The Ethics of Reductionism in the Medical Sciences

While Marcum’s philosophy focuses on medical research at the molecular, genetic, and tissue levels, Elisabeth Lloyd emphasizes the socioeconomic factors of health. She presents an empirical trend that permeates through a number of cross-national studies: the degree of income inequality in any given society is strongly correlated with the society’s level of morbidity and mortality. This means that if a society’s income gradient is steep (the poor are severely more poor than the rich), the worse off everyone is – rich and poor. This phenomenon can be seen in a wide range of diseases, including allergies, asthma, accelerated aging, cancer, epilepsy, Grave’s disease, multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, PTSD, rheumatoid arthritis, just†¦show more content†¦Both parties must take into account the expected quality of life, other medical problems, support structures, etc. Tauber argues that the application of medical sciences is not objectiv e, as any medical practitioner engages in the social domain of the sufferer and family just as much as he must engage in the genetic and biophysical domains of the body. Therefore, medicine, by its very nature, is holistic. It seeks to address all aspects of the patient, including illness, history, personal values, social influences, psychological state, etc. And, in medicine, reductionism should be viewed as a tool that may be applied to certain aspects as necessary to care for the patient. We have reviewed the causal effects on human health at genetic, tissue, organismal, and ecological levels. It appears that the line becomes blurred between reductionism and holism when these levels of organization are presented next to one another (for example, the organic holism of tissue structure demonstrated in Marcum’s discussion may be considered reductionism when presented relative to the human as a whole). Consequentially, the various aspects of human health form a continuous, relative, stack of holism on top of reductionist on top of holism on top of reductionism, etc. We can more accurately classify these various causal effects as hierarchical levels of explanation, rather than strictly â€Å"reductionist†Show MoreRelatedGenetic Enhancement and Politics Essays1801 Words   |  8 PagesGenetic Enhancement and Politics      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the beginning of organized government there has always been a clash between science and politics. Whether it is as complicated as a new drugs detainment of federal approval or whether it is as commonplace as the social acceptance of a new medical procedure, politics has performed an integral part in the formation of science; this integrated unit is what greatly affects most of the society at large. Thus, it is no surprise the scientific discussionRead MoreExamination of Clinical Psychology1306 Words   |  5 PagesFreud to Greek philosophy as well as contemporary psychology that gathers information from science, ideas, and other jurisdictions. The exploration of science moves forward and alters clinical mediations as empirically grounded proof backing up the ethics which psychologist in the clinical field treat human trials. 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In their relationship they are familiar with the limits of right and wrong, which together considers laws, rules and ethics set the parameters of their corporative business. Even though the power distance might be low, and the relationships taken to personal level it is still always based on pro fessionalism. During Gina Tricot’s expansion, they have gradually approachedRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pages[Weber] attempted to show that the relations between systems of ideas and social structures were multiform and varied and that causal connections went in both directions, rather than from infrastructure to super- structure alone.†1 In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber makes this point quite explicitly.2 He demonstrates that a group of people armed with a set of ideas and ideals went about organizing their lives according to those ideas and ideals. As a result, they ended up

Children Of Men An Unconventional Sci Fi Film - 1692 Words

Children of Men: An Unconventional Sci-Fi Film According to Bill Nichols, genre films create a world in which personal and social conflicts are addressed; they have the ability to draw an audience into this world and explore the imagination of an alternate reality. The science fiction genre, also known as sci-fi, establishes genre conventions that distinguish it from other genre films, by creating thought provoking content that appeals to a wide audience. It creates a world altered by time and technology; some societies are often displayed as dystopias, where oppression and disorder serve as the backdrop for the film. Another convention of sci-fi is the ability to activate emotions such as awe, wonder, fascination, fear, and dread, especially through the characters. These elements help serve the main purpose of sci-fi, which is to offer allegorical suggestions about how relative conflicts might be tackled in this reality. The goal of sci-fi is not to stray into this unnatural fantastical world but to offer a possible and realisti c approach to what the future could become. One film that exemplifies and creatively challenges the typical conventions of sci-fi is Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Through effective use of narrative structure, mise-en-scene, editing and cinematography, Cuaron paints a realistic vision of the future, and rejects advancements of technology to avoid common sci-fi elements. With the verisimilitude of the film and documentary style filming,Show MoreRelated Dames, Coppers, and Crooks: A L:ook At Film Noir Essay2891 Words   |  12 PagesCrooks: A Look At Film Noir nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Film noir is a style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic â€Å"Golden Age† period until about 1960. Frank Nino, a French film critic, first coined the label film noir, which literally means black film or cinema, in 1946. Nino noticed the trend of how â€Å"dark† and black the looks and themes were of many American crime and detective films released in France

