Theories of Truth

Correspondence- truth corresponds to facts in the world

Coherence- truth=something that fits in with our belief system

Pragmatic- truth is whatever has more value

5 Traditional Answers to the mind body promblem

1. Descartes- Mind and body interact but how?

2. Leibniz- [I have to pee] & [peeing] are connected

3. No mental events. It is all chemistry

4. Everything is in our mind

5. Spinoza- there is no difference. We are all god. My thoughts are godly tentacles, that chair is godly, etc.

3 Modern Answers to mind and body

1. Behaviorism- all thoughts are behavior. Everything is instinctual. Thoughts are byproducts of animal behavior.

2. Identity Theory- Everything is chemical. H2O=Water. Everything has an identity. Oh im sad=I have a 2.123 in the A483 part of my brain.

3. Functionalism-

Determinism-Everything has a cause if everything has a cause then no event is caused by free will (it’s caused by the cause)

The United States had embarked on a policy of outsourcing, more so during the tenure of the past President George W. Bush. During his term in the White House, Bush had embarked on outsourcing many jobs which were proving expensive or difficult to execute at home. Outsourcing never seems to catch the public eye till such time when unemployment figures start taking the up trend. This is the time when a debate on outsourcing opens out with the very concept being termed as the ‘bad boy’ responsible for all social ills. But what exactly is outsourcing?

A simple definition would be contracting a work to an external source, both the contractor and the contracted source entering into a mutual agreement on work execution. Outsourcing is usually not work getting transferred from one local company to another. Such a situation is common to almost all places, where companies give out some work to other companies to finish the project. This is business terminology is known as sub-contracting which is a commonly used practice everywhere. Outsourcing in the context where it assumes global importance is the shifting of jobs from one country to another, principally with the motive of cutting down on cost of operations. Companies who outsource try to take advantage of the wage differential.

The reasons for outsourcing could be many. The first and foremost is with respect to cost savings in the salary structures that exist between the developed and developing economies. A company can stand to gain a lot is many of it’s operations can be outsourced keeping the quality intact. This concept allows for companies to focus on their core business and often improve on quality. Improvement on quality of services obtained by way of outsourcing stems from the contracts that are drawn up between the two companies. While outsourcing, the local company can draw up contracts emphasizing quality control which may not have been included in the contract the company had signed with local employees. Moreover the contract also defines a proper time frame for the conclusion of the work. Let us amplify this with the help of an example.

A company in the US, say X employs about 500 staff and division M has 50 staff who are in the IT section. Company X is financially in the red and toys with the idea of outsourcing. Since outsourcing production will be time engaging, company X decides to outsource work relating to division M. The company retrenches 25 staff from this division and out sources the work to a company Y in India. The contract is drawn out carefully. Company Y executes the work efficiently and according to the time frame. The 25 persons of division M who are retained execute their work and also look into the work that flows in from company Y. Company X slowly turns the corner. This is what has been seen in many companies from developed countries who have outsourced part of their operations to other destinations overseas. This becomes a win-win situation for both company X and Y.

All outsourcing companies may always not end up having the result that has been highlighted in the example above. Companies have to seriously look into the operations that really need to go abroad and the financial implications it will have on the company’s health. Outsourcing a part of the operations which benefits the local company is often good. In this process though some jobs are lost, the company does not need to close shop. Often it is seen that these companies rebound over time to greater fiscal stability. The US policy on outsourcing has seen dramatic changes with the change in Government.  Outsourcing policies must become more pragmatic and not be ones playing up to galleries.

As previously mentioned, God (the Judeo-Christian one) is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and he did create the universe. Some people posit that God lives in a dimension or universe separate from ours. Whether or not God has emotions is something religious believers sometimes argue over. In any case, in both the Old and New Testament, God does at times get angry and he does at times become happy. Religious people usually believe that God is knowable only to a certain extent. We can know and understand certain aspects about God, though religious folks usually don’t believe that we can know or understand him completely. And, since God is omnipotent, he should have the ability to take over the human form. There is nothing contradictory about that.

Why don’t I believe in God? Well, I am very pragmatic and skeptical to begin with. Being an ex-Christian, I am at least decently versed in the Bible and I have read it through entirely (though I may not remember everything). I have noticed that the more I read the Bible, the less I believe in it. To someone as skeptical as myself, the Bible has too many loopholes for me to believe. Certain instances are outright impossible and there are many contradictions. For example, Exodus 15:3 says God is a man of war. Romans 15:33 says God is peace. What? Not only that, but Exodus 35:2 says that if you work on Sabbath day, you will be put to death. The entire chapter of Leviticus 20 has numerous reasons why people should be put to death, including adultery and homosexuality. But, one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not kill”. So, apparently, putting people to death for adultery and working on the Sabbath does not qualify as murder, at least according to the Bible. 

