International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 4

International Business - Essay Example Multinationals are powerful companies employing many people and earning a lot of money. Often their location is welcomed by governments around the world because of the benefits of employment and wealth they bring to a country. Multinationals are a source for progress. I agree with the statement because of the fact that it gives way to globalization, international relations and sustainable development. The first multinational corporation in the world was the Dutch East India Company and the first modern multinational company is believed to be East India Company. It was a mega corporation holding immense power and control in the sub-continent by coining money, forming colonies and negotiating treaties. Multinationals have power and control, they can use their huge revenues and control over distribution channels and brand loyalty of consumers to push countries to open their markets and lessen their support for local companies. If we talk about China alone, great amount of foreign invest ment has entered their economy with foreign-funded firms increasing from a number of 470,000 to over 500,000 in just a span of two years, from 2004 to 2006. Multinationals form a major part of this increasing number, employing about 24 million people and representing around hundred of China’s 200 large exporters and monopolize main market segments like soft drinks. With the emergence of multinationals, the world is advancing leaps and bounds due to increasing globalization. Technology and communications have advanced to such a level that it has revolutionized the selling of products all over the world. Multinationals get in touch with new communities in the global market by building production factories in other countries, besides, their home country. Coca-Cola, a huge soft drink manufacturer now sells and manufacturers soft drinks in over 200 countries across the world. Similarly, Microsoft, a computer software company, earns its 27% of annual sales revenue outside of the Un ited States. In many ways the world is becoming one large market than a series of separate national markets. The same goods and services can be found in many countries throughout the world. Globalization is the term now widely used to describe the increased worldwide competition between businesses (Stimpson, 2006). There are several reasons for this increasing global competition. Free trade agreements and economic unions have reduced protection for industries. Consumers can now purchase goods and services from other countries with no import controls. Improved travel links and communications between all parts of the world have made it easier to compare prices and qualities of goods from many countries. This has further developed as the internet has become more widely available worldwide. Many countries which used to have undeveloped manufacturing industries have been building up these businesses very rapidly. Countries in South East Asia and China itself used to import many of the go ods they needed. Now, that their own manufacturing industries are so strong they can export in large quantities. This creates much more world competition. Globalization has led to more choice and lower price for consumers. It has forced firms to look for ways of increasing efficiency. Inefficient producers have gone out of business. Many firms have merged with foreign businesses to make it easier to sell in foreign markets. This is one of the

Technological Changes in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Technological Changes in Organizations - Essay Example Lately, many transactions taking place in businesses have incorporated the use of technology and its devices in form of electronic components. The invention of computer technologies was the hallmark of development in information globally. This resulted in the development of soft wares capable of handling technical business transactions with minimal or no errors at all. To promote business growth, managers have entirely embraced the use of technology in their operations (Deb 2001). This reduces the challenges arising from application of technology compared to using the traditional methods in administration. The technologies mostly available for use by businesses are computer technology and information technology. It is in the digital era that electronic transactions have reduced paperwork by improving on modes of accessing business information. Some businesses have been able to embrace technology while others view it as hindrance to their operations. Technology and management Technolo gy has drastically altered the manner in which businesses are conducted (Deb 2001 P 94). The stakeholders in businesses have received this with mixed reactions. To some it has been a blessing, whereas to others a disgust. Furthermore, it has lead to the opening up of new markets by connecting different regions globally. Efficiency has increased in organizations that have fully embraced the use of technology in their business applications. Modern managers are utilizing information technology in decision making using systems such as decision support systems. Implementing technology comes with its challenges in organizations. In the first place maintaining the technological infrastructure demands a lot in terms of expertise required by the management team. Organizations have to incorporate training on technology in their courses to adjust with the modern trends. Organization will align their policies with technological advancements in order to minimize conflicts that may arise in meeti ng requirements of the law as pertaining technology. Technology requires maintenance in terms of costs for the equipments put in place. Incase of a system breakdown, businesses will realize losses that will affect their staff’s morale negatively. In addition, organizations lose traditional expertise initially used in serving guests. Automated machines have replaced human beings thus denying clients the personal touch in service: such as emotions expressions by the service staff. Technology causes anxiety among employees when they are not sure of what might happen in term of technological advances, thus lack of job security. There has to be training and education of employees to ensure they are aware of the current trends in technology. Finally, setting up technological infrastructures such as purchase of computer for information transactions is not the solution to organizations problems. Organizations with limited resources should sought expertise from professionals when hand ling technical business issues. Technology in management According to (Deb 2001, P 109), organizations intending to use technology should set plans that will guide the application of technologies in businesses. Embracing innovations has to be with a purpose and not just for the sake of profits. It will enable analysis of business data and carrying out research to find out market needs. Consequently,

