What’s next for the Church of God? Malachi’s Message has served its purpose. (A book written by Gerald Flurry, pastor general of the Philadelphia Church of God). Those who have ears to hear have listened to what the Spirit of God has had to say to the Church of God. It’s now time to move on.
The Work of God must go forward. The only work that’s left to do now is focus on the NATIONAL LEVEL. We must get out God’s ultimatum and fast! Europe is on the rise and Jerusalem is getting international attention (Zech. 14:2). Soon God’s two witnesses will rise and shine in a world of darkness (Isa. 60:1-2). God’s about to restore His lamp to the Middle East! (Rev. 11:3; 1 Kgs. 11:36; Amos 9:11; Zech. 12:8).
By Gerald Flurry’s own admission, Malachi’s Message has nothing to say about nations. That’s proper, because it was basically his commission to focus in on the Church. Does Mystery of the Ages warn the world? (Herbert W. Armstrong’s crown work). How can it when it doesn’t even include the words Germany, Beast or Europe in its index? Mystery of the Ages is undoubtedly the most important book written since the Bible to preach the gospel around the world. But doesn’t Gerald Flurry understand that’s already been accomplished? BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.
The Work of God must go forward, not backwards. It’s true that we must always preach the gospel, but now it’s time to emphasize a WARNING MESSAGE. The Church has been warned. The world hasn’t. We must warn them like they’ve never been warned before!
There is only one book on earth today (other than the Bible) that clearly warns THE GERMANS ARE COMING! Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall is a hard-hitting book that details the events concerning the rise of the prophetic Beast in Europe, the fall of our Israelite countries, the Two Witnesses, and lets you know why it all has to happen. If you haven’t already read it, check it out for yourself! It’s available for free online.
Malachi’s Message is the Little Book to God’s Church today. Beyond Babylon is the Little Book with a big impact, destined to become a NATIONAL DEBATE and an INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY. It must reach “the largest audience possible”. There exists a Little Book for the Church of God and there’s a Little Book for the nations. This follows the biblical principle of duality. I hope and pray the People of God perceive this to be true, even if their leadership remains too proud and stubborn to see (Ga. 2:9; Rev. 11:8).
After prayer, years ago, God promised that His GREAT INSPIRATION would result in a GREAT PUBLICATION (Prov. 1:23; Ps. 68:11). Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall showcases those precious truths to the world (Isa. 45:3). I realize the two witnesses are considered controversial figures (Rev. 11:10; Jer. 15:10), but they must boldly declare God’s judgments (Micah 3:8). After all, it’s the LORD’S CONTROVERSY (Micah 6:1- 2). The wise will hear this INTERNATIONAL THUNDER and take shelter (Rev. 10; Prov. 27:12).
The message of God will roar from Jerusalem, and both the heavens and the Earth will tremble at His Word (Joel 3:16). Herbert W. Armstrong said when God’s time comes, the plain truth about traditional Christianity would drop like a BOMBSHELL (USBIP). God’s Time has come! Beyond Babylon explodes that “news bomb” with FULL FORCE! There’s no holding back. (During my interrogation by Israeli Secret Service agents, I told them my book is the only explosives I’m involved with).
Gerald Flurry recognizes the need to offer something to the general public, other than the meaty booklets about prophecy that basically preach to the converted. That’s good and right. But which book would God have us publish? Beyond Babylon fulfills the need to proclaim the gospel while emphasizing a warning to the world; it includes the truth about our Israelite identity and responsibility; about God’s Sabbath and Holy Days versus Satan’s Sunday and pagan holidays; about Israel’s demise and Europe’s rise – these are foundational truths. Beyond Babylon builds upon that sure foundation by pointing out that it’s the sorcerer-pope, the false prophet, who presents Europe’s imminent leader as the Savior of “Christian Western Civilization;” he’ll perform miracles in his presence urging Europe to remodel themselves after the “Holy Roman Empire” (Rev. 13:14). Together they’ll create a counterfeit Kingdom of God.