Distributed Computing Dropbox

Question: What extent do the fallacies of networked computing impact on the use of a service such as Dropbox? Answer: In case of distributed computing, several computers or servers are hosted in different remote places. However, files are distributes among the cluster of servers maintaining some protocol which maintains some distribution. When we deal with drop box, generally all deleted files as well as previous versions of files are saved for 30 days. Nevertheless, if extended version history could update, one can recover any previous version of files within a year. But, unlimited storage and infinite bandwidth will be fallacy to this cloud structure (Lanois, 2010). Considering on the facts, the topnotch fallacy can be as if it will be everywhere like in all the places like desktop, watch, laptop, mobile connected all the time of a person. Case studies: Apple tried it using iTunes and i-Pad, but failed due to low user reception. If a technologist asked about the storage of cloud space, he might chuckle and answers like that The location of the cloud is irrelevant (Alamri et al., 2010). This answer is technically accurate or proper, but also misses a important set of issues. The main thesis about cloud computing states that information and computational resources is centralized. So, one can think that cloud in cloud computing is abstract or un-located space. However, there are server and data centers where data is stored. Google alone is hosting thousand of machines as its cloud storage. It is difficult to find where a particular data stored is stored but those distributed servers or data centers can be located as it follows centralization concept. So it cannot be considered as a ninth fallacy. References: Lanois, P. (2010). Caught in the clouds: The Web 2.0, cloud computing, and privacy. Nw. J. Tech. and Intell. Prop., 9, 29. Alamri, A., Ansari, W. S., Hassan, M. M., Hossain, M. S., Alelaiwi, A., and Hossain, M. A. (2013). A survey on sensor-cloud: architecture, applications, and approaches. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, 2013.

How People from Different Backgrounds free essay sample

Next stage at the age of 1 they will try to stand holding things, try to walk hol. 3 ding parents hands and finally they reaches a stage of succession where they can walk independently. Rate of Development it’s a quantity of something in comparison with a unit of another thing. Rate of development varies child to child. Each and every child has a different rate of development. They follow more or less the same pattern of rate of development. For example: Some babies start teething from 6 months and some of them start even at 9 months some babies can start making sentences at around 1 but in some case at the age of 1 and they only can speak few broken words. Importance of differences is that sequential development is the sequence of development this means that you must finish with one of area of development before you move on to the next one. We will write a custom essay sample on How People from Different Backgrounds or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The rate of development is the pace that a child develops, these can be the pace within each sequence or the pace overall and goes to cover all the set areas or period in between or altogether in the sequence. These principals run through all the areas of development from physical, social, intellectual and language no matter what the age of the child. If at all one is skipped or is slow it can be a cause for concern and may lead to a child being given a special recommendation or having a special need in or outside school.

