Freud’s View on Religion Free Essays

string(24) " we can at least react\." Freud maintained interests in the subjects of God and religion throughout his long career. Freud considered the practice of religion and religious rites to be some sort of neurological obsession. Taking the concept from Feuerbach, he also saw religious ideology as a projection of infantile wishes. We will write a custom essay sample on Freud’s View on Religion or any similar topic only for you Order Now If religion was a kind of neurosis, it is marked by an unhealthy dissociation between oneself and reality. If religion was a continuation of the childish tendency to project one’s imagination unto reality, it is marked by an abnormal association between one’s fantasies and the objective world. Either way, religion is a sickness that needs to be cured. Freud gave the clearest expression of his views on religion in his book The Future of an Illusion. In order to explore Freud’s conception of religion, we must first clarify certain points. When Freud speaks of religion, he is usually talking about the traditional, fear-based, authoritarian, organized religion. There are other kinds of religion too. For instance, when William James talks about religion in his Varieties of Religious Experience and when Freud talks about religion in his The Future of an Illusion they are referring to wholly different approaches to God. James is talking about mystical experiences, while Freud is indeed talking about infantile beliefs. Unlike James’ profound investigations into sublime spiritual matters, Freud’s observations are more or less commonsensical. Freud’s theories of origins of religion are sometimes criticized for being unscientific speculations, but really there is not much of a need for scientific corroboration of Freud’s views because they are just commonsensical. When one looks objectively at the various religions and religious beliefs in our world, one is bound to reach to conclusions somewhat similar to those of Freud. Freud may have couched his observations in a more scholarly language, but essentially what he is saying is very simple and easily relatable. When he says religious rites are manifestations of obsessive neurosis, he simply means religions are mostly ridiculously lunatic affairs. And when Freud says religions are infantile projections, he means they are simply childish nonsense. It is difficult to come to any other conclusion when we look at the whole phenomenon of organized religion from a rational perspective. Freud mostly has Judeo-Christian tradition in mind when he condemns religion. Though Freud’s observations could be broadly applicable to many other world religions of the past and the present, they would make most direct sense when we keep the Jewish and Christian religions in mind. Freud’s main proposition is that religion is a projection of human longings and desires. But desires and longings for what? — for security of course. The Future of an Illusion and its sequel Civilization and its Discontents are Freud’s reflections on the origins and nature of civilization. Freud talks about religion in the context of civilization. Before the advent of civilization, man lived in wilderness. In our modern times, surrounded by the innumerable comforts of science and technology, i. e. , civilization, we may not be able to properly appreciate the fact, but situations of life posed constant threat and continual hardship for wandering groups of early humans, and this was how we lived for literally hundreds of thousands of years. Civilization is relatively a very recent manifestation. Religion in its rudimentary forms most likely predates civilization by tens of thousands of years. Freud constantly ties up religion with civilization since they essentially serve the same function – provide security against fearsome, elemental forces of nature. â€Å"The principal task of civilization, its actual raison d’etre, is to defend us against nature,† says Freud, and nobody would dispute this assertion. Now, the principal task of religion too is the same, though it approaches this issue of security from a different angle. And while civilization provides real security, religion provides only imaginary one, nothing more than an illusory feeling. Outside the setting of civilization, the basic question before an individual human being as he tried to live his life and cope with his surroundings was: how to survive, how to â€Å"defend himself against the superior powers of nature, of Fate†¦? The first step toward security is what Freud calls, humanization of nature: A great deal is already gained with the first step: the humanization of nature. Impersonal forces and destinies cannot be approached; they remain eternally remote. But if the elements have passions that rage as they do in our own souls, if death itself is not something spontaneous but the violent act of an evil Will, if everywhere in nature there are Beings around us of a kind that we know in our own society, then we ca n breathe freely, can feel at home in the uncanny†¦ This was how the first very primitive religions began, long before the advent of civilization. Say, if civilization began roughly 5 – 6000 years ago, and agriculture began some 10 – 12000 years ago, there is evidence for religious rites to have taken place as far back as 80,000 years or in fact much earlier, going back to the dim beginnings of the species Homo sapiens. Religion was therefore the first effort of man to establish a rapport with nature. The intention was wholly a noble one — to connect with the greater existence — but human minds were understandably extremely primitive so long ago in time, their lifestyle was totally brutish, there was no language either, and so instead of a poetic or philosophical reverence for Nature, men could only develop a routine of arbitrary, superstitious rituals in an effort to appease nature. Knowledge of our evolutionary beginnings was not well-developed in Freud’s time, nevertheless his speculations were based on the intrinsic logic of things and so some of them were neatly corroborated by scientific discoveries that were made much later. Superstitious religious beliefs did not really make man secure, but they at least provided an illusory sense of confidence: We are still defenceless, perhaps, but we are no longer helplessly paralysed; we can at least react. You read "Freud’s View on Religion" in category "Papers" Perhaps, indeed, we are not even defenceless. We can apply the same methods against these violent supermen outside that we employ in our own society; we can try to adjure them, to appease them, to bribe them, and, by so influencing them, we may rob them of a part of their power. Freud says, â€Å"life and the universe must be robbed of their terrors. This was the big project man was on. However, there was no way man could achieve this at a time when he could not even build a primitive shelter for himself and had to live inside the caves. Even in the modern times, with such fantastic advances in science, we are still far from achieving this. The primitive man could only project beings with whom he co uld relate unto the abstract Nature, and achieve some kind of consolation through such an effort. This was not an altogether futile effort; besides consolation, it could also have led to other practical benefits. A replacement like this of natural science by psychology not only provides immediate relief, but also points the way to a further mastering of the situation. † From these very primitive beginnings, religions too went on evolving along with man’s growing awareness of his world. Freud continues with his logically derived conception of the evolution of religion. Freud has nothing against the way primitive religions evolved, because obviously human kind was in its childhood for all that time. Therefore it was only natural. What Freud is against are the present-day monotheistic religions of the world. Monotheism first evolved after a few thousands of years of civilization. Freud’s birth religion, Judaism, was one of the pioneers of monotheism. Although the monotheistic religion was a tremendous leap of abstraction over the primitive pantheistic religions, it was still an evolution of the primitive religions. Religion in whatever form, including the deeper spiritual and mystic modes, is a search for security, as is civilization. Whereas civilization has a valid basis, religion continued to be a purely imaginary enterprise. Civilization is a reflection of intelligence, maturity and capability of man, whereas religion is its exact opposite, although civilization and religion have been going together for so long. With monotheism, religion attained a kind of maturity, but unfortunately all the deep childishness still remained with it, being only thinly concealed. Freud remarks the following about the evolution of religion: And thus a store of ideas is created, born from man’s need to make his helplessness tolerable and built up from the material of memories of the helplessness of his own childhood and the childhood of the human race. This store of childish ideas continued to serve as a basis for the supposedly monotheistic religions too. Religion turned out to be an essentially childish pursuit. The parallels between religious tendencies and child psychology run deep. A very young child lives in a space where reality and dream/imagination constantly merge. In other words, he is not capable of clearly distinguishing between reality and imagination. For him, fairies in the stories he read could be as real as his friends at school. Freudian psychoanalysis traces all the mental complexes of an adult person to his childhood. This is the essential modality of psychoanalysis. The tendency of people to believe in religious doctrines is thus traced back by Freud to the tendency of children to confuse between reality and imagination. One needs this tendency or faculty first to indulge in any kind of mythmaking which is at the core of all religions, whether monotheistic or pantheistic — this capacity to take one’s own and collective mental projections for reality. Once this is in place, a person can go on projecting whatever suits him. A human child is so utterly helpless if he had to live on his own in this enormously complex world, unlike juvenile animals which come more or less ‘prepackaged’. The child’s overwhelming need is security. This security is provided by his parents. The child realizes his total dependence on the parents; consequently, the attachment to the father-figure or the mother-figure has gone very deep in the collective psyche of humanity. Security is very deeply associated with the father figure, especially in Western cultures and the ancient civilizations they evolved from. And although the child grows up into a man, and becomes much more capable and stronger in fending for himself, he still remains weak and helpless in face of many situations of life. The search for security continues, and the need for greater security is ever present. A benevolent and compassionate God watching over human affairs from his heaven – if he existed – would have been the ultimate protection for humans. But even if he does not exist, and no one has ever seen him, it need not present much of a problem because humans possess the faculty of confusing reality with imagination, and can easily make their own gods as well their own God. This faculty was particularly pronounced in people who lived in the early stages of civilization – which corresponded to the intermediate stages of evolution of religion. These men belonging to the ancient cultures of the world created thousands of gods and elaborate mythological stories featuring them — all of them being nothing more than products of their fertile but childish imagination. In the subsequent ages, men became more mature, their rational faculties developed, and they sought to make meaning of their world in a more focused manner, instead of just seeking security and comfort. This development was helped by the fact that enough of security and comfort were present already, therefore a higher need to make sense of his world developed in man. Religious cults continued to emerge and evolve; they were not simply arbitrary mythological stories anymore but contained more coherent narratives that answered philosophical questions and provided a framework of meaning to human existence. These latter day religions were apparently much more sophisticated than most of the primitive religions, nevertheless they were still highly childish and nonsensical. Science is a legitimate way of seeking comfort and security, and philosophy is a legitimate way of seeking meaning of human existence, but religion is a pseudo way of seeking all these