Guilt and Shame

The society of traditional  Japan  was long held to be a good example of one in which shame is the primary agent of  social control. The first book to cogently[citation needed]  explain the workings of the Japanese society for the Western reader was  The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. This book was produced under less than ideal circumstances since it was written during the early years of  World War II  in an attempt to understand the people who had become such a powerful enemy of the West. Under the conditions of war it was, of course, impossible to do  field research  in Japan.Nevertheless, depending on the study of members of that culture who were  available for interview and study in the West, namely war prisoners at detention centers, as well as literary and other such records pertaining to cultural features,  Ruth Benedict  drew what some regard[who? ]  as a clear picture of the basic workings of Japanese society. Her study has been challenged and is not relied upon by anthropologists of Japan today. Contemporary  Western society  uses shame as one modality of control, but its primary dependence rests on  guilt, and, when that does not work, on the  criminal justice  system.Paul Hiebert  characterizes the shame society as follows: Shame is a reaction to other people's criticism, an acute personal chagrin at our failure to live up to our obligations and the expectations others have of us. In true shame oriented cultures, every person has a place and a duty in the society. One maintains self-respect, not by choosing what is good rather than what is evil, but by choosing what is expected of one. Personal desires are sunk in the collective expectation. Those who fail will often turn their aggression against themselves instead of using violence against others.By punishing themselves they maintain their self-respect before others, for shame cannot be relieved, as guilt can be, by  confession  and atonement. Shame is remov ed and honor restored only when a person does what the society expects of him or her in the situation, including committing suicide if necessary. (Hiebert 1985, 212) guilt society  is one in which the primary method of  social control  is the inculcation of feelings of  guilt  for behaviors that the society defines as undesirable. It involves an implicit judgment on the being (rather than just the behavior) of the individual: â€Å"You are an  evil  person if you would do such-and-so. It also involves creating the  expectation  of punishment now (when the behavior fails to be kept secret) and/or in the hereafter. One of the interesting features of many such societies is that they inculcate feelings of guilt for feelings and/or impulses that the individual cannot help but feel. Where a  shame societymight tell its members that sexual interactions are to be hidden from general view or knowledge, a guilt society may tell people that they are guilty or sinful for me re  sexual desire.A prominent feature of guilt societies is the provision of sanctioned releases from guilt for certain behaviors either before the fact, as when one condemns sexuality but permits it conditionally in the context of marriage, or after the fact. There is a clear opportunity in such cases for authority figures to derive power, monetary and/or other advantages, etc. by manipulating the conditions of guilt and the forgiveness of guilt. Paul Hiebert characterizes the guilt society as follows: Guilt is a feeling that arises when we violate the absolute standards of  morality  within us, when we violate our conscience.A person may suffer from guilt although no one else knows of his or her misdeed; this feeling of guilt is relieved by confessing the misdeed and making restitution. True guilt cultures rely on an internalized conviction of sin as the enforcer of good behavior, not, as shame cultures do, on external sanctions. Guilt cultures emphasize punishment and forgi veness as ways of restoring the moral order; shame cultures stress self-denial and humility as ways of restoring the social order. (Hiebert 1985, 213) GUILT, SHAME,  and embarrassment are forms of social control.Whether these are cast in evolutionary, psychological, or cultural terms, we should not lose sight of that basic function. These emotions may not always be portrayed in these terms, but that is how they have evolved and become embedded in our cultural beliefs and practices. It is in this context that we should raise the question: Are there shame cultures as opposed to guilt cultures, with corresponding differences in how people within them experience guilt and shame? In American culture (and Western cultures enerally), personal identity is conceived of as being independent and autonomous. Society is seen as a collection of self-contained individuals who are held responsible for their own behavior. One's interests are best served by allowing maximum freedom and responsibili ty in choosing one's objectives. Moral precepts are based on conceptions of justice. Even when these are tempered by interpersonal obligations, the focus remains on individuals who must balance their responsibilities between the self and significant others.THE PRIMARY  moral obligation is to avoid harming significant others. It is when you cause harm, or are unjust, that you feel guilty. Being responsive to the needs of others is desirable, but is not a moral duty. Individuals are free to follow their inclinations within the limits of the law and in consideration of the rights of others. Their obligations to others are defined in negative terms—what they should not do—rather than as positive duties of what they should do. Whereas the failure to uphold justice is a vice, the failure to be beneficent to others is only a lack of moral virtue.By contrast, in Asian contexts, one's identity is defined in relation to the group one belongs to, typically the family. Whereas i n the West, a person would be known as Jane or John Doe, in the East, they would be identified as members of the Doe family. In her study of Indian Hindus, psychologist Joan Miller found that the primary basis of determining moral conduct was not justice but a person's duties to significant others. Among Americans, moral duty is imposed on the individual to constrain that individual's actions.For Hindus, doing one's duty meant both meeting one's obligations as well as realizing one's own nature. Therefore acting benevolently toward others was not an aim secondary to considerations of justice, nor was it a matter of acting above and beyond the call of duty—fulfilling one's social duty was the primary purpose of moral conduct. These differences lead to contrasting ways of determining what is moral. For instance, if there is no other way to help a friend in need, it would be ethical for an Indian to steal but unethical for an American to do so even if it means failing to help th e friend.These differences are not absolute; nonetheless, twice as many Indians as Americans would give priority to interpersonal considerations over abstract ethical principles. Moreover, Indians were more prone than Americans to make contextual exceptions (where the morality of an action depends on the nature of the relationship and the circumstances of the case), whereas Americans took a more absolute view about an action being right or wrong, irrespective of other considerations. The moral objective in the West, as noted above, is to avoid doing wrong and is more objective; in the East, it is to do what is right and is more subjective.Similar considerations apply in other Asian cultures. In China, the family is the â€Å"great self. † One starts by literally owing one's life to one's parents. One's primary obligation in life is to serve and protect social ties, not pursue personal goals. Similarly, while Americans place a high premium on self-reliance, the Japanese favor interdependence and harmonious integration within the group. Individuals in both groups are highly competitive, but in different ways. Americans want to  get ahead  of others; the Japanese are concerned with not falling behind; instead of pushing ahead, they line up sideways.The personal boundaries of Americans have been compared to the hard shell of an egg; those of the Japanese, to an egg's soft internal membrane. Erich Lessing/Art Resource This individualistic-versus-interdependent basis of moral judgment helps clarify the problematic distinctions between shame and guilt cultures. Instead of these designations explaining differences in such a way that makes one culture seem morally superior to another, they explain cultural differences as the outcome of serving different needs.In the Western context of individualism, guilt, with its emphasis on autonomy, provides a better moral foundation for guiding individuals who are responsible for themselves. With a lesser sense of respo nsibility for others, there is less need for shame as a form of social control. By contrast, in the Asian cultural context, where maintaining harmony in relationships is most valued, shame is a more effective means of moral control. Since personal boundaries extend beyond the individual, it becomes more difficult to generate guilt. When someone does wrong, it is not only the person but everyone related to that person who shares in the guilt.Therefore, shame in Asian cultures fulfills some of the same functions of social control that guilt does in the West and vice versa. These considerations are important to our understanding of differences in the ways guilt and shame are perceived in Western and Eastern religion. . . . For instance, the centrality of shame in Confucianism has led to the general impression that Confucian China is a shame society, and hence is ethically less developed. [Religion scholar] Mark Berkson [MA '92, PhD '00] has raised cogent arguments that this characteriz ation is not valid.Confucian ethics, far from being ethically less well developed, offers much to others to learn from. While generally framed in East/West terms, these differences between guilt and shame can also be seen within Western culture itself in historical perspective. Homeric heroes in ancient Greece were driven by the twin virtues honor and fame. In their warlike society such virtues were best manifested on the battlefield. The self-esteem of heroes like Achilles, Odysseus, and Oedipus depended on their standing in the eyes of their peers, with whom they were in fierce competition and often conflict.Failure led to loss of face and shame. Consequently, shame has been generally assumed to be the predominant moral sentiment that motivated and restrained the ancient Greeks. Their shame culture was based on public esteem. What mattered was where one stood with respect to one's peers, who constituted an honor-group. This view has been challenged by moral philosopher Bernard Wil liams, who argues that Greek conceptions of shame also included elements of guilt. The moral objective in the West is to avoid doing wrong; in the East, to do what is right. These cultural differences are embedded in various languages as well.This makes translating terms like guilt and shame a common source of confusion. For example, when we look for synonyms for shame and guilt in Chinese, we do not find single terms