An analysis of the influence of technology on contemporary interior architecture Essay Example for Free

An analysis of the influence of technology on contemporary interior architecture Essay The analysis of the articles is based on the influence of technology on interior architecture education and of employer’s expectations in the interior design industry. This also addresses the issues faced by interior designers in today’s world and how technology is hindering/fostering their creativity. Talking about the article on â€Å"Technology Changing the Face of the Modern Fit out†, it addresses a strong point of how the interior design industry was never considered as a crucial part of the industry and was dealt with a stereotype attitude that interior designers dealt only withthe part of â€Å"decorating† the space until technology gained importance. Technology has now given a 180-degree turn to the industry because of which the industry has finally started gaining the deserved recognition. The underlying point in the article â€Å" is technology hindering or fostering the creativity in interior design†, although is on similar lines like the above mentioned article about the positive aspects of technology, it also talks about the pitfall side of technology on the industry. Their argument is supported with an example cited of a professor from a state university of how although he accepts that the technology has given the students, the most innovative platform to communicate their design ideas, somewhere down the lane, the students who are the prospective interior designers are lacking the basic creative skills and hand drafting techniques. â€Å"Interior Designers’ Perceptions of the Influence †¨of Technology on Workplace Performance† article gives us a different perspective of the influence of technology and how it caters to the interior designers. The statement is supported by examples cited by employees from the industry who have been interviewed of how 2D and 3D software have enabled the designers to get their work done in reduced time in comparison to how it was in the past. It also talks about what the expectations of the employers from new hires are, which includes being efficient in 2D and 3D software which will enable them to be proficient in expressing their design ideas. The other side of the coin is that it is hindering the employers in certain ways. This point is well supported by examples they cite of how in case if the computer crashes the students are unable to come up with a hand made drawing ready for a meeting. The over dependence on the computer has led to this state where the new graduates are finding it tough to inculcate sketching and hand drafting although their competent computer skills enable them to complete a design project in no time. The articles that we have looked at firmly state that the influence of technology has its pros and cons. The use of technology has catered to designers in various ways in terms of the time factor, design output etc. But the basic thing we have to understand is every opportunity has both sides. So technology is definitely fostering the designers but having said that it is better that we don’t become over dependent on it that it hinders our creative and innovative skills of designing.

Prospero in William Shakespeares The Tempest Essay -- Shakespeare T

Prospero in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Prospero has long been read as one of Shakespeare’s most cherished and provocative protagonists. His timeless role in â€Å"The Tempest† has provided readers and critics with insights into many attributes of Shakespeare as a man, his works, and the political views that are personified in his play. The historical context of â€Å"The Tempest† is one that convincingly conveys the political views of the English people of his time, relating to the colonization of the New World, the expansion of British powers, and the domination of the indigenous peoples that was necessary for the British to thrive in the Americas. Of course, many people from the 1600’s would argue that domination of these natives would have been completely justified, from this view, Prospero conversely did nothing truly evil in taking rule of the Island from Caliban. However, a modern critic reading or watching a performance of â€Å"The Tempest† may find that Prospero is not very dif ferent from Antonio when standing the play and the colonial era next to each other. The reader will see through basic observation that these two men have more in common than they do in disparity, and more so that he closely resembles the attitude of European colonists settling in the New World. Prospero is simply a ruler, bent for power, and to him, the end justifies the means. The only true difference between Prospero and Antonio may be that that Prospero is not quite as willing to kill as Antonio is, and that he may not be addicted to gaining power and fratricide as Antonio may be. Prospero is capable of forgiveness, as seen in the end of the play. He does not of course carry all the attributes of an evil villain. If Shakespeare wrote an evil p... ...true difference between himself and Antonio. It reinforces the benevolence that is one of Prospero’s characteristics, and also conveys the kindness and grace set upon the native peoples of the English colonies by it’s European rulers: that since they are ignorant and need constant guidance, they are worth forgiving. Works Cited: Brown, Paul/Deborah Willis. William Shakespeare, The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston-New York 2000 Hunter, Heidi. Colonial Women: Race and Culture in Stuart Drama. Oxford University Press. New York, New York. 2001 Merrell, James H. Into the American Woods. W&W Norton and Co. Inc. New York, New York. 1999 Shakespeare, William. The Tempest Washington Square Press. New York, New York. Folger Shakespeare Library edition. 1994

