When Morality Should Not Be an Issue

When Morality Should Not Be an Issue Free Online Research Papers There is an interesting dialogue going on within the field of cultural anthropology that addresses whether or not anthropologists have a moral responsibility to defend human rights. This discussion is a result of anthropologists making philosophical claims about the nature of morality, an activity anthropologists should not be focusing on. The main purpose of cultural anthropology is to observe and analyze the differences in structures of society around the world and not to make value judgments because making value judgments while attempting to objectively record and observe cultural practices hinders the anthropologist’s ability to remain completely neutral to the subject matter. This neutrality is necessary so that other fields such as philosophy can appropriately evaluate the human condition and its role in the nature of reality. Anthropology is a holistic science that observes, analyzes, and compares the past, present, and future of the human experience. Within this definition, there are four subcategories of anthropology: biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology. Cultural anthropologists study the diversity of culture. They attempt to explain differences and similarities between cultures by developing theories for how societies operate. They attempt to find the underlying meaning behind the behaviors and norms of a given society (Robbins 12). A major problem found by most anthropologists is how an anthropology should approach and understand cultural differences. Europeans were exposed to â€Å"primitive† peoples during a period of discovery and exploration in the 1800’s. It was a lot like a close encounter of a third kind for these explorers because the masses were not aware of other beings living on Earth. Questions arose about the human species. Were humans everywhere essentially the same or was cultural and biological diversity so great that the unity of human kind did not exist? Are these â€Å"primitives† human? Do they have a soul or a religion? Anthropology was a field developed to help answer these questions by observing the different cultures. The relationship between the fieldworker and the native was asymmetrical, however. The natives did not have a choice or a voice against anthologists studying their culture because the anthropologists had more power both in numbers and in weaponry. Anthropologists could, without question, intrude into the lives of non-Europeans and put them under a microscope as if they were specimens. The judgments of these anthropologists were not value free because bias, especially then, was always present. Power was given to the researcher, and the researcher believed what he or she saw and recorded was â€Å"the God’s truth.† Ethnocentrism is the concept of believing that your own society’s norms are better than other’s because they are true. Your reality is the only reality. Anthropologists do not rely on their own culture to understand other cultures because to do so would contaminate their research. This power relationship discloses the true imperialistic nature of anthropology in the 1800’s. Intellectual movements such as the publication of Darwin’s theory of evolution in 1859 also caused elitist attitudes to dominate the majority’s mind. Darwin suggested that human instincts, including morality, only existed because these instincts at one point in human evolution allowed for humans to survive. The idea of survival of the fittest and progress through evolution heavily influenced people such as Thomas H. Huxley and Herbert Spencer to apply progressive evolution to entire societies, termed Social Darwinism. Social Darwinists believed that wealth and power in a society was a sign of a highly developed culture, and the more developed a culture was, the higher their moral superiority was (Boss 108-110). This outlook allowed for anthropologists and the nations they were working for to look down on any different, primitive culture and regard them as morally inferior. This, in turn, served as a justification for the colonization of these people. Anthropologists then used these â€Å"savage† cultures to illustrate human ancestry as if these â€Å"primitive† cultures were so far behind in development that they were a historical window in to the past of the dominate culture. As anthropology continued o develop at the turn of the twentieth century, new anthropologists such as Ruth Benedict and Franz Boaz began to speak out against viewing the native as â€Å"primitive.† In 1934, Ruth Benedict published â€Å"Patterns of Culture,† in which she debunked social Darwinism and puts in its place cultural relativism in order to prevent the imperialistic tendencies that resulted from Social Darwinism. She claimed that although cultures differ, the civilized society does not necessarily have a higher developed sense of morality. All cultures, Benedict asserted, have the same amount of history behind them and the dominate culture has no right to judge the morality of another culture as wrong (111). By dismissing altogether the notion of a universal moral code by which any community of people can use as a standard for judging the morality of another community, Benedict claimed what is right and wrong is dictated by the community and is relative to that community alone. Right is what the community approves of and morality is equivalent with custom alone as she mentioned in her article, â€Å"Anthropology and the Abnormal.† This is cultural relativism. At first glance, this theory seems very plausible and useful. When it gained popularity, the theory prevented the dominate society from justifying the exploitation of other, less powerful cultures and ethnocentric ideas of superiority. No longer could one society look at another and judge their actions because according to cultural relativism, morality is contingent on the context of the society. It also is very useful today. The observation that what I deem as right is only so because my society approves of it almost leads me to question my cultures norms and creates in me this need to explore other cultures way of life (Rachels 30). Despite these benefits, however, there are numerous problems with cultural relativism. First, imagine if cultural relativism were true. Initially, it seems like a good idea to not judge the moral practices of another culture, but what about the Nazi regime in Germany. If everyone adhered to cultural relativism, then no one could justify going to war against Germany to stop the elimination of the Jewish people. Slavery in America would be morally acceptable. With the ability to label certain activities of a culture morally wrong, we would be unable to criticize any culture for the obstruction of human rights. Also, it is very easy for you or I to imagine how our society could be better; we can think of things that might improve our society. Cultural relativism, however, states that this is impossible. If a society things slavery is right, then it is right without objection and to suggest otherwise would be to go against society’s moral code. This notion erases any concept of cultural progress. Most would say the abolishment of slavery was a form of progress for the United States of America, but according to cultural relativism, progress would never occur. Progress suggests the society improved, and to improve is to be better. â€Å"Better† is a value judgment and value judgments are not allowed in the realm of cultural relativism. Aside from this, cultural relativism is not logical. Benedict observed that differences were present in what cultures believed to be right and wrong. She then applied this observation to what