Motor Development Autobiography Essay

The motor development was consisted of seven periods across the lifespan, each period is characterized by the different motor skills. Progression from one period to another would depend on the changes in three critical constraints, as well as individual’s skills and experiences. According to the developmental perspective, the changes in the motor skills were defined as sequential, cumulative and individual. Everyone would follow the same sequence of the motor development, however, age does not determine the sequence because the skills are built based on individual’s background experiences and knowledge. Prenatal Period The first stage of motor development is the prenatal period, it is the period from conception to birth. The prenatal period is characterized by three major sub periods: Germinal, embryonic and period. The germinal period represents the first two weeks after the fertilization, where the ovum attached the uterine wall and the cell layers are formed. The embryonic period began from two to eight weeks, when the cephalacadual and proximodistal growth took place. At this time, infants could move around to obtain the upright posture, where different parts of the body are also distinguishable. Our motor development began prenatally, usually started from the embryonic and fetal period. The fetal period started from two to nine months, when most of the body systems were getting more structurally developed. However, the organs and body systems were still functionally immature. The fetal period was characterized by rapid growth and organ completion, as well as reflex activities and movements. As early as three months, babies could demonstrate both spontaneous and reflexive movements. My mother told me that she first felt my kicking and hand movement around the fourth month, and she also went to do the ultrasound to check if I was a healthy baby. My mother kept the testing record updated, the doctor also told her about my gender when I was a six-month-old baby. During the prenatal period, the development represented the interaction of  heredity and environment. The organism constraints such as genetic makeup, would dominate the development, while the environmental constraints could also affect the development. Teratogen was an environmental factor that cause harm to the embryo or fetus, it could lead to the birth defects. However, the baby’s genetic makeup and the amount of exposure would play important roles that affect the degree of harmfulness. The epigenetic crisis represented a time of particular susceptibility to harm, that different trimester exposed to teratogen would lead to different degrees of functional or structural damages. I was a healthy baby and received high APGAR scores mainly because my mother did not drink alcohol nor smoke during the pregnancy. My mother was a housewife, she stayed home most of the time looking at baby pictures and listening to classical music. Her daily exercise was walking, when she had to g o to the supermarket near my house. During the pregnancy, my mother’s life was simple and worriless, she was also a happy and a healthy mother. Reflexive Period The reflexive period started from birth to two weeks, the reflexive or spontaneous movements are used to insure the infant’s survival. There were two types of reflexes, the primitive and postural reflexes. The primitive reflexes were used for the protection and nutrition purposes, usually disappear by the sixth month. I demonstrated the rooting reflex when I was one month old, when my mother tactile my cheek, I immediately turned my head toward her finger (see picture five). My mom also told me that I used to like sucking my thumb before I go to sleep (see picture four). It showed sucking reflex, which was the biological response for the basic needs and helped infants to survive. The asymmetric tonic neck reflex appeared around the same time, when my right arm was extended and the left to keep my body facing a direction (see picture four). On the other hand, the postural reflexes are used for the development of later voluntary movements. The postural reflexes may never disappe ar, those reflexes also automatically provided the maintenance of infant’s upright position in relation to the environment. Setting up an upright posture could also help infants survive in the environment, as the environmental constraints began to have more  influences on the development. Overall, the organism constraint dominated the development during the reflexive period, and the environmental constraints were influential. Preadpated Period The motor development of preadapted period would usually take place when an infant is around two weeks to a year old. During this early developmental period, the organism constraints played a dominated role, the environmental constraints were influential, and the task constraints organized the action. The goal of the movement would be the attainment of independent walking and independent finger feeding. When I was an infant, I followed the sequence of motor development to obtain my upright posture. At two weeks, I couldn’t lift my head off the support surface to gaze about the environment. I would need help on lifting my head, therefore my mother would put her hand behind my trunk to support my body (see picture two). The posture at this age was the prone position (see picture one). At birth, infants would show their first motor movement by learning to prone. Soon after that, I began to elevate myself on my arms. As soon as I reached five months old, I was able to sit alone without support (see picture seven). Around five and half month old, I could demonstrate rolling, which was the earliest pattern of infant locomotion development. However, I skipped the stage of crawling, an important stage of motor development that helps infants to prepare for later walking skills. Because I was the oldest child in the family, my parents thought maybe I was too fat to demonstrate crawling (see picture six – I couldn’t crawl up to a chair). I thought the main reason for not crawling was that I often played with older children in our community. Since I am able to see many â€Å"role models†, it is likely that I learn how to stand first, thus skipped the crawling. The environmental constraints played an important role for me in the process of learning to stand, walk, and later running. The rate enhancer would be the opportunity for me to play with the older children, and to learn more motor skills from them. However, the rate limiter and organism constraints for not acquiring the walking or running skills would be the strength. Because my  mother was a housewife, she spent a lot of time taking care of me. She taught me how to stand by