Ccontemporary Epistemological Research in Education Essay

ABSTRACT. In this article the authors challenge contemporary epistemological research within educational settings. After a reconciliation of the current models which treat epistemological beliefs as static and mechanical, the authors present a teaching experience to illustrate their enactivist view that epistemological beliefs should be conceptualized as fluid and dynamic constructs, emerging in web-like configurations. Answers to epistemological questions unfold within the interstices and mutual interactions between people and their environment. Boundaries between student–teacher, individual–community, cognition–bodily experience are becoming blurred. From this enactivist perspective the researcher’s role changes considerably. Instead of determining teachers’ personal traits and epistemological make-up, the researcher should sensitize teachers to the subtle ways epistemological beliefs are enmeshed within their day-to-day professional lives, focusing on the complex fabric of the teaching practice. KEY WORDS: contemporary epistemological research, education, enactivism, lived experiences, personal epistemology. We rehearse information, but perform meaning. Information is like the web of links in a wire fence; Meaning is like the cascade of waves on a mountain stream. Cliff Crego (2002)  © 2002 picture-poems. com THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY Copyright  © 2008 Sage Publications. VOL. 18(1): 27–45 DOI: 10. 1177/0959354307086921 http://tap. sagepub. com Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 28. THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) What is the true nature of knowledge, and how does a person come to know? These questions first became subject of psychological investigation in the late 1960s through the seminal work of Perry (1968). Today, these questions are studied under the umbrella of research on personal epistemology (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002). Personal epistemology has come to be seen as the common denominator for research done within this field and as a term signifying individual conceptions of knowledge and knowing. These conceptions are referred to by many disparate labels, of which the most commonly used term is ‘epistemological belief’. Other labels are: epistemological posture, epistemological resource, and ways of knowing (Niessen, Vermunt, Abma, Widdershoven, & van der Vleuten, 2004). Because the term ‘(epistemological) belief’ is already more broadly used within (educational) psychology and thus easy to associate with, we will use this term throughout the article when referring to issues of knowledge and knowing. Within this article we provide a cognitive psychological and an enactivist account of epistemological beliefs and claim that the differences between both are ultimately reflected in Crego’s distinction between the rehearsing of information and performing of meaning. We will apply the enactivist perspective to an interview segment to enable deeper understanding of teaching practice. The application of the enactivist account to this case has the character of a hermeneutic circle. This means that the enactivist account provides us with a background view that enables us to understand teachers’ experiences more fully. At the same time, the process of application is also a practice of opening up and being caught by new insights while interpreting. These insights might alter our epistemological perspective. This study is part of a larger ongoing investigation to understand the phenomenon of resistance by teachers to a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environment using the epistemological perspective as our interpretive framework. PBL, in short, is an instructional method that, contrary to frontal teaching, chooses not to instruct students directly, but to facilitate the process in which students themselves and in collaboration with each other learn the necessary knowledge and skills by working on real-life problems. The role of the teacher is paramount to the success of this method. This is why the example used throughout this article highlights a teacher (Josie) who is situated within a PBL course. In the following we will first present the fragment taken from the interview with Josie. In this fragment she talks about her struggle to introduce a group of new staff members to ProblemBased Learning. We will also provide a more in-depth linguistic, methodological, and ontological characterization to contemporary epistemological research. Finally the contours of the enactivist perspective will be drawn in more detail. Josie’s Case Interviewer (I): How would you describe yourself as a trainer? Josie (J): I always try to get the group excited about PBL. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL.: EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 29 I: How do you do that? J: By trying to get everybody involved. At the same time, this is a potential pitfall. For instance, in a training session last week there was a group of student tutors and this group was really very critical, because they had attended other PBL courses. That was when I found myself trying to create more structure—that’s where I felt inadequate, because there were so many people with so much experience. In these instances it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure. You should be able to deviate from this structure—but only in those cases when it’s possible. Some teachers see this very clearly. Personally, I tend to create structure together with the group—on the spot. With some groups this works out just fine and with other groups it would have been better if I had provided a clear structure from the start. We would have come further. I: Students get restless? J: No, yes, well, there’s too much input and too few conclusions. I think that’s a major thing in PBL—it’s a major issue that too often, maybe, no actual conclusion is reached. That’s really what I think is probably my own shortcoming, something that as a student I thought was missing in the system. That structure—the framework in which you work. I: What does this framework look like—what is it made of? Do you know what I mean? J: A connecting thread. I: You say that on the one hand you’re trying to find this thread —and you want to connect it with the experiences of the participants—but that’s difficult because their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to discern. J: Well, maybe that’s because there just isn’t one single thread and because PBL is based on the assumption that the available knowledge is relative. So you cannot say there’s one single solution to a particular problem. The important thing is that you are working towards a solution. Josie (a pseudonym) is a junior teacher trainer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She was one out of a group of 10 teacher trainers and 9 new staff members of Maastricht University in the Netherlands who were interviewed about their experiences with PBL, their concerns and unresolved issues. The participants we interviewed came from different departments of Maastricht University and differed considerably in experience with PBL, general attitude towards teaching, general teaching experience, and opinion about the value of PBL for student learning. Despite the marked differences in background and experience among the interviewees, Josie was not the only one who presented a complex and multilayered experience. Looking at other participants’ day-to-day teaching experiences, we similarly encountered varied and multilayered stories. This phenomenon is neither strange nor new. Studies by Perry (1968) and Lyons (1990), but also more recently from Phillion and Connelly (2004), show us that when researchers turn their attention to actual teaching experiences, the presented picture of teaching and epistemological beliefs is more textured and complex. The Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 30 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) selection of this particular segment has been guided by the potential to learn from it about the role of epistemological beliefs in teaching. According to Stake (1994), ‘the potential for learning is a different and sometimes superior criterion to representativeness’ (p. 243). The fragment shows how Josie is struggling with the question: ‘How do these students come to know? ’ In the interview, Josie as a teacher trainer talks about her ideas and ideals of student involvement within her courses. She says that in some situations she finds it difficult to realize these ideals. She refers to her attempts to structure group sessions. She thinks that in order to do so, she has to develop ‘a connecting thread’ that will enable the group to achieve a sense of closure. This metaphor nicely illustrates Josie’s narrative approach to teaching. Her goal is to develop, together with the group, a storyline with a beginning, middle, and an ending. She expects that this jointly developed plot will enable the group to close the session in a satisfactory way. Josie’s ideas and strategy implicitly characterize her epistemological approach to one of the key questions in epistemology: ‘How does a person come to know? ’, or ‘How should this group of students come to know? ’ We can see an answer emerging from the confrontation between her ideals, her self-image, and the group with its characteristics. When she says ‘It’s in these instances that it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure’, she refers to her failed attempt to provide guidance, which, to her, was necessary to give the group a satisfactory sense of closure. This experience appears to have triggered a slight change in her epistemological outlook. Instead of her a priori assumption that students should be regarded as knowledgeable others, who will work together with the teacher to create a common thread, she now thinks that the group process also depends on her ability accurately to estimate the amount of prior experience that students bring to the course and her own experience and skills. Josie’s rapport with the group of students is coloured by her ideals about student involvement. It is also with this particular group of students, who have so ‘much experience’, that she discovers the failure of her usual strategy, i. e. developing a structure ‘on the spot’ together with the group. In her own words: ‘Their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to find. ’ As a result she is confused and forced to reassess her epistemological ideal of student involvement in light of the concrete situation. Looking back on this experience, she reflects on the epistemological perspective underlying PBL and in doing so realizes that there isn’t just one single solution to a problem and that all knowledge can make a contribution. The lived experiences of Josie as a teacher are interpreted as an indication that the epistemological questions can only be meaningfully understood when they are placed within the context of the story that defines the situation as a whole. To put it in more general terms, in order to assess a situation epistemologically or Downloaded from http://tap.sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 31 make sense of teachers’ experiences epistemologically, we need to take account of the circumstances that constitute each new teaching situation. In Josie’s case these circumstances included her conviction that a common thread had to be identified, her skills to get the group to do this, the group size and group members’ varied experience. We would assert that her epistemological belief is essentially ‘indexical’ (Roth, Lawless, & Tobin, 2000), meaning that it is significant only as seen from within the concrete circumstances in which it arises. In the following section we will focus on the contrast between this view of epistemological beliefs and the prevailing views in contemporary epistemological research. Contemporary Epistemological Research Although the term ‘contemporary epistemological research’ suggests that there is a unified research domain, there are in fact different movements to which researchers within the domain of personal epistemology may turn. These movements may be referred to as ‘trait-oriented’, ‘theory-minded’, and ‘resource-oriented’. This means that researchers typify epistemological beliefs respectively as traits, theories, or resources (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Although we agree with Hammer and Elby that there are some important differences among these movements, we also discern an important mutual characteristic: all are rooted in cognitive psychology. This seems to offer an interesting perspective for an analysis and characterization of the field as a whole, because it would go to the very heart of research on epistemological beliefs regardless of the particular movement. In our view, Crego’s phrase ‘rehearsal of information’ very aptly captures the essence of contemporary epistemological research in relation to three interrelated angles: language, methodology, and ontology. Linguistic Idiosyncrasies of Contemporary Epistemological Research A striking linguistic characteristic of the cognitive psychological discourse about the foundations of thinking and believing is a marked preference for the use of nouns (Saljo, 2002). Since contemporary epistemological research is grounded in cognitive psychology, this characteristic is also discernible in epistemological research. The phenomenon addressed within epistemological research can be denoted by different labels: epistemological belief (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001; Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002; Schommer, 1994, 1998b), epistemological position (Perry, 1968, 1988); epistemological theory (Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002), epistemological standard Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 32 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) (Ryan, 1984a, 1984b), epistemological resource (Hammer & Elby, 2002), epistemological style (Martin, Silva, Newman, & Thayer, 1994), epistemological reflection (Baxter Magolda, 1992, 1994, 1996), epistemological posture (Desaultes & Larochelle, 1997), epistemological orientation (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986), epistemological antecedent (Powell, 1996), and ways of knowing (Belenky et al. , 1986). The worrisome aspect of the predominance of nouns as the building blocks for thinking and believing is that it creates the impression that people’s capacities and ideas should be conceived of as unchanging objects (Saljo, 2002). Nouns distract our attention from the processes in which epistemological constructs can be seen to emerge. Nouns denote a final state as opposed to a process in which actions and thoughts are continuously taking shape and modifying each other. The idea of stability is reinforced by the tendency to represent epistemological beliefs as stable cognitive traits or theories (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Epistemological beliefs are seen as trait-like or theory-like features which are stored and acted upon inside the brain. From an epistemological trait perspective, individuals’ beliefs and ideas about epistemology tend to cohere into stable ‘positions’ or ‘levels’, ‘phases’ or ‘stages’, which can be distinguished from other ‘levels’ and ‘phases’ with regards to organization and quality. They are seen as declarative knowledge to which a person has conscious and articulate access. In epistemological theories, beliefs are perceived as being structured in this way (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002). Congruent with the tendency to see epistemological