The Allegory of Plato an Example by

The Allegory of Plato: The Distinction between Reality and Illusion Plato is one of the most relevant figures in philosophy. He has been a great influence to all the other philosophers who emerged after him. His works are mostly in the form of a dialogue, allowing readers to easily understand his philosophy. One of the most recognized texts attributed to Plato is the Allegory of the Cave, which conveys an important element of his philosophy through a conversation with Glaucon. Through the allegory, Plato tries to illustrate the difference between how illusion and reality is perceived by people. Need essay sample on "The Allegory of Plato: The Distinction between Reality and Illusion" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed An allegory is that which represents something apart from itself. Therefore, the Allegory of the Cave by Plato is more than just a story. It conveys a message beyond the given instances indicated in the text. It actually illustrates one of the most integral aspects of Platos philosophy. In the allegory, Plato tries to distinguish between enlightenment and ignorance of humanity (Plato 79). He gives out a specific scenario, one which includes prisoners in a cave. Plato describes this cave as one which has an entrance that allows sunlight to come into the cave. Inside the cave, there are prisoners who have been there since their youth. Their legs and necks are bound, forcing them to only look ahead. The prisoners could see through a curtain wall which is also found inside the cave. Somewhere high above, there is a fire (Plato 79). The fire creates shadows of those people which move behind the curtain walls, shadows that the prisoners can see. Because of their bondage, these shadows are the only things that the prisoners can see. Plato gives another scenario. One of the prisoners is freed from the condition he was trapped in since he was a child (Plato 80). For the first time, this allows him to see for himself the fire and the objects behind the shadows. Initially, he is blinded by the light; afterwards, his eyes adjust in time to see the outside world (Plato 80). Plato presents yet another scenario. The freed prisoner goes back to the cave (Plato 81). This time, he is blinded by the darkness; his exposure to the light made him this way. In the instance that he was to discriminate against the darkness, the other prisoners would consider him crazy (Plato 81). They would not understand him, as all they know are the shadows that they see. If the remaining prisoners in the cave can take a hold of the prisoner who has returned, the former would kill the latter. The Allegory of the Cave tries to illustrate how human limitations can blur the lines between reality and illusion. The allegory presents an analogy of how Plato perceives the limitation of man. The prisoners in the allegory represent humans. The prisoners have been bound since the beginning; their eyes have been limited to see only shadows. Because it is the only thing they see, it becomes reality for them. The objects behind the curtain wall represent reality, while the shadows are merely illusions. Under the given conditions, the prisoners consider the shadows as the real things. Humans are like the prisoners. The human body limits an individuals ability to determine between reality and illusion. From the beginning, a humans perception of reality is distorted by his sensory experiences. What is real for him is that which he has experienced from his senses, just as the shadows were considered reality by the prisoners. There is a resistance by the prisoners to embrace reality which can be found in the last scenario given by Plato. In the instance that a prisoner who had seen the outside world would return to the cave and tell the other prisoners the real story behind the shadows, he would be perceived as a fool and might even be killed in the process. The reason behind this is that only the freed prisoner is aware of the truth; everybody else is still bound to their ignorance. If the freed prisoner was to relay what he had seen to the others, the prisoners would not believe him. How can the prisoners believe his stories when all they can see are the shadows? The shadows are all they experience; it is the only reality available for them. To hear a testimony of another experience would surely be met with opposition. The knowledge of the freed prisoner would make him appear insane; the others would assume that the world beyond the cave has damaged his eyes (Plato 81). The so-called damage would then d iscourage the others from breaking free of their bondage and would render freedom from the cave as an unworthy endeavor (Plato 81). There is a reason why the remaining prisoners do not want to see the outside world. There is a reason why they do not want to know the truth. For most of their lives, the shadows have been reality for them. It is all they know as true. They have long held such perception that to do otherwise would be extremely difficult. When the freed prisoner tells them the truth, they are challenged. It is almost an insult for the prisoners to have their long held belief questioned. The prisoners do not want to know the truth because the experience would be similar to what the freed prisoner experienced. In the beginning, the freed prisoner was blinded by reality; it took time for his eyes to adjust to reality. For the remaining prisoners, to know the truth would also be a blinding experience. It will take a long time for them to break free from their illusions and adjust their eyes to reality. The cave is their comfort zone; there is much hesitation in their part to leave it for the