Discussion Questions Exploring The Righteous Mind

Discussion Questions: Exploring The Righteous Mind First Name Last Name Instructor Course 11 October 2017 Discussion Questions: Exploring Jonathan Haidts The Righteous Mind 1. In Chapter 1, Where Does Morality Come From, Jonathan Haidt discusses the origins of morality, which include social constructions humans have been following for years. Apart from the nature / nurture debate—a psychological breakdown of morals—Haidt also goes over how morals are related to the body (i.e. bodily rituals in Indigenous people). He concludes that morals come from three possible places: they can come from culture, gut feelings or childhood constructions of harm and reward (Haidt). My preconceived notions about morality come from a variety of places, but I think most relate to my upbringing. I was raised in an immigrant household where determination and an education were the most important aspects of life. My parents taught me the value of school and that I would have a good job after graduating. My job is perfect, though unconventional, and everything they have said has been 100% true. I lean toward traditional gender constructions and family configuration s, which is a product of my upbringing. 2. In this chapter, Haidt suggests that we could very well be almost entirely moral, with just a rational tail. While our morals are guided by sentiments, rationality exists to a large extent to mediate actions (Haidt). Because morality and intuition govern how we relate to others and contribute to the way we operate in the world, reasoning often comes second to morality. I typically make choices from the emotional vantage point; my sympathy and empathy for others drives me to do the right thing. I agree that while humans have a rational faculty—indeed, it sets us apart from everything else—our emotions set us apart from everything else, too. 3. In chapter 3, Haidt uses Glaucon, Plato and others to illustrate how when humans are left by themselves, they will often act selfishly. He says that accountability and reputation are massive factors for moral action, and that not getting caught is one of the primary reasons people do immoral things. Indeed, Haidt suggests this type of sneakiness is all but too common for humans (Haidt). Those who fail to acknowledge that most people will commit at least several moral faux pas when not observed are living in a world of dreams. Often, it is not even self-interest that drives a person to litter on the street or a child to steal a candy bar from an unsuspecting sweets vendor; it is simply the recognition that for just one moment, they are liberated. Of course, we are not talking about murder here. Humans have embedded ethical compasses that keep them from heinous acts. Small or petty evils will often be tolerated by this moral compass if no one is present. 4. In chapter 5, Haidt talks about the ethical ideas of autonomy, divinity and community. While the principle of autonomy suggests that everyone is an independent agent with specific needs and wants, community ethics believes that we are also embedded within our relationships and their contexts. The divinity principle is the idea that we are all temporary vessels for a higher power (Haidt). Nel Noddings made an interesting comment on this by presenting her conception of care ethics, a type of ethics opposed to the rational, autonomous systems put forward by Kant and other WEIRDs. Under care ethics, humans are not autonomous nor independent, but their morality is a function of social embeddedness. I believe in the community-centered version of morality because without other people, there is no one to practice morality on; it becomes ineffective and dwindles. 5. Figure 6.2 (Haidt) shows the different types of moral tastes, suggesting that people choose their moral tastes depending on personality and preferences. I rely to a large extent on the first two moral tastes—care and protection from harm and fairness / cheating. I rely somewhat on the third one as well (loyalty / betrayal) and almost not at all on the last two (authority and sanctity). Perhaps, the last two are synonymous—at least to me—with self-righteous, smug attitudes. I believe that the first two tastes, care and fairness / cheating, are important because they underlie human relationships. We may follow the rules partly because there is legal pressure to do so, but the basis of that legal pressure emerges from humans instinct to protect one another from harm and secure relationships of trust. Alan Watts once said that our institutions should be governed by mutual trust and not by formalities and paperwork; this goes along the same vein. 6. In chapter 8, The Conservative Advantage, (Haidt) the author talks about how politicians appeal to the moral tastes for support. For example, while democrats usually appeal to peoples sense of fairness, Republicans appeal to loyalty and duty. Our evolutionarily evolved moral intuitions are more centered around ideas of fairness and equity / equality than they are around loyalty. This is evident in the way most Western nations (except for the United States and their fluke POTUS) adopt a liberal, equity-minded politics and morality. My reaction to the idea that a political party could become successful because of its appeal to certain social