Psychology and Pets Essay Example for Free

Psychology and Pets Essay When you are tired of stress from work, pets can encourage you to go out for a walk to release stress or play with you in the garden. Pets bring you some moments of relaxation and mind refreshment, which makes you never feel lonely even when you live with no one. It is obvious that pets can create new attitudes towards life for people, particularly for the disabled and withdrawn who are always not confident in communicating or taking part in social activities. By keeping pets, they may become more sociable, open and approachable because they can interact, communicate and play with their pets. Due to the advantages it offers, keeping pets becomes a popular, especially in Eastern countries, for the older generation, who often live far from their children. In these situations, pets are truly their close friends, helping them remove the feeling of emptiness and loneliness. The companionship of pets may meet some basic human needs, which is not easily explained in theory but is believed by most people. Pets guard houses and save peoples lives. In many cases, people choose to keep dogs for their home security. The houses will become safer because strangers might be scared that they will be attacked by the animals inside. When you are out and you leave your house empty, you do not have to worry that burglars may break into the house and take away valuable assets even when you return home at mid night. If there is any intruder or strange persons around your house, dogs will bark loudly, making a noise to frighten the stranger and give you a warning. Pets can protect not only the assets but also save peoples lives. Dogs and sometimes cats can attack the burglars to protect the owners in case they are harmed. Many owners can stay alive due to the protection from the dogs they keep in their houses. Pets enhance nice behavior among children Researchers showed that children who usually play with pets can behave nicely and become more caring. Playing with pets and learning how to treat them with love may help uncommunicative children be agile and affable, which is important for their growth in the distant future. Kids sometimes find no interest in getting outside, but they may alter their decisions immediately if they see that they can take a cat or a dog along. Teenagers, whose parents are too busy to spend time with them, sometimes have to face with bland lives and loneliness. In these scenarios, they consider pets to be their alter ego who they can play and talk with, which can solve some kind of emotional problems that children are vulnerable to get. It is believed that teaching kids to treat kittens and puppies with care and kindness is of great importance for forming their behaviors and characteristics. To sum up, keeping pets is not merely a habit but is one way of relaxation and amusement. Moreover, keeping pets does not only guard your house but also fulfills some basic mental human needs.

Poetry of E. E. Cummings Essay -- Poetry Poem

Life's Not A Paragraph Throughout his poetry, E. E. Cummings seduces readers deep into a thicket of scrambled words, missing punctuation, and unconventional structure. Within Cummings's poetic bramble, ambiguity leads the reader through what seems at first a confusing and winding maze. However, this confusion actually transforms into a path that leads the reader to the center of the thicket where Cummings's message lies: one should never allow one's experience to be limited by reason and rationality. In order to communicate his belief that emotional experience should triumph over reason, Cummings employs odd juxtapositions, outlandish metaphors, and inversions of traditional grammatical structures that reveal the "illogic" of reason. By breaking down the formal boundaries of his poetic structures, Cummings urges his readers to question boundaries of any kind. Indeed, in the same manner Cummings's literary style appears to be uncontrolled; many of his poems, such as "since feeling is first" and "as freedom is a breakfastfood," in turn suggest that emotion provides the compositional fabric for our experience of life, and therefore, emotion itself should never be defined or controlled. In "since feeling is first," Cummings urges his reader to reject any attempts to control emotion by using English grammar as one example of the restrictive conventions present in society. By stating that "since feeling is first / who pays any attention / to the syntax of things," Cummings suggests that emotion should not be forced to fit into some preconceived framework or mold (1-3). He carries this message throughout the poem by juxtaposing images of the abstract and the concrete--images of emotion and images of English grammar. The abstract na... ...g thicket because he believes the path of the straight and narrow limits the possibilities of experience. Through the unconventionality of his poetic structures, Cummings urges his readers to question order and tradition. He wants his readers to realize that reason and rationality are always secondary to emotion, that emotional experience is a free-flowing force that should not be constrained. Cummings's poetry suggests that in order to get at the true essence of something, one must look past the commonsensical definition, and not be limited by "the syntax of things." Works Cited Cummings, E. E. "as freedom is a breakfastfood." E. E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962. Ed. George J. Firmage. New York: Liveright, 1991. 511. Cummings, E. E. "Since feeling is first." E. E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1914-1962. Ed. George J. Firmage, New York: Liveright, 1991. 291.

