The origins of the Arab- Israeli wars Term Paper

The origins of the Arab- Israeli wars - Term Paper Example agenda and conflict emanated in 1948 after Israel was born; resultantly, this aspect makes the comprehensive conflict an international and modern marvel especially due to the five wars that followed. Additionally, also other significant political events arose from the same occurrence i.e. uprisings by the Palestinians. In 1880’s, there was an increase in the European-Jews that immigrated to Palestine causing many rigidities between the Palestinian-Arab residents and the different movements under Zionism. Nonetheless, the Jews in Palestine continued to increase and this affected even parts of land that were under the rule of Ottoman, where the Jewish communities settled and started agricultural projects. Moreover, some of the Jewish communities also acquired land from individual prominent Arabs with the number of Christians and Jews increasing by day. However, according to Ottoman and Robert (Statistician General of Israel), it took time before the Jews and Christians were nearly as half the number of Palestinians and Muslims. Later on in 1917, political actions took an unexpected turn especially through the Balfour Declaration of Palestine that gave the power of recognition to the settlement of Jews in the Palestinian land. The Great Britain Government facilitated the declaration during the period of the Obligatory Palestine, and a result it was the source of major conflicts between the full-time dwellers and the immigrants. Ottoman was a significant factor of the tensions as the immigration took place during his time and ruling. Faisal- Weizmann Agreement followed two years after the declaration to try to reduce the tension between the two groups. The agreement encouraged collaboration between the Arabs and the Jews especially on the aspect that both communities would live together in Palestinian Land. However, the idea of leaving a part of the Palestinian Land did not entirely impress the Arabs and the agreement did not have much of an impact to the

In class Exam 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

In class Exam 2 - Essay Example Modern communication means have enabled wider contacts with the outside world. People are becoming more prone to getting impressed by various foreign cultures and traditions. Language is no more a hurdle any more, as people worldwide are interacting through trade, social online forums, different media sources, and many other ways (â€Å"Wise Geek† par. 2). Globalization has impressed our lives through its innovation in ideas. It has created an environment of popular culture. All those who inculcate a feeling of belonging to the global community want to be a part of the popular culture. By popular culture means change in interests is welcomes, as people in the United States get entertained with the South African music and love reading the Japanese comic literature. Some music content of America is very well received in other parts of the world, such as the American soap operas are famous in Israel. In the music segment alone, Indian film music is popular in countries wherever I ndians are residing. Indian movies are also seen widely in other countries. Sometimes, they attract more crowds in foreign lands than in their country of production. All this has happened because of reducing physical boundaries among nations; globalization has made this possible with the revolution in means of communication (National Geographic 1). Globalization is not limited one facet of life; it has become all-pervasive for those budding managers of the future who like to dress even in global corporate attire. Most professionals in various countries prefer to follow international dress code of suits in formal wear and T-shirts and jeans in casual wear (National Geographic 1). From the perspective of future manager, it would help the manager of a multinational company to entertain varied taste in music and clothing. He can well appreciate distinct music choices of staff, when working outside his/her state of origin. Wider knowledge of music will help in making acquaintances with o thers if tastes match. Even if tastes are not similar, knowledge of other peoples’ culture will bring strangers nearer. Overall, it will help a manager to jell with wider set of people at work, if outlook is broader and global. Culture is a very wide aspect that can help a future manager to build strong relationships in business. Food is yet another cultural trait. Imagine, as a manager of the US origin, you visit India and develop a taste for South Indian cuisines. Whenever, if you get a chance of posting for some years in India, you may show willingness to accept your posting there to not only relish South Indian food, but make a lot of friends there, just because you have a liking for Indian movies or film songs, or for that matter Indian cuisine. Managers need to cross the boundaries of physical world truly if they want to fit the role of global as well as glocal, which means they are adept in both local and global cultural traits. They can develop cordial relations with staff in a foreign land, which will help them in leveraging more business for the company they are working. Present a Concise, Articulate, and Supported Argument of a Pro and Con of Globalization Arguing in favor or against globalization is not free from political connotations because the very process is complicated enough to decide what are its pros and cons, as pros considered by some are observed as cons by others. The list of the pros and cons of globalization includes various benefits and disadvantages of globalization. Some of them

What Is Digital Communication?