fixtures is not very strong; I understood this was happening for a long time. 7. I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic high school and elementary school. However, at about grade 8 I shed most of the beliefs because I could not bring myself to understand that someone 2,000 years ago rose from a grave. I am spiritual and consider there is likely a governing force in our universe, but organized religion plays a minimal role in my life (except at family functions and Christmas). Even most of my family members have shed their religious sentiments and uphold them just for the sake of cultural and ethnic tradition. Except in Islamic nations, religion functions very poorly to control the population, as most people have risen above most organized religions impositions and supernatural tenets. 8. Reading Haidts text was an interesting experience, to say the least. On the one hand, most of what Haidt says I had known from previous research into ethics, psychology and philosophy. I like what he says about political platforms manipulating the public consciousness by appealing to large-scale moral tastes, such as fairness or loyalty. Haidt says humans are self-interested, but that most of us have the capacity to transcend this self-interest. I believe most people are good and trustworthy, and I have seen this evidenced on more occasions than I have seen the opposite (humans being deceitful or belligerent). I will go forward being who I am, trying to help people in the best way I know how, while maintaining a view to my own needs and goals. Works Cited Haidt, Jonathan. The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religion. Vintage Books, 2013.

Leadership As A Leader - 1348 Words

Introduction The term leader and the concept of leadership are used in virtually every aspect of human life. We are captivated by leaders and leadership to the point of obsession. Consider our fascination with business leaders such as Warren Buffet, Sir Richard Branson or Steve Jobs. Do a Google search for movies on Steve Jobs and the results will include several documentaries and feature films over a twenty year period. Our lives are filled with guidance, suggestions and direction from leaders such as Deepak Chopra, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Pope Francis. These leaders are viewed as the embodiment of the traits, behaviors and attitudes of great leaders. They provide a blueprint for those aspiring to become†¦show more content†¦There is an old adage that says â€Å"some were called, some were sent, and some just jumped up and went† (Howard Howard, 2014, p. 166). This quote is often used to illustrate the concept of â€Å"the many and the few† parable as taught by Jesus in the bible. Non-religious usage illustrates the importance and significance of leadership. Not everyone who claims to be a leader is a leader. Therefore could becoming an effective leader be a choice? Traits, Behaviors and Attitudes What makes a good or great leader? According to DeRue, Nahrgang, Wellman Humphrey (2011), leadership effectiveness was evaluated based upon personality traits /characteristics and behaviors (p. 9). In studying leadership traits, researchers hoped to identify which traits distinguished leaders from non-leaders and to what degree. Conversely, in studying leadership behavior, researchers hoped to identify which behavior oriented type (i.e. task-oriented) affected leadership effectiveness. Prior research established the correlation of both leadership traits and behaviors in terms of influence on leadership effectiveness. However, the correlation between traits and behaviors wasn’t as clear. Moreover, the characteristics of the traits and or behaviors aren’t categorized universally. For example, another meta-analysis on the types of leadership behavior s that impact team performance divided leadership behavior into two categories; task-focus ed and person-focused (Burke et al.,

Uncertain Currency Model And Option Pricing -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Uncertain Currency Model And Option Pricing? Answer: Introducation From the valuation it could be identified that funds accumulated in China need to be estimated by the company to identify how much profit will be obtained from the investments in Chinese interest rate. Estimation of the overall profits needs to be conducted to identify the returns that will be generated after one year. Interest rates in China a relatively high, which could provide the company with fixed amount of return. However, without the estimation of the actual profits expenses conducted in next fiscal year will not be possible. the second option is relatively to invest in US coco bonds, which has a steady rate of coupon payment conducted each year. The overall profits obtained in China needs to be converted to US dollar where adequate currency exposure is present. In addition, after the completion of the bond returns needs to be c converted in Chinese currency for the organization to utilize it in next fiscal year. Nevertheless, ignoring the US bond is much more profitable, as currency conversion risk is relatively present in continuing this method. Therefore, the company should invest in Chinese interest rates, which has a fixed return and are not hindered or influenced by external forces. Explaining the structure