William Butler Yeats:

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight; somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

William Butler Yeats

·         W.B. Yeats was born in Dublin in 1865.

·         He was born during a tumultuous time in Ireland. He experienced the rise and fall of Charles Stuart Parnell, the Irish Revival and the civil war.

·         He won the Nobel Prize for poetry, and after that, still wrote poems until shortly before he passed away. Some of his best works.

·         His entire life he was interested in spirituality and mysticism.

·         Yeats is the greatest poet in Ireland and could be said to also be the greatest poet to write English during the twentieth century.

·         His poems and writings are full of themes, images, symbols and metaphors.

·         He takes many elements from Irish and Greek mythology, Byzantine art, European politics and Christian imagery.

·         In his greatest poems he combines all these elements with his own deep feeling.

o   Sometimes these poems seem to be obscure or abstract but once one gains a deeper understanding of how the poet’s experiences relate to the poem in question.

Modernism

·         Emerged in the early years of the 20^th Century.

·         Modernist poetry is characterized by two main features:

o   Technical innovation through extensive use of free verse

o   A move away from the Romantic idea of an unproblematic “self”

·         It is the deliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish many styles in arts of 20^th Century.

·         Modernist models include Greek literature, Chinese and Japanese poetry, English metaphysical poets, Dante, Troubadour and medieval Italian philosophical poets.

Devices

·         Symbolism

o   Gyre

§  Symbolizes how humans moved away in the Spiral, which is the cause of war and destruction in the world. An ever increasing disaster.

o   Falcon

§  Symbolizes humanity

o   Falconer

§  Symbolizes God, and could also be understood as Christianity and moral values, as humans (falcon) are moving away in the Gyre (Spiral)

o   Flood drowning innocence (line 5,6)

§  Symbolizes how the modern ways of life bring destruction to the world. As Yeats himself was not very pleased with the advancing technology, he was more of a conservative compared his time.

o   The best

§  Symbol for good and strong people of the world

·         For example leading nations that tried to prevent other Nations from mere conquering of weaker countries. (Example of league of Nations)

o   The worst

§  Symbol for evil minded people who became strong and ready to pursue their carnal desires.

o   Gaze

§  Negative expression

o   Twenty Years of sleep

§  Hint for Second Coming, Christianity

·         Irony

o   Second Coming

§  Actually it is something bad, although everyone is impatiently waiting for it.

·         Metaphor         

o   Sphinx

§  Human Head Intelligent, animal body “beast”

o   Spiritus Mundi

§  Also known as “World-Spirit”, collective intelligence of people

The Second Coming

• The Second Coming was published in 1921
• In order to gain a better analytical understanding of this poem, one must read Yeats’ book A Vision. This will give insight about his perspective of life.
• The first stanza of the poem describes the condition of the World and its people. It talks in mystical and complex language about the lose power of science and the Intellectuals who dominate the world at a time, where morals and Christian belief are disobeyed and neglected. This is pointed out, when the poet says:
  • The falcon cannot hear the falconer
• It indicates how the people are moving away from God, Christianity, Religion or morals.
• This directly relates to the first sentence when it says:
  • Turning and turning in the widening gyre
• The falcon is turning and moving away in this spiral process, we respond with deaf ears to the call of God. It continuously distances us from the beginning, which started at the birth of Christ. But at the same time a parallel process occurs.
  • The gyre is accompanied by a diminishing gyre which reaches its minimum at the same time as the first reaches its widest extent.¹
  • This is directly related to:
    • Twenty centuries of stony sleep
  • As the gyres, they could symbolize also “time”, they are unavoidable, and will be always repeated.
• The falconer represents control over the falcon, but the falcon is unable to hear the falconer in the centre as it towers higher. Here it can be stated with the poets words:
  • Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold
• Much power of the opening section derives from the strong images and symbols.
• It then generalizes by saying
  • Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
• Mere could also mean “pure” or “only” and then talks about
  • Blood-dimmed tide which is loosed
• And again
  • Everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned
• The repetitions of the first section “Turning and turning…” “falcon….falconer” are emphasized at the beginning of the second Stanza “Surely some revelation is at hand/Surely the second coming is at hand/The Second Coming!
• The image of Spiritus Mundi which means World Spirit also shows some modernism, a term which is not directly understood.
  • This marks the beginning of the narrators vision of the lion body with the head of a man, could be also a Sphinx like in Giza for example.
•  As soon as he thinks about this vast image of Spiritus Mundi he sees this creature in the sands of the desert from a creature that reflects this pitiless inhumanity from its human head (paradox)
• The reeling shadows of the indignant birds echo the towering of the falcon in the beginning of the poem
  • Annoyed People
• But now the protagonist knows that the creature has awakened after long time (twenty centuries of stony sleep) and is up to make its way to its birth place, Bethlehem.
• Ironically, people are awaiting the “Second Coming” but it will be worse than the one before.

Source:

¹ = http://www.yeatsvision.com/SecondNotes.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/modernism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_poetry_in_English

http://www.crystalinks.com/gyresyeats.html

http://www.yeatsvision.com/Geometry.html

http://myweb.dal.ca/waue/Trans/Yeats-Coming.html

Some countries in the world combine State with religion and build up a Theocracy. Amongst those theocratic states are Iran and Myanmar/Burma. These governments persecute religious minorities that seem to become threats to their political goals and religious ideals. Religions that are used for political reasons are always distorted or misused by that process.