that correspond to them. Rather, we find a number of terms that correspond to various types of shame, making distinctions that do not exist in English. In some contexts, even guilt may appear as a subsidiary form of shame. Even if the terms to designate them vary, are these emotions universal or culture specific? Do an American and an Indian experience guilt and shame the same way, whatever they call them?There are no simple answers to this question. Some emotions appear to be more universal than others; for instance, it is hard to imagine a culture that does not recog nize expressions of fear or anger. However, when it comes to complex emotions like guilt and shame, which are more subject to cultural variation, the picture becomes less clear. Even the fact that a culture has no word for an emotion does not mean that the emotion it represents is absent. Linguists point out that even if certain emotions are universal, their terminology is not.For instance, there is no word for â€Å"disgust† in Polish. And in one Australian aboriginal language, â€Å"fear† and â€Å"shame† are expressed by the same word (associated with the impulse to retreat). The common error is to start with one's own language and look for exact translations in other languages. Ultimately, it is not through specific terms like â€Å"guilt† or â€Å"shame† but throughmetalanguage—descriptions of the essential elements in emotional states— that we can test the universality of the emotions. For instance, the answer to â€Å"How do y ou feel when you have lost someone dear to you? would convey the idea of sadness better than would the answer to the question â€Å"Do you feel sad? † How does the evolutionary view help us in  dealing with guilt? This is not a matter explicitly addressed by evolutionary psychologists. . . . Nonetheless, the evolutionary basis of the capacity for altruism and the capacity to feel guilty provides us with a natural foundation for guilt, and hence the need for its acceptance and usefulness. If guilt is indeed part of our nature, and there are good reasons for it, it makes no sense to fight it or deny it. Related essay: Shame is Worth a TryAccepting guilt as a fact of life therefore makes it easier to approach it in a positive manner, and perhaps helps us to resolve it in more authentic and adaptive ways. HERANT KATCHADOURIAN,  who came to Stanford in 1966, is an emeritus professor of psychiatry and human biology and former president of the Flora Family Foundation. He has received the Dinkelspiel and Lyman awards and has been selected seven times as Outstanding Professor and Class Day speaker. HONOR AND SHAME  IN A MIDDLE EASTERN SETTING| Roland Muller Copyright 2000 All rights reserved. Sociologists have recognized that three social issues have existed since earliest times.As civilizations formed, each of them grappled with the concept of fear, shame and guilt. These are, in essence the building blocks of society. Every society has its particular ways of dealing with these issues. And each of these issues have different importance, depending on the cultural makeup of that society . These three aspects make up the basic building blocks of worldview. It is similar to the three basic colors that an artist mixes to make all the colors of the universe. On my computer, I can mix the three primary colors to make up 64 million other colors. That's the way it is with worldview.There are many different kinds of worldview, but when carefully examined they can be better understood when looking at them in the light of man's response to guilt, shame and fear. Sociologists have used terms like guilt-based cultures, and shame-based cultures for years now. We must be careful, however, not to try and fit each culture or worldview into one specific category such as fear based or shame based. As I stated, these building blocks are similar to an artist, creating thousands of colors from three basic primary colors. How much of each primary color is used, determines what the final color will be when the paint is mixed.In the same way, all three building blocks are present in all c ultures and worldviews, but how much of each one is present, determines the actual type of culture that emerges. Having determined this, one must also consider how people in a particular local culture react to the elements of the overall culture. As an example, when an Arab is shamed, he may react by taking revenge on the one who causes the shame, but when an oriental is shamed, he may react by committing suicide. So while individual cultures may react to sin in different way, in general terms there are great blocks of the world that have similar worldviews.Where are the major blocks? Many western nations (Northern Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand) have cultures that contain mostly guilt-based cultural characteristics. On the other hand, much of the Middle East and Asia is made up shame-based cultures. Most of the primal religions and cultures of the world (such as tribes in the jungles of Africa, Asia, and South America) are structured around fear-based principles. The problem comes when we want to simply classify cultures into these three basic classifications. They do not easily fit, because they are made up of blends of all three.Thus, when analyzing a culture, one must look for the primary cultural characteristics, and then the secondary ones. As an example, many North American Native cultures are made up of elements of both shame-based and fear-based cultures. On the other hand, much of North American culture has been made up almost exclusively of guilt-based principles, although this has changed in the last two decades. As cultures and worldviews developed over the millennia, they have gravitated towards one of these groups. This polarization has created three mega-trends in worldview.While the majority of worldviews fits into these three classifications, many cultures draw equally from two or all three worldviews. This mixing of worldviews is especially noticeable in South America where jungle tribes with fear-based cultures come in co ntact with shame-based cultures originating out of southern Spain, and guilt-based cultures brought by western religion and western business. The goal of this paper is to simply introduce the idea of guilt, shame and fear based cultures, and then to examine how the Nabataean culture fit into this picture.Along the way I will use illustrations drawn from many cultures of the world, including modern Muslim culture. Guilt-Based Culture None of us lives in exactly the same culture. Culture varies from town to town, family to family and sometimes even from individual to individual. All of us are different. We are made up of different fabrics and formed by the different experiences that come into our lives on a day to day basis. Even those who try to define â€Å"American† or â€Å"Canadian† culture can only talk in vague generalizations. Americans come from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, and have all kinds of values.Some live in middle class housing, some in cardboard box es on the street, and some in large impressive mansions. It's hard to place categorizations and descriptions on people who are so diverse. Despite this, however, there are some general characteristics or mega-traits that fit the majority of people in the western world. Certain basic fundamental beliefs have molded western civilization. These beliefs have laid the foundations upon which these nations are built, and from which the fabric of their society has been formed. One of these basic foundations is their belief in right versus wrong.This understanding is so deeply ingrained in western culture, that westerners analyze almost everything from this perspective. Most western forms of entertainment are built upon ‘the good guys and the bad guys. ‘ It is so familiar to westerners that few of them question its validity. It is such an integral part of religion and society, that they often cannot imagine a world where ‘right versus wrong' isn't the accepted basic underly ing principle. ‘Right versus wrong' is the yardstick used in their culture to measure everything else with.They talk about the rightness and wrongness of someone else's actions. They talk about things being â€Å"right for me. † They are obsessed with knowing their rights and exercising them. Many western societies spend countless hours and billions of dollars debating the wrongs of society. Is homosexuality right or wrong? Is spending billions on the military right or wrong? Is possession of drugs right or wrong? How about possession of nuclear bombs, or weapons of mass destruction? Almost every major issue the west struggles with involves an aspect of deciding whether something is right or wrong.They arrive at this basic tension in life because almost everything in western culture is plotted on a guilt/innocence line. (Innocence being something defined as being right or righteousness). Guilt —————————- Inn ocence The pulls and demands of these two diametrically opposed forces dictate much of western human behavior. Guilt can plague and haunt people bringing fear and condemnation upon them. Many westerners do everything they can to avoid being guilty. Psychologists spend a great deal of their time helping people deal with all sorts of guilt complexes.Evangelical Christians in particular, often live in circles that are governed by guilt principles based on the authority of the Bible. Outside of these circles, guilt is defined in many other ways. It can be a sense of public disapproval, being in trouble with the authorities, or not being politically correct. However guilt is defined, and to what extent it influences a culture varies widely from location to location. However, the understanding of right and wrong has been instrumental in forming much of western society. On the other end of the spectrum, is righteousness, or innocence.This is the unspoken goal of much of western society. â €Å"I'm OK, you're OK† is the most comfortable situation for many. Many westerners express their innocence with the statement that they are as good as the next person. If this is true, then they can get about their business of pursuing happiness and pleasure within the bounds of being OK and not guilty. Most westerners do what they can to avoid being guilty and at the same time exercise their rights. This guilt/innocence thinking is so ingrained in western society that most westerners have immediate reflexes to events that catch them off guard.Being a westerner, I have often noticed some of the reflexes that we have developed. Have you ever noticed what happens in the swimming pool when the lifeguard blows his whistle? Almost all westerners will stop to see who is guilty, and when they realize they are innocent will resume swimming. This is a normal scenario from the western world, but it is not true in much of the eastern world. When we in the western world do something wron g, like unintentionally running a red light, we may feel guilty. This is also not necessarily true in the eastern world. Or, how about this scenario?Imagine a classroom full of grade school kids. Suddenly, the intercom interrupts their class. Johnny is being called to the principle's office. What is the immediate reaction of the