Monthly Archives: June 2016

Eugenics – New World Encyclopedia

Posted: June 29, 2016 at 6:28 pm

Eugenics is a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention. The purported goals have variously been to create healthier, more intelligent people, save society's resources, and lessen human suffering.

Earlier proposed means of achieving these goals focused on selective breeding, while modern ones focus on prenatal testing and screening, genetic counseling, birth control, in vitro fertilization, and genetic engineering. Opponents argue that eugenics is immoral and is based on, or is itself, pseudoscience. Historically, eugenics has been used as a justification for coercive state-sponsored discrimination and human rights violations, such as forced sterilization of persons with genetic defects, the killing of the institutionalized and, in some cases, genocide of races perceived as inferior. Today, however, the ideas developed from eugenics are used to identify genetic disorders that are either fatal or result in severe disabilities. While there is still controversy, some of this research and understanding may prove beneficial.

The word eugenics etymologically derives from the Greek words eu (good) and gen (birth), and was coined by Francis Galton in 1883.

The term eugenics is often used to refer to movements and social policies that were influential during the early twentieth century. In a historical and broader sense, eugenics can also be a study of "improving human genetic qualities." It is sometimes broadly applied to describe any human action whose goal is to improve the gene pool. Some forms of infanticide in ancient societies, present-day reprogenetics, preemptive abortions, and designer babies have been (sometimes controversially) referred to as eugenic.

Eugenicists advocate specific policies that (if successful) would lead to a perceived improvement of the human gene pool. Since defining what improvements are desired or beneficial is, by many, perceived as a cultural choice rather than a matter that can be determined objectively (by empirical, scientific inquiry), eugenics has often been deemed a pseudoscience. The most disputed aspect of eugenics has been the definition of "improvement" of the human gene pool, such as what comprises a beneficial characteristic and what makes a defect. This aspect of eugenics has historically been tainted with scientific racism.

Early eugenicists were mostly concerned with perceived intelligence factors that often correlated strongly with social class. Many eugenicists took inspiration from the selective breeding of animals (where purebreds are valued) as their analogy for improving human society. The mixing of races (or miscegenation) was usually considered as something to be avoided in the name of racial purity. At the time this concept appeared to have some scientific support, and it remained a contentious issue until the advanced development of genetics led to a scientific consensus that the division of the human species into unequal races is unjustifiable. Some see this as an ideological consensus, since equality, just like inequality, is a cultural choice rather than a matter that can be determined objectively.

Eugenics has also been concerned with the elimination of hereditary diseases such as haemophilia and Huntington's disease. However, there are several problems with labeling certain factors as "genetic defects." In many cases there is no scientific consensus on what a "genetic defect" is. It is often argued that this is more a matter of social or individual choice. What appears to be a "genetic defect" in one context or environment may not be so in another. This can be the case for genes with a heterozygote advantage, such as sickle cell anemia or Tay-Sachs disease, which in their heterozygote form may offer an advantage against, respectively, malaria and tuberculosis. Many people can succeed in life with disabilities. Many of the conditions early eugenicists identified as inheritable (pellagra is one such example) are currently considered to be at least partially, if not wholly, attributed to environmental conditions. Similar concerns have been raised when a prenatal diagnosis of a congenital disorder leads to abortion.

Eugenic policies have been conceptually divided into two categories: Positive eugenics, which encourage a designated "most fit" to reproduce more often; and negative eugenics, which discourage or prevent a designated "less fit" from reproducing. Negative eugenics need not be coercive. A state might offer financial rewards to certain people who submit to sterilization, although some critics might reply that this incentive along with social pressure could be perceived as coercion. Positive eugenics can also be coercive. Abortion by "fit" women was illegal in Nazi Germany.

During the twentieth century, many countries enacted various eugenics policies and programs, including:

Most of these policies were later regarded as coercive, restrictive, or genocidal, and now few jurisdictions implement policies that are explicitly labeled as eugenic or unequivocally eugenic in substance (however labeled). However, some private organizations assist people in genetic counseling, and reprogenetics may be considered as a form of non-state-enforced "liberal" eugenics.

Selective breeding was suggested at least as far back as Plato, who believed human reproduction should be controlled by government. He recorded these ideals in The Republic: "The best men must have intercourse with the best women as frequently as possible, and the opposite is true of the very inferior." Plato proposed that the process be concealed from the public via a form of lottery. Other ancient examples include the polis of Sparta's purported practice of infanticide. However, they would leave all babies outside for a length of time, and the survivors were considered stronger, while many "weaker" babies perished.[1]

During the 1860s and 1870s, Sir Francis Galton systematized his ideas and practices according to new knowledge about the evolution of humans and animals provided by the theory of his cousin Charles Darwin. After reading Darwin's Origin of Species, Galton noticed an interpretation of Darwin's work whereby the mechanisms of natural selection were potentially thwarted by human civilization. He reasoned that, since many human societies sought to protect the underprivileged and weak, those societies were at odds with the natural selection responsible for extinction of the weakest. Only by changing these social policies, Galton thought, could society be saved from a "reversion towards mediocrity," a phrase that he first coined in statistics and which later changed to the now common "regression towards the mean."[2]

According to Galton, society already encouraged dysgenic conditions, claiming that the less intelligent were out-reproducing the more intelligent. Galton did not propose any selection methods; rather, he hoped that a solution would be found if social mores changed in a way that encouraged people to see the importance of breeding.

Galton first used the word eugenic in his 1883 Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development, a book in which he meant "to touch on various topics more or less connected with that of the cultivation of race, or, as we might call it, with 'eugenic' questions." He included a footnote to the word "eugenic" which read:

That is, with questions bearing on what is termed in Greek, eugenes namely, good in stock, hereditarily endowed with noble qualities. This, and the allied words, eugeneia, etc., are equally applicable to men, brutes, and plants. We greatly want a brief word to express the science of improving stock, which is by no means confined to questions of judicious mating, but which, especially in the case of man, takes cognisance of all influences that tend in however remote a degree to give to the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable than they otherwise would have had. The word eugenics would sufficiently express the idea; it is at least a neater word and a more generalized one than viriculture which I once ventured to use.[3]

Eugenics differed from what would later be known as Social Darwinism. This school of thought was developed independently of Darwin by such writers as Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner. Social Darwinism includes a range of political ideologies which are held to be compatible with the concept that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution of biological traits in a population by natural selection can also be applied to competition between human societies or groups within a society. It is based on ideas of the "survival of the fittest" (a term coined by Herbert Spencer) to human society, saying that those humans with superior genes would be better placed to succeed in society, as evidenced by wealth and status. Social Darwinism, like eugenics, fell out of favor as it become increasingly associated with racism. While both claimed intelligence was hereditary, eugenics asserted that new policies were needed to actively change the status quo towards a more "eugenic" state, while the Social Darwinists argued society itself would naturally "check" the problem of "dysgenics" if no welfare policies were in place (for example, the poor might reproduce more but would have higher mortality rates).

The United States was home to a large eugenics movement in the 1890s. Beginning with Connecticut, in 1896, many states enacted marriage laws with eugenic criteria, prohibiting anyone who was "epileptic, imbecile, or feeble-minded" from marrying. In 1898, Charles B. Davenport, a prominent American biologist, began as director of a biological research station based in Cold Spring Harbor, where he experimented with evolution in plants and animals. In 1904, Davenport received funds from the Carnegie Institution to found the Station for Experimental Evolution. The Eugenics Record Office opened in 1910, while Davenport and Harry H. Laughlin began to promote eugenics.[4]

Though eugenics is today often associated with racism, it was not always so; both W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey supported eugenics or ideas resembling eugenics as a way to reduce African American suffering and improve their stature.[5] Many legal methods of eugenics include state laws against miscegenation or prohibitions of interracial marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned those state laws in 1967, and declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

During the twentieth century, researchers became interested in the idea that mental illness could run in families and conducted a number of studies to document the heritability of such illnesses as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and clinical depression. Their findings were used by the eugenics movement as proof for its cause. State laws were written in the late 1800s and early 1900s to prohibit marriage and force sterilization of the mentally ill in order to prevent the "passing on" of mental illness to the next generation. These laws were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927, and were not abolished until the mid-twentieth century. By 1945, over 45,000 mentally ill individuals in the United States had been forcibly sterilized.

With the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, eugenicists for the first time played a central role in the Congressional debate as expert advisers on the threat of "inferior stock" from eastern and southern Europe. This reduced the number of immigrants from abroad to 15 percent of previous years, to control the number of "unfit" individuals entering the country. The new act strengthened existing laws prohibiting race mixing in an attempt to maintain the gene pool.[6] Eugenic considerations also lay behind the adoption of incest laws in much of the U.S. and were used to justify many antimiscegenation laws.[7]

Some states sterilized "imbeciles" for much of the twentieth century. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1927 Buck v. Bell case that the state of Virginia could sterilize those it thought unfit. The most significant era of eugenic sterilization was between 1907 and 1963, when over 64,000 individuals were forcibly sterilized under eugenic legislation in the United States.[8] A favorable report on the results of sterilization in California, by far the state with the most sterilizations, was published in book form by the biologist Paul Popenoe and was widely cited by the Nazi government as evidence that wide-reaching sterilization programs were feasible and humane. When Nazi administrators went on trial for war crimes in Nuremberg after World War II, they justified the mass sterilizations (over 450,000 in less than a decade) by citing the United States as their inspiration.[9]

Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler was infamous for eugenics programs which attempted to maintain a "pure" German race through a series of programs that ran under the banner of "racial hygiene." Among other activities, the Nazis performed extensive experimentation on live human beings to test their genetic theories, ranging from simple measurement of physical characteristics to the horrific experiments carried out by Josef Mengele for Otmar von Verschuer on twins in the concentration camps. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazi regime forcibly sterilized hundreds of thousands of people whom they viewed as mentally and physically "unfit," an estimated 400,000 between 1934 and 1937. The scale of the Nazi program prompted American eugenics advocates to seek an expansion of their program, with one complaining that "the Germans are beating us at our own game."[10] The Nazis went further, however, killing tens of thousands of the institutionalized disabled through compulsory "euthanasia" programs.[11]

They also implemented a number of "positive" eugenics policies, giving awards to "Aryan" women who had large numbers of children and encouraged a service in which "racially pure" single women were impregnated by SS officers (Lebensborn). Many of their concerns for eugenics and racial hygiene were also explicitly present in their systematic killing of millions of "undesirable" people including Jews, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals during the Holocaust (much of the killing equipment and methods employed in the death camps were first developed in the euthanasia program). The scope and coercion involved in the German eugenics programs along with a strong use of the rhetoric of eugenics and so-called "racial science" throughout the regime created an indelible cultural association between eugenics and the Third Reich in the postwar years.[12]

After the experience of Nazi Germany, many ideas about "racial hygiene" and "unfit" members of society were publicly renounced by politicians and members of the scientific community. The Nuremberg Trials against former Nazi leaders revealed to the world many of the regime's genocidal practices and resulted in formalized policies of medical ethics and the 1950 UNESCO statement on race. Many scientific societies released their own similar "race statements" over the years, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, developed in response to abuses during the Second World War, was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, and affirmed, "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family."[13] In continuation, the 1978 UNESCO declaration on race and racial prejudice states that the fundamental equality of all human beings is the ideal toward which ethics and science should converge.[14]

In reaction to Nazi abuses, eugenics became almost universally reviled in many of the nations where it had once been popular (however, some eugenics programs, including sterilization, continued quietly for decades). Many pre-war eugenicists engaged in what they later labeled "crypto-eugenics," purposefully taking their eugenic beliefs "underground" and becoming respected anthropologists, biologists, and geneticists in the postwar world (including Robert Yerkes in the U.S. and Otmar von Verschuer in Germany). Californian eugenicist Paul Popenoe founded marriage counseling during the 1950s, a career change which grew from his eugenic interests in promoting "healthy marriages" between "fit" couples.[15]

High school and college textbooks from the 1920s through the 1940s often had chapters touting the scientific progress to be had from applying eugenic principles to the population. Many early scientific journals devoted to heredity in general were run by eugenicists and featured eugenics articles alongside studies of heredity in nonhuman organisms. After eugenics fell out of scientific favor, most references to eugenics were removed from textbooks and subsequent editions of relevant journals. Even the names of some journals changed to reflect new attitudes. For example, Eugenics Quarterly became Social Biology in 1969 (the journal still exists today, though it looks little like its predecessor). Notable members of the American Eugenics Society (192294) during the second half of the twentieth century included Joseph Fletcher, originator of Situational ethics; Dr. Clarence Gamble of the Procter & Gamble fortune; and Garrett Hardin, a population control advocate and author of The Tragedy of the Commons.

