...Superior Race Prciliana A. Gonzalez Communications 172 March 10, 2012 David Kindman University of Phoenix The Superior Race Animals have ruled the earth far longer than humans. Some even believe that humans actually evolved from animals. Since humans have been created, they have become advanced and superior to the animals. To many people, this change in roles is uncertain. However, humans are superior to animals because of their advanced communication skills, their mind, and the curiosity that only humans have. Humans Communication Skills Animals have been here longer than humans, but humans’ advanced communication skills prove to make them superior to animals. Steven Pinker (1994) explained the human’s capability when he wrote, “The first is that each one of us is capable of producing new sentences never before uttered in the history of the universe.”(Para. 1). This quote is explaining how humans are the only creatures on earth to introduce new forms of communication. They have the power to create new words and express feelings through these words. Having the ability to express feeling through communication is a powerful thing. It takes great creativity to detach oneself from their surroundings to see the irony in the meaning of the words. Humans are able to produce communication, but what makes them special are the different ways they communicate. In today’s society, people use five basic forms to communicate. First they use body language as a way of communication...
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...Abstract This essay discusses the mind-body question and the difficulty to explain how these two entities relate to philosophical and scientific inquiry. This discussion includes the difficulty scientists find with dealing with the mind-body question when discussing the conception of reality. The discussion will include Searle’s perception of the mind-body question and conclude with a personal perspective of the mind-body question and what it means to her. The conclusion of the essay after research is that this question is difficult to answer because of different views and perspectives. Mind-Body Questions Paper The mind-body question has been a source of examination for many years. This examination began in the seventeenth-century with the French philosopher Descartes. Many credit Descartes with beginning the mind-body problem. The mind-body question in essence deals with how the physical world interacts and relates to the mental aspects of the mind. Descartes considered that the mind existed only in the mental state with the body existing only in the physical state. He felt that the mind could not exist with the body (Schimmel, 2001). Many others have formed various opinions, including John Searle, which emphasizes consciousness when discussing the mind. This essay is a discussion of the difficulty poised by the mind-body question on philosophical and scientific inquiry. The essay will also include the perspective of Searle concerning the mind-body question and reality. It...
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...The mind is a tool; maybe even a weapon and it can be very deadly or dangerous to mankind. The mind has created some of the most destructive creations know to man including the nuke, or atom bomb. These are two things that have destroyed cities, houses, and even killed thousands of human lives. Then you have a superior mind such as Beethoven created amazing pieces of musical art work. Beethoven wrote most of the famous pieces we know today as a deaf man, that just tells you what a mind is capable of doing. It is amazing what the mind can do considering that they say we are only able to use so much of the brain. I’m not saying that the brain and mind is the same thing because they are not. A brain is a physical thing or something that you can hold, a mind is just something that can’t be seen with eyes. In Buddhist scriptures it is said that the human body is equal to a guest home and the mind as a guest dwelling. The mind leaves our body, when it is time for us to die, and goes to the next life. This is similar to the guest leaving the house and moving elsewhere. Well anyways back to the point Mr. Deville only 10% of our brains are used and is said that if we were able to tap the other 90% that we could read “pie” to the twenty thousandth decimal place, or even have telekinetic powers. There is even a website called lumosity.com that students from Harvard university had came up with, which includes brain training activities online that work and that help your mind skills...
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...No Minds for Computers In this paper I will argue why computers can’t have a mind. In order to prove my argument, I will focus on two reasons. First I’ll argue how computers are created and controlled by humans. Then I will explain why computers don’t have the ability to think on their own. These two arguments will demonstrate why computers aren't able to have a mind. First let me elaborate what I mean by computers being created and controlled by humans. Computers are created to perform one or multiple tasks that make human life easier. Humans initiate very complicated programs in modern computers that allows the machines to fulfill millions of different tasks. The key here is that humans program these computers to complete tasks, giving the hardware only one duty which is given only by the human. So am I saying that programming is what makes a computer? Well lets take a deeper look at programming. Programming is simply providing a computer with coded instructions for the automatic performance of a particular task. Lets take an example of how a program works in a computer. In a paper written by John R. Searle, Minds, Brains, And Programming, John talks about how he pretends to be a program in a computer. In this program he is locked in a room and is given the task of answering questions in Chinese symbols. John has never spoken, written or understood any Chinese before. Outside the room will be Chinese natives asking and receiving Johns answers. John is given a manual...
