Category: Thought

Introduction

Recent research illustrating the importance of play in the development of children has mainly focused on individual cases in home settings. For this task however, it was more practical to lay emphasis on a day-care environment since with social changes occurring recently, a majority of children growing up have to go through the hands of either a child minder or a day care facility. This project was carried out to illustrate the importance of family participation in the proper upbringing of children as well as the importance of team work between child minders and children in an effort to ensure definite cognitive development. This study also chose practical evidence in its argument on heuristic play rather than focusing on already documented theoretic evidence as regards the aspect of play. The task was carried out to explore the fundamental continuity of effective play in early years’ pedagogy and how this aspect could be incorporated into the practice. Consequently, with all the illustrations that were drawn in this task, the end goal was to ascertain changes in the way things are done in facilities handling children who fall under the early years foundation stage (EYFS) that ranges between 0 to 8 years. This report seeks to illustrate the method that was used to obtain empirical evidence, the deductions that were made from this evidence as well as give recommendations in regard to what could be done to make the practice even more effective and more professional. It should be worth noting that as much as this project was meant to prove some facts, the participants involved were real people from real communities and once the observational part was over, the positive changes were maintained within the facilities. This was not a trial and error undertaking but rather an implementation of facts that have been well researched and documented in earlier years.

Methodology

In order to come up with a workable research process, several questions had to be formulated that served as a guide for the task. These questions were:

1. What role do parents and other guardians, particularly family members, play in the cognitive development of children in the EYFS?
2. How do children in the EYFS respond to heuristic play as compared to playing with manufactured plastic toys?
3. How much background knowledge do child minders have as far as the Elinor Goldschied’s philosophy of playing with objects made of natural materials is concerned and how does the aspect of team work play into the practicality of this knowledge?

Three case study settings were chosen based on the different age groups in a child- minder facility. Separate classes of children ages 0-20 months, 16-36 months and 30-60 months were established and regarded as observation centers. A documentation of the children’s response to various aspects of heuristic play was then made.

Scenario 1: Communicating and working with families

The ages 0-20 months set was designed in such a way that it allowed for the parents and minders to play with the children in an all-natural environment. All plastic toys were discarded and replaced with toys made of wood and other natural materials. Bumbo chairs were also kept out of the play room in order to encourage the parents and the children to play on the floor; a practice that has been shown by research to auger well with children’s physical and neurological development. The toddlers together with their parents/guardians were even encouraged to venture outwards as this was an opportune way to make the babies experience the world using all their senses. From the task, it was evident how effective this setup was as the younger babies enjoyed the freedom to move when they were placed on their tummies and backs. The older and more mobile children as well had a lot of fun playing with the heuristic objects that they had been provided with. The parents were impressed with the progress their children were making, though some slight concern was raised about the children getting injured while playing outside. It was resolved that protective clothing be introduced for this part of play. This part of the task also served to dispel the myth that attending stay and play sessions was a daunting experience to the parents. By giving additional support to those parents that needed it and setting up activities that actively involved the adults, it was easier to get parents to be more comfortable, consequently carrying home more desired skills.

Scenario 2: Effective practice

The 16-36 months was a play room containing toys made of only natural material. These were toys that the children did not access to on a regular basis. The children were introduced to the room and guided on the new playing routine. The ultimate aim was for the children to make independent decisions as regards to what to do with toys. The adults played an observational role and were discouraged from guiding the children in the activity. As it turned out, the children were initially naturally apprehensive to the idea, however after the first introductory session; they became more at ease and had fun playing with the new heuristic toys that had been provided. This part of the task was so successful that in subsequent sessions the children became more confident when introduced into a new room and almost immediately took to exploring the new objects that had been set up. As a result, the status of heuristic play as an important aspect of a child’s development was clearly defined.

Scenario 3: Teamwork and collaboration

The 30-60 months play area contained more mature toys, including a sand and water play area outdoors and a construction area and book corner indoors. The heuristic theme was still maintained. The children were observed as they made decisions on what to do with the items placed before them. Under the lead of one of the children they decided to play a cooking game. This observation was noted and in the next session, the children listened to a story that followed a food and cooking theme. The story session proved to be very effective as one of the children went ahead to re-enact a scene from the story. Later, the adults and the children made a fruit salad together. It was interesting to see the active role the children took in the task. The results were so impressive that even the child-minders noted a remarkable development in the level of participation of the children. The cognitive impact of this aspect of pedagogy was also immediately seen, with one of the children using a word that served as an example for the others to learn from.

Findings

Setting 1: ages 0-20months

Once heuristic play was introduced, the level of interaction between parents/minders and children increased impressively. This parent to child attachment has been linked by scholars such as Judy Dunn (1988; 1993; 1999) to emotional and cognitive development. The children’s awareness of their surrounding also rose significantly with some of them being attracted to playing outside an action that followed the maturational models of cognitive development that were popular in the 1970s such as the information processing approaches (Keogh and Sugden 1985; Hay 1979; Schmidt 1975). The parents also welcomed the idea of keeping the children busy with toys made from everyday natural materials and conceptualizing new play ideas that kept the children physically active.

Setting 2: ages 16-36months

The fact that learning is a cognitive developmental process that happens when a child is fully encouraged to participate in a certain activity was clearly evident in this setting. Children in this particular case were drawn to the activity once it was initiated by the adult. The cognitive construction in this case was reinforced by the facilitators’ verbal communication and encouragement; an element of sustained shared thinking. One of the major critical findings this analysis arrived at was that child-minding facilitators need to have some level of background knowledge as far as the Goldscheid’s model of heuristic play is concerned; knowledge which they could combine with their hands on experience to achieve even better results as far as the cognitive development of children is concerned.

Setting 3: ages 30-60months

The third setting mainly served an educational role to the child minders and the facilitators. To this end, the primary objective was to illustrate that tapping into the children’s interests (when applying the six basic educational strategies identified in the EYFS framework) would develop more positive results. This is more of a connectionist approach whereby children are able to utilize associations and skills acquired in one task in performing another related but different activity. As an upshot, the children end up being well knowledgeable without as much of a struggle (Bereiter 1991). The major discovery from this task was that a majority of individuals dealing with children in most day care facilities would like to see positive changes in the way they offer service and they are ready to welcome hitherto untried strategies to this respect.

