studying the entire Universe. It has been shown also that if one attempts to substitute simulations of a small part of the Universe, then another small part, then another small part, and so on, intending to put them all together to form a total picture of the Universe, one would find that there are an infinite number of such part simulations. It would therefore take an infinite time to understand the Universe in full and that is just another way of saying that it is impossible to gain all the knowledge there is.† â€Å"I understand you so far,† said Dors, sounding a little surprised. â€Å"Well then, we know that some comparatively simple things are easy to simulate and as things grow more and more complex they become harder to simulate until finally they become impossible to simulate. But at what level of complexity does simulation cease to be possible? Well, what I have shown, making use of a mathematical technique first invented in this past century and barely usable even if one employs a large and very fast computer, our Galactic society falls short of that mark. It can be represented by a simulation simpler than itself. And I went on to show that this would result in the ability to predict future events in a statistical fashion-that is, by stating the probability for alternate sets of events, rather than flatly predicting that one set will take place.† â€Å"In that case,† said Hummin, â€Å"since you can profitably simulate Galactic society, it's only a matter of doing so. Why is it impractical?† â€Å"All I have proved is that it will not take an infinite time to understand Galactic society, but if it takes a billion years it will still be impractical. That will be essentially the same as infinite time to us.† â€Å"Is that how long it would take? A billion years?† â€Å"I haven't been able to work out how long it would take, but I strongly suspect that it will take at least a billion years, which is why I suggested that number.† â€Å"But you don't really know.† â€Å"I've been trying to work it out.† â€Å"Without success?† â€Å"Without success.† â€Å"The University library does not help?† Hummin cast a look at Dors as he asked the question. Seldon shook his head slowly. â€Å"Not at all.† â€Å"Dors can't help?† Dors sighed. â€Å"I know nothing about the subject, Chetter. I can only suggest ways of looking. If Hari looks and doesn't find, I am helpless.† Hummin rose to his feet. â€Å"In that case, there is no great use in staying here at the University and I must think of somewhere else to place you.† Seldon reached out and touched his sleeve. â€Å"Still, I have an idea.† Hummin stared at him with a faint narrowing of eyes that might have belied surprise-or suspicion. â€Å"When did you get the idea? Just now?† â€Å"No. It's been buzzing in my head for a few days before I went Upperside. That little experience eclipsed it for a while, but asking about the library reminded me of it.† Hummin seated himself again. â€Å"Tell me your idea-if it's not something that's totally marinated in mathematics.† â€Å"No mathematics at all. It's just that reading history in the library reminded me that Galactic society was less complicated in the past. Twelve thousand years ago, when the Empire was on the way to being established, the Galaxy contained only about ten million inhabited worlds. Twenty thousand years ago, the pre-Imperial kingdoms included only about ten thousand worlds altogether. Still deeper in the past, who knows how society shrinks down? Perhaps even to a single world as in the legends you yourself once mentioned, Hummin.† Hummin said, â€Å"And you think you might be able to work out psychohistory if you dealt with a much simpler Galactic society?† â€Å"Yes, it seems to me that I might be able to do so.† â€Å"Then too,† said Dors with sudden enthusiasm, â€Å"suppose you work out psychohistory for a smaller society of the past and suppose you can make predictions from a study of the pre-Imperial situation as to what might happen a thousand years after the formation of the Empire-you could then check the actual situation at that time and see how near the mark you were.† Hummin said coldly, â€Å"Considering that you would know in advance the situation of the year 1,000 of the Galactic Era, it would scarcely be a fair test. You would be unconsciously swayed by your prior knowledge and you would be bound to choose values for your equation in such a way as to give you what you would know to be the solution.† â€Å"I don't think so,† said Dors. â€Å"We don't know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well and we would have to dig. After all, that was eleven millennia ago.† Seldon's face turned into a picture of dismay. â€Å"What do you mean we don't know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well? There were computers then, weren't there, Dors?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"And memory storage units and recordings of ear and eye? We should have all the records of 1,000 G.E. as we have of the present year of 12,020 G.E.† â€Å"In theory, yes, but in actual practice- Well, you know, Hari, it's what you keep saying. It's possible to have full records of 1,000 G.E., but it's not practical to expect to have it.† â€Å"Yes, but what I keep saying, Dors, refers to mathematical demonstrations. I don't see the applications to historical records.† Dors said defensively, â€Å"Records don't last forever, Hari. Memory banks can be destroyed or defaced as a result of conflict or can simply deteriorate with time. Any memory bit, any record that is not referred to for a long time, eventually drowns in accumulated noise. They say that fully one third of the records in the Imperial Library are simply gibberish, but, of course, custom will not allow those records to be removed. Other libraries are less tradition-bound. In the Streeling University library, we discard worthless items every ten years. â€Å"Naturally, records frequently referred to and frequently duplicated on various worlds and in various libraries-governmental and private-remain clear enough for thousands of years, so that many of the essential points of Galactic history remain known even if they took place in pre-Imperial times. However, the farther back you go, the less there is preserved.† â€Å"I can't believe that,† said Seldon. â€Å"I should think that new copies would be made of any record in danger of withering. How could you let knowledge disappear?† â€Å"Undesired knowledge is useless knowledge,† said Dors. â€Å"Can you imagine all the time, effort, and energy expended in a continual refurbishing of unused data? And that wastage would grow steadily more extreme with time.† â€Å"Surely, you would have to allow for the fact that someone at some time might need the data being so carelessly disposed of.† â€Å"A particular item might be wanted once in a thousand years. To save it all just in case of such a need isn't cost-effective. Even in science. You spoke of the primitive equations of gravitation and say it is primitive because its discovery is lost in the mists of antiquity. Why should that be? Didn't you mathematicians and scientists save all data, all information, back and back to the misty primeval time when those equations were discovered?† Seldon groaned and made no attempt to answer. He said, â€Å"Well, Hummin, so much for my idea. As we look back into the past and as society grows smaller, a useful psychohistory becomes more likely. But knowledge dwindles even more rapidly than size, so psychohistory becomes less likely-and the less outweighs the more.† â€Å"To be sure, there is the Mycogen Sector,† said Dors, musing. Hummin looked up quickly. â€Å"So there is and that would be the perfect place to put Seldon. I should have thought of it myself.† â€Å"Mycogen Sector,† repeated Hari, looking from one to the other. â€Å"What and where is Mycogen Sector?† â€Å"Hari, please, I'll tell you later. Right now, I have preparations to make. You'll leave tonight.† 33. Dors had urged Seldon to sleep a bit. They would be leaving halfway between lights out and lights on, under cover of â€Å"night,† while the rest of the University slept. She insisted he could still use a little rest. â€Å"And have you sleep on the floor again?† Seldon asked. She shrugged. â€Å"The bed will only hold one and if we both try to crowd into it, neither of us will get much sleep.† He looked at her hungrily for a moment and said, â€Å"Then I'll sleep on the floor this time.† â€Å"No, you won't. I wasn't the one who lay in a coma in the sleet.