The Minotaur's Lament. A Short Story.

There can be no wretch in mythology born into such abject circumstances worse than the Minotaur. A half-man half-bull monster who never asked to be born in that way. An abomination. Too grotesque and shameful for the world to see. His stepfather's greed for sacrificing what was a gift from a god that is due back to that god. His mother's bestial lust for that bull, the curse of a god. Cast into a dark forlorn labyrinth, all alone except for his stepsister's comforting words and the horrifying food he was given ritually every seven years of seven virgin males and females from Greece. His gruesome and miserable life was brought to an end by a golden boy, a hero, always adulated and cherished - Theseus. This is the story of his release from a miserable life as told by him.

The Minotaur speaks to us his lament:

I never asked to be born in this way. What kind of a god punishes the innocent for another's sin? My stepfather, King Minos, was greedy for the bull gifted to him by Poseidon. King Minos wanted a magnificent white bull from Poseidon, the God of the Sea. Seeing Minos's piety and devotion to him, the master of the sea gifted him the most magnificent white bull that Gaia, Goddess of the Earth, will never bestow on a mortal. The bull strode out of the emerald blue of the sea and headed straight to King Minos. Minos was thrilled beyond his ability to contain himself. Never had he or anyone beheld such a wondrous sight. Ivory-hued, gentle-eyed, sweet-smelling, and beautiful of disposition was the bull from the sea. Minos prepared a special stable for the bull and spent days and nights admiring the creature. He fed it with the beast olives and gave it to drink the sparkling water from the peak of Mount Ida. 

The high priestess cautioned Minos that any gift from the gods must be returned in some form to them. The gods give nothing for free, however much a mortal deserved it. Minos didn't listen to her. Her emphatic pleas fell on ears that might as well be filled with wax. I know the priestess. Richly dressed in finest cloth, splashed in vibrant colors laid out in stripes. Her long hair, well combed and dressed, hung down to her chest. The high priestess and her priestesses didn't hate, loath, or fear me. They pitied me and often spoke to me through holes in the ceiling of the labyrinth.

King Minos, my stepfather, is still pink with yesterday's blessings. Still strong despite the silver in his hair. Strong of appearance. An indomitable and powerful man who exuded power. Wise, clever yet heartless, merciless and cold. he ruled with an iron fist. The Greeks dreaded him while his people adulated him, though they secretly feared him.  

My mother, Queen Pasiphae, didn't want anything to do with me. She, my mother, knowledgeful of the curse on Minos and helpless to act against the magic of a god, abandoned me. Too ashamed, she hid in the palace. Ariadne, my half-sister told me that my mother was once so beautiful, and had now become as haggard as a crone when she beheld me at my birth. She screamed in terror at the monster she had borne. Now she sits alone in her chamber, attended by handmaidens. Ariadne told me even a gorgon will shudder at the sight of her.

Ariadne was beautiful, with long dark hair, milky white of complexion and her soul, pure as gold. My comfort, my solace, and beloved sister. She alone in my half family was the only real family I had. Yet, when Theseus arrived, she too betrayed me and in turn betrayed by her lover. She escaped the insanity that surrounded me when Theseus arrived on Crete's resplendent shores.

My mind was haunted with the cries of my sacrificial victims. I long lost count of the number of young men and women I had killed and devoured. Their screams of fear, their anguish as well they entered the gloomy poorly lit labyrinth. That was how I came to be cast as a cannibal, a hideous monster whose mouth drools with wine red blood and yellow mucus filled spit. My head sporting ivory horns, a face that will even make a Gorgon shudder with terror, an evil demonic entity, cast away from sight. Do you think that I am a beast so cruel that I eat people? Eat the virginal innocents sent to me to avenge my stepbrother, Androgeus's, death at the hands of jealous Athenian youths. What is it to me if the Athenians were jealous of a capable athlete like Androgeus? I never knew him but I sympathise for his death for beloved Ariadne.

For many years I have been incarcerated in this dank cold gloomy prison-the labyrinth. The putrid stench of rotting human remains, and my own bodily waste made the air so rancid, that I left some parts of the labyrinth free so that I can breathe easily. You have no idea of what abject squalor is until you are imprisoned in an awful lamentable place like I am. It is dimly lit with torches thrown into it from trapdoors in the above ceiling that punctuate the ceiling by terrified slaves. With the torches, chunks of meat and beakers of water are regularly thrown at me as if I was a lowly unwanted dog when there was no human meat to devour. I stalk the twisting turning winding corridors of my filthy but ingeniously designed labyrinth. This doleful gulf, the labyrinth is my torment for something that was never my doing.

