Definition – Fulcrum66

Posted on March 23, 2023 by fulcrum66

Exercise: Why Do You Hate it?

Exercise adherence is the capacity to consistently partake in physical exercise over time. It requires dedication to consistent workout schedules and while also managing a busy lifestyle. Self motivation is a key element to your mindset when pursuing physical activity and will allow you to stay committed to your own personal goals. A social support system is a great way to have a trusted outside source make sure you stay true to your goals. This outside support could come from a friend or family member who cares about your health and wants to see you achieve your greatest desires. Group exercise is also a great approach to a social support system because yourself and the other individuals you are working out with may share the same end goals which will drive everyone to wanting to be successful. Implementing basic fitness in daily routines will set little challenges for you that will in the long run benefit you as an individual. An example of basic fitness that you can add to your daily routines could be going for a walk or finding time throughout the day to do a mini workout circuit. An individual’s personal health will be the deciding factor for their consistency with fitness. A person’s weight, age and overall bodily health will affect consistency and it is a great idea to consult with a healthcare professional to figure out what plan of action is the best for you. As a result, maintaining a physical activity regimen is crucial for achieving long-term health benefits. 

Motivating yourself to exercise can be a challenge that some people may be experiencing. When confronted with busy schedules, physical discomfort, or other obstacles to exercise, it can be challenging to maintain motivation. In a study conducted by researchers, Kylie Wilson and Darren Brookefield they took a group of individuals with a basic fitness background and tested to see if motivation really affects your workout. Wilson and Darren’s reports explains, “Participants in the process goal group scored significantly higher interest/enjoyment and perceived choice, significantly lower pressure/tension, and had significantly greater adherence compared to the outcome goal and control groups.” Setting specific, measurable objectives is a proven method for keeping motivation high. Realistic, achievable, and customized to each person’s preferences and capabilities are the three aspects of an effective goal. For instance, a regular exerciser might aim to walk for thirty minutes three times per week, whereas a more accomplished athlete might make the goal of finishing a half marathon. Persons can monitor their development and maintain exercise motivation by setting specific goals relevant to their own personal health.

Social support is another critical element to exercise adherence. The encouragement, accountability, and motivation that social support can offer to keep up with your exercise routine can come from peers, family, or your exercise partners. According to studies, individuals who work out in groups have a higher likelihood of sticking to their exercise plans than those who work out alone. In a study conducted by Sage Journals, researchers found evidence that shows group activity not only will make individuals adhere to their workout, but also improve balance and functional status. Subjects in the study all contained multiple sclerosis and after the study was conducted the subjects reported that symptoms did not worsen which may lead to those individuals wanting to continue physical activity. It’s critical to find physical activities that you enjoy and can maintain, in addition to establishing goals and looking for social support. Exercise should feel rewarding and enjoyable rather than like a job or a punishment. People are more likely to stick with their exercise routines over time if they can discover activities they enjoy doing and set achievable goals that will benefit their health.

 Lastly, it’s crucial to include exercise in everyday routines. This could entail coming up with creative approaches to stay active throughout the day, like using the stairs rather than the elevator or going for a walk during lunch. An active lifestyle can be maintained and healthy habits can be formed by incorporating exercise into daily activities.

 Even though consistent exercise is crucial for long-term health benefits, it’s essential to remember that consistency can vary depending on various factors. Age, gender, bodily health, and personal preferences, for instance, can all affect exercise adherence. It can be challenging to keep regular exercise routines due to obstacles like time restraints, access to exercise facilities, and physical limitations. Working with a healthcare professional or exercise specialist who can offer personalized guidance and support is essential to overcoming these obstacles. Health care professionals can offer advice on how to remove obstacles to exercise, create safe and effective exercise routines with them, and track their development over time. There are a number of other methods that people can use to get past obstacles to exercising consistently, in addition to getting professional advice. For instance, adding mindfulness and relaxation exercises to your exercise regimens can help you feel better and work out more effectively. In conclusion, concentrating on the advantages of exercise, such as enhanced health and wellbeing, can support people in maintaining their motivation and dedication to their exercise regimens.

To conclude, here are a number of other strategies that can assist people in overcoming obstacles to exercise adherence in addition to obtaining professional advice. For instance, creating a source of self motivation will allow you to get to the goals you want to achieve. A social support system is an outside person who will help you get your goals and this can come from friends, family members, or the people you workout with. Implementing fitness in your daily routines will allow you to set larger goals throughout the day by achieving the small ones first. Finally, considering your own personal bodily factors and talking with a healthcare professional will allow you to create your health based fitness goals. Furthermore, concentrating on the advantages of exercise, such as enhanced health and wellbeing, can support people in maintaining their motivation and dedication to their exercise regimens.

References

Home. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269215513481047?journalCode=crea

Rice, D., & Galbraith, M. (2008, November 16).,, – YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1612197X.2009.9671894.

Posted in Definition, Fulcrum, Portfolio Fulcrum, Portfolio SP23, Tasks | 1 Comment

Causal- Saycheese

Posted on March 23, 2023 by saycheese03

I could use some help getting started on my casual argument if it isn’t a problem professor. Thank you.

