Practical vs. Theoretical essays

Practical vs. Theoretical essays Alexis de Tocqueville was born into a noble French family in 1805. After swearing his allegiance to the new government of France, he and a friend, Gustave de Beaumont, sought and received an assignment to study prison systems in the United States. After his arrival in May of 1831, Tocqueville made some of the cleverest, most enlightening observations anyone has ever made. His outlook on why the Americans were more addicted to practical rather than theoretical science was one of the most interesting. Equality begets in man the desire of judging of everything for himself: it gives him, in all things, a taste for the tangible and the real, a contempt for traditions and for forms. Tocqueville meant that people in America thought for themselves. They could figure out what was actually real, and did not like to follow traditions or go along with what other people thought, said, or did. This quote clearly shows that Tocqueville thought that the American people were obviously more practical than theoretical. He even stated in chapter 10, the chapter covering this issue, that Americans always displayed a clear, free, original, and inventive power of mind. He also went on to state that hardly anyone in the United States devoted himself or herself to the essentially theoretical and abstract portion of human knowledge. In a community thus organized, it may easily be conceived that the human mind may be led insensibly to the neglect of theory; and that it is urged, on the contrary, with unparalleled energy, to the applications of science, or at least to that portion of theoretical science which is necessary to those who make such applications. Alexis de Tocqueville seemed to think that Americans needed to be theoretical from time to time. He thought it would bring them more intellect, and perhaps interest. He also thought that instead of wasting good energy and activity, people should become more theoretical about things...

Boo Hoo

Question 1. Which strategic marketing assumptions and decisions arguably made Boo. com’s failure inevitable? Contrast these with other dot-com era survivors that are still in business, for example lastminute. com, Egg. com and Firebox. com. Boo. com was started by 3 Swedish entrepreneurs as they wanted to launch a world wide online retail website selling major sports brands clothing like Adidas, Nike, Fila, Lacoste, Polo and Ralph Lauren etc. here were major decisions and assumptions were made, taking for an example the currency conversion rate offered in US and Europe was far lower than the normal currency conversion rate in the market this lead to negative impact on the Boo. com and its sales. Initially it was though that world wide launching and making it a successful online store within month by injecting huge amount of money would lead to brand recognition in the market. Company invested $135 Million in the first 6 months in order to make it popular website all over the w orld (Tillett 2000). Author Verma Verma (2003) explains that website retailing is least expensive as maintaining website and uploading pictures and graphics and using creative 7 Ps of the marketing mix leads to positive result. Boo. com spend $6milion in 1999-2000 on web developing and adding pictures of the products which coasted them $200 per picture was a huge expense created by the company management, due to those reasons they couldn’t generate $20 million in 2000 and on 18th May 2000 company got bankrupt. The assumption of being a global brand within months by injecting unnecessary money in the technology and it operation was a wrong decision made by the Boo. com management which actually led to disaster and company needed urgent finances in 2000 which eventually lead them to bankruptcy. Another major assumption went wrong was the selection of the target market. Company started targeting males and females aged 18 years to 24 years old as it was believed they are more fashion conscious people. But critics and according to media pointed out the fact that these people are fashion conscious but how many 18 to 24 male and females go online and do shopping using their credit cards. This is what we are talking about in 1990 where online frauds and dial internet were common comparing to now. In contrast there were other online retailers like egg. com and Firebox. com and they survived and still running business. As money or profits generated and wise and realistic strategies and tactics were used by these companies. According to a travel Trade Gazette (2007) clearly stated in their article that Boo. om blew their money and wasted on so many unnecessary technologies. Article also presented that boo. com is linked with one of the biggest failures of the first dot. com era. It materialised at around the same time as lastminute. com and was Swedish-owned UK-based site selling lifestyle apparel. Extravagant marketing and development costs meant it burned through money which impacted i n 2000 when investors gave up and $20 million was not raised by the company on 18th May 2000 and was declared bankrupt. Where as other online companies used less financial sources and tried best to attract customers and satisfy their needs and wants. So basically above arguments and facts clearly shows various wrong decisions were made by the Boo. com management and by the company itself which led them to failure. Question 2. Using the framework of the marketing mix, appraise the marketing tactics of Boo. com in the areas of Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion, Process, People and Physical Evidence. For online retailers it is vital to create their marketing mix very effective as it is not mere limited to the Place, Price, Product and promotion (Rix Stanton 1998).

