The Lady or the Tiger?

The story of The Lady or the Tiger? clearly illustrates that the human being, despite his actions on the contrary, is still very civilized in his behavior and beliefs, and is the most advanced creature in the world. Like the king of the ancient land and his daughter, the human beings of today tend to enjoy living a life of gambling, and are very capable of great savagery if the occasion calls for it. It is also a very notable human characteristic that they have a great love for violence despite the fact that one is said to be ‘inhuman’ if he were to display any kind of violence towards another human being. Many world leaders today tend to preach peace but they are also the first, when they feel that their personal or country’s economic interests are threatened, to declare war on weaker nations which are often powerless to defend themselves. This just serves to show the human capacity to settle conflicts in such an orderly way that wars are no longer made out of the whims of human leaders, as would happen in primitive societies, but for very specific strategic reasons.

Human beings have a tendency of doing everything in their power to first secure their personal interests before they secure those of the communities within which they live. For example, it is very rare for any human being to take in a homeless child who has no food and lives out in the cold despite the fact they have more in their homes than they actually need. The claim that human beings are communal creatures is greatly exaggerated because even within the communities in which they live, they often compete with each other either to have more wealth or to have power over each other. This clearly shows that although the human being has moved away from the jungles and that he has build great cities for himself and created what can be considered to be advanced technology, for many, the law of the jungle still applies in their minds.

The civilized nature of the human being is also revealed through his jealousy of the success of his fellows and it is normal for such to do everything in their power to ensure the downfall of those who seem to be more successful than them. A good example of this is in the story of The Lady or the Tiger? where the kings daughter has the option of saving her lover or allowing him to get married to a maid who she suspects to have been a rival for the attentions of her lover. It is more likely than not that since she would lose her lover anyway even if she saved him from the tiger, she would choose to direct him to its cage. As a consequence, even if she lost him, she would not be able to see the satisfaction on her rival’s face when she claimed her lover as her husband. One would say that the human being has become more civilized than primitive because of our belief that if we cannot have something, then neither can our rivals, and to this end, the human beings endeavors to destroy it. It is therefore true to say that although there are claims that human beings today are still primitive, they are actually not the same primitive creatures that lived thousands of years ago.

Imagination is more important than knowledge

Every man made thing in the world and the knowledge of how to make such things has its origins in the imagination. The first step towards anything that can be created and the knowledge gained from it is by imagining it and then taking the necessary steps towards creating it. Imagination can be said to be the thing which has pushed the human being from the level of an animal to the advanced being that he is today. Without imagination, human beings would not have had the necessary sophistication to allow them to form societies which eventually developed into states and civilizations. The uniqueness of man is based on his ability to imagine the impossible and being able to make it possible through trial and error until he gets it right. Knowledge is a product of the human imagination because it is through the process of trial an error to make what he has imagined a reality that the human being gains knowledge (Steigerwald, J, 924). With this in mind, we shall now look at the reasons why it has been stated that imagination is more important than knowledge. We shall discuss the various aspects that make up imagination and those that make up knowledge and from these; we shall endeavor to determine our conclusion that imagination is more important than knowledge.

In the field of invention, it has been stated that in order for one to invent something, he has to imagine it first. This is especially true of the Wright brothers who even before they invented the very first flying machine, they imagined man having the means to fly. As their designs failed one after the other, their imaginations enabled them to continue to make modifications to their craft until eventually they created their first successful flying machine (Avery, M, 2212). Without their imaginations, they most likely would not have invented the flying machine which until then many had thought was impossible. This invention of the Wright brothers came to change the entire course of human history because others adapted their knowledge of making their flying machine for the creation of even more advanced aircraft. The knowledge of the Wright brothers was used only a few years later during the First World War when aircraft were used to drop bombs on enemy targets. Furthermore, in the second half of the twentieth century, the knowledge that the Wright brothers had used for the creation of their aircraft was further enhanced and used for the development of rockets. These not only enabled man to leave this planet for the first time, but it also enabled him to walk on the moon, a feat which many had only dreamed of and thought was impossible. It is therefore a fact that if the Wright brothers had not dreamed of and imagined themselves flying, then they would not have turned their imaginations into reality. In the process, today, we would still have been very far behind in the technological advancements and achievements which resulted from their invention. The knowledge that came from their imagination is what has turned the world, once considered to be so far apart, to be what is commonly termed as a global village with access to anywhere in the world being only a matter of minutes or hours away. One would therefore say that knowledge is a product of the imagination and because of this, the imagination is more important than knowledge and should be greatly encouraged in society as well as in major organizations (Weick, K, 446).

