Dualism Essays - Ontology, Philosophy Of Mind, Mindbody Problem

Dualism I believe that the popular or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism best solves the mind body problem. My views in this area have been influenced by my twelve years of Catholic education. The soul, or mind, depending on your level of belief, was a complete and separate entity and was the center of a human being. The body was an ambulatory device that the soul directed. The idea that the mind is a separate entity and that it is independent of the physical body is the central point of substance dualism. Churchland explains that substance dualism claims that the mind is a distinct nonphysical thing, a complete nonphysical entity that is independent of any physical body to which it is temporarily attached. Any and all mental states and activities, as well as physical ones, originate from this unique entity. Substance dualism states that the real essence of you has nothing to do with your physical body, but rather from the distinct nonphysical entity of the mind. The mind is in constant interaction with the body. The body's sense organs create experiences in the mind. The desires and decisions of the mind cause the body to act in certain ways. This is what makes each mind's body its own. The popular or "ghost in the machine" form of substance dualism states that a person is a "ghost in a machine", the ghost being the mind or spirit and the machine is the body. Within this description, the mind/spirit controls the body and is in intimate contact with the brain. The brain would be the nexus between the mind and body. The popular form of substance dualism was adopted after the difficulties of Cartesian dualism could not be overcome. Rene Descartes stated that the nonphysical and the physical could not interact. This became a problem in dualism since the nonphysical mind needed to interact with the physical body. These difficulties provided a motive for the move to popular substance dualism. The first major argument for substance dualism is religion. Each of the major religions place belief in life after death that there is an immortal soul that will survive death. This very closely resembles substance dualism. The mind can be substituted for the immortal soul. In fact the two are almost interchangeable. This argument is primarily the basis for my own belief in substance dualism. My personal experiences as a religion student give me insight into this argument. The second major argument for substance dualism is irreducibility. This points to a variety of mental phenomena that no physical explanation could account for what is going on. An example would be the quality and meaningful content of human thoughts and beliefs. These things cannot be reduced to purely physical terms, hence irreducibility. This is also another good argument that I can understand from personal experiences. I cannot reduce my reactions and feelings toward how a steak tastes to a mathematical equation. This is the same idea. The final argument for substance dualism is parapsychological phenomena. Mental powers such as telepathy, precognition, telekinesis, and clairvoyance are all near impossible to explain within the boundaries of physics and psychology. These phenomena reflect the nonphysical and supernatural nature that dualism gives to the mind. Because I believe in these phenomena, it seems logical to me that parapsychology is an excellent argument for substance dualism. These arguments give a good basis for a philosopher to believe in substance dualism. However there are also serious arguments against it. The first major argument against dualism is simplicity. Materialists state that because their view is simpler (they only believe in one thing- that which is physical) it is more rational to subscribe to their view. The materialist point of view is also easier to prove because there is no doubt that physical matter exists, while nonphysical matter is currently a hypothesis. This argument seems very illogical to me. Philosophical views should be chosen because one makes more sense to you, not because one has a smaller number of ideas within it. The second major argument against substance dualism is explanatory impotence. Materialists can explain anything physical through scientific study, whereas dualists can explain nothing because no theory has ever been formulated. Churchland says, "...dualism is less a theory of mind than it is an empty space waiting for a genuine theory of mind to be put in". I see one flaw with the materialist theory here. The mind in the dualist theory may use a form of energy transfer not yet discovered by science. Centuries ago, undiscovered forms

