Sunday, April 30, 2023

Sustainable Relationships: How to Build a Strong Foundation of Trust and Avoid Betrayal in Your Romantic Relationship? 2023
















When I was a child, I fell in love with everything which was supposed to please me either way; however, when I reflect upon my past life, I can remember that I was more than curious to defend my interest in romantic relationships but later on, I became aware that often compromise pays back better. In relationships, betrayal can come from either side; if so, then what can be the potential steps to avoid betrayal in romantic relationships?

Here are 10 relationship tips that can help you avoid betrayal from your partner:

1-Communication is key

Make sure to communicate openly and honestly with your partner about your feelings, needs, and expectations. This will help build trust and prevent misunderstandings. Communication should always be in a way that both partners should have time to make catharsis of their feelings.

2-Be loyal

Stay loyal to your partner and avoid any behavior that may be perceived as disloyal or unfaithful. This includes avoiding flirting with others or hiding things from your partner.

3-Practice forgiveness

 Forgiveness is an essential aspect of any healthy relationship. Learn to forgive your partner for their mistakes, and be willing to apologize and make amends when you make mistakes.

4-Set boundaries

Establish clear boundaries in your relationship and respect each other's boundaries. This will help prevent any misunderstandings or hurt feelings.

5-Trust your instincts

If something feels off in your relationship, trust your instincts and address it with your partner. Ignoring your instincts can lead to further problems down the road.

6-Be supportive

Support your partner through good times and bad, and be there for them when they need you. This will help build a strong foundation of trust and loyalty.

7-Stay committed

Make a commitment to your partner and your relationship, and take your vows seriously. This will help ensure that you both stay focused on your relationship and prevent any betrayals from occurring.

8-Keep the romance alive

Make an effort to keep the romance alive in your relationship, and regularly express your love and affection for your partner.

9-Don't take each other for granted

Show appreciation for your partner and the things they do for you. Taking each other for granted can lead to feelings of resentment and mistrust.

10-Seek professional help if needed

If you're struggling in your relationship, don't hesitate to seek professional help. A therapist or counselor can provide valuable guidance and support to help you navigate any challenges.

By following these tips, you can build a healthy, strong relationship and prevent betrayal from occurring.

 

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Critique: Analysis and evaluation of the article "Supermarkets as Libraries of postmodern mythology. Journal of Business Research, 63(7), pp.748–753. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.05.012."

Summary

The article titled “Supermarkets as libraries of postmodern mythology” written by Kniazeva and Belk is qualitative research written in the descriptive form in layman's language, focusing on the relational side of brand stories written and reflected through the product storyline or slogan. The fundamental research question raised in this study addresses the cause and effect of brand stories for how people relate these stories to their personal choice while making a connection with the product while buying. It observes the attitude in terms of taking an interpretive approach concerning brand stories. The authors collected the data through semi-structured interviews with the consumers for the selected products without setting any fixed number of participants. The research hypothesis gets approved in the conclusion that people relate brand stories to their lives while purchasing and consuming such products which hint towards a story. Psychologically, the authors claim on the basis of data collected through interviews that people do have a tendency to relate their own stories or reflections when they chose some product for utilization. The authors of this study claim that this study provides a conceptual framework for the researchers to understand and investigate further consumers’ behavior of making product myths based on product or brand stories. Basically, the results of the study have two dimensions. Firstly, the research confirms the previous findings that there are two major participants. The producers/brands and the consumers; both have significant roles in co-creating the story myths. Secondly, there is no single interpretation of these stories but the consumers relate and interpret these stories concerning their own reflections and experiences. The authors interpret consumers’ responses on the basis of psychological concepts like symbolically associating things with the consumers’ lives.

Personal Critique

Cross-checking the hypothesis, I found that the authors' point of discussion is acceptable in the context that brand stories are interpreted by consumers on the basis of relevancy. For instance, people relate things to their interests, experiences, and events that may have an impact or had an impact on their lives. Since the products selected by the authors do not completely fall into the category of essentials and are choice or interest-based foods; therefore, reasons for choosing a particular brand while purchasing such things can be taken into consideration for understanding brand stories. Through the impact of storytelling through brand voice and stories, consumers can be impacted and in most cases, the consumers set a unique relationship with the brands they use. I agree with the point because the argument is rational and approved. Some of the other studies also confirm this hypothesis. For example,  In a similar research, Lundqvist et al., also conclude that stories are easily remembered; therefore, stories usually fascinate consumers; however, what authors conclude is not justifiable to all the population since more research is needed to understand the impact of stories and how consumer interpret these stories (2012).

To evaluate; however, a single product story may have several interpretations as the authors have investigated the argument through “snack masters Turkey Jerky”.  The interpretation of the interviews is acceptable on the basis of the argument that people can be emotionally attached to brands through their stories if the stories do possess some cultural values or claims, or if they purchase these products due to some kind of attachment. Therefore, storytelling can serve as a marketing strategy and communication medium for brands and their consumers owing to the reason of relating practices of the consumer. To elaborate on the point, if a person finds any similarity between his personal experience with the brand story, he may get attached to the product in that way creating an association between the product and his own life practice. This argument is also approved by (Erkas & Baron, 2007) who conclude that “people remember the story better than facts”. 

To this extent, people prefer culture and cultural values. Therefore, I agree with the authors’ claim that people can reflect on their own culture while interpreting brand stories. For an instance, the authors claim that people believe in symbols, more specifically cultural ones like Juile has reflected her cultural affiliations in her interpretation of the brand story of Grandpa Po's Nutra. It hints toward purchase decisions constructed on the foundations of individualism while not ignoring collective cultural affiliations. I believe that people buy things on the basis of their personal decisions. This personal decision is formed by their own projections of sensual knowledge and interpretation. Another similar study by Nayeem also confirms this argument that the final decision of people purchasing things is their own and that decision is formed by their own understanding of the product (2012).