From all the three setups, a variety of lessons were learnt by the researcher. These were mainly personal discoveries but could still apply to any individual working the same practice. First, the researcher was able to develop an understanding of how babies communicate during the EYFS. This was a lesson learnt by the constant interaction with the children. The researcher also learnt not to take for granted the fact that not all practitioners have the necessary background knowledge when initiating a new strategy or policy and as such realized the importance of first getting other participants to be interested in your vision by running them through a brief background. From the second part of the task, the researcher also learnt the importance of team work in whatever activity one was taking part in. This was occasioned by the response received from the team which comprised individuals who had no prior encounter with the heuristic model but were eager to share their knowledge and understanding of children garnered from years of experience. While working with the practitioners, the researcher realized the importance of coming up with ways that would make the said practitioners more at ease and help them overcome anxiety when faced with a situation that demanded change in how things were done. In the same way, working with children in a variety ages, the researcher learnt to devise approaches that would adequately cater for all the children that were involved. Still on this point, the researcher discovered the significance of the role that practitioners play as far as guiding children whenever they experience difficulties was concerned. The parents had to be modeled to new concepts of child play and though initially most were not very enthusiastic, the researcher’s persistence eventually bore fruit. The researcher learnt the importance of carrying out regular analysis of the effectiveness of an idea and making the necessary changes. Flexibility was the key word when it came to dealing with parents and their children. Finally the writer also learnt the importance of carrying out a full risk assessment of the environment and resources when trying out new ideas. This would later come in handy in ensuring success of the task.

Recommendations

Children in the EYFS should be encouraged to take part in activities that contribute effectively to their cognitive development. Models that are dynamic and ecological in nature such as the heuristic model which seeks to help children relate internal body mechanics to environmental requirements are even more desired. (Clark and Phillips 1993). It has been illustrated in previous research, and more precisely by the maturational models proposed by Shirley (1931), Gesell (1945; 1988) and McGraw (1963), that children’s motor development can only occur properly if and only if dynamism of physical activity is encouraged and maintained. With games that can be developed to ensure more physical activity (such as the treasure basket), the children will mature into functional adults capable of making independent decisions.

It is recommended that child-minders undergo some level of training in order to acquire background knowledge as far as concepts that can be applied in order to establish desired cognitive development in the children is concerned. This is an idea that is supported by the findings of a 1970s project reported in Hutt et al (1989), revealing that minders working alongside teachers normally used approaches aimed at developing the children’s cognitive abilities; strategies that those working without teachers in their teams did not apply. The aspect of team-work holds substantial weight in encouraging the way in which children pick up skills applied in one task and using them meaningfully in other activities.

Parents should be encouraged to appreciate the impacts of professional influence on their children’s development. Many a times, parents and more-so first time parents would rather apply trial and error techniques as far as their children’s early education is concerned. This is especially so because of the worry that the influence of outsiders may impact negatively on children in EYFS. In the same way, whenever parents have to leave their children under the care of minders or day care facilities, very little consideration is made of the level of academic training that the facilitators have gone through. Research has actually shown that children who are exposed to minders with graduate qualifications have been found to develop better cognitively than children who are brought up exclusively under the care of people without such academic knowledge (Shorrocks et al 1992, Jowett and Sylva 1986).

Parents should also know that their interaction has a well defined impact on the development of their children. The way that parents talk to their children should be in a way that encourages them to actively respond to the event they are being called to. (Hughes and Westgate 1998). Three structural aspects play a crucial role in the way children in EYFS advance cognitively; these are, the quality of the time spent interacting with adults and their peers, the nature of the different tasks that they are involved in and the layout of the learning environment (Sylva et al 1980). Whenever possible parents should spare time to bond with their children either at home or in play groups. These stay and play sessions play a distinct role as far as personal growth of the parents is concerned. This comes from the sharing of parenting ideas and experiences occasioned by interaction with fellow parents.

Frameworks should be established that facilitate meaningful play in the already established child care facilities. This can be achieved through adoption of already proven-to-work models in the implementation of strategies. Some of these models include Athey’s (1990) work on schemas as well as Goldschmied and Jackson’s (1994) work on heuristic play. Goldshmied’s work on play has served as the major guiding principle of this report. Researchers should constantly try out new ideas and work on concepts that would help in effectively raising the children of this 21^st century.

Conclusion

The task proved very effective in fulfilling the goals that it set out to elaborate on. There was a consented and collaborative effort from all parties involved, that is, parents, child minders and the facility owners. From the first part of the task, the importance of parent-child relation was well illustrated and the recommendations made were that more of the stay and play sessions be encouraged especially for children in the EYFS age 0-20 months. The cognitive benefits associated with allowing children to get in contact with their natural surroundings could not be understated. The second part of the project sought to encourage the importance of providing children with play options that are all heuristic. Children were able to come up with quality play ideas all on their own using only the few toys which they were offered comprising of everyday household things. This aspect of the task linked into the function of effective practice by concluding that, it is not the type of toy that matters but rather the purpose for which the toy is used. The final part of the project set out to explain to the facilitators the importance of team work. It was shown that for effectiveness in raising children while ensuring that they develop into functional individuals an understanding of their inherent interests was key. It was clear that children are more responsive to activities that are related to tasks which they have previously initiated. With the effectiveness of concepts developed by practitioners in this field being proven, word will definitely go round and with time parents will be more comfortable in letting their parenting approaches be guided by professionals.

Reference List

Athey, C. (1990) Extending Thought in Young Children London: Paul Chapman.

Bereiter, C. (1991) Implications of connectionism for thinking about rules. Educational Researcher 20: 10-16.

Clark J.E., and Phillips S.J. (1993) A longitudinal study of intralimb coordination in the first year of independent walking: A dynamical systems analysis. Child Development, 64: 1143-1157.

Dunn, J. (1988) The Beginnings of Social Understanding Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Dunn, J. (1993) Young Children’s Close Reltionships: Beyond Attachment. Newbury Park California: Sage.

Dunn, J. (1999) Mindreading and social relationships. In M.Bennett (ed) Developmental Psychology: Achievements and Prospects London: Taylor and Francis 51-71.

Gessell, A. (1988) The Embriology of Behavior. New York: Harper Brothers. Reissued 1988. London: Mac Keith. (Original work published 1945).

Goldschmied, E. and Jackson, S. (1994) People Under Three. London: Routledge.

Hay, L. (1979) Spatial temporal analysis of movements in children: Motor programmes versus feedback in the development of reaching. Journal of Motor Behavior, 11: 189-200.

Hughes, M and Westgate, D. (1998) Teachers and other adults as task partners for pupils in nursery and reception classes. In M. Woodhead, D. Faulkner and R.

