Inner Beauty Matters Essay Example for Free

Inner Beauty Matters Essay Inner beauty matters How many times do we see ourselves in the mirror and make negative comments about our looks. I’m not pretty or I’m too fat or I’m too overweight. These are few of the phrases that first come to mind in most girls when they look at themselves in the mirror. Well, 90% of teenage girls do not like the way they look or appear. The reason for that is in our society you get attention from people if you look attractive and stunning. Some girls who are overweight would get negative comments from peers like- ‘That girl is too ugly’ or ‘That girl looks like a bulldozer’. Fat is not something you have, it is something you are. We dont say You have fat, we say, You are fat. We identify with our bodies. So the teenager gets the message that this fatness is badness. Some of the teenagers who don’t accept the way they look, try to change themselves by dieting which leads to illnesses and diseases like anorexia. Dieting is the practice of ingesting food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases the goal is weight loss in those who are overweight or obese, but some people these days start dieting because they want to change the way they appear to the society. But what really matters in life? An old proverb states, â€Å"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. † Something or someone is beautiful, depending on the perspective of the person looking in. But the major thing that matters is- Is the person good-looking from inside? Because Without a doubt inner beauty lasts forever whereas outer beauty fades. Anyone can fake the outside to make himself or herself look better and pretty but inner beauty cant be faked. For example you could be the most beautiful person in the world but if you have a horrible personality it just makes you ugly. Your body image is how you perceive, think and feel about your body but this may have no link at all on your actual appearance. For instance, it is common in Western nations for women to believe they are larger and fatter than they really are. Only 16% of women are satisfied with their body weight. Our body shape is already decided before we are born. Each one of us is a unique human being with our own genes from our mum and dad. There is only one person in the world shaped like you. Dieting does not change body shape. The distribution of weight on your body is going to stay the same so learn to love who you are. Dieting is not effective dieting changes a persons metabolism so that they are more likely to lose muscle mass than fat. Instead of dieting to look better and attractive, you can exercise, which is the best and safest way to become healthier. Feeling good about your body as it is helps you to maintain a positive outlook in other areas of your life.

New Generation Sequencing Technologies: Population Genetics

New Generation Sequencing Technologies: Population Genetics New generation sequencing technologies have the potential to rapidly accelerate population genetics research, allowing scientists to comprehensively understand complex evolutionary histories, as well as functional and ecological biodiversity (Shokralla, et al., 2012; Shendure Hanlee, 2008). Prior to 1977, sequence production involved the handling of toxic chemicals and radio-active isotopes, restricting sequencing to persons of high expertise and speciality (Hunkapiller, 1991; Swerdlow, et al., 1990; Sanger, et al., 1977). In 1977, Fred Sanger and Alan R. Coulson published two methodological papers describing a new form of DNA sequencing technology, which would lead to the method (capillary-based, semi-automated Sanger biochemistry) used almost exclusively in the field, for the next 30 years (Shendure Hanlee, 2008). Sanger sequencing transformed biology. It became a tool for deciphering complete genes and, later, entire genomes. Due to the unprecedented extent at which Sanger techn ology grew, factory-like enterprises, called sequencing centres, were established, housing hundreds of DNA sequencing instruments, operated by cohorts of personnel (Schuster, 2008; Hunkapilla, et al., 1991). Despite the dominance of Sanger sequencing in laboratories, for a number of decades, the technology had and continues to be hampered by inherent limitations in throughput, scalability, speed and resolution (Shendure Hanlee, 2008). To overcome these barriers, an entirely new technology was required, one that democratised the field, putting the technology of comprehensive genetic analysis into the hands of individual investigators, not only major genome research centres (Shendure Hanlee, 2008). The need for new technologies was pushed for by the facilitators of the Human Genome Project (HGP) (Ventor, et al., 2001). The excitement and successful completion of the HGP, by two competing research bodies, lead to collective hunger for more advanced, economical sequencing technologies. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), also known as massively parallel sequencing, was such a technology and has ignited a revolution in genomic science, similar to that seen when Sanger technology was presented in 1977, honing in on the era of ‘post-genomic’ research (Schuster, 2008). The revolutionary nature of NGS technologies first became apparent in 2005, in two separate publications, 454 Life Sciences (Marguiles, et al., 2005) and the Multiplex Polony Sequencing Protocol (Shendure, et al., 2005). The methodology of both research groups resulted in vast reductions in the necessary reaction volume, while dramatically extending the number of sequencing reactions (Schuster, 2008). Despite such advances, in sequencing technology, NGS had a slow uptake in the scientific community, with a number of scientists having reservations. According to Schuster (2008), scientists accustomed to Sanger sequencing, as well as the initial scepticism echoed by funding bodies, resulted in a fear that large financial investments into Sanger-sequencing technologies would not produce returns, due to the technologies becoming obsolete. Other concerns were also raised, regarding the sequencing fidelity, read length, infrastructure cost and the handling of the large