The selfish gene theory Essay Example

The selfish gene theory Essay Example The selfish gene theory Paper The selfish gene theory Paper Therefore, if people acted purely in their self-interest as relayed in the often misunderstood purest form of the selfish gene theory, this person would not contribute to the common account in the first place and would reap the rewards of everyone else’s contribution. Contributions to the common fund started at approximately 50% of the total points of each player but this decreased over the course of the game as some people put less in the common account. Justifications for the decline in cooperation were that the only way to punish people who were not contributing to the common account was to decline to contribute to that account also. It begs the question as to how sustainable cooperative and social behaviours are without a significant deterrent to behaving selfishly. When this game was conducted with opportunity to heavily punish non contributors by using their own points to deduct from those of the non-contributing players this was consistently selected. This pattern of behaviour meant that cooperation no longer decreased over the rounds so cooperative behaviour was maintained by reward and punishment as it often is in society. More recent neurobiological evidence supports the notion that even this seemingly altruistic behaviour by the actor is selfish at a genetic level, De Quervain et al (2004) found that when a person punishes another for non-cooperative behaviour the dorsal striatum is stimulated and as this is the circuitry involved in reward-related activity there is a direct fitness benefit being bestowed by this behaviour to the actor. Additionally, there are indirect benefits for the group to which the actor belongs as this behaviour increases their survival chances and productivity. Therefore the overall fitness benefits to the person’s genes through the ultimate maintenance of the group and societal norms which help to preserve that group outweighs the personal sacrifices made to maintain this system of cooperative and social fairness which has fitness benefits for those who engage in it (Hamilton, 1964, 1975). If selfish behaviour increases a persons’ overall fitness then it would seem obvious that genes which promote selfishness should increase their presence in the gene pool and that altruistic genes would therefore be outbred. This would mean that Dawkins (1976) explanation for cooperative and social behaviour would be fundamentally flawed. However, game theory has shown how important the combination of those who behave selfishly and those who behave in a seemingly altruistic way is to the evolution of the genes that promote these behaviours. A game called ‘prisoners dilemma’ demonstrates that when two people behave altruistically they increase the overall fitness of both parties and hence the gene that promotes this behaviour is likely to survive and be replicated. When both parties behave selfishly both decrease their overall fitness which makes the gene responsible less likely to survive and be replicated and when one partner behaves selfishly it is their own fitness that will increase but if there is discrimination from those who have the altruistic genes in their willingness to interact with those carrying the selfish gene then this explains why the population is not overcome by those carrying the selfish gene. Dawkins purports that consciousness has evolved to be able to override the influence of the genes and that the more executive decisions are made at the helm of this consciousness. It is the relationship between the genes and consciousness that determine how a person will behave and the influence of the environment and its culture shapes consciousness more than genes do. Dawkins acknowledged a meme as a unit of culture that can be passed from person to person at a much faster rate than genes would be and therefore memes create rules for cooperative and social behaviour and these rules help to maintain systems of cooperation by punishing those who do not engage fairly in social interactions. Therefore where behaviours cannot be explained by genes they are explained by memes and Cartesian-dualism. Because ultimately genes are primarily concerned with their own replication, they influence people to behave in ways that are most likely to meet this