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THE AGE OF RENAISSANCE AND THE RISE OF MODERN HUMANISTIC EDUCATION

Introduction

The prevalent modern notion that a “renaissance period” followed Western Europe’s medieval age was first expressed by numerous Italian writers who lived between 1350c and 1550c.

Renaissance should be reserved to describe certain exciting trends in the thought, literature, and the arts that emerged in Italy from roughly 1350 to 1550 and then spread to northern Europe during the first half of the 16th century. This paper will limit itself to the understanding of a renaissance period to mean an epoch in intellectual and cultural history.

The word renaissance literally means rebirth, it is sometimes thought that after about 1350, certain Italians who were newly cognizant of Greek and roman cultural accomplishments initiated a classical cultural rebirth after a long period of death.

CONCEPT OF RENAISANCE IN THE REALM OF CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY

In the realms of thought, literature, and the arts important distinguishing traits may certainly be found that make the concept of a renaissance meaningful for intellectual and cultural history:

1. The continuity rediscovery and the spread of classical learning

Medieval scholars knew many roman authors such as Virgil, Ovid, and Cicero but in the renaissance, the works of others such as Livy, Tacitus and Lucretius were rediscovered and made familiar. More importantly was the renaissance discovery of the literature of classical Greece.

In the 12th and 13th century, Greek scientific and philosophical treatises were made available to westerners in Latin translations, but none of the great Greek literary masterpieces and practically none of the major works of Plato were yet known. Only a handful of medieval westerners read the Greek language.

In the renaissance, large numbers of western scholars learned Greek and mastered almost the entire Greek literary heritage that is known today.

2. New uses for classical learning

Renaissance thinkers not only knew many more classical texts than their medieval counterparts, but they used them in new ways.

Medieval writers tended to employ their ancient sources for the purposes of complementing and confirming their own preconceived Christian assumptions but renaissance writers customarily drew on the classics to reconsider their preconceived notions and alter their modes of expression.

There was firm determination to learn from classical antiquity, more pronounced in the realms of architecture and art.

3. A secular renaissance culture

Although renaissance culture was by no means pagan, it certainly was more secular in its orientation than culture of the middle ages. During this period, the Italian city- states focused on the attainment of success in the urban political arena and the living well in this world. Such secular ideals helped create a culture that was increasingly non- ecclesiastical.

Humanism and education

This word has two different meanings, one technical and one general but both apply to the cultural goals and ideals of a large number of renaissance thinkers.

In its technical sense, humanism was a program of studies that aimed to replace the medieval scholastic emphasis of logic and metaphysics with the study of language, literature, history and ethics. Ancient literature was always preferred: the study of Latin classics was at the core of curriculum and whenever possible, the student was expected to advance to Greek.

Humanistic teachers argued that scholastic logic was too arid and irrelevant to practical concerns of life. They preferred humanities which were meant to make their students virtuous and prepare them for contributing best to the public functions of the state. Women were ignored but aristocratic women were sometimes given humanist training in order to make them appear more polished.

Humanism stressed the dignity of man as the most excellent of all Gods creature below the angels. Some renaissance thinkers argued that man was excellent because he alone of the earthly creatures could obtain knowledge of god.

The first humanist : Francis Petrarch (1304-1374).

Among the greatest accomplishment of Italian renaissance scholars and writers, the work of Francis Petrarch was the earliest of the humanists in the technical sense of the term.

Petrarch was a committed Christian who believed that scholasticism was entirely misguided because it concentrated on abstract speculation rather than teaching peoples how to behave properly and attain salvation.

He dedicated himself to searching for undiscovered ancient Latin texts and writing his own moral treatises in which he initiated classical style and quoted classical phrases.

Civic humanism (1400-1450)

It was developed by Italian thinkers and scholars located mainly in Florence. Civic humanists like Florentines Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) centuries and Leon Battista Albert (1404-1472) centuries agreed with Petrarch on the need of eloquence and study of classical literature. But they taught that mans nature equipped him for action, for usefulness to his family and society and for serving the state.

The most vivid of the civic humanists writing is Alberti’s on the family (1443), in which he argued that the nuclear family was instituted by nature for the well being of humanity.

Alberti believed that man is by nature more energetic and industrious and that woman was created to increase and continue generations and to nourish and preserve those already born.

The civic humanists are noted for their success in opening up the field of classical Greek studies. They recognized the glories of ancient Greek literature. Some of Italian scholars traveled to Constantinople and eastern cities in search of forgotten masterpieces.

In 1423 one Italian, Giovanni aurispa, alone brought back 238 manuscript books, including works of Sophocles, Euripides and Thucydides. They were also involved in the work of translation into Latin. In this way, most of the Greek classics, particularly the writings of Plato, the dramatists and the historians were first made available to Western Europe.

The evolution of music as an independent art

Music in Western Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries reached such a high point of development that it constitutes, together with painting and sculpture, one of the most brilliant aspects of renaissance endeavor.

The development of music followed an independent path that had been in progress in medieval Christ Dom. Leadership came from those trained in the service of the church, but secular music was valued as well and its principles combined those of sacred music to bring a decided gain in color and emotional appeal. The distinction between sacred and profane became less sharp; and most composers did not restrict their activities to either side. Music was no longer regarded merely as a diversion or an adjunct to worship but came into its own serious independent art.

Contributions of the renaissance period to education

1. Philosophies of the period like Neo-Platonism helped scientific thinkers to reconsider older notions that had impeded the progress of medieval sciences.

2. A mechanistic view of the universe advanced by the great Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes played an enormous role in the development of modern science because it insisted upon finding observable and measurable caused and effects in the world of nature. Archimedes taught that the universe operates on the basis of mechanical forces like a great machine.

3. One of the other renaissance developments that contributed to the rise of modern science was the breakdown of the medieval separation between the realms of theory and practice. This period shows advancement in mathematics, science e.g. human anatomy and architecture. In general, they helped make science more empirical and practically oriented than it had been earlier.

4. The achievement per excellence in astronomy –the formulation and proof of the heliocentric theory that the earth revolves around the sun (Copernicus 1530).

5. Among the physicist of renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. Leonardo da Vinci worked out the principles of an astonishing variety of inventions including a diving board, a steam engine, an armored tank, and a helicopter. Galileo developed the law that guide the gravitational fall which was later improved on by Newton some fifty years later.

6. Paracelsus (1493-1541) insisted on the close relationship of chemistry and medicine foreshadowed and directly influenced important modern achievements in pharmacology and healing.

7. Michael Servetus (1511-1553) discovered the pulmonary circulation of the blood. He described how the blood leaves the right chambers of the heart, is carried to the lungs to be purified then returns to the heart.

References

Alberti, Leon Battista, The Family in Renaissance Florence, R.N. Watkins, Columbia ,             1969.

Cassirer, E., et al. eds., The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, Chicago, 1948.

Kohl, B.G. and R.. G. Witt, eds., The Earthly Republic: Italian Humanists on Government and Society, Philadelphia, 1978.

Philip. L. Ralph, et al.(1997) World civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. http:// web.wwnorton.com.

