Media Literacy after The Simpsons

Media Literacy after The Simpsons Homer Simpson Explains our Postmodern Identity crisis, Whether we Prize it or not: Media Literacy after The Simpsons ABSTRACT This article suggests that The Simpsons is a sophisticated media subject about media that forces educators who teach media literacy into an encounter with postmodern judgment. The sense of postmodern judgment for media education is explored through a focus on two now themes in The Simpsons: the changing judgment of personal identity and the consequences of a relentlessly ironic worldview. Icons of habitual culture can be used to teach about philosophical constructs. From its inception The Simpsons has posed a significant challenge to educators. The program, which ridiculed all forms of influence and turned Bart Simpson into a wildly habitual anti-hero, initially provoked an intense reaction from the education citizens, in some schools influential to the banning of paraphernalia bearing Barts images and habitual denunciations of the series. As the series grew in popularity- and eventually was joined by other cartoon series that were seen to be all the more more educationally offensive, such as Beavis and Butthead and South Park-the furor died down to a now on the other artisan passive hostility toward the program, at least in the classroom. It certainly didnt facilitate the educational communitys disagreement to have Interval magazine reputation the series the best television program of the 20th century, or to have the poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, praise the series, stating that it penetrates to the existence of television itself (Owen, 2000, p. 65). Nor did it facilitate that various teachers went hab itat, turned the program on, and laughed themselves silly. All the more another abbreviate has been created between the culture of children and the culture of education, a poser that has been perhaps all the more more painful for media educators, various of whom follow Hobbs (1998) target that the texts of everyday career, when constituted as objects of social participation, provide the possibility for combining textual, historical, and ideological examination in ways that relieve students and teachers move beyond the limits of traditional disciplines and controversy areas (p. 21). To be undeniable, there have been efforts by media educators to bring The Simpsons into the classroom. Our debate of the media literacy literature and media literacy sites revealed a number of examples of proposed lessons incorporating the series, from examining The Simpsons as a virgin variant of social satire to comparing The Simpsons family to other television families. On the other hand, in almost eve ry dispute, we sensed that the unique qualities of the series eluded these efforts. The basic tools of media education and literacy as typically agreed upon by numerous media literacy communities-tools which regulate our control to basic precepts such as the meaning that the media are constructed-appear not to be enough to turn The Simpsons from renegade habitual culture into a teachable moment (Aufderheide, 1993; Media Awareness Network, 2000). Perhaps the central poser with The Simpsons is that it seems to drag the media literacy examination onto the unfamiliar and all the more foreboding terrain of postmodernism, where issues of image and replica open to fall apart, a terrain where sporadic media educators are willing or able to follow. Of line, there has been an effort to define, critique, and bring postmodern impression to bear on educational judgment and application, expressly from advocates of critical pedagogy (e.g., Aronowitz Giroux, 1992). All the more this has been a the ory-driven effort that has not reached further far into educational scholarship, and has made almost no headway into the frontlines of educational manipulate. Various teachers Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 have never heard of the label postmodernism. The same mould is equally, if not more pronounced, in the media education citizens. Our examination of media literacy literature and key media literacy web sites in the United States and Canada revealed an almost comprehensive absence of controversy and examination on postmodernism. There have been, of pathway, notable exceptions (McLaren, Hammer, Scholle, Reilly, 1995; Steinberg Kincheloe, 1997). The outcome of this empty margin is another critical abbreviate, in this dispute not between students and educators, on the other artisan between media educators and media theorists. In examining this section, we are struck by two observations. First, the gap between media education manipulate and media judgment comes precisely at the moment when teachers and media educators are finding them selves overwhelmed by strange contemporary regular cultural texts for which the unfamiliar category of postmodernism may potentially be the most fruitful interpretive handle. Second, the positions of students and media theorists stand in the succeeding relationship. Students are living inside an increasingly postmodern regular cultural participation that media theorists are attempting to label, define, and scan. The puzzle is that students dont necessarily have the vocabulary to generate meaning of their participation, and the vocabulary that theorists have developed seems to cause meaning only in graduate seminars. The Simpsons offers a promising opportunity to strategically residence these issues, highlighting the limits of conventional media literacy tools, illustrating the aesthetic examine of postmodernism, and providing some vocabulary to label that examine. In effect, it serves as an dispute of how the solution of postmodernism can be used to develop a contemporary range of c ritical interpretive skills for constructively engaging this growing trend in habitual culture. Our article presents a mini introduction to postmodernism and a grounded process of the benefits and limits of applying this judgment. Our reason is not to provide an exhaustive or all the more spread out introduction to postmodern judgment. Rather, it is to position The Simpsons as a media subject that can be used as a starting stop for exploring postmodern judgment. Fear of Postmodernism If everyone loves The Simpsons, postmodernism has its correct participation of critics. Writing in U.S. Material and Field Report, Leo (1999) argues that postmodernism has created a language that no one can understand, a language that is used to intellectually bully readers into agreeing with outlandish propositions. The academic area, on the other artisan, has offered more equivocal assessments. Hebdige (1988) argues that we are in the presence of a buzzword, a expression which, while confusing, does appropriate an influential social or cultural transition. Kellner (1995) agrees, observing that . . . the label postmodern is often a placeholder, or semiotic marker, that indicates that there are virgin phenomena that demand mapping and theorizing (p. 46). In the infrequent instances where references to postmodernism do appear in media literacy literature, its ambiguous area is emphasized. For process, Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), in their effort to launch charting the challenges posed by multimedia education in an increasingly digitized media area, believe that postmodernism, although glib and sweeping, offers a beneficial pathway to characterize a number of broad social and cultural transformations. Some of the changes that control Buckingham and Sefton-Green embrace the area of consumption, the blurring distinctions between production and consumption, the poaching of texts and symbols, and the rejection of the elitist and sterile oppositions between high and habitual culture (pp. 289-292). Given the slipperiness of the sense, postmodernism on the other hand marks a cr itical modern moment in the scan of media and replica. Building on the business of Buckingham and Sefton-Green (1997), we open by asking what is postmodernism and what can we do with it? With its questioning of truthfulness and its subject of the politics of media representations, postmodernism, once it is understood properly, can be a rich source of pedagogical judgment and manipulate. The Postmodern Dispute: Definitions and Symptoms What true is the label postmodernism trying to receive? There is, first, the sense of opposition to modernism. In essence, modernism states that individuals and nations, guided by rational thinking and Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 2 scientific achievements, are moving toward a more humane, more just, and more economically prosperous ultimate. In other contents, modernism embraces progress, viewing it as a linear and inexorable phenomenon with acceptable outcomes. Accordingly, the publish in postmodernism stands for the meaning that there is no longer any guarantee of progress. In point, there is further petty consensus as to what progress all the more wealth. Postmodernity typically is distinguished by an undermining of force, the denigration of novel by turning it into a style or evocative nostalgia, the questioning of progress, and the head to impression the ultimate