holding both of my arms first, to give me strength support (see picture nine). Soon I was able to acquire the standing motor skill, I can stand by myself (see picture ten). My parents then bought me a â€Å"walker† to help me learn how to walk (see picture eight). The walker was very helpful because it had wheels under the chair, I can actually go anywhere I wanted, just like a walking person. Around approximately ten-months old, I began to cruise and showed walking patterns. However, the rate-limiter and constraint of walking is my posture, because I have not yet obtained the upright posture for walking. It might be the fact that I wanted to play with the older children, and I was also able to see how other children walk, I showed early mature walking patterns at the age of eleven-months old. At this time, I was an independent walker with newly learned walking skills! When I first began to walk, I was walking very slowly, making short strides and put my arms up high to make balance. The primary rate limiters for not acquiring the upright position in walking were the postural control and strength. My body proportion was also a disadvantage to obtain the walking skills, because the proportion of my head was thirty percent of the body while my legs are only fifteen percent. I had heavy body and short legs, (heavy center of mass and light base of support) it would be hard for me to keep the upright postural control and balance for walking pattern. At this point, the environmental and task constraints would show more influences on the motor development. As I obtained the skill of independent bipedal locomotion (walking), I encountered movement problems. According to dynamical systems perspective, the degrees of freedom and context-conditioned variability are the problems for a new walker. If I was able to go anywhere I want, then I had the right of choosing where to go, or how to get to the desired place. However, the problems were solved from self-organization of the body system and the emerging of the constraints. The major rate limiters for not acquiring the running skills would mainly come from the organism constraints, such as the posture, strength and motivation. For me, I was motivated to learn those motor skills because I  wanted to play with older children. I was a fast learner also because my parents spent time and efforts to help me obtain the locomotion skills. Therefore, six months after I learned how to walk, I was able to run anywhere I want to go (see picture eleven). I have also developed manipulative skills as I learned to use hands to feed myself, and I was able to show better hand-eye coordination and movement. Fundamental Motor Skills Period The fundamental skills period began at the age of one, ends by the age of seven. In a way, this period of time would be a sensitive period to learn certain motor skills for later skillful movements. The fundamental motor skills period would be the building blocks for later emerging skills, and acquiring those skills were essential to later developing motor skills. Those skills were characterized as the phylogenetic skills, which are skills typical to individuals. Obtaining the locomotion and manipulative skills would be the fundamental and developmental process to obtain later movements. At this time, both fine and gross mother skills were beginning to develop. Those skills might not be maturational determined, and the arm and leg coordination were still immature. When I was a year old, I would throw a ball only using my arm movement, my legs and trunks barely made any movements. As I grow two more years older, I could demonstrate the pattern of block rotation, at the point where my body moved as one long axis. I would step my feet first, then put my arm backward ready to throw. My arm, leg and trunk have lined up as straight along the axis, and allowed me to have more power in throwing. Around the age of six or seven, I was able to demonstrate the differentiated rotation movement. My arms, legs, hip and shoulder would move separately as I began to obtain higher level of throwing. When I threw, my hip usually showed the first movement, followed by my shoulder and arms. At this young age, I had difficulties to demonstrate the locomotion skills of skipping. Skipping would be the latest motor movement for children to learn, not only because it had higher level of difficulty, but also it required the ability to hop on each leg sequentially. Older children would have no problem demonstrate skipping because they have better postural control, movements and coordination. Fine motor skills were begun to develop, such as drawing skills. When I was a one-year-old child, I would draw some scribbles on the paper, the outline and the shape of the objects were not clear to see. As I grew older, I showed more realistic drawings by making more clear lines, shapes and forms. I was also able to draw many different emotions on the faces and I used more variation in coloring my pictures. At the age of six, both my sister and I were interested to learn roller-skating. My father had brought two roller-skates for us, and we also took roller-skating class. It was really hard for me when I first started to learn roller-skating, and it was difficult to keep the balance. Skating is a complex motor skill because the arm and leg movements could not be in the same direction. My arm and leg coordination was also messed up, because I would always freeze my arms as I put it up high to obtain the balance. After many practices and countless falls, my sister and I have finally learned some basic fundamental skills of roller-skating (see picture fourteen). We wore kneepads because it was impossible not to fall, but we took them off as we were able to perform better in roller-skating. My father have also signed me up for a swim class, because he thought swimming was a very healthy exercise and it would help me to become healthier (see picture fifteen). Swimming was also a complex motor activity, while I tried to keep my legs padding in the water, the degrees of freedom limited me from doing any arm movements. Overall, the organism constraints dominated the development, the environmental constraints were influential and the task constraints organized the action. The rate limiter would be the proficiency barrier, the immature functional organism constraints held me back from acquiring the higher level of motor movement. Context-Specific Skills Period As I began to get older, around the age of seven to eleven, I reached the context specific period. The context specific period was characterized by the ontogenetic skills, which are skills unique to individual. Most children  at this period have obtained context-specific knowledge and experience to