Therefore, what the study suggests is more interesting to me. The study disapproves of the saying that “consumers are the best marketer” because when it comes to their behavior they are likely to present their individualistic approach toward making the product choice and the story that describes the brand or product. Thus, diversified consumers show diversified behavior. Therefore, the strategic approach of creating a communication platform through stories is derailed here and it needs a more sophisticated approach to reaching out to consumers through brand slogans and stories. I am of the opinion that the conclusion drawn out by the authors needs more confirmation through the participation of a larger group of audiences involving more demographics, and psychological frameworks should also be involved while shaping the more elaborate study. Nevertheless, the current study can be beneficial for future researchers to provide a conceptual framework.

Conclusion

To conclude, the article is a fine attempt in providing the concepts for brand stories and how consumers interpret and relate these stories. It helps to identify several aspects of consumers’ approaches in making brand story interpretations and relating to their personal life and experiences. The strength of the article is in the conclusion that it highlights the customers and their needs, their cultural identities, and their individual concepts and approaches. The study helps to identify that consumers are not mere buyers who serve a general marketing purpose but are associated with the brands due to their personal life stories and associations.


 

References:

Erkas, E., & Baron, J. (2007). Eivor Erkas (emf05ees) and Jennifer Baron (emf04jbn). http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:119742/fulltext01.pdf

Lundqvist, A., Liljander, V., Gummerus, J., & van Riel, A. (2012). The Impact of Storytelling on the Consumer Brand Experience: the Case of a firm-originated Story. Journal of Brand Management20(4), 283–297. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2012.15

Nayeem, T. (2012). Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour. International Journal of Business and Management7(21). https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v7n21p78

Critique on "Language, Metaphors Stories: Catalysts for Meaning Making in Organizations" written by Ricketts, et.al

How do organizations exploit language-specific metaphors and stories to expand desired meanings?

Stories told and the meanings drawn through product stories and descriptions are a phenomenon in sustainable business development and this phenomenon has been discussed by the researchers. While reading Ricketts, et.al's article, I had reasons to negate the ideas presented within the article contrasting and resembling real experiences. 

Languages have the potential to affect human thoughts by defining cultures and their codes (Zlatev and Blomberg, 2015). Therefore, certain countries or organizations can exploit the languages to construct the desired worldviews (Shashkevich, 2019). This specific critique provides a critical insight into the article "Language, Metaphors Stories: Catalysts for Meaning Making in Organizations" written by Ricketts, et.al, and published in the year 2003 which discusses the role of using specific metaphors and stories to expand desired meanings. The authors discuss the use of these techniques as tools and instruments to "make sense of world experienced" by academia and business organizations. The authors claim that these tools and instruments have the potential to bring change in the long developmental process within organizations.

The abstract of the article succinctly describes the purpose of the paper and provides highlights of the research question. Also, the abstract is well aligned with the title of the article and the conclusion provided at the end. The abstract is not lengthy and explicitly supports the reader in having an initial view of what has been presented in the article.

To evaluate, the authors have introduced the topic with evidence in practice for the metaphorical representation of the United States of America. On the basis of social constructivist theory, the authors identified that there are three dimensions that influence the learning and making of a change within an organizational setup; namely, “the choice of the content, the context in which the relational image is created, and the community that influences its ultimate proliferation or extinction.” This viewpoint is also supported by evidence from different countries. For instance, the word “extremists” have a long history but after 9/11 this word is repeatedly used to define all those who carry the acts of terrorism. Somehow, the world tried to define the Muslim community as being responsible for acts related to terrorism (Angel M et al., 2004). However, since terrorists can be of any origin and intention; therefore, we saw a shift from lifting up this label from the Muslim community (Primoratz, 2018). Similarly, the word "Fortune 500" is used to refer to the companies that earned more revenue in a fiscal year. Consequently, the argument gets approved that words have specific associations, narratives, and narrators (Planchuelo et al., 2022).

Furthermore, the author's viewpoint is confirmed through evidence that “language is the reflection of culture”. For instance, business organizations have their specific slogans and narratives that define these organizations in terms of their functioning and vision. To elaborate, Apple Inc. has the slogan “Think it”. This slogan helps the organization in preaching its role in markets as an “innovator”. Similarly, the authors maintain that “the use of language, metaphor, and stories all provide aid” in constructing new forms and meanings. This argument finds its support in the fact that organizations do have their vision and mission statements. These vision and mission statements serve to define their organizational structure and organizational culture. For instance, organizations can invent new terminology or phrase to define their need or vision. An instance can be quoted from online marketplaces like Amazon. Amazon’s slogan “Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History” became appropriate in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic when the company not only survived for itself but created work and employment opportunities for people across the globe.

To add to this, the authors argue that within the organization invention or any particular use of words is need-based. For instance, the authors write, “the organizations may use the word “member” instead of “employee”. As a result of shifting the word employee may take a new meaning”. I believe that this argument is relatively weak in its construction of logic because the term “employee” is also as consistently used as any other similar term. The use of the word “member” may be intentional for encouraging collaboration but this does not mean that the word “employee” may be taken negatively. To evaluate, the word “member” is not a substitute for the word “employee” because both words are used in their particular context. Member refers to a team while employee refers to the whole organizational structure. An individual can be a member of multiple teams within an organization (van de Brake et al., 2018). However, I agree with the authors that changing the terminology can give new meanings to the organizational structure because words have the power to create empathy (Pdxscholar and Sakai, 2019).

While talking about the metaphorical aspect of language, I believe that the claim of the authors is justified that “Metaphors allow framing existing realities into new opportunities.” Similarly, in another study, Nagy maintains, “By using analogies, metaphors create mental images that assist in interpreting the world” (2014).

To conclude, the article covers all the possible aspects of theoretical concepts associated with the main argument. The design and the methodology of the study are descriptive in construction. The arguments have been presented logically with illustratively. Most of the time, the arguments can be cross-matched with similar research in social behavioral science studies. Overall, the article has been professionally written with enough background information and deep analysis. Also, the author's credentials and associations have been mentioned at the end. Consequently, this feature adds to the credibility of the article.


 

Reference list

Angel M, Rabasa, Benard, Chailk and Thaler (2004). The Muslim World after 9/11. The RAND Corporation.

