Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Analysis

Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Analysis Science is a Good Servant but a Bad Master Science has now known sin. The life of man was very different from what it was a hundred years back. Today, we are all living in a world of modern Science that revolutionized our present day society. We can see how it eventually changed our lives by making everything easier and faster. Science has helped man to lead a better life than ever before through communication, health, security, transportation and entertainment but on the other hand, Science is not just for our own good. It has created deadly and destructive weapons which is mostly used for war. Guns, rifles and grenades are some of those weapons that made man more violent, but the atomic bomb which can potentially wipe out the whole world had caused a lot of suffering and death of innocent people. The quotation above is from the novel Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut that talks about the failure of Science as it was used to create the most destructive weapon on Earth, killing all life forms on Earth. In relation to that, the title itself of the novel is a childrens game that loops strings to create figures and the way it was used in the novel is to explore on how humans shape the world through Science and their own stupidity of misusing it that has led to their own destruction. The novels recurring themes like technological advancements and destruction of humanity illustrates a cross connection and relevance to the real world. It warns that if technological advancement continues without a concurrent growth in ethical awareness, annihilation of the human race is a real possibility. Based from the book Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut by Susan Farrell, it criticizes the same idea that Science has already known sin through its technological advancements, since the society had completely cut off from human considerations and I admit that what the author said is true because it is historically proven that the combination of Science with human stupidity will lead to a lot of complications and cause a lot of ecological destructions which put our lives in a great danger. It becomes clear to me that most people are becoming blind to moral basis because they put too much faith in Science and they think that they can understand and control everything through it. How the world works is still not enough to satisfy most human beings, in which greed could be the main source of our own destruction. Science has been a part of everyones lives that provided structure and stability. But some people may consider Science beyond sin, since it only seeks knowledge. As Science continues to be created in a moral vacuum and be used without appropriate consideration of the human consequences, all life on Earth would be in trouble and if it continues to seek in the wrong place and show no signs of correcting itself, it will only lead to the destruction of humanity because knowledge does not always mean progress and that progress is not always beneficial for everything has consequences. Most apocalyptic science fiction novels act as a warning with regards of too much abuse of Science and its technologies. It mostly explores the possible consequences that human may encounter in the future if scientific discovery and research continues in a wrong way. Global events such as the World War II had greatly contributed to the popularity and growth of this form of literature when the possibility of widespread destruction and human extinction caused by nuclear weapons became a large public issue and a dominant threat. While some novels just serve as a mirror to our real world and provide caution about the dangers of nuclear wars, novels like Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut represents a realistic structure of the world we live in. It was created with a personal tone which speaks about the authors personal experiences in World War II. It symbolizes on mans ability to destroy life on Earth with its creation of the real atomic bomb which was used to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki dur ing the war in August 1945. The novel is an allegory that described on how the world was once destroyed by man through Science by means of nuclear bomb and it is also an authors warning in which this kind of disaster could possibly happen again and result in a terrible future for us. As stated by Fumika Nagano in her criticism from the book Blooms Modern Critical Views: Kurt Vonnegut, Cats Cradle is a novel that talks about the political abuse of Science through its technologies that created an atomic bomb, a weapon for mass destruction specifically in World War II. According to the book, it was reported that it killed a lot of innocent people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan and people also died from radiation poisoning but some who survived developed some genetic diseases in which they passed on to the next generation such as leukemia. Kurt Vonnegut stated in that book that he completely lost his faith in Science when we dropped scientific truth on Hiroshima. I know for myself that weve been still living in a world with these unending wars but the only way for us to survive is to think independently and reflect on ourselves. We should try to avoid being stupid unthinking sheep that simply do what everyone is doing and accepts whatever the society accepts. We ne ed to set ourselves apart from the rest of the ignorant society. Felix Hoenikker is not a common villainous antagonist in the novel. He is an absent-minded person that lacks interest in his family, especially with his children. He lacks an understanding of basic human emotions. But everyone appreciates his contribution to Science as he was considered the father of the atomic bomb and the creator of the weapon ice-nine, which later leads to the Earths destruction and the end of all lives. Ice-nine is a small substance that Dr. Hoenikker secretly created but eventually falls into the hands of the dominant government in the novel. It is solid