Abstract
This paper is a critical thinking essay on an assumptions scenario proposed by the instructor. The scenario details the problems that Jeffrey is having at work and his consideration to find new employment. The paper outlines some of the major assumptions that Jeffrey makes in this scenario, proposes how to validate those assumptions, discusses some other alternatives and finally discusses how to check the assumptions that are being made.

From the Paper
"In the scenario in question, Jeffrey is a 40-something manager for a business based out of Chicago. He has become increasingly frustrated with his job, however, primarily because he feels under appreciated. For a number of reasons, Jeffrey believes that his boss gives him no respect at work. As a direct result, Jeffrey has begun to shop around for other employment. He is particularly enamored with a job in California. The interviewer he talked to was especially flattering, a fact that Jeffrey feels will translate to greater regard and recognition. However, what Jeffrey fails to recognize at this point is that his conclusions are based on a number of assumptions that may or may not be true. There are five major assumptions that Jeffrey makes in this scenario that drive his decision-making process and yet which may not be entirely accurate."

Tags:critical, thinking, assumptions

Abstract
The paper examines and critically evaluates two core metaphysical assumptions made by the New Age movement stemming from a misunderstanding of quantum physics: the metaphysical idea that all things are connected, and the corollary and equally dubious assumption that a person's mental state can have an effect on the universe.

From the Paper
"Like any epistemology, the New Age movement has at its heart a plethora of core assumptions. These metaphysical assumptions constitute the way in which individuals perceive and understand their place in the world. The purpose of this essay is to examine and critically evaluate two core metaphysical assumptions made by the New Age movement stemming from a misunderstanding of quantum physics: the idea that all things are connected, and the corollary assumption that one's mental state can affect the universe. The New Age movement often contends that "only thoughts are real and that...""

Tags:new, age, assumptions

Abstract
This paper analyzes cognitive theories, assumptions, propositions and applications of human development and learning. It looks at some of the many ways in which cognitive development can be learned. It then focuses on three assumptions about children and human nature which might be problematic for educators, specifically early childhood educators.

Table of Contents:
Major Assumptions and Propositions
Comparison of Cognitive Theories: Bruner and Vygotsky
Constructivism and the Classroom

From the Paper
"In the 80s and 90s, a form of information processing theory called connectionism was formulated to describe and predict non-linear thinking. Otherwise known as parallel distributed processing, this theory describes the mind as a large, multiple networks of associations. Each network responds to new experience by becoming either stronger or weaker, and each operating independently of and in parallel with the others (Siefert, 2002). After each experience, relevant networks adapt to better a child's future performance.Balancing a cup of juice, for example, stimulates various sensory associations within a child's hand, arm, and body. Some of these become stronger and others weaker as experience with cups of juice accumulate, but the eventual result an ability to balance a cup (Siefert, 2002). The assumptions supporting connectionism are more compatible with the realities of classroom life. It is noted that learning by children takes place because synchronized learning of separate networks that integrate."

Tags:classroom, constructivism, thinking

Abstract
This paper examines how since the implementation of the modern British welfare state in 1945, the various regimes have been organized around an ideological triangle of family, work and nation. It looks at how this concept draws attention to the way in which welfare policies and practices are the product of a society characterized by normative representations of class, race and gender, which in turn determine the constitution of welfare citizenship. It shows how since 1945, ideological assumptions underpinning the social settlement have altered along with the changing political, economic and social landscape of Britain. It maps these changes, demonstrating the consequences for the development of successive welfare regimes. It also gives a chronological account of the way in which assumptions about class, race and gender influence welfare policy and practice.

From the Paper
"During the immediate post-war years there was a significant labor shortage and so the British government began a deliberate policy of encouraging immigration from Commonwealth countries. The British Nationality Act 1948 enshrined in law the right of Commonwealth citizens and their families to work and settle in Britain. However, many migrants found that despite Commonwealth citizenship, their immediate welfare needs were not being met (Clarke et al, 2001). For example, the eligibility criteria for provision of public housing, with regards to length of residence, served to exclude the newly arrived migrants."

Tags:citizenship, class, conservatism, discrimination, immigration, labour, liberalism

Abstract
This paper provides an account of a Russian student learning about American's faith in the American legal system. The paper is written in the narrative form and describes some of the difficulties that the author's fellow Russian students faced in America. The paper then looks at ways that the author attempted to help her Russian friends and if she was successful.

From the Paper
"For example, consider the trouble that Russian students have with some of the more commonly assigned books on major legal cases. One such book is Gideon's Trumpet, Anthony Lewis' Pulitzer Prize winning account of the case which established the rule that a person charged with a felony who cannot afford a lawyer will be appointed one. To a Russian student, the very notion that the Supreme Court would be interested in considering a rule such as this is baffling. I once discussed Gideon's Trumpet with a Russian student, whose first question was why the Supreme Court would want to cause so many problems for itself. If people accused of crimes have lawyers, they are more likely raise legal issues. "But what if the person is innocent?" I asked. The question stopped the conversation. The Russian student realized that he viewed the judicial system as carrying out a purpose which is generally quite different from the (ideal) purpose of the American judicial system. To him, the legal system exists to control dissent, of any sort, whether it is classical political dissent, or social dissent as represented by criminals. In a legal system that exists to control dissent, providing lawyers for "dissidents" increases difficulty and impedes efficiency. In a legal system determined to resolve questions of guilt or innocence, providing attorneys increases the effectiveness of the system."

