Paper Star Trek Essay Example for Free

Paper Star Trek Essay As a result, not only could he process information at lightning speed and arrive at rational conclusions, he also seemed to have desires, interests, and inclinations. He could formulate relationships and make free choices. In this episode, Commander Bruce Maddox, a member of the scientific research division of Starfleet, arrives on board the Enterprise with orders for Data to be transferred to him for the purpose of being disassembled with the goal of learning more about â€Å"it† (Maddox refers to Data as â€Å"it†, not â€Å"him†, throughout the entire episode). His ultimate goal is to create an army of androids like Data which can serve the needs of Starfleet in space exploration. When Data learns that Maddox may not be able to reassemble him, he refuses to submit to the orders and is supported by Captain Picard, captain of the Enterprise and Data’s commanding officer. Picard argues that, as an officer on the Enterprise, Data has rights—among them the right to refuse to undergo an experimental procedure such as this. However, Picard is unsuccessful in getting the transfer orders rescinded and so Data resigns from Starfleet. Maddox takes legal action with the local JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer challenging Data’s resignation and arguing that Data is not a person with a right to resign, but, being a machine, â€Å"it† is the property of Starfleet. He argues â€Å"Would you permit the computer of the Enterprise to refuse a refit? † going on to claim that Picard’s reaction is, â€Å"emotional and irrational. You are endowing Data with human characteristics because it looks human, but it is not. If it were a box on wheels I would not be facing this opposition. The JAG officer concurs with Maddox and rules that Data is the property of Starfleet and cannot resign or refuse to co-operate. Picard requests a hearing to challenge the ruling and is placed in the position of being the defending attorney for Data while his senior officer, Commander Riker, is given the unenviable job of prosecuting attorney. Riker opens his case by having Data define android which Data defines as â €Å"an automaton made to resemble a human being. † Riker emphasizes â€Å"automaton† and â€Å"resembles. After demonstrating Data’s abilities as a machine, Riker summarizes his argument: The commander is a physical representation of a dream; an idea conceived of by the mind of a man. Its purpose: to serve human needs and interests. It’s a collection of neural nets and heuristic algorithms. It’s response dictated by elaborate software written by a man. It’s hardware built by a man. And now a man will shut it off. With that Riker reaches behind Data and turns the switch that shuts him down say â€Å"Pinocchio is broken. His strings have been cut. During a recess in the proceedings, Picard consults with Guinan, a wise alien on board the Enterprise and becomes convinced that the real issue in this case is the creation of a race of Data’s to be enslaved to do man’s bidding. He believes this issue has been obscured â€Å"behind a comfortable, easy euphemism—property† and is determined to challenge that thinking. In his opening defense Picard acknowledges that Data is a machine but comments that this is irrelevant, â€Å"We too are machines, just machines of a different type. He also acknowledges that, as Data was created by a human, so are we, â€Å"Children are created from the building blocks of their parents DNA. Are they property? † He then asks Data a series of questions demonstrating that, like any person, he has wants and desires, values things, and forms deep personal relationships. Picard then calls Maddox to the stand and asks for the definition of a sentien t being. Maddox offers three criteria: â€Å"Intelligence, self-awareness and consciousness. † Picard goes on to ask Maddox to â€Å"prove to the court that I am sentient. When Maddox claims that Picard’s sentience is obvious, Picard asks what the difference between himself and Data is. Maddox replies that Picard is self-aware (he acknowledges the first criteria of Data’s intelligence) and defines self-aware as â€Å"Conscious of your existence and actions. You are aware of yourself and your own ego. † Picard turns to Data and asks him what he is currently doing. Data replies, â€Å"I am taking part in a legal hearing to determine my rights and status: am I a person or property. When asked what is at stake, he replies, â€Å"My right to choose. Perhaps my very life. † Picard points out how often Data refers to himself in his reply, â€Å"My rights, my status, my right to choose, my life. He seems reasonably self-aware to me. † He then asks Maddox, â€Å"What if Data can fulfill the last criteria, consciousness, in even the smallest degree? What is he then? Do you know? † He asks the same question of Riker and the JAG officer and goes on to say, â€Å"Starfleet was founded to seek out new life, well there it sits. Picard argues that if we create an army of Datas to do man’s bidding, then â€Å"Thousands of Datas become a race. Won’t we be judged by how we treat that race? † After considering the arguments, the JAG officer makes her final ruling: It sits there looking at me and I don’t know what it is. This case has dealt with metaphysics, with questions best left to saints and philosophers. I am neither competent nor qualified to answer those. But I’ve got to make a ruling to speak to the future. Is Data a machine? Yes. Is he the property of Starfleet? No. We have been dancing around the basic issue: Does Data have a soul? I don’t know that he has. I don’t know that I have. But I have got to give him the freedom to explore that question himself. It is the ruling of this court that Lt. Commander Data has the right to choose. Data exercises his right to refuse to undergo the procedure encouraging Maddox to continue his research. Maddox agrees to rescind his request for transfer, commenting about Data that â€Å"He’s remarkable. †

