Emotional Quotient And Spiritual Intelligence In The Workplace Essay Example for Free

Emotional Quotient And Spiritual Intelligence In The Workplace Essay As the world progresses and advances towards globalization, the global economy is demanding for the existence of well-managed companies and organizations. Responding to this demand, organizations are trying to find more effective formula that will enhance or improve their outputs. Two of the latest discoveries that attract companies and organizations are the concepts of emotional and spiritual development of their human resources. More and more companies are integrating the said formula in their programs and action plans as they recognize the need of these concepts that were long been neglected. In this paper, we will analyze the arguments of two chosen articles which focus on Emotional Intelligence (Must Have EQ by Anthony Landale) and Spiritual Intelligence (The Practical Application of Spiritual Intelligence in the Workplace by Mike George). Anthony Landale, in his article entitled â€Å"Must Have EQ†, argued that Emotional Intelligence or EQ (Emotional Quotient) the key for an organization to meet the challenge of getting people work together more effectively (Landale, Andrew Feb/March 2007, page 24). In line with this, the author presented his stand in four clear points. First, he argued that EQ is vital in keeping the organization or team members intact. Second, he argued that each team member must be able to learn how to manage our emotions by constantly checking our own individual behaviors. Landale made it clear that behaviors are innate in humans and that every person has his own set of good and bad behaviors. Relative to this, a person who has high emotional intelligence is able to manage even the undesirable behaviors by expressing them in the right place, time and manner. Third, Landale argued that EQ development requires empathy, which is putting oneself in the place of others. This means that one is required to constantly deal with others at work, learn to adjust as needed and be able to adapt with the situation. Lastly, the author stressed that communication is vital in the development of emotional intelligence and of keeping the organization healthy. To be able to do this, every member must maintain an open and honest communication. It was also stressed that a two-way communication line is required which means that feedback to and from management must be kept working. Emotional intelligence is therefore measured according to the person’s skill of managing his or her emotions and behaviors because EQ is actually â€Å"Self-Management. † In partnership with EQ, a company must also train its human resources to develop Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). The author centered his arguments on the practical applications of SQ especially in the workplace because SQ development focuses on the three deepest motivations of humans: creativity, meaning and purpose (George, Mike 2006, page 3). The author argued that since Spiritual Intelligence directly work with these three human motivations, SQ development will definitely make a company a vibrant workplace. If a person’s SQ is well-developed, he will be able to have a clear sense of his identity and a definite purpose. Spiritual intelligence enables a person to live with integrity by setting a good example. Because SQ gives the individual the power the flexibility to adapt to the environment, a person with high SQ is able to be cool and focused even in a stressful situation. By developing one’s self-awareness, a person with high SQ also will have the power to find the cause of his emotions, its meanings and be able to manage them. This in turn will develop one’s empathy. Spiritual intelligence focuses on the development on a person’s ability to fight the ego in order for him to adapt to changes. Finally, development of spiritual intelligence enables a person to recognize the non-material reality of his being that is humans have non-material needs which when recognized alleviates life’s insecurity. If cognitive intelligence is about thinking and emotional intelligence is about feeling, then spiritual intelligence is about being† (McMullen, Brian 2003). In line with the arguments of Landale and George, this statement is parallel with their point of view that EQ has something to do with self-management while SQ deals with self-awareness of the non-material reality of the being. In the modern world, people are inclined to boosting their cognitive intelligence (IQ) as this may seem the measuring device for one’s success in life. But the real working world does not acknowledge the importance of IQ alone, rather the development of all four basic intelligences that define the successful individual. â€Å"IQ appears to be related to minimum standards to enter a given a profession† (Wiggleswoth, Cindy ). In line with Landale’s claim that EQ is of managing emotions, a study of store managers in retail chain proved that efficient management of emotions especially with stress is important for success (Cherniss, Cary 2000). However Cherniss stressed that this is just one aspect of the complex scope of emotional intelligence. He said that â€Å"emotional intelligence has as much to do with knowing when and how to express emotion as it do with controlling it. † This statement corroborates Landale’s idea that EQ is of acknowledging and identifying the emotions and learning how to express them in a proper behavior (Landale, Andrew 2007, page 24). The importance of this aspect of EQ was proven worthwhile in modern organizations as with the experiment done in the US navy wherein researchers found that â€Å"the most effective leaders in the US Navy were warmer, more outgoing, emotionally expressive, dramatic, and sociable† (Barsade, S. t. al 1998). Another aspect of emotional intelligence is empathy which is proven by researchers that it contributes to occupational success (Cherniss, Cary 2000). This is the aspect that overlaps with the concept of spiritual development which also acknowledges the importance of empathy in recognizing the cause of the emotions and be able to utilize them in adapting to changes. â€Å"EQ is the development of the capacity for self-control and the ability to respond with sensitivity and empathy† (Oxford Leadership Academy). This is also important if a manager or someone in the organization would like to positively influence the work behaviors of other members. A practical application of this as cited in one article is that one’s effectiveness can influence others depending on one’s ability to connect with them particularly of understanding the feelings of others (Goleman, Daniel 1999). To effectively influence others we also need to be able to manage our own emotions. Connected to EQ development is the spiritual intelligence which centers on developing the skills of the person in managing the inner self or the non-material reality of one’s being as claimed by George. One author defined spiritual intelligence as â€Å"the ability to behave with Compassion and Wisdom while maintaining inner and outer peace (equanimity) regardless of the circumstances† (Wigglesworth, Cindy). Since compassion encompasses the ability to understand the feelings of others, as what empathy suggests, the concepts of EQ and SQ therefore work together towards the complete success of a person and the organization where he belongs. The practical point of this is that when someone is emotionally and spiritually intelligent, he will be able to make the most out of his skills, emotions, behaviors and traits in managing himself and in turn will give him the power to positively connect with others. That optimism is brought about by the fact that the person, with empathy and compassion, understands the emotions of others which give him the ability to stay calm and focused no matter what the situation brings. Relative to George’s argument that spiritual intelligence in necessary for a person to live a life with integrity and in line with the clear purpose, one author has the same perspective. According to 1Wigglesworth, spiritual intelligence development encompasses self and universal awareness including the ego and social mastery. In the management world, spiritually intelligent manager is a â€Å"wise and effective change agent† who makes compassionate and wise decisions. Wigglesworth further said that SQ enables managers to have the calming and healing presence in the midst of stressful workplace. In contrast with George who did not acknowledge the importance of communication in the development of SQ, Landale stressed that EQ development requires a manager to â€Å"prioritize the giving and receiving of feedbacks† (Landale, Anthony 2007). Connecting with other members of the organization builds and cultivates relationships and that can only be possible when open communication is active in the organization. Putting the essentials of emotional and spiritual intelligence, we clearly draw out the idea that the development of these basic intelligences focus on relationships which is especially important in building an effective, efficient working environment. The human resources of the organization are its most valuable assets so it is vital that that training and development should include the wholeness of their being. Companies of the modern economy is already recognizing the fact the business is not all about making money, rather it encompasses the building of organization members with multiple intelligence. An organization with personnel, especially leaders, who have well developed cognitive, emotional and spiritual intelligence, is a happy and enthusiastic working environment. Developing the emotional and spiritual intelligence is the answer to the intangible needs of the organization: healthy working relationships.

