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User talk:HMaloigne/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 17/Power

Power of the Church and its Denial of the Heliocentric Model
I'm thinking of writing a piece on this subject. The power structures I have thought of at the moment are:
 * The power of the church over general opinion
 * The power of prior knowledge in biasing the public opinion
 * The power that the church's rejection had on future work in this field

Love to hear your opinions/comments. Please edit my work freely after I'm done but leave a comment what you changed. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 17:25, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

 * Not sure if this might be going too interdisciplinary (as it goes into art history) for the sandbox but I know that the catholic church controlled a lot the art that was produced in the Classical, Byzantine, Medieval, Gothic art periods by only allowing or even distributing art materials to artists that painted visual representations of religious themes / the divine. This has a big impact/powerful influence on European art and the perceptions people had of art in general. Brokentelevision2020 (discuss • contribs)
 * Thanks for the comment. Your point is certainly applicable to heliocentric theory too: books by Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei were added to the "index", a list of books considered heretic by the Roman Catholic church. If the inquisition found these books in your possession you would most likely have been executed for heresy. I've written that in my piece too: is that what you meant? BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 11:24, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

 * From 11er467 to  BASc to the future Will you be focusing on a specific region - Catholicism, C of E, Christian etc? You could potentially include the position of power priests, vicars and bishops hold and the ramifications of this, not just that God does? Just a thought if you wanted to talk about the religion in practice too!
 * Good question. I'm thinking of Galileus and (maybe) Copernicus. That would mean it's mainly the Roman Catholic Church, but I'll definitely have a look if there are any significant differences between the different churches and their views. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 17:25, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

 * I've read your piece and I like how you managed to find three different forms of power and link them to a major theory of the modern world. Just added some links to other Wikipedia articles, that may be useful for someone who encounters some terms for the first time. Nuggethunter (discuss • contribs) 12:52, 7 November 2020 (UTC)Nuggethunter

 * Building on the above comment- maybe you could clearly mention what was an example of exercising "direct power"? Also added an image of the heliocentric model!
 * Thanks for your addition. The image looks wonderful next to the contribution. As for your comment, I would argue that "[...] the book could not be published and people in possession of it were trialed" is a clear example of direct power. Please let me know if you have other insights. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 12:26, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

How Power is Utilised within Dom/Sub Relationships in BDSM

 * Had a quick glance at your piece. It's very informative and you definitely illustrated the way they use power well. The only thing I noticed was that you mentioned BDSM to be part of sexuality studies. From what I've gathered, sexuality studies at UCL is only at PhD level, and I was just wondering whether that is a sufficient basis to consider this its own discipline, or whether it is still a part of sociology in the UK. Perhaps giving a short explanation or reference explaining why might clarify this. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 17:37, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Issue of Power in Classical Music
If you have any suggests, comments, critiques, please let me know below. Thank you in advance.--Kuramae (discuss • contribs) 22:19, 5 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks for sharing your piece, I never realised there was such a gender imbalance in orchestrae. The direct and indirect power of the orchestra and their selection processes are very clear in your piece. However, it might be interesting to discuss whether there might be other factors (ethnicity, religion) that might have influence and their intersectionality with gender. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 12:53, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for reading my contribution. In the beginning I wanted to add ethnicity into the contribution, however, I couldn't find enough sources to cover the topic. Given the word limitations, I decided to rather focus on one power issue and go in depth in this contribution, but if you are interested, here is a link for an article about race in classical music: https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/apr/04/class-race-and-classical-music-candace-allen--Kuramae (discuss • contribs) 17:30, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Issues of Power in Education

 * I've just submitted my contribution on Power in education, any feedback or thoughts would be super appreciated!! Thanks Brokentelevision2020 (discuss • contribs)

 * I've read your piece. I really like the clear division between two the two categories of power observed in education. It would also be interesting if you'd discuss how those categories may interact with each other. Nuggethunter (discuss • contribs) 12:07, 7 November 2020 (UTC)Nuggethunter

 * Maybe talking about the "hidden curriculum" and how it relates to power in education might be interesting as it plays a key role in how society socialised individuals in a specific way to "make them more suitable for the workplace" - which is an example of indirect/institutionalised power and intersectional power. Overall, I really liked this contribution!Kyoshiwarrior (discuss • contribs) 22:07, 8 November 2020 (UTC)Kyoshiwarrior

 * You contribution gives a great overview of the issues of power occuring in education. One thing that I noticed is the sentence: 'under an 1880 Education Act under The 1870 Education Act.' The meaning of it isn't really clear to me, perhaps it could be formulated in a different way? I also linked both the 1880 and 1870 Educational Acts to their correspondent Wikipedia articles plus Robert Rosenthal as he did a lot of impactful work in the field of psychology so I think this would be useful for anyone interested in further reading.--Kuramae (discuss • contribs) 18:19, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Power and the Indian Caste System
Hello! I just added my contribution on Power. I would love some feedback and/or know your thoughts. Kyoshiwarrior (discuss • contribs) 21:50, 8 November 2020 (UTC)Kyoshiwarrior
 * I found your article highly interesting and informative. The issue with the Caste System is almost unheard of for people living in Europe. However, I am not entirely sure if the Caste System is a discipline in itself, or which discipline it is a part of. I could think of social studies. I think a little justification might help in this case. --Kuramae (discuss • contribs) 18:02, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your input! I think the Caste System itself is a part of Cultural Studies or Social Studies so I will be adding that to justify my contribution. Kyoshiwarrior (discuss • contribs) 18:27, 9 November 2020 (UTC)Kyoshiwarrior

Power and protests against anti-abortion laws
I've added my piece on power in Polish Politics and some recent events. If you have any thoughts or edits suggestions share them with me :)) Nuggethunter (discuss • contribs) 23:11, 8 November 2020 (UTC)Nuggethunter
 * I've had a look at your piece. You bring up some good points about the gender inequality in the Polish government. The one thing I've noticed, is that you've assumed that the knowledge in the second paragraph is general knowledge. And while it might be for a Polish citizen, it wasn't for me. If you're that specific with you statistics, it might be worthwhile to add references that support them. Speaking about references, don't forget to finish your citations in the reference list. BASc to the future (discuss • contribs) 12:33, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for pointing that out. I took care of it. Nuggethunter (discuss • contribs) 18:15, 9 November 2020 (UTC)Nuggethunter


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User:HMaloigne/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 17/Power

Power in the Copernican Revolution
These days, it’s common knowledge that the sun is the centre of our solar system, and all other planets revolve around it. But like many other of our modern-day truths, this has historically not always been considered correct model. The Copernican revolution was the paradigm shift away from the old geocentric model.

Power of Prior Knowledge Bias
Prior to the introduction of the heliocentric system by Copernicus and Galileo, the geocentric system had been believed to be true. This system was developed by Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy in 150CE, and supported by Aristotle. It was only natural that people would be hesitant to renounce truths that had been established more than a millennium ago in favour of a radical new theory. Nicolaus Copernicus only published his De Revolutionibus in 1543, the year of his death, despite him likely having completed it earlier. His hesitation in publishing might have stemmed from the power of public opinion.

Power of the Roman Catholic Church
In the 15th and 16th century, the majority of the European population were Christian. That meant that the church and the bible had a great influence on public opinion. Major reasons for the church being against the heliocentric theory included:

 * Heliocentrism contradicted multiple passages of the Bible. An often mentioned passage is Joshua 10:11-13, in which the Lord pauses the sun and the moon. The interpretation of this passage at that time was that it implied that the sun and the moon both orbited around the earth.
 * Aristotelian theory founded the basis for most of the church’s theological and scientific beliefs. This is most evident in the theology of Thomas Aquinas, often seen as the greatest medieval christian thinker. Aristotle himself was an adamant believer of the ptolemaic theory. This meant that Copernican theory directly challenged the authority of the church’s scientific beliefs.

Initially, the church allowed Copernicus’ book to be published. However, as the implications of it became clear, they chose to add it to their List of Prohibited Books (commonly referred to as the Index), which meant that the book could not be published and people in possession of it were trialed.

Power of Language
As mentioned before, Copernicus’ book De Revolutionibus was initially not added to the index. This was in part achieved through the use of language by Lutherian clergyman Andreas Osiander. Osiander rejected Copernicus’ thoughts, and added the following two parts:

 * He added an anonymous preface, in which he wrote that Copernicus’ hypotheses “need not be true nor even probable”.
 * He changed the original name “On the Revolutions of the Orbs of the World” into “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”.

These both would have mitigated the claims that Copernicus made in describing the “real” universe.

