Reflections on The Tao Te Ching Essay -- Ancient World Culture

Reflections on The Tao Te Ching When the early Christians had to keep their faith against the persecutions of the Roman Empire, they had -- obviously -- a visible enemy. Once their religion was legalized and established, however, they had new questions to ask concerning who they were, what could hurt their souls and their way of life. Some of them, at least, concluded that the materialism of the dominant Roman way of life was a non-agressive, but equally corrosive force that would destroy them -- not physically, but spiritually. These Fourth Century Christians, men and women, then left their societies and withdrew into the desert to be able to find true "paradise," not in a safe, secure niche in society, but in their relationship with God. That is, they had to escape the values that so comprehensively enveloped them that they could not think or feel clearly about deeper matters. Thus "freed" in the desert, they could know what a full human life was in practice. These spiritual discoveries of a "way" to live, to be, could then be used to challange the complex and tempting materialism that seemed to dominate the culture of the time. In a much briefer, easier, and less focused way, Henry David Thoreau, someone better known to our own time, tried his "experiment" by living for two years in the woods by Waldon Pond in order "to drive life into a corner" and find out just what it really was worth and what it essentially meant. According to Thoreau, people too readily accepted one already established set of ideas or another, good or bad assessments of life, and didn't seek answers for themselves. He too in his course of events wanted to make known what he learned, wanted to "publish," as he said, the essential "goodness" or "meanne... ...ind hits it. Those who by the age of eighteen have thick calendars organizing their too-complicated lives, those who have learned that a branch does not have real meaning, those whose religion tries to teach simplicity but does not get heard ("consider the lilies of the field, they do not spin nor toil, yet Solomon in his glory was not so brightly arrayed") -- can we enter the vision of the writings of one of us who lived 2500 years ago and left the city of confusion to find wisdom? Can we find in the tensions of his writings -- as they are the shapes of the tensions of living in a confused world -- the "way" of life that is most natural? Can we be at home in the universe that produces us and mirrors so readily what we are when we stop and look, wary as those crossing the ice, listening for cracks that might freeze them before they drowned, we see and hear the signs?

Ethical Lens Essay

Ethical Lens Inventory Results for DESIREE Your preferred lens is: Rights and Responsibility Lens You use your reasoning skills (rationality) to determine your duties as well as the universal rules that each person should follow (autonomy). Your Core Values: Autonomy and Rationality You prioritize the value of autonomy over equality. Your primary concern is protecting individual rights. You believe this is the best way to assure that everyone in the community is treated fairly. You prioritize the value of rationality over sensibility. You believe universal rules exist that apply equally to everyone and that the best results are achieved through consistent application of the universal rules. Your Classical Values: Temperance You value individual balance and restraint in the desire for pleasure as you seek to satisfy your duties. You also know who you are, so you can act with integrity in the exercise of all the virtues. Your Key Phrase: â€Å"I am responsible.† Because you value autonomy and rationality, you tend to assume that your own definitions of what a responsible person should do apply to everyone. Your Definition of ethical behavior: Fulfilling duties You define an ethical person as one who fulfills their duties and does the right thing as an autonomous, fully-responsible adult. For you, this is the fullest expression of fairness and justice. Your Tools for analyzing problems: Reason Using your critical thinking skills is your preferred method for learning and problem-solving. You tend to think through a problem carefully and research options to find the one that will allow you to fulfill your duties. You focus on gathering and analyzing all the available data so you can make a fully informed decision. Your Gift: Self-knowledge Because you are concerned with figuring out your duties, when you are at your best you know yourself – you know both what you are doing and why. Because of this, when you say that you will do something or care for someone, you follow through. You are also able to live in the present, to determine what you need to do at any given moment to fulfill your responsibilities. Your Blind spot: Belief that motive justifies method Because you are so clear about your reasons for acting, you tend to believe that the motive justifies the method. You may unintentionally cause people upset and pain because you are so focused on your good motive. You tend to believe that ethics is a set of universal rules that everyone must follow, just as you do. You follow the rules – everyone should. Your Risk: Being autocratic (bossy) Without self-knowledge, you run the risk of becoming autocratic. You require everyone to do things your way in order to measure up ethically. You tend not to consider other interpretations of the facts or listen to other approaches once you have made up your mind. Your Temptation: Excuses If you are not paying attention, you can be tempted to excuse yourself from following the rules. You insist that you really are being true to your core values, even when you are not. You’ll convince yourself that the rules were meant for other people or that the action you want to take really does meet your responsibilities – even though your â€Å"Responsible Self† tells you otherwise. Your Vice: Becoming judgmental and legalistic Without self-knowledge, you can become overly rigid in your expectations, leading to legalism as you obsess over minute details. You will also become judgmental and when others do not fulfill (what you believe are) their duties, you will be quick to label them as unethical. Your Crisis: Becoming exhausted Unless you develop the practice of mindfulness and reflection, at some point you will become exhausted. No one can meet all of the obligations that your â€Å"Responsible Self† has on your to-do list. If you have few friends, it could be because you are so judgmental that you drive everyone away. Your Seeing Clearly: Listen to your heart To see more clearly, check to see whether your intuition, your heart, agrees with your head. To find balance, explore the gifts of the other lenses – flexibility and a concern for the whole community. As you consider what your duty is, remember that others may see the situation differently or need different supports to fulfill their duties. Also remember to think about the impact of a decision on the whole community. Sometimes an individual actually benefits by restraining autonomy for the good of the community. As you learn to consider the perspectives of others in your decision making process, you will live out the best of your ideals with compassion and care for others.