Benefits of the Psychology of Personality

Benefits of the Psychology of Personality The psychology of personality enables us to understand ourselves better than it allows us to understand others. Critically evaluate this statement, giving empirical and/or theoretical evidence to support your arguments. According to Kohut (2013), personality is not a clearly defined and measured concept; therefore in order to understand ourselves and other people we have constructed implicit personality theories, through observing others’ behaviour and experiencing social interactions (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). However, it is also clear that individual differences occur, making the study of personality more complex, and one which is highly influenced by and reliant on subjectivity. This produces problems with reliably understanding others, and also raises unexpected questions as to whether studying personality really does allow us to understand ourselves better than other people. Allport (1955), expresses personality as a process of ‘becoming’, unique to each individual and their context, and considers that individual differences are made sense of through comparison with accepted concepts. It would therefore make sense that many theories in personality research base themselves on common sense and rely heavily on intuition, often without explicit knowledge (Heider, 2013). Furthermore, psychological research (within personality psychology and other areas) is often directly influenced by personal experience. Allport also commented that by understanding ourselves and identifying issues which are important to our own experience, we are then able to collect structured knowledge about other people. Empirical research by Chiu, Hong and Dweck (1997) demonstrated that an individual’s understanding of themselves influences their view of the personalities of others, through pattern projection, and that forms implicit personality theories. This suggest s that we have an existing deeper knowledge of ourselves and that as we develop this we also cultivate theories about the behaviour of other people around us which allows us to understand them. If then, understanding ourselves enables a better understanding of others, it is important to consider how personality psychology allows us to understand ourselves better. Firstly, much of the terminology used (such as ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘self-concept’) places emphasis on our knowledge of ourselves and how individual awareness should be strived for, as shown by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Need Satisfaction Inventory has been produced in order to operationalise and confirm Maslow’s theory using college students (Lester, 1990); this has provided more grounded evidence for ideas about achieving happiness and potential. Furthermore, the Jungian personality types are based on the concepts of ‘thinking’, ‘feeling’, ‘sensing’ and ‘intuition’ (Jung, 1998), placing emphasis on the internal and subjective, and classifying people using these individual processes. There are elements of psycholo gy which take internal processes to be irrelevant, such as operant and classical conditioning, which rely on genetics and situational factors (Pavlov, 1927; Skinner, 1938). Yet, personality psychology is concerned with what makes people different, and therefore focuses on the internal thoughts and processes which make a person who they are. We are clearly interested in the motives and causes of behaviour and this is one of the main reasons for studying personality (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). Subsequently much research is based entirely on subjective processes as this allows us to understand ourselves better. Ullen, de Manzano, Almeida, Magnusson and Pederson (2012), looked at the phenomenon of ‘flow’ within personality psychology. This involved measuring ‘flow proneness’ using self-report, as flow is a subjective experience which involves enjoyment, low self-awareness and effortless actions when engaging in an activity of interest. The theory is based entirely on subjective experience as flow cannot be measured empirically or be identified by people other than the individual experiencing flow. Due to research such as this, logically it would appear that while undertaking personality research it should be easier to understand ourselves. We have direct information about our history, private behaviours, thoughts and feelings which others do not have, and that we do not have about other people (Vazire Carlson, 2010). However, there are limitations to the amount that we can understand our own personality and internal processes. Wilson (2009) commented on the use of introspection in psychology, stating that it may not be as effective as first thought, as many aspects of ourselves are hidden from conscious awareness, limiting its ability to provide us with self-knowledge. This notion of the unconscious is grounded in psychodynamic psychology and Freudian concepts. Freud considered the unconscious and reasoned that there is much of our thoughts, feelings and internal information about ourselves which is unknown to us. Freud considered consciousness to be a dynamic system, whereby unconscious thoughts manifest themselves in various ways such as dreams and ‘Freudian slips’ (Power, 2000). When understanding a person we put emphasis on their motives, rather than just the observed behaviour, however we cannot pass any judgement on the unconscious (ours or others’) or make generalisatio ns about unconscious processes, as it is beyond our cognition (Jung, 1998). In more recent research, Carlson (2013) provides research suggesting that mindfulness can improve self-knowledge, especially into internal aspects of personality such as thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness, as opposed to introspection, is being more aware of our own internal thoughts and processes without needing immediate explanation and justification- we simply observe our own state. Carlson considers that we can measure both trait and state mindfulness and that this may overcome the barriers of information and ego-defence which can distort our understanding of ourselves. Despite this, it is clear that currently we cannot fully understand ourselves; it has also been explored that this process is intrinsically linked to, rather than preceding, our understanding of others. Heider (2013) explains that as soon as we enter into an interaction with someone else we cannot be analysed and viewed separately from that person and the environment we are in. We respond to what others think of us, or what we perceive to be their