Monday, September 30, 2019
Application of psychological theories at the Queens Hospital
Abstract This report analyses the application of psychological theories at the Queens Hospital where I was on placement as a Health Care Assistant. Health psychology takes into consideration the context of individualsââ¬â¢ lives, beliefs, behaviours and other risk factors in order to achieve the desired objectives, which in this case is to provide the best ways of attending to the patients. The hospital uses the biopsychosocial model, psychoanalytical and the task oriented approaches in offering psychological care to the patients. All the three approaches emphasise the idea of ensuring that the patient is the centre of all actions in order to engage them as much as possible in the treatment process. Introduction Picano (2009, p. 44) suggests that in the past the medical practitioners regarded psychology and other social sciences as unimportant soft sciences in the medical profession. However this notion slowly changed as scholars started linking psychology to the well being of both physical and mental health. This paper explores the linkage between psychological theory and practice at the Queens Hospital. I worked as a health care assistant and was a vital part of the team that supported the medical staff and patients in wards and departments throughout the hospital. I had direct links to both the patients and the medical staff and as such I was able to observe the interactions between the patients and other medical staff. As the first point of contact for many patients and members of the public, healthcare assistants need to be well-presented and confident with good interpersonal skills. Some of the tasks are unpleasant and needs flexibility to able to help patients with their personal care without getting embarrassed and making sure they are comfortable. Achieving this requires application of psychological theories into practice in order to be able to offer the best care to the patients in medical settings. Psychological theories Segal & Hersen (2010, p. 47) define psychology as the study of human behavior, emotions and thought processes. Psychological theories if well applied contribute greatly to understanding other people and developing functional relationships. Robins (2007, p. 28) suggests that health psychology is the application of these psychological theories and research in the promotion of evidenced based health. Nevid (2009, p. 33) claims that health psychology takes into consideration the context of individualsââ¬â¢ lives, beliefs, behaviours and other risk factors in order to achieve the desired objectives, which in this case is to provide the best ways of attending to the patients. It is for this reason that it is important for all healthcare personnel to have some psychological knowledge so that they can know how to attend to the patients in the best possible way. The patients come from varied social and cultural backgrounds valuing certain behaviours and beliefs over others. Walker (2007, p . 36) claims that this may place more risk or less risk of illness than the others. In this case therefore, some sociological knowledge is equally essential to the healthcare practitioners. In the same way, some knowledge of biomedical sciences is critical in the comprehension of the link between physiological and psychological process (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011, p. 67). Therefore, psychology complements these other disciplines in making important contributions to the well being of the patients. Psychology is important to health and social care because health care professionals spend most of their time interacting with the patients. An important aspect of their job is to encourage and promote the well being of the patients and those around them. Before going further into the discussion, it is important to first define the meaning of health in order to be able to bring out the importance of psychology to the discipline clearly. Irwin & Rippe, (2008, p. 18) define health as a state of complete social, physical and mental well being and not just the absence of infirmity or disease. This is an important goal to health care professionals working in health and social care and it is the reason why they need the knowledge and skills to help them work toward their achievement. Psychological theories and research contributes to the improvement of health and social care through appreciation of other peopleââ¬â¢s feelings in order to offer them individualised care. Patterson & Lipschitz (2008, p. 44) claim that health care is among the most complicated services because it faces the challenge of client diversity and need variability. Patients come to the hospital with different needs caused by many different diseases; some of them adhere to the requirements of behavioural change while others donââ¬â¢t. In addition to this, some patients do not even finish taking the prescribed drugs which makes the treatment process more difficult for the doctors and nurses. In addit ion to this it also faces huge pressure from other factors because the whole process occurs around beds and wards. The health care professionals operate in an abstract world and are faced by both psychological and social forces guiding them from the point of admitting the patients to administration of treatment. They attend to patients with different psychological needs and as such must be well equipped with psychological theories in order to attend to them in the best possible ways. Patterson & Lipschitz (2008, p. 24) assert that while all health care issues have their own controversies and debates, at times moments of transient consensus often occur. This stems from the fact that the role of patients in medical settings have gradually changed along environmental and social lines in the western society over the years. The major changes include aspects like consistent erosion of the previously perceived omnipotence of physicians, increase acceleration of information exchange, and in creased awareness of the rights of the patients. Greenberg (2007, p. 22) suggests that the prevalent situation in most hospitals today is the partnership model that is acceptable to both the providers and the patients. These patients no longer play passive roles as recipients of medical procedures but are actively involved in deciding the clinical decisions affecting them. Ninivaggi (2010, p. 17) asserts that this new arrangement raises ethical issues in the determination of best interests and delegation of authority to the relevant personnel to pursue them. Psychology seeks to understand and explain why people behave in certain ways both as individuals and in groups. It does not only seek to understand and predict behaviour but also looks into ways of changing them in order to improve the quality of life. This is closely linked to what the medical practitioners do as they also seek to understand the behaviour of the patients, treat them and then direct them on healthy living practi ces. Medical practitioners often employ psychological theories in the dispensation of their duties because medical care has its foundations in psychology, sociology and biology (Marini, Glover-Graf, & Millington, 2012, p. 30). Theory provides the medical personnel with the framework and goals for assessment, diagnosis and intervention. For instance the nurses working at the hospital focused on the aspects of care that are holistic in nature for more effective judgment of different patient situations and conditions. The goals of care helped the nurses by providing a checklist by which the services that they provide are measured against. In deed Walker (2007, p. 65) says that theory is an effective tool that renders practice more efficient through comparing the outcomes against the set goals and then providing mechanisms for rectifying problems as soon as they are detected. Application of psychological theories at the hospital As a health care assistant I was many times faced with the challenge of choosing the appropriate theory or set of theories to apply in any given circumstances. This was not an easy decision because I realised that selection of only one theory in a certain circumstance would have placed restrictions on practice and probably led to inefficiencies. It is for this reason that I relied heavily on theory adoption where I took a theory and then altered it to suit the situation where I was applying it and in other cases I had to use it alongside another one. I learned that most of the patients were going through intense stress as a result of their illnesses. Some of the patients adjusted well to their new conditions whereas others developed some form of psychological disorders secondary to their physical diseases especially for those that were unable to do basic things like going to the toilet and bathing. In addition to this, some patients also showed physical symptoms for which there is no significant medical explanations and most of them were as a result of unrecognised psychological problems. I was able to learn from the nurses and other hospital staff as I realised that they were applying psychological theories in dealing with the stressed patients. They used the biopsychosocial model to explain to me the reasons why the patients were stressed. This was a very resourceful tool in the assessment of psychological stress among the patients in the hospital. The model included both environmental parameters and personal processes of perception and being able to cope with the different stress factors at the hospital. Greenberg (2007, p. 30) claims that the effects of stress have a positive correlation to coping. Coping in this case as defined by the Lazarus theory is constantly changing both cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage the existent taxing demands of the internal or external environment (Pickren & Rutherford, 2010, p. 52). The doctors and nurses encouraged dialogue with the patients because they considered it an important aspect in the management of psychological and psychiatric elements of physical ill health. Greenberg (2009, p. 67) suggests that this relationship is beneficial to both the medical team and the patients. It is very important for patients particularly for those with serious physical and psychological problems to have a more personal relationship with the nurses and doctors in order to create and sustain a therapeutic relationship for better health care delivery (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2011, p. 94). This will be helpful for the health care personnel to identify the patients that need psychological treatment in good time and offer immediate attention to help them cope with the mental problems. The doctor patient relationship is explained by two other approaches which are the psychoanalytical and the task oriented approaches (Bekerian & Levey 2012, p. 31). All the approaches emphasise the idea of ensuring that the pati ent is the centre of all actions in order to engage them as much as possible in the treatment process. Greenberg (2007, p. 32) says that these approaches demand that for an effective treatment to be achieved there has to be an efficient partnership and information sharing between the patients and the doctors. Nevid (2012, p. 89) says that the information has to flow both ways in order to improve the clinical outcomes through cognitive (knowledge), behavioural (adherence to advice) and affective (satisfaction). Indeed the application of psychological theories at the hospital was beyond what I had imagined it will be at first. I observed that the patients were mostly able to recall more information when they were satisfied. The non cooperative patients seemed to remember less information and the hospital staff in most cases had to offer them specialised care. Good communication was also maintained among the clinicians to ensure that the information flowing to the patients was consiste nt in order to eliminate any possibility of conflicting information reaching the patients. This was important because any conflicting information would have left the patients wondering who to believe and this would have even made things worse for them. Conclusion Application of psychological theories in medical settings is an important aspect of the treatment process because the patients need to be attended to psychology as well. As indicated in the paper some patients find it difficult to cope with their new conditions in the hospital and go to the extent of developing mental disorders as a result. This is the reason why the hospital made use of psychological theories in understanding their behaviour and condition in order to be able to attend to them efficiently. This is a big lesson that I learned from my placement at the Queens Hospital and I will apply it once I start working in the hospital. I am now aware of the fact that ignoring the psychological needs of the patients places them at an increased risk of developing psychological disorders and as such will always apply psychological theories in communicating with them in order to know how they feel and the best possible ways of attending to them.ReferencesBekerian, D. A., & Levey, A. B . (2012). Applied psychology: Putting theory into practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Greenberg, T. M. C. (2007). The psychological impact of acute and chronic illness: A practical guide for primary care physicians. New York: Springer. Greenberg, T. M. C. (2009). Psychodynamic perspectives on aging and illness. Dordrech: Springer. Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (2011). Positive psychology: Theory, research and applications. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Irwin, R. S., & Rippe, J. M. (2008). Irwin and Rippeââ¬â¢s intensive care medicine. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Marini, I., Glover-Graf, N. M., & Millington, M. J. (2012). Psychosocial aspects of disability: Insider perspectives and counseling strategies. New York: Springer Pub. Nevid, J. S. (2009). Psychology: Concepts and applications. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Nevid, J. S. (2012). Essentials of psychology: Concepts and applications. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Ninivaggi, F. J. (2010). Envy theory: Perspectives on the psychology of envy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Patterson, J. A., & Lipschitz, I. N. (2008). Psychological counseling research focus. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Picano, E. (2009). Stress echocardiography: [CD-ROM included]. Berlin: Springer. Pickren, W. E., & Rutherford, A. (2010). A history of modern psychology in context. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Robins, R. W. (2007). Handbook of research methods in personality psychology. New York: Guilford. Segal, D. L., & Hersen, M. (2010). Diagnostic interviewing. New York: Springer. Sitzman, K., & Eichelberger, L. W. (2011). Understanding the work of nurse theorists: A creative beginning. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Walker, J. (2007). Psychology for nurses and the caring professions. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Fighting Corruption Essay
