Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Friday, March 6, 2020

John Maynard Keynes Essays - Third Portuguese Republic, Free Essays

John Maynard Keynes Essays - Third Portuguese Republic, Free Essays John Maynard Keynes UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS ECON?MICAS Y SOCIALES ESCUELA DE ADMINISTRACI?N Y CONTADUR?A. DESARROLLO ECON?MICO. John Maynard Keynes Integrantes: Arciniegas, Ver?nica Oliveira, Carlos Caracas, 2008-10-16 John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), economista brit?nico. Sus ideas, sustrato de una nueva escuela de pensamiento econ?mico denominada keynesianismo o ?nueva ciencia econ?mica?, influyeron de forma determinante en el dise?o de las pol?ticas econ?micas de muchos pa?ses desde la finalizaci?n de la II Guerra Mundial. PRINCIPALES CONTRIBUCIONES AL PENSAMIENTO ECON?MICO. Tratado sobre probabilidades (1921) y Tratado sobre el dinero (1930). En esta ?ltima intent? analizar por qu? la econom?a funciona de forma irregular, as? como por qu? est? sujeta a las sucesivas expansiones y depresiones que caracterizan a los ciclos econ?micos. No obstante, no lograba explicar la problem?tica de las depresiones prolongadas. Keynes analiz? en profundidad los problemas relativos a las depresiones prolongadas en La teor?a general sobre el empleo, el inter?s y el dinero. Argument? la inexistencia de mecanismos de ajuste autom?tico que permitan a la econom?a recuperarse de las recesiones. Afirmaba que el ahorro no invertido prolonga el estancamiento econ?mico y que las inversiones empresariales dependen de la creaci?n de nuevos mercados, de la utilizaci?n de nuevos adelantos t?cnicos y de otras variables independientes del tipo de inter?s o de ahorro. Puesto que la inversi?n empresarial fluct?a, no se puede esperar que ?sta pueda preservar un nivel de pleno empleo y unos ingresos estables. Por ello, aseguraba que deb?an ser los gobiernos (factor ignorado hasta entonces), los que tendr?an que convertirse en instrumentos econ?micos activos y compensar (a trav?s de pol?ticas econ?micas adecuadas) la insuficiencia de inversi?n privada durante una recesi?n con la reducci?n de impuestos y, sobre todo, con el incre mento del gasto p?blico. Su soluci?n para el problema fue que los gobiernos se hicieran cargo del d?ficit invirtiendo en obras p?blicas y otros proyectos para incrementar la necesidad de trabajadores As?, defendi? los programas econ?micos de inversi?n p?blica que ya se estaban ensayando en el Reino Unido y, muy especialmente, en Estados Unidos, donde el presidente Franklin Delano Roosevelt hab?a afrontado la lucha contra la Gran Depresi?n con su pol?tica de New Deal. Su obra m?s conocida, La teor?a general sobre el empleo, el inter?s y el dinero (1936), se public? en medio de una enorme crisis econ?mica. Seg?n Keynes, la econom?a ya no funcionaba seg?n los principios cl?sicos que hab?an dominado la teor?a econ?mica durante m?s de un siglo, por lo que era necesario dise?ar nuevas pol?ticas. Keynes escribi? sus opiniones en lo referente al empleo, teor?a monetaria, y el ciclo de comercio, entre otros temas. En su teor?a de la ocupaci?n keynes afirmaba que ?Para lograr el objetivo de ocupaci?n plena, se hace necesario una pol?tica publica de salarios flexibles. Introdujo dos conceptos ?oferta u demanda agregada? para explicar la relaci?n entre el nivel de ocupaci?n y el nivel de producci?n. El desempleo es causado por una demanda agregada total deficiente. Para cada nivel de producci?n hay un nivel correspondiente de ocupaci?n. Si la demanda total agregada no es suficiente para absorber la oferta total de trabajadores, habr? desempleo forzado. Al hablar de la demanda total agregada se refiere a la demanda de bienes y servicios para toda la econom?a. La demanda total agregada la dividi? Keynes en dos elementos: la demanda de bienes de consumo y la demanda de bienes de inversi?n. La fusi?n de esto dos elemento y su aplicaci?n al an?lisis de la teor?a de la renta nacional fue lo revolucionario de este pensamiento. Keynes hizo claro que la demanda por bienes de consumo y la demanda por bienes de inversi?n son funciones independientes y por esta raz?n puede surgir el problema de que la demanda total agregada sea inadecuada para mantener el nivel de producci?n de ocupaci?n plena. Keynes dec?a que la causa real del desempleo era el insuficiente gasto en inversi?n. ?l cre?a que la cantidad de trabajo entregada es diferente cuando el decremento en los salarios reales (el producto marginal del trabajo) se debe al decremento del salario monetario, que en el caso cuando se debe a un incremento del nivel de precios, asumiendo que el sa lario monetario se mantenga constante. Se puede sintetizar su aporte en el concepto de que cuando la demanda deviene transitoriamente m?s peque?a, ello puede