views. Vazire and Carlson (2010) go further than behaviour and consider that an individual cannot develop a full understanding of themselves without considering the perspective of people who know them well. Others can see things about our personality and provide insights that we cannot, this is due to blind spots, as we sometimes have too much or too little information or self-presentation motivations which can distort our considerations. We do not view ourselves objectively as others do, which inhibits our understanding of ourselves. Vazir e (2010) produced the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) model to illustrate that both the individual and the people close to them have insight into different aspects of their personality. When we consider these ideas when understanding others, on an explicit level it is clear that the only way to find out what people are thinking is to ask them (Baumeister, Vohs Funder, 2007), however this produces a large reliance on self report, and raises methodological issues and problems. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, or EPQ (Eysenck, Eysenck Barrett, 1975) is used to measure personality using yes/no judgements by individuals on a series of statements. The self report asks questions such as: ‘Do you often wonder about things you should have done or said?’, ‘Do you often feel lonely?’ and ‘Are your feelings easily hurt?’ Considering Vazire and Carlson’s point, people close to the individual may have an insight and may be able to correct with regards to demand characteristics, however behaviour does not always reflect feelings and beliefs, leaving the self report with a large potential for bias. This is partly due to poor pre dictive validity which leads Baumeister, Vohs and Funder (2007) to argue that Social and Personality psychology disciplines are not really measuring behaviour because of their reliance on self report. They explain that there are often discrepancies between what people say they will do and how they actually behave, meaning that observations and direct experiments would be a more reliable way to study behaviour, and that self-report should be used to accompany these to provide deeper understanding. However, psychology is the study of why people do what they do, so this comment could be considered irrelevant if the emphasis of personality psychology is to explain internal processes and understand why people act as they do (Maltby, Day Macaskill, 2010). Adler (1998) would argue that everything happens with conscious intent and that observing behaviour actually gives no insight into what is occurring within an individual. Furthermore, self-reports do not occur in isolation from the envi ronment, therefore situational factors have an influence on the extent to which personality characteristics are displayed, which in turn may affect an individual’s perception of themselves and subsequently their self-report judgements (Ajzen, 2005). Additionally, self-reports are snap judgements which do not give much information into understanding others, yet can be useful for developing models and theories to explain general internal processes and behaviour (Baumeister, Vohs and Funder, 2007). For example, attachment theory relies on past experiences (Bretherton, 1992) and has proved a highly influential model used in many areas of psychology. As a model, it has been reliably based on observation of behaviour and has helped us to understand others, and even to make inferences about personality; however on an individual basis we often do not have the information available to allow us to make direct attribution retrospectively. We need to understand the full context and the goal of the individual and in this way we understand ourselves but not others. Models provide information about general behaviour, yet perhaps they only aid true understanding of ourselves and not others; when it comes down to environment and experience we kn ow ourselves. Subsequently, the use of self-reports in personality psychology poses questions as to the degree to which we are developing an understanding of others. On the contrary, Lounsbury, Levy, Leong and Gibson (2007) conducted a study into the Big Five personality traits and whether they influence sense of identity in an individual. Although a causal relationship could not be established, their research showed that each of the personality traits were related to, and subsequently may influence, identity. In this way, personality research allows us to develop an understanding of others and often inspire further research. The question is simply the degree to which research like this is able to produce understanding; the preceding points have shown that this may not be as strong as we would think. Reanalysis of such studies has shown reliability in self-report measures. McCrae and Costa (1987) showed strong cross-validation for measures of the five factor personality, showing that self-reports can provide us with insight into behaviour and be relied upon in some cases. So, in conclusion, it has become evident that the study of ourselves and others within personality psychology is perhaps more complex than first thought. This essay has raised many issues. Firstly, it is unclear as to how well personality psychology allows us to understand ourselves. On a conscious level it would appear than whilst trying to understand any aspect of personality we develop a clearer understanding of our own, however, research has shown limitations to this (Wilson, 2009; Power, 2000). Overall, it can be seen that we develop a better understanding of ourselves, yet this may not be to a greater extent than others; it may in fact be a joint process of understanding ourselves and understanding those around us (Heider, 2013; Vazire and Carlson, 2010). Alternatively, when we consider how much we are developing a better understanding of others, there are limitations in the use of self-reports, as it is hard to know the degree of understanding we are gaining and whether this i s providing us with a full picture (Ajzen, 2005). Therefore, there are many considerations which make it hard to know the extent of the understanding gained in personality psychology. Perhaps this is also dependent on interpretation of the word ‘understanding’ and the information needed. If a general knowledge of behaviour is adequate, then the models and theories provided by the discipline can help us to understand both ourselves and others to some degree. However, if we seek understanding on a deeper level, we may have to consider that personality psychology may not currently have all the answers needed for deeper insight in ourselves or others.

