Humans & ability Essay

Humans’ most important ability is our ability to communicate through spoken language. The ability of humans to speak makes us stand out in the animal kingdom, according to many philosophers and scientists. It is just natural for humans to desire to know how we developed the ability of using language in communicating. This paper focuses on how the human language evolved. Through the comparative studies of the apes with the human language, it provided information to humans when the necessity for the language structure was developed. INTRODUCTION Study of Primates Communication Abilities. Since the ‘homo sapiens’ have been considered as the human’s cousin, the language of the apes have been studied. Some believes that the human language evolved earlier than them. The American Sign Language or ASL has been taught to a number of apes. Different approaches were also used from 1970s for some species of apes to be trained and taught disciplines of communication. Comparison of the Primate and Human Communication Abilities. Human children’s development of their language was compared to the studies made on different forms of primates. It was evident on human children that their development comes slowly as they grow older. Children in the earliest age start with a single word utterance. At fifteen months old of a child, utterance of two words comes easier. Protosyntatic structures in the language development of children come next with longer word utterances. At this stage, noun phrases were observed in the language structure too. This kind of language development on children is comparatively the same with many primates studied from 1970s to present. CONCLUSION The ability of primates to communicate with protolanguage may be a sign that apes can actually understand, learn, and communicate. However, in many instances where primates were trained and disciplined, it is also important to consider that none of the subjects were able to be taught to verbally speak. Moreover, primate language studies have never showed any language exhibitions from the primates in the wild. The protolanguage development on the human children may be a similarity on both but the primates lack the gestural complex in humans. Therefore, this comparison shows that the humans have the natural linguistic ability and the primates do not. WORKS CITED William O’Grady, et al. (1997). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction, 5th edition. New York : Adison Wesley Longman. Pg. 586. Savage-Rumbaugh, S. , Shanker, S. , & Taylor, T. (1998). Apes, Language and the Human Mind. New York: Oxford University Press. Deacon, T. W. (1989). The Neural Circuitry Underlying Primate Calls and Human Language. Human evolution, 4, 367-401.

Dying to be Thin Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dying to be Thin - Assignment Example old Erin, who starved herself, under the illusion that she was fat and ugly, even when she was way below her normal weight and at the verge of death due to malnutrition. In Chapter 6, Jennifer Schmid, who is a victim of another form of anorexia, is unable to balance diet and workout. She eats well but burns a lot more, while exercising, than what she is capable of consuming. And in Chapter 7, we see Anne Chavarro, who suffers from Bulimia, taking to purging to keep up with her binge eating habits. What surprised me the most, was the fact that these eating disorders possessed the power to make human beings capable of withstanding all emotional and physical hardships or of resorting to extremely unpleasant methods like purging or of even putting themselves through starvation which is the worst a human body could suffer, just to be extremely thin. The victims seemed only too pleased about having a disease which left them a subject of admiration, even if it came with a death warrant. Towards the end of Chapter 2, Dr. Joan Jacobs Brumberg, talks about cases of anorexia recorded in history, of women who lived hundreds of years ago. She opines that the common theme in those instances is that those women were using the appetite to express different things, depending upon their historical situation. In Chapter 1, we learn about how Katey Tracey starved herself in a desperate attempt to be accepted by her teacher as the best dancer in her group. Eleena Melamed, another ballet dancer, talks out in Chapter 5, about what led her to anorexia. Her story matches more or less with that of Katey Tracey. It could be said that they were expressing their need to be accepted and admired. Erin, who felt lonely and insecure when her mother had to stay away for a year, took to starvation, to become thin and look glamorous, in order to attract the attention of those around her. She also admits to have been sexually harassed, which added to her feeling of insecurity. Here, she is

Religious Service Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religious Service - Term Paper Example A case of observation is the name. For Christians, the place of worship is called a church, for Islam a mosque, while for the Buddhist, a temple. It is also evident that the religions have unique symbolic cultures that differentiate them from one another as I observed with Islam when I once attended a religious service. This paper will describe the material and non- material culture of the mosque, a place of a warship by Muslims. Mosque A mosque is a place of worship for the Muslim faithful. It is evident from my observation of Muslim congregation and the mosque building that the design and building materials used in the construction of the place of worship mostly depends on heritage, culture and the resources in the community that hosts the mosque. However, it is noticeable that there are certain architectural features common to all mosques. For instance, the mosque’s parts are practical and show a sense of tradition and continuity among all the Muslims across the globe (Penn ey 10). Common architectural features include a minaret which is a slender tower rising at the top of a mosque (Penney 12). The minaret usually varies in height, number, and style. It may be square, octagonal, or round in shape and are in most cases covered with a pointed roof as noted by Penney (12). In the case of the mosque I attended, I was able to observe that it had a tall, slender and round-shaped minaret (Penney 14). On the minaret, there is a loudspeaker used to sermon people to prayers commonly called adhan (Hephaestus Books 14). The mosque is divided into two sections in which, men and women attend the service in different rooms. However, the services are conducted with the leadership of an Imam who is stationed on men’s side. The dress code is usually a veil gown mostly white in color for men and black for women. Every member of the congregation is required to remove the shoes before entering the mosque and put on the shoe shelf. This is mainly to preserve the cle anliness of the mosque and a sign of humility to God. The shelf is placed near the door to prevent pilling of shoes at the door.