There are passages of the Bible that mention the earth being immovable, which we know today is not true. Certain passages also suggest a geocentric model of the universe. There’s the story of Noah, which seems just outright impossible from a modern perspective. And then, there’s the theory of evolution, which seems to suggest that the beginning parts of Genesis are wrong. There are certain Christian denominations that believe that evolution is perfectly compatible with the Bible and that the story of Adam and Eve may well be a metaphor for the creation of life; the most prominent of these denominations is Catholicism. But, then again, where in the Bible is it suggested that it’s a metaphor? Where does the metaphor start and where does it end? 

So, as you can see, I am very skeptical and I think that the Bible is wrong about a lot of things, so it may well be wrong about God. Although showing the inconsistencies in the text does not prove that God does not exist, it does question his existence and provide evidence for his inexistence.

But then, there are many gods out there so if the Christian God does not exist, it may be that Vishnu or Shiva or Zeus does. True, there are many religions and many gods, but no single religion seems to be making any headway against the others. All the religions that I know of seem to have its equal amount of flaws. There are many religions out there and certain religions are mutually exclusive. They can’t all be right, but they can all be wrong. Not only that, but I do not have the time to individually consider every single deity out there. There is one thing all deities have and that is their supernatural quality. I focus on the Judeo-Christian God because that is the one I am most familiar with and because it is probably the most well known in the Western world. In any case, this supernatural quality is completely unfounded by evidence and contradicts much of what we know about the world.

But, suppose that there is no evidence supporting or negating the existence of deities. Even so, I would not be a theist. I wouldn’t go around assuming the existence of something just because it is possible that it exists. Why would I go around believing in a tiny celestial teapot just because there isn’t evidence negating its existence? The onus is on the theist, not the atheist. 

Flu
A word is shortened from its original form.

Acronym

Dinky- Duel income no kids.
The first letters of other words are used to create a new word.

Affixation

Unfriendly = un +friendly.
Prefixes and suffixes are added onto another word in order to make a new word.

Back formation

Edit .. from editor.
Word taken from another form of the word. Eg editor.

Blending

Brunch = breakfast + lunch.
Two words are merged together to create a new word.

Borrowing

Sushi = Japanese
A word taken from another country and accepted into our own language.

Compounding

Girlfriend = Girl + Friend
Two words are taken and added together directly.

Conversion

To refill. A refill.
When a word changes its word class.

Eponym

Leotard. Plimsoll.
Taken from the person’s name who invented the word.

Root Formation

Nerd.
Where the word is created based on the phonology of the word.

Semantic Change

Broadening

Butcher. This used to mean just the killing of cattle, now means the killing of any animal.
A word becomes more broad and can be used in a wider range of circumstances.

Narrowing

Meat. This used to mean all food. Now just means animal flesh.
A meaning becomes more narrow and can be used in less circumstances.

Amelioration

Sophisticated. This used to mean uptight and arrogant.
A word gains positive connotations.

Pejoration

Madam. This used to mean posh, whereas now it means a little moody.
A word gains negative connotations.

1. If the person is very pragmatic he may not want to travel to a place where there is really nothing to see or do. Many people usually want to have a clear agenda and just getting into a car and driving spontaneously is not what they like.
2. Some people do not like the idea of roughing it and that means going to a place that means they have to camp out, enjoy some natural beauty but also endure the black flies
3. There are people who like to stay where they have immigrated to and not travel back to their country of origin because it means reopening old wounds
4. There are people who would rather put their money on material needs that would make them live more comfortably and other don’t mind having a simply furnished living room and putting some money away for the chalet in the country
5. Many people are just too lazy to think of leaving a place that offers them so much material wealth and comfort. The thought of going to a country where they will have to think of contaminated drinking water and high crime rates turns them off.
6. Others do not travel for fear of being robbed or losing their belongings
7. There are those that do not want to travel alone especially if they lack a companion that has passed away with whom they shared moments traveling together. Others will turn over a new leaf and get out more.
8. Many do not like the idea of spending money away from home. I have heard the argument of people wanting to invest in their local tour trade instead of spending money on hotels out of town.
9. People with young families have to sacrifice some years of personal comfort to see that their kids are going to enjoy a better lifestyle than they had. This is often a shot in the dark as there will always be better moments.
10. Others do not like the idea of letting go of what they acquired and start over again in a strange country with a different language and customs