Psychogeography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychogeography - Essay Example In some cases, psychogeography is also concern on how the environment could influence how a person thinks (Prescott-Steed, 2013, p. 46). The study of psychogeography is significant in the profession of engineers and architects. Specifically the common elements associated with the study of psychogeography include: cultural and social critique, marginalized urban experiences, past experiences, re-enchantment of cityscape, space, spatial history, trauma, and walking. In relation to the common elements of psychogeography, this report aims to critically analyze and compare the context of Alan Bennet’s â€Å"A life like other people† (2009) with Matt Condon’s â€Å"Brisbane† (2010). Psychogeographic Comparison between the Text Written by Bennett (2009) and Condon (2010) In relation to the elements of psychogeography, there are similarities in the context of extracts take from the works of Bennett (2009) and Condon (2010). One of the most obvious similarities bet ween these two context is that the past experiences, regardless of whether or not the said experience is traumatic or a happy event a person has on a specific place, can last for a lifetime. For instance, Bennett (2009) mentoned that after so many years, he remembered a man who drowned in a canal situated close to the university boathouse at Calverley. This particular event has created a negative experience for Bennett. Bennett (2009) also remembered the hill that runs down to Rodley, the canal that runs parallel the railway, and in between the canal and the railway runs the Aire river. All these fixed environmental features brought back some old memories to Bennett. At the age of 20, Condon (2010) left Brisbane – the place where he was born. After 47 long years, Condon (2010) decided to go back to his hometown again. He live in the same house which is situated hundreds of metres away from the ponds. Condon mentioned that he remembered or at least he was able to imagine his c hildhood days within the same geographic area. Despite all the significant changes that took place within the same environment (i.e. the presence of computer stores, tanning salons, office buildings, and the bitumen road), Condon (2010) felt that nothing much has significantly changed due to the fact that the river, hills, and gullies are still situated in the same place. Basically, these two (2) entirely different scenarios clearly strongly suggest that the act of going back to the same geographic environment, regardless of the changes that took place in the city, could bring out the same old memories and/or the same old feeling each person had while staying in the same place. Change is the only thing that is constant in this world. In relation to the concept of urbanization, psychogeography is commonly used in the process of enabling human beings to change the urban life (Coverley, Psychogeography, 2010, p. 10). Within this context, psychogeographers usually aim to examine the imp act of different ambience of urban places on the feelings, emotions, mental stability, and socializing behaviour of people (Del Casino et al., 2011, p. 285; Prescott-Steed, 2013, p. 46). This further explains why most of the modern architects today are carefully analyzing how light can significantly affect positive ambience in space when creating a new architectural design (Knabb, 2007, p. 4). Re-enchantment of the cityscape is another

