Earthquake risk reduction – obstacles and opportunities

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRIEDEMANN WENZEL
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Earthquake Risk ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Disaster Reduction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Disaster Potential ◽  
Risk Potential ◽  
International Decade

The damage to human life, property, and infrastructure by natural disasters has been growing exponentially for the past 40 years. The driving force of this development is the increase in exposure and vulnerability of human society to the impacts of disasters. On the other hand, significant local, regional and global capacities for disaster reduction have been built since the beginning of the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in 1990. It remains unclear how the race between mitigation efforts and expanding disaster potential will develop in the coming years. This is a report on the risk potential of megacities and the strategies to reduce such risk, drawing on the experience of 8 years work in the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (www.earthquakesandmegacities.org/). The crucial role of science in this process will be discussed.

Adventism, Apocalyptic, and the Cause of Liberty

1994 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-249
Author(s):  
Douglas Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Conservative Protestantism ◽  
Late Nineteenth

“I have felt like working three times as hard as ever since I came to understand that my Lord was coming back again,” reported revivalist Dwight L. Moody, the most prominent of nineteenth-century premillennialists. Moody's testimony to the motivating power of premillennialism points to the crucial role of that eschatology in conservative Protestantism since the late nineteenth century—a role delineated by several studies within the past twenty-five years. As a comprehensive interpretation of history which gives meaning and pattern to past, present, and future, and a role for the believer in the outworking of the divine program, premillennialism has been a driving force in the fundamentalistand evangelical movements.

scholarly journals Dynamically remembered present: Virtual memory as a basis for the stories we live

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius W. Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Virtual Memory ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Universe

In this article memory was viewed as a crucial key to the discovery of reality. It is the basis of historical research at all levels, hence it is not confined to a function of human consciousness (brain operations): its physical vestiges are discernible in the universe, in fossils, in the DNA of species. Memory inscribes information in various ways. On a human level it is not recalled computer-wise: imagination, emotion and tacit motives play a role in how we remember. The article investigated the way in which memory underlies the operation of every cell in any living organism. Against this background the role of memory in humans and its decisive influence on every level of human life are examined. Gerald Edelman’s work in this regard was considered. Marcel Proust’s focus on memory is an underlying thread running through his novels, unrivalled in literary history. Some prominent examples were analysed in this article. In light of the foregoing the role of memory in religious experience was then discussed. The virtuality of memory is encapsulated in the statement that we remember the present whilst reliving the past. Memory characterised by virtuality is basic to our autobiographic narratives. The nature of memory determines our life stories, hence our perception of the human self as dynamically variable and open to the future.

The Academic Study of French Civilization

PMLA ◽  
1915 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 614-628
Author(s):  
Albert Léon Guérard
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
German Empire ◽  
Insurance System ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Automatic Adaptation ◽  
Academic Study

If history is to giv us a tru picture of human life in the past, it cannot limit itself to political events. The chief end of man never was to frame, uphold, and overthro governments, stil les to wage war and sign treaties. These ar accidents or epiphenomena. Man's primary concern is and was from the first his daily fight for existence, the necessity of getting food and shelter, the desire of getting them with a minimum of painful exertion. Man does not merely adapt himself to his surroundings: he attempts to alter his surroundings so as to suit himself. Thus he creates new conditions from which new problems arise. Human society groes ever farther away from that brutish state of automatic adaptation which poets call the Erthly Paradise. From the erliest stone implement to the aeroplane, from the first concerted hunt to the elaborate insurance system of the German Empire, we see the progres of this warfare against nature. The result of these efforts is what we understand by civilization.

