Limitations of Machines Essay

What is 9,999,999 times 9,999,999? You would not be able to enter that in your calculator, because your calculator has limitations on what it can accomplish, as do all machines. A machine must have boundaries. If these boundaries were ever breached machine could become alive. From the wise mouth of Elbert Hubbard, â€Å"One machine can do the work of fifty men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.† A machine will never exceed the potential of an outstanding individual. No matter how complex or advanced the technology it will never best a genuine- unique man. The use of machines has and should always be tools. Once the machine becomes more useful than the creator it stops being a tool and thus breaks it s natural limits. This has never happened before because machines lack a specific trait that every living thing has. That trait, the undeniable ability is called a free will. Without free will even us humans would never be able to surpass are limits. The choices you can make are what separates you from a living being and machine. It is because they stay chained to one path is the reason why a machine’s abilities will never exceed a human’s potential. Think about why machines were first built. It’s not because they were needed, rather it is because they were convenient. Technology was created to quickly do the average man’s work. You cannot build a machine that does your normal job without first knowing how accomplish it without the use of a machine. This proves machines were built out of curiosity, rather than out of necessity. The earliest machines were built to function to a certain limit. Without that restraint machines would cease to be exactly what they are. A machine is a tool that can execute at an almost perfect accuracy. Machines only accomplish this feet, because they operate within their own area or limitations. A machine without limitations will not function affectively and accurately. It will cease to be, and its identity of a machine will dissipate. Scientists have pondered making a machine without boundaries or restrictions. They wish to build something like humans called, â€Å"Artificial intelligence.† It will have feelings and free will. It will be able to make unreasonable decisions based on instinct, but its instinct could lead it to making the wrong choices. Some fear if artificial intelligence was ever created, mankind would fall. Technology should never pass a certain extremity, because we would lose the sight of those extraordinary men. When thinking back about what Elbert Hubbard said, I strongly believe machines were built to share the abilities of those unique extraordinary men. Machines are built to answer what has already been solved by man. They are built to make life less difficult throughout day. The machine is meant to be as useful as the inventor created it to be. No more no less, because a machine without limits is it really a machine.

