Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Happiness Essay Example for Free

Happiness Essay Most humans, I hope, strive and yearn for happiness in whatever they do. It’s almost as if it’s a basic human need. They want to â€Å"feel good,† content, and satisfied with whatever they do or have. In the Jewish Text â€Å"Ethics of Our Fathers† it is written, â€Å"Who is Rich? One who is happy with his portion. † I wholeheartedly believe this scripture. People always want more and more, yet they never seem to be contempt. They want the next best car, or the nicer shirt, but they can’t seem to achieve the happiness they so desire. Unfortunately we see often in the news of a wealthy businessman, or a famous actor/actress who are either arrested or worse, found dead because of an alcohol or drug related event. Why do these wealthy, successful and beautiful people do this to themselves? They have everything there heart desires at their fingertips, but there is something visibly lacking. I believe that it’s because they weren’t able to achieve true happiness and they fell into a bad depression. Someone can have so much money, clothes and cars, but where is the love? Where is the true human interaction? I can honestly say most of these people live artificial lives. From their â€Å"celebrity relationships† with 5 kids from 3 husbands to having every new piece of clothing, they see themselves that it’s all empty and meaningless but they can’t get out of that rut. Business men who either have the â€Å"too-much-money† syndrome or the ones that have fallen on extremely hard times have the same issue, so much as they even have a stereotype when it comes to depression- doing drugs, and lots of it. While this all seems clear cut and simple, it’s truly not. The human mind is very complex and very unique. Richard Layard, in his book â€Å"Happiness- Lessons From A New Science† tries to shed some light on this topic and even suggests some ways on how to change ourselves to become happy and to attain more and more happiness during our lives. He uses his knowledge of several different sciences and economics to try to show us where happiness comes from and how we can attain it. Layard starts off with a series of questions on page 12 â€Å"So what is the feeling of happiness? Is there a state of â€Å"feeling good† or â€Å"feeling bad† that is a dimension of all our waking life? Can people say at any moment how they feel? Indeed, is your happiness something, a bit like your temperature, that is always there, fluctuating away whether you think about it or not? If so, can I compare my happiness with yours? † Layard asked some very in depth and powerful questions here. He then proceeded to answer them all with a yes. I don’t believe that the answer is a universal yes. There are billions of people in the world with billions of different backgrounds, feelings and beliefs. One point I can agree with Layard on is his second question, Is there a state of â€Å"feeling good† or â€Å"feeling bad† that is a dimension of all our waking life? There is. When we as humans do tasks or interact with other people, we need to be in a certain mind frame. If someone, for example, isn’t in a â€Å"happy mood† they might not be able to accomplish what they would like to because their mind is in a state which won’t allow them to. When I was studying abroad in Israel I went through a traumatic, near death experience. I was jeeping with my cousins near the Jordan Desert when suddenly ground gave way to our jeep and we overturned into a deep ditch. I was on the side that the jeep landed on and was buried under debris and all of the gear and belongings that were in the jeep at the time. My oldest cousin Yossi, an ex-delta sniper for the Israeli Defense Forces, extricated me out, I was in a shaken up but happy mood. That happy mood didn’t last too long. We had to wait over 3 hours for a team of professionals to come and evacuate us out of the desert. I was getting scared and cold, all the meanwhile with much time on my hands to sit and ponder. I eventually went into a mild depression for the next few days. Little to no appetite, almost no conversation, and even skipping prayer services were some of the effects of this mini-depression. I went to Israel to study and to become more observant in my religion. The experience of the jeeping accident led me into â€Å"bad mood† that temporarily blinded me from my purpose, and what I wanted to accomplish couldn’t be accomplished at that time. When Layard talks about â€Å"The Function of Happiness† on page 24, he makes a strong statement â€Å"It (happiness) is supremely important because it is our overall motivational device. We seek to feel good and to avoid pain. (not moment by moment, but overall. )† He brings examples of things that we do in everyday life that bring us happiness or sadness, things that if they weren’t done, would have brought the human race to its demise. He brings this to light to show that even when we are not realizing it, we are looking to bring ourselves happiness and joy, and while not realizing it, we are achieving a human need of happiness. Layard, on page 48, delves into something I can honestly assume a great portion of humanity deals with. It is the concept of the â€Å"Hedonic Treadmill†; once a human gets something nice or something â€Å"happy† occurs in one’s life, the good feeling only lasts a while until that person wants more, or the next best happiness. Rich people always want the next fastest car, the watch with the most diamonds that year, the dress with the most zeros on the price tag than the year before. If one wasn’t able to acquire that â€Å"need or want† that they so desired, they would not be as happy as they were and, according to Layard, one would â€Å"revert† back to how they felt before they had that next best thing. I deal with this feeling every day, but through discussions with close mentors of mine, I have been able to curb that want somewhat, but sometimes I still can’t help it. I always wanted to lease a car with features, but I was rejected by car companies many times. Finally this year after much thought and after getting my finances in line, I was approved to lease a 2012 Honda. The car came with leather, power seats, heated seats, and alloy rims. I was ecstatic! I finally got what I have been wanting. Now it’s a month later and Im getting used to the car, but I want more features in it. I see myself â€Å"running† on this treadmill. I realize it’s a natural human want, but I try to make myself happy with what I have and I utilize mentors and friends to help me feel the way I desire to feel. Taking NLP into consideration, I see a perfect example of â€Å"mirroring† involved with the way we feel with regards to happiness and feelings. For example, at on occasion or get together, whether a happy or sad one, people usually act the way most people are at those events. When a bride or groom walks down the aisle at a wedding, one might not have the intention to clap for them, but they do anyway unintentionally because other people are doing it. Another example is when couples are married and live together for 40 to 50 years. They tend to start looking similar to each other even though they looked completely different at time of marriage. The same goes here with materialistic happiness and satisfaction. We sometimes want the next best thing because our friend does, or because our friend has it and we want to mirror them and have the same thing. While I feel that Layard makes amazing points on the topic of happiness and the way we deal with feelings on a daily basis, I don’t believe he has the final word on it. He is an independent researcher with only his opinion to back it up. The world is way too large and diverse to even base a scientific study on happiness with a range of 80,000 people. He definitely makes some headway into shedding light on the way we feel and what makes humans feel the way they do. My personal formula for happiness hasn’t changed much, but after reading some of what Layard has to say, and considering some NLP, I actually understand more why certain things make me and others happy, things that I didn’t understand previously. I now know why I feel the way I feel sometimes after purchasing an item, or going through an experience. Happiness is a very tough concept to understand but with learning and self-introspection, one can move closer to true happiness every day.