Walmart :: essays research papers

http://laplaza.org/~totem/econ.html Retail Business, Jobs, Taxes and Prices in Taos Support your friends and neighbors and local businesses. Say NO to an SS Wal-Mart! Since Wal-Mart came to Taos, the number of retail businesses decreased from 438 to 231. In the last five years alone, retail jobs decreased from 3156 to 1500. (US census, pub 1/2003) Those closed businesses and the lost jobs supported community members, their children, their employees, and the stores in which they shopped. More local businesses will close after a Wal-Mart superstore comes to town. If businesses close at the same rate, Taos will lose 47% of its current retail stores and 54.5% of its retail jobs in a few years. What do we tell the families who have lost businesses or jobs that pay a living wage? Will as many tourists visit when we have fewer restaurants and shops because Taose�os can't afford to support them during the year? Can local banks stay open with fewer local business and worker deposits and when Wal-Mart deposits its money at night and withdraws it in the morning? How long will Wal-Mart remain profitable and open when fewer people have money to spend? Gross Receipts Taxes In 1998 Wal-Mart accounted for only 4.6% of the total taxes due Taos from all industries. (NM Taxation & Revenue Dept. and Wal-Mart) Do we change our land use code because Wal-Mart wants to blanket the country? What do we say to the hundreds of people who worked three years to produce Vision 20/20 and our land use code? Do we change our code that would support a local economy of thriving tourist and local-serving businesses, cottage industries and home businesses, agriculture and small sustainable industries that do not negatively impact the environment? What do we leave for our children and grandchildren? Food Prices Wal-Mart tells shoppers that they have low prices. However, a comparison of prices between the Taos food stores and the Wal-Mart superstore in Espanola shows:

The Secondary Education in Britain

The Secondary Education in Britain Introduction The United Kingdom has a completely world-leading education system. The education in the United Kingdom has hundreds years of history, which is quite perfect and complex, and also has a very large flexibility. It is quite different from the education in China. Overall, the education in the UK is divided into three parts: primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. The secondary education in the UK and China The difference of education between the United Kingdom and China is mainly started from secondary education.In the UK, students enter the secondary school by taking the 11 plus exam at the age of 11. Private schools and public schools are the 2 types of British secondary schools. Public School is totally free and private school will cost a lot. But Private schools are usually much better than public schools no matter in facilities or teachers. But in China most secondary schools are public schools, which is better than private schools. British secondary education lasts seven years and it can divide into two stages. One stage is before the age of 16 and the second stage is 16 to 18.The first stage is the period of compulsory education in the UK. British students have to learn many subjects during the secondary education before the age of 14, and then take the Key stage 3 exam. Students from the age of 14, they need to learn the core courses such as English, mathematics and science classes, but also need to learn four to five elective courses. Two years later, when they are 16th, they will take the GCSE exam. But in China, the first three years of secondary education is compulsory education.During this period, Chinese students have no choice to choose courses which they are interested in. They have to learn all the courses which Entrance Exam to Senior High Schools required. So Chinese students usually have much express of examination. After British students complete the first stage of secondar y education, they can choose continue their study or go to work. Of course, most of the students choose the first choice. If they do this, usually they will have two more years to take the A-Level courses.A wide range of subjects opened in the A-Level courses such as business, legal, media and politics etc. Finally they will take an exam to enter the university and finish their secondary education. But it is easier than the College Entrance Examination in China. Chinese students can choose Science or liberal art. But they still need to learn all the subjects of the college entrance examination required. They don’t have a lot of self-selective. Therefore, the secondary education in the UK and China has a lot difference, but they both have their own advantages and disadvantages. The Compulsory educationBritish compulsory education is 11 years, which two years longer than it is in China. And all the tuition of British compulsory education is paid by the government, but in China students have to pay some small parts of it like the cost of the kooks. In China, the compulsory education finished at the age of 15. The government will not pay for their further study; this may result in some of the students in poor families cannot enter junior high school. They cannot find a suitable job with such a young age. It both increased the pressure to individual families but also to the whole society.Longer compulsory education means that British students can get a better education. It not only can solve these problems, but also have a lot of benefits: Firstly, it can relieve some of the pressure on employment. Longer compulsory education can make some people’s employment time delay for years, to avoid the employment peak period and relieve the pressure on employment. Secondly, the children in poor families can get â€Å"knowledge assets†. With the help of â€Å"knowledge assets† they can get more income and then go out of poverty.Thirdly, it can imp rove the quality of all the people. Longer compulsory education can give all the school-age children better education. Result or process? In China, the assessment of student test scores only. In China, the score is the only way to assess the students. In other words, the only standard which decided the university they will go to is the College Entrance Examination scores. Therefore, with the education system in China, some students become abnormal: Academic performance is very good, but the other ability is almost a zero.The original intention of education is to make students smarter, but if the students pay all of attention on their scores, and lost the interest of the subject, it will make the students stupid. But British education always pays more attention to the comprehensive development of students. British schools have fewer exams. However, students have a lot of coursework and presentations. This kind of coursework usually focused on practical problems, and always need teamw ork. It is very helpful to improve the students’ abilities of express and create.Young people’s knowledge composition The different education made the young people have different knowledge composition in different countries. Secondary education opened in the UK has a wide range of courses. With the grade increased, students can gradually find which subjects that they are interested in or they are not good, and then the next semester, they could give up a subject that not interested in or not good at, and keep their favorite subjects. This is just like a pyramid; Students can fully demonstrate their own interests and hobbies with their learning initiative.On the other hand, it is very helpful for future university study. At the same time, this kind of course selection can help students limited their concentrate on their favorite courses and can improve their efficiency of learning. But in China, students in secondary education have to take all the subjects which the Col lege Entrance Examination required. So they may have to learn some courses which they are not interested in. But this kind of education made the foundation of the Chinese students very solid.In other words, Chinese secondary education pays more attention to comprehensive education. So, Chinese students always have comprehensive knowledge. But they are lack of creative ability. If there is a competition, the championship always belongs to China. Conclusion Overall, British secondary education system is pretty perfect. Student study in the UK can cultivate an interest easily. They can choose their favorite courses and learn a really useful knowledge that would be helpful to their whole life. ReferenceA survey by HM Inspectors of Schools, (1979), Aspects of secondary education in England, [online]. Available on http://www. educationengland. org. uk/documents/hmi-secondary/index. html Becky Francis and Louise Archer, (10 November 2003), British–Chinese pupils’ and parentsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ constructions of the value of education, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1, February 2005, pp. 89–108 Montreal, (November 2008), The UK Education System: a summary input to the Canada UK Colloquia. Organization of the education system in the United Kingdom –England, Wales and Northern Ireland, UKENG/WLS/NIR

