Pragmatism- a philosophical view that sees the most vivid expression of human essence in action and puts the value or lack of value of thinking depending on whether it is an action, whether it serves action, life practice.
Charles Sanders Pierce(1839-1914) - American philosopher, logician, mathematician and natural scientist, became the founder of pragmatism.
Peirce's philosophical views combine two opposing trends:
- positivist (empirical);
- objective-idealistic.
Peirce denied innate ideas and intuitive knowledge. The philosopher argued that the starting point of knowledge is “appearance.”
According to Peirce, the concept of an object can be achieved only by considering all the practical consequences that follow from actions with that object. Any knowledge about an object is always incomplete and refutable, hypothetical. This situation applies not only to everyday knowledge and natural scientific knowledge, but also to mathematical and logical judgments, the universality of which can be refuted by counterexamples.
William James(1862-1910) - American philosopher and psychologist, one of the brightest representatives of pragmatism.
In the theory of knowledge, James recognizes the exceptional significance of experience. In his works, he rejects the significance of abstract, absolute principles and explores the concrete:
- data;
- actions;
- behavioral acts.
Contrasting rationalistic and empirical methods, he created a doctrine called radical empiricism.
According to James, the truth of knowledge is determined by its usefulness for the success of our behavioral acts and actions. James turned success not only into the only criterion for the truth of ideas, but also into the very content of the concept of truth: for a thinker, truth reveals the meaning of moral virtue, and not the completeness of semantic information about the object of knowledge.
Pragmatists, not excluding James, accused all previous philosophy of being divorced from life, abstract and contemplative. Philosophy, according to James, should contribute not to understanding the first principles of existence, but to the creation of a general method for solving problems that people face in various life situations, in the flow of constantly changing events.
According to James, we are really dealing with what is experienced in our experience, which constitutes the “stream of consciousness”: experience is never given to us initially as something definite.
Any objects of knowledge are formed by our cognitive efforts in the course of solving life problems. The goal of thinking is the choice of means that are necessary to achieve success.
John Dewey(1859-1952) - American philosopher, one of the most interesting representatives of pragmatism. The fundamental concept of this thinker’s philosophy is experience, which refers to all forms of manifestation of human life.
According to Dewey, cognition is a tool for human adaptation to the environment, both natural and social. And the measure of the truth of a theory is its practical expediency in a given life situation. Practical expediency is a criterion not only of truth, but also of morality.
American pragmatism
Pragmatism As a special philosophical movement, it occupies an important place in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. and in subsequent years. The term "pragmatism" etymologically comes from the Greek word meaning deed, action.
Founder of pragmatism- American scientist and philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce(1839 - 1914). Peirce developed the principles of pragmatism by the early 70s. XIX century They were outlined by him in two articles: “Fixing Beliefs” and “How to Make Our Ideas Clear,” published at the end of 1877 and beginning of 1878. At first these articles went unnoticed.
Only in the late 90s. the prominent American psychologist and philosopher William James (1842 - 1910) gave Peirce's ideas a form accessible to the perception of the educated public.
Following James, the outstanding philosopher John Dewey (1859 - 1952) joined pragmatism.
Supporters of this philosophy were also found outside the United States. Pragmatism- this combines the ideas of “second”, “” and contains in its content some ideas that are characteristic only of pragmatism. The specificity of pragmatism is found in the understanding of the concept of scientific language. Thus, for the Machians, as representatives of the “second positivism,” theoretical concepts were represented only as signs, hieroglyphs for the economical description and systematization of the facts of experience, reduced to sensations and complexes of sensations. Nietzsche considered in concepts and laws the means to achieve the goals of knowledge. Bergson believed that concepts, like the intellect that produces them, are applicable to fixing the world of “solid bodies” and are not suitable for comprehending movement and life. Representatives of pragmatism, along with the denial of the objective cognitive role of concepts, put at the center of their attention the question of their meaning, as well as the means of establishing it. Philosophers belonging to this direction tried to connect the world of concepts, ideas and judgments with the world of objects with the help of meaning connecting these worlds. They defended the idea that the meaning of a concept is determined by its relationship not to an object, but to a subject. According to them, meaning should be considered in terms of the practical consequences that result from our use of a certain concept.
The developers of the philosophy of pragmatism believed that their theory of meaning would help clarify the true meaning of the problems that interested them. This will allow for a reorganization, according to James, of all philosophy, or, according to Dewey, it should consist in the fact that philosophy ceases to explore problems that interest only philosophers, but turns to “human problems.” To do this, she needs not just to contemplate and copy reality, but to become a means of helping people solve their life problems.
