Chapter question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Chapter question - Essay Example age, compatibility, complexibility, trialability, observability, impact on social relations, reversibility, communicability, time, risk and uncertainty, commitment and modifiability† (Edberg, p. 59). Relative advantage defines the measure of effectiveness and efficiency of a proposed innovation with respect to the old technology. A significant relative advantage will therefore motivate a faster adoption of the theory. Complexibility refers to the level of ease of applying a proposed technology. While a complex technology may delay implementation due to lack of implementation resources and determination of certainty over the technology, a less complex technology can be immediately implemented (Edberg, p. 59). Triability however defines the ability to test the technology, practically, before its adoption. Where such practical tests are possible, decision can be made on whether to adopt the technology or not. In cases where such tests are not possible, alternative approaches must be devised and this may delay adoption of the proposed technology. The impacts that the technology can have on the society are also important in determining how fast it can be implemented. This is because social responsibility measures must first be put in place before implementation of the technology. The other factors can also either speed up or delay implementation (Edberg, p.

Overview of Culture in Taiwan

Overview of Culture in Taiwan The republic of China took over Taiwan and the surrounding islands from Japan in the year 1945. The official language used is Mandarin. Taiwanese people are all citizens of the Republic of China who hold the countrys citizenship and the people living in Taiwan. There are three paradigms that are used in identifying the Taiwanese people; self-identification, national criteria and the social cultural criteria. Taiwanese are popular for holding on to most of their traditions, customs and beliefs despite the influence of modernization and external cultural influence (Schubert 2011, p. 4). In this essay, we will look at cultural aspects that define the identity of the Taiwanese Chinese and the essence of being one. Values The Taiwanese people have a considerable diversity among them in regard to genetics, cultural and linguistic. This is as a result of the assimilation of various ethnicities and tribes within china and thousands of years of immigration (Immigrant adaptation, 2012). Confucianism has had much influence on the Taiwanese culture. Confucianism is known for shaping the thoughts of the Chinese and initializes the values of filial piety, which implied the conducting of certain shared rituals (Chen 2001, p. 45). The villagers in this society lavished on wedding and funeral ceremonies, imitating the Confucian virtues of the emperors. Most of the Taiwanese wear the Western style clothing with just a few wearing the traditional clothing on a regular basis. In terms of family matters, the Taiwanese have a family manager who is in charge of income and the family head that represents the family to the world. The families are run on set rules and the whole family traditionally stays in a large triangular house (Chen 2001, p. 48). The cross-cultural psychology makes an effort to understand individuals of different cultures and how they interact with each other. The implicit culture theory indicates that the underlying stereotypes, assumptions, beliefs, and schemas influence the way they relate with each other. The beliefs, stereotypes, and schemas differ across cultures, and given that Taiwanese is formed of different people, some assimilated immigrants who come with their own beliefs, then the implicit culture can help us as a society to understand each other (Hsiau 2000, p. 67). Literature and Art The Taiwanese have literature and art that defines their culture. Dancing is part of the community activity which started as early as 8000 years ago. A dance is the main component of Taiwan culture and involves worship and prayer. The community uses sleeves, long scarves and extensions to contribute to the unique forms of dances (Hua 2001, p. 84). Similarly, we use metaphors in this society to define peoples character traits. For example, the spider is used to represent varied things in society. In this society, the Spider symbolizes persistence and patience because of its hunting technique. The spider sets webs and waits for the prey to become ensnared. The Taiwanese use the spider web to indicate malice and mischief since the spider has poisonous venom that kills slowly (Eberhard 1974, p. 56). The onion metaphor has been used to describe the learning styles in Taiwanese culture. The external layers of the onion represent the peoples preferences with regard to where they wish to study. As one peel the onions, the inner part represent the way people perceive information differently and the inner part of the onion represents the cognitive styles of information processing. The core of the onion represents the personality traits of the people. The metaphors