Definition and Examples of Backing in the Toulmin Model

In the Toulmin model of argument, backing is the support or explanation provided for the warrant. The backing is often characterized by the word because. Examples and Observations [Stephen] Toulmins The Uses of Argument, which appeared in 1958, is mainly known for the model of argumentation presented in this book. This model represents the procedural form of argumentation: the various steps that can be distinguished in the defense of a standpoint. According to Toulmin, the soundness of argumentation is primarily determined by the degree in which the warrant, which connects the data adduced in the argumentation with the claim that is defended, is made acceptable by a backing. . . .What kind of backing is required, however, is dependent on the field to which the question at issue belongs. An ethical justification, for instance, requires a different kind of backing from a legal justification. Toulmin concludes from this that the evaluation criteria for determining the soundness of argumentation are field dependent.(Frans H. Van Eemeren, Argumentation Theory: An Overview of Approaches and Research Themes, in Rhetorical Argumentation in Biblical Texts, edited by An ders Eriksson, et al. Continuum, 2002)Different Kinds of BackingToulmin . . . emphasizes the difference between backing and warrant: backings can be categorical statements of fact just like data, while warrants always are general bridge-like statements . . .. A central point in Toulmins book [The Uses of Argument] is that different kinds of backings occur in different fields of argument. Among Toulmins examples of backings are statutes and acts of Parliament, statistical reports, appeals to the results of experiments and references to taxonomical systems. All can provide the backing that warrant the arguments as they are acceptable in particular fields.(Bart Verheij, Evaluating Arguments Based on Toulmins Scheme. Arguing on the Toulmin Model: New Essays in Argument Analysis and Evaluation, edited by David Hitchcock and Bart Verheij. Springer, 2006)Backing as EvidenceInitial Statement: It should be investigated whether Peter murdered George.Claim: Peter shot George.Backing: Witness W states that Peter shot George.[Here] . . . the backing statement is the kind of evidence you need to collect in a murder investigation. Of course, the witness may be lying, or what he says may not be true. But if he says that Peter shot George, that statement needs to be investigated in any proper investigation. It is relevant in that context.(Douglas N. Walton, Witness Testimony Evidence: Argumentation, Artificial Intelligence, and Law. Cambridge University Press, 2008)