A Reflection on Personal Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Reflection on Personal Life - Essay Example In 1999, when I was 6, I went to the village of my grandparents in Sacramento with my whole family. We went there for the Christmas celebrations and especially to see my parents’ old house in Sacramento. My parents fell in love in their early age living in the same village. The memories of visiting the village are very beautiful and touching. Our cousins and other relatives were very happy to see us during the Christmas holidays, as we never celebrated the event with them previously. I liked the social gathering system there to welcoming the guests very warmly. Maybe, as a child I enjoyed it by playing with children and receiving gifts from Santa and my elder sister could not feel the charms of childhood as I did. After coming back to home, I missed the company of my relatives and the village life; those were very energetic and delightful for me. I got admission in a new school when I was 12 years old. In the growing age, I found my teeth were little crooked. Before joining th e new school, I did not feel it as a fault for my body image, but some bully student of the school exposed it in a harsh manner. I was so depressed on the first day of this realization. I stopped to smile openly by hiding the bad image of my teeth. Mostly, I prayed to have beautiful teeth in the Church. I was a sensitive child and did not like to share my sad feelings with my parents. However, after a few stressful months, I accepted the reality of my teeth but could not mingle with everyone to avoiding any taunting behaviour.

Sustainability in construction and environmental impact of the construction industry

Sustainability in construction and environmental impact of the construction industry Sustainability in Construction There are many definitions of Sustainability, it has been evaluated as Sustainability is adapting the ways we all live and work towards meeting needs, while minimising the impacts of consumption and providing for people of today and not endangering the generations of tomorrow. [1] At the heart of sustainable development is the simple idea of ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for the future generations. It means achieving social, economic and environmental objectives at the same time. It will give us a more inclusive society in which the benefits of increased economic prosperity are widely shared, with less pollution and more efficient use of natural resources. [2] Sustainable development was defined by the Brundtland Commission (1987) as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable construction aims to provide ways for buildings to use fewer raw materials and less energy, cause less pollution and less waste but still provide the benefits that construction projects have brought throughout history. Most definitions stress that sustainability requires making decisions that recognise the connections between actions and effects in the environment, economy and society. Sustainability is often seen as an ethically and moral debate. Social, environmental and economic needs must be met in a balance with each other for sustainable outcomes in the long term. [3] Sustainable construction is meeting environmental and social responsibilities, and at the same time improving profitability. The key characteristics of sustainable construction are similar to those set for sustainable development, the end result is to reduce a firms detrimental effects on the environment. The industry is defined by a number of sectors, all who plan, design, build, alter or maintain the built environment. Also its subsidiaries, those who manufacture materials, suppliers, and end of life occupiers or owners. The entire life cycle of any structure, from initial concept to demolition must be encompassed in the definition of sustainable construction. Buildings and structures change the face of towns and countryside, and their construction, use, repair, maintenance, and demolition consume vast amounts of energy and resources compared to many other industrial sectors. [4] The environmental Impact of the Construction Industry The government has stated that the construction, occupation and maintenance of buildings account for around 50% of the UKs total CO2 emissions. [5] The construction process and building use not only consume the most energy of all sectors in the UK and create the most CO2 emissions, they also create the most waste, use most non-energy related resources, and are responsible for the most pollution. In light of government plans to reduce the United Kingdoms CO2 emissions by 80% based on 1990 levels [6], the construction industry is at the forefront for reducing emissions in industrialised nations and the United Kingdom is no exception. Code for Sustainable Homes The code for Sustainable homes is a framework which has been put in place by the government as a step change towards producing more sustainable homes. The code is a result of a working relationship between the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA). The main aim of the code is to provide the construction industry a drive towards continuous improvement, greater innovation and exemplary achievement in sustainable home building. [7] The code enhances the use of Energy Performance Certificates which is a result of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The Energy Performance Certificates are used in new homes whenever they are sold or leased and are an indicator of carbon performance of the home. There are 9 main design categories covered in the code as follows: * Energy/CO2 * Pollution * Water * Health and well-being * Materials * Management * Surface water run-off * Ecology * Waste