Beyond Babylon also explains – FOR THE FIRST TIME – why there are two witnesses, what their mission and purpose is, why they’re stationed in Jerusalem and how they fulfill the Elijah role.
PCG minister Wayne Turgeon, during our wonderful correspondence (before PCG minister Dennis Leap turned him against me), wrote concerning my book: “It’s certainly not my place to determine if what you believe God has shown you is true or not, but would you mind presenting Mr. Flurry with an abbreviated version of what you feel is inspired…”. What does he mean it’s not his place to determine whether Beyond Babylon is true or not? Whose place is it? How did he determine if Malachi’s Message was true or not? Are we to rely on men to make up our minds for us? What if he had gone to Joseph Tkach for his approval of Gerald Flurry’s work?
We must trust in God’s Spirit of truth and judge everything by God’s Word. Every Church member must prove to themselves, prayerfully before God, whether Beyond Babylon is biblical (1 John 2:27). Those who exercise this spiritual responsibility will come to understand what’s next in God’s Plan: reaching the cities of Judah!
Beyond Babylon’s sudden appearance should serve as a SIGN, an indication of where we are now in prophecy (John 12:20-23). Soon God will remove the mountain of opposition that blocks my return to Zion and I’ll continue to build upon the foundation that God has laid in Jerusalem the last time I was there (Zech. 4:7-8). From here on out it’s FAST FORWARD!
By: David Ben-Ariel
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Filed under Society by on Nov 15th, 2010. 
By: Tyler D
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Filed under Video & Online Games by on Nov 15th, 2010.
Persuasion in society has been existent since the very first relationships were built. Persuasion has had a huge role in forming groups and developing collective ideas and attitudes. Its role will continue to influence future societies, as well, based on the united understanding of individuals. Persuasion in society can make or break a group, so you need to know what people want.
Social Influence
Persuasion in society is a vital part of human life. People have been guided by others throughout centuries through persuasive attitudes, actions, signs, and thoughts. Basically, individuals in a given group will be persuaded if they feel change will be for the entire group’s advantage. You may be familiar with utilitarianism and how the advantages and disadvantages of one person can significantly affect the entire group as a whole.
The same goes with persuasion, in the sense that if you are able to show inequity, people will mostly adhere to a problem-solving means, instead of being forced into deciding.
Weapons of Influence in Society
All weapons of influence can be applied to modern society. Persuasion in society still requires a variety of strategies, techniques, and approaches, especially since you are dealing with several people at a time. This may make it harder for you because it is very likely for different individuals in a society to have varying perceptions and views.
The most common is authority, wherein people are influenced by those they look up to, like leaders, heroes, and government figures. Social proof is another, where people follow what others in the same group are doing or thinking. Liking is when people easily get persuaded if they see things attractive to them or are to their advantage.
Scarcity is when people adhere to influence if it seems rare or unique. There is also reciprocation, in which individuals will allow themselves to be persuaded to return a favor or end suffering. Commitment and consistency is an honored agreement that may initially come with a motivator.
Persuasion in society acts in a way that lets individuals comply with the so-called standards of the group they belong to. They are more likely to be persuaded if they find benefits and improvement in their environment, which makes them feel useful and vital to their community. This greatly gives them a sense of security, decisiveness, and belongingness.
By: Michael Lee
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Filed under Self Improvement by on Nov 15th, 2010.
There is an overwhelming amount of research about food these days regarding what is good or not good for healthful living. It can be very confusing. It often takes the pleasure away from eating as one tries to remember all those numbers, weight, alkaline versus acidic, blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index etc. Parents often see these issues as their own issues and do not address the importance of food for their children. The latest studies reveal how many young people are over weight, obese or even suffering from diabetes. Others battle problems with anorexia or bulimia in an effort to keep up with modern trends in fashion and style. Conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have their own associated dietary problems.