three. Religion is like a drug that can provide a false sense of happiness and elation without in any way actually leading to greater happiness and joy. That was way why Freud was so much opposed to the existence of religions, they essentially belonged to a childish, outmoded phase of human evolution, even the apparently more sophisticated ones. Religions are nothing but an illusion. They provide comfort, solace, security, meaning and significance to human life — but they only seem to do so, in reality they only provide fake substitutes for all these. An illusion means an appearance without substance, and it is a very apt word to describe religions. There is nothing wrong in seeking greater meaning and security in our lives, in fact this search is what makes us human, this is a healthy need of human existence. But there is a much more prevalent neurotic version of this need which is easily satisfied by mere appearances and falsities, and which is easily catered for by the religions of the world. Religions are an outcome of neurosis, they are a disease of the human mind, and Freud genuinely hoped that religions could be cured by the spread of psychoanalysis some day in the future. How to cite Freud’s View on Religion, Papers

Another Cinderella Story by From the Motion Picture Another Cinderella Story free essay sample

Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley bring something different than the other various movies based on the Cinderella Story. Yes, this is Another Cinderella Story. Its something about this movie. The way Selena and Drew bring new music, or maybe there acting. Another Cinderella Story soundtrack will have you standing on your toes and moving your hips to the beat. And of course, to many teen girls, hearing Drew Seeleys wonderful voice is the best ever. Combine Selena and Drew and you have one big magical suprise. This album brings a mix of hip hop and pop. The soundtrack includes somgs from Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley, Tiffany Giardina, and much more. It also includes an instrumental that will make you want to tango with your true love. Personally, my favorites on this album is Just that Girl and 1st Class Girl. Yeah, this album may be a little old but it still wont stop young teens, and maybe even adults, from listening to the best soundtrack from the Cinderella movies. We will write a custom essay sample on Another Cinderella Story by From the Motion Picture: Another Cinderella Story or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

The Role of Women in Life The Women Role During the Civil War Essay Example

The Role of Women in Life: The Women Role During the Civil War Essay The Civil War was a key event in American History. When the Civil War began in 1861, more than 3 million soldiers began to prepare for the battle. Men from all over America were called to fight in these wars. While all this event is a part of everyones life, there is something nobody remembers when thinking about the war is the role of women during the Civil War. The role of women during the war was distinctive and key; they took the role of men at home while at war, they had played special jobs and they also contributed in many ways to the war effort. The lack of men at home drove women to take into their hands different matters and decisions. During the Civil War, women especially faced a host of new duties and responsibilities(history.com). Women were the obvious replacements, and they filled positions previously held by men as well as those specially created by the demands of war (Encyclopedia Virginia). Many women found themselves working outside the home and earning money for the first time in their lives (Encyclopedia Virginia). These facts prove that women could take care of their home even though the men was not there. Women took the role of the men in their home; these made the had to look for a job. Women during Civil War had to look for a job to make money, to live. Even though this job was prohibited, more than four hundred women distinguished themselves as men and became secret soldiers who fought in the union and confederate armies (history.com). Another job women had was, nursing, thousand of women joined volunteer brigades and signed up to work as nurses (history.com). Many women also worked in war relief effort, such as sewing circles where they made clothing for soldiers or they held charity drives where they gather food and medical supplies (History Net). This fact justifies that the work of women was key during the Civil War. Even though for some women working was not something they were used to, they also c We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Women in Life: The Women Role During the Civil War specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Women in Life: The Women Role During the Civil War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Women in Life: The Women Role During the Civil War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Root Causes of the Holocaust and Wwii Essays

Root Causes of the Holocaust and Wwii Essays Root Causes of the Holocaust and Wwii Essay Root Causes of the Holocaust and Wwii Essay WWII and the Holocaust were two key events of the 20th century. Each had their own causes and historical factors leading up to their development. While the two events occurred close to each other each developed independently and neither was cause for the other. Anti-Jewish prejudice has a long history and was present in Germany long before WWII. The German people elected the Nazi party and it was its rise to power that lead to WWII. The Nazi party had many other strange policies that, while not as extreme as the Jewish policies, were odd and extreme in different way. The roots of WWII are based on the Nazi party’s economic policies and not as a mask for genocide. Therefore WWII was not a cause of the Holocaust and it was not used as a mask for the Holocaust. Prejudice against Jews has existed from pre B. C. times through the Holocaust to the present day. There are countless examples throughout history of Jewish persecution. One of the earliest references to other nationalities persecuting Jews is told in the Bible’s Book of Exodus. The Exodus of the Israelites (Jews) from Egypt is the theme described in the above-mentioned book after the Egyptians treated them as slaves. In the First Crusade, 