A person is a monster if you allow that person to be a monster. We are not born monsters. We are made into monsters. We become what others think we are or want us to be by allowing not us to be good people. We are never given any chance of redemption. We are never allowed to rise above our predicament. We react in kind and are pronounced as monsters without realizing that we merely react to how we are treated because we are helpless. If they can get some chance of redemption, if they can get some sort of reprieve, they will do so, even if it is near the time for them to die.

But today I think it will be my last on this horrid island so paradoxically set in the emerald blue of the splendid Aegean Sea. Today Ariadne told me that a splendid magnificent and handsome prince from Athens is here. His name is Theseus. He has come with virgin young men and women. Ariadne told me that Daedalus has given her a ball of string- the clue- to help Theseus find and kill me. She too will leave this awful island with her lover, in spite of her tyrannical and merciless cruel father. Ariadne had earlier bargained with mighty Zeus, the all father, that I will go to Elysium when I die. Zeus, tired of Minos's cruelty towards me and Poseidon’s, his brother, indifference towards me, in a great vision appeared to Ariadne, and agreed with her that I will go to Elysium. We agreed that it is only way I can get out of my misery and spare others of their suffering- the poor Greek boys and girls. 

Into this woeful doleful and hideous gulf come the Greek youths. Seven innocent boys and seven innocent girls. Fear not my brave Greeks, today the Minotaur will be no more. Your prince, the Greek golden boy-Theseus, will slay me. Ha ha! In your silly face king Minos, Theseus is being helped by Ariadne, your sweet princess, I hope that that Greek golden boy dispatches you after me. 

Wait! Now comes a cry calling my name. It is my liberator. I must do battle. I am the Minotaur, the slayer, the monster, but you do not know this, the fighter. I will die fighting. I reach for my double-bladed battle axe and sally forth. Happily, and merrily and with bravery I will die. For today, I will be free.

I saw the dimly lit hero and he saw me. He charged roaring like a boy on a testosterone 

fueled charge, and I, with a mighty roar that can shake mighty Olympus, making the ceilings to collapse, it pillars to fall in a thunderous crash. Charge I did and we fought. A sapling is what this Greek golden boy is, but a doughty fighter nonetheless. Finally, in a clever thrust of his sword into my heart, I felt a sharp pain. OH! What paradoxically sweet pain. For in pain I died. Breathing one last roar and blowing my final breath into my slayer's face, I die. I the Minotaur have breathed my last. Soon, in Elysium's golden fields I will stride. Mighty and proud, but feared not, the Minotaur. 

Thrift.

Thrift is the quality of not spending too much money. By thrift one is able spend on things that are necessary and not on superfluous things. Thrift is a unique quality with only advantages and no disadvantages. The advantages that are gained are; having a surplus of money, no debts and a modicum of possessions. Thrift sees people being happy as they have what they need and are not tempted to have too many possessions and always have money to spare. Thrift means never being spend-thrift and incurring debts and having a shortage of money or no money at all. Thrift means never being swayed by the reckless desire for unwanted goods and services. Thrift means wanting only what you need and not what you want. What you want is not necessarily what you need. But what you need is always what you want. Thrift means you have self-control. You do not spend because you desire to and are in full control over yourself. Thrift is separate from miserliness. Misers are stingy on everything and are unhappy. They think that that by restricting expenditure they will always keep their money. Misers have their money but they are unhappy. Those who are thrifty have their money, but they are happy.However, misers are such people that they are never happy. They think only of themselves and never give money to others who are in need. To give is to receive. But thrift means being wise.

A total of 232 words, approximately 18 words per line and 13 lines.

Red Skull Island: Indoctrination Naivety Ignorance and Stupidity.

North Sentinel Island or as I prefer to call it, Red Skull Island, is a mysterious island in the Bay of Bengal. It is a part of a chain of islands which form a part of the Andaman Nicobar Island group. Specifically, the island is a part of the Andaman Island group of that chain of islands. The Andaman Nicobar Island chain of islands are a part of the Republic of India.

Location of the Andaman Islands.

The inhabitants of the Andaman Island group are indigenous to those islands. Ethnically, the natives are a Negrito people whose ancestors had eons ago moved throughout the Malay Archipelago. They are a short, pygmy-like black people who resemble in some ways the negroes of Africa, but not completely so. They are suspected to have come out of Africa, but that is arguable, as people have been found to appear all over the planet, some 50,000 years ago. Most of the tribes living in the Andaman island group have contact with people from India, as the Andaman Nicobar Island group belongs

to India. There are at least 375,00 Indian settlers on the Andaman Nicobar Islands with the sole exception of North Sentinel Island. Interestingly the natives of North Sentinel Island have had little contact with outsiders leave alone their relatives on the main islands of the Andamans. The few contacts with outsiders have never ended well for the natives and often more than not for anyone who encroached on their privacy. Except for a few short visits by Indian anthropologists, most people who try to visit the island are threatened and warned off by the spear, ax, bow and arrow wielding hostile natives. Some intruders have also been killed whether they landed on the island intentionally or by accident. The inhabitants do not want contact with the outside world. In the history of outside contact with them, things never fared well for them and hence this is possibly their reason for suspiciousness of outsiders. It is arguable that in their oral history they may have handed down from generation to generation tales of death and turmoil from outsiders. Who knows? We have never made long lasting contact with them. They probably have an oral record of historical contact with the outside world. In the 19th century a British colonial official went to North Sentinel Island and took an elderly man and woman and four children to the main island for study. Unfortunately, the elderly couple fell ill and died. So, he returned the four children back to the island with a few gifts. The children would have recounted their harrowing experience thus fortifying any disdain and distrust for outsiders among the natives of North Sentinel Island.