Despite the changed postwar attitude towards eugenics in the U.S. and some European countries, a few nations, notably, Canada and Sweden, maintained large-scale eugenics programs, including forced sterilization of mentally handicapped individuals, as well as other practices, until the 1970s. In the United States, sterilizations capped off in the 1960s, though the eugenics movement had largely lost most popular and political support by the end of the 1930s.[16]

Despite the ill repute of eugenics, there still exists a debate regarding its use or abuse.

While the science of genetics has increasingly provided means by which certain characteristics and conditions can be identified and understood, given the complexity of human genetics, culture, and psychology, there is at this point no agreed objective means of determining which traits might be ultimately desirable or undesirable. Eugenic manipulations that reduce the propensity for criminality and violence, for example, might result in the population being enslaved by an outside aggressor it can no longer defend itself against. On the other hand, genetic diseases like hemochromatosis can increase susceptibility to illness, cause physical deformities, and other dysfunctions. Eugenic measures against many of these diseases are already being undertaken in societies around the world, while measures against traits that affect more subtle, poorly understood traits, such as criminality, are relegated to the realm of speculation and science fiction. The effects of diseases are essentially wholly negative, and societies everywhere seek to reduce their impact by various means, some of which are eugenic in all but name.

In modern bioethics literature, the history of eugenics presents many moral and ethical questions. Commentators have suggested the new "eugenics" will come from reproductive technologies that will allow parents to create so-called "designer babies" (what the biologist Lee M. Silver prominently called "reprogenetics"). It has been argued that this "non-coercive" form of biological "improvement" will be predominantly motivated by individual competitiveness and the desire to create "the best opportunities" for children, rather than an urge to improve the species as a whole, which characterized the early twentieth century forms of eugenics. Because of this non-coercive nature, lack of involvement by the state, and a difference in goals, some commentators have questioned whether such activities are eugenics or something else altogether.

Some disability activists argue that, although their impairments may cause them pain or discomfort, what really disables them as members of society is a sociocultural system that does not recognize their right to genuinely equal treatment. They express skepticism that any form of eugenics could be to the benefit of the disabled considering their treatment by historical eugenic campaigns.

James D. Watson, the first director of the Human Genome Project, initiated the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program (ELSI) which has funded a number of studies into the implications of human genetic engineering (along with a prominent website on the history of eugenics), because:

In putting ethics so soon into the genome agenda, I was responding to my own personal fear that all too soon critics of the Genome Project would point out that I was a representative of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that once housed the controversial Eugenics Record Office. My not forming a genome ethics program quickly might be falsely used as evidence that I was a closet eugenicist, having as my real long-term purpose the unambiguous identification of genes that lead to social and occupational stratification as well as genes justifying racial discrimination.[17]

Distinguished geneticists including Nobel Prize-winners John Sulston ("I don't think one ought to bring a clearly disabled child into the world")[18] and Watson ("Once you have a way in which you can improve our children, no one can stop it")[19] support genetic screening. Which ideas should be described as "eugenic" are still controversial in both public and scholarly spheres. Some observers such as Philip Kitcher have described the use of genetic screening by parents as making possible a form of "voluntary" eugenics.[20]

Some modern subcultures advocate different forms of eugenics assisted by human cloning and human genetic engineering, sometimes even as part of a new cult (see Ralism, Cosmotheism, or Prometheism). These groups also talk of "neo-eugenics." "conscious evolution," or "genetic freedom."

Behavioral traits often identified as potential targets for modification through human genetic engineering include intelligence, clinical depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, sexual behavior (and orientation), and criminality.

In a 2005 United Kingdom court case, the Crown v. James Edward Whittaker-Williams, arguably set a precedent of banning sexual contact between people with "learning difficulties." The accused, a man suffering learning disabilities, was jailed for kissing and hugging a woman with learning disabilities. This was done under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, which redefines kissing and cuddling as sexual and states that those with learning difficulties are unable to give consent regardless of whether or not the act involved coercion. Opponents of the act have attacked it as bringing in eugenics through the backdoor under the guise of a requirement of "consent."[21]

A common criticism of eugenics is that it inevitably leads to measures that are unethical. In the hypothetical scenario where it's scientifically proven that one racial minority group making up 5 percent of the population is on average less intelligent than the majority racial group it's more likely that the minority racial group will be submitted to a eugenics program, opposed to the five percent least intelligent members of the population as a whole. For example, Nazi Germany's eugenic program within the German population resulted in protests and unrest, while the persecution of the Jews was met with silence.

Steven Pinker has stated that it is "a conventional wisdom among left-leaning academics that genes imply genocide." He has responded to this "conventional wisdom" by comparing the history of Marxism, which had the opposite position on genes to that of Nazism:

But the twentieth century suffered "two" ideologies that led to genocides. The other one, Marxism, had no use for race, didn't believe in genes and denied that human nature was a meaningful concept. Clearly, it's not an emphasis on genes or evolution that is dangerous. It's the desire to remake humanity by coercive means (eugenics or social engineering) and the belief that humanity advances through a struggle in which superior groups (race or classes) triumph over inferior ones.[22]

Richard Lynn has argued that any social philosophy is capable of ethical misuse. Though Christian principles have aided in the abolition of slavery and the establishment of welfare programs, he notes that the Christian church has also burned many dissidents at the stake and waged wars against nonbelievers in which Christian crusaders slaughtered large numbers of women and children. Lynn argued the appropriate response is to condemn these killings, but believing that Christianity "inevitably leads to the extermination of those who do not accept its doctrines" is unwarranted.[23]

Eugenic policies could also lead to loss of genetic diversity, in which case a culturally accepted improvement of the gene pool may, but would not necessarily, result in biological disaster due to increased vulnerability to disease, reduced ability to adapt to environmental change and other factors both known and unknown. This kind of argument from the precautionary principle is itself widely criticized. A long-term eugenics plan is likely to lead to a scenario similar to this because the elimination of traits deemed undesirable would reduce genetic diversity by definition.

Related to a decrease in diversity is the danger of non-recognition. That is, if everyone were beautiful and attractive, then it would be more difficult to distinguish between different individuals, due to the wide variety of ugly traits and otherwise non-attractive traits and combinations thereof that people use to recognize each other.

The possible elimination of the autism genotype is a significant political issue in the autism rights movement, which claims autism is a form of neurodiversity. Many advocates of Down Syndrome rights also consider Down Syndrome (Trisomy-21) a form of neurodiversity, though males with Down Syndrome are generally infertile.

In some instances, efforts to eradicate certain single-gene mutations would be nearly impossible. In the event the condition in question was a heterozygous recessive trait, the problem is that by eliminating the visible unwanted trait, there are still as many genes for the condition left in the gene pool as were eliminated according to the Hardy-Weinberg principle, which states that a population's genetics are defined as pp+2pq+qq at equilibrium. With genetic testing it may be possible to detect all of the heterozygous recessive traits, but only at great cost with the current technology. Under normal circumstances it is only possible to eliminate a dominant allele from the gene pool. Recessive traits can be severely reduced, but never eliminated unless the complete genetic makeup of all members of the pool was known, as aforementioned. As only very few undesirable traits, such as Huntington's disease, are dominant, the practical value for "eliminating" traits is quite low.

All links retrieved October 8, 2013.

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Read the rest here:

Eugenics - New World Encyclopedia

Posted in Eugenics | Comments Off

Evolution – Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted: at 6:28 pm

Evolution is a scientific theory used by biologists. It explains how living things change over a long time, and how they have come to be the way they are.[1]

The Earth has been around for a very long time.[2][3] By doing research on the layers of rock, we can find out about its past. That kind of research is called historical geology.

We know that living things have changed over time, because we can see their remains in the rocks. These remains are called 'fossils'. So we know that the animals and plants of today are different from those of long ago. And the further we go back, the more different the fossils are.[4] How has this come about? Evolution has taken place. That evolution has taken place is a fact, because it is overwhelmingly supported by many lines of evidence.[5][6][7] At the same time, evolutionary questions are still being actively researched by biologists.

Comparison of DNA sequences allows organisms to be grouped by how similar their sequences are. In 2010 an analysis compared sequences to phylogenetic trees, and supported the idea of common descent. There is now "strong quantitative support, by a formal test",[8] for the unity of life.[9]

The theory of evolution is the basis of modern biology. "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution".[10]

The evidence for evolution is given in a number of books.[11][12][13][14] Some of this evidence is discussed here.

The realization that some rocks contain fossils was a landmark in natural history. There are three parts to this story:

The most convincing evidence for the occurrence of evolution is the discovery of extinct organisms in older geological strata... The older the strata are...the more different the fossil will be from living representatives... that is to be expected if the fauna and flora of the earlier strata had gradually evolved into their descendants.

Ernst Mayr [1]p13

The evolution of the horse family (Equidae) is a good example of the way that evolution works. The oldest fossil of a horse is about 52 million years old. It was a small animal with five toes on the front feet and four on the hind feet. At that time, there were more forests in the world than today. This horse lived in woodland, eating leaves, nuts and fruit with its simple teeth. It was only about as big as a fox.[19]

About 30 million years ago the world started to become cooler and drier. Forests shrank; grassland expanded, and horses changed. They ate grass, they grew larger, and they ran faster because they had to escape faster predators. Because grass wears teeth out, horses with longer-lasting teeth had an advantage.

For most of this long period of time, there were a number of horse types (genera). Now, however, only one genus exists: the modern horse, Equus. It has teeth which grow all its life, hooves on single toes, great long legs for running, and the animal is big and strong enough to survive in the open plain.[19] Horses lived in western Canada until 12,000 years ago,[20] but all horses in North America became extinct about 11,000 years ago. The causes of this extinction are not yet clear. Climate change and over-hunting by humans are suggested.

So, scientists can see that changes have happened. They have happened slowly over a long time. How these changes have come about is explained by the theory of evolution.

This is a topic which fascinated both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.[21][22][23] When new species occur, usually by the splitting of older species, this takes place in one place in the world. Once it is established, a new species may spread to some places and not others.

Australasia has been separated from other continents for many millions of years. In the main part of the continent, Australia, 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians are endemic.[24] Its native mammals are mostly marsupials like kangaroos, bandicoots, and quolls.[25] By contrast, marsupials are today totally absent from Africa and form a small portion of the mammalian fauna of South America, where opossums, shrew opossums, and the monito del monte occur (see the Great American Interchange).

The only living representatives of primitive egg-laying mammals (monotremes) are the echidnas and the platypus. They are only found in Australasia, which includes Tasmania, New Guinea, and Kangaroo Island. These monotremes are totally absent in the rest of the world.[26] On the other hand, Australia is missing many groups of placental mammals that are common on other continents (carnivora, artiodactyls, shrews, squirrels, lagomorphs), although it does have indigenous bats and rodents, which arrived later.[27]

The evolutionary story is that placental mammals evolved in Eurasia, and wiped out the marsupials and monotremes wherever they spread. They did not reach Australasia until more recently. That is the simple reason why Australia has most of the world's marsupials and all the world's monotremes.

In about 6,500sqmi (17,000km2), the Hawaiian Islands have the most diverse collection of Drosophila flies in the world, living from rainforests to mountain meadows. About 800 Hawaiian drosophilid species are known.

Genetic evidence shows that all the native drosophilid species in Hawaii have descended from a single ancestral species that colonized the islands, about 20 million years ago. The subsequent adaptive radiation was spurred by a lack of competition and a wide variety of vacant niches. Although it would be possible for a single pregnant female to colonise an island, it is more likely to have been a group from the same species.[28][29][30][31]

The combination of continental drift and evolution can explain what is found in the fossil record. Glossopteris is an extinct species of seed fern plants from the Permian period on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.[32]

Glossopteris fossils are found in Permian strata in southeast South America, southeast Africa, all of Madagascar, northern India, all of Australia, all of New Zealand, and scattered on the southern and northern edges of Antarctica.