Litterton (eds) Cultural Works of Early Childhood Education. London: Routledge.

Hutt, S.J., Tyler,S., Hutt, C., and Christopherson, H. (1989) Play, Exploration and Learning: A Natural History of The Preschool. London: Routledge.

Jowett, S. and Sylva, K. (1986) Does the kind of preschool matter? Educational Research 28: 21-31.

Keogh, J.F., and Sugden, D.A. (1985) Movement Skill Development. New York: Macmillan.

McGraw, M.B. (1963) The Neuromuscular Maturation of the Human Infant. New York: Columbia University Press.

Schmidt, R.A. (1975) A schema theory of discrete motor skill learning. Psychological Review 82: 225-260.

Shirley, M.M. (1931) The First Two Years: a study of twenty-five babies. Vol.1: Postural and locomotor development.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Shorrocks, D., Daniels, S., Frobisher L., Nelson N., Waterson, A. and Bell, J (1992).

ENCA 1 project: The Evaluation of National Assessment at Key Stage 1. Leeds: School of Education University of Leeds.

World perception influencing thought process

Various ways through which individuals perceive the world around them do influence their thoughts. According to Weiten (2008), people perceive the world as either hostile or friendly and these perceptions are directly linked to the existing social situations, individual experiences, and social ethos. For instance, an individual who has ever and experienced family life that is normally quite often develops a positive sense of self.

They tend to understand that the world has its dangers and as a result, they are in a position to perceive the world’s opportunities and beauty and consequently think positively. However, individuals who live in a hostile environment that is characterized by erratic and dysfunctional behavior perceive the world as hostile and as a result, develop both negative thoughts and resistant patterns in their daily lives.

Moreover, social ethos and personal experiences play a great role in the development of either negative or positive thought processes. An individual’s ability to establish relationships is a key factor bearing in mind that thought processes form the driving force. Nonetheless, in cases where social ethos indicates a lack of compassion or civility in social relations, these thoughts or feelings of being rejected begins to show up as a result of actual suppression and authentic projection of one’s self.

On the other hand, the perception of being accepted by peers is directly related to existing freedom of expression and being accepted by other people. Therefore, if the perception of the world makes one think that winning is linked to financial achievements than character success, then individuals are likely to have precarious thoughts in achieving success.

Barriers to allocating attention and strategies to avoid distraction

Factors preventing allocating attention

There is a myriad of factors that prevent people from paying attention to the way they should. According to Weiten (2008), stress interferes with the attention span of an individual since it affects both the physical and mental well-being of a person. Stress results in anxiety, irritability in addition to impacting negatively on one’s ability to concentrate. Therefore, individuals who are inattentive due to stress should meditate, exercise, and breathe deeply. Additionally, they can seek professional medical help.

Attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) is one of the factors that prevent one from allocating attention the way they intend to. However, most adults and children are either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed and as a result, they end up losing attention in the middle of a task. Other symptoms of ADHD include distractibility and inability to perform certain simple tasks and therefore they develop poor memory and listening skills. Individuals who experience such symptoms should seek help from professionals who can diagnose ADHD. This will enable these professionals to establish the best strategy for curing these symptoms either through mediation or exercise.

Strategies for avoiding distractions

Lack of adequate sleep makes individuals develop fatigue and this results in an inability to pay attention to tasks. Therefore, an average adult should sleep for about 7 to 8 hours in order to be attentive and active during the day. Another helpful strategy is taking enough breaks in order to decongest the brain.

Attention as a limited resource

Attention is a limited resource bearing in mind that human beings are only in a position to attend to limited tasks at any given time. Therefore, for each additional task, attention tends to decrease. For instance, a person who is teaching while talking on the telephone reduces attention since he or she will divert concentration from one activity to both teachings and talking on the phone.

Reference

Weiten, W. (2008). Psychology: Themes & Variations. Belmont: Wadsworth.

Introduction

Critical thinking is reflective thinking regarding what one should believe or what one should do in a certain situation (Fisher, 1997). Elements of thoughts and intellectual standards are very vital parts of the critical thinking process and this essay will look at some of the elements of thoughts and intellectual standards in details.

Elements of thought

Elements of thought provide a framework that helps one to structure thoughts. In the critical thinking process there are some questions that one must ask themselves and these questions are the elements of thought. One of the most important elements of thought is information. For one to make a conclusion they must use certain information and that information is drawn from a certain experience. This means that the most important question that a critical thinker must ask themselves is the information they need to come up with a conclusion. The second element of thought that this paper is going to look at is inference. Inferences are also known as conclusions and they are reached after a critical interpretation of information which means that a critical thinker must ask themselves whether there is another way of interpreting the information. The third element of thought is implication and consequences. This element of thought considers the viewpoint of others. The main question asked in this element is what the thinker would be implying if their position is accepted by someone else. What would be the implication and consequence if their position is accepted by a third party (Dauer, 2007). After looking at three elements of thought, the paper will look at elements of intellectual standards.

Elements of intellectual standards

Elements of intellectual standards are standards that must be used in thinking whenever the quality of reasoning is the main focus during problem solving, speaking or even writing. One of the most important element of intellectual standards is clarity because it is a gateway standard. If a statement is not clear, it is hard to determine whether it is accurate and it is even harder to determine its relevance. Clarity helps speakers and writers to be more accurate and relevant and that is why it is one of the most important elements of intellectual standards. The second most important element of intellectual standards is accuracy. Not all statements that are clear can be said to be accurate. For a statement to be accurate, it must have precision meaning that the details in the statement must be specific. For example, if one is talking about someone who is overweight, they may express their statements clearly but fail to communicate the exact details due to lack of precision(Facione, 2007). The third element of intellectual standard is relevance. Any statement must be relevant meaning that it must address the issues and the questions at hand. Relevance and depth go hand in hand. Any answer to an issue is relevant if it addresses the complexities in those issues and questions. If the answer does not address the complicated bits in some of the issues and questions at hand, then it is not relevance.

Conclusion

All in all, elements of thought and elements of intellectual standards are very important aspects of critical thinking because they give a guide that critical thinkers use to solve problems and make conclusions. Without these elements, critical thinking would be a chaotic practice without any order.

References

Dauer, F. (2007). Critical thinking. London: Wadsworth.

Facione, P. (2007). The disposition towards critical thinking. Dubuque Iowa: Kendall publishing.

Fisher, A. (1997), Critical thinking: definition and Assessment. London: Edge press.