How Power is Utilised within Dom/Sub Relationships in BDSM
In Sexuality Studies, power can be appraised in the context of kink (sexuality), specifically  BDSM. The recurring theme of power in these phenomena provides an opportunity for the role of power in interpersonal relations and the way it can be asserted or relinquished for gratification to be unearthed. In broad terms, BDSM as a subculture and a practice is a characterised by bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, often in an erotic context. Of the many concepts in BDSM, dominant and submissive or master and slave relationships are common. These entail a dynamic in which one or more individuals holds a position of power or authority over one or more individuals who hold a position of weakness or subservience. This inequality of power is at the core of BDSM and the means through which individuals are gratified within this community.

In this way, power in dominant/submissive relationships may appear as direct coercion, the wielding of the power one has over others to get them to do something they would otherwise not do. Yet, unlike political or embedded social power, power in BDSM is transient and fluid, governed by a safe word and mediated through communication and mutual respect. As such, power in BDSM is more closely related to Foucault's description of power as a strategy, rather than something to be possessed and utilised. BDSM practitioners perform a role, either in 'scenes' or in their lifestyle more widely, and embody the power warranted by that identity through specific strategies.

What research has been conducted so far on BDSM has tended to focus on psychological characteristics of those engaging in the lifestyle or practices. Despite common assumptions that engaging in BDSM corresponds with sexual dysfunction or disorder, several studies have found the opposite to be true. Measuring various markers of psychological well-being, including the Big Five personality dimensions test, attachment styles questionnaires and psychometric measures of psychopathy, researchers found no higher prevalence of psychopathy in BDSM practitioners when compared to the controls. This suggests that the giving or taking of power in interpersonal dynamics, when consensual and to some extent performative, has no injurious effects on those involved, nor is it a product of existing mental or emotional imbalance.

The proximity of BDSM practices to those presented in sexual sadism disorder and  sexual masochism disorders however, suggests a complexity in separating sexual order from sexual disorder. So much so that there is no rigid definition of what are considered ‘unusual’ sexual behaviours and what are considered paraphilic - or worthy of note in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or  International Classification of Diseases. The power dynamics involved in those disorders listed above therefore potentially call into question the relationship between maladaptive conceptions or notions of power and sexual or mental disorder.

Issue of Power in Classical Music
The issue of power in classical music is expressed through gender inequality. Historically, it was highly influential for the career opportunities of women in classical music, this also has played a huge role in shaping the gender imbalance in today’s classical music landscape.

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century, women’s participation in classical music was limited to those with high social status. Performances only happened in private, often where a correspondent supportive network was given. This is because certain instruments were considered to be too challenging for women to master or the positions in which instruments, such as the cello are played gave them an ‘unladylike’ appearance. Due to these considerations, women had very limited access to music education, or were even entirely excluded from it.

The most dominant orchestras at that time didn’t recruit female musicians. The only option to participate was in female only orchestras, which were usually of much less significance. It was not until World War II where the major shortage of male musicians finally granted women seats in these orchestras, although the recognition for females in these orchestras only happened slowly. An extreme example is the Vienna Philharmonic which only began host female auditions from 1997.

Studies have shown that a significant gender gap is still manifested in classical music today. In 2019, less than 6% of the pieces played by orchestras were composed by females, moreover, there are almost no female conductors in European orchestras. Nowadays, efforts are being made to address the gender imbalance in classical music, such as the establishment of blind auditions, mentorship opportunities for females or the commitment towards an equal distribution in orchestral seats.

Issues of Power in Education
Education, being at its core the transfer of collected knowledge from certain individuals to others, naturally manifests power in different forms and across different areas of the education systems. From education policy to classroom dynamics, power influences how students come into contact with their content of study.

Authority and influence are two categories for which most forms of power in education can assimilate under:

 * Authority: This refers to the hierarchical power of revered decision makers, be them governmental education ministers and policy makers or heads of schools. The decisions of these authoritative figures directly influences the content and format of the education student's receive.

An example of use of authoritative power in education would be when education in the UK became compulsory up to the age of 10, under an 1880 Education Act under The 1870 Education Act. This act used the power of government to enforce children's attendance at primary schools, potentially changing the future lives of many UK children.

 * Influence: This category of power refers more to the variable relationships that can form within groups of educational systems, these occur through covert decision making such as manipulation, favouritism, and other general influencing factors in human relationships.

An example of influential power in education systems is the psychological theory of Teacher Bias developed by Robert Rosenthal in the 1960's; the study evidenced that teacher's have a natural tendency to hold differing expectations of students based on race, gender, handwriting, and other factors; and these predisposed expectations affect the student's educational performance accordingly.

Power in the Indian Caste System
''The Caste System by itself is not a discipline but is an area of interest and research in social and cultural studies as well as sociology and anthropology. The Caste System in India by itself is a very complicated, structured and divisive subject which impacts the people in the country in a lot of ways. The manifestation of power in this social system is a very prevalent one as it is seen in policies, education, social mobility, violence and many other ways.''

Caste is a complex and rigid form of social stratification, originating from ancient Indian society, which classifies individuals in terms of hereditary occupations. The classifications are in four distinct groups: Brahmins (the priests and the educators), Kshatriyas (the warriors), Vaishyas (the merchants) and the Shudras/ Dalits (the commoners).The fifth group called the "Dalits" aren't included in the Varna system as they are deemed "impure' and thus "casteless". Caste is assigned at birth, depending on the parentage and follows a hierarchy which shapes social interaction, ideas of “honor” and “purity” as well as individual social mobility. Though it is central to early Vedic Hindu society, similar caste systems have been seen in other South Asian and Polynesian regions. Due to it’s largely hierarchical nature, power plays an important role in understanding the caste system and manifests itself in multiple ways. There is a clear division between Brahmins, Kshatriyas (known as the savarnas) and the Vaishyas/Shudras (known as the avarnas). There is a disproportionate amount of animosity directed towards the Dalits, as they are also labelled as “the Untouchables”. Despite the caste-system being abolished in the 1950s, there is still a large disparity and a caste based power dynamic still exists and affects those who are “of lower caste” and provides social capital or privilege to those “of higher caste”.

Direct Power and the Caste
Direct power can be defined as “getting someone to do something they wouldn’t otherwise” or having a specific form of influence or dominance over another group. An example of how direct power manifests itself in the caste system in caste-based violence towards the Dalits. According to National Crime Bureau Statistics, in 2016, over 40,801 atrocities against Dalits were recorded.

Indirect Power and the Caste
A reason why most of these atrocities against Dalits often aren’t investigated is because of the political and social systems in place which favor the Upper Castes. The caste system is deeply rooted in the religious teachings of Hinduism and that is reflected in social systems and institutionalisation which creates disparity in the lower caste. An example of this “indirect power” could be the education system in India. Most well funded and “English medium” schools in India are privatised. A majority of Dalit children depend on public schools for education, which are underfunded and do not provide the same social capital to students as a private school. This traps Dalits into a cycle where they are unable to progress as systemic caste-ism makes it more difficult to attain upward social mobility.

Another example of Indirect Power in caste would be seen as “power of non-decision making”, where many upper and middle class Indians believe that the Caste system no longer exists as they themselves haven’t had any experiences of their own. This denial of its existence is also present in multiple international Indian diasporas where caste based atrocities by Indians is not recognised. An example of this is how British-Dalits have been rallying for protection against caste based discrimination but have faced opposition from different religious and political groups.

Issue of Power in Protesting Against Anti-abortion Laws
Protests against the tightening of anti-abortion laws in Poland began in October 2020 after the Constitutional Court ruled that the possibility of an abortion due to a severe and irreversible impairment of the fetus or an incurable life-threatening illness is unconstitutional. These were the biggest mass protests in Poland since the political changes in 1989. The protests were widely commented on in the international media and over one hundred cities around the world had joined the women's strike. Such spectacular notability could be explained through the concept of power.

Power of Gender Inequality
Polish politics is dominated by men. Currently, there are 460 MPs in the Polish parliament and only 134 of them are women which makes up roughly 29% of members. The Constitutional Court comprises of 15 judges among which there are only 2 women. The members of the ruling party Law and Justice, who appoint judges to the Court and are the originators and promotors of the anti-abortion laws, are 76% men. Life and rights of almost 20 million women and their future children depend on views and decisions of 13 men. This political dynamics shows that not only power of gender is utilised in legalisation but also the power of authority body.

Power of Language
The women's strike organisers were straightforward and clearly defined their goals. Most of the slogans were based on short and uncensored insults directed at the ruling party. The protesters followed their example very quickly and millions of Poles have been fighting for women's rights ever since, using common slogans and symbols that appeared on the banners. The red lightning trend has been disseminated through social media and thus recognised as a national symbol of the protesters. What is more, the promoters of the abortion rights movement, thanks to their persuasive and strictly established demands, were able to convince millions of people to strike, block the traffic in the Polish capital, cause a decrease in the support of the ruling party and, most importantly, declare more drastic ultimata such as the resignation of the party leader.

The Issue of Power in Archaeology
Archaeology is the scientific study of the material remaining from past human life and activities. Archeologist's research takes two forms of out-of-doors fieldwork: field work and excavation. Indeed, the conservation of archeologist sites is key to the studies of culture and study of past lives.