outside world . This is the reason why the prisoners do not want to know the truth. They want to spare themselves from a blinding experience. In a way, the situation is similar to humans. Humans are bound to their sensory experiences and to the illusions that these experiences provide. However, the senses do not suffice in providing people an access to reality. Therefore, one must go beyond the senses and illusions to reach reality. The only way one can experience reality is through reason (Plato 82). In the allegory, the prisoner was only immersed in reality when he was free from the cave. Reality was only experienced by the prisoner when he went to the outside world and discovered the real story behind the shadows and reflections. In this case, humans can only experience reality through the use of reason. Plato believed that people can only grasp reality if reason was involved. People should not rely on their senses to know the truth; thinking is more important than using the senses. The importance of thinking is the reason why some people find it easier to retain their illusions. They mostly rely on their senses, even t hough it presents inaccurate information. Thinking would force them to go beyond what they thought is true; instead of their senses, they would have to resort to reason. The transition from senses to reason would be similar to the prisoners dilemma: the adjustment from darkness to light. Platos Allegory of the Cave is an illustration of the problematic distinction between reality and illusion. It represents how people can mistake illusion for reality given the limitations their bodies provide. In the allegory, the prisoners represent the people. Their sense of reality is false, as their eyes only allow them to accept illusion as the real thing. It is only when they can come out into the outside world they can they truly experience reality. For humans, the physical world only presents illusions. Their senses can grasp these illusions as reality. Plato believes that reason should be used to truly experience reality. Hence, the problem between reality and illusion can only be resolved through the use of reason. Work Cited Authors last name, authors first name. Title of the book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

The Book Is Dead! Essay Example

The Book Is Dead! Essay Example The Book Is Dead! Essay The Book Is Dead! Essay Is this the death knell of one technology, that is Traditional Printing, and the subsequent rise of the next, Digital Media etc? Electronic books, or E-Books, are reportedly currently outselling traditional paper based books generally and newspaper circulation figures are in a long gradual decline. The standard Phone Book is already dead, as British Telecom no longer produce it in a printed format. Is print the place where words go to die? And yet last year the renowned online retailer Amazon announced that for the first time, it was selling more Kindle versions of books than paperback and hardbacks combined, and, here is something that does not get quoted quite so often, sales of print books were still increasing.[ CITATION Jen15 l 2057 ] Recent statistics seem to point to a decline in reading conventional books and other printed material and that technology is taking over in terms of encyclopaedias, dictionarys etc. In fact the renowned Oxford English Dictionary is now only available in print to special order, either in it’s full 20 volume set or as the compact single volume edition. The economics of traditional printing requires thousands of units to be sold in order to see a potential profit for the publishers. They are generally expensive to produce, take up a lot of space, they are not easily searchable, and they are not easily linkable. E-books and pdf ( Adobes Portable Document Format) versions of documents on the other hand are quite the opposite. They are generally very inexpensive to produce, usually in the few hundreds of pounds or less, they can be very quick to produce, and unlike traditional paper based books, they can be quickly searched through and items can be linked between one source and ano ther. In future will the printed book simply live on as art objects and as collectors items? Sherman young in his book entitled ‘The Book Is Dead : Long Live the Book’ states â€Å"that physical books may one day become the

South to North Water Transfer Project Term Paper

South to North Water Transfer Project - Term Paper Example Finally, with the advent of 20th century need for the development of this project was raised to its peak and hence South to North water transfer Project was first started in 2002and more than two routes of this project are being used to transfer water resources of south to north of the country. Scarcity of water has been a great issue in the region of china from centuries. History clearly depicts suffering of Chinese people in north regions and why this region remained undeveloped for long times; But, with the passage of time technology improved and population increased. This increase in population forced people to move to the outskirt areas with limited resources. Now people are living in north of China but were living miserable life due to scarce water resources. One major reason for this scarcity of water is that china is not connected to large water body from any of its sides other than frozen sea. The southern and eastern parts of china are greatly influenced by the monsoon winds from the Arabian Sea. These winds are having high level of water content which causes extensive rain in china but these winds reach northern and eastern parts of china only when winds are strong and monsoon season is at its peak. During weak monsoon winds, only southern and eastern areas are getting rains and northern and eastern parts remain deprived of summer rains. This scarcity of water has resulted in the destruction of strong dynasties in china because it leads to extreme drought and economic crisis. In order to overcome this scarcity of water Government of China planned for grand engineering project of transferring south water resources to north by spreading an amazingly design canal system. It has been planned that at the end this grand project will be able to transfer 44.8bn cubic meters of water to north each year. This is