data volumes produced by NGS (Zhang, et al., 2011). It was the process of combining ongoing Sanger sequencing projects with NGS technologies that promoted its acceptance, into the scientific community. Once the enormous potential of the technology had been realised, along with new and upcoming biology projects that required sequencing outside of what the current Sanger technology could feasibly produce, the concerns raised by NGS’s early sceptics started to be overlooked. A combination of both first and second generation technologies are now used in sequencing facilities and projects around the world, the implications of which, for the fields of evolutionary biology and population genetics is vast. Researchers now have the ability to observe small changes in ecological community structure that may occur following anthropogenic or natural environmental fluctuations (Hajibabaei, et al., 2011; Leininger, et al., 2006; Hunkapiller, et al., 1991). Such implications of NGS technologies has led to the generation of whole-genome sequence data, for thousands of individuals (Akey Shriver, 2011; Harismendy, et al., 2009). The availability of such data is leading to a better understanding of evolutionary processes, such as descriptions of sex-biased dispersal and mutation rate biases (e.g., Wilson Sayres, M. A., et al., 2011). Furthermore, the ability to sequence the genomes of species, that have been long extinct, is no longer nonsensical, provided the samples from which DNA is to be extracted is still viable (Green, et al., 2010; Reich, et al., 2010). The hope that such projects may help population geneticists better understand the process of extinction, whether anthropomorphically or n aturally induced, may help those endangered species whose current possibility of extinction, in the near future, is high (Akey Shriver, 2011; Miller, et al., 2011). However, despite such ambitious aspirations of population geneticists, one large area of research that remains surprisingly unanswered, within the literature, is the definition of a population or ‘the population concept’ (Waples Gaggiotti, 2006). Given the importance of such a concept, one might expect to find a commonly used definition, one that is applicable to wild species, to determine how many populations exist within a delineated geographic area and the relationships amongst them (Waples Gaggiotti, 2006). However, one does not exist, rather there is evidence that what makes a ‘population’ is based on the research question. NGS technologies are providing population geneticists with the opportunity to flesh out a detailed definition of a population, on the molecular level. For example, Waples Gaggiotti (2006) ask â€Å"How different must molecular units be before individuals can be considered a part of separate populations?† Different criteria can be established and assigned to individuals, in order to determine the answer. The interplay of different evolutionary forces (selection, migration, drift) will favour different species, with different forces being more obvious, at the molecular level, than others. The ability to pose a research question, pertaining to the individuals, within a particular habitat, is now possible due to the ability to sequence numerous samples with NGS technologies. The implications, in population genetics, for a new generation of sequencing technologies, are a greater focus on testing expectations. Such expectations, simultaneously, result in excitement and daunt to those undertaking evolutionary and population genetic research, at present. Excitement exists because fundamental questions, pertaining to the patterns of genetic variation, within and between species, can now be analysed, with new generation sequencing technologies, such as NGS. Although NGS technology may still be in its infancy, the powerful possibility of analysing massive data sets is within reach of the individual and large-scale sequencing facilities alike, at a highly reduced cost. However, the methodological tools and theoretical models needed to interpret such large data sets are equally daunting to both new, and experienced, evolutionary and population geneticists. Despite such present and future challenges, population genetics research is looking promising, thanks to adv ances in NGS adoption and computation. References Akey, J. M. Shriver, M. D. (2011). A grand challenge in evolutionary population genetics: new paradigms for exploring the past and charting the future in the post-genomic era. Frontiers in Genetics 2, 1-2. Green R. E., Krause J., Briggs A. W., Maricic T., Stenzel U., Kircher M., Patterson N., †¦ Pà ¤Ãƒ ¤bo S. (2010). A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. Science 328, 710–722. Hajibabaei, M., Shokralla, S., Zhou, X., Singer, G. A. C. Baird, D. J. (2011). Environmental barcoding: a next-generation sequencing approach for biomonitoring applications using river benthos. PLoS ONE 6, e17497. Harismendy, O., Ng, P. C., Strausberg, R. L., Wang, X., Stockwell, T. B., Beeson, K. Y., Schork, N. J., †¦ Frazer, K. A. (2009). Evaluation of next generation sequencing platforms for population targeted sequencing studies. Genome Biology 10 (3), 32-39. Hunkapiller, M. W. (1991). Advances in DNA sequencing technology. Current Opinion in Genetics Development 1 (1), 88-92. Hunkapiller, T., Kaiser, R. J., Koop, B. F. Hood, L. (1991). Large-scale and automated DNA sequence determination. Science 254, 59-67. Leininger, S., Urich, T., Schloter, M., Schwark, L., Qi, J., Nicol, G. W., Prosser, J. I., Schuster, S. C. Schleper, C. (2006). Archaea predominate among ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes in soils. Nature 442, 806-809. Marguiles, M., Egholm, M., Altman, W. E., Attiya, S., Bader, J. S., Bemben, L. A., †¦ Rothberg, J. M. (2005). Genome sequencing in microfabricated high-density picolitre reators. Nature 437, 376-380. Miller W., Hayes V. M., Ratan A., Petersen D. C., Wittekindt N. E., Miller J., Walenz B., †¦ Schuster S. C. (2011). Genetic diversity and population structure of the endangered marsupial Sarcophilus harrisii (Tasmanian devil). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 (30), 12348-12353. Reich D., Green R. E., Kircher M., Krause J., Patterson N., Durand E. Y., Viola B., †¦ Pà ¤Ãƒ ¤bo S. (2010). Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature 468, 1053–1060. Sanger, F., Air, G. M., Barrell, B. G., Brown, N. L., Coulson, A. R., Fiddes, J. C., Hutchison, C. A. III, Slocombe, P. M. Smith, M. (1977). Nucleotide sequence of bacteriophage phi X174 DNA. Nature 265, 687-695. Schuster, S. C. (2008). Next-generation sequencing transforms today’s biology. Nature Methods 5 (1), 16-18. Shendure, J. Hanlee, J. (2008). Next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature Biotechnology 26 (10), 1135-1145. Shendure, J., Porreca, G.J., Reppas, N. B., Lin, X., McCutcheon, J. P., Rosenbaum, A. M., Wang, M. D., Zhang, K., Mitra, R. D. Church, G. M. (2005). Accurate multiplex polony sequencing of an evolved bacterial genome. Science 309, 1728-1732. Shokralla, S., Spall, J. L., Gibson, J. F. Hajibabaei, M. (2012). Next generation sequencing technologies for environmental DNA research. Molecular Ecology 21, 1794-1805. Swerdlow, H., Wu, S. L., Harke, H. Dovichi, N. J. (1990). Capillary gel electrophoresis for DNA sequencing. Laser-induced fluorescence detection with the sheath flow cuvette. Journal of Chromatography 516, 61-67. Ventor, J. C., Adams, M. D., Myers, E.W., Li, P. W., Mural, R. J., Sutton, G. G., Amanatides, P., †¦, Zhu, X. (2001). The sequence of the human genome. Science 291, 1304-1351. Waples, R. S. Gaggiotti, O. (2006). INVITED REVIEW: What is a population? An empirical evaluation of some genetic methods for identifying the number of gene pools and their degree of connectivity. Molecular Ecology 15 (6), 1419-1439. Wilson Sayres M. A., Venditti C., Pagel M., Makova K. D. (2011). Do variations in substitution rates and male mutation bias correlate with life history traits? A study of 32 mammalian genomes. Evolution 65 (10), 2800-2815. Zhang, J., Chiodini, R., Badr, A. Zhang, G. (2011). The impact of next-generation sequencing on genomics. Journal of Genetics and Genomics 38, 95-109. Influences of Greek Culture: History of the Spartans Influences of Greek Culture: History of the Spartans The Spartans In the summer of 480 B.C a battle took place that would forever change the history of the Greeks and that would eventually influence the way in which the Western world looked at war. The Spartans took their stand against the massive army of Persians in a three day battle which resulted in the Persians taking the win but may have very well led to the Greeks winning the Greco-Persian War. A culmination of strong tactical skill and bravery contributed to the Spartans making a stand much longer and stronger than anybody could have ever predicted. The Persian king Xerxes led his massive army through the narrow mountain pass known as Thermopylae expecting no considerable fight on the part of the Spartans. The Persians bid to conquer Greece was significantly halted because of the Spartan resistance, which was led by Leonidas,followed by a small army of Spartans, amounting to no more than 300. But no matter the size of Spartas fleet, Sparta if not the strongest, was one of the strongest mili tary powers in ancient Greece. And despite them being vastly outnumbered by the Persians at Thermopylae, they did indeed prove their military strength and sophistication which resulted in their near defeat of the Persian army. Greek culture was and still is up to today a heavy influence on the modern cultures of the Western world. It is because of this heavy influence of Greek culture in the western world, the knowledge of their history proves crucial to many aspects of our understanding of our own cultures. This heavy influence on the development of the western world could very easily be the reason that the Battle of Thermopylae and other battles surrounding it, have become of such importance and high level of study. The valiant stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae lead to the Greeks defeat of the Persians in the Greco-Persian war and enabled the further development of a culture from which the western world gains many of its principles and ideas. If the Spartans had not delayed the Persians at Thermopylae there may have been a very different ending to the Greco-Persian war. This being an important observation because the Greco-Persian war played such a crucial role in the history of Greece, a defeat could have resulted in a very different future for the western civilization. The culture of Greece was one that strived for perfection in every sense of the word, but there was a dark side to the culture that so many have grown to praise. This dark side can be seen in the Spartans treatment of the Helots, who were in essence a Greek culture in their own, the Messenia’s, but early on became enslaved by the power Spartans who were in desperate need to acquire more land to deal with the burden of overpopulation. The Spartans held true and easily demonstrated as what is seen as Greece’s inability to incorporate. The poor treatment of the Helots lead them to begin a 30 year revolt, in which the Spartans took twenty years to take control of the situation. Fear of more events like this, is what turned Sparta into the war state that it became. The attempt to suppress the Helots, by the Spartans, in many ways assisted the Spartans in their attempt to defeat the Persians. No longer willing to undergo a similar revolt, the Spartans devoted a considerable a mount of time and energy making certain to prevent all such events. It was because of these efforts that major components of Spartan culture, as we know it today, were all enforced. This can be easily seen in the devotion to physical perfection and warring techniques. And equally as important as their attempt to suppress the Helots was the contribution of the Helots in constructing their armor and warring tools. So despite the overwhelmingly poor treatment of the Helots, they played a crucial role in preparing the Spartans for the challenges to come and in the heat of battle. Even though they may have played an indirect role the affect that had on both the culture and the Battle of Thermopylae itself was indeed direct. The Greeks had a large influence on the development of western world in many