Kinuthia Benson
http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/the-age-of-renaissance-and-the-rise-of-modern-humanistic-education-746028.html

THE AGE OF RENAISSANCE AND THE RISE OF MODERN HUMANISTIC EDUCATION

Introduction

The prevalent modern notion that a “renaissance period” followed Western Europe’s medieval age was first expressed by numerous Italian writers who lived between 1350c and 1550c.

Renaissance should be reserved to describe certain exciting trends in the thought, literature, and the arts that emerged in Italy from roughly 1350 to 1550 and then spread to northern Europe during the first half of the 16th century. This paper will limit itself to the understanding of a renaissance period to mean an epoch in intellectual and cultural history.

The word renaissance literally means rebirth, it is sometimes thought that after about 1350, certain Italians who were newly cognizant of Greek and roman cultural accomplishments initiated a classical cultural rebirth after a long period of death.

CONCEPT OF RENAISANCE IN THE REALM OF CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY

In the realms of thought, literature, and the arts important distinguishing traits may certainly be found that make the concept of a renaissance meaningful for intellectual and cultural history:

1. The continuity rediscovery and the spread of classical learning

Medieval scholars knew many roman authors such as Virgil, Ovid, and Cicero but in the renaissance, the works of others such as Livy, Tacitus and Lucretius were rediscovered and made familiar. More importantly was the renaissance discovery of the literature of classical Greece.

In the 12th and 13th century, Greek scientific and philosophical treatises were made available to westerners in Latin translations, but none of the great Greek literary masterpieces and practically none of the major works of Plato were yet known. Only a handful of medieval westerners read the Greek language.

In the renaissance, large numbers of western scholars learned Greek and mastered almost the entire Greek literary heritage that is known today.

2. New uses for classical learning

Renaissance thinkers not only knew many more classical texts than their medieval counterparts, but they used them in new ways.

Medieval writers tended to employ their ancient sources for the purposes of complementing and confirming their own preconceived Christian assumptions but renaissance writers customarily drew on the classics to reconsider their preconceived notions and alter their modes of expression.

There was firm determination to learn from classical antiquity, more pronounced in the realms of architecture and art.

3. A secular renaissance culture

Although renaissance culture was by no means pagan, it certainly was more secular in its orientation than culture of the middle ages. During this period, the Italian city- states focused on the attainment of success in the urban political arena and the living well in this world. Such secular ideals helped create a culture that was increasingly non- ecclesiastical.

Humanism and education

This word has two different meanings, one technical and one general but both apply to the cultural goals and ideals of a large number of renaissance thinkers.

In its technical sense, humanism was a program of studies that aimed to replace the medieval scholastic emphasis of logic and metaphysics with the study of language, literature, history and ethics. Ancient literature was always preferred: the study of Latin classics was at the core of curriculum and whenever possible, the student was expected to advance to Greek.

Humanistic teachers argued that scholastic logic was too arid and irrelevant to practical concerns of life. They preferred humanities which were meant to make their students virtuous and prepare them for contributing best to the public functions of the state. Women were ignored but aristocratic women were sometimes given humanist training in order to make them appear more polished.

Humanism stressed the dignity of man as the most excellent of all Gods creature below the angels. Some renaissance thinkers argued that man was excellent because he alone of the earthly creatures could obtain knowledge of god.

The first humanist : Francis Petrarch (1304-1374).

Among the greatest accomplishment of Italian renaissance scholars and writers, the work of Francis Petrarch was the earliest of the humanists in the technical sense of the term.

Petrarch was a committed Christian who believed that scholasticism was entirely misguided because it concentrated on abstract speculation rather than teaching peoples how to behave properly and attain salvation.

He dedicated himself to searching for undiscovered ancient Latin texts and writing his own moral treatises in which he initiated classical style and quoted classical phrases.

Civic humanism (1400-1450)

It was developed by Italian thinkers and scholars located mainly in Florence. Civic humanists like Florentines Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) centuries and Leon Battista Albert (1404-1472) centuries agreed with Petrarch on the need of eloquence and study of classical literature. But they taught that mans nature equipped him for action, for usefulness to his family and society and for serving the state.

The most vivid of the civic humanists writing is Alberti’s on the family (1443), in which he argued that the nuclear family was instituted by nature for the well being of humanity.

Alberti believed that man is by nature more energetic and industrious and that woman was created to increase and continue generations and to nourish and preserve those already born.

The civic humanists are noted for their success in opening up the field of classical Greek studies. They recognized the glories of ancient Greek literature. Some of Italian scholars traveled to Constantinople and eastern cities in search of forgotten masterpieces.

In 1423 one Italian, Giovanni aurispa, alone brought back 238 manuscript books, including works of Sophocles, Euripides and Thucydides. They were also involved in the work of translation into Latin. In this way, most of the Greek classics, particularly the writings of Plato, the dramatists and the historians were first made available to Western Europe.

The evolution of music as an independent art

Music in Western Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries reached such a high point of development that it constitutes, together with painting and sculpture, one of the most brilliant aspects of renaissance endeavor.

The development of music followed an independent path that had been in progress in medieval Christ Dom. Leadership came from those trained in the service of the church, but secular music was valued as well and its principles combined those of sacred music to bring a decided gain in color and emotional appeal. The distinction between sacred and profane became less sharp; and most composers did not restrict their activities to either side. Music was no longer regarded merely as a diversion or an adjunct to worship but came into its own serious independent art.

Contributions of the renaissance period to education

1. Philosophies of the period like Neo-Platonism helped scientific thinkers to reconsider older notions that had impeded the progress of medieval sciences.

2. A mechanistic view of the universe advanced by the great Greek mathematician and physicist Archimedes played an enormous role in the development of modern science because it insisted upon finding observable and measurable caused and effects in the world of nature. Archimedes taught that the universe operates on the basis of mechanical forces like a great machine.

3. One of the other renaissance developments that contributed to the rise of modern science was the breakdown of the medieval separation between the realms of theory and practice. This period shows advancement in mathematics, science e.g. human anatomy and architecture. In general, they helped make science more empirical and practically oriented than it had been earlier.

4. The achievement per excellence in astronomy –the formulation and proof of the heliocentric theory that the earth revolves around the sun (Copernicus 1530).

5. Among the physicist of renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. Leonardo da Vinci worked out the principles of an astonishing variety of inventions including a diving board, a steam engine, an armored tank, and a helicopter. Galileo developed the law that guide the gravitational fall which was later improved on by Newton some fifty years later.

6. Paracelsus (1493-1541) insisted on the close relationship of chemistry and medicine foreshadowed and directly influenced important modern achievements in pharmacology and healing.

7. Michael Servetus (1511-1553) discovered the pulmonary circulation of the blood. He described how the blood leaves the right chambers of the heart, is carried to the lungs to be purified then returns to the heart.

References

Alberti, Leon Battista, The Family in Renaissance Florence, R.N. Watkins, Columbia ,             1969.

Cassirer, E., et al. eds., The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, Chicago, 1948.