† As it happened, neither slept. Though they darkened the room and though the perpetual hum of Trantor was only a drowsy sound in the relatively quiet confines of the University, Seldon found that he had to talk. He said, â€Å"I've been so much trouble to you, Dors, here at the University. I've even been keeping you from your work. Still, I'm sorry I'll have to leave you.† Dors said, â€Å"You won't leave me. I'm coming with you. Hummin is arranging a leave of absence for me.† Seldon said, dismayed, â€Å"I can't ask you to do that.† â€Å"You're not. Hummin's asking it. I must guard you. After all, I faded in connection with Upperside and should make up for it.† â€Å"I told you. Please don't feel guilty about that.-Still, I must admit I would feel more comfortable with you at my side. If I could only be sure I wasn't interfering with your life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Dors said softly, â€Å"You're not, Hari. Please go to sleep.† Seldon lay silent for a while, then whispered, â€Å"Are you sure Hummin can really arrange everything, Dors?† Dors said, â€Å"He's a remarkable man. He's got influence here at the University and everywhere else, I think. If he says he can arrange for an indefinite leave for me, I'm sure he can. He is a most persuasive man.† â€Å"I know,† said Seldon. â€Å"Sometimes I wonder what he really wants of me.† â€Å"What he says,† said Dors. â€Å"He's a man of strong and idealistic ideas and dreams.† â€Å"You sound as though you know him well, Dors.† â€Å"Oh yes, I know him well.† â€Å"Intimately?† Dors made an odd noise. â€Å"I'm not sure what you're implying, Hari, but, assuming the most insolent interpretation- No, I don't know him intimately. What business would that be of yours anyway?† â€Å"I'm sorry,† said Seldon. â€Å"I just didn't want, inadvertently, to be invading someone else's-â€Å" â€Å"Property? That's even more insulting. I think you had better go to sleep.† â€Å"I'm sorry again, Dors, but I can't sleep. Let me at least change the subject. You haven't explained what the Mycogen Sector is. Why will it be good for me to go there? What's it like?† â€Å"It's a small sector with a population of only about two million-if I remember correctly. The thing is that the Mycogenians cling tightly to a set of traditions about early history and are supposed to have very ancient records not available to anyone else. It's just possible they would be of more use to you in your attempted examination of pre-Imperial times than orthodox historians might be. All our talk about early history brought the sector to mind.† â€Å"Have you ever seen their records?† â€Å"No. I don't know anyone who has.† â€Å"Can you be sure that the records really exist, then?† â€Å"Actually, I can't say. The assumption among non-Mycogenians is that they're a bunch of madcaps, but that may be quite unfair. They certainly say they have records, so perhaps they do. In any case, we would be out of sight there. The Mycogenians keep strictly to themselves.-And now please do go to sleep.† And somehow Seldon finally did. 34. Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili left the University grounds at 0300. Seldon realized that Dors had to be the leader. She knew Trantor better than he did-two years better. She was obviously a close friend of Hummin (how close? the question kept nagging at him) and she understood his instructions. Both she and Seldon were swathed in light swirling docks with tight-fitting hoods. The style had been a short-lived clothing fad at the University (and among young intellectuals, generally) some years back and though right now it might provoke laughter, it had the saving grace of covering them well and of making them unrecognizable-at least at a cursory glance. Hummin had said, â€Å"There's a possibility that the event Upperside was completely innocent and that there are no agents after you, Seldon, but let's be prepared for the worst.† Seldon had asked anxiously, â€Å"Won't you come with us?† â€Å"I would like to,† said Hummin, â€Å"but I must limit my absence from work if I am not to become a target myself. You understand?† Seldon sighed. He understood. They entered an Expressway car and found a seat as far as possible from the few who had already boarded. (Seldon wondered why anyone should be on the Expressways at three in the morning-and then thought that it was lucky some were or he and Dors would be entirely too conspicuous.) Seldon fell to watching the endless panorama that passed in review as the equally endless line of coaches moved along the endless monorail on an endless electromagnetic field. The Expressway passed row upon row of dwelling units, few of them very tall, but some, for all he knew, very deep. Still, if tens of millions of square kilometers formed an urbanized total, even forty billion people would not require very tall structures or very closely packed ones. They did pass open areas, in most of which crops seemed to be growing-but some of which were clearly parklike. And there were numerous structures whose nature he couldn't guess. Factories? Office buildings? Who knew? One large featureless cylinder struck him as though it might be a water tank. After all, Trantor had to have a fresh water supply. Did they sluice rain from Upperside, filter and treat it, then store it? It seemed inevitable that they should. Seldon did not have very long to study the view, however. Dors muttered, â€Å"This is about where we should be getting off.† She stood up and her strong fingers gripped his arm. They were off the Expressway now, standing on solid flooring while Dors studied the directional signs. The signs were unobtrusive and there were many of them. Seldon's heart sank. Most of them were in pictographs and initials, which were undoubtedly understandable to native Trantorians, but which were alien to him. â€Å"This way,† said Dors. â€Å"Which way? How do you know?† â€Å"See that? Two wings and an arrow.† â€Å"Two wings? Oh.† He had thought of it as an upside-down â€Å"w,† wide and shallow, but he could see where it might be the stylized wings of a bird. â€Å"Why don't they use words?† he said sullenly. â€Å"Because words vary from world to world. What an ‘air-jet' is here could be a ‘soar' on Cinna or a ‘swoop' on other worlds. The two wings and an arrow are a Galactic symbol for an air vessel and the symbol is understood everywhere. Don't you use them on Helicon?† â€Å"Not much. Helicon is a fairly homogeneous world, culturally speaking, and we tend to cling to our private ways firmly because we're overshadowed by our neighbors.† â€Å"See?† said Dors. â€Å"There's where your psychohistory might come in. You could show that even with different dialects the use of set symbols, Galaxy-wide, is a unifying force.† â€Å"That won't help.† He was following her through empty dim alleyways and part of his mind wondered what the crime rate might be on Trantor and whether this was a high-crime area. â€Å"You can have a billion rules, each covering a single phenomenon, and you can derive no generalizations from that. That's what one means when one says that a system might be interpreted only by a model as complex as itself.-Dors, are we heading for an air-jet?† She stopped and turned to look at him with an amused frown. â€Å"If we're following the symbols for air-jets, do you suppose we're trying to reach a golf course? Are you afraid of air-jets in the way so many Trantorians are?† â€Å"No, no. We fly freely on Helicon and I make use of air-jets frequently. It's just that when Hummin took me to the University, he avoided commercial air travel because he thought we would leave too clear a trail.† â€Å"That's because they knew where you were to begin with, Hari, and were after you already. Right now, it may be that they don't know where you are and we're using an obscure port and a private air-jet.† â€Å"And who'll be doing the flying?† â€Å"A friend of Hummin's, I presume.† â€Å"Can he be trusted, do you suppose?† â€Å"If he's a friend of Hummin's, he surely can.† â€Å"You certainly think highly of Hummin,† said Seldon with a twinge of discontent. â€Å"With reason,† said Dors with no attempt at coyness. â€Å"He's the best.† Seldon's discontent did not dwindle. â€Å"There's the air-jet,† she said. It was a small one with oddly shaped wings. Standing beside it was a small man, dressed in the usual glaring Trantorian colors. Dors said, â€Å"We're psycho.† The pilot said, â€Å"And I'm history.† They followed him into the air-jet and Seldon said, â€Å"Whose idea were the passwords?† â€Å"Hummin's,† said Dors. Seldon snorted. â€Å"Somehow I didn't think Hummin would have a sense of humor. He's so solemn.† Dors smiled.