Tags:judicial, dissent, government

Abstract
This essay compares the various ways in which American marriage ideals have resulted in the stigmatization of non-traditional types of marriage such as cousin, polygamous and homosexual. It emphasizes the roles of religion and reproduction in determining which types of marriages are considered acceptable. The writer concludes that while American has had a rapid push towards civilization and culture, this has led to the stigmatization of American citizens who are simply pursuing marriage in nonstandard ways.

From the Paper
"Morality and evolution have come together to form American cultural assumptions about marriage. Consequently, both American society and law have banned and stigmatized cousin, polygamous and gay marriages. Because many people in America regard marriage as a sacred institution comprising the basis of civilized society, an inability to reach this status has serious social and legal consequences. American cultural assumptions have limited the purpose of marriage to one particular pattern of reproduction, stigmatizing people with other beliefs or practices."

Tags:eugenics, homosexual, lesbian, religion, society

Abstract
Despite seeming unrelated, the search by adoptees for their biological families and the revelation of a nonstandard sexual identity by gays and lesbians to their families actually involve similar psychological components and elucidate similar cultural stereotypes about kinship. In both circumstances, individuals risk discovering weaknesses within assumed American definitions of family. This essays discusses the difficulties encountered by adoptees and gays and lesbians in coming to terms with their nontraditional status. It emphasizes the role of gender and cultural assumptions by looking at the views of authors such as Judith Modell and Kath Weston.

From the Paper
"Interestingly, both adoptees and gays and lesbians frequently rely on their mothers rather than their fathers for support. In Modell's research, adoptees searched more frequently for their biological mothers than for their biological fathers, and they often expected more support from their adoptive mothers than from their adoptive fathers (1998: 158-9, 165-6). "Mother" called up conventions about acting like a child to a parent? (Modell 1998: 166), showing the influence of traditionally assumed kinship ties felt by adoptees. Gays and lesbians also had assumptions about the roles their mothers would play in their coming out. Weston explains, "when people attempted to predict the outcome of disclosure, their judgments generally reflected cultural assumptions about gender, power, and specific categories of kinship relations" (1991: 52). As a result of these assumptions, many people felt that a mother's "feelings" would make her more understanding than a father's "reason" (1991: 53)."

Tags:adoption, homosexual, sexuality, heterosexual

Abstract
This paper identifies three assumptions on cognitive development that may already be outdated or no longer apply to current developments and discusses propositions that may be accepted in the current period. Moreover, the paper compares and differentiates two great minds in cognitive theory, Bruner and Vygotsky.

From the Paper
"There are many ways in which cognitive development can be learned and studied, but I just want to point out three assumptions on children and human nature which might be problematic for educators, specifically early childhood educators. The separation of mind and body: It is usual to think that thinking from feeling and thinking from social interaction is separate. The cognitive becomes attached to the logical, reasoned, rule-governed, and thoughtful; non-cognitive becomes everything else, including the intuitive, the emotional, and the social. We assume that developments on the cognitive side of the fence can be isolated, observed, described and even fostered without direct involvement of non-cognitive processes (Siefert, 2002). Unfortunately, this assumption is far from the fact, that work with children routinely requires attention to the common influence of the cognitive and non-cognitive. Unfortunately, the facts uncovered about this assumption is still being used today and textbooks, research programs and entire academic careers are arranged in such a way."

Tags:approach, bruner, cognitive, constructivism, constructivist, learning, theories, vygotsky

Abstract
This paper compares two books written about the extermination of Jewish people: ?Ordinary Men,? (Christopher Browning) and ?Resisting the Holocaust? (ed. Ruby Rohrlich) and tries to show how every human has the ability to become a murderer if he/she were placed under the correct circumstances.

From the Paper
"The men who carried out the anti-Semitic operations were "too old to be of use to the German army" (Browning 1). Instead they were drafted into the Order Police where they would carry out behind-the-scenes procedures not important enough to require trained officers of the military. Instead of selecting the men most suited for the task of executing the Jews, it is most likely that they were not fit enough to make any other contribution to the war effort. Most of them had no previous military training and many of them went back to their previous occupations after the war had ended, having completed their required service (Browning 144). "

Tags:browning, cohen, extermination, final, gas, genocide, german, holocaust, ii, jewish, jews, mass, murder, reich, resistance, rohrlich, solution, third, war, world

Abstract
During the course of his discussion of synchronicity, Jung makes references to the philosophers Leibniz, Kant, and Schopenhauer. This paper gives a brief description of the traditional philosophical concepts of mind, reality, and meaning and then looks at each of these philosophers in detail. One finds that as Jung discusses each of these philosophers? contribution to the understanding of meaningful coincidences, he accepts the terms of the discussion, resulting in an unworkable understanding of synchronicity.

From the Paper
"What we perceive will be unitary things, but in reality each of those things are aggregates of monads (simple, unextended substances) and known to us as such only through philosophical analysis. Furthermore, what we perceive in the phenomenal world will be subject to mechanical causality, but each monad is unique in that all changes and developments occur on the basis of each monad's potentialities ("entelechy"). Recall that these substances do not interact with each other, but their individual changes mirror the changes of other monads in perfect harmony. Each monad functions in each of their own ways, perceive things in their own ways, and reflects the infinite universe in their own ways?this entirety operating in harmony, pre-established by God."

Tags:monad, phenomena, metaphysics