ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
An article titled “Status Quo Bias in Decision Making“ written by Samuelson and Zeckhauser provides an exploration of a behavioral phenomenon called status quo bias (1988). The pioneering work utilized the methods and theories from the fields of economics and psychology in order to provide an explanation for this concept and its possible applications in marketing, management, and science among others. Utility theory that explains the decision-making process as a series of rational choices made by individuals with the sole purpose of maximizing their utility was challenged in the study. Samuelson and Zeckhauser conducted several survey experiments in order to show that utilitarian approach to the explanation of reasons behind a particular decision cannot provide an understanding of some behaviors (1988). They directed an experiment in which participants were assigned roles of commissioners whose main responsibility was to allocate scarce water to town and farmers. The respondents were allowed to choose from ten options for possible distribution alternatives one of which was always presented as status quo. The study results suggested that when given a choice that is being framed as status quo, participants tend to opt for it and disregard other alternatives. Samuelson and Zeckhauser called this phenomenon “status quo bias” and provided a couple of explanations for the peculiar behavior (1988). The scientists explored the theory of rational decision and argued that status quo framing plays a significant role in subjects’ decision-making process. They also noticed that the increase in the number of options results in the stronger preference for the existing state of affairs. Conversely, the reduction of available alternatives led to the increase of other discernable preferences of an individual (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). It could be argued that the exploration of the influence of the number of options on participants’ preferences is an obvious strength of the research. Another strong point in the study is the focus on cognitive misperceptions for a possible explanation of the bias. Samuelson and Zeckhauser discovered that some participants tried to escape losses more than they sought to make gains. They called the phenomenon “loss aversion” and used it to show that this particular behavior contravenes utilitarian theory (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). The scientists argued that the effec
Introduction Legal drinking age is the age at which the law allows a person to buy or consume alcoholic drinks. The minimum age that a person is allowed to consume alcohol ranges between 17 an 21 years across the word. However, it is almost unanimous that the average drinking age should be 18 years. While it is apparent that young people should stay away from alcohol until they reach 18 years, reality tells us otherwise. The reason is that minimum drinking laws apply in public places only. According to Plant and Plant, the authorities rarely regulate alcohol consumption at home (891). The legal drinking age has elicited unprecedented arguments across the world. While some people argue that the legal drinking age should be lowered, others highlight the apparent negative effects on the health of young people. As such, there have been no conclusive decisions across the world on the matter. This paper explores the concept of legal drinking age in light of these arguments. Particularly, the paper will review various articles that support the argument that the legal age ought to increase. Also, the paper will provide counter-arguments as a way of highlighting alternative views and perspectives. Regulatory Authorities should raise the Legal Drinking Age Hanson asserts that the problem of alcohol has increased in an unprecedented way for the last decade (28). According to him, about 78 percent of Americans have consumed alcohol more than twice in their lifetime (87). While these numbers are staggering, the levels of alcoholism have increased rapidly within the same period. Hence, it is critical to highlight the effects of low legal drinking age on young people. At the outset, lower drinking age predisposes young people to early alcohol consumption. This does not only increase their risk of adverse effects but also renders them unable to participate in their activities fully (Lunsford 24). By lowering the legal drinking age, the authorities will have given the young people leeway to many other drugs. The rationale is that young people experience peer influence implying that some student s will be able to influence the rest to consume alcohol (Plant and Plant 888). According to Miron, peers are the most important agents of socialization and help an individual to acquire beliefs, attitudes, and values (7). In other words, teenagers will consume alcohol at a young age since their peers are doing it. This entrenches the belief that alcohol is appropriate in the minds of the young people increasing the likelihood of repeated behavior (Fujioka and Pinkleton 577). It is important to underscore the number of revenues that go to curing and treating preventable diseases such as alcoholism. According to Miron, the government directs around $28 billion to facilitate the treatment of preventable illnesses and diseases (19). Alcohol intake leads to long-term effects and diseases such as liver cirrhosis, addiction, and gout. By lowering the legal drinking age, the government will not only increase its spending towards such preventable illnesses but also grapple wit
