Thursday, October 31, 2019
Should animals be used for research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Should animals be used for research - Essay Example There are many medical practitioners who argue that animal testing is based on a false premise since the results from animal experiments may not necessarily be significant to the effects on the human body; human beings, as certain a species, surely react differently to chemicals that are applied to these experimental animals. This makes it difficult for such experiments to be successful. Two of the most famous cases of this type of experiment are the ones involving Thalidomide and Clioquinol. Thalidomide came clean in the animal testing stage, involving thousands of animals, and it was deemed safe to be released to the public even to pregnant women and breastfeeding women. At least 10 000 children had been born with serious birth defects because their mothers had taken Thalidomide when they were pregnant, even if the animal testing proved it to be safe. Another drug is the Clioquinol, which was also tested on thousands of animals successfully but failed when it was used by humans. It was marketed as a drug against diarrhea and it worked well in animals. In humans, though, it actually caused diarrhea. As a result, more than 30 000 cases of paralysis, blindness and deaths occurred to those who took Clioquinol (Archibald). Another drug that was deemed safe for public use was Vioxx, which was used to treat arthritis. It was perfectly fine on the animal testing level, and was even proved to be beneficial for the heart but the results indicated otherwise in humans. It actually induced about 140 000 heart attacks and strokes in the US. Hormone replacement therapy is another thing, which was proven to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in monkeys but increases the risk in humans. The Lancet reported that more than 20 000 British women acquired breast cancer as a result of taking HRT, in addition to cases of heart attacks and stroke. These are not
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Big Data in Companies Essay Example for Free
Big Data in Companies Essay Big data (also spelled Big Data) is a general term used to describe the voluminous amount of unstructured and semi-structured data a company creates data that would take too much time and cost too much money to load into a relational database for analysis. Although Big data doesnt refer to any specific quantity, the term is often used when speaking about petabytes and exabytes of data. A primary goal for looking at big data is to discover repeatable business patterns. Itââ¬â¢s generally accepted that unstructured data, most of it located in text files, accounts for at least 80% of an organizationââ¬â¢s data. If left unmanaged, the sheer volume of unstructured data thatââ¬â¢s generated each year within an enterprise can be costly in terms of storage. Unmanaged data can also pose a liability if information cannot be located in the event of a compliance audit or lawsuit. Big data analytics is often associated with cloud computing because the analysis of large data sets in real-time requires a framework like MapReduce to distribute the work among tens, hundreds or even thousands of computers. Big data is data that exceeds the processing capacity of conventional database systems. The data is too big, moves too fast, or doesnââ¬â¢t fit the strictures of your database architectures. To gain value from this data, you must choose an alternative way to process it. The hot IT buzzword of 2012, big data has become viable as cost-effective approaches have emerged to tame the volume, velocity and variability of massive data. Within this data lie valuable patterns and information, previously hidden because of the amount of work required to extract them. To leading corporations, such as Walmart or Google, this power has been in reach for some time, but at fantastic cost. Todayââ¬â¢s commodity hardware, cloud architectures and open source software bring big data processing into the reach of the less well-resourced. Big data processing is eminently feasible for even the small garage startups, who can cheaply rent server time in the cloud. The value of big data to an organization falls into two categories: analytical use, and enabling new products. Big data analytics can reveal insights hidden previously by data too costly to process, such as peer influence among customers, revealed by analyzing shoppersââ¬â¢ transactions, social and geographical data. Being able to process every item of data in reasonable time removes the troublesome need for sampling and promotes an investigative approach to data, in contrast to the somewhat static nature of running predetermined reports. The past decadeââ¬â¢s successful web startups are prime examples of big data used as an enabler of new products and services. For example, by combining a large number of signals from a userââ¬â¢s actions and those of their friends, Facebook has been able to craft a highly personalized user experience and create a new kind of advertising business. Itââ¬â¢s no coincidence that the lionââ¬â¢s share of ideas and tools underpinning big data have emerged from Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Facebook. The emergence of big data into the