RE103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Special Forces, Atheism

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lemonwater-buffalo610

5 Jan 2016

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Even atheists and atheism is a religion because they are a group that have a set of beliefs and behaviours. Dimensions of religion: beliefs, rituals, institutional, myths, academic study of religion, purpose: we want to understand religion as a human phenomenon or activity that is shaped by human life which is why we want to study it. Is not an effort to talk about religion in a confessional or faith based way. In other words when we talk about religion we are not interested by what"s true and not true. France"s civil service- not allowed to wear anything on your head that would identify you to a religion b. Importance: religion is everywhere, lurking in politics, warfare, therefore it matters, and we have to study religion if we are going to make sense of our world. You can"t work or live properly, you can"t make decisions if you don"t understand the world.

Related Questions

Question 1

Evolutionary algorithms are used:

In engineering, to arrive at solutions by going through many permutations of possible solutions and allowing them to evolve.

A genetic feature of complex organisms.

A process undergone by the human brain, which is similar to evolution by natural selection.

Another term used for a computer algorithm in general.

Question 2

Human literature and languages can be studied using methods similar to those used for constructing phylogenies because:

There is no other way of studying these things.

Languages evolve roughly along the lines of species, with mutations (changes in words and pronunciation), descent with modification (languages becoming more different along the way), and branching of languages (languages giving rise to other languages that are similar to them).

Because literature and languages are constructed by organisms (human beings), so what applies to one must apply to the other.

Languages undergo a process of word swapping, which is analogous to horizontal gene transfer.

Question 3

The degree to which horizontal gene transfer occurs in eukaryotes is:

Something upon which the entire validity of evolutionary biology hinges.

A mystery that may or may not disprove evolution, but we simply don't know enough about it at this point.

Something that would overthrow the notion that this phenomenon is important in bacteria.

An interesting and potentially important aspect of biology with relevance for how evolution occurs, but not something that would call it into question one way or the other.

Question 4

Learning about the history of scientific theories and the reasons for why they are initially accepted or rejected is important mostly because:

It makes for exciting story telling, and this is very much needed to get people interested in science.

It teaches us about the process of science as it actually occurs, which is somewhat different to the idealized notion of a purely objective undertaking.

It tells us which theories are definitely true or false.

It tells us that science is actually a totally subjective process that tries to present itself as objective. In reality, personal subjective factors are the only relevant factors that really matter in science.

mauvemammoth554

Question 3

We saw in class that the same good can fall in different categories (public/private/club/common resource) depending on circumstances. An example of such a good would be watching a movie at the theater. If a lot of people want to watch it, the movie is a _________. If very few people want to watch it (to the point where a room could not even be filled), the movie is likely to be a _______.

A. a common resource; a public good

B. a public good; a common resource

C. a private good; a club good

D. a club good; a private good

3 points

Question 4

Which of the following statements about the free-rider problem is not true?

A. Individuals have an incentive to free-ride when the good is not excludable.

B. The kinds of goods for which the free rider problem arises are common resources and public good.

C. Markets for goods for which there is a free-rider problem are inefficient because not enough of the good is produced.

D. Goods for which the free-rider problem exists tend to be over provided relative to what would be optimal.

4 points

Question 5

To achieve the efficient provision of public goods, the

A. market should be allowed to operate without government intervention.

B. government must limit the provision of those goods.

C. government must tax producers of those goods.

D. government must either provide those goods or subsidize their production.

3 points

Question 6

Which of the following statements about public goods is not true?

A. Because people cannot be excluded from their consumption and thus have no incentive to pay for them, public goods are underprovided by the market.

B. Efficiency requires that the government provide or fund (subsidize) the provision of all public goods.

C. Efficiency requires that the government provide or fund only the public goods that create more benefits than costs to society.

D. In reality, it is hard to provide public goods efficiently.

3 points

Question 7

Public goods must be provided by the government as the market on its own will fail to provide them. However, even with government provision it is very hard to achieve efficiency. Why?

A. In reality, it is very hard (if not impossible) to accurately estimate the benefits of providing a public good.

B. A. In reality, there can be overruns in the cost of providing the public good.

C. Government decisions about which public goods to provide can be influenced by lobbying by interest groups.

D. All of the above are true.

4 points

Question 8

Which of the following is not a common resource?

A. congested roads

B. clean water

C. wild life, which hunters want to hunt and others want to view.

D. a fireworks display.

3 points

Question 9

Many species of animals must be protected by law to keep them from extinction. Why are cows not one of these endangered species even though there is such a high demand for beef?

A. Cows reproduce at a high rate and have adapted well to their environment.

B. Public policies protect cows from predators and diseases.

C. Cows are privately owned (private goods), whereas many endangered species are owned by no one (common resources).

D.There is a natural ecological balance between the birth rate of cows and human consumption.

3 points

Question 10

Which of the following statements about common resources is not true?

A. Due to the free-rider problem, common resources tend to be overused.

B. Because there is rivalry in the consumption of common resources, whenever one person uses a common resource it is imposing a negative externality on others who might also want to use it.

C. There are no private solutions to the management of common resources.

D. One of the solutions that ensures that common resources are properly managed is their privatization.

3 points

Question 11

In our analysis of the firmâs behavior and goals, when we talk about cost, we include _________, and when we talk about profit, we mean ________.