Our Moral Sense free essay sample

â€Å"It often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being† -Thoreau. For centuries, we have thought of ourselves, not as mammals, but as humans, a race that has evolved past that of our sister species. However, this train of thought has led to the expansion of simple character traits into flaws that have enveloped our entire species and now afflicts us all. These flaws become clearly visible under the examination of Mark Twain. In The Lowest Animal, Mark Twain explores how human flaws constitute us as the lowest animals. Throughout his essay, Twain uses experiments (many of questionable legitimacy) and historical evidence to disprove the Darwanistic theory that humans evolved from animals and to substantiate that animals have in fact descended from animals. 4Now, holding personal and philosophical beliefs aside, Twain’s use of seemingly conclusive evidence does hold a moving argument that the theory of evolution is actually reversed; and that even from Twain’s time to present we as a race have devolved even more to be considered a lower animal than the people of Twain’s time. We will write a custom essay sample on Our Moral Sense or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All humans are flawed; though some to a higher degree than others. One of the most evident of human flaws is our inclination to always want more. We are by nature greedy beings as Mark Twain finds evident by his examination of human compared to animal actions. To prove this point Twain recounts the story of a hunting trip in which a group of men, for the entertainment of an English Earl, â€Å"killed seventy-two of those [buffalo]; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot† (Twain, 470). 4 This does only to prove Twain’s point that humans â€Å"wantonly destroy what they have no use for† (Twain, 471) because it is available and we are afraid that if we do not take it someone else will. The same results presented themselves when Twain tested the actions of the English Earl against that of an anaconda. The Earl needlessly killed animals with no intention of using the remains in contrast to the anaconda who, when left alone with seven young calves, kills only one to sate his hunger and poses no serious threat to the remaining calves. Not only are humans greedy, Twain finds, but humans have distended into a pit of narcissistic tendencies. To test his theory of human selfishness Twain analyzes the actions of rich men compared to those of the animals. While rich men show â€Å"a rabid hunger for more, and [did] not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appà ©tit† (Twain, 471), the animals used in the study â€Å"made accumulations, but stopped when they had gathered a winter supply, and could not be persuaded to add to it either honestly or by chicane† (Twain, 471). This experiment dose only to prove Twains theory of descendent and disprove the long held theory of evolution. Greed is only one of many flaws that humans have come to possess and even perfect. Take war for example, it is often caused by nationalistic quarrels between one patriot and another. Twain explains that Man is the only animal that willingly participates in public genocide to protect a piece of land, or a mythical icon not truly known to have existed. His experiments show that animals do not â€Å"gathers his brethren about him and go forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind†(Twain,472) but men have worked for century’s to perfect that ability. Moreover, in doing this man becomes the only animal that â€Å"helpless fellow of his country takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him† (Twain, 472). As Twain delves deeper, his experiment concludes that animals fight individually and that humans are the only animals that engage in â€Å"organized masses† (Twain, 472). In this, Twain proves that humans are the only animals that group together to thoughtlessly destroy each other with the possibility that they themselves might also be destroyed. Twain reveals that war is not humanities only issue concerning the individual and throughout all of history, people have been persecuted for holding different beliefs and ideals. This human flaw is never more apparent than is the differences of religion. Using historical evidence, Twain predates religious human prejudice to â€Å"the first Richards time [when] he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it† (Twain, 472). This mass execution was performs over a religious conflict revolving around a book that supposedly was written at the beginning of humanity. Animals are not susceptible to such foolishness because they have no known religions and there for obviously make less bias decisions than  humans. As Twain concludes his experiments, he concedes that there is only one factor that caused the decadency of humans. Twain reveals that unlike animals, humans are the only species with a â€Å"moral sense† (Twain). Moreover, it is this â€Å"moral sense† that permits humans â€Å"the ability to distinguish good from evil; and with it, the ability to do evil† (Twain). Twain hypothesizes that without this affliction humans â€Å"would rise at once to the level of the Higher Animals† (Twain). Nevertheless, because of it man comprises a trait that â€Å"is plainly without vale to him† (Twain) that will continue to cause man descent to an even lower animal as the generations pass. Because of the format of this essay twain dose not directly, identify either a main protagonist or antagonist. Instead, Twain lets the many subjects of his experiments play the roles of antagonist and protagonist, which cause the roles to become very complex. This method of characterization also allow Twain to use his characters to prove his thesis without letting their personal thought create a bias on the topic. In addition, Twain’s human characters all have a very odd similarity. When Twain describes his characters, he describes all of them by their social status or religious preference but not once dose he depict one of them as being below upper class. Since, Twain never gives reason for this, one can only speculate that he uses the social elite to solidify his thesis and give evidence that it is not only the peasants and beggars who commit acts of immorality but that even the best of us are guilty at times. If it has not become apparent, already you will notice that Twain makes a primary use of male characters in his experiments. Although a strong supporter of women’s rights, for the length of his essay, Twain only addresses the presence of the female sex twice and both times the females are portrayed as victims at the hands of men. By Twain stating that â€Å"in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfactorily explain how he got them†(Twain 472) it leaves much to be wondered about the place of women in Twain’s theory because he never fully characterizes a  female figure as flawed and the two female examples used are used only to strengthen Twain’s argument that men are the descendents from animals. This is case because Twain is implying that at this time men felt that women were only equal to that of animals and no better. This makes the reader wonder if Twain is implying that women are in fact not the decedents from animals but that of another species altogether. Now, this could just be a prominent element of the time, but Twain rarely uses a strong female character in his writing preferring to focus on male leads. Although the element of male characters in Twain’s writing is similar to his other works, and he still maintains his normal form of satire, Twain has abandoned his usual colloquial style for a more formal standard. Unlike what we read in The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Twain abandons his routine use of dialect for a modern form of literary intellect. Twain also uses a deep almost philosophical insight to enlighten his readers while managing to avoid the use of bias or personal beliefs to sway the reader’s opinions evident by the Twain includes himself in the essay disassociates himself from being either animal or human. The topic of Twains essay creates many mixed emotions for his readers. Not only does the topic of evolution alone challenge many religious views but Twain also works to disprove a long held theory of human intelligence above that of animals. The experiments Twain performed creates a mood of disbelief coupled with an internal outrage at Twain for having the audacity to write such â€Å"hypocrisy† about his own kind. Humans have for centuries descended through the animal kingdom and have come to a standstill at the bottom of the hierarchy. We have become known as the lowest animal through actions that we ourselves deem inhumane but we as humans’ commit them. The experiments carried out by Mark Twain have clearly proven that is animals have in fact become our superiors in all moral and ethical means. Our moral sense, a characteristic that most would consider a virtue, has led the human race down a path that has ended in the disgrace of humans and the ascendency of a species that have been and are still thought to be below humans. However, there is still one question that Twain failed  to answer through his experiments. Can we as humans ever redeem ourselves in the eyes of our animal sisters and be able to rightly claim that humans are once again the higher animals or are we to parish like other species that were not strong enough to overcome the conflicts happening within their own social structure? As for now, time will only tell.