Corruption is a significant threat to global growth and financial stability. Corruption destroys public trust, undermines the rule of law, skews competition, impedes cross-border investment and trade, and distorts resource allocation. As a group of the worldââ¬â¢s largest economies, the G20 is continuing to fight corruption and alleviate its negative impact on economic activity. There are practical steps that all G20 members can take to reduce the costs of corruption for growth and development. In 2014, the G20 developed high-level principles on beneficial ownership transparency to improve the transparency of company ownership and control. This will support a stronger investment climate and will also protect developing countries from losing further revenue. G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (Co-chairs in 2014: Australia and Italy) G20 Leaders established the Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) at the Toronto Summit in 2010 in recognition of the significant negative impact of corruption on economic growth, trade and development. Since 2010, the work of the ACWG has been guided by two-year action plans that include commitments by G20 countries to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention against Corruption, criminalise and prosecute foreign bribery, and cooperate with other countries to investigate, prosecute and return the proceeds of corruption. The G20 renews its pledge to fully implement actions agreed in previous action plans. In 2014, the ACWG held three meetings: A high priority for the G20 in 2014 is the effective implementation and enforcement of all outstanding G20 anti?corruption commitments. Key achievements to date include: development of the G20 High-Level Principles on Beneficial Ownership Transparency (2014) a commitment by all G20 countries to complete a self-assessment of their domestic foreign bribery frameworks, and to provide annual updates (see 2014 self-assessments by country) to the ACWG on their progress as part of the annual ACWGà Accountability Report questionnaire the development of the G20 High-Level Principles on Corruption and Growth (2014) resulting from a continuing study on the impact of corruption on growth, led by the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) development of the G20 Compendium of Good Practices for Integrity in Public Procurement (2014) development of the G20 Guiding Principles on Enforcement of the Foreign Bribery Offence (2013) and note development of the G20 Guiding Princip les to Combat Solicitation (2013) and note development of the G20 High-Level Principles on Mutual Legal Assistance (2013) and note development of the Requesting Mutual Legal Assistance In Criminal Matters from G20 Countries (2012) development of the G20 Asset Recovery Guides (by country) (2014). At the 16-17 October ACWG meeting, the Group reached agreement on the 2015-16 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan. The plan will guide the G20 Anti-Corruption Agenda following the completion of the current Action Plan. The ACWG has also agreed to a 2015-16 G20 Anti-Corruption Implementation Plan, which provides a detailed outline of the Groupââ¬â¢s work program for 2015-16. Leaders endorsed the 2015-16 Action Plan at the G20 Leadersââ¬â¢ Summit in Brisbane in November 2014. The ACWG works closely with G20 engagement groups, including representatives of business and civil society, in implementing the G20 Anti-Corruption Agenda. In 2014, the G20 Engagement Groups have participated in every meeting of the ACWG. The G20 Anti-Corruption Roundtable in February brought together representatives of G20 engagement groups and the ACWG to discuss the future G20 Anti-Corruption Agenda. The Roundtable opening address was delivered by Australiaââ¬â¢s Attorney-General Senator the Hon George Brandis QC. Another forum, the OECD-G20 High-Level Anti-Corruption Conference for Governments and Business in June , also involved representatives of G20 engagement groups. In addition, the B20 has recently established the Collective Action Hub, a collaborative anti-corruption information sharing forum for businesses and governments. Resources from the Anti-corruption Working Group are available on the Current Presidency page of the G20 Official Resources library.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
World history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
World history - Essay Example By the time of the Revolution, they numbered about 10000 in number but regardless of this, they were the largest landowners in the country. Most of the land that the clergy held was done in the name of the Church and given that, this institution was recognized to be supreme in the state, all its members were exempted from payment of tax. The nobility, whose titles were hereditary and, passed down from generation to generation, formed the Second Estate and they too were exempt from taxes, despite their large number. The Third Estate consisted of those people who were from the lower classes of the society and at the top of this group were the bourgeoisie. These tended to find ways of escaping the burden of taxation in various ways and this left the burden on the poorest elements of French society. Moreover, these elements were for a large part responsible for the development of the Revolution because of the oppression they felt from the other Estates. This body was formed during the transitional period of the Revolution after the collapse of the Estates General. The members of the Third Estate, who after growing dissatisfied by the ineffectiveness of the Estates General chose to take matters into their own hands, mainly dominated it. As a result, by means of this dominance came political power and this made some members of the First and Second Estates to join them eventually for their own survival. The formation of this assembly met with stiff resistance from the king, who felt that his power was being eroded. On the other hand, despite this resistance, the assembly continued to meet until it finally came to be officially recognized. This assembly declared the right of man and citizen in France, stating that all men born within its territory was free and equal. This body was later on reconstituted and in its place, the National Constituent Assembly was formed. This idea is a legacy of the Revolution that was inherited from the ideas of the
Friday, September 27, 2019
Employee Engagement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Employee Engagement - Essay Example The findings in this paper show that if proper managerial techniques are applied, combined with trust and creating an environment that encourages the employee to engage positively in their daily work activities, then the outcome will be positive. Some of the benefits that the organization tends to gain are the financial outcome and the performance outcome of the organization since employees will be working towards the goals of the company. Introduction Employee or worker engagement is a managerial strategy aimed at empowering workers to act at interest that are related to the organizationalââ¬â¢ missions visions and goals. The engagement of the employee can be analyzed according to the emotional attachment of the employee whether negatively or positively in relation to the manner in which they view their job, their fellow workmates or the company as a whole. Their engagement in work has a great impact on the willingness of the individual to perform their duties. If employees are e ngaged in their work, they will do anything in their power to satisfy the clients of the organization thus working in correspondence to the mission and vision of the organization. The engagement of an employee is usually based on the organizational culture, employee empowerment, the trust factor indulged, the managerial behaviors and the style used in management of the employees. ... The psychological possession in this case refers to the employee taking the job as his or her own and believing that they have been endorsed the responsibility of making critical decisions that comply with the organizations interest. If an employee feels that they are psychologically possessed with the job, then this is empowerment of the employees. If employees are not empowered, then they consider that the tasks that they are supposed to do are what the manager has ordered them to do. Anything else apart from the specified assignments is none of their business. It is up to the manager to perform those tasks. Employees who are not empowered come to job to follow their bossesââ¬â¢ orders. They do not know the goals of the company. They just wake up, come to job, do whatever the boss requires them to do and then when their work is finished they go home. They have no goals to neither worry about nor accomplish simply because the boss never told them of any. Any change that is to occ ur is the boss responsibility. They have nothing to lose. These kinds of employees are underpowered and the outcome of the company is low. On the other hand, empowered employees come to job knowing the goals of the company and have ways and means of accomplishing them. In fact, empowered employees work together as a team. They have a team spirit. They work together to achieve the set goals of a company and any challenging goals that are facing them. They acquire information through educational meetings, the press and any other available sources and bring fresh and new ideas to the company that will help in achieving the goals of the company. They are in a position to make decisions and
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Define, Describe, Compare, and Contrast a Nurse Practitioner and a Research Paper
Define, Describe, Compare, and Contrast a Nurse Practitioner and a Clinical Nurse Specialist - Research Paper Example Nurse practitioners can work independently of a doctor, and can practice in various settings such as family practice, womenââ¬â¢s health, school health, primary care, pediatrics, emergency, geriatrics, cardiology, neonatology, nephrology, and oncology (Mirr & Zwygart-Stauffacher, 2010). A clinical nurse specialist is also engaged in advanced nursing, but she specializes on a specific course to lay focus on a specific population complementing the course of study. A clinical nurse specialist can focus on a certain field, such as post-anesthesia care or certain diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and pediatrics among others. The nurse can also specialize in working in a specific environment such as an emergence room, a recovery room, an operating room, or a general ward. A clinical nurse specialist also focuses on clinical practice, research, consulting, teaching, and management. While a nurse practitioner usually has good decision-making skills, a clinical nurse specialist is more assessment-oriented and has good assessment skills (Fulton et al, 2010). The two types of nurses always rank at the top in nursing field because they practice advanced nursing. The two are quite similar in qualifications and the environments they work in, and in some countries like Canada, it is quite hard to compare and contrast. Even though the two are quite similar, there are some differences. The two can be compared and contrasted in terms of education, job roles, practice setting and medical practice. Both positions require masterââ¬â¢s degree as a minimal qualification. They attain almost similar qualifications and schooling for a similar duration. However, a nurse practitioner must complete and pass a certificate program after the masterââ¬â¢s degree to be able to study different fields of medicine. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners together with the licensing body, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, usually provides this certificate
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3
Operations Management - Essay Example One of the major reasons for effective management of sustainability in relation to Jaguarââ¬â¢s Land Rover is the incorporation of the sustainability governance structure. The structure is essential in illustrating the strategic management and practices in relation to how the organisation executes its business activities. The framework and structure has been proficient in enabling effective and efficient cross-functional engagement, thus the perfect platform for the organisation to maximise or optimise the value from the finance team. In the process of managing its activities, JLR focuses on ensuring that the policy relates to the corporate decision-making practices and processes through inclusion of sustainable development within the corporate business plan, thus elevation of the status of the policy to the similar level in comparison to other critical imperatives (Harper & Wells, 2012). From this perspective, it is remarkable that all business functions tend to incorporate a set of sustainability targets. In the case of JLR, finance professionals are critical to business planning practices and process, thus the tendency of guiding target setting process and the measurement and performance reporting activities, which might be ideal in facilitating progress. The governance structure has the ability to facilitate the occurrence of all business functions, thus the delivery of the JLRââ¬â¢s long-term sustainability vision, in addition to medium and long-term action plans, thus effectiveness and efficiency in understanding goals and targets (Harper & Wells, 2012). JLRââ¬â¢s sustainability approach or strategy focuses on the transformation of products and business operations under the influence of environmental innovation. In addition, the organisation considers increased investment in the human resources or people while advancing and encouraging the knowledge and support for the communities in the global context. From this perspective, the organisation
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
The Gender Recognition Act Is it welcome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words