Kohl, B.G. and R.. G. Witt, eds., The Earthly Republic: Italian Humanists on Government and Society, Philadelphia, 1978.

Philip. L. Ralph, et al.(1997) World civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. http:// web.wwnorton.com.

Kinuthia Benson
http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/the-age-of-renaissance-and-the-rise-of-modern-humanistic-education-746028.html

by John Hook

Beach Music? Many define it by its geography and the kinds of songs it includes while describing ‘friendship’ and ‘good times’ as the glue which binds it.

If you’re like me you’ve thrilled to square dancing in bright costumes, two-stepping in country bars, bumping and hustling in discos, and line dancing in modern clubs. They’re all filled with friendship and good times; making those insufficient illustrations of what makes Beach Music what it is.

1. Beach Music in the East and the West are similar, but not the same.
Both coastal communities celebrate individuality and self-expression. At the center of West Coast beach culture is the surfer community encouraging private quests marked by athletic achievement while the East Coast dance culture inspires a new form of social success.

2. East Coast Beach Music nurtures new ideals of social equality, romance, and improvisational self-expression.
Fifteen years before Rock and Roll, white teenagers in the Southeast embraced Black music as their own. At the same time they developed a new dance to express themselves. From that mixture the Shag evolved.

3.  Many found the secret rites of Shag and Beach Music at the Beach.
Like the “soul surfers” of the West Coast, the “soul dancers” set new standards for the ‘good life.’ At the beach, personal and hometown histories stayed home while they assumed nicknames and developed new personalities.

4. Rhythm and Blues and Jazz were foundations for the Shag.
In addition to early black music, soul dancers often flipped over national pop hits to see if the ‘B’ side had the right beat and mood for carefree shuffles in coastal and inland pavilions.

5. Society sometimes misread them as mere ‘rebels.’
Like their West coast alter-egos they weren’t rebelling as much as forming new communities and social hierarchies of greater equality with rights of self-expression.

6. Balmy days and nights, sensual Shag moves, and their own ‘coat of arms’ embraced giddy summer romances.
The Shaggers’ dress code included Bass Weejuns, no socks, cashmere sweaters, and madras shirts. Like knights of old, girl-partners were revered.  When they danced, *she* was the most gorgeous woman in the world.

7. East Coast soul dancers enshrined the Art of Play as equal to Hard Work.
As such they considered social life equivalent to work life. While they worked summer jobs to support themselves, they worked just as hard at “not working” on the dance floor.

8. It looked like a sexual revolution.
It really wasn’t focused on sex. Self-confidence and cool were guiding principles and the ’safe date’ was integral to Beach Music. They put dancing before drinking–unlike some who need a ‘boost’ to drop their inhibitions.

9. Classic Beach songs include national hits and treasures unknown outside the Southeast.
Fifties Beach songs celebrated the good times in several ways. Although “Drinkin’ Wine Spo Dee O Dee” mentioned wine, it more loudly proclaimed the ‘good times’! Fifties hits included “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Sixty Minute Man,” and “Sh-Boom.” The 60s added hundreds more like “Under the Boardwalk,” “My Girl,” “What Does it Take To Win Your Love,” and “Brown Eyed Girl.”

10. The ‘Shag’ had other names including the ‘Bop’ ‘Freestylin” and ‘Fas’ Dancin’.
The music wasn’t named for 25 years! In the beginning most teenagers found it at the Beach. Eventually there were 500+ inland dance clubs, Pavilions, restaurants, swimming pools, and fishing lakes with dance floors.

Beach Music and Shag history show a culture celebrating individual uniqueness in the rituals of music and romance experienced by those who were dancing to their own destinies.  The Beach Music community was like a ‘beta’ version of MySpace, a ‘flat’ world where everyone was equal, each member was in charge of their own self-expression and the accumulation of friends with whom they had common interests.  The internet has simply made the field of dance partners much much larger.

To learn more about this fascinating chapter of American life that is still being written, follow this link http://www.beachshag.com/BMG%20SITC.htm

“Fessa” John Hook is a 39 year broadcaster captains the Endless Summer Network of Beach and Shag music on the net.

His three books on Beach music and Shag  are: “Shaggin’ in the Carolinas,” and the “Beach Music Guide 1945-2006, Vols 1 & 2″ and another, “Dancing On the Edge - How Music Freed the South,” coming in the fall of 2009.

“‘Shagging In the Carolinas,’ according to Hook, a Beach Music and Shag enthusiast, is a love letter that took 26 years to write.” –Sun Times newspaper

“Hook writes about how Shagging defied social conventions as carefree white teenagers were inspired by the possibilities inherent in improvisational black dance and music.” –Lexington Dispatch

“Hook knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Beach Music. As a broadcaster in the late 1980s, he was responsible for the first full-time Beach Music radio station in history….he chronicles the evolution of the dance….before the Lindy Hop, before the Jitterbug, came the Shag, a dance born and bred in the Carolinas.” –Our State magazine

John Hook
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/10-ways-beach-music-romance-selfexpression-created-the-first-myspace-751911.html

Is it necessary to learn ordinary music notation for guitar or is it sufficient to know how to read tabs? Is it worth the price to learn to read ordinary guitar sheets?

Many guitar books available with tablature notation will also have a staff above with the guitar sheet music notation. It is also very common today that classical guitar books also have a guitar tab staff below.

This was not very common a few decades ago. Tablature has by some guitarists been considered cheating. Is it cheating or is it a help to have tabs at your disposal?

Personally I have as a guitar teacher experienced many instances when tablature has been a great help to my pupils. however, I would be very happy if young musicians would put more energy into the endeavor to learn to read sheet music notation.

It is a great advantage to have a working knowledge on how to read and understand music scores and the various symbols pertaining to it.

Let’s take a look at the advantages of being able to read guitar music notation:

1. You will be able to play a piece of music the way the composer has intended without having heard it before. This is possible because music notation consists of descriptions concerning the pitch and also the length of the notes and other symbols telling you how to play the notes and performing the music.

2. You will have an enormous library of sheet music from various time periods at your disposal. It is possible to play music written for other instruments as well as music notation doesn’t describe how to play the notes on a particular instrument but more which notes to play. This makes it possible for a guitarist to play violin exercises and vocal scores and so on.

3. You will as a guitarist be able to write and arrange music for other instruments in your band making it possible to shorten the rehearsal time and facilitating the use of more complicated musical arrangements.

4. Being able to read and use sheet music will help you as a composer to notate all your ideas in a way that you will remember and that you easily can share with your friends and others.

Let’s look at the advantages of using guitar tablature:

1. Being a poor sheet music reader can hinder your from playing on the level of your techniqal skills. It’s a pity that many guitar pupils play just a few boring sheet music melodies when they could really be playing melodies using the entire fretboard just by the use of tablature.

2. It is very easy to describe chords, licks and complicated riffs with the help of tablature especially if you have audio examples of the music.

3. Tablature notation is still as easy to read even when you use alternative tunings as the tab notation still tells you only how to put your fingers. Using sheet music notation with alternative tunings on the guitar is a bit difficult to say the least.