Historically, people grew their own vegetables and raised their own animals; they traded with each other for things they needed. The foods were natural, unprocessed, and organic (and contained no sugar except for the occasional bit of honey or maple syrup). Our ancestors ate foods that grew in their native environment, and they ate seasonal foods. Many of our ancestors ate unpasteurized dairy products and fermented foods. They ate a significant portion of their food raw.
Of course with the inventions of radio and television and chemical preservatives, our entire system and style of eating changed. We are influenced by colourful, clever advertising both in stores and at restaurants. Very often our children are drawn to the colour and imagination of publicity artists who work for a
Filed under Health And Fitness by on Nov 15th, 2010.
Imagine a world where all people are similar in looks and thoughts. Such a world would have been extremely dull and boring place not worth living. There would be no conflict but also no new ideas and challenges. No fun in meeting different people as everyone would be same. Someone has rightly said “If two people are identical, one of them is redundant”.
It is by not a chance but by design that Nature has made each one of us different so that no one is complete by itself but all individuals put together make the world a complete entity. Yet how many of us can appreciate the diversity of thoughts and actions. We almost invariably consider other people wrong, if his or her action or thoughts are different from us.
Three Natures of Man
Most religions presumed that all people have similar nature so there need to be only one path of salvation i.e. the unconditional devotion to God. While devotion is perhaps the easiest path to follow, yet it does not suit everyone. In the ancient philosophy of Gita, the most sacred book of Hinduism, Lord Krishna says that there are three paths of salvation. These three paths are the path of selfless action (Karma), acquisition of True knowledge (Gyana) and Unconditional Faith in God (Bhakti). He stated that people are born with different natures, and no single path is suitable for all people. Hence one must choose the path based on his nature rather than the follow the path of others.
The effect of the three natures of the mankind is visible not only in the context of religion but also in every other aspect of life as it is basic to the nature of man. In the modern secular world, where the religious books have been replaced by the legal books, States expect people to have blind faith in laws just like the Popes and the Priests expected their followers to have blind faith on religion.
Blind Enforcement of Laws
Laws are made to achieve an end. People are punished for the criminal acts as these acts are against the interest of the society. Thus any law seeks to balance the welfare of the individual with the welfare of the society. Yet for some people, the enforcement of law become an end in itself. Some people have so much faith in the written laws that they can do anything for upholding the law without knowing the purpose of the law. This can be narrated by the help of a small story.
One officer was posted outside a temple to ensure that no person enters the temple with shoes. The temple had a law that was inscribed on the entrance of the temple gate.
Remove your shoes before entering in the temple.
The officer religiously followed the law and ensured that everyone removed his shoes before entering the temple. One person was coming barefooted from home He tried to enter the temple.
The officer stopped the man as said, “You can’t enter in the temple. You have to remove your shoes before entering the temple”.
The man said, “But can’t you see that I am not wearing any shoes?”
“I am sorry Sir. Rule is a rule. There is no such exception in rule. If you wish to enter in the temple, then go to your home, wear the shoes and remove it here before me. Only then I can allow you entry in the temple.”
One Law: Different Views
Due to the inherent nature of the man and his state, the perspective of each person is different for the law. If we fail to understand these different perspectives of people, we may misunderstand the people and may develop a negative opinion about the humanity.
The first category of people is the masses that follow the law of the land religiously. The faith of people in laws is the most necessary requirement for the existence of any society . If the people lose faith is laws, it is likely to create anarchy in the society and weaken the society. Faith in law suits most people as they don’t have to apply their mind to find out the reasons or justification of the law. They just follow the law as they believe he laws to be sacrosanct. They have high moral quotient because the follow all the moral laws of the society too. They have the strongest soul but weakest mind.
