Sunday, July 26, 2020
Tests @ MIT
Tests @ MIT So I know youre all sitting at home, wondering, Hey, whats up with that dead guy having Veronicas name written on his hand?! Was Veronica involved in that bus going over that cliff?? How?! And why isnt it next Wednesday already?! I know, I know, its all I can keep thinking about too. (Veronica Mars. Greatest show ever. Promise. Go watch it.) Anyway, considering that this show is always in danger of cancellation, I bet its actually the second question on everybodys mind. The first one is what are tests like at MIT? How did I know, right? Im just so in tune with what you guys are all thinking. Its like ESP or something. OK Ill shut up now. The real reason Im writing about this is because its on my mind. I have three tests this week. Three! I think we can all agree thats above the healthy limt of zero. So I figured now would be a good time to bore you all to death with an insiders look on some more specific aspects of academic life. The thing about tests is not really that theyre hard. They just kind of suck. You can spend three hours the night before making a completely awesome aid sheet for 3.091 and then you go to take the test and you need exactly one piece of information from the review sheet. You take the whole test and you at least attempt to answer all of the questions, but you feel like you suddenly have no idea whats going on. You understood everything from lecture but these questions are only vaguely related to the real world, and by the time you finish you just feel sort of gross about the whole thing. Then you get the test back and you see your score and youre like aww I got a 66? But then. Then. You look up at the board. And Wait for it. Wait for it. Yes! I got a 66! Heres what Im trying to get across here. The work is hard. Thats why freshman year is pass/no record. (Failures dont even show up on your transcript, its like they never happened.) Sometimes test questions have complicated twists, or mybe sometimes theyre asking you to combine two concepts in a way you never tried before. So there is a challenge. But at the same time, the grading is probably nothing like what youve experienced in high school. Test grades are generally curved, and everything is generally taken in context. I mean, hey, compared to the massive amounts of grade inflation I experienced in high school, my grades here are awful. But when you stop to realize that your grade was just about dead on with the class averageyou realize its not a big deal. It puts things in perspective. Its not like people here are stupid, so if the rest of the class didnt break 70 on average, well then Im not going to beat myself up over it. Speaking of class averages, my goal in life for the next 24 hours is to actually beat the class average. (I have an exam in 18.01 tomorrow afternoon.) I highly doubt this will happn but hey, you gotta have goals in life, right? We get to have an index card sized reference sheet for the exam, so I need to work on that. I leave you with this parting thought: stressing out over tests never helps anyone. Considering my track record in math, I figured Id need reminding of this during my last 18.01 exam. So on the back of my index card, after writing in all the last minute derivatives that I never bothered to memorize, I wrote myself an important message in what I hoped were large, friendly letters:
Friday, May 22, 2020
Friday, May 8, 2020
The Ratio Over 40 % - 1288 Words
ratio over 40% is considered troublesome. Also, compared to the 1995 and 2004 pre-retirees, the 2013 pre-retireeââ¬â¢s debt-to-income ratio exceeds the previous cohorts. However, the mean monthly total debt payment is lower for the 2013 cohort as compared to the 2004 pre-retirees. This may be a direct result of the decline in income for the 2013 cohort. In addition, the mortgage debt-to-income ratio for the 2013 pre-retirees increased over the measurement periods between 1995 and 2013. Moreover, the mortgage debt-to-income ratio for the 2013 pre-retirees increased as compared to the 1995 and 2004 pre-retiree cohorts. This observation provides evidence that the current group of pre-retirees has increased their mortgage debt over time and theyâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Thus, younger households will have lower income and assets, and borrow more in the beginning stages of the life-cycle, while middle-aged households and pre-retirees will increase savings and reduce liabilities whe n entering the later stages of life. However, as compared to the pre-retirees of 1995 and 2004, the 2013 pre-retireeââ¬â¢s total debt-to-total assets ratio exceeds the 1995 cohort, but is much lower than the 2004 cohort. For every dollar of assets, the 2013 pre-retirees had $0.84 of debt. Quantitative Analysis Results The objective of the study is to evaluate the extent to which secured and unsecured debt impacts the standard of living and the accumulation of financial assets among pre-retirees. To investigate the claim that servicing debt will reduce the standard of living and impact the ability of