Back on 17 November 2018, an idealistic and indoctrinated 27-year-old American Christian missionary called John Allan Chau was killed after he had set foot on that island. It appears that he had tried to land on that island twice and was promptly warned off by the locals. Despite the two previous warnings by the natives, fully cognizant that he was forbidden to go there, he set foot on the island and was duly killed in a hail of spears and arrows. This tragic event and the background of why this American went there in the first place makes for an in-depth examination of the attitudes of people from the west and even other parts of the world have been thoroughly indoctrinated and enthused with religious conviction.

John Allan Chau was the son of a Chinese immigrant to America. His father, Patrick Chau converted to the Baptist Christian sect, married a white American woman and worked as a psychiatrist. John Chau was his youngest child. John Chau graduated from the Oral Roberts University which I know is very good at indoctrinating people. I had a former school mate who attended that sinister university and himself is a Christian fanatic. Another former school mate of mine told me I should never have any contact with our former school mate as he will attack your religion regardless of what religion you subscribe to. Even other Christian denominations are not spared.  He was a member of the All Nations church which believed in promulgating Christianity to people by indoctrinating its members to believe in the redeeming qualities of their version of Christianity.

John Allan Chau went to that island knowing full well that the natives are hostile. He was in the opinion that they need salvation and they will open their hearts to Jesus and his teachings. He had carefully planned his ill-fated expedition over some years, collected any important information about the island and its locals, made friends with people who knew about the place and health issues about treading on island unfamiliar with germs of the outside world. John Allan Chau had friends on the Andaman Islands who helped with his preparations.

What inspired this disillusioned evangelist was his in part his father's success story from the time he (John Allan's father) set foot on American soil, how not learning English sufficiently well to attend a top university, the story of  Nicobarese islander called John Richardson and his indoctrination which made him blind to the religious views of others as typified by my former schoolmate. He had also read about the Nicobarese population which progressed after conversion to Christianity. Indeed, they have but they are not fanatics like John Allan Chau. In his mind, Christianity was a good thing as it made people progress. This is a view I heard from one Baptist Christian who claimed that his religion was the basis of western civilisation. Little do these people understand that much of civilisation was created by non-Christians and by mostly pagans. His church prepared him for his ill-fated excursion. Apparently, his church elders took him to a remote island where they dressed up a native armed with spears. So, he got some training for his trip. He was nonetheless apprehensive about going to that island and feared his death at the hands of the natives. Despite his fears of death, he still wanted to go there knowing full well how dangerous such a journey will be. 

This is the trouble with evangelical Christians. They cannot see the wood from the trees and think that what they believe to be true and are often ignorant of the world, history and culture. What made him think the Sentinelese will understand English? What made him think that they will accept his religion? Mind you the locals gave him fair warning twice. Sadly, this naive ill-informed and indoctrinated man died on a remote island. His family will never be able to recover his remains for burial. This is not a full-blown attack on Christianity but the Church he belonged to. His church's representative claimed that he went there to give them the love of God. What nonsense! Those people have no immunity to outside illnesses. Did he not think about this? This shows the callous stupidity of his church which had thoroughly indoctrinated this ignorant young man. I have met such evangelical Christians. They often have very little general knowledge and only believe what they are told by their church. It is as if, what they are taught by their church is right and the rest is the work of the "devil". This idiotic and closed-minded view makes them trample on the beliefs of other people whom they perceive as backward thinking and lost to God. John Allan Chau's intentions may have been benign but they were ill thought out and naive. He broke the law set by the Indian government which had banned any visits to that island. Does not his church believe in the rule of law?

In the main Andaman Islands, there live the indigenous Jarawa, and the Onge. These people are ethnically related to the Sentinelese. Before the arrival of the British and later, when the island group came under the ownership of India, Indian settlers, there were the Jangil on one of the smaller islands but are now extinct. While the Nicobarese people have fared well. The Jarawa and Onge tribes of the main Andaman Islands have not weathered the intrusion of settlers to their lands very well. Displacement from their ancestral lands and reduced to living in protected settlements, as well as encroachment by settlers into their original tribal hunting and living areas, have been sufferings wrought on these native peoples. Their numbers have declined from the thousands in the last century to a few hundred today. There is much demand for farming land for the settlers and for the construction of holiday resorts and houses If measures are not taken to protect the Sentinelese, they may well go extinct.