4. Internet is flooded with more or less accurate tablature renditions of popular riffs, songs and more.

Okey, but what is the best alternative, guitar tablature or guitar sheet music?

My opinion is that you can use tablature as much as you want but I recommend you to really learn to read sheet music notation because of the many advantages you will reap from it.

If you start by learning the names of the notes on the frets of the guitar you have already gained an important skill that will help you as you start to learn the notes on a music score staff.

Peter Edvinsson
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-tablature-or-sheet-music-185276.html

Over the past decade, the rise of the Internet has dramatically changed the availability and presentation of piano music. Free downloads of sheet music — as well as audio recordings of piano performances — are easy to find in abundance through a simple Web search. Because of this, old-fashioned sheet music publication has been on the decline in favor of Web-based documents — image files, .pdf’s, eBooks, and other formats. As with a lot of technological change, this is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It’s just different. Today, conscientious adult piano players should have a basic understanding of the current state of sheet music publication, and where it is headed.

After all, when we examine our habits as consumers, we find that most of us tend to look for the cheapest and easiest options whenever possible. So these days, when there are so many free piano music downloads to be found all over the Internet, why would anyone ever pay money for sheet music?

In truth, more people cling to the old mediums of sheet music than one may think. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with this. Some people are simply not comfortable with the Internet, and may never be. Besides, what adult piano player doesn’t enjoy the look and feel of a thick, comprehensive collection of the piano works of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, or Rachmaninoff? Most contemporary pianists learned how to play with such books, and most still own tons of those old, worn, and wrinkled collections. Until recently, these books were the lifeblood of the piano world, which had been the case ever since the advent of the printing press.

Indeed, something has certainly been lost in the decline in popularity of such books. “The Complete Piano Works of Beethoven,” for instance, holds pieces even the most passionate Beethoven fan might not know. In contrast, for years since the inception of the Internet, only the most popular works by the most famous composers have been available on the Web. When it comes to Beethoven, “Fur Elise” and “Moonlight Sonata” are easy to find on numerous sites, but what about more obscure works like “Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major?” For years, pianists were hard-pressed to find such works on the Internet.

Fortunately, the world of online piano sheet music is now working to overcome such shortcomings. Yes, “Fur Elise” is as easy to find as ever, but now, former no-shows such as “Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major” are almost just as available. This is thanks to a number of sites offering free downloads of piano music. The Mutopia Project, for instance — an online source of free piano music downloads — offers free piano music by hundreds of composers, from the origins of written music up to the 20th century.

Plus, piano teachers are now learning about the expansiveness of music available on the Web. Many piano teachers will tell you that the most difficult thing about their work is choosing pieces to perfectly suit the needs of a student. Because of the Internet, this is no longer such an issue. When a teacher feels that her student needs to learn a certain piece, that piece is likely available on the Internet. Just a few years ago, this wasn’t true. Now, thanks to the continued growth of the Web, almost every piece of piano music by every significant composer is available to download for free. Instead of those old, massive piano music collections, today’s piano teacher is more likely to use folders of sheet music printouts from the Web.

Of course, the availability of piano music free to download does not change the fact that many of us still love those old-fashioned piano books. After all, such books are still high-quality products, and they always make great gifts. Thus, even though the Internet is now a huge and ever-growing source of sheet music, the old mediums aren’t likely to disappear any time soon.

Duane Shinn
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/piano-sheet-music-in-the-internet-age-329802.html

Let’s say you’re a budding music star. Maybe you play the piano. Like most living humans, you probably have internet access of some kind. Sure, it’s great for sending messages to friends, streaming silly videos, and downloading every piece of software under the sun.

But what about getting onto the internet in a better fashion? Doctors use online patient-record systems. Researchers barely step into libraries anymore. Scientists harness the power of cloud computing. So why should you, an excellent pianist, not be given a chance to download the same quality stuff that the rest of them can?

A Smaller Market

Because digital piano music is quite a niche market, and only useful to a small number of people, its representation online has flagged.

It’s out of date. Just as we’re downloading books to our Kindles, why should digital piano music be left behind? Shouldn’t there at least be a dependable voice online for digital sheet music we can rely on?

One Fundamental Problem

If you thought music digital-rights-management was arcane, you should see some of the sites selling piano transcriptions.

Some ask you to have a flawless printer, because you will only have one measley opportunity to get a hard copy of what you’ve bought. If something goes wrong, you’re out of luck.

Other sites offering classical music have hugely altering standards when we look at their files. Sometimes you’ll download a PDF, other times a set of GIFs that don’t print properly, and sometimes you’ll be left with a proprietary DRM that’s generally useless.

Sites With Forums are The Way to Go

The only real way to make sure the piano transcriptions you’re downloading is proper is from the reviews of other musicians. If other budding stars are using the PDFs, and claiming that they are quality, you can buy with confidence.

One of the leading piano transcriptions portals, PianoStreet.com, has also put into place a large set of message boards around its offerings. To tell the truth, the site was born out of a pre-existing forum, called pianoforum.net, so the sale of piano transcriptions was something that they transitioned to, not a straight-up business from the start.

Audio Samples Are Crucial, Too

Why download and pay for sheet music if you can’t hear what they should sound like? Yeah, we admit, your piano teacher may have the chops to play it for you, but if you’re learning alone, you’ll need to find a real recording to hear how it should sound.

A real digital sheet music company should give you loads of mp3 recordings of what they offer, adding a ton of value to the transcribed music in the first place. Companies like PianoStreet.com have hundreds of their most typical easy/intermediate pieces online in mp3 format, the very ones that any fresh musician is dying to learn.

Pay Once, Download Forever

While it’s true that content producers are stalling as much as possible, many acknowledge that the way of the future lies in subscription models, where you will give a fixed rate and get unlimited access.

Companies like PianoStreet.com have adopted this for their business approach, providing monthly memberships that permit the user unlimited access to high-quality sheet music.

The Best Online Source for Sheet Music

So it’s not all terrible. A select few sites, led by PianoStreet.com’s examples, are changing the way digital sheet music will be sold in the future. Ignore the rest and only use the best!

Vanessa
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/a-better-way-to-buy-your-sheet-music-946888.html

The goal of technology is to make people’s lives easier, more convenient, and better. Nowhere is this more prominently demonstrated than in audio books for the blind.

Our society has always been visual and is becoming increasingly so: from newspapers and books to computer screens, blind people have faced the struggle of accessing information that is readily available to most other people. The ability to read a book or newspaper is taken for granted by many of us, but it is a pleasure that is often denied the blind.

Today’s biggest technological advancements - computers and internet access - provide an opportunity to view even more information, but in a format that is difficult for those with visual impairments. Braille, of course, is one method that blind people can enjoy written language and learn. However, this tactile form of reading is expensive, making it unhelpful for many who are blind.

With one seemingly simple advancement, doors to gaining information, being entertained, and staying current with the news were thrown open: enter audio books for the blind.

