Understanding Technology and Its Influence on Human Behavior

Understanding Technology and Its Influence on Human Behavior The proliferation of technology has made it an extremely influential part of human lives. Right from the time, we start our day all the way till we hit the sack. We utilize technology in every possible way to make our lives convenient.  With the digital social revolution that exploded in the early 2000s, technology has changed â€"the way we socialize the way we workthe way we communicatethe way we gather informationThis drastic change has brought us to an important question â€" Are we too reliant on technology to the point where technology has spoilt us, and are we able to exist without it? Read on for a full depth answer and decide for yourself.IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE HUMAN MINDOne of the biggest inventions of human history was understanding how electromagnetism works. Nikola Tesla, the famous Serbian inventor, was an avid technological genius that discovered a way to pass electricity without the use of wires in the year 1894. This technology was way ahead of its time and unfort unately, the secret to wireless energy died with the prominent inventor himself but that didn’t stop others from trying to recreate his work. Although there wasn’t any success in achieving wireless energy the way Tesla would have wanted to. Today, we have quite the technologies that have changed the way the world experiences life. Here are a few of them. Internet â€" Undoubtedly the biggest technology in this list. The internet has improved the way people receive information and the way we communicate. The internet is a daily part of our lives and it’s impossible to think that we existed without this incredible piece of technology in the past. Remote Controls â€" A device that you point to interact with other gadgets such as a television, a music player, an automobile, etc. The technology brought great convenience and allowed us to simply change a channel or lock/unlock our cars with a tap of a button. Digital Cameras â€" Digital cameras have played an important role in record ing personal memories and capturing profound moments in full HD color. With new age smartphones and tablets, sharing images through a digital camera in seconds is now a reality. GPS â€" Imagine trying to find a location while looking at a paper map only to find out that you’ve been reading the map wrong all this time. In comes the GPS technology, making it easier to find our favorite shopping destinations and multiplexes in less than a second and at a tap of a finger. The U.S military originally developed this technology to be used in warfare. Smartphones â€" Life would be incredibly boring if all our phones were only used for a single purpose â€" to receive and make calls. If it wasn’t obvious already, the “smart” phone allows us to access our work data, act as a digital GPS device to find locations, surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, and much more in a tiny device that we carry in our pockets. In fact, the world is so reliant on technology that people don’t jus t adopt technology into their business but shape their business around the current technology. Let’s take an example â€" Jake wants to open a physical store and set up several artworks that he has created over the years to sell for a profit. If Jake were to calculate his expenses in opening a physical store, it would go something like thisRent1,200  $Electricity200  $Wages for 2-3 Employees2,000  $Other Monthly Expenses (Food, Repair, etc.)1,000  $Total4,400  $Jake needs about $4400 dollars to run a physical store to sell his art. Now if Jake were to adopt the current technology and open a digitalized store while putting up his paintings online without having to open a physical store. Here’s how much it would cost Jake.Website Hosting Platform 1 year150  $Domain Name 1 year15  $Other Expenses (Food, Digital Advertising, Internet Plan)400  $Total565  $An obvious choice, Jake would obviously opt for the digital store over a physical one as far as expenses are concerned. It also al lows him to gain an advantage in selling his artwork to a global audience compared to restricting his customers to a small vicinity in an area. Jake would also get more views for his artwork in a digital store without worrying about a crowd taking over his shop. In this way, technology has recreated the way businesses and startups are launched. With every passing year, new technology forces businesses to either adopt it or miss out on valuable profits in the long run. The next section will center around the negative aspect of technology and how it has affected creativity. Is Technology Evil?While technology has undoubtedly changed our lives to that of a convenient one. There are things that we’ve lost along the way while we search for newer technologies. Some of the negative points of technology are as follows â€"Lack of Physical Human Bonding Before the turn of the digital social revolution, people would hang out in parks and gardens and socialize in the good old-fashioned way by approaching each other and building relationships along the way. Technology has forced us back into a digital cave and enables us to forge these friendships in a virtual environment where there are no actual emotions felt and no physical touch and the complete lack of a bonding process. Children who grow up in a technological world are also forced into a digital world at an early age. This restricts the cognitive abilities that a child develops and thus, as the child begins to grow into an adult, their emotions and feelings are purely synthetic as compared to a kid that was born before the 1990’s. A study done by The Guardian in 2013 demonstrates how kids are addicted to smartphone apps and the most downloaded app was “Angry Birds” by kids whose age group was between 6 and 15 years. In yet another research study conducted by the European Commission, kids were introduced to smart devices at an extremely young age where they couldn’t tell if it was harmful to them or not. Ins tances such as cyber-bullying, digital predators, and hijacking privacy were some of the worst affecting scenarios