pre-retirees to adequately accumulate assets for retirement, logistic regression analyses were conducted for pre-retirees servicing debt to estimate the strength of the relationship between the dependent variables and the independent variables. For the initial analysis, natural logs of independent variables within the econometric model were utilized, except for the indicator variables which were not transformed. The dependent variable net worth contained negative values. To handle the log transformation of the negative values, a negative log (neglog) transformation wasShow MoreRelatedMole Ratio: Finding the Reaction You Want650 Words à |à 3 PagesMOLE RATIO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE: The main point of the experiment was to form a balanced chemical equation, the find the mole ratio. If a cloud of crystals had formed then when the two substances known as lead(II) nitrate and potassium dichromate were mixed at different doses measured in drops. with all of this being done it was about to show the mole ratio. The mole ratio the ratio of moles of what youve been given in a reaction to what you want to find. INTRODUCTION: A mole ratio is theRead MoreBed Bath and Beyond Case996 Words à |à 4 Pagestaken lightly. Facts and Assumptions BBBY has too much cash. Although it has used the cash for store growth and small acquisition, the company should focus on using their cash to increase shareholder value. Currently BBBY is considering 40% debt-to-total-capital and 80% debt to total capital proposals. If BBBY were to use $400 million in excess cash and $636.3 million in borrowed funds to repurchase its shares they would increase their basic earnings per share from 1.35 to 1.41 and theirRead MoreExecutive Officer Of Hill Country Snack Foods Essay1583 Words à |à 7 Pagesexceeding 12% in 2011. In each of the past five years, the dividend payout ratio had just been below 30% of the net income. However, the interest rate earned on invested cash was barely over 0% contributing almost nothing to net income. Return on equity was similarly reduced by the avoidance of debt and complete reliance on equity capital. The pro forma results presented in Exhibits 4 and 5 show that increasing the debt-to-capital ratio will increase the dividends per share, earnings per share and totalRead MoreNatural Selection : Darwin s And The Whys Of Adaptation And Speciation Essay872 Words à |à 4 Pagesinitial allele ratio began at [A - .20 a - .80], allele A disappeared by the third generation, never returning. Allele A also disappeared by the fifth generation when the initial allele ratio began at [A - .40 a - .60]. Allele a did not disappear completely at any time. Allele A was unable to overcome the disadvantage of beginning with low contributions for the antââ¬â¢s survival; however, when the beginning ratio was either even [A - .50; a - .50] or favored allele A slightly [A - .60; a - .40] it wasRead MoreLiquidity Ratios1068 Words à |à 5 PagesOf the firm s sales, 40 percent are for cash and the remaining 60 percent are on credit. Of credit sales, 40 percent are paid in the month after sale and 30 percent are paid in the second month after the sale. Materials cost 30 percent of sales and are purchas ed and received each month in an amount sufficient to cover the following month s expected sales. Materials are paid for in the month after they are received. Labor expense is 40 percent of sales and is paid for in the month of sales. SellingRead MoreMcdonald Wendys Financial Statement1711 Words à |à 7 Pagesinformation from their 2005 Financial Statements. Debt-to-Assets Ratio When comparing the debt-to-assets ratio of McDonalds and Wendys, you have to divide the firms total liabilities by their total assets. Essentially, the debt-to-assets ratio is the primary indicator of the firms debt management. As the ratio increases or decreases, it indicates the firms changing reliance on borrowed resources. The lower the ratio the more efficient the firm will be able to liquidate its assets ifRead MoreMgm Harvard Business School Accounting Case1296 Words à |à 6 Pages$1.15) over 40 periods @ r) + PV ($23 paid 40 periods hence with a return of r) $16.5 1.15*(1 ââ¬â (1/(1+r)^40))/r + 23/(1+r)^40 = 16.5 Solving for r in the above equation we get 14.318% as the effective interest rate. Similarly, Effective Interest Rate on the old 5% debenture = 12.53% The par value of these debentures = $1000 Per period payment = 100*05/2 = $25 Given that the market value of the 5% debenture as of this date is $458.75 PV (Per period payment of $25 over 40 periodsRead MoreMcDonalds Wendys Financial Statement Comparison Essay1693 Words à |à 7 Pagesinformation from their 2005 Financial Statements. Debt-to-Assets Ratio When comparing the debt-to-assets ratio of McDonalds and Wendys, you have to divide the firms total liabilities by their total assets. Essentially, the debt-to-assets ratio is the primary indicator of the firms debt management. As the ratio increases or decreases, it indicates the firms changing reliance on borrowed resources. The lower the ratio the