Inside Job

Where would we be today if the â€Å"decision makers† would have made more acceptable decisions that affected the economy prior to the market crashing? Millions of middle-class Americans have been left jobless, and even homeless, as a result of the major corporations getting bailed out, while certain individuals were benefiting millions of dollars in bonuses. Following the Great Depression, the United States did not have a single financial crisis. However, according to Charles Ferguson, who is the director of Inside Job, the progressive deregulation of the financial sector since the 1980s gave rise to an increasingly criminal industry. In fact, many executives and leaders that were involved in this meltdown refused to answer questions, and some refused to interview for the documentary all together. The financial crisis of 2008 left many of us with many unanswered questions wondering how the most powerful nation in the world ended up with a destructed economy. The documentary Inside Job hunts down the culprits of the major financial institutions that had the biggest effect on the nation’s economy. The film attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the most important subject we have yet to face as a country; which is the worst financial crisis since the Depression, as well as holding those accountable who destroyed our financial system. Inside Job exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis. Throughout the film, you feel yourself cringing more and more by each interview. This documentary not once uses the word ‘capitalism’, although it is implied throughout the entire duration. The underlying message about capitalism in the movie is that it mainly benefits the elite, and that it is a corrupt world of finance. The big banks and financial institutions molded the government policies in their favor. As the economy came crashing down, the owners and leaders of financial institutions walked away from the crisis with their personal accounts untouched, and in superb condition for what the entire global economy was going to face next. Joe Boustead, of Socialist. et, states â€Å"The truth is that in a capitalist mode of production anarchy rules, this in turn led to a massive crisis of overproduction, there were simply too many commodities being produced to be consumed as the individuals could either not afford them or simply had no need for them. † One by one, the big banks came crashing down, and more debt was being added to what would become the worst economic crisis in history. Out of the various philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche would be inclined to agree with the behavior of the Wall Street moguls and the politicians who were responsible for the â€Å"Great Recession. Nietzsche is the philosopher of the will to power, seen as vital creation and fulfillment. He believed that humans and animals seek to live only to exert power and that each person should establish their own moral codes. As Nietzsche believed, â€Å"A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength—life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent. † As evidenced in the documentary, the government and executives sought to discharge their strength by partaking in self-preserving behaviors. While Inside Job exposed the criminal culture of Wall Street, a culture of lies, trickery, and corruption for power, it also exposed the widespread abuse of cocaine and prostitutes. Jonathan Alpert, a psychological counselor for Wall Street executives and professionals in the film, tells us that these practices â€Å"go right to the very top. † Nietzsche valued individualism above all else. He spoke negatively of anarchists, but he believed that only certain individuals should attempt to break away from the â€Å"herd. † That is the main reason I believe he would agree with the behaviors shown in this film. He would be inclined to believe that only certain individuals would be intelligent enough to take advantage of certain laws implemented by government, and somehow twist them into their own benefit, which is exactly what these Wall Street moguls did. If I were to propose legislation to address the problems and issues presented in the documentary, I would use John Stuart Mill’s philosophical view as a basis for the legislation. Mills believed in utilitarianism, which claimed that â€Å"one should assess persons, actions, and institutions by how well they promote human happiness. James Mill claimed: The desire, therefore, of that power which is necessary to render the persons and properties of human beings subservient to our pleasures, is the grand governing law of human nature [Essay IV; cf. Essay V]. I would use utilitarianism as a standard of conduct. Mills believed in the common good for the greatest number. This legislation would not have allowed the senseless, selfish acts that were committed which resulted in a recession that the entire nation had to deal with. Utilitarianism would have avoided the issues that were addressed in the documentary. It would maximize happiness and reduce the suffering of millions of people. I would also implement Sartre’s â€Å"bad faith†, or better known as his existentialism philosophy. Existentialism is a concept where a human would be under pressure from society and acts authentically. These CEOs and leaders knew what they were getting not only their institutions in, but also the economy. Instead of acting authentically and making decisions that would later on benefit the greater amount of people in the world, they chose to act unconsciously. It is a fact that the recession could have been avoided. The wrong decisions were purposely implemented in order to cover certain individuals and maintain power, and of course wealth. Jean-Paul Sartre believed that one should be held responsible for his own actions, and that all individuals should act authentically. From Sartre’s view, we are all â€Å"conscious† when we make decisions. He focused on three modes of being: being-for-itself, being-in-itself, and being-for-others. The â€Å"being-for-itself† would be better described as the being of consciousness. All of these problems that we are facing today, would not be occurring if the decision makers would have acted with consciousness, rather than cruelty, and greed. The people who purposely made calls to somehow sabotage the economy for their own interest should be held accountable, and prosecuted, just as any criminal. Inside Job does an amazing job of informing the audience of what happened behind closed doors to end up where our economy is today. It goes back in history far enough to explain where this economic downfall started, and who there is to blame. The economic crisis could have been avoided if the correct course of action were taken, but instead the middle-class ended up in a situation that was never thought of. Due to greed, this country has to work harder to clean up the mess of the power and money-hungry executives that allowed the economy to get to this state. Inside Job is an informing documentary that leaves us disgusted, but yet informed of the unethical moves people are willing to make in order to stay in power and wealthy. At the end of this documentary, we are left wondering, where would we be today if greed didn’t partake in people’s every move? What is next to come to America, what was once the most powerful country in the world? These moguls are roaming free enjoying their millions of dollars, rather than behind bars for leaving the nation in the worst state we have ever been in as a nation. While the less-powerful, and innocent, are figuring out where the next meal is coming from, or finding a way to get their children to college, the rich are feeding off of every dollar that was benefited and controlled. The truth always comes to light, and in this case, regardless of how hard these folks tried to hide it, the research was conducted to find out what exactly happened. Inside Job Inside Job Summary Inside Job is a documentary by Charles Ferguson, about the causes of the global financial crisis and revealed what was going on inside the U. S. financial industry during the first decade of the 21st century. The movie highlights the effects of a series of causes beginning in the Regan Administration. These causes most prominently include deregulation that allowed excessive and reckless actions in finance, fraud, and conflicts of interest. Deregulation allowed the financial sector more freedom and less discipline, which provided more opportunity for profit and risk.Reflecting the profit growth resulting from deregulation, investment banks went from small, private firms to public companies. The movie illustrates the growth of the financial sector beginning in the 1970s and continuing into the early 2000s, considering that from 1978-2008 the average salary in the United States in every profession other than investment banking rose by 25% and the average salary in inv estment banking rose by 150%. In early 2000 another method mortgage lending was developed that allowed for excessive risk and allowed for incentives to bet against the system for personal gain.The system was called the Securitization food chain and loans were mixed with other types of debt, such as car loans and credit card debt, given a rating, and investors would include these mixes in their funds depending to their rating. Since each party was removed from risk by selling the debt, lenders could extend absurd loans that were highly unlikely to be repaid, rating agencies could grade the absurd debts highly without consequence and the result was the opportunity for virtually anyone in the US to receive a home loan and purchase a home.Which sent home prices incredibly high and since the financial sector was profiting from this procedure through the Securitization Food Chain no one cared about who was holding the bag. The rest is history. The financial industry knew that the meltdown was going to occur. Records show that internally they were betting AGAINST their own offerings. The bubble bursts resulting in people losing their illusory homes and their previously tangible jobs. The financial sector lost their businesses.An incredible, sweeping wildfire of foreclosures and bankruptcies. The US government claimed that if these major financial institutions that caused the crisis were allowed to fail, the effect on the global financial system would be catastrophic. The US government said these firms were ‘too big to fail' and paid out several hundred billions of taxpayer money to save these firms. The unemployment and inflation from these rescues is still accumulating today.