other children? In the west the immediate reaction would almost always be: â€Å"What did you do wrong? † Even western children almost always immediately assume guilt. Perhaps the school principal was going to hand out rewards, but much of western society conditions people to expect the worst, and they feel pangs of guilt. So much of western thinking is wrapped up in guilt. Wars are justified on the basis of establishing guilt.During the opening days of the Gulf War, the American government spent many hours and millions of dollars determining if Saddam Hussein was guilty. Once they thought they had established that he was guilty of committing atrociti es they had the right to take military action against him. Throughout the war, they continued to make statements about Mr. Hussein's deranged mental state and irrational actions. All of this helped justify the war. In fact, all during the history of western civilizations, wars have had to be justified, and each side identifies the other as being the ‘bad guys. But some things are not easy to chart between right and wrong. Is a hungry child stealing food guilty? Should he be punished despite his hunger? These questions disturb us, because we feel that everything in life must fit somewhere between guilt and innocence. In fact, western association with guilt has gone so far as to provide an avenue for people to develop guilt complexes. They feel guilt for what they have done and also guilt for what they have not done. They even feel guilt for what others have done. People who struggle with a guilt complex can even be overcome with embarrassment and feelings of guilt from the acti ons of others.The flip side of guilt is innocence, righteousness, and exercising rights. As I mentioned, â€Å"I'm OK, you're OK† is an important philosophy in western culture. In order not to point a finger at people, western society continues to expand the limits of what is acceptable activity. By making homosexuality acceptable, they help thousands of people avoid feeling guilty. This alone is enough to convince many people in western society that it's OK for people to be homosexual. In fact, almost anything is tolerated as long as it doesn't hurt another person.I have been surprised to discover that many people in our western world believe that our fixation with right and wrong is not only normal, but also the only correct way to think. They assume that anyone, who does not think in these terms, does not think rationally or logically. In order to understand guilt-based culture, we must go back to Greek and Roman times, and examine the origin of this pattern of thinking, a nd discover how this has had an impact on society and religion. The Roman Connection The Roman Empire has come and gone, leaving us with a few ruined cities, and a wealth of stories about conquest and heroism.While most of what the Romans accomplished has disappeared, there is one facet of Roman life that has impacted the west, right down to the present. It is the Roman law, or the ‘pax romana' (Roman peace) which was brought about by everyone obeying the Roman law. Roman law introduced the concept that the law was above everyone, even the lawmakers. This idea was not totally new. The Jews under Moses understood this. Greek politicians developed a similar plan with their city-state, but with laws that were man made, not divine. The Romans, however, perfected the system, and put it into widespread use.They developed a type of democracy known as the republic. They put in place a complex legal system that required lawmakers, lawyers, and judges. This Roman system of law left a tr emendous impact on western society. Even to this day, much of the western legal system is still built around the basic Roman code of law. Western civilization today is littered with references to the Roman Empire. Much of their coins, architecture, and language have Roman roots. Legal and economic theories are so filled with Romanisms that westerners no longer see them for what they are.They have become so much a part of their mental furniture, that few people today question them. As an example, Roman law during the Roman Empire assumed that the individual's rights were granted by the state (by government) and that lawmakers can make up laws. Under Roman law, the state was supreme, and rights were granted or erased whenever lawmakers decided. This philosophy is sometimes called ‘statism. ‘ Its basic premise is that there is no law higher than the government's law. Roman politicians were not the first to invent statism but hey did such an effective job of applying it, tha t the Roman Empire has become the guiding star for politicians in the west. Statists see the â€Å"pax romana,† the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world, as the golden days of statism. The known world was â€Å"unified† and controlled by one large government. This unification was symbolized in Roman times by something known as the  fasces. This was a bundle of wooden rods bound together by red-colored bands. In ancient Rome the fasces was fixed to a wooden pole, with an ax at the top or side. This symbolized the unification of the people under a single government.The ax suggested what would happen to anyone who didn't obey the government. The Roman fasces became the origin of the word fascism. During Roman times, pax romana (the Roman peace) meant, â€Å"do as you are told, don't make waves, or you will be hauled away in chains. † Roman Law was supreme. In contrast to this, there was the old way of obeying the supreme ruler. Under this system , the word of the ruler was law. With the Republic, the Romans elevated law, so that it was above the ruler. Now everyone, even the emperor of Rome had to obey the law. The law, not the ruler determined if people were innocent or guilty.It is interesting to note, that as the early Christian church developed and grew, Roman law also had an impact on Christian theology. Since Roman law interpreted everything in the terms of right versus wrong, early Christians were deeply influenced by this thinking. Early Church Theologians Tertullian,  the early church father who first developed a code of systematic theology, was a lawyer steeped in Roman law. Using his understanding of law, and the need for justice, guilt, and redemption, he laid the basis for Christian systematic theology, as it would develop in the west.Tertullian was born shortly before 160 AD, into the home of a Roman centurion on duty in Carthage. He was trained in both Greek and Latin, and was very much at home in the class ics. He became a proficient Roman lawyer and taught public speaking and practiced law in Rome, where he was converted to Christianity. In the years that followed he became the outstanding apologist of the Western church and the first known author of Christian systematic theology. Basil the Great  was born in 329 AD, and after completing his education in Athens he went on to practice law and teach rhetoric. In 370 AD, Basil, the awyer, became Basil the Bishop when he was elected bishop of Caesarea. During his time as Bishop he wrote many books in defense of the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. Basil's training in law and rhetoric gave him the tools he needed to speak out in defense of the church. Next came  Augustine  who was born in 354 AD into the home of a Roman official in the North African town of Tagaste. He received his early education in the local school, where he learned Latin to the accompaniment of many beatings. He hated studying the Greek language so much th at he never learned to use it proficiently.He was sent to school in nearby Madaura and from there went to Carthage to study rhetoric, a technique used in Roman law for debate. He then taught legal rhetoric in his hometown and Carthage until he went to Milan in 384 AD. He was converted in 386 and became a priest in 391. He returned to Africa and became a prolific writer and bishop. No other Christian after Paul has had such a wide and deep impact on the Christian world through his writings as Augustine. Ambrose  was born around 340 AD, in Gaul. When his father, the prefect of Gaul, died, the family moved to Rome where Ambrose was educated for the legal profession.Later, he was appointed civil governor over a large territory, being headquartered in Milan. Upon the death of the bishop of Milan in 374, the people unanimously wanted him to take that position. Believing this to be the call of God, he gave up his high political position, distributed his money to the poor, and became a bi shop. In 374, Ambrose demonstrated his ability in the fields of church administration, preaching, and theology. But as always, his training in Roman law enforced his views of guilt and righteousness. Have you noticed the impact that law and lawyers had on the development of the early church?This trend did not stop with the early church. Reformation Theologians John Calvin  was born in 1505 in northeastern France where his father was a respected citizen. He studied Humanistic Studies at the University of Paris, and then law at the University of Orleans, and finally at the University of Bourges. Sometime between 1532 and 1533 he converted and adopted the ideas of the reformation. The writings of John Calvin, the lawyer and theologian, have had a tremendous impact on our society. Calvin was not alone. Arnauld Antoine the French  theologian (1612-1694), studied at Calvi and Lisieux, first law, then theology.He was made a priest and doctor in 1634. Arnauld spoke out against the Jesui ts and his writings added to the impact of the reformation. There are more examples of theologians who were also lawyers, such as  Martin Luther, but this list will suffice to point out that legal thought and expression had much to do with the development of the theology of the Early Church and the Reformation. Each of these church leaders continued to develop the relationship between Christianity, as it was known in the west, and the legal understanding of guilt, justice, and righteousness.These lawyers were concerned with establishing guilt, or innocence, and they brought this emphasis with them, into their theology. And so the western church that developed used this theology to build their civilizations. In the ensuing years, new nations in the New World would be founded on the theological basis developed by these church leaders. The United States of America was founded on these principles. The American founders attempted to establish a nation built on the Roman principle of a republic, and on the early church's understanding of right and wrong.Today, it is interesting to notice that there are many non-western sources who link guilt-based culture with Christianity. In October 1999, Isaiah Kalinowski, the Opinion Editor for the Jordan Times, wrote an article entitled â€Å"The Shame Culture that is Wabash. † In this article he pointed out: â€Å"†¦ guilt culture is due largely to Christianity. A shame culture is one in which individuals are kept from transgressing the social order by fear of public disgrace. On the other hand, in a guilt culture, one's own moral attitudes and fear of retribution in the distant future are what enforce the ethical behavior of a member of that society. From Kalinowski's perspective, guilt-based