Archaeology and Colonialism
Nowadays, many archeological objects coming from all around the world can be found in western museums. Indeed, the colonial history of western countries has permitted Archeologists to transport artefacts from their original location to western institutions. The image given to archeology during the 20th century has been falsified in order to justify the culture appropriation that was taking place. This appropriation of culture was justified by Europeans by claiming that without their protection, these objects are threatened to disappear.

The term 'Colonial discourse' or 'discourse of civilization' has been used by several scholars to describe the condescending attitude of the colonizers toward the colonized people. Indeed, according to this, Western colonial powers took and still take the responsibility to protect non-western cultures, hence assuming that they are not capable of doing it themselves.

The Example of Egypt

Egyptology is a discipline focused on study of ancient Egypt in several aspect notably archaeology. It was created in the 18th century when Napoléon Bonaparte invaded Egypt. Egyptologist were mainly western scholars for centuries, which is why until recently most of the discoveries were claimed by Europeans. However, a shift in these power dynamics is happening nowadays. The latest discovery of trove of treasures in the Al-Asasif Cemetery in Luxor was made by Egyptian excavators for the first time. Nowadays, an important amount of Egyptian ancient artefacts and pieces are exposed in western museums. However, Egyptian are fighting to gets its smuggled heritage back. Over the last years many objects have been sent back to their place of origin but some are still in discussion such as the Rosetta Stone which has been displayed at the British Museum in London for more than 200 years. Another impact of colonialism in the field of archaeology, in Egypt, is the question of the teaching language. Indeed, in this field, archeologist tend to communicate in English, French, and German with no consideration for the location and official language. This causes the exclusion Egyptian archeologists and maintains the power dynamic of colonialism.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Lentis/Virtual Reality

Overview
(VR) is a computer-generated simulation that augments reality. It has been on the rise since the late 1960s and hasn’t fully come to fruition. Nevertheless, VR’s current advantages are being utilized in many sectors of life. For example, it is revolutionizing how doctors teach and build trust in patients, and helping police departments train officers and improve community relationships. These new developments in technology have great potential, but must be accompanied by an understanding of the society they are part of. While the future of VR is ambiguous, it’s direction has diverged from its start in entertainment and expanded into a multitude of professional and practical applications.

Health
The medical field is founded on research and development of new technologies, which is why the utility of VR in health and medicine is high. Surgeons are able to train in realistic simulations that are low-risk. This benefits the patient as well; these simulations are a great way to educate the patient, which allows for better treatment. Another area where VR shines is in PTSD and phobia therapy. In this treatment, patients are gradually exposed to the stimuli that trigger an adverse reaction. Virtual is the keyword here, since it’s not real it alleviates a lot of stress and allows the patient to overcome the mental block. A similar approach is taken with recovering drug addicts. The subject is slowly shown stimuli that may cause a relapse, which will reveal the trigger and help them say “no” when it actually occurs. Stroke and head injury victims also benefit from VR because it allows them to practice navigating and balancing in different terrains, which increases their mobility. A virtual environment can provide a distraction for patients whom anesthesia may be dangerous in order to manage pain. Physical therapy has also integrated VR by creating precise workouts and stretches that can be analyzed.

A recent innovation of virtual reality in the medical field has been 3-D modeling. These models are unlike any done before, they are interactive and use real people. Sandi Rodoni, a three-time patient for aneurysm surgery got to use this kind of model first hand. The model combined Sandi’s MRIs, CT scans, and angiograms to construct a 3-D representation that could be rotated and zoomed in making it completely interactive and immersive. Before her third surgery, she was able to put on a VR headset and see inside her own brain! The doctor was able to point out the inflamed blood vessel and teach her how they remedy it. The testament from Sandi, “Because I had been through this before, I thought I knew it all until I saw this,” exemplifies how useful this technology can be. It’s clear that the benefits of VR are felt in the medical industry and more advantages are still to come.

Policing
The issue of police brutality and bias is a key issue in current American society. Excessive use of force by police has a disproportionate impact on people of color. Numerous studies have shown that both racial biases and high stress can lead to errors in shooting decisions made by police officers. There is no simple fix for this problem, but there is a growing consensus that significant changes must be made in the way police are trained.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which advocates against police misconduct, states that it works to promote improved police training and increased collaboration between police departments and community stakeholders. When asked about the potential applications of virtual reality in police training, Jeffery Robinsin, the deputy legal director of the ACLU, explained that the technology has potential, but that its impact will depend on how it is used. He offered several key questions that must be considered: “Are these simulations going to be racially biased? How are these programs set up?”

The NYPD has recently turned to virtual reality in multiple areas. It has used VR in training in order to expose officers to high-stress situations so that their actions in those scenarios can be measured. Because this training is done virtually, mistakes do not result in actual harm being done; the goal is for these mistakes to be corrected before they are made out in the real world. The NYPD is also using VR for community outreach. The department’s “Options” program allows young people to enter a virtual simulation where they are presented with various scenarios, and must make choices regarding what to do in each case. The scenarios are designed by the local youth, and promote emotional intelligence and deescalation. Involving the community in the design of the program was important; as the police commissioner says, “public safety is a shared responsibility, and it’s crucial that we include the voice of our city’s youth in neighborhood policing.” Just as with officer training, the goal of the program is for individuals to make mistakes in the simulation and learn from them, so as to not make those mistakes in the real world, when there are real consequences. Working with the community in New York City to develop the "Options" program promises to be more effective in achieving the common goal of a safer community than a program developed without any outside input. The local residents are just as significant of stakeholders in the program's success as the NYPD is.

VirTra is a technology company developing a platform for virtual police training. They differentiate themselves from other simulation-based training by using “photo-realistic technologies” so that the virtual subjects an individual interacts with during training look like actual humans. VirTra is working to address the issue of implicit bias in police training by creating multiple similar “scenarios that are identical to each other” except that the variants include participants of different races. This way, the results can be used to “evaluate if there are bias issues affecting the use of force.” The company also provides scenarios that can be used to detect gender bias. The goal is for these biases to be identified before they result in the misuse of force in the real world. Efforts like these to keep racial bias out of virtual simulations, and furthermore to attempt to detect such bias in users, are steps in the direction of addressing the concerns raised by Jeffery Robinson of the ACLU regarding how VR technologies are used in practice.

Limitations and Concerns
While there are many use cases for virtual reality, questions about the medium’s viability persist. A primary concern is that the technology simply isn’t there yet. There is currently no commonplace item that introduces haptic feedback, the mimicking of the physical sensations that people experience daily because the standard form of control is via one-handed controllers. These controllers diminish the immersion for the user and potentially limit the effectiveness of VR as a tool. In a similar vein, there have been concerns over the safety of the user while immersed in virtual reality. A study has shown that fully-immersive VR leads to users having roughly the same balance as when their eyes are closed. This inherently poses a risk to the user because as the immersion quality increased, the user’s balance dropped further. Falling while disturbed holds special relevance with the current generation of VR due to the highest fidelity headsets requiring a large cord to connect them to a computer with graphics capabilities. This problem, while it can be overcome, does prove to be an obstacle that the user must overcome to have a more immersive experience.

Outside the realm of technical limitations, there are also issues regarding human interaction and VR. One of the most common symptoms of VR use is motion sickness which can drastically limit immersion. This and other human responses to VR, such as eye strain and disorientation, do not seem to disappear as the virtual realm’s quality increases but is a result of other, unstimulated senses. This implies that should the technical aspects of VR reach a standard that can fool the user’s mind cordlessly, other factors would still need to be improved to actually provide full immersion to the user, such as stimulating other senses and refinement of the way the user interacts with the system.

The issues with human interactions with technology do not stop here, however, as Virtual Reality also brings sexism with it. Researchers Stanney et al. have found that Virtual Reality headsets, like the HTC Vive, do not build headsets that can adjust to the interpupillary distance (IPD) of women as often as men. This leads to an increased likelihood of motion sickness because the headset does not fit the user, similar to how poor-fitting glasses can disorient the user. This resulted in some men’s rights advocates arguing that “It’s not VR’s fault! It’s biology!”, among other comments. They argue that if the product doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit, since it can also affect males this way. Given the fact that computer scientists are only 18% female, it is more plausible that the headset was scarcely tested on female users, resulting in the unintentional bias observed with IPD adjustments.

Reality Labs (Facebook/Meta Platforms)
Reality Labs is a company of Meta Platforms that is responsible for their AR and VR research and development. Its origins began in August 2012 as Oculus, a company that developed the Oculus Rift, a VR video game headset. In 2014, due to Oculus’ lack of funding, Facebook (now Meta) acquired Oculus for approximately $2 billion and combined it into Reality Labs, which was Facebook’s VR/AR business. While Oculus' headsets were originally built for gaming, Facebook saw potential in its uses for other developing fields, such as video calling and teaching .They have since developed headsets like the Meta Quest and created Horizon Worlds, which is their VR videogame.

