A paper I wrote on Daniel Dennet in summer 2005.

Phil. 331

Final Essay

“Dennett’s View of The Self as an Abstractum”

August 2nd 2005

Jesse Willis


Dennett’s view of the self is paradigmatically different than the traditional Cartesian view of the self. It owes much to Hume’s ‘bundle of perceptions’ but elucidates it and gives some modern experimental data as examples of why we should accept it. I find myself enchanted with his theory and have some refinements that I think can enhance his case for the self being viewed as a narrative center of gravity.
Dennett explains his view of what a self is by a simple analogy. His example is a “center of gravity”. Newtonian physics and our functioning understanding of it both posit that every object that has mass also has a center of gravity. But that this center of gravity is not any particular physical thing within the object. That is to say, it isn’t one particular atom within the mass or a subatomic particle, it has no mass itself, nor a detectable physical characteristics that we normally associate with real things. But we can calculate where it is given an understanding of the mass and distribution of the object itself. As Dennett says; “It has no physical properties at all, except for spatio-temporal location.” As such it is an abstractum, a purely abstract object. Dennett also calls it “a theorist's fiction” and gives us some samples of how a center of gravity works. But first, why do we even concern ourselves with the abstract at all? Because answers to some kinds of questions demand it. Questions of the sort ‘why did object X not tip over’ are often best answered by appeal to X’s center of gravity. Dennett also points out that a center of gravity can disobey the laws of physics, “an abstractum,” he says, “is not bound by all the constraints of physical travel.” The center of gravity on a pitcher can be changed instantaneously, for example, by putting a piece of gum on a pitcher’s handle. Nothing within the atomic or molecular structure of the pitcher has changed, no energies have been added or taken away and yet something has moved as the pitcher’s ‘tipping point’ is now altered. A self, Dennett argues, is very much like a center of gravity an abstract, another “theorist's fiction”. But in this case, the science backing this abstractum isn’t physics; it is human behavior and our way of explaining it. We explain human action by referring to a narrative center of gravity for every human, something we call a self. Dennett doesn’t pretend that the two abstracta are at the same scale of complexity; he realizes that selves are more complicated. But he uses narrative itself, and our relationship to it to further explain his idea.
Dennett explains a fundamental property of fictional objects is indeterminacy using fictional characters as an example. Aristotle, a real human, had many properties that we know of. He was male, was a philosopher and studied with Plato. He either did or did not have a mole on his left shoulder. None of his writings nor any of his contemporary scholars thought to mention a mole, but there really was a fact of the matter with regards to a mole on Aristotle’s shoulder. Sherlock Holmes, a fictional human, has some very real properties too. He’s a male, likes to smoke tobacco and has a friend named Watson. But there is no fact of the matter with regard to whether or not he had a mole on his shoulder. Conan Doyle never mentions a mole in his stories of the great detective. Dennett argues that like fictional characters, a narrative center of gravity (a self) has only the properties that the theory that constitutes it endows them with. He addresses the objection that fictional selves are dependent for their creation on the existence of real selves with the example of a complex but unconscious novel writing computer program that incorporates contemporary sensory data into its narrative. His tale about “Gilbert” has many parallels with an Isaac Asimov story entitled “Someday.” In Asimov’s story a future society that has become so wholly automated that it has given up the written word entirely. In this world two young boys decide to upgrade an antique automated audiobook machine called a "bard", which is capable of generating spontaneous stories based on a massive vocabulary consistent with traditional fairy stories (a device very much like Dennett’s novel writing machine) – this particular bard had been languishing unused for years - when the boys finally update it with a modern vocabulary it can tell modern stories. Though the upgrade is successful the boys soon lose interest, the bard however continues to function, telling a story to itself about itself, a lonely computer that though it was upgraded with the modern vocabulary was quickly abandoned as obsolete and left without anyone to listen to it. In essence, given the capability to process information like a human brain does a sufficiently advanced machine should have emergent properties like that of a human. Dennett and Asimov are both suggesting that a self is a functional byproduct of a brain process rather than the other way round. This is an physicalist view of the self, in that the brain produces the effect - that we then label a self, the self is not a governing device but rather incidentally as a byproduct of the governing device – the brain.
Dennett says that it is wholly “a category mistake to start looking around for the self in the brain.” Unlike centers of gravity selves have a spatio-temporal position that are far more grossly defined. My car, for example, is an extension of my self insofar as I claim it as my own and I am in control of it. That I feel the road through the tires, and the suspension and the steering-wheel I can control it as I control can control my arms and legs. Though it is classifiable as outside of my body it is an extension of my will, if I were to smash my car into yours it would be as legitimate to say I hit you as it would had I hit you with the fist on the end of my arm. For Dennett, if I read him rightly, the search for the boundaries of a self begin and end in the narrative. The more time passes the more I ‘become myself’ though we cannot undo the parts of our pasts that are determinate, our history and biological details, we can go along in response to the way the world impinges on us. We evolve, to abscond Darwinian terms, an evolutionary niche for ourselves, given our determinate baggage, in the circumstances we carry with us into the present and into the future. Dennett also allows for persons to engage in auto-hermeneutics, the self-interpretation of one's memories, to rethink and rewrite them. A process that does change the "fictional" narrative character that you have.
Dennett talks of Multiple Personality Disorder, as being one way of coping with a bifurcated narrative inconsistency. He writes, “we are all, at times, confabulators, telling and retelling ourselves the story of our own lives, with scant attention to the question of truth.” Rewriting the stories of our lives to fit the present circumstances. But I have another example. Take a situation in which one must either suffer more torture by sleep deprivation or join a cult. Though uncommon, we know that brainwashing is a real phenomenon. The classic example is Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst newspaper fortune and victim of terrorist kidnapping. After weeks locked in a closet she joined the cult that abducted her. She took on a new name and participated in armed robberies as a member of the terrorist organization. This phenomenon, known as Stockholm Syndrome, comes into play when a person who cannot escape, isolated and threatened with death, but shown token acts of kindness by the captor, come to empathize with the captor. A strategy of trying to keep your captor happy in order to stay alive becomes an identification with the likes and dislikes of the captor. This phenomenon also extends narratively to the behavior of battered spouses, members of religious cults (some with suicide pacts), and even holocaust victims. The way Stockholm Syndrome works, survival without maintaining a narrative consistent with one’s past isn’t a problem, the need for food, social interaction and sleep in addition to the inability to maintain even justifiable anger for days on end ball conspire for narrative shift. For a social creature like a human the quickest way to destroy a consistent narrative will is to force social isolation and a sterile sensory environment. Stockholm Syndrome can be seen as a coping mechanism utilized subconsciously by it victims to survive. Such a narrative break is very traumatizing, victims of it often don’t wish to be changed back (de-programmed), they are even known to go to great lengths to deny, minimize or even justify what was done to them!
Dennett also offers us the example of split brain processing, and based on the experimental data he presents I think he could legitimately extend his analogy of a physical center of gravity (the tipping point) to the brain in this case too. Consider for a moment a hypothetical tangerine. This particular fictional tangerine is roughly spherical. As such its has a center of gravity equally distant from its outer skin, in its center. If we then cut it in half, down the middle, we have multiplied the center of gravity of the tangerine by two, and have created a physical center of gravity in each half of the fruit– two objects, two centers. But because each is no longer spherical each tangerine has lost some of the properties it had when united (incapable of being rolled easily across a table for example). Just as a tangerine cut in half can be said to have gone from having one center of gravity, a person who has their corpus collosum severed can be said to have, under certain laboratory conditions, two selves. Thus disunited they may have lost some of the abilities they had when operating unified – just as the cut tangerine has. We don’t want to extend the analogy too much farther; we can after all create many more tangerine slices and tangerine centers of gravity with a knife than we can complex human selves with a single brain and a scalpel. But this also brings to the fore the point Damasio gets at with his notion of a proto-self being in even a primitive single celled life form like an amoeba. Knowing what are and what are not a creature’s outer boundaries is the minimum necessary byproduct of evolution. Without that capacity even the most rudimentary organism wouldn’t be able to distinguish potential nutrients from a part of itself. More complex multi-cellular animals like Zebras may lack self-consciousness, but they show even more radically complex behaviors – ones so diverse that we can attribute moods and emotions. We might say, “That zebra there. It is acting skittish today – after that scare with the lion yesterday its no wonder.” But that Zebra however it feels cannot tell itself that same story. Humans seem to offer the most radically emergent properties. We extend our self boundaries to our history, our clothing, tools, language and a view of ourselves. Whatsmore one emergent trait that no other animals other than humans do is perform actions foreseeably guaranteed to result in their immediate death. Intentional suicide is an emergent property of complex minds. Persons who commit suicide tend to do so with an eye to a narrative end – ‘goodbye, cruel world’ or some such missive – a narrative end often written down in a suicide note. Due in no small part to the stories we tell to ourselves about ourselves.
Dennett tells us also of an apocryphal story about the origins of human language and its relationship to narrative. How when blurting out a question, with no one else to hear it, one of our primitive ancestors discovered they could answer themselves! As he puts it “one component of the mind had confronted a problem that another component could solve.” Indeed, Dennett subscribes to the view that conscious thinking is a privately talking to oneself. In essence the narrative self emerged from a social network with language, and in the process internalized. This cashes out to being we are “not the captains of our ships; there is no conscious self that is unproblematically in command of the mind's resources. Rather, we are somewhat disunified. Our component modules have to act in opportunistic but amazingly resourceful ways to produce a modicum of behavioral unity, which is then enhanced by an illusion of greater unity.” Dennett then again refers back to the split brain case; we can see the mind working through the channels available to it to produce surprisingly unified results. In support of this I offer a different laboratory case. Those persons who suffer from Korsakov's Syndrome (a dementia observed during the last stages of severe chronic alcoholism which involves the complete loss of memory for recent events without effecting long term memory). For instance, Korsakov’s sufferers can’t learn to recognize the faces of people they never met before the dementia set in. They can seem normal for short time periods – you can introduce yourself start a conversation with a sufferer and then leave the room for a moment. When you return they will wonder who you are and what you’re doing there. But experimentation has shown that a Korsakov’s sufferer can be habituated to act as if they’ve remembered something that happened a short time ago. If you administer a test that results in sharp pain for wrong answers to a set of questions the patient doesn’t know – and keep the questions and answers consistent in repeated trials of the test - the subject will learn to avoid the wrong answers. If asked a subject so conditioned will claim to have chosen the right answers based on knowledge, but they cannot cite the sources for when they learned it. This is because they’ve learned unconsciously how to answer the questions to avoid pain – if the questions are math based they can infer that they are ‘just good at math’. It isn’t a lie, because it makes sense to them – they are confabulating a reason for their choices. Interestingly their unique disability would make Korsakov’s sufferers the ideal persons to be used in advertizing focus groups – refinements to an advertizing campaign could be done almost in real time.
For Dennett, the self is an abstraction, a theoretical apparatus to predict, understand, and explain the behavior of individual humans. Selves are far more complex than a physical center of gravity, indeed selves are the emergent property of complex minds, the confabulatory narrators for our actions.