During the Permian, these continents were connected as Gondwana. This is known from magnetic striping in the rocks, other fossil distributions, and glacial scratches pointing away from the temperate climate of the South Pole during the Permian.[13]p103[33]

When biologists look at living things, they see that animals and plants belong to groups which have something in common. Charles Darwin explained that this followed naturally if "we admit the common parentage of allied forms, together with their modification through variation and natural selection".[21]p402[11]p456

For example, all insects are related. They share a basic body plan, whose development is controlled by master regulatory genes.[34] They have six legs; they have hard parts on the outside of the body (an exoskeleton); they have eyes formed of many separate chambers, and so on. Biologists explain this with evolution. All insects are the descendants of a group of animals who lived a long time ago. They still keep the basic plan (six legs and so on) but the details change. They look different now because they changed in different ways: this is evolution.[35]

It was Darwin who first suggested that all life on Earth had a single origin, and from that beginning "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved".[11]p490[21] Evidence from molecular biology in recent years has supported the idea that all life is related by common descent.[36]

Strong evidence for common descent comes from vestigial structures.[21]p397 The useless wings of flightless beetles are sealed under fused wing covers. This can be simply explained by their descent from ancestral beetles which had wings that worked.[14]p49

Rudimentary body parts, those that are smaller and simpler in structure than corresponding parts in ancestral species, are called vestigial organs. Those organs are functional in the ancestral species but are now either nonfunctional or re-adapted to a new function. Examples are the pelvic girdles of whales, halteres (hind wings) of flies, wings of flightless birds, and the leaves of some xerophytes (e.g. cactus) and parasitic plants (e.g. dodder).

However, vestigial structures may have their original function replaced with another. For example, the halteres in flies help balance the insect while in flight, and the wings of ostriches are used in mating rituals, and in aggressive display. The ear ossicles in mammals are former bones of the lower jaw.

In 1893, Robert Wiedersheim published a book on human anatomy and its relevance to man's evolutionary history. This book contained a list of 86 human organs that he considered vestigial.[37] This list included examples such as the appendix and the 3rd molar teeth (wisdom teeth).

The strong grip of a baby is another example.[38] It is a vestigial reflex, a remnant of the past when pre-human babies clung to their mothers' hair as the mothers swung through the trees. This is borne out by the babies' feet, which curl up when it is sitting down (primate babies grip with the feet as well). All primates except modern man have thick body hair to which an infant can cling, unlike modern humans. The grasp reflex allows the mother to escape danger by climbing a tree using both hands and feet.[13][39]

Vestigial organs often have some selection against them. The original organs took resources, sometimes huge resources. If they no longer have a function, reducing their size improves fitness. And there is direct evidence of selection. Some cave crustacea reproduce more successfully with smaller eyes than do those with larger eyes. This may be because the nervous tissue dealing with sight now becomes available to handle other sensory input.[40]p310

From the eighteenth century it was known that embryos of different species were much more similar than the adults. In particular, some parts of embryos reflect their evolutionary past. For example, the embryos of land vertebrates develop gill slits like fish embryos. Of course, this is only a temporary stage, which gives rise to many structures in the neck of reptiles, birds and mammals. The proto-gill slits are part of a complicated system of development: that is why they persisted.[34]

Another example are the embryonic teeth of baleen whales.[41] They are later lost. The baleen filter is developed from different tissue, called keratin. Early fossil baleen whales did actually have teeth as well as the baleen.[42]

A good example is the barnacle. It took many centuries before natural historians discovered that barnacles were crustacea. Their adults look so unlike other crustacea, but their larvae are very similar to those of other crustacea.[43]

Charles Darwin lived in a world where animal husbandry and domesticated crops were vitally important. In both cases farmers selected for breeding individuals with special properties, and prevented the breeding of individuals with less desirable characteristics. The eighteenth and early nineteenth century saw a growth in scientific agriculture, and artificial breeding was part of this.

Darwin discussed artificial selection as a model for natural selection in the 1859 first edition of his work On the Origin of Species, in Chapter IV: Natural selection:

Nikolai Vavilov showed that rye, originally a weed, came to be a crop plant by unintentional selection. Rye is a tougher plant than wheat: it survives in harsher conditions. Having become a crop like the wheat, rye was able to become a crop plant in harsh areas, such as hills and mountains.[45][46]

There is no real difference in the genetic processes underlying artificial and natural selection, and the concept of artificial selection was used by Charles Darwin as an illustration of the wider process of natural selection. There are practical differences. Experimental studies of artificial selection show that "the rate of evolution in selection experiments is at least two orders of magnitude (that is 100 times) greater than any rate seen in nature or the fossil record".[47]p157

Some have thought that artificial selection could not produce new species. It now seems that it can.

New species have been created by domesticated animal husbandry, but the details are not known or not clear. For example, domestic sheep were created by hybridisation, and no longer produce viable offspring with Ovis orientalis, one species from which they are descended.[48] Domestic cattle, on the other hand, can be considered the same species as several varieties of wild ox, gaur, yak, etc., as they readily produce fertile offspring with them.[49]

The best-documented new species came from laboratory experiments in the late 1980s. William Rice and G.W. Salt bred fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, using a maze with three different choices of habitat such as light/dark and wet/dry. Each generation was put into the maze, and the groups of flies that came out of two of the eight exits were set apart to breed with each other in their respective groups.

After thirty-five generations, the two groups and their offspring were isolated reproductively because of their strong habitat preferences: they mated only within the areas they preferred, and so did not mate with flies that preferred the other areas.[50][51]

Diane Dodd was also able to show how reproductive isolation can develop from mating preferences in Drosophila pseudoobscura fruit flies after only eight generations using different food types, starch and maltose.[52]

Dodd's experiment has been easy for others to repeat. It has also been done with other fruit flies and foods.[53]

Some biologists say that evolution has happened when a trait that is caused by genetics becomes more or less common in a group of organisms.[54] Others call it evolution when new species appear.

Changes can happen quickly in the smaller, simpler organisms. For example, many bacteria that cause disease can no longer be killed with some of the antibiotic medicines. These medicines have only been in use about eighty years, and at first worked extremely well. The bacteria have evolved so that they are no longer affected by antibiotics anymore.[55] The drugs killed off all the bacteria except a few which had some resistance. These few resistant bacteria produced the next generation.

The Colorado beetle is famous for its ability to resist pesticides. Over the last 50 years it has become resistant to 52 chemical compounds used in insecticides, including cyanide.[56] This is natural selection speeded up by the artificial conditions. However, not every population is resistant to every chemical.[57] The populations only become resistant to chemicals used in their area.

Although there were a number of natural historians in the 18th century who had some idea of evolution, the first well-formed ideas came in the 19th century. Three biologists are most important.

Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (17441829), a French biologist, claimed that animals changed according to natural laws. He said that animals could pass on traits they had acquired during their lifetime to their offspring, using inheritance. Today, his theory is known as Lamarckism. Its main purpose is to explain adaptations by natural means.[58] He proposed a tendency for organisms to become more complex, moving up a ladder of progress, plus use and disuse.

Lamarck's idea was that a giraffe's neck grew longer because it tried to reach higher up. This idea failed because it cannot be reconciled with heredity (Mendel's work). Mendel made his discoveries about half a century after Lamarck's work.

Charles Darwin (18091882) wrote his On the Origin of Species in 1859. In this book, he put forward much evidence that evolution had occurred. He also proposed natural selection as the way evolution had taken place. But Darwin did not understand about genetics and how traits were actually passed on. He could not accurately explain what made children look like their parents.

Nevertheless, Darwin's explanation of evolution was fundamentally correct. In contrast to Lamarck, Darwin's idea was that the giraffe's neck became longer because those with longer necks survived better.[21]p177/8 These survivors passed their genes on, and in time the whole race got longer necks.

An Austrian monk called Gregor Mendel (18221884) bred plants. In the mid-19th century, he discovered how traits were passed on from one generation to the next.

He used peas for his experiments: some peas have white flowers and others have red ones. Some peas have green seeds and others have yellow seeds. Mendel used artificial pollination to breed the peas. His results are discussed further in Mendelian inheritance. Darwin thought that the inheritance from both parents blended together. Mendel proved that the genes from the two parents stay separate, and may be passed on unchanged to later generations.

Mendel published his results in a journal that was not well-known, and his discoveries were overlooked. Around 1900, his work was rediscovered.[59][60]Genes are bits of information made of DNA which work like a set of instructions. A set of genes are in every living cell. Together, genes organise the way an egg develops into an adult. With mammals, and many other living things, a copy of each gene comes from the father and another copy from the mother. Some living organisms, including some plants, only have one parent, so get all their genes from them. These genes produce the genetic differences which evolution acts on.

Darwin's On the Origin of Species has two themes: the evidence for evolution, and his ideas on how evolution took place. This section deals with the second issue.

The first two chapters of the Origin deal with variation in domesticated plants and animals, and variation in nature.

All living things show variation. Every population which has been studied shows that animal and plants vary as much as humans do.[61][62]p90 This is a great fact of nature, and without it evolution would not occur. Darwin said that, just as man selects what he wants in his farm animals, so in nature the variations allow natural selection to work.[63]

The features of an individual are influenced by two things, heredity and environment. First, development is controlled by genes inherited from the parents. Second, living brings its own influences. Some things are entirely inherited, others partly, and some not inherited at all.

The colour of eyes is entirely inherited; they are a genetic trait. Height or weight is only partly inherited, and the language is not at all inherited. Just to be clear: the fact that humans can speak is inherited, but what language is spoken depends on where a person lives and what they are taught. Another example: a person inherits a brain of somewhat variable capacity. What happens after birth depends on many things such as home environment, education and other experiences. When a person is adult, their brain is what their inheritance and life experience have made it.

Evolution only concerns the traits which can be inherited, wholly or partly. The hereditary traits are passed on from one generation to the next through the genes. A person's genes contain all the traits which they inherit from their parents. The accidents of life are not passed on. Also, of course, each person lives a somewhat different life: that increases the differences.

Organisms in any population vary in reproductive success.[64]p81 From the point of view of evolution, 'reproductive success' means the total number of offspring which live to breed and leave offspring themselves.

Variation can only affect future generations if it is inherited. Because of the work of Gregor Mendel, we know that much variation is inherited. Mendel's 'factors' are now called genes. Research has shown that almost every individual in a sexually reproducing species is genetically unique.[65]p204

Genetic variation is increased by gene mutations. DNA does not always reproduce exactly. Rare changes occur, and these changes can be inherited. Many changes in DNA cause faults; some are neutral or even advantageous. This gives rise to genetic variation, which is the seed-corn of evolution. Sexual reproduction, by the crossing over of chromosomes during meiosis, spreads variation through the population. Other events, like natural selection and drift, reduce variation. So a population in the wild always has variation, but the details are always changing.[62]p90

Evolution mainly works by natural selection. What does this mean? Animals and plants which are best suited to their environment will, on average, survive better. There is a struggle for existence. Those who survive will produce the next generation. Their genes will be passed on, and the genes of those who did not reproduce will not. This is the basic mechanism which changes a population and causes evolution.

Natural selection explains why living organisms change over time to have the anatomy, the functions and behaviour that they have. It works like this:

There are now many cases where natural selection has been proved to occur in wild populations.[5][67][68] Almost every case investigated of camouflage, mimicry and polymorphism has shown strong effects of selection.[69]

The force of selection can be much stronger than was thought by the early population geneticists. The resistance to pesticides has grown quickly. Resistance to warfarin in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) grew rapidly because those that survived made up more and more of the population. Research showed that, in the absence of warfarin, the resistant homozygote was at a 54% disadvantage to the normal wild type homozygote.[62]p182[70] This great disadvantage was quickly overcome by the selection for warfarin resistance.

Mammals normally cannot drink milk as adults, but humans are an exception. Milk is digested by the enzyme lactase, which switches off as mammals stop taking milk from their mothers. The human ability to drink milk during adult life is supported by a lactase mutation which prevents this switch-off. Human populations have a high proportion of this mutation wherever milk is important in the diet. The spread of this 'milk tolerance' is promoted by natural selection, because it helps people survive where milk is available. Genetic studies suggest that the oldest mutations causing lactase persistence only reached high levels in human populations in the last ten thousand years.[71][72] Therefore, lactase persistence is often cited as an example of recent human evolution.[73][74] As lactase persistence is genetic, but animal husbandry a cultural trait, this is geneculture coevolution.[75]

Adaptation is one of the basic phenomena of biology.[76] Through the process of adaptation, an organism becomes better suited to its habitat.[77]

Adaptation is one of the two main processes that explain the diverse species we see in biology. The other is speciation (species-splitting or cladogenesis).[78][79] A favourite example used today to study the interplay of adaptation and speciation is the evolution of cichlid fish in African rivers and lakes.[80][81]

When people speak about adaptation they often mean something which helps an animal or plant survive. One of the most widespread adaptations in animals is the evolution of the eye. Another example is the adaptation of horses' teeth to grinding grass. Camouflage is another adaptation; so is mimicry. The better adapted animals are the most likely to survive, and to reproduce successfully (natural selection).

