Arthur C. Clarke: Advanced Tehcnology is indistinguishable from magic

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Clarke's Three Laws

The context of Arthur C. Clarke's third law can best be analysed in the context of his first and second and then to look at the impact of his words in a popular context.

To take a cynic's approach, maybe Arthur C. Clarke should have written his third law as follows; Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic to those unfamiliar with that technology, as Dewdney has said . Especially with his argument of there are many examples, throughout history, of "technologically advanced civilisations encountering more primitive ones airplanes and radios seemed like magic to those who first saw them."

In the book 'Profiles of the Future An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible' he states his three Laws and says he will stop at that because both Isaacs (Newton and Asimov) only created three. Then he goes on to actually producing another 60-odd. Though he continued to write laws, as we can see in the Appendix of The Odyssey File where he states Clarkes 6th Law Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software.

His first law is nothing compared to the second and then to the third so there is a definite sense of improvement in his rule-making.

I believe Clarke's first law first is a version of wry tongue-in-cheek When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Yet it touches on themes common to all the enthusiasm of youth; the hazards of learned experience; dogmatism and absolutism.

As Bianchi claims , Clarke specifies what is elderly with the following In physics, mathematics and astronautics it means over thirty; in other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory.

Such an analysis lacks the faith and optimism that seems inherent to the genre of science fiction. An interesting definition has been quoted by Karl Jahn

In the end, this thing called science fiction is just that the fiction of science. This is true in one obvious way, and another more subtle and farther-reaching. First, SF is the imaginative exploration of the possibilities opened up by science; and second, it is the literary expression of the scientific world-view.

This is a very pessimistic take on the future of self to make statements that will be unbelievable to all but our cronies, who will also be dismissed.

Then others would argue it is in favour of wisdom over misguided inexperience, or even that it is a healthy dose of the reality of human nature.

In 177, Isaac Asimov invented a corollary to this law as follows "When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervour and emotion -- the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right.

With his second law he begins to venture into the terrain we are accustomed with, where fantasy borders reality The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

This law is very much a motivational dictum and expresses concepts normally found in self-help and pop psychology sections, like 'seeing is believing'; 'the power of positive thinking' and 'feel the fear and do it anyway'.

But only with his third law do we touch on the aspect of magic.

In 17, in 'Tehcnology and the Future' Report on Planet Three, he stated that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Let me start with a collection of responses to this law, all of which appear very witty to their author.

Professor Stepney at the University of York has collected several in her travels and here are some of these

"Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature."

Rich Kulawiec

Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.

- Murphys reformulation of Clarkes law

Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a rigged

demonstration.

- programmers restatement of Murphys reformulation of Clarkes law

"Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."

Gregory Benford. Foundations Fear. 17

The first three of these look at analysing the law in terms of computer programming 'bug' being a characteristic of a programme that was not accounted for, 'feature' as a planned characteristic. This law says that if programming oversights result in positive enhancements then credit should be taken.

Benford's contribution is as cynical as the quote from Dewdney used above. The wry approach begs the question, why does a statement encapsulating faith and promise for the future of technology draw such negative responses? Is linking science to magic really such a dirty concept? Dewdney claimed that "the Third Law was partially biographical and partially psychological it embodied his boyish ability to marvel at machines and this marvel fuelled his science fiction." The hostility towards magic extends to a hostility towards another realm based on faith.

Science fiction, much like the discipline of science, has not always been hospitable towards religious faith. Jahn writes of there being only two serious science fiction writers who wrote with a religious purpose in mind CS Lewis and Olaf Stapleton . In the style of theological science fiction, Lewis "populated outer space with angels, and other planets with races that never fell from grace; but in the end he came back to Earth, and crossed the line into fantasy."

Jahn believes "Stapledon is more plausible, because he made no attempt to salvage anything of Christianity or the medieval world-view. His God is cold, aloof, and purely cosmological, creating cosmos after cosmos without pity or love for their mortal inhabitants."

But Jahn's alternative to resorting to a religious world view is to rely on humanism. "The recognition that religion was a human creation, which fulfilled the natural human need to believe in something, and which expressed natural human hopes and fears; and rejecting only the false beliefs, hopes and fears, not their natural ground"

Science fiction has always been a means of entertainment but ever increasingly it is a style of writing that is aims to address the concept of the future, expanding our knowledge and comprehension of science and technology and the exciting possibilities of their application in our evolving world.