Moral Reasoning across Cultures Essay

Moral reasoning involves an active critical thinking process that evaluates reasons for ethical beliefs (Sunar, 2002). Sometimes individuals may be skeptic about issues related to morality. However, these same people seek to relate their moral opinions with tangible reasons. By doing this, they try to prove the issues that encompass ethics but often end up making common fallacies in moral reasoning. The universal acceptance of moral reasoning or arguments becomes rather problematic as culture seems to play a critical role in the way individuals make moral judgments (Sunar, 2002). To fully appreciate the difference in moral reasoning across cultures, it is important to examine some of the moral questions that have drawn serious debates in history. These moral questions such as euthanasia, abortion, same-sex marriages have been a hurdle due to the differences in cultural practices and beliefs which make some individuals to view an issue as morally correct or morally wrong (Sunar, 2002). But at the same time, there are principals that are universally accepted across cultures and this makes moral reasoning, to some level, be homogenous in intercultural dimensions. Morality can be viewed differently across different psychologists. To evolutionally psychologist, morality is an issue of inheritance implying that if the parents had poor morals, the offspring will not escape but inherit the genes of poor morals (Sunar, 2002). Cognitive psychologists may differ and claim that morality is entirely learnt where a child develops character and morals through experiences and role-taking. The difference in their explanations comes in due to the attempt to answer the disconcerting question on why moral reasoning tends to differ across individuals, gender and cultural levels (Sunar, 2002). There are diverse and pervasive cultural differences in moral principles across cultures, an issue that has made serious debates among cross-cultural psychologists (Sunar, 2002). The thinking of cognitive psychologists as observed in Kohlberg’s cognitive-developmental theory seem to be applicable only to the Western people with liberal values and individualists social forms. In this perspective, social constructionists have given a strong critique on the cognitive-development theory in the understanding of moral reasoning (Bucciarelli, Khemlani & Johnson-Laird, 2008). The social constructionists maintain that every culture is entirely unique with distinct moral systems and meanings and the comparisons in their moral reasoning does not make sense. This argument can be supported by the number of states legalizing abortion. Countries such as Malta, El Salvador and Chile have made abortion to be illegal no matter the condition or the purpose of the procedure (Pregnant Pause, 2002). On the other hand, countries such as Belgium, Belarus, Australia, Bosnia, Cambodia and China have made abortion to be a legal practice for a number of reasons such as social or economic reasons (Pregnant Pause, 2002). A different perspective is held by evolutionary psychologists, psychoanalytic psychologists and cognitive-development psychologists. They all argue that moral reasoning should be uniform across cultures. Psychoanalytic theory claims that the internalization process is deeply rooted in the conflicts between the social life requirements and the individual desires. These factors tend to be universal and therefore moral reasoning is uniform across cultures. Cultures such as same-sex marriages that used to be predominantly in Western countries are slowly finding a place in African countries (Bucciarelli, Khemlani & Johnson-Laird, 2008). This shows that moral reasoning is similar across cultures. Another element of similarities across cultures is the manner in which social institutes such as marriage are conducted. Punishments for poor marriage practices and rewards for good conduct have been shown to increase the observance of the moral principles regardless to cultural differences. Generally, the issue of moral reasoning tends to be both uniform and different across different cultures. There are moral principles that are universally acceptable and some practices will be known to be wrong among all cultures. However, some practices tend to have cultural boundaries where some countries or ethnic groups may restrict certain practices while others allowing the practices. These factors make moral reasoning to differ across cultures. Reference: Bucciarelli, M. , Khemlani, S & Johnson-Laird, P. N (2008). The psychology of moral reasoning. Judgment and Decision Making. 3 (2):121-139. Pregnant Pause (2002). Summary of abortion laws around the world. Retrieved July 15, 2010 from http://www. pregnantpause. org/lex/world02. htm Sunar, D. (2002). The psychology of morality. In W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds. ), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 2, Chapter 11), Retrieved July 15, 2010 from http://www. ac. wwu. edu/~culture/Sunar. htm

The Wild Child, By Dr. Gene Itard - 1599 Words

If being a social creature is that integral to cognitive, social and emotional development, how would a person whose environment is devoid of any human social stimuli act, speak or behave? A 1970 French film, The Wild Child, delves into this extremity and depicts a savage boy’s trials and tribulations of becoming a cognitively functioning social being through the patient efforts of a physician, named Dr. Gene Itard. The boy lived his first eleven or twelve years in the vast wilderness of a forest with little to no human interaction and after a nearby villager spots the boy in the forest, local law enforcement apprehend the child and bring him into custody. He is sequentially discovered and examined by Dr. Gene Itard, who realizes the boy is either deaf or dumb. At this point of the movie the viewer is bound to question how the boy was able to survive for such a duration on his own. We can conclude, however, that however much or however little cognition the boy had attained thr ough the span of his short life, was enough to survive his misfortune, which can be attributed to the flexible nature of cognition to adapt. This ability to adapt is one of the 7 features of cognition. Throughout the rest of the movie, Dr. Itard painstakingly tries to teach the boy, who he names Victor, to identify and use different vocal sounds to articulate his wants and needs (i.e. food, water, ride on wheelbarrow). Victor gradually starts showing signs of intelligence through this method of vocal