describe ones character and attributes as the onions metaphor can be used to describe an extrovert or introvert (Taiwanese Literature Movement, 2011). The five factor model of personality; extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience and conscientiousness are used to explain the character traits of the people in different societies. The five factor model originated from two independent research traditions. The first research was that of the Lexis analysis of personality terms which occurs in Natural language. Lexis analysis insists that encoded language can be used to describe the individual differences in traits. The other approach is the factor analysis which is based on different theory-based personality inventories (Martin Gates 1981, p. 91). One of the researches based on the NEO Personality Inventory established that all the five factors had strong genetic bases. Despite the fact that individual differences are substantially stable, personality traits show modest maturational changes that are briefly summarized by noting that most people tend to decline N, E, and O and increase A and C in their adulthood. The model generalizes across cultures despite the differences in history, languages, political systems, religion and other cultural features. The model considers the age differences and the sex differences too (Martin Gates 1981, p. 93). The other forms of art found in this culture include the sculpturing, drawing and music. The society has beautiful patterns of ancient cooking utensils which are as a result of sculpturing. Using pictures and paints to express the imaginative thoughts is a common happening in Taiwanese society. Similarly, the culture has classic texts such as the Art of War and the analects of Confucius (Martin 2003, p. 23). Customs, Traditions, and Practices of Taiwan Culture The mainland China and Taiwan, the traditional Chinese customs and culture still hold sway. However, Cultural Revolution and political movements have contributed to the destruction of the culture and customs. The traditional religious beliefs are almost extinct. In addition, Taiwan members in the society rarely read the classics for themselves. The Taiwanese people have been able to absorb the western customs and cultures (Hsin 2012, p. 23). Taiwanese offer traditional cuisines whose richness surpasses that of Korea and Japan. The traditional festivals have been preserved, and people still do reunite with their families in these festivals. Among the festivals are the Lantern Festivals, the Chinese New year Eve, Dragon Boat Festivals, Chinese Valentine day and the Tomb Sweeping Day among others (Martin 2003, p. 23). The ancient Chinese did not celebrate their birthdays because it was seen as the day the mother to the child was suffering. After the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese started celebrating birthdays as a result of influence from India. The fusing of the Western and the Chinese tradition has made the celebration of birthdays more enjoyable than that of the decade. As we are not too bothered about the religious differences, we have different funeral practices in Taiwan. With the Taiwanese people having an open mind, it is easy to blend the traditional and the foreign customs. This has resulted into a diversified Taiwanese culture (Liao Wang, 2006, p.81). There exist harmful socializing practices among the Taiwanese youth. On normal family interactions, a caregiver spends time with children on a variety of playing and mundane activities. Research indicates that more than 300 events of shame are identified in over a hundred hours of video typed spontaneous home interactions (Katz Rubinstein 2003, p.19). Language and Ethnicity Taiwan is a multiethnic and multi lingual society. The majority of the ethnic groups are the Holos with 73.3%, mainlanders 13%, Hakka 12% and the indigenous 1.7%. The Holo, Hakka and the mainlanders constitute the Han people whose language is a contrast to the Abogriges. The Abogriges differ from the Han people by their ethnic language. Language and ethnicity are bound to change with alterations in the environment. Research has indicated that the Hakka are losing their mother tongue faster than their identity. The Taiwanese identity has been promoted through its language (Davison 2004, p. 45). Religion and Rituals Religion plays an essential role in the cultural identity of the Taiwanese. The Chinese folk religion has had a profound influence on the people. Taoism and Confucianism share aspects of a religion without a demand for exclusive adherence, which culminates to cultural syncretism and tolerance. In the 20th century, the Confucianism was a state official philosophy that governed the moral code with some religious elements like the ancestor worship (Davison 2004, p. 48). One of the ancient rituals is the Ji-tong ritual. It involves people hitting themselves on the head until a gush of blood comes out. Tainan and Lugang are the destinations popularly known for the ancient Chinas culture, old temples and the traditional religious practices. Probability of witnessing the Ji-tong ritual in