Is Death Natural? :: essays research papers

Is Death Natural? Many of the most beautiful and meaningful facets of life are the way they are £Ã‚ ¬ because they are ephemeral. I know that death is natural; Life runs its course before coming around again. Something present in or produced by nature is natural, such as an earthquake or typhoon, or a poisonous mushroom. Death is natural in the sense that to die is to conform to the ordinary course of living things in nature. Death has been modeled as an exponential increase in the rate of illnesses with age. Even with no micro-organisms attacking, the body is not well enough designed to function indefinitely. Something always breaks down eventually. What breakdowns, how many, and when they happen, is randomly distributed among individuals, except for conformance to average delays which may have been sculpted by evolution. Some of those functions our medicine can't re-establish or substitute for and some of those are necessary for life. In general, death is an unremarkable event in nature. To die of "natural causes" is not to expire in old age, as is the case in modern human societies, but to typically die young. Average human life spans between 20 and 30 years for most of our species history. Most people today are thus living highly unnaturally long lives. Because of the high incidence of infectious disease, accidents, starvation, and violent death among our ancestors, very few of them lived much beyond 60 or 70. There was therefore little selection pressure to evolve the cellular repair mechanisms (and pay their metabolic costs). As a result of these circumstances in the distant past, we now suffer the inevitable decline of old age: damage accumulates at a faster pace than it can be repaired; tissues and organs begin to malfunction; and then we die. It may turn out to be impossible to live forever, strictly speaking, even for those who are lucky enough to survive to such a time when technology has been perfected, and even under ideal conditions. The amount of matter and energy that our civilization can lay its hands on before they recede forever beyond our reach is finite in the current most favored cosmological models. As for age and death, one of the biggest factors actually has to do with cell replication. Most of our cells are not meant to live forever  ¡Ã‚ ­. We are meant to die. Your cells divide and divide and divide and their daughter cells do the same, so one and such forth.

Hip Mask Representing An Iyoba Essay

The exquisiteness of the material and the sophistication of the carving indicate that it was created by the exclusive guild of royal ivory carvers for the king. This exquisite piece is made out of ivory, iron and cooper. This piece also contains pieces of inlaid metal and elaborate coral carvings. The piece dimensions are as followed; H. 9 3/8 x W. 5 x D. 3 1/4 in. (23. 8 x 12. 7 x 8. 3 cm). The mask is a sensitive human idealized portrait, depicting its subject with softly modeled features. This piece is framed with an elegant tiara-like coiffure and openwork collar. The pupils were inlaid with iron metal, the forehead has carved scarification marks and also she is wearing bands of coral beads below the chin. In the necklace you can see miniature motifs that represent heads of the Portuguese soldiers depicted with beards and flowing hair. In the crown tiara-like coiffure are carved more Portuguese heads alternated with figures of stylized mudfish, which symbolizes Olokun, the Lord of the Great Waters. You can see that some of the necklace portion is damage or missing and this could be due to the age and fragility of the coral. This piece is from early African art also known as â€Å"Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba†. Today, you can find this piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Although images of women are very rare this piece has come to symbolize the legacy of a dynasty that continues to the present day. In many of the African cultures the head is a very important, powerful and symbolic piece. The head was consider to be the symbolic center of a person’s intelligence, wisdom, and ability to succeed in this world and/or to be a tool to be able to communicate with spiritual forces in the ancestral world. In Art of History, published in 2011, both Professor Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren claim that â€Å"one of the honorifics used for the king is the â€Å"Great Head†. The head leads the body as the king leads the people. All of the memorial heads include representation of coral-beaded caps, necklaces and royal costume. Coral, enclosing the head and displayed on the body, is still the ultimate symbol of the oba’s power and authority. † In an article titled â€Å"Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba Of Benin† published in 2006, issue 9 of Jenda: A Journal Of Culture And African Women Studies – Nkiru Nzegwu wrote â€Å"Iron and copper inserts were embedded in these cavities in the original model and formed part of the decoration. Some have claimed that these cavities were receptacles for embedded magical potions, and there is a historical explanation for them. The striations were the result of incisions a local doctor-diviner made to disfigure Idia and render her unattractive to Oba Ozolua. As narrated by the present Oba Erediauwa, Idia’s parents did not wish her to become an Oba’s wife, and the oracle they consulted advised that they mar her beauty to make her ugly to the Oba (Kaplan 1993, 59). The two incisions not only scarred her face but, to make assurance double sure, they also contained potent medicinal potions which the consulting physician-diviner had assured them would repel Oba Ozolua. The royal explanation is that the plan failed because the Oba sensed that something was wrong before he even saw Idia and quickly neutralized the effects of the medicine. † This is a pendant or ornament mask that represents an iyoba (queen mother-the oba’s mother), the senior female member of the royal court. It’s believed that this piece was produced in the early sixteenth century for the King or â€Å"Oba† Esigie, the king of Benin, who ruled from 1504 to 1550. This piece is to honor his mother, Idia. There are different versions of the purpose of this piece. The most common ones is that this was used a as belt ornament and it was worn at the oba’s hip. The Oba may have worn it at rites commemorating his mother, although today such pendants are worn at annual ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification. Esigie had the support of Ida and the Portuguese soldiers in the expansion of his kingdom. Ida is remembered for raising an army and using magical powers to help her son Esigie to defeat his enemies.