Paul G. Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and soon to be curator of the Science Fiction Experience exhibit (due to open next year in Seattle) said Science fiction has always been a vehicle for entertainment, but more importantly its a genre that is forward-looking by nature, expanding people's views of science, technology and the future - and their exciting possibilities. Whether presented in literature, films, comic books or the visual arts, science fiction reflects and comments on humankind's hopes, dreams and fears. It considers the implications of imagined science and technology on humanity - and sometimes that imagination dovetails with reality."

In 15, John W. Campbell said that fiction is only dreams written out. Science fiction consists of the hopes and dreams and fears (for some dreams are nightmares) of a technically based society.

To take the example of computers, we find the 'thinking machine' as a central theme in many works of science fiction and utopian novels. They are banned in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale. It is considered a tool of human devolution in Dune. But there are also positive conceptions of the computer's ever-increasing impact on our lives. Ironic, considering there is no machine more insidiously part of everyday life already.

Book publishing, with all its inefficiencies and clumsiness miscalculating runs, stock overproduction and stock shortfalls, wastage and remainders is to be changed in a revolutionary manner with the invention of some great and wonderful tool. Maybe this will involve computer generated orders or books on portable computers.

Friday, in Robert A. Heinleins 141 novella, describes reading a paper book by turning the pages on the computer that is contained within a nitrogen environment. Does that not remind us of the latest invention of a flexible paper computer screen, announced to the world only this year?

But Isaac Asimov defended the book as a traditional format in a world of technology in a 18 speech . He asked the American Booksellers Association to imagine a device that can go anywhere, is totally portable. . . . Something that can be started and stopped at will [and] requires no electric energy to operate. This dream device is, of course, the book. It will never be surpassed because it represents the minimum technology with the maximum interaction you can have.

Sherry Turkle believes "as human beings become increasingly intertwined with the technology and with each other via the technology, old distinctions between what is specifically human and specifically technological become more complex… Our new technologically enmeshed relationships oblige us to ask to what extent we ourselves have become cyborgs, transgressive mixtures of biology, technology, and code. The traditional distance between people and machines has become harder to maintain".

Computer technology can benefit from the wisdom of science fiction. In discussing the potential benefits for the industry Patricia Zyska said "the ability to dream and ask questions without fear is characteristic not only of science fiction writers it's also important for participants in the digital economy".

The imagination gap is described by information technology analysts as a growing issue in the global information economy as business strategy fails to keep pace with technology. This is typical of a technologically deterministic environment rather than a user-centric domain. Rizzo credits Bob Crowley with the concept of the information gap and says most companies are either behind or ahead of technology .

Rapidly advancing technology is exerting a fundamental and forceful influence on our everyday experience within Western society. Scientific developments are approaching, and in some cases have even achieved the futuristic visions initially conceived and represented by elements of Science Fiction.

Science fiction is a way of examining future possibilities from the safety of the here and now. By imagining the impacts of technology on our society and elaborating on those ideas and letting them play out amongst their characters, science fiction writers are able to test the social scenarios of the future and indeed play a valuable role in letting us interact with our hopes and fears. There are many examples of literary imaginings becoming physical realities, life imitating art, yet these incidents are not needed to justify its worth as a social tool. Even if plot and device are not emulated in the pages of history, the juxtaposition of imagined scenarios on the reader's cerebral backdrop allows us to imagine 'what if' and gauge our reactions. The benefit of this is self-knowledge and the confidence that follows.

Reference List

Allen, P.G (00) 'Exhibits' Experience Science Fiction, http//www.sciencefictionexperience.com/templ1.asp?ctype= [7/10/0]

Bianchi, R (15) Arthur C. Clarke Bibliography, Laboratory of Integrated Systems, November 15 [/10/0] http//www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke/ACC.Bibliography.html

Bianchi, R (15) Arthur C. Clarke Laws, Laboratory of Integrated Systems, November 15 [/10/0] http//www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke/ACC.Laws.html

Dewdney, C (1) 'Advanced Thinking', Advanced Manufacturing June 1 [online /10/0] http//www.advancedmanufacturing.com/June/advanced.htm

Gunn, J (00) 'Libraries in Science Fiction' J Wayne and Elsie M Gunn Center for Science Fiction, http//www.ku.edu/~sfcenter/library.htm [7/10/0]

Jahn, K. (000) 'What is Science Fiction?' [online /10/0] http//karljahn.tripod.com/whatissf.htm

Martin, J (00) 'An Allen Key for Science Fiction?', SF/F News, June 00

Rizzo, T (001) 'The Imagination Gap', Internet World, 1/1/001 v7 i1 p8.