Yet all people can never have faith in laws. You need some people who enforce the laws for the larger interest of society. This need is fulfilled by the people of second type i.e. the people having nature of “karma”. They enforce the existing laws to make the society better by bringing order in the society. Such people enforce the law with best of his ability without any selfish motive as they believe that the performance of ones duty is the greatest service of State. They are the patriot of their country and heroes of the masses.
If we have only two types of people, then the world would have order but no progress as the society will soon reach to the state of static equilibrium. Thankfully, nature has preferred variety to uniformity. Thus there are some people, who seem to defy all conventional wisdom and seek True Knowledge themselves. Einstein echoed the thoughts of such people when he said “I just want to know the thoughts of God. The rest are details.” They simply can’t follow any law or rules. They question every law and try to know the divine law or the True Knowledge. They are the rarest people and falls in the third category.
They face highest opposition from the society as they are very small in numbers but they have virtually everyone else against them. They are quickly branded as criminals by some and heroes by others. Yet as the time changes, their branding also changes. People like Stalin, Mao, ****** and Mussolini were the biggest heroes of their time. Yet after they died, they became the biggest villain in the world. People like Christ or Gandhi were treated as criminals and punished repeatedly in their lifetime. Yet they became National or even International Heroes subsequently. In every society and every era, there are some people who are born to defy the law and rules only to discover newer laws which are more suitable for the man.
Science is No Exception
What is true for religion and statutes (State made laws) is also true for very walk of life. Science is no exception. Most people have blind faith on the “laws of science”. They **** anyone who challenges these laws as if these laws had been created by God. There are other scientists who use these laws to solve the problems of man. They are the people of Karma. Finally there are scientists, who seek to know the True Knowledge. They challenge every laws of science and make new laws of nature. You can find these three types of people in every profession and every walk of life. Just think over it and try to view the world from this perspective.
By: Awdhesh K Singh
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Filed under Society by on Nov 15th, 2010.
Learning how to control reactions to negative situations, emotions and people, eliminating stress and worry factors, making positive change a constant are all parts of building a strong sense of self-identity that can be achieved through various proven techniques, reveal experts.
Sociologist to psychologists studying the phenomenon of self in society have come up with various tips for improving self-identity in society for individuals that find it hard to manage their reactions to situations and people and are continually bemused about their state in the society. They advise learning skills that can positive influence their decision making, including life-style choices that make or break them, by learning to detect bad choices early in life and avoid these consciously.
This is only possible through a series of proven techniques, such as self-talk, insightful contemplation, practiced meditation (Reiki, yoga, etc.) that help the individual achieve a level of higher consciousness that reveals to them how to make good decisions to perform their daily tasks.
As a thinking member of a developing and living society, you first need to understand why you will need to exercise these new skills before you learn ways to pick them up or incorporate them into your daily routine: it is because you need to modify the way you think, feel and act and bring to life the best in you.
In order to realize what you aspire to be i.e. the real and best you, you need to find options and right guidance to motivate and support you in your search to your true, highest self that will also benefit the society you live in. For example, one method of self-development and improving self-identity is by working on the factor of isolation of problems. This does not mean to suppress problems, but to pinpoint issues or causes for the problem and work to find the answers to addressing the specific issues. This helps bring about right solutions through correct concentration through the powers of positive thinking and accurate judgment.
Thinking positive and learning new management skills can be achieved through the above mentioned ways besides also reading up on the other available natural resources that can help us to take charge of our lives again; in this way, we can find the true, inner self again and control negative thinking to ensure positive change. We need to remember that life is too short for too many recriminations and we need to be our own best friend in order to develop the good in us, so pick and apply the power of positive thinking through self-management techniques – and we can surely have a better quality of life, today and always! Start today – for a happier tomorrow!
By: Abhishek Agarwal
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Filed under Self Improvement by on Nov 14th, 2010.
The Negative Effects of Pornography on Women and Society.
One person’s pornography is another person’s “Great picture”.
Someone once said “pornography is difficult to define, but you know it if you see it and that is the premise on which this article will be based.