is. So, there is no absolute morally right or wrong because people disagree about what that absolute would be? Simply because two different cultures disagree about what they believe to be right and wrong fails to prove that there is no transcending moral code. It is possible for one culture to be mistaken in their beliefs. Is it even acceptable to suggest that societies differ on what they think is morally right and wrong? There are numerous examples of universal values (Rachels 25). Perhaps cultures express these similar values differently though custom, but they are similar nonetheless. Take for example infanticide. Initially, this practice seems barbaric and one could assert that this custom shows that the Inuit have no love for their children. But what is the purpose of infanticide? Inuits lived in harsh conditions, and sometimes it was necessary to kill a child if that child’s survival would cause the instability of the community’s future. If the Inuit hated their children, there would be no community because there would be no children to populate the future generations. By reflecting on the purpose of a custom, we are able to recognize similarities between our values and those of another culture. For these reasons and perhaps others, some anthropologists today abandon cultural relativism. Because of cultural relativism’s inclination to ignore violations of human rights, some anthropologists even feel that it should be the anthropologist’s responsibility not only to observe cultures, but also to attempt to reform them. In her article, â€Å"Ethical Considerations in Anthropology and Archaeology, or Relativism and Justice for All,† anthropologist Merrilee H. Salmon attempts to motivate her colleagues to group together in effort to abolish female circumcision (Welch and Endicott 342). By making value judgments concerning morality, anthropologists take a step into the realm of philosophy and this is precisely what should be avoided. Personally, I do not think it is the anthropologist’s responsibility to defend human rights. Anthropologists observe the human condition and do not have â€Å"make this condition more pleasant† in their job description. Regardless of whether or not a custom may appear to violate human rights, it is not the anthropologists job to reform the culture or make value judgments. This is not to say that action should not be taken to defend human rights, however. The point is that anthropologists should remain neutral and objective when conducting their research. Leave it to the philosophers to determine or question the morality of a given action. There are several reasons why anthropologist should avoid this blending of philosophical thought into their fieldwork. If an anthropologist spends all of his or her time analyzing the wrongness of a custom, how much effort is not geared towards actually observing the culture in question? In addition, the main goal in anthropology is to be objective, to give a non-biased interpretation of other culture’s societal structure. The observations that come from anthropology are very useful if thorough and objective enough for allowing others to reflect on morality like human right activists and philosophers. By making value judgments, anthropologist take the risk of being ethnocentric and contaminating their research. It is true that philosophy and anthropology have some things in common, however. Philosophy studies and theorizes into the nature of reality by using rationality. To understand the nature of reality, it is important to recognize societal influences and ultimately to understand the function of these influences within one’s own society. This way, it becomes easy for the philosopher to question societal norms and place them in the context of this ultimate reality. Anthropologist and sociologists alike also participate in this realization. It is crucial, as Ruth Benedict pointed out, not to immediately regard one’s own culture as the only right and true reality. Ethnocentrism hinders the anthropologist because when the anthropologist (who is ethnocentric in this example) views another culture, he or she is seeing the other culture through his or her own culture’s lens, and this prevents the anthropologist from being able to interpret the structure of the given society. If only Ruth Benedict could have stopped her observations here. It is true that other cultures have different beliefs and customs. It is also true that every culture has an equal length of history behind it. These claims alone should suggest that no culture is necessary better than another because of civilization, and this was all that was necessary to ignite an opposition to Social Darwinism. Her additional claim, that there were no objective, universal moral truths was not needed. The introduction of making philosophical claims about humanity in relation to morality simply confused the anthropological world. Today, following Benedict’s lead, anthropologists think it is their duty to make philosophical claims, without philosophical training. In school, philosophers learn how to analyze arguments like the one Ruth Benedict introduced. They learn how to find error in lines of thought and learn how to avoid making these errors when creating their own arguments. Nowhere in anthropology is there a focus on this type of training. Anthropologists learn how to shed their own cultural biases in order to objectively observe other cultures, but this is the extent of their philosophical training. The purpose of this training is to prepare the anthropologist for making observations and analyzing these observations so that the anthropologist can understand the structure of a culture. The training is not intended to prepare anthropologists to make deductions concerning the reality of nature. Making philosophically oriented moral judgments will also lead to a lack of trust between the culture that is being studied and anthropology as a whole. Anthropologists have a trust with other cultures because the other cultures understand that anthropologists are there to simply observe, not indoctrinate. Once anthropologists attempt to reform the cultures they observe, the host culture will no longer allow the anthropologists to study them. The efforts of anthropologists such as Ruth Benedict to develop philosophical theories about morality are well intended but these efforts to saturate anthropology with philosophical discussion dilutes anthropology by creating a field that is not only lacking focus and direction, but also effectiveness. The observations made in anthropology are needed for the understanding of the human condition and will be put in jeopardy if anthropologists attempt to step outside of their field of study. Bibliography Barrett, Richard A. Culture and Conduct: An Excursion in Anthropology, Second Edition. Belmost, California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2004. Boss, Judith A. Ethics for life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. pgs 100-132 Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity. New York: MeGraw-Hill, 2002. Endicott, Kirk M., Welsch, Robert L. Taking Sides . Guilford, Connecticut: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2003. Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, Forth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. pgs 16-31 Robbins, Richard H. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach. Itasca, Illinois: F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 2001. Research Papers on When Morality Should Not Be an IssueGenetic EngineeringAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementResearch Process Part OneCapital PunishmentCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