culture is linked to Christian theology. This is an unfortunate misrepresentation, as the Bible was written in a shame-based setting and speaks to all cultures and worldviews. On the other hand, Christians, must recognize the incredible impact that guilt-based culture has had on their history and understanding and interpretation of the Bible. The Eastern Scene Christianity in the east, however, developed differently. Eastern theologians did not use Roman law as a vehicle for interpreting the gospel.Rather, the eastern world was caught up in the shame-honor relationship that was prevalent in societies scattered from the Middle East to the Far East. Eastern Orthodox theology didn't deal directly with sin, guilt, and redemption. Chrysostom,  the early church theologian for the Eastern Church, was born about 345 AD into a wealthy aristocratic family in Antioch. He was a student of the sophist Libanius who had been a friend of the Emperor Julian. This man gave him a good training in the Greek classics and rhetoric that laid the foundation for his excellent speaking ability.After his baptism in 368, he became a monk in the eastern churches. Chrysostom rose to being an outstanding preacher, even winning t he acclaim of the emperor. Today we have a record of around 680 of Chrystostom's sermons and homilies and I am told that he never once preached on justification. In the end, he was banished because he spoke out so sharply against the views of the western theologians. In the same way,  Islam,  which rose to prominence around 600 AD, teaches that God remains over all, and that law is in his hands, not the hands of lawmakers.The Qur'an enforces the principle that God is overall with the story about Pharaoh and how he was shown Allah's â€Å"mightiest miracle, but he denied it and rebelled. ‘  The Pharaoh quickly went away and summoning all his men, made to them a proclamation. ‘I am your supreme Lord. ‘  The Qur'an then tells us that Allah â€Å"Smote him,† and goes on to warn, â€Å"Surely in this there is a lesson for the God fearing. † Therefore it would be unthinkable to a Muslim, that a lawmaker could make a law that is over all. This is wh y Islam presents both a religious and a cultural pattern for people to live by. God dictates both moral laws and civil laws.Western Historians Roman law and thinking has also impacted the way we westerner look at history. The danger comes, when we westerners take our Roman understanding of civilization and culture and apply it to those who do not have a Roman-based culture. We fruitlessly spend untold hours and incalculable amounts of energy explaining to what motivates people and shapes society, when in truth, we don't understand the real principles of the other culture. The answer to this dilemma is quite simple. We westerners must put our Roman, guilt-based understanding of culture and history aside, and strive to understand other worldviews and their thinking.Then we need to return to our history books and discover what is happening in a society that is not pre-occupied with right and wrong, or guilt and innocence. Fear-Based Cultures As we drew near to the jungle village, the s ound of drums could be heard. Drawing closer, we could see people dancing and withering on the ground. A man approached us and explained that they could not go further. The village was doing a sacred rite to improve the economy and bring more trade to the area. We were escorted away and not given a chance to introduce why we had come to their village.Later we heard that a human sacrifice had been offered to the spirits that day. In another situation we arrived in a village when a rain-making ceremony was about to begin. They were invited to watch. A black bull was led to the edge of the village where it faced the direction from where the rain would come. The animal's throat was cut and it fell over on its left side, to the delight of all. This indicated that the sacrifice was acceptable. The men then cut up the meat and cooked it. As the meat was cooking, an old man began to shout out a prayer to the spirits for rain. Soon everyone joined in.After the meat was eaten, the shouting tu rned into dancing. The villagers danced all afternoon until the rain came. It rained so heavily that everyone had to run for shelter. Did the rituals bring the rain? To the natives it was obvious and there was no way that we rational westerners convince them otherwise. As these two stories illustrate, there are many people in the world today whose lives revolve around their interaction with the spiritual world. They believe that gods and spirits exist in the universe and they must live in peace with these unseen powers, either by living quietly, or by appeasing these powers.Based on their worldview, these cultures and peoples view the universe as a place filled with gods, demons, spirits, ghosts, and ancestors. Man needs to live at peace with the powers around him, and often man lives in fear. This fear is based on a number of different things. First, man fears man. Tribal wars are endemic, with captives becoming slaves or, sometimes, a meal for cannibals. Whenever tribes encounter people from outside of their own group, they approached them with suspicion and fear. Secondly, these people fear the supernatural.All around them events are taking place that can only be explained by the supernatural. Much like the ancient civilizations, they have developed spiritual explanations for how things work in this world. If crops fail, then specific gods or demons are responsible. If sickness comes, then other gods or demons are responsible. If a tribe fails in battle, it is because of the activity of a god or demon. Sickness is often viewed as a god reaping revenge. Everything in life, even romance, is somehow attributed to the activities of gods or demons. The struggle that these people face is simply one of needing power.Using their voodoo, charms, and other methods, they seek to gain control over other people and over the controlling powers of the universe. The paradigm that these people live in is one of fear versus power. At the end of the 19th century, E. B. Tylor attempted to understand the difference in thinking between Europeans and other peoples living in Africa and South America. In his writings he coined the word ‘animism' from the Latin word  anima  for ‘soul. ‘ He saw the animistic worldview as interpreting everything from a spiritual philosophy rather than a materialistic philosophy.Many sociologists of Tylor's era saw mankind moving from an ancient worldview based on the supernatural to a modern worldview based on science and reality. Dave Burnett states in his book  Unearthly Powers,  that H. W. Turner later advocated the use of the term primal religion, meaning that â€Å"these religions both anteceded the great historic religions and continue to reveal many of the basic or primary features of religion. † Almost everywhere you find animists or primal religions you find people living under the influence of a fear-based culture.Burnett goes on to state, â€Å"Power can be understood in many ways: ph ysical, political, economic, social, and religious. The secular worldview tends to regard all power as originating from within the material world. †¦ In contrast, primal worldviews see such powers not only as being real within the empirical world but as having their primary origin outside the visible world. † In this way, those whose lives operate in the fear/power paradigm see themselves living in a physical world that co-exists and is influenced by unseen powers. These powers may be present in people or animals or even in inanimate objects like trees or hills.In some cultures, powers may be perceived in personal terms such as we would use for living beings. These powers are often regarded as having their own particular character, feeling, and ability to relate to others, and often, even have a will of their own. Like people, they may be angered, placated, or turned to in time of need. Power is an important concept in fear-based cultures. In the Pacific Islands it is oft en called ‘mana,' while the Iroquois of North America call it ‘orenda,' which particularly refers to the mystic power derived from a chant. The Eskimos have the notion of ‘sila,' a force watching and controlling everything.The Chinese have the concept of ‘fung shui,' or the powers within the earth and sea. In folk Islam the term ‘baraka'  (blessing or holiness) sometimes embraces many of these concepts. In most fear/power cultures, the main way of dealing with a power is to establish rules to protect the unwary from harm and procedures to appease those powers that are offended. These rules and procedures are generally referred to as taboo. Taboos come in the form of things like special people, forbidden or unclean foods, sacred objects, special acts or rituals, and special names.Appeasements are usually made in the form of sacrifice or dedication to the invisible powers. These powers can take various forms, such as: ghosts, demons, ancestors who live around people, spirits in trees and rocks, and totems (clans associated with certain animals or inanimate objects. ) In order to deal with these powers, rituals are established which people believe will affect the powers around them. Rituals are performed on certain calendar dates, and at certain times in someone's life (rites of passage), or in a time of crisis.In order to appease the powers of the universe, systems of appeasement are worked out. They vary from place to place. Some civilizations offer incense while some offer their children as sacrifices to gods. However it is done, a system of appeasement, based on fear is the norm for their worldview. Wherever this system of appeasement comes into being, religious persons come to the forefront to control these systems. In some cases they are known as priests. In other cases they are known as witch doctors, or shamans. Whatever their title, their role is the same. They are the ones who hold power.Often they are the only ones who u nderstand the needs of the gods or demons, and they are the ones through whom the demons or gods communicate. In every fear-based culture, the pattern is much the same. The witch doctor, priest, or shaman controls people through the use of fear. They are very effective in their roles, and as a result, whole cultures and people groups are held in their iron grip. Early Religion As archeologists and historians have dug through the sands of time, they have uncovered temples and signs of religious activity that reflect strong fear-based elements in early civilizations.Along with this, the structure of civilizations where rulers held absolute power reflects a fear-power base for their civilization. Kings, pharaohs, and rulers held supreme authority and wielded power through the fear that they instilled in the members of their civilization. This allowed civilizations like the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and others to conquer wide areas of their world. While we can deduce the fear-po wer aspect in these civilizations from ancient buildings and military records, it is much harder to detect the importance of shame and honor. Shame-Based Cultures Our taxi screeched to a halt.Lying in the middle of the street was a teen-age girl, dying. She had been shot in the head four times. Just then her brother walked across the street with two policemen and stated, â€Å"There she is. I killed her because she was in an immoral situation with a man. † Under the laws of the country, the young man was innocent. He had not committed murder but had preserved the honor of his family. In another case, a girl ran away from home. Later her family learned she had married someone from another religion. They were furious. The police imprisoned the girl so that she would be protected from her family.Elderly grandmothers taunted the brother and father. â€Å"How long do we need to keep our heads to the ground in shame? Won't you do something to cleanse the shame from our tribe so we can raise our heads and live in honor once again? † The family finally agreed to pay the police a $50,000. 