Introduction A smile is one of the few things that can inspire and cheer a person up, even if they are completely emotionally drained. My parents always say to me that I have been a smiling human being since birth. Moreover, many of my relatives and friends often called me an amiable person. Perhaps it is because I read a lot of literary works where such an emotional component of character as optimism was crucial for the plot. Plenty of well-known protagonists have this personality trait, for example, Forrest Gump. According to Scott (2020), “optimism is a mental attitude characterized by hope and confidence in success and a positive future.” (para.1). It can be said that the smiles of the imaginary characters helped me shape my current mental attitude to life. Many writers have conveyed their own optimism to me to be a better person and inspire others to positively look at various life events. In this paper, the topic of optimism in literature and its impact on people’s outlook on life will be explored and discussed. Optimism in Literature It is no secret that literary works, like many other pieces of art, are capable of making an emotional impact on their audience. One can say it is the ability to influence the reader’s mood is that makes a story good and memorable. A writer can show the optimistic nature of a fictional character in a variety of ways. Creating a contrast between the protagonist’s personality and external reality is among the most emotionally efficient means (Zirngast, 2021). Therefore, there is usually a juxtaposition between the imagined world of a book and readers’ world around them. At times when the world is ‘all over the place’ and causes severe stress for people, having the opportunity to immerse oneself into the fictional world and spend some time with the character
Negotiation is the process of initiating a dialogue through which differences or disputes between two or more parties are solved mutually. Developing an effective negotiating team requires the team leader to have a wide knowledge of negotiation process. Members of the negotiating team should also have a wide range of knowledge, skills and attitude required in the negotiation process. The members need to know the context of the negotiation and the subject matter to the negotiations. The team should be able to analyze the facts, objectives, interest and all the legal issues pertain to the subject matter of the negotiations. The members should be good listeners with ability to seek and give information. The team should be able to think creatively to persuade the other negotiating party into accepting your objectives. The team should be able to recognize when to admit the demands of the other party, when to stand your ground or when to move on. The team members should adopt positive attitude towards the other party, the process itself and the subject matter under negotiation (Churchman, 1993, p. 13). The negotiators must have adequate knowledge of the background and factors that surround the negotiation process by carefully examining whether the subject matter of the negotiation requires situations where the relationship between the parties concerned has to continue or not. The team should find out carefully how or the tactics the opponents will use in the negotiations. All these factors will assist the negotiating team prepare themselves adequately for the negotiations. Trust is a very crucial element in any productive negotiation process. Without trust from all negotiating parties, the decision reached cannot hold. The parties involved in the negotiation process must show commitment and willingness to act based on positive expectations to the words and decisions of the negotiating parties. Sometimes, the outcome of a negotiation may not please both parties concerned (Lewicki, 1995 pp. 56-59). One party may feel cheated or the other party may not honour the negotiation outcomes. In such situations, the aggrieved party may lack trust with the aggravating party. Clearwire Company has already lost trust with Sprint Nextel Company. In such a case, Sprint Nextel Company must repair its trust with Clearwire Company to restore confidence and facilitate smooth joint running of the companies. Sprint Nextel Company has a major influence on decisions made by the Clearwire Company, as it jointly owns the company. Good working relationship between these two companies is therefore a necessity not a priority. These two companies are interdependence and hence reconciliation and forgiv
The readability affects an individual’s ability to understand a text. The reading level of clients depends on their level of education (Arfé et al., 2018). The readability level of a high school graduate is different from the one of a higher education graduate. In healthcare, this means that it is important to write the texts based on a client’s level of education when giving medical instructions. For example, when providing medical instructions to a client, I have always considered education level of patients to enhance readability. I achieve this by making sure that the content is readable and that the language used is simple. Using simple words is a greater strategy of giving readers a pause, hence understanding the text. The readability level of the instructions varies with the client’s education. The instructions I provided were simple to enable even a high school graduate to read effectively and get the information. For instance, the word count for each sentence I wrote for medical instruction to patients was between 21-30 (Readability Formulas, 2019). However, when providing medical instructions for higher education graduates, I usually use long sentences. These sentences enable me to convey the information more clearly to the client. I use sentences with more than 30 words for this category to make sure that all the required information is covered. Therefore, the medical instructions I give to clients are readable due to the format of the sentences and word count used. Clients who have a higher education have a higher readability level than those at the high school level. A readability level shows the degree to which an individual can easily understand a text (Arfé et al., 2018). Clients with higher education can easily understand any text regardless of the structure. For instance,