A Horse and Two Goats †Summary Essay

Answer the question: Compare the relationship between Muni and his wife and the relationship between the American and his wife. Throughout the story â€Å"A Horse and Two Goats†, we can comprehend a lot of outstanding differences between the relationship of Muni to his wife and the relationship of the American to his wife. Two relationships are two details contributing to build the distinction between two cultures: India and America. Although they have many differences, there still exist some similarities between Muni’s relationship and the American’s relationship. In this essay, I will show some differences and similarities to explain for this comparison. In the relationship of Muni and his wife, at the beginning, they suffered these sneers from people surround them. Moreover, in this relationship, we can see clearly the right to keep controlling in their family. In particular, when Muni was rich and took more money, he had enough right to decide and control most of things in his family. At the same time, he also lorded it over his wife: â€Å"He had thrashed her only a few times in their career†. However, when he loses everything and becomes a poor man, he also loses his right in his family: â€Å"Later she had the upper hand†. Gradually, he has to obey what his wife orders him. This seems to be a habit so that’s why he doesn’t have any effort to resist his wife’s orders, just do it: â€Å"†Our store is empty today. Dhall, chilli, curry leaves, mustard, coriander, gingelley oil, and one large potatoe. Go out and get all this. † He repeated the list after her in order not to miss any item and walked off to the shop in the third street†. Although Muni follows his wife’s orders, somehow he still underestimates a little bit about women. Perhaps he thinks that because of the case from the postman: â€Å"We had a postman in our village who could speak to you boldly in your language, but his wife ran away with someone and he does not speak with anyone at all nowadays†. With Muni, women can have right to make all decision in their family but it does not mean they can do what they want like the wife of the postman. Thus, meanwhile his wife controls everything in his family, he still wants to manage his wife: â€Å"Who would if a wife did what she did? Women must be watched; otherwise they sell themselves and the home†. In the relationship of Muni’s family, they love together but the poverty makes them be emotionless. However, in the bottom of their heart, they still care about each other. In the relationship of the American and his wife, it seems to be better than Muni’s relationship because their financial condition is better than that of Muni. Ruth, the wife of the American, is a good wife and understands thoroughly everything. She serves her husband with all her devoted heart. With just a simple act, she can recognize and know what she has to do next. We can say that Ruth is so intelligent, this can be proven by the detail: â€Å"I told my wife, Ruth, â€Å"We will visit India this winter, it’s time to look at other civilizations. † Next day she called the travel agent first thing and told him to fix it, and so here I am. Ruth cam with me but is staying back at Srinagar, and I am the one doing the rounds and joining her later†. Maybe, a good financial condition is one of the better way to make people understand together and can sympathize with each other. In addition, Ruth is also a clever wife, she knows how to makes her husband comfortable and have more free in making most of decision. Because the American knows that his wife is reasonable, he all makes decision without her but he also prepares some good evidences for his decision to show his wife understanding. For example, â€Å"Ruth may disapprove, but I will convince her. The TV may have to be shifted, too. We can’t have everything in the living room. Ruth will probably say what about when we have a party? I’m going to keep him right in the middle of the room. I don’t see how that can interfere with the party we’ll stand around him and have our drinks†. Through the relationship of the American, we can see a free culture in America in some aspects but they still keep their happiness and their love. In particular, in this relationship, we can see how the American’s wife gives him his free hands to do anything which can be proven by the freedom in making decision of the American and vice-versa. Also, the American agrees to let his wife have freedom to do anything, such as â€Å"Ruth can go by air if she likes, but I will go with the horse and keep him in my cabin all the way if necessary†. Two above paragraphs show some differences between Muni’s relationship and the American’s relationship. On the other hand, they still have some similarities. To stand out from this is both of wives really love their husband. However, due to some cases, they have different expressing depending on each situation. With Ruth, she shows her love by letting the American have free to decide anything and take care of everything careful for her husband to make him feel comfy when he is beside her. Also, in Muni’s relationship, maybe we don’t see these sweet acts from Muni’s wife but she loves Muni and takes care of him by all her heart. In spite of colorless acts from Muni’s wife, we can still realize how caring she is! Living in a difficult condition, she is not still far away from Muni. By contrast, she cares that Muni doesn’t have anything to eat. For instance, we have some details like â€Å"you are getting no sauce today, nor anything else. I can’t find anything to give you to eat. Fast till the evening, it’ll do you good. Take the goats and be gone now† or â€Å"She was sure to go out and work grind corn in the Big House, sweep or scrub somewhere, and earn enough to buy foodstuff and keep a dinner ready for him in the evening†. At the end of the story, we can see some acts from Muni’s wife, such as â€Å"She snatched the notes from him, counted them by the glow of the fire, and cried â€Å"One hundred rupees! How did you come by it? Have you been stealing? †Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"If you have thieved, the police will come tonight and break your bones. Don’t involve me. I will go away to my parents†. From these sentences, we see that poverty takes Muni’s wife to be blind to distinguish where is the truth? She loves Muni very much so she is so painful with her own think that Muni steals this amount of money. She cries very much. Especially, we can see her extreme pain when she thinks Muni is a stealer. By analysis, somehow we see some basic differences of two cultures in married life. The main reason for these differences is the level of financial condition in each family. In Muni’s family, they are so poor so money controls their living. At first, Muni has all right to make decision and he is respected by all people around him because he is rich. However, when he becomes poorer, everyone is far away from him. Furthermore, the right to control everything in the family now belongs to his wife. By contrast, in the American’s relationship, because they have a better financial condition, that’s why they are easy to understand together. A good finance is also a factor to make them feel free in doing anything because they can feel more comfy. In addition, tradition in marriage is another factor in changing their love and their treatment in the married life. Therefore, in comparison, these differences and these similarities appear that’s because of financial condition and tradition in marriage.