Nagy, H.I.-M. (2014). 37 37 Harold Itkin -Miklós Nagy Theoretical And Practical Use Of Metaphors In Organizational Development And Beyond Theoretical And Practical Use Of Metaphors In Organizational Development And Beyond. [online] Available at: https://pmr.uni-pannon.hu/articles/3_4_itkin_nagy.pdf.

Pdxscholar, P. and Sakai, M. (2019). Relationship Between Empathy and Language Relationship Between Empathy and Language Proficiency in Adult Language Learners Proficiency in Adult Language Learners Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the First and Second Language Acquisition Commons. Portland State University. [online] doi:10.15760/etd.7031.

Planchuelo, C., Buades-Sitjar, F., Hinojosa, J.A. and Duñabeitia, J.A. (2022). The Nature of Word Associations in Sentence Contexts. Experimental Psychology, 69(2), pp.104–110. doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000547.

Primoratz, I. (2018). Terrorism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). [online] Stanford.edu. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/terrorism/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2019].

Shashkevich, A. (2019). The power of language: How words shape people, culture. [online] Stanford News. Available at: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/08/22/the-power-of-language-how-words-shape-people-culture/.

van de Brake, H.J., Walter, F., Rink, F.A., Essens, P.J.M.D. and van der Vegt, G.S. (2018). The dynamic relationship between multiple team membership and individual job performance in knowledge-intensive work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(9), pp.1219–1231. doi:10.1002/job.2260.

Zlatev, J. and Blomberg, J. (2015). Language may indeed influence thought. Frontiers in Psychology, [online] 6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01631.

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Friday, April 7, 2023

Conspiracy Theories: Misinformation or Fake News on Social Media: 2023

 


Research Article

What is Misinformation or fake news on Social Media? And, how inter-group relations affected the scenario?

Read through the research

Misinformation or fake news on social media, in the present context, is a widespread phenomenon due to the expansion of social media and likewise platforms that do not authenticate the spread of information as right or wrong. The users of these platforms subconsciously contribute to the making of conspiracy theories. However, it is not only the case with social media. Historically there are also shreds of evidence that conspiracy theories have ever existed throughout human history. Primarily, conspiracy theories serve as a narrative that has the potential to cause social disturbance and may lead to the formulation of extreme public beliefs and behaviors concerning significantly important issues. A most recent instance can be seen in the health sector concerning the Covid-19 pandemic where misinformation as a conspiracy theory played a tremendous role in causing health implications Peeping into history, we come across a number of evidence where conspiracy theories posed problems for the states in controlling social, political, and health-related issues. Similarly, in the past, there had been a number of devastating events which caused humanity a great loss on the global level, while the consequences of these events opened up the mouth of more savage prejudice and malpractices on the racial levels pertaining to religion and geographies which not cause social disturbance but also contribute to creating the issues of hatred, racial discrimination, and discontent. It is obvious that these conspiracy theories had been dominating the social process of brotherhood, equality of humanity, and the general perception of a single global community. Considering the severity of these conspiracy theories, and the implications posed by these theories, this paper aims at finding out the psychological factors which contribute to the formulation of these conspiracy theories, and the effects centering the health implications. This paper takes its origin from the systematic literature review technique to enhance the purpose of the investigation.