beliefs as stable and object-like traits or theories stored within the individual mind, most researchers tend to refer to epistemological beliefs in terms of ‘individuals having them’ (Pehkonen & Torner, 1999). Another feature within Western society that reinforces thinking about epistemological beliefs as objects and unchanging is the linguistic tendency to typify mental phenomena dichotomously, i. e. as belonging to either–or categories (Amstutz, 1999; Davis & Sumara, 1997). Examples of such dichotomies are: mental–physical, internal–external, individual–collective (Davis & Sumara, 2001; Heft, 2001). Membership of one category precludes membership of the other one of the pair. This divisive either/or mode of thinking reinforces the image of people as unchanging. Something or someone is or is not of some category. According to Langer (1989, 1997), divisive thinking has this effect when people take categories or opposites literally or without mindful attention. She calls for heedful and critical thinking in which mindless acceptance of categories is regarded as the opposite of powerful learning. We think that a contemporary interpretation with a language that treats epistemological beliefs as stable and trait-like or object-like has trouble interpreting the epistemological picture that arises from teachers’ concrete perspectives. When we analyse Josie’s account and realize that she tunes into the situation as a process that unfolds in interaction with the group, we realize Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 33 that the boundaries between individual–collective, self–other, and internal–external are not clear-cut. They are fuzzy, blurred, and overlapping, and we see no clearly outlined either/or distinctions. We think epistemological beliefs should be better conceived of as emerging characterizations within a process of mutual adaptation, such as in Josie’s attempts to tune in to the ideas of the group and to her own and reconcile them. Because this process unfolds concurrently with the teaching process, it cannot be fully anticipated a priori or even as it is being enacted. To us, this view is compatible with a concept of epistemological beliefs as continuously unfolding processes, like waves cascading down a mountain stream. Just as the water and the mountain are being shaped and reshaped in their continuous interaction, so is the answer to the epistemological question ‘How do these students come to know? ’ being rephrased under the influence of interaction in a concrete teaching situation. Particularities Regarding the Methodology within a Contemporary Epistemological Perspective Characterizing the methodologies that are used in contemporary epistemological research, we see an equally differentiated array of instruments: production-type tasks, open-ended interviews, vignettes, observations, illstructured problems, and Likert-type questionnaires (Duell & SchommerAikins, 2001). What is striking to us is that despite this diversity, epistemological beliefs research is exceptionally unitary in its preference for using the individual and his or her beliefs, knowledge, desires, and attitudes as the unit of analysis (Lyons, 1990). We think this preference is congruent with the predilection for nouns emphasizing the object-oriented way of thinking; it seems to us that an orientation towards epistemological beliefs as object-like has been (tacitly) operative in the development of instruments that are used to study them as personal and stable traits or theories. We notice that an orientation to the individual is especially recognizable in questionnaire (Likert-type) studies and standardized interview studies. Despite growing criticism of questionnaire studies, they have been and continue to be an important method in studies of epistemological beliefs (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001). Part of their popularity seems to be attributable to their easy and quick administration. Nevertheless, Hammer and Elby (2002) reveal a fundamental problem when they point out that item formulation is often far removed from day-today teaching practice while at the same time it is assumed to pertain to these contexts (see, e. g., Schommer, 1998a; questionnaire: ‘Nothing is certain but death and taxes’). According to Hammer and Elby, this is neither true nor Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 34 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) viable when made explicit. Most epistemological studies ask participants direct questions about their beliefs, often by presenting epistemological statements and asking them to rate their agreement/disagreement on a Likert scale. For example, students may be asked whether they agree or disagree that ‘the best thing about science courses is that most problems have one right answer’ (Schommer, 1990, p. 499); ‘the science principles in the textbooks will always be true’ (Songer & Linn, 1991, p. 769); or ‘knowledge in physics consists of many pieces of information, each of which applies primarily to a specific situation’ (Redish, Saul, & Steinberg, 1998, p. 217). It is only by a presumption of unitarity that the results of these studies may be considered to apply to all contexts of learning (Hammer & Elby, 2002). However, the item formulation must be generic to preserve internal congruence throughout the whole study. It would be incongruent to perceive of epistemological beliefs as stable traits or theories but apply highly context-specific or dialogical research methods. A generic item formulation makes perfect sense given the a priori position that epistemological beliefs are stable phenomena. Epistemological beliefs are seen as tangible features and measured congruently. They can therefore be conceived of as entities that impact on teaching behaviour linearly, i. e.cause exists as an inherent constituent of epistemological beliefs. Contemporary cognitive epistemological research is concerned with the search for explanations of the epistemological perspective in order to predict and control students’ and teachers’ behaviour. Using standardized (correlational) measuring techniques, researchers are able to identify these linear and law-governed patterns. The role of the researcher in this process is merely to uncover these relationships objectively, with validity and reliability (Guba & Lincoln, 1989, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 2000). In interpreting Josie’s segment, it is true that Josie shows an epistemological preference to create a common thread together. At the same time we also see that this preference becomes ‘active’ and is questioned while interacting with this specific group. Her experience of the situation she describes has led her to acknowledge that in this instance—given her own and the group’s experience—a different approach might have been more successful. Confronted with this new experience, a breach is made within otherwise customized behaviour. These breaches provide opportunities for change and revision of ideas to suit local circumstances. We interpret Josie’s ultimate handling of the situation as the result of reciprocal dynamics between different personal and situational elements, whose influence can be seen from a holistic point of view, but which cannot be reduced to any element or correlation in particular. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION. 35 The Particularities Regarding the Ontology within a Contemporary Epistemological Interpretation Ontology is the subdivision within metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. More concretely, ontology is revealed in the question: What is real? We might thus ask whether epistemological beliefs are real. According to Baptiste (2001), one of the most troublesome questions surrounding the issue of ontology is the distinction between the facticity and the quality of a thing. Facticity refers to the question of whether a thing exists. In our case we might ask if epistemological beliefs do exist. Departing from a realist perspective (Heron & Reason, 1997), the answer within contemporary epistemological research is that epistemological beliefs do indeed exist as theories, traits, or resources. For realists, epistemological beliefs are just as real and tangible as observable objects. The quality of a thing refers to the form of a phenomenon or the nature of an object. Within contemporary epistemological research, epistemological beliefs are thought of as psychological and physical phenomena. They are psychological because they reside in a person’s mind. They are also (presumably) physical on the basis of the default assumption that epistemological beliefs correspond to cognitive units in the brain (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Finally, there is the question of whether it would be possible for epistemological researchers to claim that epistemological beliefs exist without reference to cognitive psychology or cognitive science. Contemporary epistemological research, although not explicitly referred to, heavily draws on cognitive science and cognitive psychology as its foundational precursors, meaning that these strands are the background theories they implicitly build on. Varela, Thompson, and Rosch (1997) have pointed to the reifying effect of cognitive science on cognitive psychology when describing the centrality of the computer metaphor and similar language use. This computer-oriented language is also apparent within educational research in general and epistemological research in particular (Davis & Sumara, 1997). It depicts humans as disenchanted, cerebral beings who receive and process information from events and objects to establish representations (beliefs, desires). These representations in turn govern and give meaning to their own behaviour and that of others. In Josie’s interview, but also in the other interviews we conducted, we see from an enactive viewpoint first and foremost acting persons (Packer & Winne, 1995) who stumble and haphazardly manage to guide their classes through the course. Josie’s hesitation to infer definite conclusions about the preferred course of action in this particular situation is hard to interpret as an image of information rehearsal, the picture we see framed within contemporary epistemological research. As we see it, in this particular situation her answer to the question ‘How do these students come to know?’ is embedded within a network of concrete relations and a process of mutual attunement. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 36 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) In our view, Josie’s hesitation to draw definite conclusions should not be deplored but welcomed, because it may open up opportunities that may lead to epistemological attunement, which may guide students and teachers to the most appropriate end. The interview excerpt with Josie illustrates the existential dialogical nature or ontology in which it is hard to dissect the knower from the known, mind from body, student from teacher, teacher from context, et cetera (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). Josie’s teaching might be viewed as a responsive choreography in which her behaviour and beliefs co-evolve within a relational web of individual inclinations or cognitions, her skills as a teacher trainer, the characteristics of the students she teaches, and the dialogue between these elements altogether. In the final section of this paper, we will explain and illustrate our enactive or dialogical world orientation. An enactivist world orientation is grounded in the assertion that people form complex fabrics of fundamentally and inextricably intertwined relationships with everything else—physically/biologically and experientially/phenomenologically (Davis & Sumara, 1997). From this viewpoint, epistemological beliefs are not primarily or solely cognitive features, but they are temporarily crystallized enactments in ever-changing webs of mutually defining elements. An Enactive and Dialogical Perspective on Epistemological Beliefs So far, we have focused on a passage from Josie and characterized contemporary cognitive epistemological research from a linguistic, methodological, and ontological point of view. The enactive epistemological perspective takes into account many elements, such as the group experience, the group size, and her own (in)abilities to provide a common thread (structure). In this final part of the discussion, we take up the challenge to sketch and explain more thoroughly the contours of an enactivist interpretation that enables us to take into account these elements to which Josie refers. Although we typify our interpretation as enactivist, we will also draw on theoretical notions derived from philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1990; Widdershoven, 1999) and narrative psychology (Abma, 2000; Josselson & Lieblich, 1999; Lyons & LaBoskey, 2002). Enactivism is an emerging worldview that lingers in between and draws from different domains, including philosophical phenomenology (Varela, 1999), complexity theory (Waldrop, 1992), and evolutionary biology (Bateson, 1979, 1987). Although this worldview is of reasonably recent date, it is receiving more and more attention within the domain of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2001, 2002; Davis, Sumara, & Kieren, 1996; Sumara & Davis, 1997). Within the domain of contemporary epistemological research, enactivism has been largely absent, although the work by Belenky et al. (1986) and Lyons (1990) shows strong similarities. In the following we will Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 37 first explain enactivism as it is defined by Davis and Sumara in the field of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2000, 2002; Davis et al., 1996). Although not directly translated to the educational or the epistemological field, we will also be using some of the terms (eclectically) used by Varela et al. (1997) since they are eminent in the field of enactivism. To ‘enact’ means ‘to work in or upon’ or ‘to act or perform’. ‘Enactivism’ refers to the idea of knowing in action. People come to know and believe about the world by interacting with it bodily, experientially, and cognitively. This means that individuals are simultaneously biological and social beings who experientially embody both cognitive and physical dimensions within their actions. Because continuous interaction is such an important feature of enactivism, one could claim that it holds a relational ontology meaning that all social realities and all knowledge of self, others, and things are viewed as interdependent or co-dependent constructions existing and known only in relation to each other (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). When we review Josie’s story again, we see a rather inexperienced teacher trainer who struggles with the epistemological question: ‘How should these students come to know? ’ Her commonly used approach to create a common thread together is rather problematic given her own (in)abilities within a large group of experienced students. As a consequence of this inexperience she adjusts her epistemological outlook to include the notion that when faced with a rather experienced group she needs to hold more control. Interpreting her account enactively, we would claim that her final outlook to this particular situation is the result of the interaction between her ideal to create a common thread together and her communication skills, her self-image, the group’s size, and the amount of experience of the group. It is the confrontation of these elements within the concrete enactment that sets the stage for this particular response to arise. The enactive paradigm as exemplified by Varela et al. (1997) emphasizes the relev.