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio Tasks, SayCheese | 3 Comments

Causal Rewrite – PhilsFan1133

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Jacob Pasquale

The Impact of Online Sports Betting on Point Shaving in Sports

Point shaving is a form of sports corruption where athletes deliberately perform below their capabilities in a game, thereby losing by a margin lower than the spread. This practice has been prevalent in American sports for decades, with several high-profile cases surfacing over the years. While there are various factors that drive athletes to engage in point shaving, one of the most significant is the rise of online sports betting.

Online sports betting has exploded in popularity over the past decade, with millions of people placing bets on games and matches every day. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global online gambling market size was valued at USD 53.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2020 to 2027. This tremendous growth in the online gambling industry has had a direct impact on the incidence of point shaving in sports.

One of the main reasons why online betting has contributed to the rise of point shaving is the ease with which bets can be placed on individual games and the availability of real-time updates on the betting market. With the advent of online sportsbooks and mobile betting apps, anyone with an internet connection can place a bet on a game from anywhere in the world. This has led to a massive increase in the volume of bets being placed on games and matches, and consequently, a rise in the size of the gambling market.

As the size of the gambling market has grown, so too has the amount of money being wagered on point spreads. A point spread is a handicap placed on the team that is considered the favorite to win a game, in order to level the playing field and make betting more attractive. For example, if the Boston Celtics are playing the New York Knicks and are favored to win by 10 points, the point spread would be set at 10 points. Bettors who place a bet on the Celtics would only win if they win by more than 10 points, while those who bet on the Knicks would win if the Knicks lose by less than 10 points or win outright.

This is where point shaving comes in. Athletes who are willing to engage in point shaving can deliberately underperform in a game, thereby allowing their opponents to keep the score within the point spread. This benefits the athletes who have bet on the underdog, as well as the corrupt bettors who have offered them incentives to shave points. In this way, point shaving allows both athletes and bettors to profit from the game, at the expense of the integrity of the sport.

It is important to note that not all athletes are susceptible to point shaving. For an athlete to be a likely candidate for corruption, they must have the ability to alter the final score by enough to keep it within the point spread, without altering the outcome of the game. This typically requires a high degree of skill and control over the game, as well as a willingness to engage in unethical behavior. Athletes who are struggling with financial or personal issues may be more susceptible to these pressures, making them more likely to engage in point shaving.

The causal connection between online betting and point shaving is not a new one. In fact, it has been a topic of debate among sports analysts and researchers for years. A study conducted by economists David Forrest and Ian McHale at the University of Liverpool found that the increased availability of online betting markets was associated with a higher incidence of match-fixing in soccer. Similarly, a report by the International Centre for Sport Security found that online betting was one of the main drivers of sports corruption worldwide.

The rise of online sports betting has increased the likelihood of point shaving, where athletes intentionally alter the score of a game without altering the outcome in order to manipulate the point spread and win bets. This unethical behavior can lead to serious consequences, including legal charges and a tarnished reputation for the athlete and their team. In addition, point shaving can also have a negative impact on the integrity of the sport and the trust that fans have in the game.

To combat this issue, sports leagues and organizations have implemented strict regulations and monitoring systems to prevent point shaving and ensure fair play. These measures include increased scrutiny of athletes and their financial transactions, as well as the use of advanced analytics to detect any unusual betting patterns or changes in-game behavior.

While measures have been put in place to combat point shaving and other forms of sports betting-related corruption, these efforts can only go so far. With the widespread availability of online sports betting platforms, it has become increasingly difficult to monitor and regulate betting activity. Moreover, as technology advances, so do the methods and tools used by those seeking to manipulate sports events for financial gain.

To address these challenges, sports organizations must remain vigilant and continue to adapt their strategies to effectively combat the latest threats. This may involve investing in more advanced monitoring technologies and working with law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute those engaged in illegal activity. It may also involve collaborating with online sports betting companies to ensure that their platforms are secure and free from manipulation.

In addition, education and awareness campaigns can play a vital role in preventing athletes from falling prey to the temptations of illegal sports betting. By providing athletes with a clear understanding of the dangers and consequences of participating in such activities, sports organizations can help to deter them from engaging in behaviors that could compromise the integrity of the sport.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of athletes, coaches, and sports organizations to uphold the integrity of the game and prioritize fair play over personal gain. While online sports betting may offer new opportunities for fans to engage with their favorite sports, it is important to recognize the potential risks and take steps to prevent unethical behavior from tarnishing the sport.

Purdum, David (2021, September 22). Explaining point-shaving in sports. https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/17858543/explaining-point-shaving-sports

NCAA. (2022). NCAA sports wagering. https://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/ncaa-sports-wagering

University of Louisville. (2016, November 15). Study finds student-athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to cheat. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115165556.htm

Wolfers, J. (2006, January 22). Cheating by the Book. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/business/yourmoney/22view.html

Posted in Causal Rewrite, PhilsFan, Portfolio PhilsFan | Leave a comment

Causal – PhilsFan1133

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Jacob Pasquale

The Impact of Online Sports Betting on Point Shaving in Sports

Point shaving is a form of sports corruption where athletes deliberately perform below their capabilities in a game, thereby losing by a margin lower than the spread. This practice has been prevalent in American sports for decades, with several high-profile cases surfacing over the years. While there are various factors that drive athletes to engage in point shaving, one of the most significant is the rise of online sports betting.