as empty. Other postmodern symptoms embrace the meaning of image overload, intertextuality (the seemingly random q uoting of one subject by another), a heightened meaning of media self-reflexivity calling control to replica as a hall of mirrors, and pastiche, defined as the sense to cause disjointed images and subject fragments. Finally, the postmodern process is marked by commodification overload (the head to turn everything into a product or marketing opportunity), irony overload (the elevation of irony as the dominant rhetorical posture), and the increased questioning of the sense of personal identity brought on by viewing the self as a social construction. In short, the meaning of postmodernism calls control to the ways in which a beneficial deal of everyday regular culture is at once fully informed by, if not driven by, the basic media literacy precept that media construct social naked truth. In act, all the more of regular culture relentlessly draws carefulness to the further arbitrariness of almost every aspect of our social participation, as well as the moral and epistemological foundati ons on which social participation depends. In other contents, the curriculum of regular culture has outstripped the curriculum of the classroom, all the more the media education classroom. The vocabulary of postmodernism allows us to launch to contemplate and term the various ways in which this is taking fix, on the other share it further leaves us at a loss about how to proceed. Recognizing this disagreement, memo and educational theorists have attempted to clarify what is to be gained by drawing on the social and theoretical insights generated by the deconstructive influence of postmodern criticism. At the same interval, they have tried to demonstrate how to tame this influence in the utility of modernist values such as human rights, equality, freedom, and democracy (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Best Kellner, 1991; Giroux, 1997; Kellner, 1995; Rorty, 1989; Wolin, 1990). A critical postmodernism encourages us to solicit contemporary questions about all claims to influence (scientific or otherwise), about how contemporary forms of replica and contemporary inflections in the style of replica made practicable through technology and commodification exchange the quality of sense, and about how cultural dominance is produced and maintained through the patterns of contrasts used to define social and linguistic categories (Aronowitz Giroux, 1991; Scholle Denski, 1995). Postmodernism offers contemporary tools for critical interpretation and modern responsibilities for connecting media and cultural interpretation to democracy as a form of native land that enables critical reflection and activism, making us understand the ways in which our seemingly private individual identities are formed, through language and symbols, in relationship to each other and the broader social and political citizens (McKinlay, 1998, p. 481). For The Simpsons audience, an ambivalen ce toward technology and progress is guideline fare. This judgment of the ultimate as empty and without guarantees has further been associated with the core identity of Hour X, whose slogan might glance at We have seen the forthcoming and it sucks. While any aspect of postmodernism discussed above can be found in and explored within The Simpsons, two concepts in particular-irony overload and the questioning of identity-will serve as reference points in our reconsideration of the series. The puzzle of identity is a central complication for all young citizens, on the other artisan it is a puzzle that is not duration satisfactorily addressed, given the growing levels of hopelessness, cynicism, despair, and suicide among teenagers. Of particular control to us is that The Simpsons repeatedly focuses on this further subject: the puzzle of selfhood in an increasingly absurd culture pulverized with images, symbols, values, irony, commercialization, and hucksterism. What lessons does The Sim psons teach? What lessons can be learned as the characters on the demonstrate are thrust into many battles for selfhood within the postmodern terrain? Enjoy all the more postmodern Studies in Media Info Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 3 culture, The Simpsons, is saturated with irony and obsessed with issues of absolute identity, expressly in relation to media culture. Our task is to articulate an interpretive frame of reference to facilitate media educators and viewers open to cause critical meaning of these symptoms. The Challenges of Postmodern Selfhood Gergen (1991) notes that postmodernists abbreviate version into three epochs, each of which corresponds to a particular judgment of personal identity or selfhood. These periods are labeled as the pre-modern (romantic hour), the contemporary era, and the postmodern. From the pre-modern or romantic tradition, we derive our meaning in a stable center of identity. In Gergens contents, powerful forces in the deep interior of ones duration are held to be the source of inspiration, creativity, genius, and moral courage, all the more madness (Gergen, 1992, p. 61). Modernism redefined the self, shifting the emphasis from deep, mysterious processes to human consciousness in the here and these days, always in control with such values as efficiency, stable functioning, and progress. The self in its virgin form-what Gergen calls the postmodern or relational self-is no longer viewed as a separate target, on the other artisan is increasingly understood as a rel ational construction, defined by and spread across the humanity and activity experiences each individual encounters throughout her or his field. In short, as McNamee and Gergen (1999) argue, there are no independent selves; we are each constituted by others (who are themselves similarly constituted). We are always already related by virtue of shared constitutions of the self (p. 15). Linked to this sense is the sense that a conscious understanding of ourselves as beings occurs through language, which is itself a fundamentally relational sense, and that our identity grows and develops in relationship to the endless dialogues that we have with others, with culture, and with ourselves. In this meaning, our interactions with the media become deeply significant. Moreover, this contemporary consciousness of the relational sense of the self comes at correct the moment when the relationships we enter into and which contribute to our definition of self are multiplying at an exponential rate and are duration increasingly spread over a in a superior way and in a superior way span of hour and amplitude. It is one baggage to see the sense of the relational self when we think of, claim, two friends engaged in a mutually sustaining and defining examination. In this setting, the sense of the relational self is promising, perhaps all the more reassuring. On the other hand, extending the meaning of relationship to subsume every symbolic encounter in which we willingly or unwilling participate-from intentional relationships to unintentional and forced relationship with 3,000 commercial messages per day-presents modern challenges. A critical postmodern perspective calls control to this crisis of identity, a crisis in which the media of memo and their commercial foundations are deeply implicated. Of line, thinking of the self as a relational construct not only gives insights into the crisis of the self, on the other share it further offers a means of thinking about how to residen ce that crisis. In this more hopeful and acceptable meaning, the relational self offers a glimpse of those selected aspects of human participation and identity that may be used as a moral foundation in the face of the deconstructive maelstrom of commercial postmodern culture. The relational self suggests a moral compass that is based less on the authentic truths of religion or science than in the manner by which we draw up ourselves and our community through ceaseless and inevitable physical, linguistic, and psychological dependence upon one another. Drawing on the duty of Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Jurgen Habermas, Richard Rorty, and Jerome Bruner, McNamee and Gergen (1999) deposit elsewhere a autonomous and thoughtful introduction to what a moral ethic organized on all sides of the relational self would see enjoy. They have called it relational responsibility, defining relationally responsible actions as those that sustain and enhance forms of exchange elsewhere of which influ ential process itself is made practicable. Isolation, they argue, represents the negation of citizens (p. 19). The guideline of relational responsibility is in stark contrast to the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism. As such, it can serve as a critical bridge linking the interpretive coercion of a critical postmodernism to the modernist values associated with progressive democracy. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 4 At the same hour, it is autonomous that the deconstructive tendencies of postmodernism (as a fix of virgin conditions) have influential implications for personal identity construction. Giddens (1991), for process, warns of the looming threat of personal meaninglessness. It is this threat that directs us back to a carefulness of one of the central tropes of postmodern discourse: irony. As noted above, relentless irony is a hallmark of both The Simpsons and the postmodern era. As individuals struggle to confront postmodern challenges to identity, there is grounds to solicit whether there is any valuation in the postmodern strategy of irony. Thus, the implications of irony both for identity formation and relational responsibility must be considered. Irony, Identity, and the Disagreement of Responsibility The Simpsons is regularly celebrated for its incisive wit and social satire, for its force to manipulate irony to bell control to the absurdity of everyday social conventions and beliefs. Irony functions as a critical form that helps us to break through surface sense to examine and understand the correct area of things in a contemporary and deeper means. It is a vehicle for enhancing critical consciousness, and it represents a moral coercion of skilled in the function of eradicating conventional pathetic (Rorty, 1989). As Hutcheon (1992, 1994) notes, critical irony is intimately linked to politics. The compel of deconstructing can be a first development to political dispute, and ironys oppositional character can be a major critical compel. The subversive functioning of irony is related to its status as a self-critical and self-reflexive resources that challenges hierarchy, and this influence to undermine and overturn is said to have politically transformative coercion. On the other share this is not where the manipulate of irony ends in The Simpsons, nor does it appropriate the postmodern turn in the meaning of irony. Postmodern irony is ambiguous and its solution is contested. It can be interpreted by adherents as playful, reflexive, and liberating; opponents, on the other hand, contemplate it as frivolous, deviant, and perverse (Hutcheon, 1992, 1994; Kaufman, 1997; Thiele, 1997). In postmodern irony, clarity in moral delineation begins to disappear. For process, in virgin comedy, as in all social behavior, all actions are controversy to satire from some perspective. Besides, by reason of postmodern irony begins with the assumption that language produces all sense, a kind of emancipatory indulgence in irony is evoked-an invitation to reconceptualize language as a form of play. As Gergen (1991) writes, we neednt credit such linguistic activities with profundity, imbue them with deep significance, or fix elsewhere to interchange the nature on their novel. Rather, we might play with the truths of the hour, shake them about, try them on prize funny hats (p. 188). In other contents, postmodern irony invites us to avoid saying it straight, using linear logic, an d forming smooth, progressive narratives (p. 188). The Simpsons is saturated with this form of postmodern irony. On the other facilitate where does that leave media educators trying to duty with this enormously regular series? On the one artisan, media educators would prize to engage the series fully by practise of it raises various challenges to conventional ideas of mould and selfhood; on the other share, they are unwilling to lead students to examine media literacy as a form of deconstruction that leads only to meaninglessness or play. Some media scholars contemplate postmodern irony as a laborious challenge for teachers committed to linking media literacy with productive citizenship. Purdy, for dispute, laments that between Madonna and the fist-fight between Jesus and Santa Claus that opened the cartoon series South Park, there is less and less left in society whose flouting can elicit shock. Irony, he concludes, invites us to be self-absorbed, on the other facilitate in selves that we cannot believe to be particularly interesting or significant (p. 26). Conway and Seery (1992) are similarly concerned about the implications of postmodern irony for engaged citizenship. Although irony may equip the dispossessed with much-needed critical perspective and all the more underwrite a minimal political agenda, they draw up, it is generally regarded as irremediably parasitic and antisocial (p. 3). Hutcheon (1994) further shares this episode, noting that irony can be both political and apolitical, both conservative and radical, both repressive and democratizing in a pathway that other discursive strategies are not (p. 35). Gergen (1991) frames the challenge of postmodern irony in terms of its challenge to forming a coherent self. If all serious projects are reduced to satire, play, Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Tome 1, Subject 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 5 or nonsense, all attempts at authenticity or earnest ends become empty-merely postures to be punctuated by sophisticated self-consciousness (p. 189). If this is the poser that The Simpsons raises in its manipulate of both critical and postmodern irony, to what room is it contributing to a social consciousness with a practicable for social process, as opposed to contributing to a cynical numbness founded on ironic detachment? What solutions does the series offer for resolving this disagreement? Are there any alternative solutions that acknowledge the postmodern challenge to identity? Exploration of Self in Homer to the Max With these concerns in meaning, we see an phase of The Simpsons that originally aired on February 7, 1998. The period focuses with particular vehemence on the quest for identity and asks the closest questions: †  How is the sense of the self understood in relationship to the blizzard of media images, symbols, and values? †  How does irony fit into the exploration and resolution of identity issues? †  How do we understand The Simpsons confrontations with the self and identity in terms of what has been called the postmodern process? The demonstrate begins with the principles sight gags on the couch and the Simpson familys lampooning of televisions midseason replacement series. The program that finally captures the familys carefulness is Police Cops, which becomes a present within the present. As the two Miami-Vice enjoy heroes of Police Cops subdue would-be bank thieves, one of the police detective heroes, a millionaire cop surrounded by admiring women, introduces himself as Simpson, Detective Homer Simpson. The Simpson family is shocked and Homer is exclusively overwhelmed, confusing himself with his television image. The plot then unfolds in essentially five kernels that hire up and explore Homers confusion over his own identity (Chatman, 1978). First, Homer identifies completely with the television detective hero: Wow. They captured my personality perfectly! Did you examine the means Daddy caught that bullet? In turn, the all-inclusive citizens of Springfield validates Homers contemporary pseudo-identity, treating him as if he were the television detective hero: Hey, Mr. Simpson, sir, can I purchase your autograph? Second, the Police Cops producers interchange their television detective character from glamorous hero to bumbling sidekick, launching a series of gags about Homers correct identity. The virgin characterization is truly a near perfect replication of the absolute Homer Simpson. This outrages Homer: Hey whats going on? That guys not Homer Simpson! Hes fat and stupid! The town continues to respond to Homer as the television character, only these days with ridicule rather than respect. No netheless, Homer gains some insight into the confusion between his authentic and fictional identity. As a assemblage of co-workers gathers in the hallway absent his business waiting for him to do something stupid, Homer retorts, Well, Im sorry to disappoint you gentleman, on the other artisan you seem to have me confused with a character in a fictional present. Factor of the pleasure for viewers derives from the irony of the cartoon character Homer making the state that he is the authentic Homer Simpson, as opposed to the fictional cartoon character within the cartoon. The writers of the period then continue to play with this seemingly endless hall of mirrors between absolute and fictional identity by scripting Homer to behave true in the transaction of the revised fictional detective character. Homer obliges by spilling a fondue pot on the nuclear reactor polity panel. Homers identity crisis eventually leads him to Hollywood, where he confronts the producers of the Police Cops-By the Numbers Productions-and demands that they recast the detective character: Im begging you! Im a human duration! Let me have my dignity back! The lines between Homers authentic identity and his media identity blur all the more besides when his efforts in the production business are used as grist for a contemporary gag in the later Police Cops period. Studies in Media Counsel Literacy Education, Manual 1, Controversy 1 (February 2001), 1-12 # University of Toronto Press. DOI: 10.3138/sim.1.1.002 6 In the third kernel, the plot shifts absent from Homers struggle over his identification with his media replica to his fixation on the sense that a contemporary label will give him a virgin identity. In this kernel, Homer goes to court to sue Police Cops for the improper application of his reputation. When