ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Predicting the future seems to be a task beyond human strength, especially when it comes to foreseeing what will happen in the following twenty or fifty years. However, George Friedman, in his book The Next 100 Years , made an attempt to predict even a larger time span and imagine what the world would look like throughout the twenty-first century. The book has encountered controversial feedback since some readers criticized Friedman for going into science fiction when foreseeing events that might take place far in the future. Yet, in my opinion, this book has a much more important implication than simply providing details about who will dominate the world in this century and why the US should not regard China as its key enemy. I read this work from a leadership perspective, trying to make use of its arguments and ideas for my vocational context. After speculating on it, I concluded that the main implication of this book for leaders is that it is helpful to explore facts and past evidence in order to elicit patterns and make better decisions about the future. Friedman’s Predictions First, I will briefly mention Friedman’s predictions as to how the world would look like in the twenty-first century since it is what the whole book is all about. In his forecast, Friedman mainly draws on geopolitics, linking it to geography, demography, history, technology, and culture. He briefly overviews the major events of the twentieth century, dividing this period into twenty-year sections. By doing so, Friedman shows that people are often wrong in their assumptions about the future. They rely on common sense when assuming that some extraordinary events are unlikely or impossible to happen, but Friedman (2009) asserts that “when it comes to the future, the only thing one can be sure of is that common sense will be wrong” (p. 3). Therefore, basing one’s expectations about the future on what seems obvious and logical can catch one off guard and lead to deplorable consequences due to unpreparedness. Friedman provides several illustrations of the inconsistency between people’s expectations based on common sense and reality. For example, in 1900, European countries were interdependent due to trade relationships; therefore, the majority of people did not expect war. Yet, World War I occurred, and Friedman says that, despite common expectations, it could be predicted based on Germany’s power and the necessity to claim its status in Europe. Thus, people fell victims to their short-sightedness and the inability to see the whole picture, which placed them in a vulnerable position since they were unprepared to circumstances that they failed to foresee. Having observed the discrepancy between common sense expectations and real-life events, Friedman proceeds with making his own predictions about the future of the world by integrating geopolitics, history, and other sciences mentioned above. His analysis leads him to conclude that the US will dominate the world in the twenty-first century. He explains it by the country’s advantage
Introduction The understanding of the specific forces and factors in the industry and sector where the company operates is essential to the development of effective strategies. In particular, a manager should be aware of the organization’s position relative to the consumers, competitors, and stakeholders, the available strategic choices in a situation, and their predicted outcomes once they are implemented. Economic theorists have developed a variety of frameworks and approaches to industry analysis and strategy formulation. This report describes Porter’s five forces model, differentiates four industry types, identifies strategic groups, and elaborates on the Blue Ocean approach as well as their applications to Abu Dhabi Aviation. Porter’s Five Forces Model Michael Porter introduced the notion that the key to strategic success is the positioning of the company in a manner that protects it from competitive forces or allows it to use them to its advantage. For the approach to succeed, the manager should be aware of the primary influences in the industry and their sources. Notably, according to Todorov and Akbar, Porter concentrated on economic forces within the industry, as he noted that outside powers tended to affect every player in the sector equally, and the difference was in a firm’s ability to respond to them (183). The theorist distinguishes five essential factors that allow one to determine an industry’s structure. Porter defines the market for a particular product as the combination of the companies that are active in it, potential entrants, and the consumers. As such, according to Todorov and Akbar, the five forces are the threat of new entrants, the bargaining powers of suppliers and buyers, the substitute products, and the intensity of the rivalry between competitors (188). The airline industry is characterized by high entry barriers due to the costs associated with maintaining the necessary technical resources. As such, the bargaining power of suppliers is high, while that of the consumers is relatively low. Substitutes are a concern for short-range flights, but not for international and intercontinental routes. Lastly, the intensity of rivalry is low, as the carriers prefer to avoid direct competition. Industry Types The type of industry where the company operates can significantly influence its strategy and