Online sports betting has exploded in popularity over the past decade, with millions of people placing bets on games and matches every day. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global online gambling market size was valued at USD 53.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2020 to 2027. This tremendous growth in the online gambling industry has had a direct impact on the incidence of point shaving in sports.

One of the main reasons why online betting has contributed to the rise of point shaving is the ease with which bets can be placed on individual games and the availability of real-time updates on the betting market. With the advent of online sportsbooks and mobile betting apps, anyone with an internet connection can place a bet on a game from anywhere in the world. This has led to a massive increase in the volume of bets being placed on games and matches, and consequently, a rise in the size of the gambling market.

As the size of the gambling market has grown, so too has the amount of money being wagered on point spreads. A point spread is a handicap placed on the team that is considered the favorite to win a game, in order to level the playing field and make betting more attractive. For example, if the Boston Celtics are playing the New York Knicks and are favored to win by 10 points, the point spread would be set at 10 points. Bettors who place a bet on the Celtics would only win if they win by more than 10 points, while those who bet on the Knicks would win if the Knicks lose by less than 10 points or win outright.

This is where point shaving comes in. Athletes who are willing to engage in point shaving can deliberately underperform in a game, thereby allowing their opponents to keep the score within the point spread. This benefits the athletes who have bet on the underdog, as well as the corrupt bettors who have offered them incentives to shave points. In this way, point shaving allows both athletes and bettors to profit from the game, at the expense of the integrity of the sport.

It is important to note that not all athletes are susceptible to point shaving. For an athlete to be a likely candidate for corruption, they must have the ability to alter the final score by enough to keep it within the point spread, without altering the outcome of the game. This typically requires a high degree of skill and control over the game, as well as a willingness to engage in unethical behavior. Athletes who are struggling with financial or personal issues may be more susceptible to these pressures, making them more likely to engage in point shaving.

The causal connection between online betting and point shaving is not a new one. In fact, it has been a topic of debate among sports analysts and researchers for years. A study conducted by economists David Forrest and Ian McHale at the University of Liverpool found that the increased availability of online betting markets was associated with a higher incidence of match-fixing in soccer. Similarly, a report by the International Centre for Sport Security found that online betting was one of the main drivers of sports corruption worldwide.

The rise of online sports betting has increased the likelihood of point shaving, where athletes intentionally alter the score of a game without altering the outcome in order to benefit from the point spread. The athlete or referee involved in point shaving must have the ability to alter the final score by enough to meet the spread, making the choice to cheat based on financial incentives much easier.

The NCAA and professional sports leagues have attempted to combat point shaving by increasing penalties for athletes caught participating in such activities. However, the rise of online sports betting and the anonymity it provides to bettors makes it difficult to detect and prevent point shaving.

One study conducted by researchers at the University of Louisville found that the prevalence of point shaving was higher in games with larger point spreads and higher amounts of money bet on the game. This supports the idea that financial incentives play a large role in the decision to engage in point shaving.

Furthermore, the study found that athletes who came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had financial pressures were more likely to engage in point shaving. This highlights the importance of addressing the financial well-being of athletes, particularly those from marginalized communities, in preventing point shaving.

While there are efforts underway to combat sports corruption, such as increased monitoring and regulation of online sportsbooks, there is still much work to be done. Athletes must be educated about the dangers of point shaving and the negative impact it has on the integrity of the game, as well as the legal and ethical consequences they may face if caught participating in such activities. By increasing awareness and providing resources for athletes to manage financial pressures, sports organizations can work towards preventing point shaving and ensuring fair play on the field. Additionally, the regulation of online sports betting and increased transparency in the industry may help to reduce the financial incentives for point shaving and discourage individuals from participating in such activities.

In conclusion, the rise of online sports betting has increased the likelihood of point shaving in team sports, particularly in games with large point spreads and high amounts of money bet on the game. The financial incentives provided by online betting make it easier for athletes and referees to justify the decision to cheat, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds may be particularly susceptible. It is important for sports organizations to prioritize the financial well-being of athletes and implement effective measures to detect and prevent point shaving in order to maintain the integrity of the game.

References

Purdum, David (2021, September 22). Explaining point-shaving in sports. https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/17858543/explaining-point-shaving-sports

NCAA. (2022). NCAA sports wagering. https://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/ncaa-sports-wagering

University of Louisville. (2016, November 15). Study finds student-athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to cheat. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115165556.htm

Wolfers, J. (2006, January 22). Cheating by the Book. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/business/yourmoney/22view.html

Posted in Causal Argument, PhilsFan, Portfolio PhilsFan | 1 Comment

Casual Rewrite-pinkmonkey

Posted on March 22, 2023 by pinkmonkey32

Reduce Addiction By Giving out Drugs

Let’s give drugs to drug addicts. This idea is one that has become more prevalent in today’s age. As drugs become increasingly more common we are faced with the issues that everyday drug addicts bring: Stealing and pawning items, violence, trash on our streets, and begging. These acts happen the majority of the time when an addict is looking for their next fix and will do anything to get it, so what if we just gave it to them.