The Eternal Effects of Cyber Bullying - 1196 Words

Once upon a time the age of innocence in the adolescent years was filled with long walks by the pond, playing stickball, dress up, tea parties, rough housing with friends and the love of a favorite doll. Those days are true still today yet in most every ones childhood memory they have been subjected or their friends were at the mercy of the schoolyard bully. The aggressive kid that was determined to make at least one other schoolmates life miserable whether it was muscle over might or sheer hostility and teasing the meek in spirit or stature. In these commonly witnessed scenarios a variety of outcomes would result whether it was the good, standing up to evil or the good being terrorized for eternal scars and wounds that have yet to heal in†¦show more content†¦In, â€Å"Cyber Bullying and Physical Bullying in Adolescent Suicide: The Role of Violent Behavior and Substance Use†, Litwiler and Brausch point out studies where the propensity of drug use, unsafe sexual behav ior and suicidal behavior were all effects of youth cyber bullying. (Litwiler and Brausch) The harassment received via the use of technology from emails, text, and Internet usage on social networking sites is a clear injustice to the protection and safe wellbeing of its victims. Individual states within the United States, since 2010, have developed laws and policies for the prevention of bullying that protect children, however, the government Stop Bullying campaign reports, At present, no federal law directly addresses bullying. In some cases, bullying overlaps with discriminatory harassment, which is covered under federal civil rights laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). (Home) It is to question the absence of federal laws for the protection of minors, as the term cyber bullying only pertains to the offense of a child to a child. Harassment in this same form instigated by an adult or with adult involvement against a minor or against another adult isShow MoreRelatedThe Social Of Social Network1215 Words   |  5 Pagesamong scholars and individuals. Fundamentally, most of the majorities are more concerned with the effects social media have on the younger generation and the society. Some are of the view that social networks affect youth’s lives in a negative manner. On the contrary, there are scholars who defend the use of social network. In fact, our younger generation seems to forget and blinding about the side-effect that causes by social networks; while they enjoying high-tech facilities that filled with numerousRead MoreUnderstanding Children and Young Person Development Essay13960 Words   |  56 Pageshelps children and young people achieve ea ch of these outcomes. The 5 outcomes in ‘Every Child matters’ and an example of how young people can achieve each outcome are – Young people are developing and are very vulnerable. The price of safety is eternal vigilance – should always be stressed. - 1. Be healthy Eat a ‘balanced diet’ – protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, fruits and vegetables, fruit juices and drink water 2. Stay safe – Health and safety in the home. TheRead MoreSocial Networking Sites-Boon/Bane15517 Words   |  63 Pagesinteract directly with anyone and everyone. But more often than not, some of them bear the consequences of being too open on social networking sites and pay a heavy price. After all, its not easy being a celeb and interacting directly out there in the cyber world. Foot-in-the-mouth syndrome Who will understand this better than ex Union Minister of external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Thanks to their social networking, all the dirt from the IPL hit the ceiling. The duo