Counterintuitive Spring 2023

The Buy-One-Get-One Dilemma

For my research I want to look into the business practices of the buy-one-give-one company of Toms to see if their “buy-one-give-one” model of conducting business is really helping those who it it claims to help. My research will look into the model of buy-one-give-one in detail and look at few companies models, however Toms will be the prime subject. In addition to the business end, I will also look into how the donations of Toms (the shoes in particular as that was how the company started out) affects the communities that the donations arrive at. This idea is fueled by the large amount of skepticism at the business model of “buy-one-give-one”.

Sources

“Do Toms Shoes Really Help People?”

This article is a good introduction to the model of buy-one-give-one of Toms, as well as other companies. This article also describes the skepticism behind Toms and will be used to introduce the topic.

“The One-for-one Business Model: Avoiding Unintended Consequences”

This article discusses the skepticism of the one-for-one model in terms of its effects on the receiving country. The main focus of course being Toms. This article will be used mostly to set the stage for the skepticism behind Toms, and also to shed light on what happens when goods are given to a community.

“Beyond Buy-One-Give-One Retail”

This article provides both sides of the argument on buy-one-give-one and will be used to provide cases for the arguments that will be researched.

“The Cobbler’s Conundrum”

This article provides an in depth look at the Toms Company and will be used to learn about the company.

“Do in-kind transfers damage local markets? The case if Toms shoe donations in El Salvador”

This article, and articles like it, will be used to form conclusions as the articles of this type are actual experiments.

For my research essay, I will be exploring the practice of posthumous baptism by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the ethical and practical issues therein.  Evidently, it is a common practice for the Mormon Church to baptize people after they day, so that they may be saved and enter the Mormon’s idea of heaven, known as the Celestial Kingdom.  This idea seems unusual, as it may seem odd to believe that someone may be saved after they die.  However, there is a more unusual aspect to this practice that makes the concept of posthumous baptism seem quite normal—apparently, one does not even have to be Mormon in order to be baptized by the Church.

Relatively recently, in the year 2012, none other than Anne Frank was baptized by the Mormon Church.  As anyone with a decent understanding of history knows, Anne Frank was most certainly not Mormon, but rather Jewish.  Furthermore, the Church once baptized Elie Weisel, who is not only not Mormon, but also not dead.  In my essay, I intend to explore the various facets of this unusual practice, as well as the odd lack of prerequisites that a dead person must have in order to be baptized.  As this is not practiced by any other major religion, I plan to understand and analyze why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carries out this seemingly preposterous custom.

Sources:

1. Why do Mormons perform baptisms for the dead?

Background: This is a Frequently Asked Questions page on Mormon.org, explaining why and how the deceased are baptized by the Church.

How I Intend to Use It: This will allow me to explain and elaborate upon the practice of posthumous baptism.

2. Here Are 10 Famous People Posthumously Baptized By Mormons

Background: This article contains a list of people who were posthumously baptized by the Church, none of whom were Mormon.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to further outline the counterintuition of posthumous baptism by giving further examples of non-Mormons who were baptized by the Church.

3. Jews Take Issue With Posthumous Mormon Baptisms

Background: This article discusses the fact that the Jewish church has taken issue with members of their faith being posthumously baptized.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to explain the various reactions to the posthumous baptism of non-Mormons, and question why the Church continues to baptize members of other churches after their death in spite of requests not to do so.

4. The Time Mormons Baptized Adolf Hitler and Vlad the Impaler

Background: In this article, the practice of posthumous baptism is further explained, as well giving information on certain historical figures who have been baptized after their death.

How I Intend to Use It: This article will allow me to analyze the people who have been baptized after their death, and investigate apparent lack of any qualifications that one must have in order to be baptized by the Mormon Church

5. Why do Mormons baptize people after they’re dead and how do they do it?

Background: This article explains how and why the Church baptizes people after their death, as well as provides information on the Church’s reasoning behind the process.  Additionally, it offers a list of people (not Mormons, mind you) who have been baptized by the Church after their death.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to analyze the practice of posthumous baptism, as well as the rationale behind the practice.  I will also use it to elaborate on the counterintuitive idea that one does not have to be Mormon or dead to be posthumously baptized by the church.

For my research essay, I’ll be examining the accountability of Doctors in Medicine. Throughout the years, Doctor accountability has been a problem. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine released a report to improve doctor accountability because there were tragic deaths due to small mistakes. About 1 million people are harmed because of infections or surgical mistakes.