For the first time, visually impaired people could go online and download their choice of books. The mass production of audio books for the blind, the opportunity came to learn in a way that had never been available before. In addition, the audio books were inexpensive or even free, making them accessible to most blind people.

Technology really can help improve and enhance people’s lives: in the case of audio books, it has helped blind and visually impaired individuals obtain knowledge in a way that they couldn’t just five or ten years previous.

Art, music, drama, history, geography, economics, current events, fiction, biographies, poetry - no genre, subject, or style is off limits when it comes to audio books. Visually impaired people have access to the world of knowledge that was previously housed in books, newspapers, or magazines.

In the area of education, audio books have been particularly helpful and effective. Core subjects of reading, writing, math, and science are able to be learned through audio books, making easy access to education a right enjoyed by the blind and visually impaired.

There is more to audio books than education. They can be accessed solely for the pleasure of hearing a story. Thousands of titles are available in audio formats, including popular and contemporary authors, classics, fiction, non-fiction, and much more.

With all the technological advancements being made, it is easy to forget the people that are an integral part of the equation. Audio books for the blind are an example of technology at its best and most helpful.

Brad Morgan
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/audio-books-for-the-blind-technology-bridges-the-gap-593912.html

The goal of technology is to make people’s lives easier, more convenient, and better. Nowhere is this more prominently demonstrated than in audio books for the blind.

Our society has always been visual and is becoming increasingly so: from newspapers and books to computer screens, blind people have faced the struggle of accessing information that is readily available to most other people. The ability to read a book or newspaper is taken for granted by many of us, but it is a pleasure that is often denied the blind.

Today’s biggest technological advancements - computers and internet access - provide an opportunity to view even more information, but in a format that is difficult for those with visual impairments. Braille, of course, is one method that blind people can enjoy written language and learn. However, this tactile form of reading is expensive, making it unhelpful for many who are blind.

With one seemingly simple advancement, doors to gaining information, being entertained, and staying current with the news were thrown open: enter audio books for the blind.

For the first time, visually impaired people could go online and download their choice of books. The mass production of audio books for the blind, the opportunity came to learn in a way that had never been available before. In addition, the audio books were inexpensive or even free, making them accessible to most blind people.

Technology really can help improve and enhance people’s lives: in the case of audio books, it has helped blind and visually impaired individuals obtain knowledge in a way that they couldn’t just five or ten years previous.

Art, music, drama, history, geography, economics, current events, fiction, biographies, poetry - no genre, subject, or style is off limits when it comes to audio books. Visually impaired people have access to the world of knowledge that was previously housed in books, newspapers, or magazines.

In the area of education, audio books have been particularly helpful and effective. Core subjects of reading, writing, math, and science are able to be learned through audio books, making easy access to education a right enjoyed by the blind and visually impaired.

There is more to audio books than education. They can be accessed solely for the pleasure of hearing a story. Thousands of titles are available in audio formats, including popular and contemporary authors, classics, fiction, non-fiction, and much more.

With all the technological advancements being made, it is easy to forget the people that are an integral part of the equation. Audio books for the blind are an example of technology at its best and most helpful.

Brad Morgan
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/audio-books-for-the-blind-technology-bridges-the-gap-593912.html

MySpace was the brain-child of university graduates Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe and was founded in the summer of 2003. Upon its inception, the site quickly jumped to commercial success and in 2005 was sold to a news corporation – one of Rupert Murdoch’s many. The website grew in size and popularity with users all over the world ranging from teenagers to aging men and women, who used it for a variety of different purposes. Today, it is ranked as one of the top ten websites on the World Wide Web.

MySpace is essentially a social networking service, which allows users to communicate with existing friends, make new ones, and share photos, music, messages and interests, -amongst a zillion other things – with a large and ever-growing community. Users can send emails within the website, post photos and videos, listen to new music and even create their own blogs where they can share their feelings with the world.

One of the many advantages of the system is its sheer simplicity. It only takes a few steps to become part of this community, and it’s absolutely free! Every profile allows users to completely personalize and add their own personal touch to their page. Two of the standard ‘blurbs’ -as they call it - are the “About Me” and the “Who I’d like to Meet.” Amidst making new friends, stalking celebrities, and writing their own blogs, users spend a lot of time on their personal profiles. The include details with regards to their interests such as television, music and books; hobbies and activities and often personal details like physical appearances and marital status. The website also allows users to upload a default image which appears all over the website in accordance with their name and to upload and host other photographs for their friends’ viewing pleasure.

Other than people who use MySpace for social networking, many a user utilize it as a vessel for self-promotion. This is best showcased by MySpace Music, where many up and coming musicians post their music, along with their profiles, and benefit from exposure and critiques which help them in the long run.

Another popular area of MySpace is the profiles many celebrities have. Whether they are linked to MySpace Music or to the main site, the celebrities use them to communicate with their fans and use the space to allow people to get to know them a little better, or for the more obvious publicity runs. Some of the famous personalities and bands on the website include the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kevin Federline, Foo Fighters and the Pussycat Dolls – amongst other renowned icons. There’s also MySpace Videos that allows users to watch a number of interesting videos that are being shared by their friends or celebrities.

MySpace has also become a marketing tool for people in the business game everywhere. Since the website allows mass mails, postage of regular bulletins, and a large database of friends, it is a valuable resource to promote your product - whether it’s a website, a car dealership or a comic book.

The MySpace name has become so common in everyday usage that one wonders the date of its inception into the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary! A number of websites related to the original have popped up. From providing scripts and backgrounds to “pimp out” your space to ideas on marketing, these websites have ignited a global race amongst the website’s users.

MySpace has, in a short span of time, become what people call “a way of life.”

And in today’s day and age, it is often considered a faux pas if you are not part of the largest community on the internet - the MySpace Family.

Terry Bytheway
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/what-is-myspace-74249.html

This paper investigates from an Islamic perspective the consequences of globalization in general. To specify my argument in accordance with my understanding of Islam, I would strive to argue that globalization might be very harmful before society reaches maturity but very useful after that. Allow me a brief prefatory note about my methodology in this essay: in the first part, I provide many specifics about how Islamic texts and sources view the human being as God’s creation and his ultimate goal in the world. In the second part, after a brief definition of globalization, I apply the analytic method employed in the conventional literature of economics to show why the market mechanism fails to satisfy equality and eradicate poverty in the globalization era. Finally, I try to explain how a free but virtuous, mature society can satisfy equality throughout the world in this era. Obviously, my argument relates, to some extent, to normative aspect of economics. However, it does not follow the ideological methodology at all.

Let me begin by elaborating briefly on the ultimate goal of man’s creation in Islam, since this is so essential to understanding my argument.

The Human Being as God’s Creation

From monotheism, the pivotal pillar of the Islamic worldview, we can conclude that the universe is the best and perfect manifestation of God’s beautiful names and that there is no better alternative system to govern the universe. Indeed, this principle refers to the conception of creation. That is, God is like a secret treasure, so He creates and expands the universe not only to give a clue to His throne but also to reveal His beauty and His brilliance. Some facets of His attributes such as His majesty may manifest themselves in a deterministic environment such as with galaxies and other physical phenomena. There are, however, other facets of His characteristics such as His wisdom and His mercifulness that are impossible to manifest themselves except in indeterministic form.