need; altruistic and cooperative behaviour has evolved as a consequence of its success at replicating itself and therefore cooperative and social behaviour is explained by the SGT as having evolved at the level of the genes through selfish means. Cooperative and social behaviour at the level of the organism is therefore only a mechanism to ensure that the needs of the genes are being met. The survival of the fittest is therefore not a competition for resources and advantageous selfish behaviour but it is an enhanced chance of survival and reproduction bestowed on those who behave in efficient ways such as through cooperative and social behaviours (Margulis Lovelock, 1974) Conclusively, Dawkins SGT appears to be able to offer adequate explanations for cooperative and social behaviours that enhance the fitness of the actor and those who share the same genes. If the fitness is not directly or indirectly enhanced with an immediate effect then this can be explained as having a lifetime fitness benefit by this same theory but it is worth noting that measuring lifetime fitness benefits is difficult to do which limits this explanation. The weaker the genetic connection between the actor and the recipient the weaker the theory becomes when offering explanations for cooperative and social behaviours, especially as the behaviour of the actor becomes increasingly altruistic. Therefore from the perspective of the SGT even apparently cooperative and social behaviour at the level of the organism is always one of selfish motivation at the level of the genes; put succinctly, ‘scratch an altruist and watch a hypocrite bleed’ (Ghiselin, 1974). References Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press. Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I II. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 7, pp. 1-52. Hamilton, W. D. (1975). Innate social aptitudes of man: An approach from evolutionary genetics. In R. Fox (Ed. ), Biosocial anthropology (pp. 133-155). New York: Wiley. Sachs, J. L. , Mueller, U. G. , Wilcox, T. P. , Bull, J. J. (2004). The evolution of cooperation. Quarterly Review of Biology, 79, pp. 135-160. Trivers, R. L. (1971) Evolution of reciprocal altruism. Q. Rev. Biol. 46, pp. 35-7. Gardner, A. , and West, S. A. 2004. Spite and the scale of competition. J. Evol. Biol. 17, pp. 1195–1203. Gardner, A. and West, S. A. 2006. Demography, altruism, and the benefits of budding. Journal of Evolutional Biology. 19, pp. 1707–1716. West, S. A. , Gardner, A. , Barton, N. H. (2007). The relation between multilocus population genetics and social evolution theory. 169, pp. 207–226. Maynard Smith, J. (1964). Group selection and kin selection. Nature, 20, pp. 1145-1147. Johannsen, W. (1911). The genotype conception of heredity, Amer. Natur. , 1911. 95. 1911-10005-00110. 1086/279202. Krebs, J. R. , Davies, N. B. (1993). An introduction to behavioral ecology. (3rd ed. ). Oxford, england: blackwell. de Quervain, D. J. , Fischbacher, U. , Treyer, V. , Schellhammer, M. , Schnyder, U. , Buck, A. , Fehr, E. (2004, August 27). The neural basis of altruistic punishment. Science, 305, 1254-1258. West, S. A. , A. S. Griffin, and A. Gardner. 2007. Social semantics: altruism, cooperation, mutualism, strong reciprocity and group selection. J. Evol. Biol. 20, pp. 415–432. West, S. A. , A. S. Griffin, A. Gardner, and S. P. Diggle. 2006. Social evolution theory for microorganisms. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 4, pp. 597–607. Griffin, A. S. , and S. A. West. 2002. Kin selection: fact and fiction. Trends Ecol. Evol. 17, pp. 15–21. Frank, S. A. (2003). Perspective: repression of competition and the evolution of cooperation. Evolution 57. pp. 693–705. Lehmann, L. , and L. Keller. 2006. The evolution of cooperation and altruism- a general framework and a classification of models. J. Evol. Biol. 19 pp. 1365–1376. Kummerli, R. , Gardner, R. , West, S. A. , Griffin, A. S. (2008) Limited dispersal, budding dispersal and cooperation: an experimental study. Ghiselin, M. (1974). A radical solution to the species problem. Systematic Zoology, 23, 536-554. Van Baalen M. and Jansen V. A. A. (2006) Kinds of kindness: classifying the causes of altruism and cooperation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 1377-1379 Heylighen F. (1992) Selfish Memes and the Evolution of Cooperation, Journal of Ideas , 2. pp 77-84.