What Is Digital Communication? Digital communication is an electronic transmission of information that has been encoded digitally for storage and processing data by computers. The internet, web sites, virtual meetings and emails are all part of digital communications. This report discusses the role of digital communication in cross-cultural issues such as religion, hierarchy and business ethics. In this report, cross cultural issues and the access of digital communication is discussed. Digital communication is essential for every business. In this report I have compared Australian and Indian culture and role of digital communication in cross cultural issues of these two countries. In todays world, communication plays an integral part to establish the business within the country or among other countries. Establishment of business depends on various aspects like religion, hierarchy and business ethics. Cost -benefit ethics are good for an organisation. Digital communications like internet, virtual meetings, email are beneficial for an organisation. The Communication is a method of exchanging information with each other. In old times people used to communicate through phone, letters and visiting physically. Nowadays everyone is using technology to communicate locally or overseas. Digital communication plays a vital role in business. Use of Internet, websites, virtual meetings and email, videoconferencing and teleconferencing gives us more freedom to communicate anywhere in the world. But this freedom can create troubles sometimes (Robert,n.d). Studies have shown that access to digital communication may or may not have any influence on cross cultural issues. This report has discussed the Indian culture, the Australian culture and role of digital communication in cross-cultural issues of these countries. 2.1 Indian Culture India has a rich and colourful culture. According to Grihault ,2003 India has given the world two greatest religions :- Hinduism and Buddhism. The Hinduism is dominant religion in India. There are other religions in India as well: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jain. Majority of Indians have strong belief in religion. Indian society is based on hierarchy. Hierarchy is not only seen in families but also in businesses. Indian culture is male dominant. Although India is a political democracy, in everyday life there is little encouragement to notions of equal opportunity. In India all relationships involve hierarchies. Yousuf et al. 2007 conducted a survey in Kashmir (state of India), to evaluate the perceptions and practises of medical practitioners in matters relating to informed consent in certain hospitals. Results of the survey showed if consent was refused, medical practitioners would still proceed with the intervention without any justification for consent. Doctors opinion was considered the most important in clinical decision making. Results also showed that not all information was disclosed to female patients. This study highlights the male dominance, decision making process and hierarchy system in India. Here are some of the business ethics in India. Indians prefer to do business with those they know better and build relationships upon mutual trust and respect. Indians conduct meetings either in late mornings or early afternoon. Meeting can be cancelled in short notice or at last minute. Indians are impressed with punctuality. In India decision is only made by the authority. Indian people who do business dress up in traditional garments. Indians reserve titles; for example Professor, Doctor and Engineer and status is strong-minded by age, qualification, cast and profession. Indians also use titles such as sir or Madam instead of taking names. In India business cards are exchanged after initial greetings. 2.2 Australian Culture Australia is a multicultural society. A recent census showed that approximately 68% of Australian population were Christians, 1.5% were Muslim and 2% Buddhists (Penney 2007). Religion is not taken very seriously by the Australian people. The number of people attending church in Australia is falling day by day. Australia is hierarchical society in certain aspects; example Australian men earn 10% more than women. Though men and women are considered equal in Australian society, most of the upper level positions in corporate, academic and public sector are occupied by men. Australians favour equality than recognised hierarchy. Australians see hierarchy as a disruption to positive and productive social relations. In Australian workplaces there are bosses and sub-ordinates; bosses must earn the respect of their employees. People at workplaces are called by their names rather than being greeted as sir or madam. Workplaces in Australia are free of language and behaviours that would degrade any individual. Here are some of the Australian business ethics: Australians communicate in a straightforward manner and sometimes use very colourful language. They do not need long-standing relationship before doing business. Punctuality is very important for Australians while doing business. They prefer to arrive a few minutes earlier than to keep someone waiting for you. Appointments are important and easy to schedule. Australians are generally relaxed people. Australians use facts and figures in business presentations as theres no place for feelings and emotions in Australias business atmosphere. Australians do not need lengthy discussions to do business, negotiations often proceed quickly. Australians do not like high pressure techniques in business deals. Top level management decisions are made after consulting others and hence this makes the decision making process slow. People doing business are usually expected to dress up formally. Australians do exchange their business cards after initial greetings, but not exchanging a business card is not considered insulting. 2.3 Role of digital communication in cross cultural issues of Australia and India In todays world the internet, websites, video conferencing and emails have become an important part of our lives. Internet is an important resource from where all sorts of information can be gathered. But use of internet varies from one country to the other. The difference in use of the internet across various countries is called digital divide. Technology, economy, politics and culture contribute to this digital divide. Nath et al 2004 have studied the relationship between the cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede and the Internet diffusion rate of nations. According to them cultures that avoid uncertainty and risks are resistant to the use of internet, and societies with high masculine culture tend to have lower internet diffusion rate. In such societies the culture does not favour internet use. This study showed that diffusion rate in India was Information on cross cultural differences of India and Australia is very important in doing business across these two countries. The Cultural value set given below shows the differences between Indian and Australian culture. INDIA AUSTRALIA Individualism Collectivism Long term Orientation Short Time Orientation Single Group Mixed Group Event Oriented Time Oriented Internet is a useful resource of gaining such information. Kayan et al. 2006 have said that information technologies facilitate cross cultural collaboration but this may be restricted by different styles of IT use in different cultures. Access to digital communication is not only beneficial to large businesses but can also help small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) to grow and participate in global markets of developed as well as developing countries. Patricia et al. 2007 conducted a study to investigate and evaluate the business environment in India, and identify factors that how small and medium sized businesses can participate in international marketplace. Several