these places is half given that the ritual takes place on the birthdays of the Chinese gods. As such, the people depend much on the spiritual communication (Davison 2004, p. 56). The Taiwans indigenous people ritual is often focused on the adulthood, good harvest, hunting and spirits rituals. The aim of these rituals is to request for good fortune, consolidating peoples hearts, thanksgiving and survival training. The rituals are considered the major spiritual symbols of the Taiwanese traditional culture (Davison 2004, p. 58). In-Groups According to Murray Hong (1994), the Chinese culture is more of collectivist than individualist. However, both the individualist and collectivist values are endorsed in this society. Two layers of personal relationship have been identified to distinguish how people conduct their social interactions. The in-group perceives others to be part of them while the out-group does not consider themselves as part. In Taiwanese culture, our immediate family members always constitute our in-group while our current and potential enemies constitute the out-groups. As much as we are collectivists, the world sees us as middle group because we do not view the people outside the in-group as totally out-group. We do not categorize them immediately as in-group or out-group when we meet people for the first time. Being a Taiwanese teaches one to be part a member of the larger society and not to be individualistic (Murray Hong 1994, p. 64) There is flexible acculturation during the transmigration process of the Taiwanese in China. The Taiwanese government has identified three strategies that enable flexible acculturation; reinvention of the ethnic identities, spatial movements and the graduated sovereignty. The different transmigration processes have been found to have influence on the Taiwanese women social image, ties to the children, careers, spatial relocation and self-perception. In the Taiwanese acculturation, we single out the extramarital affairs between the Taiwanese men and the Chinese women (Liu 2008, p. 70). Family Importance in Taiwan Culture Taiwan culture emphasize on familial bonds as it shapes the culture of the entire nation. Family plays an influential role in the Chinese culture despite the modernization role of family in China has shifted. The Taiwanese believe that the family membership is inherited through the father. This implies that families are normally headed by the Chinese male members in that family. The elders in the society command much respect and have the most authority (Lu 1997, p. 96). According to the filial piety rationale, the older people within the family have the prevailing will over the younger and inferior members of the society. The culture emphasizes on paying reverence to the ancestors that have passed on, especially the male with failure to do so attracts bad luck to the family. Families that lack the male descendants are thought to become volatile ghosts upon death. In the family set up, each position has its own name allocated to it. For example, fathers older brother is referred to as the Bo fu, while the younger one is shu fu. In the modern society, women are gaining more power in the family set-up which has challenged the traditional patriarchal set-up. The young ones have apparently been allowed to have a say in their future life unlike in the previous decades (Lu 1997, p. 96). The Chinese citizens of the Han descent had a child policy in 1979, which stipulated that a couple ought to only bear one child to themselves (Gu 2006, p. 21). The law was to help control the Chinese population boom. A couple faced a hefty fine on breaking this rule. A great number of cases of sterilization and forced abortions existed in this era. The policy was exempted for a family that bore male children as maleness is highly valued in the Chinese culture (Schubert 2011, p. 33). The relationship guanxi describes the basic dynamics in personalized networks of influence, in the Chinese society. In this relationship, the people are to be of equal social status. It refers to the social benefits gained from the school friends, extended family workmates and members of the same organization. The Guanxi relationship echoes the collectivism that is emphasized in this culture. The collectivism just as Guanxi relationship helps maintain the family and friend contacts and strengthen the bond between groups of people and family. The reciprocal favors are the ones that maintain this Guanxi web where failure to reciprocate is considered an unforgivable offense (Lin 2011, p. 42). In conclusion, being a member of the Taiwanese brings a sense of belonging. The cultures and traditions are friendly to assimilate. This has seen most immigrants being assimilated into this culture without much difficulty. The society is more accepting to the out-group than any other countries. We hold the family set up of importance to the image of the entire country. We uphold the cultural values emphasized in the Confucianism and classics. In addition, the people in this culture are allowed to perform their religious rituals in regard to their religion.

