A Study of Narcissism :: Psychology Essays

A Study of Narcissism Missing works cited Spanning back to the era of ancient Greek mythology, narcissism is currently recognized as an â€Å"infatuation and obsession with one’s self to the exclusion of all others†, and as the egocentric pursuit of one’s gratification, dominance and ambition† (Vaknin 1). This egocentric disorder is named after the ancient Greek myth of Narcissus- a man so enchanted by his own reflection that he pined away before it. The origin of narcissism as an acknowledged psychosis is deeply rooted in the mythological source of its very namesake. Narcissus’ obsession with image shows his self-idolization, but also hints toward an insecurity regarding identity and self worth (Alford 3). According to Ovid’s classic account, Narcissus is quoted saying: â€Å"Am I the lover or beloved? Then why make love? Since I am what I long for, then my riches are So great they make me poor.† (Ovid 464) Parallel in character to Narcissus, those diagnosed with his disorder are consumed by an exaggerated drive for supremacy and control. Characteristic also is a predilection toward entitlement. Narcissists tend to the notion that one is worthy of great admiration and esteem, regardless of his or her accomplishments (Vaknin 5). Present psychology diagnoses this sort of self-fascination as a distinctive mental health illness - Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or NPD as documented in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistics Manuel (1994). Common characteristics of an individual afflicted by the disorder include: feelings of grandiosity, desiring a state of unequalled brilliance, the need for constant affirmation, and the â€Å"interpersonal exploitation†(DSM 1994) of others for self- achievement. Narcissism is usually seen as an infatuation with self so acute that the welfare of others is ignored. This is due to the narcissistic opinion that people exterior to the ‘self’ simply serve to mirror one’s own importance. As analyzed by Freud, the story of Narcissus and its resulting condition can be divided into two categories: â€Å"regressive† versus â€Å"progressive† (Alford 35). Freud interprets narcissistic behavior as neither sick nor healthy, but indicative of the normal human condition.

So You Want to Be an Astronaut :: NASA Space Astronauts Essays

So You Want to Be an Astronaut Part I: The Application There’s an application just to get an application. I had to fill out what NASA calls an application interest form, which is an information card much like the kind of card you fill out and send in for a magazine subscription. I got the card at the Johnson Space Center in Houston last summer. The space center is a sixteen-hundred-acre compound filled with lush grass and cream-colored buildings of different shapes and sizes. Satellite dishes bloom like flowers throughout the compound, and the only buildings open to the public are a museum, the rocket park, and mission control. After climbing through a mock-up of the space shuttle, pretending to be Sally Ride, I passed by an information kiosk and the application interest form caught my eye. I grabbed one and stuck it into my Space Center museum guide, forgetting about it until months later when I filled it out and mailed it in. Just a few weeks ago my application arrived. It’s a twenty-five page affair with a glittering blue and silver cover that has a picture of the space shuttle on it. I removed the cover and tacked it up on my bulletin board next to a postcard of Charles Lindbergh standing in front of The Spirit of St. Louis. Twenty-five pages. Becoming an astronaut is more difficult than applying to Harvard Medical School. More difficult than doing your taxes. Probably even more difficult than running for the senate. Now, I can’t be an astronaut because I have absolutely no interest in math, science, engineering, medicine, or astrophysics. I dabble in astronomy, but they don’t send you up in the space shuttle because you think it would be neat. However, it’s important to always have an impossible dream. It keeps you humble. This is my impossible dream. So, I read through the application. Why do you want to be an astronaut? I love the audaciousness of the space program. Here we are, little animals trying to jump off our planet. How have your past accomplishments or experiences prepared you to be an astronaut? When I visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston I tried on a space helmet. It fit. The boots were another story but I can wear many layers of socks.