In 2022, Facebook changed their name to Meta Platforms to reflect their changing of focus from being a social media platform to building the metaverse, an internet-based virtual world that can be accessed with their VR/AR headsets. Meta estimated that they would be spending $10 billion in developing the metaverse and its hardware.

Meta Headsets
Virtual reality headsets first began as very bulky and expensive devices. There were many commercialization attempts by several companies that led to failure because of the price of parts and how advanced the technology was for its time. In 2013, Oculus developed a headset, called Devkit 1, at a much lower cost ($300) and was more advanced than the devices that came before it. Future enhancements to this device included an OLED display and insertion of black frames to improve images and decrease dizziness. One of their most significant improvements was an external camera to track location and to change viewpoints depending on how the head is positioned.

In 2016, the original Oculus Rift headset was released on Steam VR and Oculus Home platforms. It featured Oculus Touch controllers, which allowed the user to interact with the VR environment. It featured a much lower price point than the VIVE, a headset created by HTC, and was operatable using both the Oculus Touch and conventional Xbox controllers. One downside, however, was that it required a PC to operate, as it did not have computing hardware of its own (e.g. a graphics card or CPU). The headset is visually plain and has a black rectangular visor. The headset uses 2 external sensors, powered by a computer, to track the movement of the headset and Touch controllers. Titles on the Oculus store that are compatible with the Rift headsets include EVE: Valkyrie, a multiplayer space dogfighting game, and Lucky's Tale, a platformer video game. The Steam VR platform also includes Virtual Desktop, which allows one to view their computer screen in a VR environment, allowing a user to perform tasks or watch videos from within their headset.

After Meta’s acquisition, they released the Oculus Quest, which no longer required a PC because of its mobile computing hardware. It also features hand tracking, allowing players to use headsets without the use of a controller, and a much faster bootup time. Since then, the Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro have been successors and feature mainly performance and ergonomic enhancements to the device.

Relation to Traditional Social Media
The metaverse was intended to be an extension of traditional social media, not a replacement. Most social media platforms used today are owned by Meta such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Some ways that it is different from traditional social media is the interaction with other users. In these applications, users interact with people in a “shared” virtual space. Some of the most popular ones are VRChat, Rec Room and Horizon Worlds. In each of these applications, user interact with each other in a “lounge”-like setting. Users can play games with each other and speak with each other through voice. Big Screen is another very popular way for users to interact with one another with the difference being that it is in a "movie theater"-like setting where users primarily watch movies together.

There are also many popular Multiplayer VR Games where users can interact with each other such as Among Us, and Echo VR. Among Us first came out as a very popular mobile/PC video game where players team up to find the "imposter" in the team. The various elements in the game such as lying and voice-chatting became enhanced once translated into virtual reality. In virtual reality, users can use their body language by using their controllers, which couldn't be done before on mobile/PC. This, mixed with real-time voice-chatting, ease of controls, and a first-person view, the game soon rose to the top of the Oculus store.

Corporate Interest
There is a lot of corporate interest that is going into Meta’s jump into the metaverse.

Meta’s profits were starting to stagnate and in June of 2022, had its first decline in revenue since going public. This was due to lack of growth in their social media applications such as Facebook and Instagram. They face competition from the very popular social media platform TikTok. They also face ad competition from Apple's privacy changes on it's operating system as well as Amazon.

This has led to Meta trying to build the next big thing that users use, which is their “metaverse”. This is also why they chose to change their name from Facebook to Meta for metaverse. This has not come without problems, however. They invested over $10 billion into virtual reality in 2022 and have reported a $3.67 billion loss.

Their jump has also led to issues such as their stock decline. Meta stock decreased 71% between November 8, 2021 and November 8, 2022 based on Google's stock tracking functionality. This can be seen due to investors not having as much faith in the metaverse that Meta is pushing.

On the upside, however, there have been numerous large companies attempting to join Meta’s metaverse. Google has announced that they are pushing applications such as Google Maps in the future. Microsoft has already integrated many applications such as Office 365, Excel, Word, and games. Binance has been bringing NFTs to the metaverse. And Epic Games has been bringing VR games to the metaverse.

Community Reception of the Metaverse
The metaverse has received both positive and negative reactions from the global community. On the one hand, many people have praised the metaverse for its potential to revolutionize the way we interact with the digital world, due to the virtual platform that the metaverse provides for users to communicate, work, and play with others from all over the world. On the other hand, some potential users have raised concerns about the security and privacy implications of the metaverse.

One issue that has thus far impeded mainstream adoption of the metaverse is the relatively low consumer awareness of the platform. In one study conducted by marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy in 2022, only 28% of US and 22% of UK respondents claimed to understand the metaverse well enough to explain it to someone else. About 20% of participants also reported being confused about the metaverse and how it differs from other VR applications.

A separate survey from Ipos similarly found that less than one in five Americans were able to correctly explain what the metaverse is. However, this survey also showed that a large number of people have at least some knowledge of the metaverse, with 38% of respondents claiming to be familiar with the platform. Although many people may not fully understand the metaverse or what it is trying to be, interest in the platform remains high, with just under a third of participants who were informed about the metaverse during the study expressing curiosity.

Another potential issue facing the metaverse is consumer concerns regarding privacy and data ownership, as a platform such as the metaverse allows for a wide range of user data to be collected, and potentially monetized or misused. Given Facebook's previous record of mishandling user data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which user data was collected without their consent to help inform political advertisements, such concerns may be warranted.

Potential Impacts on Future Social Interaction
The metaverse has already begun to alter our current social interactions, as people are able to communicate with one another in a more fluid and dynamic way in the virtual space. Through the metaverse, people can interact with one another in real-time, much like they can in real-world interactions. The metaverse also has the potential to change the way we interact in the physical world, as it allows for people to stay connected even when they are not physically present. Through the metaverse, people can attend events, meetings, and classes remotely, allowing them to still take part in activities despite the limitations of physical distance.

Two of the main products from Meta in the metaverse are Horizon Workrooms and Horizon Worlds, designed for office use and entertainment respectively.

Horizon Workrooms is a VR environment that simulates a traditional office work or meeting space, and allows participants to interact in VR much as they would if they were actually present in the office. This, along with the recent expansion and popularity of working remotely following the Covid-19 pandemic, could lead to a rise in the viability and availability of remote jobs, which could have a dramatic effect on how people interact. Since there would no longer be any need for employees to attend meetings physically, it would likely decrease the frequency of workplace interactions, particularly face-to-face interactions.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Horizon Worlds, a simulated VR game environment centered around interacting virtually with other players. Technology like this could make gaming a more social experience for players due to the increased immersion, while also having strong similarities to more traditional social media, and could potentially integrate everyday social interactions even more tightly with the internet.

Conclusions
Virtual reality, like many other forms of technology, has exciting potential applications in many areas of society. This interest has expanded past the initial focus on entertainment, and now includes the areas of health and policing, among many others. However, it is important for the people developing virtual reality systems to work with and understand the people they are building these systems for. Both the positive and negative impacts of the technology on the target groups must be considered. Analysis must not stop there. As with essentially any new development, there will be non-obvious, yet significant, effects on other groups within society. It is the responsibility of those developing the new technology to pay attention to these relationships as well.

There is great opportunity for further analysis of the applications of virtual reality in many domains, such as education, research, and the military. In all of these fields, VR systems should not be developed in a vacuum. Those which are developed in collaboration with direct and indirect stakeholders, and which consider their impact on society, will likely prove more successful and should be studied.

title: Lentis/Virtual Reality


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History of video games/Platforms/Phantom

History

Infinium Labs was originally based in Florida.

When the system was revealed at the Windows Embedded Device booth at CES in January 2004, the demonstration unit was never powered on, leading to skepticism about the console.

Later in January 2004 Kevin Bachus, a key developer of the original Xbox, was brought in to Infinium Labs.

The Phantom was shown at E3 2004.

The Phantom was supposed to be launched on March 31st of 2004, but this launch was missed.

The Phantom was again shown at a Microsoft booth at CES 2005.

The SEC investigated a possible pump and dump scheme connected to the console in 2006. By 2007 the company developing Phantom had three employees and significant amounts of debt.

The enduring legacy of the Phantom is as a symbol of game console vaporware - a product that was promoted but never materialized. While the Phantom was not the first console to suffer this fate, nor the last, its high profile promotions made it among the most notable.

Technology
"There's really no barrier to entry for publishers."

The Phantom was to be a digital only console, streaming games online, a novel concept at the time. In 2004 only 39% of American households had broadband internet service at home, which likely would cause issues had the console launched. In 2004 some press speculated about streaming movies on the service, and while unsubstantiated, this was notable as that streaming movies had yet to be widely adopted by consumers or proven in the field at the time.

The Phantom was supposed to have a processor clocked at 3.0 gigahertz and 256 megabytes of RAM.

