Christopher Hitchens s Views On Politics, Culture,...

Christopher Hitchens was a British-American intellectual and writer who was known worldwide for his controversial opinions and provocative forms of expression. His works were published in a number of books and in multitudes of magazines, such as Vanity Fair, Slate, and The Atlantic, just to name a few. However, a large portion of his time was spent actively expressing his opinions in televised debates, public forums, and university speeches. His interest in political science after graduating from Balliol College in Oxford molded his ideas into a general theme of â€Å"anti-authoritarianism.† This theme was very well imbedded into his career, for he wrote much about politics, culture, religion, and literature. As a critic of both society and†¦show more content†¦This, in turn, gives his argument much more weight and validity. The ability to capture such an audience requires a great deal of scholarly language, which he accomplishes by utilizing his wide vocabulary. His work is loaded with words like â€Å"scrupulous,† â€Å"refractory,† â€Å"sanguinary,† (The Real Mahatma Gandhi), â€Å"fatuous,† and â€Å"invocations† (â€Å"Free Speech†). The use of such words gives his arguments a sense of sophistication, which serves to make his arguments sound legitimate. Furthermore, through scathing remarks about his subject, his humorously brutal tone serves to engage and entertain his audience. Witty comments, such as â€Å"But the two greatest achievements of Austria are to have convinced the world that Hitler was German and that Beethoven was Viennese,† allow Hitchens to discredit his subject and say that it has not had any â€Å"real† accomplishments. Altogether, he demonstrates that valid criticism of anyone can be entertaining, yet scholarly. One distinct style that set Hitchens apart from most thought-provoking scholars is his use of obscene and politically incorrect language. This works to â€Å"shock† the reader and to engage them even further. In his Vanity Fair essay, â€Å"Why Women Aren’t Funny,† he discourteously insists that most humorous women are â€Å"hefty or dykey or Jewish, or some combo of the three† (Why Women Aren t Funny). Hitchens is knownShow MoreRelatedRelationship Between Science And Religion3252 Words   |  14 Pageshe relationship between science and religion is a very interesting and complex one, and has changed quite a lot over the course of human history. In order to competently understand this relationship, it is necessary to have a rudimentary knowledge of the fundamental methods and aims of each discipline. Though the relationship between science and religion has changed a lot over time, what has not changed is the fact that the two disciplines are diametrically opposed to each other in many ways, having

Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, And Hinduism - 1173 Words

Sedekie Jabateh ISS 210 A. Sarkissian Religion All human beings are born equal and have the same features: nose, eyes, mouth, legs, etc... However, what make each and every individual different are their beliefs and the standard they go by. This is when religion kicks in. Religion is a European invention used to differentiate systems of belief in ways that are new to many of those systems. This separates everyone, including those that are non-religious. Even though the world has over fifty religions, there are only about five that most people truly believe is true. The following religions are: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These religions cover up more than half of world’s people and the reason why people are conforming every day is because each and every one of them has extraordinary stories that’ll take your breath away. As much as I want to talk about the five religions listed earlier, I only want to give you a chance to gain more knowledge on Islam and Buddhism. Islam and Buddhism both have similarities and differences. You’ll know the similarities and differences once you get further into the paper. However, that’s not the big picture here, what we must keep in consideration here is that people across the globe have used Buddhist teachings to guide others personal self-improvement, this is where religious teachings can also help political leaders to run a country by using some of religious ideas. I also believe that religion has a huge roleShow MoreRelatedChristianity, Buddhism, And Hinduism Essay2530 Words   |  11 PagesAll throughout history animals have played a significant role in world religions. They have been a part of religion both as symbols and gods in religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism, and as sacrifices, primarily in Islam and Hinduism. Thr oughout the years the role of animals has shifted, moving away from animals being used primarily for sacrifice to having a more prominent role as symbols, and while animals still hold prominence as sacrifices and as symbols in many modernRead MoreChristianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, And Judaism1644 Words   |  7 Pages The following religions Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism are among the top religions when evaluating the number of followers they encompass worldwide (Henderson, 2005, p.1). Through assessing these major belief systems and their views, diversity between them is apparent. These multiplicities range from Hindus who acknowledge multitudes of gods to Muslims who believe in one God, Allah. Although the variety of beliefs and practices exist their remains some central concepts suchRead MoreHinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, And Islam2109 Words   |  9 Pagesit something completely different? There are various different religious views held on death by Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. There are also non-religious worldviews about death by postmodernists. One lives his life based on what they perceive will befall them after death. Therefore, the way one lives their life is controlled by what they believe will happen after their death. Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions and is still around today, being the third largest religionRead MoreChristianity, Judaism, Hinduism, And Buddhism966 Words   |  4 PagesReligion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. In today’s society there are many religious lifestyles people stand by. Popular ones consist of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. When looking at Christianity and Buddhism it is easy to identify some major differences. For instance, both the religions were started and founded by different people and in dissimilar ways. A second one would be what they believe in; number of deities, and whatRead MoreChristianity, Islam, Hinduism And Buddhism1206 Words   |  5 PagesOut these many faiths, the most followed and practiced ones are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Being the most practiced religion Christianity has over two billion followers. At second, Islam has over one b illion adherents. Hinduism has about nine hundred million followers and Buddhism has about four hundred million followers. Soon after are Sikhism, Judaism and Baha’ism. Like most of the other religion, Christianity has a God. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and wasRead MoreChristianity, Islam, Buddhism, And Hinduism2587 Words   |  11 PagesMany religions are practiced throughout the world. The most common ones are l Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Each of these have their own views, preachers and followers. Every religion is independently known because of its distinguishing holy being and god to be worshipped. Religions give their followers the particular strategies and rules in which to lead their lives. These rules and strategies give the distinctive identity to the followers of the particular religion. TheRead MoreChristianity, Islam, Hinduism, And Buddhism Essay2361 Words   |  10 Pagesprovide morals to help stop injustices that comes from the capitalistic society that ushers globalization to every corner of the earth. He also states that globalization is mutually beneficial to the global religions s uch as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism because it â€Å"can help free world religions from troubling alliances with particular communal identity and politics and nudge them to rediscover their genuine universality.† For Volf, these religious practices â€Å"are not ‘by nature’Read MoreIslam, Hinduism, Buddhism And Christianity Comparison1025 Words   |  5 PagesPractices of Hinduism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity Comparison Hinduism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity developed centuries ago and have been practiced since then to today. Groups of people who practice these religions are bound to the conventional norms, beliefs, cultures and way of life of each. Each religion has a particular faith in a supreme being (Woodhead, Partridge Kawanami, 2016). Muslims believe in Allah, Christians believe in Jesus Christ, Hindus believe inRead MoreChristianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, And Islam2580 Words   |  11 Pages 1. Describe, compare and contrast the concept of â€Å"self† in Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Please state the views of each tradition fully and clearly. In life, one will undertake a spiritual journey in which you will uncover the meaning of the self. Many religions, including Hinduism, Confucianism and monotheistic religions, have developed philosophies placing importance of the â€Å"self.† Emphasis on morality, virtues, honest contribute to the developmentRead MoreThe Nature of Ethics in Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism Essay1360 Words   |  6 PagesThe Nature of Ethics in Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism When asking the question about the nature of ethics, it is hard to explain where they came from because not everyone has the same views or religions. Since religions have different standards, there are different sources to them and different reasons for why people should follow them. When trying to find answers to questions about the nature of ethics, it is impossible to know which religions view is correct. This paper will