to swap transaction today: The currency swap transaction is mainly an adequate measure for reducing the depreciation on specific currency. The Australian company could eventually use the currency swap to adequately support its Chinese subsidiary in their operations. The Australian company can take out a loan in China with the help of Chinese company for the accounting needed by the Chinese subsidiary. This amount will directly be delivered to the Chinese subsidiary for smoothening their operations. On the same instance, relevant deposits needs to be conducted in Australian Bank to accumulate adequate interest from the deposit. This message mainly needs an arbitrary bank, which helps the organization to adequately acquire the required level of funds in specific country without affecting the fund due to definition and currency[1]. This process is mainly conducted with the help of two companies in requirement of the funds. after the commencement of the loan process the company needs to repay the payments conducted to the bank in China. after one year the Chinese subsidiary needs to pay the amount provided by the Australian owner,which will then be repaid to the Chinese Bank. this would eventually help in reducing the overall negative impact from the depreciating Chinese Yuan and protect investment of the Australian company. The interest paid in Chinese bank is mitigated with the interest earned from Australian bank. Assuming that interest rate parity exists and depict whether hedging with forward rate will be beneficial: The interest rate parity mainly indicates that the Chinese Yuan forward rate should have large discount for the investor. This discount is mainly demanded by the investor as any kind of changes in Chinese Yuan value good directly affect the actual returns provided from the forward contract. discounts provided from the Chinese you want forward rate could eventually help in mitigating any slight depreciation in Chinese Yuan. Therefore, the hedging conducted would not be beneficial for the company if any depreciation in Chinese Yuan is identified. this is mainly because if any kind of depreciation in Chinese Yuan is detected the future spot rate would be valued higher than the actual forward rate provided today. this would eventually hamper the hatching process used by the organization to control its losses in Chinese Yuan. Therefore, it could be estimated that any kind of depreciation in Chinese Yuan could directly me nullify the forward contract rate, as actual spot rate in future will directly change and decrease value of the overall currency hedge. Hence, it could be estimated that until the change in currency the organization should continue with the forward hedge contract. Explaining whether money market hedge be beneficial if spot rate is expected to decline: The overall situation in the case states that money market hedge would involve relevant borrowings of Chinese currency and converting them into Australian dollars. However, the situation indicates that Chinese interest rates are relatively higher in comparison to Australian interest rates. This would make the overall borrowing rate higher than the actual in investment rate conducted by the company, which will indicate a loss from transaction. The hedging process will not be beneficial for the company, as Chinese interest rates are higher and will increase the loss for the Chinese company. Moreover, if no hedge is conducted then Chinese Yuan is expected to depreciate slightly over the period. However, if hedging process is conducted then hi boring rich needs to be incurred by the organization, while the actual interest rate will be less due to reduced interest rate. This directly make the hedge undesirable for any organization, as relevant loss will be in curd from the operation. Ther efore, no hedging process needs to be conducted if interest rates in the borrowing country are higher than the investment country. this would eventually hamper the actual profitability obtained by the company from the hedging process. Depicting whether the Chinese Yuan will appreciate or decline assuming the real interest rate: The parity in interest rate in both the countries would not ensure the overall change in inflation rate in the economy. In addition, the difference in inflation rate could directly change the depreciation and appreciation of Chinese Yuan. The assumption of real interest rate being same will not affect the depreciation level of Chinese Yuan, while the changes in inflation rate could directly affect valuation of the currency. There is way ion which the actual deprecation or appreciation of the Chinese Yuan can be detected, as the overall inflation rate data is not provided. Without the detection of overall inflation rate relevant calculation for the currency conversion cannot be conducted. The Chinese inflation rate is 1.8%, while the Australian inflation rate is also at 1.8%[2]. Therefore, the changes in inflation rate could directly alter the overall currency valuation of Chinese Yuan. Explaining how business would like to be affected if Chinese interest rate are lowered: The use of indirect intervention method for reducing the overall interest rate could directly allowed the business to achieve high profits from operations. The relevant decline in interest rate could directly