factors were identified in this study; one of major factors identified was that internationalization of SMEs in India can be achieved by increased utilization of information technology and better use of online resources. Hornby et al. 2002 conducted a study to understand export barriers of Australia and UKs SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs). This study also addressed the effect of E-commerce on SMEs, how internet can help to break down export barriers and focus on cultural differences depending on firms export market. Results of this study showed that Australian businesses using internet, perceived lower export barriers. But SMEs in Australia did not give consideration to overcome cross cultural issues and need for foreign representation as they used market extension approach for their websites. Merryfield, 2003 conducted a study to understand the role of online technologies while teaching social studies and global education to students. Study was conducted on 92 American teachers and 22 Cultural consultants who interacted with students in graduate programs. Mode of interaction was online discussions. Results of the study showed that online technologies were the perfect tools for teaching social studies and global education to students due the availability of various resources on the internet. 3.0 Conclusion The role of digital communication varies from one culture to the other. Above studies show that some businesses use technology to have better understanding of cross cultural issues whereas some use it simply as an essential part of business. On the basis of above literature it can be concluded that access to digital communication promotes cross cultural collaboration but it depends on the purpose of its use. 4.0 Annotated references Armstrong, A Francis, D.R, n.d, Personal Ethics in a Corporate World, Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics, vol 3, No.1, pp. 27-33 (Online Google). This article has discussed about relationship between personal morality and ethical corporate behaviour. They also talked about intellectual competence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EIQ), confounding issues such as the stability of moral intelligence. Grihault, N 2003, Culture Smart India, Kuperard, Great Britain. In this book Grihault has discussed about Indian land, people, values and attitudes, religion, communication and business briefing such as business attitudes, business culture, business communication, meeting and negotiations. Hornby, G, Goulding, P Poon, S 2002, Percptions of Export Barriers and Cultural Issues: The SME E-commerce Experience, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 213-226 (Online Google Scholar). This article is about small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). This study discussed use of E-commerce in international market. This is a comparison of Australia and UK in regards of E-commerce. They highlight some of cultural issues during the process of marketing internationally across different cultures. India a country study, viewed on 29th April, 2010. http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/intoc.html This web site is providing information on India such as roots of Indian religion, language, ethnicity, society and culture, hierarchy, cast and class, telecommunication, foreign relations and business ethics in India. ITIM international, viewed on 29th April, 2010. http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_australia.shtml This website provide information about cultural dimensions such as power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) and long-term orientation (LTO). Kayan, S, Fussell, S.R Setlock, D.L, 2006, Cultural differences in the use of instant messaging in Asia and North America vol. 6, pp. 525-528 (online Google). This article is all about different styles of Information Technology use in different cultures. They have been conducted on the use of Instant Messaging in North America and Asia. This study reflects the difference between Western individualistic, low-context cultures and Eastern collectivistic, high-context cultures. In this study they found multi-party chat, audio-video chat emotions were very famous in Asia than in North America. Merryfield, M. 2003, Like a veil: Cross-cultural experiential learning online, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, vol. 3, pp. 146-171 (Online Google Scholar). This article discussed about places for cross-cultural online interaction, substantive content, cross-cultural engagement, exploration of and risk-taking with sensitive topics, controversial issues and conflicting perspectives, issues of special interests. Nath, R Murthy, N.R.V 2004, A Study of the Relationship Between Internet Diffusion and Culture, Relationship Internet Diffusion and Culture Journal of International Technology and Information Management, vol. 13, no.2, pp. 123-132 (Online Google Scholar). This article discussed about the adaptation and use of technology innovations. They also talked about digital divide. This paper examines the relationship between the cultural dimensions proposed by Hofsted and the Internet adoption rate of nations. Patrica, R.T, Rajshekhar Javalgi, G 2007, Internationalization of SMEs in India: Fostering Enterpreneurship by Leveraging Information Technology, International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 2, issue. 2, pp.166-180 (Online Emerald). This study is based on small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in India. This study is to investigate and evaluate the business environment. How India is developing in international market? It is planned that the key method for development of entrepreneurship is through the utilization of technology. Penney, B 2003, Culture Smart Australia, Kuperard, Great Britain. This book is all about Australian people, values and attitudes, Australian English-speaking strine, use of communication methods and business briefing such as the Australian way of business, women in management, work ethics, egalitarianism in the work place, business and socializing. The Webs leading resource for International Business Etiquette and Manners, viewed on 29th April, 2010. http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/india.htm This website is a leading resource for International business etiquette and manners. This website is providing every countries business ethics such as Appearance, Behavior, Communications, and Resources and also you can get Geert Hofstede Analysis. Tiffen, R Gittins, R 2004, How Australia Compares, Ligare Pty Ltd, Australia. This book is a handy reference that compares Australia with other countries such as Education, Inequality and social welfare, International relations, Telecommunications and computing, religion, values and attitudes. West, A.B, Murphy, T.F, 2007, Gday Boss! Australian Culture and Workplace, Tribus Lingua, Australia. This book is all about Australian culture. Such as heart of culture, characteristics, level of cultures, generalise vs. stereotyping, Australian values contrasts, beliefs and behaviours, equality vs. recognised hierarchy, informal vs. formal, connected vs. distant, work vs. leisure, individualism vs. collectivism and dealing with conflicts. Yousuf R M, Fauzi A R M, How S H, Rasool A G, Rehana K 2007, Singapore Medical Journal, Awareness, knowledge and attitude towards informed consent among doctors in two different cultures in Asia: a cross-sectional comparative Study in Malaysia and Kashmir, India, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 559-565 (Online Google). This is a Medical journal and in this study they discussed about some cultural issues. This study is about doctors attitude and acknowledges the patients autonomy. This is all about modern medical ethics across culture. They also talked about the cultural and religious views of the local population.