In Vancoover canada they have already started implementing these programs to make getting drugs more safe and accessible for addicts. Vancoover is a port which makes it a place where addicts know drugs are coming in and out. This became a big problem in Vancouver and they named this place the “downtown eastside”. In hopes to cut back on the people dead with needles in their arms they opened up “insites”. Insights are, “where addicts could shoot up under the supervision of a nurse and without the fear of being arrested by police. Staff at the Insite center provide the addicts with clean syringes, antiseptic wipes and other instruments.”(taken from “Vancouver Combats Heroin” by Bradly Campbell) Having these safe zones created “healthier” and cleaner drug usage.

At this center a program was started based off of ones seen in european countries. Giving the drug addicts that “had no chance of recovery” heroin as needed that way they wouldnt result to doing things to get drugs. This program was only offered to around 26 people who had tried multiple heroin treatments as well as recovery multiple times and could not kick the habit. One of these addicts in the article “Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world” speaks about how he is able to hold a job now because he no longer needs to search for where his next high is going to come from.

Along with this program there is this idea of aging out of drugs. We mostly think that the more years a drug addict does drugs the harder it is to kick the drug, when in fact evidence shows the opposite. According to “Matters of Substance” by Maia Szalavitz, “if addiction were truly a progressive disease, the data should show that the odds of quitting get worse over time. In fact, they remain the same on an annual basis, which means that, as people get older, a higher and higher percentage wind up in recovery.” With this idea that as you get older more and more addicts recover this article also states that, ”Heroin addictions tend to last as long as alcoholism” (which is around 15 years). Most but not all addicts in fact quit on their own without any facility or outside help. 

If addicts are likely to quit a drug on their own after a certain amount of years, why don’t we put them in these insite facilities and give them their drugs and keep them out of danger and criminal activity until they eventually get bored and quit the drug on their own. Why instead do we pressure addicts into multi step programs and rehab facilities when they are not ready or don’t want to quit the drug?

When you force addicts into mandatory rehab their odds of relapse unfortunately suffer. According to “Is rehab inevitable with forced sobriety?” by Kerry Nenn she states,”They found that almost 50 percent of the mandated patients relapsed within a month of their release, while only 10 percent of voluntary graduates relapsed.” By forcing people who aren’t ready to get help to get help they don’t have the drive or the want to get clean so when given the opportunity they go back to the drug they were on. This causes a waste of resources and time for the facility and the addict. An example of this I find helpful to understand this would be if a man ate a cookie everyday for a few years and suddenly you took that cookie out of stores only for that cookie to return a few months later, that man will buy those cookies that he missed, but if you let that man eat that cookie for a few more years suddenly the man will get sick of that cookie and stop buying it. 

The safety of the drugs that addicts are using is also a questionable topic. Drugs today are often laced with chemicals and other unhealthy substances. Addicts are now shooting these laced drugs into themselves 2-3 times a day. Most overdoses are not caused by the drug itself but by the chemicals added to it. In figure 5 of the article,” Drug Overdose Death Rates” by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, you can see that heroin overdose rates have increased dramatically when including opioids such as fentanyl. If the safety of the addict is what matters most we should be offering them an alternative to their street drugs and giving them clean and pure drugs that can be administered through sterilized needles and with a medical professional present.

If the safety of our people is our biggest concern then that includes addicts. Although we do not want to promote drugs it’s important we offer as many sources for help as we possibly can. By giving addicts their drugs they were keeping them calm and in a state where they don’t feel the need to harm or steal. By giving them the opportunity to use sterilized equipment and clean drugs we are helping ensure they are receiving these drugs in the best way possible for their health, and by not forcing programs and rehab upon these addicts we are giving them the opportunity to want it themselves and work for it when they are ready too.

References

Bradly Campbell, Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world(2015)https://theworld.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

 Maia Szalavitz, Matters of Substance(2014) https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/matters-of-substance/archive/matters-of-substance-november-2014/ageing-out-of-addiction/

Kerry Nenn, Is Relapse Inevitable With Forced Sobriety?(2023) https://recovery.org/is-relapse-inevitable-with-forced-sobriety/

National Institute of Drug Abuse, Drug Overdose Death Rates(2023)

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

Posted in Causal Rewrite, PinkMonkey | 5 Comments

Causal- pinkmonkey32

Posted on March 22, 2023 by pinkmonkey32

Reduce Addiction By Giving out Drugs

Natalie Pechamnn

Let’s give drugs to drug addicts. This idea is one that has become more prevalent in today’s age. As drugs become increasingly more common we are faced with the issues that everyday drug addicts bring: Stealing and pawning items, violence, trash on our streets, and begging. These acts happen the majority of the time when an addict is looking for their next fix and will do anything to get it, so what if we just gave it to them.

In Vancoover canada they have already started implementing these programs to make getting drugs more safe and accessible for addicts. Vancoover is a port which makes it a place where addicts know drugs are coming in and out. This became a big problem in Vancouver and they named this place the “downtown eastside”. In hopes to cut back on the people dead with needles in their arms they opened up “insites”. Insights are, “where addicts could shoot up under the supervision of a nurse and without the fear of being arrested by police. Staff at the Insite center provide the addicts with clean syringes, antiseptic wipes and other instruments.”(taken from “Vancouver Combats Heroin” by Bradly Campbell) Having these safe zones created “healthier” and cleaner drug usage.

