How far can it be argued that rationality of modernity creates a dehumanised and disenchanted self?

This essay seeks to discover just how far it can be argued that rationality of modernity can do so by focusing on various theorists and their position on the subject. Max Weber is a key philosopher whose perspective is considered throughout the discourse of the essay on topics such as secularisation, capitalism, formal rationality, bureaucracy and ‘iron cages’ which imprison the self. Ritzer’s theory of ‘McDonaldization’ is also considered, arguing that his specific tenets of control and efficiency lead to dehumanisation. This is concurred by Bryman and his postulations of ‘emotional labour’. Marxist theory is also accounted for, around the subject of reification; the transformation of the consciousness of a human into an object. The extreme depths of the argument surrounding the rationality of modernity are presented through applying the theories to the nature of the Nazi Holocaust. Finally, consideration is given as to how to re-humanise and re-enchant the self through postmodernist observation and a case study on the power of community

Precursors, Gauge Invariance, and Quantum Error Correction in AdS/CFT

A puzzling aspect of the AdS/CFT correspondence is that a single bulk operator can be mapped to multiple different boundary operators, or precursors. By improving upon a recent model of Mintun, Polchinski, and Rosenhaus, we demonstrate explicitly how this ambiguity arises in a simple model of the field theory. In particular, we show how gauge invariance in the boundary theory manifests as a freedom in the smearing function used in the bulk-boundary mapping, and explicitly show how this freedom can be used to localize the precursor in different spatial regions. We also show how the ambiguity can be understood in terms of quantum error correction, by appealing to the entanglement present in the CFT. The concordance of these two approaches suggests that gauge invariance and entanglement in the boundary field theory are intimately connected to the reconstruction of local operators in the dual spacetime.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Sub-AdS Scale Locality in AdS3_3/CFT2_2

We investigate sub-AdS scale locality in a weakly coupled toy model of the AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence. We find that this simple model has the correct density of states at low and high energies to be dual to Einstein gravity coupled to matter in AdS$_3$. Bulk correlation functions also have the correct behavior at leading order in the large $N$ expansion, but non-local effects emerge at order $1/N$. Our analysis leads to the conjecture that any large $N$ CFT$_2$ that is modular invariant and has the right low-energy density of states is dual to a gravitational theory with sub-AdS scale locality.Comment: 19 page

Fighting for Hope

This fascinating history shows how African-American military men and women seized their dignity through barracks culture and community politics during and after World War II.Drawing on oral testimony, unpublished correspondence, archival records, memoirs, and diaries, Robert F. Jefferson explores the curious contradiction of war-effort idealism and entrenched discrimination through the experiences of the 93rd Infantry Division. Led by white officers and presumably unable to fight—and with the army taking great pains to regulate contact between black soldiers and local women—the division was largely relegated to support roles during the advance on the Philippines, seeing action only later in the war when U.S. officials found it unavoidable. Jefferson discusses racial policy within the War Department, examines the lives and morale of black GIs and their families, documents the debate over the deployment of black troops, and focuses on how the soldiers’ wartime experiences reshaped their perspectives on race and citizenship in America. He finds in these men and their families incredible resilience in the face of racism at war and at home and shows how their hopes for the future provided a blueprint for America’s postwar civil rights struggles.Integrating social history and civil rights movement studies, Fighting for Hope examines the ways in which political meaning and identity were reflected in the aspirations of these black GIs and their role in transforming the face of America

Tradition and Valor: a Family Journey

Review of: Tradition and Valor: A Family Journey. Morris, Robert V

Tradition and Valor: a Family Journey

Review of: Tradition and Valor: A Family Journey. Morris, Robert V

Spirituals And Gospel Music Performance Practice: A Dual Curriculum That Bridges The Cultural Divide

This study explores methods in which the teaching of Gospel Music and Spirituals can be used as a conduit to bridge ethnic, cultural, and racial divides that are often found in American society. After working with various cultural and racial groups within religious and secular circles, the researcher has observed that individual cultures can have very distinct and opposite approaches to learning music, even in the United States, which some consider to be a cultural "melting pot." More specifically, there are cultures that embrace the written or visual learning tradition, while others lean more heavily toward the aural or oral learning tradition. As a result, the perceived differences deriving from these two opposite learning traditions can often create both unconscious and conscious divisions among various cultural and ethnic groups. However, using teaching techniques and performance practices related to both Gospel Music and Spirituals (which use different although related learning approaches), one can create an opportunity to bridge the gap between the aural and visual learning traditions and can create an environment ripe for intra-cultural and cross-cultural communication. This dissertation studied two separate groups of individuals; one group from the visual cultural learning tradition and one group from the aural cultural learning tradition. Both groups were taught music through the process of either an aural or visual process (or in some cases, by a combination of both), and their behavioral responses were observed during rehearsals. The results of these observations are used to create an outline for curricular approaches to teaching groups from opposing learning traditions, utilizing the opportunity that this presents not only to bridge the divide which often exists between individuals from different learning traditions, but also to offer a way to address ethnic and cultural divides

Adult neural stem cell differentiation and signaling is disrupted by low-level silver nanoparticle exposure in vitro

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are an emerging environmental contaminant with unique chemical and physical properties. They are utilized in products like medical dressings and children’s toys for their antimicrobial action. Though AgNP’s bioaccumulative nature and high-level toxicity are established, low-level effects from chronic exposure to AgNP-containing products and environmental AgNP remain unclear. This study uses adult neural stem cells, a model for neural cell function and neurodevelopment, to assess changes in cell differentiation and behavior following low-level AgNP exposure. In vitro, low-level AgNP produced dose- and timedependent formation of co-localized f-actin inclusions and β-catenin puncta. Neurite extension and arborization were also reduced, indicating that AgNP disrupt cytoskeleton dynamics and β- catenin signaling. In vivo, AgNP treatment caused accumulation and persistence of Ag in brains at levels comparable to in vitro studies without overt toxicity. Together, this indicates that lowlevel AgNP exposure from consumer products may impair normal brain function and neurodevelopment