Cultures Influence on Technology Essay -- Environment Environmental P

Culture's Influence on Technology Culture and technology are in a constantly expanding positive feedback loop. The greatest changes in human culture are almost always the result of a technological innovation. However, a technology capable of a cultural shift can only have come from the culture itself. Without the culture's choice to refine the technology, the practical applications would have been left as only fleeting ideas; technology will only be developed if the culture has some immediate and apparent use for it. Although a culture will develop a technology based on its inherent valence towards a particular application, that culture cannot possibly fathom the ultimate repercussions of its collective decision. The inherent multiplier effect in the feedback loop along with unforeseen applications of the technology will guide the "trajectories of cultural evolution" (Ehrlich 255) in completely unexpected ways. Even though cultures can and do have an effect on their course through history, it is only slight when comp ared to the monstrous effect that their technologies have on them. The nature and importance of this type of self-propagating relationship are described in Paul Ehrlich's book "Human Nature: Genes, Culture, and the Human Prospect." Ehrlich describes his own opinion on human development and feedback loops in the following passage: "It is important to know what shapes the course of history, how that influences the evolution of our natures, and how that in turn feeds back on evolutionary history itself." (Ehrlich 254) The statement briefly describes the general form of the positive feedback loop for human development throughout history. The influences he refers to could be anything from the environment to culture... ...e the resources and could not carry a kiln. They did, however, have an immediate and apparent use for the chariot, which could increase their speed and power by an innumerable factor. Although culture is able to guide the technological innovations that are borne from it, humanity does not seem to have much of a say in its course through history. Each step through time is a result of an infinite amount of steps before it all pushing history towards an unknown end. Even the individual who invents an integral technology is only a very small ripple in a tide of inexorable humanity. Works Cited: Chant, Colin. "Chapter 2:Greece" in "Pre-Industrial Cities and Technology." Routledge Press, 1999. pp. 48-80. Ehrlich,Paul R. "Ch. 11: Gods, Dive-Bombers, and Bureaucracy" in "Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect." Island Press, 2000. pp. 253-279.

Police Psychology Essay

A number of methods of learning are available. Studies have shown that most people learn best if the information is presented in more than one format. Because the police officers involved in the crisis prevention will eventually be involved in real-life hostage situations, it is very important that they learn the information effectively. The training will involve a forty hour training, which will take place over a work week. The training would involve all staff that would in some way be involved with a hostage crisis. This would include the police who would respond first to the scene, specialists who would be called in, and dispatchers who take the calls for help. The first day of training would be in oral format. The information would include an introduction of the type of crisis and the basics on the type of people who would be involved (nervous, stressed, frightened, volatile people, who need to be handled very carefully), types of situations, potential places and victims. To get involvement experienced police officers would be encouraged to provide insights on real- life situations and the group could problem solve how to respond. The second day would be watching video trainings of actual situations, then having question and answers over how they were handled and the outcomes. The third day the group would be divided into small groups. Each group would be given a situation (domestic disturbance with the father holding the family hostage or five armed gunmen in an elementary school). Each group would decide the best way to handle the situation, and then the entire group would discuss all of the scenarios and discuss how individual situations would be handled differently. They would discuss whether the father would be more likely to become violent or the gunmen in the school, or a disgruntled employee in his former employer’s office. They would then discuss such issues as motive and background to determine which personalities would be more likely to escalate and which could be talked down. The fourth day would involve the legal issues on how to deal with hostage situations and what promises or threats could be made. The issue of homeland security would come about for public buildings and the United States policy on negotiating with terrorists would be an issue for discussion. The fifth day would be putting the information to the test in a simulated hostage situation. Each member of the group would be required to cover his or her job as if it was a real hostage situation. At the end of it debriefing would occur to discuss what went well and what needed improvement. In a case potentially involving members of the police department it would be very important to keep the information about the case among the main investigators of the case. The role of the psychologist in this case would be to retrace the events of the mayor’s last moments. This would involve learning more about the meeting that had taken place between him and the other prominent official. Since this was the last time he had been seen alive it would be important to find out if something about the meeting led to his death. Part of the psychologist’s job would be to find out if any of the police officials might be involved. In addition to this the psychologist would need to support the other investigators when they have to investigate their co-workers and their superiors. Investigating people close to them could be very difficult for the investigators, especially if they should happen to find that some of their colleagues were involved. In the case that there was police involvement in the murder and the investigators became forced to testify against people they have worked with or for it could create new need for the psychologists. In this situation the psychologist would need to provide support for the investigating officers through the investigation and the trial, against the fear of retaliation. Part of this would involve observing the behavior of other officers towards the investigating officers and being aware of changed behavior towards them. The tools needed for the psychologist’s role would include such things as observation skills, client records and profiles. It would require interviewing and record keeping as well as assisting the investigating officers in finding the motive for the murder. In any field effective management is very important and the relationship between management and subordinates is very important. In the police field it is exceptionally important, because not only does the effectiveness of the business depend on a positive relationship, but the very lives of the police officers could be involved. If the management of the police force is not well organized people can be sent on assignments without needed information or equipment, and be injured or killed on the assignment. Strong management needs to be organized and well informed. Management needs to be aware of the details of cases and situations before officers are placed in harms way. Although in police work there is no way to completely avoid danger, the severity and threat can be minimized by appropriate and thought out preparation and training. For a manager to be effective in placing employees in the proper positions and assignments, it is important for the manager to know the employee’s strengths and weaknesses. The psychologist can be helpful in this area by getting to know both the management team and the officers. By studying the personality styles of everyone involved, the psychologist can help match managers with the subordinates who would work best with them in order to make the team more effective. In addition to matching people, the psychologist would be effective in helping management know what assignments and positions would be best for which officers. In time of crisis or after a stressful assignment, the psychologist would be very important in debriefing the staff and minimizing conflicts among staff members.

