...Jimmy Kim Professor Stayton English 201 21 April 2015 Western and Eastern Cosmologies According to Drew Dellinger, the word cosmology has two definitions. The first definition of cosmology is: “the branch of philosophy dealing with the origin and general structure of the universe, with its parts, elements, and laws, and especially with such of its characteristics as space, time, causality, and freedom (Drew).” The second definition of cosmology is: “the branch of astronomy that deals with the general structure and evolution of the universe (Drew).” Therefore, cosmology is the study of the origin of the universe, and it can be interpreted through a philosophical or scientific perspective. But for this essay, I will interpret cosmology in a philosophical, literary perspective to study “cultural perspective which the universe is shaped, ordered, operated, and men's role in it.” The goal in this essay is to illustrate philosophical, literary similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cosmologies by using King James' The Fall and David Cusick's The Iroquois Creation Story. The Eastern and Western cosmologies are defined by philosophical and literary perspectives, not based on geography, culture, and language. The Eastern cosmology is based on collectivism and Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang is Chinese philosophy which describes “opposite or contrary forces and actually complementary, interconnected, and inter-depended in the natural world (Palmer, 25).” This means that...
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...Introduction This essay seeks to compare the discoveries, ideas and contribution by the great physicians Albert Einstein and Nicolaus Copernicus. Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and the “greatest physicist ever.” He is regarded as the father of modern physics, who created many theories on gravity,light,energy and matter which were interconnected. Nicolaus Copernicus is known as one of the “founding fathers of cosmology.” He changed the way of thinking not only astronomically but also religiously. Contribution and Theories Albert Einstein and Nicolaus Copernicus made a large contribution to the astronomical history which made a huge impact as...
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...Hawking was first diagnosed with ALS in 1963 at age twenty one. Hawking first noticed signs of his disease while studying at Oxford, but he didn’t think much of it and brushed it off. After being diagnosed, though, Hawking noticed how he was declining, and realized he may not be able to get his PhD in cosmology because he may die before that happens. After this, he poured and dedicated a lot of his time into his studies, and he successfully got his PhD. Shortly after this, in 1969, Hawking was forced to use a wheelchair because of how his legs were starting to weaken. Even with these struggles, Hawking still made amazing theories and discoveries, and traveled around to teach about them and attend conferences. But, in 1985 while Hawking was attending different events in Europe, he became deathly ill with pneumonia. At some points, Jane, Hawking’s current wife at the time, was asked if she wanted to take him off of life support. After some time, Hawking was forced to have a tracheotomy so he could breathe. Sadly, this caused Hawking to permanently...
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...The methodical idea behind the philosophy of the mind, or metaphysics, that is displayed in John Locke’s essay “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” though it questions and challenges the fundamental ideas about how one comprehends and thinks, I feel as though there are some things missing. Lock considers “self” or personal identity as being an on going continuous intellectual cycle based on consciousness and memory, but also discussed the human soul and body in his theory. The main question that is raised from the issue of personal identity is how is the person you are based off, of or what does it consist of. All of these questions and terms such as “self” and personal identity all fall under the category of metaphysics. Metaphysics according...
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...WEAKNESSES OF THE BIG BANG THEORY According to Marmet (2005) , the big bang theory believes that the universe originated from an extremely dense concentration of material. The original expansion of this material is called the big bang theory. Moskowits (2010) describes the big bang theory as an assertion that the universe began extremely hot and dense. Around 14 billion years ago, space itself expanded and cooled down eventually allowing atoms to form and clump together to build the stars and galaxies we see today. Taylor (2012) says According to the Big Bang theory, all matter and all space was originally part of an infinitesimally small point called the Singularity. The theory says nothing about where that singularity came from. It is assumed to have come about by a random quantum event. The theory was first proposed in the 1930s, based on Edwin Hubble's discovery that distant galaxies are receding. Hubble measured the distances to a large number of galaxies which was based on the observed brightness of certain stars within them, he went on to collate these distances with their electromagnetic spectra. As it turned out, more distant galaxies had the features in their spectral lines shifted to lower frequencies in a linear manner: that is, more distant galaxies exhibit greater redshifts. The only known mechanism for generating a spectral shift is the Doppler effect, which means that distant galaxies are receding from us. Another dominant idea connects the dots between the...
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...NAME: Angela Ferreira STUDENT NUMBER: 543939 COURSE: Archaeology ASSIGNMENT: Hunter-gatherer essay DUE DATE: 5 September TUTOR/LECTURER NAME: Geoffrey Blundell Plagiarism declaration I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and to pretend that it is one’s own. I have used the author date convention for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to and quotation in this essay from the work or works of other people has been acknowledged through citation and reference. This essay is my own work. I have not submitted this work, or a substantial...