The Gender Recognition Act Is it welcome - Essay Example An analysis of the reasons why transsexuals feel that they were born in the wrong gender or why they feel the need to change to the opposite gender will also be covered. This will include looking at the way society reacts to those who have undergone gender reassignment or are about to undergo such treatment, as well as the way in which society treats those who have chosen to live as the opposite sex without having the surgical procedure. Often transsexuals face ridicule from family and friends and society as a whole tends to mock those that are either in the process of changing gender or have fully undergone the transition. The study will look at the change in attitudes over the last few decades to establish whether transsexuals are more readily accepted then previously or whether they are still ostracised and ridiculed and held up as objects of scorn. To give a full picture of how transsexuals are treated the study will divide society into different age groups and classes to establish whether people of a younger generation are more accepting of transsexualism as well as whether class also plays a part the acceptance or non-acceptance of transsexuals. The study will conclude with an in depth analysis of whether the Gender Recognition Act is a welcome piece of legislation. This will take account of the attitudes of those who have undergone the transition as well as those who have chosen to live as the opposite gender without having gender reassignment and compare their views of the Act with society as a whole. There will be a discussion centred on those who feel that the Act is necessary and those that are totally opposed to the Act. It will also cover the reasons why these groups are either for or against the Act and will answer the topic posed of whether the Act is welcome. Modern diagnosis of transsexualism began in the 19th century after a study conducted by a
Monday, September 23, 2019
Chinese grassroots living situation in China big cities Research Paper
Chinese grassroots living situation in China big cities - Research Paper Example The country has a relatively large number of people that are extremely disadvantaged in the socio-political and socio-economic status, with their living condition being extremely poor. Despite the available social amenities and the improved social facilities through the urban cities, the grassroots population that comprises of mostly the peasant workers, have had little benefits to enjoy (Mars & Hornsby 129). The paper thus studies on the living conditions of these Chinese grassroots people, why they live in these situations, explaining the reason why China housing prices are much higher in big cities and measures the Chinese government is devising to change the situation. The Chinese grassroots is the groups are unfortunate individuals that live in the un-humanized society. The Chinese farmers are traditionally the most inferior in class, who are the ideal representatives of the Chinese grassroots. These grassroots groups live the hardest life and work the hardest in order to feed the other ââ¬Ëbrilliantââ¬â¢ people in the big cities (Wang & Murie 93). The Chinese farmers are the ones that cover the largest portion of the population in China and thus play a critical role towards promoting social development. The economic pressures force these grassroots people into moving to cities in search of better jobs, but instead end up working as peasant workers. These people end up living in destitute conditions, which even poses risks to their own health, in order to keep on surviving in cities (Nielsen & Smyth 65). The World Health governing bodies have able to raise concerns about the living conditions of these grassroots Chinese population, hence pr ompting the government to take some actions to solve the problem. It is apparent that a number of reasons contribute to the kind of living conditions that the Chinese grassroots have to live within these cities. The first challenge is the problems of
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Old house Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Old house - Essay Example Today, people are able to communicate with the rest of the world instantly and can operate from anywhere in the world as there are faster modes of transport that move people from one place to another. Most people depend on the modern appliances to survive as it proves to be easy and time consuming to use them. For example the emergence of the microwave has made people become lazy as they use it t cook and warm food. One day after ten thousand years, someone will discover my house that was buried six feet below the ground. The house will be in a bad state but will still be intact. Upon entry, one is welcomed by a bad odour and this is due to the rotten and spoilt items in the house. On the walls hang pictures of my family and the rewards I won when I was a college student. One cannot help but notice a wall clock that is not functional. In addition, there are wall writings as well as different arts from different people. Most of the items in the old house will represent the kind of life the people in that generation had. For instance, the presence of the old television and a home theatre that stands at one corner of the living room. My home theatre is infested with insecticides and is worn out. The home theatre is one of the gadgets that almost every home had. The remote lies next to the television and one can barely see the wordings on top of it and at the look at the batteries, they are worn ou t. Moreover, the presence of an air condition shows that at the time, people used the machine to regulate the amount of heat in the house. This is proof that during summer, when it was hot people made their lives cool by using the air condition. Moreover, there was the refrigerator. On opening it, nothing was inside apart from a bad smell that came out of it. People used the fridge to store and conserve food to be used later. Because of the busy work schedules, people used to prepare food and store in the fridge.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Information Technology in India Essay Example for Free
Information Technology in India Essay India is one of the great standup country in the field of science and technology. every year india produces more than 500 thousands engineers. No doubt it is a bulk producers of scientists and technologists. Information Technology remain the backbone of the economical growth of India. and you can see it from the observed facts of exports. The share of IT in exports has increased by 17% from 1990 to 2001. IT based sectors such as Backoffice, remote maintainence, accounting, public service, medical, insurence and other bulk processiong fields are rapidly expending. Indian companies such as HCL, WIPRO, INFOSYS, TCS are todays tough competitors for the other IT organizations. History of Information Technology in India The setup of IT in India was done by the Tata group in association with the Burroughs at Mumbai in 1967. The first software export zone SEEPZ was setup in 1973 this was what we can call the old avatar of the IT parks. at that time 80% of indias software were exported from there. The indian government baughtEVSEM computers from soviat unions in 1968 which was used in big organizations only for the technological and scientific researchs. After the freedom of india in aug 1947 it was an economically beleaguered country. but due to the efforts of PM late. sir Jawaharlal Nehru india very repidly become a wide scientific work-field, such big that it was ranked 3rd after the USA and Soviat Unions. But due to the production of more engineers then country can consume the number of emigrants increased and this supported forigen countries to get a large step ahead from india. The most of the helping hands in the USs scientific and technological improvement was Indian, in association with the californias silicon valley. During this time the creation of new organization was in progress. with enhancement of IT in india some well known groups stood-up some of the names are, National Informatic Center, Tata infotech, Patni Computers, Wipro, Infosys etc. In 1991 Department of electronic created a corporation called Software Technology Parks of India which are owned by govt. of India. They provide VSAT communication. and after 1993 Govt. allowed pvt. companies to own dedicated links. VSNL was first to introduce Gateway E-Mail service with the 64kbps leased line service. It was the ministry of Atal Bihari Vajpai who significantly improved the IT in india by placing development of IT in the five major priorities and form National Task Force on IT and software development. and within 90 days of the creation of NTF the suggested 108 recommendation for IT sector. And new telecommunication policy IT Act 2000 was created for legal procedures of electronic transaction and e-commerce. Present Day Situation The present day situation of IT is a bit down due to the recession occurred in the market some year back but India is recovering very soon and IT sector id again on its running speed toward the progress. In the 2010 the economical revenue from the outsourcing operation of IT industry was US$ 54.33 billion which is greater then the other Asian country. and this revenue is expected to be raised up-to US$ 255billion in this decade. the major hub in IT in India is Bangalore which is also called silicon valley of India. beside this other emergind hubs are Delhi(NCR), Hydrabad, Chenni, Pune, Mumbai etc. The IT services has grown by 2.4 % in 2010 and is expected to grown at the rate of 4.2 % in 2011. according to the report of IDC in march 2010 indias data center services had a revenue estimated upto US$1.39 billion. TRAI reported that country has more than 10 million broadband subscriber and these numbers will change into 100 millions by the 2014. and the market of PC in india has grown at the rate of 27% in the past year and of Notebook computers has grown with a rate of 52 % which is surprisingly a huge ratio as compared to other countries. India is seen as a business environment and is growing like pollution in the environment(i didnt got other example of rapid growth rate). IT services and solution providers Patni computers has signed a deal of 32 million US$ with the a UK- based IT service provider. Firstsource solution has a deal with Barclaycard. vertex (CMO) has announced a joint venture with shell transource to address the domestic BPO. The market of the networking equipment in india is estimated to grow at a rate of 15 % till 2012as per reported in dec.2010. the net investment in the software and hardware market is of US$ 10,406 million according to department of industrial policy and promotion. An IT company EMC corp. will touch the investment of US$ 2 billion by 2014. A russian IT security company plans to invest 2 billion us$ in hydrabad in coming financial year. Still the Indian IT industry has no dead end in its way ahead. I wish for the continuous progress of IT in India. Note : the above discussed article is written on the basis of research on the various web resuorces. though I had tried to provide best, still there is no lack of knowledge on Internet for the subject of the same.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Importance of Ethical Hacking
Importance of Ethical Hacking Chapter 1 Introduction Ethical hacking is an emerging tools used by most of the organizations for testing network security. The security risks and vulnerabilities in a network can be recognized with the help of ethical hacking. This research completely concentrates on ethical hacking, problems that may occur while hacking process is in progress and various ethical hacking tools available for organizations. Information is the important source for any organizations while executing business operations. Organizations and government agencies have to adopt ethical hacking tools in order secure important documents and sensitive information (Harold F. Tipton and Micki Krause, 2004). Ethical hacker professionals have to be hired in order to test the networks effectively. Ethical hackers perform security measure on behalf of the organization owners. In order to bring out the ethical hacking efforts perfectly a proper plan must be executed. Ethical hacking has the ability to suggest proper security tools that can avo id attacks on the networks. Hacking tools can be used for email systems, data bases and voice over internet protocol applications in order to make communications securely. Ethical hacking can also be known as penetration testing which can be used for networks, applications and operating systems (Jeff Forristal and Julie Traxler, 2001). Using hacking tools is a best method for identifying the attacks before it effect the entire organization. Ethical hackers are nothing but authorized users for the sensitive information or networks of an organization. Using hacking techniques for handling employees in organization and for solving critical judicial cases is not a crime. An ethical hacker use same tools and actions as performed by normal hacker. The main aspect in ethical hacking is that target permission is essential for performing hacking on the information. Ethical hacking can be used while performing security audits in the organization (Kevin Beaver, 2010). Thus, ethical hacking can help in testing the networks by finding out various vulnerabilities. In ethical hacking, a user will get permission to access the important data. Aims and Objectives Aim To investigate the importance of ethical hacking and its implementation in organizations Objectives Finding the importance of ethical hacking tools Understanding the ethical hacking process Implementing ethical hacking tools in an organization Purpose of Study The main of this research is to recognize ethical hacking tools that can be used in organizations and government agencies. Testing the networks is essential in order to maintain security for the organizational information. The difficulties in networks have to be recognized by the security professional so that they can be solved before effecting the organization operations (James S. Tiller, 2005). This research also focuses on carrying out the ethical hacking tools in a particular organization. The advantages of using ethical hacking in business firms can be evaluated by this study. Ethical hacking tools can be implemented in various fields of applications. Various security professionals can be efficient in ethical hacking tools by undergoing a training process. Another major intension of this research is to identify the importance of ethical hacking professionals in providing security to the networks. (Nina Godbole, 2008). Thus, this research entirely focuses on ethical hacking tools which can be implemented for testing the networks. Research Context This research on ethical hacking can be very useful to many organizations as it can provide clear idea about hacking tools. Security professionals and normal users have to be trained well in order to use hacking tools. The importance of ethical hacking while solving many judicial cases can be identified with the help of this research. Management of an organization can be benefited largely through implementing hacking tools. Hacking tools implementation process can be understood with the help of this research (Ronald L. Krutz and Russell Dean Vines, 2007). Network security or data security engineers in organization will come to know about new ethical hacking methods and techniques that are available in the present market by concentrating on this research. The concepts in this