Was female rule unacceptable in early modern Europe?

This narrative will be investigating the political and royal policies of early modern Europe and it's reasoning behind preferring (and insisting) that only male royal blood lines should maintain the throne. I shall be researching how Queen Elizabeth 1st was able to take the throne as a single female, as well as (despite never being able to take the throne herself) the years that her sons ruled is now known as the ‘age of Catherine De Medici'. It will be necessary to look at religious opinions and political laws, as well as literary opinions from the 16th and early 17th century (in some cases earlier) across early modern Europe, England and Scotland, regarding women and their place in society and how that relates to women in positions of power Early modern Europe was segregated by extreme religious fault lines. With England, Scotland, Germany, The Netherlands and France fighting (both politically and literally) for superioty of their chosen religion, these were; Calvinism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, with a small minority of Anglican followers also. The majority of Spain, Portugal and Italy remained virtually wholly Roman Catholic, which lead to many wars and disputes with bordering nations. The Royal policy of the time was to use marriage to cement literal boarders between neighbouring countries in an effort to create great nations, and also to make intangible connections that cemented power between nations creating beneficial alliances. Political and social opinion of women at the time was largely due to the writings of St. Paul in the New Testament regarding Adam and Eve, and how Eve carried out the first human sin, disobeyed God and tempted Adam with the apple. This therefore made Eve responsible for the fall of mankind, and left women being seen as the source of all evil and sin. Coupling this with Aristotle's premise that a woman was an inferior version of the perfect male form, meant that the opinion of women was not something to be fought against, it was simply irrefutable fact. Because of this, religious political and social opinion of women in early modern Europe, women were only seen as valuable for their usefulness in connecting families through marriage or continuing family legacies through childbirth. Therefore families could effectively marry their daughters off like chattel. Women in early modern Europe were seen as feeble and weak minded, unable to be decision makers, and think for themselves. They (women) by religious opinion were created by God for man. Therefore giving man the right to rule them. As Martin Luther put so plainly; ‘Women are created for no other purpose than to serve men and be their helpers. If women grow weary or even die while bearing children, that doesn't harm anything. Let them bear children to death; they are created for that. ‘ Even women in positions of power were aware that they were not comparable to men. As Queen Elizabeth recognised, ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King'1 Queen Elizabeth the first, was arguably one of the most famous female rulers in our history, yet her road to power was a difficult one. Elizabeth's rule while she was alive, and even after her death, has been shadowed by questions regarding the legitamacy of her right to the throne. The Catholic populace never fully accepted her, as her father Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church to divorce his first wife: Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth's mother). However Henry VIII and Catherine (his first wife) had a daughter Mary, Henry VIII went on to have Elizabeth with his second wife and a son: Edward with Jane Seymour his 3rd wife, and despite Catholic beliefs regarding divorce, (which made Elizabeth illegitimate, but not Mary or Edward) the only surety was that Henry's male heir was going to take the throne first. After Edward took the crown Mary was to follow closely succeeded by Elizabeth. The only other candidate that could possibly take a rightful place over Elizabeth was Mary Stuart, who was currently Queen of Scotland and Queen of France (by marriage), and with the ever looming threat of a two-pronged assault on England by the French and the Scottish, Elizabeth became the necessary and logical choice as the English people were at the time seen to be more ‘nationalistic than catholic' (and an exceptional ruler she went on to be), managing to influence both Roman Catholic's and Protestant's into a compromise, which arguably stopped England from falling into a religious war, as was the case in France. But it also conveyed to her public that she was able to accept both faiths and allow them to coexist in the efforts of peace, a feat that had not been accomplished so logically or peacefully by her male predecessor's. France was plagued by its own political difficulties and religious disputes, and having a female singularly ruling was intolerable to them, and with the medieval ‘Salic Law' still in force (of which some of its policies are still in use today) the French were able to regulate who took to the throne and who maintained power. Salic law was clear, however; it decreed a purely French solution. (Elsewhere, in countries where Salic law did not apply – Scotland, England, Spain†¦ women undoubtedly had the right to succeed to the crown, although their rights in other areas were very limited. )2 As Queen Elizabeth found herself when trying to deal with her Generals and war strategists, many of whom ignored her input refusing to consider that she would have any useful insights into battle planning. Salic law was particularly relevant to Catherine De Medici, as it kept her from the throne after the death of her husband. Catherine then put her sons on throne, where she was virtually able to rule by defacto for many years, due to her sheer iron will and the strong maternal hold she had over her sons – even when her son Francis II died, his wife Queen Mary (Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots) fled back to Scotland rather than be dominated by her mother-in-law. Even with Queen Elizabeth being in power in England, and Catherine De Medici's virtual rule in France there were still many who felt that female rule was unlawful. But this started a debate in the early 16th century as to whether female's born of Royal blood and extensively educated were able to overcome the short fallings of their gender. Were Queen Elizabeth and her sister Queen Mary, as well as Mary Queen of Scots and Catherine De Medici able to break these notions and change history? To conclude as to whether women were acceptable Queens able to fully rule, the answer is clearly no. Female rule in early modern Europe was unacceptable. Men did see women as more feeble, both physically and mentally, and assumed that they were automatically superior. Women were nothing more than the child bearers, a point exemplified by marriages that were able to be absolved if no children were born (regardless of religion). It would appear that one of the factors of fearing female rule would be felt by the current King preparing to hand power to his daughter, the King (from any nation) would be aware that opinion of females was poor, and that the new ‘queen' would need to take a husband to guide and assist her. Which then leads to the question of whom should marry the future queen? Her right to power would automatically revert to her husband – very probably a Prince or King from another nation, which would leave the current King to foresee the fall of his Kingdom to a foreign land. France kept with the extremely old salic law, that was first made policy in medieval time's to make sure that only males of French blood from royal lines could ascend to the throne. But it would seem as was the case across Europe and England that Salic law, and English/Catholic opinion and preference on female rule only counted if it suited. If the alternative ruler was unpalatable (for instance Mary Queen of Scots) then the nobles and governments would find alternative methods to crown their ruler of choice. The debate of female rule was never about what was best for France, England or whomever, but quite plainly about those in power keeping that position for as long as possible at whatever the cost. Historic and modern literature written about Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine De Medici, Queen Mary I and Mary Queen of Scots can paint a picture of a very manipulative, autocratic and sometimes capricious class of Queen, but with the severe adversities they faced I feel that as independents they were utilizing their femininity, as well as their individual strong wills and education to keep a firm control. These famous rulers from our history did bring about change, and they forever altered the face of Royalty as well as assisting (even if only selectively) the view of women across the world.

History: Indentured Servant and New England Colonies

Wessell Webling like many who wanted to leave England in search of the better promised life in the colonies could not afford the oversea voyage. In exchange for the cost of the trip Webling became the indentured servant to Edward Bennett. Webling was to provide 3 years of servitude, and Bennett was to provide him with ample and substantial food and drink, proper shelter and good clothes to wear. During Webling's period of indenture he among many helped in the expanding of the English settlement, clearing new land for landowners. Through this time Webling was taught many valuable skills to prepare him for his life as a landowner after his term was completed. When three years was up, Bennett was to provide Webling with 50 acres of land in the Virginia colonies and all the necessary clothes needed. For this, Webling was to pay Bennett 50 shillings a year thereafter. In the Virginia colonies there was a lot of land to be colonized but not enough people to do so. The plan was to have the wealthier colonists provide the funds for the trip, and in return the person would be indentured for a period of 3 to 7 years. During their serve periods they were taught how to become successful landowners. When their terms were complete they were given all the tools and thing they needed to provide for themselves and their families and to do the same for the next person. Landowners gave their indentured servants such generous rewards because they knew that population growth was essential and migration was the best way to accomplish this goal. The author used this source to explain the differences between the Chesapeake region and the New England colonies. He showed that when people migrated to the New World in family units mostly settled in the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies were young indenture servants who had to work to pay back to cost of the passage. He also used the source to illustrate the reason the population growth was declining in the Chesapeake colonies, people were too old after their terms of indenture to start families. The Author is correct in how he uses the source as a personal first hand account of the type contracts that were used to ensure that the people who migrated fulfilled their full terms of indenture and after they did so they would receive the tools the needed to become successful farmers. It was a good example of how the two colonies were vastly different because of the lack of a family structure in the Chesapeake colonies. Wessell Webling: His Indenture (1622) Alycia M. Haynes History 231-08 Professor Tate 19 February 2009

