Sample Concept Paper (not a rhet/comp concept, though)
For John Wheeler, defining the term “quantum” in his essay “How Come the Quantum” (Best 41-43) seems the least of his worries. It’s a “thing,” he says, “a bundle of energy, an indivisible unit that can be sliced no more” as Max Planck’s observations 100 years ago indicate (41). Wheeler’s words ‘thing,’ ‘bundle,’ and ‘sliced’ are interesting: they seem at once colloquial and correct for the usage Wheeler makes of them. Quanta sound friendly, everyday. The just-folks tone continues as he observes that, thanks to quanta, “In the small-scale world, everything is lumpy” (41). He moves his readers forward smoothly (no lumps) to the next topic, what existence of quanta reveals about the
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Near the end of the “technical part” of his essay, he parenthetically defines the term ‘photon’ when he discusses delayed choice so that the reader may move steadily ahead (42), but he also almost lyrically describes early on the “lumpy” small-scale world that is quantum physics: “… When events are examined closely enough, uncertainty prevails; cause and effect become disconnected. Change occurs in little explosions in which matter is created and destroyed, in which chance guides what happens …” before alluding to particles and waves as scientists use these terms to describe phenomena (41). The observation that “chance guides what happens” in this world helps the reader understand Einstein’s reservations about Bohr’s and Feynman’s explanations because, as most people know, Einstein held that God does not “play dice” with us or our world (41-42). Evidently Einstein’s God accompanied him into the laboratory, whereas Wheeler’s God remains outside in the realm of metaphysics.
So, from the rhetorician’s perspective, it is easy to conclude that John Wheeler does an excellent job of helping his readers comprehend how the quantum may be defined. He provides examples, a parenthetical definition, an historical discussion, and a clear description of the principle of operation that he sees underlying the term. He is a credible spokesman for quantum physics, and one who can speak to readers who, like me, are much more comfortable with examples and other definitional strategies than strictly technical discussions that only insider-type scientists can
Often times, he gives examples of scientific things such as “morphology” and then gives the definition, “is the science of anatomical shape and design” but anyone could find this out with a simple google search (Quammen 4). Much of the information provided by Quammen is thing he has found out for himself from other research areas and not his own. “All vertebrate animals have backbones” (5), is a statement he makes regarding the similarities and differences between animals. ***I need more here but I’m just lost with the information paragraphs. I keep wanting to make these paragraphs about diction and not the
In Fall of 1994, New York University theoretical physicist, Alan Sokal, submitted an essay to Social Text, the leading journal in the field of cultural studies. This essay, entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," pretended to be a scholarly article about the "postmodern" philosophical and political implications of the twentieth century physical theories. However, as Sokal later revealed in the journal Lingua Franca, his essay was merely a mixture of deliberately concocted blunder, stitched together so as to look good and to flatter the conceptual views of the editors. After review by five members of Social Text's editorial board, Sokal's "cartoon" was accepted for publication as a serious piece of scholarship. It appeared in April 1996, in a special double issue of the journal devoted to rebutting the charge that cultural studies critiques of science tend to be riddled with incompetence (Boghossian).
The novel, Alice and Quantum Land, by Robert Gilmore is an adventure in the Quantum universe. Alice, a normal teenage girl, goes through quantum land and understands what quantum is and how it works. The quantum world is a difficult one to understand, as its nature is one of complex states of being, natures, principles, notions, and the like. When these principles or concepts are compared with the macro world, one can find great similarities and even greater dissimilarities between the world wherein electrons rule, and the world wherein human beings live. In Alice in Quantumland, author Robert Gilmore converts the original tale of Alice in Wonderland from a world of anthropomorphic creatures into the minute world of quantum mechanics, and attempts to ease the reader into this confusing world through a series of analogies (which comprise an allegory) about the principles of quantum mechanics. Through Alice’s adventure she comes across some ideas or features that contradict real world ideas. These ideas are the following: Electrons have no distinguishing spin, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, Superposition, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Interference and Wave Particle Duality.
...s made a mistake and "this sudden illumination (or epiphany) assures us that order and purpose do exist in the universe, even if we cannot fathom the exact nature of that order and purpose"(Markos 39).
One question about the QBT comes when reality itself is considered; "why can't reality be a quantum system?" Well, there are a few explanations. One is that quantum systems are usually very small. Quantum mechanics cannot be used to explain the universe as a whole in all venues, however, can explain the movements of an electron, or the actions of a black hole. Another reason why reality cannot be explained by quantum mechanics is that quantum mechanics call for a holistic interpretation of the system. Reality, then, is much too large for all of it to be encompassed in one interpretation. Non-locality, another feature of quantum mechanics, prevents reality from being explained by quantum mechanics. Non-locality means that distance is not an issue in the effects of one part of a system on another. For example, curtains might not be blowing because your window is open and there is a wind, they might be blowing because somewhere in Russia, a woman is beating her rugs.