The Islamic Republic of Iran tends to dislike religious minorities such as the Bahá’ís or Zoroastrians, both religions that originated in Iran. Those religions are outside of the national religious interest and are either threats to the government or not loyal to the fatherland according to the Iranian Government. They use the holy Islam to justify their acts of persecution and cruelty towards those minorities. The Islam faith is equated with being loyal to the country, that means that if you are not a Muslim, you are not being loyal to the government and in cases of minority groups are persecuted. This politicization of religion forces the people to be Muslims and does not tolerate anything else besides that. People within the religion suffer of this distortion. Women, in particular suffer a great deal of strict rules and regulations that limit their freedom. Women are regarded as creatures whose only duty is to serve their family and men. ¹ They are not allowed to divorce their husbands. These changes in laws are not from the Qur’an and will give false impressions to non-believers or to people of other beliefs. Another major problem in Iran is the omission of drug use mainly among youths. The government consciously neglects this wide spread problem so that they can keep a vast majority of active youths, that do not agree with the Islamic Government of Iran, quite and in this way diminish youth that become aware of the states’ doings. Moreover, the Qur’an states that other Prophets, or people of the book, have to be respected, in this case the persecution of Zoroastrians and Bahá’ís contradicts the Holy Scripture. In the Qur’an it says: “If any of the idolaters ask you for protection, give them protection until they have heard the words of God. Then convey them to a place where they are safe.” (Surat at-Tawba: 6) In Iran it many times occurs that the clergy who runs the country, changes or interprets the Holy Qur’an so it can be in accordance with the goals they seek to accomplish.

Political powers such as the Hamas in Lebanon, Taliban or Al-Qaida in Afghanistan are responsible for suicide bombing, raping of girls and destroying the image of Islam in the World. In these bomb-attacks innocent non-believers are harmed or often killed. Furthermore people who do not believe in Islam are treated with prejudice. Not to mention their own believers who are abused and exploited through the selfish actions that the leading clergy undertakes. Another factor that contributes to the steady distortion of Islam is the wrong interpretations and sometimes false translation of the Qur’an. In almost all translation of the Qur’an in English language it says that Men are the protectors and maintainers of women² and at some point the men are allowed to beat their women if they are not obedient to them. In America a woman, for the first time, translated the Qur’an and found that the critical word idrib had 26 different meanings, and chose “to go away or “to leave” rather than “to beat”.³

All religions have experienced distortion or misuse in the past and still in the present. Christians have misused Christianity with Indulgences in the middle ages, which would remission their punishment for the sins that people had done. Pope Pius X undertook these indulgences to raise money for the St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The burning of witches, who had intellectual knowledge about natural spices, which was also done in the name of Jesus Christ, was a distortion of the Christian faith. Terrorist attacks by radical Christians in the USA, Canada and Australia increased over the past twenty years. Radicals are convinced that Abortion Clinics are wrong because they kill embryos that should be granted the same rights as a child or adult. They bomb clinics, shoot doctors in charge and are responsible for deaths, injuries and building damages. Anyone who works at an abortion clinic is, in the eyes of Christian extremists, guilty and everyone that supports such an institution must be fought with deadly forces. Distortion is seen is many factors, another current event is the sexual abuse of the Roman Catholic clergy with children, mostly happening in the United States.

The military regime in Burma also contributes to the distortion of religion, particularly Buddhism. The government is responsible for the systematic destruction of over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, forced labor, forced child soldiers and the displacement of more than a million people. Christians are also targeted by the government and the army has destroyed hundreds of Christian villages. Burmese Buddhists follow the Theravada line of Buddhism but not only non-Buddhists are affected by the government’s doings, also Buddhist monks who protest and March against the military government suffer injuries and were even killed.

Religions change and will not be the same when they become involved into politics. As the above examples showed how people misuse Religion as means for ends, it happens with every line of religion. For leading clergies, like the Islamic Republic of Iran, the combination of religion with state grants them a great deal, in theory they can do whatever they like and claim that it is a Prophets will or else wise justify themselves. Practically speaking this is exactly what happens. The true essence of the Holy Scriptures becomes neglected, forgotten and people of a country are led astray. Politicization of religions are not effective, consequential, people dislike theology, are isolated from modern free beliefs and suffer a great deal under religious authority.

Source:

• ¹ = “I say it…and I say it with strong emphasis: The woman is a creature for the home only…” http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564272

 ² =          (The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   4)

³ = http://www.religioustolerance.org/islabuse.htm

• http://www.religioustolerance.org/relviol.htm
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071801293.html
• http://www.worldchristianministries.org/default2.asp?active_page_id=235
• http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39173

Pollution of Rivers and Lakes

·         Industrial Pollution

Industries that are located at rivers and lakes discharge wastewaters, highly toxic chemicals, debris and trash into these water bodies.

o   Wastewaters

§  Factories use water from rivers and lakes to cool down or power machineries.

§  The same water is cleaned and put back into the rivers and lakes.

·         It causes temperature change which is a serious threat to wildlife in these rivers and lakes. It causes the extinction of fished and other species.

·         Many times the water still contains some radioactivity.

§  Discharged wastewater, especially when it is untreated or only partially treated may lower the amount of dissolved oxygen in the receiving rivers or lakes. The oxygen is required by microorganisms that consume the organic material.