at room temperature and has a melting point of 45.8à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. When this substance comes into contact with liquid water that has a temperature below the melting point of ice-nine like the seas or oceans, it can cause the solidification of the entire body of water and will result to a chain of ecological destruction and end all life on Earth. Dr. Hoenikker is the antagonist of the story due to his perception and views of life. When he was asked about the relation of science and sin, he asks, What is sin? From these instances, he truly shows that he does not care about people or morality and his inability to understand can create destruction and violence around him. Vonnegut wanted us to see Dr. Felix Hoenikker as a representation of the so called saints in the field of Science, which are the scientists who pursue abstract truth and knowledge without considering human consequences. Most of them nowadays is being blinded by power and fame in which they just dont care about others. Some of them works for the government in which they are being manipulated and controlled to build weapons for war. The goal for some scientists is to make their inventions successful and the result of destroying nature and killing innocent people is not their concern. In support to that, according to Walter Shear on his literary criticism entitled Kurt Vonnegut: The Comic Fate of Sensibility, Science exists like a game for scientists in which they play without considering any ethical values and regardless of the destructive outcomes it can have like terrible wars and dehumanization of most individual in the society. I truly agree on his idea about scientists today because in my opinion, scientists consider themselves as masters of nature inspired by scientific advancements and I see them as cold men of Science who are cut off from human concerns. They made Science to commit sin and be manipulated as an evil tool that created the worst human sufferings and might lead to humanitys extinction in the future. The novel is a whole criticism to peoples ignorance. All of the ideas that a society holds about its progress and development including how it is achieved through research and discoveries by the use of Science. However, our worlds greatest or should I say the most destructive scientific discovery is the atomic bomb, which has the capacity of ending thousands of lives. So, a society pursuing a better world through Science is ironic because the further mankind dives into scientific discoveries without ethical understanding, the more destructive the society becomes. Human beings always crave a higher form of truth that will give meaning to their lives. Religions have supplied these higher form of truths in the past but because of Science, through its advancement and its credibility, it became a kind of false religion. This period of history became known as The Enlightenment. It began to free the peoples minds from the teachings of the church for thousands of years. They wanted to change everything and replace faith with knowledge and reason. Today, religions and spiritual truths have become a suspect in the 21st century. But from the criticism of Donald Morse, he brought up the negative outcomes of Science in the 21st century based from some of Kurt Vonneguts novels including Cats Cradle. He emphasized that we are preoccupied with the disastrous effect of weapons like atomic bombs but we havent given any attention on other unforeseen causes of Science that might as well lead to our extinction including pollution and environmental destruction. Modern Science is considered now as a large body of knowledge and nowadays it has a large gap between the stated mission of it to improve and better human life and its actual products, which include weapons of mass destruction. Due to humanitys greediness and being blinded by wealth, people would do anything to have full control of it, as it will eventually be used in wars. Science will lack a moral or unconcerned sense with the rightness or wrongness of something, if it ends up in the hands of an ignorant or greedy person. Human stupidity of misusing it can cause to our own self destruction. The event that happened in Nagasaki and Hiroshima created a new era for us as the world entered the nuclear age. For seven decades since the first atomic bomb was created, it became the scientists ambition to continue pursuing and develop these kind of weapons. Countries like U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea have admitted that they possess nuclear weapons. The recent atomic bombing event was the North Korean nuclear test that occur five times this year but the current one happened last September 9, 2016 and they did not immediately announce about the test. It is like our humanity is continuously discovering new ideas on how to destroy itself. Science will only be beneficial if it will be used as a common good for mankind and we know that it became our foundation in developing societies and improving human life, however all of us is also worried on the power that Science possesses to destroy life on Earth. It is true that Science can create wonders by all of its discoveries and inventions but the way it is used as a weapon of mass destruction that controls our existence is not its fault. Human stupidity and its unethical values is the main cause why we have these kind of weapons at the first place. Their different ideologies went too far that they had misused Science in creating destructive weapons instead of bettering our world. In the wrong hands, Science will have the capacity to ruin lives of innocent people and if we let it to become our master then it might be the end of the world for us and we will be wipe out from the face of the Earth. We should not let Science overpower us and control our way of life. Science sho uld be use as a support in expanding our knowledge for a great cause, promoting security and safety to everyone, establishing better societies, improving human life and strengthening our moral responsibility. Therefore, it should be our servant in a good way, and not to become our master.