more efficient the firm will be able to liquidate its assetsRead MoreEssay on Department Stores601 Words à |à 3 Pagesfollowing ratio analysis for ABC sporting Goods Profit amp; Loss Profit for 2006 was-86,318, Profit for 2007 was-113,799 Profit for 2008 was-126,472 Profit for 2009 was-75,252 Profit for 2010 was-67,955 Between 2008-2009 ABC Loss 51,220 Between 2009-2010 ABC Loss 7,297 Return on sales was 7.52% Return on Assets was 27.34% Return on Net Worth was 83.69% Quick Ratio was 0.48 Current Ratio was 1.59 Inventory turnover (gross sales divided by inventory) was 5.93 Assets to sales Ratio was 0Read MoreBaron Coburg Case1567 Words à |à 7 Pagesequipment would be a perfect example of modern day ox which has a depreciation value over time. 8. Answer Financial Statements of Ivan: Beginning Balance Sheet for Ivan Ivan Beginning Balance Sheet For the Period Ending Month AA, Year ABCD (In Bushels of Wheat) ASSETS Current Assets Seed 20 Fertilizer 2 Non-Current Assets Ox 40 Land 100 Total Assets 162 LIABILITIES 0 STAKEHOLDER S
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
How to Sleep Well Essay Free Essays
In order to kip good we should follow three grounds. First of all. donââ¬â¢t eat or imbibe a batch before bedtime. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Sleep Well Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now If you drink excessively much liquid before kiping. youââ¬â¢ll wake up repeatedly in the dark for trips to the bathroom or cause you to wake up repeatedly. Donââ¬â¢t eat spicy or fatty nutrients because they cause pyrosis particularly. donââ¬â¢t eat something that triggers 5-hydroxytryptamine. which makes you sleepy. Second. make and donââ¬â¢t exercising when you have free clip. For illustration. if you have a sedentary occupation. a deficiency of physical effort may be cut downing the quality of your slumber. A twenty-four hours of physical effort ( such as taking a tally or a swim ) or. better yet. regular exercising can do for deeper and more reposeful slumber. The best clip to exercising is in the afternoon. Third. Change your kiping place. You may believe that itââ¬â¢s impossible to command what place you sleep in since you arenââ¬â¢t to the full cognizant of what you are making. but it can do a considerable difference. When you go to kip. or if you wake up in the center of the dark. do a witting attempt to follow these guidelines until it becomes accustomed. Keep your organic structure in a ââ¬Å"mid-lineâ⬠place. where both your caput and cervix are kept approximately consecutive. Donââ¬â¢t use a level pillow that causes your caput to lean down toward the mattress. Itââ¬â¢s hard to keep the mid-line place. and it is more likely to do strivings. This will assist relieve emphasis on your dorsum and cervix by somewhat shore uping up your organic structure on one side. To sum up. seek one or two or a combination until you have adequate quality sleep to experience watchful and good rested. How to cite How to Sleep Well Essay, Essay examples
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry Essay Example
Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry Paper Introduction: Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 global financial security company. Genworth has more than $100 billion in assets and employs approximately 6,000 people with a presence in more than 25 countries. Its products and services help meet the investment, protection, retirement and lifestyle needs of more than 15 million customers. Genworth operates through three segments: Retirement Protection (which includes Life Insurance, Long Term Care, and Fixed and Variable Annuities), U. S. Mortgage Insurance and International (which includes payment protection products). Its products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, which traces its roots back to 1871, became a public company in 2004 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Competitive Rivalry: Highly Competitive Industry Large insurance companies offer similar products Insurance products similar to commodity Companies with low costs, operating efficiency, and superior customer service will be more competitive Consolidation and A activity among the larger companies We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Threat of New Entrants: Difficult to enter insurance industry as a small ââ¬Å"start-upâ⬠player due to capital and regulatory requirements Large financial services companies such as banks or investment banks offering insurance products Entrance of niche companies such as Life Settlement firms that buy existing policies Power of Suppliers: Suppliers of capital, such as reinsurers, control the cost structure of external capital which could cause difficulties with insurers to write new usiness Threat of suppliers or other competitors hiring away key professional and executive talent Power of Buyers: Individual consumers are not a major factor Brokers and distributors of Genworth products have more bargaining power as to what products to sell to consumers Availability of Substitutes: Many