Some students often complain in how to cope with their study problems especially certain subject such as algebra. Algebra actually is really exciting to deal with. Yet, different students have different experience in how to deal with such algebra indeed. Those who suffer from difficulty in dealing with algebra can choose methods in how to cope with such problem whether by asking help from your friends or help with algebra from any tutoring service.

The better effort is indeed by gaining tutoring service. First consideration is to choose the one offering various subjects which you can learn with. Second consideration, always inspect about their reliability. The more reputable is the better. Don’t forget to review about the price as well as the qualifications of the tutor indeed. For reference, you can visit Eduboard.com.

What to Consider in Choosing Algebra Help Service is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

You may be one of those families that has been homeschooling for 9 years or so and now are on the home stretch, or you may be new to the journey and have gotten in over your head and wondered if this is the right choice. Any and all of us could use a Booster Shot at some point.

Here my top 10 ideas:

10. Field Trip! Just a short one or maybe even a day long adventure – your choice, but there is nothing like a field trip to break up the week and breath life into a student’s schedule.

9. Read Aloud! If you don’t already do this, it’s a good time to start when your battery is low. You can read to them, or they can take turns reading to you and each other. It’s a great way to bond and relax. Yes, even high school kids like this still!

8. School Outside! The weather is turning warmer in most parts of the country! Take the books, the art, the portable CD player and learn outside. Even better, just walk and study what is about to bloom and discuss the science of this blessing!

7. Combining 8 & 9! One booster for us, all the way up until mid high school, was to take a huge blanket out under the sun or shade tree and read. We would watch clouds, pet new baby chicks or kitties and just enjoy hearing a good story in the fresh air.

6. Year-round School Schedule! This SOUNDS awful to some people, but it doesn’t ‘t really mean school every single day! It means for each month of the year, you have school for 3 weeks and then one week off. These schedules can often be planned around holidays. If you and your student knew that every three weeks you both got a significant break, there is time to plan fun or just do NOTHING every month!

5. Find a Co-op! Many area support groups have some co-op learning classes. Often it will require that you volunteer a bit of your time once in a while, but the change of pace and learning surroundings can be invaluable to both you and all students involved!

4. Let the Student Plan – not You! One of my children wanted the freedom to plan her own Senior year completely. She chose an extra science and an extra social studies. She also planned every weeks’ work and is doing so that she can be finished WELL before her graduation ceremony date – by her 18th birthday! This has motivated her and also taught her accountability. It has also lightened my load to simply grading!

3. Let a Science Experiment ‘evolve’ into more! This was always one sure fire way for my kids to get a little giggly or off track – but boy it is memorable and it was worth the side track! Take the science experiment to any lengths your child’s questions or curiosity will let it go (but let’s be safe about it). Not only do they learn more by not having to fit into a science ‘box’ – but you will ignite the joy of learning again – and you will LOVE to see how their minds work when unhindered by steps preordained by someone else!

2. Talk with others! When you get the chance, ask other parents for ideas that may be inviting to your homeschool to use. You may also be surprised how your kids react when they find out what other kids do for their homeschool. My kids were actually pleasantly pleased when they heard the schedule and weight of some other homeschooled students their age. I became a ‘cool’ mom (for a little while anyway).

1. My number 1 favorite! Just take the day off (or the week) when you know you’ve all reached your limit! Bake a big ole batch of chocolate chip cookies, play with the pets, make a mess, don’t grade, don’t file and don’t worry. Mix this in with prayer and thanksgiving that you have the chance to be home with your kids and I’ll guarantee that an attitude of gratitude will renew that joy to your homeschool heart!

Booster Shots…. For Homeschooling Parents is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

Bio Pyramid

All of the organisms in the world follow orders of classification. Whether you choose to put them into groups of plants and animals, herbivores and carnivores, or any other of the many different types of classification systems, organisms can be put into many groups in order to understand their relationship to one another. One way to classify organisms is to put them into their order, or hierarchy, in the food chain. In this way, we can see how animals and other organisms relate to each other based on what they consume.

There are several different ways to look at the food chain, and one important and useful tool in this area is the bio pyramid. A bio pyramid is a graphical chart that shows the comparative mass of the consumers to the producers in the food chain. This can be helpful in determining how energy is transferred to the top levels of the pyramid from the bottom levels.

