Essay --

To be born a female or a male in any society is more than an unpretentious biological fact since it is not without social implications. Women establish a discrete social group, as gender dominates it by means of culture redevelops to what instigates as a fact of nature. The idea that natural differences between the sexes are the basis/spring of all that fashions women and man to be distinct has also been profoundly driven in in various scientific debates. The absolute inconsistency of the roles and relations of women and men across diverse societies and social groups depicts/portrays itself as one of the primary evidence against this unsophisticated biologically determinist interpretation. If there is no steadiness between how different societies believe/presume men to be men and women to be women-- this longstanding saying has been confronted with ever accumulating frequency as social researchers emphasis on the nature of the social construction of gender, then what can be announced is that there must be something other than natural differences that lie beneath their character along...

Is the Internet Bad for Us?

ENG 120 I03FY February 23, 2010 Is the internet bad for us ? In the old days, a paper research used to take up to several days, when only libraries and encyclopedias had the right and trustful information. A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art involved finding the address first, and that took as well quite some time. In our days all this information is just a click away. The Internet, with the help of web pages, such as Google Search and Google Maps, are the solution to every question one may ask. The long days of search have ended, but it doesn’t mean it is a favorable or beneficial thing for each person. Scientists and professors of well known universities have discovered that this trouble free, straightforward and rapid method has determined not only the brains to delay the thinking process, but also changed people’s behavior in their lives in a negative way. One neuroscientist, Dr. Gary Small conducted a study where he examined the impact of the Internet on a young persons brain. This study consisted of reading a MRI while the person was surfing on the Internet, and another one while it was reading a book. Then, the results where very surprising: the MRI showed more brain activity in the frontal part, the decision part of the brain, when the person was surfing the Internet. The study reached lots of newspapers, and every person believed that Google is making them smarter. However, after a short period of time, Dr. Small reviewed the results and stated: â€Å"On a brain scan big doesn’t mean it is better†¦It’s exactly as in a golf game, you want to keep your score lower†. One can easily see that this brain activity is without doubt detrimental to all of us and surfing the Internet only decreases our process of thinking, instead of increasing it. Surfing on the Internet has become a daily routine, by checking the e-mail, researching on some interesting subjects and that takes probably an hour per day, which is ordinary in our days. Still, there are millions of young students that stay an average of fifty hours a week on the Internet and that just doesn’t seem something normal. All this time spent on the Internet has affected their thinking development. A pathologist of the University of Michigan Medical School states that: â€Å" I can’t read â€Å"War and Peace â€Å" anymore, I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post on more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it. This is actually a frightening reality that applies to myself as well. Not only I can’t focus on my daily readings for my biology class, but also if I start reading a book, after only twenty minutes I loose my concentration. This inability to make â€Å"rich mental connections† and just to thin k, has transformed our real intelligence into an artificial intelligence, thus the Internet has a direct participation towards our brain development. One can say that the Internet has changed our lives for the better, since World Wide Web possesses information about almost everything. However, not all the information on the Internet is accurate. There are several web sites where the information is not meticulously verified, therefore one can obtain data and facts that are untrue, even misleading. The best example is Wikipedia, a website where anyone can put any information on this page without any previous examination. Countless students use this web site to research for projects, without knowing the danger of misleading information. Communication in our lives is a tremendous vital thing. Indeed, human beings are born to communicate with each other no matter what kind of lives they decide to live. Communicating with other people allows us to learn about ourselves as human creatures. It helps us to understand our way of behaving, of thinking in different situations/places. However, the Internet has a considerable effect on our daily communication with out friends, family and even loved ones. The casual coffee in a modern cafe is replaced by staying on Yahoo Messenger talking for hours in front of the computer, and a discussion face to face has become a thing of the past, â€Å"thanks† to Second Life, a program where you could meet virtually at a restaurant, cafe or even in a park. The increased access and heavy reliance onto computer games and the Internet for many people today have led to many social problems. Obsessive computer use leads to addiction, which can lead to financial problems, broken relationships, physical and emotional problems. An example of such addiction affected a Korean family. Their son was sent in a camp for he was playing all the time computer games. This camp helped him to stay away from a computer for two weeks, so that he could concentrate on regular activities. The Internet has extended its power at the point that Google and Microsoft are in the process of creating an online international library, extinguishing books. This idea would only cause the lost of our culture and history, because books are an important factor in the achievement of today’s knowledge. The vinegar that was used in the old days to sanitize the scrolls from the deadly diseases, was a crucial tool towards finding the location from where they were sent. Studying their chemical components scientists discovered even details of their way of living. In conclusion, technology in all of its forms – social networks, the Web, online gaming – is a net loss for today's young people. As Grafton states: The narrow path still leads, as it must, to crowded public rooms where the sunlight gleams on varnished tables, and knowledge is embodied in millions of dusty, crumbling, smelly, irreplaceable documents and books. † Scientists proofed that the Internet is a direct cause of our mental regress, consequently each one of us must take this seriously, before we turn up into a chaotic, unwise and mentally challenged world . Works Cited â€Å"Digital Nation. † Frontline. PBS. WNET, New York. 2 Feb. 2010. Television. Grafton, Anthony. â€Å"Future Reading: Digitization and Its Discontents. † Fields of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010

Roles And Influences Of The Gods In The Iliad - 1180 Words

Gods and Goddess are present in several mythological stories that have transcended through time. Particularly in The Iliad, which dates back to approximately 750 B.C., written by the Greek poet Homer. The Iliad possess several characteristics of divine powers interference with issues of the mortals. The opening of the epic poem is set during the ninth year of the Trojan War, as the Achaeans raid a Trojan town with it comes the apprehension of Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, Greek warrior and king of Mycenae, takes in possession Chryseis and Achilles, demigod and the greatest warrior in the Trojan War, acquires Briesies. Arising issues after this capture are present and the prominences of the roles that each God and Goddess play in the†¦show more content†¦There is nothing valuable that they possesses to bribe Paris and receive the title. Menelaus receives news of the abduction of his wife while in Crete. Start negotiating for the return of Helen, but it fails and it proceed s to the attack on the Trojans. The war continues and during the sacking of a Trojan town the capturing of Briseis and Chryseis takes place. The consequences with the capturing of Chryseis are prominent, Chryseis is the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo, the god of prophecy and a divine singer. Chryses goes to Agamemnon to retrieve his daughter, Apollo gives Chryses advice to bring several treasures forward to Agamemnon in the exchange for his daughter. Agamemnon declines the offer, as a result Chryses prayed to Apollo, Apollo responded by sending a plague to the Achaean camp. Achilles, son of Thetis, and Peleus, waits for Agamemnon to take action and end the plague, with no movement he takes it upon himself to go to Agamemnon and try to persuade him into giving Chryseis back to Chryses. Failure was what Achilles faced going up to Agamemnon. Agamemnon was angered at the fact that he had to give up Chryseis so he said, â€Å"It won’t work. So while you have your prize, You want me to sit tight and do without? †¦ But if it doesn’t, I’ll just go take something myself, Your prize perhaps,† (Lombardo 235). With the statement that Agamemnon said he decided on sending out his men to take Briseis from Achilles. ApolloShow MoreRelatedAt the time of Homer, it was normal for gods to meddle in human affairs, and he shows this in The1300 Words   |  6 PagesAt the time of Homer, it was normal for gods to meddle in human affairs, and he shows this in The Iliad. A vast majority of the Greek gods play some role in how the Trojan wars turns out, which is what the poem is all about. Homer uses the gods to deviate from how normal wars are played out. The head god, Zeus, will be the focus as I go through what he did and how it affected the War as well as The Iliad. 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