1096, communities on the Rhine and the Danube were utterly destroyed. In the Second Crusade, 1147, the Jews in France were subject to frequent massacres. The Jews were also subjected to attacks by the Shepherds’ Crusades of 1251 and 1320. The Crusades were followed by expulsions, including in, 1290, the banishing of all English Jews; in 1396, 100,000 Jews were expelled from France; and, in 1421 thousands were expelled from Austria. These examples show how throughout history Jews have been persecuted and discriminated against by various nations. Several European writers twisted Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to suggest there was a hierarchy of races with Jews at the bottom. â€Å"In addition, misuse of the theory of evolution was an important factor in the extreme forms of racism, especially that against blacks and Jews, that flourished at the turn of the century and for many years beyond. † This quotation helps support the idea that The Theory of Evolution has been used in only extreme cases of racism and the Nazi party used this theory to prove that Jews are inferior. Jews have been portrayed as moneylenders and manipulators of financial systems. In Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice, the character Shylock is a Jew and seen as the villain of the story. To begin with the Merchant of Venice, for most of the history of the reception of the play, Shylock has been seen as fundamentally an unsympathetic character if not a villain. He is also often seen as a caricature of a grasping, vicious and resentful Jew. The debate is not about whether or not Shylock is bad, but really is about whether Shylock is bad because he is a bad Jew or bad because he is simply a Jew. This quotation, as said by Hussein Ibish, proves that even Shakespeare was racist towards Jews. This is another historical example that the Nazis used to suggest that the Jews were the cause of the poor German economy. The Nazi party tapped into shared German feelings of the above points to rise in popularity with the voters. The Nazi party utilized the German people’s prejudices and worries to get democratically elected. Due to the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI, Germany was sentenced to make payments to the victors. This crushed the German economy and made the people unhappy and in search of someone who could bring them out of this mess. The Nazi party rose in popularity due to poor economic conditions and the people’s fear of the rise of the communist party given the mess that Russia was in due to communism. In December of 1928, Joseph Goebbels posted an essay to persuade the Germans not to buy goods from the Jews. The essay was called â€Å"Deutsche, kauft nur bei Juden! † When translated, it means â€Å"Germans: Don’t buy from the Jew! He believed the Jews produced bad quality goods and would cheat you out of a good price. Because the Jew sells cheap, but shoddy merchandise, whereas the German sets a proper price for good merchandise. Because the Jew cheats you, whereas the German treats you fairly and honestly. Because you can buy all sorts of trash from the Jew, but the German sells mostly only quality goods. The Nazi party promised a solution to the economic problem t hat was affecting all of Germany. In 1928 the Nazi party came in 2nd and by the 1932 election they won the majority of seats. The economy was still in crisis. In the election of July 1932, the Nazi Party won 37% of the Reichstag seats, thanks to a massive propaganda campaign. For the next six months, the most powerful German leaders were embroiled in a series of desperate political maneuverings. Ultimately, these major players severely underestimated Hitlers political abilities. It was the people of Germany that put Nazi party in power which caused them to takeover and become greedy with power. In January 1933 Hitler was appointed German Chancellor. In the March 1933 final election the parliament votes to give Chancellor total power putting an end to the Catholic party. Later that year, President Hindenburg died and Hitler blended the two roles of President and Chancellor under the title of Der Fuhrer. The people had so much faith in the Nazi party that they allowed them to take complete control by democratic elections. The people voted in the Nazi party which allowed them to enact numerous extreme policies. The Nazi party also had many other oppressive policies at this time besides the anti-Jewish ones. The party promoted removing women from the workforce to help male employment rates and offered money to women to have kids; more kids more money. The money came from taxing single men and childless families heavily. On November 14, 1935 a law was passed banning German marriage to gypsies, negroes and people of mixed race (this would include jews). NOVEMBER 14, 1935? NUREMBERG LAW EXTENDED TO OTHER GROUPS? The first supplemental decree of the Nuremberg Laws extends the prohibition on marriage or sexual relations between people who could produce racially suspect offspring. A week later, the minister of the interior interprets this to mean relations between those of German or related blood and Roma (Gypsies), blacks, or their offspring. This policy displays how the Nazi party was not just racist towards Jews, but they viewed themselves as the dominant race above all others. Women were expected to have at least 4 children and if they did they received a medal every year on the birthday of Hitler’s grandmother. The Nazi party also forced teachers to follow revised textbooks. School lessons were based on Nazi ideas. Math problems involved calculations about bombing targeted countries such as Poland and killing invalids. Schools were single sex and girls were educated much differently. They studied no foreign languages and the only subjects they were taught related to cooking and childcare. By changing the textbooks for children in school is made Germans look good in history; history has to show they are the superior race and make up for the fact that they lost WWI. The Nazi party also banned Mickey Mouse and Disney movies. The fate of Mickey Mouse under the Third Reich offers a bizarre insight into the impact of Nazi policies relating to the media and the control of ideas. Hitler ordered the Disney films featuring him and other cartoon characters to be banned. The Nazis accused Walt Disney himself of having Jewish