Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing Essay Example for Free

Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing Essay In â€Å"Seeking†, Emily Yoffe shares with us her thoughts of what she believes is taking over our original basic desires and being replaced with an obsession for a constant need to gather or receive information with disregard to everything else. I can relate to what she is stating because I see it happening everyday around me; people walking around with their faces looking down into their smart phones. Almost everyone I come in contact with has a laptop, Ipad or tablet carrying around with them. You see them in the parks, malls, bookstore tech-ed out and they are all searching forever searching forever seeking and waiting for the next text, the Yahoo you got mail or that Tweet alerting them that someone cared enough or too little by sending them a message by such an impersonal means of communication. Yoffe speaks about a friend who has an insatiable need to view random facts about famous people when dining out with her boyfriend. So caught up is Nina that she ignores her boyfriend who is sitting right across the table from her. This is what Yoffe means when she states, â€Å"chasing after flickering bits of information.† By analyzing her article, I hope to further persuade techno junkies of the negative effects that Yoffe seems to imply but not directly stating it. Yoffe uses creditable sources to give us reasons on why we should put the machines down. The book titled, Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin, Yoffe talks of two cats who were being driven crazy from chasing a laser pointer even though they could never catch it. Think of Kim Kardashian who is always driven to read each blog, on-line trash mag, like TMZ to see what is being posted about her. If you have ever watched Keeping up with the Kardashians you see her literally tearing herself apart searching for this information and crying because of the hurtful things people have said about her. That to me is form of torture for Kim Kardashian , but at the same time it’s fueling a physical need of hers, that has her searching for information of herself. Thus providing some sort of feel good moment that though what she is reading might be awful, she makes her feel adored by the public. If it was you, would you sit all day or part of the day looking for negative information of yourself? Yoffe this point is using logical reasons that could be used to get a techno junkie up off their butts to actually pursue real live activities. The research information by noted neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp who has spent years researching and mapping people’s brains and proving that like real physical items that we obtain, the act of seeking and finding gives euphoria by releasing a chemical substance called dopamine. Yoffe also points out that this feels so good we constantly are doing things to reach this state to make us feel good; to me that sound like a person who uses drugs to keep getting a high or a fix. All things which are not healthy for you when overindulging. Even before reading this article I was already aware of the dangers or risk to my health and how addictive this has become. I enjoy modern conveniences as much as the next person. I enjoy being able to sit at home and do my banking and ooVoo with my children who live in Connecticut. I remember when this was part of a sci-fi movie, camera phones. I have learnt from YouTube how to expertly apply my makeup and even gotten better advice on how to take care of my hair! However, I began to notice a few years that cell phones used to be a luxury item, has now become standard issue and almost an extension of our body. People have such a hard time putting down their cells no matter where they maybe. I see them in church while the pastor is preaching, they are texting or on Facebook. Is it really that serious, can it not wait until after service? I can remember being upstairs in my bedroom and texting my children to bring me a cup of water. Back in the day I would have gotten up and got it myself or called out to them. I’m not saying the modern technology is bad; it has its good points. For instance, when I had a car accident I was able to immediately call for help and get it sooner than having to hope and pray someone would call when they reached the nearest phone. It allows me to be able to work from home, like when I first moved to Kentucky and the company I was working for contracted my services for a few months until they could hire a replacement. I don’t think Yoffe is trying to scare you off of technology, just advise you that we are moving from a culture that once were out in the world searching for new and exciting things we could touch and feel to sitting at home and searching for stuff we can’t feel. So put down the devices and get out and smell the roses. References Yoffe, E. (2011). Seeking, In X. J. Kennedy, D.M. Kennedy M.F. Muth (Eds.) The Bedford guide For college writers (9th ed.) (pp. 599-601). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s