Planning Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Planning Law - Assignment Example The industrial age played a very big role in reshaping population settlement. It caused more and more people to flock into cities looking for work. However, in the 21st century, the information revolution is probably the number one factor that is affecting the way people settle. The information revolution that has been caused by the increasing communication technology that started in the mid-seventeenth century has now come to change the way people settle. However, since information revolution is always under continuous development, it is hard to say exactly how it is affecting human settlement. For instance, originally, information technology was only available in and around cities and urban settlements. The way this affected human settlement is that people had to move to cities in order to access these services. In this regard, the information revolution can be said to be having the same effect that industrial revolution had on human settlement. However, as time goes on, informatio n revolution is changing, and it is now easier for people to access these services such as internet connection and cell phone networks, even in some of world’s remotest points. This factor combines with the fact that most people these days work online, mean that the people can now settle anywhere in the world and don’t need to go to cities or urban centers. ... However, since information revolution is always under continuous development, it is hard to say exactly how it is affecting human settlement. For instance, originally, information technology was only available in and around cities and urban settlements. The way this affected human settlement is that people had to move to cities in order to access these services. In this regard, the information revolution can be said to be having the same effect that industrial revolution had on human settlement. However, as time goes on, information revolution is changing, and it is now easier for people to access these services such as internet connection and cell phone networks, even in some of world’s remotest points. This factor combines with the fact that most people these days work online, mean that the people can now settle anywhere in the world and don’t need to go to cities or urban centers. Part II McAuslan2 (1980) is trying to indicate that planning law is still very crude an d that it does not help in making cities better. This viewpoint is wrong because the law has made sure that the freedom that individual and organizations had a hundred years ago is not there anymore, and this helps in protecting cities and the environment in general. Module 4 Journal The local government is a very important arm with regard to the enforcement of planning regulations and laws (Westen3 2009). Without these local governments, the many planning laws would be useless and it would be very hard to manage the real estate available to any cities. Local governments understand the local city best and they understand the concerns of the local people in the best way. For this reason, the local government would be able to help in making sure that the

How persuasive are the design arguments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How persuasive are the design arguments - Essay Example People always wanted to know much about the origin of humanity. This issue has always been mysterious for us and it really seems that nature that allowed us to touch upon its secrets, would like to hide the truth from humans. However, there are people, who dared to try to find out the truth. They are famous philosophers, who played an important role in the life of all of us. The philosophers devoted their lives to science in order to create the arguments, which attempt to explain the origin of humanity. The argument from design was widely discussed and serves as a foundation of the modern science. The given paper will make an overview of the arguments and come to corresponding conclusion. William Paley in his book Natural Theology (1802) paralleled between the living things intricacy and subordinate intricacy of a surveillance that was created by an intelligent creature, as it was known. This version is considered to be classic. Taking into account the reasoning from design, or teleological argument, the design that was discovered in the universe gave reason to talk about subsistence of the intelligent creator that is usually depicted as God. Paley underlined in his works that a watch could not become possible without the creator of this watch, thus it became clear that living creatures had no opportunity to exist without an intelligent creator. There is a version that living things are the offspring of intelligent design. It could be concluded that watches refer to the intelligent design, thus living creatures have similarity with them. The living things are â€Å"equipped† with the eyes, the main tools of gathering the information. Paley states: â€Å"[S]upp ose I found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think †¦ that, for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for [a] stone [that happened to be lying on the ground† (Paley, 1809. p.1). The idea of Paley is based generally on biological aspect and its intricacy. This version was seriously considered, when Mr. Darwin presented his famous evolution theory based on the natural selection in 1859. Darwin in this way explained how livings creatures, which are intelligent, could adapt in a perfect way to their environment, even if they were not so intelligent. By this statement Darwin doubted the Paley’s idea about the biological base of argument to design to a considerable degree. The 20th century gave birth to another argument that was connected to the cosmology. This argument is also called fine-tuning argument. It state s that it is possible to explain the life on the planet by the different independent natural processes, but the fact that the universe gave chance for the life existing on the privilege position, confirmed the presence of the intelligent creator. For example, you should understand that for life as it exists now at the earth many incipient conditions and values as well as physical constants are necessary. If these conditions do not operate in appropriate way or make some tiny error, life will be just impossible in our universe. This statement represents the additional proof of theory of the existence of some intelligent creature that made all conditions, values and constants work on life creation. Hurben and Drange claimed that the denomination of the different physical constants could be combined only with the possible found denomination. In this argument to design other possible combinations could not exist. In this case Carrier and Drange also claimed that such characteristic as f ine-tuning could be concerned as illusion, in the light of what was stated above. In the book called Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume you can find critics to this theory. Norman Smith underlined that Hume’s criticism was not only pernicious but also complete. This point of