Irony portrays duality Essay Example

Irony portrays duality Essay Example Irony portrays duality Essay Irony portrays duality Essay By using irony Hitchcock is portraying the theme of duality because, irony has two meanings, which is similar to the theme of duality. In the parlour scene Norman says to Marion that it is a dirty night. This is ironic because Norman means that it is dirty because of the weather but Hitchcock knows that it is a dirty night because somebody, Marion, gets killed, this is dirty because her blood is spilled. Irony portrays duality because when Norman says dirty night he is viewed by the audience as a normal person as he is in his natural human form; however what Hitchcock is implying by dirty night, is what actually happens, when Norman is in his psychotic and murderer state. Therefore Hitchcock has used irony to portray the theme of duality. An example of how Hitchcock has used irony to portray duality can be backed up by what Norman says when talking about his mother. Norman wishes that he could apologise for other people, meaning his mother. This is ironic because Norman is his mother, it is he who is keeping her spirit alive by pretending to be her although she is dead, and therefore duality is shown by this phrase because it is ironic. Duality is also portrayed through the use of metaphors; Norman says to Marion you eat like a bird. This particular phrase shows duality because a bird is a predator to smaller animals and a prey to larger birds and animals. This is parallel to Marion because she is the predator when she steals the money and becomes the prey of Norman when he kills her. Here Hitchcock has used metaphors to portray duality by comparing Marion to a bird which has two sides to it comparable to Marion. Not only are the bird used to describe Marion but they seem to always be somewhere throughout the film. In the very opening scene the camera shot is a panning and reminds us of a bird, flying down towards the window of the motel. There are also birds in the parlour scene, which Norman has stuffed; they are in positions of flight and attack. The birds are a symbol of duality because they are in the film in a physical form, however as they are dead they are not actually involved. They see everything from a perspective different to that of the characters but the same as the audience; however they are in the film and not in the audience. They also portray duality by being in these positions of flight and attack because when an animal flies it is alive but since the birds are stuffed it is not really flying just being portrayed as alive. This shows two sides to the bird so therefore Hitchcock has used animal imagery to portray duality. Since these are just minor ways which portray duality, as an audience we can assume that the characters have a deeper meaning than what is shown. For example Norman is shown to be the owner of motel with an elderly mother, but the deeper meaning is that he is the killer of his guests to the hotel, and he is his mother. Psycho is probably most famous for its exceptional shower scene. It is here where a lot of the duality falls into place. The audience never actually sees the killers face. We only see a shadow. Through analysis we can assume that since we have seen shadows before, but with their owner, and now we see them alone, we are only seeing one part of the story. The human form has been lost. Since, we realise that Norman has killed Marion; we must assume that he is not in the state we have seen him in before, and therefore he must be in the state of the killer, mother and a woman. Hitchcock has used the mother to carry out the killing to show that there is a strong theme of duality in Normans head. Norman can not bring himself to commit the crime, so has used his dual side to so for him. The shadow Hitchcock has used to portray Norman is very dark, and shows up clearly against the white tiles, however the shadows of Marion is a lot lighter, it is almost a grey colour. The colour portrays that Marions dual side is not a strong as Normans as he has been living his dual lifestyle for so long that it has become a part of his life which is why his shadow is so dark. A reason as to why Marions shadow is so light could be because she is dying as well as her other side. Overall I think that Hitchcock has portrayed the theme of duality through the use of costume and colour symbolism of costume: white representing goodness and innocence and black representing evil and deceitfulness. Shadows and lighting are also used to portray duality, by giving Norman poor lighting and a large shadow Hitchcock has given him a larger secret to hide and a bigger dual side. In the car journey Hitchcock has used weather to portray duality, when Marion leaves her home it is sunny and when she arrives at the Bates Motel the weather is dirty and rainy. By giving Marion a new identity when she arrives at the Motel duality is shown and accepted by the character. However, it is probably in the parlour scene where most of the symbols Hitchcock has used to portray duality are shown. The use of furniture, irony, animal imagery and metaphors are used to portray the dual side in both Marion and Norman. By using so many conventions to represent the single yet complex film of duality Alfred Hitchcock has managed to create a film which will grip audiences for many years to come.