Imagination :: essays research papers

The human imagination is a very powerful thing. It sets humanity apart from the rest of the creatures that roam the planet by giving them the ability to make creative choices. The imaginary world is unavoidably intertwined with the real world and there are many ways by which to illustrate this through literature, either realistically or exaggerated. Almost everything people surround themselves with is based on the unreal. Everything from the food we eat to the books we read had to have been thought of by someone and their imagination. The imagination empowers humans.^1 It allows people to speculate or to see into the future. It allows artists to create, inventors to invent, and even scientists and mathematicians to solve problems. J.R. Tolken wrote â€Å"Lord of the Rings† by sitting in his backyard and imagining everything coming to life.^2 He thought about all the â€Å"what if† possibilities. But this method of storytelling can be used in much more subtle and/or soph isticated ways than in science fiction or fantasy novels. Through such works as the short story Dreams and the novel â€Å"Headhunter† by Timothy Findley, the film â€Å"the Matrix†, and the short story the Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, one can see how a writer can use the concept of the imaginary invading reality to write their story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Dreams, by Timothy Findley, the main characters, two married psychiatrists named â€Å"the doctors Marlo†, have a fairly normal marriage. But they are both dealing with professional cases that are invading their personal lives. Mrs. Marlo specializes in autistic children. One case she is working on is that of a little boy who won’t talk, eat or sleep. She grows attached to this child and thinks of him as almost her own son. Meanwhile, Everett Marlo, her husband, is plagued by nightmares caused by one of his more puzzling cases, which results in insomnia. He begins to share his patient’s nightmares and dreams that he is looking through his patient’s dreaming eyes and is committing savage and bloody murders. Findley uses his character’s dreams to show that the imaginary dreams that Everett is having affects his normal, day to day reality. This makes for many plot possibilities that the author could have chosen. But Findley chose to have Everett fall asleep and have Mrs. Marlo discover her husband covered head to toe in someone else’s blood in the bathroom.

Individual Happiness Contributes to the Harmonious Society Essay

If you have a chance to choose a life, what will you choose? The rich but unhappy life or the ordinary life with lifelong happiness? Most people will choose the latter, because it is the essence of the life. The pursuit of individual happiness is being acknowledged as a world right. People often assume that happiness is an individual thing, but the meaning of happiness shifts across the life course. Therefore, happiness contributes to the harmonious society because it has a positive impact on social life and commercial development. First of all, individual happiness makes a contribution in enhancing social relationships. Individual happiness can invisibly influence the social behavior. If a person feels happy, that will result in positive behavior. Generally speaking, happiness will affect his character and his subjective well-being. Apparently, a happy person will be kind to the people around his social circle. According to Dixon (2011), â€Å"The happiness participants felt about their past generosity, the more likely they were in the present to choose to spend on someone else instead of themselves†. People are willing to share happy feelings; they will be kind spending on others. Individual happiness creates a virtuous cycle between happiness and kindness. Likewise, in the case of people being more kind, the relationship of friends and family will be strengthened. On the other hand, â€Å"happiness is as essential as food if a child is to develop into normal manhood or womanhood: the purpose of bringing-up in all its phases should be to make the child as happy as possible. † (Stearns, 2012) parents have a special bond with their children. A negligible emotional change may have a significant impact on children’s growth. Children will grow up healthily and comfortably in a relaxed and happy environment. Vice versa, parents will become happier when they witness the growth of their children without any trouble. Hence, individual happiness makes a â€Å"positive feedback loop† (Dixon, 2012) that sets an important bond between people. It enhances the relationship and it is beneficial for everyone of each side in the small social circle. Secondly, individual happiness improves the social working atmosphere in the commercial area. More and more businessmen are trying to add the element of happiness into their goods. As Stearns stated, â€Å"Harvey Ball, created in 1963 the yellow smiley face, which took off even in the wake of the Kennedy assassination and whose annual licensing revenues exceeded $50 million within the decade. † Admittedly, Life and work are tough for workers in modern society. In addition, businessmen used happy gimmick in their goods, is actually helping people go out of the dull life due to busy work. Their idea finally made it, because individual happiness is contagious and easily accepted. Thereby, individual happiness has a huge commercial potential compared to ordinary sales systems. Correspondingly, people generally lack the happiness because they are under enormous pressure. The gimmick of happiness will set up a â€Å"positive feedback loop† that benefit to both sellers and customers. Moreover, individual happiness can contribute to a relax work atmosphere. According to Stearns (2012), happiness inspired new workplace standards that instructed white-collar employees and sales people in the centrality of cheerfulness†. Working for a optimistic boss or a serious boss? Most people will choose the former one. No one can tolerate the tough words and face of the boss day by day. Conversely, employees find it easier to accept a happy employer who can mobilize the enthusiasm of the staff. Emotion of employers plays an increasing important role in the work place. Hence, individual happiness can enhance the performance of the company. When employees working in a workplace that is full of happiness, they will be cheered up, the internal thought will drive them to enjoy their work and greatly improve the work efficiency. Individual happiness thereby is beneficial to the commercial development. Some public opinion suggested that the society needs to be more serious, so individual happiness will distract the people’s major goals. This statement is obviously not logical because it is a historical trend that individual happiness accounted for a large proportion of life. It builds a positive circle that promotes the development of society. Serious emotion does work some occasions, but in the whole environment, it will make people become rigid and less creative. To conclude, individual happiness not only enriches the relationship between people, but also brings more benefit in the business process. Truly, the happiness plays a neglected role in some cultures. They are still trying to hiding their people’s feeling. However, dull and serious words have far less influence than many smiling faces around you. Individual happiness gives people the latter feeling; those smiling faces can affect other’s lives in the broader society. All in all, the spreading of individual happiness will lead to a tremendous improvement that will enable more people to live in a harmonious society.