Symbolism in Bernard Malamuds The Natural Essay -- Bernard Malamud Th

Symbolism in Bernard Malamud's The Natural   Ã‚   The role of symbolism in Bernard Malamud's The Natural is important in helping the reader understand the theme and meaning of the novel as well as the time period in which it took place.   Malamud ¡Ã‚ ¦s use of symbolism defines the character of Roy Hobbs and shows how the events occurring around him affected his decisions and, eventually, his career.   Ã‚   Symbolism in The Natural takes the form of characters, such as women who strongly influenced Roy; historical events, such as the infamous 1919 World Series scandal; and even Greek and Roman mythology.   All forms of symbolism used by Malamud are woven into the life and career of Roy Hobbs.   As a first example, women have a tremendous influence on Roy ¡Ã‚ ¦s actions and feelings.   One of the more influential symbols in the book, women tend to control what Roy does.   The first woman Roy falls for is Harriet Bird whom he meets on a train on his way to Chicago to try out for the Chicago Cubs.   Roy is extremely attracted to her, but a major league ballplayer on the train named Whammer Wambold has already caught her eye.   Roy becomes jealous and begins to do things to try to get her attention.   At a stop in the route, the passengers get off for a break and go to a local carnival where Roy and the big leaguer clash in a contest of talent, a David-and-Goliath-type confrontation (Solotaroff 9).   Roy strikes out the batter with three blistering pitches, each of which make Harriet pay more and more attention to him.   As they arrive in Chicago, Harriet stays at the hotel at which Roy has booked a room.   She gives him a call and provocatively invites hi m to her room.   Succumbing to her invitation, and making his way to her room, he enters and se... ...he symbolism in The Natural is deep-seeded and is found by the reader upon reflection on the book. Therefore, understanding Malamud ¡Ã‚ ¦s use of symbolism is critical in understanding The Natural, its background, its times, and its meaning. WORKS CITED Abramson, Edward A.   Bernard Malamud Revisited.   New York:Twayne  Publishers,1993. Grail, Holy, ¡Ã‚ ¨Ã‚   Microsoft „ ¥ Encarta „ ¥ 98 Encyclopedia. „ ¦ 1993-1997 Microsoft  Corporation Helterman, Jeffrey.   Understanding Bernard Malamud.   Columbia:University of South  Carolina Press,1985. Malamud, Bernard.   The Natural.   New York:Avon Books,1952. Solotaroff, Robert.   Bernard Malamud: A Study of the Short Fiction.   Boston:Twayne Publishers,1989. Wasserman, Earl R.   "The Natural: Malamud's World Ceres" in Modern Critical Views: Bernard Malamud. Ed. Harold Bloom.   New York:Chelsea House Publishers. 47-64

Comparison: Hector in Iliad vs. Hector in Troy

Heroes possess five timeless qualities. They are always willing to accept a challenge, they are courageous, self-sacrificing, they can overcome struggle with strength and dignity, and they have superior yet human qualities. Over different eras, other qualities that are attributed to heroes change based on society’s changing morals and ethics. The two versions of Hector display the many differences between the Greeks perspective on heroes and the modern contemporary perspective on heroes.To begin with, it is implied that modern heroes are sympathetic and do not love to kill, while heroes in Greek perspectives love basking in glory over defeat of any of their enemies. Hector in the Iliad gloats over the sight of dying Patroclus, taunting him in his last moments alive, whereas Hector in Troy is remorseful when he finds out that it was not Achilles who he fought. He kills Patroclus to stop his suffering and says that it is enough fighting for one day, even though the war has just barely begun. This shows how modern heroes are dutiful to their cause, while not truly liking the violence involved.On the other hand, heroes in Greek perspectives are shown to be individuals who lust to kill and feel no compassion as long as they achieve victory. This ties into how the respect shown towards rivals differs greatly from one time period to another. Hector in the Iliad does not show respect to his enemies, therefore continuously taunting Patroclus. This is unlike Hector in the film who displays his respect for Patroclus by killing him. Hector’s respect in the modern version versus his lack of respect is evidence as to how heroes were believed to feel after defeating their enemy.Finally, these versions show that heroes by Greek definitions are opportunists, while modern heroes will complete a task through their own physical power. Hector in the Iliad is presented as an opportunist, diving in to kill Patroclus after Apollo has already injured him. This is unlike H ector in the film who fights Patroclus all on his own. This shows how the dependency of heroes has changed over time. Even though there are many differences between the perspectives of the Greeks and the modern contemporary, there are also quite a few similarities.First of all, both versions of Hector are displayed as fierce individuals. We can see this from the Hector in the Iliad through the diction used when describing him stabbing Patroclus. Their situation is compared to one of a lion and a tireless wild boar, where the â€Å"lion beats him down with sheer brute force as the boar fights for breath (Line 963-964). † By comparing Hector to such a tough animal and using â€Å"sheer brute force† when explaining how he stabbed Patroclus, his strength is shown. As well, showing that Hector has defeated a â€Å"wild boar† also contributes to showing his superiority.In Troy, just by his leadership and methods of fighting, one can see that he is very powerful. In ad dition, both are very loyal to their cities. They fight with courage and stay focused toward their goal. Even if Hector in the film commands the war to be over for the day, he still knows he has to be faithful to his city and fight again. Hector in the Iliad being the opportunist that he is, also shows his loyalty by finishing off his enemies with pride. All in all, through observing the attitudes and behaviors of the two versions of Hector, it is easy to interpret how these time periods felt about heroes.All heroes possess five timeless qualities in addition to other qualities which are believed to be important during their own time period. Sometimes, one may see that these qualities are quite similar, and other times, they are the exact opposite of each other. In conclusion, descriptions of heroes are created by looking at what will appeal to the readers or viewers based on morals and ethics valued during that time. For this reason, the two versions of Hector possess some of the s ame qualities, but also some very different ones.

Color Diagrams of Insect Organs and Internal Structures