HUman Rights(United Nations Declaration of Human Rightss 1948) Essay

HUman Rights(United Nations Declaration of Human Rightss 1948) - Essay Example d surrounding nations are hotbeds of caste and religious discriminations whereas the USA and EU nations regularly discriminate on the basis color and gender. The USA operates an inhuman detention centre at the US naval base in Guantà ¡namo Bay, Cuba. In fact there is no nation in the world where all human beings are treated as equals. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. †¦. According to special rapporteur of the UN Mr. Githu Muigai â€Å"An estimated 250 million people around the world are at risk of violations of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, including violence, marginalization and discrimination†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This fact is applicable to all nations including the developed western societies and backward third world countries. Some governments go so far as to explicitly rationalize some forms of discrimination in the name of morals, religion, cultural equality or even national security.   Discrimination protected by law – for example, where the law limits religious freedoms (the decision to ban headscarves in France) or refuses to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ rights ( Aborigine mistreatment in Australia) effectively strips away human rights.( Discrimination, no date) In the United States, the consequence of the Bush administrations decision to fight terrorism without regard to the basic human rights is a gross violation of this article. Thousands have been detained without fair trial because they belong to a particular religion or region. France is guilty of Islam phobia and Xenophobia is a major issue in all western societies. The under developed nations of Africa are guilty of genocide, and every conceivable violation of basic rights, other nations specially in the Indian subcontinent are guilty of caste, religious and gender

Literature review in E-commerce in saudi arabia Assignment

Literature review in E-commerce in saudi arabia - Assignment Example Customer pressure will havelittleornothepreliminaryadoption of e-commerce by business. There is a strong support structure for electronic commerce I Saudi Arabia. The model shows that 81 percent of Saudi customer’ intendeds to continues hopping online and can be generalized across Riyadh .Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness directions can help to improve the models power of prediction and would be better than the original power. Analyze and demonstrates a relationship of the relevant factors that affect the internet customers in Saudi a Arabia and goes on to include a correlation of fundamental influence the trust of Saudi consumers in the electronic commerce, and the indicators of weaknesses and strengths, which influence the elements. And it goes on to show the indicators the weaknesses and strengths that affect these factors Identified eight main barriers to weak after sale support, fear of product un-arrival, unavailability of shipping in vendors websites, website language, no initial experience regarding online shopping, unavailable of house mailing address, payment system issues and high purchasing costs. - The whole research concerning e-commerce in Saudi Arabia was conducted by combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. The approach of mixed technique was applicable on the customers’ samples and retailers. - The study introduced a conceptual framework model, which aims at encouraging confidence in e-commerce retailing domain in Saudi Arabia is a tardy e-commerce adopter and the e-commerce development and is slow in progress in contrast to the leading and developed countries. The elements that influence the adoption of the decisions have been established, but there is limited empirical research that assesses the e-commerce adoption in developing nations in the Arab word such as Saudi Arabia. The study examined the perception of mobile phone users and their concerns

Cultural Dependency Theory

Cultural Dependency Theory Introduction: There are many reasons to examine the current situation of the world, where a lot of countries are underdeveloped or are developing, and a small portion of the world, which are the Western countries, are relatively rich and developed and rule over the under-developed and developing countries. In this essay, I discuss the Modernisation theory and the Cultural Dependency Theory, how they came into existence and what are their problems. Also, the contributions made by all the countries and trying to develop have not really helped them to a great extent. In this essay, I have also explained why this division is still present and the dependency of the Third World countries on the Western countries. At the end of the essay, I have given the pros and cons of both the theories. International Communication Theory: The Third world countries were highly inferred for development because of the cold war which divided the countries into Eastern countries and western