Corporate Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Responsibility - Essay Example The litigation involves Pelman vs McDonald Inch on the ground that the corporation intentionally misleads their customers about the health products and services they offer through their false advertisements. The plaintiff argues that the consumption of fast food from MacDonald Corporation could have partially contributed to the overweight, obesity and heart disease; thus deterioration of health. The respondent denied the allegation by arguing that they are not accountable for the decisions made by the plaintiff to consume their fast food products. Discussions MacDonald Corporation and other fast food restaurants should be held accountable for selling harmful products, failing to caution consumers of the risks of a high-fat diet, and misleading advertising. This is because high consumption of products and services from fast food industries has become the major cause for health problems in the United States. The research on business ethics demands corporations to be socially accountabl e for their actions or activities. ... MacDonald and other fast food industries have been frequently ranked among the producers of unhealthy food, which have contributed to varied health problems to children (Mello, Rimm, and Studdert, 2013). These fast food companies should be judged for making deceptive advertisements arguing that their products and services offer health solutions to consumers and yet they create more health problems. Wharton (2005) argues that obesity have raised many difficult marketing questions regarding the issue of junk food and deceptive advertisements made by fast food industries. Childhood obesity, which is linked by consuming sugar-laden fruit juice, chips, Oreos and other non-nutritious snack foods have raised a major health concern in the U.S government. The new government research pointed some of the culprits behind the cause for increased childhood obesity. MacDonald Company was among the identified company with pending litigation about their deceptive advertisements and not being socially responsible for their actions, which has left many children with health problems. Although the major aim of the company is to make profits, they should carry out their business with ethical concern of not causing harm to their potential customers. The decision made by the U.S government for fast food industries to stop advertising harmful products to kids has raised some concern within fast food industries. These companies advertise their product knowingly that there is something wrong with the advertisement; thus they deserve to be judged negligent and warned about such actions. Although it is not easy for marketers to change their products overnight because they will run risk of changing their products

What roles does the accountant play in business of present economy Research Paper

What roles does the accountant play in business of present economy - Research Paper Example Like other key professionals, accountants operate in volatile environments in the business world, where informational changes strike with catastrophic shocks that often times result in the collapse of business ventures. The challenge before an accountant is but to ensure informational flows, covering every undertaking within the organization in efforts towards warding off unaccounted for actions that may overstretch organizational budget beyond the available resources. This paper explores the nexus between the accountant and the economic well-being of the present economy with reference to their operational roles within the entrepreneurial undertakings. The role of accountants seems to be at the epicenter of business objectives; for these professional deals with figures of facts used in clarifying decisional options crucial in initiating projects as well as monitoring them in the subsequent stages with the sole aim of enhancing efficiency, and so the performance and the general well-being of a business enterprise and the economy at large (Lev 4-6). The connection between accounting and the economic health of a nation is but fairly implicit. Though difficult to define, â€Å"economic development,† a term which basically defines the standard of life within a given country, generally involves how the available inputs are used efficiently in the productive processes within a given economy. The relations of accountancy to economic development should, thus, be understood in terms of the measurement processes and techniques that the latter lend to the former in a nation’s continuous endeavors to ensure that people’s l ives are better off with regards production efficiency [which includes both quantity and quality of commodities available within the boundaries of an economy]. As noted by NPC in their analysis of the role of accountants, these