acquire their individualized skills. The context-specific period also represented a transition period between the attainment of the fundamental motor skills and the transformation into skillful motor performance. Because it was influenced more by the environmental and task constrains, motivation and parental support would be important to help children move on successfully to the skillful period. Organism constraints also played important roles, such as physical, social and emotional development. At this time, I have grown taller and gained more body weight. There were also changes in my cardiovascular system, the aerobic power increased because I was able to uptake more amount of oxygen at a time. The improvement can be seen from exercising, such as swimming. I was still at the swimming class, my swimming had improved and I was moved up to a higher level. In order to graduate from the swimming class, it was required for everyone to pass an examination by performing the swimming skills in a weekly competition. I remembered how nervous I was when I had to swim butterfly in the competition, I felt so relieved when I passed the examination and get the award. Because of the training from swim class, I had more swimming experiences and obtained better swimming skills. Swimming has also helped me to improve arm and leg coordination in the development of gross motor skills. At this time, both fine and gross motor skills have also improved. I was still in love with roller-skating, but I have also fallen in love with ice-skating. Once my friends asked me to go ice-skating with them, they were surprised to see my skating skills. I have never gone ice-skating before, but because I knew how to roller-skate, thus it was easier for me to stay balanced. I showed better skating skills because I had already obtained the gross motor skills needed for skating, the arm and leg coordination had also improved as I gained more skating experiences. During the winter of my senior year in high school, my uncle asked me to go skiing with him. I was a little nervous because I have never skied before, and also I heard that skiing was a dangerous sport. However, all those worries had gone away as I began to learn skiing. As my uncle taught me how to ski, he was surprised to the pattern of well-coordinated arm and leg movement, as well as my balance. I was still in love with flute, and I had also become a member of the concert band in my middle school. At this time, I am more skillful in playing flute. Because I have been practicing everyday, my fingers are also more flexible as I gained more experiences. As I practiced more, the perceptual and speed processing increased, which allowed me to read the music faster. During my last year of the school, our concert band was informed to attend a National Musical Competition. We were invited to go to Florida State for three days for the competition, which we had to play against ten middle schools in the United States (see picture sixteen). I still could remember that moment when the judge announced our school to be the one winning the first price, for a moment I thought I was dreaming. It was unbelievable, it was the happiest moment in my life, and all the hard work has been paid off. I felt so proud to be a member of our concert band, because I had also contributed my effort to win the price. My parents and friends were very happy for me, and they encouraged me to take more challenges. The environmental and task constraints are the rate enhancers to help me move on to the next skillful period, and I have also gained more confidence in myself. However, the rate limiter for not acquiring the skillful skills would be the proficiency barrier, because of the functional organism limitation. I have not yet obtained the skillfulness of the perceptual cognitive functioning, such as not having enough knowledge base and a slower speed of processing. Skillful Period The skillful period usually started at the age of eleven, the word â€Å"skillfulness† could also represent context-specific because the skills were also individualized. After winning the first price and gaining the recognition, I decided to devote myself into playing flute. My parents supported me, they have also asked a professional flutist to be my tutor. With the hope that I might be a professional flutist someday, I have been practicing two hours per day to improve my playing skills. It was the organism constraints that influenced my determination and persistency, because I was motivated go achieve the goal (see picture seventeen). The environmental constraint also played an important role during the skillful period. For me, not only because my parents set high expectations toward me,  but also we were in the middle socio-economic status where the money for tutoring was affordable. If I ever become a successful swimmer or flute player, I’d thank my parents for gi ving me the opportunities. I have also been consistently going to swim, and it had become my regular exercise every week. At this time, my father did not need to force me nor sign me up for a swim class, because I liked swimming as much as I loved playing flute. I would still go ice-skating with my friends, and I have also learned how to perform some tricks. My uncle would still take me up to the mountain every winter to ski, I was able to ski on a higher hills and under more complex tasks. For those motor activities, I know if I were able to be persistent to practice, it would enhance my knowledge and experiences and my performance would get closer to the professional level. From the dynamical systems perspective, self-organizing system and organism constraints have set a balanced, equilibrium and coordinated state in the individuals. Compensation Period The compensation period represented a time when a skilled individual is compensating for a change in an organism constraint. Throughout the life span, our motor skills performance would keep on improving. As we reached at the point where organism constraints took place to change, our motor skills performance would decline. It showed the adjustment of our motor behavior, and our movements might not be as skillful. Due to the changes in organism constraints, a person at this period of time was also particularly vulnerable in gross motor skills, because those skills required larger forces and aerobic efforts. Changes in organism constraints are due to the declines in the body system such as maximum oxygen uptake, stroke volume, or maximum heart rate. There would be changes in our fundamental motor skills, such as locomotion and balance. At this time, our walking skills and balance have declined and we became more vulnerable to falls and injuries. It is also because the decreased bone ma