What Is the Principle-Agent Relationship Essay Example for Free

What Is the Principle-Agent Relationship Essay A great majority of social and economic relationships are of the principle agent type. The principle-agent problem is a game-theoretic situation where; there is a player (the principal) and one more other players (the agents). This is the problem of how the principle can motivate the agent to act for the principles benefit rather than follow self interest. â€Å"The problem is how to devise incentives which lead to report truthfully to the principle on the facts they face and the actions they take, and act for the principles benefit. Incentives include rewards such as bonuses or promotion for success, and penalties such as demotion or dismissal for failure to act in the principles interest. † (Black, J. 2003). The actions however, may not always be apparent so it is not usually adequate for the principle to state payment on the actions of the agents. The reasons why we expect the public sector to be inefficient has to do with the incentives and restrictions of the individual and organisational levels. There are at least two important reasons why perfect contingency markets have not developed as stated by Broadway Wildasin (1984). The first reason is that the transaction costs of establishing such markets might be high relative to the number of traders. The other reason is the observable fact of asymmetric information, also known as the principal agent problem. Two particularly significant consequences of this reliance are â€Å"moral hazard† and â€Å"adverse selection†. Daniel W. Bromley (1989), states that the principal must rely on indicators of success rather than success itself (adverse selection), while the agent directs attention toward the satisfaction of proxy measures rather than toward the success of the task itself. (moral hazard). The â€Å"hazard† in moral hazard refers to the fact that the individual has an incentive to direct behaviour toward proxy measures rather than toward the desired goal. This redirection can result in creating incentives for perverse behaviour. The â€Å"adverse† in adverse selection refers to the fact that the establishment of monitoring criteria leads to perverse measurement. Individuals who wish to take out insurance possess information that insurers don’t. The insured persons (the agents) can exploit this informational advantage in dealing with insurers (the principles) in various ways (Broadway Wildasin, 1984). Moral hazard occurs when the insured can, through actions unobservable to the insurer, influence wither the probability of a loss occurring, or the magnitude of the loss. For example, a person can influence the probability of an accident by the degree of preventive action taken. If the quantity of preventive action is not observable to the insured, market failure can result. Alternatively the standard example of how the insured influences the size of the loss is medical insurance. In the event that illness occurs, the insured can overuse medical services. Adverse selection occurs when there are several different types of insured persons, distinguishing from one another by the probabilities of a bad state of nature occurring. Thus, for some persons might be high risk and others low risk, and the insurers cannot tell one from the other. Automobile insurers cannot tell careful from careless drivers except imperfectly through such indicators as sex, and family status. Equilibrium may not exist in the presence of adverse selection and even if it does it may not be efficient. A problem related to adverse selection is the simple lack of information by market participants. The diversification of the Pareto-Optimality of competitive markets assumed that individuals and firms have complete knowledge regarding the availability and attributes of all goods and factors. Such will not always be the case. Consumers may not know the implications of various products for their health or safety, nor will they have full information on the relative merits of various competing consumer items. Firms do not always know the quality of the labour force they are hiring. The provision of information has the attributes of a public good, especially the joint consumption property. Thus, information on product safety and health hazards is often publicly provided. (e. g the Food and Drug Administration). Similarly the education system provides, in addition to its training role, an informational function known as screening. That is by attaching levels of achievement to persons coming out of the education system (e. g. egrees, diplomas, grades), information is being provided to prospective employers regarding the potential productivity of the person. Presumably, the practice of licensing various professions or trades plays a similar screening role, however imperfect it is. The dissemination of information can, for our purposes, be considered as a particular type of public good. Due to the non existence of perfect contingency markets, Pareto optimality does not exist in the real world, and this may influence government behaviour. According to Brown Jackson (1990), inefficiency in the public sector arises when there is an asymmetry of information between those who demand services and those who supply them. This problem is predominantly evident in education and healthcare due to imperfect information. For instance, a patient (the principle) seeks information and advice from her GP or consultant (the agent) concerning her medical condition (i. e. health status). The doctor has specialist technical knowledge and subsequently in providing information to the patient the doctor also advises them on what should be done next. Therefore, because the doctor has the technical skills to make decisions in the patient’s best interests; in most cases they make the decisions for the patients. Had the patient been fully informed and competent enough to assess the technical options, the doctor wouldn’t have to stand in place of the patient as they would have been able to make their own decisions. The public sector consists of professional groups such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, planners etc. Each of these professions holds their own norms and standards that have a hold upon the level and quality of their services. If a lawyer puts professional standards above the interests of the client then this will result in allocative efficiency as they are acting in their own interests as agents rather than those of the principal. Another example of principal and agent is that between voters and elected politicians. â€Å"The rationale for the existence of a representative democracy is that politicians, because of their specialization, are better informed than the general voting public and stand as agents of the voters. † (Brown Jackson, 1990. p. 204). If politicians get the wrong idea about the preferences of the principles then there will be allocative inefficiency once again. In some cases, the suppliers of public services are not exploiting the customers/voters for profit but rather that in serving their own interests â€Å"they may tend to over produce or to produce a quality of service in excess of what tax payers would be prepared to pay if they were better informed. † (Brown Jackson, 1990. p. 204) Due to budget constraints, public firms do not have the financial capabilities to provide powerful incentives unlike private firms. Bonuses are not awarded for good performance nor can individuals be fired for misperfomance. Subsequently, public agencies are systematically less efficient as individuals are less complacent to be efficient or to provide the best services to their customers. Even if they do have any incentive, more often their aim directed at political goals rather than the objectives. Bureaucrats for instance, as explained by Stiglitz (2000) may not receive ample pay checks or considerable dividends from increased efficiency, but they often seem to enjoy the power and prestige associated with being in charge of a larger organization. They attempt to maximize the size of their bureaucracy by reducing efficiency. The only thing that stops them from doing this is competition between bureaucracies. W. A Niskanen, implies that the increasing centralization of government bureaucracies has reduced competition, in doing so bureaucrats can pursue their interests at the expense of efficiency and the public interest. This is an example of the principle-agent problem. â€Å"Here, the problem is, how do the citizens (the â€Å"principles†) get their employees, public servants (the â€Å"agents†), to act in their interests? † (Stiglitz, 2000 p. 202) Revise.