The philosophy of pragmatism did not represent a single and clearly developed doctrine. There are differences in the views of its adherents. Thus, Peirce understood pragmatism mainly as a theory of thinking and a method of establishing the meaning of concepts. James developed pragmatism primarily as a cognitive theory and ethical teaching that supported belief in God. Dewey saw the basis of pragmatism in instrumental logic, or in the doctrine of problematic situations that accompany multifaceted human experience.
The views of the founder of pragmatism, Peirce, were formed under the influence of the ideas of the English philosophers Berkeley and Hume, Mill and Spencer, as well as the ideas of representatives of German idealism. A special role in the formation of the views of the American philosopher was played by the everyday consciousness of American society of that time with its spirit of “common sense” and practicality.
Peirce's philosophy took shape in the process of his criticism of the ideas of R. Descartes, who, from the standpoint of rationalism, considered it possible to achieve comprehensive knowledge. For Peirce, achieving such knowledge is problematic. In his opinion, a person is able to achieve only relative knowledge. But such knowledge, according to Peirce, is quite enough to act successfully. From his point of view, thinking is only an adaptive reaction necessary for human activity. According to Peirce, man is a doubting creature, but for the sake of success in activity, he must overcome doubt and achieve faith, which mediates the habit of action. In other words, a person should strive not so much for truth as for faith. The latter is formed on the basis of comprehension of meaning. According to Peirce, the concept of the effects produced by an object is the complete concept of the object. Moreover, what a thing means is simply the habits it causes, and “the idea of a thing is the idea of its sensible consequences.” In other words, the idea of a thing is revealed in the personality behavior that it causes. Explaining the meaning of this idea, called “Peirce’s principle,” W. James notes: “Our beliefs are actual rules for action.”
According to Peirce, pragmatism is the doctrine that every concept acts as a concept of conceivable and practical consequences.
The American thinker paid important attention to clarifying the meaning of beliefs and beliefs. As methods for consolidating faith, of which, in his opinion, there are many, he paid special attention to the methods of perseverance, authority, and also included the a priori method and the method of science among those significant for this purpose.
Peirce's ideas were further developed in the works of W. James. W. James outlined the main thoughts related to the philosophy of pragmatism in his two-volume work, which placed him among the outstanding philosophers, “Principles of Psychology” (1890). In 1890, he joined the English Society of Defenders of Empirical Philosophy against the Hegelianism that had become widespread. This step meant that objective idealism with its belief in the reality of the existence of things and the assumption of the possibility of their adequate knowledge was unacceptable for James. He saw the main drawback of the philosophy of Hegelianism in its isolation from life, in insufficient attention to man, on the one hand, and in the overestimation of arbitrarily established requirements for his activity, on the other.
Rejection of previous philosophy led to the perception and further development of Peirce's ideas, which was reflected in his works “The Will to Believe” (1897) and “The Varieties of Religious Experience” (1902). In these writings, he considers religious faith as a means of establishing a connection between people and the world, as well as the basis for organizing a person’s relationship to the world. However, the choice of faith is left to the individual. At the same time, that one of the faiths will, according to James, be recognized as the most rational, which more effectively stimulates the active impulses of a person. The philosopher believes that whatever the faith, the essence of the Divine does not change. In these works, W. James seeks to weaken religious fanaticism and rationalize religious faith, turning it into a means of helping a person realize free but meaningful action.
The philosophy of W. James was presented in a concentrated form in his essay “Pragmatism” (1907). The book is compiled from eight lectures given by the philosopher in the same year in Boston and New York. James begins this book by proving the usefulness of philosophy, but not all philosophy, but only empirical philosophy, since it more effectively connects a person with the real world. Pragmatism is precisely an empirical philosophy that does not send positive religious constructions “out the door.” The advantage of pragmatism, according to James, is that it offers only a method and does not impose immutable truths, dogmas, or theories. Pragmatism teaches that scientific knowledge is relative. In other words, human knowledge has limits. However, the information that a person is able to acquire may be sufficient for more or less effective practice. In his approach to explaining reality, James uses the principles of pluralism and indeterminism. The knowledge obtained in this way, according to the ideas of the American philosopher, can be true. In his opinion, “...an idea becomes true, becomes true thanks to events. Its truth is actually an event, a process, and precisely the process of its verification, self-test. Its value and meaning is the process of its confirmation.” James goes on to say: “True,” to put it briefly, is merely expedient in the manner of our thinking, just as “just” is merely expedient in the mode of our conduct. Thus, the criticism of rationalistic idealism carried out by W. James, along with defending the idea of the relative reliability of the information we receive and the plurality of ways to obtain it, leads to the reduction of truth to value, and this opens the way to moral dishonesty, political arbitrariness, scientific dishonesty, economic permissiveness .