his petition is nowadays rebuffed in the term of corporate proprietary interests, he rashly decides to transform his reputation to Max Coercion. Homers growth is nowadays transformed. His self-image improves, he becomes forceful and dynamic, and his co-workers and boss treat him with respect. Mr. Burns, remembering Homers reputation for the first interval, exclaims, Well, who could forget the reputation of a magnetic individual prize you? Keep up the acceptable profession, Max. While shopping at Costingtons for a contemporary faculty wardrobe, Homer meets a member of Springfields elite with a similarly powerful label, Trent Steele. Trent nowadays takes Homer/Max under his wing, inviting him to garden troop for Springfields young, hip force couples, an period that turns elsewhere to be the jumping off stop for an environmental reason. The critical moment in this kernel-which links the identity crisis of Police Cops with the identity theme in the Max Force parcel of the episode-occurs when Homer reveals to his contemporary best friend Trent Steele the origin of the term Max Compel. When Trent exclaims, Hey, beneficial term!, Homer replies, Yeah, isnt it? I got it off a hairdryer. Homers resolution to his identity crisis with his media self is to redefine himself in terms of the force setting of a mini household appliance. The self is these days equated with a product. At first, the results are stunningly successful. The fourth kernel leads to the denouement. In the third kernel, Homers appropriation of the identity of his hair dryer appears to have resolved his identity crisis in satisfactory transaction. On the other hand, this meaning soon falls apart. At the garden assemblage, Homer and Marge rub shoulders with celebrity environmental activists Woody Harrelson and Ed Begley, Jr., two of the various celebrities lampooned in the phase. The sense extreme these scenes is that Homer, as the buffoon celebrity Max Force, is on the same level as other equally shallow and ridiculous celebrities. Finally, Trent Steele announces that it is interval to board a bus to re ason the wanton destruction of our nations forests. This generate is relentlessly parodied: We have to protect [trees] by generate of trees cant protect themselves, except, of trail, the Mexican Fighting Trees. The partygoers travel to a stand of redwoods about to be bulldozed and are chained to the trees. The police (Chief Wiggum, Eddie, and Lou) confront Homer, attempt to swab his eyes with Hippie- Coercion mace, and stop up chasing him on all sides of his tree. His chain works prize a saw, cutting down the redwood, which in turn topples the comprehensive forest. Homer, freed at persist, throws his chain into the air, killing a bald eagle. Homer, as the phony Max Force, is rejected by the phony celebrity activists. In the fifth and final kernel, which serves as an epilogue to the phase, Marge and Homer are in bed. Marge tells Homer she is glad he changed his reputation back to Homer Simpson and Homer responds, Yes, I learned you gotta be yourself. The Phase Through a Postmodern Le ns The phase is intriguing by generate of of its insistent focus on the search for identity, and the methods by which that identity is constructed within the absurdities of the postmodern landscape. As Gergen (1992) notes, We are exposed to more opinions, values, personalities, and ways of activity than was any previous interval in novel; the number of our relationships soars, the variations are enormous: past relationships extreme (only a ring bell apart) and contemporary faces are only a channel absent (p. 58). There is, in short, an explosion in social connections. What does this explosion have to do with our meaning of selves and what we stand for, and how does it undermine beliefs in a romantic interior or in a rational center of the self ? This is precisely the controversy this period of The Simpsons takes up again and again. What is exclusively engaging in this phase is the focus on Homers identity crisis and its relationship to the media. This is not, of line, a theme unique to The Simpsons. As Caldwell (1995) observes, comedy-variety shows in the late 1940s and early 1950s were repeatedly using the conventions of intertextuality and

Soul Searching’s Pyschological and Moral Aspects

This analysis makes no pretences of keeping with the psychological and moral convictions that Heidegger ignored. His structural analysis is simply not complete enough to represent Dasein†s phenomenological orientation in the world without considering some aspects which are inherent to each Dasein such as a psychological history and a moral destination. Although speculation as to the reasons behind his choice to ignore such overwhelming attributes is forever possible, leaving out psychology and morality leaves Dasein with no soul. Dasein then is nothing more than a component of the world through other Dasein. One can only Be when one†s Being is disclosed by Others until the they is escaped in Death. Heidegger doesn†t enjoy the negative connotation of the word escape in the context of relationships with Others, but this seems to be more important as a question of true existence, true realization of the authentic Self. I argue that the soul, the spirit, the essence of Dasein must be explained as well as the phenomena of existence in order to clarify the question â€Å"What does it mean to be (Dasein)? † Through the soul, Dasein may bridge the gaps of loneliness that occur in the solitude of single existence amongst Others. Psychology and morality provide excellent headquarters from which to launch this campaign in search of the soul of Dasein†¦ How can one†s soul exhibit both concernful solicitude and care while experiencing existential loneliness in the face of Death? When looking at the temporality of Dasein†s existence, psychology corresponds to Heidegger†s concept of already-being as does morality to being-ahead-of-itself, in relation to the prospect of having a soul. Psychology and morality play such large roles in the creation of both the they-self and the authentic self that some definitions are in order. Psychology explains the relationships between phenomena and both voluntary and involuntary behavior patterns. Behavior is the reaction of the subconscious with the conscious before decisions are made and actions taken. The sum of the behavioral limitations of these reactions, symbolically speaking, equals the finite potential of possibilities after already-being-in-the-world. Thus behavior displays an abundant importance when considering Dasein†s interpretation of events on an authentic as well as an inauthentic level. It seems that Heidegger shies away from psychology because behavior can vary so much from one person to another and creates problems for his strictly structural analysis of being. Morality is also of great concern in a personal view of Heidegger†s Being and Time due to the touchy nature of his use of such terms as conscience and guilt to describe qualities that are present in all Dasein. Even though he attempts to use these words (guilt and conscience) without bringing extra baggage along with them, one cannot resist considering the implications that vernacular semantics suggest about the nature of Dasein. Heidegger explains: â€Å"†¦ he concept of moral guilt has been so little clarified ontologically†¦ interpretations of this phenomenon could become prevalent and have remained so† (Blackwell, p. 328). If this is the case, moral guilt should hold a place in the discussion because it is so prevalent. He also uses his own fresher definition of guilt to explain his idea that guilt is merely the lack of something that should and could be. If guilt is the main impetus for authentic Being, then wouldn†t morality be immediately involved in the discussion as a source of guilt, or as the next step above the middle management provided by conscience? For how else could one describe what should be other than in terms of a personal view of integrity towards living towards Others-otherwise stated as morality? Dasein defines what should be by looking forward to the possibility of being self-governed by an individual sense of what is correct behavior in the world into which one has been thrown. For Heidegger, the conscience alerts Dasein not only to failing to realize an authentic Being for one†s Self, but also provides a constant source of guilt that becomes manifested in anticipation towards Death. He says of Being-towards-Death: †¦ nticipation reveals to Dasein its lostness in the they-self, and brings it face to face with the possibility of being itself, primarily unsupported by concernful solicitude, but of being itself, rather, in an impassioned freedom towards death-a freedom which has been released from the Illusions of the â€Å"they†, and which is factical, certain of itself, and anxious (Blackwell, p. 311). This passage summarizes Heidegger†s position of leaving the Others behind to pursue one†s own Death in whatever manner might suit one†s individual conceptualization of the inexplicable phenomenon of Death. He calls this anticipatory resoluteness-a projection of possibilities for Dasein onto itself. His reference to concernful solicitude implies that