Preserving the world for Christ

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Common Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World

AbstractThe practices, habits and convictions that once allowed the inhabitants of Christendom to determine what they could reasonably do and say together to foster a just and equitable common life have slowly been displaced over the past few centuries by new configurations which have sought to maintain an inherited faith in an underlying purpose to human life while disassociating themselves from the God who had been the beginning and end of that faith. In the end, however, these new configurations are incapable of sustained deliberations about the basic conditions of our humanity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology provides important clues into what it takes to make and keep human life human in such a world. The first part of this essay examines Bonhoeffer's conception of the last things, the things before the last, and what binds them together. He argues that the things before the last do not possess a separate, autonomous existence, and that the positing of such a breach has had disastrous effects on human beings and the world they inhabit. The second part looks at Bonhoeffer's account of the divine mandates as the conceptual basis for coping with a world that has taken leave of God. Though this account of the mandates has much to commend it, it is hindered by problematic habits of interpretation that leave it vacillating between incommensurable positions. Bonhoeffer's incomplete insights are thus subsumed within Augustine's understanding of the two orders of human society set forth in City of God.

scholarly journals Science Diplomacy and the Making of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction

Diplomatica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Schemper
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Disaster Reduction ◽  
Disaster Victims ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Science Diplomacy ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Decade

The article discusses the creation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (idndr, 1990–1999), a global observance event that emanated neither from within the United Nations – for whom until then disaster management or rights of disaster victims had not been a real priority – nor from within civil society organizations or governments. In actuality, it was primarily a scientist-led initiative. This article suggests that this episode is a rare example of a joint effort on the part of a scientific community to create international scientific institutions to deal with the issue of disaster risk. The framing of the issue as “scientific” by earth scientists led the UN Secretariat and governments to embrace an issue that they had hitherto neglected. However, archival evidence also suggests that the eventual takeover of the project by the UN bureaucracy weakened the role of earth scientists in the idndr and changed its orientation.

scholarly journals On Philosophical Themes in Marcel Proust’s Works

2018 ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
I. I. Blauberg
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Philosophical Psychology ◽  
Optical Instrument ◽  
The Past ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
The World ◽  
Lost Time

Marcel Proust’s works contain a lot of ideas consonant with the ideas that were actively discussed by philosophers of his time. Many philosophers focused on the issues of perception, memory, will, freedom, personal identity, etc., which constituted an important part of academic curriculum. Proust familiarized himself with the issues studying philosophy at the Lyceum (he was taught by Alphonse Darlu) and at the Sorbonne. In his novel In Search of Lost Time, Proust describes an existential experience of his character viewing these issues from a particular perspective, through the prism of the main character’s lifelong search of his calling. He gradually proceeds from philosophical psychology exploring the interaction of memories and impressions in a particular perception, to philosophy proper, to metaphysics aimed at understanding the truth, at going beyond time. The article traces some moments of this transition, shows that for Proust it is not just the work of memory that is important but the emphasis on those states of consciousness where the present and the past coincide, merge, and thereby we go beyond time, to eternity. The author analyzes some images and signs that accompanied the character of the novel on the way to the realization of his calling. Particular attention is paid to the Proustian interpretation of the role of art in changing and enriching the perception of the world, as well as the importance in human life of a habit in which positive and negative aspects are highlighted. Proust himself believed that a work of art is an optical instrument through which the readers begin to discern in themselves what they would otherwise fail to see. His own novel was such an instrument.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Competitive Examination Training Material in Teaching Some Units of Competitive Exam in context to Gender

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Jignasa H. Joshi ◽  
Dr. Sunita J. Lilani ◽  
Mr. Narendra G. Nayee
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Student Life ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Animal Life ◽  
Training Material ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
The Past ◽  
Almost All

Competition is nothing but the fight for acquiring scarce resources, services or posts by a large number of people. It has been an ongoing process even before the dawn of mankind as we know it today. In fact Competition is a way of life. Look around you, a child competes for the mother’s attention, an athlete competes for the medal, boys compete to woo the best girl in college, party workers compete for the leaders blessings, vegetable vendors compete with each other to woo the buyer, job aspirants compete for the best post and around 2 lakh students compete for 1200 seats in the IIMs. Education and competition are two universal ingredients of all human cultures, in fact, of almost all animal life. Humans have always considered education and competition important issues, both in the past and in the present. Of course, there have been fluctuations in emphasis and much has changed throughout the centuries. Education and academic competitions are two most important ingredients of human life and these two have always been considered as important issues. In this article, Researcher is going to discuss about the role of academic competitions in education as well as in student life.