ss, led to the changes in strength characteristics of the bones. In addition, our auditory and somatosensory systems would not be functioning well; a person could suffer from hearing loss or loss of sensitivity. Changes in the environmental constraints would also influence an individual at this period of time. The lifestyle, societal expectations or socio-economic status would make differences on their perceptions and actions. At the compensation period, the declining of physical abilities had impact on individual’s psychological and emotional systems. A person at this period might lose the interests in doing their favorite sports, or change the interest or hobby. Other than obtaining an active lifestyle, the higher socio-economic status would play a role to help an individual at this period to live longer and healthier, because of the better medical care. Future Goals As for now and the future, I would keep up with the concert band in the University of Maryland College Park, and attend as many musical performance as I could. I would still take private lessons and practice one to two hours per day to get myself on the right track. I know my dream would come true if I could keep up my persistency and hard work. This could be characterized as my organism constraints, because I was self-motivated and have confidence at what I do. My uncle would still invite me to go skiing with him every winter, we have been great skiing partners. However, it was harder to keep up with the skiing skills at a certain level if you just practice once or twice a year. The environmental constraint had limited my skiing skills, if I were to live somewhere in Alaska, I would have better chance to be a skillful skier. I also would continue my swimming practices, because it would be hard to catch up the butterfly if I stopped practicing it. I know I would never forget how to m aster those motor skill performances, they have been a part of me. However, to reach a certain level of expectation and goals, I would still need my parental support and encouragement, as well as my persistency and practices.

The Importance of Stem Cell Research Essay example

Over the last decade the use of stem cells has been a controversial and heated topic. Debates have exploded over every aspect of stem cell research. It has been speculated by scientists that stem cell research may have the potential to cure harmful diseases or even regrow organs. However some find that the health issues seen in earlier attempts to use stem cell transplants and ethical controversies involved with extracting stem cells, make it very dangerous to further investigate. In actuality the fact remains that the potential cures that may come from stem cell research could prove to be some of the most significant advances in modern medicine to this day. To understand why stem cell research is so valuable it’s vital to know what a†¦show more content†¦This state of pluripotency means that these cells can be used to replace old damaged tissues or help rebuild destroyed parts of the body. However the reason these cells are so controversial regardless of their highly flexible use and compatibility is â€Å" because when scientists remove the inner cell mass, the blastocyst no longer has the potential to become a fully developed human being.(Stem..., 2009) thus meaning the fetus will no longer become a living organism. It is this fact that has raised concerns as to the highly subjective question of whether an embryo is a human being. As has been seen when laws on abortion have been addressed , the question of the rights of an unborn fetus are inherently controversial and complicate the issue of whether stem cell research is something to carry on with or to abandon because of the ethical issues at hand. Keeping in mind abortion is legal, the question of wether or not stem cell research should be legal becomes apparent. If the people in legal guardianship of the aborted fetus give the right for the fetus to be used for stem cell research and advancement of medical science why shouldn’t the stem cell be used for research as opposed to being thrown out? This issue has people divided between whether it was ethical for these stem cells to used aborted fetuses for research. â€Å"Some advocate using only stemShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Stem Cell Research1278 Words   |  6 Pagespaper, there has always been a lot of controversy surrounding stem cell research and the ethically rights researchers have obtaining it, let alone experimenting with it. Therefore, it is no surprise that before RCT with stem cells on humans were approved and accepted, trials were done on mice and rats. While it is not ideal and in no way similar to the effects on humans, experiments done during this phase were useful in viewing how stem cells actually alter and impact osteoarthritic joints. 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US Immigration Act of 1917

The Immigration Act of 1917 drastically reduced US immigration by expanding the prohibitions of the Chinese exclusion laws of the late 1800s. The law created an â€Å"Asiatic barred zone† provision prohibiting immigration from British India, most of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East. In addition, the law required a basic literacy test for all immigrants and barred homosexuals, â€Å"idiots,† the â€Å"insane,† alcoholics, â€Å"anarchists,† and several other categories from immigrating. Key Takeaways: Immigration Act of 1917 The Immigration Act of 1917 banned all immigration to the United States from British India, most of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East.The Act was spurred by the isolationist movement seeking to prevent the United States from becoming involved in World War I.The Act required all immigrants to pass a basic literacy test administered in their native language.The Act also barred certain â€Å"undesirable† individuals, such as â€Å"idiots,† the â€Å"insane,† alcoholics, â€Å"anarchists† from entering the United States.Though President Woodrow Wilson initially vetoed the Immigration Act of 1917, Congress overwhelmingly overrode his veto, making the act a federal law on February 5, 1917. Details and Effects of the Immigration Act of 1917 From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, no nation welcomed more immigrants into its borders than the United States. In 1907 alone, a record 1.3 million immigrants entered the U.S. through New York’s Ellis Island. However, the Immigration Act of 1917, a product of the pre-World War I isolationism movement, would drastically change that. Also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, the Immigration Act of 1917, barred immigrants from a large part of the world loosely defined as â€Å"Any country not owned by the U.S. adjacent to the continent of Asia.