increase the cash flow in the economy, which might allow the organisation to attain higher profits. This could eventually help the organisation in improving the relevant revenue from their operations. Therefore, from the interest rate relevant increment in consumer power increases, as government increase the flow of cash in the economy. The company with the declining interest rate could increase their operational capability, which might raise their profitability. The assumption of inflation rate being constant and reduction in interest rate occurs then the organisations performance increases relatively. Through relevant observations it can be seen that any decline in interest rate allows the company to reduce their overall finance cost and in turn raise the level of profit margi n. Depicting whether Chinese interest rate will not entice Australian investors: The high Chinese interest rate would eventual entice the Australian investors in improving their return generation capacity. However, this could eventually increase the level of Yuan appreciation during the investment years. On the other hand, during the maturity period the continuous conversion of Yuan to AUD would directly depreciate Chinese currency. Therefore, from the evaluation the Australian investors should not choose to invest in Chinese interest rate, as during the investment period the overall Chinese yuan will appreciate, while during the maturity period due to immense selling the overall Chinese yuan will depreciate. Hence, from the evaluation it could be detected that ignoring the Chinese interest rate could eventually help the company in reducing the expected losses, which might incur due to the fluctuation in currency conversion. Thus, Australian investor could you other investment operantly for raising the level of profits[3]. Explaining whether relevant concern should be conducted regarding the exposure: From the relevant evaluation adequate concern should be conducted for the exposure, as it cannot be estimated that relevant inflation rate that will increase in China will offset the overall depreciation of the Chinese Yuan. This could eventually raise the level of concern and risk for Australian company operating in China. This relevant increment in the overall inflation rate in China is not expected to offset the overall deprecation, which is conducted in Chinese Yuan. This mainly indicates that overall deprecation will match the actual inflation rate, which could in turn hamper profitability of the organisation. Therefore, no guarantee is provided to the business, which might hamper overall profitability of the organisation. Hence, the Australian company should be concerned about the subsidiary company operating in China, due to the depreciation in currency rate. This relevant concern should be reduced by using adequate hedging instruments, which might reduce the negative impact of depreciating Chinese Yuan. The depreciating Yuan needs to be accommodated by the company or relevant profit generated in China will decline during the currency conversion. Therefore, the use of hedging instruments could allow the organisation in reducing the negative impact of Chinese Yuan during currency conversion. Explaining and illustrating other instruments that can be used in hedging future cash remittance to Australia: There are different types of instruments that can be used by the organization to adequately has its future remittance to Australia. The use of future contract can be conducted by the organization for directly hedging the relevant cash remittance to Australia. The future contract can be conducted for reducing any kind of fluctuations in the currency market which might be conducted due to impact from external forces. Taking the future contract for Chinese Yuan could eventually fix the rate of exchange for the Australian company. This would eventually help in reducing any kind of losses incurred from depreciating Chinese Yuan. The second financial instrument that could be used by the Australian company is the option contract, where adequate aging process can be conducted by the company for reducing any kind of depreciation in its currency exchange. The use of option contracts could eventually allow the company to fix a premium payment and take up the contract for the Chinese Yuan. this could eventually help in reducing any kind of loss, which might incur from depreciating Chinese currency. Using the put option could eventually help the Australian company to head for the depreciating Chinese Yuan, which might fix the actual currency conversion rate for the organization. However, relevant premiums need to be paid by the organization for initiating the option contract, which might in a small loss during the currency conversion[4]. The third instrument that could be used by the Australian company is currency swap, which directly helps in reducing any kind of depreciation to the converting currency. This relevant currency swap mainly uses two different countries interest rates to nullify any kind of depreciation to the currency value. Australian company could eventually take loan in China and convert it in Australian dollars in current date, anticipating any kind of depreciation to the Chinese Yuan. however, after getting the payments from Chinese subsidiary the Australian company could