ancestry and feared that his innocent-seeming cartoons threatened Germans with being ‘infected by undesirable cultural influences’. Even more striking is the interpretation that Mickey Mouse could be seen as positively symbolizing the Jewish ‘outsider† overcoming adversity and that, Hitler loathed the portrayal of the mouse as clean and harmless since his propaganda machine was focused on representing Jews as dirty vermin. Walt Disney was thought to be a Jew and mice are vermin, like Jews. This goes to show how twisted the minds of the Nazi party really were to ban an innocent cartoon character because of what it could be morphed to stand for. It wasn’t until 1941, well after the start of the war, that the Nazis decided to kill the Jews and began sending them to extermination camps in eastern European countries such as Poland. This was the Holocaust. This policy was created by Hitler’s senior officers in the party (Himmler, Heydrich and Eichmann) and Hitler allowed it. This policy was not made public and only after the war ended was the full extent of it discovered. The Nazi party also had extreme solutions for their economic issues. The attention of the Belgian, Czechoslovak, G reek, Jugoslav, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norwegian, Polish, Soviet, United Kingdom and United States Governments and also of the French National Committee has been drawn to numerous reports from Europe that the German authorities, not content with denying to persons of Jewish race in all the territories over which their barbarous rule has been extended, the most elementary human rights, are now carrying into effect Hitler’s oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe. This was the most extreme of the policies, but it was just another policy, not the idea intended from the start. The above policies show that the Nazis could provide extreme solutions and this will be shown in their economic solutions as well. The true cause of WWII flows from the Nazi party solution to Germanys economic problems. The Nazi solution to shortages was to create a plan to acquire more land and raw materials. I today present the following as the new Four-Year Plan. In four years Germany must be wholly independent of foreign areas in those materials which can be produced in any way through German ability, through our chemical and machine industry, as well as through our mining industry. The re-building of this great German raw material industry will serve to give employment to the masse. This quotation was a proclamation from Hitler proving that the Nazis was not just simply to take over. They were mainly focused on acquiring more raw materials. Germany deployed the strategy by taking over Austria, parts of France and Czechoslovakia. He attached Austria to Germany in just few days, without the help of his army. In fact his generals were against an Austrian invasion. Italy was supposed to defend Austria; they had a pact. Italy did not respond; not against Hitler. † Britain and France continued to let Hitler expand more in hopes he would soon be satisfied, but their assumptions were wrong and he continued to expand. In an effort to avoid war , the leaders of several European countries met in Munich to discuss how to avoid war and establish a peaceful Europe. Hitler demanded parts of Czechoslovakia be absorbed into Germany, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed, giving Hitler a chunk of Czechoslovakia that was home to three million ethnic Germans. With these deal in place, Chamberlain believed he had satisfied the German war machine. Germany expanded into other countries while Britain and France foolishly allowed it. Germany invading Poland was finally too much for Britain and France to handle so on September 3, 1939 they declared war. At 4:45 a. . , some 1. 5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. Germanys invasion per their economic policy pushed France and Britain too far and finally triggered the war. It was Germanys economic policy of expansions that triggered the wa r, nothing else. The above paragraphs of historical fact show that the war started before the Holocaust and its causes were independent of the causes of the Holocaust. We have seen how prejudice against Jews has built up over time and how the Nazi party took it to the extreme by starting a mass genocide in 1941 – the Holocaust. We have also seen that the Nazi solution to Germany’s economic problems relied on taking over countries to get resources and cheap labour, which eventually lead to the declaration of war in 1939. These were two independent paths. War was declared before the Holocaust and for reasons that had nothing to do with the Holocaust. The world didn’t even know in 1939 about the atrocity that was to come. This it is clear from historical fact that WWII was neither a cause of the Holocaust or a mask for it. [ 1 ]. Bible Gate Way, Exodus 1:8-14 biblegateway. com/passage/? search=Exodus+1version=GNT [ 2 ]. Wikipedia, â€Å"History of the Jews and the Crusades. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_and_the_Crusades [ 3 ]. Dr. Jerry Bergman, â€Å"Darwinism, Evolution, and Racism. † Bible Believers, biblebelievers. net/creationscience/kjcevol1. htm [ 4 ]. Hussein Ibish, â€Å"Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice and The Jew of Malta,† The Weblog of Hussein Ibish, http://ibishblog. com/blog/hibish/2009/12/05/anti_semitism_merchant_venice_and_jew_malta [ 5 ]. Joseph Goebbels, Germans, Buy only from the Jews!. Calvin College Minds In The Making. (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP. , 1935), pp. 331-333 calvin. edu/academic/cas/gpa/angrif10. htm [ 6 ]. The Florida

ACT Scoring Error Did You Get Someone Elses Scores by Mistake