·         It might contain organic or inorganic material (when not treated or partially treated)

§  Oil tankers, or regular ships that spill petroleum, trash or waste into the rivers harm the natural habitat

o   Agricultural Pollution

§  River water is heavily used for agriculture. It is used to react with fertilizers that are used for crops. It turns the fertile soil toxic.     

§  The runoffs cause many fish species to die due to the high toxic pesticides in rivers. It can nearly wipe out an entire species.

§  Lakes also suffer tremendously under agricultural pollution. Excessive nutrients that enter water bodies such as lakes stimulate excessive plant growth such as algae.

§  This algal bloom reduces the dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and causes other organisms to die. This process is known as Eutrophication.

§  These nutrients come from many sources: Fertilizers or golf courses.

•  
  • Air Pollution
    • Factories that release toxic chemicals from smokestacks into the air.
      • The dirt in the atmosphere sinks down to the ground and is visible as a very thin layer on lakes for example.
    • Acid Rain
      • There are several ways acids can fall out of the atmosphere. There are two parts: Wet and Dry.
      • Wet
        • Through rain, snow or fog it falls down to the earth and affects plants, animals, buildings, forests, rivers and lakes.
      • Dry
        • Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles that fall down to earth. Winds blow these acidic particles and gases onto buildings, cars, homes, trees and also rivers and lakes.
  • All these kinds of pollutions are related to Point and Non-Point Source Pollution as Humans are not directly involved in all kinds of pollutants.

How to detect Pollution and to measure its Intensity

• Air Pollution
  • Acid Rain is measured using a scale called “pH”.
    • The lower a substance’s pH the more acidic it is.
    • Pure Water has a pH of 7.0; rain is slightly acidic due to dissolved carbon dioxide, so it has a pH of about 5.5.
  • One way of detecting the air pollution caused by factories or car exhausts would be to see the thin layer of dirt that appears on water.
• Agricultural Pollution
  • Agricultural pollution can be detected by taking biological and chemical samples over a period of time and analyze and observe the increasing or decreasing results.
  • Implement new rules and regulations and increase the awareness of nature, so that farmers stop using toxic pesticides which harm the environment and groundwater.
• Wastewater Pollution
  • Wastewater or water pollution generally, can be detected by its appearance or odor.
    • If oil or foam is floating on it, then it is also an indicator for water pollution.
    • Also a lot of dead fish floating on the surface of a lake would be a clear sign that something is wrong.
  • In order to exactly measure its intensity there are several ways of measurements:
    • Filtration
      • Water is passed through a fine-pore filter. This separates suspended from dissolved portions of the analyte.
      • The filter may be used to clarify the water for analysis of a dissolved material.
    • Gravimetric Analysis
      • For a measurement of milligrams per liter of solids in the water, a measured volume of sample can be dried in a preweighed dish, then the dish and the solids are weighed after the water has evaporated.
      • The weight of solids is then calculated by subtraction and the concentration figured by dividing the weight of solids by the volume of the sample.
    • Distillation
      • Analyte is boiled out of the water, and then the vapors can be cooled and re-condensed or trapped in a liquid form in a different container.
      • This way the analyte can be removed from the interfering substances in the original sample.
      • Often the sample is made acidic, alkaline or treated chemically in some other way before distillation, to convert the analyte into an easily evaporated form.

•  
  •  
    • Algae’s are used to measure the pollution of water.
      • Scientists determine the water pollution by listening to the sound waves produced by tiny pieces of floating algae.

Point Source Pollution comes from a specific identifiable source for example: Waste pipe factory that discharges wastewater, oil tank-disaster, Noise Pollution from a jet engine or Industries that pollute the air.

Non Point Source Pollution is not easily traceable to a specific point or source of pollution, for example: Acid Rain, Polluted City drain water or polluted runoff from agriculture.

Point Source Pollution

Main causes:

• Industry Pollution
  • Industries discharge wastewater and debris into rivers, streams and lakes.
    • Factories
      • Factories use water from rivers to power machinery or to cool down machinery.
      • Dirty water, containing chemicals is put back in the river. The used water that is discharged is warmer than the actual river. It will change and disturb the wildlife of the river.
      • Even though treated water might be sometimes cleaner than the water in the stream; treated, untreated or partially treated water may also contain small amounts of radiation or toxics that increase the temperature of water
        • Discharged wastewater, especially when it is untreated or only partially treated, may lower the amount of dissolved oxygen in the receiving stream. The oxygen is required by microorganisms that consume the organic material.
• Water Pollution
  • Water is mostly one of the main reasons of Point-Source Pollution.
  • Millions of gallons of wastewater are discharged from pipes, industries and sewage-treatment plants into rivers, stream, lakes and oceans.
  • Wastewater is a very potential source of pollution; it might contain organic or inorganic materials if it is untreated or only partially treated.
  • Oil tankers that spill its petroleum into the sea harm the natural habitat.
    • If oil enters a slow moving river, it prevents oxygen from entering the water.
    • In large water stretches, oil contaminates the water killing birds and fishes.
• Air Pollution
  • Factories, that release toxic chemicals from smokestacks into the air
• Noise Pollution
  • Noise pollution by jet engines.

Non-Point Source Pollution

Non-Point Source Pollution happens when:

• rain falls on the earth
• snow is melting
• water runs across fields and streets

In all these cases they take the topsoil, bacteria, fertilizers, pesticides, feces, oil spills from cars in the streets, and many other toxic or harmful materials with them.