North Sentinel Island

In conclusion, such evangelical efforts must be stopped. As well as that, any danger to the natives must not be allowed from land developers and any kind of intruder. Respect the rights of indigenous peoples and all first nations people. They should be left alone and not converted to another religion. The survival of such people should be left in their hands. If there is a request for help, then let them voluntarily do so. Attempts to "civilise" them is racist, bigoted and ignorant. One must understand the situation, health issues and cultural norms of uncontacted people. People like the Sentinelese are fifth world nations. This is a recognition of their place in the world. These fifth nations people are often vulnerable. They are susceptible to economic exploitation by outsiders who want the lands they inhabit. They are prone to diseases for which they have no immunity to. Often, they are a minority in the lands they inhabit with numerous outsiders living among them. Hence, they must be protected. The world will lose a part of humanity and its identity as a diverse set of people with different cultures and ethnicities. The world will lose any knowledge of medical cures which these people know. Their extinction is tantamount to genocide. They will become a loss to the science of anthropology. 

The Late John Allan Chau.

Links:

https://www.outsideonline.com/2400030/john-allen-chau-life-death-north-sentinel

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/world/asia/andaman-missionary-john-chau.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/death-of-a-missionary-1543176072

https://www.newsweek.com/journal-christian-missionary-killed-tribe-sentinelese-people-1451120

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/john-chaus-death-andaman-are-foreigners-allowed-enter-north-sentinel-island-92050

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGIIknBC1aA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl55oTa2DrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jazxvrfGHA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMrl8jFh8Ag

Universal Intellectual Standards.

When the quality of students' thinking is evaluated, certain standards of thinking must be applied. These standards speak volumes about the quality of thinking of their thinking. In order to do this, Universal Intellectual Standards must be applied as the evaluation of the quality of thinking. 

In order for students to learn them, teachers, tutors or lecturers must pose questions that ; probe students' thinking, questions that hold students accountable for their thinking, questions that when are consistently asked become internalised in the students' minds to become the questions they will need to ask themselves for their thinking.

The ultimate goal of these questions is to become infused into the students' thinking processes; to become part of their internal voice; guiding them further and further into higher quality thinking.

The most essential of these standards are;

        1. Clarity

        2. Accuracy

        3. Precision

        4. Relevance

        5. Depth

        6. Breadth

        7. Logic

        8. Fairness

1. Clarity: Clarity stands out as the gateway standard for gauging the standard of thinking. When a question is posed, that question must be clear in its intention of what it wants answered. Questions that do not clearly what is to answered will create doubts as to what is being asked. Students or any respondents cannot answer questions that are unclear. They will not be able to determine the accuracy and relevancy of the question and will not b able to answer accurately. Questions must be clear and concise and not vague. Some questions that can be asked for clarity can be such as; Could you elaborate further on that point? Could you give express that point in an another way? Could you give me an illustration? Could you give me an example?

2. Accuracy: A question statement or a declarative sentence must be both clear and accurate. Sometimes a question or a statement can be clear but not accurate such as ; "Most dogs are over 300 pounds in weight.". Or "What can be done to reduce traffic pollution?" Questions that can be asked to get accuracy could be such as; Is that really true? How could we check that? How could we find out if that is true?  

3. Precision: A statement or a question while can be both clear and accurate, is not precise. Such as: Jack is overweight. The statement is both clear and accurate, but not precise. It does not tell us how much overweight Jack is. Is he 200 pounds , or 500 pounds overweight? Questions that can be raised in order to obtain precision could be such as; Could you give more details? Could you be more specific?

4. Relevance: A statement or a question while it can be clear, accurate, and precise, but it is not relevant to the question at issue. For example, students often think that the amount of effort they put into a course should be used in raising their grade in a course. Often, however, the "effort" does not measure the quality of student learning; and when this is so, effort is irrelevant to their appropriate grade. we must ask these questions about relevancy: How is that connected to the issue? How does that bear on the issue?

 5. Depth: A statement or a question can be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant, but superficial (that is, lack depth). For example, the statement, "Don't drink and drive!" which is often used to discourage drinking and driving, is clear, accurate, precise, and relevant. Nevertheless, it lacks depth because it treats an extremely complex issue, the pervasive problem of drunk driving use among a section of society, superficially. It fails to deal with the complexities of the issue.

The following relevant questions can be asked to get more depth to a question:How does your 

answer address the complexities in the question? How are you taking into account the problems in 

the question? Is that dealing with the most significant factors? 