A. Explicit costs only; economic profit

B. Implicit costs only; economic profit

C. Implicit costs only; accounting profit

D. Explicit + implicit costs; economic profit

E. Explicit + implicit costs; accounting profit

3 points

Question 12

One of the differences between explicit and implicit costs is that

A. explicit costs must be greater than implicit costs.

B. explicit costs do not require a direct monetary outlay, whereas implicit costs do.

C. implicit costs do not require a direct monetary outlay, whereas explicit costs do.

D. implicit costs must be greater than explicit costs.

3 points

Question 13

Which of the following is FALSE:

A. If accounting profit is zero, then economic profit is negative

B. Economic profit takes cost the opportunity cost of time and capital into account

C. Economic Profit = Accounting Profit + Implicit Cost

D. Economic Profit = Accounting Profit â Implicit Cost

3 points

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of an implicit cost?

(i) the owner of a firm forgoing an opportunity to earn a large salary working in Wall Street

(ii) interest paid on the firm's debt

(iii) rent paid by the firm to lease office space

A. (ii) and (iii) only

B. (i) and (iii) only

C. (i) only

D. (iii) only

3 points

sapphirekangaroo316

Case Study #3

TO WAL-MART OR NOT TO WAL-MART?

Wal-Mart is a $250-billion-a-year retailer. Eighty two percent of U.S. households made a

Wal-Mart purchase in 2002. It is the largest company in the world with a global

workforce of 1.4 million. Where Wal-Mart competes the average grocery prices are 14%

lower. In the past it was General Motors, IBM and other companies that were considered

to be the leaders in industry and the ones to watch. Now it is Wal-Mart that is being

studied in universities around the world.

At Wal-Mart, cost is king. Costs are kept low and this translates into goods being sold

for less. The entire organization is focused on reducing costs and passing those savings

on to the consumer. This allows poor people to buy food and other necessities that they

otherwise might not be able to afford. In the U.S. it dominates sales in a number of

categories : 32% of disposable diapers, 30% of hair products, 26% of toothpaste, 20% of

pet food and 13% of textiles.

Wal-Mart simply has developed the most efficient methods for operating their business.

Their inventory management, through a network of scanners, computers, and at-the-ready

suppliers, makes it the leader in successful turnover of inventory. How can we blame

Wal-Mart for being the efficient cost conscious giant that it is?

The Wal-Mart phenomenon has occurred at the same time that high-paying skilled jobs

are being lost in the manufacturing sector. When these jobs are lost, the alternative often

means being employed at Wal-Mart at a much lower pay scale with reduced benefits

such as medical insurance. Its labor costs are twenty percent less than those at

unionized supermarkets, and sales clerks make less, on average, than the federal poverty

level ($8.50 an hour).

Barbara Ehrenreich* has described the problems faced by the under class, such

as waitresses and Wal-Mart employees. They barely survive on a day-to-day basis, living

from hand to mouth, with no reserves, no safety net, no medical insurance and almost no

prospect of improving their positions in life.

The loss of manufacturing jobs has affected the lifestyles of many people. What they see

is the reality of reduced opportunity with a permanent reduction in wages and standards

of living. They are trapped in a new marketplace, with diminishing expectations and few

alternatives to shopping at Wal-Mart. This is a change in our American culture--the

dreams have now been down-sized.

Is Wal-Mart the hero or the culprit? After all, low prices, competition, and growth have

all been mantras that Americans have been chanting all of our lives. We were

told that if you built a better mouse trap, everyone would come to you. Well, Wal-Mart

has built a better mouse trap. Is there any logic in our looking at Wal-Mart as a

contributor to the loss of some our middle class or is it just jealousy and sour grapes?

For one thing, its hard line on costs has forced many factories to move overseas.

Wal-Mart imported most of the items it sells. Environmental standards

are lower in these countries where these goods are manufactured than they are in the

U.S. This probably results in increased health issues and costs. In addition, shipment of

goods many thousands of miles to their ultimate destinations, involve utilizing the

worldâs limited oil resources. When you add up all this, the cost of the goods may be

greater than if they were produced in this country.

Another issue is that Wal-Mart is a non-union employer paying wages that are below the

poverty level, with minimal health insurance coverage. As many employees cannot

afford the co-payment required for doctors office visits, when a medical crisis occurs they

are forced to use the emergency room facilities of local hospitals. The result is that the

community bears the direct cost of their medical treatment and the indirect, as well as

ancillary costs such as diminished work capacity, child care, etc.

There are other economic ramifications to the Wal-Mart explosion. When Wal-Mart

arrives in a town, âmain streetâ erodes. Neighborhood stores that used to provide goods,

services and paid their workers well, are eliminated, uprooting families and ways of life

in the process. The Wal-Mart decision to saturate Oklahoma City, resulted in the closure

of 30 supermarkets.

If Americans shop with price being the only factor that determines where they

purchase their goods, doesnât this mean the permanent down-sizing of our standard of

living? How can the local retail establishment survive when they canât compete with a

Wal-Mart? Look at what has happened to the local supermarket, bookstore, hardware

and clothing store. The demise of these small business constitutes the loss of a middle

class of society in a community. We need to think: As consumers are we better off

paying a little more to enable the local merchants and their families to survive in order to

preserve the character of our communities and society or should we concern ourselves

with price only?

HERE IS YOUR DILEMMA:

You are the mayor of a small city in the West. You canât worry about the 4,700 workers

at IBM and the other workers at technology companies who lost their jobs. Your problem

is a more local one.

A Wal-Mart representative has approached you about the possibility of building a super-

store within your city limits. The store would serve communities within a twenty-five mile

radius. The land that they intend to build upon would require new zoning. Wal-Mart

would expect a certain amount of property tax and other relief. If your city does not

want a super-store, you are certain that one of the other towns close-by would be happy

to accommodate their needs.

What studies would you require before deciding which way to vote? What ramifications

do you foresee with this new super-store? What would you ask of Wal-Mart before

agreeing to their request? How much input would you seek from the residents of your

city

blushimpala894

RE103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Special Forces, Atheism

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