Stepney, S (1) 'Clarke's Laws' Factoids, [/10/0] http//www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/cyc/l/law.htm

Turkle, S (15) Life on the Screen 'Identity in the Age of the Internet', 15, p. 1

Zyska, P. (001) 'Expand technology imaginations' Computer Dealer News, 0 November 001. v17 i4 p1

Please note that this sample paper on Arthur C. Clarke: Advanced Tehcnology is indistinguishable from magic is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Arthur C. Clarke: Advanced Tehcnology is indistinguishable from magic, we are here to assist you. Your cheap custom college paper on Arthur C. Clarke: Advanced Tehcnology is indistinguishable from magic will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!

Basketball

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Kelley morrison 8/28/02

Basketball at Its Best

Five, four three, two, one and that was it, over before I knew it. I was in eighth grade and playing for varsity. I felt the need to perform, to score all the points, make good passes, and to basically prove that I could cut it. Our first game was against Shades Mountain, a team from Birmingham. Rumors of their play had spread and we knew we would have to work as a team, and never let up in order to win this game.

We were warming up before the game and everything seemed to go wrong. Bad passes, air balls, and messing up the drills seemed to make up most of our warm-up. It was not good for our morale in general. Everyone thought we were done for, and that we were obviously having an off night. The warm-up ended and we started toward the bench.

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The starting five was announced and took their places on the court. Before we knew it the jump ball was thrown up and to none of our surprise they got the tip and scored a lay up off of it. Within five minutes we were down fifteen-five, and everyone was just digging themselves deeper into a hole.

By the second quarter our game had picked up a little, but so had theirs. Half time came and all the cheerleaders trotted out onto the court waving their pom-poms and cheering on Shades Mountain as we trudged along into the locker room. We took our seats in expectation of your typical pep talk, or speech about how we aren't playing to our potential. The coach walked in, we raised our heads in dismay, and prepared for the worst.

Instead she simply said, " You all know what you are capable of and if you choose to throw that away because you are down a couple of points, then nothing I say to you will change that." We waited for her to continue, but she didn't. The last thing we saw was coach walking out the door with an indescribable look on her face. It was then and there we decided something had to be done.

With few minutes remaining in half time we took some shots and nothing seemed to be any different. It was as if no matter what we did or what attitude we had it just wouldn't help us this night. The whistle blew and so the third quarter commenced. We were a completely different team that quarter; everything had turned around. Our shots were falling and we had taken the lead. It was a hard fought battle from there on out, but in the end we pulled through. We won by a small margin, but all that mattered to us was that it was a victory. Afterwards we went out to eat, never really mentioning those first two quarters. There was an air of relief all around us, and one of satisfaction. Somewhere we knew, whether we were thinking it at that very moment or not that we could overcome our problems and emerge victorious at the end. This was no guarantee to a victory in every future game, just a promise that we would put forth on supreme effort from there on out.

Please note that this sample paper on basketball is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on basketball, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on basketball will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!

Children: Victims of Violence

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What is Child Abuse? By definition, child abuse is the deliberate and willful

injury of a child by a caretaker hitting, beating with an object, slamming

against a wall, even killing. It involves active, hostile, aggressive treatment.

The key word in the definition of child abuse is deliberate. Over three million children are abused or neglected (CPS). Why would anyone physically harm a child? The physical destruction of a child is the extreme reaction of parents to the stress of having children. Most people are not aware of the fact that deliberately hitting a child is considered a felony in all fifty states. Abuse of children is more common than most people realize. At least one out of five adult women and one out of every ten adult men report having been abused in childhood. Recognizing child abuse in its several forms is a twentieth century phenomenon. Child abuse is also more likely to be recognized in economically developed countries than in other parts of the world. Children have been beaten and abandoned for centuries, based primarily on the belief that children are the property of their parents. By educating yourself and your children about abuse, you can help prevent it from happening to your children and better cope with it if it does.

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There are four different forms of child abuse. They are physical abuse (child

beating and neglect), sexual abuse, incest, and exploitation (such as child

pornography).

