Free Will and Fate Essay

Everything in life happens for a reason, may it be the choices made or the destiny fulfilled. Along the way though many people offer advice that affect choices made, was it fate that they gave their input? Is it free will to take or not to take that advice? Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey demonstrates that despite warning, characters often use their free will to make choices that in the end actually fulfill their fate. Primarily Aegisthus’s refusal to acknowledge the gods warning, serves as the first example of mankind using her own free will to bring her destiny to fruition. Hermes tells Aegisthus not to sleep with Clytemnestra and not to kill Agamemnon, but he does so anyway, and so Orestes kills Aegisthus as revenge. Aegisthus received warning from the gods, they told him â€Å"far in advance†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢don’t murder the man†¦ don’t court his wife†¦ revenge will come from Orestes’† (Homer 1. 45-48) and the predicted outcome came true –Aegisthus was killed. The Gods warned Aegisthus of what his fate held, and in utilizing his free will he chose to ignore this advice and his fate became reality. It is â€Å"with [each characters] own reckless ways†¦ heir pains [are compounded] beyond their proper share† (Homer 1. 39-40); meaning that committing reckless actions will result in possible calamitous outcomes. Aegisthus chose to kill Agamemnon, he chose to court Clytemnestra, he chose to ignore the advice from the gods, and so he ended up destroyed fulfilling the fate of receiving pain thanks to his own reckless behavior. Likewise, Homer clearly comments on the tendency of humans disregarding warnings of potential hazards, through his inclusion of The Phaecians’ decision to ignore their prophecy and aid travelers resulting in fate fulfillment. The Phaecians’ were forewarned in a prophecy that â€Å"Poseidon was vexed with [them] because/ [they] escorted all mankind and never came to grief / [and]†¦ one day a well built ship of [theirs]†¦ [would be crushed]† (Homer 13. 196-200); Alcinous’s father received this prophecy years ago and gave no acknowledgement of the prophecy when time came to ship Odysseus back to Ithaca. As a result of The Phaecians’ seeing blind of the prophecy and escorting Odysseus back to Ithaca, their ship got crushed and mountains surrounded the port. When Odysseus determined that it was time for him to sail back to Ithaca, Alcinous had no hesitation in assisting him. Alcinous â€Å"knew [that Odysseus] wouldn’t be driven /off†¦course, [that] nothing could hold [him] back† (Homer 13. 5-7), but what he knew and ignored was the free will choice he made to neglect the prophecy and allow the fate of himself and his fellow Phaecians to end in destruction just as it was destined to be. Similarly, Amphinomus reflects the human quality of free will leading to fate as he acquired purposeful advice from Odysseus (the beggar), yet he continued his pursuit of Penelope, and ended up dead. Amphinomus received potentially life saving advice from the one that ended up killing him, Odysseus, but his ignorance of the ‘vagabond’ and how insightful he was made him assume that he would â€Å"never suffer affliction down the years†¦ affronting the loyal wife of a man who won’t be gone†¦long† (Homer 18. 153-168) and so in the spirit of free will he continued to attempt to court Penelope all under the nose of Odysseus. Therefore, as Odysseus began his revenge Amphinomus was â€Å"fraught with grave forebodings†¦. /but not even so could he escape his fate†¦ Athena had bound him fast to death /at the hands of Prince Telemachus and his spear† (Homer 18. 77-179) as it had been destined to be. Cause: Amphinomus ignoring advice given to him that would potentially save his life – Free Will†¦ Effect: Amphinomus is killed – Fate. All in all, Homer’s The Odyssey display’s the idea that regardless of warning fate is decided by free will and vice versa. Aegisthus, The Phaecians, and Amphinomus all received warning, and utilizing their free will they all chose to take a separate path one that led to ultimate fate. ‘Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resists. ’