A 1995 psychology paper, or maybe a couple.

Correlational vs. Causal Research /Thinking February 10, 1995
Jesse Willis

Causal research is a statistical way of measuring the effect an independent variable has upon a dependent variable. In Causal research the independent variable is applied to subjects at varying amounts (for example levels of none, low, medium and high could be used) then these different levels are measured against the dependent variable. Causal research is good at explaining what is being effected and by what. Unfortunately this type of experimentation requires strict laboratory conditions that are artificial and have limited general application. Often these laboratory conditions are potentially invasive and may involve ethical dilemmas that make experimentation impossible or impractical.

Correlational research is a statistical way of measuring the extent to which two factors vary together and how well either factor predicts the other. When doing correlational research, the calculation of the correlational coefficient expresses the relationship the two factors have two each other. A positive correlational relationship are statistical factors that climb or decline with each other. A negative coefficient has a relationship where one factor rises while the other falls. Correlational studies are good at predicting outcomes and are applicable to many different variables with little invasiveness and lower cost morally and financially. Many ethical considerations that happen in experimental or causal research is avoided in correlational research as no-one is having anything inflicted upon them. Unfortunately the same things that make correlational research a good psychological tool also cause problems. The lack of laboratory conditions in which other unknown variables are restricted or eliminated are hard to exclude from effecting measurements. Even more distressing is the lack of a sufficient basis in correlational studies to draw conclusions about cause.

In my own life there are three variables that seem to have some degree of positive or negative correlation with the changing phases of my “stress level”. These factors are money, responsibility, and noise. It is my belief that because these are things that effect my stress level and I would assume that these same factors may effect other people. There seems to be a correlation between the amount of money I have and the amount of stress I feel. This relationship is a negative one. The more money I have the less stress I feel and conversely the less money I have the more stress I feel. I also think there is a positive relationship between the amount of responsibility I have and the amount of stress I feel. When I have many responsibilities I become stressed out and my temper and tolerance becomes short. These two factors seem to be correlated. Therefore it may be interesting to do further research into the relationship between responsibility and stress. My third factor correlated with my stress level is noise. When I am inundated with a lot of noise I feel very stressed. The more noise there is the more stressed I am. Just like responsibility, if I get to much of the stressor I become ‘stressed-out’. There is a positive relationship between level of noise and level of stress. This third factor effecting my stress level (noise) is what I will design an experiment for. The questions now are: Does noise (the independent variable) induce the dependent variable (stress)? Is it related at all? Is it a coincidence? These are the questions that are being tested for.


Causal Research Study of the Effect of Noise Level on Stress Level

Methodology
Subjects for the experiment:
The subjects for this experiment will consist of a random sampling of 1000 Canadians between the ages of 19 and 72. The subjects will be recruited from persons voting in local elections and non-psychology students at local secondary education institutions.
Apparatus for the experiment:
-1 classroom with seating for 25.
-2000 Standard Willis Stress Scale forms.
To monitor the levels of stress induced by the experiments one method of recording stress levels will be used. This will be a Standard Willis Stress Scale that is basically a self reporting questionnaire that allows for scoring of stress levels between one and ten. One is the lowest 10 is the highest on this scale.
-2000 Easy Crossword puzzles. To give to the subjects during the stressors (or absence of them in group “A”) this crossword puzzle is taken from “The Province” weekend paper and should take between 5 - 15 minutes to complete.
-A clock with count down capabilities. This will be used to calculate accurately the same amount of time for each group.
-3 audio tapes (the stressors) one recording of people talking, one recording of a morning talk radio show, one recording of an obviously inexperienced person practicing “Chopsticks” on a piano.
-3 audio tape players with amplifiers, for playing the stressors (audio tapes). The dials will be marked with the varying levels of decibel output 40 dB, 55 dB and 80 dB respectively.
-1 decibel measuring device. This will be used to calibrate the correct levels at which to play the audio tapes.
Procedures for the experiment:
Four groups will be compared for analysis. The groups will be tested in batches of 25. 40 batches of tests will be given. Four groups of 250 will be tested these groups will be labeled groups “A”, “B”, ”C” and “D”.
The first group (“A”) will be given the “easy crossword puzzle” that all subjects will receive and are measured before and after with the “Willis Scale”.
The second group (“B”) will fill out the first “Willis Scale” form then this group will be given the easy cross word puzzle to fill out during the 10 minute long experiment they will be inundated with the sounds of people talking at a level of 40 decibels. Again they will be asked to fill out their stress levels after the puzzle and noise.
The third group (“C”) will fill out the “Willis Scale” form before and after the stressors and puzzle. During the puzzle they will listen to the sounds of people talking at a level of 40 decibels, and the pre-recorded sounds a morning talk radio show at 55 decibels.
The Fourth Group (“D”) will fill out the “Willis Scale” form both before and after the stressors and puzzle are applied. This group will listen to the pre recorded sounds of people talking at a level of 40 decibels. They will also listen to the pre-recorded sound of a morning talk radio show at 55 decibels. They will also hear the pre-recorded sound of an obviously inexperienced person practicing “Chopsticks” on a piano at 80 decibels.
When all of the testing is complete the responses will be analyzed.
If the test results show that there is a pattern formed that is ascending (high noise = high stress) it can be established that noise causes an effect of stress. Therefore, more noise, more stress. Cause and effect.