some part of the they-self assumes responsibility for the well-being of Others with respect to their own personal care towards the world. Heidegger explains this as part of the idle talk respective to inauthenticity, but the sympathy one feels obliged to show another exceeds simple social convention and finds a home in the desire to assume some part of the loneliness shared by all Dasein. In this way, we establish the connection of authentic existence with morality. Guilt in the face of inauthentic being is a key factor in Heidegger†s connection of anticipatory resoluteness towards Death. But, each Dasein has some sort of moral disposition which is a sort of goal for how one might define one†s-Self. Since this moral consideration is present, it is inescapable when examining the way Dasein arrives at its resolute decision of which possibilities will be executed. Thus morality corresponds to Heidegger†s Being-ahead-of-itself. Not only does Dasein care about the guilt it experiences in the face of inauthentic Being, but it wishes to alleviate the same suffering in those it perceives to be troubled. Looking ahead, Dasein knows there will be sorrowful phenomena coming towards it and so feels the sting of the misfortunes of an Other as well. This sentimental sharing can be directed towards joy in that joy is a benefit to all Dasein when accepted, just as sorrow is a detriment to all Dasein when the burden is shouldered amongst their many lonely souls. Psychology and morality depend mostly upon the ontical interpretation of events involving other Dasein-the Others. In the anonymous placement of Dasein amongst Others, Dasein falls into the inauthentic mode of being described by Heidegger as the they-self. The they-self is crucial to an understanding of how Dasein can transcend the ignorant (but not necessarily diminished) existing of average everyday life to find a seemingly more perplexing state called authentic existence. Dasein†s they-self is primarily concerned with the events and requirements demanded of it through living in what is conceived as the present time with other people. This they-self is prevalent to all modes of Being which Dasein might exhibit in that one can never escape a certain degree of anonymity in one†s relations with others. The they-self revels in its proximity to the Others with which it may identify itself; however, the they-self also strives to keep a reasonable distance from the Others to avoid becoming lost as an individual entity. The phenomenon of distancing one†s they-self from Others may happen consciously or unconsciously to Dasein. In the distancing and proximalizing of Dasein to Others and the collective they, Dasein psychologically constructs a social script that reads all of the lines that are â€Å"proper. † The social script is simply a dialogue between Others and/or Dasein that corresponds to the different situations (this could also refer to the authentic Situation which Heidegger describes on pages 346-347) in which Dasein finds itself. These social scripts are provided by the relationships to Others and are derived from idle talk and personal meditation on the questions which conscience brings to Dasein†s attention. Although critical observation is not necessary for proper psychological synthesis of social scripts, the implications of devouring past events and reinterpreting them for future reference is the fulcrum of the interrelatedness of psychology, morality, and temporality as these factors can be named as the shining stars from which the soul of Dasein will descend. It is important to remember that no standard of morality may be set but rather all Dasein has an individual interpretation of it. One may follow traditional Judeo-Christian morality concerning the theological disdain held for physical pleasure and the propagation of guilt through admonitions of original sin. One may decide that the texts† readings are presented for personal interpretation. One may not have any real moral convictions whatever except for an amoral avoidance of pain and pursuit for pleasure. In short, each Dasein must synthesize its own moral, amoral, or immoral disposition through the practice of making decisions based upon an individual character code of morality which is created from observation or experience of social interaction from the beginning of life. So, how does Heidegger leave the soul out of his analysis? Where is the connection? Morality, being a facet of existence concerned with the â€Å"I live my life in this way because it is right for me† is analogous to Heidegger†s â€Å"for-the-sake-of-which† that he uses to describe the structure of the world. He says, â€Å"The â€Å"for-the-sake-of† always pertains to the being of Dasein, for which, in its being, that very being is an issue† (Blackwell, p. 116-117). Hubert Dreyfus† Being-in-the-World (commentary on Being and Time) says: Heidegger uses the term ‘for-the-sake-of-which† to call attention to the way human activity makes long-term sense, thus avoiding any intimation of a final goal. A for-the-sake-of-which, like being a father or being a professor, is not to be thought of as a goal I have in mind and can achieve. Indeed, it is not a goal at all, but rather a self-interpretation that informs and orders all my activities (Dreyfus, p. 5). Why does Dasein feel a need to order its activities? What has the influence over Dasein to create this striving towards a higher existence? Although biologically dubious and philosophically unproven, the soul is the only possible answer. The spirit which moves Dasein, the essence that drives Dasein to seek something better, something higher is an inexplicable yet necessary part of the ontological structure of Dasein. Heidegger explains this phenomenon as Being-towards-Death. Authentic Being-towards-Death signifies Dasein realizing the temporality of its existence and looking-ahead with anticipatory resoluteness. Anticipatory resoluteness is the act of projecting one†s ownmost potentiality for Being against the anxiety of nothingness which Death inspires. Explicitly, this is a realization of moving towards Death as a phenomenon central to existence itself. Authentic Dasein anticipates Death with a resoluteness derived from guilt. Anticipation correlates to authenticity in that it â€Å"brings Dasein face to face with a possibility [Being] which is constantly certain but which at any moment remains indefinite as to when that possibility will become an impossibility [Death]† (Blackwell, p. 56). Inauthentic Being-towards-Death is denoted by Dasein exhibiting its typical average everyday falleness where the they-self sees Death as an impending event that will happen â€Å"someday in the future† without allowing the knowledge of this event to affect any of the â€Å"possibilities of Being† with which Dasein might be presented. If there is an effect on the possibilities of Being in respect to Death, it is very limited and not fully comprehending of the actual nature of Death. In the inauthentic Being-Towards-Death the they-self never â€Å"dies† in the â€Å"existential† conception of Dasein because it is constantly too involved in the world around it to be concerned about its coming possibility-of-not-being-with-Others. Thus, one of the main reasons understanding Death is central to the authentic Being-one†s-Self boils down to understanding exactly how one†s-Self is related to Others. Experiencing Death from a second person point-of-view is psychologically riveting-traumatic, alienating, increasing existential awareness &c. The looking ahead of Dasein to Death produces an anxiety towards nothingness-nullity-a lack of care that is inherent in not-Being-with-Others. Heidegger says, â€Å"Care itself, in its very essence, is permeated with nullity through and through† (Blackwell, p. 331). Lacking care yields guilt in the form of not being able to grasp the meaning of not-Being-with-Others. To make up for this guilt, Dasein moralizes its existence with respect to how life should be lived versus all other possibilities of how it could be lived. Morality must then describe the relation of Being-one†s-Self through Others in relation to former psychological phenomena such as attending a funeral. Care, however, cannot be pure nullity as this undermines the entire structure of care in a nihilistic fashion. Heidegger is proposing that care is nothingness, thus eliminating its necessity and making it merely an arbitrary condition of Dasein. In contrast to this perspective, morality is not only looking ahead, but also compensation for the thrown loneliness of existence. Since no one can share in the phenomenon of Death, no one ever has a partner, friend, lover, or mate forever. This inspires a moral sympathy that caters to social utility and also individual welfare. Others† Being-towards-Death can be contemplated by Dasein but never experienced. This links all Dasein by way of providing a moralized and honest care towards each other and is explained by the inexplicable concept of a unitary Soul composed of the psychologically crafted and morally directed souls of all Dasein who are locked in their thrown loneliness. This of course raises still more questions that must be answered before Dasein is fully elucidated.