How It Feels To Be Colored Me Essay

â€Å"A genius of the South, novelist, folklorist, anthropologist†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthose are the words that Alice Walker had inscribed on the tombstone of Zora Neale Hurston. In the essay How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Zora explores her own sense of identity through a series of striking metaphors. After realizing that she is of color, Hurston never really places a significant emphasis on the racial inequalities that exist in America. â€Å"At certain times I have no race, I am me.† Zora Neale Hurston did not have any separate feelings about being an American and colored. â€Å"But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all.† She is saying that there is no shame in her color. Hurston did not want to conform to a race, to a color, she tried to be herself. She was not afraid to be different, she knew she was special. How It Feels to Be Colored Me, makes it clear that she wants to be recognized as an individual. In paragraph 7 she wrote â€Å"the operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you.† Hurston was referring this to slavery and how it did not bother her. That was something in her past and she is moving on from it. Hurston’s audience was guided towards young African American adults who feel the same way about race or color. In the first paragraph she says â€Å". . . except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States. . .† Because this is one of the first sentences of this essay, it sets the tone for the whole piece. It shows that Hurston’s attitude towards herself is very positive. Many readers could feel the way she feels, wanting to get attention and being noticed. She wanted to be known for someone who was not just another colored person. Many people want to be noticed and not just by their race or skin color. Zora knew that she still stood out from everyone else, but in the end of it all, no one is really â€Å"different†. Zora Neale Hurston gets her purpose across by her use of language and sentence structure. â€Å"I remember the day I became colored.† This is the day that she realized what white people thought of her and anyone else who was colored. Hurston uses many metaphors in this piece to vividly describe the expressions of her self-realization. â€Å"I left Eatonville, the town of the oleanders, as Zora.† Hurston used the word oleanders instead of another flowe r to explain that on the outside they are beautiful, but inside very poisonous.

The History of Home Schooling

Before the beginning of American public schools in the mid-19th century, home schooling was the norm. Founding father John Adams encouraged his spouse to educate their children while he was on diplomatic missions (Clark, 1994). By the 1840's instruction books for the home were becoming popular in the United States and Britain. The difficulty of traveling to the system of community schools was provoking detractors. At this time, most of the country began moving toward public schools (Clark, 1994). One of the first things early pioneers did was set aside a plot of land to build a school house and try to recruit the most educated resident to be the schoolmarm. This led to recruiting of graduates Eastern Seaboard colleges to further the education oftheir children beyond what they could do at home (Clark, 1994). As the popularity of the public school movement began to rise behind Horace Mann many states soon passed compulsory-education laws. These were designed primarily to prevent farmers, miners, and other parents form keeping their kids home to work (Clark, 1994). Ironically another factor behind public schools was the desire to use them to spread Christian morality, with its concern for the larger good over individualism (Clark, 1994). Massachusetts enacted the first such laws in 1852 requiring children ages 8-14 to be at school at least 12 weeks a year unless they were too poor. The laws proved to be effective, from 1870-1898 the number of children enrolling in the public schools outpaced the population growth. Except for certain religious sects and correspondence schools home schooling remained limited for most of the 20th century. During the 1960's the hippie counterculture exploded into the scene. This culture led a revolt against the education establishment. Thousands of young Americans began dropping out of society and going back to the land to live on communes that generated the modern home schooling movement. Twenty years ago, many states did not allow home schooling. Constitutional protection has always been uncertain. The U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled on home schooling. Although in 1972, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Court did restrict compulsory school requirements in a limited ruling involving the right of Amish students not to attend high school (Lines, 1996). In Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Amish parents claimed that high school attendance was destructive to their children's religious beliefs and would interfere with their pursuit of the Amish way of life (Fisher, Schimmel, and Kelley, 1995). Since this ruling there have been many court cases dealing with the issue of home schooling. All 50 states allow home schooling ad 34 states have enacted specific home schooling statutes or regulations (Clark, 1994). What drives many home-schoolers are the well-documented social troubles and the declining test scores in the public schools. In 1991, the total number of children being home schooled was between 248,500 and 353,500. Many public educators feel that children who are home schooled are missing out on key learning situations that come from the public school. For instance the sciene experiments, these would be very costly to duplicate at home. Also they argue that home school children miss out on the social aspect of school. Very often they are not around many children their age and socialization does not take place. As the home schooling movement has become more widespread, state and local officials have responded with more vigorous enforcement of their compulsory education laws. As a result of this there is more litigation and new regulations. As both parents and school official's evidence increasing inflexibility, the statues play a central role in the battle over the education of the child. A secondary role is played by the courts which, in resolving the disputes between parents and the schools, must interpret and test the statutes (Chiusano 1996). Parents who are being prosecuted for instructing their children at home are attacking compulsory school attendance statues on constitutional grounds. Although no case dealing specifically with home instruction has yet reached the Supreme Court, the increased activism of the home school movement may produce a ruling in the near future (Lines, 1996). Constitutional challenges have been based on the First or Fourteenth Amendment. In many of the home instruction cases' parents have removed their children from school for religious reasons. These parents argue that they have a highly protected First Amendment freedom to educate their children according to their religious percepts and values. The most recent court decisions provide consistent continued confirmation of the Yoder decision. In Howell v. State (1986), Texas' intermediate appellate court rejected Yoder protection for parents who argued that their religious conviction was to educate their children at home (Richardson, Zirkel, 1991). In State v. Schmidt (1987), the Ohio Supreme Court held that the state's explicit-exceptions statute, which requires that home education programs be approved by the local superintendent, did not violate the free exercise clause. Another religious issue has surfaced when parents have challenged the constitutionality of requirements concerning the qualifications of the home teacher (Richardson, 1991). A few states including Michigan require all teachers in home school to possess a teaching certificate. This requirement in Michigan was challenged in 1980, 1986, and 1991. In Hanson v. Cushman (1980), the federal district court found the statute to be reasonable because the parents had not proven that any of their fundamental rights had been violated. In the private school case of Sheridan Road Baptist v. Department of Education (1986), other Michigan parents challenged the certification requirement as a burden on the free exercise of religion. This was rejected by the Michigan Supreme Court, regarding certification as a minimal burden that was outweighed by the State's interest in providing proper education. In People v. DeJonge parents claimed the right to educate their children at home, as an exercise in religious freedom. The court upheld the state law ruling that the state's interest in educated citizens outweigh the rights claimed by the parents (Fischer, 1995). In a related Michigan case, People v. Bennett (1983), the State Supreme Court ruling involving home-school families that had been convicted of violating the compulsory education statute, was reversed from he lower courts decision. The State Supreme Court permitted religious home schooling on First Amendment grounds and curbed the power of education officials to review home schooling policies (Clark, 1994). The other constitutional attack on compulsory attendance laws is non religious, primarily on Fourteenth Amendment due process grounds that parents have the right that is, the liberty, to educate their children as they see fit (Richardson, 1991). This right argued parents is superior to the state's right to compel attendance and regulate education. In Scoma v. Chicago Board of Education (1974), Blackwelder v. Safnauer (1988), and Murphy v. State (1988), the courts specifically rejected the contention that the parents had an independent, non religious, fundamental right in educating their children. In Scoma, the parents sought an injunction and declatory judgment to prevent the Chicago Board from interfering with their decision to educate their children at home. Under the Pierce and Yoder test the Illinois federal district court said the statute is reasonable and constitutional (Richardson, 1991). Now that home schooling s allowed in all 50 states, thenext step for these parents is to incorporate their children's' home schooling with public school activities. One such instance is in Iowa that started the Home Instruction Program giving parents several choices relating to their child. For instance, the curriculum they will follow, the type of assistance they would like from teachers, and whether their child will attend the neighborhood school part time (dual enrollment). This program allows parent to work with public school officials. The public school teacher meets with the home school family every two weeks (Dahm, 1996). The most recent issue being dealt with by local school boards and state governments are the extent to which home schooled students can participate in school sports and other activities. The issues in how far public schools can open their doors to home schoolers include science labs, music classes, and extracurricular activities, but athletics get the most attention according to the Home School Legal Defense Fund (Brockett, 1995). That is because competitive sports are the one activity families can not easily duplicate as their children reach high school age. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, after three state judges ruled against home schoolers being barred from playing on public high school teams, has initiated a one year open door trial program (Brockett, 1995). A Pennsylvania federal court ruled the constitutional rights ofa 14 year old taught at home were not violated, when the Frazier school district refused to let him play sports because the district could not verify his grades and attendance. In a related situation the Governor of Florida vetoed legislation that would have opened extracurricular activities to home schoolers. He explained that no state law bans them from participating. This left standing a policy of the Florida High School Athletic Activities Association banning non students on the theory that they can not represent what they do not attend (Brockett, 1995). This negative attitude of High School Athletic Associations has led parents of home schooled athletes to take their argument to court. For example, in Massachusetts, Melissa Davis was allowed to play on Norton High School softball team even though she is home schooled (Blum, 1996). The state court judge ordered Norton to allow her to play believes she may have a chance to earn an athletic scholarship to college. To be eligible to play athletics a home schooled athlete must apply to the association for a waiver of its initial eligibility rules, submitting documents proving what they were taught at home meet N.C.A.A. standards. Under these standards a home schooled athlete who has sufficiently high standardized test scores and proof that they took at least 13 courses that meet the associations core course standards may be automatically awarded freshman eligibility (Blum, 1996). From the recent decisions handed down by the courts, public school teachers and schools are expected to cooperate with home school educators. The hostility between the two groups has began to disappear and the focus has returned to seeing that the students get the best education they can. If both sides of the spectrum continue to work together this can be achieved.