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Implementation of triage protocol for nurses Dissertation

Implementation of triage protocol for nurses - Dissertation Example Assigning degree of urgency to patients based on the health conditions and nature of the disease increases the effectiveness of the treatment, and reduces the time lag between the patient’s visit and treatment. Triage protocols useful in this regard are highly specialized and needs thorough training to the professionals especially, the nurses. For example, pediatric triage protocols include pediatric cough, pediatric vomiting and several other types. Triage services need to be reliable and cost effective for their application in hospitals or private nursing homes. The process starts from the visits of the patients or the calls received from the patients (telephone triage). Correct protocol needs to be identified based on the symptoms as explained by the patients. The patients are asked the relevant questions based on the check-list for confirmation to make the preliminary diagnostic procedure effective to provide the appropriate health care required. This will make the process simpler down the line for treatment and nursing. Nursing triage protocol system in an organization enhances the efficiency level and improves patient health care. The implementation of Triage Protocol in an organization involves establishment of infrastructure required for triage practice including the support services and training to the triage nurses in the triage policies of the organization and the triage procedures to be adopted on day-to-day work in triage practice. Initiating treatment in triage room calls for broader understanding and knowledge about the triage practices for efficiency in performance. Search strategy There are several permutations and combinations involved in deciding the appropriate course of treatment based on the analysis of symptoms. Triage protocols makes it easier since the diagnostic procedures are seamlessly integrated into the treatments required and the timeline. Inclusion and exclusion criteria in diagnostic process with reference to a particular treatment proposed are standardized. Search strategy mainly depends upon the Key Words. The search is conducted on the components for its causal link with the formal problem. This is followed by clinical trials. The validation of the proposed solution, the evidence of its usefulness, criteria for inclusion and exclusion are the important aspects of the search strategy development. For example, Stacey et al (2012) have found in a study â€Å"Acceptability and usability testing of the symptom populated template with 12 practicing oncology nurses revealed: high readability (n=12), just the right amount of information (n=10), appropriate terms (n=10), fit with clinical work flow (n=8), and self-evident for how to complete (n=5).† The important principles governing the template features in respect of clinical nursing protocol are given in Annexure - I. Review of the evidence based literature on triage protocol This paper seeks to provide evidence based literature review on triage protocol covering various aspects related to it. The guidelines issued by the international bodies, articles published in the medical journals and books have been used for the purpose the study. In the Literature Review Grid given under Appendix –III, the study/research type, method used or information available and the results and comments related to the source materials are given for highlighting the reliability of the materials used and its relevance to the study. There are various types of triage scales used in different countries. â€Å"Of note is the Manchester Triage System (MTS) used in the United Kingdom, the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) used in America and the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS).† (Monash Institute of Health Services Research, 2001) Triage decisions in respect of nursing are related to emergency care and normal patient care. In a study to assess the workability of triage system in community palliative care, it was found â€Å"

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Envy at Work Article Summary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Envy at Work Summary - Article Example Because envy is generally considered a negative emotion, individuals repress these feelings. Still, these repressed feelings of envy emerge in harmful ways. Menon and Thompson’s research suggests, however, that it is possible to avoid being consumed by these feelings and to implement them to one’s advantage. In further considering the ways that envy emerges and is impactful, Menon and Thompson examine a hypothetical instance involving Scott and Marty. While these individuals were once strong friends, this gave way. While Marty was the better performer, Scott’s personality and social network helped him advance his career at a more rapid rate. This caused significant envy; this envy subsequently started to detrimentally impact Marty’s work performance. Most notably, Marty demonstrated disparagement and distancing. One of the main recognitions was that individuals pull away from others they envy because they feel the emotion more intensely with those they are close to. This distancing then directly impacts functionality and success within the organization. One notable example was that individuals were more willing to accept a project idea if it emerged outside the organization rather than within. The main recognition in these regards was that individuals within the organization worried that by adopting a project from a colleague they would lose status. In this way the colleague would be deemed the intellectual leader. This then costs the organization more money as it is less efficient to adopt ideas from outside the organization than to implement them internally. This is recognized as occurring in a real world example through the restaurant Fresh Choice. While the restaurant appreciated the menus and dà ©cor of a rival restaurant, after acquiring this rival opinions changed. The recognition then became that this newly acquired entity was not as chic as originally determine; this then resulted in the creative professionals leaving the organization. As a