Monday, January 20, 2020

MATH, SCIENCE, AND PINK COLLARS: GENDER STEREOTYPING AND ITS EFFECT ON

High school and college are both important institutions in many peoples' lives. These academic institutions are seen as places where identities are forged, friendships are made, important basic lessons are learned, and ideally, plans are made regarding both near and distant futures. High school and college are toted as places where post-pubescent adolescents are supposed to find out what exactly they want to do with their lives – a period of four to eight or more years where the groundwork for the rest of your life out in the â€Å"real world† is laid out. Whether you want to be a social worker, a chemical engineer, or a teacher, high school and college are the places where you can learn about what you are interested in as well as where you can receive a basic education. High school and college are also the places where gender roles and stereotypes, especially in academics, begin to become glaringly obvious. In high school and especially in college, more of the curriculum is geared towards individual interests than in previous schooling environments. These specialized programs allow students to pursue things that they feel genuinely interested in, as well as allowing them to avoid those subjects that don't like. If someone is interested in taking an arts or a social studies class rather than an additional English class, they can usually do so without much trouble. In many cases, during the high school and college years, it is a widespread phenomenon that girls tend to lean more towards the â€Å"softer† subjects, such as English, art and social studies classes, while boys tend to lean toward science and mathematics. How do stereotypical gender stratifications affect the types of classes that members of each gender take? Do these ... ...nce courses. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 13(4), 435-466. Levine, P.B., & Zimmerman, D.J. (1995). The Benefit of additional high-school math and science classes for young men and women. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 13(2), 137-149. Kiefer, A.K., & Sekaquaptewa, D. . (2006). Implicit stereotypes and women’s math performance: how implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women’s susceptibility to stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(1), 825-832. Good , C., Aronson, J., & Harder, J.A. (2008). Problems in the pipeline: stereotype threat and women's achievement in high-level math courses. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 17-28. Steele, J.R., & Ambady, N. (2006). â€Å"math is hard!† the effect of gender priming on women’s attitudes . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 428-436.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Why Prostitution Shouldn’t Be Legal?

