In A Christmas Carol, Stave 3, what is the point of the lighthouse and ship after seeing the Cratchits?

The theme of Stave III is to show Ebenezer Scrooge how easy it is for others to have Christmas in their heart. We see this through multiple examples of people Scrooge knows and people he does not know, all celebrating Christmas with those around them. Most of them are doing so under challenging circumstances where it might be very easy to be sad or downtrodden and give up on Christmas all together. Instead, they celebrate heartily, and the two men in the lighthouse, and the men on the ship are extreme examples of this.

For the lighthouse, Dickens describes an inhospitable scene where the inhabitants STILL find Christmas joy.

"Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of sea-weed clung to its base, and storm-birds—born of the wind one might suppose, as sea-weed of the water—rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed.

But even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them: the elder, too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship might be: struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself" (Stave III).

Then, Dickens takes Scrooge and the Spirit over a ship where the waves are beating against it, it is freezing cold, and yet, 

"every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it" (Stave III). 

Overall, these two examples of the lighthouse and the ship further demonstrate that even under the loneliest, most difficult of circumstances, Christmas can bring joy to those who choose to embrace it and those around them. 

What happened during 1963-1968 to cause the comeback of the U.S. economy?

Following the 1958 recession, the economy was sluggish at the beginning of John F. Kennedy's presidency (he took office in 1961). Unemployment remained at about 6%, and the stock market had lost a great deal of its value. Worried about the 1964 election, Kennedy decided to drastically lower corporate and personal taxes in 1963 (the bill was signed into law in 1964 after his death), and the economy began to expand on its own. 

After...

Following the 1958 recession, the economy was sluggish at the beginning of John F. Kennedy's presidency (he took office in 1961). Unemployment remained at about 6%, and the stock market had lost a great deal of its value. Worried about the 1964 election, Kennedy decided to drastically lower corporate and personal taxes in 1963 (the bill was signed into law in 1964 after his death), and the economy began to expand on its own. 

After Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency in 1963 when Kennedy was sadly killed, he declared a War on Poverty that concentrated government resources on reducing poverty. While poverty had fallen from 1947 to 1956, the rate of Americans in poverty, particularly African-Americans, had begun to stagnate. From 1965 to 1968, government spending on the poor doubled, and services such as Head Start, job-training and placement programs, medical care, and Legal Services provided services to the poor in their communities. Johnson also created the health care programs Medicaid and Medicare. These programs provided a safety net for the needy.

In part because of this spending, and in part because of the booming national economy, poverty declined to a great extent during Johnson's presidency. However, after 1968, some of these programs were terminated when Nixon was elected president, while other programs continued. An economic crisis in 1968, partly caused by spending on domestic programs and spending on the Vietnam War, brought an end to the expansion of the United States economy. The costs of the War on Poverty, along with spending on the escalation of the war in Vietnam, were too hard to maintain without increasing taxes, and inflation resulted.

Why is it necessary for law enforcement investigating serial murders to understand the concept of psychopathology?

Psychopathology is the study of mental disorders. A good understanding of psychopathology allows law enforcement to understand psychopathy (not to be confused with psychopathology). Law enforcement must understand the psychopathic traits that make it easier for psychopathic serial murderers to evade capture by hiding in plain sight. They must also understand that psychopathy is not a mental illness, and therefore is not relevant to an insanity defense.

Most serial killers are not crazy lunatics. In fact, criminologists have found that many serial killers are often psychopaths. Psychopathy is not considered to be a mental illness (keep this in mind—it will be important later). Psychopaths are people who tend to lack empathy (the ability to understand how someone else feels), guilt, and respect for rules and laws—social and legal. Psychopaths are often charming and able to manipulate people. Psychopaths use their charm and manipulation skills to appear to others as if they have empathy and respect.

Psychopathy is diagnosed through a checklist developed by Dr. Robert Hare. Many serial murderers have large clusters of psychopathic traits. However, there is no profile of a serial murderer, and they are often influenced by social and environmental factors, as well.