† In practice, the barred zone provision excluded immigrants from Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula, Asiatic Russia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Polynesian Islands. However, both Japan and the Philippines were excluded from the barred zone. The law also allowed exceptions for students, certain professionals, such as teachers and doctors, and their wives and children. Other provisions of the law increase the â€Å"head tax† immigrants were required to pay on entry to $8.00 per person and eliminated a provision in an earlier law that had excused Mexican farm and railroad workers from paying the head tax. The law also barred all immigrants over the age of 16 who were illiterate or deemed to be â€Å"mentally defective† or physically handicapped. The term â€Å"mentally defective† was interpreted to effectively exclude homosexual immigrants who admitted their sexual orientation. U.S. immigration laws continued to ban homosexuals until the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, sponsored by Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.   The law defined literacy as being able to read a simple 30 to 40-word passage written in the immigrant’s native language. Persons who claimed they were entering the U.S. to avoid religious persecution in their country of origin were not required to take the literacy test. Perhaps considered most politically incorrect by today’s standards, the law include specific language barring the immigration of â€Å"idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, alcoholics, poor, criminals, beggars, any person suffering attacks of insanity, those with tuberculosis, and those who have any form of dangerous contagious disease, aliens who have a physical disability that will restrict them from earning a living in the United States..., polygamists and anarchists,† as well as â€Å"those who were against the organized government or those who advocated the unlawful destruction of property and those who advocated the unlawful assault of killing of any officer.† Effect of the Immigration Act of 1917 To say the least, the Immigration Act of 1917 had the impact desired by its supporters. According to the Migration Policy Institute, only about 110,000 new immigrants were allowed to enter the United States in 1918, compared to more than 1.2 million in 1913. Further limiting immigration, Congress passed the National Origins Act of 1924, which for the first time established an immigration-limiting quota system and required all immigrants to be screened while still in their countries of origin. The law resulted in the virtual closure of Ellis Island as an immigrant processing center. After 1924, the only immigrants still being screened at Ellis Island were those who had problems with their paperwork, war refugees, and displaced persons. Isolationism Drove the Immigration Act of 1917 As an outgrowth of the American isolationism movement that dominated the 19th century, the Immigration Restriction League was founded in Boston in 1894. Seeking mainly to slow the entry of â€Å"lower-class† immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, the group lobbied Congress to pass legislation requiring immigrants to prove their literacy. In 1897, Congress passed an immigrant literacy bill sponsored by Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, but President Grover Cleveland vetoed the law.   Be early 1917, with America’s participation in World War I appearing inevitable, demands for isolationism hit an all-time high. In that growing atmosphere of xenophobia, Congress easily passed the Immigration Act of 1917 and then overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the law by a supermajority vote. Amendments Restore US Immigration The negative effects of drastically reduced immigration and the general inequity of laws like the Immigration Act of 1917 soon become apparent and Congress reacted. With World War I reducing the American workforce, Congress amended the Immigration Act of 1917 to reinstate a provision exempting Mexican farm and ranch workers from the entry tax requirement. The exemption was soon extended to Mexican mining and railroad industry workers. Shortly after the end of World War II, the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, sponsored by Republican Representative Clare Boothe Luce and Democrat Emanuel Celler eased immigration and naturalization restrictions against Asian Indian and Filipino immigrants. The law allowed the immigration of up to 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians per year and again allowed Filipino and Indian immigrants to become United States citizens. The law also allowed naturalized Indian Americans and FilipinoAmericans to own homes and farms and to petition for their family members to be allowed to immigrate to the United States. In the final year of the presidency of Harry S. Truman, Congress further amended the Immigration Act of 1917 with its passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, known as the McCarran-Walter Act. The law allowed Japanese, Korean and other Asian immigrants to seek naturalization and established an immigration system that placed emphasis on skill sets and reuniting families. Concerned by the fact that the law maintained a quota system drastically limiting immigration from Asian nations, President Wilson vetoed the McCarran-Walter Act, but Congress garnered the votes needed to override the veto. Between 1860 and 1920, the immigrant share of the total U.S. population varied between 13% and nearly 15%, peaking at 14.8% in 1890, mainly due to high levels of immigrants from Europe. As of the end of 1994, the U.S. immigrant population stood at more than 42.4 million, or 13.3%, of the total U.S. population, according to Census Bureau data. Between 2013 and 2014, the foreign-born population of the U.S. increased by 1 million, or 2.5 percent. Immigrants to the United States and their children born in the U.S. now number approximately 81 million people or 26% of the overall U.S. population. Sources and Further Reference Bromberg, Howard (2015). â€Å"Immigration Act of 1917.† Immigration to the United States. Chan, Sucheng (1991). â€Å"The Exclusion of Chinese Women, 1870-1943.† Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-201-3Chung, Sue Fawn. â€Å"Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882–1943.† Temple University Press, 1991.Powell, John (2009). â€Å"Encyclopedia of North American Immigration.† Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-1012-7.Railton, Ben (2013). â€Å"The Chinese Exclusion Act: What It Can Teach Us about America.† Pamgrave-McMillan. ISBN 978-1-137-33909-6.