Should the new republic called Azawadi be recognized as an independent Essay

Should the new republic called Azawadi be recognized as an independent state - Essay Example As their rebellion failed, the fighters left for Libya and joined Libyan Army. However, as the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was defeated in 2011, many of these fighters came back to the Azawadi region of Mali1. On coming back, many of these groups joined together and declared that they would be fighting for the liberation of all peoples of Azawad, including Songhal, Arab, Fula, and Taureg2. These various fractions joined together to form the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). According to its official website, MNLA consists of ‘old rebels from MFUA of 1990s, the members of 2006 MTNM, fighters who returned from Libya, volunteers from various ethic groups in northern Mali and various soldiers and officers who have let Mali Army (MNLA Website). MNLA started its armed agitation in January 2012. Soon, there were various attacks on various places including Anderamberkane, Menaka, Tessalit, Niafunke, and Aguelhoc. Soon, by March, bigger cities like Kidal, Gao, Tinzawaten , and Timbuktu were under the control of MNLA ((ibid). After capturing Timbuktu, almost the whole northern region of Mali was under the control of MNLA. ... More interestingly, the parties have failed to continue with the pact as MNLA has withdrawn from the same. as a result, presently, MNLA and Ansar Dine are in conflicts, and this resulted in the Battle of Gao on 27th June. Through this move, the Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) drove MNLA out of Gao city. Soon, Ansar Dine declared that it is in total control of all the cities in Azawad. The reasons behind the rebellion In fact, the Tuaregs are semi-nomadic people in the Saharan and Sahelian areas of Southern Algeria, Western Libya, northern Mali, northern Niger, and northeast Burkina Faso3. According to present day census, their number is around 1.5 million. They possess a combination of Islam and tribal practices. Thus, they do not belong to pure Islamism that is monotheistic in nature. As colonisation came, the nomads lost their freedom movement from place to place as territories were strictly guarded. Also, these people became further isolate d from centres of power. Though they had constant conflict over issues of autonomy, there were repeatedly defeated by the military might of colonial powers. When Mali gained independence, Tuaregs were in more trouble as they allegedly faced discrimination from the part of the southern ethnic groups which governed Mali. Secondly, they feared that their culture would be diluted as modernisation comes. Thus, they continued their agitation on and off. As the Mali president Moussa Traore realised that a military solution would be too dearer to bear, he held discussions with the Tuareg and reached the Accords of Tamanrasset. According to the Accord, a cease-fire was to be established, prisoners

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Case Study Example Robert Eaton could have protected himself by drafting a contract that would protect the rights of Chrysler employees and should have proceeded with the merger only after Daimler complied. 3. A firm can protect itself from cannibalization by accurately balancing demand and supply of their product. They should ensure that inventory levels are such that an existing product is gradually sold out before a new one is introduced. However investments in R&D would ensure that they introduce innovative products before the competition. 4. Cultural problems could be avoided with introducing a superior organizational culture that would supersede other cultural values. This can be accomplished by making employees feel as if they are a part of a family and the organization is their home. Once they are at the work place they need to forget individual differences and embrace a common organizational culture. 5. Zetsche’s move to fire the head of sales and marketing immediately was wrong. Although Zetsche was advised to make drastic change (Hartley 207) and indulge in cost-cutting, firing a person of this position would lower the morale and motivation of the other employees. Furthermore, there was no evidence that Sales and marketing was responsible for loses, on the contrary loses were as a result of the overstocking decision by Schrempp. 6. Rebates are a better choice than regular price reductions. In case of price reductions the customer may perceive that the price is low because the product has lower quality or it will be replaced by a newer version. Furthermore, price reductions can hinder the ability of a manufacturer to take the price back to its original (Lamb et al. 235). 7. Yes, I agree that the use of parts of Mercedes in Chrysler cars would damage the perception of the Mercedes brand. Chrysler makes cars for people with varying purchasing power and quality expectation. Mercedes on the other hand was known for its prestige and class. By

The broken tower Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The broken tower - Research Paper Example Crane’s poetry manifested a lot of treats of death and rebirth of love (Hazo, 1963). The modern perfection of death showed a lot of impossibilities in motion while having some resurrection of some kind though giving a very pessimistic message (Quinn, 1963). In his poem, A Broken Tower, Hart Crane uses a lot of biblical allusions and echoes to describe the creative process and the difficulties that come with it forcing the artists to be bound by it. There are several metaphors used in the poem. In the poem, crane used a lot of metaphors and references to referring to God and the church bells directly. This makes it possible to give a religious interpretation to the poem. It is also argued that both arts and religion have metaphors that are similar making the works of the poet both a way of spiritual expression while at the same time making it possible to search for the truth (Hazo, 1963). The tittle, â€Å"A Broken Tower† has been used continuously to allude to the fact that there is a continuous deconstruction of the existing paradigms making it critical for artistic progress. Crane in the poem talks of destroying a stone tower in a continuous manner while building a new one within himself. There is also the change of tone from negative to positive making the poem a stylistically simple with abab rhyming pattern of ten quatrains (Quinn, 1963). At the beginning of the poem, crane uses the bell which is one of the predominant metaphors. The bell has a lot of religious importance as it is use to refer to the morning call that is normally made for people to go for morning prayers (Hazo, 1963). In this poem however, Crane’s bell is not used to call people for morning prayers but used to gather God. There is also a strange fact in stanza one as the tone is negative despite being used to regard to dawn and God which have traditionally been positive. The angelus bells in stanza one is imagery used to treat the resurrection of Crane from hell as the images suggest in the poem. This is show by the falling stone tower with some stony and hellish (Quinn, 1963). The death that Crane is dealing with was caused by modernity that has caused a lot of pessimist by ostensibly that is nearly inescapable. These towers would be guessed as the one of the modern world. The bells of resurrection are used to open the breaking bonds of the first four stanzas making it possible to bring back the poet to the broken world. As the poem proceeds, the bells become a metaphor of poetry which makes the poet sing. The same is true for the coming of the word of God and the divine revelation that bring love. The same revelation of love is brought in according to the poet. External towers of love forms one of Crane’s poetic projects which broken and inner ones are building (Hazo, 1963). The poet has his ‘feet chill on steps from hell’ and ‘dropped down the knell of spent day’. This portrays a lot of curious negativity showi ng how crane has rejected the traditional region that is established. Going ‘from pit to crucifix’ as always been positive and used to symbolize the movement towards God. The first stanza is however decidedly negative manifesting a disdain of tradition (Hazo, 1963). Some of the Biblical allusions like the angelus bell commemorated the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the alternating melodies that overlapped played on the bells while the papal documents eluded the divinely inspired messages. The bell-towers and campaniles represented the Italian cathedrals

The Law of Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Law of Trusts - Essay Example As mentioned above there must also be certain of subject matter and certainty of the object. If no specific property has been indicated then the trust will not be valid. Similarly, if the property has been indicated but not clearly defined then the trust will fail. This may happen where the testator attempts to leave the residuary of their estate to another. On some occasions, it may be impossible to identify the trust property, or the property may be unascertained property as in the case of Hunter v Moss [1994] where the courts held that the declaration of trust in respect of shares was not void for certainty because the shares had not been segregated or appropriated. In this case, the court held that the declaration by Moss of holding 5% of the shares on trust for Hunter could be identifiable property as it did not matter which of the shares were to become the property of the other. In order to establish which of the dispositions above is valid, it is necessary to examine the benef iciary principle to determine which of the above meet the criteria and can be classified as beneficiaries. It is also necessary to look at cases that do not satisfy the beneficiary principle but have been treated as valid and the circumstances when the courts have accepted the trust as valid despite not meeting the criteria for the beneficiary principle. One of the main difficulties that could be caused by the above dispositions is in determining whether they are purpose trusts or whether they benefit specific beneficiaries.