The Shafi’i school of thought is the second largest school of jurisprudence which is dominant in such countries as Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Kurdistan, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Maldives, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Indonesia and the North Caucasus (see fig. 1). It is also employed by communities in such countries as Iraq, India, Kuwait, South Africa, Cambodia, Thailand, Swahili Coast, Sri Lanka and some other parts of the world.

The major peculiarity of this school is that it is grounded on the Quran and the Sunnah (like of the schools of thought) but it also uses “one’s utmost rational intellect” (Shawamreh, 2012, p. 202). It is believed that if the solution is not explicitly found in the Quran or Sunnah, the person has to make a rational choice. Likewise, when praying, if the direction of the Ka’ba cannot be identified (the person is in a desert), the human can use signs (the stars, the rivers and so on) given by God and deduce the correct direction (Shawamreh, 2012).

As seen from the spread of the school of thought, the contemporary Muslim society tends to employ rationality to govern different aspects of social life. The twentieth century is characterized by advances in all spheres of people’s lives and numerous inventions and discoveries. The world in the twentieth century was rapidly evolving and societies (including Muslim states) required corresponding rules. Thus, the pragmatic approach was used in development of The Iraqi Code of 1951, The Egyptian Civil Code of 1948, the Kuwait Code and Commercial Law of 1960-61 and the Libyan Code of 1953 (An-Na’im, 2005).

It is necessary to add that the twenty-first century is characterized by even more dramatic changes. Globalization has brought new trends in development of the societies. Muslim states have political and trade relationships with each other as well as with the rest of the world. Admittedly, this cooperation leads to development of certain regulations that can be universal.

The Shafi’i school of thought is, apparently, ready to respond to the needs of the new times. Ramadan (2009) argues that this school of thought advocates cooperation with the west rather than confrontation. Those adhering to the conventions and ideas of the Shafi’i school of thought believe that the world is transforming and lots of issues cannot be found in the Quran or Sunnah. Therefore, people have to use pragmatic approach to enable their societies to develop. Cooperation with the west is one of results of such thinking.

In conclusion, it is possible to note that the Shafi’i school of thought is one of most widespread and most corresponding to the needs of the contemporary society. This school is based on principles of rationality and, hence, Muslims states are more adjustable to the changes taking place in the world. More traditional and orthodox schools can be lost in their desire to adhere to traditions as sometimes the world requires the change in certain spheres. This school of thought has already had certain impact on the political geography as more and more Muslim states are ready to become open to new trends and are ready to enhance cooperation with the west. This cooperation can be beneficial for both parties though it still needs a lot of effort.

Reference List

An-Na’im, A.A. (2005). Globalization and jurisprudence: An Islamic law perspective. Emory Law Journal, 54(2), 25-51.

Ramadan, T. (2009). Radical reform: Islamic ethics and liberation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Shawamreh, C. (2012). Islamic legal theory and the context of Islamist movements. Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law, 2(2), 197-223.

Introduction

The thought process of individuals is shaped by the environment in which they live in. hostile socialization in the environment can make an individual be erratic and hostile with violent criminal activities emerging. On the contrary, good environmental socialization could result in a positive self-esteem that leads to a positive social perception. Due to the interaction with the external environment, there are many perceptions that act concurrently to influence an individual’s way of functioning as discussed in this paper.

Impact of the World Perception on the Thought Process

The world around us forms the external environment in which one lives in. The presentation of the world is in different ways with some people perceiving the world as either hostile or friendly. However, the perception of the world depends on the environment in which one lives in. A person living in poor conditions means that the person is socialized by harsh environmental conditions implying that the ethos and experiences are harsh (Lynn, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). Such experiences are likely to affect the person with the impact being felt on the self esteem of the person. The individual can end up perceiving him/herself negatively while viewing the world as unfriendly thereby ending up being erratic or violent. On the contrary, living a normal life could make an individual have a positive self-esteem and therefore view the world as friendly. The person ends up perceiving the world as either friendly or unfriendly based on the conditions through which the individual was socialized (Newman & Newman, 2007).

Different Types of Perceptions

Bandura (2001) puts forward different types of perceptions that are exhibited by different people. First is the self perception that implies the manner in which an individual views him/herself. This form of perception is normally based on the self-esteem of the individual and it is shaped by the way the person is perceived by others. The other form of perception is environmental perception that is formed basing on the manner in which one receives information. Reception of hate information such as “I hate you” from a child is different from that of an adult. Environmental perception creates a mental filter for received information.

Kay and Albert (1999) note that learned perception is based on the personality, habit and culture of an individual and includes ideas and beliefs. Physical perception is based on the world of tangible objects that one constantly comes in contact with in life such as texture of clothes among others. Lastly, there is the cultural perception that refers to the larger part of the society and not any specific environmental factor. Cognitive functioning of an individual depends on the perception of an individual. An individual would function as socialized and as he or she perceives the environment. For instance, the physical perception can make an individual act cognitively based on the way he or she perceives things physically. It is not possible for one to function solely on one perception because the individual lives in an environment that shapes the way in which the person views the world (Bandura, 2001).

Conclusion

Perception is an important factor in cognitive functioning of an individual. The way in which an individual behaves is shaped by one’s experiences through the interaction with the external environment. With such experiences come various forms of perceptions such as the physical, self, cultural and learned perceptions. Despite the different perceptions, one cannot act only with one perception since all function together.

References

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An Agentic Perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1-26.

Kay, B. & Albert, B. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. Psychological Review, 106(4), 676-713.

Lynn, C., Ruble, D. & Szkrybalo, J. (2002). Cognitive theories of early gender development. Psychological Bulletin, 128(6), 903-933.

Newman, B. & Newman, P. (2007). Theories of Human Development. London: Routledge.

Introduction

Thinking traps or cognitive bias are one of the most widespread causes of incorrect or bad decisions that affect the life of the individual and the lives of people surrounding him or her. My friend, who is a student, once told me that she felt extremely unhappy with her life, although as such there were no particularly negative experiences that could make her displeased with the way she lived. She also did not have depression that could affect her well-being.

My friend believed that the faculty she chose as her major (anthropology) was less prestigious and promising than the faculty of law. Even though she loved anthropology and the way it was taught at the college, she insisted that she would only be happy if she studied law because it was more prestigious and provided more opportunities in the future. Ultimately, my friend had decided to transfer from her faculty to the faculty of law, but after two years of studying admitted that she regretted the decision.