Feenbergs Beliefs Of Technology :: essays research papers

Feenberg believes his Critical Theory of Technology to be the most useful and accurate of his three theories on technology. His critical theory of technology is said to be a combination of the best points of both the substantive and instrumental theories of technology while simultaneously allowing for technological progress. For the purpose of this paper, I will go into depth on Feenberg’s critical theory of technology; however, in order to understand this theory, we must briefly examine his two other theories of technology, which are the substantive, and the instrumental theories of technology. Feenberg has three views of technology. They are the instrumental theory, the substantive theory, and the critical theories of technology. The instrumental theory is "the dominant view of modern governments and the policy sciences on which they rely." (Feenberg P. 5) It views technology as inferior to certain values in other societies. The substantive theory "argues that technology constitutes a new type of cultural system that restructures the entire social world as an object of control." (Feenberg p. 7) This substantive theory forces technology on societies typical customs and ideas. The third view on technology is what Feenberg believes to be the most useful and accurate. This would be his critical theory of technology, which is said to be a combination of the best points of both the substantive and instrumental theories of technology while allowing for technological progress as well. The substantive theory of technology argues that the effect technology has on society is more damaging then the visible effects of the technologies themselves. Jacques Ellul and Martin Heidegger believe that technology establishes a new way of living that rebuilds society as something that they cannot control themselves. An example would be to compare fast food to a home cooked meal. Though some argue that fast food is an amazing technology in itself by allowing one to receive hot food in a few minutes notice, others will argue differently. Some see it as a replacement of the home cooked meal that brings families together every evening for dinner. This is the time for families to share and communicate their thoughts, feelings and ideas with one another. Everyone is able to catch up with each other despite the craziness in one's own life. The convenience and technology of fast food takes something away from families and the one chance a day that they might not otherwise receive to talk to one another.

“Beguiling Lure “ by Isaac Talley Essay

In this essay I will attempt to analyze the artwork named â€Å"Beguiling Lure â€Å" by Isaac Talley , 2009. The medium of this artwork is acrylic and oil on canvas. The composition is simple with the main focus being a dangling object and a portrait of a single bird. The multi coloring of the background is bright and soft with dark and light hues. The artist was able to deliver the paint onto the canvas in different directions and angles which gives the appearance of overlapping colors,roughness and an uneven texture. There is a small horizontal space that has been left blank and untouched in the middle of the canvas that provides a dividing line separating the upper portion of the painting from the lower portion. Even though there is no similarities in the main two subjects in the painting the artist brings balance, proportion and unity to his work by using the same background colors and patterns from top to bottom. The eye is automatically drawn towards two specific areas on the canvas and directly to the middle upper portion of the painting where a circular white object is attached to a dark blue string of yarn that hangs from a peg at the top of the canvas. In the bottom right corner a is a painting of a black bird standing with its back to the viewer as it looks towards the hanging object. I think the painting is a form of expression in which the intention is to give the viewer an increased awareness of how we have become a materialistic society. Because of our increased desire for the better things in life it is easier to allow ourselves to become distracted and lose sight of what is truly important in life. As a society we want to strive to be better in everything we do. In the past our american culture has taught us right from wrong, to love God and country and to stand true to our families. The importance of those morals and values seem to have disappeared.The black bird or raven can be a positive symbol of mankind’s desire to be moral and spiritually correct and the white dangling object or the â€Å"lure† an example of the opposite, a representation of those material things of the world that distracts us and has the power if we allow it to strip away our true identity and personally values and change our perceptions on life.

Memory: Bullying and Life Essay

My earliest memory of my childhood joy was when I was four years old. I was sitting on the kitchen counter next to my mom helping her fix dinner. I do not remember what we cooked but I do remember having fun with my mom, it was the first time she taught me how to prepare food. I remember my mom cutting an onion and the juice squirted into my eye; it hurt so bad I screamed and yelled. To this day I still do not like to use onions when I am cooking, for this reason I have someone else cut the onions for me. I have always loved cooking with my mom and still love how we joke around when we are in the kitchen. I loved that I could tell her anything that is going on with me in my life when we are alone in the kitchen cooking together. Looking back at these moments in the kitchen with my mom, I realized more than ever that I wanted to start learning how to cook when I was four years old. We shared our lives while we were in that kitchen, and she taught me how to use many different types of recipes that I could use with many types of food. I love how we shared things and would tell each other our juicy secrets that we would never share with anyone else. She would also give me advice on problems that I had going on in my life. In the future, I will use this method to