An internal parasite (such as a fluke) is a good example: it has a very simple bodily structure, but still the organism is highly adapted to its particular environment. From this we see that adaptation is not just a matter of visible traits: in such parasites critical adaptations take place in the life cycle, which is often quite complex.[82]

Not all features of an organism are adaptations.[62]p251 Adaptations tend to reflect the past life of a species. If a species has recently changed its life style, a once valuable adaptation may become useless, and eventually become a dwindling vestige.

Adaptations are never perfect. There are always tradeoffs between the various functions and structures in a body. It is the organism as a whole which lives and reproduces, therefore it is the complete set of adaptations which gets passed on to future generations.

In populations, there are forces which add variation to the population (such as mutation), and forces which remove it. Genetic drift is the name given to random changes which remove variation from a population. Genetic drift gets rid of variation at the rate of 1/(2N) where N = population size.[47]p29 It is therefore "a very weak evolutionary force in large populations".[47]p55

Genetic drift explains how random chance can affect evolution in surprisingly big ways, but only when populations are quite small. Overall, its action is to make the individuals more similar to each other, and hence more vulnerable to disease or to chance events in their environment.

How species form is a major part of evolutionary biology. Darwin interpreted 'evolution' (a word he did not use at first) as being about speciation. That is why he called his famous book On the Origin of Species.

Darwin thought most species arose directly from pre-existing species. This is called anagenesis: new species by older species changing. Now we think most species arise by previous species splitting: cladogenesis.[87][88]

Two groups that start the same can also become very different if they live in different places. When a species gets split into two geographical regions, a process starts. Each adapts to its own situation. After a while, individuals from one group can no longer reproduce with the other group. Two good species have evolved from one.

A German explorer, Moritz Wagner, during his three years in Algeria in the 1830s, studied flightless beetles. Each species is confined to a stretch of the north coast between rivers which descend from the Atlas mountains to the Mediterranean. As soon as one crosses a river, a different but closely related species appears.[89] He wrote later:

This was an early account of the importance of geographical separation. Another biologist who thought geographical separation was critical was Ernst Mayr.[91]

One example of natural speciation is the three-spined stickleback, a sea fish that, after the last ice age, invaded freshwater, and set up colonies in isolated lakes and streams. Over about 10,000 generations, the sticklebacks show great differences, including variations in fins, changes in the number or size of their bony plates, variable jaw structure, and color differences.[92]

The wombats of Australia fall into two main groups, Common wombats and Hairy-nosed wombats. The two types look very similar, apart from the hairiness of their noses. However, they are adapted to different environments. Common wombats live in forested areas and eat mostly green food with lots of moisture. They often feed in the daytime. Hairy-nosed wombats live on hot dry plains where they eat dry grass with very little water or goodness in it. Their metabolic system is slow and they sleep most of the day underground.

When two groups that started the same become different enough, then they become two different species. Part of the theory of evolution is that all living things started off the same, but then split off into different groups over billions of years.[93]

This was an important movement in evolutionary biology, which started in the 1930s and finished in the 1950s.[94][95] It has been updated regularly ever since. The synthesis explains how the ideas of Charles Darwin fit with the discoveries of Gregor Mendel, who found out how we inherit our genes. The modern synthesis brought Darwin's idea up to date. It bridged the gap between different types of biologists: geneticists, naturalists, and palaeontologists.

When the theory of evolution was developed, it was not clear that natural selection and genetics worked together. But Ronald Fisher showed that natural selection would work to change species.[96]Sewall Wright explained genetic drift in 1931.[97]

Co-evolution is where the existence of one species is tightly bound up with the life of one or more other species.

New or 'improved' adaptations which occur in one species are often followed by the appearance and spread of related features in the other species. The life and death of living things is intimately connected, not just with the physical environment, but with the life of other species.

These relationships may continue for millions of years, as it has in the pollination of flowering plants by insects. The gut contents, wing structures, and mouthparts of fossilized beetles and flies suggest that they acted as early pollinators. The association between beetles and angiosperms during the Lower Cretaceous period led to parallel radiations of angiosperms and insects into the late Cretaceous. The evolution of nectaries in Upper Cretaceous flowers signals the beginning of the mutualism between hymenoptera and angiosperms.[102]

Charles Darwin was the first to use this metaphor in biology. The evolutionary tree shows the relationships among various biological groups. It includes data from DNA, RNA and protein analysis. Tree of life work is a product of traditional comparative anatomy, and modern molecular evolution and molecular clock research.

The major figure in this work is Carl Woese, who defined the Archaea, the third domain (or kingdom) of life.[103] Below is a simplified version of present-day understanding.[104]

Macroevolution: the study of changes above the species level, and how they take place. The basic data for such a study are fossils (palaeontology) and the reconstruction of ancient environments. Some subjects whose study falls within the realm of macroevolution:

It is a term of convenience: for most biologists it does not suggest any change in the process of evolution.[5][105][106]p87 For some palaeontologists, what they see in the fossil record cannot be explained just by the gradualist evolutionary synthesis.[107] They are in the minority.

Altruism the willingness of some to sacrifice themselves for others is widespread in social animals. As explained above, the next generation can only come from those who survive and reproduce. Some biologists have thought that this meant altruism could not evolve by the normal process of selection. Instead a process called "group selection" was proposed.[108][109] Group selection refers to the idea that alleles can become fixed or spread in a population because of the benefits they bestow on groups, regardless of the alleles' effect on the fitness of individuals within that group.

For several decades, critiques cast serious doubt on group selection as a major mechanism of evolution.[110][111][112][113]

In simple cases it can be seen at once that traditional selection suffices. For example, if one sibling sacrifices itself for three siblings, the genetic disposition for the act will be increased. This is because siblings share on average 50% of their genetic inheritance, and the sacrificial act has led to greater representation of the genes in the next generation.

Altruism is now generally seen as emerging from standard selection.[114][115][116][117][118] The warning note from Ernst Mayr, and the work of William Hamilton are both important to this discussion.[119][120]

Hamilton's equation describes whether or not a gene for altruistic behaviour will spread in a population. The gene will spread if rxb is greater than c:

View post:

Evolution - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted in Evolution | Comments Off