countries. This lasted for more than 50 years. Most of the Third World Nations wanted to avoid the group of countries which had common interest in politics and they wanted to concentrate on getting their population out of the control of the other legal or political restrictions. Third world nations got their name during the cold war which is said to be given by Alfred Sauvy in 1952, who was the French Economic historian. The world was divided between the capitalist first world which was led by the United States, and the communist second world, which was headed by Moscow (Thussu, 2006). The Term Third world was given to the nations who were not included in above mentioned groups (Brandt Commission, 1981; South Commission, 1990) and Asia, Latin America and Africa started a movement of National Liberation. This changed the entire political maps of the world (Thussu, 2006). By 1960, a lot of countries were free from the colonial powers and these new independent states got an opportunity to develop because of International Communication (Thussu, 2006). The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was approved by the UN General Assembly and the UNCTAD, because, the Non-Aligned Movement started demanding fairness in the economy. NIEO had an independent and an egalitarian economic order which was grounded on the principles of equality and was government free which included that, all the members of the country had equal rights to participate in the development process (Thussu, 2006 cit. Hamelink, 1979: 145). The NIEO provided a structure which helped to understand the international relations between the countries based on North-South division. At the same time, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) also had to be taken into consideration in order to link it with the economic order. The Non-Aligned countries demanded changes in the global economic and informational systems. Juan Somavia, 1976, observed that, The transnational Power structure supported the transnational communication system to develop. This is basically a tool for transmitting values and lifestyles to Third World Countries which provokes the consumption and society which is necessary to the transnational system as a whole. (Somavia, 1976: 16-17) There were a lot of times when the Third World or the developing countries took technical and financial help from the Western or the developed countries as they wanted to use the communication technologies for development. One of the main areas where the developing countries took support from the developed ones was the satellite television. Television was considered to be one of the most powerful and influential medium. It could be used for a lot of purposes like bringing change in the attitudes of the traditional people, educational purposes and modernise societies. Cultural Dependency Theory: Cultural Dependency Theory was emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. It was a criticism of the modernisation theory. This theory was developed in Latin America under the supervision of Raul Prebisch who was the director of United Nations Economic Commission. The main interest in research of Instituto Lationoamericano de Estudios (ILET) which was established in 1976 in Mexico City was to study the Transnational media business, which gave a force to criticise the modernisation theory.(Thussu, 2006) It became necessary to analyse international communication. So dependency theorists directed towards getting a substitute theoretical account (Baran, 1957; Gunder Frank, 1969; Amin 1976). Transnational Communication (TNCs) which was dominated by the North, have control over the governments and over developing countries by setting their personal rules and regulations on global trade which includes dominating labour, market, production and resources. These countries were developing in such a way that the developed countries keep dominating over the developing countries and maintained the need for the developing countries to be dependent on the developed countries (Thussu, 2006). Due to the neo-colonial relationship in which the TNCs controlled the exchange and structure of global markets, the inequality in the south had become wider and deeper whereas the TNCs had strengthened their control over the worlds natural and human resources (Baran, 1957; Mattlelart, 1979, Thussu, 2006). Dependency theorists tried to show the link between modernisation and policies of transnational media (Thussu, 2006). Herbert Schillers idea of cultural imperialism is the most clearly identified one (1969-92). Schiller analysed the links between the transnational business and the dominant states. (Thussu, 2006) The main argument of Schiller was about how the US based transnational corporations weaken the cultural liberty of the developing countries and force them to be dependent on both hardware and software of communication and media. The definition of cultural imperialism by Schiller was, the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller, 1976: 9) Schiller argued that new emergent American empire was taking over the European colonial empires like, British, French and Dutch. This was based on the economic, military and informational power. According to him, the US based TNCs are continuously growing and are starting to dominate the global economy. US business and military organisations have got a leading role in the development and control of a new, electronic based global communication system due to the support that economic growth has received from the communication knowledge (Thussu, 2006). USA had the most effective surveillance system as it controlled global satellite communications which was the crucial