Prostitution is a world wide controversial matter that has been around for many years. Prostitution itself is an old profession, but what about it leads to controversial arguments and opposing view points from our society? The idea that prostitution poses of selling one's body in exchange for money has had a negative impact in our society since it was first introduced into our presence. The many risk factors that follow prostitution, for example HIV, are one of many problems associated with going against legalizing prostitution. However, many people feel that diseases will be less frequent with legalizing prostitution.I would like to further explore this topic throughout the course of the semester, and gain an enhanced insight involved on each opposing side's point of view towards the issue, while finding the relevant information needed to back up my ideas and theory for this particular topic. â€Å"Prostitution is an extreme form of gender discrimination. Legalization of this viole nce to women restricts women's freedom and citizenship rights. If women are allowed to become a legitimate commodity, they are consigned to a second-class citizenship. Democracy is subverted† Donna Hughes Making the Harm VisibleThere is intense debate surrounding the legalization of prostitution. Full legalization involves prostitution taking the same status as any other occupation, i. e. giving sex workers access to social security and healthcare, regulating their places and terms of employment, etc. In many EU countries prostitution is de-criminalized, in other words, it is not a criminal offence to work as a prostitute. In the words of Hughes: â€Å"Considering the documented harm to women who are trafficked and prostituted, it is only logical that women should not be criminalized for being the victim of those abuses.Decriminalization also means that women will not fear arrest if they seek assistance and may be more likely to testify against pimps and traffickers. † Hughes goes on to argue that profiting from the services of a prostitute should be a crime in law, be this as a man buying sexual services, or as anyone gaining financial profit from a sex worker's activity: â€Å"But there absolutely should be no decriminalization for pimps, traffickers, brothel owners, or the men who buy women in prostitution. All legal reforms should aim to stop these perpetrators and profiteers. In her Factsheet on Prostitution, Melissa Farley argues that prostitution is: a) sexual harassment b) rape c) battering d) verbal abuse e) domestic violence f) a racist practice g) a violation of human rights h) childhood sexual abuse I) a consequence of male domination of women j) a means of maintaining male domination of women k) all of the above The well known Andrea Dworkin is part of the feminist camp which claims â€Å"Violation is a synonym for intercourse† (Dworkin, Intercourse), and prostitution is no exception; Beyond that, prostitution is the not only the affirmation, but the result of male supremacy.In a 1992 speech called Prostitution and male supremacy, Dworkin claims: â€Å"When men use women in prostitution, they are expressing a pure hatred for the female body. It is as pure as anything on this earth ever is or ever has been. It is contempt so deep, so deep, that a whole human life is reduced to a few sexual orifices, and he can do anything he wants. † Dworkin too asks how to define prostitution, she provides an answer: â€Å"Prostitution is not an idea.It is the mouth, the vagina, the rectum, penetrated usually by a penis, sometimes hands, sometimes objects, by one man and then another and then another and then another and then another. That's what it is. † Andrea Dworkin was speaking at a symposium with the focus of translating ideas from academia to action, but Farley claims Dworkin's brand of feminism is dead. Citing Catharine MacKinnon: â€Å"[In the past, we had a women's] movement which understood that the choice to be beaten by one man for economic survival was not a real choice, despite the appearance of consent a marriage contract might provide. .. Yet now we are supposed to believe, in the name of feminism, that the choice to be fucked by hundreds of men for economic survival must be affirmed as a real choice, and if the woman signs a model release there is no coercion there. † Farley's factsheet publishes results from one study which found 75% of women working as escorts had attempted suicide, and Hughes too points to the harm done to women through prostitution: â€Å"Prostitution causes extreme harm to the body and the mind.Women, who survive the beatings, rapes, sexually transmitted diseases, drugs, alcohol, and emotional abuse, emerge from prostitution ill, traumatized, and often, as poor as when they entered. † Calling on governments to realize that ‘women's bodies and emotions belong to them', Hughes says that is a state permits prostitution to flouri sh, a certain portion of each generation of young women will be lost. â€Å"Prostitution should not be legalized. Legalization means that the state imposes regulations under which women can be prostituted. In effect, regulation means that under certain conditions it is permissible to exploit and abuse women. In 1998 the Swedish government brought a bill to parliament which would in effect criminalize the buyers of sexual services, punishing them with a heavy fine or 6 month in jail. The bill as cited by EUROPAP states: â€Å"This new prohibition marks Sweden's attitude towards prostitution. Prostitution is not a desirable social phenomenon. The government considers, however, that it is not reasonable to punish the person who sells a sexual service. In the majority of cases at least, this person is a weaker partner who is exploited by those who want only to satisfy their sexual drives†¦It is also important to motivate prostitutes to seek help to leave their way of life. They s hould not run the risk of punishment because they have been active as prostitutes. † The legislation in Sweden was not only the result of lesser social acceptance of prostitution, but also an effort to eradicate trafficking. Legally able to sell her body, albeit for a short period of time, women become commodities. Commodification of women not only leads to women becoming second class citizens, but it also normalizes the concept of a human being becoming the property of someone else.For Hughes, there is no difference between trafficking which is by now universally recognized as a severe violation of human rights, and prostitution, which in Europe is widely tolerated, occasionally partly legal, and in the case of Holland, entirely so: â€Å"Prostitution is consuming thousands of girls and women and reaping enormous profits for organized crime in post-communist countries. In addition, each year, several hundred thousand women are trafficked from Eastern European countries for p rostitution in sex industry centers all over the world.The practices are extremely oppressive and incompatible with universal standards of human rights. The sex trade is a form of contemporary slavery and all indications predict its growth and expansion into the 21st century. † The European Parliament reports that police do not expect the sex trade to grow substantially in the Nordic region, however, the Swedish government hopes â€Å"By prohibiting the purchase of sexual services, prostitution and its damaging effects can be counteracted more effectively than hitherto.The government is however of the view that criminalization can never be more than a supplementary element in the efforts to reduce prostitution and cannot be a substitute for broader social exertions. † Hughes would agree that there is a wider social context; however she says â€Å"Above all, state bodies and non-governmental organizations should understand that prostitution is a demand market created by men who buy and sell women's sexuality for their own profit and pleasure.Legal reforms should therefore create remedies that assist victims and prosecute perpetrators† The perception of the prostitute as a victim is one which resounds through the literature against legalization of sex work. For Dworkin, the prostitutes is a victim of male supremacy, poverty and/or incest, and Catharine MacKinnon puts prostitution in a wider context in Prostitution and Civil Rights: â€Å"The legal right to be free from torture and cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment is recognized by most nations and is internationally guaranteed.In prostitution, women are tortured through repeated rape and in all the more conventionally recognized ways. Women are prostituted precisely in order to be degraded and subjected to cruel and brutal treatment without human limits; it is the opportunity to do this that is exchanged when women are bought and sold for sex. † An alternate school of feminism s ees sex work as empowerment, and the sex worker as willfully exerting and exploiting her power over the client.For Hughes, the concept is impossible: â€Å"Most arguments in favor of legalization are based on trying to distinguish between ‘free' and ‘forced' prostitution and trafficking. Considering the extreme conditions of exploitation in the sex industry, those distinctions are nothing but abstractions that make for good academic debates. They are, however,