Julius Caesar And His Family House - 883 Words

Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C. he was born and raised in the Subura neighborhood of Rome. It was a lower class neighborhood in a small valley, he continued too lived in his family house for over thrity years. He was named after his father Julius Caesar, his father was very absent in his life. Back then Roman men were active in politics and military which was in high demand back then. Caesar grew up in a small home that was surrounded and squeezed between butcher shops and taverns. The houses were faded inward so you would only see the wooden door facing out into the street. The small shops were usually on the lower level of the home which were street level and was unconnected to the rest of the home. His mother Aurelia was his primary influence in his life, she oversaw his upbringing and education with additional responsibilities such as managing household affairs, supervising slaves, and handling squabbles with neighbors. Caesar and his sister were taught by private tutors at home. The less fortunate Roman boys and girls would be taught by a school, paper was not reach to the west for centuries and papyrus from Egypt was too expensive. Therefore each child would carry a small rectangular piece of wood in the center there would be wax which would be there writing center. Caesar had memorized huge amounts of literature including the Twelve Tables laying out the basis of Roman law. Around Caesar sixteenth birthday he had dedicated his childhood toys to theShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Julius Caesar1201 Words   |  5 PagesDellinger English II 4/18/17 Julius Caesar There are many people you may have heard of that lived during 100 B.C.- 10 A.D. in Rome. Some of those people include Marcus Brutus, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Julius Caesar. In this paper I will be talking about Julius Caesar. And while doing so I will be talking about his early/personal life, his career, and his assassination. Julius Caesar was born July 12. B.C. as Gaius Julius Caesar, to Aurelia Cotta, and Gaius Julius Caesar. Julius was born with the NeurologicalRead MoreJulius Caesar: Conqueror, General, Builder, Dictator for Life755 Words   |  4 Pages Julius Caesar, an important figure in Roman history, lived during the end of the Roman Republic. His actions would shape the world around him forever. He was an important figure because he grew the Roman Empire, he brought about the end of the Roman Republic , and was able to grow his status within his lifetime and become dictator for life. Julius Caesar was born on July 12 , 100 BC and died on March 15, 44 BC. Caesar was born into a patrician family. This meant that they were noble andRead MoreEssay on Julius Caesar and The Late Roman Republic729 Words   |  3 PagesJulius Caesar was a general and a politician of the late Roman Republic. He greatly influenced the size of the Roman Empire before seizing power and making himself dictator of Rome, which paved the way for the Imperial system. (Julius Caesar 100BC-44BC, April 29th, 2014) Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus was born on July 12th or 13th, 100BC into the prestigious Julius clan. He and his family were closely related to the Marion faction in Roman politics. Caesar started to progress within theRead MoreComparing Julius Caesar s The Twelve Caesars 1729 Words   |  7 PagesJulius Caesar’s mindset influenced the history of his people. He was born July 12, 100 b.c in Rome as Gaius Julius Caesar, known today as Julius Caesar. He was a Praetor, Aedile, Consul, Pontifex