Evaluating Arguments about consumerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluating Arguments about consumerism - Essay Example The paper summarizes and analyzes the two essays that present viewpoints on consumer culture in America before evaluating their efficacy. In his essay ‘The Year Without Toilet Paper, Mr. Green analyzes the lives of three members of a family (Mr. Colin, his wife and two-year-old daughter Isabella who wears organic cotton diapers) during their one-year experimental lifestyle the named ‘No Impact. Green explains that the rule of this lifestyle keep changing though the necessary regulations include preparing and taking natural foods grown not more than a two hundred and fifty mile radius of Manhattan city. Additionally, Mr. Colins family shops for no other household goods apart from the said foods thereby producing no trash in the form of paper. The family has a home composter in which only organic and biodegradable waste is dumped and consumed by worms. The most intriguing part the familys No Impact lifestyle is the fact that no member of the family uses any form of carbon-fueled transportation (Penelope 1). Mr., Colin Beavan, who is a senior writer, decided to embark on the No Impact year after his agent discredited all other possible possibilities that would sell as a book. This is an implication that Mr. Colin was doing this not only for the hope that people will tread more lightly on the earths resources, but also for the popularity of the book he was about to write. He had to turn his family’s lifestyle upside down in order to conform to the rules and regulations of the No Impact year. As a matter of fact, the family embraced full environmentalism to an extent that a visitor would hesitate to visit the bathroom for fear of failing to get tissue paper in there; hence the title ‘The Year Without Toilet Paper’ (Penelope 1). Colin’s decision to transform the lifestyle of his family to a No Impact lifestyle was not just inspired by the urge to protect some sort of â€Å"pristine

Global financial crisis and its effects on Nokia Company Assignment

Global financial crisis and its effects on Nokia Company - Assignment Example On one side, many people believed those responsible for the crisis were the ones receiving bailouts, whereas on the other end, the worldwide financial problems were to affect the livelihoods of almost every individual on the planet due to global interconnection. The subprime turmoil came about in large potion due to the financial tools such as securitization used by banks (Sheila, 2008: 20). Through securitization, banks would pool some of their loans into sellable assets. In so doing, they off-load the risky loans onto others. For this matter, banks knew they would make millions of cash through money-earning loans. However, these money-earning loans tied up for decades, therefore, banks turned them into securities. Security buyers received payments regularly from all mortgages. As a result, the U.S. banks off- loaded their risks. Upon testing this instrument, financial gurus saw securitization as perhaps the greatest innovation of the 20th century. With economic slump entrenching it s effects into the global economy, the divisions of the Nokia including telecommunication and mobile phones division started backing up the pillars of Nokia. In spite of the global deep recession, Nokia grasped potential, quickly came to its feet, and soon started streamlining its business. Financial crisis affected most financial institutions. However, as the securitization business continued buoying, high street banks got into a form of investment banking where they bought, sold, and traded risks. Same investment banks not contented with trading risks, selling and buying, they ventured into home loans and mortgages while they lacked the right management and controls. Many banks took huge sums of money inform of loans thus increasing their... This paper seeks to address the global issue of the financial crisis unfolding, and tries to consider the effects the crisis had on money lending institutions. Also, the change in the financial state of Nokia company is being considered against the background of the crisis. The subprime turmoil came about in large potion due to the financial tools such as securitization used by banks . Through securitization, banks would pool some of their loans into sellable assets. In so doing, they off-load the risky loans onto others. For this matter, banks knew they would make millions through money-earning loans. These money-earning loans tied up for decades, therefore, banks turned them into securities. Security buyers received payments regularly from all mortgages. The U.S. banks off-loaded their risks. Financial crisis affected most financial institutions. High street banks got into a form of investment banking where they bought, sold, and traded risks. Same investment banks not contented with trading risks, selling and buying, they ventured into home loans and mortgages while they lacked the right management and controls. Many banks took huge sums of money in form of loans thus increasing their exposure to financial problems. When people eventually began noticing the risk, their confidence fell down at an alarming rate. As a result, the level of lending slowed down at once and in other cases ceased . September 14, 2008 witnessed Lehman Brothers collapse. Following its collapse, governments worldwide struggled to rescue their gigantic financial institutions as the state of the failing stock and housing sectors persisted. In conclusion, global financial crisis was inflicting and driving even the developed economies bankrupt.