Response paper questions on Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars Essay

Response paper questions on Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars - Essay Example Sacks is able to experience the distress in his patients by working with them. Additionally, he suffers from prosopagnosia and is in a better position to understand what being deficient of a sense means. The stories examine discernments about oneself as well as those about the world. This response paper examines Sack’s method of investigation, the reasons Sack takes a unique investigative approach and how he discovers the individuals discussed in the essays. The paper will also analyze how disease affects the way individuals understand themselves and how reading these essay has enable me understand concepts such as normality and handicap. To come up with these stories, Dr. Sacks associates closely with the subjects in the stories. His insights are stimulating and provide an insight on neurological conditions and the manner in which the brain functions. He investigates the altered self-opening the mind of the reader to experiences and perceptions witnessed by people with disorders such as autism, blindness, amnesia, and Tourette’s syndrome among others. He views the ailments not as disorders but deviation from norm. However, he still manages to explore the distress and challenges faced by persons with these disorders. Instead of analyzing the various conditions and organizing them into chapters, he organizes the conditions into narrative essays. This is a different but interesting way to learn neurobiology. Sack follows his patients from their loss of sense though their distress to their liberation. He empathizes with the patients after their loss of sense and reveals to the reader the struggle that they go thr ough to cope with the deviations that result from the losses (Sacks 12-15). Sack makes use of literature references to support his arguments. His investigative style is captivating and the reader is able to experience the terror that comes with the neurological disorders. When he

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What is the good life - Essay Example Money is the means to purchase; it is true that the availability of money makes life better and a lot more comfortable. However, the availability of money is not tantamount to the attainment of a good life. A good life is characterized by happiness, money guarantees the availability of resources but it does not guarantee happiness in a home and satisfaction. Money enslaves people, turns friend into enemies, compels people to steal and engage in dishonest act. Money is therefore more related to evil than happiness and satisfaction. In the non-fictional story, Zeitoun, a character, Abdulrahman Zeitoun is introduced; he is a Muslim who moves from Syria to settle in the United States of America (Dave 12). While in America, he meets a Muslim convert, one Kathy who he later marries and together they have two children and a family business. Life for the young family is good enough. They have a family business which is capable of catering for their financial needs, they have children they are generally comfortable. Things change with time as hurricane Katrina strikes, the family is forced to separate as zeitoun chooses to remain and cater for the family business, he uses a second hand canoe to rescue the stranded tenants and provides shelter to abandoned dogs. He happily does this and shows affection to very strange people, he gains satisfaction from the smiles he receives from those he helps. Things change suddenly for him after he is arrested and the society within which he had lived and made a life for himself suddenly turns against him. The 9/11 incident takes place and situation worsen for Zeitoun who is of Arabic descent (Dave 22). The society is overly discriminated and Zeitoun is treated worse than a human is, he is denied basic needs that other American citizens in the same cells are granted. Good life is therefore a satisfactory life, satisfaction comes from setting personal goals and achieving them. Money is overly

College Management System Case of Ark Royal College Essay

College Management System Case of Ark Royal College - Essay Example The management of an institute has a very clear and direct impact on the performance of that institute. Therefore, there is need for a system that will help improve the efficiency and also the other undertakings of a college environment. With the use of properly designed software, the management should be in a position to access all the necessary departmental information and also manage the flow of information in the college. With the current method and manual systems in place, data and information redundancy is the order of the day. This has a cost repercussion on the institute. We will discuss the details of the proposed system compared to the current issues that the institute is going through. Today as we refer this age to be a technology dispensation, there is clear need for every institution or organization to have a system for it to survive (Demir, 2003). Because of the priority accorded information technologies in the modern society, information technology has acquired a high priority state in the education sector and much emphasis is being put on this.The computerization of the college management is the basic subject of a contemporary college setup. Principals might already have started to make use of the systems in the day to day management of the colleges and the gradually increasing staff duties (May, 2003). From a general perspective, the use of a management system is to increase the efficiency of the management in processing information and decision making.

Chinese Silk Road Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chinese Silk Road - Essay Example It plays a momentous part in the development of social and economic situations of China. The Chinese Silk Route resembles the advent of globalization within China, which influences economic, social & cultural conditions of the nation in a favorable way (Wood 9-15). Urbanizations results in growth in population and accordingly these increase the demands of basic needs. Thus, to satisfy the country’s need, the Chinese Silk Route was introduced for the betterment of lives. Moreover, to boost the process of transferring goods through export and import quickly, Chinese Silk Route is being established. It enables the tourists to visit such countries that are connected by routes and thus helps to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) in respective counties. After introducing the Chinese Silk Route, national and international trades and investments are identified to grow rapidly with generating varied positive outcomes. Maritime commerce is playing a decisive part in connecting divers ified industries, culture and economy of different countries. As the trade relationships between countries are growing, distinct sorts of new pioneering ideas are implemented to enhance the productivity of the routes (Agnew 3-17). The essay intends to analyze the history of Chinese Silk Route, which has been introduced with the advent of globalization. Apart from this, the essay attempted to describe the process of the above stated history and also its influence on developing the social as well as economic conditions of China. Chinese Silk Route continuously developed within the period of second century BC to fourteenth century AD. During the 500 BC, Chinese people adopted nomadic style and rode horses for exporting along with importing goods. This route was initiated by Zhang Qian in Hun Dynasty and during the growth of this dynasty, the Chinese Silk Route gained immense power to expand across

Sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sexuality - Essay Example The lack of genital sensation through injury, for instance, or the fact that somebody does not engage in sexual intercourse or fantasy, does not preclude him or her from being sexual.†1 From this definition it can be seen that a person’s sexuality will largely depend on how he or she feels about his or her self and what are the life experiences that leads to such feelings. As an individual develops into an adult, several factors mould the person’s perceptions. Historical, cultural, social, economical and political backgrounds play a major role in determining the personality of an individual and all these aspects will reflect on the person’s attitude, including his or her approach to sexuality. The said factors may also influence the person’s sexual orientation. Thus, sexuality cannot be understood from a single point of view or perspective because human sexual behaviour is complex and has a wide range. Therefore, it has engaged the interest of philos ophers and psychologists right from the ancient times. The eastern cultures, especially the Indians, have explored the topic with an aesthetic approach. The book ‘Kamasutra’ written by a sage named Vatsyayana, is a classic example where â€Å"sexuality is acknowledged as a form of psychic energy which can legitimately find expression in a myriad ways, ranging from tender romantic love and conjugal concord to straightforward lust.†2 This theory focuses on the different ways of sexual expression, and it recognises both tender love and lust as reasonable sexual expressions. It also doesn’t believe that any such sexual expression should be considered as immodest.