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...These "enlightened" philosophes considered that humans should be conspicuously involved in the establishment of sets of ethical rules and in their implementation. Actually, they believed that humans should apply a spirit of rational criticism to all things, including religion and politics. Besides, those philosophes' focus was the improvement of the terrestrial world, and its enjoyment, rather than the belief in a hypothetical paradisiacal afterlife. In the seventeenth century, John Locke, a British contemporary of Isaac Newton, argued that humans were born with a tabula rasa (blank mind) in his "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" in 1690. Therefore, according to Locke, humans were moulded by their environment and, as a consequence, proper changes could influence their behaviour and, thus, the creation of new societies could be possible. The creation of a better world on earth was in the hand of all humans: once more, Christian beliefs were undermined. The French Enlightened philosophes have undoubtedly launched the most ferocious attacks against the Christian church and its beliefs. François Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), also known as Voltaire, criticized the fanatical, intolerant and superstitious facets of the Christian religion. He also valued Deism (philosophy based on the Newtonian world-machine) that...
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...Stephen Hawking is concidered by many a scientific genius of living and still working today. Most legends are made when people die and when Stephen does die he will become a legend. Until then he is a leaving breathing genius. He hasn’t had it as easy as most but has done well combating his many struggles through life. Desoite all of these troubles Stephen Hawking has been able to rise above and has been a valuable part of the physics and cosmotology studies we have had on this planet. With all of his struggles and triumphs, Stephen Hawking has had along history and a lot of time has been dedicated to finding answers to some of the questions we ask but would take a genius to answer and research. Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, at the end of World War II. He was born in Oxford, England but his family didn’t live there originally. They moved there due to the war because it was supposedly a safer place to have a child. His father was a researcher of tropical medicine so research and studies were in his genes. His father was hoping he would follow in his footsteps but all Stephen wanted to do was be a mathmetician. Needless to say, Stephen and his family stayed in Oxford and that’s where he grew up. Stephen entered Oxford University in 1959 to study mathematics primarily. He was a very bright student in which case e didn’t have to work very hard in school. He was very social and Oxford proved to be little challenge for him. He even took up sports by joining the...
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...Introduction This is a comparative essay and its purpose is to compare old-Earth and young-Earth viewpoints on Dating the rocks of the Grand Canyon. There are different views on this and no scientific method that can prove (completely) the age of the universe or the earth. There are the use of different types of calculations that can provide some guesses on the age of the earth. Many things need to be assumed such as a beginning date and the speed of change along with varying increases and decreases of material over time. “Young-Earth Creationism” (YEC) is based on a precept that earth and the universe were created by God, only 6,000 years ago in six days. Their position is that by examining geological records the scientific details of early history will become clear and a literal biblical view of Earth’s creation supported. Now, “Old Earth Creationism” (OEC) is also based on a precept that earth and the universe were created by God, but they also believes and interprets the book of Genesis differently. OEC try to fit cosmology and theories on evolution in (in some form). Both “Young-Earth Creationism” as well as “Old Earth Creationism” believes in a creator. The biggest area of disagreement is the age of the universe and the earth. This essay will look at both “Young-Earth Creationism” and “Old Earth Creationism” in regarding Dating of the rocks in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular areas in the world to focus on this debate. There is a great deal...
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...rom J.L.Gibson 09Sept14 To: Intro to Philosophy. Essay 1 What am I doing in this class? And how if at all. Do I think studying philosophy might benefit me. An introduction to Western Philosophy by Donald Palmer. I will attempt to answer three basic questions with this essay. What is Philosophy, What are the origins of Philosophy and why am I studying Philosophy today. Therefore my main reason for studying philosophy is to expand my knowledge and live the good life. What is philosophy? Philosophy, the Greek Word for "love of wisdom," has been defined in a variety of ways, one of which is the notion that philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer fundamental questions (Voices of Wisdom). What makes people partake in philosophy. It is philosophy that we turn to when we have the need to seek out a guiding principle for our lives. Therefore, philosophy holds a prominent place in society and in the world. Basically, everyone is a philosopher, but it takes the creative genius and reasoning of brilliant thinkers to bring about earth-shattering concepts. Like Thales,Socrates,Plato and Aristotle to name a few. What are the origins of Philosophy? Philosophy started when human beings started to ask questions, about how and what things are actually, due to curiosity. The things that caused these questions to come about were the people started to...
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...Cosmic Reionization Ultra-deep imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope has now uncovered galaxies within the first billion years of cosmic history. These galaxies represent some of the first objects ever formed, yet in terms of early galaxy formation they are only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the galaxies at this early epoch are too faint to study directly, even with Hubble. Galaxies, moreover, represent only a small fraction of all the matter in the Universe. Most of the matter instead resides in a vast network of dark matter and baryons known as the intergalactic medium (IGM). One of the primary aims of extragalactic astronomy is therefore to understand how galaxies form out of this network, and how galaxies, in turn, affect their environments. Of particular interest is how some of the very first galaxies took shape, and how they changed the properties of the large-scale IGM. One of the key features of the IGM in the present day Universe is that the gas is highly ionized. This would not always have been the case, however. After the Big Bang, the gas would have cooled and become neutral as the Universe expanded. Only after the first luminous sources appeared and began to emit ionizing photons would hydrogen in the IGM have been re-ionized. We believe that this process occurred within the first billion years, and represents one of the most dramatic impacts that early galaxies had on the properties of the baryons in deep space. In addition to direct searches for distant...