develop a relationship when I have my own daughter. I know she will ask me how to cook and show her step by step how prepare delicious food, that’s when I will cleverly ask her about her life. I want her to be able to come and talk to me about any problems that she has and when she needs a solution, I will help her resolve it quickly. Hopefully we will develop the kind of friendship that I have with my mother now and I hope this can be a stronger friendship that can never be broken and thrown away over silly things. My earliest unpleasant memory of school was getting bullied. I started getting bullied when I was starting middle school. Every day when I would go to school, the bullies would be there waiting for me to come so they could bully me until I would cry out in front of the whole school, I was so embarrassed and horrified of what they did to me in those days. Sometimes I am scared to tell my parents because I don’t know how they will react to the situation. I would get bullied because I didn’t have the right clothes that everybody else had on and because I was fat and they would say that people would never hang out with me or become my friend. I hated that my friends would not help me fight the bullies. They would just stand there clueless and not standing up against the bullies because they did not want to become the next target or get picked on. The bullies also picked on me because I had a learning disability. This means that I cannot defend myself because I was slow and could not comprehend what they were doing to me at school. In middle school I was a quiet kid who never bothered anyone, I was kind and I kept to myself. I didn’t know I was different or â€Å"uncool† until I started middle school. Sometimes being bullied makes me feel like I am the only one getting bullied on and I hated that so much. I was verbally and physically bullied every day and I couldn’t take anymore, I was getting harassed so much that they soon had nothing left to bring me down. I even tried to tell a teacher but she would not listen to me or believe my story. I was so scared for my life and nobody would help me; they would just stand there and laugh at me. At one point, I was constantly getting ridiculed by the popular kids and they always called me all sorts of names in the â€Å"bully book†. Getting bullied as a child scarred me for life and sometime I have a hard time forgetting what they did to me and how they did it. Four years later, I think back to all of things the bullies did to me and how I could have prevented it from happening in the first place. To this day, it still makes me cry every time I think about it. I feel like I will never be able to shake off the damage that was done to me. Will I ever be a complete person again? Getting bullied has affected me in so many ways but bullies do not really realized nor do they care how much agony they are causing the kids that they are picking on. I really want to tell the kids that are getting bullied today to realized that they can talk to someone about this. When this was happening to me I felt so alone and it is horrible to have no one you can turn to for help. It is also horrible in having going to school every day knowing those kids are getting enjoyment out of their misery. I hope one day I can talk to kids that are being bullied by other kids at school and encourage them to talk to a counselor or the principal about what’s going on. I have learned that I cannot let people bring me down because that can follow me in life. I have to make sure that I stand up for myself and what I believed in because fighting is not going to solve anything and I need to be stronger against my enemies that tried to bring me down. I can always know that I will have God by my side no matter what because I am not in this alone. My most vivid memory of my adolescent defiance is that I was easily agitated, I had a very explosive temper that I could not control during my adolescents years. I was so resentful, spiteful to my parents, my friends and to others that I treated badly. I would always get in an argument with someone that was getting on my nerves or talking my ears off about nonsense that I didn’t care about. At some point, I was desperate to prove that I was â€Å"an adult† to my parents and friends because they were not acknowledging me as one. Sometimes I often feel like I did not receive the respect and autonomy that I deserve. I would get so mad that I slammed the doors and would yell obscenities at people or my family members that did not deserve to be yelled at in the first place. I would just leave the house so that I can clear my head and think about my behavior and how I was vindictive to my family members and my friends that cared about me and loved me so much. I hated that I was disrespectful to them and that I called them names and cursed at them for no reason at all. As a teenager, it was tough for me to get along with people that did not like me or did not want to hang out with me. In high school, it was hard for me not to curse at the other kids who were saying bad things about me while they did not even know me. I had no idea why would they do that and I guess never will. As I was growing up, I learned that you should never be disrespectful to your elders but I was in that stage where it was funny to do it because other people were doing it too. I could tell that I was changing because of my negative attitude and how I was talking to others that were trying to help me feel better. I did not feel better because I felt like I was still filled with anger, frustration, and depression that I could not control my emotions cause they were all over the place. I didn’t even know how to hide my feelings from people. As I have grown older, I have changed my ways because I prayed to God that I wanted to change and become a different person that people will love and adore. I did not want to be that girl that disrespects people for no apparent reason. I want be a nicer person that will help people with their problems or difficult situations. I want to be able to control my anger and my emotions because I don’t want to do something I will someday regre t doing.