enterprise brings with it a necessary counterpart: agility. Successfully exploiting the value in big data requires experimentation and exploration. Whether creating new products or looking for ways to gain competitive advantage, the job calls for curiosity and an entrepreneurial outlook. What does big data look like? As a catch-all term, ââ¬Å"big dataâ⬠can be pretty nebulous, in the same way that the term ââ¬Å"cloudâ⬠covers diverse technologies. Input data to big data systems could be chatter from social networks, web server logs, traffic flow sensors, satellite imagery, broadcast audio streams, banking transactions, MP3s of rock music, the content of web pages, scans of government documents, GPS trails, telemetry from automobiles, financial market data, the list goes on. Are these all really the same thing? To clarify matters, the three Vs of volume, velocity and variety are commonly used to characterize different aspects of big data. Theyââ¬â¢re a helpful lens through which to view and understand the nature of the data and the software platforms available to exploit them. Most probably you will contend with each of the Vs to one degree or another. Volume The benefit gained from the ability to process large amounts of information is the main attraction of big data analytics. Having more data beats out having better models: simple bits of math can be unreasonably effective given large amounts of data. If you could run that forecast taking into account 300 factors rather than 6, could you predict demand better? This volume presents the most immediate challenge to conventional IT structures. It calls for scalable storage, and a distributed approach to querying. Many companies already have large amounts of archived data, perhaps in the form of logs, but not the capacity to process it. Assuming that the volumes of data are larger than those conventional relational database infrastructures can cope with, processing options break down broadly into a choice between massively parallel processing architectures ââ¬â data warehouses or databases such as Greenplum ââ¬â and Apache Hadoop-based solutions. This choice is often informed by the degree to which the one of the other ââ¬Å"Vsâ⬠ââ¬â variety ââ¬â comes into play. Typically, data warehousing approaches involve predetermined schemas, suiting a regular and slowly evolving dataset. Apache Hadoop, on the other hand, places no conditions on the structure of the data it can process. At its core, Hadoop is a platform for distributing computing problems across a number of servers. First developed and released as open source by Yahoo, it implements the MapReduce approach pioneered by Google in compiling its search indexes. Hadoopââ¬â¢s MapReduce involves distributing a dataset among multiple servers and operating on the data: the ââ¬Å"mapâ⬠stage. The partial results are then recombined: the ââ¬Å"reduceâ⬠stage. To store data, Hadoop utilizes its own distributed filesystem, HDFS, which makes data available to multiple computing nodes. A typical Hadoop usage pattern involves three stages: * loading data into HDFS, * MapReduce operations, and * retrieving results from HDFS. This process is by nature a batch operation, suited for analytical or non-interactive computing tasks. Because of this, Hadoop is not itself a database or data warehouse solution, but can act as an analytical adjunct to one. One of the most well-known Hadoop users is Facebook, whose model follows this pattern. A MySQL database stores the core data. This is then reflected into Hadoop, where computations occur, such as creating recommendations for you based on your friendsââ¬â¢ interests. Facebook then transfers the results back into MySQL, for use in pages served to users. Velocity The importance of dataââ¬â¢s velocity ââ¬â the increasing rate at which data flows into an organization ââ¬â has followed a similar pattern to that of volume. Problems previously restricted to segments of industry are now presenting themselves in a much broader setting. Specialized companies such as financial traders have long turned systems that cope with fast moving data to their advantage. Now itââ¬â¢s our turn. Why is that so? The Internet and mobile era means that the way we deliver and consume products and services is increasingly instrumented, generating a data flow back to the provider. Online retailers are able to compile large histories of customersââ¬â¢ every click and interaction: not just the final sales. Those who are able to quickly utilize that information, by recommending additional purchases, for instance, gain competitive advantage. The smartphone era increases again the rate of data inflow, as consumers carry with them a streaming source of geolocated imagery and audio data. Itââ¬â¢s not just the velocity of the incoming data thatââ¬â¢s the issue: itââ¬â¢s possible to stream fast-moving data into bulk storage for later batch processing, for example. The importance lies in the speed of the feedback loop, taking data from input through to decision. A commercial from IBM makes the point that you wouldnââ¬â¢t cross the road if all you had was a five-minute old snapshot of traffic location. There are times when you simply wonââ¬â¢t be able to wait for a report to run or a Hadoop job to complete. Industry terminology for such fast-moving data tends to be