Prescrption with controlled medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Prescrption with controlled medicine - Essay Example Similarly, legislation on the drugs and medicine practices is divided based on commonwealth and the states. The commonwealth laws are classified into schedules. There are various schedules, which, are based on their effects on the public and which, control both the production and distribution of the products (Chaar, et al., 2005). Focusing on the discussion, schedule eight provides rules and regulations on prescription of controlled medicine by practitioners (Australia, 2010). Under the same, it is important for the medical practitioners to prescribe medicine for a genuine therapeutic person affected. In this case, a valid approval number is essential in validating the scripts. Lack of approval number may result into penalties on the side of pharmacists. According to Bessell & Silagy (2002), the chief health officer has to approve the script for patients who have been either under controlled drugs for a period of about 2 months or more. The same applies to patients considered drug dependant. Pharmacists that operate within the stipulations of the code of conduct by ACT are exposed to the risk of severe punishment. Penalties apply to those who do not adhere to the guidelines on prescribing medicine to patients. It is obvious that prescribers have to prescribe the medicine with a number authorized by the chief health officer. To avoid any penalty, the pharmacist is supposed to comply with the rules and regulations set by ACT. He or she has to give medicine that has a recognition number from the chief health officer (society, 2012 p. 200). The number is meant to validate the medicine. On the side of the patients, it will be important for one to confirm that the prescription is accompanied with a valid number from the chief officer. Though there are no penalties on the side of patients, use of such medicines may have an impact on their health (Australia, 2010). Secondly, the relevant authority may conduct several checklists in

Analyze the Running Case on pages 456-457 of the textbook Essay

Analyze the Running Case on pages 456-457 of the textbook - Essay Example To finish all projects in time, it is important to allocate sufficient resources and manpower to all projects. The first step will be workforce planning which involves anticipating and integrating human resource in order to preempt contingencies that would prevent delivery of a project in time and at the allocated budget. Each project will have a work plan which gives the expected progress with time, budget, resources and expected contingencies and ways of mitigating them. For the parts carried out by the company procedures and work instructions, a standard progress reporting form will be prepared with fields for the report date, status of the project as a percentage, expected status as of that date from the project planning, budget used as a percentage of the total, next report date and a description of the progress made in the project. "We are also concerned that the longer the full implementation takes †¦.† By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY advertisement on FBI behind schedule, over budget on computer system. From this it is quite evident that a project that goes beyond the stipulated plan bracket ends up by being costly. To implement the completion of the project within the budget bracket, PMO executes the project(s) through four phases where in the initial stages, the PMO team is trained on the basic project management processes, standards to be followed when running the project (Mahnic, & Zabkar, 2012) . For the projects to be carried out by subcontractors, and partners, progress reporting dates will be agreed upon and included in the progress contract. A similar progress reporting form will be used by external contractors with actual inspection by Wild Solutions staff to verify the claims of the submitted progress report. Control process for progress reporting focus on software design schedule, construction schedule, budget and resources (Mahnic, & Zabkar, 2012). Under design schedule, reporting will focus on how well the completed part of

E-Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

E-Business strategy - Essay Example Starbucks Company also has an information technology department that incepted its first website in 1998. This use of website has enabled the company slowly embrace and transact with e-commerce. In the year 2000, Starbucks Company managed to upgrade its server system to the Microsoft Commerce server 2000, which led to a remarkable improvement witnessed in its online service delivery. The Company has continually embraced e-commerce by purchasing different commerce servers in relation to the change in technology Stanford-Smith and Kidd 2000.The presence of e-business and e-commerce has enabled Starbucks Company to consistently purchasing numerous advanced registers and coffee machines to replace the old systems. The use of these new systems has contributed to the improvement of staff‘s efficiency and the speed, with the inclusion of assisting the shops to produce better quality coffee products. The use of these new materials and processes has resulted in the company. Starbucks Com pany and coffee houses no longer experience annoying queues to be served. This ensures the Starbucks considerably expand its customer base, and assist in the improvement of better customer relations.E-business has become one of the few technologies strategies that have been sort of by many companies and organizations. Through this technology, companies are able to improve their facilities by the use of the internet, intranet and extranet in ensuring that they have both intra and extra communication within the company, and the outside world.... Some of the issues that need to be addressed include poor communication between the staffs, customers and the external world. Rationale for The process mapping of Starbucks technological advancement Starbucks has made some efforts to improve customer communication. This has been central to design evaluation. These efforts include development of the brand in order to improve customer experience. One of these processes involved improvement of internal communications in the effort to ease customer base connection. Sophisticated feedback machinery sees to it that customer’s feedback is collected and acted upon in an effective and timely manner. One of such an effort includes the intention by the company to partner with Square’s GPS mobile for improved payments. In addition, through GPRS, the customer can be able to receive alerts on any updates including special offers. Starbucks can also get alerts whenever a returning customer has returned for more. Furthermore, Starbucks was named the most popular social media brand. It uses several social media sites to reach out new customers and continued communication with the old customers. Some of the popular sites used by Starbucks include Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. In addition, the company has adopted the use of digital network in its stores. With Wi-Fi availability, the company is able to entertain customers with digital networks. The process mapping of Starbucks technological advancement The Intertwining E-business and Starbucks can be intertwined. This is because e-business uses tools like mobile phones, file transfer, video conferencing, internet, intranets, and extranet to improve the administrative and operational activities. It ensures that Starbucks is in a position to access the internet to source