00 guarantee that they would not hurt her and she was released into their custody. Within hours her father and brother shot her thirteen times. The entire family was pleased that honor had been restored. The guilt/innocence perspective in which westerners live dictates much of our thinking in the west.However, not everyone in the world operates within this paradigm. As I mentioned earlier, while living in the Middle East I noticed that when the lifeguard at a swimming pool blew his whistle, the westerners all stopped to see who was guilty, but the Arabs kept right on swimming. As I observed this and other phenomena, I began to realize that Arabs and Arab society were operating in another whole dimension. Guilt did not have the same power and influence as it did in the west. While they were aware of guilt, it didn't have the same strong connotations for them as it had for me.If a policeman pulled me over, I immediately felt guilty, thinking that perhaps I had done something wrong. But when my Arab friends were pulled over, they didn't display any sign of guilt. They talked boldly to the policeman, and even argued loudly with him over the issues at hand. It was only after many years of living in a Muslim culture that it started to dawn on me that the Arabs around me were not operating on a level of guilt versus innocence. Nor were they operating in a fear versus power paradigm. I had heard much about this from missionaries living in Africa but it didn't seem to apply to the Arabs of the Levant.Rather, I discovered that Arabs were living in a worldview where the predominant paradigm was shame versus honor. Once I clued in to this, I began to explore this concept and tried to verify it on all social levels. I was amazed to discover what I found. When I would visit my friends, I would try to act correctly and they would try to act honorably, not shamefu lly. I was busy trying to learn the rights and wrongs of their culture, but somehow my framework of right versus wrong didn't fit what was actually happening. The secret wasn't to act rightly or wrongly in their culture.It wasn't that there was a right way and a wrong way of doing things. The underlying principle was that there was an honorable and dishonorable way of doing things. Every part of the Muslim culture I lived in was based on honor and shame. When I visited my friends I could honor them in the way I acted. They could honor me, in the way they acted. Three cups of coffee bestowed honor on me. The first, called ‘salam' (peace) was followed by ‘sadaqa' (friendship), and the third cup of coffee was called ‘issayf' (the sword). The meaning was clear in their culture.When I arrived I was offered a cup of coffee that represented peace between us. As we drank and talked, the cup of friendship was offered. The last cup, the sword, illustrated their willingness t o protect me and stand by me. It didn't matter if I was right or wrong, they were bound by their honor to protect me. Everywhere I moved in the Middle Eastern culture there were things that pointed to honor or shame. What chair I chose to sit in, who entered the door first, the way I expressed myself in Arabic, the very way I walked and held myself, all communicated to others around me ‘my place' in the world.The cultures of the Middle East are filled with thousands of tiny nuances that communicate messages about shame and honor. Shame is a popular topic today in western society. Shame, however is closely identified with a lack of self-esteem. Shame often stems from some form of abuse where children fail to learn trust. This is quite different from the shame societies of the east where shame and fear of shame are used as controlling forces in people's lives. (As compared with right and wrong being used as a controlling factor. As western parents, we teach our children to act r ightly. If they don't, we teach them that feelings of guilt are the proper response. In a shame-based culture however, children are taught to act honorably, and if they don't, feelings of shame are the proper response. But it goes farther than just feelings. Shame and honor are positions in society, just as being right (and justified) is a position in our western culture. In the west, young people are free to act as spontaneously as they want, as long as they are within the framework of right and wrong.They can be loud, boisterous, and happy, as long as they don't break things, or abuse others. Our rule in the west is â€Å"As long as I don't hurt someone else or their property, I'm generally ok. † Young people in a Muslim setting are different. Wherever they go, they represent their families and tribes. Young people are not free to act as they want. They must always act honorably, so that the honor of their family and tribe is upheld. If they act shamefully, then the family or tribe will react against them. Shameful deeds are covered up. If they can't be covered up, they are revenged.It is the unwritten rule of the desert. The whole concept of shameful deeds can be traced back to the early Bedouin code of practice, which existed even before Islam arrived. This code, still much in existence today, affects not only the way individuals act, but also the actions of entire nations. As I have visited with people from other eastern countries, I have continued to explore the concept of honor and shame among these other countries. It has helped me understand and communicate with people from places such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, and Korea.In fact, I have discovered that the concept of shame and honor makes a great discussion topic. I have often asked people from shame-based cultures what are honorable or shameful acts or actions in their cultures. The discussion that follows is often highly stimulating, and usually reflects or cont rasts similar attitudes right across the shame- based countries of the world. In some cases however, there are distinct differences between cultures. As I mentioned earlier, if someone is badly shamed in an Arab culture and the shame cannot be hidden, then it is revenged, and the person responsible for the shaming is killed.In many eastern cultures, if a shame cannot be hidden, the way out is suicide. Even here, however, there are many similarities, as I have known of a number of students in Jordan committing suicide because of their poor school marks, just as happens in Japan. In order for shame-based cultures to work, shame and honor are usually attached to something greater than the individual. Honor is almost always placed on a group. This can be the immediate family, the extended tribe, or in some cases, as large as an entire nation; as was demonstrated in Japan just previous to World War Two.In most Middle Eastern cultures, honor is wrapped up with one's tribe. Everyone grows up within a tribal concept. If someone is from the Beni Hassan tribe, he thinks and acts, and dresses as a Beni Hassan. His actions reflect on the honor the Beni Hassan tribe. If he acts honorably, the Beni Hassan tribe is honored. If he acts shamefully, the whole tribe is shamed. If the act is vile enough, the Beni Hassan tribe will react, and execute the offender, even though he is a member of their own tribe, and perhaps even their immediate family.Thus the honor of the tribe is restored. Many years ago an Arab soldier's gun accidentally discharged and killed his friend and companion in the army. After serving seven years, he was released on condition that he leave Jordan. He lived for nearly twenty years in the United States, but decided to return one day to see his family. When it was learned that he had returned, several young people, some of whom had not been born at the time of the killing, surrounded the house where he was and riddled his body with bullets. Their honor was restored, and shame removed.If someone shames another tribe, tribal warfare could result, and often only the skilful intervention of a third party ends the strife. Arab lore is full of stories of how wise and skillful men have intervened in difficult situations. In fact, many national rulers gain their fame and reputation from their skills at ending tribal strife. In the Middle East two methods are recognized. First, a skillful ruler, through diplomatic efforts and displays of great wisdom, can end disputes. Solomon's dealings with the two mothers who claimed the same baby displayed the kind of wisdom that Arabs appreciate and desire in their rulers.The second kind of ruler crushes all of the tribes and by force makes them submit to himself. Peace may then rule, but once the controlling power is removed, old animosities return. This is well illustrated in the Balkans conflict where the domination of communism brought about a measure of peace. Once freedom returned however, old confl icts and animosities flared again. The storytellers who frequent the coffeehouses of the Middle East excel in telling stories of both kinds of rulers and heroes, especially heroes who can effectively deal with shame and restore honor.This is very different from the entertainment styles of the west, where the hero determines who is guilty, and punishes him, and right and goodness reign again. This is because in our worldview, we try to hang onto the concept that in the midst of a crooked and perverse world, right still reigns and has the upper hand. Those from a shame-based culture, on the other hand, cling to the idea of maintaining honor, in the midst of a shameful and alienated world. For many western people it is very hard if not impossible to try and comprehend a culture that is based on shame, not right versus wrong.In most western cultures, telling the truth is right and telling lies is wrong. In the Middle East, people don't think of lies as being ‘right' or ‘wron g. ‘ The question is, â€Å"Is what is being said, honorable? † If a lie protects the honor of a tribe or nation, then it is fine. If a lie is told for purely selfish reasons, then it is shameful. Thus, in the west we debate ethics, by trying to determine if things are right or wrong. In the east, they debate ethics, by trying to determine if things are honorable or not. Shame in Western Culture In the past, shame has played a role in western culture.One has only to read Tolstoy's  Anna Karenina, or any of Shakespeare's works to see the role that shame used to play. Shakespeare uses the word shame nine times as often as he does guilt. In time, however, our culture