The Pit and the Pendulum :: Pit and the Pendulum Essays

The Pit and the Pendulum "The place where you die is where you become young again." The accused in "The Pit and the Pendulum" is obviously being persecuted. For what religion or practice we do not know. For what crime it is not said. The prisoner does not even question his guilt or innocence. The accused in this story, to whom Poe does not give a name, is subjected to three life threatening situations. Poe, along with other English Romantics believed that being born was actually coming to the end of another existence. With this in consideration could the tomb in which the prisoner was confined be thought of as a womb? Could then the pit be considered a tunnel that leads to a New World? Poe utilizes one of the most common and universal phobias in "The Pit and the Pendulum," which is the darkness. Imagine you are condemned to death and wake to find that you cannot see your hand two inches from your face. Darkness commonly evokes feelings of anxiety, but under these circumstances I would think absolute terror. The tomb is dark, and only by an accident does the accused escape the pit and certain death. The victim searched for a rock in order to estimate the depths, which he just avoided. As the masonry hit the water far below, a light burst into his vault and a door swiftly shut. The slamming door was his first awareness that he was being monitored constantly; his torturers were adjusting his torments to his abilities at avoiding disaster. The prisoner wakes only to realize that he is strapped onto a board and bound by a "surcingle". The word he uses is significant; it can apply to the binding of saddle on a horse, or to the binding of a priest's cassock. He perceived himself as bound like an animal by the belt of a priest, symbolically bound to the demented will of his prison-masters. Far above his bound body, on the ceiling of the chamber, was the figure of Time holding what appeared to be a scythe. Upon closer examination what appeared to be a scythe was a giant, razor sharp pendulum making a slow and deadly descent. One could interpret the figure of Time as the character's realization that his time is running out. I think Poe's introduction of the figure of Time suggests to all of us that we have only the time that is given us.

A Bill for the Minorities

Racial discrimination had been the subject of debate in the congress for a long time. Often times, members of the congress question the extent of efficiency of execution of the law regarding racial discrimination among the citizens of the United States. The minorities (specifically the blacks) were more likely to be isolated from the native whites.The minorities had been somewhat deprived of certain rights which the whites chiefly enjoy. However, this discrimination set between the minorities and the whites had been resolved through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 originally proposed by the late President John F.  Kennedy.The bill was not officially pursued by the mentioned President because of his assassination. His Vice President, Lyndon Johnson who took his place as president, then signed the law (Civil Rights Act of 1964) on July 2, 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 favored most minorities thus giving them equal opportunity in terms of job, education and other services as that of the whites. As stated in the opening paragraph of the bill, it is an Act:â€Å"To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 1997).† The law ‘protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color as well as national origin, sex, or religion’ (Facts about Race/Color Discrimination, 2002). Rise of the Minorities Equal imposition of rights on employment, education, voting, and other services provided by the State brought the minorities to a r ise. The provision of the 1964 Act brings forth the protection of several classes including ‘race, color, sex, creed, and age’ (The National Archives, archives.gov). President Kennedy’s aim to end discrimination among the people living in the state causes a reverse condition. In order to go behind with the rules set by the law, some institutions are making policies which are basically incline to favor minorities more than the white Americans. This scenario can be reflected in campus premises. Granting of scholarships to students on the basis of financial needs encouraged the diversity of minorities in the school premises to increase (Education, 1990).In addition, since most families belonging to the minority groups received minimal amount of income, the scholarships provided will be in no doubt be granted to their children. Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act deals about the desegration of public education which states that survey concerning the lack of availab ility of â€Å"equal educational opportunities for individuals by reason of race, color, religion, or national origin in public educational institutions at all levels in the United States must be thoroughly conducted and reported (Civil rights Act 1964).† Institutions granting scholarships seem to misapprehend the statement mentioned above. ‘Equal educational opportunities’ should be granted fairly to all individuals not only to few numbers of people thus having this basis is considered as illegal and clearly violates the law. Furthermore, it can be clearly reflected that minorities were the most favored in this scenario. The scenario in the learning place proves that the civil rights act of 1964 was indeed the most far-reaching and effective piece of legislation regarding minorities in American history.In an article cited in ‘the 1964 Civil Rights Act to the Present,’ it is said that ‘integration of southern districts was progressing, black co llege students were enrolling in previously white colleges are at a greater rate. ’ Thus, such integration provided both the minorities and the whites to have equal access to sophisticated facilities and obtain same degree of education. Minorities also benefited in terms of employment upon the approval of the bill. Discrimination in hiring personnel for a job was completely eliminated.The law addresses employers to set aside factors including race, gender, sex, etc in hiring, promotion as well as termination of individuals in the job. Even in the political arena, the minorities had gained their right to be elected. Some of the African Americans who were elected as public officers were Edward Brooke, Carl Stokes, Douglas Wilder and Gen. Colin Powell (The 1964 Civil Rights Act to the Present). Conclusion Truly, the Civil Rights Act pioneered by the late President John F. Kennedy marks a change in the American society.Most of the minorities at present times are enjoying privileg es which they were deprived before. The integration between the whites and the minorities resulted in the success of a number of blacks in the facets of business, education, government and other fields. The affirmative action taken into account by policy makers put an end on the severe discrimination experienced by the minorities. However, this change in the American society also opens the idea of reverse discrimination between the whites and the non-whites.The imposition of the equal rights between the two classes had advance the liberty of the minorities but in contrary infringe the liberty of the whites. Racial discrimination must be looked at in both ways. It is unjust to only consider the minorities as the victims of discrimination and is being deprive of certain rights. As for what is happening at present times, it can be reflected that the aim of the proponents of the bill to end discrimination was somehow ineffective.The law seems to focus its eyes to the protection of the m inorities while concerns regarding the whites had been somewhat taken for granted thus, equality between the two classes should be fairly treated and address in the congress. Work Cited EEOC, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (1997, January 15). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://www. eeoc. gov/policy/vii. html. The National Archives, archives. gov. Teaching with Documents: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://www. archives. gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/. Historical documents. com. Civil Rights Act (1964). Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://www. historicaldocuments. com/CivilRightsAct1964. htm. The 1964 Civil Rights Act to the Present. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/history/A0858852. html. The New York Times. (2008, May 25) Education. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9 C0CE7D8133FF930A25751C1A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. .