Free social darwinism Essays and Papers – 123helpme

Posted: at 6:27 pm

Title Length Color Rating Thre Views of Social Darwinism - The concept of Social Darwinism was a widely accepted theory in the nineteenth-century. Various intellectual, and political figures from each side of the political spectrum grasped the theory and interpreted it in various ways. In this paper, we will discuss three different nineteenth-century thinkers and their conception of Social Darwinism. The conservative, Heinrich von Treitschke, and liberal Herbert Spencer both gave arguments on the usefulness of competition between people on a global scale.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 1702 words (4.9 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Social Darwinism and Race Superiority In The West - Social Darwinism was a set of theories developed by various people during the 19th century. It was the adaptation of Darwin theory of evolution applied to human social behavior and ability to survive compared to other human beings. It can now easily be seen that these theories could be used to justify racial discrimination and they have been used in this way throughout history. This misconception of Darwins theories popularized by various academics in the west gave western nations to treat other nations badly.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 2028 words (5.8 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Social Darwinism - The publication of Charles Darwins The Origin of Species in 1859 had far reaching consequences. One of the most important notions in his ground-breaking book was the claim that no species is fixed. Rather a well marked variety may .... well be called an incipient species, demonstrating that nature is not static but a continuum where varieties beget species. Assuming that man was a part of nature, a concept many scientists had come to accept, this principle could be extended to include human societies.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 20 Works Cited 2200 words (6.3 pages) Research Papers [preview] Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection, Social Darwinism and the Catholic Church - A dark dense rainforest, the sound of rain falling on green leaves and the chatter of birds in the canopy surrounds you. On the forest ground two dark shapes circle each other, both let out an ear-piercing roar that silences the entire forest. The dark shapes revealed themselves to be a pair of male gorillas, suddenly they rear up on their back legs and clash together in a fury of swinging arms. The larger gorilla gets a direct blow to the other one as the crunch of bone fills the silent jungle air.... [tags: Social Darwinism] 1196 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Development of Social Darwinism - The theory developed by Charles Darwin in 1859 in his book The Origin of Species is considered not only one of the greatest scientific discoveries ever but, also a system of knowledge that revolutionized the fundamental patterns of thought. This discovery was the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution shattered old beliefs and philosophies and imposed the necessity for building new ones. Two of the great ideologies that developed from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution are Darwinism and Social Darwinism.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 8 Works Cited 1787 words (5.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Social Darwinism is NOT Science - Charles Darwin is NOT responsible for Social Darwinism. War and oppression have always been components of human history, however with the introduction of Darwin's theory of evolution man had a new justification for his cruelty. Darwin's ideas promoted a "superman" or "super-race" philosophy. The prime component of Darwin's ideas revolves around the notion that life progresses by natural selection - the survival of the fittest. Couple this with the racist culture in the scientific world of his day and you have the reason to pursue any exploitive agenda.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 775 words (2.2 pages) Better Essays [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection, Social Darwinism and Hitler - Social Darwinism was one of the most powerful movements in the nineteenth century Germany, believes professor Jerry Bergman. As the movement escalated, Jews became non-human to the Germans. That was one of the reasons the Nazis did not feel any remorse at the time, because they had deprived the Jews of every piece of humanity that they obtained. Social Darwinism was first brought up by British philosopher and sociologist, Herbert Spencer. Social Darwinism goes back to the earliest form, which is Darwinism.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 12 Works Cited 1872 words (5.3 pages) Term Papers [preview] Social Darwinism in American Politics - Introduction Social Darwinism is a quasi-philosophical, quasi-religious, quasi-sociological view that came from the mind of Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher in the 19th century. It did not achieve wide acceptance in England or Europe, but flourished in this country, as is true of many ideologies, religions, and philosophies. A good summary of Social Darwinism is by Johnson: In these years, when Darwin's Origin of Species, popularized by Herbert Spencer as "the survival of the fittest, " and applied to races as well as species in a vulgarized form, Social Darwinism, the coming Christian triumph was presented as an Anglo-Saxon Protestant one.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 1210 words (3.5 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Social Darwinism in Cyberpunk Literature - In the 1870s, the English sociologist Herbert Spencer applied Charles Darwin's theories of biological evolution to human behavior and institutions. Spencer used the idea of survival of the fittest in biology and theorized human society had evolved the same way (Cooper 15). Social Darwinism, as Spencer's theory is called, pits everyone against each other to survive in the world where humans are soldiers in a war for survival. If a person is poor, it is their fault and no one should help that person rise above the poverty status.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 3 Works Cited 1291 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Conservatism Supports Social Darwinism - Social Darwinism is the belief that the individual is more powerful than society. It encourages a ruthless system of self-interest and intolerant treatment of others. Those who believe in Social Darwinism believe that the society is inferior to the needs of the individual. Often those who believe in Social Darwinism are racist and believe that the white origin is the superior race of society. Social Darwinism is the opposite of socialism. Socialists believe that society comes before the individual while those who follow Social Darwinism believe the individual comes before society.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 470 words (1.3 pages) FREE Essays [view] The Role of Social Darwinism in European Imperialism - Social Darwinism fueled imperialism by making imperialistic nations believe that their imperialistic ventures were a natural turn of events and not a cruel, opressionistic system of government. These imperialistic nations exploited other nations and cultures and their troops motivation was the glory of the nation and the eradication of the weaker races on earth. These soldiers believed in Social Darwinism. Also, nations were able to become imperialistic because of the support of their people.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 751 words (2.1 pages) Better Essays [preview] Charles Darwin, Social Darwinism, and Imperialism - England went through dramatic changes in the 19th century. English culture, socio-economic structure and politics where largely influenced by the principles of science. Many social expressions occurred due to these changes. Transformations which categorized this time period could be observed in social institutions; for instance: the switch from popular Evangelicalism to atheism, emergence of feminism and the creation of new political ideologies (Liberalism, Conservatism and Radicalism). These are just a few of the changes that took place.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 511 words (1.5 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Social Darwinism and Social Welfare in the United States - The interplay and relationship between Social Darwinism and Social Welfare in the United States typify the nation's struggle to make the best of a capitalist society, while at the same time correcting pitfalls. Social Darwinism in our capitalist society compares wealth with fitness, but historically, unregulated markets given the false sanction of natural law have proven out that Darwinist economic competition has a destructive side for society. The role of raw power, the frequency of failure and the spirit of want has out of necessity, fostered a fiscal and monetary policy defined as social welfare, in order to conserve some commitment and core of resistance to the corrosive impact of ma... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 6 Works Cited 1245 words (3.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Darwinism - Darwins Theory of Natural Selection, a scientific theory that supported the belief of evolution, was manipulated and applied to different areas of life, and thus it became the shaping force in European thought in the last half of the nineteenth century. Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species. He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive. They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 1192 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Social Darwinism - Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwins ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwins book remains one of the most influential ever written. Its influence has even extended into realms other than biology and science.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 8 Works Cited 2626 words (7.5 pages) Research Papers [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Social Darwinism - Darwin and Evolution are inextricably linked in the minds of most people who have had the opportunity to study them in basic biology. However, Darwin's theories of selection and survival of the fittest have been applied to moral, economic, political, and other cultural aspects of society. Dennett briefly touched on some of the political and social ramifications of Darwin's theories in the final chapter of Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Other philosophers and thinkers have also adapted Darwin's evolutionary ideas, in order to apply them in a societal or cultural context.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 6 Works Cited 801 words (2.3 pages) Better Essays [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Social Darwinism - While he was on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, a man named Charles Darwin viewed the relationship of plants and animals all over the world. He observed organisms on islands off the coast of South America and those on the mainland. His observations showed that these organisms were related, but not identical. This led Darwin into believing that over time, organisms must adapt to suit their environment. He explained his theories thoroughly in his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 564 words (1.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Darwins Theory of Natural Selection and Social Darwinism - In 1859, a biologist named Charles Darwin postulated a scientific theory, which stated that all living organisms evolved through a process of natural selection. According to Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin claimed that the offspring of a particular species gradually evolved themselves genetically to resist the changes in the environment (573). The theory contended that the organisms could adapt to the changes in the environment through the survival of the fittest. Though this theory is regarded as a breakthrough in the field of biological evolution, it is interesting to explore how this seemingly scientific theory has been suitably modified, and intellectually applied to both negative... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 7 Works Cited 1187 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Social Darwinism: Herbert Spencer and The Catholic Church - Herbert Spencer was the most important Social Darwinist of the 19th Century. He was the first to begin thinking about evolutionist long before Darwin came out with his book on the "Origins of Species". He had many theories such as that everything evolves from one basic creature and then breaks off into more diverse species (Haberman (Hab.), 171). His theory was that social, political, and intellectual movements were caused by the development from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 3 Works Cited 475 words (1.4 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Socialism More Beneficial than Social Darwinism - The ideas of Social Darwinism and Socialism were first theorized by those in the age of industrialization, when the gap between the social classes was continuing to grow. Social Darwinism is a philosophy that was taken off of the theory of Darwinism in two aspects that were applied to society. One, survival of the fittest. Those who succeeded in life were the ones who were fit, in addition, those who failed were left to be weeded out, Secondly, the idea of natural selection as applied to society.... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] 698 words (2 pages) Better Essays [preview] What is Social Darwinism? - ... On the other hand, the individuals that do not have these traits, live shorter lives and die with less or no offspring. Indeed, most giraffes used to have short necks, but some had longer necks and when there was a shortage of food that they could reach with their short necks, the ones with short necks died off, and the ones with long necks survived and reproduced, and eventually, all of the giraffes had long necks. Another difference between Darwin and Lamarck is that Darwin claimed that evolution does not happen according to any predetermined plan (for example, the course of evolution is affected by climatic changes).... [tags: Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species] :: 8 Works Cited 1257 words (3.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Jude the Obscure and Social Darwinism - Jude the Obscure and Social Darwinism Jude the Obscure is indeed a lesson in cruelty and despair; the inevitable by-products of Social Darwinism. The main characters of the book are controlled by fate's "compelling arm of extraordinary muscular power"(1), weakly resisting the influence of their own sexuality, and of society and nature around them. Jude's world is one in which only the fittest survive, and he is clearly not equipped to number amongst the fittest. In keeping with the strong Darwinian undercurrents that run through the book, a kind of "natural selection" ensures that Jude's offspring do not survive to procreate either.... [tags: Jude Obscure] :: 2 Works Cited 922 words (2.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Darwinism: Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner - Social Darwinism is term that is used for application of biological concepts of Charles Darwin to sociology and political science. The goal of this paper is to introduce two most known social Darwinists Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner. Herbert Spencer is sometimes named as the founder of social Darwinism. However, labeling him as such is problematic. Spencer came with his concepts and with the term survival of the fittest before he got to know Darwins. His ideas are based on the theory of Lamarckian inheritance by French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.... [tags: biological concepts, evolutionary theories] :: 13 Works Cited 1402 words (4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Political Implications of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection - In 1859 biologist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species which laid out Darwin's theory of natural selection. Natural selection stated that an organism which possessed advantageous traits that allowed it to survive and reproduce easier than became more prevalent in the proceeding generations, eventually resulting in a differentiation of species. This is the basis of evolution and is a constantly ongoing process. Organisms that did not possess the advantageous traits were doomed to genetic extinction.... [tags: Social Darwinism] 864 words (2.5 pages) Better Essays [preview] Darwinism in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Few people argue that Great Expectations, one of Dickenss later novels, is a Darwinian work. Goldie Morgentaler, in her essay Meditating on the Low: A Darwinian Reading of Great Expectations, is one of those few. She argues primarily that Darwins Origin of the Species was a major topic of discussion in Dickenss circle at the time he wrote Great Expectations, and that Great Expectations marks the first time that Dickens jettisons heredity as a determining factor in the formation of the self (Morgentaler, 708).... [tags: Social Darwinism Essays] :: 2 Works Cited 1548 words (4.4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Working Poor by D. Shipler - The Working Poor The objective of this essay is to illuminate my overall reaction to the reading of The Working Poor conveying what I do not like while highlighting a sociological perspective, in addition to explaining if the reading is applicable to my own life experience. Taking notice, the subject at hand was very sobering alluding even if we ourselves have not been partakers of living in the obscurity of prosperity between poverty and wellbeing, certainly we have encountered someone that has become a victim to it.... [tags: social darwinism, poverty, disparity] :: 1 Works Cited 1081 words (3.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Great Industrial Revolution - The Industrial Revolution was a time in history when society was completely transformed. Beginning in the early 18th century, the Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on peoples lives and surely impacted how society functioned. The Industrial Revolution was a dramatic change from an agricultural to an industrial society. Changes in society were seen through the various new inventions to make life easier: the newly introduced factory system, many scientific and technological advancements, and many more aspects.... [tags: social darwinism,factory system,medicine] :: 5 Works Cited 1080 words (3.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] My Personal Leadership Style - Peter Senge, in his book, The Fifth Discipline, argued that there is interconnectedness, a relationship, between all forces of matter that act and react upon each other. Not only do they act and react on each other, but act across time and space. These relationships, built upon an exchange of information past and present, transform interrelated processes that act upon us and create our state of being. A social-psycho Darwinian evolution, if you will. This state of being is our reality. In reading and assessing Senge, many thoughts and ideas relating to my personal leadership style began sprouting like beanstalks.... [tags: Leadership Style Social Darwinism] 1160 words (3.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Nazi Use of Darwinism - After the Great War in the nineteenth century, European nations had a difficult time finding economic stability. Germany took full responsibility for starting World War I and by signing the Treaty of Versailles, Germany agreed to give up huge portions of territory and pay reparation to victorious allies. The harsh principles which were outlined by the Treaty of Versailles made economic stability in Germany difficult to achieve and caused Germany to suffer from inflation and the Great Depression.... [tags: History, Politics, The Treaty of Versailles] 1504 words (4.3 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Reconstructinism: An Effective Philosophy - According to Sadker and Zittleman social reconstructinism encourages, schools, teachers, and students to focus their studies and energies on alleviating pervasive social inequalities and, as the name implies, reconstruct society into a new and more just social order. Social Reconstructionist is mainly founded on a student-centered classroom. It also encourages students to get out and help out in the community. Teachers can alter their curriculum around their classes needs. The purpose of social reconstructinism is to reconstruct society.... [tags: teacher, students, social inequitites] :: 5 Works Cited 1285 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] William Graham Sumner Social Darwinist - William Graham Sumner Social Darwinist Sumner was the follower of Darwins ideas and Herbert Spencers, Social Darwinism. He is considered to be vigorous and influential social Darwinist in America. He was a professor at Yale College. He developed the concepts of Folkways, diffusion, and ethnocentrism. He is not as big as Spencer but his ideas were bold enough to be recognized. He played three important roles in the development of American thought, he was a great Puritan preacher, an exponent of the Classical pessimism of Ricardo and Malthus, and an assimilator and popularizer of evolution.... [tags: Sociology ] :: 2 Works Cited 1237 words (3.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Evolution and The Island of Doctor Moreau - There are a lot of misconceptions about Darwin's theory of evolution. One of the biggest is that he called the theory by that name. Albrecht von Haller used the word "evolution" in 1744 to mean "to unroll," so the word was around in Darwin's time, but Darwin never used it in the sense we use it today. It was added later by others, including Herbert Spencer, who is responsible for the theory we call Social Darwinism. This theory is misnamed; it is not based on Darwin's work, but Spencer's. Darwin did not come up with his theory out of nowhere.... [tags: Darwin Spencer Darwinism Research Papers] :: 5 Works Cited 1421 words (4.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Father of Science Fiction: Herbert George Wells - Biographical Summary Herbert George Wells was an English author from the 19th century who was born in London, England. H.G. Wells was born on September 21st, 1866 in the county of Kent. He was the youngest child of four in his family and was called Bertie from a young age. Wells wrote in many genres including politics, history, social commentary and contemporary novels. He is best known for his work in the Science Fiction genre, sometimes referred to as The Father of Science Fiction. His father, Joseph Wells was a shopkeeper and played cricket professionally at the time H.G.... [tags: biography, darwinism, Dr. Moreau] :: 7 Works Cited 1549 words (4.4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Race As A Social Construct - The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.... [tags: Racism Essays] :: 4 Works Cited 1076 words (3.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Eugenics: Solving Social Problems? - The melting pot was a movement to solve social problems of the population with the use of technology. Eugenics is the use of science to solve social problems. It is defined as the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits.... [tags: Scientific Research ] :: 9 Works Cited 1201 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Effect British Colonialism Had on The Indian Way of Life - You are powerless to do anything. Foreigners control everything in your country, everything. From taxes right down to social structure, the colonial rulers have the upper hand in everything, while you, a true native of the country, are subjected to tyranny and oppression. None of us would want to be a citizen of such a country, but that was exactly the fate of millions of natives in many countries across the world during the Age of Imperialism. Imperialism is defined as the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination. (Imperialism Wikipedia, the fr... [tags: Britain, Social Darwinsm, Greed, Ethnocentrism] 1259 words (3.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Hegemonic Hypocrisy: A Victim of Social Scriptorium - With the passage at hand, Dr. Ella Shohat discusses about the case of being an Arab Jew, a historical paradox, as one of many social elisions. Unlike the idea of intersectionality, binarism leaves little place for complex identities (Shohat, 2). As an American, Jew, and Arab, she speaks of the disparities amidst a war involving all three cultural topographies. Albeit she speaks from a subjective standpoint, she does not mention the issue of racial hygiene, class, geographic divisions, and gender.... [tags: Understanding "Them vs. Us"] :: 3 Works Cited 1181 words (3.4 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Economic and Social Values of Marxism to Communism - When it comes to human morale, people can be vain and disapproving of themselves as well as nurturing and passionate of beliefs and ideas. It is these emotions that toy with the psyche to determine the best possible solution for everything around. Unfortunately, this can be used as a weapon to convince, brainwash and terrorize the minds of millions, if not more. When it comes to systems of control and government, people have their own individual views and beliefs. It is through these views and beliefs that people can relate to and support in order to set the foundation of a leadership or command authority system.... [tags: Political Science] :: 4 Works Cited 2344 words (6.7 pages) Term Papers [preview] Mcteague As A Social Commentary - Written in 1899, Frank Norris novel, McTeague serves as a view of societal factions of his time period. Norris illustrates the stratification of society in this San Francisco community by using the concept of Social Darwinism. He gives detailed accounts of the inner workings of society along with the emotions of the time. Through his characters, Norris shows the separation of classes and the greed that grew abundantly during the late 19th century. He also gives a grim picture of survival in his depiction of the theory of natural selection.... [tags: essays research papers] 808 words (2.3 pages) Better Essays [preview] "The Time Machine": A Social Critique of Victorian England - H G Wells was cynical of the Victorian class system and thoroughly disapproved of the way people were segregated, according to their wealth. Wells disagreed with Englands capitalist views, as he himself was a socialist. His novel The Time Machine is primarily a social critique of Victorian England projected into the distant future. He has taken segregation to its extremes and shows how far human evolution will go if capitalism continues unhindered. On travelling to the future he finds that this new world is not what he expected, as he feels vulnerable and naked in a strange world. (Page 26) This panic then quickly transforms into frenzy as he then meets the Eloi who were all that he despi... [tags: Literary Review] 1735 words (5 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Residential Segregation and Social Justice - Despite increased diversity across the country, Americas neighborhoods remain highly segregated along racial and ethnic lines. Residential segregation, particularly between African-Americans and whites, persists in metropolitan areas where minorities make up a large share of the population. This paper will examine residential segregation imposed upon African-Americans and the enormous costs it bears. Furthermore, the role of government will be discussed as having an important role in carrying out efforts towards residential desegregation.... [tags: Papers] :: 7 Works Cited 1903 words (5.4 pages) Term Papers [preview] Quality of life Increases in Correlation to Social Unrest in 19th Century Europe - In the late 19th to early 20th century intellectual trends of the upper end of society differed vastly from the mindset of the general populace, with the mindset of social unrest largely trending towards the intellectuals of society. Due to the social welfare movements that were nascent in the late 19th century the standard of living for the mass populace in Europe did improve, which essentially meant said populace did not participate in the social unrest that was born in the minds of the society who disagreed with certain forms of social change.... [tags: European History ] :: 3 Works Cited 1307 words (3.