preferred approaches. According to Chauhan, there are four primary industry types: monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect as well as imperfect competition (372-373). A monopoly is a situation where the industry is dominated by a single seller, which is able to forgo technology development and adjust prices freely due to the lack of competition. An oligopoly is a similar situation to a monopoly, but the industry consists of multiple large companies that do not compete and collude to control prices. A perfect market is a situation where numerous companies compete using uniform prices and mostly homogeneous products, forcing companies to accept the established rate. However, as such an environment is usually not possible in practice, an imperfect, or real, market, where constant aggressive compet
Abstract In this paper, I create an ideal country called Strada, which has unique physical, ecological, and structural features that would foster the greatest happiness for its citizens. These features appeal to the basic human needs of having a good health care system, a sound physical environment to live, and enough economic resources for citizens to buy their needs and wants. This paper also outlines the need for a sound governance structure that premises on the principles of justice and mercy and a respect for religious diversity, as the tenets for a reliable social framework to maintain a stable social order in Strada. The blend of different features characterizing the country is bound to foster the greatest happiness for most of its citizens because happiness is the most reliable indicator for human development Introduction Suffering, greed, hardships, war, and many other struggles characterize today’s world. Most of these problems stem from human flaws in leadership, governance, environmental management and, spirituality (Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2016). Indeed, as Robert (2003) says, “the rise of acquisitive urges and the destructive powers of modern science and industrial production have defiled the innocence of human societies, almost everywhere” (3). Although the list of mistakes we make as a people may be longer, the problems facing many societies today generally stem from the neglect of our innate human values, such as love and compassion. From this background, people could wonder how an ideal world would be like. The idea of an ideal world often has many definitions attached to it. However, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (2016) observes that there is no perfect premonition of such a society. Nonetheless, describing an ideal world comes with many questions, such as how would people relate? What type of governance structure would promote law and order in such a country? What would the race and ethnic composition of such a country be, and how would such people coexist peacefully in the same national space? In this paper, I describe a hypothetical country, known as Strada, which fosters happiness for the greatest number of people. This paper highlights the tolerance for religious diversity, establishment of a proper governance structure, promotion of a sound natural habitat, and the creation of a universal health care system as the main characteristics of Strada. Definitions   * Happiness – “combination of how satisfied you are with your life (for example, finding meaning in your work) and how good you feel on a day-to-day basis” (Sues, 2015, p. 4)   * The greatest number of people – majority population   * Natural habitat – the physical environment that the residents of Strada would be livin
Culture can be represented through visual images, where the observer is expected to interpret and decode meaning. Different types of artwork are considered to connect with artists using digital technologies to incorporate cultures in objects such as images and photographs. Contemporary visual work has been enhanced by the advancements in technology, as artists connect to history through paints, photographs, and drawings in a more modernized manner. This essay is an exploration of the “Portrait of an artist (pool with two figures)” and “A bigger splash” images which are listed among the top 10 famous contemporary artworks from the Learnodo Newton website. Contemporary images reflect cultures that have shaped our modern world. Many artists explore personal and cultural identities to offer critiques and redefinition of artists’ work. The portrait of a pool with two figures represents pop art that challenged traditions from popular cultures. The art is owned by David Hockney, who was a prominent figure in the pop art movement. The portrait brings together the swimming pool and two human beings, where one is swimming breaststroke underwater and the second person is looking down at the swimmer. My second encounter is still owned by Hockney and depicts a sun-drenched swimming pool beside a pink building with a modern design. The art is devoid of human presence by showing the splash without the swimmer. The intentions for creating this painting were to enlarge and simplify an earlier painting “A little splash,” although Hockey commented that it is difficult to see a splash because it happens quickly. In conclusion, artworks have a hidden meaning that can be interpreted differently depending on the viewer’s perception. Some images are used to connect past practices and the modern world, such as culturalism and social customs.
