How people make decisions.
How people make decisions Word count: 1360 "In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world." Discuss and evaluate this claim. In order to truly comprehend the claim that "In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world," one could consider the quote, "[when] The rubber tree won't yield latex: the biologist blames the sapling, the geologist blames the soil, the contractor blames the unskilled laborer and owner says it is fighting back at being controlled," by Amitav Ghosh. This quote accurately portrays the differences in the way people view the world. In the quote Ghosh talks about how four different people will look at the same thing, yet see it in four different ways. Because of the fact that different ways and areas of knowledge affect the choices we make, we often make choices by actually comparing between the areas and ways of knowing. The most common areas of knowledge that people most commonly use are ethics and history, both ancient and recent, authority and science. People tend to look at things from as scientific view and then compare their view with one of ethical perspective. When making decisions it is seemingly built into the subconscious of every human to use logic, past memory and personal experience when formulating a
Examine some of the problems that sociologists may encounter when using questionnaires in their research
Examine some of the problems that sociologists may encounter when using questionnaires in their research Research is important for sociologists if they desire to prove a theory or to fund their own theories and opinions on. One method of doing this is by using questionnaires in which tend to be generally structured. If these questions are "open questions" then they allow the interviewee more flexibility in their answers and can give a more personal feel to the research as the interviewee is adding their own incite into the topic. However with structured questionnaires there is always a problem in that the interviewee may feel pressured into trying to give the correct answer so the data may not be valid. If the questionnaire is structured with "closed questions" then the answers expressed are not as personal and can be invalid due to the interviewee just ticking any box and therefore not reliable. Also with closed questions the question itself can be bias in the way it's phrased therefore causing another problem for using a questionnaire. Perhaps because questionnaires are easier to produce they are less effective for research methods. Practically using questionnaires is time consuming or expensive as the most efficient way of using questionnaires is face-to-face and so requires either a hired person or oneself to patrol the streets asking random members of the public to
Describe the Christian teachings about the way in which believers should treat people who are less fortunate than themselves
Question 1 Describe the Christian teachings about the way in which believers should treat people who are less fortunate than themselves. There are people in this world less fortunate than ourselves but do we help them enough? The bible says 'treat others as we would like to be treated' this is something we should live by. There are many people out there with no health care and no money it's a fact that 94% of the world's wealth is in the developed countries yet it is only 1/4 of the world's population, so 3/4 of the world has 6% of the worlds wealth. Also in a lot of places there is no clean water, a lot of children are being born into disease and this needs to stop! So we should help but do we? The bible tells us to help those less fortunate and not to just ignore problems in society 'do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen, leave them for the poor and the alien' in this god is telling Christians to help the poor and the outcast from society because they are less fortunate than us and they may need help more than others. 'There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in the land' in this god is saying lets not be selfish and that we should make every effort to help our neighbour and our neighbour is basically anyone who needs our
In today's society, there is a tendency to associate the concepts of what is bad and what is evil.
In today's society, there is a tendency to associate the concepts of what is bad and what is evil. Only in cases of acute malevolence are we inclined to delineate evil as the more severe condemnation. The only certainty in popular morality is an opposition between the forces of good and evil. In The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Kant discusses his definitions of good and morality. He touches on what he considers to be bad, and he makes a slight discrepancy between bad and evil. In his article, A Kantian Theory of Evil, Ernesto Garcia elaborates on Kant's work by asserting the theory that evil is distinctly different from ordinary immoral acts. Garcia begins his article by discussing our general inclination to regard evil acts as things that more deeply offend than simple misconduct, such as rape, murder, or brutal torture. However, he argues that this view "simply reduces the difference between evil and immoral acts to a mere quantitative analysis". In other words, we commonly view these types of actions as simply being really bad. Garcia argues that there is indeed a difference between just bad and genuinely evil, something deeper than what Kant originally discussed. Kant discriminates between bad and evil by defining bad as a "means to take [an action] as somehow harmful or disagreeable to one's general well-being". He then defines evil as a
Utilitarianism (Weaknesses and strengths)
Utilitarianism (Weaknesses and strengths) Utilitarianism states that "an action is right if it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number". The two greatest promoters and followers of utilitarianism are Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and his student Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Although Mill was the one who perfected the theory, it is Bentham who was the theory's chief popularizer and an example that people followed. According to Bentham the correct ethical standard is the principle of utility, which states that an action should only be done if it brings the maximum amount of happiness to those who are affected by that action. This principle brings about the first concern with utilitarianism because how can you fully decide which people would be affected? The principle of utility only refers to the individual actions by individuals, meaning if more happiness is produced by actions the better the world would be. These actions must be voluntary as the moral responsibility depends on the person concerned having the real choice of whether to perform the action or not. Bentham gave us an illustration of how to choose which action to perform. It goes something like this: if immediate action (A) produces less happiness than future action (B), then you should do B. i.e. [A = +5 hedons (units of happiness) B = +7 hedons] However if B produces more happiness and more
Personal, Organizational, or Cultural Values Influencing Decision-Making in Personal and Professional Lives
Personal, Organizational, or Cultural Values Influencing Decision-Making in Personal and Professional Lives Debra C. Williams Managerial Communication & Ethics (COM525) Mr. Jerry Barkley September 24, 2004 Abstract Personal, organizational, and cultural values can affect our decision-making process in our personal and professional lives determining our success or failure. Every decision renders consequences whether good or bad, and these values can influence its outcome. Personal, organizational, and cultural values will describe how you will take the journey as well as the achievement of the journey. These values will be discussed singly and together when used in decision-making in our personal and professional lives. Personal, Organizational, or Cultural Values Influencing Decision-Making in Personal and Professional Lives Whether it is a personal, organizational, or cultural value, a value is a "belief, a mission or a philosophy" (Retrieved September 10, 2004), which can affect our decision-making process in our personal and professional lives. Committing to and applying these values ultimately can determine his or her success or failure in their daily lives. Every decision renders consequences whether good or bad, and these values can influence its outcome. Each person's values will describe how he or she will take the journey as well as the achievement of
Different religious and philosophical views on controversial topics.