either ââ¬Å"streaming data,â⬠or ââ¬Å"complex event processing. This latter term was more established in product categories before streaming processing data gained more widespread relevance, and seems likely to diminish in favor of streaming. There are two main reasons to consider streaming processing. The first is when the input data are too fast to store in their entirety: in order to keep storage requirements practical some level of analysis must occur as the data streams in. At the extreme end of the scale, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN generates so much data that scientists must discard the overwhelming majority of it ââ¬â hoping hard theyââ¬â¢ve not thrown away anything useful. The second reason to consider streaming is where the application mandates immediate response to the data. Thanks to the rise of mobile applications and online gaming this is an increasingly common situation. Product categories for handling streaming data divide into established proprietary products such as IBMââ¬â¢s InfoSphere Streams, and the less-polished and still emergent open source frameworks originating in the web industry: Twitterââ¬â¢s Storm, and Yahoo S4. As mentioned above, itââ¬â¢s not just about input data. The velocity of a systemââ¬â¢s outputs can matter too. The tighter the feedback loop, the greater the competitive advantage. The results might go directly into a product, such as Facebookââ¬â¢s recommendations, or into dashboards used to drive decision-making. Itââ¬â¢s this need for speed, particularly on the web, that has driven the development of key-value stores and columnar databases, optimized for the fast retrieval of precomputed information. These databases form part of an umbrella category known as NoSQL, used when relational models arenââ¬â¢t the right fit. Microsoft SQL Server is a comprehensive information platform offering enterprise-ready technologies and tools that help businesses derive maximum value from information at the lowest TCO. SQL Server 2012 launches next year, offering a cloud-ready information platform delivering mission-critical confidence, breakthrough insight, and cloud on your terms; find out more at www. microsoft. com/sql. Variety Rarely does data present itself in a form perfectly ordered and ready for processing. A common theme in big data systems is that the source data is diverse, and doesnââ¬â¢t fall into neat relational structures. It could be text from social networks, image data, a raw feed directly from a sensor source. None of these things come ready for integration into an application. Even on the web, where computer-to-computer communication ought to bring some guarantees, the reality of data is messy. Different browsers send different data, users withhold information, they may be using differing software versions or vendors to communicate with you. And you can bet that if part of the process involves a human, there will be error and inconsistency. A common use of big data processing is to take unstructured data and extract ordered meaning, for consumption either by humans or as a structured input to an application. One such example is entity resolution, the process of determining exactly what a name refers to. Is this city London, England, or London, Texas? By the time your business logic gets to it, you donââ¬â¢t want to be guessing. The process of moving from source data to processed application data involves the loss of information. When you tidy up, you end up throwing stuff away. This underlines a principle of big data: when you can, keep everything. There may well be useful signals in the bits you throw away. If you lose the source data, thereââ¬â¢s no going back. Despite the popularity and well understood nature of relational databases, it is not the case that they should always be the destination for data, even when tidied up. Certain data types suit certain classes of database better. For instance, documents encoded as XML are most versatile when stored in a dedicated XML store such as MarkLogic. Social network relations are graphs by nature, and graph databases such as Neo4J make operations on them simpler and more efficient. Even where thereââ¬â¢s not a radical data type mismatch, a disadvantage of the relational database is the static nature of its schemas. In an agile, exploratory environment, the results of computations will evolve with the detection and extraction of more signals. Semi-structured NoSQL databases meet this need for flexibility: they provide enough structure to organize data, but do not require the exact schema of the data before storing it.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Domestic Violence Against Asian Women Social Work Essay