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Middlemarch: The Web of Affinities, by Gillian Beer - In Middlemarch: The Web of Affinities, Gillian Beer traces the influence that Darwin had on the work of George Elliot. In her analysis of Darwins metaphor of the inextricable web of affinities, Beer quotes the central notions inherent in The Origin of the Species, as well as its implications for Eliots writing. Darwin writes that we it is possible for us to see, distinctly, the manner in which all living and extinct beings are able to be linked together in one extensive classification, and the manner in which the many components of each category is bound up together.... [tags: Literary Analysis, Darwinism] 806 words (2.3 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] The Dangers of Social Conformity Exposed in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - The Dangers of Social Conformity Exposed in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie depicts the coming of age of six adolescent girls in Edinburgh, Scotland during the 1930's. The story brings us into the classroom of Miss Jean Brodie, a fascist school teacher at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, and gives close encounter with the social and political climate in Europe during the era surrounding the second World War. Spark's novel is a narrative relating to us the complexities of politics and of social conformity, as well as of non-conformity.... [tags: Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Essays] :: 5 Works Cited 1961 words (5.6 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Moral and Social Decline in Three Victorian Texts - A degenerate decadent Victorian society is constructed within Dorian Gray , wealth and image are given more importance than morals. The novels only lapse into first person narrative within which Wilde comments on Civilised society, he argues that insincerity is necessary to conduct oneself in society. This correlates to the idea of performing and wearing a fake mask in order to fit into society. The phrase manners are of more importance than morals exemplifies the fake surface nature of society, Dorian is accepted back into society due to his handsome appearance on the surface, despite his lack of moral code and acts of debauchery.... [tags: Society, Degenerate] :: 5 Works Cited 864 words (2.5 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Education and Womens Social Roles - Education and Womens Social Roles The expectations held by a society define the roles of its members. While many factors influence the parts individuals play in their cultures and communities, education has always been the crucial element in the establishment of social roles. Education was the catalyst which changed women's roles in society from what they were in the late 1800s to what they are now. In the latter years of the nineteenth century, women's roles in American society underwent gradual but definite growth, spurred on by a rapidly changing society.... [tags: Exploratory Essays Research Papers] :: 4 Works Cited 1916 words (5.5 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Aspects of Racism - Today we live in a multicultural society, which means a nation is made out of several ethnic groups, with different cultures. But why was there xenophobia and racial hatred between peoples and why does it still exist. What really is "foreign", and what effect does it have on young people and young adults. And the most important question is: What is racism. I will in the course of my essay examine these issues. Firstly, I would like to define the term racism generally and talk about its characteristics: Racism is an ideology that uses real or fictitious differences between two ethnic groups for the benefit of the Prosecutor and for the detriment of the victims.... [tags: prejudice, racial profiling, social commentary] 2364 words (6.8 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Income Inequality - Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens.... [tags: the american dream, social norms] :: 5 Works Cited 939 words (2.7 pages) Better Essays [preview] I Sit and Look Out by Walt Whitman - Every historical period has its own hero of the time. It can be an active businessman or a sensitive aristocrat that fits the time best. In the poem I Sit and Look Out, Walt Whitman describes the horrors of the oppressive age he was living in. However, he does not try to change the situation and only "sits and look out". The question is whether being a spectator is enough to make the life of the oppressed better. The author is the mirror of the cruel 19th century reality, and this is a huge step towards democratization of the overall situation in the society.... [tags: civil war, darwinist ideas, oppressive age] :: 2 Works Cited 863 words (2.5 pages) Better Essays [preview] Darwinism versus Creationism - There is a difference between Darwinism and Creationism, one is based on data and the other is based on belief. Darwinism concerns itself as a science, that is explained by scientific methodology. Biological evolution concerns changes in living things during the history of life on earth. It explains that living things share common ancestors and over time evolutionary change gives rise to new species. On the other hand, the ideas of creation science is derived from the conviction of most Abrahemic religions that God created the universe-including humans and other living things-all at once in the relatively recent past.... [tags: Science Creationism Darwinism Papers] :: 4 Works Cited 1971 words (5.6 pages) FREE Essays [view] Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Phobia - A lot of individuals who have social phobia are labeled as shy rather than having a disorder. This is mostly because a lot of people dont know or dont understand what social phobia is. To those people its something that you can either grow out of or get over, but its not that simple. There is a lot more to social phobia than most people think and to the individual who has social phobia it can be a very detrimental disorder. What is Social Phobia. Social phobia is a disorder characterized by excessive fear of being exposed to the scrutiny of other people that leads to avoidance of social situations in which the person is called on to perform (Carlson, 2009, p.... [tags: Social Phobia] :: 13 Works Cited 2923 words (8.4 pages) Research Papers [preview] Social Networks and Social Networking Sites - Introduction The world has evolved into a technologically savvy and dependent society with the Internet readily available to many. Convenience and connection are vital to individuals, especially within the United States. Social networking sites have progressed to fit the demanding desires of todays technological era (Albarran 118). The progression from the first social networking sites, such as Friendster or instant messaging, to the sites used today, such as Facebook and Twitter, has made a significant impact on society.... [tags: Facebook, Social Media, Twitter] :: 17 Works Cited 3619 words (10.3 pages) Research Papers [preview] Role of the Social Media in Social Movements - Introduction The number of revolutions in the last 3 decades has increased, and seems to keep increasing. Civil unrest and protests brought many victims including civil and political figures throughout the world. In the era where technology is at the peak of its success, especially in communication technologies, mankind suffers from lack of communication. Problem is not caused by the technology itself, the problem is in human nature. I will continue with an analogy. Man invented the knife, which is very useful tool in our daily lives.... [tags: Social Media Essays] :: 8 Works Cited 3253 words (9.3 pages) Research Papers [preview] History of Social Divisions in Society and the Role of the Social Worker - Power and powerlessness go hand in hand as to have one the other must exist. As society is not egalitarian and never shall be, there will always be inequalities. These inequalities can be on both personal and structural levels. To enable us to understand power and social work we must firstly understand the theoretical explanation of the distribution of power, privilege, prestige and powerlessness within western society by looking at social divisions, class and their positions within society. Marx was interested in the theories of economic development, he believed that economy was dominated by agriculture and power was held by the aristocratic landowner, in the period when manufacture was the... [tags: social work] :: 2 Works Cited 1519 words (4.3 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Facebook and Social Networking - Facebook is rapidly attracting multitudes of visitors every month instigating a shift in communication. This change consequently presents that societies are choosing to become part of the popular Facebook culture for various reasons, such as its renowned opportunities for keeping in touch with current social circles, reunifying long lost family and friends and broadening prospects of finding new companions. Facebook removes some of the barriers that may limit our regularity of communication with people, upholding the geographic differences, social class, busy lifestyles and economic factors that may usually discourage us from regular contact.... [tags: Social Capital, Social Network] :: 6 Works Cited 945 words (2.7 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Implications of Facebook - Facebook is currently largest social networking site in the world based on monthly unique visitors attracting 130 million unique visitors every day (Alexa Inc. 2012). The sites popularity exploded in 2007 and it bypassed its social networking rival, MySpace, in April 2008 (Phillips 2007). Over the last few years Facebook has impacted peoples social lives in various ways. With its availability on modern smart phones, Facebook enables users to continuously stay in touch with friends, relatives and peers wherever they are in the world as long as they have internet access.... [tags: Social Networking, Social Network] :: 7 Works Cited 1433 words (4.1 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Social Inequality of Health - The United States reportedly spends over $8,000 per person on healthcare annually. This amount is two-and-a-half times greater than any other developed country in the world (Kane, 2012). However, this is not reflected statistically in the morbidity and mortality rates of its citizens. Many may ask why and what are we missing. To answer these questions, one may need to look no further than their own town and community. In 2013, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported health disparities as a causative factor for the unchanging morbidity and mortality rates in the United States.... [tags: social issues, social determinants] :: 13 Works Cited 1439 words (4.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] The Irish Model of Social Partnership - The Irish model of social Partnership has received little more that lip service in the Caribbean. Evaluate the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this concept in the Caribbean. What is Social Partnership Social partnership refers to cooperation among government, the private business sector and labour on strategies to address immediate and long-term economic and social challenges. Such strategies can include controls on wages and prices, as well as tax reform. Social partnerships are, therefore, overarching in their aim to provide stability for national growth and development.... [tags: Social Partnership] :: 9 Works Cited 2075 words (5.9 pages) Term Papers [preview] The Work of a Social Worker - All of us are born for a reason, but all of us dont discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. Its what you do for others, said Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital (Danny). That concept inspires people every day to do better for others. Some are so passionate about helping individuals they decide to make a career out of it. Social work is one of the most renowned occupations when it comes to helping people. The path to becoming a social worker is very difficult, in both getting a degree and choosing an occupation.... [tags: Social Work ] :: 3 Works Cited 1248 words (3.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] The Impact of Online Social Networks - Twitter, Skype, Facebook these are just a few of the online social networks we utilize day to day, which has made connecting to others easier than before. A social network is a structure made up of individuals or organizations that are tied by one or more specific types of relationships such as friendships. Although traditionally operated with person to person contact, it is now more popular online through social media networks such as Facebook and Skype. There are millions of persons with wide ranges of personalities who are looking to develop new friendships or to simply become a part of a group in order to share information on these websites.... [tags: Social Networking ] :: 6 Works Cited 987 words (2.8 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] THE IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKS - The conclusion from the research of this paper indicates that social networks sites are here to stay. Social network sites need to convey a sense of responsibility. Based on the increasing level of social sites engaging in ecommerce, communication and socialization, the need of privacy protection is passed on to individuals. What this research paper has demonstrated is that there are implications users need to be aware of before signing up and placing their profile on these social network sites.... [tags: Social Networks] :: 16 Works Cited 837 words (2.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Growth of Social Networking Sites - The participants and audience for SNSs is growing rapidly. Statistics published become quickly out dated and it is interesting to observe both the international and national trends of Internet usage generally over the years, as well as those specific to the use of Social Networking Sites. Access to technology has become an integral part of education, socialisation and industry related requirements, and accordingly Internet usage is evolving and growing rapidly. A survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statics in 2003 found that in the 12 months prior to April 2003, 95% of Australian children, aged between five and fourteen years had used a computer.... [tags: Social Networking ] 1497 words (4.3 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Social Mobility in the United States - Does social mobility in our contemporary American society really exist. Is it possible for someone from the deepest depths of poverty to become successful, and ascend into the upper echelons of society. Could the American Dream still be attained in these times where we see the stratification of contemporary American society based on their wealth and social class so vehemently pointed out and perhaps emphasized to a certain degree. Or perhaps, could Charles Sackrey, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler (authors of Introduction to Political Economy) be right about the American Dream being a "particularly deceitful myth?" This is a topic which has been debated over a long period of time betwe... [tags: social issues, social class, capitalism] :: 4 Works Cited 1859 words (5.3 pages) Term Papers [preview] The Evolution of Social Behavior - A defining feature of mankind is the ability to organize, and socialize with the immediate environment, which can either be the natural environment, social groups and organizations. While this feature largely relates to mans propensity to make the best of most situations, such as living communally to offer greater protection to society members; it also relates to the innate nature of mans curiosity. Yeats and Yeats (2007) observe that curiosity in man fuels the need to learn, and investigate, and can only be satisfied .... [tags: Social Evolution] :: 40 Works Cited 1452 words (4.1 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Cultural Sensitivity in Social Work - It is imperative that social workers become knowledgeable about their clients cultures and are culturally sensitive. In learning about their clients cultures, social workers need to be aware of how powerful and significant culture is in relating to clients behavior, values, and beliefs. Becoming culturally competent requires the ability to integrate awareness, knowledge, and skills while maintaining a positive working relationship with the client (Sue and Zane, 1987). Today, the concerns regarding cultural competency continue to accentuate the importance of preparing social workers for a diversified society.... [tags: Social Work] 1537 words (4.4 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Protection in Developing Countries - The global crisis has sharply underscored the need to strengthen social protection institutions in developing countries, and especially in low income countries. Before the onset of the crisis in November 2008, a growing body of research had accumulated proving a comprehensive knowledge base demonstrating that social protection programmes are effective instruments in reducing poverty and enhancing human development. In the decade prior to the onset of the crisis a large number among the new social protection programmes had emerged in the South with a specific focus on children.... [tags: Social Issues] 982 words (2.8 pages) Better Essays [preview] Dangers of Social Networking Sites - Is the current craze of these ubiquitous social networking sites becoming too much to handle. Some say yes, others might disagree. Social networking was created to connect friends and family together. Now, many predators use sites such as Facebook or Myspace to find their prey. This is the source of what parents are stressing about to their children. While many who use social media are enjoying meeting new people, they are also becoming distant from contact with real people and they are involved in a very surprising and dangerous environment.... [tags: Social Networking] 914 words (2.6 pages) Better Essays [preview] Is the Social Service Broken? - Over the years the population in California has increased and we are seeing more people enrolled in the social services. We are fortunate to have human services to help the less fortunate. As social workers noted; it is not an easy job to help ones clients, but are committed to help and make a difference in their life (Merrill-Payne). Social services are comprised of general assistance, food stamps, Medi-Cal, children services, older adult-services, mental health, and drug abuse. There are many non-profit organizations that are there to help the community, but the counties offer many programs that are Medi-Cal based to help the community.... [tags: Social Issues] :: 10 Works Cited 1823 words (5.2 pages) Term Papers [preview] Social Networking: Harmful or Helpful? - Twitter and Facebook are only two of the online connections people use today to stay in contact with friends and family. The internet is the place to interact with new people and a way to expose yourself to strangers. The partial anonymity available online can be used as a mask for sexual offenders and psychos; they can appear to be ordinary normal people, and you have no way of really knowing what is the the truth and what is the lie. Too much personal information is at risk on these social networking sites.... [tags: Social Networking] 729 words (2.1 pages) Better Essays [preview] The Fight For Social Justice - The main purpose of social work is to advocate for those who have no voice. Throughout history, many individuals have served as role models and proponents of social justice, helping to create policies and programs so future generations can benefit. Jane Addams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rachel Carson, and Harriet Tubman worked tirelessly and devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of justice. We have learned through their sacrifices that change is just one person away, and that it takes tremendous force to shift the political landscape of social welfare policy.... [tags: Social Work ] :: 5 Works Cited 2129 words (6.1 pages) Term Papers [preview] A Journey to Social Work - I always received great satisfaction from helping others. I remember at a young age, helping my grandmother with chores that she was no longer able to do for herself. As I got older, my grandmother became more dependent on me. I helped her cook, clean, administer medication and made sure she kept her doctor appointments. I now see myself doing these same things for my mother and father as they get older. I strongly believe that my urge to become a social worker stems from the frightening idea of what would have happened with my grandmother as well as my own parents; had they not had someone helping them.... [tags: Social Work] 1983 words (5.7 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] My Interest in Social Work - Reflecting back on my childhood, I always had a vivid imagination. I would imagine being a doctor, lawyer, or even the first female president of the United States of America. But, I never considered a career in social work. Over the years I realized that I like helping people, but my thoughts of what I wanted to be were indifferent. In high school my counselor had me do a career survey to see what may have interest me. The most common choices were Nursing, Teaching, or becoming a Social Worker. So I went on the Internet and researched as much as I could on each career choice.... [tags: Social Work, career, social workers, ] 1263 words (3.6 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Critical Issues in Social Science - There are a profuse amount of Global Issues that I wanted to cover throughout this paper however; Ive narrowed it down to one of the most critical issues in the world. People in our society tend to only care about what affects them directly and often ignore those critical issues which influence us all, indirectly. The topic I will be discussing is death, which is a serious matter alone, but death of over twenty-four thousand children (under 5 yrs of age) every day is much more severe (UNICEF, 2008).... [tags: Social Science] :: 4 Works Cited 748 words (2.1 pages) Better Essays [preview] Social Work and Child Development - It wasnt until the time of Sigmund Freud that people looked at the psyches of an individual and what kind of impact that could have on that individuals life. Before that time, children were seen as extra farm hands and generally as cheap labor. Families did not look at how the children were treated and the possible impact on their development. Later, Erikson and Piaget furthered the study of development and expanded the road that Freud had pioneered. While all consider Freud the father of psychoanalytic thinking, few turn to many of his first theories in reference to development.... [tags: Social Work] :: 2 Works Cited 1718 words (4.9 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Resoruce Based View of Social Entrepreneurship - The emerging field of social entrepreneurship calls for a need for new integrated theories to contribute to the discipline and help grow the field. Social Entrepreneurship has been a topic of academic interest for the past few decades; however, there has been little scholarly output in mainstream journals (Short, Moss, & Lumpkin 2009). Social entrepreneurship is commonly defined as entrepreneurial activity with an embedded social purpose (Austin et al. 2006). Social entrepreneurs play a role of change agents in society by adopting missions to create and sustain social value.... [tags: social impact, social entrepreneurship] :: 26 Works Cited 1552 words (4.4 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] Social Media: The Negative Effects of Facebook - Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter allow you to find and connect with just about anyone, from old high school friends to co-workers and neighbors. Participating in social media sites such as these can make you feel more connected, but such an easy, casual connection in an electronic environment can also have its downside. First of all sites like Facebook promote sharing details of our lives with one another. Posts can range from a simple update on what shows someone is watching, cooking for dinner, or pictures of you and your friends having drinks and doing shots at a local bar.... [tags: Social Networking, Social Media] 374 words (1.1 pages) FREE Essays [view] Social marketing reflects corporate social responsibility - Introduction This assignment will initially describe social marketing and then indicate how corporations affect stakeholders through companies social marketing and responsibility. Following that, the importance and functions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social marketing will be demonstrated. Finally, it will explain how organizations reflect CSR and make a short conclusion to indicate the relationship between social marketing and CSR. Social Marketing In the past decades, the marketing environment has been changed radically.... [tags: Social Responsibility Essays] :: 6 Works Cited 1117 words (3.2 pages) Strong Essays [preview] What is Social Science? - Human evolution and the dramatic social change accompanying progress and transformation demands a uniform discipline which assesses human interaction and the social world issues that pervade society. Hence it was in the context of extraordinary societal change, the Enlightenment period, that the development of a human science or social science emerged, defined as the attempt to explain social phenomena within the limits of available evidence (Lewins, 1992, p.5).The concept of a social science can be further understood from a philosophical stand point where the work of social scientists can be classified in terms of a positivist or non-positivist position.... [tags: Social Science] :: 4 Works Cited 1426 words (4.1 pages) Powerful Essays [preview] What is Social Science - What is the job of social science. Social science focuses its attention on the social aspects of human nature; its job is to study how individuals can relate with and communicate with each other. Social scientists study the social environment in which we live in an attempt to understand human society and to predict how people will interact in a given set of circumstances (Mack, 2004, p584). In this essay, I discuss the role of social science for societies and individuals, how individuals relate to societies and the function of rules in societies as a main concern of social science.... [tags: Sociology, Social Status, Social Interactions] 1268 words (3.6 pages) Unrated Essays [preview] Enlarging Your Social Network - Social networking comprises of both strong and weak ties. Social networking has an impact on all human beings through organizations, relationships, associations, internet networks, and community. Being in the hospitality industry it is important that I develop social networking for both my personal self and industry. Belonging to the American Culinary Federation I believe increases my social network. Being a member of the American Culinary Federation allows me to share ideas and come together with professionals in the same business.... [tags: Social Networking ] :: 3 Works Cited 1165 words (3.3 pages) Strong Essays [preview]