 Literature Review

Conspiracy theories have been identified as a secret plot designed by an authority or power with a planned intention of getting the set goals. These set objectives mainly cover the areas of political and economical upsurge and also touch upon the areas of current affairs such as foreign affairs and international relations (Douglas et al., 2019). Primarily, conspiracy theories come into existence with the violent intention of usurping political and economic powers, dominating rights, influencing certain agreements, or destabilizing institutions. Oftentimes, there involve two or more powerful actors who create conspiracy theories (Keeley, 1999). The historical perspective of conspiracy theories dates back to the stone age; however, the term was first used by Sir Karl Popper in the year the 1950s when he emphasized the idea that any theory pertaining to hiding the truth or formulated on false grounds may fall in the domain of conspiracy theory; whereas, the people who approve and preach it, are irrational. However, there is a problem with its nature of suggestiveness in meanings that it is always bad (Coady, 2021). The understanding of conspiracy theories on their literal and functional level is a complex question in its manifestations; however, historical perspectives help to navigate the essence of conspiracy theories in the context of societal crises (van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). Swami in his paper provides a comprehensive approach to understanding the historical perspective of the Jewish Holocaust covering the population of Malaysia in an attempt to examine the correlates which formulate an interpretative response toward conspiracy theories (2012). The author examined two studies, aiming to investigate the nature of conspiracy theories in the light of public opinion. Study one methodologically centered the hypothesis that “conspiracy theories are monological in nature” and ” conspiracist ideation reflects feelings of anomie”. The sample population of the study was Malaysian. The authors quantitatively measured the ideation and feelings of anomie. The result showed that the measure of anomie is not a strong predictor of conspiracy ideation. Whereas, study two indicated that the participant showed anti-Israeli attitudes, modern racism targeting Chinese, right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation suggesting that the beliefs should be seen in psychological contexts of prejudice and racial discrimination. In the study conducted by Jolley et al., (2019) holds the view that inter-group conspiracy theories fuel the attitude and acceptance of prejudice and become the reason to destructors of global peace and denounce humanistic approaches. In three interrelated studies, authors conducted the studies to measure the effects of intergroup conspiracy theories in relation to prejudice. The result of the first study showed that “exposure to conspiracy theories concerning immigrants to Britain from the European Union exacerbated prejudice towards this group in opposition to anti-conspiracy material or control. The second study showed the same results where participants showed unwillingness to vote for a Jewish political leader. While the results of study three demonstrated that groups not only showed prejudice for Jewish people but also for some outer groups including Asians, Arabs, and Irish people. This helps to understand the devastating health implications of conspiracy theories in the making of healthy intergroup relations where prejudice plays a negative role in affecting humanistic approaches. The findings of the study are justified on the level that there are issues among the world nations due to race or religion and this reason has been a considerable factor while developing international relations. To evaluate, the nations of the world have a pre-defined set of behavior and responses for the other. On an ethnic and religious basis, we have also witnessed mascaras in history. Some of the wars and more specifically, World War II, and the Soviet events provide evidence for inter-group relations. Intergroup relations simply expand prejudice (Dru, 2007). Similarly, some conspiracy theories also have the potential to cause a shift in rise to anxiety, hatred and depression, and shock. For instance, the incident of 9/11 left its effects almost on every state of the world, and collectively, all of the states had to undergo some kind of loss through this event. Specifically considering Americans, they had psychological implications of this event where the research results demonstrate that this event still lives in the mind of the Americans as a painful memory. The findings showed that 93% of the population ranging from the age of 30 years still remembers the event as it had happened (Hartig & Doherty, 2021). Whereas the researchers like (Swami et al., 2009) investigated the perception of the population for this event seen on the level of conspiracy theory formulation. Interestingly, a considerable population of America did not believe in Al-Qaida and Osama bin Ladin rather they thought it was a pre-planned event by American officials. Some of the population had the view that American officials already knew about the event but they did not do anything to stop this happening, intentionally. However, the authors conclude that “Agreeableness and Openness, in particular, may have the satisfactory predictive ability in relation to conspiracy theories”. This argument helps to comprehend those conspiracy theories have the ability to mold public opinion amid the likely situations leading to discontent and other psychological implications like fear and anxiety. The recent scenario of the Covid-19 pandemic has opened up new vistas of debate concerning conspiracy theories and their health implications where a triangle of social behaviors took birth from the scenario. At the first level, the conspiracy was defined as the origin and cause of the Pandemic. Secondly, the conspiracy supported the avoidance of Covid-vaccination. Thirdly, a debate supplemented the first two theories in the form of the term “the world order”. The effects of these scenarios caused serious health implications for the whole global community. The debate about the origin of Covid-19 took the perspective that it is not a virus but it a conspiracy. The effects of this misinformation caused a great loss to the states in their efforts to control the spread of Covid-19. Therefore, significant numbers of research were held worldwide to understand the perception of conspiracy and its effects based on public beliefs. De Coninck et al., (2021) conducted a study on the misconception, misinformation, and mass suspicion as a conspiracy theory at the global level concerning Covid-19. A multinational population sample of 8, 806 participants took part in the research. The results demonstrated that transmission media like television, radio, and newspapers helped to reduce belief in conspiracy theories; whereas, personal contacts, political exposure, and digital media proved to be acting like a supplement belief in conspiracy theories about Covid-19. The significant part of the study results is a high-risk indicator for psychological abnormalities including depression, i.e. people who believe in conspiracy theories showed a positive association with depression and anxiety. Similarly, Romer & Jamieson, (2020) also studied conspiracy theories as a barrier to planning and fighting mass-spread Covid-19 covering the U.S. population. The background for this research validates the research problem the reasons that preventive measures for the Novel Corona Virus include wearing masks, keeping a distance from others, and the use of vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022); whereas, the citizen tended to avoid using such preventive measures. The researchers collected the data through 1050 participants and concluded that people showed resistive behavior for taking preventive measures due to having belief in conspiracy theories.  To add to this, the spread of misinformation concerning the use of vaccination raised new trust issues and challenges. The information eco-system get failed to supplement the health sector for the global community showed hesitancy toward getting vaccinated. Therefore, social psychologists investigated the effects of conspiracy theories on the vaccination process. (Pertwee et al.,( 2022) studied a similar context in their investigation of the rumors concerning vaccination. The background of the study highlights that research conducted by Vaccine Confidence Project in 2020 (Loomba et al., 2021) demonstrated that a falsifying claim on social media circulates proclaiming that 97% of the vaccination recipients will become infertile. Therefore, readiness to get vaccinated among the population worldwide had fallen down to a considerable level. The researchers concluded that the factors contributing to causing misinformation are not under the control of the medical domain; however, these factors cause anxiety and feeling of discontent; therefore, multi-stakeholder efforts are needed to control these conspiracy theories. People believe and accept conspiracy theories due to certain factors; however, the impact of believing and accepting these theories affects psychological health and causes general health implications. While turning toward the rumor of the “world order”, amid the Covid-19 situation, we find that it increased anxiety at the global level. The “new world order” conspiracy theory is a narrative that has been explained differently in different regions of the world. However, one agreed opinion on social media platforms became the trend that the world is going to have been controlled by a single government and this privilege will be attained through different strategies adhering to the Covid-19 situation (The “New World Order”). This issue left an impact on a significant number of populations affecting them psychologically. Therefore, they avoided the use of vaccination. Concerning other projects like Polio vaccination, some Asian countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan still resist polio vaccination programs owing to conspiracy theories (Ali et al., 2019). In Afghanistan, three Polio Vaccination workers were shot dead (Three Female Polio Workers Shot Dead in Afghanistan – DW – 03/30/2021, 2021). While in the tribal areas of Pakistan, a smooth vaccination process is still an issue of consideration. Due to these reasons, polio cases in these countries are on the rise; whereas, in most parts of the world, polio is rarely found anywhere. In the year 2022, Pakistan has still 20 documented polio cases (GPEI-Pakistan, 2022). Therefore, an assumption can make on the basis of issues discussed in these countries that conspiracy theories can exist even on a local basis. And to consider, the HealthCare sector is on the top affected list due to conspiracy theories that ever existed in any form. It is not a new phenomenon in human history to record but the medical field is on the hit list; whenever there is a new disease or vaccine invention, there are also rumors associated with it (Andrade, 2020). Most communities living in underdeveloped countries often come with the issue of vaccine hesitancy. Oftentimes, the vaccination is supplemented to the children at an initial stage; however, some communities show resilience toward vaccination campaigns. Such instances are easily found in the literature spread through the internet. Dubé et al., (2014) in their research conclude that there had been anti-vaccine movements throughout history. In a systematic review, the authors have investigated the determinants that play a vital role in the parental decision-making process about doing vaccination process. A significant point raised by the authors is “In high-income countries (HIC) with well-established immunization programs, it is often argued that vaccines are ‘victims of their own success’ with the decline in VPD resulting in parents having no direct experience with these illnesses anymore. Thus, fear of the risks of vaccines maybe is more prominent than fear of the diseases vaccines prevent. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where VPD still pose a more imminent threat to health, this argument does not explain the decrease in acceptance of some or all vaccines in these settings” (2014). However, this argument does not contribute to fully understanding the scenario since the research mentioned earlier approves that conspiracy theories have a significant role in resisting people from taking part in the immunization process.  The current literature review provides evidence that conspiracy theories are a significant factor that causes failure to control certain political, socioeconomic, and more specifically health-related issues.