6.Breadth:  A line of reasoning may be clear accurate, precise, relevant, and deep, but lack breadth (as in an argument from various political parties' standpoint which gets deeply into an issue, but only recognizes the insights of one side of the question.)

The following relevant questions can be asked to get more breadth to a question: Do we need to 

consider another point of view? Is there another way to look at this question? What would this look 

like from a conservative standpoint? What would this look like from the point of view of . . .? 

7. Logic: When we think, we bring a variety of thoughts together into some order. When these thoughts are mutually supporting and make sense in combination, the thinking is "logical." When the combination is not mutually supporting, is contradictory in some sense or does not "make sense," the combination is not logical.Some questions such as the following can ask for the logic in a question: Does this really make sense? Does that follow from what you said? How does that follow? But before you implied this, and now you are saying that; how can both be true? 

8.Fairness:  Human thinking is often biased in the direction of the thinker - in what are the perceived interests of the thinker.  Humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others on the same plane with their own rights and needs. We therefore must actively work to make sure we are applying the intellectual standard of fairness to our thinking. Since we naturally see ourselves as fair even when we are unfair, this can be very difficult.  A commitment to fairmindedness is a starting place.Questions such as the following can be raised: Do I have a vested interest in this issue?  Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoints of others? 

Problems and Problem Solving: What is a Solution ? & Guidelines for Solutions Part 2.

What is a Solution? A commonplace definition of a solution is to 'make it go away'. This is a simple definition. It is used commonly and is understood to be that in that way. However, not all problems go away. Some problems cannot be eliminated entirely.

Another way a solution can be defined is the management of a problem in a way that successfully meets the goals established for treating it. The goals for solving the problem can either be ; to eliminate the problem entirely or to treat the effects of the problem. 

What defines the goals of problem solving is the inherent possibilities in the problem; together with the ambitiousness, resources and values of the problem solver. 

We have two approaches to problem solving; 

Stop It ; this when we eliminate the problem in its entirety.

Mop It; this is when we treat the effects of the problem.

1. Stop It: The Stop It approach has three basic forms; prevention, elimination and reduction.

A. Prevent It: This is method prevents a problem form occurring, or recurring. It is a difficult one to apply as it needs predictive foresight, because something could become a problem if something drastic is not done now. It can also often be a costly method. As well as that, most problems occur without warning. 

Example 1, if you can prevent a cold, or an automobile accident, you will not have to deal any further with a problem or its effects. Similarly, by preventing misunderstandings, the need for lots of damage control and emotional healing can be avoided.

Example 2, if you drive carefully, you may not get into an accident. You will not have deal with the police, insurance companies, lawyers and car workshops. However, even if you are a careful driver, you could unexpectedly have a drunken driver crash into your car.

B. Eliminate It: this method gets rid of the problem once and for all. Once the cause of a problem has been identified, it can then be eliminated. However, this depends on the problem at hand. Elimination is also expensive and/or politically unpopular. hence, it is not always a feasible idea. There could be strong vehement resistance or opposition towards the idea of problem elimination.

Example 1, a neighbor where I used to live had chronic trouble getting TV reception to suit him. Every weekend he was on his roof installing another antenna (he eventually had three), rotating one, putting another up on a higher mast, and so on. He even put in a satellite dish. He might have eliminated the problem by subscribing to cable TV or moving to an area where the reception was better.

Example 2, the government wants to ban the sale of cigarettes in the light of mounting evidence of lung and throat cancer. But such a move will be deeply unpopular in the country among citizens and the Ministry of Finance. People will oppose the move and the sale of illegal contraband cigarettes will happen. The top civil servants, economists and financial experts will oppose the initiative because of the short fall in taxation revenue from the sale of cigarettes.

C. Reduce It: Reduction is where the source of the problem is reduced. This is so because not all problems can be prevented or eliminated.

Example 1, Current approaches to the flow of illegal , drugs into the country include reduction strategies. The flow of drugs cannot be eliminated as long as demand continues, so interdiction focuses on "as much as possible."

Example 2, The sale of alcohol cannot be fully banned. Illegal home-brewed alcohol and smuggled alcohol will always be readily available. So, all that a government can do is to allow its sale but with high sales tax as a deterrent to increased alcohol consumption by high prices.


2. Mop It: The Stop It approach has three basic forms; Treat it, Tolerate It and Redirect It.

A. Treat It: In this case the effects or damage caused by the problem is repaired or treated. We must make note of two important things about this method, Firstly, it is not as nearly an effective solution as a form of stop it approach. Secondly, treat-it solutions are often needed in addition to the implementation of  a elimination or reduction form of solution.

Example 1, For example, some of the drug and alcohol treatment programs are aimed at symptomatic relief of the effects of these problems rather than at eliminating the problems to begin with.

Example 2,  the common cold is caused by a virus. Despite all the medical advances that have been made, yet there is not a cure in sight for it. As a result , doctors can only reduce its incidence by giving appropriate medication.