Contemporary project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contemporary project - Essay Example In developed countries, very rare cases of counterfeit medicines are observed because people are well informed and the online markets help the customers to differentiate the real and fake drugs for the patients. The problem of counterfeit medicines is not difficult to tackle. Implementation of strict rules and regulations, strong role of the institutions, working courts against these companies and the well-structured liability laws are helpful to demolish these kinds of drugs from the markets. For example, two organizations are actively working against fake pharmaceutical companies and for community health in Uganda. A big NGO â€Å"BRAC† is working in Bangladesh and in African Countries for selling genuine medicines and for health projects. In addition, â€Å"Living Good† origination is also working on the same projects in Kenya, Uganda and in the neighboring countries. The organizations against counterfeit medicines decrease the selling rate of these companies by providing awareness and genuine pharmaceutical products to the patients. The role of community health programs is very useful in decreasing the rate of unemployment in several countries, e.g. about one hundred thousand workers are engaged to the BRAC, which is a nongovernmental organization. In some areas of the world, cell phone technology is also playing the role for authentic medicines by the facility of verification codes for genuine products. Doctor Ashifi Gogo introduced the latest system of medicine authentication code through cell phones in those areas, where the customers do not trust in the shops of medicine markets. For example, a unique code number is present in every box of the Sproxil brand to identify it’s originality before using it. The customer scratches the card to find the code number and checks it through the cell phone authentication method to know the originality of the product. The revenues of Sproxil were great in 2010 after implementing the

Personal Data Assistance PDA use in Health Care Essay

Personal Data Assistance PDA use in Health Care - Essay Example This not only helps in starting the right treatment at the right time, but also saves lot of time and energy on the part of the physicians. The entry of the Personal Data Assistance in the medical world has made the job of the medical staff and the patients easy, comfortable and time saving. The Personal Data Assistance (PDA) is a tool which helps the physicians and the nurses to access the patient’s information at the time of his treatment. The PDA helps the physicians and nurses to access all the information about the patient’s history of disease, the drug information, the prescription for his treatment and medical references. This makes their job easy as on the basis of information accessed through PDA, they can take quick decisions and start the treatment without any delay (Dee, Teolis & Todd, 2005). The PDA has many advantages for the medical practitioners. It not only provides the complete information about the patient’s treatment, but also helps to keep tab of the patient’s condition just by regularly communicating with patients through the device. 1) The PDA has made the communication between the patient and the consulting physician easy and comfortable. Previously, to attend the patient’s need and treatment, the physician had to be available physically. This demanded a lot of physical strength and mobility on the part of the physician. Most of the times, the patient’s are not admitted on the same floor. Sometimes, one physician has to consult the patient’s not only on the different floors, but also in different buildings. This made the physician’s job hectic and time

Part One Article On Unemployment Economics Essay

Part One Article On Unemployment Economics Essay Singapore unemployment rate declines as there are fewer lay-offs registered between April and June as the number of new job increases. The unemployment rate dipped over the quarter by 0.1% to 2% in June, while the rate for citizens decline by 0.2% to 2.8% and 3% respectively. The total number of jobs created in the second quarter of the year has risen to a total of 31,700 jobs, which is higher than the same period last year. A total of 58,900 jobs were created in the first half of the year, compared with 53,100 on the previous year which increases by 5,900 of jobs this year. Service sector has a higher employment rate compared to last year where there was a gain of 19,300 jobs, an increase of 2,000 more vacancies in the service sector, which also includes manufacturing sector where 4,700 jobs were created. Three in five residents laid off in the first quarter of the year found a job by June, shows an improvement of 50% by the previous cohort in March. Labour productivity have drop 1.9% between April and June, the third consecutive quarter of decline. SOURCE: TODAYonline | Singapore | Unemployment rate declines. 2012. TODAYonline | Singapore | Unemployment rate declines. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120915-0000032/Unemployment-rate-declines. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix A Definition of Unemployment Unemployed defined as persons of working age who are without work, are available to start work within two weeks and either have actively looked for work in the last four weeks or are willing to take up an appointment. SOURCE: Macroeconomics (19th edition). McGraw-Hill Reference from Macroeconomic, Unemployment and Inflation Chapter 5 Economic Analysis Unemployment rate is the percentage of the people in the labour force who are unemployed. Unemployment rate: Number of people unemployed x 100% Labour Force Based on MOM statistics data as of June 2011 Unemployment rate = 81.2 / 2,080.1 x 100% = 4.0% SOURCE: [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2012.pdf. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix B 3.01 Causes of unemployment The causes of unemployment can be caused by 3 types of unemployment which are Frictional unemployment Structural unemployment Cyclical unemployment Below is my research to reflect the employment growth and unemployment growth. 3.02 Frictional unemployment We always aim for a better opportunity that is when we workers leave our jobs to find better ones, simply moving towards a better position. This occurs because workers need to find out about possible new job opportunities, go for interviews and possibly move before starting their new jobs. Frictional unemployment allows companies to find qualified workers. Labour cost would rise when workers stay with their current jobs until they found one, it will be more time consuming and expensive for companies to bring on good workers, causing cost-push inflation. The table below shows the chart of the Rate of Re-entry into Employment of Residents made redundant. As we can see in the table below, the total rate of re-entry from March to June increases by 10.4%. Clerical, sales and service workers has the highest re-entrants which is 21.9%. SOURCE: Re-entry into Employment Ministry of Manpower . 2012. Re-entry into Employment Ministry of Manpower. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/statistics/Pages/re-entry_into_employment.aspx. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix C . SOURCE: [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Publications/mrsd_qtlmr122.pdf. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix D Older workers stepping into Labour Force and slowing down the Local Labour Force Growth The proportion of workers ages 55 to 64 has an increase of 2.2% in the workforce, comparing from 2010 and 2011. Some companies in Singapore is starting to hire older workers, older workers need to stay longer in the labour force. The cost of productivity arises on the employers concerns. SOURCE: [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/statistics-publications/Statistical-Charts/mrsd_ResEmpRatebyAge_Sex_Ct_310112.pdf. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix E Alternatively, there are more people leaving their jobs in the first and second quarter of 2011 and 2012. The recruitment rate increases by 10% compared to 2011. SOURCE: Labour Turnover Ministry of Manpower . 2012. Labour Turnover Ministry of Manpower. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/statistics/Pages/labour-turnover.aspx. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix F 3.04 Structural unemployment Structural unemployment comes from the mismatch between the jobs available and the skills of the available workers in the market. These people usually do not have skills that are not needed nor have a specialized background which does not fit the market or cannot be used in the current market. It is difficult for workers to learn a new set of skills or to move on to an area whereby they need to start afresh. Policies should be put in place to prevent such unemployment. Structural unemployment is the most common form of unemployment in the market. Factors that result in structural unemployment Age Educational level Some of the workers may be too young or too old for the job requirements. While some do not have a very high education level may have a different view from the employers. High educated workers may not be interested jobs that provide them with low wages and long working hours. The table below shows the increase of 32.8% in the employment rate between 2010 to 2011, and also the number of employed workers by age and educational level. SOURCE: Report on Labour Force in Singapore 2011: Statistical Tables Ministry of Manpower . 2012. Report on Labour Force in Singapore 2011: Statistical Tables Ministry of Manpower. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/publications/Pages/statistical-tables-2011.aspx. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix G 3.05 Cyclical unemployment The number of retrenchment in the first three quarters of 2011 and 2012 increased to 15.3%. Below is the analysis that reflected the number of retrenchment in the first 3 quarters of 2011 and 2012. SOURCE: [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/statistics-publications/Statistical-Charts/mrsd_Redundancy_ct_311012.pdf. [Accessed 18 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix H 4.0 Conclusion of Analysis Analysing the report, it shows that our economy in Singapore is facing with low unemployment rate till date. Unless, there is a high demand from the employer to increase productivity then the empoyment rate will increase. As we can see that foreign wokers in some industry like construction, manufacturing and engenieering sectors are increasing. We should be balancing the foregin and local workforce in order to ensure low unemployment rate in Singapore. Price-Level AS P2 AD2 P1 AD1 RGDP Q1 Q2 Increase in AD curve due to demand in supplies Increase in price levels due to demand in workforce Increase in national output due to supplies produced Fall in unemployment due to demand in labour 5.0 Referencing Appendix A Online source Available at: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120915-0000032/Unemployment-rate-declines. Definition of Unemployment Macroeconomics (19th edition). McGraw-Hill Reference from Macroeconomic, Unemployment and Inflation Chapter 5 Appendix B Online source Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2012.pdf. Appendix C Online source Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/statistics/Pages/re-entry_into_employment.aspx. Appendix D Online source Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Publications/mrsd_qtlmr122.pdf Appendix E Online source Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/statistics-publications/Statistical-Charts/mrsd_ResEmpRatebyAge_Sex_Ct_310112.pdf. Appendix F Online source Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/statistics/Pages/labour-turnover.aspx. Appendix G Online source http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/publications/Pages/statistical-tables-2011.aspx Appendix H Online source Available at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/statistics-publications/Statistical-Charts/mrsd_Redundancy_ct_311012.pdf. 6.0 Appendix Appendix A Appendix B MACROECONOMIC REPORT PART TWO ARTICLE ON INFLATION COHORT : DBA 5B/12 DONE BY : CHOO AI LYN, ESTH CONTENT PAGE Table of Content Page No Summary of Article †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Page 20 Definition of Inflation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. .†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 20 Economic Analysis ..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 21-22 Inflation caused by Policy on Foreign Workers and Lower Local Workforce.Page 23 Inflation caused by Cost of Private Transportation and Higher COE Premiums†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 24 Inflation caused by Increases in Oil Price†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Page 24 Conclusion of Analysis .†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Page 25 References†¦. ..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Page 26 Appendix †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 27-32 Summary of Article The article indicated that core inflation soared up to 4.7% in September. Consumer price rose to 5.3% year-on-year in June. This jump in inflation was due to the high costs for both private road transport and also housing. Transportation costs rose up to 10.8% in September compared to the increase of 6.3% in August. The accommodation cost rises to a 7.7% in September from 7.4 in August, an increase of 0.3% within a month. SOURCE: Singapores CPI inflation rises to 4.7 pct in September Xinhua | English.news.cn . 2012. Singapores CPI inflation rises to 4.7 pct in September Xinhua | English.news.cn. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-10/23/c_131925252.htm. [Accessed 11 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix A Definition of Inflation The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum. SOURCE: Inflation Definition | Investopedia . 2012. Inflation Definition | Investopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp. [Accessed 11 November 2012]. Economic Analysis CPI and Annual Inflation Rate Year Consumer Price Index Annual Inflation Rate 2010 102.8 2.8% 2011 108.2 5.2% Calculation of Annual Inflation Rate Annual Inflation Rate = CPI of year 2010 CPI of year 2011 x 100% CPI of year2010 Annual Inflation Rate = 108.2 102.8 x 100% 102.8 = 5.2% CPI and Annual Inflation rate from 2000 to 2011 SOURCE: Statistics Singapore Time Series on Consumer Price Index and Inflation Rate. 2012. Statistics Singapore Time Series on Consumer Price Index and Inflation Rate. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/hist/cpi.html. [Accessed 19 November 2012]. 3.1 Inflation caused by Policy on Foreign Workers and Lower Local Workforce SOURCE: Composition of Singapores Total Workforce. 2012. Composition of Singapores Total Workforce. [ONLINE] Available at: http://population.sg/resources/workforce-composition/. [Accessed 19 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix BIn a recent press release by MOM, it states that as of December 2011 our total workforce was 3.02 million, excluding foreign workers. Singapore residents forms a total of 67% while the foreign workers making up to the remaining 33%. As we can see in the chart below, the percentage of foreign workers have reduced. . 3.2 Inflation caused by Cost of Private Transportation and Higher COE Premiums. SOURCE: COE Prices in Singapore Oneshift.com. 2012. COE Prices in Singapore Oneshift.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.oneshift.com/new_cars/lcoe.php. [Accessed 19 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix C, D, EThe COE price have been increasing in recent months, it actually affect the price of new cars for potential buyers. The buyers will now have to consider about the future costs of owning a vehicle, putting into considerations, the petrol price. 3.3 Inflation caused by Increases in Oil Price Base on the chart below, the oil prices have been decreasing from the 1st to the 3rd quarter of 2011 and 2012. Aggregate supply increases as production and manufacturing process less due to lower spending. SOURCE: [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/ess/essa62.pdf. [Accessed 19 November 2012]. Refer to: Appendix F Conclusion With my findings on the above data and statistics, I believe Singapore is categorized under cost-push inflation. Workers should improve their skills to increase the level of labour and productivity, recommended by the Government. No one has the way of controlling the oil prices; hence the inflation will stay with the economic growth. 5.0 Referencing Appendix A Online Source Available at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2012-10/23/c_131925252.htm. Appendix B Online Source Available at: http://population.sg/resources/workforce-composition/. Appendix C, D, E Online Source Available at: http://www.oneshift.com/new_cars/lcoe.php. Appendix F Online Source Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/ess/essa62.pdf.