substitutes in the insurance industry Most of Genworthââ¬â¢s competitors (Met Life, John Hancock, Prudential, Protective Life) offer a similar suite of retirement and protection products Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry Essay Example Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry Paper Introduction: Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 global financial security company. Genworth has more than $100 billion in assets and employs approximately 6,000 people with a presence in more than 25 countries. Its products and services help meet the investment, protection, retirement and lifestyle needs of more than 15 million customers. Genworth operates through three segments: Retirement Protection (which includes Life Insurance, Long Term Care, and Fixed and Variable Annuities), U. S. Mortgage Insurance and International (which includes payment protection products). Its products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, which traces its roots back to 1871, became a public company in 2004 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Competitive Rivalry: Highly Competitive Industry Large insurance companies offer similar products Insurance products similar to commodity Companies with low costs, operating efficiency, and superior customer service will be more competitive Consolidation and A activity among the larger companies We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Porter Five Forces Insurance Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Threat of New Entrants: Difficult to enter insurance industry as a small ââ¬Å"start-upâ⬠player due to capital and regulatory requirements Large financial services companies such as banks or investment banks offering insurance products Entrance of niche companies such as Life Settlement firms that buy existing policies Power of Suppliers: Suppliers of capital, such as reinsurers, control the cost structure of external capital which could cause difficulties with insurers to write new usiness Threat of suppliers or other competitors hiring away key professional and executive talent Power of Buyers: Individual consumers are not a major factor Brokers and distributors of Genworth products have more bargaining power as to what products to sell to consumers Availability of Substitutes: Many substitutes in the insurance industry Most of Genworthââ¬â¢s competitors (Met Life, John Hancock, Prudential, Protective Life) offer a similar suite of retirement and protection products
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Sofa Wars Essays - Patent Medicines, Coca-Cola, Kosher Food, Pepsi
Sofa Wars Essays - Patent Medicines, Coca-Cola, Kosher Food, Pepsi Sofa Wars The soft-drink battleground has now turned toward new overseas markets. While once the United States, Australia, Japan, and Western Europe were the dominant soft-drink markets, the growth has slowed down dramatically, but they are still important markets for Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Globalization has become an important word in the 90?s and Eastern Europe, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia, and India have become the new "hot spots." Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are forming joint bottling ventures in these nations and in other areas where they see growth potential. As we have seen in the Japanese video dealing with Coke?s business in class, international marketing can be very complex. As I begin to examine the international soda wars this will become very evident. The domestic cola war between Coca-Cola and Pepsi is still raging, as we clearly know. However, these two soft-drink giants also recognize the opportunities for globalization in many of the international markets. Both! Coca-Cola, which sold 10 billion cases of soft-drinks in 1992, and Pepsi now find themselves asking, "Where will sales of the next 10 billion cases come from?" The answer lies overseas, where income levels and appetites for Western products are at an all time high. Often, the company that gets into a foreign market first usually dominates that country's market. Coke patriarch Robert Woodruff realized this 50 years ago and unleashed a brilliant ploy or in a way a very simple global strategyto make Coke the early bird in many of the major foreign markets. At the height of World War II, Woodruff proclaimed that ?Wherever American boys were fighting, they'd be able to get a [emailprotected] By the time Pepsi tried to make its first international pitch in the 50s, Coke had already established its brand name and a powerful distribution network. During the last 40 years, many new markets have emerged. In order to profit from these markets, both Coke and Pepsi need to find ways to cut through all of the red tape that initially prevents them from conducting business in these markets. One key movement for the soda wars occurd in Europe in 1972, Pepsi signed an agreement with the Soviet Union which made it the first Western product to be sold to consumers in Russia. This landmark agreement gave Pepsi the first advantage. Presently, Pepsi has 23 plants in the former Soviet Union and is the leader in the soft-drink industry in Russia. Pepsi outsells Coca-Cola by 6 to 1 and is seen as a local brand, similar to Coke?s reputation in Japan. However, Pepsi has also had some problems. There has not been an increase in brand loyalty for Pepsi since its advertising blitz in Russia, even though it has produced commercials tailored to the Russian market and has sponsored television concerts. On the positive side, Pepsi may be leading Coca-Cola due to the big difference in price between the two colas. While Pepsi sells for Rb250 (25 cents) a bottle, Coca-Cola sells for Rb450. For the economy size, Pepsi sells 2 liters for Rb1,300, but Coca-Cola sells 1.5 liters fo! r Rb1,800. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, only moved into Russia 2 years ago and is manufactured locally in Moscow and St. Petersburg under a license. Despite investing $85 million in these two bottling plants, they do not perceive Coca-Cola as a premium brand in the Russian market. Moreover, they see it as a "foreign" brand in Russia. Lastly, while Coca-Cola's bottle and label give it a high-class image, it is unable to capture market share. Another country in the hot battleground for Coca-Cola and Pepsi is Romania. When Pepsi established a bottling plant in Romania in 1965, it became the first US product produced and sold in the region. Pepsi began producing locally during the communist period and has recently decided to reformat its organization structure and retrain its local staff. Pepsi entered into a joint venture with a local firm, Flora and Quadrant, for its Bucharest plant, and has 5 other factories in Romania. Quadrant leases Pepsi the equipment and handles Pepsi's distribution. In addition, Pepsi bought 500 Romanian trucks which are also used for distribution in other countries. Moreover, Pepsi produces its bottles locally through an investment in the glass
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Inca Star Worship and Constellations
Inca Star Worship and Constellations The stars in the sky were very important to the religion of the Inca. They identified constellations and individual stars and assigned them a purpose. According to the Inca, many of the stars were there to protect animals: every animal had a corresponding star or constellation which would look out for it. Today, traditional Quechua communities still see the same constellations in the sky as they did centuries ago. Inca Culture and Religion The Inca culture thrived in the Andes Mountains in western South America from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. Although they started out as one ethnic group among many in the region, they embarked upon a campaign of conquest and assimilation and by the fifteenth century, they had achieved pre-eminence in the Andes and controlled an empire which stretched from present-day Colombia to Chile. Their religion was complicated. They had a pantheon of greater gods which included Viracocha, the creator, Inti, the Sun, and Chuqui Illa, the thunder god. They also worshiped huacas, which were spirits which could inhabit just about any remarkable phenomenon, such as a waterfall, large boulder or tree. The Inca and the Stars The sky was very important to the Inca culture. The sun and moon were considered gods and temples and pillars were laid out specifically so that heavenly bodies such as the sun would pass over pillars or through windows on certain days, such as the summer solstice. The stars played an important role in Inca cosmology. The Inca believed that Viracocha had planned for the protection of all living things, and that to each star corresponded a particular sort of animal or bird. The star grouping known as the Pleiades held particular influence over the lives of animals and birds. This group of stars was not considered a greater god but rather a huaca, and Inca shamans would regularly make sacrifices to it. Inca Constellations Like many other cultures, the Inca grouped the stars into constellations. They saw many animals and other things from their daily lives when they looked to the stars. There were two sorts of constellations for the Inca. The first are of the common variety, where groupings of stars are linked in connect-the-dots fashion to make images of gods, animals, heroes, etc. The Inca saw some such constellations in the sky but considered them inanimate. The other constellations were seen in the absence of stars: these dark blotches on the Milky Way were seen as animals and were considered living or animate. They lived in the Milky Way, which was considered a river. The Inca were one of the very few cultures who found their constellations in the absence of stars. Machââ¬â¢acuay: The Serpent One of the major dark constellations was Machacuay, the Serpent. Although snakes are rare at the high altitudes where the Inca Empire thrived, there are a few, and the Amazon River basin is not far away to the east. The Inca saw serpents as highly mythological animals: rainbows were said to be serpents named