element in the cold war years (Thussu, 2006). Due to this the dependence on the US increased for communication Technology and investment (Schiller, 1969). All the western goods and services along with the American way of life were promoted when the media programs were imported from the USA which required sponsorship to run . This was a threat to the Southern traditional cultures (Schiller, 1969). He argued in his book, which was republished in 1992 that the domination over the worlds communication of the US increased after the UNESCO failed and the cold war got over. The domination of US over the economy had started decreasing as the TNCs started acquiring important role in international relations changing the cultural imperialism of US into Transnational corporate cultural domination (Schiller, 1992: 39) The other works which show the dominance of the US using cultural imperialism is clearly seen in the Hollywoods relationship with the European movie market (Guback, 1996); US exports television shows to Latin America and influences it greatly (Wells, 1972); Disney comic also have contributed in promoting capitalist values (Dorfan and Mattelart, 1975) and advertising industry has played a role of an ideological instrument (Ewen, 1976; Mattelart, 1991) (cited in Thussu, 2006: 48-49). Oliver Boyd-Barrett noticed one of the most prominent aspects of dependency in international communication in the 1970s as media imperialism. This examines the information and media inequalities between the nations. It analyses the domination of the US over the international media (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). Modernisation Theory: The concept of modernity has become a very general statement. It represents the experience of the western culture on the others. All the global cultures are disapproved to modernity and the concept of cultural imperialism critically evaluates the conclusions in the critique of modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). A philosophical notion in the years after the war was that international communication is an important part in order to modernise and develop the Third world nations. The notion was that international communication can be used to spread modernity among the newly independent countries and that it will help to transform the traditional societies of the developing countries. It was also used to transfer the hypothetical description of economic and political entity of the developed countries.   Modernisation theory is an attempt to provide a support for the development policies which was created by the western countries. These development policies were supported towards the Third world countries which were still getting out of the rule of the stronger countries and were getting independent. This theory is just an attempt to explain the economic under-development of the Third world nations by focusing on the development which can be done with a process which is determined by the societys internal features. Vincent Mosco points out: The Modernisation Theory was meant to reconstruct the international division of labour amalgamating the non-Western world into the emerging international structural hierarchy (1996: 121). Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Tonnies and others came up with their own theories keeping in mind the dramatic changes in the European societies due to the modern world. There was an agreement between the theorists which was based on the political spectrum and all of them thought that the world had more than one possible meaning in the capacity to deliver fulfilment and happiness. Modernity was associated with enlightenment and was suppose to free the people from the control of another person or any legal or political restrictions. But modernity failed to deliver complete freedom. Modernisation includes economic scientific and technical development that is very closely related to the capitalist market. But Bermans, in his book All that is solid melts into air talks about the notion of self development. The main aim of his book is to explain that cultural condition of modernity stood still and lapsed during the twentieth century. He also aims to fix the serious problem which was closely linked to the possibilities of dangers along with the enthusiasts and enemies of the modern life which was found during the nineteenth century. (Berman, 1983) According to the Frankfurt School theorists the main issue of modernity was the injustices by the capitalist system or social intolerance by a bigot or of the ideology of possessive individualism (Tomlinson, 1991). Horkheimer and Adorno critiqued the modernisation theory by comparing it with the so called rational institutions. The main task of modernisation theory is to set people free, but the history and past politics show that this theory failed to do their task effectively (Tomlinson, 1991). According the Berman, people living in the twentieth century do not know how to live a modern life and missed of broken the connection between the culture and lives. He describes modernisation as a set of historical processes due to which the experience of modernity evolves. He claims that modernity is one of the most difficult, anxious and uncertain place to live, but ultimately it is the world where people live and people can master the cultures of the place where they live. At one point of time, he mentions about the Third World nations and discusses that the governments of those countries are trying to protect their people from modernisation which is being imposed by the West. He says that if the culture which is being imposed by the west is really not used by the Third World nations then