study provide knowledge related to security improvements. Business users can hack the data in order to use it for the purpose of evaluating a correct process. Management has to take precautionary measures while a llowing the professional to hack ethically because data may be misused (Rajat Khare, 2006). Scholars who concerned with information security can take the help of this study for attaining the knowledge on hacking systems. Many organizations are encouraging ethical hacking professionals in order to control their business operations effectively. Email systems, data bases and communication applications can avoid or identify attacks by adopting the hacking tools. Malicious attacks on the information or software can be prevented by implementing this research while using ethical hacking tools. The organizations that concerned with security in networks have to use ethical hacking tools (Greg Meyer and Steven Casco, 2002). Hence from the above discussion it can be understood that, business firms, investigating agencies, government systems and web users can make use of this research to achieve the important information in authorized manner. Chapter 2: Literature Review Ethical Hacking and its importance The word hacking is defined as an illegal use of the others computer system or the network resources. Hacker is the term which is formerly meant for the skillful programmer. This is mostly found in the countries like United States and many other countries. The word hacker refers to the names of the persons who enjoys the work in learning the details of the computer systems and stretch the capabilities from the system (Rajat Khare, 2006). The system of hacking describes the fast improvement in the new programs that make the codes for the providing a better security to the system with more efficiency. The word cracker also belongs to the same field it make use of the hacking skills for the unlawful purposes like email id, intruding into others system. Hacking is of different types such as back door hacking, viruses and worms, Trojan horses, Denial of Services, anarchists, crackers, kiddies and ethical hacking (Kevin Beaver, 2010). In the types of hacking system one of the most common h acking is ethical hacking. This is defined as the services that provides the securities for the customers networks, information assets and identifies the vulnerabilities to maintain the reputation of the corporate sectors before it exploit the company. This type of the hacking system provides the high securities to the customers methodologies and techniques to yield high qualities of infrastructures. The ethical hacking system includes some of the service like: Application Testing War Dialing Network Testing Wireless Security System Hardening Application Testing This is an uncover design or the logic flaws which result in the compromising with the unauthorized accessing of the systems, networks, applications or the information regarding the systems. This application testing is used for investigating and identifying the extent and the criticality of the problems exposure to the thick client (Java) and thin client (web browsers) applications. This application testing includes the services like client-side application testing and web application testings (Joel Scambray, Mike Shema and Caleb Sima, 2006). The client-side application testing is the process of developing the software that is used for the measuring the integrated security into the client software constituents. In this system this testing application is based on the gathering of the information by observer using the reverse engineering system. War Dialing This is one of the services that are provided by ethical hacking. War dialing is a method of dialing a modem number to identify open modem connection that supplies access in a remote way to a network for targeting a particular system (Kimberly Graves, 2007). This word is originated from the day the when the internet has come into the existence in most of the companies. This follows the method of scanning to find the strength of the network connection. The tools of War dialing work on the concept that organizations do not pay attention to dial-in ports like they do towards the firewalls. Network Testing The networking testing services of the ethical hacking provides the information on the exposures of the network, services, and solutions on the convergence, protocols and system devices including the virtual private network technologies. This testing process includes a number of constitutes in external and internal devices. It also analyzes the applications of the voice over Internet protocol within the environment of the organization (Greg Meyer and Steven Casco, 2002). The main goal of the network testing application is to make obvious demonstration of the political effects on its development. By making use of this application into the organization, it provides a complete enlightenment to the work for determining the result in the organization. Wireless Security Wireless security services measures the security in the available architecture to provide a guidelines to ensure the system integrity and accessibility of the resources. The working of wireless security is based on the three phases. In the first phase of the operation it identifies the activeness of the wireless networks (Cyrus Peikari and Seth Fogie, 2003). The team of the ethical hacking demonstrates the exposure to the attackers with the space in the wireless network. In the seconds phase of this system it implements a normal users to evaluate the measures of the security that secures the infrastructures of the organization to control the accessing of the devices. During the third phase the team will try to utilize the discovered threats to gain access on other networks. This provides the security in wireless local area network, virtual private network, intrusion detection system and wireless public key infrastructure. System Hardening The system hardening stresses on the network vicinity. Security is the prime factor that determines the level of integrity of the information and resources used in the computing. Effective deployment of the security controls unauthorized, accidental disruption if resources in information technology (Kevin Beaver and Peter T. Davis, 2005). The system hardening assessment is complemented in three phases. The ethical hacking team will analyze the network to identify the loop holes in security updates and other frequent security defects. Scanning of the remote access devices is done for finding out the vulnerabilities. The configuration vulnerabilities and missing security updates are determined in the initial phase. In the second step the host operating system is examined to determine the services available for remote users and their level of impact. All the TCP/IP services and also the Telnet, FTP, Send-mail, DNS and others are tested (James S. Tiller, 2005). The packet fragmenting and loose source routing are used in an attempt to bypass filtering routers and firewalls. The last phase is complicated as the team uses the information gathered from the first two steps to mine the weaknesses and threats that were identified to gain access to the host system. Before the start of the three steps the boundaries for actions and events are determined. Hence from the above context it can be stated that ethical hacking is a methodology that is used for gathering the information on the hacker. The ethical hacker is the expert who is hired by an organization to solve the problems related to hacking in their network and computer system. Need for Ethical Hacking The process of employing someone to hack ones company is ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is one of the tools that are used to judge the security programs of the organizations. It is also referred as penetrating testing, red teaming, intrusion testing, vulnerability and even security judgments. Each one these has different meanings in different countries. Hacking is also described as new development of the existing programs, software and code. It makes them better and more efficient (James S. Tiller, 2005). Ethical hacker can know the details of computer while hacking and become the security professional. It involves in foot-printing, scanning, tacking all the secured information. Ethical means a philosophy with morality. Hackers hack systems to detect dangerous, unauthorized access and misuse (Shon Harris, Allen Harper, Chris Eagle and Jonathan Ness, 2007). Threat and vulnerability are the two dangers the hacker has to face. The hacking report must be confidential as it should face the organizations security risks. If this goes wrong in any way the organization results in fatal, penalties and loss. For example: computer crime is done by misuse of their hacking skills. The need to hack is for catching the thief. Ethical hacking is the correct method to make your computers work properly (Kevin Beaver, 2010). Ethical hacker needs higher level skills compared to penetration testing. Penetration testing is same as ethical hacking but the hacker uses the penetrating tools and tests the security danger. Ethical hacking is known as White Hat in some of the literature. It tests both the security and protective issues whereas penetrating test mainly leads with the security issues (Asoke K. Talukder and Manish Chaitanya, 2008). Some of the websites and companies offer the training, but they cannot be created they are self-made. Various types of testing need different types of softwares and tools. Game freaks use hacking technology in order to win the game. Hackers will d iscover many ways to hack like trial and error method, operating systems, online and determining the threats. Ethical hacking is done by hackers on behalf of the owners, and in normal hacking they use their skills for personal use (Debra Littlejohn Shinder and Micheal Cross, 2008). Cyber terrorism includes common hacking techniques such like viruses, email bombs and natural disasters. Thus ethical hacking is done by hackers on owners request. Mainly this is seen in corporate companies and organizations. Ethical hacking techniques are used for game cheat codes, hacking accounts and other for good result. Majorly used for fight against cyber terrorism and to take preventive action on hackers Types of ethical hackings Ethical hackers use various methods for breaking the security system in the organizations in the period of cyber attack. Various types of ethical hacks are: Remote Network: This process in especially utilized to recognize the attacks that are causing among the internet. Usually the ethical hacker always tries to identify the default and proxy information in the networks some of then are firewalls, proxy etc. Remote dial up network: Remote dial up network hack identify and try to protest from the attack that is causing among the client modern pool. For finding the open system the organizations will make use of the method called war dialing for the representative dialing. Open system is one of the examples for this type of attacks. Local Network: local network hack is the process which is used to access the illegal information by making use of someone with physical access gaining through the local network. To start on this procedure the ethical hacker should ready to access the local network directly. Stolen Equipment: By making use of the stolen equipment hack it is easy to identify the information of the thefts such as the laptops etc. the information secured by the owner of the laptop can be identified (Kimberly graves, 2007). Information like username, password and the security settings that are in the equipment are encoded by stealing the laptop. Social engineering: A social engineering attack is the process which is used to check the reliability of the organization; this can be done by making use of the telecommunication or face to face communication by collecting the data which can be used in the attacks (Bryan Foss and Merlin Stone, 2002). This method is especially utilized to know the security information that is used in the organizations. Physical Entry: This Physical entry organization is used in the organizations to control the attacks that are obtained through the physical premises (Ronald l. Krutz and russel dean Vines, 2007). By using the physical entire the ethical hacker can increase and can produce virus and other Trojans directly onto the network. Application network: the logic flaws present in the applications may result to the illegal access of the network and even in the application and the information that is provided in the applications. Network testing: In this process it mainly observes the unsafe data that is present in the internal and the external network, not only in the particular network also in the devices and including the virtual private network technologies Wireless network testing: In this process the wireless network reduces the network liability to the attacker by using the radio access to the given wireless network space. Code review: This process will observe the source code which is in the part of the verification system and will recognize the strengths and the weakness of the modules that are in the software. War dialing: it simply identifies the default information that is observed in the modem which is very dangerous to the corporate organizations. Techniques and tools required for ethical hacking Ethical hacker needs to understand how to find the network range and subnet mask of the target system. IP addresses are used to locate, scan and connect the target systems. Ethical hacker also should find out the geographical location of target system. This can be done by tracing the messages that are sent to destination and the tools used are traceroute, Visual route and NeoTrace to identify the route the target (Kimberly Graves, 2007). Ethical hacking should use right tools or else task accomplishment of task effectively is difficult. Many security assessment tools will produce false positive and negative or may they even miss susceptibility to attacks. In case of tests in case of physical security assessments they miss weakness. In order for ethical hacking specific tools have to be used for the task chosen. The easier the ethical hacking will become if many tools are used. The right tool must be used at right place. The characteristics in tools for ethical hacking is it should ha ve sufficient document, detailed reports should be there on the discovered attacks regarding their fixing and explosion, Updates and support. The general tools used for ethical hacking in case to find passwords are cracking tools such as LC4, John the Ripper and pwdump (Bragg, Mark Phodes Ousley and Keith Strassberg, 2004). The general tools like port scanner like SuperScan cannot be used to crack passwords. The Web-assessment tools such as Whisker or WebInspect tools are used for analysis of Web applications in depth. Whereas network analyzer tools such as ethereal cannot