Improve Own Practice in Learning and Development Essay

Why L&D practitioners must engage in reflective practice and continue CPD. Analyse own values, beliefs and attitudes and the impact on their practice. Engaging in Reflective practice is associated with the improvement of the quality of care, stimulating personal, professional growth and the closing gap between theory between theory and practice. J Dewey was among the first to consider the questions of psychology and the theory of knowledge, I liked Brookfield (1998) as his concept explained discussing and talking and contemplating through the learner’s eyes. The appeal of the use of reflective practice is that as teaching and learning are complex, and there is not one right approach, reflecting on different versions of teaching, and reshaping past and current experiences will lead to improvement. Schà ¶n’s (1983) reflection–in-action assists practitioners in making the professional knowledge that they will gain from their experience in the classroom an explicit part of their decision-making. Research base practices strongly supports the importance of the teacher/ facilitator being a highly trained, reflective professional. The importance of reflecting on what you are doing, as part of the learning process, has also been empathised by many investigators, for example the second stage of Kolb’s (1984) learning cycle, reflective observation. Reflective observation can be an important tool in practice based professional learning settings where individuals learning from their own professional experiences, rather than from formal teaching or knowledge transfer, maybe the most important source of personal professional development and improvement. Another way to look at it is through Lewin/Kolb’s single-loop learning, and the Argyris and Schà ¶n concept double-loop learning which were mapped from the works of Ashby (1960) while working on cybernetics. Single-loop learning is like a thermostat that learns when it is too hot or too cold and turns the heat on or off. The thermostat can perform this task because it can receive information (the temperature of the room) and take  corrective action. Double-loop learning occurs when an error is detected and corrected in ways that involve the modification of an organization’s underlying norms, policies and objectives. Double loop learning uses feedback from past actions to question assumptions underlying current views. Davies (2012) explained the benefits to reflective practice Increased learning from an experience for situation Promotion of deep learning Identification of personal and professional strengths and areas for improvement Identification of educational needs Acquisition of new knowledge and skills Further understanding of own beliefs, attitudes and values Encouragement of self-motivation and self-directed learning Could act as a source of feedback Possible improvements of personal and clinical confidence . There are a number of ways to monitor your performance regularly, capturing incidental/experienced learning by keeping a self-reflective journal, by reading it over and over again I can begin to analyse achievements however small they seem and develop a greater level of self-awareness. This is where I try to recognise the needs to enhance my own learning so that a bigger benefit for the learner to progress and achieve something in their future. Firstly I identified my own preferred learning style as everyone learns in different ways. There are many ways to establish your preferred way of learning and as supported by Reece and Walker (2009), â€Å"All students are individuals and no two students learn the same way†. To move forward in life, we all need to improve our ideas, broaden relevant knowledge and skills. Getting constructive feedback (for example, learners, peers, mentors and colleagues) are important aspects of reflection. Performance indicators of the organisation are identified, it shows whether I am current with the ways of facilitating and is it having an impact on learners. It will also show how I am performing, what is going well and where I need training or guidance i.e.  learning Microsoft office at college, enabling me to have computing vocational skills. Utilising the S.W.O.T analysis where I am able to identify my strengths: Supportive Judicious Communication skills Imaginative and observant I am able to identify my weaknesses: Inability to refrain from helping Being too talkative Too altruistic This ensures me I am performing to the best that I can and that I am meeting all the standards and expectations within the organisations policies and procedures. The guidance of a mentor is an advantage for they have had similar experiences and understanding of their issues with self-development. There will be times when I will need support and advice to move my career forward and achieve life goals, so it is best to have an effective relationship. Some factors that help to build an effective relationship; Mutual respect Honesty and direct communication Acceptance and flexibility Commitment Trust Some shared values Willingness, to work through obstacles â€Å"Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills,  improve their performance and become the person they want to be† (E Parsole, The oxford school of coaching & mentoring) I believe that all individuals are created equally, thus all have the ability to learn equally. Resisting from a classroom culture of control, with the correct amount of care and tutoring, learners would be able to participate in classes with simplified understanding. Providing adequate feedback is an important aspect, I always try to rephrase a question with learners so not only do they understand and try to answer correctly, they feel great when they receive feedback which motivates them to learn. When I provide learners with time and space to be aware of their own knowledge and their own thinking, student ownership increases. Research shows that metacognition can be taught (Visible Learning, 2009). Using reflective practice I am able to instil values that the learner can use in their life and work.