Non Point pollution runs in almost all water bodies in the world.

Main causes:

• Agriculture
  • Fertilizers and Pesticides that are used for better growth of crops by farmers are washed through the soil by rain and end up in nearby rivers.
  • In most cases, it happens in large amounts which increase the nitrogen and phosphate concentration in rivers.
  • These chemicals support the rapid growth of algae, which takes away all oxygen in the water body, turns it green and causes all wildlife to die. This process is known as Eutrophication.¹
• Mines
  • When Mines are not properly constructed, operated or reclaimed they cause major Non-Point Pollution.
  • Sediments are washed into stream when reclamation is inadequate.
  • Impurities in coal create acids, when exposed to water or air; they are either washed into stream or seeped into groundwater.
• Acid Rain
  • Nature
    • Acid Rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to damage of trees at high elevations and many sensitive forest soils.
  • Humans
    • It destroys ancient buildings and regular buildings in cities and other places.
• People
  • Driving cars release dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from their exhaust pipe
  • People who throw empty pop cans on the ground or into ponds, rivers and lakes
  • Smoking Cigarettes
  • Household chemicals that are flushed down the drain of a sink or toilet

·         1 = Farmers that use pesticides to kill pests, poison the underground water, and rivers

o   Fertilizers contain artificial Nitrogen which unlike Natural Nitrogen that comes from legumes such as peas or beans or animal dung and feces, goes down to underground water and in lakes it creates algae which takes away the oxygen in the pond or lake and deprives little fish of sunlight

o   Layers of algae on the bottom of a like start rotting and produce H₂S, it contains Sulphur which is poisonous and it will extinguish life in the pond.

o   These chemicals can kill the bacteria in the lake (bacteria’s are decomposers and break down certain substances that are threatening to the lake) life will eventually die.

Conclusion

·         Preventing Point and Non-Point Source Pollution:

o   Plant grass, trees or shrubs in bare areas. This will reduce nonpoint source runoffs. They will reduce and absorb runoffs and their roots will hold the soil together, reducing erosion.

o   Properly dispose motor oil and household chemicals.

o   Use fertilizers and pesticides sparingly.

o   Recycle plastic, glass and paper.

o   Less trash means less material in the waste stream.

o   Report drastic events to nonpoint control programs, organizations or centers

o   Individual and Society have to be more aware of the environment and start treating it with respect.

a.       Why can economics be called „the study of scarcity and choice“?

b.      Why should everybody understand basic economics?

c.       What are the factors of production?

d.      How do different economic systems function?

Why can economics be called „the study of scarcity and choice“?

·         Economics is the study of choice under conditions of scarcity

·         Scarcity

o   Is the situation when the availability of certain resources is insufficient to satisfy the needs and desires of people.

o   As Individuals we face a scarcity of resources such as time, money and skill. If we had more of them, we would be able to gain more of the goods and services that we desire.

·         In economy, individual, firm and national choices have to be made.

o   Individuals have to make choices of how to maximize satisfaction in choosing what to buy and what to give up due to do limited income.

o   Firms and businesses have to decide what they produce, where they produce it, how they produce it and who they produce it for.

o   On a National level, decisions have to be made in which labor, land, capital or enterprise productions are made.

·         Choices

o   Thus, economics can be described as the study of choices, because it is affected by incentives and resources.

o   Economics aims to balance the unlimited desires with the limited resources we have. Its ultimate goal is to make the right choices.

o   If there is no scarcity and alternative use of available resources then there would be no economic problem.

Why should everybody understand basic economics?

·         Economics helps us to understand the society and global affairs.

·         If everybody understood the basics of economics, people would treat resources more careful and new solutions could be proposed.

·         Through this social science we can understand human behavior

·         We would be able to understand the increasing and sudden decrease in demand of goods and services, and be able to understand the Price Elasticity of Demands

o   The rate of response of quantity demanded due to a price change

What are the factors of production?

·         The different sorts of factors of production are simplified into three categories:

o   Land, Labor and Capital

·         Land

o   Is a natural resource, for example soil and minerals, payment for land is rent

o   Is a passive and limited factor of production

·         Labor

o   Are human efforts that are used in production. The payment for labor is wage.

·         Capital

o   Are human-made goods or means of production. The human resources are used in production of goods

§  Machinery, tools, buildings (also used in land-production)

§  Payment is called interest.

How do different economic systems function?

Market Economy

·         In Market Economy consumers and their buying decisions drive the economy.

·         A Country’s economic development depends on the assumptions made of the market; they play an important role in deciding the right path for development.

·         The prices in market economy are based on the division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are set by supply and demand.

·         Market Economy is free of governmental influence and other external interference.

o   National and state governments play a minor role.

§  Governments only make sure that the market is stable enough

o   There is no central planning in Market Economy.

Command Economy (Planned Economy, Centrally Planned Economy)

·         Means of production and economic activity is controlled by a central authority, such as the government.

·         Government planners decide which goods and services are produced and how they are distributed.

·         Supply and price are regulated by the government rather than the market force.

·         Example:

o   Command Economy in the Former Soviet Union

Mixed Economy

·         Private enterprises and a degree of state monopoly coexist

o   Usually public services

·         Modern economies are mixed and means of production are shared between the private and public sectors

·         In Mixed Economy both the government and private firms and business play an important role.