Thinking Traps

Campbell, Whitehead, and Finkelstein (2009) note that the brain can be tricked into false judgments, which eventually lead to the wrong decision. Red-flag conditions (such as misleading experiences, misleading pre-judgments, inappropriate self-interests, and inappropriate attachments) affect the individual’s decision-making. In other research, the authors indicate that such type of bias (when a person makes decisions based on a specific factor or criterion) is called the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic (Cossette, 2015).

It is possible to say that the historical anchor, which affected my friend’s decision was the focusing illusion. According to Beja (2015), “focused thinking makes a focal item salient, which invokes strong emotions” (p. 873). In this case, the friend focused on stereotypes about the law faculties where more opportunities and job offers are provided to the students and the overall perceptions of such faculties as “elite”.

The underlying mechanism involved in focusing illusion is similar to those engaged in all other perceptional traps (e.g., attachment to past decisions, the halo effect, etc.), namely, attributing disproportional weight to the perceived information. Additionally, all irrational abnormalities, perceptional and cognitive biases affecting individuals’ decision making are equally hard to detect. As Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa (1998) state, the main danger associated with decision-making traps is their invisibility. It means that to make a smart and successful choice, a person must find a way to reduce possible biases.

Misleading experiences affect our assessment of situations because we either misinterpret the cause-and-effect pattern or rely on the emotion related to that pattern which affects our decision-making process. Misleading pre-judgments make us fixate on a decision or event made in the past, thus creating a cognitive trap where we rely on plans that worked previously but might not be working correctly now. At last, inappropriate self-interests and attachments can conflict either with our responsibilities or with the rational decision we have to make.

To minimize perceptional biases and avoid possible negative consequences of a poorly made decision, Kahneman, Lovallo, and Sibony (2011) suggest seeking others’ recommendations regarding an issue yet evaluating those recommendations according to their own experiences. The analysis of others’ opinions as well as background information related to a matter of interest is a must because all people judge based on their preferences, which may contradict your best interests drastically. Thus, one should search for credible information to substantiate a decision and remain as objective as possible by recognizing that one’s thinking may be distorted.

Conclusion

As can be seen, cognitive bias, thinking traps, and processes that undergo in our brains can be connected to and affected by each other. The threat of such processes and bias is in their impact on our thinking: we believe that we are correct in what we are doing because our misconception of flawed, uncritical approach to our thinking affects the clarity of the decision.

References

Beja, E. L. (2015). The focusing illusion and happiness: Evidence using college basketball championship. Social Indicators Research, 121(3), 873-885.

Campbell, A., Whitehead, J., & Finkelstein, S. (2009). Why good leaders make bad decisions. Harvard Business Review, 87(2), 60-66.

Cossette, P. (2015). Heuristics and cognitive biases in entrepreneurs: A review of the research. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 27(5), 471-496.

Hammond, J., Keeney, R., & Raiffa, H. (1998). The hidden traps in decision making. Harvard Business Review, 84(1), 118-126.

Kahneman, D., Lovallo, D., & Sibony, O. (2011). Before you make that big decision. Harvard Business Review, 89(6), 50-60.

Introduction

Before coming to the actual topic, let us discuss the significance of knowledge in a student’s life. Knowledge has two fundamental dimensions, one that it is simply acquired by any means, and the other which Halpern (2003) suggests is that knowledge is created every time we learn a new concept (Halpern, 2003, p. 6). What matters in acquiring knowledge is not the reliance upon the sources through which we receive thoughts, but what is important is our internal construction of cognitive knowledge structures. The state of art of understanding the acquired knowledge and our internal feedback regarding the acquired knowledge is important.

Critical thinking is defined by many psychologists in the light of open-ended reasoning, logic and meta cognition. With the help of mental processes when the internal proposed opinion or creative opinion about the knowledge incurs, it escorts the true thinker to think in several versatile ways. This versatility when combines with internally proposed arguments or conflicts about the knowledge, transforms into critical thinking. Many believe that critical thinking is critical for it presents unfavorable arguments regarding the knowledge. This might be the case as long as world politics is concerned but it is not applicable to students’ criteria where they are aimed to learn critical thinking skills.

Even many researchers and psychologists according to Halpern (2003) portray critical thinking in the light of critics as cold and impassive where there is only one decision of the problem which is based upon values, feelings, and predilections. It is the skill of improving an outcome which a wise critical thinker often sees from the perspective of other individuals. A student should never be taught to follow another’s mind or opinion, because the ones who rely on others’ views does not seem to be knowledgeable to possess their own perceptions.

Halpern (2003) suggests that critical thinking itself is an opinion regarding the acquired knowledge, and since every person possesses the right to express his or her opinion, there is no limitation upon personal views or expression. However the obstruction in clear thinking arises when individuals fail to distinguish between verifiable facts and value statements, relevant and irrelevant reasoning, or fails to determine the accuracy of a statement or credibility of a source (Duplass & Ziedler, 2002).

Inappropriate or Vague Goals

Limitations upon critical thinking encompasses those factors that obstructs somehow in determining appropriate goal direction. Therefore the first limitation is the vagueness of purpose, reason and goal about knowledge. Unclear goal is the key factor that serves as hindrance in clear thinking. That is the main reason for why a student lags behind grasping the main theoretical concepts, because he is unable to create his own opinion regarding the subject and this is due to the fact that he remains unable to get what is being taught to him.

It is due to the issue of critical empowerment, that the ability of individuals escorts them to withdraw themselves from the understood assumptions of theoretical practices and power relations with the subject. Students’ have unclear objectives, unjustified reasons and in order to exert more conscious control over their everyday understanding, what students fail to realize is that the psychological models of critical thinking requires an in depth understanding of the subject. This the students fails to address because he do not possess clear mind with focused long term objectives.

Weil & Anderson (2000) points out that rational, accurate thinking emerges from modernism’s epistemology and produces not only a congregation of nervous right-answer givers and timid rule followers, but a rather mediocre level of education unrelated to any ethical effort to constructively use our ability to reason (Weil & Anderson, 2000, p. 24). This indicates that in order to think critically, individual must aloof himself or herself from the concern of presenting right or wrong answers and think beyond the extent where he perceives his opinion to be right or wrong. What he must keep in his mind is the ultimate goal of his or her efforts towards understanding the subject.