that the kids of the digital age face today. Without a doubt, technology has a critical role to play in the negative side of how kids are being raised in a digital environment and how making a friend or two in a virtual environment has no emotional bonding behind it.Plagiarism False NewsPrior to the digital age, copying another artist’s work was considered impossible or relatively hard to accomplish due to the strong private nature of a non-digitalized world. Today, if an article is on the web, it can easily be converted into 20-different pseudo-articles in less than a minute thanks to various nefarious software. Leaked movies are spread around the web before the actual premier that costs producers and directors millions of dollars due to piracy. Even music isn’t spared, it’s not uncommon to find a famous tune being turned into another song without the knowledge of the original artist, thanks to the digital age.While the internet is a breeding medium for all the latest news and updates around the globe, there’s another emerging trend that has created havoc and chaos on the world wide web â€" Fake News. If you’ve recently read of an untimely demise of a popular actor and later, found out that he is alive and kicking, you’ve been a victim of fake news. Fake news also spreads misinformation on various drugs helping with weight loss and cancer and causes people to blindly buy into these medications without verifying. This demonstrates how technology can be a wild card and how false news threatens the lives of people by misleading them. Internet Scams HackersWith the internet age, a new wave of imposters has been unleashed on the world. If you aren’t careful you lose your life savings to a scam artist located in a remote corner of the globe and all this with a simple click of a button.How do they do it?Surely, you visit your bank’s of ficial site to log in to your net banking section to access important financial information and updates. Imagine if a remarkably similar site such as your bank’s website existed, and you were sent an official email asking for verification of your account. You’ll end up providing sensitive information and private data to these imposters and in less than 10 seconds, your funds are transferred to the imposter’s account. These funds are untraceable.Websites that are fake but look like an original website are known as phishing sites. These types of sites exist to collect user information and then steal from them.While technology has brought you and your bank closer, it has also left you vulnerable to internet threats such as phishing sites and hacking. That’s why we’ve created a to-do list to ensure you don’t fall prey to the dark side of technology.Checklist to Secure Yourself on The InternetAlways ensure your firewall is activated. Reject any program’s permission that see ks to disable your firewall. This is your first line of defense. Verify email addresses before opening your email, if you don’t know the sender, chances are it’s a hacker trying to get to your information. Use the “Spam” option to block future emails from this sender. A prefix at the start of your URL should always have “HTTPS” and not “HTTP”. The S stands for secure and it’s usually lit in a bright green color to notify the page is safe. Always upgrade your anti-virus to ensure your system is updated with the latest security files. An anti-virus is like a bodyguard to your private data. When using a wireless network, always provide an administrative password to deny hackers and invasive neighbors from using your home network. Never provide sensitive details such as login information and bank details to anonymous phone calls or emails. No company worth its salt ever needs this information through compromised sources. Keep a strong password of at least 9-15 letters long. Ensure the password isn’t just made up of numbers and alphabets and includes special characters and other random sequences that aren’t easily guessed by password generators. Finally, always update yourself with the latest information regarding internet technologies. The internet is a great place to be when safe-browsing is practiced. It’s also a nightmare when you let yourself be ignorant.How Technology Governs Human BehaviorToday, a valid number of people would take out their smartphones to record a crime-in-progress rather than calling emergency services. Many of the actions we do are centered around technology. We take out our phones when delicious food shows up on our table, we are more interested in taking a video of our favorite band at a concert and finally, our creativity is judged based on the technology we have in our homes. There is a term for this type of dependence â€" it’s called Techno Addiction. There is a fine line where we use technology to supplement our lives and where we are glued to technology for an unhealthy 16 hours a day. In fact, every one of us is familiar or know someone that is a techno addict. That high school friend who’s always texting during lunchtime rather than spending time with you. Maybe it’s the neighbor across the street who you haven’t seen for over a month and almost tried calling the emergency services only to discover they’ve buried themselves in front of their gaming screens. So how do you truly find out if you’ve been a victim of technology? Let’s find out with an evaluation.Do you feel anxious when you leave home without your phone even when there are no important calls to be expected?Is it important for you to sleep with your phone beside you?Do you feel unhappy when a recently uploaded photo of yours on a social media site doesn’t get the intended likes and attention?Are you distracted from your work to constantly check your phones for notifications and other alerts?Do you prefer usi ng video conferencing to stay in touch with your family instead of visiting them for the holidays?Have your family and friends ever complained about how disconnected you are with them because you’ve been spending time with your electronic devices?Have you ever been sleep deprived waiting for a message from your friend or loved one while using instant messengers?During the weekend, do you spend most of the time glued to a digital device? â€" Video games, online surfing, mobile phones, etc.Do you spend more time recording at a live concert over enjoying the spectacle?Do you share your pain with an online community rather than real life family and friends?If you’ve answered Yes to â€" None of the questions. Fabulous! You are a role model to today’s generation and a real adventurous person who can make do without technology for as long as he wants.1-3 questions. You’ve got some level of addiction but with regular intervention, you should be able to beat it.4-6 questions. There†™s a serious addiction here.   