Use of IT in supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Use of IT in supply chain management - Essay Example Planning for the overtime labor was also irregular, since the organization did not have an effective information gathering system that would predict the demand and the supply changes effectively. The initial spreadsheet system that was paper-based had proven to be ineffective in supplying such information. The problems that Sunsweet Growers encounter due to these constraints included the fact that its operational costs were high, since the company had to hire overtime labor on irregular basis so as to meet the demand processing needs. Secondly, following the initial use of a paper-based spreadsheet system by the organization as its information source, the organization relied on outdated data since this system could not process information in good time. The use of the paper-based spread sheet system also limited the collaboration between different departments of the organizations, while the time spent to process simple information such as demand or supply forecast would take too much time. The adoption of the S&OP software helped the organization to manage its supply chain better, through making it possible for different departments of the organization to come to the monthly meeting with collaborative information, which made it easier to identify the relevant areas of problem for departments and enhanced efficient projections for the future demand and supply changes. This made it possible for the different departments to cooperate and streamline their goals, so that they reflected the overall organizational objective. The software also helped the organization to produce demand plans routinely, which in turn ensured that the organization was now able to balance its demand forecasts with operational plans. Therefore, the cost of overtime labor was markedly reduced, while the time taken to generate important market forecast and supply projection information also declined. The inventory management of the organization also benefited through the

Art History writing assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art History writing assignment - Research Paper Example Each individual is looking to load his or her pockets with money while most of rich folks traded their character, soul and honor with wealth. In the past, artists’ belly was empty but his or her soul was full of life. But, the demon of technology recently transformed the traditional art and science of painting into a mechanized practice. The modern artists are shamelessly working towards attainment of economies of scale by producing paintings and artworks in bulk. Furthermore, the contemporary filmmakers are engaged in joining several parts of the existing works in order to develop a new one. The true nature and feel of human emotions is withering away from the cinema and the meaningless glamour and sexuality is replacing the everlasting messages of human emotions. The key message of Benjamin’s work stated that humans have lost their basic and fundamental attribute that made them humans. The artist attempted to communicate his frustration and emotional agony by arguing that the humans of the modern world will become incapable of practicing and demonstrating compensation and love (Benjamin pp.230). The society of the so-called 21st century is a living instance of Benjamin’s predictions. Additionally, the humans have learned the method of evaluating close relations on an economic basis. The mothers and fathers are fighting with their children, as they do not financially participate in covering up the expenses. The being analyzed work discussed degrading human involvement in the field of arts and then, it extrapolated that lack of artistry in humans simply mean s that they are not living an internal and cognitive life that is the elementary essence of human existence. The work entitled â€Å"Blessed Art Thou Among Women† on the other hand, depicted an important and bitter reality of human community that is a breaking bond of love and affection that is known to exist between mother and her child. The historical love of parent and offspring was highlighted in the form of a painting so that people should and must understand the value of human relations (Kasebier, Blessed Art Thou Among Women). Nevertheless, the works of both abovementioned legendary artists did not have any significant and notable impact on the course of human evolution that is going into the deep and dark pit of individualism. The growing individualism in all parts and regions of the world is going to make all humans alone. In the near future, people are going to live and die in loneliness because they will never have true human relations and feelings. All of the divine religions emphasized on human relations and few technological geeks are going to take humanity away from th e golden and heavenly rules. Historically, people lived in joint families and had a habit and tradition of practicing concern about their neighborhoods. The life was rich and people were more than happy in arranging parties and festivals at weekends. The professionals were punctual about observing office timings and job turnover rate was also low because there was a sense of family in workplaces of that era. The rape cases were recorded rarely. The sons and daughter did cry on the sad occasion of their parents’ departure from this world. The movies and artworks of the period promoted the notion of peace and tranquility. Based on the