give good results. While using the tools for any particular task it is better to get feedback from the simple Google searches such as SecurityFocus.com, SearchSecurity.com and Itsecurity.com will give nice feedback from the other security experts which makes ethical hacking easy and to select the right tool. Some of the commercial, freeware and open source security tools are Nmap (Network Mapper), Etherpeek, Super Scan, QualysGuard, WebInspect and LC4, LANguard Network Security Scanner, Network Stumbler and ToneLoc. The capabilities of many security and hacking tools are often misunderstood, such as SATAN (Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks) and Nmap. The other popular tools used in ethical hacking are Internet scanner, Ethreal, Nessus, Nikto, Kismet and THC-Scan (Kevin Beaver, 2007). Cain and able is a ethical tool used for recovery of windows UNIX problems. This is only password recovery tool handles an enormous variety of tasks. It can recover the password by sniffing the network, cracking the encrypted passwords using Dictionary and Cryptanalysis, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, revealing the password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols. Ethereal is a fantastic open source tool used as network protocol for UNIX and Windows. It allows examining the data which is present in disk or file and can capture the data. This is also known as Wire shark. It has many powerful features which have very rich display filter language and ability to view the TCP session. Another cracking tool Aircrack is the fastest available cracking tool (John Hyuk Park, Hsiao-Hwa Chen and Mohammed Atiquzzaman, 2009). Thus proper tools and techniques has to be used for better hacking and it will be easier by using more and more tools required. Hacking operating system Linux is the operating system which is most useful software that supports and will be helpful to identify the passwords and uses in detecting interruption there are many software tools are utilized for the hacking and security tools are used for the Linux. The tools which are using in this are not harmful tools this is especially used to protect. John the ripper: John the ripper is nothing but password hacking software technique which is usually used to develop for the UNIX operating system. This the most significant process which is used for password testing as it joins all password crackers into single package and the auto detects password hash types which involves the customizable cracker (Ryan, David R. Mirza Ahmad, 2002). It can be run among the different encrypted password methods which involves various crypt password hash forms where usually found on the different UNIX operating systems that is based on the DES, MD5 etc, Kerberos AFS and windows like XP, 200etc.Generally passwords are placed in the LDAP and other tools. Various types of components are used to expand the capability and for involving the MD4 related password hashes. The other one is the NMAP; Nmap is the used to protect the network. It is especially used to identify the network related services on the computer network by generating the map of the network . Nmap is having the ability to identify the services on the computer network instead of this it never advertises its service detection protocol (James turnbull, 2005). However the Nmap can collect many details regarding the remote computers. This will involve the operating system, and uptimes etc are the software products that are used to execute the service, and are used to involve on the local area networks and also on the dealer of the remote network card. Nmap can be run on the linux. Linux is the most important operating system and the windows are the second most important operating system. The other operating system used is Nessus, this software is used to scan the virus. The main aim of this software is used to identify the virus on the tested system such as; the virus will permit the data on to the network (Mark Carey, Russ Rogers, Paul Criscuolo and mike Petruzzi, 2008). Default passwords are utilized on the network accounts. This software is also called as the external to ol which is used to launch the attack. By making use of the mangled packets rejection of the service among the TCP/IP can be done. Nessus the best software used to scan the virus. Many organizations through out the world are using this software. The check Rootkit is the normal program which helps the administrator to check their system for the known rootkits ( James Turnbull, 2005). This program is the shell script by using the LINUX tools similar to the strings and the grep commands to seek out to carry out the core programs for the signatures with the executed process status command to look for inconsistency. This program alternatively use own commands to run. This tool will permit check rootkit to get confident the commands upon which it depend a bit more. Applications and resources Ethical hacking is nothing but the one which performs the hacks as security tests for their systems. Ethical hacking can be used in many applications in case of web applications which are often beaten down. This generally includes Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) applications are most frequently attacked because most of the firewalls and other security are things has complete access to these programs from the Internet. Malicious software includes viruses and Trojan horses which take down the system. Spam is a junk e-mail which causes violent and needless disturbance on system and storage space and carry the virus, so ethical hacking helps to reveal such attacks against in computer systems and provides the security of the system. The main application of this is to provide the security on wireless infrastructure which is the main purpose of present business organization (BT, 2008). Ethical hacking has become main stream in organizations which are wishing to test their intellectual and technical courage against the underworld. Ethical hacking plays important role in providing security. Resources are the computer related services that performs the tasks on behalf of user. In Ethical hacking the resources are the core services, objects code etc (James Tiller S, 2005). The ethical hacking has advantages of gaining access to an organizations network and information systems. This provides the security in the area of Information technology called as Infosec. This provides security to the high level attacks such as viruses and traffic trough a firewall. This has been providing the security for various applications which are even bypassing the firewalls, Intrusion-detection systems and antivirus software. This includes hacking specific applications including coverage of e-mails systems, instant messaging and VOIP (voice over IP). The resources i.e. devices, systems, and applications that are generally used while performing the ha cking process are Routers, Firewalls, Network infrastructure as a whole, wireless access points and bridges, web application and database servers, E-mail and file servers, workstations, laptops and tablet PCs, Mobile devices, client and server operating systems, client and server applications (Kevin Beaver, 2007). Ethical hacking tests both the safety and the security issues of the programs (Ashoke Talukder K and Manish Chaitanya, 2008). Hence from the above context it can be stated as the ethical hacking is important in the present scenario as providing security is very important now a day. This is very important in web applications as the hacking can be easily done in this case. Problems Ethical hacking is the backbone of network security. The basic problems with this is trustworthiness of the Ethical hacker because lets take an example if a person has been appointed to do Ethical hacking, to provide security for the bank financial issues if the person is not trust to believe this is not safe as the person only considered as thief. Sometimes the big organizations face any problem like there passwords has been hack, this case hiring professionals is very expensive and the organization need to spend a lot on this (Ethical Hacking, 2009). Ethical hacking is just the security to the problem it is not the ultimate solution to it. Ethical hacking report must be kept confidential because they highlight the organizations security risks and attacks. If this document has been falls into the wrong hand the result would be very disastrous for the organization, the main drawback here is the entire information of the organization will be in hands of wrong person and which leads to the loss of the company (Kimberly Graves, 2007). Ethical hacking generally involves breaking down the computer applications and by collecting specific information from the target the ethical hacker can successful to access the information and can reveal it. This results in that highly sensitive information about the targets security capabilities is collected and maintained far away from the owners control. If this information fall into wrong hands results in real attack on the company and another problem is if the information is leaked to the public or stockholders, the business will be in risk, which results in all types of disasters, including negative character by media, loss of customers and legal consequences (James Tiller S, 2005). Ethical hacking use tools while it performing the activity, if the methods and tools are used incorrectly they cause damage (Dr. Bruce Hartly V, 2003). Hence from the above context it can be stated as Ethical hacking provides security but behind th at it provides the disadvantages like the Ethical hacker should be trusted by the organization or business and in case sometimes highly professionals may cost the organization very much so that company has to provide from the unplanned budget and if it goes into the wrong persons hand the business will be in danger and loss of the organization will takes place. Chapter 3: Research Methodology of Hacking Data types: Data type is defined as the format of a data storage which is used to store different set of values. It tells about which type of data to be stored and where to be stored. Data is stored in computer memory. There are two types of data. They are primary data and secondary data. Both primary and secondary data illustrates the gathering of information and to satisfy the goals of business. Primary data is nothing but it is the data which is collected newly and for the first time. The primary data is original. It is the fresh data and is never gathered before. Secondary data is the data which is collected by others (Norman Blaikie, 2009). The data is collected from newspapers, magazines and journals. Secondary data is gathered before primary data since it is time consuming. Data is gathered newly in case of primary data so it takes much time. Secondary data consumes less time. Primary data is used in ethical hacking since the data gathered in this type of data is very efficient. Ethical h acking is used legally for the official purposes. Since primary data is unique and is not compared with any one, it is used in the process of ethical hacking (Rajat Khare, 2006) Hence from the above context it can be said that data types are useful in the ethical hacking. Case study: According to media and people the word hacking denotes misuse and collapse of computers. They describe it as unfair method of solving the problem. In the view of ethical hackers the word hacking refers to creative. One of the organization namely Amazon, it is not proposed to point out the lesser features but deals with tricks for working the company efficiently. Hackers and developers will create new characteristics for Amazon. They bring out the creative thinking and innovative ideas by their work in company (Paul Bausch, 2003). Mainly the ethical hacking is the good way to improve the existing methods and qualities. Many organizations follow these because one can know the administrative password of employees, can reach the behaviour of them and working performance. Employee performance and his project carryout can be studied through ethical hacking. These hackings look easy for them since they are engaged with the security firms to protect the Amazon fields. Not only in Amazon in e ach and every org
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Jane Eyre is a Feminist Novel Essay -- essays research papers
Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is a Feminist Novel.In the novel Jane Eyre, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the tone of Jane Eyre is in fact a feminist novel. This book points out the times of unfairness in the Victorian society between men and women, where the man always comes first and is the master of his wife and always the provider. There are many examples that show feminist acts that usually do not occur in the Victorian era, such as wiith strength and integrity, Jane is able to break free from the role that the rest of the society has put her in, which is uncommon in that time period. In the Victorian period women were to clean, cook, take care of kids, and whatever her husband might ask of her, so for Jane Eyre to be so independent it does make the novel a feminist novel which also becomes one of the first feminist novels. There is no doubt Jane Eyre is a feminist novel because of Janes independence, her character, the feelings she has on independence and marriage, the symbolism, setting, and overall theme of the book. Jane Eyre immediately opens up the novel as an independent character. In a cruel household Jane is a niece of a very strict and mean aunt, Mrs. Reed. In the very beginning the book opens with Jane sitting all alone in a room reading a book by herself. This is the first sign of independence. Instead of being with her cousins she chooses to be alone. This is how Janes childhood is while living in her aunts house, she tries to stay by herself. The next sign of Janes independence is when she is sent away to school. At the school Jane does not get into a large group of friends. She stays with one friend her whole school career. This proves Jane does no... ...e Jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at Moor House, in a community and in a family. She will not depend solely on Rochester for love and she can be financially independent. Furthermore, Rochester is blind at the novels end and thus dependent upon Jane to be his guide. There is no doubt Jane Eyre is a feminist novel because of Janes independence, her character, the feelings she has on independence and marriage, the symbolism, setting, and overall theme of the book. Janes independence is unusual for victorian times and is one part of her characteristics that makes her a feminist. With Janes view on marriage and being one of the first feminists it makes the novel very feminist. The author Charlotte Bronte consistently made the victorian people believe women could lead an interesting important life with her book "Jane Eyre".