At this center a program was started based off of ones seen in european countries. Giving the drug addicts that “had no chance of recovery” heroin as needed that way they wouldnt result to doing things to get drugs. This program was only offered to around 26 people who had tried multiple heroin treatments as well as recovery multiple times and could not kick the habit. One of these addicts in the article “Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world” speaks about how he is able to hold a job now because he no longer needs to search for where his next high is going to come from.

Along with this program there is this idea of aging out of drugs. We mostly think that the more years a drug addict does drugs the harder it is to kick the drug, when in fact evidence shows the opposite. According to “Matters of Substance” by Maia Szalavitz, “if addiction were truly a progressive disease, the data should show that the odds of quitting get worse over time. In fact, they remain the same on an annual basis, which means that, as people get older, a higher and higher percentage wind up in recovery.” With this idea that as you get older more and more addicts recover this article also states that, ”Heroin addictions tend to last as long as alcoholism” (which is around 15 years). Most but not all addicts in fact quit on their own without any facility or outside help. 

If addicts are likely to quit a drug on their own after a certain amount of years, why don’t we put them in these insite facilities and give them their drugs and keep them out of danger and criminal activity until they eventually get bored and quit the drug on their own. Why instead do we pressure addicts into multi step programs and rehab facilities when they are not ready or don’t want to quit the drug?

When you force addicts into mandatory rehab their odds of relapse unfortunately suffer. According to “Is rehab inevitable with forced sobriety?” by Kerry Nenn she states,”They found that almost 50 percent of the mandated patients relapsed within a month of their release, while only 10 percent of voluntary graduates relapsed.” By forcing people who aren’t ready to get help to get help they don’t have the drive or the want to get clean so when given the opportunity they go back to the drug they were on. This causes a waste of resources and time for the facility and the addict. An example of this I find helpful to understand this would be if a man ate a cookie everyday for a few years and suddenly you took that cookie out of stores only for that cookie to return a few months later, that man will buy those cookies that he missed, but if you let that man eat that cookie for a few more years suddenly the man will get sick of that cookie and stop buying it. 

The safety of the drugs that addicts are using is also a questionable topic. Drugs today are often laced with chemicals and other unhealthy substances. Addicts are now shooting these laced drugs into themselves 2-3 times a day. Most overdoses are not caused by the drug itself but by the chemicals added to it. In figure 5 of the article,” Drug Overdose Death Rates” by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, you can see that heroin overdose rates have increased dramatically when including opioids such as fentanyl. If the safety of the addict is what matters most we should be offering them an alternative to their street drugs and giving them clean and pure drugs that can be administered through sterilized needles and with a medical professional present.

If the safety of our people is our biggest concern then that includes addicts. Although we do not want to promote drugs it’s important we offer as many sources for help as we possibly can. By giving addicts their drugs they were keeping them calm and in a state where they don’t feel the need to harm or steal. By giving them the opportunity to use sterilized equipment and clean drugs we are helping ensure they are receiving these drugs in the best way possible for their health, and by not forcing programs and rehab upon these addicts we are giving them the opportunity to want it themselves and work for it when they are ready too.

References

Bradly Campbell, Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world(2015)https://theworld.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

 Maia Szalavitz, Matters of Substance(2014) https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/matters-of-substance/archive/matters-of-substance-november-2014/ageing-out-of-addiction/

Kerry Nenn, Is Relapse Inevitable With Forced Sobriety?(2023) https://recovery.org/is-relapse-inevitable-with-forced-sobriety/

National Institute of Drug Abuse, Drug Overdose Death Rates(2023)

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

Posted in Causal Argument, PinkMonkey | 2 Comments

Causal Rewrite–SinatraMan17

Posted on March 22, 2023 by adamreim

AI Cannot Replace Intentional Art

The viewing of art without any context or bias is exceedingly rare. Perceivers of art tend to show some sort of bias when viewing a work, frequently from knowledge about the creator and their reasons for creating. We often look to the creator’s intentionality for the art, which in turn affects how we both interpret and connect personally with the piece. 

This practice of judging art has a brand new application in the world of the 2020s, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence. While the art produced by these non-human creators can indeed theoretically be perceived with 100% objectivity, with regard only to its aesthetic and personal value, and without any influence from its inhumanness, this propensity becoming the norm is a fallacy. Because of the inevitable artist-bias, people have stronger connections to Art produced by living humans, rather than emotionless, intentionless algorithms. 

To understand how viewer connections with art rely heavily on the presence of human emotions within, we must first understand the fundamental relationships between emotion and art. Since the dawn of organized thought in humans, art has been used consistently as a form of emotional expressionism. On cave walls, we expressed our feelings of pain and loss through depictions of battles and bloodshed. Emotions from real-life events and ideas are often what cause artists, of the Paleolithic era and of today, to create the art in which they create.

