Humanism and the flat world Essay

Humanism and the flattening of the world are both very similar but at the same time very much different. They both had major impacts on civilization and the indivduals. Both the good and bad consequences from each concept are pointed towards one group or another such as the indivdual or the government. There was not only good consequences for the indivdual there were also bad consequences in both instances.

The concept of humanism changed the way people thought of not only themselves but of others too. Humanism made people think for themselves and not just do what the Church tells them to do. Humanism made individuals special and unique and not just one face in a crowd of thousands. Humanism was simply a revolution. A revolution that made a huge impact. Without humanism the Middle Ages might have gone on for much longer than it did. In both instances of humanism and the flattening of the world were brought on by recent discoveries of the time. In the instance of humanism, different texts from ancient Greece and Rome were discovered that showed a whole new view on life and the way the government treated individuals.

The flattening of the world brought on a whole different kind of change. Instead of making people more individualized it put the whole world population into one huge group. Instead of an American you are a citizen of the world. The reason for this is that in a flattening world it does not matter where you're from, it matters how good of an education you have. This was a revolution that happened in a relatively short time. Twenty years ago no one thought we would outsource jobs half way across the world. In this new world an individual has the power to collaborate on a much wider and even perhaps an international scale. All this person needs is a good Internet connection and the know how.

Both of these concepts changed the way people thought of themselves and the world around them. Both were revolutions that was new for the time. No one in the renaissance period of time ever thought for themselves until the humanists came along. Everyone was too worried of what the church was going to think. It only takes one person to change the minds of thousands in a very short period of time. Other people saw that they were not going to be struck down by God if they didn't think what the Church tells them to think. The difference between the two concepts is that it seems that the people in the humanism revolution were moving forward and thinking for themselves but in the flat world revolution people are somewhat retrogressing before the time of humanists. People are losing there identities. Being an American meant more twenty years ago than it does now. Now people are just citizens of the world. Now we are just buyers and sellers in the world. Both concepts have good and bad consequences. When it comes to humanism most the bad consequences were centered towards the Church. The Church could not control the masses anymore with the threat of the going to hell for every sin you commit. The individual could be great. They could achieve more than just being religious and go heaven. They had more to work for. Before humanism the main goal for someone was to just get to heaven. When it comes to the flattening of the world it is the other way around. Most of the good consequences were gained by the government and the big guys. The government can get their goods so much cheaper in a flat world. Yes there were some good consequence for the individual. The individual could connect to the world from their own home. But in turn they lost there identity as an American or any other person in which their country has embraced the flat world.

Not done yet but oh well

"Faustian Bargain"

I think a Faustian Bargain is when someone gives up their soul to the devil in turn for someting that they could not normally have. In Faustus's case it was the power to do black magic.

Le Morte D' Arthur

Le Morte d' Arthur first tells the story of Arthur's upbringing. How he pulls the sword out of the stone and beocmes the king of britain. Arthur fights in battles to show his kingship. He marries Gwynevere . He then establishes the knights of the round table which will fight for the principle that might does not make right. The story then tells the story of Launcelot, the greatest knight of the round table. It tells many of his quests and his affair with Gwynevere and how in the end Arthur fights Launcelot.

Book 4: The once and future king

Summary: The Orkney children start to hate Arthur and Lancelot and they want to revael Guenever's affair with Lancelot. They tell Arthur in hids Justice Room. They tell him if they can find proof then he will prosecute him to the fullest extent of his new laws but if they are wrong he will prosecute them. While Arthur is away hunting Mordred and Agravaine catch Lancelot in Guenever's room. Lancelot kills Agravaine and Mordred and the other knights run off. Guenvever is convicted of Adultery and is to be burned at the stake. Lancelot rescues her and rides off. Lancelot and Arthur fight in France but when Arthur learns of Mordred trying to take over he rides back to England. He has a page record hi life. This pages name is Thomas Malory.