Monday, January 27, 2020

Psychological research into language, and sex and gender

Psychological research into language, and sex and gender In this report I will be evaluating the contribution of social perspectives to our understanding from the two topics found in: OU, DSE212 Challenging Psychological Issues, Book 2. The topics I have chosen for consideration of psychological research are language, and sex and gender. The approaches taken will be analysed the topic in general terms and not to focus on one particular aspect at detailed levels. It points to the lack of a conclusive answer which is caused by Psychology as a discipline being relatively young and still in early stages with a lack of adequately strong theories that might assist to connect otherwise contrasting perspectives co existing. The report concludes that different perspectives within psychology can coexist at times, though conflict is frequent throughout. Sex and Gender The Psychology of sex and gender is one the most topical, important and engaging subjects that psychology, it illustrates many of the difficult issues that psychological explanations must address, including the political implications of different perspectives and the challenging of integrating explanations. It has been a controversial topic since the inception of psychology as a discipline and it powerful illustrates some of the diverse approaches with the field. A deliberation of how psychology approaches the analysis of sex and gender discloses four psychological perspectives, these are: Biological sex differences: Explaining the differences between male and female and biological correlates of behaviour. Investigations ere conducted through scientific processes Evolutionary psychology: Explaining the differences in the behaviour between the sexes in terms of behavioural selection for reproductive fitness. Test are conducted empirically Social constructionist theory: Gender differences between the sexes through the study of discourse in various historical, cultural and social contexts and so is hermeneutic. Psychoanalytic psychology: Development and meaning of sexual differences. Studies are largely done through clinical observation. Direct impressions of the four perspectives are objects of knowledge of each of the perspectives are all valid and useful in general psychology of sex and gender,. They pose somewhat different questions, have different objects of knowledge and use different notions of evidences. These perspectives may be complementary, conflicting however the scope for co-existence is not transparent. Given that the perspectives do not share common objects of knowledge, however is there can be an underlying hope for complementary theories in which together they all contribute to a broad understanding. Sex refer to the biological basis of differences between the sexes, where as gender refers to social constructed categories pertaining to these differences. Assigning a sex to humans can sometimes be a complex process, biological characteristics such as genetics and hormonal used to designate male or female, can be unreliable in small proportions of case, due to genetic abnormalities, such as, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) and Klinefelterss Syndrome ((XXY) (OU, p137) Certainly the biological and evolutionary perspectives appear complementary at the theoretical level in that both regard biological sex as the determinant of gender and view differences between sexes as biological features that have been selected for during evolution. Evolutionary psychologists argue that sexual selections and the different optimal reproductive styles of our male female ancestors have results in some differences in the behavioural predispositions of the two sexes. These are seen to particularly apparent in the area of sexual behaviours and attitudes. Buss (1992), found while both sexes reported experiencing jealousy at the though of their partner being involved with another person, there were differences in the focus of their concerned. OU,p145) In humans, unlike in other animals, clear differences in brain structures that correlate with differences in adult behaviour patterns have proven difficult to demonstrate. Nonetheless, imaging studies show some sex differences in brain functioning of Western adults. This is probably due, at least in part, to the brains plasticity.(Giedd et al, 1999) )p140). While some sex differences are clearly established at birth for most individuals, bodies and brained may become gendered over lifetime of use. A explanations would appear to be consistent with research findings from cross-cultural differences in male and females sexual behaviours, which Allen and Gorski, 1990 study has backed (OU, p139) However, biological psychology attempts to explain differences in male-female psychology in terms of selected physiological characteristics, for example dimorphism in brain structures (cf. Hofman and Swaab, 1991, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p.139). On the other hand the evolutionary psychologist would principally argue in favour of selected behavioural characteristics such as differences between male and female sexual attitudes (cf. Clark and Hatfield, 1989, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p.146). There is thus an apparent conflict at the level of analysis. It is therefore ironic that evolutionary psychology must perforce co-exist with biological psychology since, given the understandable constraints on its ability to conduct the sorts of empirical investigations that might be wished for (cf. Herrnstein-Smith, 2000, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, OU p.141), it is dependent on a certain amount of corroboration from the biological perspective, amongst others (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp.184). (22) Social constructionist point of view, they regard sex and gender as characteristics that are revealed only through discourse and action. These are consequence of the individuals behaviour and experience in a given cultural, social and historical context. The depth of the conflict is exemplified by a comparison of evolutionary studies that