Revolutions :: essays research papers

One of the six revolutions that I have studied independently is the Glorious Revolution. The Glorious Revolution took place in England during 1688 to 1689. James II and the Catholic church were in control of the land. The old regime was James II, along with the Catholic church. James II, the second surviving son of Charles I, became king of England in 1685. James crushed two revolts upon his newly found land. One, controlled by his nephew, James Scott, duke of Monmouth, and the other controlled by Archibald Campbell, ninth earl of Argyll. The people were not happy with his performance handling these revolts. James had also ended religious restrictions in 1687, which caused an increase religious tension. On June 10, 1688, William of Orange, later to become William III, was asked to take the throne of England, there by starting the beginning of the revolution. So, now Parliament and William of Orange and his wife Mary and the Catholic church help all the power in England, being the moderates of the revolution. Seeing, as how there were no radicals, there could be no accession of them, nor could there be a reign of terror. Convalescence was reached when Mary and William signed the Declaration of Power. Also, there was now a ruler again. According to Crane Brinton’s "Course That Revolutions Seem To Take", there is only one situation that occurred in the Glorious Revolution. Revolutionaries gain power and seem united. This was shown by how William and Mary and Parliament and the Catholic Church all joined up together to rule over England successfully. None of the other 9 happened during this revolution. I don’t believe that the Glorious Revolution was a revolution at all. First off, the only two things that the people didn’t like were that there was a lot of religious tension and that they thought James was a bad ruler because he was trying to protect the country. I surely hope that Bill Clinton would try to protect us from any outside enemies that tried to take over The United States.