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...understand how the human brain works has been inherent in the human species since we became more advanced. And after all, the human brain is so advanced that it actually named itself. Within the field of psychology there are many different pillars of ideas on which the study stand upon. The following will discuss the major schools of thought in psychology and what they project. It will also delve into the primary biological foundations and how they are linked to behavior. Functionalism has the most influence of any theory. It is the theory of our mental states as humans. According to functionalism, “mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made of ” (Polger, n.d.). In the words of Koening, “Psychological functionalism attempts to describe thoughts and what they do without asking how they do it. For functionalists, the mind resembles a computer, and to understand its processes, you need to look at the software -- what it does -- without having to understand the hardware -- the why and how underlying it” (Koenig, n.d.). The anaolgy of the mind as a central computer is the simipliest way to describe the theory and the assumtion is that the brain is in control of all actions and behaviors. Gestalt psychology is the next pillar of thought. The Gesstalt theory is that “the human mind works by interpreting data through various laws, rules or organizing principles, turning partial information into a whole” (Koenig, n.d.). For example, the mind might see three...
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...As Bernard Rosenberg once said, “Man is a biodegradable but nonrecyclable animal blessed with opposable thumbs capable of grasping at straws.” (Bernard Rosenberg. p. 96) Human Nature consists of an evolving body and an immaterial mind that has an essence which is the result of a highly complex brain; Both the body and mind die, however, while living, they make their own choices and create their own outcomes because of their immaterial mind; The memory and body are what makes a person who they are and without either of them, the same person does not exist; We make our own choices but without others, we would be unable to define ourselves. The Dualist view of human nature is similar to these ideas. Dualism is the “view that human beings are immaterial minds within material bodies.” (Velasquez. p. 105) The man that ran this show was René Descartes (1596-1650). He claimed that if we can conceive of one thing without the other, than they are not the same thing. He used this notion to state that the self and the body are different. From this, it can be reasoned that there is a soul, which endures. Human nature accepts the idea of an immaterial mind and a material body because of the fact that they can be viewed as separate things. In the words of Descartes, body is: …all that which can be defined by a specific shape: something which can be confined in a certain place, and which can fill a given space in such a way that every other body will be excluded from it; which can be perceived...
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...unique abilities from the source. For that manner, it has nothing to do with what you are destined to share with the universe. Ego compares, while the true YOU shares and knows its worth. Insecurities and judgments exist only in the unconscious mind. There is open opportunity for everyone, both young and old. I do not know if many people are aware of this, but your mind can connect to the interweb. It is a digital universe, a frequency, and the Master mind has transmuted the frequency of interweb through the digital devices of technology. We did not invent the internet; it has always been here. The formless frequencies did not come into existence, for they have...
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...is a philosopher who values humans and thinks they are the smartest and especially due to the fact that they have minds. When saying “The mind is the lawgiver of nature” Kant refers to the fact that humans make rational decisions by basing their decision on morals. When reading the statement one thinks about the word “lawgiver”; this word refers to a fictional weapon. Therefore Kant looks at the mind as a fictional weapon that is not seen but that plays an important role in our everyday life and that helps humans make the decisions they make and gain the experiences they gain in order to succeed and follow their morals. People see reality as it is but according to Kant, mind is what makes our lives true and our realities real. In order to understand the statement made by Kant, first we need to learn more about Kant. Kant’s ethics are all about morals and the steps that people make in order to make things better and people happier around them. Kant uses the idea of acting in accordance to duty and from duty. The only difference between these two was the fact that people need to do something because it is duty and sometimes people need to do things because not only it’s their duty but because they will gain from it and be happy as well from the experience. As it can be seen through his ethics, Kant thinks that all human beings deserve the best life ever and they deserve to follow ethics so that they do not hurt each other. Kant’s theory is that humans should not just take action;...