Maximus, and dictator for life, and his greatest achievement is changing the Roman republic to the Roman empire. His life ended tragically when he was stabbed twenty three times by his political enemies. Creating the Roman empire changed the history of his people. The three main sources used in this essayRead MoreThe Julius Caesar671 Words   |  3 Pages Julius Caesar is the one of the famous Roman generals. Many may recognize this name from the great works of Shakespeare. Before the great works of Shakespeare, Julius Caesar was famous in his Roman city which. Julius Caesar was a dictator that turned the Roman republic to the Roman Empire. Even though the life time of Julius Caesar took place in 100 BC – 44 BC, people everywhere will mention Caesar’s name and legacy. For starters, Julius Caesar’s time wasRead MoreJulius Caesar : A Man Who Came, Saw And Conquered1110 Words   |  5 Pages Julius Caesar: A Man Who Came, Saw and Conquered Julius Caesar. A man who united half of the world. A man who ruled half of the world. A man whose motives to become a leader are lost to mystery. A man who was murdered by his own senators. This is the story of this man. A story of his rise and brief, but deadly, fall. Julius Caesar was a brave hero who made the Roman RepublicRead More Julius Caesar Essay1083 Words   |  5 Pagesgood king or ruler? Julius Caesar is one of the most famous rulers of all time. He was one of Rome’s greatest and most powerful leaders. His changes to the empire helped take Rome to new levels of success. The life of Caesar was short, yet great. It is important to learn about this great man and his many accomplishments. Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13th, 100 B.C. to a poor, Patrician family in Rome (â€Å"Julius Caesar†; Gruen 12). For most of his young life, Caesar lived in an apartmentRead MoreJulius Caesar As A Bad Dictator982 Words   |  4 PagesSmith World literature 10 3 March, 2015 Julius Caesar One famous quote â€Å"Veni, Vidi, Vici; I came, I saw, I conquered† (Julius Caesar) taken from Shakespeare’s, Julius Caesar, expresses his personal views of Rome. The patricians people described in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar being a bad dictator. Which may have also leads to his assassination on the ides of March (March 15). The plebeians and some patricians such as Mark Antony, and his adoptive son Octavius Caesar, saw him as a good military leader.Read MoreJulius Caesar in Rome1222 Words   |  5 Pagesone to side against the upper class and change the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Around 100 BC, Aurelia and Gaius Caesar gave birth to a son by the name of Gaius Julius Caesar (McManus, n.d). He was born into a moral upper class family during the perilous times of Rome, when the city was not able to handle its own extent and authority. At the age of 18, Julius Caesar went on to marry Cornelia, who was the daughter of a popular faction (McManus, n.d.). Later on she went on to conceive theirRead Morejulius caesar comparation Essay examples1516 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Comparative of Julius Caesar and Czar Nicholas ll Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC, he was a strong leader for the Romans who changed the course of history of the Roman world decisively and irreversibly. Julius Caesar was able to create the Roman Empire because of his strength and strong war strategies. Julius Caesar was to become one of the greatest generals, of nquering the whole of Gaul. In 58 BC, Caesar became governor and military commander of Gaul, which included modern