While applying critical thinking skills in teaching professions, one must welcome good or bad remarks from the students, because encouraging students towards critical thinking requires open handed support which should not bound the student to uphold a particular opinion. The technical efforts to cultivate higher order critical thinking among teachers too often involve removing prospective practitioners from their lived worlds in order to control the variables of the situation. This can be true when they focus only on the subject while taking into account that thinking is secluded in artificial laboratory settings where passion and authentic feelings of love, hate, fear, and commitment are scientifically removed (ibid). The rational process of critical thinking are always culturally neutral and fulfill logical reasoning and valid conclusions, if critical thinking does not entail logics, it is only theoretical and not critical.

Drawing improper reasoning or invalid conclusions

The second most obvious factor that hinders in thought and critical thought is the inability to draw valid conclusions, or we can say the inability to perceive the logical reasoning of the subject. The best example of this is our inability to judge that past experience is not always a reliable guide to the future, with the result that judgments of probability must be made. Yet it is precisely in many cases that we feel comfortable in jumping to conclusions and to make sweeping generalizations that reveal our biases and prejudices, but that does not indicate that our logical understanding is infallible, since logic fits only imperfectly our everyday language and the world that surrounds us (Lipman, 2003, p. 206).

Educators show sympathies to students’ claims that classroom materials serve as meaningless and irrelevant to them when they realize that the pragmatic principle could have a special significance in their schools. Students’ critical thinking skills would be better if they could be provided with conditions that would encourage the application of their thinking to the world in which they live. There are other major consideration of critical thinking which needs clear thinking skills in context with the fact that general rules or principles, are applied.

Improper Analysis of arguments

Halpern (2003) points out that in order to analyze a proper argument, we must be clear about the technical meaning of the word argument which is different from its everyday meaning. Argument in everyday terminology refers to a dispute or a quarrel where we perceive two people having an argument when they disagree about something in and emotional way. This is in contrast with the technical definition of argument which suggests that an argument consists of one or more statements that are used to provide support for a conclusion and the statements that provide the support for a conclusion are called the reasons or premises of the argument (Halpern, 2003, p. 183). It is through these reasons or premises that when presented in order to persuade the reader or listener escorts that the conclusion is true or probably true.

Harman (1999) suggests that improper analysis of any argument is due to unclear reasoning which is here taken to be distinguished from proof or argument in a logician’s sense (Harman, 1999, p. 46). Providing appropriate reasoning is a process of modifying antecedent beliefs and intentions, perhaps by adding some new ones, perhaps by deleting some of the original ones, normally by adding some and deleting others (ibid). An argument or proof is sometimes relevant to reasoning in this sense but is never an instance of it, since an argument supports a hidden or revealed proof which is more like an explanation than an instance of reasoning. Argument has its own limitations and some intermediate steps whereas reasoning has no premises unless we are to say that the ‘premises’ comprise all of the antecedent beliefs and intentions and that the ‘conclusion’ is the resulting set. But often it seems that way of speaking critically misleads other, particularly those who analyzes our arguments, since reasoning often leads to abandoning some ‘premises’ (Harman, 1999, p. 46).

The theory of reasoning is often vague in mind for we are not fully capable of providing logic to our mind, which supports a theory of argument or proof. Logic is not directly a supportive of reasoning but since it is relevant to factual information, there is a connection between reasoning and explanation and explanation often takes the form of an argument.

Inability to evaluate consequences or pitfalls in decision making

Halpern (2009) perceives decision making as an ability which involves making a choice among a set of several possible alternatives. Intelligent choices requires proper argument analysis on the basis of its pitfalls for example in order to reach a decision, one must consider the way in which reasons support or refute a conclusion. Hastie (2001) view decision making as alternative courses of action, consequences, and uncertain conditioning events (Hastie, 2001).

Inability to perceive upcoming consequences in decision making escorts to miss one of or all three essential components, alternative actions, consequences, and uncertain events. While making decisions, individual must consider consequences related to the subject that pertains to evaluative reactions that are easily measurable on a good-bad, gain-loss scale and is associated with each outcome.

Decisions are usually uncertain since there is a high probability that we cannot know in advance the consequences of our actions as well as reactions. Therefore much of the difficulty when making decisions lies in judging which alternative is most likely to turn out best (Halpern, 2003, p. 311). In situations where decisions are made with missing information and guesses and predictions about future events are at high risk of thinking critical. Such decisions entails a recursive or recycling process because the nature of the decision may change as more alternatives are generated and evaluated and since decision also requires an action, although it may not be an overt movement, one could decide whom or what to believe, or to do nothing at all.

All of these processes occur whenever the decision maker has got some ability to think creatively in a context that influences what happens and relies heavily on the information he brings along to the decision and the information that is obtained during the decision-making process.

References

1. Duplass A. James & Ziedler L. Dana, (2002) ‘Critical Thinking and Logical Argument’, Social Education. Volume: 66. Issue: 5, p. M10.
2. Halpern F. Diane, (2003) Thought & Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, N.J.
3. Harman Gilbert, (1999) Reasoning, Meaning and Mind: Clarendon Press: Oxford.
4. Hastie R., (2001) ‘Problems for Judgment and Decision Making’, Annual Review of Psychology, p. 653.
5. Lipman Matthew, (2003) Thinking in Education: Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England.
6. Weil Danny & Anderson Holly Kathleen, (2000) Perspectives in Critical Thinking: Essays by Teachers in Theory and Practice: Peter Lang: New York.

Abstract

Thinking is a process done daily. During this process, certain activities go through the mind. For instance, when trying out a new recipe, certain thought processes occur in the mind of an individual (Haslam, 2010). For instance, he or she would be thinking if the proportions of the ingredients are correct, whether the meal would be as tasty as it sounds or even if the family would love the recipe. These are some of the factors that lead to the features, which affect the process of thinking and making decisions.

Introduction

With thinking, the issue of perception comes. This involves the argument outside the normal thought of an individual (Kirby and Goodpaster, 2007). The medium is the representation of the mental state of thought. The medium gives the features of the real thing through a clear, vivid, and real details of the things perceived by the mind. The process of thinking can change instantly, according to an individual’s emotions (Haslam, 2010). Various emotions affect behavior, the recollection of events, and their verbal or writing tone. For instance, when someone is in a peaceful state of mind, he or she enjoys what he or she is doing and feels confident about it. However, in instances where a person has doubts or is stressed up, then whatever he or she is doing will not be done accordingly. This, therefore, means that our emotions influence the way we think.