(A) Biographical Information:
Name: John Smith (Name changed for client confidentiality).
Age: 44 (Middle Adult).
Gender: Male.
Marital Status: Married.
Birth Order: First of two.
Occupation: Air Traffic Controller.
Number of children: 2.
(B) Assessment of Cognitive Development and Functioning:
One of the pioneers of modern psychology Jean Piaget, theorized that cognitive development occurred in four stages. These stages mapped out the development of reasoning skills from birth to mid-adolescence. At or around 11 or 12 years of age they enter the final stage called ‘Formal Operations.' The ability to reason abstractly characterizes this final stage of Piaget’s model of cognitive development.
Since the general recognition of the value of Piaget’s theory many psychologists have criticized the strictness of the age boundaries between levels. The modern Psychologists believe that as a rule these stages are more gradual than the sudden changes in cognition than Piaget laid out. As well in certain cases it is generally agreed upon that the development of cognition may not progress all the way to “Formal Operations” at all. The uneducated, those afflicted with Down’s Syndrome, brain damage or senility (as witnessed by a decline in fluid intelligence), can lose or never attain this final stage.
Jean Piaget’s model for cognitive development was directed at the study of children and adolescents; however this final stage is said to continue on throughout the rest of life.
I have concluded that John has entered the final stage of Piaget’s model because he reasons abstractly, understands and can perform inductive and deductive reasoning easily, and employs logical thought in day to day decision making.
Lawrence Kholberg developed a stage model that identified the different levels of moral reasoning. Morality is about what is right and wrong. Each person knows what is right or wrong for themselves, but few have determined why they feel that way in fact when logic is applied often moral opinions can seem irrational. An example is: “Doing drugs is bad.” Why is it bad? “Because it is against the law.” But, what if the law said you must do drugs? “Then it would be wrong not to do drugs.”. Examining reasoning such as this Kholberg was able to determine what level of moral reasoning is behind decisions of right and wrong in this case it would be a the “Law and Order” stage; because the way the laws are written determines what is good and bad. Kholberg’s proposition of an ascending ladder of morality, classifies the reasonings behind moral decisions in to six distinct stages.
According to Kholberg’s model John would be in “Level Three, The Postconventional, Autonomous or Principled level.” Upon further investigation it is plain that John subscribes his moral decision to Stage Six. John perceives what justice is in his own mind and then determines the necessary actions that need to be taken to provide that justice.
*See Appendix A - Kholberg for complete assessment.
(C) Assessment of Psychosocial or Personality Development:
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial development theory espouses a philosophy of time (age) bounded tasks that must be accomplished to become psychologically healthy. Erikson believed that progression through eight steps of life from birth thru old age determined the psychosocial development of people. Critics cite numerous examples where these crossroads in life are not met within the proscribed time or not at all. These so called ‘life decisions’ are seen as positive and negative by Erikson but leave much to be desired by his critics. Not everyone agrees that all of these stages happen. That they are only positive or negative, and some would disagree that “Close heterosexual relationship[s] and procreation” are the only decisions of a positive nature possible (Handout 2.1).
John Smith falls under the category of middle age. This stage (according to Erikson’s theory) is characterized by a struggle between ‘generativity and stagnation.' Generativity is defined as “being productive and supporting future generations [often offspring]” (Myers, 1992, p. 118). Here, stagnation would be defined as “self indulgence and possible social and psychological impoverishment” (Handout 2.1). John would fit in to both these categories somewhat, paying for his children’s education (generativity) and buying a sports car (stagnation).
Social theorist Daniel Levinson also has something to say about personality development. His belief based upon interviews is “...as people enter their 40’s they undergo a ‘midlife transition’ for which many is a crisis” (Meyers, 1992, p. 116).
Trepidation from the change of life stages like adulthood, marriage, and middle age are common. In western societies age is often considered a detriment and can cause fear and anxiety in the progression of these stages that seem beyond our control. In our society the recording of years by birthday parties may start out as a happy occasion for a child, but later on in life it can be dreaded. Women especially can become obsessed with concealment of the eternal plodding along of time marked by birthdays. Our society seems less concerned with the aging of men for some reason. Although this concealment often reverses itself after a certain number of years, becoming a badge of achievement (‘I have been on this earth 98 years young whippersnapper’). This incestuous relationship between age and self-worth can often result in embarrassment and avoidance of age related questions. In eastern traditions age is revered and looked forward to. The elderly are respected. With age comes that respect and the perception of wisdom by the young.
In John’s case a possible mid-life crisis was, marked by the purchase of a sports car (black not the traditional red). John is unsure that this was indeed a mid-life crisis point. It was just the realization of a longtime dream to own an Alpha Romeo, conveniently corresponding with the leaving home of his eldest son.
(D) Assessment of The Individual Traits of Temperament:
Temperament was first discussed by the ancient Greeks. What makes people have different personalities? By the middle ages they were sure it had to do with four humors any combination of these four could make any personality. Temperament is personality and emotional excitability (Meyers, 1992, p. 77), inborn and learned, it is poorly understood.
Unsure of the validity of the Temperament Handout 3-4, I asked John to fill it out twice. The first time was in the morning after driving to work on a Tuesday (John’s first day of work that week). The second was on his day off. The results are not identical.


John’s Scores
#1 #2 Average Score (Male)
Fear: -------- 9 ------ 8 ------------------- 10.8
Activity: -------- 12 ------ 13 ------------------- 12.8
Distress: -------- 11 ------ 8 ------------------- 9.7
Sociability: ------- 11 ------ 12 ------------------- 14.6
Anger: ------- 14 ------ 14 ------------------- 10.8

(E) Appendixes A & B
Appendix A: Methods Used To Assess Levels Of Functioning
Kholberg’s Moral Dilemma:
In Europe, a woman was near death from a
very bad disease, a special kind of cancer. There
was one drug that the doctors thought might save
her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the
same town had recently discovered. The drug was
expensive to make, but the druggist was charging
ten times what it cost him to make. He paid $200
for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small
dose of the drug. The sick woman’s husband,
Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the
money, but he could get together only about
$1,000, which of half of what it cost. He told the
druggist that his wife was dying and asked it to sell
it to him cheaper or let him pay later. But the
druggist said, “No, I discovered the drug and I’m
going to make money from it.” Heinz got desperate
and broke in to the man’s store to steal the drug for
his wife (Meyers, 1992, p. 99).
Morality Interview
In two half hour interviews, I got this from John:
(In response to the “Radium drug” question proposed by Kholberg, the question was: Was Heinz right in doing this or wrong?) “Unreservedly and absolutely I would support Heinz in his actions. He was completely in the right and I would have done the same.”
(Why?) “The right to have your property protected is infinitesimal compared to the right to life. I don’t care if this is against the law or that the druggist might not be happy about it.”
(What if the same situation was occurring, but this was an experimental drug, not only was their no more of it but it would not be able to be made again. In this case if Heinz stole it no one else in the world benefit from this drug. Would you still support Heinz?)[Pause]Yes. [Pause] It would still be the right thing to do, the drug was so overpriced as to be unobtainable. My duty, Heinz’s duty, is to his wife.”
(What values do you have?) “...there are no strictly set values....[there are]...only principles of life that must be upheld.”
(Like what?) “That all people even if not ‘created’ equally should be treated equally.”
(In response to question on race relations.) “I always tell my daughter that it is okay and right to hate a Black, an Asian or whatever, people you can hate come in all colours. But it is unacceptable, to hate all Blacks, all Asians etceteras. Hating, and loving all people on their own individual merits not by generalities of race.
Appendix B: Definitions
Accommodation: Adaptation of current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information (Meyers, 1992, p. 70).
Crystallized Intelligence: Ones accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age (Meyers, 1992, p. 115).
Fluid Intelligence: One’s ability to reason abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood (Meyers, 1992, p. 115).
Intrinsic Motivation: A desire to perform behavior for its own sake and to be effective (Meyers, 1992, p. 373).
Adaptation Level Phenomenon: The tendency for our judgments (of sounds, lights, income) to be relative to a “Neutral” level defined by our experience (Meyers, 1992, p. 398).
Gender Schema Theory: The theory that children learn from cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and adjust their behavior accordingly (Meyers, 1992, p. 605).
Oral or Anal Fixation: According to Freudian psychology, a locking of pleasure seeking energies at either the Oral or Anal stage of psychosexual theory resulting in abnormal fixation with said stage.
Projection: In Psychoanalytic theory, the defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others (Meyers, 1992, p. 416).
Learned Helplessness: The hopelessness and passive resignation learned when an animal or human is unable to avoid repeated aversive events (Meyers, 1992, p. 436).
(F) References:
Handouts From Class:
-“EAS Temperament Survey”. Handout 3-4.
-“Highlights of Piaget’s Stages of development”.
-“Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development”. Table 2.1.
-“Kholberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning”.
-“A developmental map of the Life Cycle and Its Context”
Figure 6.1

Lerner, R, & Hitsch, D. (1983) Human Development: A Life Span Perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Meyers, D. (1992). Psychology. Holland: Worth Publishers.