Pornography is a world wide, multi billion pound industry, and is generated in many media, mainly visual. It is clear therefore that there is a public demand for pornography, but we need to ask ourselves why.
Pornography based on sexually stimulating pictures of women – in this paper I will not deal with the issue of ‘male’ pornography – exists only because the primary sexual stimulus of the male is visual. Men are, of course, capable of responding to other sexual stimuli, but in the vast, overwhelming majority of cases, the primarily preferred stimulus is visual.
Society has, for its own purposes, developed for the most part along monogamous lines, and men are expected to have one sexual partner more or less for life. Males are not biological programmed to live this way, and are naturally polygamous. The innate urge to procreate demands (on the most basic level) that the available seed should be shared amongst the largest possible number of fertile partners, and for this reason, males are designed to respond quickly to visual sexual stimulus.
Here we have the reason for the existence pornography – it meets a biological need that society would prefer to deny.
To gauge the scale of the industry, there are about 244 million pornographic Internet pages based in the US alone, some 89% of the world total.
The effect pornography has on women caught up in the industry are many.
Women who enter the industry usually do so through economic necessity.
For the most part, the simply have no other way of earning their living, apart from selling their bodies in either an actual or virtual way.
It is a commonplace that people who are economically vulnerable are vulnerable in many other areas too and are easily exploited, especially in an industry which is frowned on by society, and which might also be also illegal.
One of the issues associated with pornography is that it is alleged to affect the male pornography user by decreasing is empathy with women, and engendering a callous attitude to women in general. According to Zillmann and Weaver “Men tend to respond to women witnessed in pornographic portrayals with disrespect. These women are naughty; they are bitches and ****** and deserve what is coming to them” (Zillmann and Weaver)
The word used to describe women in the foregoing paragraph are the common currency of Internet pornography sites, and they encourage a view in a primarily young male audience that women are valueless and can be treated in any way a man may wish.
This attitude shift has had tragic results. Studies have shown that the callousness engendered by pornography progress to physical harm. The Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography has concluded that there is a causal relationship between exposure to many forms of pornography and several antisocial effects, including increased levels of violence against women. (Linz, Donnerstein, Penrod, 1987).
The pornography industry also has a more direct effect on its female participants. **** film directors seem to believe that safe *** is boring *** – and therefore there is a strong resistance in the industry to the use of condoms. As a result thousands of actors and actresses are exposed to a variety of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, including HIV/AIDS on a regular basis. One actress says “”As I continued to do ******** porn, I started catching STDs all the time. My lower body hurt so badly and at times my private area felt like it was a blazing fire. I could no longer work because I caught so many STDs and infections. I believe that if condoms had been allowed to be used in my own films, I would not have suffered so many physical ailments and infections.” (Avanti M. quoted on AIDS Healthcare Foundation)
Actors and actresses in the pornography industry anecdotally have a high incidence of drug abuse, and as in other areas of society, this leads to dependency, and an ever greater need for drugs, in a vicious spiral of deeper involvement. There is some evidence to suggest that drug use can become so high that earnings from the pornography industry are insufficient to sustain the purchase of drugs, and that as a result, some women are forced to turn to prostitution.
According to The Task Force on Organized Crime found a tripartite link between prostitution, pornography and substance abuse. “The young actors… often perform for drugs rather than money, then are forced into prostitution to finance drug habits.”
(Flowers, R.B, 1998)
The effect on pornography on its consumers is an issue which is receiving increasing attention. Overwhelmingly, consumers of pornography are male, and most of those are in the younger age groups.
The results of one Danish study of a group of 200 Danish students suggested that “The results suggest that, for the average consumer of popular ******** pornography aged 18-30, commonly-feared adverse effects of pornography are non-existent or, at worst, minimal. However, exposure to different kinds of pornography might yield different results.” ((Hald, GMM, 2006)
It would appear to be dangerous to accept this study, as it directly contradicts the perceived wisdom that **** consumers are negatively affected by their habit.