Introduction Analyzing the role of culture on developmental patterns in children is a very challenging task since it demands that a number of factors shaping a child’s personality and affecting his/her behavior should be taken into account. These are not only the interactions of a particular child with the rest of the kids but also the family background, the relationships with the child’s parents, the media that the child in question uses to acquire new information from, etc., that shapes the child’s behavior. Of all the aforementioned elements, the process of interaction must be the crucial one, which was the reason for a specific experiment to be conducted. Two children, a boy, aged four and named Chris and a girl of 5 years old named Suzy, were observed on a daily basis in the course of four weeks (September 7, 201 – November 5, 2013) as they entered a completely new environment of a target group of children coming from a very conservative family background with apparent domination of chauvinist ideas. The experiment results led to the conclusion that the development of a child is strongly affected by the child’s family background and culture as long as the child remains in touch with his/her culture; when exposed to communication with the children of his/her age belonging to another socio-cultural background, a child is most likely to assimilate and lose most of the behavioral specifics associated with his/her culture (Connery, John-Steiner & Marjanovic-Shane, 2010). Week 1 During the first week of communication between the participants of the experiment, the two children mentioned above, Mary and Bob, were introduced to a group of children belonging to conservative families. It should be noted that Mary was born and raised in a family of a single mother; in addition, Mary is a very initiative child who prefers active games and would instead choose the toys and games that are traditionally considered as the ones “for boys.” As a result, Mary was mocked by her female group mates, who displayed considerably more feminine behavioral patterns and preferred dolls. Bob, in his turn, also faced a number of complexities. Raised in a different environment by a typical “soccer mother,” he never actually had to make any significant decisions and, as a result, lacked assertiveness. A quiet and bookish type, he was also picked on by the other children, which seemed to have made his behavior even more subdued. The aforementioned reactions can be explained from the standpoint of several theories. As Keenan and Evans explain, according to Vygotsky, the cultural context defines people’s actions considerably: “To Vygotsky, development is a social process; social interactions are a necessary aspect of cognitive development” (Keenah & Evans, 1998, p. 44). Week 2 During the second week of observations, the children participating in the ex
Introduction When a child is born, the baby depends on the people who already exist in his/her environment for survival. This differs from the type of the animals’ behavior because they rely on their instinct and skills at birth. For a newborn child, he or she must gradually advance as human to enable to operate properly in the society after all. Socialization as a concept refers to the process by which individuals, through interaction and experience, get acquainted with the way of doing things in the society to which he or she belongs. More importantly, there is the fact that through socializations, the individual gets to know who he or she really is. Socialization establishes a link between the individual and his environment. Without socialization, a newborn child will not subsequently become a normal developed individual as he or she grows. Thus, socialization can be said to be the foundation upon which a society is built and preserved. Socialization and its Significance Link between individual and society For the culture of a people to be preserved, there must be socialization. The way of life of people or community is maintained when new generations are properly educated according to the existing cultural norms of the society in which they live. The continuous reproduction of society is also referred to as cultural transmission. The process of learning the way of life in society and internalizing it is a vital ingredient for its sustainability because every day, people are given birth to and die, but society still survives. In some way, every generation that comes in has some semblance to the generation that follows it. This is because both have a common background or a linkage that brings them together as members of the society. The social community in which an individual exists is partly responsible for the continued existence of that person. This, therefore, transcends that when a child is born, the baby’s survival is basically based on the people around him or her. The majority of the people who contribute immensely to the survival of the child are his/her parents and health care providers (and by extension some other care givers within the child’s environment). In a way, socialization ensures that the survival of the society is not limited by the lack of transcended socialization but also the individuals that contribute to society’s advance and development (Kenneth 2010). Nature versus nurture Neither biology nor society will claim a 100% responsibility for the behavior of an individual; and no scientific claim has been made to that effect. Most importantly, it is the fact that biology makes certain potentials available in an individual. The development of such potential is, however, greatly determined by society or individual’s exposure. Development of self Individuals