respects. Whether it is an influence on science or art, to anyone who has studied Greece in the days of its glory the influences be easily pinpointed. These influences continue into the art of war. As previously stated, war was a constant in Greece so much so that it became imbedded in its very culture. Consequently the way in which war was conducted in ancient Greece has become a portrait of the way in which it should be conducted, and set a standard around the Western world for years to come. Despite war being one of the most immoral, barbaric, and most appalling of all human creations, the Greeks did the impossible, by successfully portraying war as something of beauty, patriotism, freedom and self-sacrifice. Therein lays a reason the significance of the Battle at Thermopylae. That one battle not only captured the spirit of the Greeks, more specifically the Spartans, in three days but became a turning poi nt of the art of war. But the Battle of Thermopylae more importantly defended the very future of the modern world. It was Spartan culture, which in many ways, influenced the Spartans ability to stand against the Persians as long as they did. To overlook the role of Spartan culture in relation to their stand at Thermopylae would be to overlook one of the most influential aspects of the battle. Spartan culture was one of great complexity having many intricate characteristics, which adapted to the situations that they held witness to. Spartans were people of extreme patriotic pride and military prowess, who sought perfection in every form. But equal to their patriotism was their oppressive tactics towards their captives. Spartans weren’t people who believed in the concept of freedom. The Spartans for several centuries, while in Laconia and Messenia, exercised a ruthless enslavement of other native Greeks, whose land they conquered. Sparta was a military aristocracy, who wasn’t a military state for the sake of being a military state. In many respects Sparta’s army, parallel to no t other, was created and maintained for the sole purpose of suppressing the Helots. In theory it was because of Sparta’s ‘inability to incorporate’ that lead to their standing army. Sparta’s military achievements are, no doubt, the most impressive of all their possible accomplishments. By the middle of the sixth century Sparta was already considered the strongest military force in Greece. Despite the brute strength the of the Spartan army, the Spartan were still worried that a revolt from their underclass (the Helots)would cripple their advancement as a society. â€Å"The Helot underclass were always threatening to rise up in significant numbers against their masters. So, at the beginning of each new civil year Sparta’s chief elected officials, the board of five ephors (overseers, supervisors), formally declared war on them. If any Helots did choose to rebel, they might then be killed with impunity†¦.† The awareness of a possible revolt kept the Spartans military forces extremely strong. This tension between the Spartans and Helots, strongly prepared the military forces for both the expected and unexpected, a beneficial trait which played to their advantage at the Battle of Thermopylae. Another trait that played to their advantage was the educational system of Sparta. The agoge was instated into Spartan culture to both develop the physical and mental maturity of all Spartan boys and was a requirement for all Spartan males.

Right Stuff :: essays research papers

The Right Stuff   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As one advances in their educational process it becomes apparent that some of their instructors were a significant cut above the rest. These few individuals are inevitably viewed as master craftsmen. But why is it that some instructor’s posses the â€Å"right stuff† for being effective with their students while others do not? When one analyzes their educational experience, those instructors that were extremely effective appear to them as makers of fine wine, turning grapes into a drink which is pleasurable to the pallet. All instructors’ careers starts out in much the same manner as a trade’s apprentice. First, they must go to school themselves. Then, they must observe experts in action. And finally, they have to exercise their newly acquired skills. The instructors that eventually become effective quickly realize there is much more to the fermentation process than this. They realize that to be effective with a student there are additional requirements that must be adhered to. To make a fine wine they must learn to delicately blend the right ingredients of personality, motivation, and above all patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The initial ingredient required to becoming an effective instructor is of personality. The personality of the instructor affects each and every student they are in contact with. An effective instructor will develop a personality that conveys humor into the learning process. It is only natural that what one finds humorous, one tends to remember longer. Additionally, if an instructor to be a cut above the rest, their personality must be of fairness and equality for each student. Students feel that, if their instructor really doesn’t like them much anyway, there isn’t much use in trying as hard as they would otherwise. As the apprentices of the instructor trade begin to integrate a warm, humorous, and friendly personality into their instructional style, the first process in fine wine making is achieved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, the instructor then adds motivation to their students’ behavior. When an instructor motivates a student to do well, the student usually tries to succeed beyond that point. This can most easily be done by the positive reinforcement of the students’ abilities and through constructive criticism. When an instructor portrays to their students that they believe in their abilities, the student unknowingly starts believing that they do posses the same abilities. Through applying the second ingredient to becoming an effective instructor, motivation, the grapes start to ferment and the apprentice now becomes a journeymen of the wine making trade.

A Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez. Essay

A Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez. The book "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez is about a murder in a small South American Village. It is based on an actual murder that took place in 1951 in the town of Sucre, Colombia. This novel provides a detailed insight to the culture of Latin America as it pertains to many aspects of an individuals life. Instances such as religion, marriage, death, and justice and interactions due to the concepts of honor and gender. Culture in most respects should be looked at holistically. Examining specific ideas and concepts within it become seemingly difficult because they form an intricate web, which can be related to other concepts and premises. Actions, dialog and even the descriptions of objects, people, and scenes enable readers to formulate a basic outline of the culture exhibited by the society expressed by Marquez. The story takes place in a small South American town some time in the mid-nineteenth century. While the story makes no direct mention of the year or city many sources indicate it was based on an actual event and dealt with people the author knew directly. It is an unconventional recollection of the author to the events prior to, during, and following the murder of a Santiago Nasar, wealthy young local Arab man. A native woman of the town, Angela Vicario had become the love interest of a flamboyantly rich and young Bayardo San Roman, son of famous and renown civil war general. In a matter of four months they were married. On the first night of their union San Roman learned his new wife was not the blessed virgin he thought he married. Angela Vicario was furiously beaten by San Roman and taken back to her home... ... is that as wedding gifts Bayardo received a new car and Angela received a gold plated 24 person dinner set. The indication of gender roles is abundantly clear that upon marriage men take on responsibilities for taking care of family by means of employment and the women practically regress into becoming pure domicile dwelling individuals. Ones culture within a society provides many individuals with many different interpretations of commonly accepted ideas and themes. "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez outlines much of the culture of a small Latin American town and demonstrates the intricacies of culture. Various concepts have direct involvement with the carrying out of other concepts. Defending ones honor in an act that would bring about death coincides with justice, which often times materializes in the act that defies religion

Comparing Synge’s Riders to the Sea and Beckett’s Endgame :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Synge’s Riders to the Sea and Beckett’s Endgame 1 1 Introduction Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge (1904) and Endgame by Samuel Beckett (1958) show many similarities despite the eventful half a century that passed between their years of publication. The similar elements (the setting, the relation of the characters to the outside world, etc., related in detail in the next section) seem to create an atmosphere in both works that is fit for the creation of a new mythology. However, by separating the physically present elements from those which are conjured up only by words in the texts (determining the A/B structure of the works), one of the—probably—most important differences can be discovered between the two plays: namely, that while in Riders to the Sea, a new myth is actually being created, this act of creation is missing from Endgame—possibly because newly created myths (and values) are deemed impossible by Beckett in the light of the two World Wars of the 20th century. During the course of the essay, it will also be suggested that this creation is, in fact, what characters (more specifically, Maurya, Hamm and Clov) are all waiting for; and that while the world-view of Synge’s play reflects, to a certain extent, the views of objective idealism, Beckett not only lowers the level of idealism to the subjective level, denying the existence of a rational, global control, but also goes further to deny the existence of any ord ering power in the world at all. 1 2 â€Å"Outside of here it’s death† (Beckett 2:2475). Environments Fit for Myths It has been suggested many times (for example, Tokarev 1:12), that mythology was the main instrument for the so-called ‘primitive’ cultures to understand the surrounding world. If this is so, then the world, in a pre-mythic or mythless state, must present itself as dangerous and inconceivable, as it actually does in both plays. In both works, the setting is a room: â€Å"Bare interior† (2:2472) in Endgame, and a â€Å"cottage kitchen† (83) in Riders to the Sea, outside which room, in both cases, lies the realm of (literal) death. In Endgame, this is expressed directly, as Hamm declares often: â€Å"Outside of here it’s death† (2:2475) and â€Å"Beyond is the†¦ other hell† (2:2481), when feeling the wall that separates the two spaces.

Holy War Inc Book Review

In Peter Bergen’s Holy War, Inc, the reader is ushered through a head-spinning trip around the globe that serves to highlight the far-reaching effects of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization that Bergen likens to a Multi-national holding company. While Bergen makes reference to similarities between the management of a Multi-national Corporation and that of al-Qaeda, it is seemingly not the primary focus of the book nor does it serve as a particularly suitable metaphor, especially in light of the events that have transpired since the book was released. Despite the title of the book, Bergen does a fine job setting a backdrop to the organization and illustrating how it operates in an increasingly technologically intertwined world system, as well as outlining factors contributed by the West. It seems there are few people on the planet who are as qualified as Peter Bergen to tackle as complex a task as explaining al-Qaeda to the masses. It is a feat he has clearly accomplished though, evidenced by the fact that the book became a New York Times best seller, was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2001 by The Washington Post, and has been translated into eighteen different languages. Bergen has traveled extensively through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to report on bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. In 1997 Bergen brought the Western world bin Laden's first television interview as a producer for CNN. It was in this interview that Western audiences first heard bin Laden’s declaration of war against the United States (1). Due to his extensive travel and research, Bergen displays an understanding and empathy, if not flat out admiration and sympathy for the Muslim struggle. He spends virtually no effort in further vilifying the terrorists, but concentrates rather on explaining the history and motivation behind the attacks with vocabulary that is, at times, nearly poetic. This ranges from the description of the â€Å"hopelessly brave