Among the developers of the principles of the philosophy of pragmatism, D. Dewey became the most famous. In order to separate his interpretation of experience from that characteristic of classical empiricism, he called his doctrine “instrumentalism.” Dewey's main works are devoted to issues of pedagogy: “School and Society” (1899); “Democracy and Education” (1916), etc.; problems of anthropology, human behavior and cognition: “Human nature and behavior”, (1922); "Experience and Nature" (1925); philosophical logic: “Studies in Logical Theory” (1903); "How We Think" (1916); "Logic: Theory of Research" (1939)); axeology: “Evaluation Theory” (1939)); theories of democracy: “Liberalism and social action” (1935).
In his works devoted to pedagogy, Dewey, along with an analysis of the problems of education and upbringing, also touches on philosophical issues related to the theory of knowledge. Here he put forward the idea that the purpose of education is to increase effective social activity; in addition, following his predecessors, Dewey argues that the main things in human cognition are consequences that matter for behavior. Cognition, according to W. James, serves as a means of adaptation to the environment. People's lives are impossible without the use of knowledge. According to Dewey, philosophical knowledge plays a special role here. For him, philosophy is “an attempt to comprehend the world, seeking to collect the various details of the surrounding life into a universal whole.” He believes that “philosophy... has a double task: criticism of existing goals in relation to the achieved level of science (at the same time, it indicates which values have become outdated with the development of new resources, and which are simply sentimental dreams, since there are no means of realizing them) and interpretation of the results of specific sciences in relation to future social aspirations.” He further notes: “Philosophy is a form of thinking that, like all thinking in general, arises from uncertainty in the objective content of experience, seeks to determine the nature of the misunderstanding and put forward hypotheses to clarify it, subject to verification in action... Since education is precisely that process , through which the necessary reform is possible, and not just a hypothetical search, we receive confirmation of the thesis that philosophy is the theory of education as a purposefully carried out pedagogical practice.”
In order to streamline thinking, according to Dewey, it is necessary to combine common sense and the achievements of science. Ideas, in his opinion, act as tools for practice. When using them, it is necessary to keep in mind that they need to be adjusted and improved as new problematic situations, anxious expectations and doubts arise. Only in this case can ideas be a means of resolving problematic situations and situations of doubt. What is presented briefly reveals the essence of Dewey's instrumentalism.
One of the important tasks of philosophy, according to Dewey, is the development of a theory of values and the inculcation on its basis of ideas about values that can help people correctly determine their goals and means of achieving them in the world.
As a philosopher, Dewey was irreconcilable with totalitarianism and utopianism. He believed that for a decent person there is only one way to realize freedom - to increase it for other people.
American pragmatism played an important role in the formation of practical philosophy in the United States, the implementation of which gave significant results in organizing the life support of the population of this country.
A very mysterious and at the same time mysterious word is pragmatism. Many people do not know its meaning and are often surprised when someone uses the word pragmatism in their vocabulary. In the minds of the average person, this term is directly associated with some kind of rational, integral actions. Many centuries ago, people sought to give every object and action an explanation and the key goal was to pass on knowledge to the next generation. Literally from the Greek language the word “pragmatism” is translated as kind, deed, action.
The philosophy of pragmatism began to actively develop only in the early 70s of the 19th century. The founder of the philosophy of pragmatism in America was Charles Peirce; he is called the founding father of pragmatism as a method. Sanders introduced the world to the basic ideas of pragmatism, which he illustrated in several of his publications: “Anchoring Beliefs” and “Making Our Ideas Clear.” This philosophical trend took hold in the United States of America, but only in the 20th century.
Pragmatism as a concept
A pragmatist is a person who has a special worldview and in his view any action and word can be explained using logic.
Different dictionaries interpret this definition differently; pragmatism is a special ability to plan and implement all your plans, acting focused and purposeful. The most important thing is not to be distracted, this is a special talent for doing everything consistently and according to plan, not many people can boast of it. A pragmatic person in the modern world is considered a strong personality who has a number of qualities:
- the ability to manage your life, making important decisions and not placing all your hopes solely on fate;
- achieves everything himself;
- carries out competent planning of each of its actions;
- the goal turns into a result that has its own benefit;
- a man of action always checks everything in practice, this is his basic principle;
- does not recognize idealism;
- skillfully uses his logical mind.
Another definition characterizes the word “pragmatism” as the ability to plan and try to implement the guidelines chosen in life, while there is maximum concentration on the task and active movement towards the goal. This property characterizes people who are accustomed to being first in everything and always; they confidently move towards their intended goal, not paying attention to obstacles.