According to the FBI:

The relationship between psychopathy and serial killers is particularly interesting. All psychopaths do not become serial murderers. Rather, serial murderers may possess some or many of the traits consistent with psychopathy. Psychopaths who commit serial murder do not value human life and are extremely callous in their interactions with their victims. This is particularly evident in sexually motivated serial killers who repeatedly target, stalk, assault, and kill without a sense of remorse. However, psychopathy alone does not explain the motivations of a serial killer.

Clearly, the ability to charm and manipulate can help serial murders lure their victims. Lacking empathy, guilt, and respect for rules makes it easy for the killer to justify his or her actions. What is important to understand from a law enforcement standpoint is that these are not just qualities that enable them to kill—they are qualities that enable them to fit in well with the general society so that they can keep on killing.

Serial murderers often live normal lives, with families, friends, and jobs. Often, they commit their crimes within their own communities. They tend to be below the radar of law enforcement. An extreme example of this is Ed Kemper, who began making friends with police officers while he was still killing. He actually called the police and confessed to the murder of his mother, but the police refused to believe him initially, thinking their friend was playing a joke.

According to the FBI, understanding psychopathology is important during the investigation phase of law enforcement, because sometimes victims are not well-known to the killer, making it difficult to establish motive in the standard fashion. Since psychopaths do not behave like “normal” people, “normal” profiling techniques may not work. Moreover, typical interview tactics do not work with psychopaths:

Psychopaths are not sensitive to altruistic interview themes, such as sympathy for their victims or remorse/guilt over their crimes. They do possess certain personality traits that can be exploited, particularly their inherent narcissism, selfishness, and vanity. Specific themes in past successful interviews of psychopathic serial killers focused on praising their intelligence, cleverness, and skill in evading capture (FBI).

It is important to note that psychopathy is not a motive—psychopathic serial killers always have a “reason” to kill—including money (such as “black widow” killers), power, even ideology (like racism).

According to the DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the “official” list of all mental disorders), psychopathy is not a mental illness, like schizophrenia or depression. Therefore, most serial killers are considered to be mentally competent to stand trial, and insanity defenses are rare. In order to plead insanity, a defendant must prove that he or she did not know right from wrong at the time of the crime.

The topic of psychopathology is complex and broad. The FBI has a detailed analysis of serial murder, including a discussion about psychopathy and serial murderers, including specific examples of serial murders. Also check out these articles on serial murderer myths from Scientific American and the differences between sociopaths and psychopaths from Psychology Today.

How did Faber influence Montag in Fahrenheit 451?

Montag initially contacts Faber to help him understand the texts that he has read. Faber, a retired English teacher, explains to Montag the positive qualities of literature but is too afraid to act on his beliefs out of fear that he will be imprisoned or killed by the authoritative government. After describing how books preserve knowledge and examine the "infinite details" of life, Montag becomes excited to challenge the government policy of censoring works of...

Montag initially contacts Faber to help him understand the texts that he has read. Faber, a retired English teacher, explains to Montag the positive qualities of literature but is too afraid to act on his beliefs out of fear that he will be imprisoned or killed by the authoritative government. After describing how books preserve knowledge and examine the "infinite details" of life, Montag becomes excited to challenge the government policy of censoring works of literature. Faber influences Montag by motivating him to pursue the life of an intellectual. Faber eventually agrees to help Montag who is in search of a fulfilling life by giving him the "green bullet" to communicate. After hearing Faber's thoughts about literature and society, Montag is encouraged to not only change his life but also feels motivated to positively impact society by challenging the government's censorship policies. When Montag becomes an enemy of the state, Faber tells him where to find a group of traveling intellectuals. Faber's affinity for knowledge and literature influence Montag to drastically change his life and seek intellectual pursuits.

In "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury, why can't they change anything about their surroundings? They cannot change anything about their...

Changing anything but what they came there for will trigger the Butterfly Effect.

The Butterfly Effect describes unexpected consequences from a minor event.  When Eckels steps on the butterfly, he accidentally changed the course of the future.  This is an example of the Butterfly Effect.  He only killed one tiny butterfly, but that butterfly affected millions of other events to the point that the future changed.