Free social darwinism Essays and Papers - 123helpme

Posted in Darwinism | Comments Off

AI File – What is it and how do I open it?

Posted: at 6:27 pm

Did your computer fail to open an AI file? We explain what AI files are and recommend software that we know can open or convert your AI files.

AI is the acronym for Adobe Illustrator. Files that have the .ai extension are drawing files that the Adobe Illustrator application has created.

The Adobe Illustrator application was developed by Adobe Systems. The files created by this application are composed of paths that are connected by points and are saved in vector format. The technology used to create these files allows the user to re-size the AI image without losing any of the image's quality.

Some third-party programs allow users to "rastersize" the images created in Adobe Illustrator, which allows them to convert the AI file into bitmap format. While this may make the file size smaller and easier to open across multiple applications, some of the file quality may be lost in the process.

The Zeitgeist Movement – Skeptic Project

Posted: at 6:26 pm

Author: Edward L Winston Added: June 13, 2010 Discuss: Discuss this article.

Over the last couple of months, mainly since Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) members began trekking to our forums, I've gotten a lot of emails from TZM members asking me various questions. This post is to outline the topics covered in my correspondence with said members.

I'll likely update this page as I get feedback from people.

Primarily the issues discussed are why I believe TZM will fail and why I think it's impossible to find common ground with TZM. I want to be clear that, given a different set of circumstances which I will discuss, maybe TZM could be successful and we could find common ground, but if things don't change, neither will my stance.

The leader of TZM, Peter Joseph, is far more damaging to his own movement than I imagine many of the hardcore members want to believe:

More could be said about Peter Joseph, and is said in later sections, but our forums are full of former TZM members who shed even more light on the emerging cult of personality around him.

The most important issue here is that Peter Joseph is the leader of TZM and his word is law, despite claiming that he doesn't consider himself the leader, he acts unilaterally to forbid members for talking to outsiders, for example banning members who post on our forums that aren't glorifying him.

Something that I never stop hearing is the phrase the movies aren't the movement. This referring to the fact that the movies promote conspiracy theories, but TZM is something else entirely, and exists separately from the movement. I would believe that if not for the following issues:

A lot of people don't like that I use foul language, but I needed to display the utter lack of compassion for other human beings TZM leadership seems to have, as well as some hardcore members. The situation in Haiti, again, is a great example of this -- reading many posts on the forums from members, it's quite clear that unless The Venus Project (TVP) is going to be the solution to the problems in Haiti, there's no use in helping them after the earthquake there.