Book 3: The once and future king

Summary: The Ill made night starts out with Arthur asking King Ban's son Lancelot to join him to help end might makes right. Lancelot trains with Uncle Dap. He trains for three years on every aspect of being a great night. Lancelot hears of Arthur's round table and heads for England. On his way he jousts a knight in black armour which happens to be King Arthur. Arthur brings him back to England and nights him. Lancelot thinks Gueneveris trying to come between him and Arthur. After Lancelot hurts her fellings he no longer thinks of her in that way and starts to spend more time with her. Lancelot and Arthur go to fight the Romans. Lancelot becomes Arthur's new best friend. When they return Lancelot sees that Guenever is attracted to him so he goes on a quest. He rescues Gawaine. Lancelot then gets captured by four queens. One is Morgan Le Fay. He escapes with the help of a servant girl. He in turn helps her father in a tournament. His side is victorious. He then sets out to find his cousin Sir Lionel. Him and many other knights are held captive by Sir Tourquine. After two hours fighting he kills him and sets everyone free. Lancelot has many other adventure in which he always comes out on top. Lancelot and Guenever become closer and Arthur fears that the round table is not going as planned. Lancelot loves Guenever but he does not want to go through with his feelings because he is loyal to Arthur. He goes on another quest to the haunted castle of corbin. King Pelles is the owner. He learns of women that is trapped in a vat of boiling water and only the best knight in the world can save her. He saves a women named Elaine and learns that King Pelles is her father. He stays at the castle but he thinks of Guenever. While he is drumk on wine the butler tells him Guenever is waiting for him in a nearby castle. He rushes to the castle. The next morining he realizes that he has slepped with Elaine. He is mad that he has been tricked and leaves the castle. Since he is no longer a virgin he runs into Guenever's room and ends up sleeping with her. Arthur goes off to help King Ban fight. Lancelot stays behind. Guenever finds out that Elaine has given birth to Galahad which is Lancelot's child. She is mad but soon forgives him. Lancelot learns that Elaine and Galahad are visiting Camelot. Lancelot flees from the castle in a fit of confusion between Guenever and Elaine. Lancelot goes crazy and spends his time battling knights. he does not even talk anymore. All he does is roar. Elaine finds Lancelot and sends doctors to heal Lancelot. He awakens from his madness and does not know what has happened. Him and Elaine move in to Sir Bliant's castle. He changes his name to Le Chevalier Mal Fet. At a tournament Lancelot's brother discovers him and brings him back. Gareth tells Lancelot that Agravaine has killed his mother and him and his brothers are hunting down Lamorak, King Pellinore's son because he has slept with her. King Arthur sends his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail. It seems Lancelot is slipping because he has been beated a few time. Arthur is outraged by this. Lancelot ends the affair with Guenever and she sends him on a quest. At a dinner party held by Guenever, one of Pellinore's distant relative is at the party and poisons the apples, since Gawaine's favorite fruit is the apple. An innocent knight dies and everyone blames Guenever. The different knights pick a side to fight for. Sir Bors fights for Guenever but before the fight Lancelot and Sir Bors switch places and Lancelot defeats them. Elaine kills herself because she does not think that Lancelot will return to her. Arthur and Lancelot start to fight. Guenever is capture and Lancelot saves her. Lancelot beats the knight who has captured her in a tournament.

Summary

This book was not one of the better books I have read but it has better informed me of what is happening in world when it comes to the flat world. Before this book I had never heard of a flat world. I have to admit this book was very interesting.
I don't think the flat world effects me in my job choice. My future career can't really get outsourced. The one way the flat world does effect me is how I go about my business everyday. I use technology every single day. I am always looking for a way to use technology to benefit me.
The flat world does effect all of my friends in some way by either technology or there career choice. Some of my friends want to do jobs that can be outsourced. Many of my friends are oblivious to the fact that the world is flattening. Teachers ,parents, and peers just need to make me strive for excellence in whatever I do. I already have many goals that I wish to complete.
In the Friedman sense of the word my future career choice is untouchable. Im kind of 50/50 on whether I resent or embarce the flat world. I resent it in a way because many jobs are being outsourced which can be done in America. But I do embrace it. I love technology and I always want to do something easier with technology. Id rather be reading something from my own house than to go out to the library.

Is the flat world a good thing for America?

For Americans it is not so great but for America as a whole it has more pros than cons. American companies can get cheap labor all around the world without sacrificing quality. In India there computer programmers are much more experienced and qualified to do the work because there schools are so much harder to get into and graduate from. India and Japan are on the forefront of the technology world. Americans can get technology from other countries that make their everyday lives more easier. Without a flat world America would not have these companies that sometime make a superior product such as Sony or Toyota. All in all a flat world is for the better.

What are the potential negative consequences to a flat world?

Along with the good there is also a lot of bad consequences to a flat world. The one big one is that America is losing jobs. Nowadays if a job can be outsourced and it is cost effective and efficient it will get outsourced. That means a lot of people are going to lose their jobs. This also means today's youth need to start thinking of their future plans and they may need to gear them towards living in a flat world. Now people need to be better educated because now you are not just competing with Americans, you are competing against computer programmers from India and cheap labor from China. Another bad consequence is that sometimes companies go for the cheaper product from China than the better made somewhat more expensive one from America.

What is Convergence?

There were three part to the convergence. Part 1 was the coming together of the ten flatteners, the second was companies to work more horizontal and not vertical, the third is people from all over the world began to compete globally.
The first part is that the ten flatteners came together. Each flattener helps make the other flatteners better. So every time one flattener develops it helps develop the other flatteners thus leveling the global playing field. Friedman uses the idea of complementary goods to show this convergence.
The second part is that companies had to collaborate horizontally rather than vertically. Companies need to learn to innovate by not using different people to do all the different things. 1 person or one team can do many things. Like with UPS, companies do not need to go to many different companies to to there shipping, repairs, and customer service when they have a company like UPS that can do all of those things at one place.
The third part is that people from all over the world began competing globally helped collaboration horizontally.
Convergence is important because without it technology does not innovate. If you are shut off from the rest of the world your country can not strive to get better because they do not know what better is.