Who Invented Electronic Cigarettes

Next time you see someone smoking in a nonsmoking area, and you are just about to ask them to put it out, well here is one reason to do a double check first. An electronic cigarette looks almost exactly like a real cigarette, and it is easy to mistake someone using an electronic cigarette for smoking a real cigarette. However, it is a battery operated device that allows one to inhale vaporized nicotine and simulates the experience of smoking a real cigarette. How Electronic Cigarettes Work Unlike a regular cigarette, you dont need matches to smoke an e-cig, they are powered by a rechargeable lithium battery. Hidden inside the e-cig is a chamber that contains miniaturized electronics and an atomizer. The function of the tiny atomizer is to vaporize the liquid nicotine turning it into an aerosol mist, and it is activated by the inhaling action of the user, by taking a puff. The liquid nicotine is hidden inside another refillable chamber that on the outside looks like the filter of a cigarette, where the smoker places their mouth to inhale. When a person smokes an electronic cigarette, they look exactly like they are smoking a tobacco filled cigarette. By inhaling, the smoker pulls the liquid nicotine into the atomizer chamber, the electronics heat the liquid and vaporizes it and passes the vapor on to the smoker. The nicotine vapor enters the smokers lungs, and voila, a nicotine high occurs. The vapor even looks like cigarette smoke. Other features of the e-cig may include an LED light at the end of the cigarette that emulates the flame of burning tobacco. Invention In 1963, Herbert Gilbert patented a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette. In his patent, Gilbert described how his device worked, by replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air. Gilberts device involved no nicotine, smokers of Gilberts device enjoyed flavored steam. Attempts to commercialize Gilberts invention failed, and his product fell into obscurity. However, it deserves mention as the earliest patent for an electronic cigarette. Better known is the invention of Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik, who patented the first nicotine based electronic cigarette in 2003. The following year, Hon Lik was the first person to manufacture and sell such a product, first in the Chinese market and then internationally. Are They Safe? Electronic cigarettes are no longer considered a smoking cessation tool as they were once promoted as being. Nicotine is addictive. However, e-cigs do not have the harmful tars that regular commercial cigarettes do contain, but unfortunately, they might have other harmful chemical ingredients included. The toxic substance found in an examination of e-cigs by the FDA included things like diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical used in antifreeze. There is also controversy over how to regulate electronic cigarettes, age restrictions, and if they should or should not be included in smoking bans. Secondhand vapors could be just as bad as secondhand smoke. Some countries have banned the sale and marketing of e-cigs entirely. In September 2010, the FDA issued some warning letters to electronic cigarette distributors for various violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act including â€Å"violations of good manufacturing practices, making unsubstantiated drug claims, and using the devices as delivery mechanisms for active pharmaceutical ingredients.† A Booming Business If electronic cigarettes do continue to remain legal in the United States and other countries, there are huge profits to be made. According to Forbes.com manufacturers make between $250 million to $500 million estimated annually and while that is a small portion of the $100 billion US tobacco market, a government survey found that 2.7% of U.S. adults had tried e-cigarettes by 2010, up from 0.6% a year earlier, the kind of statistics that potential trends are made of.