The Use of Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient by Messina and Coyne Term Paper

The Use of Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient by Messina and Coyne - Term Paper Example From this research it is clear that in statistics the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (SRCC), also known as the Spearman’s rho, is greatly used. This provision derives its name from Charles Spearman and may be denoted by symbols rs or P. Maturi and Abdelfattah clearly explain that as a non-parametric measure used to gauge statistical independence that may exist between two variables, the Spearman’s rho is used to assess the most appropriate way of describing two variables through the use of a monotonic function. The Spearman’s rho is used mostly when both independent and dependent variables are ordinal, or when one of the variables is a continuous one, and the other an ordinal numeric. Conversely, Spearman’s rho may be used when the variables being measured are both continuous. In the article by Messina, Scott, Ganey, Zipp and Mathis it is clear that the use of the Spearman’s rho is very plausible. This is because patient satisfaction is not only the independent variable in Messina’s research analysis but also a continuous variable. At the same time, patient admission across teaching and nonteaching hospitals acts as both a dependent and continuous variable. Thus, in this work by Messina et al. the Spearman’s rho is used to study the relations that exist between the dependent variable and independent variable, and these variables are being represented by the volume that has been measured by admissions and the patient contentment mean score respectively. The use of Spearman’s rho’s correlation analysis is seen in the fact that Messina and his companions carried out the analysis on a pooled sample of seven nonteaching and seven teaching hospitals. It is from this development that the differences between the subsamples in teaching and nonteaching hospitals are analyzed through the use of Mann-Whitney U-Test. From this juncture, it became possible to determine whether or not there is an e xplicit association between admissions and patient satisfaction mean score in respect to the two variables. As one reads the study, it becomes clear that the mean for all admissions in teaching and nonteaching hospitals is 19,111 within the time frame of 1999-2003. The range is from 4,513 to 70,465. The mean score for the aggregate patient satisfaction is 82.57 within the five-year timeframe. The minimum aggregate is 79.0 while the maximum is 86.18. The use of Kurtosis as a form of descriptive analysis indicates that the mean score for patient satisfaction was normally distributed. In a nutshell, the use of the Spearman’s rho indicates a strong negative correlation between hospital admission within a given sample and patient satisfaction (rs = -.287, P = .018). The import of all these results is that lower inpatient volumes (in both teaching and nonteaching hospitals) are compatible with or relatable to higher patient satisfaction mean scores. 2) Comments on the Variables Use d and Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient It is a fact that the variables that have been used by Messina, Scott, Ganey, Zipp and Mathis (2009) are very appropriate and applicable to the determination of the Spearman’s rho. Spearman’s rho determines the statistical independence between two variables, and it is a fact that Messina and his group use two variables: patient satisfaction and inpatient admissions in teaching and nonteaching hospitals. Again, just as Maturi and Abdelfattah (2008) explain, the Spearman’s rho is applicable in an area where one variable is continuous and the other an ordinal numeric, or where both variables are continuous in nature. Messina’s et al. (2009) independent (patient satisfaction) and dependent (inpatient admissions in teaching and nonteaching hospitals) variables are both continuous. These characteristics make the variables used qualify for Spearman’s rho analysis, so that, in light of the specific requirements o f SRCC, there is

The Logic of Suicide Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Logic of Suicide Terrorism - Essay Example The Hotel Rwanda film is a co-production that focuses on political corruption, genocide and the repercussions of violent behavior. The film stars Don as hotelier Paul, who endeavors to salvage his colleague citizens from the ravage of the Rwandan genocide era. A brief review of the genocide entails that the war originated from the tension between the Hutu and the Tutsi whereby, bribes and other acts of corruption among the politicians were routine. As the political situation worsened in the country, civil wars erupted in the region hence, displacing a large number of families. On the other hand, Scott McConnell interviews Robert concerning the idea that probed him to write the book. Robert clearly reveals his wealth with the information he had pertaining to terrorism and violence in various parts of the world (Anthony 18). He claims that religion is not to be held accountable for most of the suicide-terrorist attacks. In the dialogue between Robert and the American conservative, Robert also discusses the American and Iraq differences. This shows that suicide-terrorist attacks were quite prone in the Islamic countries and America. Robert notes that in every occasion where a profession has created a suicide-terrorist movement, there is a religious difference between the occupier and the occupied community (Anthony 21). In conclusion, based on euphemism which is defined as a harmless phrase that substitutes an offensive one, we find that the film title used in this essay is euphemistic. The phrase Hotel Rwanda may mislead one to think that the film is correlated with a hotel in Rwanda while on the contrary; the term refers to the genocide era in Rwanda where many lives were lost due to mass killings.  

Interview Analysis Essay Example for Free

Interview Analysis Essay For the interview section of the group project, I decided to interview a twenty-five year old woman who resides in the San Francisco bay area in California. Choosing to have her personal identity remain anonymous, the interviewee has granted us permission to refer to her as the alias Mary. Mary is currently married to a thirty year old man and has one nine year old son. Surprisingly, Mary did not contract the disease by having heterosexual intercourse with her partner like so many other women have gotten HIV. She had obtained the disease through intravenous means. Mary’s husband and son are not HIV positive. Mary has been living with HIV for the past six years. Throughout the interview, Mary had a very wise and warm aurora about her. Her cheery and positive attitude and optimistic outlook on life was evident. I questioned Mary of her understanding of HIV/AIDS before and after her diagnosis six years ago. She had explained that since she was nineteen years of age, she has struggled with depression and turned to shooting heroin as a coping mechanism. Mary, like most adolescents, was completely unaware she could obtain the disease through sharing needles; she thought HIV was spread only through homosexual intercourse. When Mary had discovered she was in fact positive of having HIV, feelings of embarrassment and fear, and thoughts of suicide swam though her head. Questions such as â€Å"how can I tell my husband (boyfriend at the time)†, â€Å"what will my family think†, â€Å"will I be able to see my son graduate or get married†. However, after years of continued counseling, Mary has come to a brighter understanding of her diagnosis. â€Å"Having HIV is not a death sentence and I can still live a semi normal life. † By attending support groups, conversing with individuals living relatively normal lives after obtaining the disease, going to therapy and talking with doctors, Mary found solace. â€Å"Even my husband (boyfriend at the time) was very supportive. I thought he would have ran for the hills! † Mary said, chuckling. Mary’s family were also understanding. Her family sends money to help pay the medical bills and offers an aiding hand in raising her nine year old son. Stated earlier in the interview, after obtaining HIV, Mary has had a very warm and vibrant aurora about her. Since learning of her condition, Mary has learned that she is stronger than she had previously considered herself to be. â€Å"I felt that I (could) handle anything thrown at me. † I really commend and praise Mary for her courageous outlook on her life. That even after hitting this speed bump, she has taken on a positive attitude and confidence regarding life. When I inquired Mary about how she told her family, she said she told her husband first then her other relatives at Sunday dinner. Tears were shed but eventually her family initially stood by her side. What really stood out to me the most during this part of the interview was her son’s reaction to the news. â€Å"My husband and I told my son together and explained to him what mommy has. He asked if I was going to die and I told him not for a very long time. He then preceded to play with his Legos as if I had told him it was raining outside. After asking Mary if she had anything to say to the other women of the world living with HIV, she smiled and stated â€Å"For all those beautiful, strong women of the world living with this condition, do not pity yourself. Keep your immune system working by eating healthy and taking vitamins and taking your meds. I know sometimes life seems unfair but it’s worth living. You’re all strong and beautiful. Never believe otherwis e. † This was the most inspiring words and heartfelt words Mary has said throughout the entire interview. For the past four years, Mary has been completely clean of drugs and alcohol. For the past five years, Mary has been attending therapy twice a month and has recently stopped frequently going to the doctor because monetary issues and her insurance has dropped her from her coverage. Mary still receives standard antiretroviral therapy to suppress the HIV virus and to stop it from progressing to AIDS and practices safe sex by using a condom and dental dam. To wrap up the interview I questioned if Mary had anything she would like relatives or anyone else to know about HIV. â€Å"For the relatives, it takes a village to raise a child. Even though I was nineteen years old, a mother and living on my own, I was in fact still a child. After being diagnosed, I was especially vulnerable; it was like I was born again†¦For the others, don’t judge a book by its cover. You never know who is living with this disease and never know how hard the struggle is to live with this disease. † It was really a pleasure and a treat to talk to such a kind, strong, woman who has been through so much in her life yet achieved so much regardless the circumstances. Mary is a wonderful mother, an attentive wife and has earned her Associates degree and is now a receptionist.