There seem to be many common elements in the explanation of the philosophy of man’s creation in all Abrahamic religions of which Islam is believed to be a sequel and culmination. By investigating the quality of Adam’s creation, which stands as the symbol of human being in the Quran, we can infer the kind of status he occupies in the sight of God in Islam, as well as in other religions.

In the beginning the Lord addresses all the angels[1]that He wants to create a viceroy[2] on earth. This position will be held by man. The angels object to Him and say that He wants to create a vengeful and vindictive creature to commit crime and bloodshed on earth again! But God responds that He knows something they do not know. And so, God became engaged in creating man. And this is the point which symbols, loaded with profound anthropological connotations, come into being.

From a faithful Muslim point of view, God is the greatest and most exalted. Thus, with this providential address the mission of man on earth is clarified. That is, man’s mission on earth is to fulfill God’s creative work in the universe. Therefore, man’s first superiority is that he represents God on earth.

Since God wants to create a viceroy for Himself on earth, He must, as a rule, choose the most valuable and sacred material. Yet He selects the basest matter. In the Quran there are three references relative to the material that man was made of: from sounding clay[3], like unto pottery[4], and from mud[5]. Finally, the Lord blew His spirit into the dry mud and man came into being.

In the human tongue, God is the most sacred and exalted being so the spirit of God refers to the most exalted, and the noblest manifestation of His being, while mud stands as a symbol of the meanest and the basest thing. Accordingly, He blew His own Soul, not something else like His breath, blood, or flesh, into man in its creating process. God is the most sublime being and His spirit is the finest entity for which man can possibly have an epithet in his language.

Thus, man who was formed from mud and God’s spirit is a two- dimensional being. For unlike all other beings which are one dimensional, man is two-dimensional; one dimension tends towards mud, lowliness, sedimentation, and stagnation while the other aspires to the loftiest imaginable point possible. Thus man’s significance and grandeur lie in the fact that he possesses two poles: mud and the spirit of the Lord. It is up to man to choose where to go, towards mud or providence. And as long as he has not selected either of the poles as his fate, struggle will perpetually rage within him.

Another surprising point in man’s creation in the Quran is that God calls upon the whole universe that He has a trust to offer it, but everything refuses to accept this offer except man[6]. This is indicative of the fact that man possesses another virtue; that is, his acceptance of a trust that everyone else refused. This means that man is a representative of God in the universe as well as His trustee. As to what the trust is, Islamic scholars mention many things. Some of them such as Mawlavi and Shariati[7], believe that it is will and choice. I agree with that, however, it means much more than that. It means that man has adopted a great responsibility to personify all His beautiful names; individually and collectively. Of course, such responsibility requires the ability of will and choice.

Shariati (1981) says that the only superiority that man has over all other beings in the universe is his will. He is the only being that can act contrary to his nature, while no animal or plant is capable of doing so. It is impossible to find an animal which can fast for two days. And no plant has ever committed suicide due to grief or has done a great service. Man is the only one who rebels against his physical, spiritual, and material needs, and turns his back against goodness and virtue. Further, he is free to behave irrationally, to be bad or good, and to be mud-like or divine. The point is that possession of will is the greatest characteristic of man and it throws light upon the relationship between man and God.

Man is a viceroy of God on earth as well as His trustee among the universe, and the spirit of both quenches their thirst from the same fountain of virtue: possession of will. God, the only being in the universe, who possesses an absolute will and can do whatever He wishes, blew His spirit in man. Hence, man is capable of working like God (not on par with Him, only as an image of God), or acting against the physiological laws of his own nature. Therefore, as in the Old Testament[8], He has created mankind as a potentially perfect image of Himself. Obviously, this perfect image goes beyond the interpretation that some distinguished scholars have given it[9]. It shows that all God’s beautiful names may manifest themselves with man and human society. Consequently, it requires the ability to mastery and rule over the universe.

Two kinds of rationality

As mentioned above, according to my Islamic understanding, man is a two-dimensional being. During his spiritual evolution, he should pass from being mud-like to approaching God-like. In other words, God has invited him to pass through an important reference point, maturity[10]. Thus, we can imagine that he has two distinct parts of his life: an individualistic, selfish period (before maturity of society, when the real love is not the dominant flow in the society); and a God-like, selfless period (after maturity of society). Clearly, each specific period requires a certain and separate corresponding rationality. The rationality[11] discussed in the conventional literature of economics, which is based on a low-level self-interest, only corresponds with the period of childhood. Mainstream economics, based on Adam Smith’s invisible hand and the market mechanism, quenches its thirst from this fountain of rationality. In the next part, I will explain how the market mechanism increases the gap between poor and rich countries as well as the gap between poor and rich classes. That is, the more international trade and the more integration of financial markets, the more market failure and more divergent economies! However, when society evolves from selfishness and being mud-like to altruism and being God-like, this rationality will not be effective at all and will collapse instantaneously. The alternative and mature rationality creates a special dynamism for the economy which is very powerful and without any failures. The driving force of this rationality is still self-interest, but a high-level one rooted in being God-like.

I would like to refer to one verse of the Quran, which clearly argues that the individual desires derived from a low-level self-interest lead to harm and corruption[12]: “Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of which men’s hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.” We may deduce this corruption is only a part of the consequences of what man has done as a result of his selfishness, and that there might many other bad consequences washed clean by God’s forgiveness. In other words, the invisible hand in an immature society not only is not able to optimize social benefits, but also it creates a great deal of harm and corruption that surpasses our imaginations. However, most of this corruption will be removed by the mechanism provided in the universe by God. The remaining corruption serves to warn the people and deter them from being selfish.

Due to self-interest maximization in immature society, we may also observe clearly many, many problems such as global warming and environmental destruction which will definitely jeopardize future life, while the market mechanism and its price signals fail to reduce these consequences, much less to motivate sustainable development.

Globalization and the issue of equality

In this part of my essay, I would like to show why globalization in the context of low-level self-interest motivation and based on the market mechanism may not lead to equality. Instead, it is biased to developed countries where there is located a complex of various industries and the benefit of economies of agglomeration can be utilized. To do this, it is necessary to have a brief definition of globalization first.

The definition of globalization

As globalization is a multi-layer concept and it has become a buzzword in recent years, globalization has already been defined in many ways. I, in some extend, agree with what Thomas L. Friedman defines globalization. He says: “it is the inexorable integration of market, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before- in a way that it is enabling individuals, corporations, and nation states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that it is enabling the world to reach into individuals, corporations, and nation states farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before” (Friedman 2000, 9). He says: globalization “also has one overarching feature- integration. The world has become an increasingly interwoven place, and today, whether you are a company or a country, your threats and opportunities increasingly derive from who you are connected to. This globalization system is also characterized by a single word: the Web”(ibid, 8). This system is a dynamic ongoing process, with a driving idea of free-market capitalism, and “its own dominant culture” involving “the spread of Americanization” (ibid, 9). It has its own defining technologies, and is measured by its speed, “speed of commerce, travel, communication and innovation” (ibid, 10). He suggests that “globalization is not simply a trend or a fad but is, rather, an international system. It is the system that has now replaced the old Cold War system, and, like that Cold War system, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world” (ibid, IX).