Poon, L. (Ed.). (1980). Aging In The 1980’s: Psychological Issues. Washington: American


An Examination of Stress and The Stress Response System

by
Jesse Willis

PsychologyAssignment # 2
Section 71
Instructor:
Michael MacNeil
March 24, 1995

Stress is an illusive and difficult to understand concept for humanity. Unlike hunger pangs which induces a person to eat we are often unsure what a stress response wants us to do. The “fight or flight” response is often inappropriate to many modern stressful situations if something is uncontrollable fight or flight have little use, in fact that sort of response may in fact badly harm us. The stress response has been linked to adverse effects upon the human body like heart disease from a build up of the stress hormones in artery walls. Stress has also been shown to have an adverse effect upon the immune system increasing risks of disease. The dangers of the stress response system are many but the benefits are also apparent. without the extra readiness given us by the stress response many dangerous situations might go off a lot worse than they do. Benefits of the general alarm are legion; a greater strength is provided due to a rush of blood to the muscles clarity of perception thinking and sensory information gathering without these enhanced skills in times of emergency humanity would not exist.
To understand stress it is useful to examine the physical parts involved in the determination and carrying out of stress and stress response system. The brain as the thinking center of the body is intimately tied to stress. The brain acts as the communications, command and distribution center for the body. This is where the receiving, processing and shipping of stressor and the stress response system is centered.
Receiving of stressors is the first step in the stress response system. Stressors are perceived by all five of the senses from sight (seeing danger approaching), smell (bad smells can be stressors especially when uncontrollable), touch (pain or burning for example), hearing (which is susceptible when exposed to unpredictable and uncontrollable loud noises) and finally even taste can be subject to stressors in the case of dangerous substances. All stressors come through the senses, however some senses don’t have much of a way to manually block themselves. Eyes have eyelids which allows to stop looking at stressful things (a particularly gory horror movie scene for example). Ears don’t have earlids. If a sound is loud and unpredictable we cannot manually block it out without using our hands.
Once the sensory information is received it is processed by the cerebral cortex where sensory information is compared with past experience and analyzed for danger. Once the information is passed to the cerebral cortex it can be recognized as a stressor this will trigger off a complex sequence of reactions. Simultaneously the sympathetic nervous system releases the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal gland while the hypothalamus receiving direction from the cerebral cortex stimulates the pituitary gland which then releases pituitary hormone, when this hormone reaches the adrenal gland the stress hormone cortisol is released.
Once these hormones are in the body several reactions happen. Skeletal muscles tense up and have blood diverted to them, heart and respiration rates increase, and fat is released from the body’s stores. All these effects are in preparation for the so called “flight or fight” reaction. This reaction readies the body to either confront the stressor (fight) or to run or get away from it (flight).
One of the disadvantages of the stress response is the general adaptation syndrome which comes in to effect when a stressor does not go away. This syndrome is marked by three individual stages. The first: In response to a stressor the body sends out a general alarm in response to any stress. This has the effect of readying the body to deal with the stressor. Second, the stressor is attempted to have been coped with (resistance). Finally if the stressor persists exhaustion follows. Exhaustion is characterized by decreased immune system levels fatigue and sometimes even death. The point of general adaptation syndrome is that with prolonged stressors physical and mental damage can be done. It is ironic that the same hormones released during stress and which are designed to help us handle difficult situations are also very dangerous to the human body over the long term. Long term and frequent exposures are shown to cause everything from peptic ulcers, heart disease, susceptibility to immune system attacks even cancer and brain damage. It has even been shown to cause overall general poorer health down the road for those experiencing even small amounts of long term stress.
Also involved with the stress response system is emotion. Our emotions are tied to the limbic system in the brain and the amygdala. Negative emotions can cause stress just like an outside stressor which will start the stimulation of the adrenal gland releasing cortisol acting as a stress hormone. With prolonged exposure damage can occur in the body. This tie between emotions and stress shows up when people feel out of control. On the other side of the coin positive emotions and thinking can help the body recover from damage. Optimism has been shown to reduce recovery time from major surgery. Systems theory ties the mind with the body so that how we think can effect how our body responds. Other applications of this theory have come in to existence such as biofeedback techniques for controlling stress response through monitoring and mental control of previously thought to be unregulatable body functions like heart rate. In the same vein relaxation exercises have been cited for being able to control the previously uncontrollable stress around you.
From all of this we can divine a very interesting fact perception of control over potential or actual stressors is the most important factor in how we respond to that stressor. If no control is perceived stress levels will increase and if the stressor doesn’t stop it can have an adverse effect on physical and mental health.


References:

Carlson, Neil R. (1995). Physiological Psychology 3rd ed. Needham Heights: Allyn Bacon.

Meyers, D. (1992). Psychology. Holland: Worth Publishers.

Likely from 1995 as well, likely for a geology paper:

Vital Statistics for a Red Planet:

Name: Mars
Orbit: Fourth planet from the Sun. Average distance of 227,392,000 km from the sun.
Size: 7th largest planet in solar system diameter, 6,786 km (Earth 12,756 km in diameter)
Length of year: 687 days
Length of day: 24 hours 37 minutes
Surface gravity (Earth = 1): 0.38
Composition: silicates, iron, surface minerals oxidized to rust red; carbon dioxide atmosphere
Mean surface temperature: -23 degrees Celsius (Earth +22 Celsius)
Atmospheric pressure on surface: 6.1 millibars (Earth 1 bar)
Number of natural satellites: 2 (Phobos & Deimos)

Setting the Stage:
Imagine instead of a casual walk in to class today that you are suddenly transported to the planet Mars. It is Tuesday, April 4th 1995 at 9:00 AM (Pacific standard time on Earth) laid out before you is the Valles Marineris in all it splendor the solar systems, biggest canyon. Standing atop its Southern rim you look north over its vastness and even though the air is colder and thinner than on Earth you cannot see the other side of the canyon over 120 km away. The gravity here is .38 that of Earth’s so you weigh just over a third what you do at home. You can jump several feet in the air with little difficulty. Luckily that transporter provided a space suit or else you would have died within minutes of arrival the temperature is -34 below zero and the air pressure is less than 2% that of Earth’s at sea level not only that but there is virtually no free oxygen in the atmosphere. As you watch your classmates play in the night air you can see the stars above don’t seem to twinkle as they do on Earth and there are more of them in the sky. The thinner atmosphere allows more light to reach the surface. But the surface of the planet is darker than a night on Earth. First of all there is less air to scatter the light. Secondly, there is no moon taking up several degrees of the sky and reflecting it back to the planet. Instead, two tiny moons are on the western and eastern horizons, their tiny shapes are virtually indistinguishable from the light from the stars in the sky, you're lucky you even spotted them they are so dark and small. Thankfully the sunlight is hitting them just right and Phobos is moving quite fast. At 9231 km away Phobos is quickly heading for the eastern horizon and finally sets at 9:34 AM. Deimos is moving much slower but is closer to the horizon. It isn’t moving towards the eastern horizon like Phobos though, instead it is heading for the western horizon at 9:49 AM Deimos sets in the East. Is it not slightly strange that Phobos and Deimos set on opposite horizons? In fact, it is just a trick of physics, Phobos and Deimos are both orbiting Mars in a counterclockwise direction (Looking from above the north pole down just as Earth’s Moon does. The reason that Deimos seems to be going the opposite direction is that Mars spins on its axis faster than Deimos orbits Mars. Mars completely revolves on its axis once every 24 hours and 37 minutes (A Martian day) while Deimos orbits Mars once every 30 hours and 21 minutes. Welcome to Mars a land of contrast.


The Moons of Mars Phobos and Deimos:
Asteroid Origins or Ring Remnants?
The planet Mars has two small moons which are roughly potato shaped. Named Phobos and Deimos after the Roman god Mars’ chariot horses, their names translate to Fear and Terror. Although these moons were discovered in 1877, they were described by several writers before that time. Phobos the bigger of the two measures 27 by 21 by 19 kilometers in diameter. Deimos is slightly over half Phobos’ size at 15 by 12 by 11 kilometers. Phobos is also the inner most in orbit around Mars averaging 9380 km from the surface. Deimos is further away orbiting in a more circular orbit at an average 23500 km. Interestingly both moons orbit directly above the equator and from the surface would seem to pass by each other. Like Earth’s Moon, both the moons of Mars are ‘locked on’ to Mars presenting the same side to Mars' surface creating from the surface the ‘dark sides of the moons’. Up close, both moons have nearly black surfaces witch only reflect 4 or 5 percent of the light hitting them witch makes them as dark as asphalt. Considering also that the sun is further away from Mars the light intensity is also lower finding Phobos and Deimos in the sky would be much harder than finding the Earth’s Moon. Their composition is generally believed to be similar if not identical to that of carbonaceous asteroids and meteorites rich in carbon compounds and chemically bonded water.
The uncanny resemblance between the Martian moons and the carbonaceous bodies native to the solar systems’ asteroid belt has led astrophysicists to believe that Mars’ moons are captured asteroids. Planetary scientist Bob Craddock of the (U.S.) National Air and Space Museum has proposed the theory that Phobos and Deimos are not in fact captured asteroids as it is generally agreed, but are instead remnants of an ancient ring system that may have orbited Mars after a huge meteroid crashed into the surface of the planet (4 billion years ago) throwing a ring of debris into an unstable orbit. Craddock’s ring theory is supported by what he calls the ‘odd elongated craters’ that are so different from those in the rest of the solar system. These craters are, Craddock theorizes, the result of the debris plowing in to the surface at a low angle, making them unlike meteoroid craters that tend to be round because most meteoroids tend to hit the planet head-on (not at a low angle). Craddock also cites the orbits of Mars’ two satellites as evidence of his theory. He believes because their orbits are nearly circular it is highly unlikely these moons are captured asteroids. There are several problems with this theory. The first is that it assumes that it would be difficult for an asteroid to become captured in a relatively stable orbit around a planet. In evidence for this we are to look at the other planets of the solar system how many of the terrestrial planets have asteroid like moons only Mars. However several gas giant planets have moons with asteroid-like dimensions. Furthermore we have strong evidence that at least some moons are captured into there orbits around planets: Triton for example a relatively large moon at 2,700 km, orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit compared to all the other major moons in the solar system. This fact combined with the proximity of Mars to the asteroid belt (they are neighbors) would seem to show more evidence on the side of an asteroid origin for Mars’ moons. The asteroid origin is also supported by the fact that even if as the ring theory states that orbital capture is extremely difficult we can see that Phobos’ orbit is not stable and it is predicted through careful measurement that Phobos will spiral in to Mars within 100 million years. Deimos orbit seems to be more stable further from the surface and may even break free of Mars altogether. Taking all these facts in to account and the scientific principle to never complicate the simple when searching for answers what do you think happened? Phobos, the innermost and larger of the to moons is pocked and scarred by craters, large chunks of its surface have been blasted away by impacts. The largest crater named Stickney, stretches eight kilometers across the diameter of Phobos. Grooves that stretch in a parallel pattern around the moon radiate from Stickney. This may be evidence of the fracturing due to the colossal impact that created Stickney. Another theory suggests that the impact that created Stickney boiled off the water within the moon in just a few minutes creating the striations along its length. Interestingly any person standing on Phobos could easily jump off the planet and hang above its surface for several minutes before slowly returning to its surface.
Deimos is farther away from Mars and is less heavily cratered, upon it’s surface a relatively flat powder like surface is occasionally punctuated by house sized boulders. A golf ball or baseball could be put in to orbit of Phobos with a good swing and a solid hit. On Deimos if you picked up a 3 kilogram rock and then dropped it from a height of 1.45 meters it would take 30 seconds for the rock to fall to the planet's surface, this is 50 times longer than it would take on Earth.