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Federalist Party :: American America History
Federalist Party "Seldom in the nation's history has there been a period so extraordinary in accomplishment as the first decade under the Constitution...." This paper is going to be a step by step evaluation of arguably the most important decade in American History. The time period covered in this paper is 1789-1801. These are the years in which the Federalists had the most influence in the new government. They accomplished an amazing amount in these 12 years. The Federalist Party was one of the first political organizations in the United States. The members of this party supported a strong central government, a large peacetime army and navy, and a stable financial system. Although the first president, George Washington, was not a Federalist, his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, was the developer and leader of the Federalist party. Hamilton believed in a loose interpretation of the Constitution so that the central government could become more powerful. Also Hamilton, along with the other party members, believed that commerce and manufacturing were more important than agriculture. Financial Dilemma During the first two years of the new federal government the biggest problem was that of raising money. At first the Congress adopted a small tariff on imports. This was a start but not nearly enough. The government needed this money to maintain its own existence and to be able to pay of the debt. The existence of the government was a necessity, but there was a lot of discussion as to whether the debt should be payed off. The mare magnitude of the debt seemed to compel some measure of avoidance. In 1789, the national debt totaled more than $50 million, $11,700,000 of which was owed to France and Spain and the private bankers of Netherlands, while $40 million was in the form of securities held by citizens of the United States. The interests owed to the bankers were being payed off by loans from the bankers themselves. The government didn't even have enough money to pay the Barbary corsairs for release of captive sailors! When Congress couldn't come up with a solution that was satisfactory, they turned to Alexander Hamilton with the dilemma. He soon proceeded to draw up a full report entitled "Report on Public Credit." In this paper Hamilton proceeded to show that the only way for a new government to establish credit was to deal honestly with its creditors -for in many cases they would be the people to whom the government must look to for future loans. Federalist Party :: American America History Federalist Party "Seldom in the nation's history has there been a period so extraordinary in accomplishment as the first decade under the Constitution...." This paper is going to be a step by step evaluation of arguably the most important decade in American History. The time period covered in this paper is 1789-1801. These are the years in which the Federalists had the most influence in the new government. They accomplished an amazing amount in these 12 years. The Federalist Party was one of the first political organizations in the United States. The members of this party supported a strong central government, a large peacetime army and navy, and a stable financial system. Although the first president, George Washington, was not a Federalist, his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, was the developer and leader of the Federalist party. Hamilton believed in a loose interpretation of the Constitution so that the central government could become more powerful. Also Hamilton, along with the other party members, believed that commerce and manufacturing were more important than agriculture. Financial Dilemma During the first two years of the new federal government the biggest problem was that of raising money. At first the Congress adopted a small tariff on imports. This was a start but not nearly enough. The government needed this money to maintain its own existence and to be able to pay of the debt. The existence of the government was a necessity, but there was a lot of discussion as to whether the debt should be payed off. The mare magnitude of the debt seemed to compel some measure of avoidance. In 1789, the national debt totaled more than $50 million, $11,700,000 of which was owed to France and Spain and the private bankers of Netherlands, while $40 million was in the form of securities held by citizens of the United States. The interests owed to the bankers were being payed off by loans from the bankers themselves. The government didn't even have enough money to pay the Barbary corsairs for release of captive sailors! When Congress couldn't come up with a solution that was satisfactory, they turned to Alexander Hamilton with the dilemma. He soon proceeded to draw up a full report entitled "Report on Public Credit." In this paper Hamilton proceeded to show that the only way for a new government to establish credit was to deal honestly with its creditors -for in many cases they would be the people to whom the government must look to for future loans.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
The Great Gatsby Essay examples -- English Literature
The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgeraldââ¬â¢s book The Great Gatsby the narrator, Nick Caraway makes a statement that, in my opinion, reveals to the reader why the book is called The Great Gatsby. ââ¬Å"Theyââ¬â¢re a rotten crowdâ⬠Nick shouted across the lawn to Gatsby ââ¬Å"You're worth the whole damn lot put together.â⬠I agree with Nicks statement because Gatsby has outstanding values that differ and set him apart from the other characters in the book. Also the one main feature that really sets him apart from the crowd and makes him worth more than the whole crowd is his ability to set himself goals and achieve them. He had a dream, An American Dream. Throughout the book Gatsby is portrayed as a mysterious character. The first impressions of Gatsby, which are conveyed to the reader, are through gossip. This is mainly due to Gatsbyââ¬â¢s inaccessibility. He surrounds himself with people but never interacts, instead opting to watch other people enjoy themselves. The rumours about Gatsby are abundant and come from the very people who take advantage of his hospitality. Jordan and the two twins, tell Nick at one of Gatsbyââ¬â¢s parties ââ¬Å"Somebody told me that he killed a man.â⬠There are also disputes about which country he fought for in the war. As one man tells Nick ââ¬Å"I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany.â⬠This is opposed by another woman at the party saying, ââ¬Å"It couldnââ¬â¢t be that because he was in the American army during the war.â⬠Gatsbyââ¬â¢s wealth which is also a mystery to begin with, adds to his mysterious reputation. Despite these rumours circulating about Gatsby our first real impression of Gatsby is a positive one, ââ¬Å"He smiled understandingly- much more than understanding... ...for he is always searching for more. For example in the beginning he wanted to obtain wealth, he achieved that and then he wanted more in the form of love; Daisy. Although in the end it is that drive that brings him down. Gatsby lived life to try and catch the attention of one woman, Daisy Fay, and he almost attained that goal but never quite reached it. When the dream was gone, he had nothing left to live for. In conclusion the American Dream that Gatsby had created for himself improved him as a person. Fitzgerald has created Gatsby as a more exciting and mysterious character than any in the story. Gatsby is the only character that had the ability to set himself goals and achieve them. Although this ability brought about his downfall it was the only thing that Gatsby had to live for. For these reasons, Gatsby is ââ¬Å"worth the whole damn lot put together.ââ¬
Monday, September 16, 2019
Female Education Essay
The history of progress of the human race is the history of education. Hence it is necessary or every person, man or woman, to be educated. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Women should be educated like men; otherwise there can be no peace or no progress. If you yoke an unbroken (untrained) horse with a highly trained one, the carriage will be dashed to pieces and the occupantsââ¬â¢ lives will be destroyed. The family peace cannot be preserved with such ill-matched life-long companions. Napoleon was once asked what the greatest need of France was. He answered, ââ¬Å"Motherlandââ¬â¢s National progress is impossible without trained and educated mothersâ⬠. If the women in any country are not educated, about half . he people in that country will be Ignorant. The result is that such a country will not be able to go along with other nations in development and progress. Iââ¬â¢ll There is a greet controversy going on in Pakistan their women should receive her education or not. Orthodox people are in favor of female education, but they us opposed to giving them higher education but this view does not sound welt. If women are mentally fit to receive higher education, there seems to be no reason why they should not be allowed to develop their mental faculties. There is other group of liberal people which Ii In favor of the female education. To give them only the rudiments of knowledge, while they are eager for advanced studies, is to condemn them to a place of inferiority. A woman has to play three distinct pests in the course of her life in each of which certain duties are expected of her. If she is able to do these well, she is worthy of being called perfect woman. It is only by the help of education that she can hope to be able to do them satisfactorily. The first duty of a woman is to be a good daughter. Th. second is to be a good wife and the third is to be a good mother. Education Leeches a woman what she should be. It also teaches her how she should do it to be a good daughter, a good wife and a good mother. Many men spend their evening time at clubs and societies. But a gentleman with an educated wife will not feel the need of clubs and societies. He can share his thoughts with her and seek her advice in trouble. Ho can spend his leisure Lime in her company. An educated lady will be a good Mend, a clever nurse and a useful adviser to her husband. She will be a true helpmate. She can retain her husbandââ¬â¢s affection and regard. An uneducated lady is always unable to share in his interests. There is a saying in English. ââ¬Å"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the worldâ⬠. The meaning is this that the mother exercises a very great influence over the lives of her children and is able to mould their thoughts and characters. If she is educated, she will make such an impression on the mind of her child, that it will enable him in later life to grow into a good and great man. Thus education will enable women to make their parents, husbands and children truly happy. Consequently it is very important that women should be educated.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Cold environments may be developed Essay
Cold environments may be developed in a sustainable manner. To what extent do you agree with this statement? I disagree with this statement more than I agree with it. Cold environments in the world that were previously wilderness areas have undergone development, and nearly all of them have proved to be unsustainable. In the alpine areas, the mountains are a major magnet because of the scenery and the wide variety of winter sports that can take place there. The Alps have been developed as a tourist area. Although tourism benefits the area economically, it is socially and environmentally unsustainable. Tradition and culture has been eroded away because many young people now go down the mountains into urban areas in search of jobs. Even though the tourist industry has encouraged many young farmers to diversify out of rural and primary activities, many people still leave. Aside from that, the tourist industry brings with it unwanted pollution and litter and also causes footpath erosion. The tourist industry is also a potential hazard to the mountains and villages because the winter sports activities taking place there may cause avalanches. In the tundra or arctic regions, development has not been sustainable either, also both environmentally and socially. Gold, and particularly oil exploration and exploitation have scarred the fragile landscape. In 1968, the Trans-Alaskan pipeline was built from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Not only were there leakage problems of the oil pipeline associated with earthquakes and permafrost, but it also interfered with the migration of caribou on land and salmon in the rivers. Aside from that, in the 1989, there was the problem of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which polluted the ocean and killed hundreds of birds and marine wildlife. Oil exploration and the invasion of the Europeans into Inuit territory were also socially unsustainable. The traditional way of life was lost as many Inuits were forced to live the ââ¬Ëwhiteââ¬â¢ way and many Inuit children were taken from their parents and educated in missionary schools. Their traditional ways of hunting were also lost due to severe regulations on gun control and the introduction of currency into their simple economy. The latter was also the cause of excessive and unsustainable sealing and hunting in the tundra and arctic lands. Although the areas around the Southern Ocean have not been developed, vast quantities of natural fish, seal and whale resources have been taken out. On South Orkney Island, seals were completely depleted by 1800. Whaling began in the 1840s but was unsustainable as well, and ended in 1965 because stocks were exhausted. Fish stocks such as cod and krill have also become severely depleted in recent years. Although institutes such as the International Whaling Convention, the Marine Resources Institute and the CCAMLR were set up, illegal fishing and whaling have led to the depletion of natural resources. In Grytviken and Stromness, abandoned buildings have become an eyesore because they were not cleared away. Attempts at developing Antarctica have been made, mainly in the form of tourism. This is the only cold environment development that can be said to be sustainable. Strict IAATO guidelines on tourist behaviour, controlled numbers of tourists and the harsh climate of Antarctica have made the area difficult to develop. Scientific and research stations, although few, have contributed to waste generated in the area, along with footpath erosion. Most of the waste is shipped to the UK for processing, but what remains cannot decompose easily in the cold climate. Due to efforts of the Antarctic Treaty ratified in 1991 and much pressure from the environmental groups however, the Antarctic region has largely remained untouched. Where development takes place, it cannot be said to be sustainable, because changes have to be made to the area to accommodate people and people contribute to environmental degradation at the very least, even if great care is taken not to disturb or disrupt natural environments. The development of cold environments is mainly unsustainable, although tourism in Antarctica seems to be otherwise. Who knows, however, whether it will remain sustainable in the future because of increased tourism, or because of better technology to fuel mass tourism.
