The Atlantic Array North Devon Wind Farm is a key renewable energy project in the region. It is likely to affect tourism, environment and also the economy of the North Devon area. The project is a culmination of pressure on the government to switch to renewable sources of energy, as a shrinking global crude oil…
Category: Society
How can Applied Psychology help make societies more peaceful?
There is tremendous scope within the field of applied psychology in making societies more peaceful. As Ian Harris’ insightful article titled Peace Education in a Violent Culture clearly illustrates, increasing rates of crime and violence in urban societies can be moderated through the dispensation of Peace Education in schools. As the recent campus shootout in…
Highlights from Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
*The documentary film Guns, Germs and Steel based on the book of the same name expounds on a original thesis by author Jared Diamond. The main highlights of the film are as follows. *In the 13,000 year history since the end of the last Ice Age, European civilization has advanced the most compared to other…
The role agents of socialization play in shaping an individual’s political culture
Agents of political socialization play a key role in constructing our perceptions of government and what we could expect of it. Some prominent agents of socialization are the family, the education system, media outlets, religious institutions, etc. All these agents play a role in shaping our conception of government during our formative years. For many…
Cause and Effect: Closing down a bar
Closing down a bar can have several effects on the neighborhood and its inhabitants. Since youth are the major patrons of bars, their lifestyles and pastimes would also alter significantly when bars are closed en masse. Those who are pressing for closing down of bars believe that such a move would discourage teenage and underage…
An overview of native Australian art forms
Native Australian art forms have received renewed interest in recent decades, with anthropologists and historians arriving at a refined understanding of them. Of particular interest is the emphasis on artistic style and environmental sensitivity displayed by artefacts. Recent research on this interesting field was made possible through the analysis of numerous aboriginal wooden artefacts traded…
The benefits of Tai Chi practice, especially for the aging population
Tai Chi Chuan (usually shortened to Tai Chi) is a traditional Chinese practice, that involves both physical and mental exercise. Compared to popular martial arts such as Karate and Kung-Fu, Tai Chi is a slow motion stretching and boxing routine. “Instead of focusing on quick, powerful, and vigorous movements for self-defense or attacking actions like…
Applying Durkheim’s concept of ‘anomie’ to social security policy in contemporary Australia
Social, political and economic theories are only valuable if they find application in practical government policies. The period spanning the last two centuries has seen the emergence of many competing theoretical explanations for the nature and organization of civil society over the course of recorded history. These theories cover such fields of enquiry as sociology,…
Is there a value to Conformity and Obedience?
Conformity to social norms and obedience to higher authorities are values that are instilled in people right from the day they are born. There are merits attached to this practice, for elderly people (who are also usually the authority figures) have more knowledge and experience than young people and it makes sense to heed their…
Comparison between Huntington’s (1993) ‘The clash of civilizations’ and Wendell Bell’s (2004) ‘Humanities’ common Values’
Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations hypothesis has attracted both appreciation and criticism. Considered to be a seminal social science work of recent times, Huntington’s theory places international conflicts at the level of civilizations as opposed to smaller identifiers like nation-states, religions, ethnicity, linguistic differences, etc. Huntington reckons that the qualifier of civilization is the broadest…