Early Civilizations and the Dawn of the Medieval Age Essay

Early Civilizations and the Dawn of the Medieval Age History is an account of mans achievements during the last five thousand years. Though man has been on this planet for about 500,000 years, history only covers a part of this period. The reason for this is that history is essentially based on written documents However the art of writing become known to man, only after 3000 B. C. 1.1 History : Meaning and Importance The word history is derived from the Greek noun historia meaning inquiry or research. Aristotle regarded it as a systematic account of a set of natural phenomena, whether or not chronological ordering was a factor in the account. The term history has now come to be applied to accounts of events that are†¦show more content†¦It may be said that history is to the human race, what memory is to each man. It sheds the light of the past upon the present, thus helping one to understand oneself, by making one acquainted with other peoples. Also, as one studies the rise and fall of empires and civilizations, the lessons of the past help one to avoid the pitfalls of the present. History makes ones life richer by giving meaning to the books one reads, the cities one visits or the music one hears. It also broadens ones outlook by presenting to one an admixture of races, a mingling of cultures and a spectacular drama of the making of the modern world out of diverse forces. Another importance of history is that it enables one to grasp ones relationship with ones past. For example if one wonders why the U.S. flag has 48 stars or why Great Britain follows monarchy, one has to turn to history for an answer. History is of immense value to social scientists engaged in research. Thus the political scientist doing research on the parliamentary form of government, has to draw his materials from the treasure trove of history. It preserves the traditional and cultural values of a nation, and serves as a beacon light, guiding society in confronting various crises. History is indeed, as Allen Nerins puts it, a bridge connecting the past with the present and pointing the road to theShow MoreRelatedHuman Trafficking and Exploitation973 Words   |  4 Pageseducation, stronger government action and an end to corruption. Human trafficking and exploitation have been a reality from one end of the globe to another for thousands of years. From the beginnings of society, the ancient Greeks and Romans to the medieval times, and up to today, humans have been susceptible to numerous forms of physical and sexual slavery. For almost as long as there have been humans, there have been forms of slavery, but the 1400s signaled the start of European slave trading in AfricaRead MoreThe Decline Of Gothic And Romanesque Art1569 Words   |  7 Pagesthey saw and dreaded the pain and hate brought onto humanity by Medieval times. 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A Remarkable Event That Happened in My Life free essay sample

It’s all start when my sister and I went to Watson. While I’m doing window shopping, my sister went to buy some stuff. Accidently, in a glance, I saw my sister at the health section. In consciously, I went to her with full of questions, and asked her ‘are you sick? ’ Then she turned back to me and answered my question with a question, ‘is this good? ’ My mind was full with questions but all of them were answered when my sister called my mother and told her the great news. Then suddenly, I’ve heard this loud screaming from my mother room. In a minute, all my siblings went to her room with anxiously. After she hang up the phone, with full of excitement we asked her what was happening? With a joyful face, she told us that our sister is pregnant. The question that was keeping in my mind and made me in an uncomfortable position finally has been answered. We will write a custom essay sample on A Remarkable Event That Happened in My Life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"No wonder she buys the pregnant test today†. This is how I got to learn about my sis’ pregnancy. But what I really want to share with u today is how I took care of my sis during and after her pregnancy. During my sister pregnancy, I try my best to take care of her. I still remembered the day she suddenly asked me a question with a worry face â€Å"Can you do me a favor? † From her face, I knew that she was worry about something. As a wife, what make her so worry? Except the housework, there was no other thing she needs to worry about. Then I asked her â€Å"Yes, what is it? † †Could you please come to my house every Saturday and do the chores? Some of the stuff was hard for me to do because I’m pregnant now. † I answered, â€Å"Can, but what I get on return? † I don’t want to make a non-profit deal. â€Å"Yes, I will pay you RM20 every time you clean up my house. Is it deal? † SURE!!! Some of them said that when a woman pregnant, their characteristics will change to be more temper and easy to get mad. I knew that if my sister gets mad, it will affect the baby too. So I try my best to satisfy her demand all the time when she put s an order. Example, carry things, take boiled water for her to take medicine and etc. I still remembered that day, when my sister drove me to eat my lunch. In our way, we were having a slightly car accident. Fortunately, we both were safe and no injured. At the same time, I feel self-accusation because I scared if it will happen again and maybe next time we are not that lucky. So after the accident, I never let my sister driving during her pregnancy because I realize it is dangerous for her. So every time when she wants to go out, I will just be her driver when she needs me. My sister was limited by my mother about her eating habits during her pregnancy. Every time when my sister and I went out for our meal, I will do as what my mother always did, reminded my sister â€Å"u can’t eat that, this is not good for the