Does Internet Makes Us Stupid Free Essays

The influence of Internet on the society â€Å"When we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. † This statement, which was made by President Barack Obama, makes us question whether the use of the Internet helps us succeed or makes us stupid and lock ourselves out of the outside world. The Internet bubble increases its volume and density rapidly, because the number of people and hours using the internet increases dramatically every day. We will write a custom essay sample on Does Internet Makes Us Stupid? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Consequently, books and other research resources are becoming increasingly less valuable. The Internet has become the biggest library. By growing so rapidly, the Internet system not only makes life so much easier, but also may exceed certain ethical and moral limits. I think that it is true that the influence of Internet in some instances is making us less intelligent. In this essay, however, I am going to argue that internet doesn’t make us stupid. In fact, I believe that what we build and use now, is a huge new development for the nation and for us as individuals. First, I want to point out that Internet lets us develop as a nation. Since it improves continuously, we as human beings improve, as well. As we develop a system which can carry unimaginable amounts of knowledge, we can become smarter by taking advantage of the information. It doesn’t take that much time to find everything anymore. Thus, we can learn much more in a shorter time period, compared to finding something specific in books or articles, for example, which can be very time-consuming. Of course, books are most likely written in a high-level language, which is in many cases not applicable for the Internet and which can make us able to understand and use specific unusual words. On the other side, however, I think that we want to learn things in an understandable way and to be able to use them quickly, so that we can learn more in the limited time we have. It is true that many people access inappropriate internet information or spend more time playing games instead of relating to â€Å"real† people or being outdoors. It is also true that, in some cases, we are getting accustomed to accessing information so easily we don’t appreciate it enough. This consequently, makes us lazy in doing research of our own. Instead, we are often using other people’s information and their opinions. I think, however, that this doesn’t make the majority of people less intelligent. In fact, it connects minds. For instance, we are doing something completely new, and we don’t want to do it badly or go to a bad place. The Internet allows us to read reviews and recommendations from people with experience. Thus, we are able to be prepared for something and do a better job. It is also often possible to chat 24 hours a day with someone personally from a specific company or even doctors. This results also in huge timesaving and answers our questions easily. This doesn’t make the people more stupid. To the contrary, it makes them more mature and we develop as human beings. Even people who are actually lazy or not as smart get the chance to improve themselves easily. People who are already very intelligent use the opportunity to go even beyond their abilities. Moreover, as mentioned in the introduction, President Obama also supports that Internet doesn’t make us more stupid, because we are not only relying on it, but thinking with human mind: â€Å"The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country: you know what, there are some things we do better together. † Although the Internet was created by decentralized groups of scientists and programmers and hobbyists, government financing supported much of the early research, obviously because it saw many advantages for the nation in it. In the New York Times article â€Å"The Internet? We create that†, the author supports Obama’s statement, by saying that â€Å"†¦ life is full of things we do better together. But what the Internet and its descendants teach us is that there are now new models for doing things together, success stories that prove convincingly that you don’t need bureaucracies to facilitate public collaboration, and you don’t need the private sector to innovate. † Thus, as shown, the Internet is a new way of learning and doing things which helps us to improve as a human beings. Pointing out things that we do and don’t do together brings me to the next point of Internet as a huge advantage in international communication and developing our understandings. The Internet gives us the ability to communicate with different people around the world and to improve our intellectual diversity. As we learn so much more from other countries and cultures, we get more open-minded and informed. We are getting close as a world community with fast and reliable communication possibilities around the world. In addition, business uses the internet to cooperate and trade with other companies all around the world and to become international. On one hand, this leads to more and better language skills, and on the other hand, to better understanding and studying of different cultures and economies. Consequently, the world view makes us smarter and makes us seek the best we can achieve. A few decades ago, people were not as informed about other countries and diverse as they are now. Every country can improve itself and take huge advantage of other countries, rather than just studying books and not connecting with real people and countries. The communication possibilities are more personal and interactive through different chat services and video conferences offered, for instance, by Skype, FaceTime, Whatsapp or Viber. We, who created the internet, did it to become more intelligent. To seek to the best is human nature. How else would everything be so easily and equally available for everyone? From my personal experience I can say that the communication possibilities through the Internet are one of the biggest advantages of the Internet. As an international student in the U. S. I can easily contact my family and friends back in Germany and be up to date. This enables me to study overseas without feeling as far apart and improve myself in all ways in a different culture. It is also worth mentioning that the internet makes it possible and realistic to study in a different language without having major difficulties. Since the internet offers fast access to information in all languages and different translation pages, it is possible to understand everything and make different researches. This fact connects to my last argument: The Internet is the best resource of information. Besides the facts that the Internet helps us to improve ourselves and connect with other countries easily, we have all resources collected together, which we improve and up-to-date constantly. Besides the point that we save time, it lets us compare lots of information. It is true that Internet has diminished our interest in reading books and going to the library. In the book â€Å"The Shallows,† Nicholas Carr mentions that the rise of the Internet might lead to loss of important mental talents because every technology would come with trade-offs. According to Carr, however, the Internet is actually good for the mind. He applies a comprehensive 2009 review of studies published on the cognitive effects of video games and found that gaming led to significant improvements in performance on various cognitive tasks, from visual perception to sustained attention. Consequently, he claims that different tasks of the Internet could increases the speed of information processing. We don’t need to stick with only a few resources, but can compare everything to get the most correct information, and as a side effect, increase our concentration skills. For example, when we are looking for a specific historic time period, we can compare resources from writers all over the world and thus, we can compare different views on certain aspects. What if the two books you find in the library have two completely different descriptions of an event? Where else, except on the internet through Google or Yahoo searches, could we find out what’s really true? Besides this, the Internet offers access to the latest research in different fields like technology, science or medicine. Isn’t that what we want and what can make us smarter? A 2009 study by neuroscientists at the University of California proves that performing Google searches led to increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, at least when compared with reading a â€Å"book-like text. † This certain brain area would, according to the studies, underlie the precise talents, like selective attention and deliberate analysis, which would have vanished in the age of the Internet. Thus, the Internet or specifically â€Å"Google, isn’t making us stupid – it’s exercising the very mental muscles that make us smarter. In addition, students are most likely required to use the internet for extensive researches and be in contact from any place through email or blackboard, for example, to share information and learn. All in all, through my demonstrated arguments that internet lets us act as better people in our life, that it connects the world, and that it is the biggest library with all imaginable information, I strongly beli eve that Internet is making us predominantly cleverer. It is true that it all depends on an individual person and how he or she is taking advantage of the online world. It also depends what character and habits the person has generally in his or her life, because so does he or she, most likely, get influenced by the internet. In my opinion, however, every person gets advantages of the Internet in their way and learns for his or her life. If, in some way we can say that Internet has a negative effect on the person, we can’t only blame the Internet. All interrupting technologies and the people attending the online world are seeking to get the attention of people, who are constantly craving to get new information in the best way. Consequently, many opportunities and offers are almost impossible to resist that we are wasting a lot of time in the internet. But we are human beings and we are trying to seek to the best or can you resist everything and just be perfectly mature? ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. nytimes. com/2010/06/06/books/review/Lehrer-t. html? _r=0 How to cite Does Internet Makes Us Stupid?, Papers