Because of the artist’s known causation for creating their intentional piece, perceivers can receive more expressed emotion from the canvas than they would knowing nothing about them at all. In the article titled How Does Art Express Emotion the author, Ismay Barwell, argues that “How works of art can be expressive of emotion and thus sad, happy, or melancholy must pose itself as a problem for anyone who believes both that works of art are not conscious entities and that only conscious entities can have feelings and emotions.” Ismay, a philosophy professor at Victoria University in Wellington, is arguing here that works of art could be considered animate objects since they can actively express emotion. While I admit that personal emotion can be found in any art, including AI’s, I argue that the artist’s own human expression is a leading cause for this sense of “animation” in inanimate things.

The Artist Intention theory is a long-debated counterintuitive topic that can never definitively be proven as truth or fallacy due to its deeply personal nature. However, as it pertains to whether or not the artist behind the art matters, it is extremely important to explore further. Literary artist L.N. Tolstoy claims in his book What is Art? that an artist has only created a genuine work of art when he “hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these feelings and also experience them.” While this can just be written off as one man’s opinion, it’s important to note that L.N. Tolstoy is considered one of Russia’s most significant figures in literature. As an artist himself, Tolstoy openly recognizes the importance of expressing emotions through art, and simultaneously how the presence of artists’ OWN feelings in their art affects its quality, value, and most importantly, relatability. 

The deepest connections we make with any type of art will always be that of seeing ourselves within it. When we look at a certain painting or listen to a certain song, our most profound reactions are always those found within ourselves. When you see yourself in a work of art, the connection is visceral. I argue that this emotional bond between art and self can be tarnished by Artist’s Intentionality. A movie that you resonated deeply with may be irreversibly ruined for you if it is revealed that the filmmaker was abusive to their cast. This contamination of art connection, while a deeply sad truth, is inevitable and ever-present already in our society.

To examine how Artificial Intelligence being discovered as the creator of a work will impact a viewer’s perception of the work, I’d like to briefly make a connection to a string of events taking place in pop culture. The phrase “Separate the Art from the Artist” has been brought to recent spotlight with the rise of cancel culture in our society, most recently and notably with Ye, formerly Kanye West. Previous lovers of the rapper’s art around the world have had their bonds with his music broken because of his recent racist outburst. In the polarized article Separating Art from the Artist is Impossible, student editorial journalist from Virginia Commonwealth University Kofi Mframa boldly claims that “this phrase [separating art from the artist] is just a lazy cop-out that gives fans an excuse to not think critically as to why they continue to support problematic artists… To remove an artist from their creations decontextualizes their work and leaves it devoid of meaning.” It’s important to note this source is opinion-writing and is merely being used as an example of how woke cancel-culturists think. I believe it provides great insight into the minds of those who stand against “Separate the Art from the Artist.” This opinion shows how it is becoming increasingly impossible for people, especially younger generations, to perceive art entirely independently from its creator. 

Since people are already growing less and less likely to be able to separate the human artist’s life from their work, it is safe to say that they will apply this same bias to work that has no human behind it at all. Much like when a pop star is revealed to be a racist, if a recent art sensation, consumed and enjoyed by the masses, is revealed to be completely A.I. generated, I predict its value among many (not all) will diminish.

While it may be possible to view all art without any artist-bias, it is an exceedingly rare practice and becomes rarer each day. The state of our emotional connections to art is influenced by our knowledge of the artist’s intentions, cultural and social contexts, or the complete and utter “lack thereof”. AI-generated art may be visually impressive and individually relatable, but it lacks the emotional depth and intentionality that makes human-made art so much more meaningful and powerful. As a result, AI can never replace the passionate and intentional art of human artists, and our emotional connections to art will always be tied to the human experience.

References

Barwell, I. (1986). How does art express emotion?. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 45(2), 175-181.

Denner, M. A. (2003). Accidental art: Tolstoy’s poetics of unintentionality. Philosophy and Literature, 27(2), 284-303.

Tolstoy, L. (1899). What is Art?. United Kingdom: Crowell. Pg 50.

Mframa, K. (2022, October 27). Separating art from the artist is impossible The Commonwealth Times. The Commonwealth Times.

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Posted in Causal Rewrite, Portfolio SinatraMan, SinatraMan | 7 Comments

Causal–SinatraMan17

Posted on March 22, 2023 by adamreim

AI Cannot Replace Intentional Art

Regardless of its counterintuitivity, the viewing of art without any context or bias is exceedingly rare. Perceivers of art will inevitably always tend to show some sort of bias when viewing a work, frequently from knowledge about the creator, their reasons for creating, or a preconceived notion surrounding it. We often look to the creator’s intentionality for the art, which in turn affects how we both interpret and connect personally with the piece. 

This deeply counterintuitive practice of judging art has a brand new application in the world of the 2020s, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence. While the art produced by these non-human creators can indeed theoretically be perceived with 100% objectivity, with regard only to its aesthetic and personal value, and without any influence from its inhumanness, I’m here to say that this propensity becoming the norm is fallacy. Because of the inevitable artist-bias, people will always have stronger connections to Art that is produced by living humans, rather than emotionless, intentionless algorithms. Therefore, AI can never replace the passionately created intentional art of Human Artists.