How I’Ve Changed over the Past Year

How I Have changed over the past year? Humans are as changeable as the weather. Or perhaps a more frequent changer. And being one myself I’m no different. Every night when I look back to the previous day I see no change. But when I look back to the year that has just passed, I do see the difference. The experiences I went through changed me to a better or may be something close to a reformation. Nevertheless I’m not the same anymore I was always known to be short-tempered and egoistic. But last year one incident really changed the way I was and thought. My sudden fluctuations in temper made me lose a lot of friends and the loneliness I was in taught me to be more friendly and patient. My friends always knew how to react to my rudeness but unfortunately I forgot my new friends were not accustomed to it. I met some buddies in a friend’s birthday party, last year, who were more than just casual acquaintances. One of them dropped coke over my new silk dress and that did it! I started yelling at her without noticing I am ruining the party. To my surprise the girl started crying and ran away while I was left standing clueless. The birthday boy came up and said â€Å"I think you better go wash yourself, Sunnu, before the spots get dry. I’ll call you later. † He never called and probably would not have if I had not met him in a mall a few days later. â€Å"Yes, I didn’t. But neither did you. † He answered when I asked why he did not call. â€Å"But you said ‘you’ will call. â€Å"Yes, but don’t you think you were at fault and should have taken the first step and said sorry? † I was very confused. I did not know what he meant. Why should ‘I’ be sorry? It was ‘her’ fault, not mines. But now I know why he did not. I was too egoistic to even think of being sorry, let alone saying it. She did a mistake unintentionally, but I did a bigger mistake by not doing what I should have done – forgive and forget. I realized this when one day one of my friends told me â€Å"Sunnu, you never accept the fact that even ‘you’ can make mistakes. You are always too angry to even think what other people might feel at your choice of words. † I was lonely. My friends had left me trying every possible ways to make me realize. But this lone feeling gave me time to think over everything and that is when I realized how wrong I was. One day, one week, one month and in a year I changed myself. I was a reformed Sunayna. I was better and the proof is all the old friends and many new ones happily smiling on the pictures in my â€Å"My Friends† album on Facebook.

Burger King Ad Analysis Essay

In June of 2009, Burger King released an advertisement for the â€Å"BK Super Seven Incher† for a limited promotion in Singapore. The sexual message that this ad aims to convey is not so much hidden or subliminal as it is blatantly obvious. Not many would be able to simply glance at this ad and then go about their day. Men and women alike are drawn to the ad because they are either attracted to it or offended by it. Effective advertising usually triggers some kind of powerful emotion within its audience. In that respect, this advertisement succeeds with flying colors. Whether it is because of feelings of disgust or attraction, the images in this ad are difficult to ignore which is exactly what the advertiser envisioned happening. Although very ineffective, this ad is still being analyzed today which is quite significant. Burger King’s advertisement effectively creates and manipulates the narrative, layout, and copy to create a strong reaction to sexism and vulgarity wit hin its audience causing them to only focus on the nature of the ad, not how much they want to buy the product. The ad, through its imagery and text, aims to create a fantasy where all a man has to do is hold a burger and young, attractive women will want to have sex with them. Even if men do not consciously think this way, the idea it is still in the back of their minds. In an attempt to create an effective subtext with these images and words, the ad dehumanizes both men and women. On one hand, the woman in the ad is seen as an object who is only useful in sexual situations — hence the focal point of her face, her mouth which is directly in line with the burger. Many have even noted that the woman resembles a blow-up doll which further solidifies the idea of transforming women into sexual devices rather than human beings. On the other hand, a phallic idea is triggered in a man’s mind that to create the notion that size does matter and this ad presents it as the only thing that really does matter when it comes to attracting a woman. It gives men the impression that if they are no t well endowed, women will disregard them unless they are seen eating this burger. The prominent images of this ad cause the audience to have a strong emotional reaction to the ad whether they know it or not. The portion of the advertisement that first catches the audience’s eye is the image of a stunned, fairly artificial looking woman with her mouth agape to a sandwich that seems to be appearing out of nowhere. The sandwich pictured with the woman also looks much thinner and longer than the one pictured at the bottom. The image of the sandwich next to the woman’s mouth creates obvious phallic visualizations within the audience’s minds. The ad’s blatant allusion to oral sex causes the audience to have a strong reaction upon seeing it. The image suggests that upon eating this sandwich, every adjacent woman will be rendered helpless at the sight of a man holding a seven inch burger. The woman also seems to be looking at something out of frame beyond the sandwich. The mysterious item in the shadows that the woman’s eyes are fixed on adds yet another cue a man could subconsciously get by looking at the ad. This allows a man to conjure up any type of scenario within his mind from only the presence of shadows in the ad. Right below is the second-most prominent part of the ad: the words â€Å"It’ll Blow Your Mind Away† in large font with the two largest words in that sentence being â€Å"It’ll Blow.