Technology Forecast Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technology Forecast - Research Paper Example In this prototype that was built by the scientists, the neurons are linked together in a way that makes them appear and operate like the brain cells. When data is then fed into the assembly, the neurons are able to work in a parallel manner in solving the problem. This is unlike the normal working in various devices which is usually non parallel. Due to the ability of the assembly to function in a parallel manner it can be used to solve complex computing problems (Schmuker, Pfeil &. Nawrot, 2014). According to Schmuker, Pfeil &. Nawrot (2014) the assembly that was made is able to classify data with different features and even recognizes data which is hand written. Moreover, it was able to distinguish plant species on the basis of flowering characteristics. This is facilitated by the parallel working of the neurons. Schmuker, Pfeil &. Nawrot (2014) indicates that the design of the network architecture was based and inspired by the nervous system of insects that processes odor. The system is highly optimized for processing complex chemicals in a parallel manner. The chip with neurons that was used in the study by the scientists was manufactured by the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics in Heidelberg University. In order to understand the working of the network architecture that was developed by these scientists, it is imperative to first understand the characteristics of silicon neurons as they are the building blocks that were used it the new architecture. According to Merolla et al. (2011) silicon neurons are made by combining the principles of silicon engineering with the neuron physiological principle. When this is done an analog integrated circuit is produced. The analog circuit that is produced possesses functional characteristics similar to those of the human nerve cells (Indiveri, Chicca & Douglas, 2009). The silicon neuron is therefore able to effectively control the discharge and dynamics of the ions in a similar way that

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Strategic Management - Essay Example As can be seen in industries which become an icon for nations, there are strong sentiments attached with the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry. This factor is a very dominant contributor to industry dynamics and strategic shape of the industry. The strategic importance of national sentiments attached to some companies is explained by Lou Gerstner in his very famous book ‘Who says elephants can’t dance?’ According to Gerstner one of the major reasons he took up to task of bringing IBM back from brink of bankruptcy was the cultural significance and sentiments attached with IBM of both American businesses and people. The same cultural significance lies with the dominant players of the commercial aircraft manufacturers. This factor is significant for both Boeing and Airbus and holds a very significant importance in determining the analysis provided below. The best method to understand the dynamics of any industry is through the porter’s five forces analysis. This model gives a comprehensive analysis of the different forces functioning in the industry and determines industry’s strategic positioning. This model is also very useful in providing a comprehensive analysis of the individual analysis and more importantly contribution to determining the overall positioning of the industry. The model is used for this example is as follow: The most important factor for any industry is the bargaining power of customers. This is a very economics driven phenomenon. This is because the customers function as a whole on factors of demand and supply. The demand factors for an industry determine the power of firms operating in the industry. The substitutability of a product is the key to bargaining power of customers. This can be analyzed by using exampling of medicines and burgers. The customer when buying medicines will have a very small power because this product has a low elasticity of demand. However,

Political Science - Postmodernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Political Science - Postmodernism - Essay Example The essay "Political Science - Postmodernism" analyzes postmodernism era and political science. Postmodernism is a term which was initially encountered a decade or more ago and was at that time associated with current developments in the arts and architecture. Gradually the term's usage spread to other cultural spheres and a variety of academic disciplines. A voluminous literature now exists and numerous efforts have been made to interrelate postmodernism among diverse disciplines. In general, postmodernism is a cultural development with spin-offs in political science. There is no simple description of postmodernism. It is a dissenting voice levelled at the claims of the Enlightenment tradition and what is understood as the period of modernity embarked upon with the emergence of capitalism, industrial society, the nation-state, and the cultural turn toward individualism. In philosophy, postmodernism announces a "vigorous denunciation of abstract reason and deep aversion to any projec t that sought universal human emancipation through mobilization of the powers of technology, science, and reason". As Harvey further explains, the confidence in the association between scientific and moral judgments has collapsed, aesthetics has triumphed over ethics as a prime focus of social and intellectual concerns, images dominate narratives, ephemerality and fragmentation take precedence over eternal truths and unified politics, and explanations have shifted from the realm of material and political-economic groundings. towards a consideration of autonomous cultural and political practices (Harvey, 1989, p. 328). Postmodernism: Implications for Political Analysis One of the most significant generalizations about the consequences of postmodernism is that it affects not only the pace of our daily lives but our attitudes about knowledge, the power of political science and reason, and our confidence in the future. We become sceptical, insecure, uncertain and doubtful. (Colin 2002, p.9) As Harvey notes, "it is impossible to say anything of solidity and permanence in the midst of this ephemeral and fragmented world (Harvey 1989, p. 291). Everything we do and experience faces "the challenge of accelerating turnover time and the rapid write-off of traditional and historically acquired values" (Harvey 1989, p. 291). Postmodernists have proposed a fresh start to understanding and conducting political analysis. They draw upon bodies of literature that are not usually part of international theory, including philosophy, cultural studies, feminist theory, geography, and linguistics. (Colin 2002, p.14) Another narrative, that of aesthetic sensibility, (Colin 2002, p.3-4) explores the cultural symbols and conventions that have been used to represent the modern world and its relationships with the rest. Here, the inquiry focuses on the culture of modernism--examining the styles of artistic, literary and cultural representation through which modem society has represented itself: its characteristics, hopes, dreams and nightmares, beliefs and goals. This account relates closely to modern literary and artistic criticism--which probes the values, sentiments and meanings embedded in the canons of western art and literature. The representational account is concerned with broad patterns of sense and meaning that inhere in modem cultural products and seeks to connect these

Isolation, Enumeration, Identification and Confirmation of Lab Report

Isolation, Enumeration, Identification and Confirmation of Food-Poisoning Microbes from Food ( ) - Lab Report Example In our experiment we will test 10g of lettuce for presence of bacteria that presumably caused outbreak of food-poisoning in a local school. Several children have been complaining of diarrhea, abdominal pain and some have started passing blood in their stool. The lettuce was on the menu as a fresh salad 3 days earlier. We will try to conduct microbiological investigation of the bacteria that are present in the lettuce. Then we will identify if there are present any organisms that can cause food born infection. If organisms are found we will try to find the specific group of bacteria. Also we will have to calculate the concentration of these bacteria and made a conclusion if this concentration is sufficient to cause a disease. In order to test for presence for bacteria we will prepare the food sample for examination. The lettuce was placed in Maximum recovery diluent (MRD) which is an isotonic liquid that contains small concentrations of peptone and it is used to maintaining the viability of eventually present organisms in the food. We than placed the lettuce in 90ml of MRD and put it in the stomacher for 30 sec. The stomacher transforms the food sample into homogenous suspension and promotes the releasing the bacteria into the liquid medium (MRD). We than made different dilutions of the suspension (10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 and 10-6) and inoculated them on different agar mediums. We used: Nutrition agar that was inoculated with 10-6 dilution of the suspension had 196 colony forming units, and according from the provided guidance, this dilution was used to calculate the colony forming units per gram according to the formula cfu/gram = No. of colonies x 10 x dilution factor. According to the formula the result nutrient agar produced 10140 cfu/gram. The Violet red bile glucose agar (VRBG) that was inoculated with dilution of 10-6