How technology is reshaping human interaction

Technology drastically is changing how humans interact personally, inter-nationally, and economically.
Netscape: Netscape has led the way for Internet providers to change the way individuals interact with each other. Before the Internet people either used the telephone or letters to communicate with each other. Now people can just get on the computer and send an email or use instant messaging to talk to several people at one time. It is also a lot cheaper to send email as it is to send a letter. The Internet has also changed the way companies communicate inter-nationally now if you want to have a meeting with your business partners you don't have to fly them in from all over the world. You can just set up video conferencing using the internet. If companies need a product they order it online and it gets shipped automatically. The Internet has changed the way humans buy and sell things. Many times people go online to buy things because they can search for a better deal. They don't have to drive around for an hour to find one. Even though you have to pay for shipping it saves a lot of money. Before the internet it was harder to sell something. But now you have ebay to sell your things online. You can have a thousand people look at your item in a matter of days.
Worflow software: This has mainly changed they way humans interact inter-nationally. Instead of everyone in a design team for let say a cartoon show being in the same room, now they can be all over the world thanks to work flow software. You can have the actors in L.A., the writers in San Francsico and the animators in Bangalore all working on the same project for cheaper and more efficently. Using work flow software they can talk amongst themselves and for example the writers can give input to the actors or the writers giving input to the animators halfway across the world.
Open Sourcing: Open Sourcing has made it possible for people all over the world to collaborate on one project such as wikipedia. Wikipedia is a prime example of open sourcing. This mostly affects the personal aspect of human interaction because now you as an indivdual have the power to make something better by creating a patch to a piece of software.
Outsourcing: Outsourcing effects all aspects of Human interaction. It effects you personally because instead of someone doing your taxes in your hometown they are being done by someone India. You are interacting with someone across the globe when you get your taxes done. Smaller companies now can strive to get bigger because they can get stuff done in India for much cheaper than it would be if you had it done in the United States. For instance some McDonalds have outsourced there drive through order to other states because there is less mistakes with the orders and they can get more orders place in an hour thus they can make more money. Out sourcing has changed the economical aspect the most. More and more jobs are being outsourced because they can be done cheaper and more efficiently. From taxes to drive thru orders, they can be all outsourced. If it can be digitized it can be outsourced.
Off Shoring: Offshoring has made it cheaper for companies to produces there products cheaper. Instead of paying minimum wage to an american you can pay a fraction of that by using Chinese labor in China. If you are a company and you want to buy a product you are going to have to deal with the factory in China.
Supply Chaining: Before supply chaining there were many ware houses all over. Each company had there own warehouse. Thanks to supply chaining Walmart has one big warehouse in Arkansas and they ship out to all of the Wal-Marts nation wide. Suppy chaining is an effecient and cost effective way to get your goods to all around the country. You as a consumer can get what you want anytime you want because it will be always in stock or if it is not it probably will be in stock in the next day or two.
Insourcing: Instead of people interacting with many countries for service and support you talk to a few companies such as UPS. Insourcing is more efficient because instead of many different companies doing different services for a company that can do everything from shipping the product to actually repairing and shipping it back out directly to the consumer. Insourcing cuts out the middle man. Usually if you can cut out the middle man you can do every thing quicker.
In-forming: People now can search for pretty much anything online. Instead of going to a library you can just go on your computer and find endless topics. Search engine are also changing how people interact with each other. Instead of looking in a phone book to find someone you can just type in there name in a search engine and you can find everything from there telephone number to where live and have lived previously.
The Steroids: The Steroids have brought along a whole different way of communicating from anywhere to anywhere. In Japan you can be pretty much anywhere and get wireless internet. VOIP is another big steroid. It allows someone to call over the internet to other VOIP users and landlines for much cheaper. You do not get charged from where or to who you ar e calling to.

What Friedman means by "The World is Flat"

What Friedman means by the world being flat it is not an issue of the geography of the world but how people in the world interact and work with other people. What he means is that nowadays not only can countries and companies can compete in the global economy but now you as an individual can do business halfway across the world. Back before technology really evolved it was impossible for a small company to do international business. Technology has made it possible for the individual to compete with the larger companies to a point. Now Individuals have the technology that the big companies had. That is what he means by the playing field is being leveled.