 

References

Ali, M., Ahmad, N., Khan, H., Ali, S., Akbar, F., & Hussain, Z. (2019). Polio vaccination controversy in Pakistan. The Lancet394(10202), 915–916. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32101-4

Andrade, G. (2020). Medical conspiracy theories: cognitive science and implications for ethics. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-020-09951-6

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 25). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – Prevention & Treatment. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

Coady, D. (2021). Conspiracy theory as heresy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2021.1917364

De Coninck, D., Frissen, T., Matthijs, K., d’Haenens, L., Lits, G., Champagne-Poirier, O., Carignan, M.-E., David, M. D., Pignard-Cheynel, N., Salerno, S., & Généreux, M. (2021). Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation About COVID-19: Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Anxiety, Depression and Exposure to and Trust in Information Sources. Frontiers in Psychology12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646394

Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019). Understanding Conspiracy Theories. Political Psychology40(S1), 3–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12568

Dru, V. (2007). Authoritarianism, social dominance orientation and prejudice: Effects of various self-categorization conditions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology43(6), 877–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.10.008

How Being Social Online Can Positively Impact Your Social Status and Contribute to Global Development

 



Do the social media platform impact continuous or adult education?

Technological advances have changed the way people once used to celebrate life. In the present era, being social means that we are present both physically in society to collaborate with people and also, we are present on the internet celebrating socio-political and socio-economic affairs. Therefore, an assumption can be made that consuming time on the Internet can possibly affect social status positively or negatively. However, I argue in this study that spending more hours on the internet can help us live a strong virtual social life as compared to a life lived in a physical society, due to the scope and capacity of online society. This paper also identifies that being social in the digital world will have long-term positive effects on global developments because society on the internet is much greater and more powerful but the realistic physical social domain will lose its charming identity due to certain factors like being slower in the transformation process. 

Introduction

It was a time when people did not have many communication facilities; therefore, keeping abreast of each other with the latest news and happenings, and informing or enquiring about those who were living far away from home took too much time i.e, letters were the primary delicate source of communication but the delivery of the letter took too much time to reach to its destination (Rogers, 1994). Consequently, a conclusion can be drawn that letters were of little benefit in emergency scenarios. Nevertheless, letters are still an integral part of the communication system but their delivery is now quicker than ever due to the extensive advancement that the transportation system has achieved. To this extent, the highest benefit that mankind received through the advancement in communication technologies is that these became not only helpful but also served as the base for a new type of society, which we name social media. It was almost impossible almost two decades ago that one could have friends throughout the world; fortunately, now almost everyone who is an internet user may have friends or connections to distant lands that might have ever remained unknown to him/her if the blessed internet had not been there. The invention of social media platforms allows people to get in touch not only with family members but also with people they may even not know really. Despite some scandals that social media sites are not safe, it is, however, true that social media sites have a high-standard encryption system that not only allows people to maintain and control their privacy but also provides a safer way to escape from any fraudulent activity. It can assume that these privacy tools and techniques serve as laws and regulations which control the social community. These social communities have the power to influence the political, socio-economical, and any other field with due power of “freedom of speech”. By “freedom of speech” I mean that people on social media platforms have the opportunity to comment on any policy of the government, they have discussion forums, and much more. For instance, some of the revolutions came into existence due to social media platforms like the one in Egypt, and the Tahrir Square revolution, which is largely considered a social media revolution. Similarly, social media sites also serve as marketing tools, news media, education centers, entertainment platforms, and much more. With a diverse range of tools and interpreted systems, social media acts like a virtual society that can be compared with real societies that exist in real life. The present approach mainly focuses on how these social media platforms and generally the internet retain their users for a longer span of time during the whole day. And, the question also here taken into consideration is that is there any significant effect of remaining present on the internet generally, and on social media platforms specifically. However, the study claims that using the Internet and remaining present for a longer time on the Internet has a positive effect on global community development.

Method

The current study has been formulated on the literature review technique through a comparison and contrast approach for finding out the impacts of longer presence on the internet concerning social life. An attempt would be made to both examine the old and current literature in an evaluative sense. It would be qualitative research that will also touch on the current trends and practices that people usually follow on the internet and in their daily life. The literature review will discover both the qualitative and quantitative research so that it would become easy to interpret the results and current practices. To aid the research, an interpretive stance is being taken on the foundations of facts and surveys, and also the statistics available concerning the study.