What I want to focus on is strictly the economic layer of globalization. In my view, economic globalization refers to a completely different process of internationalization. Although in internationalization the cross-border relations between countries will increase, the nation-state institution will play the main role in the economies, they can still make economic policies and decisions. Economic globalization, however, refers to the process of removing government-imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an “open”, “borderless” world economy’ (Scholte 2000: 16) so that the nation-state institution will be eradicated and no longer play no role in economy. Instead, the Transnational Companies (TNCs) will be the main players in the economy. More technically speaking, the nation’s Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) makes nonsense in the literature and there is only the worlds PPF and TNCs follow fragmentization policy in their production and distribution which is definitely alien from conventional international trade and international finance.

The Inevitability of Asymmetry in Globalization

According to mainstream economics, policies of openness through liberalization of trade and investment regimes, and capital movements have been advocated worldwide for their growth and welfare enhancing effects on the basis of the propositions embedded in the well-known economic theories of international trade and investment (i.e. the Ricardian comparative advantage theory, the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) model, the new trade theories of Krugman, or the model of intertemporal international borrowing/lending or portfolio allocation models). In these models, the main goal of openness is assumed to increase social welfare through: (i) static efficiency gains associated with improved resource allocation for national economies as well as for the world economy due to increased specialization; (ii) dynamic efficiency gains from such factors as economies of scale, diffusion of information, technology transfers, knowledge spillover effects as well as intertemporal trade gains from cross-border borrowing/lending for increased investment and consumption smoothing and portfolio risk diversification.

Convergence in accordance with international trade theories is still a serious dilemma. That is, there is no doubt that the level of social surplus will increase totally after free trade or integration of financial markets. However, there is a lasting concern regarding how these gains are distributed between trade partners; are they biased toward developed countries or at least unbiased. Mainstream economics’ theories including static and dynamic insist that international trade will reduce the per capita income gap amongst the open countries. For instance, one of the main theorems that derived from the static model of HOS Theory, implies that when the prices of the output goods are equalized between countries as they move to free trade, then the rewards of the factors (capital and labor for instance) will also be equalized between countries. Therefore we should expect that the increase of free trade due to globalization will reduce the North-South per capita income gap. The dynamic version of this model also suggests a convergent per-capita income trend between north and south countries.

To explain cross-country differences in economic performance, Matsuyama (1996) employs symmetry-breaking methodology. Symmetry-breaking creates asymmetric outcomes in the symmetric environment. It is the key concept for understanding self-organized (a.k.a. endogenous) pattern formations[13].

As a key answer to the increasing gap between North and South countries in the level of cross-country differences as well as the increasing gap between poor and rich classes inside the countries, Matsuyama (2005), rejects coordination failures as the key notion to understand these questions. Instead, he argues that such emphasis is misplaced; the key to understanding the diversity is symmetry-breaking. The notion of coordination failures is not only irrelevant but also misleading when thinking about diversity.

Quoting Matsuyama’s (1996) explanation briefly, it will be shown how globalization can be considered as an endogenous (or a self-organized) factor to create the inequalities.

He offers a model of the world economy, where many (inherently) identical countries trade with one another. It is shown that cross-country differences in the standard of living and in income appear as a stable outcome of international trade. According to his model, the coexistence of rich and poor countries is not just a possibility. It is an inevitable aspect of the world trading system. Although his model adopts many assumptions for the sake of simplification and concreteness, the logic behind the result is fairly general and can be understood intuitively.

Imagine that there is a list of goods that need to be consumed. Furthermore, there are some agglomeration economies in the production of each of these goods. In the absence of international trade, these goods must all be produced in each country. Without any innate difference across countries, each country produces these goods in the same amount, and there is no cross-country difference.

Now introduce the possibility of international trade in these goods. As different countries start acquiring comparative advantage in different goods, the production of each good concentrates into some countries, which leads to an emergence of a system of international division of labor. The stable cross-country difference appears as a result of ‘‘symmetry-breaking’’ in the world economy, caused by international trade. Some countries become rich if they are lucky enough to acquire comparative advantage in goods associated with large agglomeration economies, while other countries, those which happen to acquire comparative advantage in goods with small agglomeration economies, become poor. They fail to achieve a necessary coordination to reach a Pareto-superior equilibrium and find themselves in a Pareto-inferior equilibrium. The problems thus seem just a matter of coordination failures. The global perspective, however, offers a different view. The international division of labor requires different countries to take charge of producing different tradable goods with differing degrees of agglomeration economies. International trade thus creates a kind of ‘‘pecking order’’ among nations. Not all countries can be rich: some countries must be excluded from being rich, just as in a game of musical chairs[14]. At the same time, the model does not rule out the possibility that some (but not all) countries might succeed in overcoming the coordination failures, and becoming rich. This feature of the model makes it possible to talk about the effects of such an ‘‘economic miracle’’ in the world economy.

Since the economies of agglomeration requires the diversity of industries which produce intermediates available in the marketplace, we can conclude that only those countries which have already bypassed the threshold of diversity have a chance to be industrialized and reach to a Pareto-superior equilibrium. Hence, this shows how the phenomena of economies of agglomeration cause a symmetry-breaking to separate the otherwise identical regions into the manufacturing belt and the agricultural hinterland.

Globalization in Mature Society

To explain how globalization in mature society accomplishes beneficial goals, first we have to take into account the two following challenges:

1. The problem of static market failure: This problem arises mainly because of externalities (including public goods, pollution and common pool resources), transaction cost, asymmetric information (such as incomplete markets[15], moral hazards and adverse selection), as well as organization failures. The most common response to a market failure in the literature of the public sector is to use the government to produce certain goods and services. However, government intervention may cause non-market failure. Besides, as mentioned above, globalization causes nation-state eradication so there will be no effective government in such an era. Furthermore, I can hardly believe that international institutions are able to fulfill this responsibility, even if they were independent from the USA.

2. The problem of dynamic market failure: As Matsuyama showed accurately, international trade creates a specific chaos in the symmetric environment so that the operations of markets normally lead to increasing inequality across the countries over time. Likewise, inequality across inherently identical households is caused endogenously by symmetry-breaking. Matsuyama (2004) explains how the class structure is an inevitable feature of capitalism. Even if every household starts with the same amount of wealth, the society will experience “symmetry-breaking,” and will be polarized into the two classes in steady state, where the rich maintain a high level of wealth partly due to the presence of the poor, who have no choice but to work for the rich at a wage rate strictly lower than the “fair” value of labor. Hence, in the capitalistic context we may consider these increasing gaps –whether between countries or inside countries – as an indication of market failure in a dynamic version.