To understand how viewer connections with art rely heavily on the presence of human emotions within, we must first understand the fundamental relationships between emotion and art. Since the dawn of organized thought in humans, art has been used consistently as a form of emotional expressionism. On cave walls, we expressed our feelings of pain and loss through depictions of battles and bloodshed. George Seurat’s opinions on the differences in social class are thought to have inspired him to create his masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon…” painting. Emotions from real-life events and ideas are often what cause artists, of the paleolithic era and of today, to create the art in which they create. In the article titled How Does Art Express Emotion the author, Ismay Barwell, argues that “How works of art can be expressive of emotion and thus sad, happy, or melancholy must pose itself as a problem for anyone who believes both that works of art are not conscious entities and that only conscious entities can have feelings and emotions.” Ismay, a philosophy professor at Victoria University in Wellington, is arguing that inanimate objects must be able to express real emotions, citing art as his primary example. I agree with Ismay that art simply as individual work can cause a reaction of emotions. However, I argue that the known intentions of the artist can also add, or notably subtract, value from the viewer’s experience.

The Artist Intention theory is a long-debated counterintuitive topic that can never definitively be proven as truth or fallacy due to its deeply personal nature. However, as it pertains to whether or not the artist behind the art matters, it is extremely important to explore further. Literary artist L.N. Tolstoy claims in his book What is Art? that an artist has only created a genuine work of art when he “hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these feelings and also experience them.” While this can just be written off as one man’s opinion, it’s important to note that L.N. Tolstoy is considered one of Russia’s greatest figures in literature. As an artist himself, Tolstoy openly recognizes the importance of expressing emotions through art, but simultaneously how the presence of artists’ OWN emotions in their art affects its quality, value, and, most importantly, relatability. 

The deepest connections we make with any type of art will always be that of seeing ourselves within it. When we look at a certain painting or listen to a certain song, our most profound reactions are always those found within ourselves. When you see yourself in a work of art, the connection is visceral. I argue that this emotional bond between art and self can be tarnished by Artist’s Intentionality. A movie that you resonated deeply with may be irreversibly ruined for you if it is revealed that the filmmaker was abusive to their cast. This contamination of art connection, while a deeply sad truth, is inevitable and ever-present already in our society.

To examine how Artificial Intelligence being discovered as the creator of a work will impact a viewer’s perception of the work, I’d like to briefly make a connection to a string of events taking place in pop culture. The phrase “Separate the Art from the Artist” has been brought to recent spotlight with the rise of cancel culture in our society, most recently and notably with Kanye West. Previous lovers of the rapper’s art around the world have had their bonds with his music broken because of his recent racist outburst. In the article Separating Art from the Artist is Impossible, journalist Kofi Mframa claims that “this phrase [separating art from the artist] is just a lazy cop-out that gives fans an excuse to not think critically as to why they continue to support problematic artists… To remove an artist from their creations decontextualizes their work and leaves it devoid of meaning.” It’s important to note this source is opinion-writing and is merely being used as an example of such, however, I believe it provides great insight into the minds and ideologies of our current society. This opinion, written in the Independent Press of Virginia Commonwealth University, shows how it is becoming increasingly impossible for people to perceive art entirely independently from its creator. 

For better or worse, since the society of the 2020s has proven unable to prohibit human artists’ flawed intentions, emotions, or opinions from impacting their perception, who’s to say we will be able to separate A.I.’s own such qualities from their created works, or their COMPLETE lack thereof. I argue that that “lack thereof” would prove even more detrimental to their perception, because it’s not only a revealed character flaw, it’s a revealed lack of any emotional backing whatsoever.

Overall, while it may be possible to view art without any artist-bias, it is an exceedingly rare practice and becomes rarer each day. The state of our emotional connections to art is influenced by our knowledge of the artist’s intentions, cultural and social contexts, or the complete and utter “lack thereof”. AI-generated art may be visually impressive and individually relatable, but it lacks the emotional depth and intentionality that makes human-made art so much more meaningful and powerful. As a result, AI can never replace the passionate and intentional art of human artists, and our emotional connections to art will always be tied to the human experience.

Barwell, I. (1986). How does art express emotion?. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 45(2), 175-181.

Denner, M. A. (2003). Accidental art: Tolstoy’s poetics of unintentionality. Philosophy and Literature, 27(2), 284-303.

Tolstoy, L. (1899). What is Art?. United Kingdom: Crowell.

Kofi Mframa. (2022, October 27). Separating art from the artist is impossible The Commonwealth Times. The Commonwealth Times.

‌

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio SinatraMan, SinatraMan | 2 Comments

Causal Argument-tlap23

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Thomas Laperriere
Posted in Causal Argument, tlap | Leave a comment

Causal Rewrite – Water

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Water

You got it wrong

It’s the year 2023 and the idea of people coming out or wanting to be identified as something else other than a man or woman to even transition has increased. It is said that about 5 percent of young adults ages ranging from 18-29 are either transgender or of a different sexual orientation. This means that with changes being made around society, different parties are being created and communities continue to grow in the sex/gender party, but with these changes you have to be careful when identifying one. You don’t want to offend someone by getting either gender wrong or sexual orientation, that’s why facial recognition and the advancement of this tool can not only be threatening towards one identity but it could change a life for the worse.

