Mental Models About a Persons World Essay Example for Free

Mental Models About a Persons World Essay INTRODUCTION: Meeting a person for the first time, can either be a positive or negative experience and the way someone interacts with this person can also show both positive and negative behaviours. So the question is, how can mental models about a persons world, both aid them and also limit their perceptions when meeting a person for the first time. Through exploring how and why these perceptions can be assisted and limited, we can start to question the reasoning behind our mental models. MENTAL MODELS Throughout the years, academic literature has defined a mental model in many ways, however the best way to understand what a mental model is, is the deeply imbedded ways of thinking or even certain images, that trigger assumptions and generalisations, ultimately affecting the way a person responds too or behaves in the world, be it towards a person or a life situation (Senge 2006). A good example of a mental model is, the generalization that only rich people live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. This generalisation may be true in some cases, but in other cases, other people may live there because they have lived their all their lives, and so, we can see this particular generalisation or mental model has not be thought through. Not questioning mental models, can often lead to false generalisations, this situation can also arise when meeting a person for the first time. When meeting a person for the first time, our mental models can help us both understand and ultimately get along with the person or they can limit our perceptions, meaning we make assumptions or generalisations that eventually alter our perceptions about this person or how we act towards them. Very often, we see that we are not consciously aware of our mental models and the affects that they can have on our behaviour (Chermack 2003), this in turn, restricts our perceptions. Mental models are often vague, incomplete and imprecisely expressed (Karp 2005) however, once believed, mental models are extremely difficult to change (Chermack 2003). This is highly due to the  fact that people are unaware of their own mental models, and the only way for a person to change their mental model, is for them to acknowledge that they have one to start with. Mental models can be useful as they can help us to process information and make decisions quickly (Unknown 1997) and they can also be imperative foundations for building knowledge about the world we live in (Karp 2005). For instance, when an individual has a mental model that all take away food is bad for their health and wellbeing, when given the option of either having take away food or a healthy meal at home, the individuals mental model will therefore lead them to quickly decide to eat a healthy meal at home. However, very strong mental models can hinder active thinking and the acceptance of new ideas (Unknown 1997), and often arise problems when they are tacit, meaning that they are below the level of awareness (Senge 1992). Using the example of the Detroit auto maker, not recognising that they had the mental model that all that customers cared about was styling, believing that all people care about is styling, evidently shows us that their mental model had become tacit. This mental model continued to be unexamined, and because this mental model remained unexamined, the model remained unchanged, and thus as the world changed the gap grew between the mental model of this Detroit automaker and the world (Senge 1992). Clearly, mental models can perform as filters that screen incoming information that come to us, limiting our ways of thinking and also our perceptions (Unknown 1997). An individuals mental model represents their view on the world, it also provides them with the context in which they view and interpret new material and also new people in which they meet for the first time (Kim 1993). It not only helps us to make sense of what is going on around us, but it can also restrict our understanding of a certain situation. For example, when someone has been labeled as not a nice person, with never questioning the validity of it, people create a mental model that, that person is not nice, and so when they do or say something nice it goes unnoticed, and therefore, the behaviour does not fit with the mental model people have towards this  certain individual. These untested assumptions or mental models can eventually cause conflict and misunderstandings between people. Developing skills in reflection and inquiry can aid us in realising our mental models and also with dealing with others. When we use skills of reflection we slow down our ways of thinking and acknowledge how our mental models are formed and how they affect our behaviour. Where as skills of inquiry, is concerned with how we operate in face-to-face situations with others, especially when we are dealing with complex and conflictual issues (Senge 2006). Together with the tools and methods used to develop these skills these constitute the core of the discipline of mental models, which consists of; the distinctions between espoused theories and theories-in-use, recognising leaps of abstraction, exposing the left-hand column and balancing inquiry and advocacy (Senge 2006). When an individual says that they value or desire something, that is known as espoused theory, however, what they actually say or do, is known as theories-in-use (Bocham 2010). Acknowledging the gaps between what we say and what we do, can