Introduction First of all, it must be pointed out that the issue of Mary’s divine motherhood can be regarded rather ambiguously. Mary’s role as mother of Jesus must be analysed within the Marian dogmas, namely Divine Motherhood, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, and Assumption. The Marian dogmas Generally, there is a strong need to clarify that the Christological dogma cannot exist without the dogma of Divine Motherhood. According to Christian faith, Mary is recognised to be the Mother of God . “Mary functioned to reveal divine love as compassionately close, interested, trustworthy and attractive” (Johnson, 2000). The kind of love is not rejected by any of Christian denominations. It seems that there is Christ’s human nature, which determines the core of the Christology. According to Perpetual Virginity or Baptismal Formula, Mary’s virginity cannot be disputed, as Christ’s birth sanctified the woman’s most important mission. Immaculate Conception is based on the woman’s all-holiness. Despite the fact that Mary’s role can be interpreted both – from the positive and negative perspectives, the absence of original sin is indisputable, as Mary was exceptionally holy since her birthday. Keeping in mind the Assumption, one can probably state that Mary “is indissolubly linked to her Son on earth and in heaven” (Roten, 2012). The woman’s particular relations with God determine her all-holiness. The identity of Jesus Christ in relation to dogmas Divine Motherhood and Perpetual Virginity as the earliest dogmas give us an opportunity to understand the identity of Jesus Christ in detail, as they reveal the true nature of Christ: Christ as a God and Christ as a man. Therefore, one can probably notice that Christ is considered to be a God on the basis of Mary’s virginity; while, on the other hand, Christ is recognised to be a man according to Mary’s role as Theotokos. In other words, it seems to be obvious that Mary’s role is of particular concern, as without her, the identity of Jesus Christ would be still a matter of debate. Mary as a model for Christian faith and discipleship Mary is a model for Christian faith and discipleship, as her divine motherhood is associated with the power that gave rise to mice and man. In other words, God is the only origin of life, and Mary’s primary purpose was to provide humanity with the gift . The woman’s spiritual motherhood seems to remind us of human beings’ one hope. Most of the theologists are of the opinion that Mary showed people the importance of unity and obedience; she formed Christ in people and helped them to see the true face of the Savior. As far as Mary was “the first disciple to hear God’s word and responded to it with full faithful
Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect of organic pollution, with regards to nitrogen and phosphorus, and ocean acidification on algal growth. Nitrogen and phosphorus and limiting nutrients necessary for increased algal growth, which is also known as eutrophication. The experiment was performed by placing culturing green algae into seven test tubes containing different concentrations of pollutants. The absorbance was then used to quantitate the effect of the pollutants on algal growth. The results of the experiment supported the hypothesis, that algal growth increased with increasing nitrogen and phosphorus concentration. However, it decreased with increasing acid rain concentration. Introduction Surface water pollution is among the primary issues affecting the environment. There are two types of surface water pollution, and they include organic pollution, which results in high organic content in aquatic ecosystems, hence eutrophication, and ocean acidification that lowers the pH of water bodies (Flynn et al., 2015). Both organic pollution and ocean acidification occur due to human activities, for instance, eutrophication occurs due to the improper use of nitrogenous and phosphoric fertilizers. On the other hand, ocean acidification is attributed to an increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon (IV) oxide, a by-product of burnt fossil fuels. It is known that pollution reduces water quality; thus, interfering with the aquatic ecosystem. This is because pollution and ocean acidification affect the availability of nutrients and the pH of water bodies thus impacting the growth of green algae. Algae are the primary producers in marine ecosystems, and they are involved in water pollution in several ways (Yothi et al., 2016). First and foremost, the increase of algal nutrients in water via organic effluents selectively stimulates the growth of algal species, therefore, resulting in massive surface growths that consequentially affect the water quality and restrict its use (Yothi et al., 2016). Moreover, certain algae that flourish in polluted water are toxic to fish, human beings, and animals (Yothi et al., 2016). Overall, since algae play a major role in the food chain of aquatic life, whatever elements that alter its population and species growth significantly affect all other succeeding organisms in the chain. Therefore, this suggests that algae can be regarded as a suitable bioindicator organism (Barinova et al., 2015). It can be used in identifying and qualifying the effects of pollutants on the ecosystem. In this experiment, different solutions, nitrogenous solution, phosphorus solutions, acidic rain, stream water, and algae stock solution, were used to evaluate the effect of organic pollution and acidification on algal growth. This was achieved by measuring the absorbance.
Introduction According to the intelligence service, online fraud has been the most commonly used type of digital crime. In addition to that, they have released a report that says that one out of every ten users of the internet has at one time or the other been a victim of the online fraudsters who pose as clients or sellers or merchandise (Harkins, 2011). This prompted the government to create a website where one can be able to report any incidences of online fraud. Thesis Statement With reference to the given question, this paper will a scenario that details of a digital online fraud and will also give the specific detail of the fraud. Scenario of an online fraud A very good example of an online fraud is where internet users fall victim to the rogue security software that is found over the internet. This type of software is used to trick the internet user into buying and installing a fake antivirus which in term takes over the operations of the computer (Harkins, 2011). This rogue security software can appear on a website in the form of an advertisement which in most of the time informs that internet user of their win for being a visitor to the website and once it has been clicked it automatically installs itself into the operating system of the computer (Bird, 2011). The website will then display a warning of a virus in the computer operating system and will then encourage the internet user to buy and install an antivirus that they have. The internet user will go ahead and buy the antivirus without realising that it is not a genuine antivirus. The antivirus then installs its components into the computer which may appear in many forms.