All About the Habits and Traits of Carpenter Bees

All About the Habits and Traits of Carpenter Bees Carpenter bees dont exactly endear themselves to people. They excavate nests in wood decks, porches, and homes, and the males tend to  exhibit an unsettling aggressiveness. However, despite their bad behavior, carpenter bees are quite harmless and are actually excellent pollinators. Large carpenter bees (about 500 different species) belong to the genus Xylocopa. Interestingly, these insects inhabit every continent except Antarctica. Identifying Carpenter Bees Carpenter bees get their name from their woodworking skills. These solitary bees excavate nest tunnels in wood, especially in lumber that is bare and weathered. Over several years, the damage to wood can become quite extensive, as the bees expand old tunnels and excavate new ones. Carpenter bees often nest in decks, porches, and eaves, putting them in close proximity to people. Xylocopa bees look quite similar to bumblebees, so its easy to misidentify them. Look at the upper side of the bees abdomen to differentiate the two kinds of bees. While bumblebee abdomens are hairy, the top of a carpenter bees abdomen will be hairless, black, and shiny. Male carpenter bees will hover around nest entrances, chasing away intruders. They lack a sting, though, so just ignore their buzzing and aggressive flights around your head. Females do sting, but only if seriously provoked. Refrain from swatting at them, and you shouldnt have to worry about carpenter bees causing you harm. Carpenter Bee Classifications Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: HymenopteraFamily: ApidaeGenus: Xylocopa Diet and Life Cycle Like honey bees, carpenter bees feed on pollen and nectar. Female bees provision their larvae with food by placing a ball of pollen and regurgitated nectar in the brood cell. Its important to note that carpenter bees do not feed on wood at any time during their life cycle. Carpenter bees overwinter as adults, usually within vacant nest tunnels. As the weather warms in spring, the adults emerge and mate. Males die after mating, while females begin excavating new tunnels or expanding tunnels from previous years. She constructs brood cells for her offspring, provisions them with food, and then lays an egg in each chamber. Eggs hatch within a few days, and the young larvae feed on the cache left by the mother. Within a period of five to seven weeks, depending on environmental conditions, the bee pupates and reaches adulthood. The new adult generation emerges in late summer to feed on nectar before settling in for the winter. Special Adaptations and Defenses Though they are good pollinators of open-faced flowers, deeper flowers present a challenge for the large carpenter bees. To get to the sweet nectar, they will slit open the side of the flower, breaking into the nectary center and robbing the flower of its juices without providing any pollination services in exchange. Carpenter bees practice buzz pollination, an active method of collecting pollen grains. When it lands on a flower, the bee uses its thoracic muscles to produce sound waves that shake the pollen loose.