emphasise cross-cultural stability in particular sexual preferences (cf. Singh 1995, p.148; Buss and Schmitt, 1993, p.148, cited in Holloway et al, 2007) and social constructionist ideas such as Sandra Bem, who developed the idea of the cultural lens of musicality and femininity. This lens is a way of perceiving the world that makes behaviour and experiences gendered, this is called the Gender Schema Theory (1994, Holloway et al, 2007, OU p.153). According to the social constructionist perspectives, biological sex is not central to explaining what it is to be a man or a women, rather it is a signpost to which a whole set of us socially constructed gender differences are attached. In this account, social constructionist created discourse about masculinity and femininity are used by individual to create their own gendered subject positions. Whereas the biological and evolutionary perspectives agree that biological sex lies at the heart of explaining gender, the social constructionist perspective explicitly rejects that view; sometimes for political reasons. In relation to Sex and Gender, political differences are often exposed when conflicting accounts of differences occur. Gender and sexuality came to be seen, through Freuds work, as having far-reaching implications for the development of self. It largely complements the social constructionist, in terms of its interpretive or hermeneutic methodology, its explanations largely focus on the unconscious given that its objects of study entail the meaning of the biological differences between men and women and how these become internalised in the childs mind (OU, Holloway et al, 2007, pp.183). Thus both the social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives conflict with the biological and evolutionary approaches at the methodological level. Uniquely however the psychoanalysis perspective recognises both biological and cultural contributions to its theorising. It is not without its share of conflict however. Within the perspective, a important critical developments in the psychoanalytic theory sex and gender includes Freuds notion for the symbolic significance of the penis( and penis envy) quickly came under scrutiny from feminist psychologists to scientific practices. through Freud failure to consider the significant of womens genitals. (OU, Horney, 1926, , 2007, p.164). Language and Meaning There are three main perspectives used to examine the complex area of language, these are: Theory Methods Themes. These perspectives focus on different aspects of language including evolutionary developments of languages, the processing of languages and the construction of meaning through interaction. The study of language and meaning, one finds an equally intriguing mix of potential co-existence, complement and conflict when comparing the three principal perspectives. The evolutionary perspective sets out to explore language to understand how are related structurally and historically, how they are used differently by various social and cultural groups and how languages is used to communicate and create meaning. Language is the main medium for communication between humans beings and where we express, explore and pursue those goals that mean most to us .It is possible to view the three perspectives as at least co-existent. Their objects of knowledge are different and one might expect their cumulative product to contribute to some sort of unified theory. However, the potential for conflict between the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives is revealed in how they view meaning as the object of knowledge. For the former it is something that is constructed internally by the individual prior to transmission, and subsequently reconstructed by the audience. For the latter it is negotiated as a result of discourse between individuals meaning emerges as the result of a complex interplay of intentions, interpretations and power-relations. Thus, there is cause for disagreement as to what meaning is and where it comes from (Sperber and Wilson 1986, OU, p100). That this is adequate to justify a claim of conflict seems weak since the types of meaning espoused by the two perspectives are themselves different. A major social constructionist argument against a purist cognitive perspective is that cognitive processes cannot be transparently reported. This argument is one that cognitive researchers have long acknowledged. Commenting on early research into the cognitive modelling of language Boden (1977, pp.113ff, et passim) notes that a persons understanding of language in a given instance is dependent, not simply on their knowledge of the world around them, but crucially on their understanding of their relationship with who they communicate with. Within the evolutionary perspective there is also a debate as to whether language evolved as an adaptation advantage and was the foundation for other cognitive abilities. Pinker (1994) believes that languages may have evolved through natural selection, perhaps in conjunction with other cognitive abilities, OU, p83) or as a consequence of selection for an ability to form our Metarepresentation (Sperber, 2000, p.86). These are contradictory and conflicting views.. The major differences between psychological methods based on natural science principles and those based those on hermeneutic principles means that preservatives based on these methods may have difficulty achieving more than uneasy coexistence. Psychologists do not stand on such substantial bedrock. The questions they pose are often difficult to formulate computationally without reducing the predictive power of any solution, whereas the history of physics can be measured in thousands of years, psychology as a recognisable discipline has existed for just over a century. A inevitable conclusion is that psychology is characterised by perspectives that at one or more of these levels conflict, co-exist or complement, No perspective on its own can tell the whole story. The perspectives and levels of analysis and explanations cannot just be combined without an account of how they interact. Word count: 1793 294 (References + Quotes +Titles + Bullet Points) = 1499