Compare and Contrast Works of Art Essay Example For Students

Compare and Contrast Works of Art Essay Bright colors jumping at you asking for attention, images so real viewers can not tell the difference. These are the thoughts that came to my head as I gazed at two works of art by two Mexican artists at MoLAA museum of art . I visited two museums, Bowers Museum of cultural Art in the heart of Southern California and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach for my report unfortunately I only liked the works in MoLAA and will talk about it through out my paper. I will talk about two Mexican artists Rafael Cauduro and David Alfaro Siqueros that caught my eye, and made me want to learn more of them and their approach to art. Siqueiros caught my eye and interest because according to his biography no individual associated with the arts with the possible exception of Andr? Â © Malraux, had been involved in direct political action more than David Alfaro Siqueiros (Siqueiros Biography online). Personally that to me said a lot and that got me intrigued, and made me want to know more about him and his work. Cauduro on the other hand got me intrigued through his illusionistic approach to art and interpretation of his view of things. Eve thought they seem like different approach to art they are both similar in different ways. My first artist is Rafael Cauduro. Rafael Cauduro was born in capital city of Mexico and now resides in the city of Cuernavaca (state of Morelos) 1950. Rafael started out making superior studies of architecture and industrial design in the Latin American University in Mexico City. According to his biography Cauduro is a self taught painter who steps outside of traditional artists standard. Cauduros paintings contain a trompe de loeil (Fool the eye) quality as indicated in by how in his paintings walls, fences, and objects are so real that people can almost touch them. To the visual realism of Cauduros work, according to critic Ruiz Soto, adds what he termed critical illusion which combines an extreme technical proficiency with fantasy-filled concepts(www. rafael cauduro. com). Rafael Cauduro painting technique is of a surrealism in which the reality of dreams, or subconscious mind are as more real than the surface reality of everyday life (Sayre p. 51). Cauduro paints in a Surrealistic way usually portraying the forces of dreams and subconscious that he has been famous for. This artistic movement originated in Europe in the early part of the 20th century and had a great impact on contemporary Mexican Art (www. rafaelcauduro. comm). Cauduro paints supernatural scenarios with realism akin to 17th century masters like Dutch artists Rembrandt van Rijin (Painting information Cauduro). The piece I choose to critic is titled Buscado por su madre or Wanted by his Mother by Rafael Cauduro, no year. This piece is an Oil on Canvas painting that measured 48x36 located at the Long Beaches MoLAA. The work is presented as one of a few Mexican artists that share an interest in their painting primarily figurative style, political in nature, that often narrated the history of Mexico or the indigenous culture. The painting is one of the first viewers see as they enter the Museum. It is at eye level and demonstrates a superb use of illusionistic realism that it creates the illusion of being real. The painting is of a old Missing poster of a man on a brick wall. What made it stand out in my eyes was the fact that it looked to be a three dimensional object on what looked like real bricks with the words wanted by mother on the top. Cauduros piece, in my eyes looked like he literally took a chunk out of a wall, and placed an old torn missing poster of a man on the front and put it out for display. .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .postImageUrl , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:hover , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:visited , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:active { border:0!important; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:active , .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf33b5ea63097b923f5582f2e2a91231c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson: Progressive Presidents EssayCauduro uses texture to represent the look of brick by applying thick strokes of paint creating a body of its own as and mimics the look and shape of brick. He also makes applies the same technique on the wanted poster by implying that it is old and torn by again layering his paint to create the look of volume and his use of lifelike color so true, viewers thought it was real The subject matter of the work depicts that of a missing man, but the content tells that this individual has been missing for some while, but the only one searching is his mother. Which depicts how the people in Mexico go missing so often for so long that, the only people left searching is the mother. In my opinion people are hardly ever found that these posters stay on walls for years on end with out anybody doing anything about them. There is a much bigger picture here that people who know the work and the background of the artist would be able to understand and comprehend, which Cauduro tries to depict. I think that this work means a lot to the artist and clearly tries to show everyday life from his point of view. I think that he clearly tries to show the world that there is a problem that exists and in my opinion tries to bring out to the open. This to me means that there are people out who try to make a difference some how and not try to hide what society tries not to show.