The article titled, Crime and social control in provincial Massachusett s, by David Flaherty is basically a review of criminal activity in modern America. The analysis is majorly focused in the state of Massachusetts which in real sense represents a big part of what is generally referred to as provincial America. The article tries to bring out the importance of social control in addressing the issue of criminality in the United States. Among the major issues highlighted include the maintenance of homogeneity in the population, the establishment of a proper system for the prosecution of criminals as well as the involvement of certain interest groups (such as church leaders) in commending appropriate behavior and rebuking undesired character. This article is very relevant to the course as it clearly provides an illustration of how different components of society influence each other’s development over certain periods of time. Aside from this, American history focuses on various aspects of societal development including the development of criminal law and its application in conjunction with other strategies to reduce vices in society. The author’s main line of argument is that society makes criminals. This is drawn from his proposition that in order to address the issue of rampant crime, it is important for persons to first look at the roles they play in ensuring that the society around them is safe (Tolles 1957, 102). This includes encouraging the individual to personally exercise ideal morality before trying to establish ways of making the community function as a strong cohesive whole. According to the author, crime keeps on developing new facets as the years pass by. Provincial and national crimes are basically on an upward trend this is the main reason why the relevant crime-prevention authorities need to draw on the resources and skills of different members of their teams in order to arrest the situation. The author explains that crime cannot only be tackled using policing methods only. He asserts that there are some types of criminal activities, such as those linked to drug abuse, which are prevented by tackling the underlying challenge. These, the author says are dealt with by modifying the environment in which they happen or sometimes by altering the social conditions that are purported to have basic linkages as far as the activities are concerned. Flaherty also asserts that in order to reduce crime, a conscious effort has to be made in order to provide support to those individuals who fall victim to the acts of criminals. This, accor
Introduction The Pursuit of Happyness , a 2006 movie adaptation of Chris Gardner’s autobiography, retells a story of a salesman becoming a stockbroker and reversing his life despite the obstacles in his way. Due to its emphasis on positive experiences, happiness, positive thinking, strengths, and virtues, the movie may serve as a suitable illustration of the principles of positive psychology. Gardner demonstrates perseverance, hope, and social intelligence and illustrates the importance of effectance motivation and the power of social networks, even though the protagonist’s relationship with his wife could be improved. Happiness The movie depicts multiple issues related to the central concepts of positive psychology. It posits that finding positive experiences is crucial – even though down on his luck, Gardner presents his son with a basketball he so covets (Muccino, 2006). It also spares no effort in depicting the importance of positive thinking: no matter how desperate his situation is, Gardner still has positive expectations for the future. It aligns with Seligman’s original idea of authentic happiness, stressing that a pleasant life is focused on positive emotions and positive thinking (Compton & Hoffman, 2019). Similarly, happiness and the issues related to it constitute the central theme of the movie, as highlighted by the title. The “y” in it refers to an episode when Gardner is frustrated by the misspelling of the word, yet it provokes him to reflect on the meaning of happiness (Muccino, 2006). Initially, his main issue with happiness is that one can always be in pursuit of it without actually achieving but eventually, he changes his mind. Finally, the movie also focuses heavily on strengths and virtues, the treatment of which deserves a more thorough elaboration. Strengths If one has to pick three principal strengths characterizing Gardner, these would be social intelligence, hope, and perseverance. Social intelligence – that is, the ability to understand and predicts the behaviors of those around him – leads Gardner through his turbulent internship at the stock brokerage firm. For example, when noticing the Rubik cube at Jay’s taxi seat, he immediately deduces he could impress him by assembling it (Muccino, 2006). Hope is self-explanatory – despite having little luck, the protagonist always aspires to improve his lot. As for perseverance, it might well be Gardner’s defining trait. The obstacles he has to overcome on his way to being a broker include coming to a job interview in dirty clothes or being arrested and even evicted (Muccino, 2006). Yet Gardner overcomes them despite his meager financial resources through the application of his internal strengths. He is fully aware of his conditions and the dangers they pose to him and his son, but he deliberately focuses on the positive goal ahead. Tenets of Positive Psychology Apart from displaying strengths, the movie also illustrates other specific tenets of positive psychology. In order to excel in his internship for the stockbroker position, Gardn