† The ad tends to two very significant aspects of a young man’s life: food and sex. Food is a basic human need but it is not enough to say that this sandwich will satisfy your hun ger, it must also be able to fulfill another desire. The images of this ad indirectly suggest that the sandwich will cater to a man’s hunger as well as his sexual frustration. Along with the suggestive images this ad presents, the words surrounding the artwork bring an equally as obvious but a much more distasteful idea to the mind. In small font at the bottom it reads: â€Å"fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled† because we all know that a long cake tastes better than a short one. The fact that the sandwich is seven inches long has little to nothing to do with the quality of the sandwich but rather the visualization that this extra long burger evokes while accompanied with the images. As if that was not enough to make a man go cross-eyed, it goes on to add that the burger will make one â€Å"yearn for more† after one taste. The seemingly endless sexually suggestive elements of this ad just causes it to be mulled over in the minds of men and women alike which adds to its effectiveness not to sell a product but to keep the Burger King name in people’s heads. The name of the product in itself is also something to be considered. Without the imagery of the product it would be unclear as to what is being sold. Only in the small text do you see what this product is actually categorized under — a burger. To someone unfamiliar to this ad, the term â€Å"seven incher† could mean a plethora of items, both sexual and non-sexual. Because of the lack of distinction between food and phallus, the audience gets the wrong (or the right) impression of this product. In describing the burger in further detail, the words â€Å"crispy,† â€Å"thick,† and â€Å"hearty† are used to create the idea that not only will you be attracting women from all over the globe, you will also be buying a top-of-the-line meal for the bargain price of $6.25 — an idea any man would be mesmerized by. One long-running advertisement of a similar product could come to mind when faced with an ad centered upon the size of a sandwich — Subway’s â€Å"Five Dollar Foot Long† campaign. Unlike the Burger King ad, the Subway ad features mainly a catchy jingle and cheery imagery. Subway’s advertisers could have easily gone in the route that Burger King did and made the extra long sandwich sexual. Any company would choose not to sexualize their ads in order to avoid excluding the portion of their audience who would not be attracted to or would even be offended by such graphic images. Subway, instead, used positive and healthy imagery using athletes and generally fit people to advertise their product. In 2008, about the time the campaign for the five dollar sandwich began, the U.S. was faced with a financial crisis. As a result, Subway came up with the campaign of a cheap alternative to healthy food. As a result, a very marketable image of their product was created. A notable difference between Burger King’s ad and Subway’s ad is that the â€Å"BK Super Seven Incher† ad had to be taken down right after the backlash ensued; the everyday â€Å"Five Dollar Foot Long† campaign was sustained until Subway was pushed to increase the price of the sandwich due to inflation. Much like an ad targeted to women of all ages that shows young, thin, energetic girls wearing fashionable clothing, this ad creates false scenarios in the minds of males about a situation that eating this burger will put them in. In the past, the appeals of Burger King ads seemed to be based on humor and were aimed towards a more universal audience. Their ads usually include the advertising mascot of the company, â€Å"The King,† who would often be presented in comical situations. The ad, in no way, alienated any group of people which is why it was kept. The problem in advertising today and particularly in this ad is that companies now allow their products to give off the wrong impression in order to get a rise out of people. Despite its limited release, the unnecessarily sexual nature of the ad sparked much discussion around the world. Not long after the backlash, Burger King officials released a statement expressing that the ad was not created by their principal advertising agency, but by a more independent Singapore agency. Although the ad was taken down shortly thereafter, this does not change the fact that Burger King knew what they were getting themselves into in allowing this ad to be released. Excessively sexualizing a product could mean much negative repercussions for a company. Whether Burger King thought they could sell more sandwiches this way or not, they got the publicity that they were striving for. Although the feedback that they were receiving was extremely negative, it successfully got their name in people’s minds which is considered positive for any company. Burger King, by no accident, released an overly sexual ad that could cause any consumer to think twice. In some cases, sex only sells to a point, then it becomes overkill meaning that the ad could work against them if it is deemed â€Å"too sexual.† Done in the right way, sexual ads are very successful but in those cases the ads are very subtle and usually focus on some kind of subliminal message. Burger King’s target audience who are predominately young males will certainly have a strong reaction to the ad but will most likely not be more inclined to buy the product after seeing it in those terms. This ad is a good example of how shock value gets attention but does not effectively sell a product.

Public Relations, Advertisement, And Marketing - 1014 Words

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