Ground Water in Dhaka City Essay

Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh which has a population of about 12. 5 millions and its population rate is over 5%. Projected population is about 22 million by 2025. Dhaka is now the 7th largest populated city in the world and it is anticipated that Dhaka will be the 2nd largest city in the world by 2020. This city is full of problem and one of the major problems is water crisis. Although Bangladesh is rich in water resource, but there remains lack of safe water. The cities in Bangladesh are the centre of employment, communications and development. So, people are rapidly migrating in these cities from rural areas place putting additional pressure on the infrastructure and water resources. For this huge population in Dhaka city, water demand is also huge. And maximum portion of this greater demand is fulfilled by ground water. The daily requirement of water in Dhaka city is about 200 crore liters while WASA supplies 180 crore liters, leaving a shortage of 20 crore liters. Out of this 180 crore liters of water, 154. 50 crore liters of water are supplied from ground water. All most 85%-87% of water is supplied from under the ground and of them are from surface water. To supply this massive amount of water we need to extract a lot from the ground. Everyday demand for water is increasing and we are adding new pumps. In 1998, there were only 243 water pumps to lift water in 2004 it was 440 but now it is 560. Each of the pumps lifts 3,000 liters of water in a minute. And this is also making some problems. For this heavy extraction water level is going down rapidly. In some statistics I have found that the level of underground water has dropped down to 61. 18 meters. The average rate of decline of water level varied from 1 m to 2. 50 as the report of DWDB. Ground water depletion situation is severe in the central part of the city compare to the areas close to river bank, says DWDB. If this continue to happen then in future it will be hard to lift up underground water. Moreover, the increasing number of pumps and subsequent depletion of groundwater table increases the risk of disasters like landslide, subsidence and earthquake.

John Smith’s Account of the Founding of Jamestown in 1607

The colony at Jamestown, the colonies at Plymouth, and the colony at Boston had different nature, goals, successes and failures. There was a cross of similarities and differences. One thing that remains obvious is each was looking for something that was lacking in their home land. There was a perception and a picture that each group had when they left their homelands. Arrival in the new would prove to be an alternate reality from that which was envisioned. The new reality still provided a challenge for each settlement. This was to be a new start.This was an opportunity to establish something new. That would be a chance to be a part of something great. The New World offered opportunities to have success on a different level. Jamestown was a joint venture. People joined their financed together to create a business organization called a stock company. Like any other business the ultimate goal was to produce a profit. The initial settlers basically worked for the benefit of the joint sto ck company. They would not be completely free to make their own rules and regulations.There were specific rules even on the voyage of the rationing of the food. The Settlement of Jamestown shows s the initial days of Jamestown from the point of view of Captain John Smith. The very first impression of the New World gave foreshadowing of some of the doom and gloom in store for the travelers. As soon as they arrived on the shore they were attacked by travelers. That night a box was opened to give orders of how they were to organize and govern themselves according to the joint stock company.John Smith goes on to give an account of internal jealousy, trust, and greed issues of the group. That was compounded with the external sickness, disease, and multiple attacks by the savages that often resulted in death. He personally was on the verge of being killed when he was saved. Even the settlement was on the verge of dying out when God intervened and changed the hearts of the savages. This re sulted in the savages helping them. Captain John Smith acknowledges God’s hand in the survival of Jamestown.The settlement at Plymouth goes a little farther in establishing that God is one of the main reasons for the colony. Pilgrims were looking for religious liberty and anew way of life for their families. They were not crusaders