Reconstruction in the South Essay

Reconstruction is the Federal Governments plan(s) to abolish slavery, change the way of life in the South, and to bring the nation back together after the devastating effects of the Civil War. Many Government plans were brought up but never fell through. Likewise, Presidents over the years, after the Civil War, had also brought their own Reconstruction plans to the nation. Several good things came from each plan but not one individual plan had drastically changed America on its own. Although Lincoln and his 10% plan would have reshaped the nation and connected the broken line between the North and South, however, it had never taken action because of Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865. However, Reconstruction created many new social changes to the nation. Civil Rights had been shaped over many years; the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were passed giving African Americans the right to vote, and the Freedmen’s Bureau was established. Reconstruction was a long and rough time for the government and the people. Our Nation had never before needed to recover from such a tremendous loss from something like the Civil War. Reconstruction had failed in several ways. Slavery had still been practiced in the south under different titles of work, ways of life in the south had remained the same, and Redeemers made sure blacks were not represented in government. Before this particular Reconstruction plan was brought up it had been thought about for awhile by a group of Radical Republicans who created the Radical Republicans’ Plan. These Radicals wanted to spark the necessity to take action on the problems occurring in the South. The plan had consisted of three major ideas; â€Å"these ideas were based off of revenge, concern for the freedmen, and political concerns† (Travel and History par. 1). One of the ways that these Radicals wanted revenge was by â€Å"punishing the South for causing the war† (Travel and History pa r. 1). They also felt that â€Å"Southern states had to apply for readmission back into the Union and were required to submit state constitutions that ratified the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments (Ohio History Central par. 11). Also when Ulysses S. Grant took office he â€Å"kept soldiers in the former Confederacy for the duty of protecting African Americans from the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups (Ohio History Central par. 11). These Radicals felt that â€Å"the federal government had a role to play in the transition of freedmen from slavery to freedom† (Travel and History par. 1). They believed that the government needed to aid former slaves into getting good work and treated fairly. Also, many members â€Å"wanted to keep the Republicans Party in power in both the North and the South† (Travel and History par. 1). This way only Republican ideas would be brought up and many Republican based laws would be passed. This is the general idea for the Radical Republicans’ plan and would not be brought up again until Ulysses S. Grant is elected into the Presidency. The former Civil War, Union General, Ulysses S. Grant was elected into office in 1868. President Grant did not take much care in his Presidency campaign because he did not care if he had won or lost. Thus, Grant did not have his own plan for the problems of Reconstruction. However, Grant was a Republican and â€Å"favored the Radical Republicans’ Plan,† (Ohio History Central par. 11) so most of what he tried to accomplish was based on these views. When Grant won his election many republicans realized that he had won by a small margin of votes. Looking deeper they noticed that â€Å"roughly 450,000 African Americans had voted Republican and the majority of whites in the South voted Democrat† (Davidson J. p. 348). Republicans in office realized that an amendment must be created to protect black voting rights so the African American population would co ntinue to vote Republican. The Fifteenth Amendment was created in 1869 and was ratified in 1870; â€Å"this forbade any state to deny any man the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude† (Davidson J. p. 348). However, many states found loopholes to this amendment by issuing literacy tests, poll taxes, and property requirements for voting. Mainly this counted out most of the African American voting population. Although he his mostly known for his scandals, Grant had many other significant highlights during his time as President that greatly contributed to Reconstruction in the South. During his time in office, â€Å"Grant signed a series of Reconstruction related ‘Enforcement Acts’† (Simpson B. par. 6). The main effect these laws had was they â€Å"completely denied states to deny any man the right to vote† (Simpson B. par. 6). He had also signed the Ku Klux Klan act which banned the â€Å"illegal intimidation† of blacks where states were unwilling or unable to provide protection, and for private parties to conspire to violate civil rights. Violation of this law was a federal crime. Before Grant had left office, â€Å"In 1875 he signed last major piece of Civil Rights legislation until 1964† (Simpson B. par. 6). In 1877, Grant had completed his final term as President. Several years later Grant had been slipping deeper and deeper into debt from family troubles. He started to write his memoirs and later had attracted cancer. After he had finished his memoirs he had died in 1897, from the cancer he had acquired. Luckily his writings had sold more than enough copies to provide and settle his family’s debt. Reconstruction had ended in 1877, and many of Grant’s accomplishments had changed society in the South and for the future. Bibliography Davidson, James W., and Brian DeLay. U.S. A Narrative History. 1st ed. Vol. 2. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2009. Print . Foner, Eric. Reconstruction America’s unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Print . â€Å"Radical Republican Reconstruction Plan.† Travel and History. Web. 11 Sept. 2009. . â€Å"Reconstruction – Ohio History Central – A product of the Ohio Historical Society.† Ohio History Central – An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History – Ohio Historical Society. Web. 1 Sept. 2009. . Simpson, Brooks D. â€Å"Let Us Have Peace: The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.† Teaching American History in Maryland – Documents for the Classroom – Maryland State Archives. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. .