The Formation of a Valid Business Contract Essay - 6

The Formation of a Valid Business Contract - Essay Example The essential element of the contract is an offer. It is an important ingredient because it defines the relationship and key issues in the contract. In order for the offer to stand as a legal entity, communication is a vital factor. The parties must communicate and accept the offer in the best terms available. Effective communication is essential in order to facilitate the receiving party with knowledge of whether to agree or reject the offer (Stevens 2004). In the case a person signs a contract without reading the terms of the contract, he is liable to the effects of miscommunication. A valid offer must be supported by certainty and validity on precise terms. The terms are considered definite in a situation where a reasonable person understands the terms. The clarity of the terms is reviewed basing the review on four pillars which are parties to the contract, duration of time for performance, value and subject matter/scope of services (Stevens 2004). A contract is considered enforceable when if the parties to the contract engage in an exchange of valuable price. Consideration is a consideration when there is mutuality. That is to mean that the parties to the contract must have valuable prices in exchange. The price is not only restricted to money but any other valuable consideration (Stevens 2004). There are many types of contracts, and all the types have an impact on the parties. There are those contracts that create an impact on the basis of creation. For example, express contracts. Words spoken or written make the contract. Another example is implied contracts where the contract is dependent on the conduct of a person or rather the circumstances under a particular case (Stevens 2004).  

Perspectives on Friendship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Perspectives on Friendship - Essay Example From this report it is clear that  Mohammed and the author were playing in the yard when thay were suddenly attacked by a group of three boys who were members of a gang in school. They took our football and even threatened to beat them if they did not cooperate with them; the author remember how Mohammed was scared when the author confronted the three boys to leave them alone. The boys were very incensed that the author  had even dared to argue with them and vowed to make life very difficult for both of them but that did not scare me even an inch. the author was firm in my resolve to fight back and resist any challenge they would put us to, thus, the author did not move even an inch when one of the older boys advanced and looked him straight in the eye with his blood-shot piercing eyes.  This essay stresses that  Mohammed and the author have also found ourselves in trouble many times, especially with law enforcement officers for petty offenses like going to parties as minors with fake IDs and driving without licences. On many occasions, their parents have been informed of our offenses and they have subsequently been grounded for days; on his eighteenth birthday, for instance, Mohammed and the author were cruising in his father’s car when traffic officers caught up with him for over-speeding. Fortunately for them, his father was not very angry with him for taking his car and nearly crushing it by over-speeding but he gave them a comprehensive lecture on careful driving.