Charles dikenson biography :: essays research papers fc

Charles Dickens Biography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles Dickens was one of the most popular writers of all time. Dickens was very observant of life, and had a great understanding of humanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812. When he was two years old he and his family moved to London. Dickens father, John Dickens, was a poor clerk who worked for the navy, and he also spent time in prison for debt. When John was not in prison he lacked the money to adequately support his family. When Charles was twelve he worked in a London factory. That job was so miserable that the misery of the experience stayed with him his whole life. Dickens became a newspaper reporter in the late 1820’s. He specialized in covering debates in Parliament and also wrote feature articles. This helped him develop his skill portraying his character’s speech realistically. His first book was â€Å"Sketches by Boz† in 1836; it consisted of articles he wrote for monthly magazine. The book that got him famous was â€Å"The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. This book describes the adventures and misadventures of a group of people in an English countryside. Dickens founded and edited two highly successful magazines. Those magazines were â€Å"Household Words† and â€Å"All Year Round†. Dickens was always in the news, and was honored, and recognized everywhere he went. In 1836 Dickens married Catherine Hogarth. Catherine had a sister named Mary, who died in 1837. Dickens grieved so much over her death that some people believe that he loved her more then he loved Catherine. Catherine was a good wife but she wasn’t a very intelligent woman. She an Dickens had ten children, and separated in 1858. Dickens had a vast amount of physical and mental energy. He had so much energy that he could record all of his activities and make it interesting to read. Dickens had a life other than writing. He spent much of his free time with his friends from the worlds of art and literature. He also enjoyed drama. He went to the theater as often as he could. When he was rich and famous, he produc ed and acted in amateur theatrical productions. Dickens was also a giving person. When he was not socializing or in the theater, he was giving to various charities. These charities included giving money toward build schools for the poor school children and loans that enabled the poor to move to Australia.

Perspectives from Inner Windows Essay

Cheryl Albury in the book† Perspectives from Inner Windows,† reveals many of the social problems that we face in Bahamian society. In her stories â€Å"Waiting for Love† and â€Å"Pot of Gold† she uses them to reflect on some of the characteristics of Bahamian Men. From these two stories Albury portrays men as manipulative and selfish. In â€Å"Waiting for love† we are introduced to the relationship of Stafford and Phyllis a young couple from Exuma. Stafford, evil in his ways, preys on naà ¯ve Phyllis, coaxing her mind of dreams he had for them. He courted her around town and found an opportunity to rob her of her innocence. Although she loved him, she knew something wasn’t right about their relationship, because ever since he had asked her to elope she felt a â€Å"sense of foreboding and uneasiness† to the matter. He deceived her in believing they would elope and start a family, by him not doing this he betrayed her trust and left her waiting on love. In â€Å"Pot of Gold† best friends Cyril and Jacob are both family men with minimum paying jobs. They, influenced by the hard times, robbed the local hardware store of a large sum of cash and walked free. It was not until Cyril’s unknowingly told his girlfriend that they were found guilty. Because of their selfish ways it caused them to jeopardize their relationships with their family and to deceive the trust of their wives. After being imprisoned, Jacob tried to regain their treasure but a building was constructed on it, but in the end they learnt that true happiness does not come from being selfish. In conclusion, Albury in these stories uses the technique of dialect and imagery to help her readers understand her point more. Also I believe that Albury shows a true reflection of Bahamian men. She uses real life situations to bring her point across that most Bahamian men are selfish and manipulative.

The Liberal Party of Canada Free Essay Example, 1500 words

These labels are used to signify the broader ideological premises believed to lie behind an action, opinion, or statement (Stephen Brooks Page 33). â€Å"The Liberal Party had always occupied the middle ground of Canadian political ideology and as a consequence it had to appeal to people fairly widely dispersed across the centre of the spectrum† (Penny Bryden, Page 60) Right and left are shorthand labels for conflicting belief systems. These beliefs include basic notions about how society, the economy, and politics operate, as well as ideas about how these matters should be arranged. Generally speaking to be on the right in Anglo – American societies mean that one subscribes to an individualistic belief system. Such a person is likely to believe that what one achieves in life is due principally to his or her own efforts – that the welfare of the society is best promoted by allowing individuals to pursue their own interests and that modern government is too expensive and too intrusive. To be on the left, however, is to prefer a set of beliefs that may be described as collectivist. We will write a custom essay sample on The Liberal Party of Canada or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now A leftist is likely to attribute greater weight to social and economic circumstances as determinants of ones opportunities and achievements than does someone on the right. Moreover those on the left have greater doubts about the economic efficiency and social fairness of free markets and have greater faith in the ability of government to intervene in ways that promote the common good (Stephen Brooks, page 34). The importance of these ideologies in defining the contours of political life is suggested by the fact that major and minor political parties in many Western democracies continue to use the names liberal, conservative, and socialist. Changes in the Party’s political Ideology over a period of time – History In Canada the two parties that have dominated national politics for most of the country’s history are the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party (the conservative party was renamed the Progressive Conservative Party in 1942, since December 2003, when it merged with the Canadian Alliance, it is once again known as the Conservative Party of Canada). They have their roots in the ideological divisions of the nineteenth century. Over time, however, the labels have lost much if not all of their informative value. Today, the ideological distance between a Liberal and a Conservative is likely to be small. Indeed, at the beginning of the twentieth century the astute French observer Andre Siegfried had already remarked that the Liberal and Conservative parties were virtually indistinguishable in terms of their ideological principles.