ACT Scoring Error Did You Get Someone Else's Scores by Mistake SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Did you take the ACT and get a lower score than you expected? Do you think there may have been a scoring error? Maybe you filled in a section incorrectly or your exam wasn’t graded properly? Scoring errors on the ACT are rare, but they are possible, and there are ways to identify and correct these errors. This guide will go over the steps you need to take in order to verify your scores, as well as what you should do to improve your score on future ACTs if there was no grading error. Did ACT, Inc. Make a Mistake? It’s very rare for ACT, Inc. to make a mistake when grading exams or reporting scores, but it does happen. Each year, hundreds of students who took the ACT request score verification, and some errors are found and corrected. ACT, Inc. does make mistakes, but it is important to know that these mistakes are very uncommon. The vast majority of students who take the ACT have their exam graded and reported properly. Before you begin the process of verifying your scores, you should be aware that the most likely scenario is that you simply didn’t do as well on the ACT as you expected you would. This can be disappointing to hear, and while you may wish this were a world where one day you come home to find a letter telling you that your ACT score is actually 5 points higher than originally reported, at some point you do have to overcome denial and focus on improving your scores for future exams. Potential Causes of Scoring Errors There are multiple reasons why a test may have been scored incorrectly. Below are some of the most common causes of scoring errors. Errors Caused by ACT, Inc. Sending a test taker the wrong score report. Incorrectly printing a question or section time on a test booklet. Problems with scanning answer sheets or essays. Errors Caused by the Test Taker Filling answers in for the wrong section. Filling in the wrong test identifying code. Writing the essay with pen instead of pencil Incorrectly filling in answer bubbles (not filling the bubble in all the way, not shading dark enough, etc.) How to Determine If There Is a Scoring Error If you're concerned that your ACT scores are wrong, you have two options: ordering a Test Information Release and requesting hand scoring. I'll go over what each of these involves in the order that I would recommend you approach them. Order a Test Information Release If after looking over your ACT score report you feel that you scored very differently from what you were expecting and don’t understand why, you can order a Test Information Release (TIR). A TIR provides you with a copy of all of the multiple choice questions from your ACT, a list of your answers, the answer key, and scoring instructions. This information allows you to see exactly which questions you answered incorrectly. If you took the ACT with Writing, you will also receive the writing prompt and essay scoring rubric. Even if you don't suspect a scoring error, TIRs can be useful as study material for future ACTs to help you learn what mistakes you made and what areas you need to improve in. ACT, Inc. offers the option to order a TIR when you register for the ACT, and you may have already ordered one. If not, you can order a TIR up to three months after you take the ACT. Note that TIRs are only available for ACTs taken on national test dates in April, June, and December, and they cost $20 to order. You can order one by filling out the form on ACT website and mailing it in. Once you receive your TIR, look over every question carefully. Are the answers the report says you marked the same ones you remember choosing? Now that you have the answer key, do you understand why those are the correct answers? It may simply be that you thought you were solving questions correctly but actually weren’t. If this is the case, skip down to the â€Å"What to do if there wasn’t a scoring error† section, and learn ways to raise your score for future ACTs. If something still seems strange, and your answer list doesn’t match with what you remember answering on the day of the test, you may want to order score verification (hand scoring). Score Verification Score verification, or hand-scoring, is a way to confirm your ACT scores if you feel your exam was graded improperly or if you think you may have marked your answer sheet incorrectly (such as filling in answers in the wrong section). You can request the ACT score verification service if, after ordering a TIR, you still believe your exam was graded incorrectly. In most cases you'll want to order a TIR before hand scoring because the TIR is cheaper and can give you a lot of useful information that, in most cases, convinces you that your test was graded properly. However, you can also order hand scoring without ordering a TIR first if you think there is an issue that will be solved by hand scoring. Reasons to request score verification before a TIR: You think you wrote your essay with pen instead of pencil. Your essay isn’t visible on your free score report. You think you bubbled your answers in on the wrong section. You think you used the wrong test identifying code. To request hand scoring, you need to fill out this request form and mail it to the ACT up to 12 months after taking the exam. You'll need to write in your name (the official one you used for the test), address, and date of birth along with the ACT ID, testing location, and test date from your original score report. Also include a check payable to ACT Student Services with the applicable fee. Score verification costs $50 for the multiple choice questions, $40 for the essay, or $90 to have both verified. Mail all of these materials along with your request for Score Verification to: ACT Student Services P.O. Box 414 Iowa City, IA 52243-0414 ACT Inc. will inform you by mail of the results of your score verification within three to five weeks. The letter will tell you if your original scores were confirmed to be correct or not. If an error was found, your scores will be changed and your corrected reports will be sent to all your previous score recipients (such as colleges you sent your scores to) at no cost. Your score verification fee will also be refunded. It’s also possible for you to be in the room during the verification process, although you won’t have access to the test questions. However, this option is not really necessary unless you are particularly worried about your test being scored incorrectly again. If you are interested in this, state it in the letter you mail along with the rest of the information to the address above. The ACT doesn’t provide a lot of details about this service, but they do state that extra fees apply. You may want to call ACT Customer Service at 319-337-1270 to learn more before requesting this option. Unlike SAT hand score verification, if you order hand scoring for the ACT, your score will never go down if an error is found that isn’t in your favor. Your score can only go up or