Idiot Nation Draft 1 Essay - 1325 Words

Andrew Romero Prof. Cathy Arellano ENGWR 300 Purple 28 September 2016 Idiot Nation: Draft 1 Across America, you d be hard pressed to find a person that doesnt agree that everyone should receive a free education. Because of this, most everyone goes to high school, or at the very least receives an equivalent education. However, after this free education is done, many high school graduates are pushed to continue their studies in colleges and universities. And while these facilities are believed to help their students to become a part of the contribution to becoming a smarter nation, Michael Moore takes issue with this statement in his essay â€Å"Idiot Nation.† And from the way things are going, Michael Moore is correct. It does indeed feel like we live in a nation of idiots. Moore goes on to explain the various causes of this phenomenon, but the main culprits of the fall of our educational system can be traced back to three things: The poor educational system itself, the government and people s lack of support, and the ever-lowering motivation to attend higher education to better oneself. Let s begin with our standards of education here in America. We are at a far lower placing than several other first world countries in terms of standards for our education. In fact, an article from the MBC Times ranks the US 14th worldwide. In order the rankings read something like this: South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland,Show MoreRelatedEssay on William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton: A Brief Biography1270 Words   |  6 Pageslearned to play the saxophone. He was so good that he even lead the class for the instructor. Clinton wanted to be a musician when he got older, but one summer that all changed. 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Chapter 1 .......................................................................................................6 Newspaper texts. Difficulties of translation. 2.1 Types of newspaper documents. Newspaper style. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 2.2. Linguistic peculiarities of newspaperRead MoreImmigration And Nationalities Act : Human Resource Management3904 Words   |  16 Pagesbasic reading skills necessary to be accepted. The Asiatic Barred Zone is an area that not owned by the United States and connected to the continent of Asia. Citizens who lived in those adjacent countries were barred as well. Also those who were â€Å"idiots,† epileptics, alcoholics, poor, insane, criminals, or sick were not allowed to be accepted. â€Å"Prostitutes and anyone involved in or with prostitution were also barred from entering the United States† (S. Starkweather). 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See you in Japanese - How to say see you in Japanese

Meaning: See you. Pronunciation: Listen to the audio file for Dewa mata. Japanese Characters: 㠁 §Ã£  ¯Ã£â‚¬ Ã£  ¾Ã£ Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š Notes: Ja mata 㠁˜ã‚Æ'〠Ã£  ¾Ã£ Å¸ or Ja ne 㠁˜ã‚Æ'㠁 ­ can be used in informal situations. Click here to learn more about parting expressions.   More Partings: Next phrasePartings Archive

Gambling In The Elizabethan Era - 1009 Words

Gambling was a favourite past time in the Elizabethan era. Anther word for gambling is gaming. Gambling is games that you bet money in the hope of winning more money back. These games ranged from board, card and dice games. Gaming/gambling were sometimes played in theatres such as the ones that Shakespeare’s plays were in. Other popular venues were gambling dens and houses. Although the stereotypical gambler is a poor man spending his wages, Queen Elizabeth I did like to play these sorts of games. In the Merchant of Venice, some examples of gambling include: the merchant, Antonio, loans money from Shylock at the price of not returning the money, a†¦show more content†¦It is an Old English game that is played with two dice. Rule are as followed: Any number of people can play, but only one player — the caster — has the dice at any one time. In each turn, the caster chooses a number between 5 and 9 and this number is called the main. He then throws two dice. If he rolls the main, he wins (throws in or nicks). If he rolls a 2 or a 3, he loses (throws out). If he rolls an 11 or 12, the result depends on the main: with a main of 5 or 9, he throws out with both an 11 and a 12; with a main of 6 or 8, he throws out with an 11 but nicks with a 12; with a main of 7, he nicks with an 11 but throws out with a 12. If he neither nicks nor throws out, the number thrown is called the chance. Then he throws the dice again. if he rolls the chance, he wins. if he rolls the main, he loses (which is unlike on the first throw.) if he rolls neither, it is still his turn, ( and keeps throwing,) until he rolls the chance or the main, with winning with the chance and losing with the main. It is easier to explain on this table; Main Nicks Outs Chance 5 5 2,3,11,12 Anything else 6 6,12 2,3,11 7 7,11 2,3,12 8 8,12 2,3,11 9 9 2,3,11,12 If the caster keeps on winning, the caster keeps on playing, but if he wins three times in a row, he must pass the dice to the player on his left, who becomes the new caster. A lot of the games we play today, have ancestor games that were played in the ElizabethanShow MoreRelatedSports, Games, and Pastimes of the Elizabethan Era1394 Words   |  6 Pagesno attention to, but they have been effectively abandoned and omitted. The Elizabethan hobbies have been thoroughly overshadowed by many modern sports such as baseball, football, soccer, hockey, and an abundant amount of other games. The 16th century English pastimes included many activities that were impeccable examples of both simplicity and amusement intertwined. With all of these amusing yet transparent games, the era was most acknowledged for theater- a prominent art that is still valued todayRead MoreThe Development And Popularity Of The Elizabethan Theatre1289 Words   |  6 Pages The Development and Popularity of the Elizabethan Theatre I. Introduction Hook: What type of entertainment could have been available in the Elizabethan era without actors or tv? A. Elizabethan Era 1. Forms of Entertainment Elizabethan entertainment was very important to the people, as it gave them a chance to take a break form their hard lives. a. â€Å"Court entertainment was regular, often nightly occurrence combined with feasts, jousts, and banquets often occompainies by music and dancingRead MoreThe Elizabethan Era 1663 Words   |  7 Pagesentertainment during the Elizabethan era. Musicians composed new types of music, poets expressed their feeling through poetry, and playwrights wrote plays of different types of genres. 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This was a plan that was created to blow up the Houses of Parliament while all the important political powers were in the building. Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes planned this event so that they could put James’ daughter on the throne and

Media Stereotyping Free Essays

IndividualFinal Project| Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper that answers the following questions: * In what ways does the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. * In what ways does the media help foster appreciation for diversity? Provide examples to support your assertion. * How might individuals and the United States work together to reduce prejudice and increase appreciation for diversity? * How might you change your own behaviors to be more inclusive and pluralistic? | Day 7| 10| ————————————————- * In what ways do the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Stereotyping or any similar topic only for you Order Now America is a relatively young country born in war and to this day continues to struggle with its identity. What makes this country strong is the ideals of freedom and equality. â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created†. This is the ideal makes America strong, that no matter where you come from rich or poor that you as an American can achieve the American dream. We have had our struggles, but that is what makes us strong. It is not been an easy journey, we have paid dearly for our freedoms and our way of life. Some people have paid more than others to struggle for the freedoms guaranteed from being an American. Diversity can be traced all the same lines as civil rights movement in America. There is been a fierce battle for independence of different peoples spread across this land. From the deep South and the marches of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Northeast and the persecution of the Puritans. The Southwest has become the new battleground for diversity with the battle against illegal immigration. Some of the information about diversity United States is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. To truly understand the struggles of the civil rights movement and the role of diversity in the southern states throughout the 50s and 60s, you really have to go and see the bus seat of Rosa Parks. You have to see the soda fountain counter and the fire hose used to what a young black man down the street in Birmingham Alabama. I think that the most important point about diversity and one that cannot be silenced as the voices of the people that live this struggle every day, and the forums like this class that bring people from all walks of life from around the globe together to expose the ignorance of racism and prejudice and discrimination. Have you learned something new about your own racial, ethnic, or cultural history? * My history is of Irish decent we came to America for better life. We paid that price in hard work and blood. We came here as indentured servants that we had to work our way to freedom, never once was the American dream promised to us we earned everything. I think that the struggle that we had to go through game us a sense of pride in America. It was the Chinese and the Irish that built the railroads across this country. We dug the coal that fired the furnaces of the steel mills and we came from places like Hell’s kitchen New York City. What this forum has done for me has given me a sense of pride that just not the Irish and the Chinese struggle for the freedom but it seems as if all of the in one way or another had to fight for everything that we have accomplished. Trends in immigration will continue to shape the demographics of the United States. What will the U. S. population look like in the year 2050? Why do you think so? Everybody around the world wants what America has because we have the ideals of freedoms and the dreams of success the