Saturday, January 4, 2020

The Origin Of Ethical Principles Essay - 1206 Words

The origin of ethical principles can fundamentally be traced along two lines, firstly from necessity and secondly from want. Both motivators are based on man’s first instinct to fear, but the former lies in the protection of baser needs, viz. food and shelter; and the latter lies in the safeguarding of desire, viz. luxury and comfort. These appetites of man move him along the march of progress as he develops and completes his own projects- a quest that leads ultimately towards the completion of what Sartre calls man’s God-project. â€Å"The fundamental project of human reality is the desire to be God.† Society is founded precisely for the advancement of such a goal. It is the result of the marriage of the desire for the completion of man’s projects and the two motivators of man. Society allows man to survive (fulfill base needs) and thrive (complete projects), as ethical principles are ingrained into the very fabric of its nature. Ethical principles are then merely physiological responses for the preservation of a certain kind of life. Thou shalt not kill. ⟠º I don’t want to be killed. Thou shalt not bear false witness. ⟠º I don’t want to be deceived. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. ⟠º I don’t want to be stolen from. Behind the clay tablets in which these commandments were inscribed is the hand of man; A hand that trembles in fear of death, of deception, of theft.1 These laws come from no God, but rather from rational fear and cowardice in theShow MoreRelatedMorals and Ethics1023 Words   |  5 PagesMorals and Ethics in Society Kalob Lisk Rasmussen College Author Note This paper is being submitted on July 14, 2016, for Thomas Santangelo’s B406 Business Law and Ethical Behavior course. 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