Each level in a bio pyramid is composed of a trophic level. Trophic levels are groupings of different “consumer” groups, such as primary producers (usually just plants or other photosynthetic organisms) rising all the way up to carnivores (such as humans). While a typical biological pyramid might group these consumers in order of energy produced, a bio pyramid shows them in order of total mass from highest to lowest. This often means that the primary consumers, such as the plants, are at the bottom because they are more numerous and take up more mass. The levels are built upon then by how many upper level organisms could survive based on the level below. An example can be seen in this sea bio pyramid:

It would take 1,000,000 kg of phytoplankton (1st level), to feed 100,000 kg of zooplankton (2nd level), to feed 10,000 kg of shrimp (3rd level), to finally feed 1,000 kg of large fish. The final level, the 5th, would only be able to have 100 kg of shark supported by the levels below.

In this way, a bio pyramid shows the inefficiency of the food chain, and lets researchers know that if a level was able to be skipped (such as a shark dipping down and eating shrimp instead of fish), more energy would be conserved and the food chain would lose less energy along the way. Given this fact, a bio pyramid is an important tool when looking at the laws of conservation of energy among different classes of organisms.

Bio Pyramid is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

The internet has undoubtedly been at the forefront of the revolution with the world wide web now commonplace not only in homes, but classrooms up and down the country.

But how does online research fit in with the national curriculum? And what role can the internet really play in secondary school education? We examine the modern classroom environment to discover the answers to both these questions and more.

Issues found at secondary school

Some studies have revealed that the ability to learn independently and source information without direct intervention and assistance is a skill which all but disappears when students reach secondary school.

Children in the 11-16 age bracket when taught by traditional methods becoming increasingly reliant on being ‘spoon-fed’ facts, figures and data by teachers in a teaching style known as ‘teacher focussed’.

Whilst technology had been introduced into many classrooms, it was not being used to its full capacity as the same teaching methods were simply being replicated electronically without enabling the students to become more independent.

National Curriculum changes

It has been recognised that whilst it remains essential to teach children to read and write competently and to have adequate numerical skills, there are a number of other things which are of equal importance.

In the digital age which Britain now finds itself in, employers expect new recruits – especially those of a younger age – to be fully conversant with several different digital channels. It was therefore vital to ensure this was adequately covered in the National Curriculum in a manner which was robust and useful.

From this, the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills framework was developed for secondary schools which was formally documented as part of the National Curriculum. This meant that for the first time, teachers were obliged to provide their students with more than just a basic working knowledge of digital media, but also the ability to be creative and innovative and use ICT in a variety of settings.

A new way of working

Inevitably, the new focus on digital media means that more traditional pedagogical ways of learning are rapidly disappearing and the role of a teacher is metamorphosising into more of a guiding hand than the deliverer of factual information.

And teachers have reported that with the introduction of the internet into lesson plans, they are able to encourage students to develop the skills to find the information for themselves. This moves students away from the negative teacher-reliant form of working and into more of a collaborative role.

One of the problems which often frustrated teachers in the past was the need to stick rigidly to the National Curriculum which set out very specific learning requirements for examinations. This did not provide enough flexibility for students to become more responsible for their own education.

However, secondary school teachers have reported that the integration of ICT into lessons has now allowed students to reconnect with their ability to learn independently. UK &London teaching jobs will never be the same, ICT skills are considered critical not just for progression to further education but also in order to be able to function fully in the 21^st century.

Not as easy as it seems

The internet has introduced the concept of questioning, challenging and researching to formulate opinions to many children as books which were once viewed as an absolute authority are re-interpreted or opposing views put forward online.

However, despite the fact that the vast majority of children are very at home whilst using the internet; their skills are rather limited.

Teachers have found that students can use search engines in a restricted capacity and find it difficult to seek out very specific pieces of information. In addition, finding suitable sources has proven to be an issue with students seemingly unable to identify what sites can be trusted and which ones need further verification. Researchers found that in some schools, teachers were arranging for specific ‘internet skill’ classes to be provided by external experts in order to show students how to use the World Wide Web to its maximum capability.

Conclusion

Whilst there is no doubt that the digital generation are far more familiar with technology than those born prior to 1992, but there is still a way to go to ensure the education system makes the most of what technology has to offer.

With a move towards a more skills-based National Curriculum and onto student-focussed learning, the classroom is already starting to look like a very different place…and the internet is at the very heart of the change.

The Role of Internet Research in Secondary School Education is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

Why Graduation is an important factor?