Domestic Violence Against Asian Women Social Work Essay This report is based on a Chief Executive Officer with unlimited budget to improve mental health services in London Borough of Ealing. The following neighbourhood study will focus on a proposal for change to improve services. It will focus on the changes necessary in theà services provided for Asian Women experiencing domestic violence with mental health issues. An understanding of social and cultural diversity will be discussed and their impact on healthcare. In addition, these issues will be compared to the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Domestic violence has come to the forefront as an important issue that affect many people in our society. DH, (2005) define domestic violence as any violence, abuse or threatening behaviour between current or former partners. It stipulate that any attempt to exercise control over an intimate partner or family members regardless of gender, sexuality constitutes domestic violence; the violence can include physical, psychological, sexual, financial and emotional abuse. Domestic violence can also include honour base violence, female genital mutilation and force marriages. According to Home Office, (2004), women are more likely to become victim of domestic violence than men; children are also affected and can be traumatised by the incidences they have seen. Research has shown that one in four women experience domestic violence over their lifetime and one in ten women experience it annually and 32% of children (Walby and Allen, 2004). Williamson, (2000) outlined that ethnic minority women are well known to be victims of domestic violence particularly Asians. However (DH, 2005) highlighted that the affects of domestic violence can result in women experiencing isolation, loss of job and income, low self esteem and self worth; It can lead to mental health issues in women causing the victims to suffer from mental health problems including, anxiety disorder, eating disorder, depression and self harm which could lead to suicide. Experience of domestic violence can also exacerbate an existing mental health condition. Womensaid, (2009) highlighted that a large number of women accessing mental health services have experienced domestic violence, and at least 20% of service users are still experiencing the abuse. It further suggests that 50% of Asian women who have attempted suicide or self harm are survivors of domestic violence. The London Borough of Ealing consists of 23 wards. It is the third largest borough in London with a population of 300,948 of which 151,200 of the residents are females and 22,200 are of Asian background (Neighbourhood statistics, 2006). When compared to Hammersmith and Fulham borough, they have a population of 165,242 Nationally Domestic Violent rate for Asian women. However, 58% of these women view themselves to be white British and only 25% declares to be Asians (Ealing Council, 2009) (appendix 1). The motivation for this proposed change is necessary as services for ethnic minority women experiencing domestic violence in various areas in the country are under-funded or non-existence (Williamson, 2000). Mainstreaming Gender and Womens Mental Health (DH, 2002) identify experiences of violence and abuse as a core theme in womens mental health difficulties. Todays mental health system manages diagnosis and accepts long-term disability consequently offering a label as an explanation for suffering instead of permitting service users to share their stories, experiences and their feelings. The level of domestic violence amongst women has increased significantly in Ealing Borough. Recent figures revealed that Ealing is the ninth highest borough for reporting domestic violence between April 2007 to January 2008 Ealing Council (2009). It was highlighted that 41% of reported cases were of white European whereas the second highest reported cases were from Asian background (see appendix 3). It was also suggested that domestic violence is the highest crime reported nationally to the police, and 89% of domestic violence victims are women (Ealing Council, 2009). The cost of domestic violence on the UK economy is enormous; recent figures reported to be à £23 billion annually for the UK and à £280 million for London Borough of Ealing respectively (Ealing Council, 2009). Furthermore, it is estimated that on average women are assaulted 35 times before they report to the police however; most women do not report and suffer in silence. This may be due to the psychological state known as battered women syndrome identified by (Walker, 2000) in which the victim feels powerless to change the situation. Baggot (2004) argued that ethnic minority groups are faced with poorer health conditions than the rest of the population; people from certain ethnic background may be denied timely access to healthcare or offered lower standards of care than the rest of the population. 55% of Ealings population is predominately ethnic minority groups. The total South Asian population in Ealing is 41% compared to 24.7% in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. This significant difference in ethnic profile has a key impact on the overall health of the community. According to Kandola Fullerton (1998), diversity is the difference in ethnic origin, religion and other factors which cause people to have different perspectives on the same set of facts or issues. The culture amongst Asian communities makes it difficult for married women to disclose that they are victims of domestic violence; breakdown of marriages is often seen as the womens fault hence they are likely to be rejected by family members and their community. It is culturally accepted that women should be abuse consequently becoming victims of domestic violence. Additionally, Some Asian women may be subject to immigration control. This can influence their decision to take action against their husbands