Forced Drug Testing of Defendants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Forced Drug Testing of Defendants - Essay Example The rationale argued Clinton for desiring the drug testing program was that "too often, the same criminal drug users cycle through the court, corrections, and probation systems still hooked on drugs and still committing crimes to support their habit." (Clinton, 1995) We should react, he argued, "at the earliest possible stage in a person's interaction with the criminal justice system-following arrest." (Clinton, 1995) At first blush this would seem to be a rather easy concept. It would seem that drug testing would be a harmless way to combat what all lawmakers would agree is wretched drug problem in the United States. However, there are issues that apply to the constitutional rights of any person. Why does a person who is only alleged to have committed a crime have to be forced into testing Does that person loose their privacy rights which are secured by the Fourth Amendment simply because they were arrested My opinion is that while pre-trial drug testing may secure the appearance of a defendant it does not mean that the defendant is not going to be prone to committing further crimes. It only means that the defendant will avoid going to jail. ... Pursuant to that program persons that were convicted of drug crimes were given a choice. They could either agree to enter impatient drug treatment which was supplemented by outpatient drug treatment, or be sentenced. Ultimately, it was demonstrated that those who had received the benefits of treatment were less likely to commit the same type of crimes. (William H. McGlothin et.al, 1977) Notably, these were programs and suggestions that were offered in lieu of being in jail rather than being used to secure appearances. The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." B. C. v Plumas Unified School District (9th Cir. 9/20/99). One might argue that because a person is in police coustdy, that they have already lost that guarantee of security. However, where is the line drawn For example, if I am arrested for shoplifting, should a court be allowed to mandate that I submit to drug testing Of course, I don't have the right to claim privacy as to the shoplifting charge, but why should I be searched for drugs Does drug testing not constitute a search The notion that it holds any pretrial value is completely illusory. Suppose next that I have passed all drug testing. What would be the next threat Perhaps bail should be foregone because I have no drugs in my system. I am by no means advocating the use of drugs. Rather, I am advocating for my privacy and the right as it

Music in Shakespeare's plays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Music in Shakespeare's plays - Essay Example The songs of the period reflect the manners and tastes of all stations of its society and the range of emotions of its people. (Randy L. Neighbarger 1992). The London theatre throughout the preceding years of the preeminence of Elizabeth was an exhilarating place. In a city of some hundred thousand people, where approximately fifteen to twenty thousand people attend the theatre every week, even if plays were performed throughout noontime, everybody had to work. In that Era, music was new and Shakespeare was quick to make out the capability of music to acclimatize to the stage. Though Shakespeare did use several new masterpieces, numerous of the songs used in his dramatic works were formerly written songs, sometimes even popular music, adapted to fit the work. Shakespeare's frequent tributes to the power of music, his apt use of musical terms and his many allusions to musical instruments, are, of course, well known. There were many good composers and theoretical writers hard at work during Shakespeare's time, and it is certain he had knowledge of these men and their works and made good use of it. Of course, in those days music was an important branch of education, as important as Latin or Fencing. (Randy L. Neighbarger 1992) Diamond defines, there were two major kinds of music, art and vocal that used in the drama of Shakespeare. The art song was a convoyed solo song, typically only one stanza in length, through lyrics of greater complication than that of the admired ballad. These songs could be recently composed, or tailored for the framework of the play. (Diamond, Harold, 1991, pg 65). Further Shakespeare exploited in his plays was vocal music usually ballads. This music was usually more than three stanzas of three to four stresses on every line. These songs would have been employed simply in part and then cut off by the end of the piece. There was a dual motive for this: partly as the extent of the majority of the popular ballads of the day was merely too great to be used with easiness, and also as the lyric of the portion all together might not be corresponding to the stratagem of the play, as a stanza or two might fit it adequately. One new type of the popular music was the instrumental music. Though there is little left of the precise instrumental melodies used on Shakespeare's stage, what still exists is in the similar style as the well-liked instrumental music of the time. The miscellany of the range suggests that instruments were kept back to short as well as simple pieces, such as dances or marches. According to Neighbarger, Music played two basic functions on the Elizabethan stage. It provided a realistic touch of pageantry and excitement in those scenes where music would normally be found in real-life situations, such as secular and religious ceremonies, battles, and banquets. Music also played a commentarial role, communicating to the audience some aspect of the