With graduation, we get a qualification that opens many doors for us. Graduation also brings us at par with millions of other graduates and gives us the pride of being a graduate. It changes our outlook towards life and suddenly we feel that we are responsible citizens who have to make contributions to society and also take ourselves forward in life to achieve our dreams. Till few centuries ago, when there was no formal education, there were no graduates. people used to act on their own at different ages. With the advent of formal education, the society gives us indicators about the future path.

How graduation helps achieving dreams ?

All of us have a dream. Ask a small child about his dream and you will get answers such as I want to become a big man like dad, or I want to become superman, or I want to become a pilot and such things. A child looks at certain people with awe and wants to emulate them. As he/she grows up, the reality dawns that there are many more fields to show one’s strength. With graduation, a child becomes an adult. He/she has to then work their own plan and make their dream real. If the next step
after graduation goes in the right direction, the future may open immense possibilities of growth. That is how graduation helps achieving dreams. A landmark that tells you that from here onward you are on your own. Go forward and conquer the world. Make your dreams real. Become a proud citizen, and make your country proud with your actions and achievements.

Graduation – The Transition To Success is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

An online bachelor degree is also affordable. Studying in a college online for a degree may cost you in average $12,000 a year, but an online program will cost much less. Costs vary between colleges. Before you opt for any course and college, it is very important that you must do a little research about the cost and the programs.

Also, by choosing an online program from an institution in your home state, you can save a great deal of money. For example, an online degree from Florida Gulf Coast University has tuition costs of only $12,410 if you are a Florida resident and for non-residents, the fee more than triples to $45,902. Some employers also provide tuition assistance to their employees. So before choosing an education online program, check with your employer and find out if they provide tuition assistance. If the degree you select is work-related, chances are good that your employer will provide at least part of the costs.

Some affordable bachelor degree online programs are Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from East Carolina University, Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from Fort Hays State University, Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from the University of Wyoming, Bachelor of Science in Communications by University of Phoenix, Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management – Liberal Studies by Ashford University, B.S. in Communication by Kaplan University, BA-English/Professional Writing by Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Arts in Communication by Regent University and BS in Communication by Drexel University.

Besides, there are hundreds of colleges and universities providing bachelor degree online in Accounting, Applied Management, Business Administration, Business Communications, Business Information Systems, Business Leadership, eBusiness and eCommerce, Economics, Finance, Hotel and Hospitality Management, Human Resources, International Business, Management, Marketing, Organizational Management, Project Management, Real Estate and Small Business Management.

If you are interested in computer education, there are colleges and universities offering bachelor degree online in Computer Science and Engineering, Computer Security, Databases, Graphics and Multimedia, Information Systems, Information Technology, Internet Networks, Programming, Software Engineering, Technology Management, Telecommunications, Web Design and Web Development. Walden University, University of Phoenix, Saint Leo University, National American University, DeVry University, Ashford University, Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology Colorado Technical University Online, Columbia Southern University, Capella University , American InterContinental, University Online University of Maryland University College / UMUC Online, Strayer University, Regis University, Drexel University and Western Governors University are providing these bachelor degree courses.

Before you go for any of the course in any of the online universities, check the credibility and validity of the program. There are frauds moving around so beware of them.

An Insight Into Online Bachelors Degree Programs is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

This (rather long) article touches on the following topics:

• Stereotypes, Race, and Racism
• Culture and Cultural Imperialism
• Nationalism and National Imaginary

I hope you find this article helpful.

Stereotypes
According to Stroebe and Insko (1989), the term ‘stereoptype’ originated in 1798 to describe a printing process that involved casts of pages of type. The term was first used in relation to the social and political arena in 1922 by Walter Lippman, referring to our perception of different groups.

Since then, the meaning of the term has been vigorously debated. Stereotyping was considered by some as the oversimplified, biased cognitive representations of “undesirable rigidity, permanence, and lack of variability from application to application” (ibid, 1989, p.4). Others, such as Brown (1965), considered it a natural fact of life like any other generalisation; “many generalisations acquired by heresay are true and useful” (cited in Stroebe & Insko, 1989, p.5).

Stroebe and Insko (1989) settle on a simple definition which sits somewhere in between these two schools of thought. They define a stereotype as the “set of beliefs about the personal attributes of a group of people” (p.5). They obviously accept that stereotypes are not necessarily rigid, permanent, or invariable, but they do still distinguish between stereotypes and other categories, claiming that stereotypes are characterised by a bias towards the ingroup and away from the outgroup (p.5).