Evidence for the ring
origins of Phobos and Deimos:
This artists rendition of what the asteroid belt
around Mars may have looked like a few billions of
years ago. Formed by an ancient collision this
theory proposes that Phobos and Deimos were
once a part of Mars’ surface and a ring that once
circled the planet has decayed leaving only
Phobos and diemos as its legacy.
History of Mars:
Mars was a god. Mars is also a planet. The planet was a god. The Babylonians and Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all considered several of our solar systems planets' gods. The Babylonians, Greeks and Romans named them. Going through several name changes but never a profession the planet we know as Mars has a long history. Changing from Nergal the Babylonian god of war, to Ares the Greek god of War, and finally becoming Mars the Roman god of War, the name has stuck since then. The observations of Mars were recorded in ancient days the wandering stars of Jupiter and Mars who traveled across the sky and then would reverse direction and then return on their previous course confounded the ancient astronomers, observation of the colour of Mars became apparent to the patient ancient astronomer, blood red, appropriate for a god of war. In the modern era there came to pass a certain mistake that began innocently enough and proceeded to take wild speculation based on virtually no facts to some of the highest levels seen in Earth’s history. In 1877 the same year of Phobos and Deimos’ discoveries Giovanni Schiaperelli reported in Italian that he had seen cannali through his telescope, when he looked at Mars. Canalis is the Italian word for channels but astronomers in the UK and U.S. had canali mistranslated to mean canals. The difference between the two words is very important. Channels are the paths that water naturally takes through the Earth. Canals are artificially made structures for the flow of water as a means of transportation. The existence of canals was therefore a conclusion that there was intelligent life on Mars. Wild speculation began at the forefront was Percival Lowell an American astronomer who published several articles and books on the canals of Mars constructing elaborate reasons and designs for what he had seen through his telescope. Lowell believed that Mars was a dying world and that the Martians constructed canals, to transport water for agriculture, from the poles of the planet to the equator. Lowell was of course completely wrong. There are no canals on Mars. Mars does have poles that are visible from Earth and is also seasonally plagued by global dust storms that darken the planet's surface for months at a time. These observations could help explain why for a long time people believed in an intelligent life form on Mars. A case of the Emperor’s new clothes if I ever heard one.
Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Ridge Volcanoes are Analogous to the
Hawaiian Islands chain of Volcanoes:
Olympus Mons is the name for the largest volcano on Mars. This monster of a volcano is also the largest mountain in the solar system. Olympus Mons translates to Mount Olympus the traditional home of the Greek and Roman gods. Well named, this Mountain far surpasses the original Mount Olympus in Greece and even Mt. Everest on Earth in sheer height. Olympus Mons is a shield volcano and characteristic of such is a characterized by a very flattened cone shape. Over most of its surface it’s far from steep, its great height is attained from great breadth. Its peak rises 25 km higher than the surrounding plain (the Tharsis ridge) and stretches to a diameter of eight hundred kilometers. It’s slope averages only six degrees making it an easy but long climb. Around the circumference of the volcano is a circular escarpment measuring 7 km high and which is virtually vertical in some areas. Dimensions of this pinnacle of mountain volcanoes will make future mountain climbers quake in their pressure suits. Atop the volcano, a gigantic caldera awaits future mountain climbers. The sheer size of this caldera is so large it could almost take Earth’s largest shield volcano Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii within its borders. Standing on one side of the caldera you could not see the other due to the distance between the rims and the curvature of the planet (the horizons proximity is much more pronounced on Mars).
The Hawaiian island chain of volcanoes is analogous to that of the Tharsis ridge chain. The formation of these volcanoes arises from a hotspot below the plate (the Pacific plate on Earth, the Mars global plate on Mars). As the plate moves over the mantle the hotspot stays still, so that new volcanoes are formed in a chain. Doubtless the Tharsis ridge volcanoes and Olympus Mons itself are above such a hotspot. Like their Earthly neighbors the Tharsis ridge volcanoes line up in the direction of travel over the hotspot.
The Atmosphere, Storms, Tornadoes and Waters of Mars:
Mars’ atmospheric pressure is around 1% of Earth’s. Made up of very different stuff than Earth’s air, Mars’ air is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide, 1.8% nitrogen, 1.5% argon, 0.1% oxygen and 0.06% water vapor.
Evidence on the surface of the red planet proves Mars must have had a thicker atmosphere in the past. 3.5 billion years ago water flowed in a liquid form freely over the surface. The reason for this is that water cannot exist in a liquid state on Mars except in a very limited fashion and areas. The only thing that can give the flow of water to a planet like Mars is higher atmospheric pressure. Throughout the planet, but concentrated north of Valles Marineris evidence for ancient running water is present the telltale channels left by running water cut paths of least resistance to the lowlands of the north that may have once even been a shallow sea. We do have evidence for lakes (the water must run somewhere) which have sedimentary layers built up along the now dry shorelines. Sedimentary processes are more limited now on mars water is unable to run free so sedimentation must be dry.
The planet Mars is a desert world. Like Earth’s deserts the sands are omnipresent and just like on Earth sandstorms plague the desert. During normal conditions however, the weak winds of Mars are hard pressed to move a lot of sand. The formation of dunes is therefore a slower process on the red planet. But dunes are formed. From space probe photos high above the surface we can see tracts of land that are crisscrossed by regular dues of all the varieties found on Earth. Most of these dune covered areas are in the northern lowlands and near the southern pole here the land becomes mostly sand and even from high above the dunes can be seen between the frozen poles of the planet. The dunes are of the transverse variety near the northern pole and where sand supplies are limited they are longitudinal. Barchan (parabolic) dunes are harder to see from space because of the lack of rhythmical grouping.
Evidence has been found for tornadoes on mars where tracks in the sands have left their footprint, these whirlwinds are most likely to happen in the proximity of seasonal global dust storms like the one mariner 9 met upon arrival. These storms can last several months and can hide much of the planets landscape.
Weathering on mars is different from on Earth. The volcanoes of Mars the Valles Marineris and the other amazingly large geological structures are big and relatively unweathered for several reasons. First of all, the Tharsis ridge volcanoes are shield volcanoes; being such they tend to be very massive if not always the tallest. Secondly, Mars has little if any plate tectonic activity that explains how internal planetary pressures are released unevenly into the Tharsis ridge chain of volcanoes and Valles Marineris rift valley. Thirdly Mars has very little weathering compared with Earth. With no water currently running over its surface, a low pressure atmosphere and lack of precipitation traditional weathering takes a very long time on Mars. When weathering does occur it is often due to extraterrestrial (external to Mars) interference like meteorite and micrometeorite impacts. Fourth, because Mars’ gravity is only a third (approximately) that of Earth’s, less pulling down of structures is happening; outcrops or areas that would collapse in mass wasting on Earth can still stand in the Martian gravity. Finally, because there is no known subduction of plates on the red planet land masses are not recycled as they are on Earth.
Valles Marineris, Internal Workings and Tectonics of Mars:
When Mariner 9 first reached Mars it took photographs of a break in the planet's surface that puts the grand canyon to shame. This valley was named after Mariner 9 becoming the Valles Marineris. This canyon is up to 2 km deep and over 500 km wide and stretches 3000 km across the planet's surface. Compared with Earth’s Grand Canyon Valles Marineris is a giant at twice its depth, fourteen times its width and nine times as long. The reason for such a great gash in the planet was unclear for quite a while and the jury is still out, however several theories have been combined together to form a unified theory that has a little of everything in it. Mars has only one plate, unlike Earth that has several large ones and dozens of smaller ones. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey believe that Valles Marineris is a combination valley. Like the rift valley of East Africa the plate seems to be attempting to break apart, trying to eventually form a diverging plate boundary, similar to the Mid-Atlantic ridge on Earth. However, it is also important to note that there was in the past water flowing through from the West to the East and pouring out towards the North in the distant past. Unlike the grand canyon however it is not solely due to water erosion. Since the free liquid water on Mars has disappeared mass wasting along the borders of the valley has contributed to its size widening it out. It is unclear with the available data weather tectonic or volcanic activity are still happening on the planet. Indirectly we have evidence. Due to the fact that the atmosphere is less dense than it was in the past (a few billions of years ago) we can assume tectonic and volcanic activity have if not stopped at least slowed down a lot since the atmosphere for Mars came from volcanic releases. Mars has no magnetic field of its own. It seems to use some of the Sun’s magnetic shielding for itself in a complex way, but its internal magnetism seems to have died, if indeed it ever had one. With little crustal movement, eons worth of volcanic eruptions have piled up in the same area (Tharsis ridge) that only a thick crust to support . The crust of Mars is thought to be 150 miles thick and the planets core to be between 800 and 1300 miles in diameter. Such a thick crust is not helpful to plate breakup.