because of deportation from the UK. Moreover, most of these women do not speak English and finds it difficult to communicate. Womens National Commission, (2009) report outlined that many of the victims are of insecure immigration status, having limited leave or no leave to remain within the country and are therefore subject to no recourse to public funds therefore are unable to obtain state benefits, hence limiting their access to services, social housing, legal advice and support. Ealing Council, (2009) report, emphasised that currently Ealing has only two organizations offering emergency accommodation services. These services are limited as there are only eighteen adult bed places, the places available for counselling and advocacy services do not have adequate staff to provide support to accommodate the number of victims identified by the Council. (WHO, (1997) cited in DH, (2006) states that violence against women is a public health issue which could be prevented. The Department of Health published a manual aimed at healthcare professionals in 2000 who contacted victims of domestic violence; the purpose was to focus on the need to treat vulnerable women with compassionate and holistic approach. These opinions were echoed by the participants of two surveys who identified the flaws in their treatment as being lack of advocacy and follow up interventions. An individuals ethnicity and cultural group remain useful points for understanding the motives behind domestic violence and the impact it has on their mental health. It can be argued that attending to the specific needs and conditions of Asian women by providing integrated culturally and gender-sensitive services highlights good practice. Hence, it becomes important that the individuals perceptions of self care are identified in the context of their culture. Addressing issues of domestic violence in relation to mental health, health inequalities and other social problems which lead most women to social disadvantages would be easily addressed. APPENDIX 1 The table below gives an indication of the different offences in the borough of Ealing and the UK National Average. Of the offences committed violence against the person is the highest in the borough. Ealing Council English Average Population 305,000 Households 121,000 Violence against the person 25.0 15.0 Sexual offences 1.0 0.9 Robbery offences 4.4 1.0 Burglary dwelling offences 9.1 4.3 Theft of a motor vehicle offences 3.4 2.3 Theft from a vehicle offences 11.6 6.3 Source: Ealing Council, (2009). APPENDIX 2 The diagram below gives an analytical breakdown of ethnicity for domestic violence victims in the Borough Ealing. It shows that 41% were of white European origin. The highest of all the ethnic groups as defined by police were those of Asian backgrounds at 28% and thirdly Afro-Caribbean groups with 22%.
Friday, October 25, 2019
Calling Home :: Literary Analysis, Jean Brandt
In ââ¬Å"Calling Homeâ⬠, by Jean Brandt and ââ¬Å"An American Childhoodâ⬠by Annie Dillard, both girls are confronted with their sense of conscience and of right and wrong. In the process, both girls experience memorable lessons as a consequence of the decisions they make. In ââ¬Å"Calling Homeâ⬠, thirteen year old Jean realizes that her actions not only affect her but more importantly, her loved ones, when she is caught shoplifting and arrested during a Christmas shopping trip with her siblings and grandmother. In ââ¬Å"An American Childhoodâ⬠, seven year old Annie realizes that adults and their feelings are valid and that they can be just as vulnerable and full of tenacity as a child after she and her friend find themselves being chased by a man who is none too amused at being a target of their snowball throwing antics. In both stories, Annie and Jean are smug in their sense of power and control. Both girls exhibit a general lack of respect for authority by justifying their actions and displaying a false sense of entitlement to pursue and attain whatever they wish, as if ordinary rules do not apply to them. Both girls actions are based on power and acknowledgement amongst their peers: In ââ¬Å"Calling Homeâ⬠, the author explains: ââ¬Å"Snoopy was the latest. If you owned anything with the Peanuts on it, you were ââ¬Å"inâ⬠â⬠(19). When she steals the pin, Jean feels proud that sheââ¬â¢s outsmarted everybody and that what she has done has gone undetected. Once confronted, Jeanââ¬â¢s false sense of security and disbelief is reflected in the following statements: ââ¬Å"Where did this man come from? How did he know? I was so sure no one had seen meâ⬠¦I couldnââ¬â¢t believe what he was sayingâ⬠(Brandt 20). In ââ¬Å"An American Childhoodâ⬠, Annie is proud of her ââ¬Å"boys armâ⬠and of being the only girl accepted by a group of older boys. She exudes confidence in participating with her friends. The author explains: ââ¬Å"It was all or nothing...Your fate and your teamââ¬â¢s score depended on your concentration and courage. Not hing girls did could compare with itâ⬠(Dillard 22). In contrast to Jeanââ¬â¢s dismay, Annie excitedly describes the surprise of being pursued and the anticipation of being reprimanded: ââ¬Å"It was an immense discovery, pounding into my hot head with every sliding, joyous step, that this ordinary adult evidently knew what I thought only children knewâ⬠(Dillard 23).
