...KNOWLEDGE IS POWER After some debating of evolution vs creationism, and after reading some of Jack Herer's book, it just hit me like a ton of bricks, and I thought I'd share this thought with all of you. Knowledge is Power. Yes, most of us have heard that a million times on School House Rock on Saturday mornings, but it means so much more than they could have ever imagined. Knowledge is the ultimate weapon and the ultimate defence. Since the dawn of civilization, the powerful have restricted the Knowledge available to us common folk, and that is precisely how they maintain their power. One of the best examples of this (and because it's currently very fashionable (and fun!) to bash them) is the Catholic Church. Make no mistake, I'm Italian and the Church has always been very important in my family. However, since the very beginning, that is since around 100 A.D., it has consistently withheld Knowledge from its followers. But HOW did it gain so many followers so quickly? By claiming a monopoly on Knowledge right from the outset, by being extremely exclusive, moreso than any other religious cult in recorded history. Think about it: during a time of great crisis (as the 3rd century certainly was for the Roman Empire), a time when barbarians are invading the empire from all angles, a time when the Roman elite seemed incapable of defending their own population, out comes this religion which claims that it and ONLY it has the ability to save people for eternity. It has the ultimate...
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...Knowledge and Individual Power With the use of the words knowledge and individual power being employed together, there is a definite encouraging position to be seen As the emergent ideas inundated my mind to express my point of view and approaches in reference to these words I consistently discovered myself reverting back to independence, strong self-esteem and acquiescent. During my evaluating and revision of the stories and poems that were assigned and in conjunction with my reviewed analysis of these stories and poems by others, I discovered that a definite subject of the acceptance of others once they were further educated was determined as well. The passages from Lauren Axelrod and my point of view provided a sound transcribed breakdown. Self-empowerment is gained through knowledge. I found myself following the guidance of the author, during my reflection and brainstorming for this essay, and pursued the guidelines on pages eighty nine and ninety. As what needed to be followed in the instructions was stated, some of the wide-ranging generalities and expectations that came to mind while thinking over the words knowledge and individual power are what I penned down. The way toward individual power above one’s individual atmosphere is paved by the possession of knowledge. The ability for you to be a much sounder person and to be able to progress the surroundings for those that are around you. An ideology and the power is instilled in you that you will be confidently encouraged...
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...Knowledge Power Most people in the world are competing on getting their education done, so they can have better and easier lives. Being in college means no more wasting time because college is very important. It does not matter if you are going for two years or four years as long as you finish college; it is all worth it in the end. Some of us cannot even earn a job after graduating from college. We know, life is very tough out there; especially now, many people are trying earn their college degrees. Therefore, some can argue that a college degree will be on the same level as a high school diploma because now many people are trying to get an education. By that being said, people are trying to get a higher education to compete with other college graduates. People who have earned a higher education, are prepared with the education and will most likely get the job. Nevertheless, knowledge is our key for success. Even though people claim that a college education is all about earning more money, it is important to note that a college education is a fundamental tool, to help our economy and save our lives. People that finished college will help encourage young students from high school to be motivated to stay in school and complete their education. About one fourth of high school students will drop out from high school. Drop outs will affect our economy. And, the government will have to provide financial benefits for those who drop out because they cannot get a job. For example...
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...The Power of Knowledge Knowledge can be approached in different ways and numerous interpretations are considered. Knowledge can be stimulated through humility or ignorance. I have selected three separate texts that illustrate the connection human aspirations and knowledge has in common and the impact hierarchy rankings have on one’s insight. The literary analysis essay interprets and defines the term “knowledge”. The meaning focuses around learning, instruction, insight, philosophy, and proficiency. The texts that will be used throughout the essay as sources are: Beowulf translated by Michael Swanton, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and the author is Geoffrey Chaucer, and The Tempest which is a product of William Shakespeare. Characters from the chosen texts demonstrate their perception of knowledge and wisdom based on the significance of superficial existence. People’s assumed power and privilege promote certain actions they could partake in when trying to fulfill personal desires. Acts of knowledge can be either appropriate or inappropriate gestures. It is difficult to distinguish right from wrong deeds the overall circumstances has to be examined and the answer lies in the outcome of the decision when wisdom was applied. There is good and evil in everyone, selfless or self-centered choices formulate one’s character and the observed perception others have. The texts educate the reader that karma usually constructs challenges or rewards depending on if your knowledge was practiced...