A government cannot be able to respond to the needs of its people if it lacks the personnel with the imagination to view and predict the changing needs of the society over which it governs (Gogan, J, 453). The development of such a society would cease to continue because its government would not be able to contemplate (imagine) the solutions which are necessary for the society’s problems. Solutions have to be imagined even if there is a wide range of knowledge about a problem because even though one could be knowledgeable about such a problem, one would still be incapable of imagining a solution for it. A good example of this is finding a solution for the drought which tends to occur in the Horn of Africa almost annually. This is an environmental problem which can only be managed if new ideas to alleviate it are introduced in the region and the governments are willing to enforce such ideas, because despite all the knowledge about the drought that has been gathered, very little has been done to deal with it. In order for solutions for such problems to work, governmental officials have to imagine the consequences so that the solutions they put in place can be sustained.

It has been the dream of many people throughout the history of the twentieth century for all the nations of the world to cooperate for the good of mankind. This imagination took the first step into reality with the formation of the League of Nations immediately after the First World War whose purpose was to prevent another war such as that one from ever taking place again. When the League of Nations failed to stop the Second World War from happening, the knowledge which had been gained by the victors of this war concerning its failures was put into good use and its successor, the United Nations was formed. The United Nations has largely succeeded where its predecessor failed due to the knowledge gained from the latter’s failure and its managing to avoid them. From the imagination of nations cooperating, the United Nations has become a reality and its role as an enforcer of peace agreements has ensured that combatants are discouraged from aggressiveness and that human rights are upheld almost everywhere in the world.

In the very competitive business and market environments of today, it has been found that imagination is a key factor in the promotion brands all over the world. Only the most imaginative of advertisements can catch the eye of a consumer and make him want to buy a particular brand of a product. It is common knowledge that most of the components of products are basically the same but it is how these products are branded that encourages a consumer to by only one brand and completely leaves the others. It has been found that the most imaginative type of branding has promotes high sales of a product and it is because of this that advertising agencies work very hard to ensure that they produce only the best. Without imagination, there would be very little competition in the market and as a consequence, manufacturing companies would not strive to improve the quality of their products to increase their sales.

In conclusion, it can be said that imagination has shaped shape our world as it is today. Without it, the human beings would still be at the same level as other animals and not at the top of the food chain as they are today. Knowledge comes about as a result of imagination and in fact, it can be referred to as dead imagination because once it is acquired, there is often very little room for its further development. Imagination is continuously developing and this development is limitless as opposed to knowledge which tends to be stagnant. Knowledge which is said to be true today may not necessarily be so a century from now. Imagination, on the other hand is always developing and new ideas and concepts come into reality every day. It is the means through which further human development can be achieved so long as it is encouraged in all sectors of the society.

Football's Last Taboo

The article Football’s Last Taboo by Patrick Barkham vividly shows the real feelings of those involved in football concerning gay players and their treatment of those players who come out of the closet. It is indeed true that the idea of a gay player on the field playing for a major club is still taboo and in many circles in the football hierarchy, including within FIFA, it is still very much frowned upon. This is the reason why many gay players choose to hide their true sexual orientation because if they were to reveal it, it is more likely than not that they would be discriminated against and shunned not only by their fellow players and managers but also by the fans of the clubs for which they play. Barkham gives the example of Liverpool player Justin Fashanu who in nineteen ninety stunned the world by becoming the first football player to come out of the closet and openly declare that he was gay. Fashanu was shunned by the entire world of football, which included not only the manager of his team but also his teammates, the fans as well as his family. Due to this lack of support even from those people who he would have expected it from such as his brother, John, Fashanu’s career started going on a downward spiral which would eventually result in his taking his own life eight years later. It is a very interesting thing to note that despite the fact that almost all the other parts of the entertainment industry have gay people playing prominent roles in them, in football, the idea of gay players seems to be taboo and that players who have dared come out of the closet have received vicious taunts and abuse from the fans.