How and When to Use Uniform Distribution

How and When to Use Uniform Distribution There are a number of different probability distributions. Each of these distributions has a specific application and use that is appropriate to a particular setting. These distributions range from the ever-familiar bell curve (aka a normal distribution) to lesser-known distributions, such as the gamma distribution. Most distributions involve a complicated density curve, but there are some that do not. One of the simplest density curves is for a uniform probability distribution. Features of the Uniform Distribution The uniform distribution gets its name from the fact that the probabilities for all outcomes are the same. Unlike a normal distribution with a hump in the middle or a chi-square distribution, a uniform distribution has no mode. Instead, every outcome is equally likely to occur. Unlike a chi-square distribution, there is no skewness to a uniform distribution. As a result, the mean and median coincide. Since every outcome in a uniform distribution occurs with the same relative frequency, the resulting shape of the distribution is that of a rectangle. Uniform Distribution for Discrete Random Variables Any situation in which every outcome in a sample space is equally likely will use a uniform distribution. One example of this in a discrete case is rolling a single standard die. There are a total of six sides of the die, and each side has the same probability of being rolled face up. The probability histogram for this distribution is rectangular shaped, with six bars that each have a height of 1/6. Uniform Distribution for Continuous Random Variables For an example of a uniform distribution in a continuous setting, consider an idealized random number generator. This will truly generate a random number from a specified range of values. So if it is specified that the generator is to produce a random number between 1 and 4, then 3.25, 3, e, 2.222222, 3.4545456 and pi are all possible numbers that are equally likely to be produced. Since the total area enclosed by a density curve must be 1, which corresponds to 100 percent, it is straightforward to determine the density curve for our random number generator. If the number is from the range a to b, then this corresponds to an interval of length b - a. In order to have an area of one, the height would have to be 1/(b - a). For example, for a random number generated from 1 to 4, the height of the density curve would be 1/3. Probabilities With a Uniform Density Curve It is important to remember that the height of a curve does not directly indicate the probability of an outcome. Rather, as with any density curve, probabilities are determined by the areas under the curve. Since a uniform distribution is shaped like a rectangle, the probabilities are very easy to determine. Rather than using calculus to find the area under a curve, simply use some basic geometry. Remember that the area of a rectangle is its base multiplied by its height. Return to the same example from earlier. In this example, X is a random number generated between the values 1 and 4. The probability that X is between 1 and 3 is 2/3 because this constitutes the area under the curve between 1 and 3.

Significant Importance of E-Commerce Security Research Paper

Significant Importance of E-Commerce Security - Research Paper Example In today’s dynamic world companies spent heavily on their IT departments for the technical support to smoothly run their e-commerce activities. Companies even develop e-commerce strategies to reduce the  cost of the business, expand sales and increase customer services and satisfaction in the long run. (Ghosh, 2001; Khosrowpour, 2004; Smith, 2004) The introduction of e-commerce into businesses has widened the scope of all business activities. Due to increasing use of e-commerce by the businesses and customers, it is now essential to provide a secure structure of e-commerce. Unfortunately, the current internet security policies don’t support these needs. In order to gain a competitive edge in the market company needs to adopt a security policy which caters the needs of everyone involved in the e-commerce process. (Al-Slamy, 2008) The businesses operating widely over e-commerce don’t want to lose their customers due to risks involved in using online services. Sol id security measures are now needed to run the businesses effectively and safely. (Oswald, 2005) E-Commerce in Organizations: In most organizations e-commerce total security programs are installed to protect firm’s resources and e-commerce operations. Such programs are necessary for e-commerce survival and their effectiveness in the organization. Such programs are kept updated and management practices and latest technologies are incorporated from time to time. (Khosrowpour, 2004) E-commerce is widely used for many business purposes like product research, order entry; customer’s related matters like support, services, communication, inquiry, invoicing etc., outbound and inbound logistics. E-commerce has revolutionized not only businesses but every aspect of life - the world is now a click away. (Smith, 2004) E-commerce system and related threats: Developing an e-commerce system is a challenging and crucial step to any organization. The initial process would be to conduc t a research regarding the importance of e-commerce program to the organization and impact of e-commerce on the long-term profitability. Leadership and commitment to upper management in the implementation of the e-commerce is essential. The next step is developing a privacy policy for the organization that outlines privacy issues, the sensitivity of information and purchasing guidelines. The next step would be to assess risks imposed by the system regarding its security, both internally and externally. It is often seen that identifying internal threats is difficult compared to external ones. For the purpose, many software packages are available and are installed in order to ensure that the system is safeguarded against the internal and external threats. (Khosrowpour, 2004; Epstein, 2004) An organization can face many problems due to poor security in e-commerce systems. An e-commerce continuity plan is extremely important which provides the outline to deal and prevent any problems in the system. The basic security step is the use of anti-virus programs and firewalls installation. The risks usually faced by an e-commerce system include loss of data due to fire or explosion or any other accident, intentional destruction and theft of hardware and software or important documents, loss of key e-commerce security personnel, loss of communication, vendors and technology etc.