·         Government undertakes many activities of production, distribution and exchange.

o   There is still more freedom for the individual than in Command Economy

o   It is a Mixture of capitalism and socialism

Traditional Economy

·         In Traditional Economy, available resources are allocated by inheritance.

·         It is connected with subsistence farming, herding cattle and hunting and gathering

o   Little economic growth

·         It still found today in underdeveloped, agricultural parts of Africa, Asia and South America.

·         Once this system changes it usually turns into Market, Command or Mixed Economy.

Philosophical Projects

1)    “Is there a common substance in all things? What is it?”

Thales of Miletus

-          First to assign himself a project

-          His concentration on the basic physical substance of the world marks the birth of scientific thought

-          He looked for ´one´ common substance: water

-          According to Thales, Water is the original source of all things

o   It gives life and is needed for life, from it everything proceeds and everything is again resolved

o   It takes on different shapes, transformation change

-          All things are full of Gods

o   Perhaps he imagined that the earth was filled with tiny invisible “life-germs”

Anaximander of Miletus

-          The world is boundless à It is only a myriad of worlds that evolve and dissolve in the boundless.

-          Substance is nothing of the known ones

-          Because created things are limited, everything that comes before and after them must be boundless

Anaximenes

-          He adopted Thales’ idea of one basic physical substance and claimed “air” (vapor) to be the one common substance

-          He thought that water was condensed air

-          When it rains water is pressed from air, when water is pressed even more, it becomes earth, he thought

-          Fire, was rarified air

-          Air is the origin of earth, water and fire

o   Everything is air at different degrees of density

-          Thales and Anaximenes believed in one common substance from this world, unlike Anaximander.

-          All of the Miletian Philosopher believed in one single substance as the source of all things.

2)    Is there change?

Parmenides (Eleatics)

-          According to Parmenides there is no actual change, nothing that exists can become something else

-          He realized that nature is in a constant state of flux (change)

-          Thus he concluded that his senses gave him an incorrect picture of the world (illusion), senses cannot be trusted

-          He chose to rely on his reason, (faith in human reason, called rationalism

-          Human Reason is the primary source of our knowledge of the world

Heraclitus from Ephesus (Asia Minor)

-          He believed that constant change or flux was the most basic characteristic of nature.

-          Everything is in a constant movement or flow, panta rhei.

-          We cannot step twice into the same river

-          Second time that I step into the river, neither I nor the river are the same

-          He pointed out that the World is characterized by opposites, if we were never ill we would not know what it was to be well. If there was never war, we would not appreciate peace.

o   Without bad we wouldn’t know good

-          God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace. But he was not referring to the Gods of mythology

-          For Heraclitus God was something that embraced the whole world, he can be seen most clearly in the constant transformations and contrasts of nature

-          Heraclitus often referred to logos, meaning reason

-          This ‘universal reason’ is something that guides everything, and is the source of all.

-          Everyone is guided by this “universal reason” or “universal law” but most people live their lives by their individual reason.

-          In this midst of constant flux (change) and opposites, Heraclitus saw an entity or oneness which he called God or “logos”.

-          When it comes to how we gain knowledge, Heraclitus attributes a rather greater importance to our senses, thus he can be considered an early empiricist.

Empedocles (Sicily)

-          Empedocles believed that the source of all matter cannot be one single element. He thought that both Parmenides and Heraclitus were right and wrong

-          According to Empedocles nature consists of four elements: earth, air, fire and water.

o   They combine in varying proportions to form something

-          Empedocles found that the cause of both philosophers disagreement were that they had assumed the presence of only one element.

-          Pure water cannot turn into a fish or butterfly, so it is going to stay pure water

-          Parmenides was right that nothing changes, but he also agreed with Heraclitus that we must trust our senses, we must believe what we see is precisely that nature changes.

-          Neither water nor air can alone change into a butterfly

-          The source of nature cannot possibly be one “single” element.

-          He also pointed out that our eye consists of the four elements, so we can perceive the four.

o   The earth in my eyes perceives what is of earth in surroundings, the air perceives what is of air, the fire perceives what is of fire and the water perceives what is of water

o   Had the eyes lacked any of these four substances, I would have not seen all of nature.

-          There are two forces that combine the elements together and separate them: Love and Strife

-          If a flower or an animal dies, the four elements separate again. Therefore it wouldn’t be correct to say that “everything” changes. Basically nothing changes.

-          The four elements are combined and separated-only to be combined again. The four elements stay untouched.

Anaxagoras

-          He also couldn’t agree that water or air could be the only substances that might be transformed into everything we see in natural world. But he also couldn’t accept that earth, air, fire and water could be transformed into blood and bone

-          Nature is built up of an infinite number of minute particles

-          He believed that nature is made up of “something of everything”

Democritus

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which the consequences of behaviors tends to influence that same behavior in the future. In contrast to Classical Conditioning where the response is stimulated, Operant Conditioning gives the opportunity of learning a broad range of new responses. The first respond and then the consequence that follows tends to change this response in the future. The consequences of behaviors are manipulated in order to increase or decrease the frequency of a response or to shape an entirely new response. Behavior that is followed by rewarding consequences tends to be repeated. Behavior that is ignored or punished is less likely to be repeated.