Two Economics papers (or maybe exams) from 1995....

Assignment 1

1. Using theories of cost and perfect competition, explain the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Canada’s economic future. Use appropriate diagrams to illustrate your answer.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will in the long term have a beneficial effect upon Canada’s economic future. The principle of NAFTA is to bring down the governmental barriers to trade between the countries involved. As Canada is one of the growing number of members of NAFTA we should benefit in the long run. By removing tariffs and restriction to trade Canada will be able to sell more of its products to the United States and at a lower price than we do now. The United States conversely, will be able to sell more of its products to Canada at a lower price than they do now. The theory that supports this is the principle of comparative advantage. To illustrate comparative advantage I will use this example: Florida can grow oranges outdoors efficiently Canada cannot (due to colder temperatures and less sun). British Columbia has a natural abundance of Timber which Florida does not. Canada should import oranges from, and export lumber to Florida. By concentrating on the comparative advantages each country has and not concentrating on the industries in which we are naturally disadvantaged we can increase production of our products, sell them at a lower price (for higher profit) and efficiently allocate our land, labor and capital to the most beneficial areas. In the short term some businesses that operate within the shadow of tariffs and restrictions will go out of business (all the hothouse orange growers in B.C. for example); but because of increased demand for wood new businesses will spring up in the lumber market. Some of the federal government institutions that regulate (restrict) perfectly competitive industries that fall under the powers of the NAFTA are: The Agricultural Stabilization Board, The Canadian Dairy Commission, The Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, and The Canadian Wheat Board. With the elimination of restrictions, quota and tariffs these regulatory bodies will doubtless be closed down, with their demise prices for all the goods produced under them will become perfectly competitive with all the advantages and disadvantages that go along with that.

2. Using the theory of consumer behavior, explain how consumers would allocate their income in buying goods and services to suit their needs.

The theory of consumer behavior assumes that people have limited incomes, individual tastes and preferences and are rational decision makers (to their own utility). Consumers consume that is their function in an economy. In consuming they make decisions. Such decisions are rational in that they suit the consumer's own needs and desires. Of primary importance are necessities, in some cultures these are just food, shelter, water and heat. In our culture necessities can go beyond that. However, all rational consumers will satisfy their necessities before their luxuries. Because all consumers are said to have a limited income, they are only going to be able to purchase a finite amount of goods. A consumer therefore cannot by everything he or she wants, when each purchase exhausts a portion of a limited income. This reality forces consumers to make choices between alternate goods in order to obtain the most satisfying collection of goods and services, with a limited income. A Util (a unit of utility) is the value of measurement used to measure how much consumers are satisfied from consumption of a good or service. Due to human nature, the law of diminishing marginal utility can be applied to consumer behavior, this is: the more of a good that is consumed the less a single more unit of that good is desired. To apply this law we can use Shakespeare’s famous line “A Horse! A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!” to illustrate the law of diminishing marginal utility. At that moment Richard III is offering to exchange England for a horse for two horses he would doubtless pay his kingdom and the Isle of Mann. Likewise there is the story of a man dying of thirst in a desert who after having suddenly come upon the Devil is offered one liter of water for every year off the end of his life in exchange. The dying man needs water badly, so he takes the first 3 liters and drinks it down on the spot but knowing the cost is a year per liter he drinks no more. This is consumer behavior and the law of diminishing marginal utility in action. Little did the man know he would have 300 hundred kilometers to travel before the next oasis and every time he called for water the price would go up (imperfect information).

Assignment 2

1. Perfect competition is said to be able to achieve both allocative and productive efficiencies and therefore is desirable.

a. Explain clearly and logically, with the help of appropriate diagrams, how a perfectly competitive firm can achieve allocative and productive efficiencies.

A perfectly competitive firm is a firm with a very large number of other firms competing in the same market and producing identical products. The fact that so many firms are in competition makes the individual firm a price taker, not a price maker, it also makes it subject to perfect information about market prices and the number of the product available at any given time. Resources in perfect competition are perfectly mobile able to shift if needed in a very short time at a low cost. Finally there are virtually no barriers to entry for a new firm into a perfectly competitive market. In the short run, profits and losses can occur in perfect competition, but in the long run only “normal” profits are made which means no “real” profits above the cost to produce a good.
The realization that in the long run a price of a good is exactly equal to the cost of making that good allows us to see that all of a firm's resources are being fully exploited and that allocative efficiency is achieved. When production of the goods consumers want is achieved allocative efficiency is satisfied. The competitive market (their is none more competitive than the perfectly competitive market) system functions, resources are allocated to produce a total output that best suits a consumers needs for that good. In order to figure out if allocative efficiency is achieved the price of a good must equal the marginal cost to produce that good.
To understand productive efficiency we must examine the average total cost it takes for a firm to produce. In the long run, competition between the very large number of firms in a perfectly competitive market will force firms to produce at the point of minimum average total cost of production and to change the price so that it is equal to those costs. This is very desirable from the consumers point of view because it forces the firms to use the best available (lowest cost) technology in order to stay competitive. When a firm is at its minimum average total cost to produce (fixed cost and variable cost divided by the number of products produced) a firm has achieved a state of productive efficiency.

b. Is perfect competition desirable?

Perfect competition is very desirable for consumers it has the uncanny ability of lowering prices that consumers are so fond of. The business owners in a perfectly competitive market are sure to be somewhat un-thrilled with perfect competition in the long run no real profits can be made after all. There are several primary benefits to perfect competition. With perfect competition economic efficiency is achieved which mean all resources and capital are being used efficiently. The producers and consumers of a perfectly competitive good get their fare share with an equitable distribution of income. Finally with perfect competition there is a semblance of economic stability.

I have a strong grasp of Union mechanics, as evidenced by this... well, whatever it is. Likely manufactured for an Economics class (circa 1994):

Internal Memo: Worm Diggers Union of British Columbia
From: The Desk of Jesse Willis, Head of the Worm digger’s Union (Local) B. C .
to: All union members
re: In light of the approaching deadline of our collective worm digging contracts with British Colombia’s worm digging companies I have outlined several new types of strategies for our union to follow so as to maximize our wages, they are as follows:

1. Legislate policy to restrict membership to the W.D.U.B.C. to only sons & daughters of W.D.U.B.C. members.

2. Legislation of policy to accept only apprenticeshiped workers in to the W.D.U.B.C. who have attained the skill level of a fully licensed apprentice and approved by a W.D.U.B.C. representative.

3. Legislation of approval for the hiring of a public relations corporation to improve the standing in the public’s collective mind of:
-the difficulty of being a worm digger.
-the many uses of worms.
-the preferability of union dug worms to other types.

4. Approval for the transfer of W.D.U.B.C. personnel to a Victoria, British Columbia office in order to lobby provincial (and when required federal) government on union supporting legislation.

5. Approval for the transfer of union due funds in support of a pro-union party during any upcoming government elections.

6. Approval for the extension of W.D.U.B.C. members to include worm diggers in to the Yukon. Although this policy would add to the number of union members and thus normally reducing the wages of union members as a whole it will have a positive effect on union wages. This positive effect is due to the non-unionized workers working at below standard wages in the Yukon their worms are shipped at low prices undercutting what B.C. worms are shipped at. By unionizing the few Yukon members we will improve union wages and decrease our low wage competition and add the Yukon to our market.