Nature of Thought

The process of sensing begins with the conversion of environmental stimuli, which then leads to the occurrence of sense. This then transforms into a signal stream and data. Antennas support the mechanisms of sense. After that, the next process is the withdrawal of signals. For instance, in case of danger, the signal could be either to run or to scream. Thereafter, the stimulus is evaluated by coming with the nature of the danger. Human beings use ears, nose, and eyes to aid their sensing process (Kirby and Goodpaster, 2007).

Memory is the capability of remembering the past, which was learned or from the experience of the past (Pugh et al 2002). Memory involves various processes and they include recognizing, recall, learning, and the ability to retain information. These processes are because of changes in chemicals in the areas of the brain that are found between the hippocampus and neurons (Paul and Elder, 2006).

In life, human beings normally go through a lot of misrepresentations and conflicts, because of making decisions and judgments based on their perceptions. One of the instances that I went through was when I had just joined my new school. I quickly made friends because I was always being generous and helpful during class times. Two friends had become close. I was used to the habit of sharing everything that I had with them. I expected the same in return. This is because it was something that I had learned from my family, in that you should return a good deed with a good deed. One day, I found my friends giggling and they suddenly went quiet when I approached them. They did not want to tell me what was going on. Later on, I realized that they were talking about a class assignment that I did not know about, and was due on that day. I did not know the assignment because I had missed school for three days. I also learned that they were making fun of my generosity.

I thought that since we were good friends, they would also do well, just as I have been doing so. When I learned about what they were up to, I did not say a word to anyone for almost an hour. I was still processing the betrayal that I had just discovered from my close friends. Later on, I became very angry and decided to confront them. However, I could not do so, instead, I never spoke to them again. What I was feeling at that time of truth could not be expressed using any word. No word could explain how I felt. After evaluating the situation again, I learned that I had trusted people too much, and was wrong to think that we all had the same thought process, in that a good deed deserves a good reciprocation of the same. There is a relationship between logic and perception, in that the meaning of logic and process converts to the process of thinking (Pugh et al 2002). This assists a person to make sound decisions after thinking about the situation critically. The incident that I experienced showed that perception is not what exists in reality, and that thinking is always influenced by logic.

Perceptual blocks are those aspects in life that interfere with the perception of a situation (Paul and Elder, 2006). Some of the blocks that influence my views include emotions, culture, environment, and expression.

The thought is an action that occurs in the mind, and its main aim is to come up with the truth (Haslam, 2010). In the event of establishing the truth, certain activities need to be performed. In the event of looking for truth, what occurs in the mind is thinking. Thinking is a resolute reflection on the judgment and beliefs of an individual. The process of thinking involves analyzing, evaluating, explaining, and metacognition. Perceptual barriers influence thought when a person restricts himself or herself to unnecessary limits. For instance, a traditional builder may follow the rules of building to the latter, whereas, one who has not limited his thinking, will look for new and better ways to construct.

Conclusion

From the experience that I went through, it is clear that the perceptual process influenced the decisions and choices that I made later on. I decided that I would no longer be generous since it does not pay to do so. This decision occurred after a logical process, which brought about the realization that perception may or may not be a reality.

References

Haslam, J (2010). On the nature of Thought: or the Act of Thinking and Its Connection with a Perspicuous Sentence. New York: Kessinger Publishing.

Kirby, G.R., & Goodpaster, J.R. (2007). Thinking: an interdisciplinary Approach to Critical Thinking. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of your Learning and Life. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pugh, S.L., Hicks, J.W., & Davis, M. (2002). Metaphorical ways of Knowing: the Imaginative Nature of Thought and Expression. Urbana, III: National Council of Teachers of English.

Frantz Fanon has become an influential figure in existentialism, critical thought, and post-colonial studies, as he primarily addressed the issues of anti-black racism and social perception of race. Discussing the role of race in social and historical interactions and the position of people of African descent in the Western world, Fanon developed a comprehensive theoretical model that largely relied on French existentialism.

He made a major contribution to Africana critical thought and philosophy, also referred to by some researchers as “black existentialism,” and became an inspiration for many participants of social rights and liberation movements in various parts of the world (Gordon, 2015). Fanon particularly examined the experience of black people from the existentialist perspective to establish how they handle discrimination and oppression and how they can achieve political and personal liberation—or rather, how social change should be promoted where such liberation will be achieved by common efforts. To examine Fanon’s philosophy, three major themes of Africana critical thought can be explored in his works: existentialism, decolonization, and empowerment.

First of all, the existential component of Fanon’s philosophy was expressed in the attempt to analyze the essential aspects of existence from the perspective of human beings as not only thinking subjects but also subjects of feelings and will with the opportunity for making decisions and taking action (Wyrick, 2014). Famous existentialists, although quite different in terms of their worldviews, shared the emphasis on human experience in their explorations.

Fanon focused on the experiences of black people and stated that they are widely refused the right to have their own lifestyles and even dreams because they continue to be seen as inferior to white people (Fanon 2004). In a study of Fanon’s philosophy, Gordon (2015) reveals the concept of “subordinated theoretical identity” (p. 5) which is observed in limited opportunities of researchers and intellectuals of African descent for forming their own judgment that would be seen as independent and potentially influential.

In addressing these issues, Fanon not only stresses the importance of social change toward extensive acknowledgment of the rights and identities of black people but also argues that black people themselves should engage in existential practices of self-cognition with the purpose to move toward political liberation. One of the most famous figures in the history of existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre, was a major influence on Fanon and supported many Fanon’s ideas.

One of such ideas was related to decolonization, which was one of the focuses of Fanon’s works, too. As a psychiatrist, Fanon argued that being colonized, i.e. being conquered by foreign people, oppressed, and potentially enslaved, is a pathological state for a human, which is why the philosopher justified the use of violence by colonized people against colonizers with the purpose to achieve not only liberation but also appropriate mental health (Fanon, 2004).

Also, as a Marxist, Fanon applies class-relations terms to the process of decolonization and the parts of society that participate in it and explores how the identities of a colonizer and a colonized person transform into the identities of a master and a slave respectively. Fanon was criticized for approving of violence in the cases where it had been employed by colonized people against colonizers, but his argument was that colonized people who are dehumanized, i.e. not treated as human beings and even deprived of human identities, being seen as animals or property, should not be expected to behave according to humanistic values.

This idea of colonization as dehumanization played a significant role in establishing the purpose of decolonization as returning human dignity and the value of life to formerly colonized nations and to individuals who suffer from the effects of being previously under the cruel rule of foreign conquerors.