Jonathan Lloyd PRE assessed essay The smallest wonder Amillia, born only 21 weeks and six days after conception, is the most premature baby ever to survive. In England the cut-off point for abortion with no medical reason is 24 weeks, Amillia is destined to grow into a healthy human being, and so does abortion amount to murder? Buddhist A Buddhist would say that all life is sacred and should never be taken away, and to have an abortion would amount to murder and as such would place the worst kind of bad karma upon your soul. The first Buddhist precept is do not kill, this is to say that to take the life of any living creature is wrong and because they believe in ensoulment at birth that even a foetus is considered living. However, they would also say that intention is a great factor and as such if you mean well and spare the mother or the child future pain then abortion may not give as much bad karma. Utilitarian A utilitarian would say that this proves that the abortion cut-off point is too long because no amount of pain on the parent's part would ever account for all of the pleasure in the child's life. However if the child was to be handicapped and would not have the ability to live with an acceptable quality of life then it would cause less pain overall to abort the birth. Kantian A Kantian would say that to take a human life under any circumstances is wrong and
RE crousework topic 9
Sameenah Hafiz (a) Describe the teachings of the religion which you are studying about the way in which believers should treat people who are less fortunate than themselves. Islam is a religion that was revealed to Muslims by their creator, Allah Almighty. Islam has the answer to all problems including the most common problem that this world has had throughout its lifetime, poverty. It is typical that we live in our thousands and millions of pounds while people starve and die of hunger. This wide spread population of the world today lives in dire poverty. Since 1400 years Islam has had the perfect solution to getting rid of poverty within a year of being openly charitable. This can be accomplished in many ways. In Islam it is compulsory to pay certain so called 'tax' to the poor known as Zakat out of their collected wealth. The money gathered from the given 'tax' is shared out the poverty stricken and deprived. Zakat is a Arabic word which means 'purification' and 'growth.' One very significant belief in Islam is that we all are creations of Allah, and so in result we all belong to him and money has been given to us in the form of trust and responsibility. Is it like a test really of what we will spend our wealth on a good cause or a bad cause. If you have had wealth in your ownership for one entire year at least, you must give Zakat. There have been principles that have
At the beginning of evaluating the necessity for ethical principles it is logical to say what the term Ethics means.
At the beginning of evaluating the necessity for ethical principles it is logical to say what the term Ethics means. Mullins (2002) suggests that "Ethics is concerned with the study of morality: practices and activities that are considered to be importantly right and wrong, together with the rules that govern those activities and the values to which those activities relate" (p148). Work psychology should be closely linked with ethical principles and should go together all the time so that everything is done properly and without harm. Arnold, Cooper and T Robertson (1998) believe that "work psychologists' activities are governed by ethical principles, many of which concern the rights and well-being of people who pay for their services and/or participate in their research" (p47). Ethical principles are very essential to be considered by work psychologists for not to put the participant under a "subject of risk". Ethical principles are a kind of regulators which define characteristics of professional status and they are an integral part of all aspects of professional life. Every work psychologist should make a careful evaluation of the ethical acceptability of the research. Before doing any research, work psychologist, according to McGuigan (1989) "should establish a clear and fair agreement with research participants prior to their participation. That agreement should
"It is easier to forgive than be forgiven" Discuss.
"It is easier to forgive than be forgiven" Discuss. Different people would respond to this statement in different ways, I personally disagree with the statement. Some people would agree with this statement. They would say it is easier to forgive than be forgiven because all you have to is say "I forgive you", you won't feel the guilt of having done a bad action. The person who has done the bad action and wants to be forgiven has to say sorry and truly mean it, which can be a hard thing to do. They would say that as a Christian, it is easy to forgive others since that is what God instructs them to do, and by forgiving therefore they are following the will of God. A Christian would also say that it is harder to receive forgiveness from someone you have wronged because you feel guilty for having done a bad action, and is therefore much easy to forgive. Some people would disagree with this statement; they would say that in fact it is harder to forgive someone than to be forgiven. If you are the person who is able to forgive someone then you may find it hard to forgive, you may be suffering as a result of a person's actions or you may be constantly reminded of what that person has done and this can make it harder to forgive. If the person who has wronged you does not even repent or say sorry and they show no remorse then this can also make forgiveness difficult, if there is no