7. Approval for research into the private citizen fish licensing by the government and the possibility for requirement such a license to gather worms for the general public (to dissuade people form digging their own worms).

8. Included on this list of proposals is the early retirement option that is a holdover from the last union general meeting. Any members willing to go for this bargain are welcome to come to my office and discuss it with me.

Regarding this list of union initiatives I believe your support in these initiatives will improve the wages of W.D.U.B.C. members by reducing the supply of worm diggers and increasing the demand for worms specifically union dug worms. If any member has a suggestion to improve either of these union helpful strategies please feel free to call or come to my office or call me at home, I am committed to improving union wages and benefits. Thank you, I’ll see you at the meeting at the end of the month when we will vote on these initiatives.

An an essay I wrote in 1994 about an Issac Asimov article. Must have fun with this one.

Isaac Asimov’s essay “The Villain in the Atmosphere” demonstrates the straightforward and no-nonsense explanations of complicated natural phenomena that so typifies his unadorned style, explaining clearly concepts and ideas that otherwise might be confusing. Comparison to another writer and his style will highlight Asimov’s unique and effective style. Examination of what is written in the essay will provide us with the reason why the essay is so effective. Discussion of his other books and writings will provide us with a background of how his lucid style developed and why it remains as popular as it is.
The essay “The Villain in the Atmosphere” states a premise: There is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, because this will cause a ‘greenhouse effect’ which keeps heat in that would normally be reflected back in to space from the surface trapped in the atmosphere, making the Earth warmer. Asimov States what will happen: It will result in temperature changes, drought and flood. To prevent this from happening we must do the following he explains: Save the forests and replace our carbon dioxide producing fuel sources (Out of). This essay is informative. It explains what is happening, why it is happening, what the consequences of inaction are and what can be done to stop it. The style is plain and it is meant to be. In this way it can best demonstrate in the easiest possible way what is happening.
It is useful to compare essays so as to better show how styles can differ and to see what can result from these different approaches. We find out near the end of Asimov’s essay that the actual ‘villain’ of the atmosphere is people. This gives a little twist, a little shock, a little prod that might make the reader think a little harder (Villain 330). Here is another example: Asimov explains that it’s humanity's expansion in to rainforests, breeding of cattle (which produce methane) and burning of fossil fuels which increases carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere to dangerous levels (Villain 330). Asimov’s style is clear. He defines what is actually happening, explains the consequences of continued inaction, then presents necessary steps to stop the buildup of carbon dioxide.
In Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” the author suggests that Irish babies be used as a food source. He goes on to explain why this is a reasonable thing to do and how it could be so beneficial solving Britain’s food shortages effectively. Swift is actually satirizing England’s oppression of Ireland by shocking his readers and concluding that England is in the wrong in its policies towards Ireland. This take on writing can further entrench the opinions of people on both sides of an issue. It is obvious that Jonathan Swift’s style is radically different from Asimov’s, but both attempt to change behavior in their own way. Unfortunately Jonathan Swift’s essay is much more likely to be misinterpreted, or ignored because of its biting enditment of English policy in its satirical and irony laden style.
In Bill Schermbrucker’s Aims and Strategies of good writing the author states that the aim of informative writing is “...to present the facts about a subject, without distorting the truth or distracting the reader's attention from it” (39).Unlike other types of writing like Jonathan Swifts’ “A Modest Proposal” (Buscemi 412), informative writing deals only in facts. Isaac Asimov’s “The Villain in the Atmosphere” does this. It carefully explains what is going on in the atmosphere, how the people, plants and animals on Earth effect it and explains the consequences of its continued abuse.
To better understand why Asimov writes the way he does and why people read when he writes, an examination of his other writings and who his readers are is warranted. Isaac Asimov is considered a “Grand Master” (Science Fiction 234). Like the Grand Masters of chess, these are the top ranked, the most highly skilled and from only the upper echelon of their game. However Asimov is not a chess Grand Master. He is a science fiction Grand Master. There are a few others in this exclusive club: Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne are some. These are names that even those who shun science fiction know. The reason for this is that they have written seminal works; works you could name without trying to hard. Works like: Stranger In A Strange Land, Fahrenheit 451, The Time Machine, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Asimov’s Foundation and Robot series. These works cross the borders of science fiction becoming a part of our culture. The others in the Grand Master’s club generally stick to science fiction but Asimov is a writer first, not just a science fiction writer. Credited with 500 books, 400 short stories, a few thousand essays and a monthly magazine bearing his name, Asimov is the third most prolific writer ever to have lived (“Out of” 134). This is one of the reason that his writing is so relentlessly logical and unadorned with flowery language, by necessity he would not have been able to write as much as he had had it been flowery. He says in his “Out of the Typewriter, Endlessly writing” that he writes every day several hours per day (143). The respect Asimov garners from science fiction readers translates in to clout in their minds ‘This guy knows what he’s talking about.' This allows him to inform the readers on what the facts are in his non-fiction works. When Isaac Asimov writes, people read.
To explain where this clout comes from more fully, which allows Asimov to attract readers to his essays, a background on his writings is warranted. Asimov has written guides to “Shakespeare, the Bible, quantum mechanics, overpopulation and sex” (Ferrell 22). The reason for the enduring popularity of the science fiction of the Grand Masters is that it still has relevance to modern society. Heinlein described the waterbed and atomic rocket in his books years before they were invented. Bradbury invented, chaos theory before it existed and examined the omnipresent danger of censorship in his books. Jules Verne described a nuclear submarine before nuclear fission or submarines existed. Asimov’s contributions are just as impressive. In his Foundation series, he invents the science of Psychohistory (the prediction of future events by probability study and mob psychology) which is now under serious study by sociologists. In his Robots books Asimov describes the "three laws of robotics" which is a fundamental tenant in the creation of artificial intelligence and even more amazingly created the modern science of robotics (Rest 69). Psychohistory is in a sense what Asimov’s essay is about. Through our actions as humans in a careless disregard for our environment we have allowed the Earth to start to heat up. The only possible solution to this dilemma is to change our ways. Asimov predicts the future if we don’t change “Eventually the sea will reach a maximum of two hundred feet above the present water level, and will be splashing against the windows along the twentieth floors of Manhattan’s skyscrapers.” Asimov lays it all out for us. ‘If we don’t change our ways, this grim event will come to pass’ (Psychohistory’s prediction) is his message.
Although it sounds silly The Foundation series of books is a foundation stone in science fiction. Its clear and astonishing story explores the life of a scientist without the swashbuckling heroics of a science fiction stereotype. It is in this series that Asimov creates the scientist as hero, proving that the protagonist must not always be a bare-fisted brawler or spaceship pilot. This concentration on the facts and not the flower makes Asimov the perfect science populist. As Robert Heinlein once said ‘Give me a slide rule long enough and I will change the world.’ Asimov did this with Hari Seldon (the hero of the Foundation books) making kids want to be mathematicians not intergalactic time cops. Like other well-known popular science educators Carl Sagan or Dr. Stephen Hawking who are scientist first and writers second, Asimov is a scientist, but before all else, he is a writer. It is this devotion to the written word that makes his writings as profoundly easy to understand as they are.
Isaac Asimov explains how he writes in his article “Out of the Typewriter Endlessly Writing" and through this we see Asimov the man as well as the writer and his passion for writing. Averaging over 13 books a year for the second half of his writing career (Out of 137). Asimov states in an article about writing “I rarely, if ever, worry about the sentences that reel out of my mind. If I have written them I assume the chances are about 20 to 1 that they are perfectly all right” (Out of 140). He explains how his writing flows together “I see a story or an article or a book as a pattern and not just a succession of words. I know exactly how to fit each item in the piece into the pattern, so that it is never necessary to work from an outline.” (Out of 141). On style Asimov admits “It... helps if you don’t try to be too literary in your writing....” subsequently “I have therefore deliberately cultivated a very plain style, even a colloquial one." He defends himself from the critics who say that he has ‘no style’ by writing “if anyone, however thinks that it is easy to write with absolute clarity and no frills, I recommend that he try it” (Out of 141). That is what Asimov does; he writes ‘with absolute clarity and no frills’ which makes him the perfect person to show us science-ignorant-types the important scientific issues effecting our lives today. Unlike Dr. Stephen Hawking, Asimov will not call a ‘black hole’ a ‘singularity’ until he has explained that a black hole is a singularity and what a black hole is. In the article “Endless Summer: Living With The Greenhouse Effect” meteorologist Howard Ferguson, (the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service) is quoted as saying “The longer we wait to take action and the weaker the action the larger the effect and the more likely it will be negative.” Asimov states clearly “First, we must save our forests... Second, we must find new sources of fuel” there is no waffling only: What is happening? The greenhouse effect. Is it good or bad? Bad. What must be done to stop it? “First.... Second....” In this way Asimov can explain what is happening and proscribe a solution all in four pages unlike the “Discover” article (which is billed for lay persons) stating the same thing rather clumsily and in 11 pages.
The book Exploring The Earth And The Cosmos, Asimov describes (in depth) the nature of the universe in a clear and precise manner. He explains clearly to the reader the complex ideas and theories of modern science in a lucid manner. In an examination of the greenhouse effect gone wild Asimov gives the planet Venus as an example: Its dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas) and increased cloud cover has raised its temperature to hundreds of degrees. Giving us an example of what might be our future if we don’t, smarten up.
“The Villain in the Atmosphere” is a very effective essay. With a plain style, Isaac Asimov has written a clear essay typical of his work, which allows us to understand concepts that can be baffling, but which he can turn in to simple understandable information for any non-scientist. His style developed over sixty years has made him the most prolific writer alive and one of the most understandable ever to have lived. Instead of a divisive style that could further polarize the opinions of its readers he uses a consensus of facts style to inform liberally. His popularity gained from fiction draws readers to his non-fiction. Isaac Asimov’s main concern in life was not to be remembered as the inventor of Psychohistory or Robotics and its three laws, but to be remembered as a writer (a person who shares information). He has shown us that with a little knowledge and some real understanding we can change the world.
Works Cited
Clute, John, Nichols, Peter. Eds. Science Fiction Encyclopedia 2nd ed. New York: St. Martins, 1994.
Asimov, Isaac. “The Villain In The Atmosphere.” 75 Readings Plus 2nd ed. Ed. Santi Buscemi and Charlotte Smith. New York: McGraw-Hill, ` 1994. 327-31.
------. Exploring The Earth And The Cosmos. New York: Nightfall, 1982.
------. “Out of the Typewriter, Endlessly Writing.” Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction. Vol. 79. Is. 4. 1990: 134-43.
------. Rest Of The Robots. London: Grafton, 1990.
------. Foundation Trilogy: Foundation, Foundation And Empire Second Foundation. Garden City: Doubleday, 1951.
Ferrell, Keith. “Requiem.” Omni. Vol. 14. Is. 9. 1992: 22.
Revkin, Andrew C. “Endless Summer: Living with the Greenhouse Effect.” Discover. Vol. 9. Is. 10. 50-61.
Shermbrucker, Bill. The Aims and Strategies of Good Writing.
North Vancouver: Capilano College, 1976. 39-46.