pay the Chinese Bank, while the amount converted to Australian dollars could be deposited to the Australian Bank. This deposit to the Australian Bank help in receiving interest,which mitigate the relevant interest payments conducted in Chinese Bank. Reference: "Oxiteno Earnings Double On Sales, Currency" (2015) 2015(10)Focus on Surfactants China Inflation Rate | 1986-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast(2018) Tradingeconomics.com https://tradingeconomics.com/china/inflation-cpi Liu, Yuhan, Xiaowei Chen and Dan A. Ralescu, "Uncertain Currency Model And Currency operations Pricing" (2014) 30(1)International Journal of Intelligent Systems Opie, Wei and Jonathan Dark, "Currency Overlay For Global Equity Portfolios: Cross-Hedging And Base Currency" (2014) 35(2)Journal of Futures Market [1] Liu, Yuhan, Xiaowei Chen and Dan A. Ralescu, "Uncertain Currency Model And Currency Option Pricing" (2014) 30(1)International Journal of Intelligent Systems [2] China Inflation Rate | 1986-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast(2018) Trading economics.com https://tradingeconomics.com/china/inflation-cpi [3] "Oxiteno Earnings Double On Sales, Currency" (2015) 2015(10)Focus on Surfactants [4] Opie, Wei and Jonathan Dark, "Currency Overlay For Global Equity Portfolios: Cross-Hedging And Base Currency" (2014) 35(2)Journal of Futures Markets

James Decartes Essays - Vampire The Masquerade, Sven,

James Decartes World War I left many families dead, creating large numbers of orphans. Jamaie (later to become James) Decartes was one of those orphans. His father died in the trenches in France, and his mother was stolen away, never to be seen again. James was 14 when this happened, he hid under floor boards when his mother was taken away. His humble french hometown village, was over run with german foot traffic, traveling to and from the front line. James ?decided this was no life for him, so he ran south, towards Switzerland, which he knew wasn't involved in the war, trying to seek asylum. He traveled by the cover of night, seeking charity from locals, and trying dodge the german military machine. James refused to be beaten by the germans, he would sabotage trucks, and other equipment, to do his part for his country. His spirit was undominatable, which is probably why his sire Sven Troile took notice of him. Sven had recently left Russia, due to the war, and the hardships with kindred politics t here. Sven sought to establish a brujah presence in the toreador dominated france after the war. For this Sven would need help, taking notice of James, he watched over him and his travel, not letting himself be known. James may very well have died, if it weren't for Sven, but James didn't know that. Eventually James made it to switzerland, being a neutral party in the war, the soilders would not let him enter the country. Confused as to what to do than, he started towards spain, but feared that he would find no security there. Along his way towards spain, he met up with a swiss farmer outside the country lines (through some persuasion down the road from sven), he was invited to be smuggled inside the country. This is when he first met Sven, whos very presence awed James. James, who was still young and impressionable, quickly latched onto Sven's magnetic personality. James thought Sven was hiding for the war also, which gave him more room. Sven promised James they would go back to Fr ance when the war was over, and James was eager to return home and make a name for himself. Sven and James lived out the war in Bern, Switzerland, enjoying the night life, which James never questioned, as he had become accustomed to it, as he viewed it as safer at night for people illegally in the country. No one ever asked any questions, as Sven's swiss was nearly perfect. During their stay in Switzerland, Sven continually dropped hints about his true nature and society, to make it easier for James to figure out. After the war, when James was 18, He and Sven returned to France. They went to a city called Loire, a large growing metropolis in western France. James saw less of Sven than, as Sven always had ?business to attend too'. James worked for a man Sven new, named Bennito Turen (an Italian man), down at the shipping docks. After a year of service to Bennito, he got angry, James did not know why, but he did. Bennito was beat James near death (james couldnt believe how strong benn ito was), when Sven showed up. James wasnt sure why, maybe it was because his head had been hit, but Sven seemed to move with blinding speed, and hit with amazing power. Sven beat Bennito down, and into the water, and came to James. Not knowing any other way to save James, Sven embraced him, his wounds healing, and the power of unlife throbing through his now undead veins. James was shocked by his transformation, but not angered. He had expected something like this to happen, througout his traveles with Sven. Over the next year, Sven taught all he could to James, who proved to be a very apt student. James, not only learning scholarly things from Sven, he taught himself how to fight. He never wanted to be beaten again, like he was by Bennito, whom James found out was also a vampire, called a Giovanni. He lived in france with Sven learning all he could know for 8 years. But as James wasnow a Brujah,