amarus. Machacuay was said to oversee all snakes on Earth, protecting them and helping them procreate. The constellation Machacuay is a wavy dark band located on the Milky Way between Canis Major and the Southern Cross. The constellation serpent emerges head-first in the Inca region in August and begins to set in February: Interestingly, this mirrors the activity of real snakes in the zone, which are more active during the Andean rainy season of December to February. Hanpââ¬â¢atu: The Toad In a somewhat surprising twist on nature, Hanpatu the Toad chases Machacuay the Serpent out of the Earth in August as that segment of the Milky Way becomes visible in Peru. Hanpatu is seen in a lumpish dark cloud between Machacuays tail and the Southern Cross. Like the snake, the toad was an important animal to the Inca. The nocturnal croaking and chirping of frogs and toads were listened to attentively by Inca diviners, who believed that the more these amphibians croaked, the more likely it was to rain soon. Also like the snakes, the Andean toads are more active during the rainy season; in addition, they croak more at night when their constellation is visible in the sky. Hanpatu also had the added significance that his appearance in the night sky coincided with the beginning of the Inca agricultural cycle: when he showed up, it meant that the time to plant had come. Yutu: The Tinamou Tinamous are clumsy ground birds similar to partridges, common in the Andean region. Located at the base of the Southern Cross, Yutu is the next dark constellation to emerge as the Milky Way becomes visible in the night sky. Yutu is a dark, kite-shaped spot which corresponds to the Coal Sack Nebula. It chases Hanpatu, which makes some sense because tinamous are known to eat small frogs and lizards. The tinamou may have been selected (as opposed to any other bird) because it exhibits remarkable social behavior: male tinamous attract and mate with females, who lay their eggs in his nest before leaving to repeat the process with another male. Males, therefore, incubate the eggs, which could come from 2 to 5 mating partners. Urcuchillay: The Llama The next constellation to emerge is the llama, perhaps the most important of the constellations to the Inca. Although the llama is a dark constellation, the stars Alpha and Beta Centauri serve as its ââ¬Å"eyesâ⬠and are the first to emerge when the llama rises in November. The constellation consists of two llamas, a mother, and a baby. Llamas were of great importance to the Inca: they were food, beasts of burden and sacrifices to the gods. These sacrifices often took place at certain times with astronomical significance such as equinoxes and solstices. Llama herders were particularly attentive to the movements of the celestial llama and offered it sacrifices. Atoq: The Fox The fox is a small black splotch at the feet of the llama: this is appropriate because Andean foxes eat baby vicuà ±as. When they foxes come by, however, the adult vicuà ±as gang up and attempt to trample the foxes to death. This constellation has a connection to earthly foxes: the Sun passes through the constellation in December, the time when baby foxes are born. Significance of Inca Star Worship The Inca constellations and their worship - or at least a certain respect for them and an understanding of their role in the agricultural cycle - are one of few aspects of Inca culture that survived the conquest, colonial era and 500 years of forced assimilation. The original Spanish chroniclers mentioned the constellations and their importance, but not in any great detail: fortunately, modern researchers have been able to fill in the gaps by making friends and doing fieldwork in rural, traditional Andean Quechua communities where people still see the same constellations their ancestors saw centuries ago. The nature of Inca reverence for their dark constellations reveals much about Inca culture and religion. To the Inca, everything was connected: The universe of the Quechuas is not composed of a series of discrete phenomena and events, but rather there is a powerful synthetic principle underlying the perception and ordering of objects and events in the physical environment. (Urton 126). The snake in the sky had the same cycle as earthly snakes and lived in a certain harmony with the other celestial animals. Consider this in contrast to traditional western constellations, which were a series of images (scorpion, hunter, scales, etc) that really didnt interact with one another or events here on Earth (except for vague fortunetelling). Sources Cobo, Bernabà ©. (translated by Roland Hamilton) Inca Religion and Customs. Austin: the University of Texas Press, 1990.Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro. (translated by Sir Clement Markham). History of the Incas. 1907. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1999.Urton, Gary. Animals and Astronomy in the Quechua Universe. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 125, No. 2. (April 30, 1981). P. 110-127.
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