Again from 1994 and another .doc file. The assignment was probably to dissect a periodical. I like the righteous indignation I seem to have in it. Likely it was feigned for effect.

A Dissection of the October 10, 1994 issue of People Weekly Magazine

In the October 10, 1994, issue of People Weekly magazine the editors are attempting to fill their niche: the transitory, the fluff, and the trendy while still bowing to the almighty pressures of its advertisers.
We must feed the beast, slake the ravenous hunger that is the American (and Canadian?) obsession with celebrities. People Weekly Magazine is a magazine filled with advertising. Over 45% of its pages are ads. Strategic placement of advertising has become a science. For example, in the newspaper and magazine industry the price of a right hand page is up to 50% more expensive than the left hand page because the right hand page is more likely to catch the reader’s eye while flipping through the pages. Also good at catching the eyes are the inside and back covers of a magazine; these are the most expensive areas to advertise in.
A magazine may be many things, it may be designed for a wide audience or a small niche market, but one overriding and an all influencing factor is that a magazine is a business. Businesses must make profits to stay in business. Some magazines like National Geographic may have only one or two pages of advertising, garnishing nearly all of their money from subscribers with no newsstand or store sales. Others are free and have no advertisement (unless the whole magazine is one big ad), like The Plain Truth. This type of periodical may not make an economic profit, but it makes a profit of a sort. The majority however, garnish nearly all of their profits from advertising most often supplementing it with upfront cost to the customer. The dependence upon making a profit is indisputable. It is a necessity for continued existence. No money, no magazine. Therefore profit must be an all important factor in editorial decisions. If editorial decisions are under the influence of a profit margin, the editors when deciding about changes to their magazine, are always likely to err on the side of advertising. ‘How is this going to affect the advertisers?’ is undoubtedly a common phrase at editorial meetings.
‘Will they like our new colour glossy pictures or will it compete with their eye catching ads?’ This could be for example why many of the department photos are in black & white. Black and white photos surrounded by colour are not somehow cheaper to print than colour is. The department “In Her Words” (the least fluff-like and therefore the least People like piece in the magazine) in black and white. The “Inventor” department is very unconnected with Hollywood and therefore very un-People like. It is opposed by a bright and colourful advertisement for yet another People Weekly Magazine (102). The “Trouble” department is also in black and white yet it is talking about a Hollywood star, admittedly not a very hot Hollywood star this week but a star nonetheless. What reason could the editors have for printing or shooting these pictures in black and white? On the opposite page (109) where Mickey Rourke is dissected, there is a colourful advertisement. The reader's eye becomes drawn to the colour. It is distinguished from the article and perhaps distracting and it wants to be seen. The final two departments are “Animals” and “At Ease”. These are quite different types of articles. One is about Frisbee catching dogs. Another is about a television star’s book of black and white photos. Animals would clearly be easy to read if it were in colour but it is in black and white for much the same reason that the previous articles were. The final article is in black and white with one colour (not taken by the TV star) and has a big title. This is Hollywood stuff. A popular TV show with behind-the-scenes photos. This is People’s bread and butter. You can almost read the editor's discussion between the lines of this article, if you strain your eyes; “Great concept, but why did the actor take the pictures in black and white? Has he got any colour ones we can use instead? No. Well then, take a couple colours yourself, to help introduce the piece.”. The placement of the “At Ease” article at the back of the magazine does not mean the article is unimportant filler; on the contrary, the last few pages of articles are often the first few seen by many readers. This is due to the casual readers flipping (backwards) through the magazine.
People is a magazine that deals in only what is hot this week. Like other magazines in this niche (Us, Entertainment Weekly) People is a weekly magazine by necessity. In a week the hot thing/person, the new trend/fashion, the Hollywood controversy can be over and done with. In the March 7-14, 1994 issue of People assistant managing editor Susan Toepfer states “...People has become the bible of pop culture in America” (Page 3). Pop culture is by its very definition the transitory trend or the flash fad. People is eye candy filled with pictures, captions and articles, but mostly pictures. The type face is the largest out of eight magazines I looked at (it tied with Entertainment Weekly for the largest typeface). Easier to read? Or less word space to fill? You decide.
What possible purpose could the editors of People have for leaving out the page numbers on more than 71 % of the magazine's pages? Omni’s October issue has exactly 50 % of its pages numbered. Does it cost more for page numbers to be added? Are the editors just trying to cut down on costs? Unlikely. A more likely reason would be that the editors are under the influence of the advertisers, who wish to conceal the number of ads in the magazine by making it harder to count the pages.
People is illusory. Only 71.68 pages of the Oct. 10, 1994 issue of People Weekly is articles and pictures which is only 55% of the magazine. These articles includes the “Inside People” department, which unlike what you might have guessed isn’t about People Weekly at all but instead about a new People spin-off magazine called People Weekly Extra, even though it is slated to come out once a month. The cost of the articles and pictures is more than 21 cents per page in this particular issue. 21cents per page would be quite a shock to most readers.
The feature articles are a magazine’s selling point. It is the cover story and it is what grabs a customer’s attention. Surrounding a feature article are the departments. The departments of a magazine are the filler for most of the magazine. Departments are also most often the fluffiest pieces. People Weekly is no exception, its departments like: “Happy” and “Animals” demonstrate the editors’ streamlining of People so as to better ensure ‘light reading’ for its picture-oriented readership.
In researching the various aspects of People I have come to realize that a magazine of this type is and always will be hopelessly dated within two weeks. In its very first issue People covered these stories: William Peter Blatty, Marina Oswald, Stephen Burrows, The Loud Family, The Palm Beach Whirl, Vietnam MIA wives, Jim Croce, Richard Petty, The Hearsts, with another easy “People Puzzle” and a cover photo of Mia Farrow. How many of these people have any importance today? Not many. Mia Farrow maybe.
In conclusion, People Weekly Magazine is not about people. Not real people anyway. It is about Hollywood people, royal people, famous or infamous people. The values this magazine espouses are celebrity worship, and materialism. People is an unfortunate name for this magazine. It should have been called celebrity people or famous people. Then they wouldn’t have to have the other less interesting people at all. The editors try to strike a balance between giving the consumer what they want and pleasing the advertisers. With the People magazine publishers advertising new magazines like People Extra and People Weekly's: In Style they are attempting to get an even smaller niche. In Style will have only celebrities. It will undoubtedly dispense with the quotas it has in place, so as to better satisfy its consumers desire for all things fashionable; besides People should have a responsibility to have real people in it, but what responsibility does a magazine have that is called In Style? Someone once said ‘everyone gets 15 minutes of fame’. Perhaps they should have said one week.