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...absolutely NOTHING existed? 2 What is ultimately (or REALLY) real? [Appearance -v- Reality] 3 Is reality fundamentally one or many? [Monism -v- Pluralism] 4 What, if anything, endures through change? 5 Is reality primarily material or spiritual (or mental)? [“Materialism” -v- “Idealism”] 6 Is the “external world” objectively real, or is its existence mind-dependent? If the latter, what mind is it dependent on? My mind? Your mind? The divine mind? 7 Is there a “supernatural” reality, or is nature “all there really is”? [Naturalism -v- Supernaturalism] 8 What is the difference between necessary and contingent being? Is there a necessary being? Is there only one necessary being? Philosophical cosmology 9 What is the cosmos made of? How is it structured? 10 Did the cosmos come into being? If so, how? 11 Will the cosmos cease to be in the future? If so, what does that mean for us? 12 What are the philosophical implications of scientific answers to cosmological questions? Philosophical theology (and the philosophy of religion) 13 Does God exist? [Theism; Atheism; Agnosticism] 14 What is the nature of God? 15 What about the existence of evil (pain, suffering, and disorder)? How can evil exist in a world created and governed by an all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful deity? [“The Problem of Evil”] 16 Is God good? 17 Can God be less than perfect in any respect? 18 What (if any) is the relationship between...
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...CH-1: INTRODUCTION TO BRAND MANAGEMENT Did you ever wonder what has made the world what it is today? Isn’t it true that the Nature has remained the same throughout the history, yet the world has changed in astronomical proportion? Indeed, the human beings have brought the change… but what is special in the humans that they could “CHANGE” the world? The answer may sound bizarre, but it’s the raw truth: the unending quest of the humans to conquer the world… Hard to believe? Let’s look at the history: First it was Napoleon who conquered the world and then came the British who dominated the whole world for more than 2 centuries, before the counter came in the form of ‘War for Independence.’ In fact, most of the technological products were introduced during those times to ‘equip’ themselves either for offence or for that matter defences. The world has indeed made a transition form the quest to capture the world ‘physically’ to dominate through ‘Technology.’ In fact that had exactly catapulted the USA as the World’s Super Power. Now we are living in an era of “World in the Hand.” It’s amazing to know that the world has also changed in the way the products are bought or sold – no, this does not refer to bartending to monetary exchange of goods, but more intricate than that. Earlier, products were bought or sold for the physical needs, primarily. But today, the products are bought and sold more for the psychological needs. Thus a mere telephone has become a...
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...Artificial Intelligence has the capability of producing machines that have humanistic functions, this science however lacks the ability to produce computers with minds. In other words, computers will do a lot, but won’t be a lot. Artificial Intelligence according to the Webster dictionary can be defined as computer programs developed to mimic human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, problem-solving, and making decisions. Artificial intelligence programs enable computers to perform tasks such as playing chess, proving mathematical theorems, etc. The definition of Artificial Intelligence can be further placed into four categories, these are systems that think like humans, systems that act like humans, systems that think rationally and systems that act rationally. Let examine the Turing test; this is test experiment invented by as the name suggests by A.M Turing as a proposal for the question whether machines can think. This experiment is one in which two connecting rooms are arranged each consisting of a teletypewriter. One room has a human (interrogator) and the other room is occupied by a human and a machine. The interrogator communicates freely with the human and the machine via the teletypewriter; it’s the aim of the interrogator to figure out which occupant of the other room is the machine and which is the human. Turing claims that any machine that could fool the interrogator was...