Physical abuse occurs when a caretaker deliberately beats the

child. Some examples of physical abuses include burning with a cigarette,

striking a child, and scalding with hot water. According to social agencies,

beatings of children have been multiplying over the past twenty-five years or

so. The increasing number of reports could mean that in recent years, social

workers, health professionals, and other experts have become better able to

recognize cases of mistreatment. Some 60,000 cases of abuse are reported

annually. Many battered children must endure a second terrible problem - neglect. Neglect, which occurs when parents or others who are responsible for a child's welfare fail to provide for the child's basic needs in any number of ways. Physical neglect occurs when the caretaker fails to provide adequate food, clothing, or shelter.

Physical neglect also occurs when the person caring for a child refuses to seek health care or delays in doing so. Other examples are abandoning a child, either permanently or temporarily, and when a child is kicked out of home or refused to be let back in. There is also educational neglect when parents do not force their children to attend school. Early civilization regularly abandoned deformed or surplus children, and ritual sacrifice of the children to appease the gods took place in Egyptian, Carthaginian, Roman, Greek, and Aztec societies. Either they do not enroll the child in school at the age required by law, or they allow their children to be chronically truant from classes.

Another form of neglect is emotional neglect, which occurs when parents or guardians behave "in a way that deeply disturbs a young child." Some examples of emotional abuse occur when parents fight or beat each other in front of a child, when they give a child permission to use drugs or alcohol or when the parents themselves are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Then there is moral neglect, when parents let their children run loose in the streets at all hours so he or she risks getting in trouble with the law. Moral neglect also occurs when the parents allow or encourage the child to perform criminal acts. Of the various types of neglect, physical is said to be the most common. The DHHS study reports that some 571,600 American children suffer from physical neglect. Educational neglect is next at just over ,000 children.

Emotional neglect is third with ,000 victims.

Sexual abuse, which is also known as sexual molestation, is defined as the exploitation of a minor for the sexual gratification of an adult. Sexual abuse involves forcing, tricking, bribing, threatening or pressuring a child into sexual awareness or activity. Sexual abuse is an abuse of power over a child and a violation of a child's right of normal, healthy, trusting relationship. Sexual abuse occurs when an older child or more knowledgeable child or an adult uses a child for sexual pleasure. A child who is being sexually abused seems to withdraw from the problem and find a place way back in the far corners of their mind to hide. Confusion also plays a big part. A young child looks to a parent for love and protection, yet sadly it is most likely a parent who will sexually abuse the child. The child who is being victimized often doesnt understand why a loving relationship with a parent, older sibling, or a baby sitter requires such private behavior. The abuser will usually say to their victim dont tell, or others will think youre bad or may even threaten to kill their victim (RID). The abuse often begins gradually and increases over time. Its victims range in age from infants to young people well into their teens. Heather, sexually abused as a young girl, has this to say

I believe its by the Grace of God I learned how to cope as a child and not only survive but thrive as an adult.

If were to rid society of sexual abuse we must first change the heart, and only God has the power to do that; all we need to do is let Him. I think, no--I know, its time we ask ourselves Is it worth the price we pay for freedom, freedom from morality, that innocent children must suffer? It is time to wake up world and see the destruction of conventional morality that has ruined the lives of so many innocent children (Heather).

Sexual abuse has many different forms. One form is exhibitionism. This occurs when a person exposes his or herself to a child. Another form of sexual abuse is when an adult forces a child to perform a sexual act. The American Humane Association studied reports from child protection agencies across America in 14 and concluded that some 100,000 American children were abused that year. Sexual abuse is the least frequently reported type of child abuse. Sex offenders very cunningly weave the web of abuse and secrecy. The snare is cast ever so slowly under the guise of a loving relationship. By the time many children realize something is wrong, the violation has begun, and the stench of the self-deprecation feelings has already emerged into their terrified reality. The adult who presumes sex on a child is "deceiving" the child into trusting that it is a okay, "tricking" the child into trusting that it's a love relationship, and engaging in "illegal criminal" behavior. Children don't always know when they are being abused; they sometimes don't know what to call it. To add to their confusion, inconsistent parents we keep sending them more and more conflicting messages.

Another form of child abuse is incest. Incest can be described

as sexual acts between two people who are so closely related that the law

forbids them to marry. The Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program reported

that they handle about five hundred cases of incest a year. In a great majority

of incest cases, the victim is a female. Her assailant is usually a male adult,

uncle, cousin, or brother. Most often, however, he is the 5 child's fathers or

guardian. Some studies have shown that 40 percent of all women who use

drugs have incest in their past.