At CES 2004 the Phantom was said to run a version of Embedded Windows.

2015 prototype
In 2015 ArsTechnica reported on a possible prototype system, said to contain the following components.
 * Socket A processor.
 * NVIDIA FX 5700 AGP Graphics card.
 * 10/100 megabit ethernet.
 * Cable modem.

External Resources

 * Ultimate Console Database - Phantom page with commentary from the 2000's.
 * Video Game Console Library - Phantom page with photos of models and specs.


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History of video games/Platforms/V.Smile

History
The V.Smile was released in 2004 for $59.99.

The V.Smile Motion was released in either 2008 or 2009 for $50 to $60. This console featured simple motion controls, likely as a wider trend in response to the Nintendo Wii.

Technology
Games for the V.Smile was cross compatible with the portable V.Smile Pocket. Game cartridges were referred to as Smartridges.

The V.Smile systems was capable of decent quality vocal samples.

V.Smile
The home V.Smile console is powered by three C type batteries, or by an optional AC adapter.

V.Smile Pocket
The V.Smile Pocket has a backlit color LCD with a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. The V.Smile Pocket has an AV out cable.

The V.Smile Pocket is powered by four AA type batteries.

V.Smile Motion
Motion controls were based on tilt and only used as a simple alternative to the joystick, unlike more advanced motion controls at the time.

A V.Link flash drive could be used with a computer to get roundabout online functionality.

The console is powered by four AA batteries and the wireless motion controller is powered by three AAA batteries.

Games
All V.Smile games allow for two player.


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Mundeze/Grammar/Phonology

Alphabet
The writing system used is the latin script*, except for Q and X. The alphabet has therefore 24 letters (only lower case letters are used, even at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns): a, e, o, i, u, y, w, k, c, s, t, f, p, g, j, z, d, v, b, h, l, n, r, m

The letters order is arranged into 3 groups: In each group, the consonants are classified by place of articulation, from laryngeals to labials. The letters have approximately the sound values of the IPA, with the exception of y /j/, c /ʃ/ and j /ʒ/. * Mundeze has also its own alphabet, alfare. It is a proposal for a new “letterary” designed to make the writing much more consistent and intuitive.
 * 5 vowels (a, e, o, i, u)
 * 2 semivowels (y, w)
 * 17 consonants classified in voiceless (k, c, s, t, f, p), voiced (g, j, z, d, v, b) and those that don’t have a voiceless/voiced equivalence (h, l, n, r, m)

Digraphs
Strictly speaking, we can consider that there are 4 digraphs:
 * tc, to note the phoneme [t͡ʃ], as in the word cheap. Example : tcokolate (chocolate)
 * ts, to note the phoneme [t͡s], as in the word cats. Example : tsi (to know)
 * dj, to note the phoneme [d͡ʒ], as in the word jump. Example : rodja (red)
 * dz, to note the phoneme [d͡z], as in the word pounds. Example : zidzi (to saw)

Name of letters
In Mundeze, the letters name is obviously different than in English. For example, W is not pronounced “double you”, but “wa”. Here’s how the letters are named: a, e, o, i, u ya, wa ka, ca, sa, ta, fa, pa go, jo, zo, do, vo, bo ha, la, na, ro, mo

Some of them are pronounced with an A, others with an O. This differentiation is used to distinguish the letters when they are spelled. It prevents the confusion between T and D, or N and M (with the consequence that we often must specify “T as in Tango” or “N as in November”).

Diacritics
The only diacritics used in Mundeze are: Example peli = to speak pelí = speak!
 * the acute accent, that marks the stressed syllable in verbs conjugated in the jussive mood

Examples hǎǎ = element of surprise pwě = kiss tǐ = irritated sign ǐho = cry of a donkey hǒ fff = snoring
 * and the háček (caron), that mounts on the vowel of the syllable whose flow is ingressive (breathed in). It is therefore only used to transcribe onomatopoeias in documents, comic strips…

Pronunciation
In Mundeze, there is a nearly one-to-one correspondence of letter to sound. In this way it is impossible to make spelling mistakes. The sound of a letter is never altered by surrounding letters, except in some cases to facilitate the pronunciation: Examples : demokrate (democracy), sub/ə/bode (underground)
 * If the N precedes K, G, M or another N, it can be pronounced /ŋ/ (velarized pronunciation, as in “sing”) or /n/, whether or not between two roots in a compounded word.
 * If a voiced consonant precedes a voiceless consonant, the first one can become voiceless. If a voiceless consonant precedes a voiced consonant, the first one can be voiced.
 * We can add an epenthetic (written) -O- or (unwritten) /ə/ – schwa – in the case of we cannot pronounce a consonant cluster (in particular due to a word compound), but the stress can never be on it.
 * If the C, S, J or Z are preceded by T or D, the pronunciation must be affricated.

Explanation: an affricate is a combination of an occlusive consonant (like T or D) with fricative consonant (like S or Z) produced in the same place of articulation. For example, in “Whi te sh oes” the T is at the end of one word, and the SH at the beginning of the next; but in “Why ch oose”, this two sounds occur together at the beginning of the second word. The place where the occlusive T is pronounced is not the same. So “Jackie Chan” should be transcribed “djaki tcan“.

Intonation
Within a word, the stress is always on the syllable that precedes the grammatical suffix (the syllables created by an epenthetic vowel don’t count), except for the verbs conjugated in the jussive mood (and for which the stress is marked by an acute accent on the verbal suffix). The stress is therefore generally on the last syllable of the word root.

Examples (the stressed syllable is bolded/underlined) atci (sneeze) = atc- + -i ➜ the grammatical suffix is -i, so the stress is on the previous syllable. neyos (never) = the root is neyos- ➜ there is no grammatical suffix, so the stress is on the last syllable of the root. biunti (twenty) = the root is biunti- ➜ there is no grammatical suffix, so the stress is on the last syllable of the root. biuntia (twentieth) = biunti- + -a ➜ the grammatical suffix is -a, so the stress is on the previous syllable. guli (to drink) = gul- + -i ➜ the grammatical suffix is -i, so the stress is on the previous syllable. gulí (drink!) ➜ the verb is conjugated in the jussive mood, so the stress is on the last syllable, the one of the verbal suffix. gulia (drank) = gul- + -i + -a ➜ the grammatical suffix is -a, so the stress is on the previous syllable. malo (she) = the root is malo- ➜ there is no grammatical suffix, so the stress is on the last syllable of the root. maloa (her) = malo- + -a ➜ the grammatical suffix is -a, so the stress is on the previous syllable (on the last syllable of the root).

Phonotactics
Syllables consist of: (onset)-nucleus-(coda).

The syllable structure in Mundeze is (C)(C)(S)V(S/C).

Onset
Syllables may or may not have an onset. In Mundeze, the onset can consist of any single consonant, or any of the following consonant clusters:

ky-, cy-, sy-, ty-, tcy-, tsy-, fy-, py-, gy-, jy-, zy-, dy-, djy-, dzy-, vy-, by-, ly-, ny-, ry-, my- kw-, cw-, sw-, tw-, tcw-, tsw-, fw-, pw-, gw-, jw-, zw-, dw-, djw-, dzw-, vw-, bw-, hw-, lw-, nw-, rw-, mw- kl-, fl-, pl-, gl-, vl-, bl- kr-, tr-, fr-, pr-, gr-, dr-, vr-, br- tc-, ts-, dj-, dz- sk-, sky-, skw-, st-, sp-, sl-, sn-, sm-

Nucleus
All syllables have a nucleus. In Mundeze, the nucleus consists of any single vowel (a, e, o, i, u) or one of the following 4 combinations: -ay-, -aw-, -ey- and -oy-. The combinations -ew-, -iy-, -iw-, -ow-, -uw- and -uy- are not allowed.

Coda
Syllables may or may not have a coda. In Mundeze, the coda in word-final position consists of any of the following single consonants: -y, -w, -c, -s, -f, -l, -n, -r, -m Within a word, the coda may consist of any single consonant. In practice, coda-onset consonant clusters consisting of two stops (-kt-, -pt-, etc.) or two fricatives (-sf-, -cv-, etc.) are avoided. However, proper names and culture-specific words may contain coda-onset double stops and other unusual consonant clusters (vodka, etc.), so long as there is only one consonant in the coda and the onset is limited to those listed above.

title: Mundeze/Grammar/Phonology


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title: Template:Smallrefs


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User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Power/Power in/through Education

Power of education
Access to education is a basic human right. It is an important aspect in everyone's life and it has the power to open up a variety of different opportunities in our life, yet there are still too many children, especially young girls that do not receive education. Education improves both the satisfaction of the individual but also the community and helps individuals develop personality, their values and greatly develops confidence. Education also helps us prepare for the next phase of our life (moving from high school to university, university into work phase, etc.). Education is especially important in the lives of children.