Reservoir geophysics

Geophysics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Pennington
Keyword(s):  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Petroleum Reservoir ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Past ◽  
Geophysical Surveys

The concept of petroleum reservoir geophysics is relatively new. In the past, the role of geophysics was largely confined to exploration and, to a lesser degree, the development of discoveries. As cost‐efficiency has taken over as a driving force in the economics of the oil and gas industry and as major assets near abandonment, geophysics has increasingly been recognized as a tool for improving the bottom line closer to the wellhead. The reliability of geophysical surveys, particularly seismic, has greatly reduced the risk associated with drilling wells in existing fields, and the ability to add geophysical constraints to statistical models has provided a mechanism for directly delivering geophysical results to the reservoir engineer.

scholarly journals Imagination, religion and morality: An interdisciplinary approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernice Serfontein
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Evolutionary Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolutionary Success ◽  
Almost All

Every human society and almost all of human life are infused with ethics. How do we best understand human morality and ethics? I want to argue that responsible ethics rests on a credible understanding of what it means to be human. This article proposes that a more comprehensive understanding of the distinctive human imagination, religious awareness and morality – all of which are significant aspects of being human – will facilitate a more responsible understanding and practice of ethics. Such an understanding entails a bottom-up view, which takes seriously the exploration of the fundamental evolutionary realities of human nature, that is, a natural history of morality. The quest for understanding the propensity for imagination, religious awareness and morality can be aided by exploring the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human. Accordingly, this research combines a niche construction perspective with fossil and archaeological evidence, highlighting the role of complexity in human evolution, which adds to our understanding of a completely human way of being in the world. A distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success and accordingly our sense of morality and religious disposition. The methodology this article applies is that of an interdisciplinary approach combining perspectives of some of the most prominent voices in the modern discourses on imagination, religious awareness and morality. What results from this approach is, first, a more comprehensive understanding of the human imagination, the capacity for religious awareness and morality. Ultimately, by creatively integrating the various perspectives evident in this research – by way of a philosophical bridge theory between evolutionary anthropology and theology – this article attempts to determine whether evolutionary thought can be constructively appropriated to interdisciplinary Christian theology and ethics.

scholarly journals The idea of the eternal return in flash fiction of symbolists and the types of its functioning contexts

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Outer Shell ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Flash Fiction ◽  
Eternal Return ◽  
The Past ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
World Development

The article identifies the types of contexts in which the idea of the eternal return in the small prose symbolists functions. The first type of contexts includes works based on pretext. F. Sologub transposes evangelical plots into modernity and, relying on the Nietzschean idea of eternal return, emphasizes their importance for the present. In the novel "Lohengrin" Sologub transposes R. Wagner's legendary mythological plot, borrowed from medieval German legends and tales, into the modern bourgeois world, revealing the correspondences between the past and the present. Appeal to allusions and reminiscences in characterizing the characters helps the author to show their difference from the characters of Wagner's opera. The second type of contexts is formed by novels in which writers create their own myths. This is “Princess Zara” by N. Gumilyov, “Inventions (Evening story)” by Z. Gippius and “The Marble Head” by V. Bryusov. In “Princess Zara”, author offers an elegant myth about the immaculate beauty of the Light Virgin of the forests, which periodically changes the outer shell. His myth Gumilyov interweaves in a picturesque view, rich in African exotic and actualizing the sight, hearing, touch and smell of the reader. In the novel "Fiction" Gippius creates a paradoxical situation where the heroine, on the threshold of adulthood, learns about it in every detail, which allows the writer to raise the question of whether a person needs or does not need to know her future and if it is possible to vary and comprehend own life. “The Marble Head” of Bryusov is a complex “text-myth”, written in the form of rondo, which is artistically organized by symbolist ideas about the role of Beauty / Art in human life and about contrasting Beauty with the gray prose of life. "Marble head" can be viewed as a novel of the insight conflict, revealing the moral and psychological crisis of hero. The development of the novel internal conflict is plotted by Bryusov in a form that is based on the representation of V. Solovyov on the triadic nature of world development: thesis – antithesis – synthesis.

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