Another form of abuse is child pornography. Child pornography by definition is the sexual exploitation of children. The concern is greater than the distribution of offensive images. The real fear is that pedophiles that trade child pornography will, sooner or later, commit sexual crimes in their neighborhood. Child pornography is nothing new. It has been around for centuries. This form of child abuse first began in foreign countries. In the 170s, sales of child pornography boomed. Most of the children in child pornographies are runaways who find themselves broke. The acts of child pornography that are vicious and the damage to the children are tremendous. There is also great possibility that rose in sexual cruelty, they themselves will become sexually abusive parents. Thus, a terrible tradition has been started.

Who is a child abuser? Abused children are found in all types of homes - in the poorest neighborhoods, in middle class and wealthy neighborhoods in all parts of the country. No one can define one group of people to be child abusers. However, the "greatest numbers of cases of mistreatment are seen in families with annual incomes of about $15,000." The rate of mistreatment is five times higher than in higher income families. Reports have also shown that the rate of physical abuse and neglect is higher in families with four or more children. 6 By far the greatest number of beatings comes from parents who have trouble handling the problems in their lives. " About 80 percent of all abusive mothers were at one point and time abused children." For this reason, people can

expect most of today's abused children. Abuse survivors tell us that one of the problems that lingers into adult hood and that keeps the secret intact for years, is the child's feelings that they are somehow to blame and as a result, they are "dirty" or soiled." Sex offenders are smart. They know about the "pleasure quilt" and may even emphasize it to keep the sordid secret, "If you tell anyone about this, they will think you're bad." Abuse does not just mean that the child is likely to become an abusive parent. There is another great danger. Studies show that abused children have a habit of getting into trouble with the law. There are no statutes that clearly distinct between what is and what is not considered to be child abuse and neglect. Therefore, police and other public officials must take each case separately into consideration. All states have three sets of laws relating to child abuse and neglect. One law requires all physicians and other public officials to report to the local police any situation in which they suspect a child has been intentionally abused or neglected. The other two laws deal with the criminal code by which an accused child abuser is punished. Child abuse is

considered a felony, but by the time most families in trouble come in contact

with the law it is much too late to help. Some people believe it is better for

an abused child to be placed in foster care. Yet, foster care, in some cases,

may be more harmful to the child's health. Despite a department policy that

says children should not be put in homes with more than six children, sixteen

percent are. One fourth of all abused children in foster care return to their

parents. It has been estimated that some ten thousand children are severely

battered every year, fifty to seventy-five thousand are sexually abused, one

hundred thousand are emotionally neglected, and another one hundred

thousand are physically, morally, or educationally neglected. "It only takes a quick scan of the headlines to see that sex offenders come in a variety of shapes and sizes principals, teachers, coaches, doctors, lawyers, scout leaders, ministers, priests, neighbors, relatives the butcher, the banker, and the candlestick maker." Every child is vulnerable to abuse. Today's parents must face the possibility that someone may hurt or take advantage of their child. Research indicates that as many as one out of every four children will be the victim of some type of abuse. Very young children as well as older teenagers are victimized. Someone they know and trust will abuse almost all of these children. There are many organizations that were formed for the sole purpose of helping to

prevent child abuse, such as the Committee for the Prevention of Child

Abuse, Societies 8 for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and Big

Brothers/Big Sisters of America. There are also thousands of thoughtful and

concerned Americans working to halt the spread of child abuse. There are

many things people can do to help this cause, so one day there may be a

conclusion to a horrible problem that haunts many American children. One

way for someone to help children is to speak out. Silence enables the abuse

to continue. Silence protects the offenders and hurts children who are being

abused. Abuse is an extremely difficult and damaging experience.

Works Cited

Heather. The Survivors. /1/00. http//members.tripod.com/~Lady_K/survive1.html

Child Abuse Facts. Day of the Child. /1/00. http//www.dayofthechild.org/dc8/facts.htm

http//www.childabuse.org

Child Sexual Abuse. RID ALASKA. /1/00. http//www.alaska.net/~rosenbau

Adult-Child Sex Is It Abuse or Misuse? A Quick Fix to a Complex Problem. /1/00. http//www.prevent-abuse-now.com/misuse.html

Please note that this sample paper on Children: Victims of Violence is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Children: Victims of Violence, we are here to assist you. Your cheap college papers on Children: Victims of Violence will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!