You’ll need to immediately sort your life out by seeking help from family and friends. Spend time outdoors without any digital devices. Including your phone.6-10 questions. Extremely dangerous. The only way out of this type of addiction is if you seek professional help. No amount of motivation can get you to switch off. Immediately dial the helpline number at Addiction.com and start your journey back to the real world today.5 WAYS TECHNOLOGY HIJACKS PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOR1. Introducing FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Your favorite shopping site just announced a shopping bonanza. Plenty of gifts, prizes, and discounts are to be won. All for just visiting their site multiple times a day to check the different flash sales that are on. If you don’t find enough time to log on, you’ll miss out on a lot of exciting deals and prizes. This is how a typical advertising campaign usually sets itself out and gets a ton of customers to visit their page during differen t times of the day. In fact, your product wishlist is empty since your last purchase but you still decide to make the best use of the shopping festival. All because of one important factor â€" Fear of Missing Out. The modern shoppers feel that they need to be connected to every brand and newsletter to ensure they don’t miss out on a sweet deal. It’s great to save $25 from a juicer brand that costs $100 and it’s on sale for a limited time at $75. Great investment, right? Not exactly. People don’t understand this, but technology manipulates us to buy products that we don’t need or desire. You don’t really want to buy a pair of boots, but the online discount coupon is super tempting. You end up buying it rather than missing out an irresistible offer. We psychologically react to any tempting sale. That’s what FOMO does to us.We end up spending more money on products and this can bring down our monthly budget which means less savings for the year. Had we not seen the offer, we wouldn’t even know the item exists and we wouldn’t be buying it and would rather invest our money in wealth creation. It’s always better to live in the moment than to live thinking of the future. Don’t buy products for tomorrow buy it for the immediate present. If a winter coat helps keep you warm, then go ahead and shop for a winter coat during the winter months. Buying a winter coat during spring just because you save a whopping 30% on the total price is the not smart shopping but a complete waste of money. 2. Pretends to Give People Control on Their Buying OptionsWhen presented with the menu in a fine-dining restaurant, you have the freedom of choice to choose the food that you want to eat. And that’s exactly what technology makes us feel, that we are in control. We forget to realize that the choice is already made for us. How? By controlling the type of menu, the restaurant indirectly controls the type of food you can order. While it’s your choice to walk into an y cuisine you may seem fit, but the ultimate decision is with the hotel serving you. They decide what goes through their menu. Let’s say you search for lawyer services on Google. The search engine will pop up links to lawyers that have a high SEO rating with Google or are being advertised. So, are you getting the best lawyers in the world based on expertise? Quite frankly, No! You’re only being served the popular options from Google’s own search indexing menu. Similarly, when visiting a shopping site, you’ll be shown a variety of choices and garments on display. When we shop we think we have the freedom to choose the color of the dress, the type of dress, the fitting of the dress. Ultimately, the dress itself has been displayed on the shopping site because the website wants to show you exactly what they want you to see. In this way, we surrender our ability to make choices while we fool ourselves thinking we have the freedom of choice with technology on our side.3. Endless E ntertainment FeedSurely there can’t be anything wrong with video streaming sites such as Netflix and Hulu. They’ve only made it easier for us to watch the movies that we want at a cost-effective pricing. So why would we present something that’s completely positive in a negative light? We did say the topic was about “hijacking people’s behavior” and how it causes you to spend more time and money without a full stop to it. Let’s say you buy a year worth of Netflix entertainment, you’ll be greeted to create a selection of your favorite genres and to choose the movies and tv shows that you’ve already watched and would like similar recommendations. Well, every time you finish an episode or a movie, you’ll be greeted with a recommendation screen to move on to the next movie or episode. The average user will sign out and proceed with his daily life. But what if you’re a binge-watcher. A binge-watcher is someone who spends several hours of continuously watching enterta inment in a single stretch of time. We might be closer to our favorite tv shows and movies with a tap of a button thanks to technology but unfortunately, unlike our remote controls, there isn’t a stop button to stop us from enjoying endless entertainment. Binge-watching has the following cases of negative health effects related to it â€" 56% of users develop an antisocial behaviorWatchers usually tend to forget their real-life responsibilities and end up wasting valuable timeReal life relationships are affected due to less time spent in family bondingAn addictive behavior begins to manifest which can take months or even years to treatWatching videos without resting can cause you to experience â€" fatigue, gain weight, increase health issues such as stroke and heart attack, etc.Binge-watching has been a recent phenomenon due to the ease of accessibility of home entertainment. You can watch a movie while on a subway thanks to smartphones. You’ll never leave home without entertainm ent and that’s caused a negative phenomenon called binge-watching to spread.4. Inconvenient ChoicesEver been provided a free 14-day trial to try a service or product. From your perspective, it’s completely free. After all, what possible ulterior motive can be brewing behind providing people with a trial. While signing up for your trial, you’ll be asked for your information â€" personal and business. After which you’ll be asked to hook your credit card information on the basis that it won’t be charged until after the trial period has passed. With this, you’ve just provided the following information for a 14-day free trial Credit card accessibilityPersonal Information Product purchase history matched with other sites against your personal informationThey’ve now got everything they need to know about you and the brand will begin to send personalized ads your way. The telemarketers that call and waste 20 minutes of your daily life? Blame it on the information that you’ve just given to an unknown company that’s been giving you a free trial period.Technology has cleverly manipulated you into providing all your information without you realizing it. It’s only when you are spammed with ads when opening an app do you realize that something’s truly wrong. You realize every ad that you get from that point on is based around the products that you just bought from another website. How did they get so much access to your information? Well because you just happened to give it to them. Your emails won’t be spared either as you’ll be spammed until your inbox is full of advertising emails that you manually must block every individual sender. A very time-consuming process.5. Shortened Attention SpanDid you know technology has in adversely affected your attention span without you knowing about it?The number of book readers in America alone has declined to 43% in 2016 from 57% in 1982. With every technological revolution that we enter, our attention span i s declining to dangerous levels. In the future, we might not even hold a conversation with our family members for more than a minute before getting up to leave. The cause of this is the dangerous trend of technology and its offerings. According to Microsoft Corp., the average attention span of a human has been reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Which means a goldfish which has an attention span of 9 seconds has beaten a full-grown human being. The age of technology has let us access countless articles on the cyberspace that we prefer scanning them instead of reading and understanding the articles. Microsoft Corp. demonstrates that weaker attention span is linked to the evolving internet age along with the availability of devices such as tablets and mobile phones. To normalize your attention, it’s recommended to quit using electronic devices before bedtime. Follow the below 3 habits and you’ll be on your way to paying attention to everything in detail in no time. MusicAreas of the brain that were exposed to music were shown to share the same space with the attentive areas of the brain. This makes sense when you listen to a soundtrack and you attentively try to track the number of instruments that are being used in a song. You try to break down the bass, rhythm, drums, vocals, and other sounds. Take NotesWrite your notes down on pen and paper, don’t have the habit of typing your notes using Google Keep or other software on your devices. Writing down notes also allows you to fully explore the idea rather than typing it down on a computer screen where your attention span is lowered thanks to our minds using the scan-and-go approach.Ask questionsWe don’t mean Google all your questions but develop a conversation with someone and pay attention to them by listening to their answers. This way, your brain begins to analyze what’s being heard by the other person and you’ll have a better attention span when listening to words that are being heard rather tha n scanning through articles for your answers. CLOSING WORDSBeware! While technology is a great access point, it also allows others to access you. It’s a two-way tunnel connecting you to the world and connecting the world to you. Just as you can watch a movie that is available online, companies are able to view your information without entering your homes. Privacy is a concern due to technology’s grasp of everything that happens around the world. It’s always a good idea to think twice before you provide information to unknown sources or face the danger of becoming a victim.

Nursess Promotion Of Health Literacy Using Theories

Nurses Role in Promotion of Health Literacy Using Theories Health literacy has been a problem with our patients. The most vulnerable populations are the elderly, people with low-income levels, those with limited education, non-native speakers of English, those with chronic mental and physical health conditions, minority, and immigrant populations. Nurses have a great role in helping our patients succeed in understanding their health conditions. Nurses can be of great help in promoting health literacy. Sykes, Wills, Rowlands and Popple (2013) defined health literacy as the ability of individuals to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information. The three domains of health literacy, according to Bennett and Perkins (2012) as adapted from the (WHO) (1998) are functional health literacy, interactive literacy, and critical health literacy. Functional health literacy is basic reading and writing skills to be able to function effectively in a health context. Interactive health literacy is the used of more advanced cognitive and literacy skills to participate in health care. Critical health literacy is the ability to analyze critically and to use information to participate in action, to overcome structural barriers to health (p. 14). The U.S. Department of Education published the findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003. The result showed that 36 % of adults have basic or below-basic skills for dealing with health material, 52 %