Yzerbyt, et al (1997) attempt to explain the existence of stereotypes, suggesting that stereotypes provide not only a set of (often unjustified) attributes to describe a group, but also a rationale for maintaining that set of attributes. This allows people to “integrate incoming information according to their specific views” (p.21).

Race
When used in everyday speech in relation to multiculturalism, the term ‘race’ has come to mean any of the following:

• nationality (geographically determined) – e.g. the Italian race
• ethnicity (culturally determined, sometimes in combination with geography) – e.g. the Italian race
• skin colour – e.g. the white race

The common usage of ‘race’ is problematic because it is esoteric, and because it implies what Bell (1986) calls “biological certainty” (p.29). When we talk about race, there is always a common understanding that we are also talking about common genetic characteristics that are passed from generation to generation. The concept of nationality is generally not so heavily tarred with the genetics brush. Likewise, ethnicity allows for, and gives equal weight to, causes other than genetics; race does not. Skin colour is just a description of physical appearance; race is not. The concept of race may masquerade as a mere substitution for these terms, but in actual fact, it is a reconstruction.

Further, there is the question of degree. Are you black if you had a black grandmother? Are you black if you grew up in a black neighbourhood? Are you black sometimes, but not others? Who makes these decisions?

Racism
Having established the problems associated with the term ‘race’, we can now discuss how these problems contribute to issues of racism.

Jakubowicz et al (1994) define racism as “the set of values and behaviours associated with groups of people in conflict over physical appearances, genealogy, or cultural differences. It contains an intellectual/ideological framework of explanation, a negative orientation towards ‘the Other’, and a commitment to a set of actions that put these values into practice.” (p.27)

What this definition fails to address is the framework of explanation. Perhaps it should say “…framework of explanation based on various notions of race and racial stereotypes…”. This would bring us back to our discussion of the concept of race.

Because race is almost impossible to define, racial stereotypes are even more inappropriate than other kinds of stereotypes. Racism is an infuriating phenomenon because, irrespective of this, behaviour is still explained, and actions are still performed, based on these racial categorisations.

Culture
“Culture” is a term we’re all familiar with, but what does it mean? Does it reflect your nationality? Does it reflect your race? Does it reflect your colour, your accent, your social group?

Kress (1988) defines culture as “the domain of meaningful human activity and of its effects and resultant objects” (p.2). This definition is very broad, and not particularly meaningful unless analysed in context. Lull (1995) talks of culture as “a complex and dynamic ecology of people, things, world views, activities, and settings that fundamentally endures but is also changed in routine communication and social interaction. Culture is context.” (p.66)

As with other categorisation techniques, however, cultural labels are inherently innaccurate when applied at the individual level. No society is comprised of a single culture only. There are multitudes of sub-cultures which form due to different living conditions, places of birth, upbringing, etc. The concept of culture is useful because it differentiates between different groups of people on the basis of learned characteristics rather than genetic characteristics. It “implies that no culture is inherently superior to any other and that cultural richness by no means derives from economic standing” (Lull, 1995, p.66).

This last may be one reason behind the so-called “intellectual aversion to the idea of culture” (Carey, 1989, p.19) that has been encounted in America (probably the West in general, and, I would say, definitely in Australia). Other reasons suggested are individualism, Puratinism, and the isolation of science from culture.

Cultural Imperialism
In 1971, Johan Galtung published a landmark paper called “A Structural Theory of Imperialism”. Galtung conceptualises the world as a system of centres and peripheries in which the centres exploit the peripheries by extracting raw materials, processing these materials, and selling the processed products back to the peripheries. Because the processed goods are bought at a far greater cost than the raw materials, the periphery finds it extremely difficult to find enough capital to develop the infrastructure necessary to process its own raw materials. Therefore, it is always running at a loss.

Galtung’s model is not limited to the trade of raw materials such as coal, metals, oil, etc. To the contrary, it is designed to incorporate the transformation of any raw value (such as natural disasters, violence, death, cultural difference) into a valuable processed product (such as a news story, or a tourism industry).