Greene continues with his explanations of the special theory of relativity.Chapter 3: Of Warps and Ripples Green begins the chapter by describing "Newton's View of Gravity" and continues by discussing the incompatibility of Newtonian Gravity and Special Relativity. The author also talks about how Einstein discovered the link between acceleration and the warping of space and time. Greene also discuses the basic aspects of General Relativity. He later points out how the two theories of relativity effect black holes, the big bang, and the expansion of space.Chapter 4: Microscopic Weirdness This chapter describes, in detail, the workings of quantum mechanics.
The case that we will be looking at throughout this paper is that of ‘Joe’ (name changed to so that he/she may remain anonymous. Joe has what is diagnosed by clinicians as narcissistic personality disorder. According to the DSM – IV –TR, this is characterized by ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration and lack of empathy, beginning by early adult and present in a variety of contexts.’ The DSM lists nine criteria and Joe must exhibit 5 or more of them to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. The first one is Joe has a grandiose sense of self-importance. He is always assuring himself that his needs come before anyone else’s and that he should be recognized for all of his achievements, large or small, in his life. The second characteristic that Joe displays is being preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, and beauty. He believes that he is the most attractive male of all of his peers and strives to attract as many women as he can and to have a sexual relationship with all of them. He sees no flaws in himself and cannot begin to understand why every woman is not attracted to him. The third characteristic that Joe displays of narcissistic personality disorder is that he lives with a sense of entitlement. He believes that everyone should think the way that he does and the he has the answer to ever problem. The fourth characteristic seen in Joe is that he lacks empathy, showing now sense of understanding towards other’s sorrow. Lastly, Joe is
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental disorder that is considered to be an impairment in personality functioning, the presence of pathological traits, lack of empathy for others and a need for admiration. This type of personality disorder has some related disorders such as antisocial behaviors, interpersonal exploitation and envy. According to Luo, Cai, & Song (2014), “Narcissism refers to a kind of abundant self-love, characterized by a series of characteristic including self-desire for admiration, fantasies of superiority, hypersensitivity to criticism, exploitation of people, and lack of empathy for others” (p. 1). There have been ongoing discussions on how this type of behavior is processed in the brain. It is not clearly known
When one speaks of narcissism, often the image of a self-absorbed and self-aggrandizing, but overly sensitive person comes to mind. Some features of a narcissistic personality may make it seem like having confidence, however, it crosses the border from healthy confidence to putting yourself on a pedestal. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) people who suffer from the pathological form of narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), possess an exaggerated sense of importance, believe they are superior or special, expect special treatment, and/or set goals based on obtaining approval from others. The criteria for NPD includes a sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, and a need for personal gain
The book talks about narcissistic personality disorder which is mistakenly regarded as a big ego or inflated self-esteem. The latter entails a big psychological condition that affects negativity in marriages and work environment as the victims own self sense of self. According to the book, the victims have self-confidence and shows arrogant behaviors. This is caused by low-esteem and sense of insecurity. The author has been licensed and has nationally creditably on social work for more than 20 years.
There are different viewpoints on the question “what is the universe made of?” I think that both science and religion offer their own explanation to this topic and they sometimes overlap, which creates contradictions. Therefore, I do not agree with Stephen Jay Gould’s non-overlapping magisterial, which claims that there is a fine line separating science from religion. That being said, I think the conflict between science and religion is only in the study of evolution. It is possible for a scientist to be religious if he is not studying evolution, because science is very broad and it has various studies. In this essay, I will talk about the conflict between religion and science by comparing the arguments from Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins. I argue that science and religion do overlap but only in some area concerning evolution and the cosmic design. Furthermore, when these overlaps are present it means that there are conflicts and one must choose between science and religion.
Of the many counter intuitive quirks of quantum mechanics, the strangest quirk is perhaps the notion of quantum entanglement. Very roughly, quantum entanglement a phenomenon where the state of a large system cannot be described by the state of the smaller systems that compose it. On the standard metaphysical interpretation of quantum entanglement, this is taken to show that there exists emergent properties1. If this standard interpretation is correct, it seems that physics paints a far different picture of the world then commonsense leads one to believe.
Nelson, C. (2013). Narcissistic personality disorder: Not even a diagnosis in 2013!. Journal of Psychohistory, 40, 293-305. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library3.
Robbins & Judge (2009) describe narcissism as an individual “who has a grandiose sense of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, has a sense of entitlement, and is arrogant.” Poet Tony Hoagland brought up a valid observation in the textbook about the American culture
Narcissism usually means inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity. The most common description of a narcissist addresses the self-centered, self-absorbed nature of a person and the obsessive concern about appearances and positive self-regard. We throw the word around about people who have never met a mirror they didn’t like or who brag or embellish their personal successes and belittle or show disinterest to the achievements of others. This behavior born with human being, but in today's world, the term "narcissism" has come to mean a little more than its literal meaning. It is a disguise for a deep-seated sense of shame that people may not even realize are there. New technologies and people’s living atmosphere rise them