Literature Review

The question of the origin of society is complicated to answer. One of the reasons is this question is related to a wider area of subjects and philosophies. For instance, Ellwood, C. A. in his book talks about the diversified nature of this question by mentioning that this question is related to biology; whereas, the function of a psychological sociologist is just to talk about the first interaction between animals and humans beings or human to human interaction and the process of prolonging this interaction (1909). Whatever the answer is; it is evident that society has a long history of existence where human beings depended on each other to combat common and individual issues and challenges (Hossain & Ali, 2014).  Ever since the concept of social media came into existence, the domain of sociology also gets expanded (Shank, 2020). Now, sociologists have to examine the nature, scope, and functions of society on two levels. Firstly, they need to investigate the realistic society which exists physically, i.e, where the constituents of society are family and groups that are based on blood relationships, similar language, religion, or culture. Secondly, the existence of virtual society is complex in its structure because of its diversified nature surpassing the domains of religion, culture, and so on (Runardotter et al., 2020). With the invention of social media and integrated applications and tools, the way of communication changed totally. The most accepted definitions of social media include the apps and platforms that have been designed with an aim to make social communication, news spreading, and opinion sharing, and likewise easy and appropriate (Leonardi et al., 2013). These applications or platforms allow their users to collaborate with each other through the medium of text, voice, image, and video messages. The plus in this subject is that people can reach out to millions even billions within no time. For instance, the platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Dribble, etc, and WhatsApp are wonderful platforms that form a fine society (Zimba & Gasparyan, 2021). Similarly, these platforms allow their users to hold conference calls either audio or video. Zoom is an example of this area (Zoom, 2022). It is quite interesting that users on these platforms have the access to create their profile by filling out a complete biography page that even includes interests and habits. There is always a risk of fake profiles but most of the time users have legit and fair profile-building habits. One can easily visit another person’s profile and know about that person without really getting in touch with that person (Kareem & Bhaya, 2018). Similarly, the users have the choice to control their biographical information in the form of privacy (Squicciarini et al., 2010). These features make this universe a wonderful society where people have control over many things at the same time. Comparably, real-life societies have their limitations. For instance, a realistic society is limited in its population and reach. A person has little choice but to get in touch with the people of interest while in virtual societies one can have thousands of like-minded people (Décieux et al., 2018). The other positive aspects of virtual societies also include their scope, i.e, it has the power to develop a global village where people can easily communicate their issues and interests within a matter of no time. Turning towards the virtual world as a sustainable kingdom for living a social life, several authors have talked about the issues and challenges that one may have to face on the internet. However, some researchers like (HAIR et al., 2012) and (Muwani et al., 2022) suggest that the virtual world is a wonderful opportunity to live a knowledgeable and entertaining life. For instance, while celebrating virtual life, one may have the opportunity to make a catharsis of his feelings. Social media platforms provide an opportunity to say what you want, share what you want to, and the response rate over social media platforms is amazing. There are groups where one can share his/her problem and get helpful advice (Nabi et al., 2013). Contrary to this, there are significant chances that one can be misinformed, trapped, harassed, or cheated over social media platforms; however, while having a larger population, one can easily interpret what others are saying and how they are responding to his/her issue. Similarly, most of the economics business has now shifted to the digital world. One can now sell and purchase things over the Internet. Unlike the real world, the digital world provides the opportunity to read and interpret reviews before buying any product over the internet. This feature increases social responsibility and collaboration. Reviews about products, services, and institutions help people to decide and make opinions and judgments fairly. To add to this, the digital world also helps to get abreast of the latest gossip and happenings in the world while real-life society is a bit slow and dull in this regard and often does not provide a significant chance to check for what is true and what is false due to limited opportunities and mediums of communications. Focusing on the information gap and expertise, real-world societies have a lesser number of experts in different fields while in the digital world, one can easily have access to a greater number of experts and entrepreneurs (Muduli & Trivedi, 2020). Mentoring and coaching in any subject area are easy and affordable in the digital world. Most of the time, getting help on any issue is quite easy and does not cost any financial prices. For instance, for any issue, a user may watch a solution video on YouTube. The business mechanism of the digital world is amazing. Additionally, In most developed countries, if we look at the educational system, there seems that concept of continuous education had no space and value. However, with the emerging trends in the digital world, people now look for continuous education as a process, and now skill learning and enhancement are dominating processes. The impacts of the digital world seem positively affecting cultures. Above all, cultural diversity can be understood best in the social domains of the digital world because there involves little effort in understanding different cultures and it is quite easy to adjust to different cultures in the digital society.

 Discussion

The social and psychological areas of study provide comprehensive information and fact-based knowledge that digital society helps men to combat the challenges and issues of real-life quite easily and the affordability of solutions is not too much costly. For instance, outsourcing is a new relatively new concept covering the gaps for lack of skills and expertise, and opportunities (Twin, 2022). Similarly, when we talk about jobs or adopting a professional then we come across the interesting fact that online remote jobs and freelancing platforms contribute to a greater part of the global economy. The platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour are amazing platforms that provide outsourcing and job opportunities not only for youngsters but the old folks who can get benefit from these platforms. Similarly, Amazon, eBay, Daraz, and Alibaba are also wonderful e-commerce platforms that also constitute a significant part of the global economy (R, 2019). Therefore, the question of long-time presence on the internet gets answers directly from the fact that the digital world is now more mature, and wide in scope and sustainability. On the grounds of psychological investigations, the question of mental health concerning long-time presence on the internet seeks attention. However, the research in the domains of talking and making connections to strangers has revealed that personality development receives positive aid through interacting with strangers. The reason behind this positive development is quite interesting. The studies found that strangers can be more knowledgeable, experts, and sympathetic toward others. The learning process through such connections gets enhanced and sophisticated. Contrarily, the question of health is critical in this regard. For instance, long-time presence on the internet has complicated challenges, i.e, due to time differences people tend to wake up late in the night to make communications. Similarly, looking at digital device screens for longer hours can not only leave effects on eyesight but also the studies confirm that they may also have mood disturbances. However, these issues can be sorted out. There are certain facilities like screen protectors for vision protection, reminder gadgets for reminding about sleep, etc. The healthy effects weigh too high than the negative effects. Above all, the culture of digital presence is at its peak now and it has become a necessary part and parcel of human life to make an online presence. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that we now need to make and develop strategies for sustainable living in the digital world instead of thinking to avoid the use of social media and the internet in general. Spending longer hours on the internet is the subject of a larger scope for the investigation. Specifically talking about children and students, we see that our educational system is shifting greatly toward e-Learning platforms. This is a blessing in the sense that e-Learning platforms provide more interactive tools and learning aids that help to make teaching and learning mechanisms significant and effective. The only issue is addiction. The question of internet addiction is critical. We may need to develop SGDs for monitoring the use of the internet for children and students. The gaming sphere of the internet and entertainment websites may cause negative effects if they are too often visited and used. However, in parallel positive effects dominate the negative effects of using the internet too frequently.

Conclusion

To summarize, social media and the use of the internet, in general, is a widely accepted and approved, and mandatory phenomenon. The use of social media helps in the continuous education process for adults; whereas, children can learn and develop a confident and learned personality. Despite the mental and physical health issues, the use of the internet significantly aids in personality, skills, and social behavior development. Above all, the digital world is a huge community where different cultures unite to form a single unity, namely the global community.