Interview Essay - Emelie Konold -- Interview Emelie

Interview Essay - Emelie Konold Emelie Konold was born on July 25, 1924. She enjoys keeping active by meeting new people and being with friends. She also enjoys taking classes at Saddleback College, and sewing. Emelie defines happiness as a pleasant feeling of joy and wellbeing. Her definition has evolved over the years. She says, "When you are young, you do not think about happiness, because you are born with a certain temperament. You are always happy because it is acquired." Emelie knows that she is happy when she experiences no depression. She said, "Happiness is a feeling inside where you don't mope. You are active, and pleasant to people." When asked who or what she turns to when she is unhappy she answered, "When I am down I get busy. I do not turn to anybody because I do not want to put it on them." When asked what makes her unhappy she said, "I do not mope or get sad about other people. I am never sad." She has many activities that contribute to her happiness. They include meeting and being with people, learning and taking classes, sewing, and basically keeping active. When asked how other people's attitudes affect her, Emelie said that she is concerned when there is arguing, or when people are sad. In such a case, she will talk to them and make them feel at ease. It makes her happy to go to lunch and gab with her friends, but if she can't change the other person's attitude, she simply doesn't worry about it. "If I can change it, even by talking, then I will change it", she says. Emelie's childhood had an affect on her sense of happiness. "I had a dear mother who had multiple sclerosis, but that never got me down. I also had three brothers. There were difficulties in my childhood, but I was fortunate to h... ...ins are the closest things to God. Whenever I need to be close to and speak to God, that is where I go." She is familiar with the mountains in Utah, but says that any mountains will do. Emelie's piece of advice for achieving happiness is to believe in some form of religion, get an education and be good to your fellow man. She advises that whenever you face peer pressure, choose what will make you a better person. Don't let your peers pull you down, instead let them grab you and pull you up. All of this ties into her philosophy on life. Emelie believes in living your life the best that you can. Don't worry about things because feeling unhappy all of the time is not a good thing. Instead give what you can to society and to your friends. Emelie is a very strong person. I felt a connection with her from the first few minutes we spoke. I have a friendship with her. Interview Essay - Emelie Konold -- Interview Emelie Interview Essay - Emelie Konold Emelie Konold was born on July 25, 1924. She enjoys keeping active by meeting new people and being with friends. She also enjoys taking classes at Saddleback College, and sewing. Emelie defines happiness as a pleasant feeling of joy and wellbeing. Her definition has evolved over the years. She says, "When you are young, you do not think about happiness, because you are born with a certain temperament. You are always happy because it is acquired." Emelie knows that she is happy when she experiences no depression. She said, "Happiness is a feeling inside where you don't mope. You are active, and pleasant to people." When asked who or what she turns to when she is unhappy she answered, "When I am down I get busy. I do not turn to anybody because I do not want to put it on them." When asked what makes her unhappy she said, "I do not mope or get sad about other people. I am never sad." She has many activities that contribute to her happiness. They include meeting and being with people, learning and taking classes, sewing, and basically keeping active. When asked how other people's attitudes affect her, Emelie said that she is concerned when there is arguing, or when people are sad. In such a case, she will talk to them and make them feel at ease. It makes her happy to go to lunch and gab with her friends, but if she can't change the other person's attitude, she simply doesn't worry about it. "If I can change it, even by talking, then I will change it", she says. Emelie's childhood had an affect on her sense of happiness. "I had a dear mother who had multiple sclerosis, but that never got me down. I also had three brothers. There were difficulties in my childhood, but I was fortunate to h... ...ins are the closest things to God. Whenever I need to be close to and speak to God, that is where I go." She is familiar with the mountains in Utah, but says that any mountains will do. Emelie's piece of advice for achieving happiness is to believe in some form of religion, get an education and be good to your fellow man. She advises that whenever you face peer pressure, choose what will make you a better person. Don't let your peers pull you down, instead let them grab you and pull you up. All of this ties into her philosophy on life. Emelie believes in living your life the best that you can. Don't worry about things because feeling unhappy all of the time is not a good thing. Instead give what you can to society and to your friends. Emelie is a very strong person. I felt a connection with her from the first few minutes we spoke. I have a friendship with her.