Book 2: The Once and Future King

Summary: In Book 2 we meet four brothers named Gawaine, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravaine. The are up in there room telling the story of how Uther Pendragon killed there grandfather to get at the boys grandmother, Igraine. Downstairs Morgause is boiling a cat so she can get a bone that will make herself invisible but before she finds the bone she throws it all away because she is bored. The four boys say to each other that they will avenge there grandfather by fighting Arthur. In England King Arthur and Merlyn are discussing the battle against King Lot. You can tell the power is affecting Arthur a little because he starts to not care for the foot soldiers. While out hunting for grouse Arthur, Merlyn, and Kay talk about why the Gaelic people are fighting him. King Pellinore, Sir Grummore, and Sir Palomides arrive in Orkney, the home of the four brothers. Arthur, Merlyn, Kay, and Sir Ector talk about chivalry. After a while they come up with the idea that might does not equal right. The three knights in Orkney go hunting for a unicorn with Morgause. The four boys go out hunting for a unicorn so they can please there mother. Agravaine kills a unicorn and brings the head back to Morgause but she has them whipped. Before the battle with King Lot, Arthur, Kay, and Merlyn talk about Arthur's plan for a group of knights who will fight for just causes. Arthur wants to find a round table so all the knights that sit around it will have equal power. Merlyn tells Arthur that there is a King who has a round table and he warns Arthur about the King's daughter who's name is Guenever. Back in Orkney Sir Grummore and Sir Palimides dress up in a Questing Beast costume to lead King Pellinore on a hunt. While they are out they run into the real Questing Beast and it falls in love with them and it chases them. The night before the battle Merlyn tells Arthur that he will marry Guenever and he needs to pay close attention to the relationship between her and Lancelot. At night Arthur defeats the Gaelic army with the help of his French allies named King Bor and King Ban. King Pellinore and the other two nights who are in Orkney learn that Arthur has been at war with the Gaels. Morgause and her four sons pack to leave for England. Merlyn forgets to tell Arthur that Morgause is actually his half sister and her sons are his nephews. Before Merlyn can tell Arthur this, Morgause uses charms to make Arthur sleep with her. Nine months later they have a son named Mordred.

Vocbabulary:

nigromancer
gobbets
pennoncells
nigromant
tumulus
scapulars

Book 1: The Once and Future King

Summary: Book one of the Once and Future king outlines the childhood of Kay and Wart. Kay is the heir of Sir Ector's, his father's estate. Wart is the adopted son of Sir Ector. After a day of working in the fields, Kay and Wart decide to go hawking with one of the castle's hawks named Cully. Wart is more experienced but Kay decides he is going to carry the hawk. Kay flies Cully before he is ready so Cully, who is a moody bird flies up in a tree and does not come back down. After a while Kay becomes frustrated so he goes home. Wart stays with Cully because he feels bad for Hob, the one who spent the time to train Cully. Wart spends all night with Cully. During the night Wart meets King Pellinore who is hunting the Questing Beast. Wart falls asleep and in the morning he spots a cottage and an old man getting water from the well. He introduces himself as Merlyn. To Wart's disbelief Merlyn already knows his name and his cottage is full of magical items and a talking owl. Merlyn tells Wart that he is his new tutor and Wart thinks he was on a quest. Merlyn accompanies Wart back to Sir Ector's castle. On the way they capture Cully. When they get back Sir Ector hires Merlyn. Kay thinks nothing or Wart's adventure. As Wart gets bored around the castle Merlyn sends him on adventures. On his first adventure Merlyn turns him into a fish to teach him about the dangers of someone that has power over everyone. On his next adventure he gets to see King Pellinore and Sir Grummore Grummursum joust. Finally after many of Wart's adventures Kay gets upset and begs Wart to let him go on an adventure. Merlyn sends them into the Forest Sauvage to meet Robin Wood. They learn that Morgan Le Fay has capture one of Robin's men. They rescue the prisoner but on the way back they are stopped by a Griffin. Kay shoots the griffin but it falls on Wart and he breaks his collar bone. When Wart and Kay return to the castle they are congratulated for there adventure. Wart goes on many more adventures and in the meantime six years past. Uther Pendragon, the King of England dies without anyone to replace him. In front of a church in London there is a sword which is stuck through an anvil and a stone that says that whoever pulls out the sword is the next King of England. There is a tournament to see who can pull out the sword which Kay, Sir Ector, Sir Grummore Grummursum, and King Pellinore goes to. Before they leave Merlyn announces that he will be leaving. Kay forgets his sword at the inn so he sends wart to get it. Wart finds that the inn is closed but he sees a sword in a stone. After three tries and encouragement from his animal friends he pulls it out and brings it to Kay. When he gets back Kay realizes it is the sword in the stone and him and Sir Ector kneel before him. Merlyn returns to tell Wart that he is Uther Pendragon's son and now Wart will be known as King Arthur.

Vocabulary:

Fewmets
libbard
brachet
austringer
hummocks
rheumatism