great immigration to America will continue. At the present time America has about 20 million immigrants from Mexico and South America. As economies of Third World country continue to deteriorate more and more people will come to America. Everybody wants what America has but because of the agendas of Third World country politicians and the corruption of governments and the war over illegal criminal activities the safe haven of America will still be the priority of people around the world. The demographics of the United States we will continue to move to a change in diversity from a white majority to really know majority at all. The Hispanic population continues to grow in America while the white population continues to decline. The African-American population has already moved from the largest minority to the second largest minority be replaced by the Hispanic minority. If this trend continues by 2050 we can see the Hispanic population become the majority of the largest minority and other people who have not had to fight for civil rights may now find themselves as a beneficiary of those civil rights battles fought by other minorities. What challenges does the United States face due to the diversity of its people? The first issue that comes to mind is language. If the Hispanic population becomes a majority will we see a change in the language that is not only taught but spoken in America. Many merchants and government agencies now speak Spanish as well as English. The challenge of communication is going to be getting everyone on the same sheet of music. I recently been into a store that is predominantly Hispanic and many of the labels are printed in Spanish I have also been a store where the labels are printed in Arabic in order for America to maintain diversity without separation we will have to have a common language that is spoken and written by everyone. Any area of civil rights those court cases that were settled with the idea of a white majority and other minorities may now be referred as a white majority will find itself as a minority. So with that in mind will we see affirmative action for white people? What will be the reaction of the minorities and those court cases are turned around and used against them. What are the benefits of such a diverse society? The benefits of a diverse society is one that a brings equality everyone. With a more diverse society we should not see the need for racial, sexual or disability court cases. More diverse society will be a more understanding society by that I mean that we should not have to force a building or company to put in a wheelchair ramp it will simply be understood that one is needed. The more understanding society will bring about the benefits of less crime less people in prison which will save us all tax dollars and the burdens that are put upon society by hate crimes. The benefits of this society will only continue to get better as the ignorance of discrimination is eliminated from our mindset. How can we foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the United States? * The foster a climate of acceptance in United States we will need to revamp our education system. We need to bring more exposure of different races into the schools of our children. We will never defeat the closed minds of the ignorant until we put those prejudices to the test of a person to person encounter. To say that we hate black people when we have never met black people and we’re only going on what we see on TV, we are basing our prejudices on what other people want us to believe. If we are going to defeat discrimination and bring about cultural pluralism we will need to put those thoughts in the minds of our children. Education and first-hand experience is the only way they were going to bring about pluralism in the United States. There are too many rural communities where prejudices still exist today based upon ideals from 50 years ago. In what ways do the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. How to cite Media Stereotyping, Essay examples

Financial Executives and Research Foundation - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Financial Executives and Research Foundation. Answer: Introduction Ausenco is an engineering company that was founded in Brisbane, Australia in the year 1991 by the current CEO and managing director Zimi Meka and Bob Thorpe one of the board members in the company. It was listed in the year 2006 in the Australian stock exchange, ASX. It has multiple subsidiaries which are working also in both South and North America. Ausenco began expanding in 2008 by acquiring other companies to enhance their services in pipeline systems and vector engineering. It also invested in coal handling processing plants (Beechy et al., 2014). However, the company has tested several assets for impairment since their acquisition. As of end of financial year 2015, the company reported revenue of $179.15 million, a gross profit of $ 152.337 million, a negative operating income of $-52.971 million, a net loss of 62.717 million and a negative diluted earning per share of 0.36 Within your firms latest annual report, find Assets meant for impairment in the company Impairment: what is meant by impairment of an asset? The term "impairment" does not indicate anything other than a devaluation, that is to say, that the current value of an asset no longer corresponds to the book value (value of the asset registered in the books), which generates an error in the balance sheet, If the value of an asset rises too much, the benefits and the losses derived could be erroneous. In principle, both assets and liabilities of a balance can deteriorate. There are several assets that have been tested for impairment. This Standard should be applied in accounting for impairments of any asset class, except for the following: (a) Assets that may arise from contracts on construction (b) There is also impairment of deferred assets tax (c) Employee benefits cost assets can be impaired (d) Financial instruments as disclosed in the scope of IAS 32 (e) Property investment measured at fair value (f) Impairment on lists of subsidiaries owned by the company (g) Joint venture How the company conducts its impairment testing Impairment test: what is it and when does it apply? The value of a company's assets is not engraved in stone. Financial crises, natural catastrophes or market fluctuations can cause unforeseen devaluations of their value. As soon as an indication of such loss of value of the assets included in the balance sheet is detected, it is time to carry out an impairment test or asset impairment test (Lewis, 2011). Thanks to this valuation possible errors in the balance are corrected and the real value of the company is judged more adequately. Index Impairment: what is meant by impairment of an asset? What is the utility of an impairment test? How to make a goodwill impairment test: Although there are territorial differences that affect the accounting of companies, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) establish IAS 36 at the supranational level, with IAS 36 as its Spanish equivalent, as the standard that defines asset impairment and its calculation. Only those values that are already regulated by other standards, such as, for example, inventories, financial instruments or real estate investments are excluded from it. The amount in the books of the assets is greater than its value in the stock market Intangible assets with an unlimited useful life or that cannot yet be used and goodwill, on the other hand, must be subjected to this impairment test every year, although the date can be freely chosen. Of course, in the consecutive years the chosen date must be maintained the first time. Has the company recorded any impairment within the financial fear Losses due to deterioration of the value of the patrimonial elements In accounting terms, there will be an impairment loss on an item of PPE or assets when its book value exceeds its amount recoverable, understood as the greater of its fair value less selling costs and its value that is currently in use (Kothari and Barone, 2011). In any loss of impairment, the accounting entry principle applies, which means that any unaccounted loss, in general, cannot be tax deductible in any case. That the period of six months from the expiration of the obligation has elapsed. That the debtor is declared in a competitive situation. That the debtor is prosecuted for a crime of raising property. That the credit has been claimed judicially or on the same has arisen litigation whose resolution depends on its collection. However, even if any of the above circumstances are met, the losses will not be deductible with respect to those listed below, unless they are the subject of an arbitration or judicial proceeding regarding their existence or amount: Those owed or secured by entities under public law. Those secured by credit institutions or reciprocal guarantee societies. Those that are guaranteed by real rights, pact of reservation of ownership and right of retention, except in cases of loss or debasement of the guarantee. Those guaranteed by a credit insurance or surety contract. Those that have been subject to renewal or express extension. Key estimates and assumptions in impairment of assets Define the rule for the calculation and recognition of losses due to deterioration of assets and their reversal. Establish rules for the presentation and disclosure of assets whose value has deteriorated or its deterioration has been reversed. Long-term assets They are those that remain in the long term, necessary for the operation of an entity from which the generation of future economic benefits is expected or that acquired for these purposes its disposition is decided (Harrington, Nunes and Roland, 2010). Operating assets. They are long-lived assets that directly generate cash flows. Signs of deterioration Some of the signs of the possible deterioration of long-lived assets in use are: Significant decrease in the market value of an asset. Significant reduction in the use of installed capacity. Loss of market of products or services provided by the entity. Technological changes. Physical damages. Suspension or cancellation of a franchise, license, etcetera. Subjectivity involved in the impairment testing process? Operating losses or negative cash flows in the period, combined with a loss history or projections that confirm the trend of continuous losses associated with a cash-generating unit. Gross loss in the entity or in one of its significant components. Depreciation and amortization charged to results that, in percentage terms in relation to income, are substantially