societhf Oppressive Societies :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huck Finn and Oppressive Societies The world in which we live in now is much less oppressive than say the world lived in the middle of the 1800's. Up until the Civil War, the South depended on their 'peculiar institution' of slavery, in order to be productive a successful. Most people believed slavery was not wrong, but those who thought otherwise seldom tried to alter it. In general if surrounded by oppressive environment, one does not usually try to make a difference in that world. This is because people are afraid to defend what is right against a whole mass of people who believe otherwise. Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Billy Budd in Billy Budd, and Frederick Douglass in his autobiography all portray individuals who because of their good, innocent qualities go up against the oppression in their society. Living in an oppressive society does not always draw you to do the wrong thing you are still capable of generating change, whether it be for a certain individual or against a whole mass of people. Billy Budd starts off on the ship the "Rights of Man", Melville obviously showing his intent in the naming of the first ship. This shows that on this ship where Billy wanted to be and chose to be he had rights. That he and the other crew had choices of what to do and how to be. Then along comes the British navy and decides that they are going to take Billy aboard their ship "Power of War". This is when Billy is brought into an oppressive society. This is the navy and wartime during which rules must be followed as well as a lifestyle that must be followed. Billy is a poor innocent boy with a childish stutter. This stutter shows Billy's humane side, a flaw, as well as leading you to the thinking that he has the innocence of a child. This stutter is connected to innocence because of its childish qualities. When most children begin speaking they have some sort of stutter, which usually goes away. The stutter parallels innocence because it is showing that you are just learning how to talk and don't really comprehend the correct way to make sounds, as you grow older you learn and the stutter disappears.

Personal Narrative - Knee Injury Essay -- Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Knee Injury I was always an active person from being in sports to hanging out with friends. I always had something planned, or came up with something on the fly. My junior year in high school was a very tough time for me. I was involved in a lot of activities, organizations, and clubs. I was very active in one organization where I had to be up at school every morning at 7:15 for that meeting. Meaning I would not leave school sometimes until 6:45 to 7:00 in the evening. On the weekends I would have something to do either with friends or family. I would never go a weekend with nothing to do. Either I was out running errands or at the mall buying some new clothes. The problem came in on November 22, 2000 at an away game at North Side High. It was the third quarter ...

Unplugged: Mobile Phone and Portable Music Player

Unplugged The world is full of technology; Almost everywhere you look you will see some form of technology, from a cellphone that can speak to you, to a computer that can run anything your heart desires. As Martin Lindstorm writes in his article â€Å"Friends who have accidentally left home without their iPhones tell me they feel stressed-out, cut off and somehow un-whole. † (Lindstorm). People tend to be overly attached to their phones, as if they were people capable of loving them back.I see how this could be possible because your phone does connect you to the people that you care about and when you can’t contact them life is a little bit more difficult. The people of this country seem to always need the fastest and newest piece of technology, often because it is viewed as a part of one’s social status. For this assignment I was tasked with going a full 24 hours without using technology. Since, society is so connected, I found this project to be very interestin g, and relevant to the present day.This seemed like it would be an easy task that would not take much effort or thought; however a simple 24 hours unplugged from technology subsequently unplugged me from the world. I have never seen myself as someone who needs their devices so much; however we often learn new things about ourselves. Once I began tracking my usage I noticed for the first time how much I use technology. I thought that I only used my phone and other technology when the situation required it as well as a little bit of recreational use. In my usage log I recorded mostly a few texts, my laptop usage and the movie I watched on my Xbox.I did more in my trial period then my log shows. I texted more then it displays; I really texted people once or twice to set up plans with them to hang out later in the day. I also did not record every time I checked my phone for the time; I forgot at the start and then realized that my phone is really just a rectangular clock. I realized tha t I use my phone mostly just to see what time it is because I always have it on me so it is always the first place I look for the time, instead of running around trying to find a clock.It opened my eyes to my frequent usage and excellently foreshadows my experiences the next week. Getting away from technology is a difficult task today. I found my hardest task was not stopping myself from using technology but instead distracting myself from those who were using it. In an article for Time magazine, Dalton Conley writes, â€Å"children ages 8 to 18 spend 7 hours and 38 min. a day using entertainment media† (Conley). People are using their technology all the time, making difficult to avoid.For example, my roommate loves his music and it was impossible for me to be in my room without listening to it so in this aspect I failed to go the full 24 hours. Still, I made it through most of the day without technology but I was left thinking that the only