The History of Chinese Chopsticks

The History of Chinese Chopsticks Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chopsticks are called Kuaizi in Chinese and were called Zhu in ancient times (see the characters above). Chinese people have been using kuaizi as one of the main tableware for more than 3,000 years. History of Chopsticks It was recorded in Liji (The Book of Rites) that chopsticks were used in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1100 BC). It was mentioned in Shiji (the Chinese history book) by Sima Qian (about 145 BC) that Zhou, the last king of the Shang Dynasty (around 1100 BC), used ivory chopsticks. Experts believe the history of wood or bamboo chopsticks can be dated to about 1,000 years earlier than ivory chopsticks. Bronze chopsticks were invented in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 771 BC). Lacquer chopsticks from the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) were discovered in Mawangdui, China. Gold and silver chopsticks became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It was believed that silver chopsticks could detect poisons in food. Materials to Make Them Chopsticks can be classified into five groups based on the materials used to make them, i.e., wood, metal, bone, stone, and compound chopsticks. Bamboo and wood chopsticks are the most popular ones used in Chinese homes. How Not to Use Your Chopsticks There are a few things to avoid when using chopsticks. Chinese people usually dont beat their bowls while eating, since the behavior used to be practiced by beggars. Also dont insert chopsticks in a bowl upright because it is a custom exclusively used in sacrifice. If you are really interested in chopsticks, you may want to visit the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. The museum collected over 1,000 pairs of chopsticks. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty.

Swear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Swear - Essay Example I did notice though that so many people employ profane words as part of their basic English. I find the practice in general to be offensive and also to be a sure sign of ignorance. One can walk a city street anywhere and hear phrases peppered with the "F-bomb" and what not. For example "I need cash but I can't find a F------ ATM machine". I go about my daily business without having to caution myself in cursing thus this assignment was not one that I found to be challenging. I did note however, that I was intensely alert to those cursing around me. I wonder what would happen if people actually listened to themselves speak. We have a moment, and only a fleeting one after that first impression, to alter it. After one looks at us, they hear us speak. We usually use our voices to deliver a message to others. That message can be taken as true or false. That message can be delivered by one who is deemed intelligent or intellectually challenged. Cursing by no means conveys an intelligent thought. Some think that by adding a curse word they are delivering the word to follow it with an emphasized delivery, but it is not so. People like myself do not find ourselves amused or threatened by one who curses. Curse words are nothing more than wasted air and their effect can only be described as revolting. I don't have to refrain from cursing because I find the practice to be disgusting and a sign of stupidity.