higher than those of previous years. In addition to the above indications for the purpose of identifying whether a permanent investment, including its goodwill, is subject to the evaluation of potential loss. What is the utility of an impairment test? At the international level, the IFRS or the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) are the norms that regulate the application of the impairment test, which consists of a forced impairment test and with which it is a matter of knowing the real value of the assets assets. With this information, a reliable statement about the current status of the assets can be issued, which is especially significant for investors (Harrington, Nunes and Roland, 2010). According to IAS 36, it is necessary to carry out an impairment test whenever an indication of depreciation is detected in an asset that could come from internal or external evidence (internal and external sources in IAS 36). Internal sources could be, for example: Unfavorable changes in the financial and market environment Increase in market interest rates Interesting and confusing bits in impairment testing Most of the assets of a company, such as machinery, automobiles or computer equipment, are subject to deterioration due to use. For this type of goods, a systematic amortization is established in which the bookkeepers amortize the fixed assets regularly from the moment they start operating until they are sold, lost or scrapped. Apart from this constant depreciation, the accounting also foresees those cases in which the assets, although amortized according to the established plan, may also be affected by unexpected losses of value, or those with an indefinite useful life (which should not be amortize in fixed terms). In both cases, a deterioration test must be carried out (Harrington, Nunes and Roland, 2010). Insights on how companies conduct impairment testing? Deterioration. Existing condition when the future economic benefits, that is, their recovery value, of the "long-term assets" in use or disposition are lower than their "net book value". Recovery value. It is the highest between the "use value" and the "net sale price" a "cash generating unit". Long-term assets in use In the presence of any of the signs of impairment of a long-lived asset in use, entities must determine the possible loss due to deterioration, unless they have evidence that such indications are temporary. For this purpose, the recovery value of the cash generating unit will be determined. Sale price minus termination and sale costs fair value measurement This Standard is applicable to assets that are accounted for at their revalued value (fair value) following other International Accounting Standards, as is the case with the alternative treatment permitted by IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment. However, determining whether a previously revalued asset may have deteriorated, due to unexpected causes, depends on the criteria used to determine the fair value: Reasons why the IASB chairman thinks that leases do not reflect the state of the economy The (IASB) issued a new accounting standard on leases called IFRS 16, which will be applicable as of January 1, 2019. This standard applies to all leases, including those of the right to use subleases, with certain exceptions. The chairperson of the IASB said that this new accounting regulation will generate a significant impact on the entities, since now the lessees must reflect in their statements of financial position the effect of the lease contracts that are in force (Hitchner, Hyden and Mard, 2013). The IASB conducted a study in January 2016 in which it concluded, on a sample of 1,022 listed companies worldwide, that the current estimated value of future payments of current leases that are not shown in the statements of financial position ( operating leases) would represent 5.4 percent of the total assets already registered in those companies. The study shows how this percentage varies by sectors, for example, for airlines and retail (retail) is four times this average (about 20 percent). IFRS 16 substantially maintains the accounting requirements of the lessor established by IAS 17 Leases and requires the lessor to classify the lease as operating or financial. You can also read: Evaluate efforts and improve processes Off balance sheet lease liabilities The general objective of IFRS 16 is for entities to provide information that allows financial statements users to evaluate the leases effect on the financial situation, result and lessee cashflow. The Standard extends considerably the current information requirements on leases. In order to respond to the concerns expressed by many companies regarding the cost / benefit of applying IFRS 16 to certain rental agreements, the IASB has included some simplification, allowing accounting for short-term leases and leases of low-value assets directly as an expense, usually on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease (that is, continue with the accounting as current operating leases). With the implementation of the Standard, the lessee must recognize on the lease start date a right to use the asset and a lease liability (Hitchner, Hyden and Mard, 2013). You might also be interested: Entities must address changes in IFRS The cost of the right to use the assets will include the amount of the initial value of the lease liability (as described below), any payment paid to the lessor in advance, the initial direct costs incurred and an estimate of the costs to be incurred for the dismantling or restoration of assets. (iii) Reasons for lack of a level playing field between some airlines companies? The entities must value the lease liabilities at the current value of their lease payments, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease, if said interest rate can be easily determined, otherwise use the incremental interest rate of their loans. The lease liabilities must include, in addition to the fixed installments minus any incentive to receive, the variable installments that depend on an index or interest rate, payments to be made for residual value guarantees, the exercise price of the purchase option (when there is certainty to exercise it), and penalty payments for terminating the lease. What would cause this unpopularity according to the chairman? We invite you to evaluate the potential impact of the Standard on your company's financial statements, in addition to the effects on key indicators and metrics of your business, and the impacts that derive from them for contracts, such as covenant clauses in debt contracts, management remuneration contracts, etc., and even in credit risk and interest rates of financing (Hitchner, Hyden and Mard, 2013). Entry into force of the standard. The entry into force of the Standard for the years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, contemplates a certain time horizon ahead because the IASB understands that a broad transition period is necessary, both because of the magnitude of the changes and because of the the application the previous year (January 1, 2018) of the new IFRS 9. The right to use will be subject to systematic amortization during the term of the lease. Likewise, a financial expense will be recognized in the accounts for the interest related to the payment of deferred amounts. In this way, the linear lease expense arising from the current standard will be replaced by a constant amortization expense and decreasing financial expenses, which will alter the final result of the year. Consequently, the accounting implications in the tenant's balance sheet could be significant given the necessary recognition of some liabilities and assets that were out of balance to date. No less important are the effects on the profit and loss accounts, since the profit before taxes will be penalized by the recognition of a higher financial burden during the first years of the contract, and by the change in operating and financial margins. with respect to the current model (Kothari and Barone, 2011). IFRS 16 deals with both the identification of lease agreements and their accounting treatment in the financial statements of lessees and lessors. The new standard will replace current IAS 17 (and associated interpretations). There are very significant changes in the tenant's accounting. Operating leases, currently "off-balance", will enter the balance sheet. The current classification test disappears. The differentiation between financial and operating leases is eliminated. There will be a single lease model in which all rents are recognized in the balance sheet (more active and passive), as if they were financed purchases, with limited exceptions for short-term leases and leases of low-value assets. No substantial changes for the landlord. On the contrary, there are practically no changes in the accounting of the lessors, which will continue with a dual model similar to the current IAS 17. (v) reasons why the new visibility of all leases will lead to better informed investment versus buy Givers will continue to do a classification test to distinguish between financial and operational leases. IFRS 16 substantially maintains the accounting requirements of the lessor of IAS 17 IFRS 16 requires the lessor to classify the lease as operating or financial. A financial lease is a lease in which all the risks and benefits derived from the ownership of the asset are substantially transferred. The Standard includes examples of situations in which a lease is classified as a finance lease. 5. Sale lease back real estate. Sale and Leaseback Transactions The companies that have sold their headquarters but remain as lessees (sale lease back real estate) will see their liabilities increase. This aspect is specifically addressed in IFRS 16 both from the point of view of the seller lessee as the buyer lessor (Kothari and Barone, 2011). Seller tenant Recognizes a right of use, calculated as a percentage of the previous book value of the asset, which represents the right of use that ha s been retained. References Beechy, T., Trivedi, V., MacAuley, K. and Beechy, T. (2014).Advanced financial accounting. Toronto: Pearson. Harrington, J., Nunes, C. and Roland, G. (2010).2010 goodwill impairment study. [Morristown, N.J.]: Financial Executives Research Foundation. Hitchner, J., Hyden, S. and Mard, M. (2013).Valuation for financial reporting. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Kothari, J. and Barone, E. (2011).Advanced financial accounting. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Lewis, R. (2011).Advanced Financial Accounting. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.