Corrections- Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corrections- Strategic Plan - Essay Example The Tasmanian Correction prison institution’s mission is to make a valid contribution towards a safer and better Tasmania. This it aims achieving through the ensuring of a secure and safe containment of inmates and the provision of opportunities to the inmates for rehabilitation community engagement as well as personal development (Taylor, 2009). The Tasmanian Correction Prison’s values are direct. They require that the institution continue committing itself to the best principled leadership as well as embracing sets of core values that are directed at guiding the stakeholders’ behavior. This the institution aims to achieve through: Collaboration: to enhance a communal sense of belonging, everyone at Tasmanian is expected to support a mutual understanding of ideas, an open exploration of all our differences, as well as works together constructively and cooperatively with all the stakeholders alike. Technology: this is aimed at develop and ensuring the best information technology strategy, as well as implement systems that are capable of managing the current and the anticipated growth needs (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Crime prevention as well as safety: this is aimed at the development of a comprehensive crime prevention program, which aid in the establishment of evidence based. This will then aid in the determination of the impact of offender and related programs within the institutions as well as the community, in order to reduce victimization and criminality (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Transparency, outreach and partnerships: the institution is open to entering partnerships, as well as the development of meaningful programs alongside the processes of promoting a shared responsibility for the safety of the community (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Tasmanian institution is known to be a secure facility, in which minors are dedicated as delinquents. The institution’s aim is prepare convicted people for a successful community

Japan's cultural environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Japan's cultural environment - Essay Example In order to work and interact successfully in Japan, an understanding of its national culture is considered important. While businesses have been guided by Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture, this paper evaluates if changes have taken place since the 1960s and 1970s when data was collected by Hofstede. Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. Japan, with a PDI of 54, is a mildly hierarchical society. Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of the institutions expect that power is distributed unequally (Geert-Hofstede). However, the Japanese society is not as hierarchical as most Asian societies, according to Hofstede. Foreigners consider Japan as being extremely hierarchical because the decisions making goes through different layers of management but at the same time, this also demonstrates that there is no one single person in authority. In addition, Japan has been a meritocratic society and believes that everyone is born equal and anyone who is keen to attain higher levels of education, is free to do so, and move ahead. This is the degree to which the society maintains interdependence. Japan’s score of 46 suggests a collectivist society where the harmony of the group is more important than the individual opinions. People in such societies have a strong sense of shame in losing face. However, the Japanese society is not as collectivist as the Chinese society. This is because the Japanese do not have extended family system where collectivism is prevalent. The eldest son in Japanese families carries on the father’s name and inherits assets while the others have to leave home and find their own way in life. The Japanese are more loyal to their company or the organization to which they are attached than to the family. Thus, by western standards they are called collectivists but by Asian standards they are individualistic. Masculinity Index (MAS) Japan has a high score of 95 on this dimension which indicates it is one of the most masculine societies in the world. This, according to Hofstede suggests that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success. However, the Japanese society does not demonstrate the behaviour expected in societies with high masculine scores, possibly because of their mild collectivist nature. There is severe competition but not between individuals; it is severe competition between groups which can be seen even at the primary school level. At the workplace also, employees are motivated when they are fighting against a team of competitors. The Japanese strive for excellence and perfection in

Early Virginia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Early Virginia - Essay Example The English law at that moment did not protect the rights of the Africans, and they ended up being overworked and mistreated. Their hard work and high production rate formed the backbone of the successful and rigid economic status that prevails in the American continent. Although not only Africans who were victimized by slavery, they formed the greatest percentages of manual laborers since they were much stronger physically and were easily available. The labor shortage in America promoted slave trade, and the European powers were competing on the number of slaves. The same completion remains, but has been converted into economic and power competition. An estimation of over fifty million Africans were taken as slaves as early as the year 1800. Most of these slaves were separated from their families and ended up disappearing far away from their people (Zinn 27). Zinn says that slavery is the root of racism since the inferiority of Africans started secondary to slave trade (Zinn 29). The American economy at this period was controlled mainly by agriculture and the richest people were those doing agriculture. Most of this people later ventured into other businesses, which fostered the rapid economic growth of the American continent. The Americans were not concerned with the well-being of the slaves and they even killed the slaves with little work rate. They were inhuman and their only interest was limitless profits from their agriculture. The Africans, on the other hand, were not united due to their ethnic diversities and could not come together to aid themselves out of European slavery. The first slaves from the American continent went to Jamestown at around 1619 and they were used in agricultural firms. The area experienced faster agricultural growth and this led to other English settlers demanding for African slaves to work on their farms. With

Business and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business and Management - Essay Example is reveals that instead of having loads of weaknesses, the organization gained higher profits in comparison to the previous year and industry average. Increment in the sales volume and sales amount had the highest contribution to make this possible. Effective cost management can also be considered as the contributing factor. Lower Gearing Ratio: Basically gearing ratio indicates the relationship between the equity capital and debt. The reason behind calculating this ratio is to determine the long term financial position of the firm and risk factor associated with the organization. Gearing ratio reveals the sustainability of capitalization of the organization. In that case, it can be concluded that being comparatively low geared in comparison to the industry, the company has a scope of taking more debt. Lower Acid Test Ratio: Acid test ratio is more important than the current ratio as CR does not consider value of inventory. Therefore, it can be assumed that acid test ratio indicates more accurate financial position of the organization than the current ratio. Basically according to the rule of thumb, the standard ratio is perceived to be 1 for this particular ratio but it is quite lower in this case. Even the acid test ratio of the company of 2009 is not only lower than 2008 but also from the industry average. Therefore it can be considered as the weakness for the company. Here it is important to mention that there is huge difference in the result of the two years. There is a 57.59% fall in acid test ratio in the year of 2009 when compared with 2008. Zero bank balance can be blamed for this significant change. Again in 2008, there was no bank overdraft, which again had the contribution to enhance the acid test ratio. A lower liquidity ratio refers that the financial position of the company is not sound enough to meet the current obligation immediately. Lower Current Ratio: The current ratio of the organization in the year 2009 is 1.15 and it refers that current