Philosophy of Classroom Management Essay Example for Free

Philosophy of Classroom Management Essay My philosophy on classroom management begins with learning and being familiar with the various rolls that a teacher plays on an everyday basis. I didn’t know until taking this course that a teacher assumes so many rolls during the day. He or she takes on rolls such as: a parent, a social worker, an advisor, a counselor, and a judge. During my classroom observations and readings, I have learned that I will run into different types of students. There will be the bully, leader, follower, instigator, and the escape goat who in other words is the victim. In order to find out who and what is what, the students would have to be in groups to pin point who is playing what roll. There will also be times when I will run into parents of my students. Since reading our text my eyes have really been open on how and what to say to a parent. The first thing I would say as a teacher when I see something that is unusual about a student, I would tell the parent that I concurred with his or her child. Then I would proceed to tell the facts that I gathered to let him or her know that I feel something negative has happened. I feel that as the teacher I should know what is going on in every part of my classroom at all times. To help with my classroom surveillance, I will use witnesses momentum, smoothness, group alerting, accountability, overlapping and satiation. All of these will contribute to my teaching profession. According to Dreikur and the Canters, there are five types of teachers (Charles, 2008). Dreikur states that I could be an autocratic, democratic, or a permissive teacher. The autocratic teacher makes his or her own decisions whereas the democratic teacher is an opinionated educator. Finally, there is the permissive teacher who is the unpredictable teacher. The Canters defined three types of teachers. The hostitle teacher views the students as adversaries. The non-assertive teacher takes a passing approach to students, and last but not least the assertive teacher clearly, confidently, and consistently, expresses class expeditions to students. After reading C.M. Charles book â€Å"Building Classroom Discipline†, I learned what a teacher should say and do to and for his or her students. According to Dreikur, teachers should always speak in positive terms. Teachers should encourage students to strive for improvement, not perfection. Emphasis should be placed on students’ strengths while minimizing their weaknesses and teachers should help students learn from mistakes. Independence should be greatly encouraged along with the assumption of responsibility. I would set to accomplish the latter task by letting my students know that I have faith in them and I would show pride in their work. I would be very optimistic and enthusiastic and use encouraging remarks such as â€Å"You have improved,† and â€Å"Can I help you† (Charles, 2008). There are five types of behaviors that I know will occur in my class. The first behavior is aggression. Aggression is physical and verbal attack on the teacher, students or property. Secondly is immorality which are acts contrary to accepted morality such as cheating, lying, and stealing. Defiance of authority is the third behavior that will possibly occur in my classroom. Defiance of authority is when students refuse to do what is requested. Finally, class disruption is talking loudly, walking about the room, clowning, tossing things, and goofing off. Goofing off can be attributed to fooling around, out of seat, not doing assigned tasks and daydreaming. Fredric Jones’ analysis of the numerous classroom observations uncovered five clusters of teacher skills that keep students productively at work and thus preventing misbehavior. Those clusters deal with classroom structure to discourage behavior; getting through body language; using say, see, and do teaching to maximize students’ attention and involvement; responsibility training through incentive system, and providing efficient help to individual students (Charles, 2008). All the theorists in C.M. Charles book, â€Å"Building Classroom Discipline† will give me professional help as a perspective teacher. I believe his book goes from beginning to end and from procedures to misbehavior, to body language to what types of students will most likely enter my class. What I have learned from his book and what I am currently learning from Mrs. Palmer is there is no way I will not get it right the first time.