Development as a Dynamic System

The dynamic systems theory in development explicated by Thelen and Smith conceptualized the process of development as a process of change. In the theory, the authors explained how the development of human occurred. The concept of the theory greatly uses the experiments and study on motor, perceptual and cognitive development. The dynamic system theory is considered as a new scientific paradigm that is continuously evolving from the concept of development as a dynamic, non-linear, self-organizing or even chaotic system.The dynamic system theory of development encompasses different principle widely used and accepted in different fields such as in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. (Stolorow, 1997) Thelen and Smith concerned with the explanation as to how development occurs in humans proposed a radical alternative to the exiting cognitive theory. (Storolow, 1997) Their emphasis on dynamic representation of the process and the process evoking the concept of change is also stressed.As a n alternative to the traditional cognitive theory existing at the time the theory was developed, it attempt to apply the complexity theory to psychology as they reinterpret several traditional concepts used in the cognitive development theory in psychology. In this approach, the theory started with fundamental questions with regards to the cognitive theory.As the new theory of dynamic system of development revealed, it is regarded as a theory of development of cognition and action, at the same time unifying the recent advances in their conceptualized theory and the current research findings and analysis in the neuroscience and neural development field. The dynamic system of development theory shows how the processes governed by principles of exploration and selection and multimodal experiences form the bases for self-organizing perception and action categories. (Thelen, 1994) The theory became a powerful source of new metaphors for the field of psychoanalysis.The theory includes ana lysis of phenomena like conflict, transference, resistance and the unconscious intertwined with the perspective of the development process as dynamically emergent properties that elucidate the process of pattern formation and the process of change. The theory is useful in understanding the complexity of the development process. As a function of the theory, it permits theoretical statements about development of societies and groups but also the individuals within the societies and the entities that govern the group.The dynamic system approach attempts to answer the different levels of problems and at some point avoids it by defining the process of development being multilayered. The theoretical assumptions of the dynamic system theory tries to avoid the concept of stages in outward behavior because the concept of the theory acknowledges the fact that outward behaviors that appears to be staged-like is or can be explained through the occurring continuous changes in the components gove rning those behaviors.  (Thelen, 1994)The theory stresses the importance of the concept of change and transition, and attributes the process of development in the mechanisms of change that has a process of the first step towards the last. The theory focuses on the concept of change, and limits its regards to change being time-bounded or as a series of stages with transitions. Dynamic systems being self-organizing are a consequence for the idea that development is a result of spontaneous emergence of higher-order structure.The emergence of higher-order structures contributes to the recursive interactions among the simple components included in the process. Essentially connected with human development is the concept of human individuals being developing organisms having continuous and numerous genetic, physiological and psychological attributes. In turn this results to behavioral changes which include the interaction between the individual and its environment. In turn the dynamic sy stem theory of development is given less of the credit it deserves as a theory that explains further the human development of an individual.The concern of the theory is to stress the value of the concept of change and how it is important in the understanding of development and other factors that surrounds the concept of development. The dynamic system of development in humans greatly contributes to the fact that behavior is the outcome of the interaction between the individual and its environment. Thelen and Smith objectively presented a new theory that governs the principle of development being a process of change, which includes the transitory and stages in resulting to development. Reference: Stolorow, R. D. (1997). A Dynamic System Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action: By Esther Thelen and Linda Smith. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1(78), 620-622. Storolow, R. D. (1997). Dynamic, Dyadic, Intersubjective Systems: An Evolving Paradigm for Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytical Psychology, 1(14), 337-346. Thelen, E., & Smith, L. B. (1994). A dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.   