The beginning

Edward Thorndike

• Was an American psychologist who started conducting experiments to study animal intelligence. He was very much influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution
• He investigated trial-and-error-learning. One of his best known experiments that Thorndike conducted is the one, where he placed a hungry cat into a Puzzle box, designed to that the animal had to manipulate a simple mechanism, pressing a pedal to escape and claim a food reward outside the box. Each time after claiming the reward the cat was returned to the box. After many trials through trial and error the cat learned to open the door almost immediately after being placed in the box.
• Thorndike formulated several laws of learning, the most important being the law of effect, which states that the consequence or effect of a response will determine whether the tendency to respond in the same way in the future will be strengthened or weakened. Responses closely followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated.

B.F. Skinner

·         He employed a technique that is particularly useful in conditioning complex behaviors, called Shaping. In shaping any movement in the direction of the desired response is awarded, gradually guiding the responses closer and closer to the ultimate goal. Shaping consists in rewarding gradual successive approximations toward the desired response. One of the experiments that Skinner conducted was placing a rat in a Skinner box and the rat had to press a lever to gain a reward of food pellets or water from a dispenser. First the rat may be rewarded simply for turning into the direction of the lever, after that the rat is only awarded if it moves closer to the lever and at the end the rat is only rewarded if it presses the lever.

The main elements involved

Superstitious Behavior

·         Occurs when an individual falsely believes that a connection exists between an act and its consequence.

o   Gambler

o   Skinner, pigeons

Extinction: Withholding Reinforcers

·         In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when reinforcers are withheld.

o   Rat in Skinners Box will stop pressing pedal when it is no longer rewarded with food.

o   Spontaneous Recovery might occur as well in Operant Conditioning.

·         Responses that are followed by reinforcers tend to be repeated again and responses that are not followed by reinforcers will occur less and less and eventually die out.

Generalization and Discrimination

• Generalization occurs in Operant Conditioning.
  • A pigeon that is reinforced for pecking at a yellow disk is likely to peck at another disk similar color.
• Discrimination involves learning to distinguish between a stimulus that has been reinforced and other stimuli that may be very similar.
• We learn to discriminate when our response to the original stimulus is reinforced but responses to similar stimuli are not reinforced.
  • The pigeon would be reinforced for pecking at the yellow disk but not for pecking at the orange or red disk.
  • Discriminative Stimulus signals whether a certain response or behavior is likely to be followed by reward or punishment. E.g. if the pigeon’s peck at a lighted disk results in a reward but a peck at an unlighted disk does not, the pigeon will soon be pecking at the lighted disk but not at the unlighted one.

Different kinds of Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

• Like a reward, it is a positive consequence. If applied after a response, it increases the probability of that response.
  • Example: Payam studied hard on this Exit Question  in order to get a good grade, the award of a good grade would be a positive reinforcer for Payam

Negative Reinforcement

• The opposite of positive reinforcement, if someone tries to escape an unpleasant situation in order to strengthen or increase the probability of a response.
• Negative reinforcement terminates unpleasant situation:
  • If people turn on the air conditioner to terminate the heat.

Primary Reinforcer

• Fulfills basic physical needs for survival and does not depend on learning.
  • Food, Water, Sleep and termination of pain and sex.

Secondary Reinforcer

• Secondary Reinforces are acquired or learned by association with other reinforcers.
  • For example: Money, praise, good grades, awards, applause and attention

Continuous Reinforcement

• Reinforcing every correct response, it is the most efficient way to condition a new response.

Partial Reinforcement

• After a response has been conditioned, partial reinforcement is more effective in maintaining or increasing the rate of response.
  • Only some responses are reinforced, not all.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• The Fixed-Ratio Schedule
  • On a fixed-ratio schedule reinforcers are given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses.
    • Example:  Payments to factory workers according to the number of units the produce.
• The Variable-Ratio Schedule
  • A reinforcer is given after a varying number of nonreinforced responses based on an average ratio.
    • Example: An insurance salesperson, working on a variable-ratio schedule, may sell policies to 2 clients in a row but have to contact 20 more prospects before making another sale. Slot machines, roulette wheels, and most other games of chance pay on variable-ratio schedule.
• Fixed Interval Schedule
  • A specific time interval must pass before a response is reinforced
    • Example: People, working on salary are reinforced on the fixed-interval ratio. If you have 4 tests scheduled during the semester, your study responses will probably drop to zero right after the first test, gradually accelerate and perhaps reach a frenzied peak just before the next scheduled exam, after the second exam the whole routine will start all over again.
• Variable Interval Schedule
  • A Schedule in which a reinforcer is given after the first correct response following a varying time of nonreinforcement based on an average time.
    • Example: If pop-quizzes were given regularly based on Variable Interval Schedule, study responses would be higher than if you average only one quiz per month. You cannot predict when the pop quiz will be given.
•  Partial Reinforcement Effect
  • Partial Reinforcement results in a greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement. This result is known as Partial Reinforcement Effect.
  • The lower the percentage of responses that are reinforced, the longer extinction will take when reinforcement is withheld.
    • If parents never reward nagging, the behavior will eventually extinguish, if they will give in occasionally, it will persist and be extremely hard to extinguish

Implications for our Education and in our daily life

Punishment

• Is in many ways the opposite of reinforcement. It tends to lower the probability of a response by following it with an unpleasant consequence. It can be accomplished by either adding an unpleasant stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus.
  • Example: If teenagers fail to clean their room after many requests to do so, their parents could ground them for the weekend – a punishment. An alternative approach would be to use negative reinforcement – to tell them they are grounded until the room is clean.