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...James Marie Professor Baker English 101 28 February 2012 Knowledge is Power, Power is Success. How successful are you? When looking for a job in today’s world it is known that companies aren’t concerned with whether someone couldn’t attend college because they couldn’t pay for it. They only care about whether a degree is held or not. This is why being part of the lower class has been so difficult for students wanting to continue their education. Preparing for a successful future begins with a quality education. For many students, however, the quality of the available education is dependent on their financial circumstances. In order to ensure that all American citizens are as successful as they can be, access to quality education must be based on effort and commitment, not an individual’s ability to pay for it. Today most people would agree that education is the key to success. It is almost impossible to have a successful career without having an advanced education from a superior school. Businesses and companies depend consequently on what school someone graduated from and what degree they have, that it creates an unfair bias and almost makes it impossible for someone to compete for a job when they could not afford the same education. In today’s economy it is more challenging to acquire a successful career. Businesses have become further meticulous in their hiring processes and are not speculating towards undergraduates to employ. Businesses are looking for applicants...
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...Knowledge is Power The first step to gaining freedom from oppression is to recognize that freedom is being restricted. Some contend that because Freire’s work, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed was written over forty years ago, in a different country with a heightened sense of activism that it does not apply to today’s public education system in America. I disagree. His analysis applies as much today as it did forty years ago, but the reason most do not recognize it is because it works so well. The educational system uses a concept that Freire details in his work, namely the banking concept of education. This method of teaching is “dehumanizing” in that it reduces students to “receptacles” whose only purpose in life is to be filled with information which is chosen by oppressors to be significant (Freire par. 4). Freire paints a picture of lifeless, mechanical, students, filing information into their brains without question or analysis; the very thing that he claims makes us human (par. 4,5). He asserts that this concept of education is oppressive by design. Indeed, it serves the oppressors’ goals in that “the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to (an environment where they question nothing), the more easily they can be dominated” (Freire par. 9). The control over educational subject matter plays a key role in oppression. Loewen's work Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong details this role. Although I agree with the ideas of Freire...
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...We humans claims to be at the forefront of knowledge, and consider ourselves as having a better understanding of our world and its environs than any other creature. This claim of achievement or superiority may not be totally hollow if we consider the progress we have made as a race so far. But how much of the whole do we really know? How has our knowledge been possible? We recognise our own existence, and that of our environment, with the aid of our senses. Of the five senser we have, two -- those of sight and hearing are the ones that link us with the world around us. It is mainly these two senses, and a brain to control and coordinate them, that enable us to acquire knowlege and understanding about everything. How is it that these senses show such versatility as the vastness of our knowledge and abilities indicate? Are we right in assuming the ability of our senses to the extent we do? Is the knowledge that we have acquired with the help of our senses, reliable and precise? Or is our knowledge misleading? It is difficult to give convincing answers to these questions. It may also be that the answers are not always positive or encouraging. Whatever the answers, they are essentiallyhuman; from the viewpoint of humans and for the sake of humans. As they can change, with viewpoint and logic, the answers cannot be considered absolute or eternal. The reliability of our knowledge is further in doubt, because the period for which we have been existing as a race is negligibly brief...
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...Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that the main purpose of the so-called ‘Alfredian Renaissance’ was to strengthen royal power. Interpretation A gives the opinion that Alfred’s motive behind the educational reforms was that ‘a life without knowledge or reflection was unworthy of respect.’ By having this as a reason, Stenton argues that Alfred effectively wished for respect of his Kingdom and subjects, and this can only be acquired through the gaining of knowledge. However, this can easily be disputed as one can argue that this may only have been the spoken reason in order to legitimise the reforms in the eyes of his subjects, when the underlying reason was indeed to strengthen his royal power. It can be argued on the other hand, i.e. in Stenton’s favour, as there is evidence that Alfred genuinely would want to improve the education and learning within his Kingdom, as he received a below-par education himself and later realised that he did not want the same for his subjects. He also travelled to Rome as a child, which influenced his decisions as Rome was a centre point for scholars in the world at that time. Another way of understanding Stenton’s interpretation is to believe that royal power may come through gaining the respect of his Kingdom anyway. By this I mean that if Alfred believed that the education of his people would earn enough respect from foreign powers both within the British Isles and from European ones such as the Carolingian Empire...
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...of French and Raven Power on knowledge Acquisition, Knowledge Creation and knowledge Sharing: An Empirical Investigation in Lebanese Organizations Dr. Silva Karkoulian, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon Miss Yasmina Osman, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon ABSTRACT It has been documented that not much is known about the kinds of French and Raven powers that foster the acquisition, creation and sharing of organizational knowledge. This study extends the French and Raven power literature to the Lebanese Organizations and provides an empirical evidence of knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Results from the regression analysis of this study show that expert power is positively and significantly associated with knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. INTRODUCTION In the second half of the twentieth century, knowledge management proved to be a new managerial reform suited to the rapidly changing environment. Managers were encouraged to consider and treat their employee’s knowledge as a crucial source for the success of their organizations (Huseman and Goodman, 1999; Stewart, 1997; Sveiby, 1997). Many scholars have focused their attention on knowledge management. Grant (1996) argues that a source of organization’s competitive advantage is when organizations apply a great deal of effort to develop new knowledge and technology. This new knowledge and technology added...
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...1. Introduction ‘Knowledge is power’, an old saying from Francis Bacon, which is considered as a true statement that has been recognised for a long time (Greco, 1993; Nielsen and Rasmussen, 2011). Especially, in recent 20 years, the interest and importance of knowledge in organisations has been increased remarkably in both theoretically and practically (Cheema, 2010; Knight and Howes, 2003; Rasmussen and Nielsen, 2011). The reason is revealed by Migdadi (2009) and Politis (2005), in the new economy, the intangible resource, knowledge has become the foundation of organisational competitiveness compared to tangible assets. In other words, the traditional driving factors of production, including, land, labour and capital have turned into the secondary resources as knowledge become the primary source of power in production within the contemporary economy. The work of Rasmussen and Nielsen (2011) reveal that intangible resource is regarded as a typical feature of knowledge, which can build capabilities for both organisations and individuals, consequently, in this new economy, also can be called knowledge-based economy made knowledge become strategically important to provide sustain competitive advantage for enterprises, especially in high technology and bioengineering sectors (Niu, 2010). Knowledge therefore has emerged as a main source of power as well as core competency in today’s emerging economies. However, new possibilities and threads are constantly taken place to challenge...
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...1. Introduction ‘Knowledge is power’, an old saying from Francis Bacon, which is considered as a true statement that has been recognised for a long time (Greco, 1993; Nielsen and Rasmussen, 2011). Especially, in recent 20 years, the interest and importance of knowledge in organisations has been increased remarkably in both theoretically and practically (Cheema, 2010; Knight and Howes, 2003; Rasmussen and Nielsen, 2011). The reason is revealed by Migdadi (2009) and Politis (2005), in the new economy, the intangible resource, knowledge has become the foundation of organisational competitiveness compared to tangible assets. In other words, the traditional driving factors of production, including, land, labour and capital have turned into the secondary resources as knowledge become the primary source of power in production within the contemporary economy. The work of Rasmussen and Nielsen (2011) reveal that intangible resource is regarded as a typical feature of knowledge, which can build capabilities for both organisations and individuals, consequently, in this new economy, also can be called knowledge-based economy made knowledge become strategically important to provide sustain competitive advantage for enterprises, especially in high technology and bioengineering sectors (Niu, 2010). Knowledge therefore has emerged as a main source of power as well as core competency in today’s emerging economies. However, new possibilities and threads are constantly taken place to challenge...
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...Elvis Dizdarevic Interpretation of Lit 11/17/2011 Frankenstein: The Pursuit of Dangerous Knowledge By: Elvis Dizdarevic Aristotle once said, “All men by nature desire knowledge” and I tend to agree with him. Every human being strives to be more knowledgeable. It is something we all want. In society, it puts people above one another and gives a certain power to the ones who are intelligent. It is revered to be only a good thing to have and to seek but in some situations pursuing more knowledge is, in fact, dangerous. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, two main characters have this obsessive pursuit of knowledge; Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein. Walton, an Englishman, is on a quest to be the first to reach the North Pole. His story is the frame for Frankenstein and the monster’s stories. He is a determined man who wants to possess a knowledge that no one else has. Walton desires to explore uncharted lands and to discover new particulars unbeknownst to the average man. Victor Frankenstein parallels Walton in his obsessive pursuit of knowledge. Most would say Frankenstein is even more obsessive. Frankenstein is a man who is purely driven to learn more. While attending the University of Ingolstadt, Frankenstein learns all that his professors have to teach him. After mastering the sciences he becomes fascinated with life and its creation. So much that he neglects his family and stays in his apartment for months at a time to research. He believes that there is...
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...TOPIC 7: Power and Conflict i. Which power bases lie with the individual? Which are derived from the organisation? Expert and Referent power base lie with the individual. Expert power influence based on special skills or knowledge. Because the specialisation of jobs becomes more and more popular, we become increasingly dependent on experts to achieve goals. Referent power influence based on possession by an individual of desirable resources or personal traits. Referent power develops out of admiration of another and a desire to be like that person. For example, If I like, respect and admire you, you can exercise power over me because I want to please you. Coercive and Reward and Legitimate power are the power derived from the organisation. Coercive power is the power base that is dependent on fear. In other words, The coercive power base depends on fear of the negative results from failing to comply. Coercive power can also come from withholding key information. Reward power is the opposite power of coercive power. Reward power is the compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. Legitimate power is the power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organisation. It includes members’ acceptance of the authority of a position. ii. Write a 200 word summary of the argument in the article by Politis. This paper examines the relationship between credibility, the dimensions of power and...
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...Power Source Implications for Leader/Follower Relationse National American University According to Webster’s Dictionary, power can be defined as the ability to act or produce an effect. What does power have to do with leadership? Well the leader is given power of the followers. The effect that the leader is trying to produce will be specific organizational goals. Those goals can be long-term or short-term. When we refer to the power source, we are referring to the method by which the leader will use when achieving these goals. Power sources deal primarily with how the leader attempts to work with the followers. Some leaders may build a relationship that may go beyond the organization in which the leader is able to gain the followers trust while some keep it strictly personal. Relationships between leader and follower must have their limits, which is why many organizations are strict on leaders fraternizing with the followers. Executives of some of the top companies use power sources in order to climb to the top, so it is no secret that these do help organizations achieve goals. Expert Power Expert Power is the source in which the leader is able to gain the trust of the followers due to the leader’s knowledge and expertise in a particular are. When someone knows they can approach their leader with questions and the leader has the answer, that person is more likely to be confident in that information as well as themselves and then leading to accomplished goals. Anytime...
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...organization performance. ANS: T PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate REF: 420 OBJ: LO: 13-01 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Individual Dynamics KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 2. The genuine efforts to accept and manage diverse people in North America are a phenomenon that emerged in the 1800s. ANS: F PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate REF: 421 OBJ: LO: 13-01 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Individual Dynamics KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 3. Today's workforce is growing older with an average age of 40.8 years in 2006 and it is expected to increase to 42.1 years in 2016. ANS: T PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Difficult REF: 421 OBJ: LO: 13-01 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Individual Dynamics KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 4. In 1970, Joseph Searles became the first African American member of the New York Stock Exchange. ANS: T PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Difficult REF: 422 OBJ: LO: 13-01 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Individual Dynamics KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 5. In 2010, PepsiCo appointed its first female CEO. ANS: F PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy REF: 422 OBJ: LO: 13-01 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Individual Dynamics KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 6. Because employees with different backgrounds bring different options and ideas to the table, a diverse workforce may lead to increased conflict, anxiety, and misunderstanding...
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