A Brief Summary of 5 Disorders Essay Example for Free

A Brief Summary of 5 Disorders Essay Bipolar I Disorder is defined by the DSM-5 as manic or mixed episodes that last at least seven days, or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs immediate hospital care. During this manic episode, people typically experience an expansive mood, excessive optimism, grandiosity, and poor judgment. Usually, the person also has depressive episodes, typically lasting at least two weeks. During the depressive episode, people may become hostile and physically threatening to other and also, when delusional, may be physically assaultive or suicidal. The symptoms of mania or depression must be a major change from the persons normal behavior. Hypomanic episodes also exist in which a person experiences at least 4 consecutive days of increased energy and activity and elevated mood. Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) 300.23 (F40.10) The diagnostic criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) includes an anxiety associated with social situations in which a person feels pressure or scrutiny by others. Such social situations almost always provoke fear in the individual typically lasting for 6 months of more. There is a specific branch of this disorder in which the individual only fears public performance: such as singing, communicating a speech, an athletic event, and often affects work and school activities. Typically those individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder have a fear or anxiety that is judged to be out of proportion to the actual risk of being negatively evaluated or to the consequences of such negative evaluation. Nightmare Disorder307.47 (F51.5) Nightmare Disorder is a repeated occurrence of dysphoric and well-remembered dreams that involve threats to survival and personal security. Typically, the dream occurs in the second half of the major sleep episode. Other criteria involves the individual experiencing distress affecting social interactions at work or other important areas of function.  These nightmares are not caused by the substance consumption of alcohol, drugs, or medication. The DSM-5 defines a nightmare as a long and detailed, story-like sequence of dream imagery that appears real and causes anxiety, stress, or fear. In several instances, nightmares may be comorbid with several medical conditions, including coronary heart disease, cancer, Parkinsonism, and pain, and can accompany medical treatments. Paranoid Personality Disorder301.0 (F60.0) Paranoid Personality Disorder falls under the broad category of personality disorders. The criterion for paranoid personality disorder includes a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent. Typically the individual suspects without evidence that other people are out to harm or exploit him or her, determines that friends and associates are not to be trusted, is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fears, reads into hidden meanings about people or events, has unforgiving attitude and grudges towards people, counterattacks angrily when feeling that character or reputation is being attacked, and has recurrent suspicions without justification regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner. The pattern of this disorder is obviously one of distrust and suspiciousness. Generally these individuals are difficult to get along with and often do not participate in close relationships with others. Pedophilic Disorder302.2 (F65.4) Pedophilic Disorder is defined when an individual has recurrent, intense sexual arousing fantasies, urges, or behavior with a child 13 years or younger over a period of 6 months. Either the individual has acted on the urges or these urges have caused serious distress and interpersonal difficulty. The individual must be at least 16 years old and at least 5 years older than the child or children. If individuals complain that their sexual attractions or preferences for children are causing psychosocial difficulties, they may be diagnosed with pedophilic disorder. The presence of multiple victims is sufficient but not necessary for diagnosis of pedophilia. Pedophilia per se appears to be a lifelong condition. Pedophilic disorder contains elements that may change over time with or without treatment: subjective distress, psychosocial impairment, or the decision to  act upon desires. References American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Judging Means Forming An Opinion Philosophy Essay

Judging Means Forming An Opinion Philosophy Essay Judging means forming an opinion or conclusion about the subject it self, in this case it s a person that were judging. This action requiers a lot of responsibility, it takes a short time to judges a person, but it needs quite long time to make it right. When it comes to the first judgment of a persons character, many people the appearance as their criterian. However, in my point of view, this is not a wise to make the real judgment of a person. Ussualy people conclude poeple so fast becuase they are looking from the outside. You know what the said dont judge the books by its cover. Meaning that by looking at a book you think it is bad when you didnt even read the prologue yet or even the back of the book. This quote tell you to judge people from their personality, just like judging a book people wont read if the cover page is ugly and that is the mistakes that they are making. The point is judging people from their first imperssion is not wrong, but it ussually does, why dont you g ive him or her a chance. Taking a conclusion of someone may set your mind forever about that person and you wont know tha truth about that person unless you giver him or her a chance and you will change your mind either making it better or worse. This are some reasons why you shouldnt judge people on their first impression;Your opinion might be wrong. As i said before you may miss judge them. judging people before you know them starts nothing but drama. The bible it self said that Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment from John 7:24. Assuming is technically different from knowing. You never know one day that person may be the one you have to rely on! They might change over time. People in this life always changes either better or worse. eople act different from others and some people have their own kind of way of gestures. Things are not always how they seem, or how we think we see them. It is always a good policy to not only give the benefit of the doubt, but to get all the facts before we rush to judgment about people and situations. Another good policy is to remember that everything is not about us. Another persons attitude, body language, comments, beliefs, etc may not have anything at all to do with us personally; and may have absolutely everything to do with them and what is going on in their own life. Time is needed to came up with a precise conclusion , People act different from others and some people have their own kind of way of gestures. Not everyone is born the same, that is why it makes every one unique in their own way. First impressions arent a good thing and it shouldnt be done. You have to get to know the person first before you judge them! Once you get to know the person, then you can judge them by who they are. It takes more time and effort to really get to know a person before judging them.   Im not sure if we can totally override our preconceptions, but I think we must try to quiet them while we delve deeper.   The color of a persons skin shouldnt matter nor should their age, sex, weight, or what clothes they wear.   There are many interesting, smart, and valuable people that dont fit the mold that our society has created.   It is up to us to decide how we will judge people. Dont be Mr. I know every things and asume that you are always right. There is only on e lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12. You may judges others un-fairly just to justify you own ego. Your ego may affects how you judges others. Considering that everyone can have a bad day, people ussualy leting themself judge beyond that. You may miss the bigest part if you take point to early. You couldnt realy know what is insideem. Above all do we realy need to judge people ? many people waste their time in jugding people. we spend a lot of time judging people then we are wasting the time we have that we could be enjoying them, or loving them. They dont even think about them self. I am not saying that is wrong to judge others but at least you should concertrate on your self rather than keep comment on someone else. It is human nature to judge others based upon initial impressions. We may pretend that it is otherwise, however, we all form first impressions which are difficult to undo in our minds. We may train ourselves to open our minds and not allow our first impressions to close doors; however it remains in our nature to judge. If we use our intellect rather than our emotional response we will remain open too learning about people despite our first impressions, even find that we were mistaken in our initial judgments. There are many things about a person that we judge based upon our life experiences that have no relevance to theirs, this often leads to mistakes. There is also the issue of what is within the control of the person that we are meeting for the first time and what is outside of their control. Leaping to judgment based upon our own experiences and expectations can only lead too lost opportunities that enrich our lives. In short its better if we don not judge people, but if it is necessary dont judge them in their first impression.