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...Meng Li Exam Essay 1 RELS-U277-001 Dr. Wessinger Hinduism is defined as an animistic Basic Religion. The term Basic Religion is created and introduced by an American historian of religions, Lewis M. Hopfe. Indigenous peoples “original inhabitants” who are living in simple economics and people who are living in industrialized and information economies practice Basic Religion in their daily lives. There are many characteristics of Basic Religion. For example, as other religions, Basic Religion also has an ultimate concern that is whether the believers are in harmony with sacred beings and forces. Also, for the view of human nature, Basic Religion emphasizes on the relationship between the living and the dead. For instance, the spirits of the dead will continue to exist, and the living and their ancestors will affect one another. Moreover, Animism is a term that is used to describe the cosmology of Basic Religion. Personal gods, impersonal forces throughout nature, in natural objects, animals, and humans, and spirits in nature are three very important components of Animism. Therefore, Animism is absolutely polytheistic. Monism is a philosophical term that asserts there’s only one ultimate reality that is considered to be the essence of all existing things in the world. As opposed to polytheism that believes in multiple gods, monotheism believes in only one god or the oneness of god. One of the evidence of Indian tradition’s oneness is Upanishads. These texts come at the end...
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...roxanne Susan Barboza ENGL101-1501B March 2, 2015 Compare and Contrast Roxanne vs. Cyrano De Bergerac Although Roxanne and Cyrano De Bergerac are based on the same story, the nature of the characters and the ending in the two stories are different. People would rather see Roxanne and Charlie together and happy then the character of Charlie being killed as in Cyrano. In the following essay, I will be comparing and contrasting Roxanne and Cyrano De Bergerac in order to demonstrate how in the newer version, Roxanne and Charlie end up together and happy, whereas the original version kills off the character of Cyrano. I feel that Roxanne was a better movie because it has a happy ending unlike Cyrano De Bergerac that has a tragic ending. Isn’t it better to assume that the characters would rather have a fist fight than a sword fight? Isn’t it easier to accept the character as a firefighter rather than a French cadet? I believe so. To me, isn’t it more genuine to have the movie set in modern times in our country than Cyrano which is set in a time and place that no one alive can relate to? For example, the plots are the same, the ugly man wants the attractive girl but she is being swayed by looks rather than brains, but they are very different characters. Steve Martin’s Roxanne portrays love and happiness while Rostand’s Cyrano is a complicated and serious man, but both are similar in the way that...
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...Humans have a strong need to classify the world around them, this is influenced by the lack of understanding some people hold of the world and wish to make clearer, mainly through social and cultural issues, in this essay I will delve into these said issues and attempt to bring about an understanding and solidarity to the reasons behind these results for 'the way humans think about the world around them'. Classification is a process that is done universally by all societies and cultures in which people give/find meaning to what they don't understand, although all societies and cultures inhabit this process not all classify the same as the other; most societies exhibit diversity through their cultural influences so the actions of one culture/society may seem strange or irrational to other group, E.g. (Azande) Witchcraft, Evans-Pritchard studied the Azande peoples are their view on society and their culture, he found that they explained various misfortunes though the cause of witchcraft, he saw this as irrational when measured against science; he couldn't see things from their perspectives and had a rose-tinted view when studying the Azande culture, however he failed to recognise the similarities between witchcraft and science; both these are belief systems (Cosmologies) they both have people putting faith in a (witch) doctor. Cultural influences, even though most anthropologists try to give meaning to culture, are only abstract reality conducted though social constructs put in...
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...the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."—Steven Weinberg Steven Weinberg is winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, and author of the book "The First Three Minutes". 2 Introduction Science at the beginning of the twenty-first century can make some bold, yet simple observations: 1) the universe has evolved; 2) we are a result of that evolution. “We are the first generation of human beings to glimpse the sweep of cosmic history, from the universe's fiery origin in the Big Bang to the silent, stately flight of galaxies through the intergalactic night.” (National Research Council) Order in the Universe Cosmology is the study of the evolution of the universe from its first moments to the present. In cosmology the most fundamental question we can ask is: Does our universe have intelligible regularities that we can understand—is it ordered? This question lies at the heart of the scientific revolution beginning in the sixteenth century. That revolution began with the discoveries by Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton of order in our world. Today our scientific understanding of nature’s order has reached a critical threshold. Only now can we begin to piece together a coherent picture of the whole. Only...
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