Galtung’s approach is inherently problematic, however, because it superimposes a centre-periphery relationship onto a world where no such relationship actually physically exists. In other words, it is a model which attempts to make sense of the intricate relationships between cultures, but by the very fact that it is a model, it is limiting. Admittedly, all theories are necessarily models, or constructions, of reality, but Galtung’s is potentially harmful because:

a) it positions underdeveloped countries and their cultures in the periphery. In order for such countries/cultures to try to change their position, they must first acknowledge their position as peripheral; and

b) it implies that the world will always contain imperialistic centre-periphery relationships; “A Centre country may slip into the Periphery, and vice versa” (Galtung &Vincent, 1992, p.49), but no allowance is made for the possibility of a world without imperialism. Therefore, if a country/culture wishes to change its position it must become an imperialistic centre.

In recent times, the term ‘Cultural Imperialism’ has come to mean the cultural effects of Galtung’s imperialism, rather than the process of imperialism as he sees it. For example, Mowlana (1997) argues that cultural imperialism occurs when “the dominant center overwhelms the underdeveloped peripheries, stimulating rapid and unorganized cultural and social change (Westernization), which is arguably detrimental” (p.142).

The issue of language decline due to imbalances in media structures and flow is often claimed to be the result of cultural imperialism. Browne (1996) theorises that
“the rapid rise of the electronic media during the twentieth century, along with their dominance by the majority culture, have posed a tremendous challenge to the continuing integrity, and even the very existence, of indigenous minority languages… (p.60)”
He suggests that indiginous languages decline because:

• new indigenous terminology takes longer to be devised, and may be more difficult to use, thus ‘majority’ terminology tends to be used;
• media monopolies have historically determined acceptable language usage;
• schools have historically promoted the use of the ‘majority’ language;
• indigenous populations around the world tend to rely quite heavily on electronic media because they have greater literacy problems. As a result, they are more heavily influenced by the ‘majority’ language than they realise;
• the electronic media are inappropriate for communication in many indigenous languages because many such languages employ pauses as signs, and the electronic media remove pauses because they are regarded as “time wasted and as an indication of lack of professionalism” (Browne, p.61); and
• television reinforces majority culture visual conventions, such as direct eye contact.

Similarly, Wardhaugh (1987) discusses how the majority of medical and scientific articles are published in English. “While English does not completely monopolize the scientific literature, it is difficult to understand how a scientist who cannot read English can hope to keep up with current scientific activity.” (p.136) More books are published in English than any other language, and

“much of higher education in the world is carried out in English or requires some knowledge of English, and the educational systems of many countries acknowledge that students should be given some instruction in English if they are to be adequately prepared to meet the needs of the late twentieth century.”
(Wardhaugh, 1987, p.137)

There are definitely uncounted instances of one culture suffering at the hands of another, but there are still problems with explaining this in terms of Cultural Imperialism. In addition to those outlined above with relation to Galtung, there are a number of other problems. The Cultural Imperialism approach:

• does not allow for the appropriation or select cultural values by the ‘minority’ culture in order to empower, or in some other way, benefit, that culture;

• presupposes some degree of natural change, it does not discuss where the line between natural change and imperialism can be drawn. (When is the change a necessary part of the compromise of living in a multicultural society?); and

• overlooks the changes to ‘dominant’ cultures which necessarily occur as it learns about the ‘subordinate’ culture.

Atal (1997) asserts that “[f]orces of change, impinging from the outside, have not succeeded in transforming the [non-West] cultures into look-alike societies. Cultures have shown their resilience and have survived the onslaught of technological changes.” (p.24) Robertson (1994) talks of Glocalisation, with the local being seen as an aspect of the global, not as its opposite. For example, we can see “the construction of increasingly differentiated consumers… To put it very simply, diversity sells” (p.37). It is his contention that “we should not equate the communicative and interactive connecting of… cultures with the notion of homogenisation of all cultures” (p.39).

This article does not suggest that we should be complacent about the effects cultures may have on each other. Rather, it suggests Cultural Imperialism is somewhat flawed as a tool for cultural and social criticism and change. Instead, each problem should be identified as an individual problem, not as a part of an overall phenomenon called cultural imperialism.

Nationalism
In his discussion of culture and identity, Singer (1987) argues that nationalism is a relatively modern phenomenon which started with the French and American revolutions. Singer asserts that “[a]s the number and importance of identity groups that individuals share rise, the more likely they are to have a higher degree of group identity” (p.43). Using this premise, he suggests that nationalism is a very powerful identity because it combines a host of other identities, such as “language, ethnicity, religion, and long-shared historic memory as one people attached to a particular piece of land” (p.51).