Commodity Price Movements in the Twenty first Century

Commodity Price Movements in the Twenty first Century Commodity Super Cycles and Bubbles Sharp movement in commodity prices, especially of oil, and some base metals like copper, since the turn of the century, have attracted enormous international attention and debate. The price of oil, which shot up from the sedate levels of approximately twenty-eight USD per barrel, a few years ago, to the high seventies, in 2006, sent ripples through the economies of advanced nations, even as it added billions to the current account surpluses of oil rich nations, like Kuwait. While the movement in oil attracted international attention because of its universal usage, prices of items like copper, steel, cement and uranium also soared to new heights. These developments led to intense discussion among economic experts and business thinkers, who were divided in their opinion about the causes of commodity behaviour, as well as its future movement. While a large number of scholars feel that the recent movement in commodity prices is no more than the initial movement of a wave that will last for many more years, if not decades, others put it down to wrong economic policies and the work of market speculators. This research assignment aims to study and explore the various aspects of this extremely intriguing and globally significant development, and thus arrive at findings and conclusions that are able to illuminate the complex topic. Executive Summary This research assignment attempts to delve deeply into the causal factors behind the sharp upward movement in prices of commodities during the last six years. The assignment is structured into sections that describe the situation in totality, and then take up the many theories that have gained ground in recent years on the issue. While many people believe that a commodity super cycle is under way, powered by the demand for materials from an enormously fast growing China, others feel that these movements, like the one in the price of oil, is a twenty-first century reminder of the commodity bubble that took the price of tulips to astronomical heights in seventeenth century Holland. The study includes an analysis of the commodity super cycle, the roles played by the growth of China and India in increasing commodity demand, the effect of liberal monetary policies, and that of speculative activity, in the price movement process. Detailed analyses of the thoughts and writings of experts on the subject, including thinkers like Jim Rogers and financial professionals like Stephen Roach, along with the study of texts and journals available on the subject, have led to findings that have lent themselves to some interesting analyses and conclusions. These will hopefully prove to be relevant in providing fresh perspectives, and increase available knowledge on the issue. 1. Introduction a. Overview Recent years have witnessed enormous changes in the global economic scenario. Much of what is happening in the cross continental market place owes its origin to the vision and determination of a slightly built and thrice married octogenarian, Deng Xiao Ping. Deng, the Chairman of the People’s Republic in the 1980s, introduced broad and sweeping changes in the Chinese economy under the name of the four modernisations. His reforms, which covered agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military, opened up the Chinese economy, and were instrumental in transforming it into one of the largest and fastest growing economies of the world. (Deng Xiao Ping, 2007) Years of double-digit economic and infrastructural growth in China profoundly affected the economies of other countries, and, in the process, set off a huge tide of economic movement that encompassed the whole world. In the mid nineties, the socialist government of India, threatened by international debts, shrinki ng foreign exchange reserves, and an exasperated population, decided to catch up with its larger neighbour, and initiated a series of economic reforms that led to sharp increases in economic development, and catapulted the country into the ranks of the fastest growing world economies. The unharnessing of these two countries, which together account for a third of global population, from the shackles of state economic control, has created an unprecedented demand for commodities. As China and India rush to make up for decades of low growth, poor living standards, and abysmal poverty, their booming economies are hungrily devouring ever-increasing quantities of metals, agricultural produce and oil products. This insatiable hunger, in the opinion of economists and market analysts, has led to the development of a sustained increase in prices of commodities, known in economic parlance as a commodity super cycle. Other thinkers and columnists have expressed dissenting views, blaming market speculators for building up prices to unrealistic levels and creating artificial bubbles; which were bound to burst, and cover all connected with a good amount of unpleasant and possibly disastrous debris. b. Definition of problem The current upward movement of commodity prices has assumed worrying overtones. The escalating prices of crude oil, which moved up, in a period of a few years, from the regions of the mid twenties per barrel, to that of the high seventies, perplexed and worried governments, and economic thinkers all over the world. Apart from oil, prices of many commodities, particularly metals and agricultural produce, have escalated to unprecedented levels, impacting price indices, affecting buying power, and unsettling economies on a cross continental basis. Price behaviours of different commodities are under detailed scrutiny, with experts trying to pin down their reasons. While the sharp increase in the price of maize is attributed to the diversion of corn for production of bioethanol for the US and Brazilian markets, (Trade aspects of Biofuels, 2007) the increase in prices of oil is thought to be due to its increased consumption in China and India. The huge boom in the Indian stock market, on t he other hand, appears to be due to the large influx of foreign institutional investors, who have taken indices in the last two years to more than twice that of 2005. While the enormous increase in economic activity has resulted in increased profitability for business corporations, and has presumably contributed towards reduction of poverty and want, the accompanying inflation has also brought with it enormous worries, particularly for governments of developing countries. Recent months have seen governments, (under tremendous pressure from angry citizens) and central banks raise prime lending rates, and use other economic tools to suck extra money out of the system, in futile attempts to contain runaway inflation. In the midst of numerous theories, the only constant appears to be in the movements of commodity prices, which continue to climb, of course with periodic pauses, and occasional corrections. The development of a long lasting commodity super cycle, in the opinion of many experts, appears to be the major causal factor behind the present circumstances. In this scenario, it becomes important for economic thinkers to focus on the actual reason s for this phenomenon, and its likely consequences, in order to take corrective action. c. Objective This assignment delves deeply into the issues related to commodity life cycles, and commodity bubbles, from economic, political and social perspectives, and with particular reference to the current global economic scenario. The subject matter is enormous and covers local and international developments in politics, society and economics. The assignment involves examination of primary and secondary information sources, and the study of available literature and research. It makes substantial use of secondary material in the form of texts, journals and magazine articles as well as internet sources for purposes of data availability, analysis and investigation. A good amount of thinking on the subject has occurred in the past few years with numerous experts expressing frequently contradictory and quite confusing views in their syndicated and one-off columns. Despite serious and sincere effort, some important information regarding the topic may well have not found place in the assignment, a deficiency that could limit the validity of its conclusions. The bibliography provides complete details of the accessed information. The order of issues taken up for discussion is sequential, for the sake of logical progression of ideas and thought. 2. Literature Review a. The Commodity Super Cycle Economists have, for decades, believed in the theory of cyclical growth, characterised by periods of growth, followed by years of depression or slump. Events, economies, and political systems move through cycles similar to the natural life cycles of living beings. These cycles, while observable, have no obvious reason and involve changes between periods of comparatively swift increase of production, income and prosperity and periods of relative stagnation. (Business Cycle, 2007) These periodic movements do not follow an established or expected pattern and behave randomly, with extended, or short, growth or slump years. In the stock and commodity markets, these boom and bust periods have been famous for causing widespread prosperity or destruction. Cycles generally comprise of four distinct phases namely contraction, trough, expansion, and peak. Whereas expansions and contractions account for the major portion of the cycle, the troughs and peaks denote the lower and upper turning poin ts where contractions change into expansions and vice versa. These cycles have been the focus of detailed economic study for ages with governments trying, mostly without success, to smoothen slumps, periods that have historically caused widespread unemployment, losses and suffering. Business cycles are as applicable to commodities as to other elements of the economy and are generally measurable in movement of national or regional GDP. Occasionally, commodities move into a phase of upward movement in prices for extended periods, which continue for many years, sometimes even many decades. They mainly occur because of major economic developments that are significant enough to drive demand and consumption on a global basis for long periods. Super cycles form because of the industrialisation or urbanisation of a major economy, (Heap, 2005) a process that normally occurs over decades, and leads to situations wherein increases in supplies of commodities are unable to catch up with increases in their demand. These imbalances, while originating in particular geographical areas, occur for years and result in substantial price increases of commodities, and that too on a global basis, for extended periods. What we can say is that there clearly are long-term cycles and that they are driven by fundamental changes in the world around us. Global wars, the industrial revolution, major innovations in transport and communications are just some of the factors that can instigate long-lasting shifts in economic growth, that in turn stimulate demand for commodities. Increased demand drives prices higher while producers struggle to increase the capacity to meet that demand. Ultimately, prices peak when excess capacity has been developed – the cycle is then completed when demand abates and general surpluses force prices lower. (Guthrie, 2007) Two discernible super cycles have occurred during the last 150 years. (Heap, 2005) Huge economic and infrastructural growth in the USA, during the turn of the nineteenth century, created a super cycle in commodities. Later, commodity super cycles developed during the post war reconstruction of Europe followed by enormous economic activity in Japan. If you look at history, there have always been super cycles in demand for commodities. There was a super- cycle during the British industrial revolution, during America’s huge period of growth before and after the second world war and during Japan’s industrialisation in the 1970s.† (Cooper, 2005) Many economists feel that the movement of commodity prices since the turn of the millennium indicates that the global economy is in the midst of a strong commodity super cycle, a phase that has just about started and still has a long way to go. Gary Dorsch, writing for SafeHaven (2006) states that the Reuters Jefferies Commodity Price Index (CRB), which comprises of futures in â€Å"live cattle, cotton, soybeans, sugar, frozen concentrated orange juice, wheat, cocoa, corn, gold, aluminium, nickel, unleaded gasoline, crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, coffee, silver, copper and lean hogs† has reached levels 91 % higher than what it was four years ago, its highest level in 26 years. Apart from the behaviour of the CRB index, prices of oil have increased seven times from its 1999 levels. Demand for oil is about 85m barrels a day at the moment and most people forecast that it will hit 125m barrels a day in the next 15 to 20 years. I see no way in which this will be met, so oil prices will stay high.† Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, has even forecast that the oil price could hit $100 a barrel in the event of a â€Å"supply shock† — a disruption to the supply of oil as a result of natural disaster, sabotage, war or political upheaval. (Cooper, 2005) Copper has also behaved in virtually the same manner from the lows it saw in 2001. â€Å"Now it’s the turn of the grains, where wheat and particularly corn have exploded higher on the US futures exchanges.† (Guthrie, 2007) A number of other experts are reinforcing this phenomenon. While metals, led by base metals such as copper, aluminium and zinc, as well as precious metals like gold, silver and platinum have, until now, along with oil, led the price charge, prices of agricultural produce are also beginning to rocket. â€Å"Recently however, commodity traders have doubled sugar prices to 24-year highs, and are moving into coffee and soybeans.† (Dorsch, 2006) Prices of iron ore have risen to dizzying heights, practically 72 % in 2005. While tracking of commodity prices is an ongoing activity, the frenetic movement of prices during the last seven years has added another dimension to the issue. Numerous articles, either prophesying its continuation for many more years or predicting a roll back in the near future, pack the pages of financial journals and magazines. Each minute movement in commodity prices is subjected to detailed scrutiny, compared with trends and used as a base for future forecasts. The majority however appears to be in consensus that the current trend of increasing prices, across a cross section of fuel, metal and agricultural commodities should remain in place for quite some time. b. Main Causes behind Current and Expected Price Behaviour in Commodities While numerous major and minor reasons affect commodity price behaviour, this discussion focuses on a few major reasons, widely accepted to be the primary causal factors behind the constant and significant price increases of the past few years. The liberalisation process kick started by Deng Xiao Ping, in China, in the early eighties, led to developments that were possibly beyond his wildest expectations, and catapulted him into the ranks of those whose actions changed today’s world. The implementation of economic reforms accompanied with the opening of the Chinese economy resulted in unprecedented and unimaginable growth rates. During the last twenty-five years, the country’s economy changed from a centrally administered system, largely closed to international trade, to a market oriented economy with a rapidly growing private sector. Reforms, which commenced with the phasing out of collective farming, expanded to incorporate freedom from price control, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state controlled enterprises, a large and diverse banking infrastructure, vibrant stock markets, the growth of privately owned and controlled enterprise and the opening of the economy to trade and investment. As C hina implemented the reforms in a phased manner, the restructuring and consequent efficiencies led to a year on year GDP growth well in excess of 10 % and a tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. The country, in recent years, has overtaken the most advanced nations of the world, and in terms of purchasing power parity, stands second only to the United States. Exports are a key driver behind the Chinese economic miracle, with Chinas currency exchange controls and trade surplus with the US topping $204 billion in 2005, a 25% increase on the previous year and nearly 30% of the total US deficit. The lynchpin of Chinese exports is the low Yuan /dollar exchange rate pegged at 8.11 per dollar, undervalued by 30% to 40% on a trade-weighted basis. (Dorsch, 2006) Growth has also driven enormous spending on infrastructure and urbanisation, with millions of Chinese relocating from villages to urban centres. Foreign investors, from the west, as well as from East Asian economies like Japan and South Korea have invested significantly in the PRC, making it, in many ways, the world’s factory. The country has the largest current account surplus, nearly 180 billion USD, in the world. (CIA Factbook, 2007) This phenomenal economic and industrial growth, involving a ten-fold increase in GDP, has made the country a huge commodity consumer. â€Å"In China, intensity of use is now three times that of the USA, with demand driven by urbanisation, industrialisation and fixed capital formation.