Finally, it is noteworthy that the philosophy of Fanon was largely promoting the empowerment of black people and has become an inspiration for many who struggled for equal rights. As Gordon (2015) put it, Fanon “developed a profound social existential analysis of antiblack racism” (p. 2). By articulating this problem and exploring its roots, Fanon demonstrated how political thought is capable of igniting social movements, such as the struggle for independence in Algeria.

A major aspect of empowerment is finding and promoting black identities (Wyrick, 2014) that will be seen as equally important to other ones and shaped in an independent context, i.e. not as continuations of white identities, reflections of them, or imitations.

In his works, Fanon addresses a wide range of issues associated with race and the position of black people from the perspective of Africana critical thought. He built his argument on the basis of existentialism, i.e. emphasizing the importance of human experiences, called upon his proponents to promote the empowerment of black people, and supported decolonization and even the violent aspect of it. From the philosophical perspective, one of the most outstanding achievements of Fanon was generating a profound understanding of how black people are oppressed by being deprived of identities and how they should struggle for their identities in order to achieve an equal treatment and an equal position in social perception.

References

Fanon, F. (2004). The wretched of the earth. (R. Philcox, Trans.). New York, NY: Grove Press. (Original work published 1961).

Gordon, L. R. (2015). What Fanon said: A philosophical introduction to his life and thought. New York, NY: Fordham University Press.

Wyrick, D. B. (2014). Fanon for beginners. Newburyport, MA, Red Wheel/Weiser.

The “after seventeenth century modernity spectaculum”

The global development in the sense of modernization as per seventeenth century has given the world no more than decaying senses which has been accompanied by perverted human roles, with concentration of hatred and aversion between human kind and between them and the environment.

The known good deeds were integrated into intensive definitions incorporated in evil, human contempt, vile as well as inconsiderable. Despite this, the irony is that what used to be good became shunned while the scramble of the vices introduce, became significantly rampant. Long-living practices began to be viewed as being mundane and the short-lived practices accompanied by threats and fears completely replaced the good-old world.

As the sense of independent and development sunk in peoples mind, the aspect of communism disintegrated and in its place individualism and the sense of “I” was adopted that is embraced world-wide. As a result, man’s life was affected, as the bond between people gradually melted and in its place a trench evolved.

This has put man’s life in a solitary situation, bringing with it massive poverty, nasty living style, brutish undertakings whose combination has shortened the life of human being. This has made the man race to indulge into daily conflicting activities, pertaining competition, diffidence and glory as state of nature. This has created one of man’s rule which entails that Thomas Hobbes (215) states that “every man has to endeavor peace, as far as he has hopes for obtaining it. If he cannot obtain it, he can use all helps and advantage of war.”

In addition, human beings have been assumed as having right of everything even to one another’s body. What does this bring to the race of human being? It only gives a room to the stronger in having their ways right which means that the life of the majority-minorities depend on the mercy of the few powerful. In other words, it became the survival for the fittest. This has contributed to excessive injustice between individuals as well as in the governmental law bodies (Hobbes, 113)

Moreover, the introduced civil society had brought separation of power that initially was not there. This has been met by rejection from individual and parties affected by this power division. Consequently, civil war has been a major occurrence in many nations as they tend to fight against the abuse of power by the acting government or other nations that creates an effect or pressure to them.

This has expanded gaps existing between parties and every party is seeking its own way of dealing with any threat that can be imposed to it by the other parties. However, instead of this being a channel of peace and comfort within the societies involved, fear concerning the massive destructing weapons manufactured by the name of defense, such as atomic weapons, has taken over the climate and the element of peace has scrambled off (Hobbes p.131).

In addition, people’s perspectives have been readjusted and believe that people can’t function without a powerful body over them, which creates fear and suppression had settled in people minds, and as a result oppression and dictatorship has based people’s ways of living (Machiavelli, 57).

Religious perspective has also been altered. For instance, the scripture has been reinterpreted in a materialistic assumption. For example, Hobbes has tried to bring out the contradiction concerning incorporeal entities, claiming that both Heaven and Hell were in this world, as well as opposing some of sync which are incorporated in church teachings. Thus, morality has acquired a definition as an “acceptable cruel action”, which involves decisiveness and swiftness in dealing with material matters.

For instance, according to Niccolo Machiavelli, it is ironically that good result comes out of evil actions. In addition, the philosophy in the middle age was primarily based on Christian philosophy. However, different lines of philosophical argument came up, with one bringing a sense of nationalism threatening the position of church-men, by introducing a powerful secular based perspective.

The other one widely secularized the knowledge reducing the control of ecclesiastical elite and in its place introducing, what Descartes (102) describes as “philosophical classics of Greece and Rome.” As time goes by, the power of a single religious authority was gradually effaced giving power of vernacular tongues by the influence of protestant ethics which resulted to philosophers becoming less recognized in their ecclesiastical hierarchy but instead their recognition was shifted to their national origin (Descartes, 77-8).

In studying the way people live, Machiavelli (312) agrees that the way people lived traditionally was a true way of living. Everyone was required to live virtuously and this was clearly observed. However, living virtuously didn’t mean that people could live happily. The adaptation to the modernized ways pushed the leader to try making people to both fear them as well as love them.

But since these two factors couldn’t go hand in hand, they saw that significant security would be obtained in making people to fear them. This was associated with suspicious from other opposing parties concerning any acts of insecurities that can be thrown toward the leader in question. As a result, any action to suppress the other party or individual was seen as a gateway to remain feared and recognized (Rousseau, 37).

According to Rousseau (87), civil society has introduced inequalities in human kind which mostly concerning moral inequality, whose relation is in power and wealth. This has been attributed to man’s act of straying out of the natural state and stepping in his own cocoon of individual need and desire. As a result, those who first took the advantage of people’s naivety and grabbed shares of the available properties moved up the ladder where they perpetrate the weak so that they can maintain their wealth and power.

This was the beginning of evil, where unlike the early man who was strong, fast and in prime condition and who only killed for his self prevention, the civil man started using all means, including killing his fellow to maintain what he has obtained. (Rousseau, 62).

In conclusion, modernization has accompanied its countable good aspect with uncountable vices which has greatly eroded natural state of human being’s moral in relation to other and environment and in place redefined these moral in a self centered perspective, attributed with a lot of evils.

Works Cited

Descartes, Rene. The principal of philosophy. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. Print.

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Johnston: Norton, 1997. Print.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The prince and the discourses. Modern library, 1950. Print.

Rousseau, Jean. Discourse on the origin of Inequality. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC., 2007. Print.