In Wenying Wu, Pavlos Protopapas and Zheng Yang’s “Gender Classification and Bias Mitigation in Facial Images” study, they thoroughly explain the experiment conducted in 2017 where deep neural networks would be used to detect white male sexuality.This controversial research implied that the facial images of the LGBTQ population had distinct characteristics when compared to the heterosexual groups. They pushed the idea that by misgendering/misidentifying one can increase one’s perception of being socially marginalized. To be misidentified by something like facial recognition or programs of AGRS (Automated Gender Recognition System) not only follows the stigma of there only being two genders, overall reinforcing the gender/sexuality standards.

They saw the programs were faulty and having issues they decided to train a biased binary gender classifier baseline doing so they used sets of different datasets along with ensembling a transfer learning model using logistic regressions and adaboost. The results were shocking, the algorithm has mitigated algorithmic biases from the baseline and the ensemble model achieved a selection rate of 98.46%. The program proved that facial recognition can’t be 100% accurate and will have limitations when trying to guess one’s orientation but it could be worked on and if more can be fed into the database then they would be able to get stronger results.

The most common scenario where facial recognition can be tested to see whether it can be accurate and find someone based on their face/photo would be at a crime scene. Cops use the software and go through surveillance cameras and scan their database of mugshots to pinpoint a prime suspect. Even though that’s an option that could cut down hours of going through evidence it can create more problems by matching the wrong person just because of the lighting of the crime scene or the quality of the picture captured by the surveillance camera. Something like this can put one through trauma when police officers show up at their doorstep and they were innocent the whole time. Misidentification can cause trauma just because the robot assumed the facial features of the suspect.

When you look at facial recognition you have two common errors, false positive and false negative. according to Brian E. Finch’s “Addressing Legitimate ConcernsAbout Government Use of FacialRecognition Technologies” stating “A false negative occurs when an algorithm fails to return a matching image despite being in the defined set…. The rate of false negatives varies greatly among proprietary algorithms.” imagine this happening where officials rely on programs as such and make terrible calls based on what the computer said, this not only opens windows to miscarriages of justice. The other error is known as a false positive, “A “false positive” occurs when the image of one individual is matched to the biometric characteristics of an entirely different person, resulting in a misidentification. The consequences of a false positive in a one-to-many system can be especially serious, including leading to the mistaken arrest of an innocent person based largely, if not entirely, on the misidentification.” What needs to be done so we cant have the same problems when using advanced technology ?

Could the errors of faulty facial recognition softwares be all technological issues or is there a deeper meaning? Halley Sutton did a background check on Police officers in NYC that would tamper with facial recognition to get their criminal. In the paper Halley explains, “The report found that the department was editing photographs and uploading photographs of celebrity look-alikes into the software in order to find suspects.” The case further revealed that “The report also found that police officers edited photographs to make them appear more like a mugshot by replacing facial features with those of a model found during a Google search.” Not only is this unethical but it’s also unlawful to do something like this. imagine being photoshopped to look like a criminal and to also find out the officers used unreliable references to make the search more accurate. The worst part is yet to come, even if you get misidentified by facial recognition and you get in trouble, there is no possible way to be helped.

In a text from Kaitlin Jackson from the NACDL it is said, “The police could rely on a psychic, take tips from unreliable informants, or pull photos out of mug shot books at random. All of those methods would pass constitutional muster because a defendant has no legal right to keep his likeness out of an identification procedure.” If you were to go to court due to a misidentification then you would simply start off. with a disadvantage because according to the law anything the officers conclude are weighed more than your word.

The procedure to testify against this is would be much of a hassle for not only the person’s sake but for the case of the crime. The procedure goes along the lines of, “the court would need to test the scientific validity of FRS at a hearing. At the end of the hearing, if the court found FRS to be scientifically reliable, then the eyewitness identification should be admitted…. the outcome of the hearing might be that FRS is unreliable. If FRS frequently selects look-alikes instead of the true perpetrator, then a real danger of misidentification exists in presenting those look-alikes to human eyewitnesses for identification. In that scenario, the remedy the defense should seek is suppression of the eyewitness identification because the risk of misidentification is so great.” there’s so many thing to follow up when put in this situation, first you get misidentified by faulty technology with lack of data, then you get wrongful put in jail, get sent to court to appeal and regain innocence, but doing so you have to comply with all the procedures to prove you weren’t there at the crime scene. We should not rely on technology that’s recently been introduced to the fields, and if they are being added then they should be filled with information and not just picture of the same people with similar features and to have a category identifying different orientations. 

References

Wu W, Protopapas P, Yang Z, Michalatos P. | Gender Classification and Bias Mitigation in Facial Recognition | Published online July 06, 2020

Brian E.Finch | Addressing Legitimate ConcernsAbout Government Use of FacialRecognition Technologies | Published October 30, 2020 | Via The Heritage Foundation

Halley Sutton | Report finds department abused facial recognition software | published 2019 | Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company

Kaitlin Jackson | Challenging Facial Recognition Software in Criminal Court | July 2019 | provided by NACDL

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio WaterDrop, Waterdrop | 5 Comments