stay the same if you request ACT hand scoring. Special note: In the past, if you ordered hand scoring for your ACT essay, your essay was be reread and rescored. Now, however, getting your essay hand-scored just means ACT, Inc. will confirm your essay was scored following ACT guidelines (two independent graders, with a third grader stepping in if the two scores differed by more than one point in any domain. Learn more about how the ACT essay is scored here. After going through the above steps, you will know whether or not the ACT made an error while grading or sending your scores. What if there was no mistake, and that really is the score you got? Read on to find out what to do. What to Do If There Wasn't a Scoring Error Don’t feel like it is the end of the world if your ACT score is lower than you thought it would be. Your standardized test scores are only one component of your application, and you may have time to retake the ACT and aim for a higher score. ACT Inc. offers a service that allows you to choose which ACT scores you send to schools. This means that, as long as the schools you’re applying to don’t require you to send all your ACT scores (and we have a complete list of the schools that require all ACT scores sent), then one low ACT score will not affect your application if you retake the ACT and receive a higher score. It's also normal for your ACT scores to fluctuate from one test to another. Drops in score of up to three composite points are normal and can occur just due to chance. This is especially true if you had a high score (30+) on previous ACT sections. Check out our guide to learn more about changes in ACT scores, what’s normal drop in score, and what isn’t. Your scores may go down, but you won't be trapped in this creepy basement. How to Improve Your Scores Read on to learn specific strategies to help improve your scores on future ACTs. Identify Your Weak Areas Take some time to look over your TIR, if you ordered one. It has a lot of useful information and lets you see exactly which questions you answered incorrectly. Make note of the areas you answered the most questions incorrectly in and focus on them for your future studying. How can you improve a low section score? Check out these section-by-section guides: English The Top 9 ACT English Strategies You Should Use TheBest Methods and Strategies for ACT English Prep Math The 31 ACT Math Formulas You Need to Know More guides on everything from polygons to statistics Reading The Best Way to Practice ACT Reading How to Stop Running Out of Time on ACT Reading Science The Complete Guide to ACT Science 9 Reasons You're Missing ACT Science Questions Practice Don’t be unprepared for your next try at the ACT! Even though you’ve already taken the test before, you still need to study and practice for the next time. One of the best ways to do this is to take complete, strictly timed practice tests. Doing so will help you track your progress over time and help you identify where you are improving and where you still need to practice. Taking complete practice ACTs will also give you a more accurate estimate of what your score will be on a real ACT than simply taking one section at a time would. Review your results for these practice tests carefully so you learn what mistakes you made and how to avoid making them again in the future. You have to practice for the ACT, just like you would for a piano recital. (Colton Witt/Flickr) Consider Hiring a Tutor or Taking a Prep Course Sometimes, having a study plan developed by someone else is the best way to effectively target your weak areas and raise your score. There are a lot of great tutors and prep courses. Read our guide on finding the best tutor for you. Be Prepared on Test Day Simple logistics can be enough to have a significant impact on your test scores. On test day, make sure you are confident and prepared so you don’t let any outside circumstances affect your scores. Get enough sleep the night before the exam, bring a snack with you on test day, and know how to get to your test center. Having these things set will help you focus all your concentration on the test. Also, make sure you give yourself enough time before retaking the ACT. I recommend between two and four months so that you have enough time to practice and improve. Summary It’s very rare for ACT, Inc. to send incorrect ACT scores, but it does happen. If you are surprised by how low your ACT scores are, there is a process you can go through to get your scores verified, but be aware the chances of your scores changing is very small. To verify your scores should first order a Test Information Release so you can see exactly which questions you answered correctly and which you answered incorrectly. Comparing your responses to the answer key may be enough to clear up the problem and let you see what you did wrong. However, if you still believe there was an error, you can request hand scoring to have your scores verified. There is a fee for both of these services, and they must be requested within three months of taking the ACT. If there was no scoring error, there are multiple ways you can work to improve your score, including analyzing your score reports, taking practice tests, and using a tutor or prep program. You can find more information about ACT score verification here. What's Next? Are you interested in a test prep program? PrepScholar has the industry's leading ACT and SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Try a 5-day risk-free trial for the ACT or SAT today! Interested in getting a top score on the ACT? Read our guide on how to get a perfect ACT score, by a 36 full scorer. Disappointed with your ACT scores? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically. Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Christine Sarikas About the Author Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. 