In a group or society, a taboo is something that is against the societal value of such community or group. It is a bad act and is not expected to be done. Sometimes even talking about taboos is taboo. Some actions that are thought of as taboo may also be against the law. Breaking the taboo may result to punishment by those states. Breaking other taboos can result in feeling embarrassed, or ashamed. Breaking a taboo is sometimes seen as .
The English word is traced back to Tongan "tapu" or the Fijian "tabu". These words usually mean "not allowed", or "forbidden". In its current use in Tonga, the word "tapu" also means "sacred" or "holy", in the sense of being restricted or protected by custom or by law. For example, the main island in the Kingdom of Tonga, where the capital Nuku'alofa is located and most of the population resides, is called "Tongatapu".
The use of the word "taboo" drawn from "tapu". "Tapu" means "not allowed". It dates back to 1777 and an English explorer, Captain James Cook, went to a place he named "the Friendly Islands" (now Tonga). Writing about the Tongans, he wrote:
Some Solomon Islanders say that their languages have a word "tabu" (said like "ta-boo") that means holy. It refers to places in the bush where holy spirits live. Those areas should not be disturbed unless a ceremony or ritual is taking place. As taboo, they are places that should not be touched.
Taboos can include:
Some taboos are because a religious, legal or social authority did something, over and over. Taboos can be talked about or joked about, outside "polite society". Comedy and satire such as "South Park", "The Simpsons" or "Beavis and Butthead" frequently do this.
There have been two main groups of explanations why taboos exist:
One suggestion is that taboos are the result of history and certain cultural experiences (which is called "Anthropolcial approach"). Steven Pinker suggests that taboos have developed culturally from more basic instincts. For taboos regarding the dead, he proposes that the human brain may have developed a hard-wired repulsion to many carriers of disease – an "intuitive microbiology". Only with the modern development of scientific microbiology have humans been able to rationalize these taboos. Pinker suggests similar explanations for the incest taboo and other things that cause the reflex emotion of disgust.
The other proposal is that taboos are the result of unconscious phenomena that are passed on (and this is called "Psychoanalytical approach"). Sigmund Freud provided an analysis of taboo behaviours. He highlighted strong subconscious motivations behind such prohibitions. In this system, described in his collection of essays "Totem and Taboo", Freud says there is a link between forbidden behaviours and the sanctification of objects to certain kinship groups. Freud also states that the only two "universal" taboos are that of incest and patricide, which formed the eventual basis of modern society.
German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt explains that taboos were originally nothing other than an objectified fear of a "demonic" power which was believed to lie hidden in a tabooed object. Sigmund Freud believes this to be a superficial explanation having nothing to do with the true origins of taboos. He claims that many similarities between taboo-holders and obsessive neurotics point to "a psychological condition that prevails in the unconscious". Freud believes this "unconsciousness" is central to understanding the history of taboos. He then reconstructs the history of taboo based on the model of obsessional prohibitions as follows:
And so, "Anyone who has violated a taboo becomes taboo himself because he possesses the dangerous quality of tempting others to follow his example."
Flatfish
Flatfish are a type of fish. There are several different kinds of flatfish. Some of them are fished commercially, like flounder, sole, turbot, plaice, and halibut.
All flatfish are rather flat, and have rays. They swim sideways. Some can hide on the ocean floor, waiting for prey. They have a capacity for dynamic camouflage, which is under nervous control, and can change in 'real time'.
The Order Pleuronectiformes is in the infraclass Teleostei. But it is best to look upon it as a group of fish which are adapted to the same habitat. They share those features which suit their life-style. They have both eyes on one side of the head: the upper side. This is their main adaptation to living on the seabed (benthos). Other distinguishing features are the protrusible eyes: they can stick the eyes up a bit to see round.
The flatfish life-style or 'habit' evolved several times independently, and so the group is polyphyletic. Their young are perfectly symmetrical, but the head is remodelled during a metamorphosis. One eye moves to the other side, close to the other eye. Some species have both eyes on the left (turbot), some on the right (halibut, sole); all living and most fossil flatfish to date show an 'eyed' side and a 'blind' side.
Charles Darwin predicted a gradual migration of the eye in evolution, mirroring the metamorphosis of the living forms. A recent examination of two fossil species from the Eocene shows "the assembly of the flatfish bodyplan occurred in a gradual, stepwise fashion". The intermediate stages survived for quite a long time: over two geological stages. They are found in sites together with flatfish with the full cranial asymmetry. That shows the intermediate stages were at no particular disadvantage. Eventually, the more complete forms did survive. The evolution of flatfish falls squarely within the evolutionary synthesis.
"Amphistium" is a 50-million-year-old fossil fish which has been identified as an early relative of the flatfish, and as a transitional fossil. In "Amphistium", the transition from the typical symmetrical head of a vertebrate is incomplete, with one eye placed near the top-center of the head. Paleontologists concluded that "the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution by natural selection.
Trey
Trey could mean:
Monopoly
A monopoly (from the Greek "monos", one + "polein", to sell) is when a product or service can only be bought from one supplier for a specific market. If other firms serve the market, they may be too small compared to the largest, thus allowing the large firm to have a lot of market power. A monopoly usually happens when there is no economic competition to produce the product or service and there is no available substitutes to the product or service.
In economics, a monopoly is a single producer of a product or service. In law, a monopoly is a firm that has a lot of market power and is able to charge very high prices for a product or service. As long as the firm has a lot of market power, it does not matter if the firm is large or small, as size is not used to decide if a firm is a monopoly.
A monopoly can be formed by the government, by merging a few firms to form a large one, or form naturally to become a natural monopoly. In many places, utilities such as telephone service or cable television are monopolies, as it is very costly to build the infrastructure for another firm to compete in the market. Such natural monopolies is hence allowed by the government, but is usually strictly controlled to prevent the monopoly from charging a very high price for a product or service.
Many countries, including the United States, have laws to stop companies from having a monopoly or to limit the actions that they can do as a monopoly.
In classical economics, a monopoly does this:
A monopoly is a type of firm that wants to make its profits as big as possible, and as the market does not have any other large firms, the monopoly is able to set prices on their products or services. Hence, the monopoly would set a price that would maximize the profits that they gain, but cause the consumers to have to pay more for the same good.