“In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other part of the world, we are starving for education... it's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond.” - Malala Yousafzai

Education provides many people with great opportunities to pursue a career and obtain a certain status in society. In a lot of countries education also has the power to help people out of poverty or to support young girls from being married off at a very young age. It also has the power to lower the criminal rate. Research has supported this, showing that when rates of high school completion rise only by 1% for men, this would save the U.S around $1.4 billion costs from crime.

Power of educators/education system
The power of educators or the education system is often underestimated. Teachers have the responsibility to encourage students and support their expectations to help them pursue their dreams or careers in the future. Positive educators have the power to help young students and inspire them to make a difference.

Interdisciplinarity of the power of education: climate change
More importantly, we are facing a world issue: climate change. Research has continuously shown that education for young girls would not only benefit them personally, but could also positively affect our planet, and help more than green cars, etcs. Project Drawdown, which came up with the 100 most beneficial ways to contribute to the problem of rising greenhouse gasses, stated that the number six initiative should be educating girls. Furthermore, educating young girls could result in reducing 51.48 gigatons of emissions by 2050, says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). However, access to good quality education has shown to result in “later marriage for girls, fewer and healthier children and a longer life with greater economic prosperity.”


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User talk:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Power/Power in Physics

Good that you included your "interpretation" or definition of the word, so that everyone reading has the same definition in mind. I really like how you included what power is in Physics but also the different power structures within the field of Physics to understand inequalities within the discipline. It was really great to look at the different perspectives of power you can use when looking at a discipline.


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User:MyselfQuoter

Chapter - 1 The Living World

Very Short Answer Type Questions

1.What does ICBN stand for? A.[i] ICBN stands for International Code for Botanical Nomenclature. [ii] ICBN provides Principles and Criteria for scientific naming of Plants.

2.What is Flora ? A.Flora contains the actual account of habitat, distribution and systematic listing of plants of a given area.

3.Define Metabolism. What is the difference between anabolism and catabolism. A.Metabolism is the sum of all reactions occuring in an organism.

title: User:MyselfQuoter


text:
User:SteRos7/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar 2/Power

Male Power in Global Politics
We have witnessed in the 21st century a shifting relation in global politics due to the end of the Cold War, globalization and the increasing importance of non-state actors. This change has resulted in a surge of interconnectedness that can be seen through the dominant Euro and Schengen zones in the European Union. Indeed, to solve issues such as global warming, countries should work together instead of racing continuously for increased power and national gain. However, a recent thought has emerged stating that global interconnectedness is being restrained by the dominance of male led governments” and their focus on increasing national power and economy.

It is true that since the beginning of democratic governments and politics, more men have been in positions of power than women. For example, there are only three female justices in the United States Supreme Court, 408 seats out of 535 in the 2020 US congress are men; and there has only been one female Vice-President of the United States; under Joe Biden’s administration. Furthermore, the USA has seen in the last decades increasing republican ideas that are power oriented (first military power with an annual spending of approximatively 934 billion US Dollars ), competitive and logic based. Additionally, these values are stereotypically assimilated to “male politics” and male power, in opposition to female politics that use “compassion, intuition and feelings”. However, countries such as Germany that are central pillars in the European Union have national governments that are dominated by men as much as the US government (218 out of 491 seats of Germany’s 19th parliament were occupied by women ). We can therefore see that men’s politics is not a reason for a country to seek an increase of national power to the detriment of interconnectedness; Germany and the United States both have a majority of men in the government; nonetheless, their behaviour in the global scene is very different. While Germany prioritizes and benefits from the European Union the USA limits its dependance and its involvement in such supranational institutions.

It can therefore be seen that “male power” in politics does not necessarily mean a focus on a country’s national interests to the detriment of globalization and supranational organizations. While power is the ability to influence the behavior of others, the behavior of a country on the international scene is not determined by female or male power but rather by the political party of the leader.

Generational Issues
Planck's principle, as well as similar ideas presented by Dawin and Lavoisier, state that new idea's do not come to dominate by converting the proponants of the theories it is overturning but by their death and the next generation learning the ideas as given. This is likely to be a result of the power imbalance between the young and old in the universities as it takes a long time to climb to the top of these institutions as older people including scientists are generally less reseptive to new ideas. Research into age discrimination within academia also provides evidence for the presence of power dynamics in academic progression; implying that age and 'time surved' plays large part in decisions regarding promotion as well as competance and experience. This is an example of institutional power, younger people are simply not considered for higher positions in departements due to the observation that most of those with the skills for these positions are older. Overall the issue of idea's and individuals making their way up the academic ladder is a intersection of institutional power and individual's unconcious biases against idea's that they are unfamiliar with.

Gender Issues
In the united states only 20% of physics degrees and PHDs are earned by Women, and similar figures are reflected around the world. The lack of representation of multiple issues of power as well as sex differences in traits. The power issues between genders in physics departments mostly constist of preconceptional biases perpatrated by physics being primerily dominated by men and overrepresented in textbooks and other physics. This is one cause that contributes to most women not considering a career in physics from an early age.

Other power issues contributing to fewer women reaching higher positions in physics include difficulty fitting into a male dominated workplace and the decision making processes affecting career progression. Some factors that contribute to this are; men being likely more to overestimate their skills and women being more likely to underestimate, women being more to feel excluded from making connections across and up the hierachy and expectations of female steriotypes playing out in microagressions and the decision making process. These create an intersectional power imbalance between men and women in physics leading to an inneficient hierachy which is likely to hamper scientific progress by excluding potentially innovative women.

However, it is unlikely that power imbalances and descriminatory biases within physics account for all of the gender discrepancy in the discipline. One factor that explains part of the underrepresentation of women in physics is differences in the distribution of interests and priorities between men and women. Especially that women are, on average, more likely than men to prioritise 'balance and relationships' over material success and have a considerable statistical tendancy towards an interest in people (in the broadest sence refering to arts, humanities, care, etcetera) in contrast to the male tendancy towards interest in things (again in a very broad sense; STEM, data, construction, etcetera). Some more possible factors include; the female bias towards verbal intelligence as opposed to the male average tending towards spacial intelligence, and maternity (maternity especially in the high status and income positions that require a long and constant career path to reach).

Some argue that the difference is due to the width of the male general intelligence distribution increasing the male to female ratio at the extremes. However, measuring mean gender differences is extremely difficult due to the huge overlap in distrabution and the time and energy required on the part of the respondants to collect good psychometric data and many of the studies contradict oneanother.

Conclusion
Generational issues of power in physics and other sciences may well hamper scientific progress. Gender issues of power represent a portion of the reasons for the underepresentation of women in physics but it is unlikely that eliminating the power issues would result in equal representation due to the statistical differences in interests and traits.

It remains unclear in the literature how the power issues can be adressed as a whole. However, there is evidence that diversity cognative learning and reactions training had small but significant and lasting effects in combating unconcious biases. It is also suggested that increasing the representation of women in physics related content would increase the number of women enroling in physics courses. This is likely to increase the number progressing onto PHD level and academic posts, diluting the male dominated culture and increasing the likelyhood of innovation by a greater proportion of humanities best minds working in the field of study.

Introduction
Literary Theory “is a description of the underlying principles, one might say the tools, by which we attempt to understand literature.” It draws on theories such as Feminism, Ecocriticism and Marxism to reveal the significance of different social issues within a text, and how they affect both the author and the reader. Many issues in society are rooted in power imbalances, and as such, these theories often explore the power dynamics between an oppressor and the oppressed.

Feminist Theory
Feminist literary theory explores how the power of the patriarchy manifests in literature. It is concerned with “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women”, a theme that is hugely prevalent in many texts. For example, in The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, sex is constantly associated with violation and even “public rape”, and although it is clear that Kundera attempts to criticise the patriarchal values of Communist Czechoslovakia, his writing is often interpreted as misogynistic rather than progressive, as it reinforces and emphasises the power relations between men and women in society. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’urbervilles, Tess is the epitome of a victim to the patriarchy. Throughout the novel, her “purity” is challenged by Victorian society’s patriarchal values and the church, even though her situation is (as it is with most human beings) too complex to be superficially labelled. Through indirect and direct coercion, she is steered through life with little control, a reflection of the oppression of women’s independence across history.

Eco-critical Theory
Eco-critical Theory is a relatively new form of literary criticism. It is “a broad way for literary and cultural scholars to investigate the global ecological crisis through the intersection of literature, culture, and the physical environment.” It is mostly concerned with power as language, as the way we construct nature leads to, and is a product of our relationship with the natural world. In Sylvia Plath’s anthology Ariel, she criticises the brutality of nature’s treatment and the power dynamics between humanity and nature. Although critics have argued that Plath’s “eye bounds the limits of the world, and all of nature exists only as a vehicle for her sensibility”, she nevertheless attempts to grant nature agency through her poetry, constructing it in such a way that we not only feel remorse for our actions but admiration at nature’s power. Other poets such as Robert Frost and Wordsworth are also recognised as eco-critical poets, granting nature a voice and beauty through the power of their language.