Thursday, October 24, 2019
A Book Critique of The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age Essay
Introduction In L. Russ Bushââ¬â¢s Christian apologetic work, The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age, he details the development and apparent fallacy associated with the modern naturalist worldview. Bush, a professor at Southeast Baptist Theological Seminary, focuses on the idea of inevitable progression within the modern worldview and provides an overview of this viewââ¬â¢s promulgation within epistemology. Bush asserts Christians are no longer socially the majority in their beliefs regarding a world created by God and thus the civil authorities are no longer there to protect their beliefs, as in centuries past. Therefore, it is critical to have a Christian response to modern naturalism. Bush approaches this evolutionary worldview from a philosophical perspective and not as a scientist. The goal of his thesis is not to convince the reader of the scientific merits of Christianity, but to expose the erroneous beliefs found in the modern naturalistic worldview when compared to Christianity. Summary Bushââ¬â¢s overall purpose in this book is to show the failings of the modern naturalist philosophy, especially when compared to the truths found in biblical Christianity. Bush organizes his exposition into eight chapters, which sets out to dismantle the modern naturalistic worldview. Early on within the book, Bush adopts the phrase ââ¬Å"Advancementâ⬠which he uses to describe the naturalistic philosophy for inevitable progress within the modernist worldview. Advancement, as Bush explains, is an applicable term for both modernist and post-modernist philosophies. The modernist worldviewà blends natural historic development with inevitable progress and Bush describes this view is moving into uncertainty, because of its relativistic nature that only lead to chaos. Bush traces these worldviews throughout human history and details the development of modern naturalistic thought. The book reveals humanityââ¬â¢s view of epistemology has changed from the view of a world created by an all-powerful creator God to a random creation brought on by a series of happenstances, which lead to the creation of all life that inhabits the world. The author defines the modernist worldview through the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and up through the enlightenment philosophers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Furthermore, Bush compares the significant differences between the Christian and modernist worldview. This comparison reveals instability is found in the relative naturalistic worldview, and stability is present in Christianity. The Advancement focuses on the unchanging God of the Bible who offers stability unlike naturalism, which only offers inevitable chaos. Bush details the rise of the scientific method and Darwinian evolution within progressive society, which inaugurates the decline of the Christian majority in modern society. The result of the advancement thought process created a theme within society that God was no longer in existence or that God had died. The process of events within the history of the world began to be viewed as the results of accidents within a complicated process. Bush details un der the modernist worldview there is no objectivity because the mind is merely a result of random processes. Moreover, Bush notes the turning point from a dominion Christian worldview to the naturalistic worldview began with the introduction of Deism within the church. The author presents the theological ramifications of blending the Christian faith with naturalism in an attempt to reconcile the two worldviews. According to Bush, the fallacy in the modern worldview is exposed through his presentation of the ââ¬Å"Ten Axioms of Modern Scientific Thought.â⬠These axioms define how modern naturalism understands reality and how other sciences build their assumptions on its data. Bush concludes his book by detailing the reason why the advancement worldview must be rejected in light of the biblical worldview. Bush writes the antidote for the effects of the advancement worldview is authentic Christianity. The stability of Christianity is the only answer to the relative and erratic naturalist view. Book Critique Bushââ¬â¢s thesis within his book was the view that stability is found in the biblical view of the created world, which presents itself in rational order. Bush argues the naturalistic view relies on changing and erratic scientific reason, which creates an environment of instability. The Advancement disassembles the philosophy of naturalism in a matter that can be easily understood by those outside of academia. The Advancement presents several strong arguments regarding Bushââ¬â¢s claims on modern naturalism. Bushââ¬â¢s strongest argument lies within his view that the modern naturist worldview as relative and