Sir William Wallace :: essays research papers

The Help of Sir William Wallace Sir William Wallace is one of Scotland’s greatest generals and was a great help towards the freedom of Scotland because he brought patriotism to the minds of his fellow Scotsmen in order fight for the freedom for which was nearly taken away by the their English neighbors. He would ride through Scotland gathering clans both from the high and lowlands. Over the years after his death, Scots have proclaimed Sir William Wallace as their countries hero and the man who made freedom run through the blood of so many who were by his side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hundreds of years before the time of Sir William Wallace, Roman troops tried to conquer parts of Scotland but failed. The savagery of the Scots put the fear in the Romans and caused them to build Hadrian’s Wall. The wall separated Scotland and England (which was part of the Roman Empire). When the great empire fell to destruction by many Germanic tribes, Scots began to live a more peaceful life. During the Norman conquest of 1066, a group of people called the Normans invaded England, killed many Anglo-Saxon and Celtic tribes, and took over the country. England was now under Norman rule and would stay that way. (Compton’s Home Encyclopedia CD Rom)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1296, English troops invaded the lowlands of Scotland burning villages, killing innocent Scots, and trying to over rule the vast countrysides of the lowlands and the highlands. The new ruler of England, King Edward I the Long Shanks, started all this. He believed that he should have control of the whole island itself. His idea about conquering Scotland was that if he can’t beat them out, then he could breed them out. He brought the old English custom called Prima Noctes; if a woman is married in the country of Scotland, an English lord has every right to take her away from her husband for a few days and have his ways with her. Clans of lowlanders came together to form an army. It took awhile for the highlanders to know about this. Conflicts brook out between the Scottish rebels and English troops. Bows and arrows and other combat weapons were taken from the Scots except for their swords and axes. (Compton’s Home Encyclopedia CD Rom)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The answer to Scotland’s problems came with the birth of William Wallace. His exact date of birth is unknown but he was born in the 1270’s.

Reason And Experience Essay

Many rationalist philosophers argue that we have at least some innate knowledge of concepts such as God, Maths and causation. However, an empiricist would disagree, arguing that we have no knowledge at birth, our minds are tabula rasa and all our concepts are essentially derived from sense experience. Most rationalists subscribe to the view that maths is innate; Plato argues this using the concept of equality and geometry. He presents us with the scenario of judging whether two sticks are equal in size, we use equality, a concept which we haven’t experienced as nothing in the world is exactly equal, rather â€Å"almost equal†, although this concept still contains equal – thus, he argues that equality is an innate concept. He presents another example of when Socrates discussed geometry with a slave child. Socrates presented the child with a question on geometry which he happened to answer correctly, all without any prior knowledge or experience of geometry. Plato suggests that Socrates triggered innate knowledge within the child. An empiricist would respond to the concept of equality by stating that â€Å"almost equal† does not contain the concept equal, rather â€Å"almost equal† is itself a simple concept derived from sense experience upon comparing objects. The sticks would always differ in length by some amount; therefore we can form the concept of equal by abstracting two sticks which differ by no length. In regards to the slave boy argument, Socrates enquires the boy through leading questions, a method where he can learn the rules and relationships and apply it to the original question. In Descartes’ â€Å"Trademark argument†, he claims that we have an innate idea of God. He claims that we are imperfect and finite minds, and God is something which we could not have come up with as he is both infinite and perfect. We also haven’t experienced anything infinite or perfect in the physical world, thus Descartes concludes that our concept of God is innate. Hume objects to this argument, stating that we formed the idea of God through abstraction and negation, since we are familiar of things which are finite and imperfect, we can then imagine the opposite, something which is infinite and perfect. Descartes follows up to this, saying that the initial concept of perfection is necessary to make comparisons in order to recognise imperfection. Upon closer inspection, we can see that there is an inconsistency in Descartes’ argument, he claims we have a clear and distinct idea that God is perfect and infinite, yet he claims as finite minds we cannot form a clear idea of God’s infinity. Descartes expects us to acknowledge that the idea of God is positive – meaning the concept of infinity and perfection is not formed through opposite their opposite meanings, yet we only have a negative idea of God as we are finite, we therefore must be the cause of the idea. Another prominent cause of division between rationalists and empiricists is the concept of causation. Rationalists argue that causation cannot be experienced through sense impressions; to illustrate this, an example of one ball striking a second ball is often used. The second ball appears to have moved off, initially it may seem as though it was the cause of the first ball, but in fact the movement of all the balls were controlled by magnets. Rationalists would conclude that causation is an innate concept as it cannot be acquired through sense experience, as shown in the example it seemed as though the first ball was the cause of the second ball moving off even though this isn’t the case. Hume tackles causation by arguing that patterns which repeat themselves are regarded as causation. To illustrate this, if we heard thunder immediately before clapping our hands, we would think nothing of it. If the same thing happened a minute later, we would still regard it as coincidence. Although if this continued to happen for a fourth, fifth or sixth time, we would begin to think that clapping our hands was the cause – yet the only difference between the first and the sixth time was the repetition. Hume concludes that that the feeling of causation is simply the result of repetition and is simply nothing more than a habit. Taking all this into account, it appears that the many ideas which rationalists claim are innate actually originate from sense experience, just like all other ideas. Having even some innate ideas is not possible, as John Locke stated, at birth are minds our tabula rasa, therefore there are no innate ideas in the human mind. If there were, it would mean there are propositions which everyone would assent to, including children and â€Å"idiots† – but there clearly aren’t.

