<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites
If a comatose person were to earn an interest of 1 million USD annually on the sum paid to him as compensatory damages – would this be considered an achievement of his? To succeed to earn 1 million USD is universally judged to be an achievement. But to do so while comatose will almost as universally not be counted as one. It would seem that a person has to be both conscious and intelligent to have his achievements qualify.
Even these conditions, though necessary, are not sufficient. If a totally conscious (and reasonably intelligent) person were to accidentally unearth a treasure trove and thus be transformed into a multi-billionaire – his stumbling across a fortune will not qualify as an achievement. A lucky turn of events does not an achievement make. A person must be intent on achieving to have his deeds classified as achievements. Intention is a paramount criterion in the classification of events and actions, as any intensionalist philosopher will tell you.
Supposing a conscious and intelligent person has the intention to achieve a goal. He then engages in a series of absolutely random and unrelated actions, one of which yields the desired result. Will we then say that our person is an achiever?
Not at all. It is not enough to intend. One must proceed to produce a plan of action, which is directly derived from the overriding goal. Such a plan of action must be seen to be reasonable and pragmatic and leading – with great probability – to the achievement. In other words: the plan must involve a prognosis, a prediction, a forecast, which can be either verified or falsified. Attaining an achievement involves the construction of an ad-hoc mini theory. Reality has to be thoroughly surveyed, models constructed, one of them selected (on empirical or aesthetic grounds), a goal formulated, an experiment performed and a negative (failure) or positive (achievement) result obtained. Only if the prediction turns out to be correct can we speak of an achievement.
Our would-be achiever is thus burdened by a series of requirements. He must be conscious, must possess a well-formulated intention, must plan his steps towards the attainment of his goal, and must correctly predict the results of his actions.
But planning alone is not sufficient. One must carry out one's plan of action (from mere plan to actual action).
affected the methods that I use to complete these tasks. People use their strengths in everyday life as well as in crucial, life changing situations. Important self-building achievement is one factor that makes people who they are. Another is the way that people apply there strengths to different situations. The greatest achievement in my life would have to be my success in the sport of football. I started playing the game at the age of eight. It stuck with me throughout my life until now. During
Egoism, and Achievement in The Fountainhead Ayn Rand said that the theme of The Fountainhead is "individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man's soul." I want to comment on three specific aspects of this theme, as it is embodied in Roark's character and his interactions with the other figures in the novel. Roark is a man of independence, he is an egoist, and he is a creator, a paragon of productive achievement. These three concepts—independence, egoism, and achievement—are the key
SADC: Recent Developments and Achievements Introduction Regional groupings such as SADC aims to bring neighbouring countries into a league or association or union where they will be able to work together in terms of matters concerning politics, economics and development, the ultimate being regional integration. The concept of regional integration is nothing new. During biblical times the Canaanites comprising of different countries formed a union to deal with the invading band of Israelites
John Muir: His Achievements/Journeys John Muir worked at a factory in Canada. He invented time and money saving machines for the factories. But one day an accident changed his whole outlook on life. As he was tightening a machine belt with a file, the file flew out and pierced his right eye. His left eye grew dim to the reaction. John's friends and neighbors tried to help him and brought doctors. Some friends read to him. Children brought him flowers and listened to his stories. He finally began
Ferdinand Prosche: Life And Achievements of A Pioneer German engineer Ferdinand Porsche is certainly one of the most important figures - if not the most imporant and influent-in the history of automobile making. This outstanding Teuton was born on September 3rd, 1875 in Mafferdorf, Germany. One of the most remarkable accomplishments of his carrer was that his work was not limited to one factory, but instead he worked in many of the most renowned car-making factories of the time. His life as an
Pleasure - The Driving Force in all Human Achievement Every choice we make as humans, whether conscious or not, is made with our own pleasure in mind. When we choose to buy a pack of chocolate, go to church, or even go to work, we do it with the goal of maximizing our own pleasure. The choices we make are those that we feel will give us the greatest pleasure. We spend our entire lives trying to maximize pleasure and minimize pain; this is the essence of man. Aristippus was one of the first
CUBA’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN PROVIDING HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ARE BETTER THATN THOSE OF MANY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. HOW HAS IT MANAGEDTHIS? There may be some question over Fidel Castro’s achievements in providing economic success, or democracy to Cuba in the last forty five years or so. However Cuba’s record on providing egalitarian health care and education to the masses have generally been agreed as a success story, even by Castro’s old enemy the United States. “To be educated
Birth order and School Achievement There has always been an attempt to figure out why some people do better in school than others. Is it due to financial stability? Is it attributed to parents’ own success as students? Very importantly, one’s birth order plays a role in one’s school achievement. I. Theory Growing up with siblings or the absence of siblings can be a major factor in determining academic success. Being the oldest, middle or youngest child does not necessarily determine academic success
One of My Most Coveted Achievements Dr. Ross’ Comments: This essay is a very good example of a personal experience shared by the writer. She clearly describes an important episode in her life and vividly reveals a part of her true “self” to her audience. What began in my life as yet another effort in weight loss became one of my most coveted achievements. After the birth of our third child, and too many pounds that were not disappearing, we purchased a small above ground pool. While the
To: From: Re: Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur: Greatest Achievements Louis Pasteur was one of the most important scientists of our time. The foundation of our knowledge about health and disease comes from the discoveries of this one man. He made many discoveries and solutions for problems of the every day life that are still in effect today. Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822 in a little town called Dôle in the foothills of the Jura Mountains of eastern France. When he was five years old his family
The Life and Political Achievements of Sir Wilfrid Laurier of Canada Laurier gained great achievement over his political years because he represented Canada as a whole. His family first came to Canada dating back to the time of New France and the early Montreal years. Laurier's father, a government surveyor and a genial, settled down in Canada and got married to Marcelle Martineau. Wildfrid was their first child who was born on November 20, 1841. Seven years later a tragedy struck the
Standardized achievement tests are very common in the United States as well as other countries. Students in High School, Middle School, and even Elementary School take standardized achievement tests. Since No Child Left Behind was renewed in 2001 schools must keep track of the progress of its students (Week). Policy makers use the results of standardized achievement tests to create their policies. Standardized testing provides many benefits to those who take it. Standardized testing can be traced
Laptop Computers: School Utilization and Student Achievement It has become all too evident in today’s society that there is a need for a quality, successful education system. The need for skills in technology are also obvious. Schools across the nation are now trying to achieve both of these goals by providing a laptop computer to each student. Principal John Kozusko, an administrator at one such school claims, “It’s like a world apart. It’s changed the way teachers teach…the way they think
INTRODUCTION Achievement Motivation (also termed need for achievement, N-Ach) refers to an individual's desire for significant accomplishment, mastering of skills to meet high standards of excellence. It includes the intense, prolonged and repeated efforts to accomplish something difficult, to work with singleness of purpose towards a high and distant goal and to have the determination to win. In this report we have measured the degree of achievement motivation among students of BITS, Pilani
role of processes in schools in producing different educational achievement among pupils from different social groups. Differential educational achievement is unquestionable affected by different social groups however this is not the only factor that affects the educational success of students. Members of working class place a lower value on education, they place less emphasis on formal education as a means to personal achievement, and they see less value in continuing school beyond the minimum