has changed and guilt has become much more important. Then, during the last twenty years, we have begun to move away from such a strong guilt-bases for our culture. Why is this? I suspect that the popularity of Freud's teachings is one reason. Sociologists generally credit Freudian psychology for the removal of guilt from western culture.Since his teachings have become popular in many universities, the concept of guilt has become unpopular and guilt has been assigned to others, such as our parents. Other factors, like the lack of responsibility within modern politics have influence young people today. Nixon and Watergate, and Clinton and Lewinsky have illustrated to people today that ‘right versus wrong' is not the only way to think. During the period of 1960 to 2000 western civilization has begun a slow but steady shift away from the ‘right versus wrong' paradigm. Today young people are very reluctant to label anything as right or wrong.Instead, things are assigned the label as â€Å"cool† or â€Å"not cool. † In the eyes of many high school students, being cool is equivalent to being honorable. Being not cool is the equivalent of shame. I believe that this slow shift in worldview is responsible for many of the differences between boosters, boomers, busters, and Generation X'rs. Shaming in History Early Roman culture started out in the fear/power paradigm. Events of nature and history were interpreted within this paradigm. The worship of a pantheon of gods carried on during their whole civilization until Christianity became the state religion.When the Romans adopted the Greek pattern of placing the law above the emperor, they began to interpret events in their society on the guilt/innocence paradigm. This soon came to the forefront of their civilization, and fear/power was pushed to the back. When the Romans conquered shame-based civilizations the people they conquered had a profound impact on their own culture. Shame was always present in Roman culture, but it slowly came more and more to the forefront and eventually into Mediterranean culture today. In republican Rome, criminals had the doors to their houses burned as a public sign that a criminal was living there.Those who had been wronged could legally follow the criminal around, ch anting and accusing him in public places. The concept of public shaming carried on into the Middle Ages, and even into Victorian England where criminals were put into stocks. These stocks were located in public places, so that the criminal would be known and shamed before all. Pillories were rife during the Victorian age, when those who were pilloried had to endure the shame of publicly having rotten vegetables thrown at them. Branding criminals was practiced in England until the eighteenth century.Brands were often placed on the hands or face, so that the criminals would be publicly shamed wherever they went. The major difference between east and west, however, is not the presence of the shame concept, but rather, the structure of society around either the group mentality or individualism. Eastern shame became much more powerful than western shaming activities, simply because in the east the shame rests on the person's group rather than the individual. Since many eastern society fu nctions in a group setting, the whole group suffers rather than just the individual.If the crime is bad enough, the group itself may oust or, for a severe offense, kill the offender. In 1999 at least twenty-five women were killed to maintain the honor of their families in the country of Jordan. Hundreds of others were killed in countries like Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and Iran. In many countries where shame-based culture is predominant, the names of criminals and those being ousted from their families for shameful activities are publicly printed in the newspapers. In western countries we tend to isolate criminals from their surroundings, and then determine if they are guilty.Criminals are then locked away out of sight, rather than publicly shamed in stocks in the public square. It's interesting to notice that in the Crow Indian culture in North America, mocking of some one else's inappropriate behavior effects shaming. This is sometimes called â€Å"buying-of-the-ways. † If you im itate someone else's inappropriate behavior, you are buying his ways. In some cases a person actually offers money to buy someone else's inappropriate behavior. This is the ultimate shame. In many shame-based cultures, rather than encourage others, people criticize and question others.This is seen as positive, as it keeps them from becoming too proud. In the same way, Arabs are often quick to criticize leaders, especially elected ones, if they perceive that they are too ambitious or proud. They are sometimes publicly questioned or shamed, and often they leave public life. Even new language students discover that their neighbors are quick to point out that someone else speaks better than they do, or they are asked why they speak so poorly after being there for â€Å"a whole four months! † The criticism is often meant to keep them from being proud of how well they have done.Arabs understand that the criticism may be a compliment, but the poor westerner is often crushed. Clash o f World Views As I mentioned earlier, there are three basic planes on which worldview, function. On each of these planes, there

Avocado History, Domestication, and Spread

Avocado (Persea americana) is one of the earliest fruits consumed in Mesoamerica and one of the first trees domesticated in the Neotropics. The word avocado derives from the language spoken by the Aztecs (Nahuatl)  who called the tree ahoacaquahuitl  and its fruit ahuacatl; the Spanish called it aguacate. The oldest evidence for avocado consumption dates back almost 10,000 years in Puebla state of central Mexico, at the site of Coxcatlan. There, and in other cave environments in the Tehuacan and Oaxaca valleys, archaeologists found that over time, avocado seeds grew larger. Based on that, the avocado is considered to have been domesticated in the region by between 4000-2800 BC. Avocado Biology The Persea genus has twelve species, most of which produce inedible fruits: P. americana is the best known of the edible species. In its natural habitat, P. americana grows to between 10-12 meters (33-40 feet) high, and it has lateral roots; smooth leathery, deep green leaves; and symmetrical yellow-green flowers. The fruits are variously shaped, from pear-shaped through oval to globular or elliptic-oblong. The peel color of the ripe fruit varies from green to dark purple to black. The wild progenitor of all three varieties was a polymorphic tree species that spanned a broad geographical area from the eastern and central highlands of Mexico through Guatemala to the Pacific coast of Central America. The avocado should really be considered as semi-domesticated: Mesoamericans didnt construct orchards but rather brought a few wild trees into residential garden plots and tended them there. Ancient Varieties Three varieties of avocado were created separately in three different locations in Central America. They were recognized and reported in surviving Mesoamerican codexes, with the most detail appearing in the Aztec Florentine Codex. Some scholars believe these varieties of avocados were all created in the 16th century: but the evidence is inconclusive at best. Mexican avocados (P. americana var. drymifolia, called the ​aoacatl in the Aztec language), originated in central Mexico and are adapted to the tropical highlands, with relatively good tolerance to cold and small fruits that are covered by a thin, purple-black skin.Guatemalan avocados, (P. americana var. guatemalensis, quilaoacatl) are from southern Mexico or Guatemala. They are similar in shape and size to the Mexican but have a more ovoid and lighter-colored seed. Guatemalan avocados are adapted to medium elevations in the tropics, are somewhat cold-tolerant, and have a thick, tough skin.West Indian avocados (P. americana var. americana, tlacacolaocatl), despite their name, are not from the West Indies at all, but rather were developed in the Maya lowlands of central America. They are the largest of the avocado varieties and are adapted to lowland humid tropics and tolerant of high levels of salt and chlorosis (plant nutrient deficiencies). The West Indian avocado fruit is r ound to pear shape, has a smooth easy-to-peel light green skin and abundant flesh with a slightly sweet taste. Modern Varieties There are about 30 main cultivars (and many others) of avocados in our modern markets, of which the best known include the Anaheim and Bacon (which are derived almost entirely from Guatemalan avocados); Fuerte (from Mexican avocados); and Hass and Zutano (which are hybrids of Mexican and Guatemalan). Hass has the highest volume of production and Mexico is the major producer of exported avocados, nearly 34% of the entire global market. The major importer is the United States. Modern health measures suggest that eaten fresh, avocados are a rich source of soluble B vitamins, and of about 20 other essential vitamins and minerals. The Florentine codex reported avocados are good for a variety of ailments including dandruff, scabies, and headaches. Cultural Significance The few surviving books (codices) of the Maya and Aztec cultures, as well as oral histories from their descendants, indicate that avocados held a spiritual significance in some Mesoamerican cultures. The fourteenth month in the classic Mayan calendar is represented by the avocado glyph, pronounced Kankin. Avocados are part of the name glyph of the classic Maya city of Pusilhà ¡ in Belize, known as the Kingdom of the Avocado. Avocado trees are illustrated on the Maya ruler Pacals sarcophagus at Palenque. According to Aztec myth, since avocados are shaped like testicles (the word ahuacatl also means testicle), they can transfer strength to its consumers. Ahuacatlan is an Aztec city whose name means place where the avocado abounds. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Plant Domestication, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Chen H, Morrell PL, Ashworth VETM, de la Cruz M, and Clegg MT. 2009. Tracing the Geographic Origins of Major Avocado Cultivars. Journal of Heredity 100(1):56-65. Galindo-Tovar, Marà ­a Elena. Some aspects of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) diversity and domestication in Mesoamerica. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, Volume 55, Issue 3, SpringerLink, May 2008. Galindo-Tovar ME, and Arzate-Fernà ¡ndez A. 2010. West Indian avocado: where did it originate? Phyton: Revista Internacional de Botà ¡nica Experimental 79:203-207. Galindo-Tovar ME, Arzate-Fernà ¡ndez AM, Ogata-Aguilar N, and Landero-Torres I. 2007. The Avocado (Persea Americana, Lauraceae) Crop in Mesoamerica: 10,000 Years of History. Harvard Papers in Botany 12(2):325-334. Landon AJ. 2009. Domestication and Significance of Persea americana, the Avocado, in Mesoamerica. Nebraska Anthropologist 24:62-79. Martinez Pacheco MM, Lopez Gomez R, Salgado Garciglia R, Raya Calderon M, and Martinez Muà ±oz RE. 2011. Folates and Persea americana Mill. (Avocado). Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture 23(3):204-213.