Marxist Theory
Marxist literary theory “is a loose term describing literary criticism based on socialist and dialectic theories. Marxist criticism views literary works as reflections of the social institutions from which they originate.” Literary texts are considered part of the superstructure, which emerges as a result of the economic base, and in turn supports its existing values (dominant hegemony). However, sometimes particularly progressive texts become part of the emergent hegemony, which puts forward ideas that may become part of the future dominant hegemony. As Marx sometimes referred to the superstructure a “consciousness”, we could interpret these texts as what Steven Lukes’ describes as the Third Dimension of Power : the power to shape perceptions, thoughts and preferences. For example, in Death of a Salesman, which criticises the destructive elements of the American Dream through the portrayal of Willy Loman’s tragic downfall, the audience is left to contemplate the roles they play within the structures of a capitalist society.

Conclusion
In conclusion, literary theory is a lens through which we can explore literature from many different angles, to better understand the power relations and issues in our society across history. It allows us to investigate existing but contingent societal structures, and gives us new insight into future possibilities, paving the way for a reimagined relationship with different elements of our world.

Power in Health
In the field of health, the power of practitioners and of medicine itself can be exercised in several ways.

The relationship between the doctor and the patient
The patient depends on the doctor's capacity to heal, as he is the one calling for help. The doctor due to his knowledge and academic title already exercise a form of power over his patient who is helpless regarding his health problems. This power will pass indirectly through the technical and medical language used by the doctor. It will put the patient more or less in difficulty to comprehend the doctor's statement. Moreover, it will also result in the prescription of drugs that will directly act on the patient's body. The powerless patient does not necessarily know what they are composed of. How the doctor is positioned, while treating the patient, can be illustrated through the idea of a protector or saviour, and creates a kind of paternalism. Some doctors may also place themselves at a higher level to obtain objectivity. The doctor’s knowledge builds power in contrast with others who have not pursued the same studies. However, some doctors wonder about this patient/practitioner relationship, sometimes wanting to leave the patient more free and active in the choice of their treatment. Others, on the other hand, believe that the active involvement of a patient would slow down the process of diagnosis. Absolute objectivity is not possible in medicine and cannot be, as every patient is different, but it also leads to many inequalities.

Health and Inequalities
Studies have shown strong inequalities between the treatment of women and men. Women’s pain, for example, is often underestimated. For example, endometriosis is a very disabling disease. It causes pain during menstruation, which sometimes leads to the infertility of the woman. This disease highlights the inequalities between sexes. It affects 1 out of 10 women, however, it has only recently been acknowledged by society. For a long time, the pain suffered by these women was categorized as “women disorders”. This has led to no further research on that matter. Furthermore, it did not allow women, that suffered from this condition, to be properly taken care of. Across the health system itself, gender inequalities are perceived. Women are underrepresented in health research and the treatments found may therefore be unsuitable for them. For example, they only represent 1/3 of the cardiovascular clinical-trial subjects. This lack of representation is very problematic because both sexes are distinct and can therefore react differently to certain treatments. For example, a study conducted on aspirin showed how male-bias in the sample of subjects can limit the research. A low dose of aspirin was found to reduce the risk of heart attacks. However, as this research was only done on male subject, the fact that aspirin could lead to major female gastrointestinal bleeding was forgotten.

This problem is even more accentuated when it comes to minorities or people of colour. A black woman is up to five times more likely to die from complications during pregnancy than a white woman. . Black patients in the US are also more likely to have less recent and cheaper treatments than white people. We could perhaps consider this is an example of power as indirect (institutionalised) coercion, as it is exercised through the mobilisation of bias, and limits the options of those it oppresses.

Conclusion
The population is a subject to the functioning of the health system and its vital decisions. The held power leads to strong inequalities in healthcare. However, health organizations and medical doctors play an important role at the international level. They aim to fight certain diseases in the most disadvantaged countries.

Introduction
Nelson Mandela once said that ‘education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. Indeed, education is a fundamental resource for individuals and societies. It is a basic human right and governments have the duty to ensure access to basic education to its population. But education is much more than just learning how to write, read and count. Education is about moral values and how to behave in society to be considered and have a voice to change things.

The lack of education across the world
The education of populations around the world has been at the center of many international concerns for the past 30 years. The lack of education systems in some countries have had different effects: poor health, shorter lifespan, unemployment, gender inequality, rise of violence or even children’s exploitation in different work fields. In conflict zone, according to UNICEF, 27 million children don’t have access to education and only 66% of countries have achieved the gender parity in primary education. Some countries have entered a vicious circle in which education has been put aside because of attacks, war and poverty. But without education, these countries won’t be able to rebuild their economy and their political system. Education is therefore a symptom and a cause of a country’s fragility.

The power of education
Education is essential both for individuals and countries. It develops human personality, increases open-mindedness and a quality education allows future generations to face big issues such as unemployment and global warming as Helle Thorning-Schmidt said at the 2017 Education World Forum. Education is essential to the success of the 17 sustainable development goals (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Considering education as one of the key factors to reach these goals shows that education is indeed the most powerful weapon for changing the world. Education has the power to reduce poverty by increasing individual earnings. It helps reduce gender inequalities. In fact, women still need to prove that they have the same intellectual capacities than men and the first step to do so is by receiving the same education so that they can stand for themselves. The World Bank made the argument that the most effective intervention a country can make to increase its economic development is to invest in education. When governments invest huge amounts of money in this field, they take into consideration the future benefits it will generate for the country: the construction of a strong, educated and open-minded society. Its power allows countries to build a social capital and long-term economic growth. In most countries, educational programs are created by teachers supervised by governments to share the common values and beliefs of the international system. It is important not to forget the power and importance of the professors who teach new generations how to think by themselves and express their opinions.

Conclusion
Education is the most empowering force in the world. The power of education can lead to nation building and reconciliation by playing a key role in social, economic and human development. Education is the foundation of peace and prosperity.

Power in International Relations and Politics
Power is an important concept that can be observed in multiple fields. Indeed, power can be considered as an authority that has the ability to influence someone’s behaviors and decisions, in the doing of something they wouldn’t do in the first place. International relations have been considered as a concept based on the idea of power, and as multiple politicians such as Hans Morgenthau underlined, the notion of international politics and relations can be dismantled and studied through the multiple views of power.

A unique definition of power can be hard to find. As a matter of fact, when talking about international relations, power can be seen in multiple different ways by contrasting groups. Indeed, for example, the Marxists, depict it as a construction of power and economic ownership in contrast with the political liberal party, that identify power has the synonym of exchange and soft power, between different nations. Joseph Nye, Jr, an international relation theorist and analyst developed in the 1980’s the idea of ‘soft power’. ‘Soft power’ can be described as the way in which a delicate approach made of negotiation and examples can build power within a nation, and is in complete opposition with hard power that uses force, strength usually seen in a military and economic aspect to impose the collaborations of nations. In his book, “Soft Power : the means to Success in World Politics”, he insists on the idea that for a country such as the United states to properly and efficiently develop its control and influence, the appropriate use of hard and soft power is essential. He acknowledges the fact that the United States stress on their military dominance, but it is the soft power that will facilitate the resolution of global issues such as terrorism and global warming has a social interdisciplinary approach is needed.

Asymmetric information
Asymmetric information is a situation where either the seller or buyer in an economic transaction has access to more information than the other party. This imbalance of knowledge gives way to an imbalance of power. For example, a doctor will always have highly technical information about a patient that whilst the patient may have access to, they do not possess the knowledge to understand. This then gives the doctor power over the patient through suggesting medication and treatments that may not be necessary but are also not harmful and will earn him more money. Thus, asymmetric information is one way in which power is an issue in economics.

Gender Power Imbalance
Economics is a discipline concerned with ‘how humans make decisions in the face of scarcity’. A social science, Economics straddles the humanities and STEM by focusing on innately human issues while using mathematics as a central technique for research and analysis. The nature of modern Economics and its increasingly mathematical emphasis can act as a deterrent to those who do not fit the ‘wall-street’ stereotype (typically women and people of colour). However, I think using Economics’ mathematical focus as an excuse for the lack of female representation is overly simplistic and, in most cases false. STEM disciplines are even more maths-oriented and still have over half of PhD’s awarded to women, compared to less than a third in Economics. The inequality in representation is more complex.

The father of economics, Adam Smith, serves as the archetype of the traditional (white and male) economist. Smith and his successors had the power to direct the discipline in a given direction and were unsurprisingly guided by the issues that affected them most. This led to the evolution of a male-tilted power dynamic in the discipline, where the content of research was both less accessible and less motivating for women. Furthermore, there is a significant wage disparity between academic economists, according to a 2019 survey of over 500 Economists men appeared to be paid 12.7% more than women (after adjustment for age). This fact is particularly pertinent in a discipline that defines salary as being an equitable measure of the value added by your labour.