Medical Personnel make these small mistakes that can cause harm to people or even death. These mistakes can be fixed, however, the company does not look into the mistakes made by the medical personnel. These mistakes will only change if the medical personnel are held accountable for these small mistakes. They will try harder and try not to make mistakes during work.

http://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/item/medical-errors-chat

This article gives me statistics of how many people were injured because of medical error. This also led me to another article from the Institute of Medicine.

Click to access To%20Err%20is%20Human%201999%20%20report%20brief.pdf

This is the report was written by the Institute of Medicine containing common errors that doctors make. Also solutions for accountability for medical personnel.

http://www.nursingcenter.com/static?pageid=935642

This website gives us an idea on how to improve health care and the accountability from health care professions. This also describes what accountability is and why it’s important.

This article talks about how doctors should be accountable for medical errors. Also, the article talks about patients and why they’re important.

http://www.physicianspractice.com/staff/medical-staff-accountability-will-improve-performance

This article talks about how doctors would try harder if they are accountable for their mistakes. This will improve the medical personnel’s overall performance.

For my research topic I will be examining how the search for meaning and purpose in life can create happiness even in bad situations. As most people misguidedly believe, happiness is the end goal of life. If we’re happy, then life is good. But happiness is rather a shallow concept. Our ideal concept of happiness is comfort, no problems in life, surrounded by all of our closest family and friends. But life has more to it than that. We will always encounter problems, there will always be bad days, and loneliness will show its face more than we’d like.

What we’re really searching for is meaning in our lives. No matter what our circumstances are, we can create happiness in our lives. With a little hard work, motivation, and dedication, we can lead productive, fulfilling lives, and give ourselves meaning. We can wake up everyday with a clear goal in mind, and in so doing, create happiness.

There’s More to Life than Being Happy

This is the article originally posted on the blog. I will use it as my source of general information to give the reader some background.

3 Principles for Accepting Yourself and Being Authentically Happy

I will use this short article, written in the first person, as a down-to-earth example of creating happiness and meaning amidst awful circumstances.

How to Create (Not Find) the Meaning of Your Life

I will use this article to back up my thesis that meaning and happiness is created by oneself. We don’t inherently have meaning in our lives.

Creating Meaning in Your Life

I will use this article because it has several suggestions and ideas to help creating meaning in one’s life, even amidst severe depression or anxiety.

How to Escape Despair and Bring Meaning to Your Life

I will use this article as a way to talk about the fact that despite looking for meaning in our lives, we fail often. Creating a purposeful life is hard work, one that requires much time and effort, but is very worth it.

Consent is Sexy

For my research topic is be examining rape, rape culture, what defines it, and how it should be handled in a disciplinary manner. For centuries, we let men define rape and what constitutes being raped. 1 out of every 6 women In the United States have been victim to rape, attempted rape or aggravated assault in their lifetime. When it comes to males, 1 in every 33 may be victims of rape or attempted rape. This means that 9 out of every 10 rape victims are females. The male stigma of what constitutes rape has contributed to the fact that only 1 in every 16 rapists spend a night in jail.

The biggest problem with rape and rape culture is that instead of teaching boys not to rape, we are teaching girls how not to get raped. And suddenly every girl who wears a short pair of shorts and tank top is “asking for it.” So when people fall victim to rape, we don’t take appropriate action in punishing the rapists.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/men-defining-rape-history

This is the article you posted on the blog that gives a detailed history of rape and how men have defined it for centuries. If gives different beliefs associated with rape and how it was handles throughout history.

http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/

This website will be helpful because it gives me detailed information on rape culture and where the concept originated. It is where I found a key point noting that we live in a society where we teach girls not to get raped rather than teaching boys not to be rapists.

http://www.girlshealth.gov/safety/saferelationships/daterape.html

This website gave me a deeper understanding of what date rape is and how rape isn’t just limited to sex. It also focuses on how to be safer to avoid date rape drugs.

http://www.rccmsc.org/resources/get-the-facts.aspx

This website provide me with statistics that will be helpful throughout my paper. It elaborates on how many people fall victim to rape each year, how many men, and how many women. It also goes over how many rapists face jail time.

https://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/punishing-rapists

This website provided details to punishments to rapists. It also elaborates on the types of relationships the rapists usually have to the victim. It goes over the age range of most victims and what time of day their attackers struck.