It’s not surprising then, that Microsoft’s Encarta Online (1998) defines nationalism as a “movement in which the nation-state is regarded as the most important force for the realization of social, economic, and cultural aspirations of a people.”

National “imaginary”
Anne Hamilton (1990) defines national imaginary as

“the means by which contemporary social orders are able to produce not merely images of themselves but images of themselves against others. An image of the self implies at once an image of another, against which it can be distinguished (p.16)”

She argues that it can be conceptualised as looking in a mirror and thinking we see someone else. By this, she means that a social order transplants its own (particularly bad) traits onto another social group. In this way, the social order can view itself in a positive way, serving to “unite the collectivity and maintain its sense of cohesion against outsiders” (Hamilton, 1990, p.16).

It seems, however, that the process can also work in the reverse direction. Hamilton suggests that in the case of Australia, there is a lack of images of the self. She asserts that the social order has appropriated aspects of Aboriginal culture as a result. In terms of the mirror analogy, this would be the self looking at another and thinking it sees itself.

References
Atal, Y., (1997) “One World, Multiple Centres” in Media & politics in transition: cultural identity in the age of globalization, ED. Servaes, J., & Lie, R., (pp.19-28), Belgium: Uitgeverij Acco.

Bell, P., (1986) “Race, Ethnicity: Meanings and Media”, in Multicultural Societies, ED. Bell, R., (pp.26-36).

Browne, D.R., (1996) Electronic Media and Indigenous Peoples, Ames: Iowa State University Press.

Galtung, J., (1971) “A Structural Theory of Imperialism” in Journal of Peace Research (8:2, pp.81-117).

Galtung, J., & Vincent, R.C. (1992) Global Glasnost, Hamptom Press, USA.

Hamilton, A., (1990) “Fear and Desire: Aborigines, Asians and the National Imaginary” in Australian Perceptions of Asia (No.9, pp.14-35).

Jakubowicz, A., Goodall, H., Martin, J., Mitchell, T., Randall, L., & Seneviratne, K. (1994) Racism, Ethnicity and the Media, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.

Kress, G., (1989) Communication and Culture: An Introduction, New South Wales University Press, Australia.

Lull, J., (1995) Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. Polity Press.

Mowlana, H., (1997) Global Information and World Communication: New Frontiers in International Relations, Sage Publications Ltd.

Robertson, R., (1994) “Glocalisation” in The Journal of International Communication, 1,1, (pp.32-52).

Singer, M.R., (1987) Intercultural Communication: A Perceptual Approach, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Stroebe, W., & Insko, C..A., (1989) “Stereotype, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Changing Conceptions in Theory and Research” in Stereotyping and Prejudice: Changing Conceptions, ED. Bar-Tal, D., Graumann, C.F., Kruglanski, A.W., Stroebe, W., (pp.3-34), Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Wardhaugh, R., (1987), Languages in Competition: Dominance, Diversity, and Decline, Basil Blackwell Ltd., Oxford, UK.

Yzerbyt, V., Rocher, S., & Schadron, G., (1997) “Stereotypes as Explanations: A Subjective Essentialistic View of Group Perception” in The Social Psychology of Stereotyping and Group Life, ED. Spears, R., Oakes, P.J., Ellemers, N., & Haslam, S.A., (pp.20-50), Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Race and Racism – Some Concepts Defined is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

Most people will spend about one third of their lives asleep. Our dreams are a real part of us but too often they are disregarded. Dreams can give us insight and understanding of our personal lives. They will help us to understand our past, present, and sometimes our future. All we need to do is to pay attention to our dreams and get to know them.

Dreams can hold a message for the future.

We have different types of dreams. Often our dreams consist of imagery from our most pressing thoughts and/or personal experiences. Sometimes, however, our dreams can be special. Our dreams can communicate with us if we allow them too. All we need to is listen.

I believe that there are two main types of prophetic dreams.

Those that come to us from our “deeper” self, who is much more aware of certain things than we are on a conscious level, and those who may potentially have come from an “outside” source.

Here is an example from my own dream experiences:

I dreamed of death. All I could remember from the dream was seeing a hand laying in gravels. The most noticeable thing was the ring on the hand. It was my ring. I recognized it without any doubt. Even though this was the only image I could recall from the nightmare I knew that the dream was about a death. I could feel it strongly when I woke up. I had all but forgotten the events of the dream but the emotions were still vivid.