Fetal Heart Rate and Defects Essay
Electronic fetal heart monitoring is commonly used for tracking how well the baby is doing within the contracting uterus and for detecting signs of fetal distress. External fetal heart monitoring is performed by attaching external transducers to the motherââ¬â¢s abdomen with elastic straps. The transducers use Doppler ultrasound to detect fetal heart motion, and the information is sent to the fetal heart monitor which calculates and records the fetal heart rate on a continuous strip of paper. More modern fetal heart monitors have incorporated microprocessors and mathematical procedures to improve the fetal heart rate signal and the accuracy of the recording. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetusââ¬â¢s heart is beating too fast or too slow (Emitting & Waves, R.C., n.d.). The fetal heart starts as a tube which folds and fuses in a complex structure that results in a muscular pump with four chambers and four valves. It is not surprising that small errors in development can lead to a wide variety of structural abnormalities in the 4 chambers, the 4 heart valves, the veins and great arteries. During fetal monitoring, a nurse will evaluate the strip for continuity and adequacy for interpretation, identify the baseline fetal heart rate and presence of variability, determine whether there are accelerations or decelerations from the baseline, identify patterns of uterine contraction, and correlate accelerations and decelerations with the uterine contractions. This will allow the nurse to determine whether the fetal heart rate recording is reassuring, non-reassuring, or ominous (Childrenââ¬â¢s Heart Federation, n.d). Fetal Heart Rate and Defects The normal fetal heart rate is between 110 to 180 beats per minutes (BPM), but can vary. Fluctuations of the fetal heart rate (usually associated with fetal movement) during different periods of the day are common and often rise above 160, going as high as 180 to 190 and are considered normal. Listening to a normally beating heart using a fetal ultrasound Doppler as early as 8 weeks can offer reassurance and cut down on a lot of stress and help assure that the developing fetus is healthy. While miscarriage occurs in only about 15 percent of apparently normal pregnancies, it only occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies where a normal heartbeat has been seen or heard (Medscape, n.d). Recent studies conclude that changes in pregnant womenââ¬â¢s heart rate and blood pressure due to chronic stress and anxiety can have an effect on the fetal heart rate. The study did not report any negative effects on fetal health but confirmed that emotional based changes in a womanââ¬â¢s cardiovas cular activity can have ââ¬Å"real-time effectsâ⬠on a fetus. A previous study has shown that stress during pregnancy can cause an increase in the risk of low-birth weight and premature birth. More importantly, increased evidence suggests that pregnancy stress can actually affect the babyââ¬â¢s behavior and functioning later in life (NT: Detection Rate CHD, n.d.). The ability for expectant mothers to listen to the fetal heart rate with a fetal Doppler offers a safe method of early fetal bonding which was previously only available at prenatal appointments with a medical professional. With its approval for in home by the FDA expecting parents have increasingly been opting to rent or purchase fetal Dopplers to help relieve some of the stress associated with the unknowns of early and late pregnancy. Fetal Doppler rentals are currently available through many online retailers at very affordable rates. Fetal heart rate monitoring is the process of checking the condition of a baby during labor and delivery by monitoring his or her heart rate with special equipment. Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) was first introduced at Yale University in 1958. Since then, continuous EFM has been widely used in the detection of fetal compromise and the assessment of the influence of the intrauterine environment on fetal welfare (Evans and Niswander, 2000). There are two methods of fetal heart monitoring in labor. External fetal monitoring is done through the skin and is not meant to be invasive. Sensitive electrodes (connected to monitors) are placed on your abdomen over conducting jelly. The electrodes can sense the fetal heart rate (FHR) and the presence and duration of uterine contractions. Usually, the results of this test are continuous and are printed out, or they appear on a computer screen. Internal fetal monitoring involves placing a electrode directly on the fetal scalp through the cervix. The health care provider may use this method of monitoring your baby if external monitoring is not working well, or the information is inconclusive. Both types of tests are performed to evaluate fetal heart rate and variability between beats, especially in relation to uterine contractions. The tests also indicate the frequency and strength of uterine contractions (Belmont, 1998). Fortunately, fetal heart monitoring tests can detect numerous abnormal situations or conditions during pregnancy, such as reduced blood flow to the developing baby (cord compression), block of electrical signals within the heart muscle, causing an altered heart beat (fetal heart block), incorrect positioning of the baby (fetal malposition), too little oxygen supply to the developing baby, suggest the presence of infection, too little oxygen exchange between the uterus and the placenta, fetal distress, placenta abruption, and severe anemia in the developing baby. Most common heart defects, such as holes between the chambers (atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect) and even more complex conditions such as transposition of the great arteries and tetralogy of Fallot, can be successfully managed after birth (Belmont, 1998). Many of the aforementioned situations detected during a fetal heart monitoring could mean that the baby has a congenital heart defect. There are many types of congenital heart defects which is why it is so important that the fetal heart monitoring be done before and during labor. A fetal heart defect means that the baby will be born with a problem in the heartââ¬â¢s structure. Learning of the childââ¬â¢s congenital heart defect can help to understand his or her condition and what you can expect in the coming months and years. Some congenital heart defects are simple and donââ¬â¢t need treatment. Other congenital heart defects in children are more complex and may require several surgeries performed over a period of several years. Heart-related complications can be temporary or may affect the child long-term (Emitting & Waves, R.C, n.d.). One examples of a congenital heart defect is pulmonary atresia, which is when no pulmonary valve exists, so blood canââ¬â¢t flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery and on to the lungs. The right ventricle acts as a blind pouch that may stay small and not well developed. The tricuspid valve is often poorly developed, too. An opening in the atrial septum lets blood exit the right atrium, so venous (bluish) blood mixes with the oxygen-rich (red) blood in the left atrium. The left ventricle pumps this mixture of blood into the aorta and out to the body. Pulmonary atresia occurs in about one out of every 10,000 live births (Pulmonary Atresia, n.d.). Another type of congenital heart defect is congenital heart block, when detected at or before birth in a structurally normal heart, is strongly associated with autoantibodies reactive with certain proteins. In this defect, the heartââ¬â¢s electrical signal doesnââ¬â¢t pass from the heartââ¬â¢s own natural pacemaker in the atrium to the lower chambers. When this occurs, an independent pacemaker in the lower chambers takes over. The ventricles can contract and pump blood, but at a slower rate than the atrial pacemaker. Complete heart block is most often caused in adults by heart disease or as a side effect of drug toxicity. Heart blocks can be present at birth (Belmont, 1998). Continuous lumbar epidural anesthesia is commonly used for analgesic treatment during labor and delivery; It is still a matter of controversy whether epidural anesthesia has direct or indirect side effects on the fetus. It has been reported that local anesthetics can cause changes in the fetal heart rate patterns in the sense of direct myocardial side effects (Evans and Niswander, 2000). It is apparent that there are marked cardiovascular changes that occur in the fetus with a congenital heart defect compared with the normal healthy fetus. Without the use of fetal heart monitoring tests, we would be unable to determine if the fetus has a congenital heart defect which could drastically delay treatment of the condition. Treatment varies widely with the type of disease, the effect that pregnancy has on the disease, and the effect that the disease has on pregnancy. If it is the fetus that has a problem, serial ultrasounds may be performed. Fetal heart rate monitoring may be necessary, or amniocentesis may be required. In addition, it may be essential to give the mother medications to act on the baby (Belmont, 1998). Summary A fetal heart defect is an abnormality in any part of the heart that is present in an unborn child. Approximately 35,000 infants are born with heart defects each year in the United States. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetusââ¬â¢s heart is beating too fast or too slow. In most cases, scientists do not know what makes a babyââ¬â¢s heart develop abnormally, but genetic and environmental factors appear to play roles.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
300 â⬠Rationalism vs Empiricism â⬠Summary and History Essay