Applications of Positivism in Social Research

Applications of Positivism in Social Research Scientific methodology in sociology, the study of the social world, is most often associated with what is known as the positivist approach. In this essay, to determine whether or not it is indeed possible to apply scientific methods to the study of the social world, I will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of positivist sociology. â€Å"As developed by Auguste Comte, positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) This established knowledge was then to be used to affect the course of social change and it would help improve humanity. Comte’s work was in part a reaction to the ‘anarchy’ that besieged France in the wake of the revolution. Comte sincerely believed that scientific rationality could temper the raw human emotions that had lead to such chaos. Sociology, in his definition (and others), literally the science of society, co uld apply such scientific rationalism, empiricism and positivism to social life, thus improving it and preventing continued anarchy. â€Å"Comte believed that social life is governed by underlying laws and principles that can be discovered through the use of methods most often associated with the physical sciences.† (Johnson p231) One would identify the methods of positivism thus; careful observation measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions mathematisation (connects with all of the previous features; logic and systemisation of theory symmetry of explanation prediction; objectivity understood as value neutrality. â€Å"It consists in deliberately investigating phenomena with the expectations derived from the theory in mind and seeing whether or not the facts actually found agree with these expectations.† (Delanty p52) â€Å"If observed facts of undoubted accuracy will not fit any of the alternatives it leaves open, the system is in need of reconstruction.† (Delanty p53) Positivism, â€Å"Is above all a philosophy of science. As such, it stands squarely within the empiricist tradition. Metaphysical speculation is rejected in favour of positive knowledge based upon systematic observation and experiment. The methods of science can give us knowledge of the laws of coexistence.† (Marshall p510) However, as shall hopefully be shown later, these scientific methods can not show us anything about the inner ‘essences’ or ‘nature’ of things. Broadly speaking structuralism is, â€Å"Used loosely in sociology to refer to any approach which regards social structure (apparent or otherwise) as having priority over social action.† (Johnson p646) Positivism and structuralism are generally highly complementary, positivism effectively being the scientific methodology of structuralism. This can be observed in the works of Comte, Marx, Durkheim and the Vienna circle. Later theorists such as Parsons can also be described as both str ucturalist and positivist although in Parson’s case he does consider certain interpretivist sensibilities. Marx, Durkheim, Comte, the Vienna circle and many others all saw sociology as a science and all believed that social structure was the core component of society. â€Å"Perhaps one of the most important traits in naturalistic or positivistic sociology is the belief that social phenomena are patterned and are subject to deterministic laws much as are the laws governing the natural sciences. Sociological theory then becomes a quest for laws similar to the law of gravity or the law of material density in physics† (Poloma p3) The main difference between the social and natural worlds is that the subject of study in the social world is humanity. People, in basic terms, have a consciousness where as the subjects of the natural sciences, rocks or atoms or chemicals, do not. People are aware of themselves and their surroundings in a way that rocks, for example, are not. This, clearly, is a potential problem for positivist sociology. However, this problem is resolved, in positivist science, by arguing that the self-consciousness of human beings (the ability to think, act and feel) is not a significant factor in our ability to understand social behaviour. This, according to positivists, is because peoples behaviour is, at its genesis, always a reaction to some form of stimulation. This stimulation can be from their socialisation (as we shall see in Parsons work), or it can be something more direct like the need to earn a living or a confrontation with another human. This produces one of the criticisms of positiv ist sociology, as we shall see, action and the meaning placed on that action becomes unimportant for study, only the cause of the action, the stimuli, has any sociological value for positivists. The positivist view of sociology, of its aims, of its methods, is certainly a contentious one. Two of the first sociologists to question these methods, and the first that can be labelled as interpretivist, were Weber and Simmel. â€Å"Weber argues that sociology is not concerned with totalising explanations; only individuals have an ontological reality, society does not exist in that real sense, and so sociological explanations must be in terms of individual events and processes.† (Craib 1997 p51) Rickert’s term of Geisteswissenschaften (literally the sciences of the spirit/mind) greatly influenced Weber’s conception of what sociology should be. The ontological reality which Weber speaks of is that humans are very different from other natural beings. We have free will, an inner life, use symbols, possess language, live in culture and act meaningfully. This ontological reality ensures that humanity cannot be studied using positivist scientific methodology, or any other conventional scientific methodology, sociology must use other methods. While the natural sciences wish to explain natural events, sociology, as understood by Weber, Rickert or Simmel, wishes to understand social action. Social scientists should endeavour to understand social action in very much the same way as one attempts to understand other people, by communicating, through empathy, and through argument. These views are also associated with, and expanded upon, by the philosopher Peter Winch. (Winch 1958) As Weber states, â€Å"Even the knowledge of the most certain propositions of our theoretical sciences – e.g., the exact natural sciences or mathematics is, like the cultivation and refinement of the conscience, a product of culture.† (Delanty p110) In many ways the objective ‘fact’ of scientific enquiry is a fallacy. â€Å"Sociology differs from the natural sciences in that it does not deal with a pre given universe of objects. People attribute meaning to their social world and act accordingly.† (Baert p97) Weber, in his Methodology of The Social Sciences, points out that all knowledge of cultural reality is always from a particular point of view. The philosophical idea that there is no truth, only human opinion is prevalent in this argument. Simmel emphasises and expands upon this point, â€Å"In the last resort the content of any science doesn’t rest on simple objective facts, but always involves an interpretation and shaping of them according to categories and rules that are a priori of the science concerned.† (Stones p74) Any scientific conclusion, be it in the field of physics or sociology, has to be interpreted by its author, then represented by that same author and then reinterpreted by those that read it. In these interpretations any ‘truth’ or ‘law ’ is surrendered to human opinion, human meaning, human understanding. This criticism of positivist sociology is probably best illustrated by a discussion of a classic positivist sociological text, Emile Durkheim’s suicide study. In his study, Durkheim analysed the differential distribution of the occurrence of suicide by country and region. Durkheim professed to have found suicidogenic currents (Durkheim 1963) in society; the pressures to commit suicide, the laws of suicide. â€Å"These are called ‘social currents’†¦They come to each one of us from without and can carry us away in spite of ourselves.† (Delanty p28) Through a positivist, scientific methodology, Durkheim identified the pressures to commit suicide were greater in regions where the Protestant faith was dominant, and weaker where Catholicism dominated. Durkheim’s account posits an external force (suicidogenic currents) as the cause of suicide cause and effect. (Durkheim 1963) However why suicide occurs tends not to be the issue. To say that suicide is caused, not entirely obviously but in part, by the following of the Protestant faith is to assume that the term suicide is a simple one, a fixed one, with no room fo r differing meanings. This view is wrong. What is of importance is how a suicide comes to be defined as such by the coroner’s court. One must remember that a suicide is not an objective fact, but a interpretation, an interpretation that can be influenced by the coroner’s own personal feelings. If a ruling of suicide is likely to cause the deceased’s family pain and suffering, as is likely if they are Catholics, then the coroner may be inclined, where ever possible, to not record a suicide verdict, but an accidental death instead This alerts us to the problematic nature of Durkheim’s, and positivist sociology in general, reliance on statistics. For Durkheim takes those statistics as giving a ‘true’ picture of the incidence of suicide. But do they? Are they rather a representation of the interpretation of suicide as opposed to cold hard objective fact? Interactions/ interpretive work on suicide states that suicide statistics are a construction involving police, courts and coroners. Thus for a death to be counted as a suicide involves a complex social process concerning meaning and interpretation, two unquantifiable characteristics of humanity. Thus suicide is not just the effect of a societal cause, but an interpretation of events, thus not a positivist, scientific event. Therefore if sociologists wish a knowledge of social life, they cannot explain social actors’ action in terms of cause and effect. Rather, they must seek out what the social actors themselves say they are up to, wha t they mean. â€Å"Comte’s view shifted in later life, under the influence of Cloitilde de Vaux. He came to see that science alone could not be a binding force for social cohesion as he had earlier supposed. He argued that the intellect must become the servant of the heart, and advocated a new ‘religion of humanity.’† (Marshall p509) Comte, the originator of the positivist sociological methodology shifted his emphasis away from positivism in his later work, thus exposing the inherent problems and weaknesses at its methodological core. â€Å"Positivism has had relatively little influence in contemporary sociology for several reasons. Current views argue that positivism encourages a misleading emphasis on superficial facts without any attention to underlying mechanisms that cannot be observed.† (Johnson p231) For example, we cannot observe human motives or the meaning that people give to behaviour and other aspects of social life, but this does not me an that meaning and motive are nonexistent or irrelevant. The best way to illustrate the above points is to set them within the context of a positivist sociological study, in this case Parson’s work on personality. For society to function, it is logical according to Parsons to deduce that the individual members of society have to agree with society’s rule. â€Å"For Parsons, the social system is†¦made up of the interactions of individuals. Of special concern is†¦ that such interactions are not random but mediated by common standards of evaluation. Most important among these are moral standards which may be called norms.† (Hamilton p155) When people in society interact the interactions themselves, the emotions that seemingly control them, the goals that the individual actors (people) are hoping to obtain, they are all in fact controlled by the norms of society. â€Å"The concept of order is located predominantly at the level of the social system itself and the cultural system becomes a mechanism of the functioning of the social system.† (Hamilton p146) These norms are adopted and agreed by each member of the society for Parsons and this is his consensus theory. Imp ortantly Parsons’ theory suggests that the power of societal expectations, the power of norms, is more pervasive than merely being a moral standard that mediates interaction and personal relationships. They are in fact the organisational foci of personality, of people themselves. â€Å"Socialisation is the process by which we learn to become members of society, both by internalising the norms and values of society, and also learning to perform our social roles (as worker, friend, citizen and so forth.)