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...substitutes for humans that live for only four years. Living for such a short period of time allows no opportunity for development or emotional growth. The name of the film Blade Runner, are those who hunt for “replicants” that are banned from earth for defying their position in society. Descartes provides us with principles that he considers is the nature of the human mind and its evaluating process, in which the replicants would not be considered human. In Descartes Sixth Meditation we see the distinguishing factors between the mind and body. “From this we are prompted to acknowledge that the natures of mind and body not only are different from one another, but even, in a manner of speaking, are contraries of one another”. Mind is different than the body. When both are working in equilibrium we are functioning well. Compared to replicants who have no thoughts or feelings, just the ability to continuously work and complete the task assigned to them. This is a result of the body performing physical labor while having no thought or interferences of the mind. To be considered a human you need to have these important things working in accordance, according to Descartes. “I am therefore precisely nothing but a thinking thing; that is, a mind, or intellect, or understanding, or reason- words of whose meanings I was previously ignorant”(page 65). Although the replicants are said to be more intelligent than humans and function at a higher level than their human creators is false...
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...entitled “Don Quixote de la Mancha: Analyzable or Unanalyzable?” published in this journal, Henry W. Sullivan makes the case for the psychoanalysis of literary characters. While there is much to ponder in Sullivan's essay, there are two points, both involving dualisms, that I would like to discuss. In the first case, Sullivan argues insightfully and convincingly against an absolute distinction between how we know and think about fictional characters and how we know and think about real people. In the second case, however, Sullivan insists on an absolute (Cartesian) mind-body dualism as a cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory. I would like to repeat and extend Sullivan's argument in the first case, but refute it and deny its validity in the second. First dualism: Fact/Fiction Sullivan cites as representative of a certain widely-shared approach Maud Ellmann's insistence that there is an important distinction between a “human being made of flesh and character made of words” (5), a distinction that allows us to make one kind statement about the former but not the latter. Ellmann is not alone in making the real-life/fictional distinction a fundamental matter of ontology. We are all familiar with arguments like hers, having heard * For a response to this response, see “Don Quixote & the ‘Third Term’ as Solvent of Binary Dualisms: A Response to Howard Mancing”, by Henry W. Sullivan, Cervantes 19.1 (1999): 177-97. -F.J. 158 19.1 (1999) Against Dualisms: A Response to Henry Sullivan...
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...symbols of human unconsciousness. He finds the very intimate relationship between symbol, unconsciousness and dreams. In his essay “ The Importance of Dreams”, Jung describes that man produces symbols unconsciously and spontaneously, in the forms of dreams. He says that dreams are outlet of unconsciousness. He describes that how human incompetence to define and inability to explain certain things which is beyond human reasoning always expressed using different varieties of symbols such as natural symbols, cultural symbols and religious symbols. Jung’s idea is valid because things beyond the range of human understanding stores unconsciously without our conscious knowledge in human psyche which is revealed to us in a dream as a symbolic image. Jung believes that human unconsciousness exists and it expresses itself through our dreams using symbolic language. He asserts that “whoever denies the existence of the unconsciousness is in fact assuming that our present knowledge of the psyche is total. And this belief is clearly just as false as the assumption that we know all there is to be known about the natural universe” (192). Jung is right here because human race doesn’t know all about the natural universe. Human psyche is part of nature and nature is limitless and infinite. Thus defining nature and psyche is just the belief that human describes and explains any psychic events as best as it can be but that is not the whole truth. As it is well known that human minds never perceive...
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...theory can sometimes be known to have two identities. It is a comprehensive theory that is focused on behavior, experience, human nature and motivation. It is also a treatment that is used to help patients with psychological and other problems in their lives. Some of the most influential thinkers and contributors to the modern science of psychology were Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Freud basically viewed the human psyche from a sexual point of view. He believed that the mind contained these three components: the id, the ego and superego. He believed that these different parts in a human's mind often conflicted with one another, which caused the shaping of that individuals personality. Two other ideas that Freud believed in was the death drive and the life drive. The life drive means that someone survives by avoiding dangerous or uncomfortable situations. The death drive is when a person pursues extreme pleasure that was thought to eventually lead to death. Both Adler and Jung believed in some basics of Freud's but branched off with their own theories and ideas. Instead of looking at it in a sexual manner, Jung believed that the human mind was more of a religious tool. He believed that dreams played a huge role in the human psyche and thought it was important to integrate the conscious and unconscious mind. Adler's theory was that humans have a sense of inferiority that is believed to be the basic psychological element of neurosis. Adler believed that if an individual...
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