baby†. Almost all the time she will listen to me, but sometimes she would not. for her, I am an annoying person. Whenever she wants to go, I will always support her with my hand. Example, help her to open the car door, take her to cross the road, lead her hand when shopping and etc. After she gives birth by operation, she needs to stay at hospital for 1 week. I was being the volunteer who want to stay and accompany her in hospital for 1 week. for me it is better than just staying at home and doing nothing. In that time, I always chatting with my sister, watch television with her to reduce her pain in wound. Some of the time she feels very uncomfortable and cried. I will hold her hand and tell her, â€Å"is ok, don’t too worry, the pain will gone after this few days. † I’m always reminding her to take medicine on time. Support her with my hand and took her to walk around the hospital so that the wound will recover faster. I will always take her to see her baby in the baby room. I look like a part time nurse in that hospital, but that was for my sister, I know I have the responsibility to do that. After a week, my sister finally can go home. Because this was her first time to give birth, my mother offers her back home to be in confinement. But there was no room for her, so I just give up my room for her to be in confinement. Some time I will help her to buy pampers and milk powder when she has no time to buy them. I will always help her to take care of her son when she was tired. Example, lullaby my nephew to sleep, feed the baby with a bottle of milk. Why this event is remarkable for me? During this event, I have learned and gain many things in my life. I learn how hard my mother giving birth of me. I learn how to take care of my future wife when she is pregnant. I learn to appreciate everyone in my life. I gain a good relationship with my sister.

The Knowledge That We Value the Most Is the Knowledge for Which We Can Provide the Strongest Justifications.” to What Extent Would You Agree with This Claim Essay Example

The Knowledge That We Value the Most Is the Knowledge for Which We Can Provide the Strongest Justifications.† to What Extent Would You Agree with This Claim? Paper According to Plato, for one to know a proposition, one must be justified in knowing the proposition is true, the proposition must be true and one must believe in the proposition (Woolman 2000). Much of what we know and value, is justified through strong and solid reasoning and proof, such as Mathematical and scientific formulas; but a lot of significant knowledge which is believed in and seen of great importance, cannot be proven in the same way, and is justified in a very different manner. For example, one’s belief in God is justified mainly through faith and to some extent tradition. Historical interpretations are justified through a mixture of rational facts, but also involve a lot of guess work and hypothesis. So is the knowledge justified by strong and solid reasoning and ‘proof’ valued more? In my opinion the correctness of this claim depends on the area of knowledge and way of knowing. Strong justification in my opinion is different in different subject areas. In maths and science, I am only prepared to accept knowledge with strong logical and empirical proofs. In other areas, such as my faith in God, that type of justification is irrelevant and meaningless. Faith is the basis of my belief that there is a God. Mathematics is the one area of knowledge where I think the most valued knowledge is that for which we can provide the strongest rational, logical, reasoned justifications. The explanation behind this is that for mathematics, the main way of knowing is reason, and minimal sense perception, language or emotion is involved. We will write a custom essay sample on The Knowledge That We Value the Most Is the Knowledge for Which We Can Provide the Strongest Justifications.† to What Extent Would You Agree with This Claim? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Knowledge That We Value the Most Is the Knowledge for Which We Can Provide the Strongest Justifications.† to What Extent Would You Agree with This Claim? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Knowledge That We Value the Most Is the Knowledge for Which We Can Provide the Strongest Justifications.† to What Extent Would You Agree with This Claim? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Mathematicians try to keep other ways of knowing down to a minimal to try to avoid ambiguity and uncertainty. A great example is Fermat’s last theorem, where even though everyone had assumed the theorem was correct, it could not be proven, therefore was not valued as much, which was shown by the small number of theorems based upon Fermat’s theorem. After a long process of reasoning a mathematician called Andrew Wilds was able to justify the theorem, after which other theorems were able to be based on Fermat’s last theorem- showing how its value increased. This example through the 7-year ‘struggle’ Andrew Wilds went through, showed even though mathematics is based on ‘proof’ and reason, the mathematicians are humans, therefore the mathematical challenges they face have a lot emotion and connections to them, increasing the value of the knowledge they find through challenges. Areas of knowledge such as Ethics have very little reasoned ‘proof’, and justify their knowledge more through faith, belief, conscience and empathy. This is because hardly anything in these areas of knowing can be proven exactly, instead the knowledge relates more to ones emotions, beliefs and faith- which helps explain why there are so many ambiguities and clashes of what knowledge is correct or more valuable. An example of this is Islamic Extremists (terrorists) who naively believe killing innocent people, who are supposedly ‘enemies of god’, will guarantee them going to heaven. The majority of the world, including most Muslims disagree with