be seen as an effective reflective skill in becoming more aware of our mental models. Someone may profess their view (espoused theory) that people generally are trustworthy, but their actions (theories-in-use) show differently, as they never lend out money and keep their possessions to themselves (Senge 2006). As evident in the example above, there is a gap between the individuals espoused theory and their theory-in-use. By recognising the gap between espoused theory and the theory-in-use, learning can occur, as we as individuals question whether or not we really value our espoused theory (Senge 2006). When we meet a person for the first time, we can quickly jump into generalisations as we never think to question them. For example, when we meet a person and they say that they are a doctor, we automatically assume that they are smart, as it is a generalization that all doctors are smart we never seem to question this mental model. These are known as leaps of abstraction. Leaps of abstraction occur when we move from direct observations to generalisations without questioning them, this ultimately  impedes learning because it becomes axiomatic, as what was once an assumption is now treated as a fact (Senge 2006). Therefore, this becomes another limitation, in which mental models can have on our perceptions when we meet people for the first time. However, these leaps of abstraction can easily be identified when people ask what their generalisation is based-on and whether or not the generalisation is inaccurate or misleading (Senge 2006) Senge (2006) identifies the left-hand column as a powerful technique whereby individuals begin to see how their mental models operate in differing situations. This exercise can show individuals that they indeed have mental models and show them how those models play an active part in sometimes negative interactions with people, not only do these people become aware of their mental models, but they begin to acknowledge why dealing with these assumptions is imperative (Senge 2006). In order for good communication between individuals to arise, people need to recognise that in order for the communication process to be effective, mental models must be managed properly, this is done by balancing advocacy and inquiry (Peggy Bronn 2003). Advocacy is the process of communicating an individuals ways of thinking and reasoning in a manner that makes it clear for others (Peggy Bronn 2003). When there is advocacy without inquiry, it only leads to more advocacy, and therefore leads to two individuals stating their ways of reasoning and thinking, they both are keen to here the others views, but do not inquire into what they are saying because they believe that what they are saying is ultimately the best way of thinking. A way to tackle this, is through the process of inquiry. Inquiry engages two individuals into the communication process in a joint learning process (Peggy Bronn 2003). Here the objective is to understand the reasoning and thinking of the other individual, this can be done by asking them questions in order for them to determine the origin for their conclusions and statements (Peggy Bronn 2003). Individuals can do this by asking questions such as; What is it that leads you to that position? and can you illustrate your point for me? (Senge 2006). Thus, it is evident  that grasping the skill of balancing advocacy and inquiry, is highly advantageous in interacting with other individuals, especially those you meet for the first time. CONCLUSION: Therefore, it is imperative and highly advantageous for us to question our mental models in everyday situations, such as meeting people for the first time, as it will deter us from automatically making assumptions and making generalisations. Through acknowledging leaps of abstraction, using the left-hand column technique and also personally mastering the skill of balancing advocacy and inquiry, we can learn to question these mental models, and thus questioning whether or not they really do hold their value in our world. Thus, when we meet a person for the first time, before we make assumptions and generalisations, we may need to recognise our imbedded mental models and learn to question them, therefore aiding the process of communication to be a positive experience. REFERENCE LIST: Bochman, DJ Kroth, M. 2010, Immunity to transformational learning and change, _The Learning Organization,_ vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 328-342. Chermack, TJ 2003, Mental models in decision making and implications for human resource development, _Advances in Developing Human Resources,_ vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 408-422. Karp, T 2005, Unpacking the Mysteries of Change: Mental Modelling, _Journal of Change Management,_ vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 87-96. Kim, DH 1993, The Link Between Individual and Organizational Learning, _Sloan management review,_ vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 37-37. Peggy, SB Bronn, C 2003, A reflective stakeholder approach: Co-orientation as a basis for communication learning, _Journal of Communication Management,_ vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 291-303. Senge, P 2006, Mental Models, _The fifth discipline: the art and practice of learning organizations,_ rev. edn, Doubleday, New York, pp. 163-190. Senge, PM 1992, Mental Models, _Planning Review,_ vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 4-4. Unknown 1997, What are Mental Models?, _Sloan management review,_ vol. 38, no. 3, p. 13.