It is now necessary to show how mature society, using a different rationality, may bypass these challenges. This rationality formally is very similar to the conventional one. It is, however, very different in content. I would like to refer to a few verses of Quran related to this subject. God says: “Man has been created restless, so he panics whenever any evil touches him, and withdraws when some good touches him; except for the prayerful who are constant at their prayers and whose wealth comprises an acknowledged responsibility towards the beggar and the destitute; and the ones who accept the Day for Repayment.” These verses show sufficiently that the rationality that guides immature people is definitely different than that which guides mature people, although they benefit from the same potential characteristics. The main distinction between mature and immature is that the mature direct these potentials toward a transcendental personality which is beyond selfishness. They are concerned with all human beings’ needs in all generations rather than their own selves individually or at most their families.

It is very appropriate to ask about the driving motivation in this society. Of course, conventional self-interest cannot motivate people efficiently to be concerned about others. It is extremely in need of a stronger motivation based on an exalted worldview. This worldview should consist of specific beliefs that grant the greatest reward to the doer when he considers all people of all generations altruistically. As I understand, the mature society may not be blind and aimless. Society can achieve this reference point of maturity only when the true beliefs such as the belief in oneness of God, the Day of Judgment, Justice drive it entirely. Passing this reference point is a necessary condition, but divine love, which requires perfection in selflessness, is the sufficient condition for the maturity. In general speaking, love when it appears, has no room but for itself and the lover thinks of no one except the beloved. In other words, selfishness destroys love and it can never be considered as co-existent of love. Nonetheless, worldly love is too weak and ineffective to last and motivate society toward its transcendental goals. In contrast, divine love is quite sustainable and powerful. Since nature is the realms where God’s beautiful names are exhibited, divine love implies, in turn, love of the entire world and the whole creation particularly human beings, the most comprehensive fruit of existence. Therefore, love is at the core of the concept of mature rationality and creates a specific invisible hand to satisfy social benefits including prosperity and equality for all regions and all generations.

Now, allow me to explain how globalization might be useful in a mature world society. As mentioned above, a mature society is a society where all God’s beautiful names have flourished. Therefore, as God provides mercifully all necessary requirements for all creatures, in such a society, each person possesses a certain portion of natural resources consistent with his area of interest. All initial endowments are redistributed by lump sum among the people so technically speaking, all individuals move to the central points of Edgeworth’s box. All members subject to all generations’ benefits do their best to produce more and more creatively because they are His representatives. According to symmetry-breaking methodology, there is still some potential of asymmetry. However, people will share their incomes voluntarily to produce public goods and to reduce the existent gap.

The communist system is as far away as the capitalistic system from the system based on love. The lack of motivation in people’s activities as well as the inefficiency of government –especially when the size of society grows enough- are the essential issues in communism while there is no concern about them in mature society. It is because the people are mature enough to understand that more being active means being closer to God. Besides, there is no need for the presence of strong and big government because this society is governed by many small components of authority connected together in a world wide network. There is hardly conflict of interest between these components because selfishness is the main source of confliction while here the people are selfless. Moreover, they are tolerant and educated enough to avoid violence and to discuss their problems peacefully.

It should be noticed that the economy in mature society serves only as a means by which we can improve the level of virtue so that we are not allowed to sacrifice humanity and its dignity and virtue because of economic benefits.

Endnotes

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[1] Quran, 2:30: And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not.

[2] It shows very clearly the worth of man in Islam. Even the Post-Renaissance European humanism has not been able to bestow such an exalting sanctity upon man.

[3] Quran, 15:26, 15:28, and 15:33

[4] Quran, 55:14

[5] Quran, 6:2, 7:12, 23:12, 32:7, 37:11, 38:71, 38:76

[6] Quran, 33:72 Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it.

[7] See: Sahriati (1981)

[8] Old Testament, 1:27-28 Elohim said, “Let us make humanity as our image, according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea, the bird of the heavens, the beast, the whole earth, and all the swarmers which swarm on the earth. And God created humanity as his image: as the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

[9] Thomas Aquinas (1976) located the image in the human ability to think and reason, to use language and art, far surpassing the abilities of any animals. Leonard Verduin (1976) says that the image consists in our dominion over animals and plants, which continues despite our sinfulness. Emil Brunner (1976) says that it is our ability to have a relationship with God, reflected in the tendency of all societies to have forms of worship.

[10] Quran, 90:10-17 And [Did We not] guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? But he hath not attempted the Ascent. Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! (It is) to free a slave, And to feed in the day of hunger, an orphan near of kin, or some poor wretch in misery, and to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity.

[11] I will discuss the other kind of rationality which corresponds with mature period later on.

[12] Quran, 30:41

[13] For example, cosmologists wonder why the matter in the universe is distributed in clusters, leaving much of the universe empty. Earth scientists study the formation of wave patterns, such as jet streams, ocean currents, and continental drifts. Material scientists study phase transitions, how molecules aligned themselves when they reach the critical temperature. Molecular biologists ask how life began in the primordial soup of amino acids, and developmental biologists attempt to explain how living organisms acquire forms through cell division and morphogenesis (Weyl 1969, Prigogine 1980). Similar questions of pattern formations also exist in economics. Why are there rich and poor countries? Why are industries clustered? Why are there booms and recessions? Why are some ethnic groups underrepresented in certain jobs or neighborhoods?

[14] Musical chairs is a game played by a group of people (usually children), often in an informal setting purely for entertainment such as a birthday party. The game starts with any number of players and a number of chairs one fewer than the number of players; the chairs are arranged in a circle (or other closed figure) facing outward, with the people standing in a circle just outside of that. A non-playing individual plays recorded music or a musical instrument. While the music is playing, the players in the circle walk in unison around the chairs. When the music controller suddenly shuts off the music, everyone must race to sit down in one of the chairs. The player who is left without a chair is eliminated from the game, and one chair is also removed to ensure that there will always be one fewer chair than there are players. The music resumes and the cycle repeats until there is only one player left in the game, who is the winner.

[15] The theory of incomplete markets is an extension of the general equilibrium approach to intertemporal economies with uncertainty, where the set of available contracts which can be used to transfer wealth across time is limited relative to the possible probabilistic states that an economy might find itself in. Unlike in the standard Arrow-Debreu model where all trade takes place at beginning of time, in an economy with incomplete markets, agents trade in sequential spot markets.

References

The Noble Quran.

Aquinas, T. (1976), Man to the Image of God, in Millard Erickson (ed.), Man’s Need and God’s Gift: Readings in Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 37-43.

Emil, B. (1976), Man and Creation,” in Millard Erickson (ed.), Man’s Need and God’s Gift: Readings in Christian Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, pp. 45-54.

Friedman, T. L. (2000), The Lexus and the Olive Tree, New York: Anchor Books.

Krugman, P. (1992),Geography and Trade (Gaston Eyskens Lectures), The MIT Press

Matsuyama, K. (1996), Why Are There Rich and Poor Countries?: Symmetry-Breaking in the World Economy, NBER Working Paper Series

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Nasser Elahi
http://www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/globalization-an-islamic-perspective-293758.html