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Shakespeare’s Audience: Research Synthesis

The uneducated lower class audience was interested in the violence Shakespeare's plays consisted of. The Elizabethan era's culture was violent and cruel. For example, if an individual did not enjoy plays, they could witness a â€Å". public execution by hanging, beheading, or any number of gruesome ways. † (Wave ; Davis, 109). To keep his violent audience entertained and engaged in his plays, Shakespeare had to include an ample amount of violence throughout them. Sometimes, audience members would become fatigued.To really excite and give them a rush to awaken his audience members, he would spontaneously throw in ction scenes right after, or in the middle of a tragic, or comedic event. One example can be found in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Not too long after Romeo and Juliet are married, a fight occurs, and after Romeo heard Tybalt has killed his beloved friend, Mercutio, he tells Benvolio â€Å"†¦ La] fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!†¦. for Mercutio's soul! â €Å"(Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare). Romeo, who had remained calm throughout Tybalt and Mercutio's dispute, later kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio.Directly after their marriage, a calm and Joyous scene, Shakespeare has an abrupt ction scene imputed to thrill his audience. Although the lower class enjoyed a good comedy, they also went to the theater to watch the newest foray into suicide, debauchery, and murder. Once again in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he has a thought out plan that seems well, transform into a violent and disastrous one. After Juliet sees her lover has killed himself, she is left alone by Friar, while she is awaiting Friar, she becomes frightened by the watchman entering the tomb and says â€Å"O happy dagger!This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die. â€Å"(Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare). She was fearful of the watchman seeing she was still alive, and in turn committed suicide. Shakespeare mislead his audience through a bloody, twist ending, which was exac tly what they would have enjoyed watching. The lower class members of Shakespeare's audience enjoyed his anatomical humor. He wanted his audience members to have sterling Junctures while watching his plays, so he included an abundance of sexual innuendos.Shakespeare was at times too â€Å"bawdy, sometimes vulgar, many times pushing the bounds of good taste. † (Cork Milner). Shakespeare at some points was abrupt and too direct with ome of his Jokes, but audience members still enjoyed them. Shakespeare is known for his masterful way with words. Some say he was clever at playing around with them. One area where he used this talent is when he inserted sexual innuendos into and find that the clever wit of his sexual innuendo not only has comic significance, but is used to develop character, themes, and plot as well. â€Å"( transmedialshakespeare. ordpress. com). While using sexual innuendos to appeal to the lower class, Shakespeare was also using them to mold parts of his plays, which is why people often refer to him as one of the greatest play writes of all ime. He used every bit of his plays to his advantage, and through the use of sexual innuendos, he was able to mold parts his plays, while still entertaining his audience. Shakespeare knew how to give his audience members individually what they came for because â€Å"Shakespeare realized sexual Jokes, especially double entendres, put the twinkle in the performance,† Oohn Basil).He used his specialty of wordplay to conjure clever sexual innuendos and naughty puns throughout his plays. William Shakespeare's educated spectators were allured by his use of mythological allusions. Only the upper class was able to afford an education and were able to understand all of the â€Å"references from Greek & Roman mythology in his plays†¦ they are an identifier with ancient tales, and also tie in stories most of the populace was familiar with†(wcuenglish. net).Shakespeare's use of Theseus as the Du ke of Athens and Hippolyta as his queen immediately allows the educated audience to make a mythological connection in A Midsummer Night's Dream. As the audience identified one character from Greek mythology, they then naturally associated the other characters with this mythology if they were a member of the pper class and had an education. For example, two other characters, Oberon and Titania, could be compared with their mythological traits to be viewed similar to Zeus and Hera.His audience could make connections and know when that when Theseus says â€Å"Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace† (A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare) that the story was a mythological allusion of Theseus and could recognize his Amazonian queen Hippolyta, and understand the specific myth being drawn. Another example that the upper class would be able to point out would be Puck relating to Eros, the Greek god of sexual love and beauty. The love Juice that Puck places over characte rs' eyes to make them fall in love with the first thing they see after waking is equivalent to Eros' golden arrows, having the same effect.The audience could correlate these distinct characters due to their connection to Theseus. Shakespeare more directly compares the two characters when Oberon says â€Å"Flower of this purple dye†¦ Hit with Cupid's archery†¦ Sin in apple of his eye† (A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare). Lastly, Shakespeare appealed to the upper class through clever wordplay. Shakespeare was an ingenious man, an ample amount of these puns are in all of his plays and â€Å"Like most Elizabethans, Shakespeare loved puns†¦ the average per play was around eighty.Many of Shakespeare's original puns depended on words that were spelled different, but sounded alike† (Wave & Davis, 54). Shakespeare's brilliant word play could only be enjoyed by the upper class, because of their education; they were able to understand the multiple meanings of s ome of the words. Enjoying the genius and humor in Shakespeare's work of clever word play, was something the ower class was sadly not privileged with. One example of the clever word play Romeo that â€Å"tomorrow you shall find me a grave man. â€Å"(Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare).In this Shakespeare meant grave as Mercutio being serious, but here it also alludes to his imminent death, aimed towards his educated audience members who would be able to infer this. Shakespeare's clever word play required a trained ear to be able to fully understand all of what Shakespeare intended to get across. For instance when Mercutio says â€Å"Sure wit, follow me this Jest now till thou ast worn out thy pump, that, when the single sole of it is worn, the Jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular. † (Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare).This one is a double pun. One meaning is that the sole of the shoe, the pump they are talking about, is single, which is to say, it has only one layer of leather. Shakespeare puns the sole of a shoe with â€Å"solely† trying to say only, exclusively and puns the word single with â€Å"singular† meaning one of a kind, unique and says that his Joke is exclusively unique, or solely singular. Shakespeare knew only the educated would be able to atch his double meaning wordplay and perhaps, he would also test them on how much they would receive from his word play.William Shakespeare tried captivating his audience while they watched his plays, but certain aspects included in they were specifically aimed for different classes. He used mythological allusions and clever word play for the upper and the violence and sexual innuendos were meant for lower uneducated class audience. Shakespeare was an ingenious play write and knew what his audience members were entertained by and he knew exactly how to appeal to their tastes of theatre.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Gavin Menzies’ Voyages