† (Heap, 2005) The Chinese miracle, with its huge demand for commodities has affected commodity prices profoundly in the past few years. â€Å"As China’s economy expands, it is sucking in raw materials to build up its infrastructure, including roads, power stations and factories.† (Cooper, 2005) This demand led to the country picking up a huge share of the overall growth in global consumption with growth in internal consumption. â€Å"The International Monetary Fund reports that its share of the overall growth in global consumption of industrial commodities between 2002 and 2005 was massive – 51% for copper, 48% for aluminium, 110% for lead, 87% for nickel, 54% for steel, 86% for tin, 113% for zinc, and 30% for crude oil.† (Guthrie, 2007) The country now accounts 12 % of global industrial production, compared to 6 % in 1995, 4 % of GDP on an exchange rate basis and 13 % on a purchasing power parity basis. Appendix A provides details about China’s demand for various metals. The constantly increasing demand from China, despite regular predictions of slowdown, has served to propel commodity prices year after year. While these price surges have had their periods of relative stagnation, as well as corrections, the demand shows no sign of abating and should grow for many more years. The per capita consumption of beef, for example, in China is 12 pounds per person, compared to 100 pounds per person, in western countries. As perceptions change and the possibility of the country catching up in the prosperity scales with advanced nations becomes a reality, the projected increase in demand assumes overwhelming proportions. While China has been and should continue to be a major driver of commodity prices for many more years to come, other factors have also contributed towards price movement and their effect may well increase in future. India, the world’s second largest country and its’ largest democracy started opening up its economy from the mid nineties. Shackled for years under a bureaucratic mixed economy regime that favoured the public sector, the country suffered from an abysmally slow growth rate for practically fifty years since it achieved independence in 1947. The opening up of the economy, and the introduction of economic reforms, while slower in implementation than China’s, (due primarily to the democratic and debate oriented nature of Indian society), nevertheless picked up steam by the end of the millennium, and entered an era of high growth in the early years of the present decade. The country is today, after China, the second fastest growing economy in the world, and is achieving growth rates of nearly 9 %. While both industry and services are growing at rates much faster than 10 %, agricultural growth has been comparatively slower. Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wants his country to achieve 10% economic growth in the next two to three years, to create more jobs and help lift a third of the countrys 1.1 billion people out of poverty. Asias fourth-biggest economy expanded 8% in the second and third quarters of 2005. Singhs government wants industrial production, which makes up a quarter of Indias economy, to grow 10% annually to boost the incomes of Indians, one in three of whom live on less than $1 a day. Indias industrial production grew at an annualized 8.3% rate between April and November 2005, faster than major economies like US, UK, the Euro zone, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and Russia. Only China and Argentina recorded faster industrial production rates of 16.6%, and 9.6% respectively. (Dorsch, 2006) In India, domestic demand makes up practically 70 % of the national GDP and dominates the economy, as opposed to exports, in many other nations. Indian imports, though lesser than that of China, doubled in the last three years, adding to commodity demand and strengthening the consumer super cycle. Terming Indias economic growth since 1991 phenomenal, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz on Saturday said its GDP (gross domestic product) growth could be pushed up by one to two per cent with speedy reforms. He said: The dynamism shown by India in the last 15 years is phenomenal. India can do better A couple of percentage more growth can be possible. But it needs sound fiscal and monetary policies. Continuity of reforms was important for the high growth, evident in the last 15 years. Indias incredible growth story was a policy model to the world. It showed continued development in democracy and open society. (India’s growth story, 2005) Apart from India, the two other BRIC countries, Brazil and Russia, are also growing strongly, strengthening the demand for major commodities. While the sharp spurt in growth shown by Japan in recent years has also fuelled demand, the growth generated by the BRIC countries, as well as economies of countries like Argentina and South Africa should continue for many years, even for some decades, as these countries try to achieve parity with the advanced nations. Monetary policies followed by the central banks of most countries have also played a significant role in fuelling commodity price increases. Central banks of most countries, Japan, Europe, China and India have followed super easy money policies from the beginning of the millennium right upto the last quarter of 2006 and this along with the demand from the Chinese and Indian economies have worked towards pushing prices up to record levels. The Peoples Bank of China increased its M2 money supply by 18.3% last year, issuing more Yuan to soak up foreign currency earned through foreign trade and direct investment into Chinese factories from abroad. Explosive money supply growth, in turn, boosted domestic retail sales by 13% last year, and industrial production was 16.6% higher in November from a year earlier. Chinas central bank raised its M2 money supply target to 17% in the third quarter from 15% earlier, to offset stronger demand for the Yuan, and maintain the peg at 8.11 per US dollar. (Guthrie, 2007) In Japan, money markets have received trillions of yen, more than required by local Japanese banks, pushing interest rates on deposits to levels even below zero. This enormous amount of excess and free liquidity has enabled both Japanese and hedge fund traders to take up large speculative positions in global commodity markets. While conservative counsel advocates a stricter monetary policy, authorities are reluctant to make changes in a policy that has seen overnight lending rates staying at zero for nearly five years. In Europe, loose money availability has also helped in fuelling inflation and price instability. The growth rate of M3 Money supply in Europe in Europe has become considerably higher than the previous year, and helped in lifting stock markets to higher levels. All over the world, bankers have seen commodity indices running away but refrained from taking action lest growth rates get hurt. Another factor that hinders bureaucrats from taking action after inflation starts hitting significantly high levels is the underlying fear of small course-corrective measures not working and the risk of dampening growth.† If a central bank stops excess liquidity too late it has to raise rates much more strongly and that causes turbulence on the markets.† (Guthrie, 2007) Indian policy makers, found to their chagrin, that inflation growth rates that had crossed 6.5 % (and were threatening to destabilize the government) proved immune to three doses of interest rate hikes, by 50 basis points each time. A sharp hike in borrowing and lending rates took place in recent weeks. With inflation up at 6.4 per cent and the RBI saying it will take â€Å"all the necessary monetary measures†, further hikes in interest rates could come. But will raising interest rates bring inflation under control? Does India have the markets and institutional framework in which raising interest rates is an effective instrument for inflation control? Does India have a central bank that has learned how to conduct monetary policy in an open market economy? The answer to these questions is: No. In this sphere, India lags behind modern practices. (Patnaik, 2007) While lack of faith in the measures taken by one’s own government appears to be a generic trait with analysts all over the world, sustained increases in commodity prices have led to a consensus that economic and monetary policies, followed all over the world, have been unbalanced in their blind preference towards growth, to the exclusion of inflation. The unbridled use of liberal monetary policies has contributed towards this present climate of inflation, and in strengthening the commodity super cycle. The creation of shortages because of rapid and unexpected growth in consumption is a fait accompli, and a short-term discomfort economists are ready to bear, (in the interest of growth), until increased supply stabilizes the situation. In the absence of measured intervention, unbridled increase in prices, apart from inducing speculative activity, also attracts hordes of genuine investors, big-ticket investment funds, pension funds, and even individual retail investors. Pension funds, as well as small, retail investors are looking to commodities as a crucial part of diversification of any investment portfolio. Although schizophrenic commodity day traders could decide to turn massive paper profits into hard cash at a moments notice, causing a 5% shakeout, the longer-term odds still favor a continuation of the Commodity Super (Guthrie, 2007) c. The Future of the Present Inflationary Movement Commodity super cycles, by their nature and their reasons of origin, run for extended periods, for many years and some times for decades. Modern day literature refers to just two or three super cycle in the last two centuries, one caused by American industrial growth at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the other caused by post war reconstruction in Europe, followed by intense Japanese economic activity. The second super cycle lasted for nearly three decades from the late forties until the depression of the eighties. The current super cycle, if at all it is one, has gained momentum only during the last six years, and prima facie still has a long way to go. While monetary policies of powerful and rich individual nations, like the USA and Japan, as well as regional groupings, like Europe, will be able to influence commodity prices through tightening or loosening money supply, the extent of the commodity super cycle will depend primarily upon the growth stories being played ou t in China and India, and to some extent in the other two countries, Brazil and Russia. While China and India are both on the fast track to economic prosperity, they remain countries with low per capita incomes and consumption. The desire to achieve economic prosperity, in these economies, will not be satisfied with achievement of national GDP targets but will continue until individual aspirations of people are met in these two countries. We have China embracing capitalism. We have India embracing capitalism. That’s brought 2.2 billion people into play as very ambitious earners, who aspire to middle class status. If we take Asia, there are 3.5 billion people who aspire to the same middle class lifestyle many of us in the West take for granted. If we look further beyond Asia, this same phenomenon is evident with many other developing countries. We see it in parts of the Middle East with the Dubai city-state as an example. (Finch, 2006) Two simple examples will serve to elaborate this argument. As stated earlier, per capita consumption of beef in China is 12 pounds per person whereas it is more than 100 pounds per person in the advanced countries. Similarly, in India, where the majority of the people do not eat beef, and around fifty percent are vegetarian, the per capita consumption of chicken is around 12 pounds compared to more than 200 pounds in the west. A recent report by Goldman Sachs states that even if, as predicted, both these countries reach the GDP levels of the USA by 2050, their per capita income will not exceed half that of the USA. This gives rise to two inferences, (a) the huge amount of latent demand in these countries and (b) the extended period over which these growth stories will possibly play out. Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wants his country to achieve 10% economic growth in the next two to three years, to create more jobs and help lift a third of the countrys 1.1 billion people out of poverty. Singhs government wants industrial production, which makes up a quarter of Indias economy, to grow 10% annually to boost the incomes of Indians, one in three of whom live on less than $1 a day. (Dorsch, 2006) Apart from the enormous potential for prolonged economic and industrial growth that can occur because of progress in these two countries, the fact that India is moving roughly ten years behind China, could lead to a situation where India’s growth rates start improving further when China’s starts tapering off; thus extending the period of the cycle. Climbing markets are prone to periods of lulls, stagnation and even correction. Experts feel that these phenomena are bound to continue to happen, but the demand for commodities will grow at such an overwhelming pace, not just in China and India, but also in other countries of the developing world that it will soon reassert itself and bring back bullish behaviour. While there is intense speculation in academic circles about the probable period of the inflationary run, very few people are ready to take a bet on its probable date of demise. Economists are quite sure of phases of economic activity where waves of activity and growth follow periods of slowdown and even stagnation. The problem arises when quantification is called for. In the past Dewey and Dakin in their book â€Å"Cycles: The Science of Prediction† (1947) that a super cycle that moves from trough to peak to trough can last for as long as fifty to sixty years. Obviously, these longer waves comprise of a number of sm aller waves, where activity increases and decreases in finite periods Even as convinced a believer in the commodity bull cycle as Jim Rogers points out that the shortest boom lasted 15 years, while the longest lasted 23 years. His conclusion is that we have much further to go, but don’t expect a great deal more precision than that. Oh, and don’t forget that we’ll endure some huge corrections along the way. (Guthrie, 2007) Much of the current discussion on commodity super cycles owes its initiation to