warriors who†¦suffered so much for their faith† during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, to the moving experience of watching Muslim men at prayer. He reflects on how â€Å"the act of collective worship woven into the fabric of daily life is something we have almost entirely lost in the West (2). My personal favorite however, is his description of Pakistan during Ramadan where the â€Å"mornings were chilly, but by midday the sun had warmed the velvet breezes that blew the turning leaves off the trees† (3). Apart from the eloquence employed in his writing, it is still most surprising the great lengths Bergen went through to assemble a case of innocence for Khaled al-Fawwaz, the man who had first arranged CNN’s meeting with bin Laden and who was incidentally arrested by British authorities while Bergen was in London. Khaled is still being held in Britain fighting extradition to the U. S. for his involvement in the bombings of the two U. S. embassies in East Africa despite Bergen’s construct of innocence (4). Bergen does not excuse the terrorist acts performed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but certainly works to explain to the Western world the factors and policies that have contributed to their justification for violence. He is critical of the U. S. Government from the outset of the book where he examines U. S. ulpability for placing extremists in power and for providing an arsenal of weapons still employed by Afghan extremists today. During the brutal Afghan war, the U. S. provided political and financial support as well as stinger missiles (via the Pakistani government) to the Hizb party headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Islamic extremist who â€Å"consistently placed the long-term goal of Islamic revolution over resistance to the Soviets†(5). Bergen identifies Ahmed Shah Massoud, a moderate Islamic general as having been a better choice of leaders, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. More importantly, Bergen seeks to establish the ignorance on which the United States’ policies have been formed. An Army Supervisor told Bergen that in his eight years in the Middle East that he had heard daily of how U. S. policy was â€Å"dead wrong†. Though these are not Bergen’s own words, it seems this is the overriding message he seeks to convey. He makes it abundantly clear that the Muslim world has not made war on our culture, but rather on our politics, particularly pertaining to the occupation of Saudi Arabia. He explains the fundamental difference between U. S. and Islamic thought: the concept of the ability to separate the sacred and secular. In a land where the â€Å"separation of church and state† is held as a value, it is difficult to conceive a system where politics and religion are one in the same. As difficult as it is for us to imagine policy being dictated by religion, it is equally as difficult for them to perceive an occupation as anything less than an attack directly on Islam itself. In fact, our policies are rarely grounded on moral principal, much less religion, unless there are first grounded in national interest. In the eyes of al-Qaeda, U. S. occupation of Saudi Arabia, a most holy place in the Islamic faith, is akin to â€Å"sending Jihad to the Vatican† (6). Every military move the West has made in light of the Saudi occupation only furthers the belief that the U. S. seeks to dominate the Muslim world. This includes military activity in Somalia and other predominantly Muslim countries in Africa, to the support of Israel, to the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. A little more than a year after this book was released, the U. S. and Saudi Arabia agreed that it was in both nations’ best interest for U. S. forces to leave the area. It does not seem, however, that this is having the effect on bin Laden that Bergen and U. S. policy makers had hoped for. According to the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, bin Laden will not be satisfied until all Muslim societies are â€Å"liberated from foreign troops and what they see as ungodly secular rulers† (7). Bergen further discourages American occupation by making note of Afghan history, marked by numerous foreign invasions that have consistently, and brutally been averted by Afghan warriors to the demise of their attackers. Bergen states that the â€Å"British came to realize that to occupy Afghanistan was to invite disaster (8)†, a sentiment echoed last year by Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal in his assessment of the Obama Administration’s goal to extract U. S. troops from Afghanistan. He states, â€Å"Nobody, throughout history, has ever succeeded in [conquering Afghanistan]. Go back to Alexandrian times and more recently to Soviet times. Afghanistan has always been the deathbed of invading armies. â€Å"(9). Support is given to these ideas rather than to the title, which I imagine was cooked up by Bergen’s publisher as a means to sell books to its target market, the capitalist West. There is no doubt that bin Laden and his family have been extraordinarily successful in their business ventures, funneling a great amount of the resulting wealth into terrorist organizations. To say, however, that al-Qaeda acts as a â€Å"multi-national holding company† is a stretch, at best. Bergen himself defines the structure of a holding company as â€Å"controlling partial or complete interests in other companies†(10). Even this limited definition does not seem to apply to al-Qaeda’s methods, but when the definition is extended out further, it seems to become even less applicable. A holding company provides a means of concentrating control of several companies with a minimum of investment and risk to the holding company. This would suggest that the product, which in this case would be varying brands of Jihad, are simply managed and controlled by al-Qaeda, when in fact they are the organization doing the exporting of a particular brand of Jihad. Bergen contradicts his own thesis in his discussion about the nature of the organization in regards to intelligence gathering. He states, â€Å"The bin Laden network is by contrast a loosely affiliated transnational group with a more diffuse organizational structure that makes it hard to penetrate†(11). Bin Laden knows business and has surely employed many of his organizational management skills to al-Quaeda, but that does not a business make. It is true that al-Quaeda is â€Å"as globally minded as any other national company† (12) and has attracted a â€Å"polyglot† of followers (a word Bergen employs multiple times) but what this really speaks to his observation that â€Å"bin Laden’s organization†¦is as much a creation of globalization as a response to it† (13). Bergen acknowledges that umma the world community of Muslims, is a value long held by the Islamic faith. Globalization has simply shored up that value. If al-Quaeda were the top-down corporation that Bergen suggests, it would be a machine whose components could be easily disabled. In 2009, Bergen gave testimony before the U. S. house of representatives that â€Å"Al Qaeda has sustained