The World War I Was Inevitable - 1708 Words

During the 19th century. One of the most gruesome wars the world has ever seen thus far was underway. Millions of people from all over the world were affected, in various ways whether it be finically, emotionally or physically. World war one was a massacre of human life and an important event that determined the present state of the modern world. The total number of military and civilian casualties in world war one was more than 38 million; there were over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded , ranking it one of the most deadliest conflicts in human history. There are many questions to be asked about this war. One major question that surrounds the war is â€Å"could it have been avoidable, or was the war†¦show more content†¦Although it wasn’t until the second battle of Kosovo when they completely lost their independence. That day was very significant to Serbian nationalists. The way the actual assassination actually occurred were as follows; on June 28th 1914 the Archduke and his wife were touring Sarajevo in an open car, with little to no security, when a Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Carbrinvoic threw a bomb at their car; it rolled off the back and wounded some bystanders and an officer. Ironically later that day, on the way to visit the officer that got injured, Franz Ferdinand took a wrong turn and ended up right in the view of Gavrilo Princip who was 19 at the time. Gavrilo seeing this opportunity, began to unload his bullets on the Archduke. Gavrilo shot and point blank range and was able to kill Franz Ferdinand and his wife, he then tried to kill himself but was then wrestled to the ground by bystanders and police. Was this event preventable or was it inevitable? I feel that this assassination was not preventable. Although the way the assassination itself got carried out, seemed to be by chance and not actually specifically planned out. I still believe that if the archduke wasn’t killed that day he would’ve been killed during his time there. The history between the Serbian nationalists and Austrians is too deep for a bunch of youngShow MoreRelatedWorld War I Was Not Inevitable1681 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation,† once said Richard Holbrooke, an American diplomat. Many people worldwide agree with Mr. Holbrooke, believing WWI to be a waste of human lives. Known for its ridiculous start, fueled by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and its huge impact on numerous countries earned it the title of the Great War. Though many people considered it pointless and as a war withRead MoreThe Cold War Was Inevitable Or Not?1624 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction To gain a full understanding of the Cold War, the knowledge of the why it started, an in depth analysis of what both sides contributed to make the Cold War what was and knowing whether the Cold War was inevitable or not is necessary. There were many different actions that both of the two major superpowers, the US and the USSR took that started the Cold War. I believe that the Cold War was inevitable because of the difference in ideologies between the US and the USSR, and the largeRead MoreWas the Outbreak of General War in 1914 Inevitable After the Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand?1705 Words   |  7 PagesWas the outbreak of general war in 1914 inevitable after the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand? Various different factors led to the outbreak of the first World War- a war which incorporated all human, economic and military resources available to achieve total victory over the enemy. Roughly, the causes can be classified into long term (Franco-Prussian War, Imperialism, Alliance System, Anglo- German Naval Arms Race, etc.), short term (Morrocan Crisis, Agadir Crisis, Bosnian Crisis, BalkanRead MoreWas World War II Inevitable?1042 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Was World War II