Neural basis of game theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Neural basis of game theory - Essay Example Various neurobiologists’ research employs the use of game theory to investigate the neural foundation of decision making; and proposes that the social characteristics of social decision making mirrors the purposes of the brain areas that responds to reward evaluation and reinforcement learning. The game theory appears as having evolutionary and growth stages that end up affecting the reasoning of different groups of people (Glimcher, 288). Game theory situation involves the process of decision making, where the results depend on the choice made by the players in question. The word game comes from any occurrence with negative or positive outcomes influenced by the choice made by the player; while sometimes the decision is based on chance (Glimcher, 290). The game theory evolved from different studies done by different researchers over a period of time. In 1921, a French mathematician named Emile Borel, issued numerous papers tackling the theory of games using poker as exhibition. Later in the year 1928 another paper by John Von Neumann was published. Subsequently, the year 1944, John Von Neumann and Oscar Morgenstern collaborated and discovered the theory of games and economic behavior. There appears a significant level of growth in the theory of games when, Prisoner’s dilemma comes into play in the year 1950, which introduced the dominant strategy theory. The 1953 marks the introduction of the answer to non cooperative games which comes in play as a result of evolution of Nash equilibrium. In the years 1970, the theory gains extensive application and biology with the growth of evolutionary game theory. The year 2007 marks its extensive use in almost field for decision making intentions; the software that tracks down terroris ts uses the theory of games (Glimcher, 305). The theory assumes that the player appears rational;

Problems in the United States Educational System Essay -- essays resea

Problems in the United States Educational System Today, the way the educational system works in the U.S. concerns a large number of people in this country. "Only 25% of adults have a great deal of confidence in the people running education, according to the General Social Survey, down from 49% in 1974" (Russel 4). A lot of discussions have been held to find the best ways to improve teaching methods. At the same time, people recognize that a very valuable solution to increase the level of education in the United States is to look at some problems that cause difficulties and hamper the enhancement of the quality of education. The first step is to define these problems. As in every country, the U.S. wants to develop its national standards in education and wants them to be high. This has always been a government function. Being democratic, the government is trying to fit the qualities of democracy into the way to set these standards. Of course, this is not an easy task since this country has a very diverse population. To plea se everybody has always been an almost impossible task. Despite this impossibility, national standards have already been set. "If a visitor from another nation was dropped into an American public school classroom without knowing the state or the region, he or she would be likely to see the same lesson taught in the same way to children of the same age" (Ravitch 9). Everything seems right except the fact that the abilities of children are different. Not everybody is able to study at a college; not everybody wants to continue being educated. It is obvious that every country wants to produce as many educated people as possible. But, at the same time, every country needs workers because, regardless of the fast development of technology, there is still a great necessity for human labor. To satisfy all the necessities of the country, the government should provide different kinds of education. This does not mean that we need to eliminate all of the standards; they could be set in each field of education. Although standards are set, there is still a very big difference in teaching methods in different schools. Perhaps, the most serious problem starts in high schools: some schools provide a higher level of education than others. Students from most city schools graduate with the confidence in their knowledge; their level of educati... ... 1998: 45-47. Gray, Kenneth. "The baccalaureate game: Is it right for all teens?" Phi Delta Kappa Apr. 1996: 528+. McEachern, William A. "The Max for the Minimum." The teaching economist. Issue 15. Spring 1998. Nelson, F. Howard. "How and How Much the U.S. Spends On K-12 Education: An International Comparison." Mar. 1996: n. pag. Online. Internet. 9 Mar.1998. Available http://www.aft.org/research/reports/interntl/sba.htm. Ravitch, Diane. "50 states, 50 standards?: The continuing need for national voluntary standards in education." The Brookings Review Summer 1996: 6+. Rehder, Robert R. "Education and Training: Have the Japanese Beaten Us Again?" Personnel Journal Jan. 1983: 42. Russel, Cheryl. "What's wrong with schools?" American Demographics Sep. 1996: 4+. Sinitsyn, Maxim I. "The Results of a Test." msinits@siue.edu (30 Mar. 1998). Smith, Greg. "How to beat the SAT/ACT blues" Career World Nov. 1995: 13+. Sternberg, Robert J. "Extra Credit for Doing Poorly." New York Times 25 Aug. 1997, late ed.: sec.A: 23. "Strengths and weaknesses of American education." Phi Delta Kappa Apr. 19