 

References

Décieux, J. P., Heinen, A., & Willems, H. (2018). Social Media and Its Role in Friendship-driven Interactions among Young People: A Mixed Methods Study. YOUNG27(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1103308818755516

HAIR, N., WETSCH, L. R., HULL, C. E., PEROTTI, V., & HUNG, Y.-T. C. (2012). MARKET ORIENTATION IN DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES IN A WEB 2.0 NETWORKED WORLD. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management09(06), 1250045. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0219877012500459

Hossain, F. M. A., & Ali, Md. K. (2014). Relation between Individual and Society. Open Journal of Social Sciences02(08), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2014.28019

Kareem, R., & Bhaya, W. (2018). Fake Profiles Types of Online Social Networks: A Survey. International Journal of Engineering & Technology7(4.19), 919. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.19.28071

Leonardi, P. M., Huysman, M., & Steinfield, C. (2013). Enterprise Social Media: Definition, History, and Prospects for the Study of Social Technologies in Organizations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication19(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12029

Muduli, A., & Trivedi, J. J. (2020). Social media recruitment: the role of credibility and satisfaction. Evidence-Based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship8(2), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebhrm-08-2019-0069

Muwani, T. S., Ranganai, N., Zivanai, L., & Munyoro, B. (2022). The Global Digital Divide and Digital Transformation. Advances in IT Standards and Standardization Research, 217–236. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3901-2.ch011

Nabi, R. L., Prestin, A., & So, J. (2013). Facebook Friends with (Health) Benefits? Exploring Social Network Site Use and Perceptions of Social Support, Stress, and Well-Being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking16(10), 721–727. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0521

R, N. (2019, March 18). 18 Best Freelance Websites to Find Work in 2021. Hostinger Tutorials. https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/best-freelance-websites

Rogers, E. M. (1994). A History of Communication Study. Simon & Schuster.

Runardotter, M., Chronéer, D., Lindberg, J., & Ståhlbröst, A. (2020). A Digital Society for All: A complicated endeavor. Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society. https://doi.org/10.1145/3419249.3421241

Shank, D. B. (2020). What is Digital Sociology? Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews49(2), 204–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306120902418mm

Squicciarini, A. C., Shehab, M., & Wede, J. (2010). Privacy policies for shared content in social network sites. The VLDB Journal19(6), 777–796. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00778-010-0193-7

Twin, A. (2022). Why companies use outsourcing. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/outsourcing.asp

Zimba, O., & Gasparyan, A. Y. (2021). Social media platforms: a primer for researchers. Reumatologia/Rheumatology. https://doi.org/10.5114/reum.2021.102707

Zoom. (2022). Video conferencing, web conferencing, webinars, screen sharing. Zoom Video. https://zoom.us/

German Gas Crisis: Who is really responsible? A case study

  


by Muhammad Sheraz Khan
Professional Essay/Article Writer and Editor
sherazajk@gmail.com

This article is intended for those researchers and students who want to explore the real agendas behind the gas crisis in Germany, and for those who are learners of the social sciences. For instance, students of journalism and politics can take help from this article. 

Why Germany is on the hit list?

Germany is considered to be the fourth in international economics after the USA, China, and Japan, and consumes the largest amount of energy among the other European countries (“What Makes the German Economy so Strong? - Invest Region Leipzig”); however, it has to import more energy resources comparatively. According to BGR, Germany is among the world's most gas importer countries where nearly 95% of its gas consumption is met by imports (Wettengel, 2019). However, the recent gas-shortage crisis in Germany poses some questions worth considering. These questions relate to Russia-Ukraine warfare, Germany's total dependence on imports, climate change approaches, and the goals of Germany in the coming decades. Meanwhile, experts say that Germany will have to reduce gas consumption to 20 percent to meet the crisis (Hill). It is worthwhile to consider that climate activists are spreading a message across, and the 2.65 hours per day reduction in November as compared to the previous year is an indication of the changing behavior of Germans to meet climate change goals by shifting gas consumption habits. Or, it is truly political warfare that pushes Germany toward the crisis and reduction is merely a strategic tactic. The report discusses such questions elaborately.

Statistics 

Before the Russia-Ukraine war, Germany imported 55% of gas from Russia which was severely reduced to 35 (“How Heavily Does Germany Rely on Russian Energy?”), and as of November 2022, the federal network agency reported having imported no gas from Russia (Hill). Due to the gas crisis, the German economy is expected to shrink to 1.2 percent. Contrary to this prediction, IMF prophesizes a 0.8 percent increase in the coming year (Storbeck, 2022).

Germany mainly relies on gas for commercial and industrial business moving. With the scenario provided above, if we investigate how Germans look at climate change issues becomes tricky to reach a conclusion. While depending heavily on fossil fuels, gas, and coal how it is possible to reach a carbon-free environment? There are certain climate activist groups in Germany that are struggling to bring innovative approaches to a sustainable environment.

Who called for the protests for climate protection? 

Who called for protests for climate protection is apparently not clear; however, several organizations have contributed to protests.  Germany is focused on energy transition since the 1980s. The current program named; “Energiewende” is a popular program in Germany and all over the world. The term originated when the German Öko-Institut. published a call for change in energy usage practices. It gave a complete shutdown call for nuclear and petroleum energy. Since then, Germany has been seen on the top list for taking measures to get to renewable energy sources. This might also be the reason Germany is the top coal importer country in Europe; importing one percent of the total global import. Therefore, a call for change; and an existing need created a catastrophe of policies. In such a situation, it was the global protest that started in Sweden which was termed “Friday for Future” consisting of almost 4 million protesters from 125 countries; Germany contributed 1.4 million figures in that protest. This was a landmark in the global climate protection protests by the Germans.

Although, there is a significant number of climate change activist organizations in Germany some of which have been active since the 1980s, and others joined the journey onwards.  For instance, the formation of Greenpeace in 1980, with a mission to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity”, has contributed on a large scale to creating a sense of awareness among the public and outlining recommendations for renewable energy sources. Currently, six organizations are leading in climate change protection advocacy. However, concerning 2022 protest which included some ten thousand people, Ver.di’s deputy chairperson led the protest; also, Greenpeace representatives were present in the joint protest (Reuters, 2022).