Eleanor of Aquitaine :: essays research papers fc

Eleanor of Aquitaine There have been many historic women have had a great impact on modern day society. We have come to recognize them as key parts of our past, and without them the world would not be as it is. One of these women whom we recognize is Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor of Aquitaine is known as one of the most successful women in history because of her valiant efforts to reform medieval England.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eleanor of Aquitaine was born in 1122 . She grew up in Poiters, France, where she was always surrounded by poets, artists, and other educated peoples . Numerous suitors attempted to woo her . Her childhood was rich and full of exquisite fortunes . However, all lives must eventually come to an end. In 1204 she died at the age of eighty-two, which was an extraordinary age at the time . Her corpse may still be in Fontervrault Abbey, her cherished rest and recuperation abode .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eleanor’s first taste of great power was as the Queen of France. At the youthful age of fifteen she was whisked away to become the Queen of Louis VII . After several years the marriage crumbled . The two talked about divorce . Eleanor asked the Church for an annulment on grounds that they were fourth cousins, and Louis did not attempt to argue . Louis and Eleanor were granted the annulment in 1152 .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Henry Plantagenet, heir to the throne of England, had already stolen Eleanor’s heart, despite the fact that she was twelve years older than he was . A mere six weeks after the annulment, she and Henry got married at Bordeaux . In 1154 they were crown King and Queen of England in Westminster Abbey . After she was crowned, she was addressed as â€Å"Eleanor, by the grace of God, Queen of England.† The occupancy of the throne is what gave her the power to complete her goals, though she most likely would have somehow risen to impose her ideas anyhow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of Eleanor’s life was devoted to child- bearing . Her first son by Henry was William . William was born in Normandy, but died at a young age in 1183 . She had eight children after William . In order from eldest to youngest they were Matilda, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Eleanor, and Joanna . Richard was Queen Eleanor’s favorite child . King Henry’s favorite child was John .