I get asked "well, what are YOU doing to improve the world?" by TZM members a lot. I constantly bring up that I volunteer pretty much every weekend and I donate 10% of my income to charity, and a lot of time I will donate more than that. Most come back with the fact "charity doesn't fix the problem." While they're right that charity doesn't fix the problem permanently, sitting on a forum doesn't either -- though some members have the audacity to claim that TZM is a charity, despite never lifting a finger for anyone else.

The example I use when talking to TZM members about this is:

If you saw a starving/dying man in the street, would you do something to help him, or would you say "once our movement gets to 50 million members, I'll be able to help you, but until then, see you later!"?

That's essentially the logic behind the leadership of TZM and what many members parrot to me, just in a much nicer way. They love talking about how many children are starving to death today, but they refuse to help them today, and instead speak of some far off future that they can't figure out how to get to.

I know and understand that not all TZM members are like this. I've seen some wonderful generosity and so forth coming from members, but more often than not, these members also don't follow Peter Joseph blindly, because the ones that do refuse to help anyone else.

Here's a list of problems that I believe TZM has:

There could be more added here later.

I don't really see a future for TZM outside of degrading to hardcore members. Peter Joseph talks about a new movie coming out in October of 2010 that's going to get "millions" of new members, so essentially nearly 2 years of doing nothing but waiting for yet another film are what TZM has to show for.

I think it's all a shame, however, because getting all of those people together could have done something, could have lead to actual success in some way, but it's not even close to that. This hasn't stopped members from discussing the transition to the Resource Based Economy, despite the fact they're discussing step 10,000 when they haven't even reached step 1 and don't seem to want to.

At this point is essentially a way to stroke Peter Joseph's ego rather than accomplish any goals.

Sometimes I'm asked what I'd change about TZM, in order to make it more acceptable. Well, while I don't think most of these changes are possible due to the way TZM is run, I usually humor those who ask:

So, essentially my "5 point plan" is completely incompatible with a movement where Peter Joseph is the overlord.

Would you like to know more?

See the original post here:

The Zeitgeist Movement - Skeptic Project

Posted in Zeitgeist Movement | Comments Off

Automation – Cloud process & workflow automation | Microsoft …

Posted: at 6:25 pm

Save time while lowering overhead costs

Now you can automate all of those frequent, time-consuming, and error-prone cloud management tasks. Azure Automation helps you spend more of your time focused on work that adds business value. By reducing errors and boosting efficiency, it can also help lower your operational costs.

In Automation, Windows PowerShell scripts and workflowsknown as runbookshelp you work smarter by handling the creation, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of Azure resources and third-party applications. The Automation Runbook Gallery puts samples, utilities, and scenario runbooks right at your fingertips, so that you can get up and running quickly with your automation tasks. The Runbook Gallery lets you browse and import runbooks to your Automation account without ever having to leave the Azure portal.

Automation runbooks work with Web Apps in Azure App Service, Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, and other popular Azure services. You can also use them with any service that offers public Internet APIs. Easy-to-read dashboard charts and log records make runbooks easier to monitor.

By efficiently handling processes that span tools, systems, and department silos, Automation lets you deliver services faster and more consistently. Its highly reliable and you can create checkpoints to resume your workflow after unexpected errors, crashes, and network issues.

Author and manage PowerShell Desired State Configurations (DSC), import DSC resources, and generate DSC node configurations, all in the cloud. With Azure Automation DSC, you can easily and reliably monitor and automatically update machine configuration across physical and virtual machines, Windows or Linux, in the cloud or on-premises.

Excerpt from:

Automation - Cloud process & workflow automation | Microsoft ...

Posted in Automation | Comments Off

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Tickets | ATD Ireland

Posted: at 6:24 pm

With the Orlando Freedom Ticket you have complete freedom to come and go as you please to ELEVEN fantastic Florida theme parks and is the ideal ticket solution for both first time visitors to Orlando and repeat guests who wish to experience all the leading Florida theme parks.

The Orlando Freedom Ticket represents amazing value compared to single day entry tickets and gives you access to 11 fantastic theme parks including:

PLUS the Orlando Freedom Ticket also gives you unlimited access to the following great venues for the duration of your Disney ticket:

And your Orlando Freedom Ticket also includes:

At the Disney Parks, your ticket includes use of theFastPass+system which reduces queing time. This is notincluded at non-Disney parks.

This added-value bonus is exclusivefor UK and Irish customers pre-purchasingan adult Orlando Freedom Ticketandallows you to keep and share all the amazing photographs taken of you and your family by Disney PhotoPass photographers in the parks. Even better ride photos are included too! Use Memory Maker to capture and relive your Walt Disney World Florida memories without having to reach for your camera.See the family screaming down Splash Mountain, posing for those iconic photos in front of Cinderellas Castle and enjoying that first hug with Mickey Mouse and friends.

Your photos are linked to your Disney account, so you can download them right away from the Disney PhotoPass site. Download as many photos as you want as many times as you like!

Use your Disney Memory Maker to capture all your magical memories at Walt Disney World Florida.

See the article here:

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Tickets | ATD Ireland

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Ticket

Posted: at 6:24 pm

The Orlando Freedom Ticket represents amazing value compared to single day entry tickets and gives you access to 11 fantastic theme parks including:

PLUS the Orlando Freedom Ticket also gives you unlimited access to the following great venues for the duration of your Disney ticket:

And your Orlando Freedom Ticket also includes:

At the Disney Parks, your ticket includes use of theFastPass+system which reduces queing time. This is notincluded at non-Disney parks.

Your photos are linked to your Disney account, so you can download them right away from the Disney PhotoPass site. Download as many photos as you want as many times as you like!

Use your Disney Memory Maker to capture all your magical memories at Walt Disney World Florida.

Read the original here:

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Ticket

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off

Wood Stoves and Survivalism – American Preppers Network

Posted: at 6:23 pm

Disasters can strike at any time and in any place. When high winds, a blizzard, a tornado or a hurricane hits, power lines often go down and electricity is off for days (or longer). Earthquakes notoriously knock out power and sever water lines. Rural residents might lose electricity when someone accidentally knocks down a power pole. If your home depends on electricity for heat and cooking meals, either with electrical heat, electrical stoves, or to power an electrical whole-house blower, your house is cold and so is the food you eat.

Wood Stove Disaster Preparedness

The beauty about a wood-burning stove is that it can heat your home, and even your food, when the electricity is off. Sure, a homeowner can install an expensive gas-powered generator to kick on if the electricity goes off, but it must be large enough to power the entire electrical home-heating furnace. That means you can be paying big bucks to acquire such a generator.

When your home is already heated with wood, life without electricity, in some key respects, is as simple as it was prior to the power going off. You just grab another chunk of wood and add it to the fire, like you do throughout the heating season. Without electrical lights, you simply light some candles or a lantern and sit back to rely on your wood stoves warmth.

Cooking is an important consideration when buying a wood stove you plan to use in a surival situation, because not all wood heat appliances can be used for cooking or boiling water. The good, old-fashioned wood stove without the electronic controls, transformers and fans installed to produce high-efficiency burns, works best for cooking food.

Advantages of Wood Cook Stoves

An even better solution is to own an efficient wood stove for heating your home and a wood cook stove for preparing meals. Wood cook stoves are built so that heated air surrounds the oven box. Amounts and types of wood burned in a wood cook stove determine heat volumes. A wood cook stove can be used without putting excess heat into the room on a hot summer day. Simply opening the oven door of a wood cook stove allows heat into the kitchen of a home on a cold winter day. Best of all, you have an oven to bake bread, or a hearty meal in a wood cook stove, something that cannot be accomplished easily on a wood stove without additional supplies.

Another practical aspect about a wood cook stove, and even some traditional wood stoves, is an optional possibility of a water coil that circulates hot water into your hot water heater from the wood stove. It reduces electric or gas usage in the hot water heater, and in the case of an electrical outage, provides all of your hot water. Of course, another hot water option is breaking out the old short-and-stout steam pot and heating water on the top of the wood stove.

Disasters Are No Panic With Wood

Imagine how you feel when the electricity fails for several hours or days and you already heat and cook and heat with wood. While neighbors with all-electric heat and kitchen appliances panic, youre sitting pretty, except for all of the visitors who want to stay warm in your house. The power is out, so restaurants are closed. You can still prepare food with a wood cook stove. The house stays warm. There is a winters supply of wood outside in the woodshed.

Of course, preparing for a disaster equals thinking ahead and getting ready. You can check more than a few things off your list if you are already heating with wood. Instead of installing an alternative flue for backup wood heat, youve already performed your annual inspection and soot removal, since its already part of your yearly wood burning routine. Rather than making sure theres enough wood for the secondary wood heater, you already enjoy a fully-stocked woodshed with a years supply of wood fuel.

With wood heat in your home, youre already prepared for a disaster. And, when you think about it, a disaster only becomes a disaster if its a hardship on you and your family. In that respect, heating and cooking with wood eliminates certain elements of disaster, because youre already prepared.

About the Author: Geoff Hineman Writer, runner, musician and devoted father, Geoff likes to write about a wide range of topics and does so for a number of helpful websites, including .

More here:

Wood Stoves and Survivalism - American Preppers Network

Posted in Survivalism | Comments Off

Alex Jones Depicted as Transhuman Terrorist in New Video …

Posted: at 6:20 pm

A character resembling radio talk show host Alex Jones is cast as a terrorist leader in an upcoming video game about a war between humans and cyborgs.

The latest installment of the Deus Ex video game series, entitled Mankind Divided, portrays a future world in which a segment of humanity is augmented with mechanical limbs.

After a hacker takes over the populations limbs, augmented people across the world were forced to violently attack those around them, according to a synopsis of the game found at DeusEx.Wikia.com.

The public is outraged by this event and they therefore aggressively oppose mechanical augmentation. This results in a divided world, where mechanically augmented humans are forcibly separated from non-augmented ones.

In a cinematic trailer for the game, the character resembling Alex Jones who seeks equal rights for augmented people is interviewed on a television program, and recites rhetoric similar to remarks Jones made on CNN in 2013.

It doesnt matter how many idiots you get out there on the street, a voiceover from the Jones-esque character says. We will not relinquish our limbs. Do you understand?

Here are Jones actual words from CNNs Piers Morgan Live on Jan. 7, 2013:

Im here to tell you, 1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! It doesnt matter how many lemmings you get out there on the street, begging to have their guns taken. We will not relinquish them! Do you understand? Jones said on Piers Morgan live three years ago.

Another scene from the trailer shows the Jones-like person asking, What do they have planned for us? Why are they building concentration camps? Whats going on out there?

A lot of people died, now you want to take away our freedom? the person portraying Jones asks. You will pay for it in blood, he says, as the scene cuts to large explosions going off in an urban setting.

Media commentator Mark Dice thinks its no coincidence.

This new video game is both interesting and disturbing and it raises some serious questions about the coming transhumanist technology, Dice said in a recent analysis. But it also appears to depict Alex Jones from Infowars.com as a transhumanist terrorist whos behind a series of truck bombs that are designed to attack humans who are trying to round up the augs and put them in concentration camps because their technology is malfunctioning, causing them to become a danger to others.

While the concept of the game does raise some serious and realistic concerns about the coming transhumanist technology I do think its despicable that theyre depicting Alex Jones as a transhumanist terrorist at least thats what it looks like in the trailer.

Moreover, Dice says, It also appears to be trying to promote sympathy for the transhumanists in depicting regular humans who dont want to go along with the agenda as being bigoted and prejudiced afraid of the new technology.

A previous version of the game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution released in 2011, also featured an radio broadcast from a host named Lazarus who, similar to Jones, speaks out against the Bilderberg group, the Council of Five (a take on the Council on Foreign Relations) and the Trilateral Commission.

View post:
Alex Jones Depicted as Transhuman Terrorist in New Video ...

Posted in Transhuman News | Comments Off

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Eugenics – New World Encyclopedia

Evolution – Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Free social darwinism Essays and Papers – 123helpme

AI File – What is it and how do I open it?

The Zeitgeist Movement – Skeptic Project

Automation – Cloud process & workflow automation | Microsoft …

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Tickets | ATD Ireland

Orlando Freedom Ticket | Orlando Combo Ticket

Wood Stoves and Survivalism – American Preppers Network

Alex Jones Depicted as Transhuman Terrorist in New Video …

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

Prometheism

Forbidden Fruit

The Evolutionary Perspective

Transtopia Menu

Library Updates

Library Books

Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution