Thursday, October 31, 2019
Instruction on how to deliver a presentation about a formal proposal Coursework
Instruction on how to deliver a presentation about a formal proposal. List all steps - Coursework Example The mentors and mentees must be identified and paired with each other. The HR department should also decide on the number of participants who will take part in the project. After the identification of the participants, the guidelines will be discussed and the schedule of mentoring activities will be laid out. Furthermore, the timeline and duration of the program will be communicated. Subsequent to presenting the objectives and timeline of the program, the topics and activities that will be included will be discussed. The implementation strategies will be proposed. After acquainting the audience with the program, to further emphasize its importance, a brief discussion of the benefits that may be obtained from the mentoring activities will be conveyed. Experiences of other organizations with similar programs will be shared. Finally, the presentation will end by stating that a feedback mechanism must be employed to monitor the progress of the participants. Progress reports will be required during specified review periods (Miller, n.d.). Moreover, at the end of the presentation, it must be emphasized that there is no standard mentoring program. It should be tailored to the needs of the organization and the employees. It should be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of those involved in the
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Online Shopping in Thailand Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Online Shopping in Thailand - Research Proposal Example Therefore it has become necessary to conceptualize a online shopping mode that suits the Thai culture and satisfies most of the needs of the consumers. The present study intends to do so through quantitative methodology by undertaking survey through questionnaires and perform parallel research so as to collect information regarding their problems and requirements in the online shopping that may encourage them to make online purchases. The collected data further will be compiled and analyzed in tabulated format to arrive at a formidable conclusion and recommendations for conceptualizing online shopping in Thailand. The use of internet has increased to such an extent that most of the activities are performed online. Ho and Wu (1999) mentioned that the World Wide Web (WWW) users have been multiplying rapidly and have widely spread into all walks of life.1 Hsi -Jui Wu and Li (n.d.) also mentions that the progress and popularization of information technology and internet has led to enormous growth in the global ecommerce market. It is further stated that volume of B2C e-commerce sales will increase 23.3% annually in Asia Pacific Region and will reach $16.87 billion in 2011. Countries like Japan and Korea, who are having experience in B2C ecommerce markets, are facing stiff challenges from developing countries like India, China, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.2 Orton and Windham (2000) pointed out that Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan are the broad regions in Asia and the Pacific where 94 percent of the online sales are through Japan, Korea and Australia which suggests that the people in the other parts are not so user friendly and do not trust in online shopping.3 According to National Statistical Office, there were about 928,000 computers in use in Thai households during 2001 which is equivalent to 5.75 computers per 100 households and it was also found that there were an about 3.54 million internet user which is 3.83 times the number of computer owners which means that most users access internet through homes, offices, caf, etc.4 Laosethakul and Boulton (2005) stated that Thailand with a population of 66 million had seen a steady growth in the number of internet users from 4.8 million in 2002 to 7 million in 2004 which propelled the volume of ecommerce sales in Thailand to US$ 500 million in 2003 and US $750 million in 2004. However, the Thailand Internet User Profile 2004 Survey reported top four reasons stopping the consumers to shop online which were the trust as they cannot see/feel the products, distrust for online merchandisers, unwillingness to reveal the details of credit card, and slow processes along with computer viruses and slow internet speed.5 So in future any companies planning to develop an online shopping portal for the Thai consumers, the above problems need to be addressed. Laosethakul et al (2007) states that Thai consumers are still practicing the traditional shopping due its convenience associated
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Sex Differences In The Human Brain Psychology Essay
Sex Differences In The Human Brain Psychology Essay For a period of hundreds of years, the dissimilarity between male and female were described and misrepresented that males are supposed to be more superior or be in a higher status than females in which we normally named this discrimination sexism (Michael, 1999). However, in the recent years, men and women had already achieved equality as we now become closer together and thus we became unaware of the important differences between us (Michael). Also, because the goal of achieving balance equality between men and women became close and the unawareness of the society, the mission of discovering what exactly present within a male and female would need a great deal of effort and endurance (Michael). It is known that men and women differ physically in which the dissimilarity are either clear or they are easy to measure and observe (Michael). Some of the examples which can be easily measured are weight, height, size, shape and anatomy (Michael). One of the differences between men and women are for instance, women have neurons which relate the right and left hemisphere of the brain four times more than men (Michael, 1999). Also, females have greater access to both hemisphere of their brain, regardless of that, women still use the right sides of their brain more frequently (Michael). Males on the other hand, are more physically fit and stronger (Michael). They have more strength and muscles can build up easily (Michael). However, the psychological differences between male and female can be harder to understand and describe (Michael). Problems emerge when we think that the opposite sex have to act, think and feel the same as we do due to the deficient in information, education and experiences (Michael). In a published newspaper in Scientific American titled Sex Differences in the Brain by Seymour Levine, who is a neuroendocrinologist in the year of 1966, the understanding of the topic were presented in a pleasant manner in which he only mentioned about the one region in the brain that is important in the whole article, which is the hypothalamus known as the site for regulating hormones and involved in spatial learning (Cahill, 2011). Previously, researchers thought that sex differences in the brain merely means the hypothalamus, steroid hormones and sex behavior, which has got nothing to do with anything else in the brain (Cahill). This misleading observation diminished as more and more evidence arise nowadays proves that the idea before was wrong (Cahill). The process of discovering about the influence of sex on function of neurons have been undergoing in a fast pace in which studies found that every part and level of the brain is affected (Cahill, 2011). According to Dr Pfaff, author of Man and Women: An Inside Story, described that sex differences in the brain is mainly due to the hypothalamus and he later gives several other reasons of sex influence in the brain such as social behavior and aggression, but he failed to take into consideration about the nature of brain functioning influenced by sex (Pfaff, 2002, as cited in Cahill, 2011). In the end, he returns to his statement saying that sex differences in the brain are hypothalamus centered which is incorrect (Pfaff, as cited in Cahill). The level of intelligence, also known as IQ, does not seem to be main factor of sex differences rather than ability (Kimura, 1999). Nevertheless, some researchers for instance, Lynn and Rich from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland proposed that there are slight intellectual differences between male and female preferring men (Kimura). The meaning of different patterns of intellectual means that each person have different own intellectual strength (Kimura). For instance, some people may be good at utilizing words and some are especially skillful at addressing external stimuli (Kimura). Their individual abilities are different although the intellectual strength is the same (Kimura). Sex differences in the brain had been studied regarding the issue of problem solving. Overall, men tends to be superior in spatial task than women, particularly, when they are asked to imagine an object to be rotating or some other way, men shows an advantage in handling the problem (Kimura, 1999). They are also better at solving problems related to mathematics and in finding a path (Kimura). Although some research support the idea, such as teenage boys in the United States normally perform better than girls on science and mathematics test, however, this is not true for boys in Thailand and Iceland where usually teenage girls outperform boys in an mathematics exam held internationally, making the statement of boys perform better in mathematics than girls inappropriate (Eliot, 2009). Thus, according to Cordelia Fine, superiority in mathematics and science are not genetically determined in our brain or fixed, but are due to upbringing, education, or they are inhibited by the society (F ine, 2010). Women, on the opposite, outperform men in memorizing or remembering word, have an advantage in identifying items that match quickly and doing manual test such as putting marbles or pegs in proper holes (Kimura, 1999). In spite of that, Maccoby and Jacklin from Stanford University argued that it is still an incomplete picture to say that spatial task favour males and verbal task favour females (Jacklin Maccoby, 1974). There was evidence showing that the advantage of spatial task for male does not apply to certain spatial tasks, and that womens advantage in verbal task was including many memory required work which are definitely not verbal (Cahill, 2011). Also, there are possibilities that females are able to outperform males when they are exposed to extra androgens prior to birth or newborn, a genetic deficiency known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia (Kimura, 1999). In this case, ability of CAH-affected girls to do well in spatial task increases compared to normal unaffected girls ( Kimura). Another exception shown by Elizabeth Hampson from the University of Western Ontario is that females perform some task differently throughout their menstrual period because the estrogen level becomes inconsistent and thus will affect their ability in doing the task (Kimura). Recently, a group of researchers from National Institutes of Health (NIH), have come up with a surprising new report saying that sex differences in the brain decreases as age increases in which the subjects of the research consist of a group of children whose age ranging from 9 through 22 (Sax, 2007). To say it in another way, they discover that when females and males encounter puberty, where the level of steroid hormones such as estradiol in female and testosterone in male begin to increase, the sex differences in the brain diminish (Sax). Even so, some researchers like Leonard Sax, author of Boys Adrift and Girls on the Edge think that the finding is a common-sense expectation (Sax). Other researchers or authors such as Cordelia Fine and Lise Eliot also think that although sex differences prior to birth are insignificant because they have different education and lifestyles depending on the culture of the society (Sax). Sex differences in the brain do not diminish over age, but increases as we grow older when the onset of puberty starts (Sax, 2007). The latter finding seems to be more reliable to many of the researchers (Sax). To give a more clearer view, an example is to compare boys and girls both at the age of six years old, they tend to behave differently in which usually boys attention span is much weaker compared to girls of the same age (Sax). On the other hand, compare a mature old man and women both at the age of 40 years old, there wouldnt be any differences, they are able to keep quiet and sit still as women do (Sax). Another researcher named Fausto-Stirling, who focuses studies regarding this, also think that if there are any sex differences in the brain, it is only present after birth during puberty (Sterling, 1992). Thus, the finding of sex differences diminishes as age increases are said to be counter-intuitive (Sax). Brain development does not stop after birth, but instead goes on for a long time, that is where the field of social cognition comes into action to look for sex differences in our brain (Eliot, 2009). At the early stage of sex differences it is said to be congenital and development of our individual behavior depends on either gene expression or being exposed to certain hormone prenatally (Eliot). Regardless of that, behavioral development can be shaped from a young age by training, social learning, culture and various lifestyle that each one of us would encounter in every society (Eliot). To illustrate the idea of congenitally programmed, Jessica Woods, Peg Nopoulos and Vesna Murko carried out an experiment with young adults from 7 to 17 years old which the same section in frontal lobe of the children are measured (Eliot). The outcome was surprisingly different from previous research they have done where the size of straight gyrus, an area in the cortex, is unexpectedly bigger in boys , in which the reversal of adulthood and childhood cogitate the maturation of boys brain in later part of their life (Eliot). They are the few neuroscientists to examine male and female brain differences not only in biological sex but in terms of gender type (Eliot). Woods and colleagues argue about the suggestion that sex differences in the brain are because of Y chromosome despite having no prove that the causes of brain differences depends on social learning (Eliot). In the past few years, there were a lot of new technology created to better examine the human brains activity, for instance positron emission tomography, PET and functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI (Kimura, 1999). These new techniques enable us to solve problems regarding brains activity, provides more detail and information about how our brain function (Kimura). The outcome until now was interesting but there were times when disagreement happens because of the results (Kimura). A number of studies done shown that the activity between both side of the brain of male are greater than female when performing task involving language, for example, identifying rhyme of words (Kimura). However, some other research could not find out the asymmetry function for sex differences in human brain (Kimura). It may be due to different language tasks given in various researches possibly because the brain system acts for certain language tasks only but not others (Kimura). Perhaps limitation ex ist because the new techniques are too complicated which leads to different results, because it is difficult for it to correctly measure what exactly is happening in the brain as the activity in our brain are very complex (Kimura). In a nutshell, there have been many critics and arguments about the study of sex differences in the brain (Bland, 2003). One of it is that the research subject for most of the studies are mainly focusing on male only, this in returns affect and limit our understanding of brain differences for the opposite sex because the research are based with one sex only (Beery Zucker, 2010). Therefore, the research of sex differences in the brain should now put more attention in female perspective (Beery Zucker). Moreover, there are certain brain disorders that affect one sex more frequently than another or there may be more protected from the disease compared to the opposite sex (Arnold, Ball, Blaustein, De Vries and McCarthy, 2012). Thus, in this situation, it would bring benefit to us if researcher could identify the problem and come up with a solution for instance, create drugs or treatment for specific sex to be protected against these diseases (Arnold et al., 2012). There is no doubt that the whole debate about sex differences in the brain will continue to be studied for a long time (Bland). Different researcher would have different opinion and thinking, it is just the matter of how they explain the outcome in their own way (Bland).
Friday, October 25, 2019
Heideggers Interpretation of Pablo Picassos Portrait of Gertrude Stein :: Art Artisits
Heidegger's interpretation of Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Gertrude Stein By several accounts, Gertrude Stein posed for Pablo Picasso more than 90 times during the winter of 1905-6. Each session was never quite correct, with many botched attempts and frustrations. Ultimately Picasso sent her away, stating "I can't see you any longer when I look," then created a new portrait of her nearly a year later without seeing her again. It was regarded as a curious mask-like visage, not really an accurate representation of Stein at the time. When others remarked that Gertrude Stein did not look like her portrait, Picasso stated "She will." Eventually Picasso's belief in the 'premonitory powers' of his portraits was affirmed as Stein came to very greatly resemble her portrait, stating in 1938, "I was and I still am satisfied with my portrait; for me, it is I, and it is the only reproduction of me which is always I, for me" (Rodenbeck). Picasso's Portrait of Gertrude Stein is a haunting and pensive work, imbued with a great sense of mystery and pondering. Stein's gaze is cast to the side, her hands in a gestural position, leaning forward with her chin tilted and lips slightly parted. It is as if she is about to speak and through the body language of her portrait, we envision an ensuing scene where she articulates what she's been thinking, elaborating with her hands. The essence of Stein's character is embodied in this posture and gesture, the truth of her being in this physical representation. Knowing nothing of Stein, one would at once understand that this woman is a thinker carefully considering her points and that this intellectual characterization is of fundamental importance to her mode of being. Picasso has achieved the revelatory effects in this portrait by revealing the truth of Stein through Martin Heidegger's principle of truth as aletheia, that is, unhiddenness or the experience of something hidden being brought to revelation. By not allowing Stein's thoughts and words to be heard and capturing her in a frozen moment of paint, Picasso allows a profound understanding of all that she has to say. By concealing the experience of being in her presence and knowing her as an intellectual, he reveals the very truth and nature of her composure and existence. Were this portrait a frozen monument of Stein in a moment of glory, a pristine tribute to her physicality or a photographic and perfect representation, then we could never see the true accuracy of her being and becoming.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Josh Hutcherson Essay
Josh Hutcherson Not Afraid to Be Himself Many celebrities to this day are recognized for their scandalous acts and wrong doings. Not many people stay true to themselves in todayââ¬â¢s society, even less are willing to donate their time and money to help others that need it. Josh Hutcherson is one of these people in others eyes, he has always been himself either on set of a movie or at home with his loved ones. As a child he had to deal with the lose of both of his uncles, they died from AIDS during the height of the epidemic. ââ¬Å"They were n their early thirties, in great shape, but unfortunately they were taken away from us too soon. Both passed away at about the time I was born. â⬠(Hutcherson). Though he didnââ¬â¢t get a chance to meet his uncles, he saw how this affected the rest of his family and from that point on he wanted to make sure that they wouldnââ¬â¢t die in vain. Josh Hutcherson is a hero to many for his desire to help others, always staying true to himself, and donating his time and money to charities. Josh Hutcherson was born in Union, Kentucky as an only child and at the age of four his ounger brother was born. Shortly after he started to become interested in acting and being on television, his parents figured it was just a phase like most children would have. Over the years his fascination with acting grew stronger to his mothers surprise and she eventually decided to help him pursue his goal so at the age of nine josh and his family moved to California. After getting settled down josh started auditioning for roles and landed very few, very minor parts. But with his determination he landed a role in ER in 2003 ( Anonymous , 2012) . From that point on joshââ¬â¢s acting areer took off and he starred in many TV shows and some small movies. After ââ¬Å"Bridge to Terabithiaâ⬠was released he was a highly regarded actor and many studio s wanted him to fill in roles. He quickly made friends that had the same lifestyle and views as himself, one of the most prominent was Avan Jogia. Avan founded the organization called SBNN (Straight But Not Narrow). Avan, an actor, musician, writer, and big picture thinker. His idea, his passion and his voice started it all. Seeing the hardships young adults face, both in and out of school, ignited his desire to take a stand against ullying. (anonymous) Josh knew he wanted to be a part of something great and became a part of the group and helped spread the message. Actors today are usually fake and doing what their name implies, acting. Yet, some do stay true to their ways and donââ¬â¢t let all the fame and attention sway them. Hutcherson is a perfect example of this. You can see that even in his movies the roles he plays are true to his own personality, some stars that have worked with him on set have said that even offstage he has the same nice, boyish charm that his characters have in movies. Ever since he was nine and started acting he has always been himself even tho most studios and sponsors want him to act fake and perfect he wants to always stay true to himself and not ever put on an act just to please someone else. Being yourself with all of the stress and publicity is an extraordinarily large task and many fail to do so. But Hutcherson is one of the few that have rose above the others and proved himself as a strong idividual As a small child Hutcherson had a very strong personality and always spoke his mind, this characteristic has stuck with him his whole life and he is still the same way to this day. So when something wasnââ¬â¢t right, Hutcherson would not hesitate to speak up. Because of the death of his uncles to AIDS and how they were treated for being homosexuals he hated when someone treated anyone like they didnââ¬â¢t matter. He hated bullying and whenever he hears about it or witnesses it, he feels the strong need to do something. Hutcherson clearly expresses his feelings towards gays being bullied for who they like, Josh Hutcherson received the Van Guard award at the GLAAD Media Awards for his help to stop gay bullying( Giannotta, 2012) . Helping others that are being bullied or that need someone there or him have just been natural to Hutcherson. Because of Hutcherson family history with homosexuality he had very strong views on gay rights and equality of all people. He decided to join his friend Avan Jogia and his organization ââ¬Å"Straight But Not Narrowâ⬠, this was a group dedicated to opening the eyes of others to the fact that we shouldnââ¬â¢t care wh o a person dates, its about the persons personality and actions(Jogia, 2011) . He became the main advocate for the group and has been the most active member since the start. But Hutcherson has done more deeds outside of SBNN as well. On June 3, 2012 Hutcherson took place in a charity celebrity picnic where many popular stars and actors come together and throw a picnic. This even has raised more than $33 million since 1989 to fund pediatric AIDS research and the Foundationââ¬â¢s international medical programs to prevent new HIV infections in babies and to keep HIV-positive mothers alive through lifesaving treatment (anonymous, 2012). Hutcherson has done a lot of things to help kids and even adults in need since his career took of, making him a hero to many people who know of the actors deeds.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Mateo Falcone by Prosper Mérimée Essay
Mateo Falcone Author: Prosper Mà ©rimà ©e Introduction Sept. 28, 1803, Paris ââ¬â died Sept. 23, 1870, Cannes, France A French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and master of the short story whose works ââ¬â Romantic in theme but Classical and controlled in style ââ¬â were a renewal of Classicism in a Romantic age. Story: Mateo Falcone This opera constitutes the last of three short serious operas by this composer, the other two being Feast in Time of Plague and Mademoiselle Fifi. ââ¬Å"Mateo Falconeâ⬠addresses matters of family honor. It is set in Corsica in the seventeenth century in the region of Porto-Vecchio. Setting Mateo Falcone Characters Fortunato Falcone Mateo Falconeââ¬â¢s ten-year-old son. His father regards him as ââ¬Ëââ¬Ëthe hope of the family.ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ The name Fortunato, meaning ââ¬Ëââ¬Ëthe fortunate one,ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ reflects his fatherââ¬â¢s pride. cont. Introduction Story: Mateo Falcone Prosper Mà ©rimà ©eââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"Mateo Falconeâ⬠(1829), originally subtitled ââ¬Å"Les moeurs de Corseâ⬠(ââ¬Å"The Ways of Corsicaâ⬠), chronicles the killing of a ten-year-old boy by his father. Such contemporaries as Stendhal (Henri Beyle), Henry James, and Walter Pater admired Mà ©rimà ©e and praised him for his craft. Pater called ââ¬Å"Mateo Falconeâ⬠ââ¬Å"the cruellest story in the world.â⬠ââ¬Å"Mateo Falconeâ⬠is a brief, but complex story. It features at least five points of view and at least four ââ¬Å"ways of lifeâ⬠(the ââ¬Å"moeursâ⬠of the original subtitle). Mà ©rimà ©eââ¬â¢s themes include betrayal and honor, savagery and civilization, vendetta and law, and custom and morality. A forty-eight-year-old father of three married daughters and one ten-year-old son; Giuseppa Falconeââ¬â¢s husband. Giuseppa Falcone Mateo Falconeââ¬â¢s wife. Tiodoro Gamba The adjutant; a distant relative of Falconeââ¬â¢s. Gianetto Saupiero An outlaw. Exposition Plot Summary ââ¬Å"Mateo Falconeâ⬠is set in Corsica in the seventeenth century in the region of Porto-Vecchio, which is midway between the town of Corte and the mà ¢aquis, the wild country of the Corsican highlands where outlaws and misfits find refuge from law and authority. Mateo Falcone, a forty-eight-year-old father of three married daughters and one ten-year-old son, is a successful sheep rancher. He sets off to gather his flock one afternoon. His wife, Guiseppa, accompanies him, and they leave their son, Fortunato alone. Rising Action Fortunato daydreams in the autumn sun. He anticipates going into town in a few days to have dinner with his uncle, the Caporal. Suddenly, he was distracted by the gunshots echo from nearby. On nearby path, a wounded man appears and had been shot in his thigh. Seeing Fortunato, he asks whether the boy is the son of Mateo Falcone, after confirming, he introduces himself as Gianetto Saupiero, the implication being that he has a tie to Falcone and thus a right to expect asylum. Fortunato at first declines to hide Gianetto, but when the bandit offers a piece of silver, the boy conceals him beneath the hay. Climax Six soldiers arrive, led by adjutant Tiodoro Gamba, who addresses Fortunato as ââ¬Å"cousin,â⬠once again implying a tie to the Falconeââ¬â¢s. Gamba wants to know whether Fortunato has seen a man on the trail. Fortunato evades Gamba ââ¬â¢s questions, and Gamba suspects that the boy is in complicity with Gianetto. He threatens to beat Fortunato, but the boy only replies that he is Mateo Falconeââ¬â¢s son, and the lieutenant understands that he dare not harm Fortunato for fear of angering the father. The soldiers search the property but find nothing. Finally, Gamba attempts to bribe Fortunato with a shiny new watch. Fortunato accepts the bribe and silently nods in the direction of the haystack. Falling Action Mateo and Guiseppa return from the pastures. Gamba advances cautiously and explains to Mateo what has happened. When Mateo ascertains the facts, he abruptly asks his wife whether the boy is really his child. Fortunato collapses in tears, sobbing and crying, and the wife becomes hysterical. Mateo commands Fortunato to leave with him into the high country. Denouement As Mateo and Fortunato climb into the mountains, Guiseppa prays inside the house to an icon of the Virgin Mary. In a ravine, Mateo commands Fortunato to kneel and say his prayers. When he finishes praying, Fortunato begs for mercy, but Mateo gives none. He raises his rifle and shoots. Theme Analysis Justice prevails. The end justifies the means. Regrets are always in the end. Symbolism Mateo Falcone ââ¬â Justice Fortunato ââ¬â Sin Gamba and Gianetto ââ¬â Temptation Guiseppa ââ¬â Love and Sympathy Foreshadowing Gamba attempts to bribe Fortunato with a shiny new watch. Flashback Gamba told Mateo what Gianetto had done to one of his soldiers and to the Caporal Chardonââ¬â¢s arm. Gamba told Mateo what Fortunato had done to help them discover where Gianetto is. Conflict Fortunato Falcone VS. Himself Mateo Falcone VS. Fortunato Falcone Land VS. Fortunato Falcone It is the temptation alone that brought Fortunato of committing bribery despite of knowing the fact that justice is placed on the hands of his father, Mateo Falcone which leads to his death.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Kinds of Consequences
Kinds of Consequences Kinds of Consequences Kinds of Consequences By Maeve Maddox A reader questions a radio announcerââ¬â¢s odd use of high to quantify the noun consequences: ââ¬Å"For business owners who become the victims of these scams, the consequences can be high. Since when have consequences been high? ââ¬Å"Dire,â⬠maybe. ââ¬Å"Serious,â⬠maybe. ââ¬Å"Severe,â⬠even. High? Never! The English word consequence derives from a Latin compound that combines cum, ââ¬Å"withâ⬠and sequi, ââ¬Å"to follow after.â⬠(In English words, cum appears as com- and con-.) A consequence is what results from something that has gone before. I agree with the reader that the appropriate modifier for consequences is one that signifies a degree of seriousness, like dire or grave. A Google search indicates that the phrase ââ¬Å"high consequencesâ⬠is out there, if only with 35,400 hits. The expression seems to be seeping into general usage from jargon associated with the behavioral sciences. As jargon, ââ¬Å"high consequencesâ⬠is part of the descriptive term ââ¬Å"Low-Probability/High Consequences.â⬠The term, abbreviated LPHC, is applied to events or- in the context of marketing- products that have a low probability of risk, but which nevertheless could have a horrific outcome in the event of failure. An article in the proceedings of a marketing science conference explains the concept this way: ââ¬Å"Low-Probability/High Consequencesà (LPHC) riskâ⬠is present in consumer decisions associated with potentially cataclysmic outcomes such as losing ones life or job. Air travel is [an] LPHC ââ¬Å"product.â⬠The expression high consequences has meaning in this narrow context, but is out of place in the general vocabulary. Here are examples of the questionable use of low and high to describe consequences: ââ¬Å"Why does evolution make out that there are suchà high consequencesà if we dont pass our genes down?- Question posed on Quora site. The High Consequences of Low Interest Rates- Headline in The Wall Street Journal. Actions that show significant differences are those involving Low Consequences, High Consequences, and Suspension.- Book about school testing. In the first example, the word serious would be more appropriate. In the second example, the headline writer was probably striving for a neat balance of words (high-low), but a better choice would be: ââ¬Å"The Potential Consequences of Low Interest Rates.â⬠The third example illustrates the tendency of parents and educators to use the word consequences as a euphemism for punishment. The study compares student behavior that resulted in different degrees of punishment: ââ¬Å"minor, major, and most severe.â⬠Educators and others are also guilty of using inappropriate verbs with consequences. Consequences are results. Consequences follow actions. They may be felt, suffered, or endured, but they are not given, as in these examples from school publications and parent guides: Consequences will be givenà in a calm, consistent, brief, immediateà and respectful fashion.- Kindergarten brochure, Wisconsin Noà consequences will be givenà if student has an excused tardy.- High school guidelines. However, children donââ¬â¢t need to know every consequence that might be given. Whats important is that they understand thatà consequences will be givenà consistently for certain behaviors.- Parenting book. In each of these examples, what will be given or withheld is a penalty. Another odd use of the word consequences making the rounds on the Web is a sentence that originated in the angry outburst of a moderately literate man expressing anger about cyberbully attacks on his daughter: ââ¬Å"Consequences will never be the same!â⬠The expression even has a definition in the Urban Dictionary: ââ¬Å"to tell someone to stop doing something.â⬠Interestingly enough in the context of this post, the attacks on the girl were apparently the consequences of her own online behavior. Bottom line: Consequences may be major, minor, serious, severe, dire, or unexpected. They are felt, experienced, suffered or endured. Except in very limited contexts, they are not high, nor are they given. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Direct and Indirect ObjectsList of 50 Great Word Games for Kids and AdultsContinue and "Continue on"
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