Is divine omniscience compatible with human freewill?

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Is Divine Omniscience compatible with human freewill?

The two most basic parts of the definition of God is that he is all powerful and all knowing, or omnipotent and omniscient. This essay will focus on the classical definition of God's omniscience and the problems that this definition creates for human free-will theory. I will outline both definitions and the problems they mutually create for each other, some alternative views of God's omniscience and also alternative views of human free-will, I will then suggest solutions to the problems from both sides of the argument and then conclude if they are compatible

The most basic definition of divine omniscience is that God knows everything, and that everything he knows is a true fact, that god has a complete and ultimate knowledge of everything. This means that God's knowledge is based on the true reality of the universe. Many theists hold that the reason God knows everything in the universe is because he created it, while others say that God's creation or non-creation of the universe is moot as the very definition of God entails that he knows everything that is true.

Most theorists imply that God cannot know absolutely everything, his knowledge is constrained by logic. He cannot know for example that +=5 as this would be a logical impossibility. Logic is held to be a universally accessible and unilaterally applicable truth to all entities, and as such is a necessary limit on God's knowledge. This means that God cannot know something that is false, as his knowledge is only of the truth.

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Because God seems to have limits on his omniscience, a basically limitless concept, it begs the question as to what other limits he has and one of the most personally pertinent is what limits his omniscience has with respect to human freewill. In order to examine this relationship I must first examine human free-will theory.

The theory of origination holds that human beings are capable of creating new causal chains by utilising their free will to make choices. The traditional doctrine of free-will or libertarianism holds that these are genuine causal chains that have the same sort of effect as any other chain. This means that unlike random events or inanimate, soulless objects that are merely links in a determined chain, human beings are capable of making their own legitimate choices.

The problem that traditional free will creates for divine omniscience and vice versa is that one cannot exist as stated if the other is true. This is because part of the theistic definition of omniscience is that God knows the events of the future, and because God only knows truth that these events have truth-value. This means that God's knowledge of the future determines and fixes these events as true and hence that humans have no ability to change these events, as humanity is merely part of God's causal chain.

For example if God knows that I will not go to my philosophy of religion lecture tomorrow, and will instead go drinking, this is a true fact and I have no ability to change this pre-determined future, as this truth will have already existed in the past and I am unable to change the past. This means that regardless of how much I might want to attend my lecture or how studious I am, events will transpire that I will not attend it, and instead I will go drinking. If I have no choice, this means that I have no free will, I merely think I do; in reality I am a completely pre-determined link in a chain.

On the other hand free-will creates equal problems for omniscience in a similar manner, if humanity actually has free will, each being an originator of their own causal chains then God must necessarily have some kind of limit on what he knows with respect to the results of their actions. The concept of free will has an obvious emotive element for most of humanity; so in order to save it free-will theorists must examine what possible limits or problems that could exist on God's omniscience. The conundrum runs that there is also an emotive element to keeping an omniscient God, so we wish to keep that too.

Firstly we must examine what God could not logically know objectively, that of facts that are by their very nature subjective. It may be that in the act of creating subjective beings, God has actually imposed a limit on his own knowledge. There are two arguments that support this idea, the argument from spatial indexes and the argument from personal indexes.

These arguments both run that there are truths that require a personal corporeal experience to know. The spatial index argument runs that since God is timeless and incorporeal he would have no ability to know what a corporeal being meant by "here" as he doesn't have a limited body. The personal index argument refers to God's limited access to our subjective experience. For example there are some truths which need an "I" or some other self-indicatory pronoun to be known such as Descartes' Cogito. It's not logically possible that another being could really understand the implications of the "I" in "I think, therefore I am" as they are not the "I" in this particular cogito.

Two possible responses exist to this objection. The first runs that it could be it's possible that God knows everything it's logically possible for a single person to know. This would allow God to still be omniscient of objective things and most subjective things. The other objection runs that if we are all part of God's mind then he possibly have the ability to perceive our minds as we would be part of his mind.