The Disadvantages of Punishment:

• Punishment does not extinguish an undesirable behavior, it rather suppresses that behavior when the punishing person is present. As soon as the threat of punishment is removed that behavior will most likely continue.
  • Example: If punishment (imprisonments, fines etc.) did extinguish criminal behavior, there would be fewer repeat offenders in our criminal justice system.
• Another problem with punishment is that it indicates which behaviors are unacceptable but does not help people develop more appropriate behaviors.
• Punishment causes fear, anger and hostility toward the punisher. à It leads to aggression.

Alternatives to Punishment

• In many cases the use of extinction and positive and negative reinforcement lead to the desired outcomes without the negative side effects of punishment.
• The best way to extinguish behavior problems is by removing the rewarding consequences of undesirable behavior.
  • Punishment should not be completely dispensed, it is necessary in some cases to avoid the child from a potentially disastrous outcome.

Making Punishment more Effective

• Punishment is most effective when it is applied during the misbehavior or as soon afterward as possible.
  • Timing, Intensity and consistency of the punishment influence the effectiveness of punishment.
• The longer the delay between the response and the punishment, the less effective it is in suppressing the response.
• The intensity of the punishment has to match the seriousness of the offence.
• Punishment should never be given in anger, but it should be applied consistently.
  • Example: A 200$ ticket is more likely to suppress the urge to speed than a 2$ ticket.
• Both parents have to react to the punishment the same way.
  • They cannot ignore misbehavior the one day and punish it the other, they have to be consistent.

Absolute Rulers

Human Rights

·         Henry IV (King in 1589)

o   1598, Edict of Nantes, gave  legal rights to Huguenots

·         Louis XIV (King in 1643)

o   1685, he repealed the Edict of Nantes as he regarded Huguenots as  a threat because of their high social standing

§  Emigration of about 200,000 Huguenots

Absolutism

·         Henry IV

o   Acted without approval of Estate Generals.

§  Foundation of absolutism in Bourbon Dynasty

o   Henry and Cardinal Richelieu strengthened power of monarchy

·         Louis XIV

o   Took power and rights away from nobles but freed them from taxes and kept them close to himself at Versailles.

§  Due to the Fronde uprising which he experienced as a child in Paris.

o   1661, Louis XIV claimed to be Absolute Ruler

§  L’état c’est moi

Age of Prosperity

·         Louis XIV

o   Continued reducing their power and chose his advisors from the Middle class not from the nobility like Richelieu.

o   Improved the Arts, design and language of France.

o   Like Henry IV Louis XIV strengthened the French army

o   Conflict

§  More powerful than Henry IV, fought more continental wars:

·         1667-68, War of Devolution

·         1672-78 War against Holland

·         1689-97 War of the league of Augsburg

·         1702-1714 War of Spanish Succession

§  After H.R.E. Charles II died, he stated in his will that Philip of Anjou (grandson of Louis XIV) should inherit the throne and become King of Spain

·         All other European nations feared a Spanish-French alliance

o   Balance of Power Conflict

·         1701-1713, War of Spanish Succession broke out.

o   1713, Treaty of Utrecht accepted Philip as King of Spain but forbade a Spanish-French alliance

·         Henry IV

o   Henry IV helped rebuild treasuries of France; Louis XIV left it nearly broken.

o   Solved the religious rifts between Catholics and Protestants (Edict of Nantes)

Periods of Change

England’s struggle for Independence

·         Henry VII

o   United England after 85years of civil war by defeating nobles who claimed the throne

§  1485, Lancastrian Victory at Battle of Bosworth

o   1485 became King of England, first of Tudor Dynasty

·         Henry VIII

o   Broke off from Catholic Church and Created Church of England

§  Tensions between Catholicism, Spain and England

Strong Monarchy

·         Henry VII

o   Rebuilt England’s commercial prosperity

§  Encouraged expansion of foreign trade

·         Treaty with Denmark for fishing rights

·         Agreement with Florence to sell English Wool

§  Improved collection of taxes

§  Careful Government spending

§  Avoided War, used diplomacy such as royal marriages to strengthen England’s interests abroad

o   Building of the navy

o   Left the throne to his son Henry VIII prosperous without debts 1.5 million pounds

·         Henry VIII

o   Continued building navy

o   Fought wars on the continent

§  1513, Victory against the Scots who invaded England

§  1522, England allied with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V against France

§  1543 War against France again with Charles V, 1544 won him Boulogne.

o   Broke off with Catholic Church

Rise and decline of Spanish Empire

Ferdinand I

·         1556-64 Holy Roman Emperor

o   Gave Spain, the Netherlands, southern Italy and Overseas’ empire to Philip II.

·         Created absolute monarchy in the regions of Austria, Bohemia and royal Hungary

·         1547 Suppressed Protestants in Bohemia

Philip II

·         Ruled from 1556-1598 as most powerful monarch in Spanish history.