Eckels hires Time Safari, Inc. to take him back...

Changing anything but what they came there for will trigger the Butterfly Effect.

The Butterfly Effect describes unexpected consequences from a minor event.  When Eckels steps on the butterfly, he accidentally changed the course of the future.  This is an example of the Butterfly Effect.  He only killed one tiny butterfly, but that butterfly affected millions of other events to the point that the future changed.

Eckels hires Time Safari, Inc. to take him back to the age of the dinosaurs so that he can kill one.  When he goes back, his guides Travis and Lesperance warn him not to touch anything or step off the path.  They tell him that they have carefully selected a dinosaur that would have died anyways in moments, and that is the only thing he can kill.  Otherwise, he will set off a shock wave of unintended events.

Crushing certain plants could add up infinitesimally. A little error here would multiply in sixty million years, all out of proportion. Of course maybe our theory is wrong. Maybe Time can’t be changed by us. Or maybe it can be changed only in little subtle ways.

Eckels is a little skeptical, but when he finally sees the dinosaur he is amazed.  He can’t bring himself to shoot it, because it seems like something so large is invincible.  Travis shoots it for him, disgusted.  As they are heading back, they notice that the sign is different.  Eckels finds a butterfly on his shoe.

It fell to the floor, an exquisite thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time. Eckels’s mind whirled. It couldn’t change things. Killing one butterfly couldn’t be that important! Could it?

Accidentally stepping on the butterfly created major unintended consequences all right.  Somehow the spelling on the sign changed, and the outcome of the election was different.  A man whom the others feared has been elected, a move that they worried would produce a dictatorship.  One butterfly's death changed the entire future in small ways and large ones.

I want conduct a study on how schools and classrooms kill the creativity of a child, how they draw boundaries for children due to the way of...

I would suggest that you investigate alternatives to the stultifying classroom and look at other educational theories and methods; a simple Google search may give you what you want.

Would you advocate homeschooling? It has its adherents.  How about charter schools? Montessori? Waldorf? Is your issue with public schools particularly? Do you find private schooling an appealing alternative? How about (Catholic) parochial schools? Would you be open to the "Schools Without Walls" model of alternative...

I would suggest that you investigate alternatives to the stultifying classroom and look at other educational theories and methods; a simple Google search may give you what you want.

Would you advocate homeschooling? It has its adherents.  How about charter schools? Montessori? Waldorf? Is your issue with public schools particularly? Do you find private schooling an appealing alternative? How about (Catholic) parochial schools? Would you be open to the "Schools Without Walls" model of alternative or experimental models?

Look at the various types of educational models that are currently available and decide which you find the most appealing. Or decide what your objectives are and see which alternative educational theories are in line with them. There are many theories and methods in use and one of them may appeal to you.

Define mass. |

One definition of mass is that the mass is the measure of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of the objects to resist the change in motion, more specifically, the change in their velocity. This is typically illustrated by the fact that when a car suddenly slows down, the riders in the car fall forward, because they tend to move forward with the original speed.

The first Newton's Law states that an object will remain moving...

One definition of mass is that the mass is the measure of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of the objects to resist the change in motion, more specifically, the change in their velocity. This is typically illustrated by the fact that when a car suddenly slows down, the riders in the car fall forward, because they tend to move forward with the original speed.

The first Newton's Law states that an object will remain moving with the same velocity unless there is an external force exerted on the object. If there is the external force, it will be proportional to the mass of the object. The more mass, or inertia, the object has, the more force is needed to change the velocity by a given amount.

Another way to define mass is as the measure of gravitational attraction. The two object with masses m and M will attract each other with the force of gravity

`F=G (mM)/r^2` , which is proportional to the masses of both objects. The more the mass of an object, the more gravitational attraction it experiences.

It has been measured, with great accuracy, that "inertial" mass is equal to "gravitational" one.The Einstein's theory of relativity states that the two masses are in fact the same thing.