Obviously a major question with regards to God's effect on human free will is the question of the nature of his timelessness. Is God able to see the future actions of humanity at all and thus fix and pre-determine them? Philosophers such as Boethius supported this very basic assumption of God's abilities. He thought that what we take to be past, present, and future are perceived by God simultaneously in an eternal present. Boethius tries to distinguish eternity from perpetuity. He sees souls as perpetual, that they never die, but they live in time. God, on the other hand, exists entirely outside of time. He also compares divine foreknowledge with human knowledge . Just as human knowledge of present events imposes no necessity on the occurrence of those events, he sees that so too does Gods knowledge of future events doesn't actually impose a necessity on their occurrence.

This basically means that if for example he knows every true fact regardless of time and situation in the universe because he knows all the laws of the universe including those of human motivation and psychology and his limitless intelligence means that he is always perfect in his calculations, then he would be able to know anything simply through thought. Basically, this is an attempt to reject the implied necessity of God's knowledge.

This would mean that he had a "soft" understanding of the universe. This means that his knowledge of the future was like humanity's in that even if it is correct and true we don't say that our knowledge caused or determined the event. These facts would only become "hard" facts when they had actually happened. This would mean that at the beginning of time, God could have thought out the entire span of reality perfectly and knowing his own perfect nature, would have been able to take knowledge from this thought, but this knowledge didn't determine what happened in the universe it merely reflected it.

By its very nature, omniscience is infallible; therefore it seems that one is not free to choose anything other than that which God knows. This was outlined to Augustine by his disciple Evodius. Answering, Augustine states that God knows the will of man, but does not actually cause that will to be so. He explains that,

...although God foreknows our wills to be, it does not thereby follow that we do not will a thing by our will. [A] culpable sill, if you are going to have one, will be none the less your own will because God foreknows that it is to be so.

Evodius seems happy enough to accept this explanation, and proclaims that he sees the error in his previous thinking. This means that humanity would still be choosing the options; only God would know them so completely that he could predict them totally. This would mean that according to Augustine humanity would still have free will and God would still be omniscient.

The first problem with this idea is outlined by Nelson Pike; the problem is that it doesn't really seem to get rid of the problem that God's knowledge has behaviourally determining effects. Because God would always be correct in his forecasting of our actions and for his forecasts to be wrong would hold a contradiction in the nature of God, we still have no choice but to do what God knows we will do.

There is a very basic problem with the concept of omniscience regarding the set of god's knowledge being incoherent. This means that God might know every single truth in the universe but he can not know that he knows everything. This is due to the fact if he knows everything, it is another fact that he knows everything, and he would need an infinite number of these extra facts to cover the inclusion of its predecessor. This would create a logically impossible situation where he both knows and does not know everything.

Another objection to God's foreknowledge is based upon the question of whether or not future events actually have truth value at all. This is based on the idea that only the past has truth value as it has already occurred, and hence that we cannot say that anything in the future is truth until it comes into the past. It is also possible that God has no knowledge of future events as he is as bound in linear time as humanity is. This means that as God is not outside time, he cannot foresee the future any more than we can.

St. Thomas Aquinas maintained the freedom of man's will in spite of divine omnipotence, holding that God's omnipotence meant he could do all things possible or consistent with his goodness and reason, which did not include the predetermination of human will. This possible account of his omniscience runs that God can know the future and hence determine it, but chooses not to. This would be consistent with the classic Christian account of our free will as a gift from God. It would not limit God's omniscience or our free will as god has effectively delegated some of his omniscience to us, but it also means that at any time if he wished to, God could determine our actions.

Overall I see the debate over whether we have free will or if God is omniscient to be quite baffling as many of the proponents of free will impose limits on God's omniscience while still claiming he is omniscient. Even separately from the need for free-will the idea of omniscience claims that God knows everything that is logically possible to know, yet this is already a kind of limit on something that's theoretically limitless. Even if this can is a justified limit, it sets a trend that if God can set a limit on the limitless, he's already broken a logical truth, that of the law of non-contradiction. This means that God has demonstrated his ability to break a logical law by not breaking a logical law, which is a logical impossibility. I find this kind of inconsistency to be proof that God isn't omniscient, but not proof that we have free will. It's possible that God isn't omniscient and also that we don't have free-will, as God might know and determine the future through his knowledge, but also that he doesn't know everything as he is constrained by the illogical. While it claimed that God cannot know the illogical because the illogical is not knowledge it, this problem with limits at least raises the question of what are the limits that we can know God has? There are many possibilities as the exact nature of these limits but overall I must conclude that the likelihood is that God's omniscience isn't compatible as one almost necessarily takes away from the other.