Buddhism is a sacred tradition that centers on personal religious growth and the realization of an in-depth understanding into the exact nature of humanity (Gerner 5). Around the world, the religion has attracted 76 million followers (Religions 1 ) . As the followers, we always aspire to attain a state of Nirvana . The teachings require us to live in accordance with the traditions of Buddha Siddhartha. Siddhartha is a famous religious leader who championed for enlightenment during the 6 th century BC (The life of Buddha) . The religion does not mandate its followers to have faith in an individual deity. As such, Buddhists suppose that nothing endures forever and that transformation is always likely. To achieve enlightenment, all followers are required to uphold lives that enhance the growth of morals, meditation, and understanding. Being a follower, I am required to acknowledge that life is a never-ending course prone to impermanence, pain, and vagueness. According to the religion, life is a never-ending course because people are brought back to life repeatedly through reincarnation. Buddhism is attributed to Buddha Siddhartha. Siddhartha was born as a noble prince at around the 6 th century BC (Kozak 16). The prince home place was situated at Lumbini, Nepal. His noble family was referred to as Shakya. The prince’s parents named him Siddhartha. Based on his name, a number of magnificent forecasts were postulated about his future. Throughout his childhood, the prince resided in his father’s palace. However, when he attained the age of 29 he moved out of the palace to the community. According to the Buddhist tradition, the young prince experienced tremendous suffering outside the palace (Kozak 20). He saw individuals suffering from extreme poverty and acute diseases. The experiences transformed his life. From then on, he dedicated his life to seek meditation and the true understanding of enlightenment. After spending more than 7 years outside the palace, the prince achieved the state of enlightenment beneath a sacred tree in Bodh Gaya, India (Kozak 24). Later, Siddhartha taught his followers for approximately forty years (Kozak 27). During the time, the influence of his teachings attracted multitudes of supporters in the region. His teachings about how to tackle human sufferings were received with enthusiasms in Northern India. The teachings were attractive because they offered a substitute to the firm communal and custom principles widespread in Northern India in the period. Ever since then, the religion has spread around the world due to its ability to accept all people from all lifestyles. In general, Siddhartha offered his followers with more than 84, 000 teachings (Kozak 39). He did this with the aim of establishing Buddhism. He hoped that through this he would liberate humans from anguish. He acknowledged that short-termed emancipation from pain and problems is not adequate. Inspired by care f
Implications of demographic forces in the Recruitment Industry Demographic factors within the recruitment sector can affect human resource supply and the structural productivity of the labor market. Data from various studies show that people are living longer, and many women and millennials (15 to 24 years) are entering the workforce (Mester, 2017). These changes in age and gender distributions will lead to a three to four percent increase in the supply of skilled personnel. As the aging populace increases, the number of business and tech start-ups is likely to decrease, leading to a decline in structural and economic productivity (Mester, 2017). Additionally, baby boomers have higher job experience than younger populaces, given that they rarely change jobs. However, job immobility can have negative implications for work productivity in the long run due to the lack of skill mix. Advantages and disadvantages of technological changes Security is a trade-off for workplaces which rely on technology. Mobile and computer systems are typically susceptible to cyber-attacks and data losses. Recruiters can also use technology to efficiently select ideal candidates by easily screening and cross-referencing keywords in an applicant’s resume within a large applicant pool. The internet can also provide a convenient way to communicate with applicants without the need for job advertising and postage fees which were typical of traditional job postings. In hindsight, e-recruitment can attract fraudulent applicants, hence diluting the quality of the talent pool. Technology can also pose workplace distractions reducing employees’ productivity in the long run. How technology can be beneficial to workplaces Companies can use technology to improve productivity and collaboration practices in the workplace. Communication breakdowns in the workplace can lead to delays, errors, and inefficiencies within the organization. However, the use of hi-tech devices can resolve these issues by improving the dissemination of information which, in turn, can facilitate workplace coordination and teamwork (Dukes, 2019). The utilization of up-to-date technologies can also play a crucial role in fostering aspects such as innovation within the workforce, accuracy in computation analysis, job efficiency, safety and security, and increased productivity.