† (Marshall p624) The family, for instance, is controlled by the same norms as society because it is that society, just it is a smaller component of it. The subsystems of society are analogous to body parts in the Parsonian model, they are all essential, each provide their own unique function and all interrelate, interpenetrate and are dependent upon one another. Analogous to the human body where each body part has a specific function to perform, and all of those parts work in unison to keep the structure going, so society is organised. Immersion within these subsystems, such as the family leads to internalisations of norms and objects, and this in turn creates personality. Because personality is internalised from society, â€Å"The foci of organisation of both types of system lies in†¦the value systems.† (Parsons p357) The values of society are the values of people, or personality. People are not just guided by the norms of society, but their very personalities are organised by the very same norms and principles and morals, according to Parsons. Thus peoples actions are quantifiable, reducible to a law since they are mediated by common standards. As gravity is a constant, so are the norms of a society and therefore of personality. The positivist law here is that personality, every action of a human is controlled by the same standards of evaluation as society. The person’s personality is derived directly from society, it is society. Thus a scientific study of society is possible because there is cause and effect, there is a reaction to stimuli. Socialisation is the stimulation that people react to. For Parsons, laws can be discerned from humanity because people will react in predictable ways, mediated by norms, to the stimulation of events and socialisation. Thus sociology can be scientific, empirical and positivist. A major problem with Parson’s work is that it reduces human personality to being produced and organised solely by societal expectations and norms. This societal determinism fails to acknowledge or explain where certain feelings, motives and actions originate. Goffman argues that â€Å"it is . . . against something that the self can emerge. . . Without something to belong to, we have no stable self, and yet total commitment and attachment to any social unit implies a kind of selflessness. Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wider social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull.† (Goffman 196 p305) A favourite example of this for Goffman was that of mental patients in asylums. The total institution of an asylum probably forces more strict adherence to societal expectation than most other social situations by using methods such as drug induced control and disciplinary measures such as EST. Yet in the se institutions, despite being forced to play the role of the mental patient, to conform to societal expectation), patients still resisted those expectations. The hoarding of banned materials being an example of this. The motivation to do this does not come from internalisation of norms, as the correct way to behave is to not horde banned items. It comes from a need to keep ones own identity, to satisfy needs and drives and wants. These needs drives and wants are absent from the Parsonian model and a full understanding or explanation of society and social actions needs to take them into account. â€Å"The maintenance of this surface of agreement, this veneer of consensus, is facilitated by each participant concealing his own wants behind statements which assert values to which everyone present feels obliged to give lip service.† (Goffman 1990 p20-21) The norms and laws that Parsons believes to control personality and society, are revealed by Goffman as only being a veneer. Furthermore Goffman states that other feelings and motives in fact influence social action, not just norms. If, as Goffman claims, the so called common standards of evaluation that Parsons identifies are in fact a veneer that hides other motives and feelings, then the actions of humanity are not as easily quantifiable, reducible to a scientific, positivist law, as Parsons first shows. Freud’s metapsychology deals with the general structure of mental life. For Freud there were three psychic structures. The first, the id, contains, â€Å"those basic drives we have by virtue of being human, of which sexuality is the most important.† (Craib 1989 p3) The Id is often equated to by Freud as being like an infant, demanding immediate satisfaction irrespective of societal expectations. The Id makes up the greatest part of the unconscious and it is in this unconscious realm of basic biologically influenced drives that the motivational forces that Parson’s can not identity come from. The Id influences personality. It is important to remember that, as opposed to biological instincts driving us to act like a shark would, a mindless automaton, â€Å"the unconscious is composed not of biological instincts but of the mental representations we attach to these instincts.† (Craib 1989 p4) Thus each individual creates their own mental representation for the ir drives thus meaning that every persons internal world has a different geography. This clearly poses problems for the positivist approach to personality and society and social action, as represented by Parsons here, for if reaction to stimulation is not predictable because each person acts differently, then universal scientific laws can not be established. The second structure of personality according to Freud, the ego or the ‘I’ is the central organiser of mental life. The third, the superego is thought of as the conscience. â€Å"The superego is the internalisation of external control which demands the renuncification of instinctual satisfaction in order that society might be formed and maintained.† (Craib 1989 p21) The superego is the part of personality that Parson’s identifies the part that internalises norms. The basic drives of the id demand immediate satisfaction, immediate gratification of those drives, these demands are contrary to the superego norms and morality, and the conflict has to be resolved by the ego. Our consciousness, predominantly consisting of the ego and superego, protects us from our own id impulses that, if they were followed, would leave it impossible for us to exist within society. Freud stated that â€Å"Civilisation depends upon repression†¦If we tried to gratify all our d esires, sexual or otherwise, as and when they arose, society, civilisation and culture would vanish over night.† (Craib 1984 p195) For Freud the ‘I’, is the resolution of the conflict between the id biologically directed drives, and the superego’s societal restraints. Therefore personality is the site of the, hopefully, resolved conflict between the normative mind evaluated by common standards as Parsons identifies, and the basic id drives. These Id drives, as I shall show, influence personality thus influence social action and society. This being the case then Parsons’ explanation for personality is insufficient and so is the positivist claim for the scientific study of society. The positivist tenants of careful observation and measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; mathematisation; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation prediction and objecti vity cannot be applied to individualistic Id drives and impulses. â€Å"The desire to kill anyone who frustrates us thus becomes unconscious, but none the less remains.† (Craib 1989 p24) Evidence for these desires for Freud appears in slips, where the unconscious desire can ‘slip’ into conscious conversation. â€Å"Freud quotes the husband who supposedly said, ‘If one of us two die, I shall move to Paris.† (Craib 1989 p24) One can not scientifically measure how these unconscious desires influence and effect social action, especially since it can be so hard to identify them as existing in the first place. â€Å"A feature of human life is that an instinct such as the sexual instinct is not directed at any one object, but has to be socially channelled, in our society usually towards members of the opposite sex.† (Craib 1989 p4) â€Å"Human beings are restrained by social organisation from a free and good expression of their drives. Through its oppression, society forces people into neuroses and psychoses.† (Craib 1989 p19) For Freud the very problems that he and other psychoanalysts dealt with were in fact often as the result of the repression of id drives by the superego and societal repression. As such the very existence of neuroses and psychoses can be seen as evidence to the fact that this conflict does indeed exist, that the resolution of this conflict does indeed produce the ‘I’ with all its faults and problems. To fully understand society, sociology needs to be aware of societal pressures, the Parson’s personality through positivism, but also nee ds to recognise the other meanings and emotions that cannot be quantified, cannot be analysed scientifically. Sociology needs to use interpretivism and positivism together. In terms of this example, Parsons positivist models needs to be considered at great length and detail as he does indeed identify a huge force in shaping society, that of norms and how they do penetrate into the psyche and personality. However, a study that only concentrates on the positivist methodology misses the crucial aspects of personality that Goffman and Freud identify, and that is not in the interest of any sociologist. â€Å"Positivism may be dead in that there is no longer an identifiable community of philosophers who give its simpler characteristics unqualified support, but it lives on philosophically, developed until it transmutes into conventionalism or realism. And even if in its simpler philosophical forms it is dead, the spirit of those earlier formulations continues to haunt sociology.† (Halfpenny p120) In conclusion positivism’s attempt at scientific sociological methodology, though fallacious is admirable and certainly many of the aspects of positivism should be considered desirable. As quoted elsewhere, â€Å"positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) The desire for reliable, valid knowledge is of course a relevant and important sociological aim and some of the tools that positivism uses to try to reach such knowledge are useful and wort hwhile. Careful observation, measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation and prediction and objectivity, if all of these tenants of positivism can at least be attempted in a sociological study then that sociological study will indeed be the better for it. However, sociological study needs to recognise, as Comte himself did, that these aims, in their fullest, are unobtainable and that those aims are not ends in themselves, rather a very rough guide to sociological methodology. As I have hopefully shown above, sociological analysis needs positivism, needs scientific methodology, but a carefully tempered and monitored positivism. The aim of sociology is understanding and that understanding should not be limited by methodology, especially a methodology that is inherently flawed. Positivism shows us how to analyse data, data that is essential to soc iological understand, but that data must not be treated uncritically thus a synthesis of positivism and interpretivism is recommended. To study the social world using a strict scientific methodology is impossible, that does not, of course, mean that scientific methodology is not a useful and critical tool in sociological study. Bibliography Baert, P, 1998. Social theory in the twentieth century. Polity press Craib, I, 1984. Modern social theory. Wheatsheaf books Ltd Craib, I, 1989. Psychoanalysis and social theory the limits of sociology Wheatsheaf Craib, I, 1997. Classical social theory pub by Oxford university press Delanty, G, 2003. Philosophies of social science. Open university. Durkheim, E, 1963. Suicide, a study in sociology. Routledge Goffman, E, 1961 Asylums. Doubleday Anchor Goffman, E, 1990. The presentation of the self in everyday life. Penguin Halfpenny, P, 1986. Positivism and sociology. Routledge Johnson, G 2000 The dictionary of sociology Blackwell Hamilton, P, 1992. Talcott Parsons critical assessments. Routledge Marshall, G 1998. Oxford dictionary of sociology. Oxford university press Parsons, T, The structure of social action Free Press 1949 Poloma, M, 1979. Contemporary sociological theory. MacMillan Stones, R, 1998. Key sociological thinkers. Palgrave Winch, P, 1958. The Idea Of a Social Science. Routledge