Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also "Leibnitz" or "von Leibniz") 1 July 1 (21 June OS) 1646 – 14 November 1716) was a German intellectual who wrote mostly in French and Latin.
He played an important role in both philosophy and mathematics. He invented calculus independently of Newton, and his notation for derivatives is the one in general use since then. He also invented the binary system, foundation of modern computers.
He was taught law and philosophy. He served as secretary to two major German noble houses: one became the British royal family while he served it. Leibniz played a major role in the European politics and diplomacy of his day.
In philosophy, he is most remembered for optimism. He thought our universe is the best possible one God could have made. He was one of the great 17th century rationalists. René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza are the other two. His philosophy also both looks back to the Scholastic tradition and anticipates modern logic and analysis.
Leibniz also made contributions to physics and technology, and anticipated ideas which surfaced much later in biology, medicine, geology, probability theory, psychology, and information science. He wrote on politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology. Sometimes, he even wrote in verse. His contributions are scattered in journals and in tens of thousands of letters and unpublished manuscripts. There is no complete edition of Leibniz's writings, and a complete account of his accomplishments is not yet possible. Leibniz is sometimes known as the last "universal genius".
Leibniz is perhaps most famous for his involvement in development of calculus independent of Isaac Newton and creation of Leibniz Notation which is the standard form of calculus today.
Optimism
Optimism is a philosophy and a way of life. Optimists believe that the world is generally a positive place to be in. In the view of an optimist, people and things are good. Many liberal optimists do not believe in original sin.
Optimism basically looks on the positive side, believing things will work out in the end. When a person is optimistic, it doesn't mean that they never doubt themselves. They might have a bad day or two. They recognize that they can make things better; there is a lesson to be learned from this, and they will move on.
The opposing theory is called pessimism. Gottfried Leibnitz was a famous optimist. Arthur Schopenhauer is often considered to be a famous pessimist.
Optimism is associated with the idea of a glass looking "half full", instead of looking "Half empty". Optimism is also a habit of looking on the bright side of a situation
Pessimism
Pessimism is an attitude of mind and a way to look at life. Pessimists believe that generally things are bad, and the world people live in is the worst possible world.
Someone who uses the philosophy is called a pessimist, they are the opposite of an optimist.
An example of pessimism is seeing that a glass of water is "half empty", not "half full".
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the largest group in the Mormon movement. It was started in 1830 in New York by Joseph Smith. They believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored the church Jesus Christ set up on earth when he was alive. They teach that they are the only church that has the full gospel. They also believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate individuals, but all have the same purpose. LDS scriptures include the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Members of the church, often called Mormons, and properly known as Latter-Day Saints are known for being active in missionary work. They also believe in the importance of families.
The center of the Church is in Salt Lake City, Utah, but there are more than 15 million members living all over the world. About six million of them live in the United States. Four and a half million of them live in the Western United States and 1.8 million live in Utah. It is the second fastest growing church in the United States. It is the fourth largest in the United States. The leader of the Church is called the President of the Church, and members respect him as a prophet. Right now, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Russell M. Nelson. Latter-day Saints believe that God guides their prophet, just like Catholics believe God guides the Pope.
Latter-day Saints believe in the Holy Scriptures including the Bible and Book of Mormon- Another Testament of Jesus Christ. They also believe that it is important for families to spend a lot of time together, and that after they die, they can live together forever. Latter-day Saints do not drink alcohol, coffee, or tea; smoke tobacco; or use other drugs. They meet once a week on Sunday for church, where they take the sacrament and listen to short talks by members of their own congregation. They also have Sunday school to learn more about their religion. The Church also has activities during the week. Latter-day Saints also have buildings called temples. These are the most holy buildings in their religion. After a temple has been dedicated, only Latter-day Saints that are living lives in accordance with the teachings of the church can go in the temple.
Latter-day Saints believe in helping poor and needy people all around the world. Because of this, Latter-day Saints have given $1.2 billion, since 1985, in cash and assistance to other people. They also believe it is important to learn their family history, often called genealogy. They also help others to learn their family histories, and give access to all their family history records for free, through the internet, on the website Familysearch.org.
In 1842, Joseph Smith wrote 13 paragraphs describing what the Church and its members believe. These are those 13 beliefs:
The ARTICLES OF FAITH
There are several divisions of the Church. The biggest ones are areas. An area might be a whole country, or part of a continent. Another division is a temple district. A temple district contains all the congregations served by one temple. This often means a whole state, region, or large city. Still another division is the mission, which is an area to which missionaries are assigned; almost all of the world is part of a mission, whether or not missionaries live or seek converts there.
Another division of the church is the stake. Stakes contain all the Latter-day Saints in a geographic area (for example, the stake in Whittier, California serves all the Latter-day Saints in Whittier, Pico Rivera and La Mirada). A stake often contains several thousand members. Stakes are divided into wards.
In areas where the church is less established and there are not enough members to form a stake, a district is formed. Districts serve much the same role as stakes. In turn, districts are divided into branches. If the church membership grows large enough, a district will be changed into a stake and the branches into wards.
Each congregation is one ward (or branch). A ward might contain only people who speak a language other than the local language of its area. Examples include areas next to large U.S. military bases in foreign countries, where English-language wards may be organized, and major U.S. cities with many immigrants, where wards using Spanish, dialects of Chinese, or other languages are often formed. In some places, there are special wards for deaf people, where the services are held in the local sign language (such as American Sign Language in English-speaking North America). The church also has "singles wards", in which the congregation is made up only of single adults. In turn, there are two types of singles wards—Young Single Adult (YSA), for ages 18 to 30, and Single Adult (SA), for those over 30.