these extremist ideas, but the extremists’ faith has lead them to believe what they are doing is right. I myself am a religious person, and without a doubt believe that there is a superior power among us, known as God and have. Even though this cannot be scientifically proven, I have a religious assurance, belief and faith that God exists. Faith is a unique and powerful way of knowing, lead by emotion. One’s faith and the knowledge reasoned by this faith cannot be rationally justified, but a lot of the time this is the most valued knowledge. Another example where faith justified ones knowledge was in medieval times, when people prosecuted several innocent people as witches, predicted their future by looking at inside animals and believed Kings were naturally chosen by God. All of this knowledge had no justifications, but were purely backed up by faith, yet they were valued to extreme extents. History and ethics are very similar, but the main difference is that with History there’s more rational justification, and more willingness to change. The presence of belief and tradition is shown through how history books in various countries change. The presence of rational justification is shown through how some facts in history never change, for example Britain ruled over Tanzania, and then Tanzania got its independence in 1962. This will not change, no matter where the history textbook is made, showing how even though a lot of historic knowledge is justified through tradition and belief; a lot of history is also justified with rational justifications, backed up with facts. In some areas of knowledge where knowledge is justified through a mixture of both strong proven justifications; and faith, belief and emotion related justifications. These areas are similar to History, but have more rationally justified knowledge. These areas of knowledge include: social sciences and to some extent natural science. For these areas valued knowledge is usually proven and logically justified, but in addition emotion, faith and belief also play a big role. An example of a such a social science is Economics, where most of the theory is justified through strong reason; but several aspects also involve emotion and beliefs, for example if government intervention is good, is it okay to have big wealth inequalities and what type and amount of taxes are acceptable? For natural sciences, a lot more rational justification is involved, but it’s also connected to some emotion, tradition and belief. For example in physics, there was a big dispute between scientists whether light travelled in the form of waves of particles, both theories were rationally justified through experiments and calculations; but which theory to believe depended on one’s belief. Later it was discovered light travels, as both waves and particles. There is some knowledge which may contradict all justification, this is a very rare, but it is possible. An area where such a scenario might take place is in Fine art or Music. For example an art piece drawn by a student is criticized for its un-realistic colors, shapes of objects and lack of creativity, therefore receives a bad grade. Most people including artists would agree that the art piece is poor; but some might argue in the contrary that the piece is beautiful and original (i. . Picasso’s paintings were criticized at first). These people might be able to justify through artistic skills that the piece is not great, but they still might love it- showing how their most justified knowledge is not valued at all, but is contradicted. Similarly to fine art or music, is conscience. Our conscience tells us what’s right and wrong and helps us ‘correctly’ solve our moral issues. A lot of the time it is described as â€Å"a reflection of the voice of God†. This is similar to fine art or music, because even though sometimes through our conscience we have justified knowledge of what’s right and wrong, we don’t value and contradict this knowledge. For example most thieves know they are wrong in stealing items or money not belonging to them, but they choose to ignore this justified knowledge, showing they have no value for it. Introspection is when one studies their own mental, emotional and sometimes physical processes (Woolman 2000). A great example of this is love, which is entirely emotional based. This is similar to conscience or even fine art and music, because firstly knowledge by Introspection is emotion based therefore justified knowledge is valued very little, or not at all. Secondly a lot of the time knowledge and actions by introspection contradict the justified knowledge. For example a woman is in love with a man, she is aware this man is dangerous and probably will cheat and hurt her; but because she’s in love (knowledge through introspection) she marries the man. In this example the woman has justified knowledge suggesting she shouldn’t marry the man, but she doesn’t value and contradicts this knowledge due to introspection. Even though Introspection has several similarities with the other areas, there is also something very unique. This is that the justified knowledge involved with Introspection is very different from other areas, as a lot of the time it cannot be unanimously decided upon as a lot of the knowledge is based on personal views, conscience and emotion. In conclusion the most justified knowledge is not always the most valued knowledge, even though this is the case a lot of the time (i. e. Math formulae). The knowledge we value most depends on the areas of knowledge, ways of knowing and other personal factors such as emotion; and sometimes the most justified knowledge could be contradicted and be of least value to us. Bibliography: †¢Woolman, Micheal. 2000. Ways of Knowing – An introduction to theory of knowledge. Australia. IBID press. †¢Lagemaat, Richard van de. 2005. Theory of Knowledge for the IB diploma. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press.