Kite Runner Assef Analysis Essay

Many believe that there is a part of good and a part of evil in each of us. Hosseini conveys in his novel â€Å"the kite runner† that some people have a natural tendency to express their bad side. Assef, one of Hosseini’s charachter symbolizes those people. He carries a kind of madness, and is violent. Hosseini implies that being given a target for hate, and a morality for their actions, in this case religion, those people can become powerful. Assef is an example of how it is possible to reach power and abuse of it by avoiding to deal with justice as he joins a groups of terrorists. He evolves from a child who uses violence to make himself feared, and rule his neighborhood, to a Talibans who can freely and honorably commit crimes in the name of God. This author introduces Assef to the reader when he firsts encounters Amir. Those are Amir’s thoughts at the view of Assef â€Å"Assef crossed his thick arms on his chest, a savage sort of grin on his lips. Not for the first time, it occurred to me that Assef might not be entirely sane.† The reader then directly discovers, from this simple description of Assef’s appearance the type of character he is. He is just passively crossing his arms, but still gives an overall image of a strong, savage, not entirely sane person. The insanity recurs, it is often visible in Assef’s eyes, and the grin is now linked to violence† I will never forget how Assef’s blue eyes glinted with a light not entirely sane and how he grinned, how he grinned, as he pummeled that poor kid unconscious† Amir was marked by the time he saw Assef beating up a little kid. Assef is a bully that takes pleasure in hurting other kids. At this point, he is a child and violence is like a game that let’s him express his madness. Other kids are scared by his attitude, no one dears to contradict him. This is one of Amir’s thought about one of Assef’ â€Å"friend†, right before the rape of Hassan. â€Å"He wasn’t afraid of Hassan, not really. He was afraid because he had no idea what Assef had in mind† Assef is not even understood by his followers, no one knows what’s in his mind. They apprehend his ideas, and fear them which gives an idea of how deranged he is. In fact Hassan refuses to give the kite to Assef, and Assef is then about to rape him when he declares: â€Å"I’ll let you keep the kite Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what i’m about to do† This is a significant quote. Assef shows his cruelty by intending to hurt deeply, and leave a reminder of the pain. It also foreshadows all the horrors he is going to cause because his madness his going to last. Assef’ is seen differently by other adults, those don’t fear him, because his real personality is hidden from them. Hosseini uses the parents as a symbol for control, and justice. Assef therefore bypasses justice, he is still controlled as he has to hide his madness. â€Å"On the surface, he was the embodiment of every parent’s dream, a strong, tall, well-dressed and well-mannered boy with talent and striking looks, not to mention to wit joke with an adult. But to me, his eyes betrayed him. When i looked into them, the facade faltered, revealed a glimpse of the madness hiding behind them.† The author personificaties Assef’s eyes who â€Å"betrayed† him by revealing his madness. The Betrayal has a religious connotation, to the evil. As if he was hiding behind the appearance of an attractive boy. The author enlarge Assef’s dangerousness. In contrast with the other parents, his genitors know his real nature and in fact are frightened. â€Å"†¦I wondered if maybe, on some level, their son frightened them.† They should be giving him a education to make him become good, instead they are powerless. He in fact has the power over them. At Amir’s birthday party, he comes with them â€Å"He led them toward us, like he had brought them here. Like he was the parent, and they his children.† His leadership is broadened to his genitors who should be superior. This comparison, shows that his parent’s don’t have authority or control over him. but it is the first sign that Assef will be out of control. Assef went to prison at some point. There, he was mistreated in the same way as he used to mistreat others. He was put in a position of powerlessness â€Å"What could i do?† a guard came to violently persecute him, and as he kicked him. â€Å"He kicked me on the left kidney and the stoned passed. Just like that! Oh, the relief!† But Assef, who is a mad character, feels this relief as a redemption, and connects it to God, while it in fact could have been a biological reaction. † †¦ Suddenly i knew that had been a message from God: He was on My side. He wanted me to live for a reason.† This miracle, leads Assef to pretend that he has been granted a mission. â€Å"I’ve been on a mission since.† This mission could also have made him turned into a better man but instead it only made him madder. It gives him a sudden excuse and claims to be doing great acts, even though they are harmful to others. He is therefore truly satisfied with the horrors he accomplishes, because now he has a reason to do them. â€Å"†¦ stood in a roomful of targets, let the bullets fly, free of guilt and remorse, knowing you are virtuous, good, and decent. Knowing you’re doing God’s work.† He even uses the words virtuous, implying that his act have a morality. â€Å"There are bad people in this world, and sometimes bad people stay bad. Sometimes you have to stand up to them.† Amir says this as he is thanking Sohrab for stopping Assef. Assef was in fact stopped by a little kid with his slingshot. The author conveys that sometimes, justice can easily stop evilness. That evil people shouldn’t be supported by religion.

Milton Obote

Apollo Milton Obote (some say Milton Apollo Obote) was the 2nd and 4th President of Uganda. He first came to power in 1962 but was ousted by Idi Amin in 1971. Nine years later, Amin was overthrown, and Obote came back to power for five more years before he was ousted again. Obote has largely been overshadowed by â€Å"The Butcher† Idi Amin in the Western media, but Obote was also accused of widespread human rights abuses and the deaths attributed to his governments are greater than those of Amin. Who was he, how was he able to come back into power, and why is he forgotten in favor of Amin? Rise to Power Who he was and how he came to power twice are the easier questions to answer. Obote was the son of a minor tribal chief and received some university education at the prestigious Makerere University in Kampala. He then moved to Kenya where he joined the independence movement in the late 1950s. He returned to Uganda and entered the political fray and by 1959 was the leader of a new political party, the Uganda People’s Congress. After independence, Obote aligned with the royalist Bugandan party. (Buganda had been a large kingdom in pre-colonial Uganda that remained in existence under Britain’s policy of indirect rule.)   As a coalition, Obote’s UPC and the royalist Bugandans held a majority of seats in the new parliament, and Obote became the first elected Prime Minister of Uganda after independence. Prime Minister, President When Obote was elected Prime Minister, Uganda was a federalized state. There was also a President of Uganda, but that was a largely ceremonial position, and from 1963 to 1966, it was the Kabaka (or king) of Baganda that held it. In 1966, however, Obote began purging his government and orchestrated a new constitution, passed by the parliament, that did away with both the federalization of Uganda and the Kabaka. Backed by the army, Obote became President and gave himself wide-sweeping powers. When the Kabaka objected, he was forced into exile. The Cold War and the Arab-Israeli War Obote’s Achilles heel was his reliance on the military and his self-proclaimed socialism. Soon after he became President, the West looked askance at Obote who, in the politics of  Cold War  Africa, was seen as a potential ally of the USSR. Meanwhile, many in the West thought that Obote’s military commander, Idi Amin, would be a wonderful ally (or pawn) in Africa. There was also a further complication in the form of Israel, who feared that Obote would upset their support of Sudanese rebels; they too thought Amin would be more amenable to their plans. Obote’s strong-arm tactics within Uganda had also lost him support within the country, and when Amin, aided by foreign backers, launched a coup in January 1971, the West, Israel, and Uganda rejoiced. Tanzanian Exile and Return The rejoicing was short-lived. Within a few years, Idi Amin had become notorious for his human rights abuses and repression. Obote, who was living in exile in Tanzania where he had been welcomed by fellow socialist Julius Nyerere, was a frequent critic of Amin’s regime. In 1979, when Amin invaded the Kagera strip in Tanzania, Nyerere said enough was enough and launched the Kagera War, during which Tanzanian troops pushed Uganda troops out of Kagera, then followed them into Uganda and helped force the overthrow of Amin. Many believed that the subsequent presidential elections were rigged, and as soon as Obote was inaugurated President of Uganda again, he was facing resistance. The most serious resistance came from National Resistance Army led by Yoweri Museveni. The army responded by brutally suppressed the civilian population in the NLA’s stronghold. Human rights groups put the count at between 100,000 and 500,000. In 1986, Museveni seized power, and Obote fled into exile again. He died in Zambia in 2005. Sources: Dowden, Richard. Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. New York: Public Affairs, 2009. Marshal, Julian. â€Å"Milton Obote,† obituary,  Guardian, 11 October 2005.