The ring was an Army Boot Camp ring made very similar to a class ring. After I had the dream I never wore it again. Eventually I sold it to a friend of mine who had attended the same boot camp. A few years later I received a call. My friend had been murdered. He was found laying in rocks and dirt with that ring on his hand.

Did my dream forewarn me of this event? I think it is a possibility. What was the dream trying to communicate to me? I had assumed that the dream was about my death. I had also assumed that the ring was somehow a participant in my death. I stopped wearing the ring as though that would prevent the warned death. Perhaps the dream was simply telling me that my friend would die with that ring on his hand.

Whenever we have a dream that we consider to be prophetic or to have a “meaning” we are faced with the difficult task of interpreting just what the dream means. Dream Symbols most often have very definite meanings but these meanings can vary widely from one person to the next. That is why we cannot rely too much on definitions given in Dream Symbol Dictionaries.

In order to understand the meaning of the symbols within our own dreams we must come to a better and deeper understanding of ourselves. We have to learn what these symbols mean to us because that is how our dreaming mind sees them.

Anything within your dream can be a symbol. An example of a symbol in a dream is a snake. A snake can have many different meanings to different people. As with all other dream symbols they can also have a different meaning for the same person at different times in their life. You also have to look at the symbol in the context that it appeared. What other symbols were present in the dream?

The best way to gain a better understanding of what your dream symbols mean to you is to develop your own dream symbol dictionary. Keep as detailed of a dream journal as you can. Don’t just write down a narrative of what occurred but record your feelings and emotions too. As you continue to write in your journal and re-read your previous entries you will begin to see parallels with your dreams and your life. Gradually you will be able to recognize what the symbols in your dreams are really saying to you.

Can a Dream Tell us of the Future? is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

But do they lack truth because they do not relate to facts? How are Truth and Fact interrelated?

One answer is that Truth pertains to the possibility that an event will occur. If true – it must occur and if false – it cannot occur. This is a binary world of extreme existential conditions. Must all possible events occur? Of course not. If they do not occur would they still be true? Must a statement have a real life correlate to be true?

Instinctively, the answer is yes. We cannot conceive of a thought divorced from brainwaves. A statement which remains a mere potential seems to exist only in the nether land between truth and falsity. It becomes true only by materializing, by occurring, by matching up with real life. If we could prove that it will never do so, we would have felt justified in classifying it as false. This is the outgrowth of millennia of concrete, Aristotelian logic. Logical statements talk about the world and, therefore, if a statement cannot be shown to relate directly to the world, it is not true.

This approach, however, is the outcome of some underlying assumptions:

First, that the world is finite and also close to its end. To say that something that did not happen cannot be true is to say that it will never happen (i.e., to say that time and space – the world – are finite and are about to end momentarily).

Second, truth and falsity are assumed to be mutually exclusive. Quantum and fuzzy logics have long laid this one to rest. There are real world situations that are both true and not-true. A particle can “be” in two places at the same time. This fuzzy logic is incompatible with our daily experiences but if there is anything that we have learnt from physics in the last seven decades it is that the world is incompatible with our daily experiences.

The third assumption is that the psychic realm is but a subset of the material one. We are membranes with a very particular hole-size. We filter through only well defined types of experiences, are equipped with limited (and evolutionarily biased) senses, programmed in a way which tends to sustain us until we die. We are not neutral, objective observers. Actually, the very concept of observer is disputable – as modern physics, on the one hand and Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, have shown.

Imagine that a mad scientist has succeeded to infuse all the water in the world with a strong hallucinogen. At a given moment, all the people in the world see a huge flying saucer. What can we say about this saucer? Is it true? Is it “real”?

There is little doubt that the saucer does not exist. But who is to say so? If this statement is left unsaid – does it mean that it cannot exist and, therefore, is untrue? In this case (of the illusionary flying saucer), the statement that remains unsaid is a true statement – and the statement that is uttered by millions is patently false.

Still, the argument can be made that the flying saucer did exist – though only in the minds of those who drank the contaminated water. What is this form of existence? In which sense does a hallucination “exist”? The psychophysical problem is that no causal relationship can be established between a thought and its real life correlate, the brainwaves that accompany it. Moreover, this leads to infinite regression. If the brainwaves created the thought – who created them, who made them happen? In other words: who is it (perhaps what is it) that thinks?