Education And Capitalism

Max Weber was a German sociologist and economist who contributed very much on economic and quite a durable and brilliant work on administrative system. Maxweber tried to provide ways to the people through which they could avoid oppression by suggesting ways and means like inciting people to encourage others to work hard and develop enterprises as well as making investments. This could enable them to grow economically. He also established theories like bureaucracy that addressed to better administrative methods that involved no authoritarianism. Capitalism. This can be defined as a means through which economic relations involving production means are organized. These may include enterprises, firms, knowledge or factories. A theory is a systematic organized knowledge as thought that explains some phenomena. It is an endeavour to understand each and a rational explanation of how something is put together or why it works and why it works that way. An idea is a concept, notion that one has on something. Capitalism according to Weber came into existence when the Protestants put influence on so many people to get motivated in working and work hard, developing so many big and prosperous enterprises. They also encouraged the people to participate largely in trade and make savings for investment. I also suppose that availability of free markets and opportunities for innovation are guaranteed. This essay is going to express the theories and ideas that were manifested on education and capitalism by Max Weber. Discussion. Max Weber suggested that strength of capitalism in a country or state is determined mainly by the power manifested by the country or state. This means that more powerful countries have stronger controls over their education and hence their education systems are well established and very worth. They also have a wide control over their worker regulations and therefore in relation to education, educational staff is well treated and motivation is ensured. This leads to improvement in education. According to Weber, capitalism evolved when the protestant ethnic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the accumulation of wealth for investment. If a few become systematic in pursuit of money, others will end up as their employees. Max Weber’s theory of capitalism being a very strong tool used by the people to develop economically as well as socially has a very strong influence on education. This is related in that more educational institutions will be established in line with strong and stable economy. In addition, more people will be able to access education and this result to a more learned society where technology and innovation will be in abundant. Max Weber’s idea that bureaucracy should be ended in firms and such as industries and educational institutions that impacted a lot on education. Workers in educational institutions could now work freely without intimidation and even merit was employed in employment. Max Weber also is for the idea that capitalism in a major power system that any society or organization adapts. When adapted by a school which is an organization, a lot of activities like research and teaching will be on their way up. The capitalists also have a strong influence on the government and funding will be provided to the learning institutions. Funding to research activities will also be possible and hence growth in the learning institutions will be experienced. According to Max Weber’s ideas, capitalists were very hardworking people committed to seeing growth in economy and investing widely. Job opportunities were thus provided to those who acquired education and this led to very fast growth of learning institutions, both lower and higher. Generally, Max Weber’s ideas and theories have revealed that capitalism had many positive outcomes on education. The fact that it involved strong education to working hard towards economic and social growth, suggests that a strong base was built for development of education. Through establishment of strong economic base, it has been established that funding to the educational institutions was easy and this enabled conducting of researches building of learning resources like laboratories and acquisitions of learning materials to be very easy (Weber, 1978). He also goes further to address on the social, political and economic functions that resulted as evidenced in the increasing sense of conflict between individuals and organizations like schools. He used bureaucracy theory to do this and this led to a fairer, more impartial, more predictable, more rational and orderly organizational systems (Whimster, Sam, & Lash, 1987). The workers in the educational systems could now be comfortable in their work. Authoritarianism in the capitalistic institutions was very much avoided. For a state or country that has a very strong capitalism, it has been established that their education background and development is quite easy since financial support is readily available. Mawebers theories and ideas on education and capitalism are still relevant to presently society. This is evidenced by the fact that those countries and states that have a strong economic growth are the ones likely to have prospered well in education. This is depicted in the technologies and innovations that are available in a country or a state (Political Writings, 1994). However, this does not lock out those developing countries. Capitalism is still taking effect in this countries and education on way up. This suggests that at one point t, these countries will be well established and education systems and background will be strong. Capitalism is a very strong tool in every society and it is this capitalist that influences the formation of policies and rules in any organization, institutions like schools as well as the entire governments. (Joseph, & Jonathan (2003). They do this in capacity of politicians in the presently society making laws, policies and implementation still have a very strong influence from the politicians. Capitalism according to Maweber led to a strong economic base, which saw establishment of so many business enterprises and organizations. This led to increases need for labour and as a result many people had to provide labour in the enterprises something, which led to most people dropping their education. This is a negative effect of capitalism on education. Capitalisms also according to Maxweber insisted on division of labor (Runciman, 1972). This led to participation of the workers and consequently decline in performance. Conclusion. Capitalism as have been found out had and still has a very strong impact on education. Through capitalization, education finds a very strong base on which it grows to reach most of the people. This is ensured by strong economic ground that capitalism establishes whereby people as a result can access all the requirements necessary for acquiring education. Resources like learning materials are easily available and also schools and other learning institutions are widely established. Through capitalism, education is able to thrive very well and this means that people get educated which can be explained in terms of technological advancement of a country or state. This educated people will be able to discover new things through conducting researches as well as innovating new ideologies. Capitalism has also contributed to job opportunities through education. For example people learn new ideas and ways of doing things from maybe industries or other business enterprises. Those who pass knowledge to these people are themselves employees of these organizations and have acquired their jobs through intensified capitalism. Although capitalism somehow affected education earlier in that most people ended into providing labour in developing enterprises and industries failing to access education, the positive impacts are much more. Capitalism thus have a very great positive impact on education.