true way to be able to successfull y complete this assignment is to stop everyone from using technology. Today everyone has some kind of a phone, portable music player or handheld game. This is why this assignment is so difficult, because even though you are not allowed to use technology everyone else is.Every junction yields a reminder that the use of technology is restricted; a reminder of what you cannot do which then provokes you to break the rules. My experience was not difficult because of my deprivation but because everyone else still could. We rely so much on technology and to be the only one not using it makes the world just seem to pass by. Time seems to slow down, and the more I think about it, is not because I couldn’t use technology to pass the time but because everyone else still was. My 24 hours unplugged were spent doing almost nothing.I decided to go from 6pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday, not that smartest idea. I started hanging out with my friends about 15 minutes before 6, which was good so that I could hang out with them without having to use technology to make plans. But the next morning was a different story. I didn’t plan for the morning because I wasn’t thinking of the fact that I wouldn’t be able to use technology. So I wound up just sleeping until about noon and then didn’t really do much for the rest of the time. I tried to study some chemistry but to no avail to do to the fact that I needed to look something up but I couldn’t.Experiences can change us. We can look at the world completely differently because of one small adjustment to our routine. This assignment has changed my perception of myself. I started out thinking that I didn’t really use technology much and that it didn’t completely run my life and that I could live without it. However; now that I have grown used to my phone in my pocket and my laptop on my desk, they are comfortable parts of my life and are hard to do without. I don’t know if I could go longer than 24 hours but I think I would be willing to try this again with a different view and a etter plan of attack; a view that technology is important in my life and a better understanding of how I use it. Admittedly I had a bit of trouble finishing this assignment but I think it is because I could not escape technology, it was everywhere I turned. In an article by Tamar Lewin, the author noted â€Å"The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Lewin). Most of society is wrapped around their technology unable of putting it down. I now acknowledge that I need technology to stay connected to the world and up to date with my homework. It is a vital part of my life that previously I did not think was essential to my day to day life. I saw technology as a toy to be enjoyed but now I see it as a very important tool to accomplish the task at hand.

Renaissance Humanism Essay

The Northern European and Italian renaissance period was a time of rebirth of Greek and roman studies, arts, and culture. The people of this time period were call humanists or people who studied Greek and Roman classics and works. The humanism movement not only influenced culture, but it also influenced how the individual was perceived. Humanists encouraged finding oneself whether it is through art, sports, learning and teaching, sciences or mathematics, and they believed one individual could achieve anything they put their minds to. (DOC. 3) The humanists of the Renaissance greatly valued religion even thought they were more focused on the study of human nature and values (DOC. 9). Humanists took it upon themselves to be devoted members of the church and make religion a crucial aspect of their everyday lives. By becoming a more religious individual, they benefited themselves and it was encouraged of humanists to use their connection to the Church to strengthen their relationships with others. One of the most important aspects of the Renaissance that the humanism movement influenced was art. People all over the world began to express themselves and their talents through art and the humanists’ beliefs greatly emphasized Greek and Roman art technique as well. For example, Michelangelo’s sculpture of David emulated the Greek and Roman’s grasp for the physical beauty of the human body and humans’ perfect strength and symmetry (DOC. 1). Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of the muscles in human arms also emphasized and shed more light on the function, look and anatomy of the human arms, thus making it easier to study and visualize the human body (DOC. 7). Additionally, the population of humanism during the Renaissance influenced the way art became more lifelike. In paintings such as Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael (DOC. 4), the artist utilized aspects such as realism and perspective to give more depth to the painting. There is also a sense of the Roman and Greek admiration of the beauty of the human body in this painting, which was painted with new materials and on new mediums, that were invented during he Renaissance. Humanism greatly influenced scientific and secular studies of the Renaissance as well. One example is the improvement of the telescope in Europe (the telescope was originally invented by the Muslims), which greatly increased the flourishing of science during the Renaissance (DOC. 5). With the help of the telescope, it became easier to study astronomy and view the planets and the rest of outer space. Additionally, the printing press invented by Johann Guttenberg greatly contributed to the increase of learning during the humanist movement because more books were produced and became available (DOC. 10) In conclusion, humanism during the Renaissance transformed the lifestyle of people in Europe and influenced interrelated characteristics of culture such as science, art, and principles of the time period. Because he humanists became enthralled with the world around them and were detersmined to express themselves, the course of history for the Modern Ages was definitely changed for the better.