Bibliography

http//www.homestead.com/philofreligion/files/Augustboethius.html

http//www.auburn.edu/~clarkc6/other/freewill.html

http//www.tyler.net/triddorus/omniscience.html

www.xrefer.com

Augustine. Divine Foreknowledge and Human Free Will. in "Philosophy of Religion An Anthology", ed. Louis P. Pojman, nd ed. (Belmont, CA Wadsworth Publishing Co., 14)

Pike N., Gods Foreknowledge and Human Free Will Are Incompatible. Ibid

Swinburne R., "The Coherence of Theism-Revised Edition" (Oxford University Press ,1)

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Communism

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Question How did the fear of communism within the US lead to a wave of terror?

During the 10's and 0's the US people were tired of conflicting situations between their nation and other evolving countries. They wanted what Warren Harding called "normalcy", isolationism, and political conservation. Most Americans disagreed with change or to be influenced by foreign people; they simply wanted to stay close to their traditional ways of living. This speculation was quickly put on ease when Russia exchanged its former rule for communism. The idea of an economic as well as social system that gave power to one political party and the idea that property is owned by the state made the US turn their heads. Though it put chills down the backs of most American citizens, it sounded like a perfect resolution to others. Because of this 70,000 people from the general public in America agreed with communism. Many turned their view of losing most of their rights to the government fashioned an over- exaggerated sense of fear. People began to put their feelings before reality which caused great chaos within the mighty nation of the United States.

The American public became even more concerned when powerful men like Rockefeller sent business letters of concern to the government. Some put the communism scare to their advantage for publicity, like Mitchell Palmer. In his instance, Mitchell used the people's fears as a source of an ideal public campaign. He called communism the 'Red' scare and convinced the Federal Bureau of Investigations to send out agents to seek communist suspects and arrest them without a warrant or trial. People were blamed and accused for being communist even if they were not. It gave some anti-immigrant citizens the right to suspect anyone not like themselves. One example of a group that formed just that accusation was the Ku Klux Klan. Even major employers used the scare to their advantage against rebellious workers. If they went on strike the managers would simply turn the story of their motives around and claim that these unionized laborers were promoting communism. Two cases of this allegation were alleged in the Boston Police Strike and the Steel Mill Strike.

Later in the 140's and 50's the same 'Red' scare began to arise again during World War Two and the Cold War. When China deemed to announce their decision to become communist, the US again were turned with fear. The Soviet Union was still a communist country that upheld a totalitarianism stature and was led by the harsh and demanding Joseph Stalin. Even though Stalin was united in the 'Big Three' and fought against one of the United States great enemies, Germany, he still managed to turn the tides. Stalin proclaimed that the US and the Soviet Union were not compatible and had different economic goals and wished to claim and control countries with communism. Americans not only feared this spread of communism but quickly distrusted Stalin and his plans for the future. United States home front was petrified and their fear rapidly transformed into terror.

At home many new organizations were again formed to 'protect' the people. One example was the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HAUC). This group was sent to seek and arrest communists. One of the first places they looked was in Hollywood. All the actors and actresses claimed loyal except ten who were referred to as the Hollywood Ten. These men felt that they were being unfairly questioned and had the right to remain silent about their personal views. Hollywood executives soon after formed a 'black list' of supposed suspects. Real criminals in the US that were caught and punished included Alger Hiss, who spied for the soviets, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were convicted of selling A bomb secrets to the soviets.

One main man that used the communist scare to his advantage was Senator Joe McCarthy. He held a witch-hunt for these suspects. He claimed to have around 0 names of communists in his possession. The public went wild in terror and began to distrust everyone. Headlines, newspapers, radio stations, and the TV talked about his confessions and the people were filled with great anxiety for the outlook of their nation. It was not official that McCarthy was telling complete lies until he was put on the spot by a Senate investigation. His use of McCarthyism died when he could not claim any of the communist criminals and just as quickly, lost the popularity that he acquired. McCarthy was able to become powerful for that short time because citizens didn't have the courage to disagree with him in fear that they themselves might be accused of being a communist! People were so afraid for their life that they let people, like McCarthy, take over their fear and create a commotion of Americans emotions instead of reality.

Please note that this sample paper on communism is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on communism, we are here to assist you. Your cheap custom college paper on communism will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!