How can Ebola affect us Essay Example for Free

How can Ebola affect us Essay Imagine being isolated from your own family and feeling unsure as to whether or not you will ever see them again. They do not want to come anywhere near you, for you are a threat to their health. The only visitors who come within 10 feet of you are strangers in full on protective gear. They do not want to expose the slightest bit of skin to you and you cannot see anything besides their eyes. The world fears what you are and no one wants to come close to you. You know death is near, and you are all alone. You can see the mountain of corpses outside the wiry mesh window of your facility, being burnt and thrown into mass graves, and you know that you will soon be joining them. This is the life of an Ebola victim.. In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 280 out of the 318 people who got infected. That’s an 88% fatality rate. Fear gripped the victims, and tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 till today, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations. There have been many others out breaks in the past but 2014/15’s outbreak has claimed more lives than all of these other outbreaks together, with a staggering 8386 death and counting. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone calming 3,049 lives and Liberia causing 3,515 deaths and to to Nigeria causing 8 deaths. It is believed that the Ebola  virus may have initially been transmitted to humans from bats, and other forms of bush meat like monkeys ect.. fro m the jungles in central Africa, i know it must sount crazy to you to hear that some people eat monkeys but In some remote areas of Africa it is part of their culture and their way of life. In Africas Congo Basin, people eat an estimated five million tonnes of bush meat per year. The reason that bush meat is so deadly is because some animals mostly bats, can be a host to specific diseases without being harmed, were as us humans cannot carry these diseases without becoming infected. When a person contracts Ebola they will start to feel the symptoms within the next 2-21 days. The symptoms of Ebola are very distinctive and deadly. If you were to contract Ebola, your experience would be horrific you would start to get bad stomach pains, but it would just be passed off as a common bug. after that they would then start to amplify in pain until they would wake you up from your sleep, which would be followed by chronic vomiting. Anything you ate would come back up. These symptoms would continue for a few days then you would start to lose weight at an extreme rate. Chest pains would now accompany the stomach aches, by this time you would be very weak with virtually no food in your body due to the vomiting and your teeth would start to fall out while you would develop a bloody rash and you would die days later after horrific suffering. But those are just the side effects of what’s really happening in your body. Ebola attacks every organ and all of the tissue in the human body except the bones. You develop blood clots under the skin. Your organs turn to mush and the under layers of your skin die and liquefy; this is what causes the bloody bubbly rash. These things actually happen to Ebola patients every day. Ebola is a very contagious disease; this is why Ebola victims have to be kept contained in hospitals and treatment facilities. When it comes to transmission doctors take cleaning themselves after being in contact with an infected person very seriously. Ebola is transmitted through the passing of boldly fluids, which means if you get fluids from an infected person’s body onto your skin, you should be okay; but we as humans are constantly rubbing our eyes and eating with our hands so this means that we are still giving the Ebola parasite a chance to enter our body. At the moment there is no cure or vaccination for Ebola. Experiments however are taking place to find  a vaccination using antibodies of Ebola survivors. This is possible because like any other disease like small pocks and the chicken pox, one you have survived Ebola u become immune to it. Scientists are trying to figure out how to copy this into a vaccination. Most people in the uk think that they are completely safe from the disease, and at the moment yes they are. It is extremely unlikely that Ebola at the moment could reach the uk and spread like wildfire. However, every person in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia ect that gets infected with Ebola provides it with an opportunity to grow and mutate, if not stopped it will eventually maybe in the next year, maybe in the next 10 years become air born. This means that even breathing near an Ebola patient will give u the disease. Once air born it will travel the world and could patiently kill a large percentage of the earth’s population. Including you. I hope now you can see why Ebola need stop be stopped. Thanks for listening