B. Tolerate It: In this approach, the effects of the problem are tolerated. 

Example 1, a water heater in your house is leaky, but it still works. So, instead of buying a new heater, you mop the floor and drain it but still use the heater.

Example 2. A machine in a factory needs constant repairs, which are not expensive to do and it still works quite well. Moreover, it is also expensive to replace. So, instead of incurring the costs of replacing it, you carry on repairing and using till it finally breaks down and you have to finally replace it.


C. Redirect-It: In this method, the problem is deflected. It could be that the problem could be redefined.

Example 1, Some police departments in America have been known to buy bus or airline tickets for chronic offenders (prostitutes, usually) to send them to another state far across the country, thus "solving" their own problem.

Example 2. If the water heater in your house is leaking, but repairing it might cost too much. You decide that the leak is a small one that does not warrant an expansive repair, because the floor is not being damaged and the heater still works. You then say that since the water heater still works, the floor is not being damaged , the leak is a small one, and you could do with the humidity, especially on hot days, that the leak is actually a good thing.


Generally, one should be careful and take pains to investigate the implementation of a stop-it solution before focusing on a mop-it solution. Oftentimes, many are tempted to to focus on symptomatic treatments for problems when they should be looking for treatments for the underlying causes of the problems. Sometimes only a mop-it solution is available, such as in the case of the common cold,where no viable solution exists.

General Guidelines for Problem Solving

Here are some guidelines that will help you analyse, define, and solve problems in an orderly way. These guidelines can be used to help to create a habit of mind and to give some structure to any problem solving activity. Remember, though, that problem solving does not proceed by recipe, nor is it necessarily linear, as these guidelines might imply. Problem solving is a recursive process; you must continually go back and forth between steps and do some parts again. Similarly, you might not always proceed in exactly this order. Thus, these guidelines are not meant to be rigid and absolute. Think of them rather as a checklist designed to assure that you include all the important features of problem analysis in your thinking. (After the outline of the guidelines you'll find a commentary and elaboration on them.)

I. Problem Exploration

1. State the Problem.
A. State what the problem is
B. Restate the problem
C. State the problem more

2. Clarify the Problem.
A. Define the Key terms of the problem.
B. Articulate the assumptions
C. Obtain needed information

3. Explain the Problem.
A. Discuss the problem with someone else.
B. Look at the problem from different viewpoints.
C. Ask a series of whys.

4. Put the Problem in Context.
A. What is the history of the problem?
B. What is the problem environment?
C. What are the constraints?

II. Goal Establishment
1. Consider Ideal Goals.
2. Establish Practical Goals.

III. Idea Generation
1. Generate Ideas for Possible Solutions.

IV. Idea Selection
1. Evaluate the possibilities.
2. Choose the solution(s).

V. Implementation
1. Try the solution.
2. Make adjustments.

VI. Evaluation
1. Determine whether the solution worked.

Problems and Problem Solving: What is a Problem? Part 1.

What is a problem? There are many definitions found in dictionaries about what a problem is . In this essay I will focus on three definitions which define a problem. The three definitions will give a fuller explanation as to what a problem is. A creative thinker with an insight to a what a problem is will find that a problem is something that most questions have more than one right answer. In addition, most problems will have more than one solution.

1. A problem is an opportunity for improvement. It is an opportunity to seek solutions to make for improvement. problems do not always appear from nowhere. A creative thinker will always see an opportunity for improving a present condition. It is to make oneself or a situation better. A problem is sees positively that something new and better can be created.  A change for the better or something of benefit can arise from a problem.

2. A problem is the difference between your current state and your goal state. Whatever new knowledge or new thing arrives- a problem results. You will see that you have a  gap in your knowledge. You are at one point and a new point where you want to be. it is the difference in what you have or know and what you want or want to know or should know. It is sometimes referred to as a Knowledge Gap or Performance Gap.

3. A problem results from the recognition of a present imperfect and the belief in the possibility of a better future. A problem results from the recognition and the belief in the possibility of a better future. When you find that there is something that is not right or perfect, you are challenged to correct the condition. There is a challenge to make things better for the future. You have a hope to make things better for the future. Your hopes then become a challenge and the challenge becomes another definition of a problem.

The Importance of Goals in Problem Solving. Problem solving requires goals and ideal states. The whole concept of problem solving centres on goals and ideal states. It is when a problem is concluded that a goal has been met and if the goal was an appropriate one for solving the problem. This can also be stated that the goal or ideal state defines how much of a problem exists or whether a problem indeed exists. Look at the example:

Example 1, let's say you have just brought a pizza home from the pizza parlor and it is beginning to cool. If your ideal state is to eat very hot pizza, then you have a problem, whether you define it as how to keep the pizza from cooling, how to heat it back up, how to eat it quickly, or whatever. On the other hand, if you like moderately warm pizza, then you do not have a problem. Similarly, if your friend comes over an hour later and you offer him a piece of leftover pizza, only to discover that your oven is on the blink, you have a problem: how to heat the pizza up again. But if the friend says, "I really like cold pizza better than hot," you no do not have a problem.