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International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Relations - Essay Example After the death of Muhammad the Muslims named their leaders Caliphs. Caliph means the deputy messenger of Allah. Between 632 to 750 A. D, the Muslims had conquered of the known world. They controlled North Africa to India and western China. They reached into Europe to Spain and France. During the dark ages in Europe, Islam claimed many first in medicine. For example, they first time uses anesthesia in surgery. (Vertovec, and Peach, 1997, 44) In the same way, the Muslims introduced cauterization of wounds for the first time. Besides this, the Muslims discovered first among others that epidemics are caused by contagion through touch and air. As far as health services are concerned, there are also traces that prove that first ambulatory hospitals were introduced by the Muslims. These hospitals were carried on camel's backs. First time, the Muslims introduced prescription, and thus the separation of pharmacology from medicine. Islam is growing very fast in all five continents. There are over 1.2 billion Muslims today. They represent 22% of the world's population. And Christianity is 33% of the population in the world, at the rate that Islam is growing is expected to become the most popular religion in the globe in 2023. Islam is growing at the rate of 2.9% per year. (Al Sayyad, et. al. 2002, 56) Islam has multidimensional effects on Europe which changed Europe in all respects. The gigantic change was introduced in Spain while the Muslims were ruling this part of Europe. (Rath, and Buijs, 2003, 66) It remained the pioneer for all types of changes in Europe. Socially, Muslims have had a profound affect on Europe. The Muslims brought with them much of their lifestyle, such as their art. They resurrected mosques and unique types of architecture two these two continents. The most noticeable architectural influence was the introduction of the dome, pillar, and minaret. Furthermore, Muslims influenced African and European art through their geometric designs. Islam believe s that depicting human figures in art is idolatrous, so they only used geometric designs. (Haddad, 2002, 13) Thus, they changed the traditional art forms to their new modern ones. Additionally, Islam also changed the daily life of Europeans. Men could now have four wives at any given time instead of just one. New laws were also created about marriage and several other issues. For example, divorces had several set regulations on the ability to remarry. Women would have to wait several months after the divorce in order to relax and determine the paternity of the child if a pregnancy were involved. Finally, the social scale was destroyed as a result of the incorporation of Islam into one's daily life, for the Koran preaches that everyone is of the same value and status level. The Koran also improved the economy and way of thought, for everyone gave to the poor and thus prevented a depression. Muslims has also influenced European scientific thought and knowledge. First of all, the Musli ms made great strides in astronomy. They created the astrolabe, which measured distances and determined the circumference of the earth. They also invented the sextant, which allowed one to navigate and determine their precise location just by looking at the stars. (Hiro, 1989, 209) Furthermore, mathematically, Muslims introduced geometry and algebra. This tremendously increased mathematical thought, for problems were now easy to solve using the newfound knowledge. Intriguingly, they also

Economics of Organisations TAKE HOME EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics of Organisations TAKE HOME EXAM - Essay Example It is vital in today's world that every researcher possesses models with imperfect information. The aforementioned theory can be applied everywhere from underdeveloped countries to developed economies. Founding this theory were George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz. They won quite a prestigious award for their work in asymmetrical markets in 2001. These questions exemplify familiar - but seemingly different - phenomena, each of which has posed a challenge to economic theory. This year's Laureates proposed a common explanation and extended the theory when they augmented the theory with the realistic assumption of asymmetric information: agents on one side of the market have much better information than those on the other side. Borrowers know more than the lender about their repayment prospects; the seller knows more than buyers about the quality of his car; the CEO and the board know more than the shareholders about the profitability of the firm; policyholders know more than the insurance company about their accident risk; and tenants know more than the landowner about their work effort and harvesting conditions.More specifically, Akerlof showed that informational asymmetries can give rise to adverse selection on markets. Due to imperfect information on the part of lenders or prospective car buyers, borrowers with weak repayme nt prospects or sellers of low-quality cars crowd out everyone else from the market. Some claim that Aker... Due to imperfect information on the part of lenders or prospective car buyers, borrowers with weak repayment prospects or sellers of low-quality cars crowd out everyone else from the market. (Nobel Prize.org 2009, p. 1) Some claim that Akerlof's essay, "The Market for Lemons" is the ultimate representation of study in economics of information literature. It has both seminal features in that it describes something simple but profound, has a significant number of implications and applications that are widespread in nature. Akerlof starts out by describing a formal analysis-the first of its kind-of markets that suffer from adverse seslection. "He analyses a market for a good where the seller has more information than the buyer regarding the quality of the product. This is exemplified by the market for used cars; "a lemon" - a colloquialism for a defective old car - is now a well-known metaphor in economists' theoretical vocabulary. Akerlof shows that hypothetically, the information problem can either cause an entire market to collapse or contract it into an adverse selection of low-quality products." (Nobel Prize.org 2009, p. 1). Akerlof also points out other information asymmetries. Most of these appear to him in developing countries. For example, in India, in the 1960s, urban lenders chose to charge twice as much interest as those who operated in the larger cities. Another example occurs when Akerlof describes health insurance for the elderly. Yet another is discrimination of certain groups of people in the labour market. "A key insight in his "lemons paper" is that economic agents may have strong incentives to offset the adverse effects of