Definition and Examples of Confirmation Bias

In argumentation, confirmation bias is the tendency to accept evidence that confirms our beliefs and to reject evidence that contradicts them. Also known as  confirmatory bias. When conducting research, people can make an effort to overcome confirmation bias by deliberately seeking evidence that contradicts their own viewpoints. The concepts of perceptual defense bias and the backfire effect are related to confirmation bias. The term confirmation bias  was coined by English cognitive psychologist Peter Cathcart Wason (1924-2003) in the context of an experiment he reported on in 1960. Examples and Observations The confirmation bias is a consequence of the way perception works. Beliefs shape expectations, which in turn shape perceptions, which then shape conclusions. Thus we see what we expect to see and conclude what we expect to conclude. As Henry David Thoreau put it, We hear and apprehend only what we already half know. The truism, Ill believe it when I see it might be better stated Ill see it when I believe it.The potent effect of expectations on perception was demonstrated in the following experiment. When subjects were given a drink that they thought contained alcohol, but in fact did not they experienced reduced social anxiety. However, other subjects who were told they were being given nonalcoholic beverages when they were, in fact, alcoholic did not experience reduced anxiety in social situations. (David R. Aronson, Evidence-Based Technical Analysis. Wiley, 2007) The Limits of Reason Women are bad drivers, Saddam plotted 9/11, Obama was not born in America, and Iraq had weapons of mass destruction: to believe any of these requires suspending some of our critical-thinking faculties and succumbing instead to the kind of irrationality that drives the logically minded crazy. It helps, for instance, to use confirmation bias (seeing and recalling only evidence that supports your beliefs, so you can recount examples of women driving 40 mph in the fast lane). It also helps not to test your beliefs against empirical data (where, exactly, are the WMD, after seven years of U.S. forces crawling all over Iraq?); not to subject beliefs to the plausibility test (faking Obama’s birth certificate would require how widespread a conspiracy?); and to be guided by emotion (the loss of thousands of American lives in Iraq feels more justified if we are avenging 9/11). (Sharon Begley, The Limits of Reason. Newsweek, August 16, 2010) Information Overload In principle, the availability of a great deal of information could protect us from the confirmation bias; we could use information sources to find alternative positions and objections raised against our own. If we did that and thought hard about the results, we would expose ourselves to a valuable dialectical process of objections and replies. The problem is, though, there is too much information to pay attention to all of it. We must select, and we have a strong tendency to select according to what we believe and like to believe. But if we attend only to confirming data, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to have well-reasoned, fair, and accurate beliefs. (Trudy Govier, A Practical Study of Argument, 7th ed. Wadsworth, 2010) The  Backfire Effect and Affective Tipping Points The strongest bias in American politics is not a liberal bias or a conservative bias; it is a confirmation bias, or the urge to believe only things that confirm what you already believe to be true. Not only do we tend to seek out and remember information that reaffirms what we already believe, but there is also a backfire effect, which sees people doubling down on their beliefs after being presented with evidence that contradicts them.So, where do we go from here? Theres no simple answer, but the only way people will start rejecting falsehoods being fed to them is by confronting uncomfortable truths.  Fact-checking is like exposure therapy for partisans, and there is some reason to believe in what researchers call an effective tipping point, where motivated reasoners start to accept hard truths after seeing enough claims debunked over and over. (Emma Roller, Your Facts or Mine? The New York Times, October 25, 2016) Perceptual Defense Bias Like other biases, the confirmation bias also has an opposite which traditionally has been termed perceptual defense bias. This process refers to the automatic discounting of disconfirming stimuli that protect the individual against information, ideas or situations that are threatening to an existing perception or attitude. It is a process that encourages the perception of stimuli in terms of the known and familiar. (John Martin and Martin Fellenz, Organizational Behaviour and Management, 4th ed. South Western Educational Publishing, 2010) Confirmation Bias on Facebook [C]onfirmation bias—the psychological tendency for people to embrace new information as affirming their pre-existing beliefs and to ignore evidence that doesn’t—is seeing itself play out in new ways in the social ecosystem of Facebook. Unlike Twitter—or real life—where interaction with those who disagree with you on political matters is an inevitability, Facebook users can block, mute and unfriend any outlet or person that will not further bolster their current worldview.​Even Facebook itself sees the segmentation of users along political lines on its site—and synchronizes it not only with the posts users see but with the advertisements they’re shown. (Scott Bixby, The End of Trump: How Facebook Deepens Millennials, Confirmation Bias. The Guardian [UK], October 1, 2016) Thoreau on Chains of Observations A man receives only what he is ready to receive, whether physically, or intellectually, or morally, as animals conceive their kinds at certain seasons only. We hear and apprehend only what we already half know. If there is something which does not concern me, which is out of my line, which by experience or by genius my attention is not drawn to, however novel and remarkable it may be, if it is spoken, I hear it not, if it is written, I read it not, or if I read it, it does not detain me. Every man thus tracks himself through life, in all his hearing and reading and observation and traveling. His observations make a chain. The phenomenon or fact that cannot in any wise be linked with the rest which he has observed, he does not observe.(Henry David Thoreau, Journals, January 5, 1860)