Getting the Best Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics

Getting the Best Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics Apps can remind you to take your medicine in time, and if needed, assign an appointment with a physician. Patients will get a complete recovery not a short-term relief. They have no need to worry about during the treatment. The medication school was among the initial eight schools in the institution. Doctors are also able to acquire information from data for patients that are in danger of particular diseases to stop hospital re-admissions. Medicine is considered one of the most essential necessity to all of us. If you're interested in knowing more about Precision Medicine, visit NIH's website by going to this website. If keeping a normal sleep schedule isn't working for you, consult an expert for additional aid. Once an interaction happens, if it be between two people or between an individual and a product of any type, there's an experience happening. Maybe you currently have a generalized idea of what things to write in your mind, and the following will enable you to concentrate on some specific thought or perhaps change your choice. Ceding history is both dangerous and not simply inefficient, but anti-efficient as it will set your side back by a whole lot. Selecting any sort of therapy at the conclusion of life is an extremely personal choice. Low value care can be exceedingly costly and doesn't actually make people better. Once patients rely on a single kind western medicine for quite a while, it will raise the possibility of drug-tolerance condition. Very often it's the previous choice for patients who couldn't find help anywhere else. The Definitive Strategy for Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics The general effect of the shift is tricky to interpret until and unless all of the gene networks are known. In the surface of unknown side effects and hazards linked with modification in the human gene pool, genetic modification ought to be permitted to treat diseases but not to boost human capabilities. The decision for what trait or behaviour is good or healthy is dependent on the health of the planet, culture, and circumstances a youngster will face. Though, it doesn't offer overnight result and take sufficient time for curing over masturbation effects or some other health issues, but it cures all of the wellness problems permanently. The Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics Trap The knowledge management in healthcare is necessary for improving the services and offering the best possible therapy. UX designers should be somewhat clear on the pain points users are facing while using their goods for them to create the proper solutions. Clearly, you will find desirable traits in nearly all systems of though. There are many choices out there facilitating more accessible healthcare delivery options beyond typical clinical environments mobile and browser-based platforms offer you great solutions. There's a clear disconnect between patients and providers in regards to complementary therapies, so improving communication and education for the two groups is crucial. While the web provides a great selection of similar companies, it might not be simple to decide on a reliable one. At the exact same time, such data might be tough to comprehend and thus need additional discussion with healthcare providers. If you're confused with a selection of interesting topics to research on the web, it's much better to determine what interests you the most. Hence, you need to make certain you have read the above told tips which will help you compose a better piece of essay on medical. The previous tip is to adhere to the most important topic. Simply take a look at the list of 10 topics above and there ought to be one that you're interested in. Quite frequently, the very best topic is one which you truly care about, but you also will need to get well prepared to research it. You've got to avoid being immodest in the totally free medical essays for it's only going to destroy your impression. Sex offenders ought to be castrated. Sometimes you've got to pick the topic of your work from the topics list provided by your teacher. New Ideas Into Eugenics Medicine Essay Topics Never Before Revealed Writing a research paper on medical ethics might not be simple, but the success is dependent on the subject you select. These varieties of essay are focused on persuading audiences to their standpoint, and thus do not concentrate on imparting information. Writers should therefore be creative enough so they can come up with quality and thoroughly original literature review papers.

Bureaucracy Report Card Free Essays

In certain parts of the world, the bureaucracy or certain government agencies are being given feedback by their clients, more specifically the citizens, through a report card. The said report card seeks to provide a picture of the performance exhibited by the public servants, and the bureaucracy in general, based on a number of facets that needs to be considered but mostly depends on their experience of the service rendered to them. However, there are certain limitations that this grading system poses. We will write a custom essay sample on Bureaucracy Report Card or any similar topic only for you Order Now It has the tendency to provide a greater sphere of power to the society due to the fact that they are given a very powerful tool through which they can serve as the indicators or trends. If it could be as easy to remove a public servant through the report card given to them by the public, it is feared that continuity within the bureaucracy is disturbed with the constant changes brought about by the grades given by the citizens. This happens, if and only if, it will serve as the sole basis for termination or would have a greater weight among other things. In light of such, it also means that the security of tenure provided for several bureaucrats that is based on the intention to establish a rational organization based on merit would also be affected. If such is to be implemented, there should be safeguards established in order to achieve its goal of gathering objective feedbacks from the people. It has been successfully implemented for different agencies and relevant studies of the factors that contribute towards it success should have much bearing on how it is to be considered by different parties. Likewise, the approach should be that the tool is only supplemental to other forms of feedback that could come from other sources such as that which is advocated through a 360-degree feedback. It can be said that the tool of providing a report card for the bureaucrats is helpful but it is to be considered in light of the different amendments that are to be made to fill the gaps that it currently has. How to cite Bureaucracy Report Card, Papers

Swimmer and Yellow Wallpaper free essay sample

The image of the â€Å"Two bulbous eyes star[ing] at you upside down† (Gilman 78) seems to anger her greatly as she cannot seem to grasp the idea of the â€Å"impertinence and everlastingness† (Gilman 78) of the wallpaper. The wallpaper seems to bring out these detrimental emotions in the narrator, which initiates her obsession with it. The obsessive relationship with the wallpaper is what causes the slow decay of her mental wellbeing. The basis of this obsession can be attributed to the frustration brought about by the artistic images of the wallpaper. Neddy looks upon the swimming pools as a source of comfort, but comes across pools that seem displeasing. Neddy describes his experience in the first pool as â€Å"the resumption of a natural condition† (Cheever 206). The public pool however can be perceived as a disconcerting pool, where Neddy refers to it as a â€Å"stagnant bend in the Lucinda River† (Cheever 209). The emotional change can be interpreted as a jolt or awakening, which brings him back to reality. We will write a custom essay sample on Swimmer and Yellow Wallpaper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It shows a different side of the Lucinda River and perhaps a different side to his current lifestyle. The carefree life of Neddy is not devoid of obstacles and does comprise of imperfections. The narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is shown to win her freedom by removing the wallpaper. The narrator exclaims that â€Å"she has pulled most of the paper so [they] can’t put her back† (Gilman 86), where this action can be perceived as crossing the threshold into insanity. The narrator does feel liberated, but this liberation has come at the cost of her sanity. The imperative emotional change observed marks the final chapter in her mental wellbeing where one can no longer interpret her thoughts and actions as sane. The short stories use personal objects to bring about crucial emotional changes in the characters of Nedddy and the narrator. Neddy is shown to emotionally transition from a sense of purpose and personal connection to that of feeling disheartened and disconnected. At the same time, the frustration of the narrator is brought about by the wallpaper, which in turn fuels the obsession with it. The wallpaper then acts as the final obstacle between the narrator’s current mental condition and insanity. References:

Domestication History of Rye

Domestication History of Rye Rye (Secale cereale subspecies cereale) was likely fully domesticated from its weedy relative (S. cereale ssp segetale) or perhaps S. vavilovii, in Anatolia or the Euphrates River valley of what is today Syria, at least as early as 6600 BC, and perhaps as early as 10,000 years ago. Evidence for domestication is at Natufian sites such as Can Hasan III in Turkey at 6600 cal BC (calendar years BC); domesticated rye reached central Europe (Poland and Romania) about 4,500 cal BC. Today rye is grown on about 6 million hectares in Europe where it is mostly used for making bread, as animal feed and forage, and in the production of rye and vodka. Prehistorically rye was used for food in a variety of ways, as animal fodder and for straw for the thatched rooves. Characteristics Rye is a member of the Triticeae tribe of Pooideae subfamily of the Poaceae grasses, meaning it is closely related to wheat and barley. There are around 14 different species of the Secale genus, but only S. cereale is domesticated. Rye is allogamous: its reproductive strategies promote outcrossing. Compared to wheat and barley, rye is relatively tolerant to frost, drought, and marginal soil fertility. It has an enormous genome size (~8,100 Mb), and its resistance to frost stress appears to be a result of the high genetic diversity among and within rye populations. The domestic forms of rye have larger seeds than wild forms as well as a non-shattering rachis (the part of the stem that holds the seeds onto the plant). Wild rye is free-threshing, with a tough rachis and loose chaff: a farmer can free the grains by a single threshing since straw and chaff are eliminated by a single round of winnowing. Domestic rye maintained the free-threshing characteristic and both forms of rye are vulnerable to ergot and to munching by pesky rodents while still ripening. Experimenting with Rye Cultivation There is some evidence that Pre-Pottery Neolithic (or Epi-Paleolithic) hunters and gatherers living in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria cultivated wild rye during the cool, arid centuries of the Younger Dryas, some 11,000-12,000 years ago. Several sites in northern Syria show that increased levels of rye were present during the Younger Dryas, implying that the plant must have been specifically cultivated to survive. Evidence discovered at Abu Hureyra (~10,000 cal BC), TellAbr (9500-9200 cal BC), Mureybet 3 (also spelled Murehibit, 9500-9200 cal BC), Jerf el Ahmar (9500-9000 cal BC), and Djade (9000-8300 cal BC) includes the presence of multiple querns (grain mortars) placed in food processing stations and charred wild rye, barley, and einkorn wheat grains. In several of these sites, rye was the dominant grain. Ryes advantages over wheat and barley are its ease of threshing in the wild stage; it is less glassy than wheat and can be more easily prepared as