Inevitable? For quite a number of reasons, World War II was largely inevitable. In this text, I will take into consideration some arguments that have been presented in the past in an attempt to demonstrate the inevitability of the Second World War. These arguments range from the creation of the Treaty of Versailles to the conditions imposed on Germany to nationalistic issues. Many historians consider Germans invasion into Poland the official commencement date of the Second WorldRead MoreWhat Was The Interwar Period?1703 Words   |  7 Pagesit down as such: World War I broke out over the sectionalism and nationalism that was pretty prevalent during the time as well as the alliances that were built during the time period reflected the values and goals those countries were pursuing at the time to further their agenda, the period between 1918 to 1933 was more about isolationism than any other set of foreign policy, the world could have prevented rearmament and the rise of the Third Reich in German y, the Second World War could have beenRead MoreThe Diary Of War, National Pride And The National Positioning That Made World War I Essay722 Words   |  3 PagesAnderson History 8 October, 2013 The Preface to War; National Pride in the Balkans Walter S. Zapotoczny, an author and historian, once said, â€Å"Each of the great powers believed they had something to gain from war, fostering the national pride and the national positioning that made World War I inevitable.† This is true, as imperialism and militarism were a large part of national pride. Austria-Hungary, for example, wanted Serbia. The German military was expanding rapidly. With each argument countriesRead MoreWar is Inevitable and Death is Too1111 Words   |  5 Pagesbehaviors of man. Often characterized as an anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five tries to show that war and destruction are a part of the human life cycle. Humanity is highly conflict prone; conflict resolution often manifests itself in the terms of war. Vonnegut attempts to show that war results in widespread death and destruction; therefore, war and death are inevitable. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut explores the inevitability of war, shown through the examination of co lor usage - suchRead MoreWorld War I Was Considered By Many1000 Words   |  4 Pagesof the Americas 12/4/2014 World War I was considered by many, in its beginning, to be a conflict the United States should not involve itself in. So soon after World War II, in which few democratic states were formed, and more dictatorships established, few within the states were willing to send men overseas into another European war. This feeling was stated by Charles Lindbergh, who stated, â€Å"Over a hundred million people in this nation are opposed to entering the war. If the principles of democracyRead MoreSuffering And Human Cruelty : The War Experience1282 Words   |  6 Pagesis inevitable and inescapable in the war experience† By: Kristen Manoski Sixteen million. That is the number of deaths that resulted from World War One. 16 million soldiers, defending their nation, trying to do what is right. The violent and scarring nature of war is implanted into the minds of both soldiers and civilians, altering their personality, state of mind and placing deep strain on their lives.This years theme is â€Å"Suffering and human cruelty is inevitable and inescapable in the war experience†Read MoreGlobalization Will Provide a World Free of War Essay1000 Words   |  4 Pages In the history of civilizations the contest for human interaction has been war. Despite how advanced our world is today with global telecommunications, the ability to travel to space, and nano technology, war is still a part of every day life for a large part of the global population, but in this newly connected global marketplace, peace has or will have even more value than war. Globalization is a connected marketplace of economics, education and travel. It is now just as easy to communicate