What is reality really like? A current running through much of the philosophical thinking around the time of Socrates and Plato was that there is a difference between how the world appears and how it is. Our senses reveal one layer of reality but it is our minds that penetrate deeper. The world of appearances is a world in flux but underneath there must be a stable reality. For there is much that is unchanging. We recognise kinds of things ââ¬â badgers, daffodils, mountains ââ¬â and whilst members of these kinds are born, change and die, and differ from one another in ever so many ways, the kind-defining essence doesnââ¬â¢t change. We see here the key rationalist idea that knowledge is a priori knowledge of necessary truths Plato said that kinds were defined by the transcendental forms. He presented a number of arguments for the existence of these things. Prior to our incarnation, our souls existed in the realm of forms where we learned about these essences. In our terrestrial state, we cannot recall what we know. Socrates considered himself a ââ¬Å"midwife to knowledgeâ⬠instead of a teacher, helping his interlocutors to draw out what they donââ¬â¢t know that they know. The example of Meno and the slave-boy shows this idea clearly. Like many philosophers, Plato was also fascinated by mathematics. We are able to tap into a universe of truths that are non-sensible: we do not see numbers and we do not see the perfect geometric forms. Once again, we see the difference between the powers of the mind and the powers of the senses. It was in the 17th century that the debate between the rationalists and the empiricists came to a head. Philosophers such as Descartes and Leibniz emphasised the power of reason over the senses. Descartes argued that our senses were fallible and that we could not rule out the possibility of the demon deception hypothesis on the basis of sensory evidence alone. Descartes argued that he knew he existed, as a mind, on the basis of reflection alone: when I think, I cannot fail to be aware of myself as existing as that thinker (cogito, ergo sum). Having proved that he exists, Descartes argued that God exists. Since God is no deceiver, he would not have given us senses that systematically mislead. But let us not overemphasise the powers of the senses. Descartes argued that even with material things, it is reason that exposes their essences. In his piece of wax reasoning, he argued that the senses merely reveal a succession of impressions: it is reason that grasps the underlying and enduring substance as extended (and filled space). Plato and Descartes believed that we are born with concepts and knowledge. In Descartesââ¬â¢ case, there was a religious motive: we are all born in the image of God. We discover more about the world primarily through metaphysical reflection. The philosopher Francis Bacon, an early empiricist, famously dismissed this rationalist approach to knowledge. He compared rationalists to spiders who spin ââ¬Å"complex metaphysical systems out of their entrailsâ⬠. Empiricists get their hands dirty: like bees gathering pollen, they gather knowledge about the world and only then reflect on it. Around the same time as Bacon, many new discoveries were being made that shook the prevailing views of reality. The Earth was dethroned from its position at the centre of the universe by Copernicus. A new star (a supernova) was observed by Tycho Brahe in 1572 ââ¬â yet the heavens were supposed to be timeless and unchanging. Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter ââ¬â again, everything clearly didnââ¬â¢t revolve around the Earth. Later in the 17th century, scientist-philosophers such as Newton, Boyle, Gassendi and Huygens would revolutionise our understanding of reality. The original empiricist manifesto was written by John Locke. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he sought to show how a mind that was blank at birth ââ¬â a tabula rasa or blank slate ââ¬â could come to be filled. His first targets were the innate concepts and knowledge (ââ¬Ëideasââ¬â¢) of the rationalists. There are no such things. There are no truths everyone agrees on. Many people fail to grasp the supposed metaphysical truths. Instead, our senses deliver ideas to us. We store them, abstract from them to form general ideas, and compound and mix them to generate new ideas. Like Lego bricks, we build the meagre sensory data into ever more complex structures. Even Leibniz thought Locke was onto something here. He claimed that our minds were like blocks of marble that had to be carefully chiselled at to reveal the hidden structure (the innate truths). It is hard work and not everyone will end up well-chiselled. Hume took empiricism to its limit. Where Locke talked indifferently of ideas, Hume distinguished impressions and ideas. Impressions are the direct deliverances of the senses and are forceful and vivid in comparison to ideas, which are the copies our minds makes. (He also agreed with the Empiricist Berkeley that Lockeââ¬â¢s theory of general ideas was wrong. We do not abstract from particular ideas to a general idea but use a particular idea in a general way via a general name. ) What about the precious necessary truths philosophy is supposed to study? Locke argued that once we have ideas in our mind, our mind will perceive the necessary connections between them ââ¬â e. g. that a triangle has internal angles that add to 180o? But where does the idea of necessity come from? Hume provided an answer. He distinguished statements into two categories: those expressing relations of ideas (analytic) and those expressing matters of fact (synthetic). The analytic truths express mere definitions: we simply are aware of an association between terms. The synthetic truths are the contingent truths. So what happens to interesting necessary truths, such as God exists or nothing exists without being caused to exist? Hume argued that if these werenââ¬â¢t analytic ââ¬â and they arenââ¬â¢t ââ¬â they arenââ¬â¢t necessary. We feel that they are necessary and this is all necessity is: a psychological property. When we say that X caused Y, we think we have said something about the universe. We think we have seen an example of a law of nature (e. g. the water in the bucket froze because it was cold exemplifies the law water freezes at 0oC). Science investigates these laws. Hume said that causation was ââ¬Å"all in the mindâ⬠. We see one thing after another and when weââ¬â¢ve seen instances of a regularity enough, we develop the feeling that one thing must be followed by the other. Hume, like Locke, emphasised how all we can be certain of are our impressions ââ¬â how the world seems. Scientists are really investigating how the world appears: they can never be certain that the world really is the way it appears. So, empiricism seems to lead straight to scepticism about the external world. Kant objected strongly to this. Science really is studying the external world and there really is an external world for it to investigate. Kant brought about a revolution in philosophy (he called it a ââ¬Å"Copernican revolution). He argued that the empiricists and rationalists were both right and wrong. The Empiricists were right: science requires the study of the world and the world is brought to us via the senses. The Rationalists were right: our mind is not blank but contains structures that enable us to interpret the stream of data from the senses. We may liken the mind to a mould and the data to jelly: one only has something structured by combining both. Or: the mind is a computer with an operating system and the data is the input from the user. A computer with just an operating system is inert. A computer into which data is inputted but which has no operating system is just data: it cannot be interpreted. Only when you combine both do you get something useful. Our minds contain the ââ¬Å"structuresâ⬠for space, time, objects and causation, for example. (In Kantââ¬â¢s terminology, space and time are the pure forms of intuition whereas the structures for objects and causation are pure concepts of the understanding. ) This means that we experience a world of spatio-temporally located objects in which causation happens because this is how our minds make it appear. Does this mean that the world as such is ââ¬Å"all in the mindâ⬠? Or is the mind somehow ââ¬Å"tunedâ⬠to the structure of reality, so that our pre-programmed minds mirror the structures of reality? This is a very difficult question over which there is no agreement amongst experts. The Empiricist movement came back with a vengeance in the 20th century. Philosophers such as Bertrand Russell agreed with Hume that our knowledge begins with our knowledge of sense-data (classical empirical foundationalism). Armed with new discoveries in mathematics and logic, and backed by the successes of science, the logical positivists argued that the only proper way to investigate the world was the scientific way. If I say p and p is synthetic and there is no objective, scientific way to verify my claim that p, then my claim is meaningless. (This is the celebrated verification principle). So, if it is true that there atoms, we should be able to find empirical ââ¬â sensory ââ¬â evidence of them. If it is true that nothing happens without being caused to happen, then we likewise need scientific evidence for this. We cannot discover whether it is true by pure reason. The Logical Positivist movement failed. There is much that seems meaningful that is not objectively verifiable by the senses, such as the occurrence of private sensations. The principle makes it impossible for general claims such as ââ¬Å"all mammals are warm-bloodedâ⬠to be true, as we cannot verify all of them. The very verification principle itself fails its own test! The Logical Positivists responded by watering down their principle: a meaningful claim is one we could gather some evidence for in principle and the principle itself is special ââ¬â exempt from this rule. But it was not enough. (* Then Quine argued that the fundamental division between analytic and synthetic sentences was incorrect. Analytic sentences cannot be false. But no sentence enjoys this privilege. As we learn more and more, truths we thought were beyond doubt are rejected. Once upon a time, we would have thought it analytic that no object can be in two places at once or that there is no fastest velocity. Quantum physics and general relativity theory show that they are not true. Instead, we should have a ââ¬Å"web of beliefâ⬠. At the centre are those sentences least likely to be revised ââ¬â our ââ¬Å"core beliefsâ⬠. As we move out, we find those sentences that would be easier and easier to accept as false ââ¬â that would cause less and less disruption to the rest of what we believe. ) In the 1950s, Chomsky became famous for suggesting that we are not born as blank slates when it comes to language. We are born knowing the fundamental structures of human language. When we are young, we hear our mother tongue and use our knowledge of language to pick up our language very quickly. (At 24 months, the average child understands 500-700 words; at 36 months, 1000; at 48 around 2500-3000; at 60 around 5000 words: thatââ¬â¢s around 7 words a day between 3 and 6). More recently, studies have shown that children are born with brains structured to ââ¬Å"expectâ⬠the world to behave in certain way. Very young children expect objects to persist over time: not to disappear and reappear at two different places, for example. Is this a revival of rationalism? Not according to many people. Rationalists argued that we had innate concepts and knowledge. By reflection, we can discover them and manipulate them to gain new knowledge. But our ââ¬Å"knowledge of languageâ⬠is altogether different. None of us can easily articulate the rules we follow in generating syntactically-correct English. (And certainly none of us at all can articulate the ââ¬Å"common structure rulesâ⬠to all human languages. ) Our brains are certainly pre-programmed, but only perhaps in the same way that a computer is pre-wired: clearly something has to be there but nothing as advanced as software. So where are we today? No side is ââ¬Å"victoriousâ⬠: this would be to grossly over-simplify the debate between the empiricists and the rationalists. We definitely have minds in some way ââ¬Å"readyâ⬠to receive the world ââ¬â hardly surprising, perhaps, given the time it has taken for us to evolve. But when it comes to working out what is true? Few philosophers are rationalists in the old-fashioned way. There is no sharp division between metaphysics and science: our study of reality cannot be done from the armchair alone. But our capacity to grasp abstract mathematical truths has always been difficult to explain from an empiricist perspective. We seem to have an access to a mathematical realm and a cognitive or intuitive access instead of a sensory one. You canââ¬â¢t see numbers, after all, and it is not easy to say what we could ââ¬Å"seeâ⬠that would lead us to generate the ideas of numbers.
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