out to change the world or gather riches. They were â€Å"humble English farmers† (Brands et al, 2009, p 42). Their first sight of land proved to be a joyous occasion. It was important and natural for them to give God praise for a successful voyage. The Pilgrims governing structure came from the self created Mayflower Compact.It was democratic in nature. They were in agreement from the beginning of the voyage that there was to be no overseas ruler. They each had their freedom. The Pilgrims contact with the savages was less confrontational than that of Jamestown. The savages tended to run as opposed to attacking the settlers. The Pilgrims had similar results in dealing with the sickness and diseases of the New World. John Winthrop and the Puritans had very ambitious ideas when they established the Boston colony. They had visions to what amounts to a utopian society.The goals were to show what Christian society could and should be. In A Model of Christian Charity, John Winthrop writes about what he envisioned as he traveled on the Arbella on his way to the New Word. Their life was to be based on scripture. The answer to how to deal with all situations would come from the Bible. Two of their main principles would be justice and mercy. How to deal with the rich and poor, friend and enemies and forgiveness would be very important in their settlement. The law would be based on God’s laws.Success would be determined by how people lived. They did not have to deal with the same level of sickness and diseases as Jamestown and Plymouth. If you asked the Puritans they would probably tell you that it is a direct result of th eir lifestyle and God’s presence. Captain John smith’s article seemed to present a dark mood as he described what he had to go through. He did not seem to have a very favorable outlook toward his fellow man. He mentions the good, bad and very ugly side of what man is capable of.The Puritans contrastingly, focused on the potential greatness of mankind. The Pilgrims were somewhere in the middle. Each article gave praises to God. God and religion played an important role in each colony.Bibliography Bradford, William. (1650). History of Plymouth Plantation. Brands, HWA, Breen, THH, Williams, R. Hal and Gross, A. J. (2009) American Stories: A History of the United States. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Smith, John. (1604). The Settlement of Jamestown. Winthrop, John. (1630). A Model of Christian Charity.

How to Practice Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking is a term developed in 1973 by Edward De Bono, with the publication of his book Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. Lateral thinking involves looking at a situation or problem from a unique or unexpected point of view. De Bono explained that typical problem-solving attempts involve a linear, step by step approach. More creative answers can arrive from taking a step â€Å"sideways† to re-examine a situation or problem from an entirely different and more creative viewpoint. Imagine that your family arrives home from a weekend trip to find Mom’s favorite vase broken on the floor beside the dining room table. Close examination shows that the family cat’s paw prints are clearly visible on the table top. Naturally, the family cat is in big trouble—right? The logical assumption would be that the cat was walking around on the table and had knocked the vase to the floor. But that is a linear assumption. What if the sequence of events was different? A lateral thinker might consider that the vase broke first—and then the cat jumped onto the table. What could have caused that to happen? Perhaps a small earthquake had occurred while the family was out of town—and the chaos caused by the trembling floor, the odd noises, and the crashing vase had caused the cat to jump onto the furniture? It is a possible answer! De Bono suggests that lateral thinking is necessary for coming up with solutions that aren’t so straightforward. It is easy to see from the example above that lateral thinking comes into play when solving crimes. Lawyers and detectives do employ lateral thinking when attempting to solve crimes, because the sequence of events is often not as straightforward it first appears to be. Students can find that lateral thinking is an especially useful technique for the creative arts. When writing a short story, for example, lateral thinking would be an effective tool for coming up with unexpected twists and turns in a plot. Lateral thinking is also a skill that researchers use when evaluating evidence or interpreting sources.