The impact of this inequality and the power imbalance it creates is significant. This is because modern economic research is instrumental in guiding the economic policy of governments and central banks and therefore has a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people. It is paramount that there are a diversity of minds co-operating on this research. Moreover, there are clear links between increased female representation and positive outcomes in business and economics.

Introduction
Urban Planning is a discipline that aims to manage cities and public spaces. It takes advantage of the expertise from the fields of civil engineering, economics, geography and sociology. It is an interdisciplinary area of study that benefits from different perspectives. However, for centuries Urban Planning, policymaking, architecture and politics have been male-dominated. Therefore, to plan shared areas, only the perspective of males has been applied. It created a male bias in Urban Planning. The dominance in this field gave males advantages in daily life. Male-dominated discipline favours one gender and gives possession of power.

Problems
Male power in Urban Planning resulted in cities being created for traditional, heteronormative families. It is connected to male land ownership and control over resources. The unlimited power resulted in the lack of understanding of members of the communities with different life experiences. Urban Planning, as a discipline, lacks inclusivity. The Urban Planning model did not take into consideration differences in race, gender, age or social class .. The daily lives of women are usually drastically different than males. Statistically, women use urban environments and public spaces more often and in different time slots. They require changed commuting solutions and routes. Minorities, females, children and elders are often underrepresented and do not possess the power to introduce new ideas for beneficial changes. Women feel less safe in public spaces than men. They tend to create mental maps of safe routes and limit the use of the public spaces to daytime only.

Solutions
The field of Urban Planning has recently started gender-inclusive changes. It requires an understanding of the standpoint theory and taking into consideration different life perspectives. One of the ideas that have been introduced to the urbanized cities is inclusive traffic lights and crosswalk signs. It does not directly improve the lives of women, but rather gives representation and empowers them. The local governments and urban planners are searching for new strategies to minimize discrimination and promote inclusivity. New strategies involve gender-based data research, women empowerment, creating gender-sensitive shared spaces and educating men to be the advocates of women’s problems. Vienna is one of the cities that have already introduced gender-sensitive strategies into Urban Planning. In 2009, the capital of Austria added gender budgeting to their constitution. Parks, housing design, pavements, and public transport applied gender-inclusive changes and became safer for females. Thus, women in Vienna are empowered and believe that they possess the power over their own lives. The government aimed to improve street lighting and cemeteries, focusing on the perspective of female users of the public spaces.

Conclusion
The power of men in Urban Planning is an ongoing problem. The history of male-dominated architecture has influenced public spaces all around the world. Understanding only one perspective limits people and gives an indirect power to one social group. This problem requires feminist solutions, that takes into account citizens from different religions, races, genders, and social classes. An inclusive approach can improve the wellbeing of all, giving one the power over their own life.

Introduction
To begin with, the notion of power is defined as the ability to control or influence people. Battles of power all over the world incite conflicts, conflicts breed inequalities. If we look at a large scale, there is one issue in which difference of power has a large impact: The North-South divide. This gap can be found in different phenomenon and organizations.

Power and climate change
Power struggles hamper global warming agreements. Now that South countries are growing faster than Western countries and that their development is similar to the one of the North states in the 19th and 20th century, they feel injustice. For them, they are currently paying (and by that, I mean slowing down their economic, social, political development) because the Global North’s exploitation of natural resources accelerated global warming. They think they deserve the right to emerge like the great powers did before them. Obviously, given the current situation, Global North refuse these claims and use their influence to gain power on negotiation.

Power in worldwide organization
Following the subject of North-South divide and power, there is an interesting example in the world organization. In fact, the United Nations has a security council which holds some power. This security council is divided by permanent and non-permanent members. The permanent seats are occupied by Western countries from the Global North: The United Kingdom, the United States, France, Russia and China (now considered by many geopoliticians as a North State). These nations have a right of veto on United Nations decisions. It means that even in the biggest world organization created to maintain peace and to open the dialogue between all the nations in order to avoid conflicts, there is inequalities.

Conclusion
The notion of power is omnipresent in our current world. When we look at the North-South divide, it is clear that it creates inequalities and widened the gap between both sides.

Introduction
Social media has taken the world by storm and its power today is unparalleled. Social media influences all aspects of our lives and we are often unaware of the subtle power it has over humans. There are three different types of power which social media has over us, the first being through product marketing in order to increase consumer sales. Social media also has significant power over the mental health of its users, particularly teenagers. Finally, social media has the scary ability to slowly but surely manipulate our innermost psychological thoughts and the way we perceive the world, thus taking power over our everyday lives.

Marketing
Several businesses have taken to social media to extend their reach and attract global awareness to their brand. However, the true power of social media in the case of marketing lies in influence marketing. Influence marketing, at its core, essentially uses 'word-of-mouth' marketing between trusted people, often celebrities who will take to their social media to share their experience and adoration of the product. These influencers are often specialists, engaged in a dialogue with their followers and most importantly, they make their followers believe that they are the ones writing and delivering the message, not an external company. As a result, social media users find themselves victims of the influence marketing due to the power social media has over them. They see a familiar face with whom they identify with using a product which they then desire and proceed to purchase. Thus, it is not difficult for businesses to use social media as a form of marketing and to, over time, influence and have power over consumer’s purchasing decisions.

Mental Health
One of the most significant ways in which social media controls our lives, is its power over our mental health. Social media has become a place for one to share the most polished and idealised version of their lives, causing their followers to question their own lives lowering their self-esteem. The narcissistic behaviour exhibited by users of social media had led to a rise in body surveillance and body dysmorphia, in which other users become more judgemental and delusional about their body. Thus, social media has significant power over the mental health of its users who are being exposed to these unrealistic beauty standards everyday.

Daily Lives
The Social Dilemma is a thought-provoking documentary-film released in early 2020, which highlights the subtle manipulation of our lives by social media companies. They use our data to build a psychological profile of their users and, not only do they record every change in their behaviour, but over time social media companies gain power over their user’s behaviours. For example, the 'Pizzagate conspiracy theory' which led to a man shooting a gun into the ground at a pizzeria in order to liberate fictional child hostages resulted from a Facebook algorithm which promoted their groups to users who they recognised were more susceptible to reading into conspiracy theories. Every action we make on social media is being analysed and used to generate content which, as shown in the Pizzagate incident, can have power over our actions in the real world.

Conclusion
In closing, social media has significant power over our everyday lives and decisions. Whether it’s through influencing our consumer choices, changing the way we view ourselves, or manipulating our daily thoughts and actions, social media has power over us and often, we’re not aware of how powerless we are against its silent force.

Male Power in the Film Industry
For as long as film has been around (and probably longer), young girls have been bombarded with the idea of a 'knight in shining armour' being all they need for a happy ending. The almost God-like representation of men in film and television, has a substantial amount of power on the psychological development of young children but also is intrinsic in the industry itself, with scarce representation of women for nominations and wins for non gender specific roles in awards. This deep-rooted male dominance in the industry has not shown much, if any, improvement over the years despite women becoming more abundant in the industry.

Male Dominance in The Oscars
The Oscars is well known to be an extremely gender and race biased association, with much outrage this year over the all-male nominations for best director, notably the lack of nomination for Greta Gerwig's direction of 'Little Women'- a picture with a female director and predominantly female cast. However, looking at the Academy's history, this fact is less surprising. Since 1928, out of 449 total nominations for Best Director, only 5 have been female, Kathryn Bigelow being the only winner in 2010 for 'The Hurt Locker'. The inequality is even more evident in the Best Cinematography category with only one ever female nomination of Rachel Morrison for Mudbound (2017). The lack of recognition women in the film industry receive, silences their voices and gives power to men, predominantly white men, in the industry to construct the narrative that has such bountiful societal effects.

Power of Film in Society
With men at the forefront of the narrative, it's unsurprising that their portrayal is skewed. A study into '152 popular U.S. animated children’s feature films produced over the last 80 years' showed that 'main characters were more likely to be male and that males were portrayed as more powerful'. This powerful portrayal of men at such an early point in psychological development is an overt factor in the long-lasting gender roles in society and, as long as men have dominant power in the film industry, will continue to do so. The lack of power women and non-white creatives have in the industry has been set at a systemic institutionalised level, through indirect coercion, and great change must take place in order to rebalance and redistribute this power.


text:
Cookbook:Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

 * 500 g butter
 * 350 g peanut butter
 * 1 L milk
 * 1 tbsp vanilla extract or powder
 * Brown sugar
 * Powdered sugar

Procedure

 * 1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
 * 2) Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and cook only for two minutes, stirring constantly.
 * 3) Remove from heat. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla.
 * 4) Immediately pour over powdered sugar. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer.
 * 5) Pour in an 8x8-inch pan and cool. Cut into desired shapes.

title: Cookbook:Peanut Butter Fudge