Paul reports that: “men who were shown pornographic films for 90 minutes a day, five days a week, experienced less sexual arousal and interest in similar materials with the passage of time. What initially thrills eventually titillates, what excites eventually pleases, what pleases eventually satisfies. And satisfaction sooner or later yields to boredom. (Paul 1983)
Porn consumers therefore experience a system of diminishing returns, in which more and more stimulation is required to achieve the desired results. Extrapolating from this, it would seem likely that these men would demand more and more extreme acts from their sexual partners, and be increasingly less empathetic with women.
The use of pornography is generally agreed to be addictive, and it has been demonstrated that long term users of pornography begin to prefer ************ to a sexually appropriate response to a live person.
This is a premier cause of the disruption that pornography can cause to male/female relationships. Men can become effectively sexually dysfunctional, leading to serious – and sometimes terminal relationship problems.
A further common issue is that of men being ‘caught’ using pornographic material by their partners. For some people this may not be a problem, but for many women, it is seen as a very serious betrayal. The difficulty here is that commonly, the woman sees the man’s use of pornography as a rejection of her, and because of the innate differences between male and female response to visual stimulus, can not comprehend the common male belief that looking at pornography is harmless.
In a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two-thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said that internet **** contributed to more than half of the divorce cases they handled. They also said that pornography had an almost non-existent role in divorce just seven or eight years ago. (Kearney J., 2005)
Pornography clearly causes harm to those who work in the industry, to its users, and to their families. However, it is not going to fo away any time soon!
Sources.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Flowers, RB., “The Prostitution of Women and Girls”. MacFarland and Company, North Carolina 1998, 119.
Hald GMM. “The Effects of Exposure to Pornography: An Empirical Contribution to the **** Debate”. Journal of *** Research.
Kearney J.
Linz, Daniel; Donnerstein, Edward; Penrod, Steven “The Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography: Do the psychological “facts” fit the political fury?”
American Psychologist. Vol 42(10), Oct 1987, 946-953.
Paul, P., Pornified: “How Pornography is Damaging Our Lives” (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2005), 83.
Zillmann D. and Weaver J, “Pornography and Mens Social Callousness to Women, 110
By: Norman Munro
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Filed under Society by on Nov 14th, 2010.
There are various types of gadgets on the market today and they can come in many forms and many shapes and sizes. A lot of these gadgets can be interesting and very useful; however there are also a number of them that are just plain useless and a waste of money.
Gadgets are mainly focused towards the 16 – 25 year old age bracket but a lot of people out of this range also enjoy them. One of the main gadgets in today’s society is a mobile phone and since being introduced to us they have grown from strength to strength becoming more technical and more inspiring each year. Let’s face it, where would we all be without a mobile phone today? Those that have brought one have become hooked and now literally couldn’t live without one, but what makes them so popular? Is it the fact that you can take them anywhere and everywhere with you? Is it due to the feature of texting so you can quickly message someone and get a reply without actually calling them all the while? Or is it the features such as an inbuilt camera, mp3 player and games that attract people to this device? Well the truth is everything about a mobile phone attracts people to them, they have completely revolutionised the world and made things a lot easier to do.
Mobile phones also have a large market in accessories made for them; this can be simply a mobile phone protective case or full speaker systems that you can connect to them. So if you are stuck for ideas this Christmas time then browse around some online shops and find yourself some great new gadgets for friends and family.
By: Teresa Dandy
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Filed under Communications by on Nov 14th, 2010.
Have you ever stopped to differentiate between the beliefs you want to have about your life’s direction versus the beliefs you inherit from old habits and from society? Are the expectations of your family, religion, and culture congruent with who you strive to be?
What Exactly Do You Believe?