and can continue to sustain enormous blows that would put other organizations out of business because the members of the group firmly believe that they are doing God's work and tactical setbacks do not matter in the short run. 14)† Perhaps the organization is approaching the point that Bergen predicted in the closing of the book, where our victory in the war on terror is defined by a reversion of terrorist threats similar to the â€Å"status-quo of pre-9/11, where terrorism was an irritant for American Policy Makers, but not the major national security concern†(15). Or perhaps as he suggests it is â€Å"devolving into local franchises† (16), though it seems this metaphor would have be en more fitting from the beginning. In fact, in Bergen’s Senate testimony he says of the organization: Indeed, it is my assessment that the al Qaeda organization today no longer poses a direct national security threat to the United States itself, but rather poses a second-order threat in which the worst case scenario would be an al Qaeda- trained or -inspired terrorist managing to pull off an attack on the scale of something in between the 1993 Trade Center attack, which killed six, and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, which killed 168. While this, of course, would be tragic, it would not constitute a mass casualty attack sufficiently large in scale to reorient American national security policy completely as the 9/11 attacks did (17). This suggests al-Quaeda as something less of a franchise but rather more of an inspiring business model. While there are still terrorists who have been directly trained by al-Qaeda, or employees if you will, the preeminent threat stems from those who are inspired by the group’s successes. To carry the corporate metaphor out further, these are the people who decide to open their own shoe store after learning about the successes of Nordstrom. I would most certainly suggest this book to others, particularly Americans who tend to be apathetic toward foreign policy. A move toward understanding the collective psychology of the group is infinitely more productive that blind defiance. It is a superbly written book especially in light of the intertwined cast of characters who were often difficult to keep track of, given their travel in and out of regions and with lengthy names consisting of strings of consonants unfamiliar to the English-speaking world. It would be difficult to put these globe-trotting, name-dropping narratives could together in any less complicated manner though, unless one were to rename individuals such as â€Å"Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman† as â€Å"Abe† for instance, but I suppose that would wholly undermine the book’s authenticity. When certain individuals reemerge in the plot, Bergen is often kind enough to remind the reader that of where they had first appeared, such as the case of Ramzi Yousef who was mentioned briefly in two chapters. Bergen reminds that reader that he was the fellow who had an early mishap with some explosives he was experimenting with, resulting in smoke pouring from his Manila apartment (18). Given all the Arab names in the book, the Oh-I-remember-that-guy-now tactic proves rather helpful. Bergen leaves the reader with quite a lot to chew on and digest in regards to foreign policy and trade by expressing a liberally optimistic worldview. Any hope seems to lie in closing the gap of ignorance in the West toward Islam as well as the Islamic world’s blissful denial of the damage done to the West by Islamic radicalism. For instance, the results of the poll of Muslim countries cited by Bergen found that the U. S. attacks on Afghanistan were perceived as unjustified. It was a bit more revealing that the same poll showed that the terror attacks on the U. S. were perceived as equally unjustified and that 61 percent did not even believe that Arab terrorists carried out the 9/11 attacks (19). Bergen seems confident though that the Democratic Islamic Movement holds potential stating that, â€Å"any number of political models are possible in an Islamic environment† (20) and that as long as governments are stabilized, extremism will hold less appeal. I don’t know that Bergen would have written this book has he thought the West could not have a positive role in creating that stabilization. He admonishes the U. S. government and Middle Eastern countries for working in cooperation against al-Quaeda and for establishing trade policies that benefit unstable regions. This type of cooperation is paramount in his view. Bergen closes along the real thesis of the book, which has nothing to do with terrorism as a multinational corporation, and everything to do with explaining Muslim sensibilities and how deeply the U. S. continues to offend them. His exhortation is for the U. S. to behave in a manner that looks toward peace rather than ignorantly and haughtily labeling the entire region as an â€Å"axis of evil†. Readers of this book will hopefully walk away with an understanding of the motivation behind al-Quaeda as well as our own national propensity toward the pride that has motivated unthinkable offenses toward the Muslim people. Bibliography (1) â€Å"Biography. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (2) Bergen, Peter. Holy War, Inc. . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002. p. 153. (3) Holy War, Inc. p. 150. (4) â€Å"US Most Wanted Terrorist Suspect in New Extradition Fight in Britain – Telegraph. † Telegraph. co. uk: News, Business, Sport, the Daily Telegraph Newspaper, Sunday Telegraph – Telegraph. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. . (5) Holy War, Inc. p. 72. (6) Holy War, Inc. p. 101. (7) â€Å"BBC NEWS | Middle East | US Pulls out of Saudi Arabia. † BBC NEWS | News Front Page. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. . (8) Holy War, Inc. p. 53. Bibliography (Cont. ) (9) â€Å"Cornell Chronicle: Saudi Prince on U. S. -Saudi Relations. † Cornell Chronicle Online. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. http://www. news. cornell. edu/stories/April09/PrinceTurkiCover. gl. html (10) Holy War, Inc. p. 32. (11) Holy War, Inc. p. 120. (12) Holy War, Inc. p. 83. (13) Holy War, Inc. p. 200. (14) â€Å"Articles – Congressional Testimony: Reassessing the Evolving Al Qaeda Threat to the Homeland. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (15) Holy War, Inc. p. 245. 16) Holy War, Inc. p. 238. Bibliography (Cont. ) (17) â€Å"Articles – Congressional Testimony: Reassessing the Evolving Al Qaeda Threat to the Homeland. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (18) Holy War, Inc. p. 222. (19) Holy War, Inc. p. 227. (20) Holy War, Inc. p. 238. http://www. peterbergen. com/articles/details. aspx? id=411 Cornell University, Chronicle Online. April 24, 2009. Saudi Prince Hopes Obama Wi ll End Region's conflicts. George Lowery http://www. news. cornell. edu/stories/April09/PrinceTurkiCover. gl. html 2

Common Biases and Errors in Decision-Making Process