·         Defender of the Faith

o   Wanted to end Protestantism

o   Concerned about religious minorities

§  Marranos

§  Morriscos

o   Supported the Inquisitions

o   After revolt of 1569, Moriscos were expelled from country in 1609

·         Wars

o   1567 he wanted to impose Catholicism on protestant dutch in the Netherlands

§  They rebelled

o   1581 Dutch declared independence from Spain

o   1588 Spanish Armada

§  Spain loss marked the beginning of its decline

·         Increase Habsburg Power

o   Built El Escorial palace

§  Served as royal court, art gallery, monastery

o   Made Castile center of Spain and empire

o   1590 he put down the revolt of Aragon against Castile

Politics

Finances

·         Debts

o   Henry VIII increased England’s debts by building the navy

o   Elizabeth I continued building the navy

o   She had too high spending

·         Solutions

o   Elizabeth tried to redeem the debts as much as possible.

§  Fundraisers

§  Selling royal titles and lands

§  Stopped building royal palaces               

·         Recycled bottles

·         Candles would be blown out at night

Laws

·         1563, Statute of Apprentice declared work to be a social and moral duty

o   Increased taxes, which redeemed the debts

·         1597, The Poor Laws made

o   Made local areas responsible for their own homeless and unemployed.

Foreign Policy

·         Elizabeth I

o   1588, Spanish Armada, war with Spain, Victory for England

o   Balance of Power

§  England worked to balance the power of European nations.

§  England and Spain allied to keep the French out of the Netherlands.

§  When Netherlands rebelled against Philip II England supported them in gaining their independence.

·         Henry VIII

o   1513, Victory against the Scots who invaded England

o   1522, England allied with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V against France

o   1543 War against France again with Charles V, 1544 won him Boulogne.

Religion

Break-off from Rome

·         Henry VIII broke the ties with the Catholic Church of Rome

o   Main reason was because he wanted to divorce his Catholic wife Catherina of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

o   Created the Church of England

§  Tensions between Catholicism and England

Division between Catholics and Protestants

·         During the short reign of Mary, religious rifts increased

o   1555, After marriage to Philip II she restored Catholicism

o   Burned 300 Protestants at the stake of heresy

·         Elizabeth I eased the rifts by tolerating Catholicism and Protestants

o   Elizabeth as the synthesizer between Henry VIII and Mary

§  Henry against Catholics, Mary against Protestants, Elizabeth tolerated both

Conclusion

-          After all, Henry VIII was a very strong leader in the Tudor Dynasty. But he was more focused on himself than the true interest of the country. The split of the Church was a major step for the independence of England from the Pope. Still his intentions were different. This was an effective step for England’s future

·         Elizabeth was just what England needed during that time. Henry VIII set on the one hand a good beginning for her by accomplishing to break off from the Catholic Church and thus secure England’s independence, but on the other hand left a country with huge debts and religious rifts amongst its people.

o   The Short reign of Mary worsened this issue

·         These conditions demanded a strong leader who would emerge to:

o   Redeem England’s huge debts

o   Balance the powers in Europe to maintain peace

o   Regulate England’s internal affairs

o   Someone who would settle the religious rifts in England.

Internal Conflict

Independence

·         Magyars of Hungary claimed independence from Austria.

·         With Russian aid Hungary was restored to the Austrian empire

•  
  • Nationalist Magyars were crushed

Revolutionaries

·         Ideas

o   French revolution of 1848 swept throughout Europe in particular Austria-Hungary

§  Nationalism

§  Freedom of Speech

§  Peasant relief of Feudalism

§  Representative Government

o   Some wanted political reform and others wanted to overthrow the Government

§  Internal Struggle

·         Defeat

o   Francis-Joseph played one nationalist fraction against another

o   Conflicting Goals, Disunity

o   This gave the conservatives the chance to crush the liberals and radicals and to once more occupy the capital

o   Francis Joseph dissolved the revolutionary assembly

Conflict

·         Francis Jospeh struggled to maintain his empire due to many countries in the empire who wanted to be independent and were affected by nationalistic ideas

·         With the help of Russia he defeated the Hungarian nationalists who, in 1848, declared Hungary as independent

·         The Ausgleich of 1867 divided the Austrian empire into a Dual Monarchy.

External Conflict

·         Emergence of New countries

o   The new established countries challenged the dominance of Austria in central Europe

o   Bismarck’s goals and ambitions caused the exclusion of Austria from the German Confederation.

o   Seven Weeks’ War 1866

§  Loss of influence over all German States

§  Loss of the province of Lombardy to Italy, 1859

·         Congress of Berlin, 1878

o   Emergence of Serbia

o   Capture of Bosnia and Herzegowina by Austria to prevent their independence

·         Slavs

o   Encouragement of nationalism through increased power of Serbia

o   Threat to Austria-Hungary by Slavic groups

o   Pan-Slavism promoted by Russia

·         Alliance

o   1879, Austria-Hungary and Germany create an Alliance

Decline of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire

The revolution of 1848 in France marked the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, because in that same year nationalistic groups rebelled against the government and the idea of freedom became widespread. It is important to analyze all factors that contributed to its steady decline. Austro-Hungary was weakened through its external losses of land and influence from other countries. From all sides Austro-Hungary was torn apart. It was only a matter of time until it would eventually fall apart.

Wrong political moves

• Asked German Confederation to take military action against Prussia when Bismarck ordered troops into Austrian-occupied Holstein
  • Francis-Joseph made wrong assessments about his own power. He shouldn’t have taken the step giving Germany a reason do declare war on them
  • He should have reconsidered his weak position over the German influence