Example 2. Let's say that you place an order for a textbook that comes with a pair of DVDs. The online book retailer sends you a copy of the book but the edition is one that does not come with DVDs and it is also cheaper than the one you ordered. You decide that the one they sent you is still suitable for you despite it does not come with DVDs. Then there is no problem. However, you need the one with the DVDs. You call the online retailer and they tell you that they have run out of stock for the textbook with the DVDs. Then you have a problem.

One very important factor to learn is that our goals can change, as will the nature of the problems we are confronted with. As we travel through time and space, our goals are in a state of flux. Some of our goals change radically, or even reverse and return to their original state. Some goals may undergo a minor change and minor adjustments, some goals can change radically, and with major adjustments. Hence, problems and solutions must stay current with goals.

Examinations.

Examinations are central to the evaluation of a student’s academic performance. It tells the teacher or trainer what is the amount the student has learnt, understood and is able to apply when called upon to do so in a real world setting. Examinations tell the teacher and trainer just how well they have instructed, enlightened and trained someone. Examinations must never be seen as a morbid and harrowing experience for a candidate. A student who has done his or her utmost to master what they have been taught should look upon examinations positively and with excitement as it is the culmination of their period of study. Examinations are found pervasively in numerous places apart from the school where we obtained our early education. Corporations, the government, hospitals, NGOs, the armed services, public corporations and utilities all have examinations that evaluate just how well their staff is able to perform their jobs. In some occupations such as surgeons, fighter-pilots and emergency and rescue personnel examinations survey just how well someone has learnt absorbed and mastered as their professions which are hazardous and mission-critical and have human lives on their hands.

A total of 189 words, approximately 14 words per line and 12 lines.

Bread

Bread is the staple food for many people around the world. It is a mix of wheat flour, salt, yeast, sugar, sodium bicarbonate and other ingredients. It is baked in ovens which can be electric bread toasters or can be of made from stone and have been used since ancient times. It is usually a fawn brown colour but it can also be light or dark brown and which is the product of baking. The fragrance of freshly baked bread can rival the aroma of the finest wine. Bread comes in many shapes and sizes. They can be rectangular, square, round and others like the French Baguette are long and the French Croissant is shaped like a pair of horns. Some shapes like those found in modern Egypt have not changed when the mighty Pharaohs summoned great works of monumental engineering and architecture. Some are flat like the Spanish tortilla and the Indian chapatti. Some bread is not made from wheat flour but corn and did you know that the Romans used crushed acorns. Bread in any form when introduced to a culture unacquainted with it, grasps it as a symbol of advancement and sophistication. You can eat bread with butter, margarine, jam, and jelly or you can place fish, meat and vegetables on it and enjoy it as a sandwich. It can be eaten toasted or eaten accompanied with soups and meat. Bread can be dunked in a mixture of condensed milk and beaten eggs and toasted either one side or both on a flat pan which the English called “Eggy bread” and the Indians call “Bombay toast”. The ancient Egyptians workers who worked at pyramid construction were paid in bread and the Christian religion upholds the belief that bread symbolized the body of Christ, the son of God. So the next time you sit down to have your first meal of the day, do not think of the meal as breakfast but as “Breadfast”.

Adjectives : Use of Good or Well.

'Good' is an adjective. We use it before a noun or after a linking verb.


• She is a good singer.
• His English is good.
'Well' is often an adverb. We use it to give more information about a verb.
• She sings well.
• He speaks English well.
'Well' can also be an adjective that means 'healthy'.
• Are you well? (= Are you healthy?)
• She doesn't look well. (= She doesn't look healthy.)


Let's review! Choose 'well' or 'good'.

1. Julia speaks good / well French.
2. He sings good / well.
3. Lucy makes good / well coffee.
4. His Italian is very good / well.
5. David speaks Spanish good / well.
6. My mother is a good / well cook.
7. He plays the piano good / well.
8. Her work is very good / well.
9. He writes very good / well.
10. The children listen good / well.

Adverbs of Frequency.

Some adverbs tell you how often something happens: Always / sometimes / never / usually
These usually go before the main verb.

• We never eat breakfast.
• He usually walks to work.
They come after the verb 'be'.
• He is always early.
• She is often hungry.

If there is an auxiliary verb, they come after it.

• She is always losing her keys.
'Sometimes' and 'usually' can also come at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
• Sometimes he is early.
• He is early usually.
'Never' and 'always' don’t come at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
• He is never early. (NOT: Never he is early.)
• He is always early. (NOT: He is early always.)