First Steps Film Assignment Essay

The following assignment is based on the film â€Å"Becoming Human Episode 1: First Steps.† You may access the film in the following ways: 1. It is available for free on the PBS website at the following address: http://video.pbs.org/video/1312522241/ 2. It is available instantly through Netflix (where you may temporarily set up a free account for a few weeks if you are not a member). Please use complete sentences to answer the following questions and type your answers on this form. You should submit this assignment to the â€Å"First Steps† dropbox using the â€Å"Assignments† tab by Sun 4/1 at 11:59 P.M. Please submit this file as a .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf file. Please do not use the â€Å".pages† extension because PCs cannot open it. 1. Where is the Afar located? Afar is one of the nine Regional States of Ethiopia and is located in north eastern Africa. It is a part of the great rift valley (deep cut in earth where geological forces are ripping Africa apart). 2. How did researchers figure out how old the â€Å"Selam† fossil was? Clues to the age of the fossil came from key features in the landscape; such as the white bands of volcanic ash that dated 3.4 million years ago. If the white bands of volcanic ash are 3.4 million years old then the fossil must be younger because it was found above it. Therefore, the fossil was approximately 3.3 million years old. 3. How did researchers figure out how old the fossil child Selam was when she died? How old was she? Researchers looked at Selam’s teeth in order to find out how old she was when she died. They did not look at the baby teeth that were visible in her jaw; they looked her adult teeth that were growing inside the bone. From that observation researchers know Selam died when she was three years old. 4. What are the human-like components of the â€Å"Lucy† skeleton? What are the ape-like components? Lucky had both human-like and ape-like components. From the waist down lucy was like humans and from the waist up she was like apes. She walked upright like humans and her pelvis bone resembled those of a human. Lucy’s greater trochanter was short and human-like. Her skeleton showed evidence of small skull capacity similar to apes. 5. What was the ancient environment of the australopithecines like? How does it change by 3-4 million years ago? Researchers have found that Seguda Valley went through a huge transformation. It was once covered entirely of water, up to an elevation of approximately 580 meters. The valley was filled with a great lake that was steeper than any of the great lakes. The entire African continent used to be a lot wetter than it is present day. Long ago, before even Selam and Lucy’s existence Africa was a wet tropical environment covered with rain forest. Eventually Africa began to dry out and the rain forests shrank. During Selam’s existence, 3-4 million years ago, Africa was a mosaic of different environments. Researchers know that from the fossils that live there, they tell a story of a vanished landscape. Fossils of creatures like a pig and hippopotamus. Today it is a vast expanse of volcanic rock and burning desert. 6. What are some of the different hypotheses presented in the film for why bipedalism emerged? One theory is that the mammals stood up to be able to see over tall grass. Second theory is that they stood up to be able to pick fruit off low branches of trees. (The way chimpanzees do today.) Third theory is that they stood up to cool more efficiently. – Not as much sun beating on the body. * Most compelling hypothesis is that it saved us energy. 7. What is the molecular clock and how is it used to determine when two species last shared a common ancestor? It is a simple idea that the rate of change in DNA sequences is more or less constant over time – a way of determining if and when two species shared a common ancestor. By counting the differences in the genetic code between chimps and humans researchers can calculate how long they have been evolving away from each-other. (5-7 years ago humans and apes shared a common ancestor.) 8. What is the clue that the â€Å"Toumai† fossil (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) is bipedal? The vital clue that the â€Å"Toumai† fossil is bipedal is how the skull connects to the spine. Researcher Michele could confer that by the shape of Toumai’s skull. If the skull is placed on a neck of an ape that walks on all fours its eyes point down ward (not correct). If the skull is placed on an upright spine of a biped its eyes point straight ahead; for Michele this proved that Toumai walked upright. 9. How are the first stone tools identifiable as tools? Who is currently thought to be the first stone tool maker? The first stone tools were broken in a very particular way; there is a method behind how the rocks were broken in order to make it into a tool. Homo habilis (1.6-2.5 million years ago) are thought to be the first stone tool makers. 10. What is Rick Potts’ idea about the role of climate in hominid adaptation? How is it different from traditional ideas? Rick Potts’ observations let him to the new idea, rapid change as a catalyst for our evolution. 11. What was going on with the African climate when Homo habilis evolved? Africa had numerous climate changed from wet to dry, wet to dry, wet to dry all within approximately a thousand years.