Altruism Versus Morality What Truly Matters When It Is

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Gender Roles A Self Fulling Prophecy Essay - 1424 Words

This cycle can negatively impact the author’s life and the reader’s life, whether they know it or not, because as they read or write harmfully gendered relationships, they subconsciously affirm the â€Å"truths† portrayed in the fiction and spread these beliefs to other readers. In other words, damaging gender roles appear right and natural, because they are so often depicted in the media as right and natural, with relationships healthy based on equality being rarely offered as the alternative. This makes heteronomrative gender roles a self-fulling prophecy—with people performing these stereotypes, because they are presented as the norm. If feminized male characters serve as the stand-in for the female reader, then fanfictions that depicts the â€Å"feminine† as mentally and physically less able than the â€Å"masculine† must contribute to this vicious cycle as well. In addition, the masculine gender role often exemplifies the type of behavio r considered â€Å"natural† for men. In American culture, part of this â€Å"natural† masculine gender role assumes that men will be complicit ,if not actively participating, in patriarchal culture and the poisonous values often associated with it. The traditional masculine model is made to seem so â€Å"right† that men portraying this gender role, and the women reading about this gender role, are made to believe that the domination and exploitation of women, and even other men, is not just expected, but demanded (Carter 2011). Within the Hannibal fandom, this typeShow MoreRelatedThe Theories Of Social Control946 Words   |  4 Pagesto utilized his phrase â€Å"promiscuity† toward the male gender. He even went to the stance by declaring that boy’s have the â€Å"real† strains of employment and income. Where as girls is only to marry well. From his thought he believed that he need any data to back his claim. Labeling: Labeling Theorists examine and are most concerned with the deviant labels and how they are applied. This is also where life course offender’s and self-fulling prophecy sub categories stem from. There are a lot of truthsRead MoreThe Importance Of The Privilege Walk Activity Essay977 Words   |  4 PagesThe purpose of the Privilege Walk Activity is to learn to recognize how power and privilege can affect our lives even when we are not aware it is happening. The statements in this activity addresses privileges that are based on gender, race, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation and divides participants similarly into different places privileges place individuals in society. Privilege tends to be invisible to those who are privileged and the boosts in position that accumulates over time for thoseRead MoreTeen Pregnancy And Teenage Pregnancy1560 Words   |  7 Pagescelebrated. The author frames this deviance is, a negative deviance where the individual is, â€Å" nonconforming, and judged negatively.† (citation) For Fox News, teen pregnancy is repugnant and the complete opposite to their entire moral structure of gender roles, more specifically abstinence till marr iage. Fox News fails to address the sexual double standards which are prevailing in teen parenting, the impact of the media’s assumptions of teen mothers and the actual reality of these hardships. ExampleRead MoreStereotypes Of Poor People Keep Them Poor2361 Words   |  10 Pagesglass self is how a person grows based on how society treats them. If we keep treating poor people as if they are second class citizens then they will see themselves as just that, second to the rest of society. Which is not okay. Most poor people are not poor because of their actions. Many poor people are born into poverty and when you are born into poverty it is very hard to get out of because you aren’t given the same resources which leaves you at an unfair advantage. The self fulling prophecy is

Clarissa and Mrs Dalloway in Virginia Woolf and comparison with the modernist ideas of T.S. Eliot Essay Example For Students

Clarissa and Mrs Dalloway in Virginia Woolf and comparison with the modernist ideas of T.S. Eliot Essay The nature of identity is a main theme in Mrs Dalloway. This novel explores the question of our ability to truly understand the â€Å"self†. Indeed, our surroundings, our physical environment and our human relationships actually impact the notion of self and personal identity. The characters in this novel only have a limited understanding of one another, each creating a personal identity through their reflections in the eyes of others. This idea is shown by Clarissa, as the reader witnesses throughout the novel her identity develop in parallel with her contact with the outside world. But it is clear that none of the characters know much about each other, because it becomes obvious that what each knows of another is a fragmented version. Indeed, Clarissa is seen by her husband Richard Dalloway as â€Å"Mrs Dalloway†, as a charming and delicate wife, whereas her servants help her to portray the image of the â€Å"gentle, generous-hearted† society wife, and while Peter sees her as the snob and perfect hostess. Accessorily, it is Peter who is the most aware of Clarissa’s multifaceted nature. Moreover, Clarissa plays several roles to many different people. Clarissa is defined getting ready for her party as â€Å"collecting the whole of her at one point (as she looked into the glass), seeing the delicate pink face of the woman who was that very night to give a party; of Clarissa Dalloway; of herself†. In this mirror, there are three progressive images reflecting in it: the woman, the hostess and the inner self. Woolf uses the party and its preparation to set out an evening towards the eventual assembly of Clarissa’s identity. The party is a way for all of Clarissa’s personality as pects to come together at once. In the same way, in the second sentence of the first part of The Waste Land, Eliot introduces a new element, a narrating personal consciousness. It suggests that there is and has been a speaker: the unspecified â€Å"us† who will receive greater specification in the next lines. We certainly want to identify the â€Å"us† that winter kept warm with the â€Å"us† that summer surprise. And if the pronouns suggest a stable identity for the speaker, much else has already become unstable: landscape turns into cityscape, the series of participles disappears and is replaced by verbs in conjunction (â€Å"And went†, â€Å"And drank†, â€Å"And talked†); the adjective-noun pattern is broken. So we can clearly notice a tension is settled between the presumed identity of the speaker and the instability of the speaker’s world. The main characters in Virginia Woolf’s novel find themselves isolated from each other, struggling to say what they truly mean: Richard Dalloway spends all day thinking about the way he’ll tell his wife he loves her, but in the evening appears to be unable to say it. In his poem, Eliot expresses a similar disconnect: â€Å"Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak./ What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?†. This inability to communicate translates a confusion of identity. The express oneself is to define oneself. The loss of words and the difficulties to communicate in Mrs Dalloway reflect a lack in the identity of the characters. Peter Walsh for example, has trouble putting his emotions into words and expressing clearly what he thinks about Clarissa, showing his confused sense of self and of his feelings; or although Richard states that â€Å"it is a thousand pities never to say what one feels†, he is after all unable to do so. In the second part of The Waste Land, we find as well characters suffering with communication: the relationship between the speaker and his companion is indeed tight because one cannot get into the other’s mind. When the soldier is replaced into a banal existence, apart from war, he suffers of an identity crisis. Moreover, this part also echoes Lucrezia and Septimus’ relationship in Virginia Woolf’s novel. .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .postImageUrl , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:hover , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:visited , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:active { border:0!important; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:active , .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435 .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u82c1b7e3bba49ee2def45492b8e97435:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson EssayIn addition, these identity lacks reveal Eliot’s and Woolf’s searching for identity as writers as they elaborated new sorts of narrative structure and averted the traditional ones to adjust their need as modern writers. Woolf uses internal monologues, switching between Clarissa’s and other character’s consciences, and sets the plot in one only and unique day of Mrs Dalloway’s life. This makes the story majorly composed of the characters’ thoughts and memories, with a fluid and long sense of time. Eliot as well sets multiple voices (most of these being anonymous, some in foreig n languages) and all united into one conscience expression the solitude and disillusion of humanity. The characters in both works are mainly ordinary people, but they affirm their individuality in minor ways: Mrs Dalloway throws a party, creating a little community for one evening, while two lovers exchange hyacinths in the first section of the The Waste Land.

System Analysis and Design Documentatio Essay Example

System Analysis and Design Documentatio Essay Introduction The computer is most likely one of the great technologies ever invented. Nowadays, people tend to see the future with computers in it. Presently computers have influenced the society and they do more than simply compute. Computers can now be on office tool and commonly used in businesses. More complex information can be collected and explored with the use of computer-based information system. Information technology nowadays, invaded the workplace and served modern corporations a proficient infrastructure. Due to futuristic ideas of people, they tend to use an information system to their businesses. Some even pay a high amount of money in order to obtain an information system. Though in reality futuristic ideas of people or company owners is only one of the few reasons why people choose to have an information system. There are many businesses that play a vital role in the society. And the researchers focus on Health care, specifically Dental Health care. According to Ardee Joy’s thesis regarding a patient information system that whether information is handwritten or entered electronically, the medical orders become a part of a patient is very important for dental records are mostly gathered when a person dies. We will write a custom essay sample on System Analysis and Design Documentatio specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on System Analysis and Design Documentatio specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on System Analysis and Design Documentatio specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Health care is the preservation of mental and physical health by preventing or treating illness through services offered by the health professionals. Whereas, dental health is preservation of the tooth and preventing or treating various problems of the tooth. According to Taylor of the book ‘qualitative research methods, the public requires a health facility which can also be applied to a dental facility four qualities of their health or dental care system, these are quality, affordability, security and access. A manual based system or a method of collecting and storing data or information using paper, can achieve only few of the four requirements. That’s why people or business owners or in the researcher’s case dental facility owners turn to information technology for support. According to Harrison (2006) of the book entitled â€Å"The role of clinical information systems in health care quality improvement†. It says that the quality of a computer based information system is higher than a manual based system for a manual based system consists of more problems rather than a computer based information system. That is why private sectors, health or dental care providers are moving away from traditional paper based medical or dental records to electronic versions. A dental clinic information system or dental office information system is a system made for owners of dental clinic. This system is only suitable for a dental clinic, dental clinic information system is different from a medical information system for medical covers the medical condition of a patient while dental clinic information system only covers the dental condition of a patient. A dental Information system consists of patient information system, where  the entire patient’s information and a few question regarding their health and dental history are collected and stored. This system excludes the amount of the treatment that has been offered though the treatment is recorded in Patient Information system. A Billing system is where the computation of the amount of each treatment offered to its patient and its total amount. Some even add the usage of credit or debit cards in billing system. A dental information also includes the reservation of appointments to the dentist assigned to the treatment the patient wanted. The researchers decided to make a dental information system in order to reduce or eliminate paper works. Institutional errors, human errors and time cost can be substantially reduced and coordination of each worker will be improved. Background of the Study Manual based system is very often in a newly opened establishment just like Sibulo-Gutierrez dental clinic which opened just last year, 2011. Though the company is passed through generation the Sibulo-Gutierrez just opened its facilities in 2011. The other owners have closed their facilities. A manual based system can be determined when a company or a business uses paper in collecting and storing confidential files. Presently the Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic is still running with the use of a manual based system. The manual processes are; writing the dental information of the patient on an index card; recording the patient information, medical and dental history on a piece of paper; placing the billing information on another separate piece of paper; and on a calendar the scheduled appointments of each dentist. Based on the researchers’ observation, the manual based system of the Sibulo-Gutierrez dental has several problems such as the security measures, efficiency, or time cost, money cost, and reliability. Security measures or control measures for the researchers have observed that even an unauthorized person can access the manual based system of Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic. Efficiency or time cost in a manual based system is noting down of information and this takes time. Money cost for buying bundles of papers would cost a big amount of money. The Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic has a computer inside their clinic that they use for entertainment as what has the researchers observed. If the Dental Clinic will have a computer based information system is money cost will lessen. Reliability is the quality of being dependable. A computer based information system is more reliable compare to a manual based system for in a computer based information system, files will not get easily lose unless the user didn’t save the information correctly. The researchers therefore conclude and decided to propose a Dental Clinic Information System for Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic. The researchers aim to make a system that will contain a patient information system, billing system and appointment reservation system. A patient information system is a system where all the information relating to the patient is recorded and stored. A billing system on the other hand, is a system where the amounts of each treatment are stored and computed. This will also contain the payments made by the patient. And an appointment reservation system contains the appointment made or requested by the patient. These three systems will be connected to each other in terms of the name of the patient and dentist, the treatment made to the patient, and the date. The researchers considered four things in order to say that the system is essential to the dental clinic. One, the quality of the system will help the company for it reduce time and energy in searching such information. Two, affordability for instead of buying tons of paper and index cards, the company only needs a personal computer. And the last two are security and access. Anyone in the company can use the system for it has instructions that can be easily understood by the users. The records and confidential files are also secured for the system has a log in system so that the user can only open and see the records. Scope and limitation The researchers aim to conduct a study of Dental Clinic Information System for Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic. In this chapter, a provision of information regarding the scope and limitation of the researchers’ system will be stated. This will help in knowing the capabilities of the said system and the system’s limitations. The study involves observation on how the manual based system of the company works. The outcome of the observation will help the researchers know what the system would look like. The researchers would like to emphasize more on Dental Clinic Information System wherein there are subsystems which are Patient Information System and Billing System. The patient information system revolves around the recording of the brief patient information, medical and dental history and also recording the patient’s dental check-up and the treatments to be done on the patient. The billing system on the other hand, covers the name of the patient, the treatment made, the dentist’s name who made the treatment the amount of each treatment, and the total amount of all the treatment. The study also covers the listing of appointments of patients to the dentist. The system is limited to the credit or debit cards. The company doesn’t accept credit or debit cards due to various requirements that aren’t met by the company. So with that, the researchers didn’t include credit and debit card processes to the system for it will not be necessary for the company is not necessary. Though the system doesn’t accepts debit or credit cards, they still accepts health cards namely; maxicare, healthwise, intellicare, Filipinodoctors, forturecare, omni, asianlife and philcare. The system does not also have a sign up application; though it has a log in system other user cannot create another account for it. The company only prescribes medicine but does not sells, so the system only contains the prescriptions. The user of the proposed system will be the secretary of the Dental Clinic. The patient will still answer the patient form using the paper, but afterwards the secretary will be the one who will encode the records to the database for the future use and for storing. Statement of the problem This study is intended to design and develop a dental information system for Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic. 1 . What are the problems encountered in the current system of the Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic in terms of the following: a. Recording; b. Billing; and c. Schedule Reservation. 2. What are the features or characteristics to be measured in terms of the following: a. security; b.data accuracy; and c. user-friendly 3. What are the recommendations that the dental clinic can obtain in terms of the following: a. Dentist; b. Patient; and c. Future Reader? Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature Local literature According to Lumbers (2002) a thesisist who made a study entitled, â€Å"a Systematic Enrolment Process Using Database System in Saint John Academy. Calamba, Laguna†. She stated that a database application will increase the efficiency of the enrolment process in the school. In the researchers study, efficiency is one of its aim for the dental clinic lacks efficiency in finding such records. With the use of a database, Information will be recorded properly in a database. And searching such information will be easily found with just one click. According to Lazaro’s(2004)study entitled â€Å"Liceo delos Banos record management system†, confidential records should kept in a database where only authorized person/s can be able to access. The researchers company, Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic, has many confidential files sush as information about the patients and dentists. A log in application where only authorized people know the password and username should be able to access the database. According to Velasco (2002), maintaining records manually is a very difficult task and very time consuming. In his study entitled â€Å"Maulawin National High School Student Information System†, he decided as a resolve to the manual based system of recording files he conducted a computerized system which will lessen or diminish the problem. The researcher’s problems are the same on Velasco’s, and the answer to those problems the researchers proposed a system that will diminish the company’s problem. Foreign Literature Computers are very flexible in terms of usability. Silverman and Turkey stated in their book â€Å"Computer Language†, that computers plays an important role in people’s daily work and leisure activities. Many circumstances a person can think that will need an involvement of a computer such as engineering, manufacturing, scientific and in the researcher’s case business and health care. Business and health care are two important activities for this study for the researchers will do this study for the business of the owners of the dental clinic. And health care for the establishment that will benefit the study is a healthcare institution. The researchers believed that the existence of the computer is a great turning point to people. It does not only concerns large companies but also to the small business who are really willing to put everything a systematic way of managing form a very simple paperwork for the monitoring of customers. According to Alcaira (1999), he stated that using computers will help the person to acquire a new knowledge for the person will not use papers in recording files but a system that is especially made for that company or business. Alcaira also said that handling information manually is conflicting. The researchers will make a system that will be easy to understand and use or access, the person who will use the system is guaranteed that he will not have a hard time figuring things out. The Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic as have said uses a paper Based System. This System will cost more time for the user always needs to rearrange information in a way where it will be easily collected when needed. The researchers considered a computer based system for Hammer (2003) stated that a computer or a computer based system could eliminate the need for copying or rearranging information. Hammer also stated that a computer can do computations in short according to Hammer computer can eliminate most of the paperwork. Output * All the data are stored in a database for future use. * SQL database * Dental Clinic Information System for Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic Input Patient Information -First Name, Middle Initial, Surname, Date, Citizenship, Age, Gender, Civil Status, Birth Date, Occupation, Mobile Number, Email Address, Fax Number Tel. Num, Regular Dental Appointment Reminder preference. Process The current processes in the Dental Clinic system includes Storing the patient’s information such as the dental history, medical history, and check-up result. Creation of a reservation of the dental appointment for the dentist. Computation of the total amount of the entire patient’s treatment. Conceptual Framework FEEDBACK Figure 1. 0 (Dental Clinic Information System for Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic) The figure above shows the input, process and output of the system. The input contains the information needed by the system. This information must be inputted in order for the system to process the recording of the information. All the information inputted will be stored in an SQL database for future use and storage. Definition of terms 1. Amalgam is an alloy of mercury with various metals used for dental fillings. 2. Caries-also known as tooth decay or a cavity, is an infection, bacterial in origin, that causes demineralization and destruction of the hard tissues (enamel, dentin and cementum), usually by production of acid by bacterial fermentation of the food debris accumulated on the tooth surface. 3. Composite filling- is a tooth colored plastic and glass mixture used to restored decayed teeth. Composites are used for cosmetic improvements of the smile by changing the color of the teeth or reshaping disfigured teeth 4. Dental Clinic Information System- a system specially made for a dental clinic. 5. Dentist- the person who provided terms and information for the researchers. 6. Extraction- is the removal of a tooth from the mouth. 7. Impacted- is a tooth that is all the way or partially below the gum line and is not able to erupt properly. 8. Paper Based System- it is a type of manual based system which uses paper in storing information. The Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic uses this kind of system. 9. Porcelain jacket crown- are full porcelain ceramic crowns cover that protects the entire surface of a tooth. 10. Secretary- the user of the system. Chapter 3 Conclusion 1. Based on the researchers study, system and observation various conclusions were sought. The researcher concluded that there are problems on the current system of the Sibulo-Gutierrez Dental Clinic. The researchers saw the problem in recording information, billing and reserving an appointment. The common problems in recording information are money cost for paper is an expensive material especially when an individual uses a large amount every day, time cost for writing consumes a lot time and lack of efficiency for writing as have said consume time. In the billing the common problem is money cost for the paper expenses. In the reservation, the problem is using a calendar which consumes space to the table and not enough space for the information to be written. 2.The researchers included features in the Dental Clinic Information System which corresponds to the three categories namely; security, accuracy and user –friendly. For the security, the researchers include a login application. With this feature the confidential records will be secured to the people who want to access the dental Clinic Information System. For the accuracy, the researchers designated formulas in order to automate the computations in the system. This feature will eliminate the use of calculators. The Dental Clinic Information System has instructions that can be easily understood by the user. This feature is considered user friendly by the researchers for the system with this instructions, won’t be a burden to the user. 3. The researchers can recommend the dental Clinic with our system to other dentists, patients of the said dental clinic and to the future reader of the researchers documentation. The Dentist of other dental clinic can adapt the system so that their encountered problems while they use the manual based system can be omitted. The patients can have less time in visiting the dental clinic. The future reader on the other hand can obtain more knowledge with the researchers documentation. Recommendation Based on the findings and conclusion, the researcher recommends the following: 1. A continues monitoring of system’s efficiency and reliability in meeting its objective shall be taken in place. 2. Possible restructuring or enhancement of the system is recommended, specially on the design interface, enhancement or normalization of the current database. 3. An evaluation is a recommended in order to test if the system did meet the expectations of the Dental Clinic.