We also use longer phrases like ‘once a week’ to say how often something happens.

• Once a day / week / month / year
• Twice a day / week / month / year
• Three times a day / week / month / year
• A few times a day / week / month / year
• Every day / week / month / year / morning / afternoon / evening / night
These phrases usually go at the end of the sentence.
• I play the piano every day.
• He calls his mother once a week.
• She goes to the dentist twice a year.

Let's review! Put the adverb in the correct place.

1. always: He brushes his teeth before work.
___________________________________________________________________________

2. every day: William does his homework.
___________________________________________________________________________

3. a few times a year: I meet Julia.
___________________________________________________________________________

4. never: She is angry.
___________________________________________________________________________

5. once a week: I am in the office.
___________________________________________________________________________

6. sometimes: We go for a walk in the evening.
___________________________________________________________________________

7. twice a month: She sees her mother.
___________________________________________________________________________

8. usually: I have coffee and eggs for breakfast.
___________________________________________________________________________

9. always: He has been very kind to us.
___________________________________________________________________________

10. never: They are late.
___________________________________________________________________________

Valuable Intellectual Traits for being a Critical Thinker.

In order to be a good critical thinker, one must possess certain intellectual traits. Critical thinking rests upon certain qualities that produce good critical thinking. The following intellectual traits or qualities are necessary :

1. Intellectual Humility: this means knowing one's limit of knowledge. One does not claim to know more than what knows. It also includes being aware and sensitive to one's inherent egocentrism which if not checked can lead one to behave self-deceptively by thinking that one knows everything. Intellectual humility includes the qualities of being sensitive to bias, prejudice and limitations of one's knowledge. Being intellectually humble does not mean that one is weak and submissive to opposite viewpoints. On the contrary, it means lacking boastfulness, pretentiousness and conceit. This also includes insight into the logical foundations, or lack of logical foundations, of one's own belief.

2. Intellectual Courage: this means being conscious of the need to face, address ideas, deliberate ideas, beliefs and viewpoints which one considers dangerous or absurd. This courage is connected to the idea that sometimes we are faced with ideas and beliefs that might at least seem absurd or dangerous. This is because we could at such a moment, when facing some idea that we deem as silly or dangerous, and such conclusions could be false and misleading. Sometimes an idea which on the face of it might seem bad, absurd or dangerous, but are sometimes rationally justified. In order to decide properly and which is which, it is not that one is passively and uncritically going accept what was learnt. Intellectual courage enables one to see some truth in seemingly absurd and dangerous ideas and the distortion or falsity that are held by society.

3. Intellectual Empathy: this means the ability to put oneself in another's shoes or position in order to understand the other side genuinely. This requires one to be conscious of any egocentricity to identify truth with ones own immediate perceptions of long standing thought and belief. This quality correlates with the ability to reconstruct with precision another's viewpoints and reasoning and to reason from the premises, assumptions and ideas other than one's own. This trait correlates with the ability to precisely reconstruct the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas of other people. This quality also correlates with the consciousness that one was wrong in the past even if one is deeply convinced that one was right. One is able to visualise being deceived in a similar circumstance.

4. Intellectual Autonomy: this means that one thinks autonomously  with rationality. One has control over one's feelings, beliefs, values, and inferences. Critical thinking prescribes the ideal of leaning to think on one's own and for oneself, to gain command over one's thought processes. This trait correlates with committed analysing and evaluating beliefs and values and ideas on the basis of reason and evidence, the questioning whenever it is rational to question or right to question, believe what is rational to believe, and to conform when it is rational to conform.

5. Intellectual Integrity: this means to recognise the need to be true one's own thinking; to be consistent in the intellectual standards that one applies; to hold one's self to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one hold's one's opponents or antagonists; to practise what one advocates for others; and to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one's own thought and action.

6. Intellectual Perseverance: this is the consciousness of the need for one to use intellectual insights and truths in the face of difficulties, obstacles, encumberments, and frustrations. It includes form adherence to principles of rationality despite any irrational opposition from others; a sense of of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended span of time in the pursuit of achieving deeper understanding or insight.

7. Confidence in Reason: this is the confidence in knowing that in the long term, one's own higher interests and those of mankind at large will be best served by allowing free-play to reason, encouraging people to arrive at their own conclusions by developing their own rational faculties; faith that with proper guidance and encouragement , people can learn to think for themselves, to form rational viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think coherently and logically, persuade others reasoning, become reasonable persons while in the face of deep-seated encumberments in the native character of mind and society.

8. Fairmindedness: this is to treat all viewpoints alike. This is performed without reference to one's own viewpoints, feelings or vested interests or the vested interests of friends, community, or country. It correlates and implies the explicit adherence to high intellectual standards without any reference to any personal advantage or to the advantage of one's own group.