Poes Fall of The House of Usher Essays: Suspense :: Fall House Usher Essays

The Fall of the house of Usher  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Suspense In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allen Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him. Poe tries to evoke suspence in the reader's mind by using several diffenent scenes. These elements include setting, characters, plot, and theme.   Poe uses setting primarily in this work to create atmosphere. The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder, strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. The use of character provides action and suspense in the story through the characters' dialogue and actions. Roderick, who is hypochondriac, is very depressed. He has a fearful apperance and his senses are acute. This adds curiosity and anxiety. The narrator was fairly normal until he began to imagine things and become afraid himself. Because of this, the audience gets a sense that evil is lurking. Madeline is in a cataleptic state. She appears to be very weak and pail. Finally, when she dies, she is buried in a vault inside of the mansion. In this story, the plot consists of rising events, conflict, climax, and resolution. The rising events include the parts in the story when the narrator first arrives at the house, meets Roderick, and hears about Roderick's and Madeline's problems. Madeline's death and burial are part of the conflict. At this point, Roderick and the narrator begin to hear sounds throughout the house. The sounds are an omen that an evil action is about to occur. The climax is reached when Madeline comes back from the dead and she and her twin brother both die. Finally, the resolution comes when the narrator escapes from the house and turns around to watch it fall to the ground. The theme that Edgar Allen Poe is trying to convey is do not let fear take over your life because it could eventually destory you.

How to Solve a Problem Essay

After reading up on the â€Å"Art of Thinking† e-book, chapter 5 explains the 4 stages of the critical thinking process. The first stage of critical thinking is to search for challenges. It explains that not all challenges are obvious and on how you should make it a habit to look out for challenges that comes your way. The second stage of critical thinking is expressing the problem or issue. The e-book explains in more detail the difference between a problem and an issue. The third stage of critical thinking is to investigate the problem or issue. Last but not least, the fourth stage of critical thinking is producing ideas. I think that this is also the critical stage of what makes a critical thinker. When I was in the Navy during my first year, I noticed that it was very difficult to advance in the occupational specialty that I was in compared to the other military occupation. One of the things that I’ve noticed was that the reason why the advancement was difficult was because there were too many people who were in the field rating. The air department field rating was a difficult and dangerous job to be in; especially if you didn’t know what you were doing. There was long 18 hour work days that I had to do whenever there were out to sea deployments to the Persian Gulf. I also had to worry about equipment malfunction and the risk of falling over board from the flight deck. I was very dissatisfied with working with the air department division, so I decided to take the exam for a different rate when I was up for advancement. I was curious to find out what other military occupations were out there for me with less danger on the field and better advancement opportunity. Fortunately for me, the advancement exam that I took was 100% advancement and 18 hours less than what I had to work compared to the air department. Based from my reading of chapter 7, the problem for me was working long hours in a hazardous environment. I asked myself, how can I get out of a hazardous work environment such as working on the flight deck? How can I advance myself to a rate that has less competition? There were also some issues for me that I had to address. One of the questions I had to ask myself regarding the issue was if I should notify my supervisor that I plan on taking the advancement exam for another rate? Is he going to single me out and make me work harder in the division? In order to resolve my problem, I decided to take the advancement exam that focused on operating the radar systems and it was 100% advancement. The working hours were 6 hours on and 18 hours off rotations at the work center. The work environment was also less hazardous and more relaxed compared to the air department. For my issues to get resolved, I decided not to tell any of my supervisors that I plan to leave the division by taking the exam for another rate. I figured that if I don’t tell them what I plan to doing, then they will not single me out or make me work harder compared to the other people in the division. I believe that it was the best decision that I made during my time in the military. Before I decided to take the advancement exam, I noticed that one of my co-workers had also taken the same exam before me. According to chapter 8 of the â€Å"Art of Thinking,† I investigated the problems and issues that relate to working with the operations department compared to working in the air department. I took an eyewitness testimony from my former co-worker who used to work for the air department division, but later switch to the operations department division after taking the advancement exam. He provided the information to me regarding the pros and cons of working with the operations department. The con part of working with operations was that you were working around a lot of high ranking officers and always had to practice for certain drills, but the pro side to it was good advancement and less work hours compared to working with the air department. In conclusion, I think that one of the best ways for me to solve this problem was to avoid going into the air department in the first place. I should have weighed out my options in regards to finding out what other good department divisions that I could benefit from by working with them for the 4 years that I was with the Navy. I noticed that some fields such as working as an electrician has its benefits. I could have been able to transfer all of my work experience into the civilian side and done a similar job like that with more salary pay. I also now understood that the person who recruited me into the Navy had a quote to me in order for him to keep his job as a recruiter, but I should have done a better job in regards to thinking things out more critically in regards to how I was going to benefit from joining the Navy besides getting the educational benefits after successfully completing my contract of serving my country.