Ecofeminism in the 21st Century Essay

Ecofeminism in the Twenty-First Century. by Susan Buckingham Introduction Since ‘ecofeminism’ was developed as a concept in the 1970s (1), there have been, arguably, major policy shifts in the fields of gender (in)equality and environmental sustainability. Thus a consideration of the achievements of, and work outstanding for, ecological feminism is warranted. In this paper, I will assess the changing policy landscape to explore the extent to which this has structurally altered gender inequalities and societies’ treatment of the environment, and the imbrication of these wo processes. In order to do so, I will look at the rising profile of gender mainstreaming at the international, European Union (2) and European national level; the application of the ‘feminism’ debate to environmental concerns; and the shifting of the ‘radical edge’ of ecofeminism, to explore future possible trajectories (see, for example, Plumwood 2003; Seager 2003). To some extent, I will suggest that the transformation of policy and development rhetoric to include gender, as distinct from women’s issues (itself, arguably, a ‘post-feminist’ dilution of women’s equality), masks fundamental attachment to ‘business-as-usual’, where social roles, pay differentials, political representation and environmental degradation remain little changed. However, there is, I argue, sufficient evidence to identify the influence of ecofeminist thinking on major policy initiatives concerning the relationship between women, men and environment at a variety of scales. The central question of this paper, then, is whether ecofeminism (as a distinct discourse, or as an amalgam of feminism and environmentalism constructed in different times and places in different ways) has hanged the way in which Western society articulates the relationship between men, women and the environment. This, of course, is a problematic and speculative exercise and will follow from an analysis of how discourse and practice themselves have changed. This paper will consider key changes to gender equality as it is linked to environmental sustainability, and explore how women’s/feminists’ interests have helped to shape the environmental debate in the past decade. I will try to unpick dominant discourses which, on the one hand, are beginning to ‘naturalize’ (some ould say neutralize) environmental concerns (where the terms sustainable development and environmental sustainability are common currency but poorly understood to the point of being anodyne), but on the other hand are marginalizing feminism, to examine the impact of this on ‘ecofeminism’. Finally, I will explore the territory of ecofeminism’s leading/radical edge to speculate on where this may take both conceptual understanding and policy in the future. First, however, to put this discussion into context, I will briefly review ecofeminist arguments to illustrate their ange, before focusing on the constructivist approach, which has had the most traction in gender/environment debates in the last two decades. Ecofeminist approaches It is tempting to use a retrospective to try to impose some sort of order on past intellectual activity, and what I am attempting to do first in this article is to explore whether there is an intellectual trajectory, through a not necessarily coherent body of thinking and writing on gender and environment in the late twentieth century. In teasing out the possible relationship between women’s position, gender anage the environment, ecofeminist writers in the 1970s and 1980s explored the relative importance of essentialism and social construction in these relationships. The social constructivist analyses (which tended to dominate French and British writing; see, for example, Mellor 1992) drew from the Marxist and social feminist literature to show how women’s position in society (as, for example, carers of children and other vulnerable family members, domestic workers, and low paid/status workers) derived from prevailing social and economic structures, which exposed them to a particular set of environmental incivilities. The specifically ecofeminist argument here proposed that, since the same social and economic structures also produced wide-scale environmental damage, then women could, in some sense, ‘share’ this experience and were therefore better placed to argue on nature’s behalf. The essentialist argument that underpinned some of the North American and Australian analyses proposed that women had a particular relationship with nature by virtue of their biology (predominantly as actual or potential child bearers) and that this proximity to nature qualified them to speak more eloquently on nature’s behalf see, for example, Spretnak 1989; Daly 1978). Different authors drew on each position to different degrees, and much of the critique of ecofeminism (well articulated in Biehl 1991) over the past 20 years has focused on the problems perceived with essentialism, and on the validity of a shared experience between the human and non-human. Dennis Smith (2001), in discussing the role of gender in peace and conflict, has argued that essentialism is often used as a tool to mobilize a group around a perceived characteristic which sets it apart, and, certainly, cultural ecofeminism (prioritizing essentialist arguments) did so. Its strength was to demonstrate the possibility of a way of thinking and being which reversed the normal hierarchy in which men stood at the peak; however, little academic feminist environmental thinking is currently framed in this way.

Philosopy The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli Essay

Many people are not comfortable in regards to the notion of a new idea; they tend to be called an â€Å"outsider† or even a â€Å"rebel† with a negative connotation. Although change may seem like a negative concept to some people, it is probably the reason why the world is as we know it today regarding religion, government/politics, society, and much more. For example, there are many different types of religions; in particular, there are many different branches of Christianity that were first introduced into this world as a form of change. One person standing up to the Catholic Church and introducing new ideas and beliefs is what caused a new religion, namely Christianity, thus different branches were also introduced due to different views. The†¦show more content†¦When Locke begins to define political power, he begins to describe the state of nature, which is basically a state of equality where people are able to do as they please, as long as it does not n egatively affect the people around them. Although most of Locke’s beliefs look at humans in a positive light, it seems as though there is just one belief that was brought along from the possibility of violence erupting from others. Locked firmly states that the government exists to serve their people’s interests, namely protecting their citizen’s property and freedom. He is obviously aware that with freedom, there is a cost. There will somehow always be a person who may take advantage of this freedom to harm another person, which is where the government that serves their citizen’s interests comes in. Continuing with political power, Locke begins to describe the difference between the state of nature and the state of war, which are described as being different and he provides many examples to prove his point. He defines a state of nature as: â€Å"men living together according to reason without a common superior on earth, with authority to judge betw een them.† (Locke, page 16) Furthermore, he defines a state of war as: â€Å"force, or a declared design of force upon the person of another, where there is no common superior on earth to appeal to forShow MoreRelatedMachiavelli as a Humanist1886 Words   |  8 Pagesone who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans. Niccolo’ Machiavelli can be thought of as a humanist. Although opinions on this differ greatly depending on whom you speak with. Machiavelli’s life consists of so many examples and lessons that he has learned throughout his life. Through my paper, I intend to examine his perception of morality based on his political writings and life experiences. Niccolo’ Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 and died in 1527. Although we do not