Managing Innovation & Entrepreneurship Assignment

Managing Innovation & Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example Even when the innovation is principally a product or service that has its beginnings principally as a technological breakthrough, its eventual usefulness will depend greatly on whether the new discovery or invention could be rendered in a form usable according to how the discoverer or inventor intended it to be used. In Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt (2005) the invention of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb was discussed, but was not put immediately to commercial use. The light bulb needed electricity to work, which was not difficult for Edison to generate (as direct current) for a single or even a set of light bulbs for his own lab or residence. But if every house and street was to be lighted up by his invention, a way must be discovered for electricity to be generated at a single station, then transmitted and supplied to a whole geographical area. Edison’s direct current, however, could not travel long distances, and was very inefficient. It took the discovery and dev elopment of Nikolai Tesla’s alternating current – something Edison resented and even campaigned against – to perform this task, because AC transmission was very efficient, and it travels extremely long distances compared to DC’s few kilometres (McNichol, 2006).. In retrospect, Edison’s light bulb was a technological invention, but one that could not be put to practical commercial use until AC supply was invented. The above case shows how technology cannot stand alone to sustain an innovation, because the innovation has to do with more than just the technology, but the way people’s lives are changed. The innovation must be linked to the market in all its aspects – its technical design, manufacturing, management and commercial activities (Tidd, et al., 2005). Furthermore, a successful innovation is not just filling the consumer’s need, but fulfilling it in a new and differentiated way. A new product or service is not an innovatio n, unless it offers the customers â€Å"something of value that competitors don’t have (MacMillan & McGrath, 1997, p. 133). This does not necessarily rest on the technological merits of the innovation; sometimes, it may be something as simple as the relocation of handles, and lids, or the design of packaging that offers the customer utility; all of these are innovations, though not necessarily advanced technologically. Among our readings is a case study on CEMEX, or Cementos Mexicanos, a Mexican cement giant. Although it is a century old and comes from a developing country, the company has become the third-largest selling cement company in the world by volume, exporting to more than sixty companies, and garnering sales of more than US$ 6 billion (Sull, Ruelas-Gossi, & Escobari, 2004). The company’s secret is that it tries to understand the needs of its market very well, sending employees out to the communities to learn where their product can be improved to meed the c ustomers’ needs, and develop ways their customers can better afford their product. The article goes on to describe how companies in developing economies are able to innovate despite: (1) lack of a solid technology base; (2) serving a country with low disposable income; and (3) operating on a shoestring budget (Sull, Ruelas-Gos

Lamic2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lamic2 - Essay Example b. The U.S. Department of Labor provides a comparison of the federal minimum wage and different state minimum wages at Minimum Wage Laws in the States. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides updated information on average wages, by state, at 2000 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. Compare the average wages of waiters in Texas, New York, and one state with a minimum wage below the federal level (this will be found in the category "Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations"). If the minimum wage were to go up by $0.50, where do you think it would have the greatest effect on restaurant costs? on unemployment? What does this tell you about what stage in the business cycle (for example, during a recession or during a boom) an increase in the minimum wage is more likely to be approved? Ans: The average wage of a waiter per hour is $6.66 in Texas, $8.16 in New York, and $7.11 in Wyoming. If the minimum wage were to go up by $0.50, it would have the greatest effec t on the state that offers the lowest minimum wage which is Texas. On the other hand, the increase would have the greatest effect on unemployment on restaurant costs of states whose minimum wage is below the federal level, which, in this case is Wyoming. ... On the other hand, costs for users are usually higher because the supply of contraband substances are usually low. If this substance were legal, producers would incur higher costs and users would enjoy a lower price for it. 2. Lesson 8 3. Graphing the Demand Curve (21 points) Imagine that the owner of your favorite veggie taco stand changes the price of a tacos randomly each day. How many tacos you eat each day depends only on the price that day, not on the previous price or which day it is. You cannot store tacos. Fill out the following demand chart using your own preferences for tacos, that is, if the price is as indicated at left, how many tacos will you buy? Remember, use your own preferences. The answers will depend on how much you like tacos, how hungry you are at lunchtime, and how much money you want to spend for lunch. There is no right or wrong answer. Price of a 4 oz. regular taco How many tacos will you eat at this price? 0.00 Â  3 0.25 Â  2 0.50 Â  2 1.00 Â  1 1.50 à ‚  1 2.00 Â  1 2.50 Â  1 4.00 Â  1 10.00 Â  0 a. Graph your demand function, placing price on the vertical axis. Is your demand for tacos linear? What happens to the relationship as price increases? Ans: The demand for tacos has a more exponential relationship with price, rather than linear. As price increases, demand for tacos approaches zero. b. Is there a positive or negative relationship between price and your demand for tacos? Does the slope get steeper or flatter as price increases more? Ans: There is a negative relationship between price and my demand for tacos. The slope gets steeper as price increases. 4. Choosing Optimal Consumption (28 points) Microeconomics, Chapter 7, Problem