The beliefs we have about ourselves, about what we should have accomplished, about how we should behave, about what a mother, family, or wife is determine whether we are satisfied with ourselves and ultimately whether we love and accept ourselves. Many women feel frustration and even self-hatred or at least disappointment surrounding their roles as wives, lovers, career women, and mothers. They hold themselves to standards that are based on rules. These rules are based on beliefs about what a woman is.
Women do have a quest at this time in our culture. It is the quest to fully embrace their feminine nature, learning how to value themselves as women and heal the deep wound of the feminine.[i]
What is the deep wound of the feminine? For at least over 4500 years, women, most particularly, woman’s sexuality, has been the domain of the men in their lives; whether it be fathers, brothers, husbands, lovers, or even judges. I am not launching a feminist tirade, but it is critical to acknowledge where we’ve come from and what the past was like for women who came before us.
Each individual is birthed from the societal stew yet our lives are our own expression and responsibility. Part of being an adult is to learn how to stop blaming others and start manifesting ourselves, but this may be hard to do unless we carefully examine what we believe, where we came from, and how these two things relate to each other.
I use the illustration of the stew because a stew has distinct ingredients yet they all influence each other either through dominating flavoring or in more subtle ways. All the ingredients take up the properties of everything that is in the stew. The properties from our societal stew linger in our minds acting like silent partners – governing our lives (our subconscious mind).
Can you name something you did in the last week but now you have no idea why you did it?
Or did you do something you swore you wouldn’t do, but did?
When we take action and make decisions that later baffle us, it is often our silent partner who made the decision for us. Our silent partner believed it was acting in our best interests. It acted for our own survival, to avoid a more painful outcome, or to support subtle – yet critical beliefs we hold. Our silent partner is running around, behind our backs, shaping our lives into something that we later say, “This isn’t how I thought my life would be.”
Name three subtle beliefs you have.
Are some similar to these?
Filed under Womens Interests by on Nov 14th, 2010.
With developments in science and technology being made everyday, it is only natural to address how these developments affect society, their good and their evil. Most of the time society has the biggest say in any scientific or technological advancement. It holds the final answer in deciding whether a developed technology is beneficial or it can be done without. But before addressing this let us first examine the central question; why study science and technology?
Since the dawn of formal learning, the goal has been to make technological advancements and generally improve life. That is where modern science came in. Inquiries into life have given forth physics astronomy and life sciences. Science is a field that grows relatively everyday and there is always an area that demands scientific intervention. And that is where the technology comes in. It is developed to ease the process of investigation and the final result is something that improves the quality of living or a discovery is made. The role science and technology has played in the field of medicine cannot be understated and the breakthroughs that have been made have been astonishing. In all other areas of life, from e-learning to e-shopping to space travel, it has been credited to continued use of science. However in all these attempts to improve human life, their effects on society and the individual must be better understood by non-technical professionals and ordinary citizens as well as by engineers and scientists. So why study science and technology?
Boundaries have to be set on what is right and what is downright wrong. This is where activists come in and defend the use of animals in research. If society is not to be inquired in this kind of undertaking, a point maybe reached where humans would be the subjects of research especially in the field of medicine. Because of issues of morality and professional ethics lawyers, public officials, civil servants, and business people are increasingly called upon to make decisions requiring a basic understanding of science and technology and their ethical, social, and environmental consequences. Ordinary citizens, moreover, are being asked with increasing frequency to pass judgment on controversial matters of public policy related to science and technology. These circumstances require education befitting the complex sociotechnical character of the contemporary era.
The study of science technology and society has helped map out guidelines for professional boundaries. This study acts as a reference point for most scientists on what is ethically or morally wrong and what is allowed. In medicine especially, the role is most essential and unnecessary dilemmas in some medical cases for instance, use of life support for terminally ill patients are avoided. This study gives rise to a new group of professionals known as interdisciplinarians who study the short and long term effects of science and technology from a community to a global level. Why study science technology and society? To find common ground in addressing all scientific and cultural issues.
By: Danish Muzaffar
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Filed under Computers And Technology by on Nov 14th, 2010.