Barkham’s article focuses specifically on Anton Hysen, a Swedish football player who is the twenty year old son of former Liverpool defender and Swedish international, Glenn Hysen. For a person who is just at the beginning of his football career, Anton has done a very bold thing by coming out of the closet and declaring that he is gay. This is something that many other gay players would not dare to do in consideration of the potential of ruining their chances of keeping their careers going. Anton states that he has his family and the liberal nature of many Swedes to thank for the support he has received since he revealed his sexual orientation to the world and opposed to the treatment that Fashanu received, Anton has received and maintained the support and goodwill of his family and the fans of the team for which he plays. Perhaps his retention of the support of the team’s fans is based mainly on the fact that it is still a small team and if he were playing for the big leagues of Sweden, then he would be more exposed to the abuse directed at him due to his sexual orientation. It can be noted that Anton’s self confidence as well as not taking personally the abuse that has been leveled at him on occasion is what keeps him going and it is quite possible that when he goes to the big leagues, he will achieve great success in spite of the negative reception that he is likely to receive.

In this article, Barkham engages the reader by getting directly to the point and stating that the subject of his article (Anton Hysen) is gay and further gives the example of Justin Fashanu as a comparison. He then reveals the prominent background of Anton’s family in the football world by introducing his father, Glenn, and brother, Tobias. Having done this, he then discusses with Anton how he has been received by the football fans in Sweden as well as his teammates. This article can be said to be very bold because it discusses a topic which is very rarely, if at all, discussed by those who are involved in football. There is so much stigma involved around this issue that many players either choose to keep their gay sexual orientation secret or do not come out in support of their gay colleagues. Barkham’s article can also be said to be very revealing because it not only deals with a taboo subject, but it also shows the extent of homophobia within the football profession. It is a direct attack against the football establishment for continuing to tolerate the homophobic ideas, which can only be considered to belong in the Middle Ages, in the world as it is today. It is a very revealing article and it considers facts about football which are rarely even thought about by those who are involved in it or even by those who are its biggest fans. It is our belief that this article deals with very pertinent issues which should be taken very seriously not only by the football establishment but also by all those who are involved in football because it is high time that homophobia in football came to an end.

References

Barkham, P., 2011. Football’s Last Taboo. The Guardian Weekly, 29 Apr. pp. 25

Culture Shock

Culture shock is a growing phenomenon all over the world as globalization continues to spread and many people move from one country to another in an effort to improve the circumstances of their lives. Many people experience culture shock when they encounter other cultures which are not similar to those in which they formerly used to live. This unfamiliarity with the new culture makes many of those who encounter it fail to understand the factors which influence conduct of local people so that they do not discern how they themselves should behave. When these people lose all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, they have to try to adapt themselves to different lifestyles, living conditions and business practices in a new cultural setting and this often proves to be a long term and difficult process. In this condition, feelings of alienation accumulate sharply because of poor adaptation and consequentially, culture shock occurs, followed by a series of psychological confusion and emotional discomfort (Xia, 97 – 101).

There tends to be many responses to culture shock and this depends on individuals. Some people often choose to completely immerse themselves in the new culture which they have encountered in an attempt to fit into the fabric of the new society. Such people often shun the culture which they previously used to practice and instead develop a very negative attitude towards it (Dongfeng, 70 – 74). Others choose to only adopt the aspects of the new culture they have encountered which they consider to be good but continue to practice the culture which they are more familiar with. A third group chooses to completely reject the new culture and tightly stick to the culture which they believe to be the best for them. These often create their own settlements or sectors within the society in which they have gone to live and it is only on rare occasion that they encounter the new culture.