Charlie Parker

A discussion of the life and works of Jazz musician Charlie Parker and the influence he had in the field. This paper sheds light on important aspects of Charlie Parkers life and times. It introduces a jazz musician who completely transformed this type of music through his talent, originality and improvisation skills. The paper discusses the changes that he brought into jazz styles and also focuses on Parkers influence on society and economy of his days. For this reason, many magazine articles and few books were consulted and research in this paper is appropriately supported by expert views and comments. Charlie Parkers name is synonymous with innovation in jazz music. This is because in his short life of 34 years, the man was able to transform the world of music by introducing new and better tunes and jazz styles that made him immortal. Charlie Parker was born in 1920 in Kansas City but later moved to New York where he found a more intelligent audience that appreciated his alto sax tunes and helped him in discovering new techniques including the famous Bebop. Bebop was probably the greatest achievement of this man and this jazz style became extremely popularly in that era. It is important to understand that this man was not simply a musician but was a legend in himself because not only did he transform Jazz, he also created awareness regarding this type of music. It was because of him that Americans from every social class started taking an interest in this kind of music and thus the man left an indelible mark on the United States and not particularly its one field.

Behavior plan final 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Behavior plan final 1 - Essay Example This can result into lack of happiness as well as life enjoyment. As a human being, I have struggles with changing two behaviors, exercising irregularly and getting inadequate sleep, that are negatively affecting my life and school performance. In this behavior modification plan my goal is to maintain a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly and getting sufficient sleep. Indeed, I believe that if I exercise more, I will be able to sleep early at night and feel better about myself. This will as well make me more confident. In order to achieve my first goal of regular exercise, I am planning to seek the assistance of a personal trainer and go to the gym three times a week. This will encourage me to keep up with practice and because I pay for sessions with my personal trainer, I will be less likely to skip or cancel classes. For my other target of getting adequate sleep, I will reduce the frequency of using my phone at night. I realized that I spend a lot of time texting and surfing the internet before sleeping. In week one, I will use my phone for one hour before going sleep in order to dedicate enough time for sleeping. In week two, I will use my phone for 30 min before going to sleep. As for my second behavior, I will go to the gym regularly. The sub-goal for changing the second behavior is to go to the gym without canceling or skipping any session in week one. For week two, my sub-goal is to go to the gym at least three times with the personal trainer and two times by myself. I will monitor this by taking notes in my private journal app â€Å"What a Wonderful Life.† Moreover, with the help of my classmates and their feedbacks on my plan, I was able to improve my sub-goals for both behaviors as reflected in the following schedules for the first goal, which is going to the gym: Through the week of observation, I used the private journal â€Å"What a Wonderful Life†

History topics since 1500s Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History topics since 1500s - Assignment Example The entry of the European into the Americas had some very serious impacts on the native people who frequently fell for diseases and genocidal policies of the Europeans. It was in the period of Amerindian population decline that some other forms of coercive human labor that included slavery got exploited during the construction of the new world. The cores of the development of Atlantic commerce were sugar and slave (Coclanis, 2005). Therefore, the history of the Atlantic commerce cannot in any way be separated with the history of slavery and the act of transferring both labor and capital across the Atlantic. The transfers of slaves and capital across the Atlantic is also very closely linked with sugar production. (Coclanis, 2005) The emergences of new and improved technology together with human culture were intertwined in the advancement of the sugar industry and this acted as one of the mainstays of the new Atlantic economies. The significance of the trade is that, it led to the mass ive movement of people across the Atlantic. The migrations that were made during this period led slaves settling on their working areas. The major significance of this type of trade is that it has shaped the history of the worlds trade and it has led to a massive growth of cities across the world. In between 1450 and 1750, the two states had several comparisons. Politically, there were differences in the type of leaders who ruled these empires; the forms of governments and the political structures were all different from many other comparisons (Berktay, 1991). There is also an economic and religious comparison of the two states and they are given in the table below. The people within the states and how some of their funds are used base the economic comparisons of the two states on the type of trades that are carried out. The source of livelihood to the