American Exceptionalism essays

American Exceptionalism essays Is America better than all of the other countries in this world because we offer more opportunity and hope for humanity? Are our constitutional ideals that are focused on personal and economic freedom giving us a top seat to other cultures and nations that share this earth with us? A lot of Americas would like to think so. We live in a country that is arguably one of the freest nations, not only personally, but also politically. We are governed by public and private interests, which are based on our very own constitution that is set up to give everyone an opportunity to succeed in our growing culture. American exceptionalism is partially a reflection of our nations long history, but Americans can tend to be ethnocentric and judge other cultures by the standards of their own. When a lot of people think of America, they think about a country that is made up of a mixing bowl of races and ethnicities. They think of a culture that is founded on constitutional rights and god given freedoms that everyone has. Some people may even take America a step further and think of it as a culture that may be superior to others because of its past history of opportunity and freedom for whoever may be in search of it; but is this true? Many people may argue that the United States is better than almost any country because of our freedoms, but others may argue that the U.S. is an egotistical superpower that strong-arms, and abuses its influence on other countries. Undoubtedly, America offers many opportunities and even a lot of hope for people searching for a new life, but freedoms such as these often come with a price. The U.S. has high taxes, low minimum wages, and even may flaws in the political system that is supposed to keep us running. Many Americans can get caught up in all the wealth and prosperity that they are making for themselves in the United States. Many think that other cultures just don ...

Computer Networking essays

Computer Networking essays Networking is one of the most significant steps in the electronic evolution since the invention of the PC. A computer network is a group of connected computers that allow the sharing of information and peripherals. The most basic network is made up of two computers connected by some kind of cable in order to exchange information more quickly and efficiently. A standalone computer is very useful to many businesses, but without a network, those businesses would have to spend twice the amount of money on computerization than they would have to by implementing a network. A network allows many computers to share peripheral devices such as printers and facsimile machines. The two primary benefits of computer networks are sharing of devices and data. There are two basic types of networks: peer-to-peer and server-based. On a peer-to-peer network, any computer can act as a server to share resources with other machines and as a client to access these resources. On the other hand, server-based networks require a server computer whose job is to respond to requests for services or resources from clients elsewhere on the network. Server-based networks are used in most organizations today. There is an advantage to server-based networks such that it centralizes user accounts and eases maintenance with less need for administration. There are some disadvantages as well. Two of the largest and most common disadvantages are server failure and initial start up cost. When the server fails, the whole system is considered useless until the server is fixed. Se rvers can also be very expensive, ranging from $5000.00 to $150,000.00. Also, in order to cut down on server failure, special-purpose server software, hardware and expert staff is required. This will increase cost, but in the long run networks have proven to be very profitable by cutting down on day-to-day office expenditures. Before a server can be incorporated into a business, a netwo...