COMMON BIASES AND ERRORS IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESS In addition to winning in bounded rationality, an accumulating body of lay down tells us that closing makers allow regular biases and errors to creep into their judgments. These come out of attempts to cutoff the decision bidding. To minimize effort and parry difficult trade-offs, heap endure to avow also heavily on experience, impulses, gut feelings, and convenient a? rules of thumb. a? In galore(postnominal) instances, these shortcuts argon helpful. However, they dismiss track down to severe distortions from rationality.The following highlights the most customary distortions. certitude deviateItas been verbalize that a? no problem in judgment and decision reservation is to a greater extent prevalent and to a greater extent potentially ruinous than overconfidence. a? When weare confiden substantial questions and asked to judge the probability that our answers are correct, we track down to be far too opti mistic. For instance, studies deport found that, when people say theyare 65 to 70% confident that theyare right wing, they were actually correct only hale-nigh 50% of the age. And when they say theyare coke% sure, they inclineed to be 70 to 85% correct.From an organisational standpoint, one of the more interesting findings think to overconfidence is that those individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest are most promising to overestimate their performance and ability. So as mangers and employees gravel more knowledge fit about an issue, the little believably they are to display overconfidence. Overconfidence is most alikely to sur demo when organizational members are considering issues or problems that are immaterial their area of expertise. Anchoring BiasThe anchoring bias is a tendency to fixate on sign culture as a scratch point.Once set, we then fail to adequately find for subsequent information. The anchoring bias occurs because our mind appears to go through a disproportionate amount of accent to the first information it receives. So initial impressions, ideas, process, and estimates carry undue weight carnal knowledge to information received later. Anchors are widely used by professional people such as advertising writers, managers, politicians, real estate agents, and lawyersawhere persuasion skills are distinguished For instance, in a mock jury trial, one set of jurors was asked by the plaintiffas attorney to make an award in the site of Rs. million to Rs. 25 million. other set of jurors was asked for an award in the range of Rs. 25 million to 75 million. agreeable with the anchoring bias, the median awards were Rs. 5 million versus Rs. 25 million in the two conditions. charter the role of anchoring in negotiations and interviews. Any time a negotiation takes place, so does anchoring. As soon as someone states a summate, your ability to objectively ignore that number has been compromised. For ins tance, when a prospective employer asks how more than you were making in your prior job, your answer typically anchors the employeras base on balls.Most of us understand this and up a? adjusta? our previous salary in the hope that it will encourage our employer to offer us more. Anchoring can distort use of superbs and services interviews. The initial information you might know interviewing a job candidate is likely to anchor your assessment of the applicant and unduly influence how you interpret information that you happen later. Confirmation BiasThe rational decision-making process assumes that we objectively gather information. But we donat. We selectively gather information.The information bias represents a specific case of selective perception. We stress out information that reaffirms our past choices, and we rebate information that contradicts past judgments. We in addition tend to accept information at face value that confirms our preconceived views, while beingness ness critical and skeptical of information that challenges these views. The information we gather is typically biased toward livelihood views we already hold. This confirmation bias influences where we go to collect narrate because we tend to seek out places that are more likely to tell us what we want to hear.It also leads us to give too much weight to supporting information and too little to contradictory information. Availability BiasMany more people acquire from fear of flying than fear of effort in a car. The reason is that many people think flying is more dangerous. If flying on a commercialized airline was as dangerous as driving, the equivalent of two 747s filled to force would let to crash every week, kill all aboard, to match the chance of being killed in a car accident.But the media give a lot more charge to air accidents, so we tend to overstate the risk of flying and understate the risk of driving. This illustrates an example of the availability bias, which i s the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is right away visible(prenominal) to them. Events that evoke emotions, that are in particular vivid, or that have occurred more deep tend to be more available in our memory. As a result, we tend to be prone to overestimating unlikely events like an airplane crash.The availability bias can also explain why managers, when doing yearbook performance appraisals, tend to give more weight to recent behaviors of an employee than those behaviors of six or nine months ago. Escalation of Commitment Error some other distortion that creeps into decisions in work out is a tendency to increase fealty when a decision stream represents a series of decisions. Escalation of committal refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear conclusion that itas harm.An example of this is of my friend, who has been dating a woman for about four years. He admitted that things werenat going too well in their affinity he certified me that he was going to marry the woman. A bit surprised by his decision, I asked him why. He responded a? I have a lot invested in the relationship a? It has been well documented that individuals escalate commitment to a failing run-in of action when they view themselves as a responsible for the failure. That is they a? throw good money after bada? o essay that their initial decision wasnat wrong and to avoid having to admit they made a mistake. Escalation of commitment is also congruent with evidence that people try to appear undifferentiated in what they say and do. Increasing commitment to previous actions conveys consistency. Escalation of commitment has obvious implications for managerial decisions. Many an organization has suffered large losings because a manager was determined to prove his or her original decision was right by continuing to commit resources to what was a lost cause from the beginning.In addition, consistency is a characteristic often associated with effective leaders. So managers, in an effort to appear effective, whitethorn be motivated to be coherent when switching to another course of action. In reality, effective managers are those who are able to differentiate between situations in which tenacity will pay off and situations in which it will not. http//www. citeman. com/384-common-biases-and-errors-in-decision-making-process. html