will they consume so much energy? The governments of the Third world nations call the West as aliens. But they do not understand the fact that they are their own peoples energies, desires and cr itical spirit. When these governments say that they do not want the Western Countries to impose any kind of cultures in their nations, they are trying to say that, they have managed to keep the political and spiritual influence on the people. Also they do not realise that once the people become more aware of things going around them, modernist spirit will be one of the first things to be adapted by the people. The governments of the Third World Nations are fighting against each other in order to keep their tradition alive among the people, which had no result at the end. He also says that Third world governments think that they are being enforced upon by the western countries by accumulating a lot of capital or are being forced to break into parts. He suggests that people have to adapt to a place in which nothing can be taken for granted. Media is just one form of medium which helps to spread the experience of modernity. But according to another theorist, Peter Berger, 1974, modernisation is not a one way journey which rectifies human self understanding. He explains this concept with the help of a story of a visitor who visited the villages of Tanzania. People living in these villages belonged to different Tribes but are now living very co-operatively. This was one of the communities which were transferring from tradition to modernity. The visitor asked someone; whether they still practice their personal tribal dances. The answer was, yes, and it is done once or twice a year on any special occasion. He also added that this is done so that it becomes easy for the people to understand one another better. (Berger, 1974).It is clearly seen that there is a process of political-economic which is enforced upon the Third world nations as they are very closely connected with their traditions and colonialism which has become a history for the Western nations and still are in a position to dominate over the Thi rd world nations (Tomlinson, 1991). Castoriadis, 1985, mentions that the West will continue to conquer the world even if it was going to be destroyed materially (Castoriadis, 1985). So when Berman says that the Third World cultures need to be modernised, he means not just in terms of objective structures of the capitalist markets, urbanism, but also in terms of a narrative with a clear beginning keeping in mind the cultures of the west. His view of modernity means that it is full of forces like the dynamic and development forces which means that the Western cultures are being imposed on the Third world nations in order to modernise and develop their countries. But Castoriadis has a different opinion. He accepts individuals have their own priorities and have their personal institutional forces towards modernity. The kind of institutions we develop in order to become powerful does not come from external forces of humanity but it comes from within through the social imaginary (Tomlinson, 1991). Habermass view on modernity is completely different from that of Bermans. Habermas thinks that modernity is a way of making someone poor culturally, whereas Berman thinks that there are forces which drive people towards modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural Dependency Theory v/s Modernisation Theory: The gap between the ruling and the working class increased which combined with regular recession to create dissatisfaction among the working class (McPhail, 2009). In order to fight for their rights, working class started forming groups such as unions (McPhail, 2009). Stevenson criticised this theory by using the dependency literature which was notable for an absence of clear definitions of fundamental terms like imperialism and an almost total lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments (Stevenson, 1988: 38). A lot of other theorists argued that it did not consider the media form and the role played by the audience (Thussu, 2006). Those involved in a cultural studies approach to the analysis of international communication argued that, like other cultural artefacts, media texts could be polysemic and were amenable to different interpretations by audiences who were not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske, 1987, cited in Thussu, 2006: 49). It was also noticed by the theorists that cultural imperialism thesis did not consider issues as how global media texts worked in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption (Thussu, 2006: 49). Cultural Dependency theory also failed to explain the effects of the cultural products distributed by the US around the world. Also, cultural imperialism failed to give attention to the complexities of the Third World cultures and assumed a hypodermic-needle model (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1991, 1997). It was also argued that western scholars did not have deep knowledge about the Third world cultures. They had extremely limited knowledge and not being aware of diversities such as race, gender, class, religion and ethnicity. Very few systematic studies have been conducted by the southern scholars on cultural and ideological effects on western media on the audiences of the south (Thussu, 2006).One of the major issues of this theory was that it did not consider the role of the national elites, especially elites living in the developing countries (Thussu, 2006). Modernisation Theory had promised to deliver the social and economic change which failed miserably (McPhail, 2009). Therefore, three other theories were developed