Imagine if you will, a future where voice responsive technology, GPRS systems, and onboard computers allow one to have a car that can be driven worry and hassle-free by even a toddler. No, I am not talking about the cars in Demolition Man or Minority Report, although Hollywood is not doing a bad job of imagining what kinds of cars these driverless cars may be in the future. The future is not that far off though. Driverless cars already exist here in the United Kingdom, parts of America, and China as well. All are experimental and yet deliver a very high promise for a future filled with safer cars, roads, and passengers.
First experimented on by Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory all the way back in 1977, the first driverless car zoomed by at a speed of 20 miles per hour. Then in the ’80s, German carmaker Mercedes Benz created a robot van capable of speeds up to 60 miles per hour and equipped with vision guidance systems. The same company eventually developed other prototypes like the VaMP, Demo I, II, and II of DARPA, as well as the VITA -2, all of which were able to achieve higher speeds and accuracy thanks to the more technologically advanced onboard computer systems and enhancements.
A driverless car manages to drive itself due to its highly intricate subsystems that are composed of 4 parts. The first part of the system is the sensors. These detect the surroundings of the car, information that is shared with system 2, or the navigation system. The navigation system is what directs the car and plots its destination. Finally, all the systems together drive the car under the motion subsystem guidance of the car. The control system then calculates every minute second of the car’s system to work flawlessly and ensure that the car shall adhere to the strict road rules and regulations in order to avoid collisions.
The car system is so precise that the driverless car technology has become of keen interest to both the British and American military for use of the soldiers in the field. Such driverless car technologies will allow soldiers to safely patrol war zones such as those in Iraq from the safety of their command posts. But much of the technology on board the cars are still highly experimental and have not been applied to the real world yet due to the high costs of manufacturing the cars. However, this is not to say that driverless cars are gathering dust and cobwebs in their development laboratories. No, these cars manage to go on display at various automotive roadshows also. The biggest roadshow of driverless cars however is known as the DARPA Grand Challenge.
DARPA is the acronym for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an organization that falls under the direct supervision of the United States Department of Defense. As a competition meant solely for the development of future driverless or autonomously driven cars, the competition awards cash prizes for the most cutting-edge driverless car designs that successfully combine fundamental discoveries with potential national-security use. These vehicles are expected to perform on various types of terrain during the competition within a limited time span. The driving course range from off-road to urban road settings.
Driverless cars are the wave of the future. The technology exists for the cars to drive themselves and have potential benefits ranging from military to handicap driving. The only question that has to be answered is “how can the technology be made more affordable for everyone to afford it?”
Work Cited
“DARPA”. DARPA Urban Challenge. 2007. Web.
“Driverless Car Approaching”. The Daily Telegraph. 2007. Web.
“The Great (Driverless) Car Race”. Technology Review: Published by MIT. 2003. Web.
“Stanford’s New Driverless Car”. Technology Review: Published By MIT. 2007. Web.
“What Is A Driverless Car?”. The TECHFAQ. 2008. Web.
The Diagnostic Test And Cooking With Spinach
Target
The target statistical concept is diagnostic and screening tests and the “gold standard” test in the sphere of healthcare. The “gold standard” test is usually the preferred version of diagnosing a patient with a specific disease. However, it is typically expensive or difficult to access and distribute (Ancker and Begg 5). Thus, one may choose to perform cheaper, simpler, but less specific screening tests instead. Here, the decision lies in choosing between the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostics that are not the “gold standard.”
Analog
An analog is a scenario where a person wants to cook a batch of spinach. They like spinach leaves, but do not want to eat the stems. Therefore, a question arises of how one can cut a bunch of spinach to get as many leaves and few stems as possible. If the person decides to cut as many stems off, they may also cut some leaves, thus losing the amount of spinach they like. In contrast, if one chooses to preserve as many leaves as possible and cut lower, they may also have to eat some stems in the end (Ancker and Begg 5).
Relevant Aspects
The knife in this analogy is the diagnostic test of choice. Its function is to separate patients with and without the disease. Spinach leaves are people without the disease, and the stems are those with the condition.
Similarities
The selected test determines the knife’s position in separating two patient groups (Ancker and Begg 5). Statistical analyses, similar to the knife, cannot always accurately determine who has or does not have a disease.
Breakdown
One may argue that a cook can take each spinach leaf and cut the stem, increasing the accuracy. This assumption may lead a scientist to think that by using diagnostic tests on every person individually, they will come to a better result. It is vital to explain that such a nuanced approach is an analogy of a “gold standard” – time-consuming, expensive, and difficult (Ancker and Begg 6).
Conclusions
The analogy of cooking spinach can effectively demonstrate the choice statisticians have to make when sacrificing either sensitivity or specificity of results. High sensitivity is correctly diagnosed people with the disease, and high specificity is correctly diagnosed healthy people. This comparison shows that there might be no ideal option of a diagnostic test, and optimization often depends on the particular case.
Work Cited
Ancker, Jessica S., and Melissa D. Begg. “Using Visual Analogies to Teach Introductory Statistical Concepts.” Numeracy, vol. 10, no. 2, 2017, pp 1-12.