Gavin Menzies Essay Gavin Menzies was a royal navy submarine captain that worked for the British government and now is trying to let the world know his opinion on the discovery of the Americas: did the Chinese discover the Americas before Columbus? Menzies takes on a voyage where he tries to find evidence to support his thesis and comes up with several different theories; his first stop: Calicut. Menzies claims that the Ming dynasty's famous navigator Zheng He managed to reach the cape of good hope and from there he should have reached the Americas too.Gavin also claims that a famous Italian writer of the time, Nicolo ‘ Di Conti, might have made contact with Zheng ‘s fleet in Calicut and might have also left with them for the New World; Unfortunately for Menzies this idea was quickly discarded for there are historical records that suggest that Di Conti immediately returned back to Italy after his trip to Calicut ( he might have also carried some Chinese maps of their voya ges with him).Menzies then pulls out some more evidence that a map found was possibly a Chinese map that led to the islands of the Antilles, but according to a few historians and cartographers, the maps were confusing inaccurate and the islands were displaced in random places. The possibility of a slipway on one of the tropical islands was rejected by many geologists that state that those rocks where there for no peculiar reason.Still not giving up on his quest, Gavin Menzies slightly alters his theory: he affirms that an Italian, Verazzano, went on a voyage with the Chinese and stating that he saw â€Å"people running like Chinese†; but as we already know, even Columbus, thought that the people he thought were Chinese but they were just the Native American tribes that lived on the coastline.It was also verified that Indigenous people were descendants of other Asian tribes that might have reached the Americas by crossing an icy passage in North America. There is no concrete i nformation or evidence that the Chinese ever got to America, because if that were so than the Chinese would have set up outposts, settled or maybe started trading the tropical goods with Europe and probably could have made a fortune!Lastly, Menzies tries convincing the people when he claims that an old Chinese report states that the Ming fleet arrived at the shore of about 3000 different countries(the only way to do this was by reaching the Americas too)! The Chinese historian that owned the archives rejects this last of Gavin's theories because of a simple calligraphy misunderstanding: the Chinese character † † means 30 and † † means 3000 so the record can be misunderstood because the record actually just meant 30 different countries†¦Any claims concerning history, especially when it has been firmly accepted by historians and other professionals on that certain topic, should have reliable and plausible evidence along with clarifications and explanations to be supported; That is how history has been built up so far and it's how it will continue to be built. When an argument concerning history that relies on inaccurate evidence and unsupported theories, such as that found in Menzies' show. The argument does not deserve to be reconsidered.