food (roasting, grinding, boiling and mashing). Rye starch is hydrolyzed to sugars more slowly and it produces a lower insulin response than wheat, and is, therefore, more sustaining than wheat. Weediness Recently, scholars have discovered that rye, more than other domesticated crops has followed a weedy species type of domestication processfrom wild to weed to crop and then back to weed again. Weedy rye (S. cereale ssp segetale) is distinctive from the crop form in that it includes stem shattering, smaller seeds and a delay in flowering time. It has been found to have spontaneously redeveloped itself out of the domesticated version in California, in as few as 60 generations. Sources This article is part of the About.com guide to Plant Domestication, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology Hillman G, Hedges R, Moore A, Colledge S, and Pettitt P. 2001. New evidence of Late Glacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates. The Holocene 11(4):383-393. Li Y, Haseneyer G, Schà ¶n C-C, Ankerst D, Korzun V, Wilde P, and Bauer E. 2011. High levels of nucleotide diversity and fast decline of linkage disequilibrium in rye (Secale cerealeL.) genes involved in frost response. BMC Plant Biology 11(1):1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-11-6 (Springer link is currently not working) Marques A, Banaei-Moghaddam AM, Klemme S, Blattner FR, Niwa K, Guerra M, and Houben A. 2013. B chromosomes of rye are highly conserved and accompanied the development of early agriculture. Annals of Botany 112(3):527-534. Martis MM, Zhou R, Haseneyer G, Schmutzer T, Vrna J, Kubalkov M, Kà ¶nig S, Kugler KG, Scholz U, Hackauf B et al. 2013. Reticulate Evolution of the Rye Genome. The Plant Cell 25:3685-3698. Salamini F, Ozkan H, Brandolini A, Schafer-Pregl R, and Martin W. 2002. Genetics and geography of wild cereal domestication in the near east. Nature Reviews Genetics 3(6):429-441.   Shang H-Y, Wei Y-M, Wang X-R, and Zheng Y-L. 2006. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships in the rye genus Secale L. (rye) based on Secale cereale microsatellite markers. Genetics and Molecular Biology 29:685-691. Tsartsidou G, Lev-Yadun S, Efstratiou N, and Weiner S. 2008. Ethnoarchaeological study of phytolith assemblages from an agro-pastoral village in Northern Greece (Sarakini): development and application of a Phytolith Difference Index. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(3):600-613. Vigueira CC, Olsen KM, and Caicedo AL. 2013. The red queen in the corn: agricultural weeds as models of rapid adaptive evolution. Heredity 110(4):303-311.   Willcox G. 2005. The distribution, natural habitats, and availability of wild cereals in relation to their domestication in the Near East: multiple events, multiple centres. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 14(4):534-541. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00334-005-0075-x (Springer link not working) Willcox G, and Stordeur D. 2012. Large-scale cereal processing before domestication during the 10th millennium Cal BC in northern Syria. Antiquity 86(331):99-114.

A Summary of British Rule in India

A Summary of British Rule in India The very idea of the British Raj- the British rule over India- seems inexplicable today. Consider the fact that Indian written history stretches back almost 4,000 years, to the civilization centers of the Indus Valley Culture at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Also, by 1850, India had a population of at least 200 million. Britain, on the other hand, had no indigenous written language until the 9th century C.E. (almost 3,000 years after India). Its population was about 16.6 million in 1850. How, then, did Britain manage to control India from 1757 to 1947? The keys seem to have been superior weaponry, economic power, and Eurocentric confidence. European Scramble for Colonies in Asia After the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope on Africas southern tip in 1488, opening sea lanes to the Far East by piracy on ancient trade lines in the Indian Ocean, the European powers strove to acquire Asian trading posts of their own. For centuries, the Viennese had controlled the European branch of the Silk Road, reaping enormous profits from the sale of silk, spices, fine china, and precious metals. The Viennese monopoly ended with the establishment of European incursions in the sea trade. At first, the European powers in Asia were solely interested in trade, but over time they became more interested in acquiring territory. Among the nations looking for a piece of the action was Britain. The Battle of Plassey Britain had been trading in India since about 1600, but it did not begin to seize large sections of land until 1757, after the Battle of Plassey. This battle pitted 3,000 soldiers of the British East India Company against the 5,000-strong army of the young Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud Daulah, and his French East India Company allies. Fighting began on the morning of June 23, 1757. Heavy rain spoiled the Nawabs cannon powder (the British covered theirs), leading to his defeat. The Nawab lost at least 500 troops, while Britain lost only 22. Britain seized the modern equivalent of about $5 million from the Bengali treasury and used it to finance further expansion. India Under the East India Company The East India Company was primarily interested in trade in cotton, silk, tea, and opium, but following the Battle of Plassey, it functioned as the military authority in growing sections of India as well. By 1770, heavy Company taxation and other policies had left millions of Bengalis impoverished. While British soldiers and traders made their fortunes, the Indians starved. Between 1770 and 1773, about 10 million people (one-third  of the population) died of famine in Bengal. At this time, Indians were also barred from holding high office in their own land. The British considered them inherently corrupt and untrustworthy. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 Many Indians were distressed by the rapid cultural changes imposed by the British. They worried that Hindu and Muslim India would be Christianized. In 1857, a new type of rifle cartridge was given to the soldiers of the British Indian Army. Rumors spread that the cartridges had been greased with pig and cow fat, an abomination to both major Indian religions. On May 10, 1857, the Indian Revolt began, with Bengali Muslim troops marching to Delhi and pledging their support to the Mughal emperor. After a year-long struggle, the rebels surrendered on June 20, 1858. Control of India Shifts to the India Office Following the rebellion, the British government abolished both the Mughal Dynasty, which had ruled India more or less for 300 years, and the East India Company. The Emperor, Bahadur Shah, was convicted of sedition and exiled to Burma. Control of India was given over to a British Governor-General, who reported back to the British Parliament. It should be noted that the British Raj included only about two-thirds of modern India, with the other portions under the control of local princes. However, Britain exerted great pressure on these princes, effectively controlling all of India. Autocratic Paternalism Queen Victoria promised that the British government would work to better its Indian subjects. To the British, this meant educating the Indians in British modes of thought and stamping out cultural practices such as sati- the practice of immolating a widow on the death of her husband .The British thought of their rule as a form of autocratic paternalism. The British also created divide and rule policies, pitting Hindu and Muslim Indians against one another. In 1905, the colonial government divided Bengal into Hindu and Muslim sections; this division was revoked after strong protests. Britain also encouraged the formation of the Muslim League of India in 1907. British India During World War I During World War I, Britain declared war on Germany on Indias behalf, without consulting Indian leaders. More than 1.3 million Indian soldiers and laborers were serving in the British Indian Army by the time of the Armistice. A total of 43,000 Indian and Gurkha soldiers were killed. Although most of India rallied to the British flag, Bengal and Punjab were less easy to control. Many Indians were eager for independence, and they were led in their struggle by an Indian lawyer and political newcomer known as  Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) In April 1919, more than 5,000 unarmed protesters gathered at Amritsar, in Punjab. British troops fired on the crowd, killing an estimated 1,500 men, women, and children, even though the official death toll of the Amritsar Massacre as reported was 379. British India During World War II When World War II broke out, India once again contributed hugely to the British war effort. In addition to troops, the princely states donated substantial amounts of cash. By the end of the war, India had an incredible volunteer army of 2.5 million men. About 87,000 Indian soldiers died in combat. The Indian independence movement was very strong by this time, and British rule was widely resented. Some 30,000 Indian POWs were recruited by the Germans and the Japanese to fight against the Allies in exchange for their freedom. Most Indians, however, remained loyal. Indian troops fought in Burma, North Africa, Italy, and elsewhere. The Struggle for Indian Independence Even as World War II raged on, Gandhi and other members of the Indian National Congress (INC) demonstrated against British rule. The 1935 Government of India Act had provided for the establishment of provincial legislatures across the colony. The Act also created a federal government for the provinces and princely states and granted the right to vote to about 10% of Indias male population. These moves toward limited self-governance only made India more impatient for true self-rule. In 1942, Britain sent an envoy to India, led by the British Labour politician Stafford Cripps (1889–1952), offering future dominion status in return for help recruiting more soldiers. Cripps may have made a secret agreement with the Muslim League, allowing Muslims to opt out of a future Indian state. Mahatma Gandhi Laughing with Granddaughters. Bettmann / Getty Images Arrests of Gandhi and INC Leadership Gandhi and the INC did not trust the British envoy and demanded immediate independence in return for their cooperation. When the talks broke down, the INC launched the Quit India movement, calling for the immediate withdrawal of Britain  from India. In response, the British arrested the INCs leadership, including Gandhi and his wife. Mass demonstrations were carried out across the country but were crushed by the British Army. Britain may not have realized it, but it was now just a matter of time before the British Raj came to an end. The soldiers who had joined Japan and Germany in fighting the British were put on trial at Delhis Red Fort in early 1946. A series of ten courts-martial were held, trying 45 prisoners on charges of treason, murder, and torture. The men were convicted, but huge public protests forced the commutation of their sentences. Hindu/Muslim Riots and Partition On August 17, 1946, violent fighting broke out between Hindus and Muslims in Calcutta. The trouble quickly spread across India. Meanwhile, cash-strapped Britain announced its decision to withdraw from India by June 1948. Sectarian violence flared again as independence approached. In June 1947, representatives of the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs agreed to divide India along sectarian lines. Hindu and Sikh areas remained part of India, while predominantly Muslim areas in the north became the nation of Pakistan. This division of territory was known as the Partition. Millions of refugees flooded across the border in each direction, and between 250,000 and 500,000 people were killed in sectarian violence. Pakistan became independent on August 14, 1947. India followed the next day. Sources and Further Reading Gilmour, David. The British in India: A Social History of the Raj. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018.  James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 1997.Nanda, Bal Ram. Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977.  Ã‚  Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2018.