Cultic Rituals And The Nature Of Yahweh
The Day of Atonement was highly valued and it was regarded as a great day. “It was a day on the Jewish calendar where Jews were fasting and soul searching.” After the death of the two sons of Aaron, God spoke to Moses and told him to inform his brother Aaron not to attend any Holy place inside the veil failure to which he would die for the Lord said He will be in the cloud above the mercy seat. This was the time when people were preparing for the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. “Nadab and Abihu attended the holy place without invitation from the Lord and they were struck down.” This is a teaching that we should go to God’s holy place only when we are invited and not anytime we feel like it. This portrays that God is holy and separation only exists because of our sins. However, Jesus died on the cross because of our sins and this enabled us to have standing access to God. One of the cultural rituals that Aaron was supposed to do was to attend the Holy Place with the blood of a young bull for his sin to be cleansed. He was also supposed to take with him the blood of a ram as a burnt offering. There were holy garments that he was supposed to wear and this included; the holy linen tunic, linen trousers, linen sash, and linen turban. After washing his body, he was supposed to take two kids of goats and a ram for the offering. The Jews believed that the sacrifice of a goat could restore the relationship between God and humanity. The offering was arranged in a way that the two goats were as alike as possible. The size, value, and color were to be the same and this reveals that Yahweh is the same today tomorrow, and forever. Aaron was to take the censer full of burning coals of fire before the Lord such that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat failure to which it would lead to his death. After sprinkling some blood on the mercy seat seven times with his fingers then Lord would make perfect atonement for his sin. This revealed that Yahweh is holy, undefiled, and harmless and lives separately from the sinners. The sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat, alter and tabernacle symbolizes the restoration of the community. During the time of sacrifice, it was the only time that the name of Yahweh was to be pronounced, and this was only done by the high priest. The issue of atonement shows that Yahweh is very near or close to us and this means there is no obstacle between Yahweh and human beings. The nature of Yahweh is that He is Pure and Clean and this can well be revealed by the act when Aaron was told to offer a sacrifice because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel as well as their transgressions. He was also supposed to make the sacrifice in the Holy place when there was no one in the tabernacle so that his conversation with Yahweh could be as private as possible. The separation existing between man and the Almighty can be brought closer or the gap can be bridged by making atonement. The purpose of the blood was to cleanse the house of Yahweh for it was said to have been made unclean by the bad acts of man. Yahweh is clean and He needs man also to be clean. Another ritual that was carried out was where a live goat had to be brought to the tabernacle. “Aaron was to lay his hands on the head of the goat and confess on behalf of the children of Israelites that all their sins and transgressions, iniquities should be cleansed.” The goat was then sent away into the wilderness by a suitable man where it was to head to an uninhabited land. This meant that the sins of the Israel people were cleansed and transferred to the scapegoat and therefore they were made pure. This is symbolic that Yahweh does not want to separate Himself from His people though they are sinners He finds a way to bring them closer to Him. The ritual was meant to punish the defilement of the people God’s “separateness.” Though in the Old Covenant, it is argued that sin can never be eliminated but be put away somewhere. The argument by one ancient Rabbi was that the sins of Israel that were carried by the scapegoat are still somewhere and they are not purely cleansed. Others believed that the Day of Atonement was successful if the goat wanders off and never returns. They concluded that a piece of scarlet cloth should be tied on the head of the scapegoat and that if it turns white then it means that Yahweh has accepted the sacrifice. Alternatively, if not accepted then the scarlet redness would remain and this was regarded to be a bad year for the Israelites. This means that Jewish people interfered with the ceremony and therefore the goat had to be killed so that it will not come into contact with the Israelites. The Bible records that “forty years before the destruction of the temple, during the time of Christ’s death, this red string turned no more whiter. When Jesus’ blood red body rose from the dead, clothed with garments, it was proof forever that the red had changed to white and atonement at the cross was perfect and complete.”
The holiness and cleanliness of Yahweh have continued to be revealed in that the high priest was supposed to wash, take off the linen garments and wear his garments for glory and beauty. On the Day of Atonement, the nature of Yahweh revealed itself as Humble, Spotless, Righteous, Victorious, and Trustworthy. The Day of Atonement was meant to be a sacrificial one and the Lord wanted the Israelites to confess their sins before Him and identify with the sacrifice for sin. Today, we rely on the finished work of Jesus for He died on the cross for our sins. The issue of sacrifices is not well embraced worldwide and the believers normally do what they are justified in though this cannot atone for sin. The priest who was anointed was responsible to make atonement for other priests and the people of the assembly. Moses was one of the priests and Yahweh commanded him “This shall be an everlasting statue for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for their sins, once a year.” The priests and only the priests were the only people allowed to enter the Holy place. This is symbolic and it shows that Yahweh is a Supreme Being and also Pure and He wanted to compel the other people to confess their sins. The atonement was supposed to be carried once per year for the Israelites to cleanse their sins. The sacrifice could aid in the restoration of the Israelite community. But the death of Jesus brought atonement to a halt. He sacrificed himself to die so that people will be forgiven their sins. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” The entire ceremony as was carried by the Israelites had significance to the Jewish in general. The events of the Day of Atonement can help us to reveal the nature of Yahweh and what He expects us to do. The cultic rituals were meant to bring closeness of Jews to the Yahweh and therefore it was highly valued during that period before the birth of Jesus Christ as reported in the New Testament. To summarize, as reported by Kerry, (2004) “the main purpose of the Day of Atonement was not to cleanse the people, but to cleanse the holy place.” By so doing, then Yahweh could avail Himself to the people for the sanctuary was clean and He is also clean and holy. His nature determined whether there was the need for people to offer sacrifice. I would argue that the death of Christ brought about so many changes in religion today and that is why the Day of Atonement is not celebrated in most of the countries in the world. After His death, sinners have cleansed their sins and therefore the need for the sacrifices is a thing of the past. The rituals among the Jews had a lot of significance for they restored the relationship between God and humanity.
Bibliography
Kerry M. 2004, The Complete how to Handbook for Jewish Living. (New York: KTAV publishing House).
Marc Zri Brettler 2005, How to Read the Bible. (New York: Jewish Publication Society).
New American Bible Copyright (1991) Washington D.C: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Roy Gane 2005, Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy. (New York: Harvard University Press).
Samuel E Balentine 2002, Leviticus. (New York: Westmister Press).