deceitful. The presentation of the logical conclusion of the evolutionary worldview, which led to the Nazi movement in Germany, was an extremely powerful way to expose the logical trappings of this advancement mindset. The gauge in which humanity views its progress and achievement through naturalistic thought is subjective and skewed to this atheistic philosophy. Bush unveils advancement thinking as false by revealing the lack of inevitable progress within human history. The continued advancement of science and technology does not create the utopian world envisioned by those who proclaim the modern naturalist worldview. Bush smartly presents the problem with medicine that despite the great achievement perceived by humanity there is still the presence of disease equal to the levels in times past. Bushââ¬â¢s use of the ââ¬Å"Ten Axioms of Modern Scientific Thoughtâ⬠defines the science of naturalistic thinking and demonstrates how other scientific disciplines build their assumptions regarding evolutionary theory, which is based on this data. Another strength Bush presents can be found in his final chapter when he presents Jesus Christ as Lord. Bush finalizes his apologetic in a matter that every Christian should end with when engaging in apologetics, which is a focus on Christ. Bush presents Christ as the focus of truth regarding God and the world. This presentation of Christ gives those engaged in the apologetic argument a chance to hear the gospel and understand the absolute truth found in Christ. However, The Advancement presents several weaknesses, which may be difficult for a reader to understand regarding the themes within Bushââ¬â¢s book. Bushà uses multiple terms, often interchangeability, for his invented term ââ¬Å"Advancement.â⬠ââ¬Å"Advancementâ⬠defined by Bush describes a hybrid of naturalistic modern thinking, but Bush does not utilize this term throughout the book. Moreover, the term used in the subtitle of this book the ââ¬Å"evolutionary ageâ⬠is not clearly defined or used, which may provide a level of confusion for those unfamiliar with the term. Bush alludes to a post-Christian age in which the creationist view held by many within the western world has fallen to the wayside for the modern view of naturalistic evolution, but he does not expressly use the term evolutionary age. Although, this is not a scientific book Bush does not define the advancement sciences that have led modern society away from God. A Christian should be able to use this book to engage in an apologetic debate on the philosophical grounds of modern naturalism with an evolutionist and be able to expose the fallacies and ramifications encapsulated within that worldview. However, Bushââ¬â¢s work would not be applicable for a scientific debate on the merits of creationism verse evolutionary theory. Conclusion The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age presents a valuable and sound argument for the Christian worldview when compared to the worldview of modern naturalism. This book answers questions for those interested in the failings of modern naturalism when compared to Christianity and defeats the idea of manââ¬â¢s inevitable advancement within this worldview. The naturalistic worldview incorrectly measures scientific and technological advancements and claims these advancements are progressing for the betterment of humanity. Bush assaults the ideas of natural theology by revealing the lack of inevitable progress. Furthermore, he reveals the tradition Christian view of God and the world can be compatible with science. This book would be a value for any student of apologetics, who is interested in an introduction into the deception of a modern naturalistic worldview. However, this book does not provide the detail needed to argue from a scientific position on the merits of the Christian understanding of nature and the created world. Bibliography Bush, L. Russ. The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group. 2003.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Ellsworth Huntington essays
Ellsworth Huntington essays Ellsworth Huntington was a geographer who studied human behavior. He began notice that people within the northern hemisphere where working harder than the people in the southern hemisphere. This when he began to first conceive a theory, which stated that any one who lived in the southern half of the world was genetically unable to work as hard as the people who live din the north. This theory was called environmental determinism. This theory has since been disproved however. This is due to the realization that the working conditions where less desirable in the south than the north. Ever since air conditioners and other things that help increase stamina and productivity have been invented, work is the south has increased dramatically so that it is if not equal, it is more productive ...
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