Karma Essays - Reincarnation, Shabda, Indian Religions, Free Essays

Karma Essays - Reincarnation, Shabda, Indian Religions, Free Essays Karma What is the relation, if any, of the concept of varna to the concept of karma? Of karma to the doctrine of reincarnation? The concepts of varna and karma are each closely related to the eastern civilization religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Varna and karma go hand in hand with each other to explain themselves, as does karma with the doctrine of reincarnation. The complicated explanation of all of these concepts follows. In order to understand the concept of karma, one must first understand the term varna. An appropriate definition would be the rise of class system, which the Hindus adhere to. An English translation of varna, however, is simply the word color (Noss 87). There are four social classes that break down the class system otherwise known as varna. Beginning with the highest class, there is the Brahmins or priests, followed by the ruling Kshatriyas, the Vaisyas (common people), and finally the Shudras (servants). The Brahmins said that if one was a member of any of the first three classes to be extremely careful to avoid the Shudras (Noss 87). Now that we have somewhat of an understanding of varna, the concept of karma can be more easily explained. Karma simply stated is that the way one lives his or her life now determines destiny or fate. In other words, the consequences of ones actions in this life will determine what they do or become in the next life. Therefore, karma is what made one who he or she is in the present life due to the actions the person portrayed in his or her previous life. Karma is the cause of ones destiny in the future life, and is what caused a person to be who he or she is today. Now we will explain the relationship between varna and karma. Lets imagine the following situation. There are two people living in the Vaisyas class of commoners. One of them does only good deeds, has good thoughts, and portrays an all around good sense of well being. The other person commits crimes, has bad thoughts, and portrays an over all sense of evil or no good. The first person will perhaps become a member of the Kshatriya class, moving up on the wheel of samsara. The other person will most likely become a Shudra in the next life. So, perhaps in their most recent previous lives, the first person was a good person of the Shudra class, and samsara declared that he or she rise in class; and the second person may have been a bad person of the Kshatriya class, therefore he or she declined in class. There are endless possibilities, but the relationship between karma and varna is obvious here. Simply stated, karma determines varna. Next we will look at the doctrine of reincarnation as it relates to karma. Reincarnation is an easier concept to grasp than karma. Reincarnation can be defined as the never-ending time line of life. In other words, we all have been someone or something else before or present life began, and after the present life is over, we will become someone or something else again. Karma is what determines who or what we will become. Karma develops our own fate and destiny for reincarnation. The life one lives now determines what he or she will be reincarnated as. Just as karma determined varna, karma now determines reincarnation. Just incase, these ideas are the true meaning of the after-life, I suppose I shall adhere to good karma so that maybe in my next life I can be a member of the highest class.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists essays

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists essays Before long, the Articles of Confederation proved to be insufficient in establishing law and order in early America. A Constitution was drafted, giving more power to the national government and setting up an intricate system to balance this power. Federalists, supporters of this constitution, debated with their opponent Anti-Federalists regarding whether or not to ratify the newly proposed system. Federalists advocated allowing the national government to pass laws and later judge their constitutionality. In order to accomplish this without the government getting too powerful, the proposed regime was broken into three branches, each keeping the other two in check. Under this system, the government would be able to create laws which apply to all the states. Individual states would still have the power to pass their own laws. Anti-Federalists responded to this with criticism. Richard Henry Lee stated that the checks and balance system would be too restricting on the different branches, resulting in progress being extremely difficult to impossible. Further, he conjectured that the people of all the states must be willing to come together and follow the same laws, which in his opinion is unlikely. Luther Martin argued that the constitution should be developed by the states, providing the example of the peaceful state-led compilation of the Articles of Confederation. Protecting the minority was a Federalist priority. In the proposed system, representative legislature would prevent smaller factions interests from being completely ignored. To Anti-Federalists the system seemed fundamentally flawed in that the legislature could be influenced by a few powerful men, changing power from the hands of the many to those of the few and thus ignoring most peoples interests. Lee stated that Federalists wanted to adopt the constitution only as a stepping stone to give themselves more power and influence. Further,...

Small Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Small Groups - Essay Example The norms that surround the group are very healthy for the group as well as for the organization. Members who have just entered the organization have various creative ideas, which help in looking at a problem from different perspectives and these perspectives help in the stage of obtaining various solutions of the decision making process. Work never stops within the group as group members are ready to replace and help each other if a particular group member has to take a leave or doesn’t have enough knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a particular job. My own role within the group is that of a leader, my main task is to influence other group members to ensure that they work for the well being of the company and others working within the group. My secondary task involves allocation of resources and ensuring that the right resources are available to the right members at the right time so they can continue working and there is not obstacle while they perform their task. I even act as a mediator between the group members and the members of the organization that are situated in the top most level of the organization. The group members have considerable amount of influence on my behavior, their awareness and experience power have made me and the group dependant on them. Their understanding and know-how is very important for the achievement of the tasks and accomplishment of the tasks is important for my status within the organization. Due to this I behave in a very considerate manner with the followers, I allow them to be creative and to come up with different opinions which may help me in decision making process. The pride and high opinion they have for me and other group members help me follow the ethical code of conduct. I as a leader am very emotionally intelligent; I continuously look for emotional issues faced by the members of the groups which help me in dealing with their issues. Due to