which looked at the development communication which were totally different and directed in a different way, which were, Cultural imperialism, Participatory communication and Entertainment-Education Theory (McPhail, 2009). Social and cultural theory does not agree with the core of modernity. Also this theory was criticised to a great degree because of its ideological basis, lack of clarity and it is a subject which is ignorant to many and it fails to exercise good judgement. This theory ignores the external determinants of underdevelopment like the exploitation of the Third world countries when they were being ruled by the Western countries. This theory ignores these factors and assumes that the Third World nations are progressing independently and are becoming modern on their own. In order for the Third world nations to progress they needed help from the Western countries as there was a lot of poverty, inadequate resources, lack of social provisions and political instability in the Third world nations. Modernisation Theory ignores all the disapprovals and expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context which was addressed by the classical theorists (Tomlinson, 1991). In this theory, the traditional cultures, media habits, language, religion of the developing countries were not included, and were totally ridiculed and ignored (McPhail, 2009). One of the clear criticisms on this theory is that the American policy was to commit to free flow the information to the world and all the nations fell into the trap and gave immense support to this statement which was assumed to be true (McPhail, 2009). Scholars from the developing countries argued that the developing countries were not the beneficiaries of this theory, which was meant for them, but the western countries who created it were only getting benefitted out of this theory as it helped the companies to grow and establish in the Third world and could find their new consumers of their products (Thussu, 2009). A lot of people in the Third World remained poor and under developed, even after adapting themselves to modernisation theory and by the mid 70s, they started talking about the passing of the dominant paradigm (Rogers, 1976: 3).Slowly, when the US realised that the Southern nations are looking at them with suspicion, they stopped their free flow of information and became the one at the receiving end which at the end became a one way flow of information (McPhail, 2009). This matter was going to be brought up in the debate of the UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the US president, Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from UNESCO in order to protest against NWICO. Different opinions resulted in creating two streams, one of which was the outline of cultural imperialism by Herbert Schiller and the NWICO debate and fallout. This resulted in making a particular culture homogenous, that is the American popular culture, which is been mass produced (McPhail, 2009). Due to these reasons, the theorists of modernisation theory realised that this theory needs to be redeveloped (Thussu, 2006). The revised modernisation theory gives greater notice to the local elites (Thussu, 2006). But even in the revised version, western technology remains important. According to Thussu, 2006, Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalized information economy (Thussu, 2006: 46) Despite of all the criticism done on dependency theory, cultural imperialism thesis have been extremely influential in international communication (Tomlinson, 1991; Thompson, 1995). This particular thesis was extremely important and needed during the heated argument during the NWICO debates in UNESCO and other international fora in the 1970s (Thussu, 2006). While criticising this thesis, John Thompson, 1995, concluded that this research is probably the only systematic and moderately plausible attempt, to think about the globalisation of communication and its impact on the modern world (Thompson, 1995: 173). Theorists, who defend this theory, argued that the critics of this theory often take the notion which is totally not in reference to the theory and it is completely abstract (Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998). There were a lot of changes in the debate of international communication which reflected the language of privatisation and liberalisation in the 1990s, media and cultural dependency theories became less eminent but their relevance was very visible all around (Golding and Harris, 1997; Thussu, 1998; Hackett and Zhao, 2005 and Hamm and Smandych, 2005 cited in Thussu, 2006: 50) Boyd-Barrett rightly argues that media imperialism has not included variables, such as gender, media relations and ethnic issues, so it is still a very useful theory to understand of what he terms the colonisation of communication space (Boyd-Barrett. 1998: 157). References: 1. Amin, S. (1976) Accumulation on a world scale: a critique of the theory of underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review Press. 2. Baran, P. (1957) The political economy of growth. New York: Monthly Review Press. 3. Berman. M (1983) All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. London, verso, pp. 15 4. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1977) Media Imperialism: towards an international framework for the analysis of media systems. In J.Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (eds), Mass Communication and society. London: Edward Arnold. 5. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism which was developed again. In. D. Thussu (ed.), Electronic empires. London: Arnold. 6. Brandt Commission (1981) North-South: a programme for survival. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues under the chairmanship of Willi Brandt, London: Pan Books. 7. Castoriadis, C. (1985) Reflections on rationality and development, thesis eleven, no. 10/11, pp. 21. 8. Golding, P. And Harris, P. (eds) (1997) The political economy of the media 2 vols, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 9. Gunder Frank, A. (1969) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York. Monthly Review Press. 10. Hackett, R. A and Zhao, Y. (eds) (2005) Democratizing global media: one world, many struggles. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. 11. Mattelart, A. (1979) Multinational corporations and the control of culture. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 12. Mattelart, A. and Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of communication: a short introduction. London: Sage. 13. McPhail, T. (2009) Development Communication Reframing the role of the media. London. Blackwell Publishing. 14. Mosco, V. (1996) The political economy of communication: rethinking and renewal. London: Sage. 15. Berger, P. (1974) Pyramids of sacrifice, Harmondsworth, Allen lane, pp. 197-8 16. Rogers, E. (1976) Communication and DevelopmentL the passing of a dominant paradigm. Communication Research, 3. 17. Schiller, H. (1969) Mass Communication and American Empire. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Second revised and updated edition published by Westview Press in 1992. 18. Schiller, H. (1976) Communication and cultural domination. New York: International Arts and sciences press, 9. 19. Somavia, J. (1976) The Transnational Power Structure and International Information. Development Dialogue, 2:   16-17. 20. South Commission (1990) The challenge of South: the report of the South Commission. Geneva: the South Centre. 21. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1991) The global and the local in international communication. In J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold. 22. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1997) The many cultural phases of imperialism. In P. Golding and P. Harris (eds), Beyond cultural imperialism. London: Sage. 23. Stevenson, R. (1988) Communication, development and the Third World: the global politics of information. London: Longman. 38. 24. Thussu, D. K (ed.) (1998) Electronic empires: global media and local resistance. London: Arnold. 25. Thussu, D. K (2006) International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. 26. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 46. 27. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 48-49. 28. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 49. 29. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 50. 30. Thompson, J. (1995) The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity. 31. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism- a critical introduction. Great Britain. Pinter Publishers Ltd.

The Physics of a Diesel Engine Essay -- Energy Automobiles Essays

The Physics of a Diesel Engine The world we live in is surrounded by diesel engines. They are on the freeways, railways, airways, and are one of the leading electricity producers in the world. They are also becoming more popular in automobiles. These engines are efficient and reliable and they are getting very sophisticated. However, the physics behind these engines has not changed. By way of definition, courtesy of Diesel Engine Engineering: [a] diesel engine is an internal combustion engine in which the chemical energy of fuel is transformed into thermal energy of the cylinder charge, in consequence of the self-ignition and combustion of fuel in the engine cylinder after compression of the air charge in the cylinder (p1 Makartchouk). There are basically two types of diesel engines, two-stroke and four-stroke. In a two-stroke engine the piston is forced from the top of the cylinder by the expanding air fuel mixture. Before the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder the used mixture, (called exhaust), is forced out of the cylinder by the incoming fresh air. The fresh air relies upon a blower, air induction system, to propel it into the combustion chamber. During this time period the piston begins to travel to the top of the cylinder and compress the fresh air sufficient to raise the temperature in the combustion chamber, (area between the top of the cylinder and the cylinder head at top dead center), to 1000-1200 degrees Fahrenheit (p12 Dagel). The fuel is then injected under pressure into the combustion chamber, the air ignites the fuel and the gases begin to expand finishing one cycle. A four-stroke engine begins the same way as the two-stroke with the expanding gases pushing the piston downward, called the ... ...n chamber rises dramatically. The combined fuel and air molecules bounce off one another and since the path of least resistance is the piston, the piston moves downward creating mechanical work. Applying physics to something in everyday use creates a new appreciation for what actually happens when you step on the accelerator pedal or see a truck pulling 40,000 plus pounds up a steep incline. With even a basic study of physics my worldview has changed. I now look at that cold piece of cast iron sitting in an engine compartment on a molecular level. Works Cited Dagel, John F., and Robert N. Brady. Diesel Engine and Fuel System Repair. Ohio: Prentice Hall, 2002. Kirkpatrick, Larry D., and Gerald F. Wheeler. Physics A World View. Florida: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. Makartchouk, Andrei. Diesel Engine Engineering. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 2002.