Conclusion

Although there is no greater evidence that who arranged this protest; however, some reports say that BUND, Ver.di, Greenpeace, the German Parity Welfare Association, and Citizen Movement for a Transition were the organizations that arranged this protest and made the public come out of the houses and contribute to a greater issue resistance (Reuters, 2022). Some reports also indicate that “Die Linke., which is referred to as “ The Left Party” initiated the protest call on September 01, when the energy prices went for rise (Dispatch, 2022).

Further Reading Guide and References 

Hill, Jenny. “Ukraine War: How Germany Ended Reliance on Russian Gas.” BBC News, 23 Nov. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63709352.

“How Heavily Does Germany Rely on Russian Energy?” The Economist, 4 May 2022, www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/05/04/how-heavily-does-germany-rely-on-russian-energy.

Storbeck, Olf. “German Gas Shortage Risks “Unforeseeable Consequences”, Says Commerzbank.” Financial Times, 3 Aug. 2022, www.ft.com/content/18683e3a-a55f-4c0e-8e50-5539c8a276cd.

Wettengel, Julian. “Germany’s Dependence on Imported Fossil Fuels.” Clean Energy Wire, 30 Apr. 2019, www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-dependence-imported-fossil-fuels.

“What Makes the German Economy so Strong? - Invest Region Leipzig.” Invest Region Leipzig GmbH, 23 Mar. 2022, www.invest-region-leipzig.com/what-makes-the-german-economy-so-strong/.

Questioning Critically “Local Government in a Time of Peak Oil and Climate Change” by John Kaufmann

While I was reading “Local Government in a Time of Peak Oil and Climate Change” by John Kaufmann, I came to an understanding that Government is miserable; therefore, we must not take it into account instead we should support them because they are not strong enough to deal with the issue of climate change neither they can reduce the usage of oil because there is a dire need of such energy since oil contributes to one-third of the world total energy supply while adding gas reduces it to half. Therefore, governments cannot apply immediate solutions to environmental pollution. However, What I believe is that the function of governments is to make applicable sustainable policies, and implement them. This paper critically analyses the observations considered, the logical inferences, and the conclusion drawn by the author Kaufmann.

To evaluate, the author’s central idea is that “people should stand shoulder to shoulder with the government” in reducing oil consumption, finding alternatives, and controlling climate change through sustainable solutions. The author has emphasized that since the issue of oil consumption and climate change is of broader consideration and perspective; therefore, it is not only the duty of the government but it is a shared responsibility of the government, society, and the organizations that they should collectively respond to the issue accordingly. It is a process where alternatives to oil and gas can be discovered through collective efforts and investments. For instance, he concludes, “Ideally, all would cooperate with one another while fulfilling their unique roles and responsibilities” (Kaufman).

The author has built his theory on the foundations of logic and reason. He helps the readers in the identification of the root cause of the problem, the role of society, and the role of government. He has well elaborated on the issue through logical arguments. For example, he tells what functional structure the government has, what its duty is, and what its limitations are. Similarly, he has also defined that society can help the government in two ways. Firstly, society can help the government in their struggle to reduce oil consumption by identifying their own mistakes, i.e. he tells how everybody should take care of excessive usage of oil, and also adapting sustainable ways of running daily life business. Secondly, society can help the government by making them work efficiently. This can be done by making the responsible officers, departments, and local members, lodge complaints where there is a glitch on the side of the government.

To evaluate, the issue is of a broader concern. It is not as simpler as it may seem. For instance, we have industries that must need oil and gas to run their business; we need oil to make our transportation functional; we need oil and gas to produce electricity; therefore, no immediate solution is available. For instance, the author claims, “Peak oil and climate change are energy problems” (Kaufman). To evaluate, energy is a need that cannot be ignored. He suggests, “There are no solutions, just intelligent responses” (Kaufman). This may mean that we will have to make strategic planning concerning the issue.

To reflect, the reading helped me in understanding that such global issues can only be tackled when there is awareness at all a level of intellectuality. To evaluate, no fraction of the whole society alone can deal with such issues until and unless everybody is aware of the gravity of the issue and makes contributions to fighting such issues. The author seems to be advocating the idea that the habits of the public should be changed; making them adjust to the practices where people could consume a few amounts of oil and gas. Also, I found it interesting that the author shows a bit of bias toward society, and a favor to the government. Throughout the article, the author mainly puts the burden on the shoulders of the public considering them even responsible for the idea that if the government seems non-functional in the area then people should make them pay attention. I oppose this core idea for several logical reasons.

Why not the government should be criticized and should stand responsible for not delivering so efficiently that issues like climate change be fought and solved? The rationale behind this argument finds its strength in the fact that common people choose a government for the reason that it will help them in their well-being. It is not the function of society to give recommendations or implement the policies made by governments. The government has the writ. People should complain but I cannot understand what the author means when he proposes the idea that people should write to government officials. Are they sleeping? I question this because people support when there are incentives when they take things as their moral and ethical duty. They put their share when they see that the government is struggling. It is all about priorities. When the government prioritizes this issue, presents alternatives, and meets with the public to include them in the decision-making process then we can say that the government has done something significant. If the priority of government is something else then people cannot contribute to the solution origination process.

To summarize, we need an optimistic approach. I have a question, which I would like to discuss,  that is: Do we have sustainable ideas concerning energy production without involving gas and oil? As for me, we should arrange community-based competitions powered by several affordable incentives; in these competitions, we should allow people to present their ideas, and hold debates concerning the issue. I know that this is being done through several campaigns but I am pointing toward the general public that is by no means fully aware of the complex dimensions of the issue. We all need to know what can be done and what cannot be done. And, we must make resolutions that we will make a movement of creating a healthy world where needs would be our first priority and luxuries will be neglected for our future generation considering it our ethical duty that the coming generation must have a healthy earth.

Escapism: What Type of Psychological Issues do Vulnerable and Marginalized People Feel?

 The relationship between vulnerable and marginalized people and their attitude of escapism from daily routine can be complex and multifacet...