The subject is so convoluted that to say that the mental is a mere subset of the material is to speculate

It is, therefore, advisable to separate the ontological from the epistemological. But which is which? Facts are determined epistemologically and statistically by conscious and intelligent observers. Their “existence” rests on a sound epistemological footing. Yet we assume that in the absence of observers facts will continue their existence, will not lose their “factuality”, their real life quality which is observer-independent and invariant.

What about truth? Surely, it rests on solid ontological foundations. Something is or is not true in reality and that is it. But then we saw that truth is determined psychically and, therefore, is vulnerable, for instance, to hallucinations. Moreover, the blurring of the lines in Quantum, non-Aristotelian, logics implies one of two: either that true and false are only “in our heads” (epistemological) – or that something is wrong with our interpretation of the world, with our exegetic mechanism (brain). If the latter case is true that the world does contain mutually exclusive true and false values – but the organ which identifies these entities (the brain) has gone awry. The paradox is that the second approach also assumes that at least the perception of true and false values is dependent on the existence of an epistemological detection device.

Can something be true and reality and false in our minds? Of course it can (remember “Rashomon”). Could the reverse be true? Yes, it can. This is what we call optical or sensory illusions. Even solidity is an illusion of our senses – there are no such things as solid objects (remember the physicist’s desk which is 99.99999% vacuum with minute granules of matter floating about).

To reconcile these two concepts, we must let go of the old belief (probably vital to our sanity) that we can know the world. We probably cannot and this is the source of our confusion. The world may be inhabited by “true” things and “false” things. It may be true that truth is existence and falsity is non-existence. But we will never know because we are incapable of knowing anything about the world as it is.

We are, however, fully equipped to know about the mental events inside our heads. It is there that the representations of the real world form. We are acquainted with these representations (concepts, images, symbols, language in general) – and mistake them for the world itself. Since we have no way of directly knowing the world (without the intervention of our interpretative mechanisms) we are unable to tell when a certain representation corresponds to an event which is observer-independent and invariant and when it corresponds to nothing of the kind. When we see an image – it could be the result of an interaction with light outside us (objectively “real”), or the result of a dream, a drug induced illusion, fatigue and any other number of brain events not correlated with the real world. These are observer-dependent phenomena and, subject to an agreement between a sufficient number of observers, they are judged to be true or “to have happened” (e.g., religious miracles).

To ask if something is true or not is not a meaningful question unless it relates to our internal world and to our capacity as observers. When we say “true” we mean “exists”, or “existed”, or “most definitely will exist” (the sun will rise tomorrow). But existence can only be ascertained in our minds. Truth, therefore, is nothing but a state of mind. Existence is determined by observing and comparing the two (the outside and the inside, the real and the mental). This yields a picture of the world which may be closely correlated to reality – and, yet again, may not.

Fact and Truth is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing

Similarly, the accident car lawyer Virginia will assist the persons who met with such accident cases in a systematic manner and you are entitled to receive fair compensation for all your injuries and sufferings.

These attorneys know very well how to prepare your case and to get good value for your lost belongings. Most of the attorneys from Ohio work on a contingency-fee basis.

Once you receive the compensation from the insurance firms, you will be charged a percentage of the claim settled. If you have lost your case against the insurance firms, then you’re not entitled to pay these attorneys. Hence it is always advisable to contact an experienced lawyer from either of these states.

These experienced lawyers are well versed with the local laws and will definitely get you the required claim at the earliest possible time.

Though it may be a complicated battle with the concerned legally, the points put forth by these accident attorneys will be of more useful in a legal manner to claim amounts for all these expenditures that are expected or made already.

The claim forms need to be filled up correctly and one thing that the accident legal representative at Ohio insists is that the clients or the victims or the care takers in these car accident cases need to avoid the delay in filing cases. Hence, the claims may be settled at a fast rate in such cases of accidents. The client is supposed to give proper information with regard to the property loss due to accident.

In this regard, it is to be remembered that the loss of salary or the wages during the day of accident may also be claimed if the issues of the car accident are met in a proper manner without causing any delay on part of client.

However, the documentary evidences should be provided to accident public prosecutor in a precised manner and these will help him to deliver legal points in a correct manner that will assist the accident cases.

Do You need an Accident Lawyer in Ohio? is a post from: Reference Education Center | Studio K-Writing