What kind of person is this?
According to another formulation, a pragmatic person is one who makes the most of the circumstances that have developed at a given stage of life. Each person can learn to set a number of specific goals and find the most realistic ways to realize their goals.
You can pay attention to the fact that each of these definitions for the most part repeats the previous one and we can draw a general conclusion - pragmatists are very purposeful individuals, they are entrepreneurial. But society is accustomed to criticizing such people, and all because they are the initiators of action. People are jealous that someone was able to achieve their goal, but he did not. But in every society pragmatists are born who manage to change the course of history.
Types of pragmatism
In the classical sense, a pragmatist is a person who is ready to step beyond his own ideals and confidently go ahead towards his goal. However, this interpretation is not entirely correct. This character trait may be present in the character of a person, then she tends to find benefit for herself from what relates to her environment. True pragmatism can be called a special ability to set specific tasks for oneself, try to find the right paths and carry out further actions.
In life, pragmatism helps a person focus on the most important thing, on needs and priorities, every day is a new step towards his cherished goal. Society usually treats pragmatists negatively and unfriendly, although such persons can boast of strong willpower and the ability to navigate and find a way out in any situation.
Is it possible to develop pragmatism?
Quite often such people are compared with analysts, and such a comparison is completely inappropriate, since these are two different terms. A pragmatist does not collect facts, much less check them for accuracy. He strives to test a number of new, experimental ideas in practice. In addition, pragmatists really don’t like fiddling with paperwork; they need instant results. Any difficult task for a pragmatist is an opportunity to prove themselves as quickly as possible; such people take on any job with special zeal and they are 100% confident that they will succeed.
But the only thing that doesn’t work is someone who sits back and waits for someone to do everything for him, but that doesn’t happen. By their temperament, such people are choleric, they are energetic and ambitious. Ideas can be generated at any time of the day or night, and all this thanks to an incredible amount of energy. Is it good to be a pragmatist? You should remember one thing: in any business, moderation is important and pragmatism can turn into an excessive, hypertrophied version into a negative trait with a big minus. For a person who is accustomed to always being successful in everything, it will not be difficult to achieve his cherished goal of going over his head.
The result of his efforts may please him, but those around him will clearly not be delighted with such tactics. Many people ask a completely logical question: is it possible to somehow develop pragmatism? It is necessary to think about your goals, or even better, have a special notebook and record them. Don't be afraid to make plans for weeks, months and even years ahead. This tactic will allow you to look for ways to achieve your own goals. Forgotten desires can be turned into reality if they remain relevant to you. To do this, you just need to set a goal and try to do something every new day to bring it to life.
This word is usually used to describe a person’s ability to concentrate only on the goal at hand, forgetting about everything that interferes with action. This definition accurately reflects the meaning of this word. This principle of behavior contributes to more effective implementation of planned plans.
Traits of Pragmatic People
Many would agree that pragmatists have the following personality traits:
- Cynicism. According to public opinion, a pragmatist is constantly evaluating something and thinking about how to benefit from a given situation.
- Mistrust. Since pragmatists try to find the most rational path to the intended goal, from the outside it may seem that they are impolite and do not respect other people's opinions. But this opinion is wrong, since the pragmatist is only looking for the right solution, and therefore is guided only by logic and facts, and not by public opinion.
- Selfishness. Despite the fact that almost every person acts in his own interests, the one who openly declares this is considered an egoist. Pragmatists are not greater egoists than other people, they just do not worry about what opinion this or that action will cause in others.
If we translate all the characteristics from a negative direction, it turns out that a pragmatic person is reasonable and purposeful.
It is also worth noting discipline, because not everyone is able to complete a task even under favorable circumstances. From all of the above, we can conclude that pragmatism goes hand in hand with self-confidence, since without this personality trait few people are able to achieve success in their chosen field of activity.
Many people are not at all interested in the answer to the question: “What is pragmatism?” They want to know how to cultivate this quality in themselves. This is quite possible if you follow certain rules of behavior. The first thing you need to think about is whether this feature is right for you? Why become a pragmatic person? If the answer to these questions is a vague judgment of success, then you should think again.
Pragmatism is characterized by specific tasks, therefore, in order to have this ability, you must first find a goal. After this, you should break it down into several tasks, the achievement of which seems possible. If the goal is chosen incorrectly, then it will be very easy to stray from the intended path.
To become pragmatic, you need to learn to follow the following rule: never take another action if the previous one has not yet been completed. Following such a simple principle can already greatly change a person’s behavior. You should also pay attention to your dreams. Someone who has fantastic plans has a better chance of getting results than someone who doesn't plan at all.
Planning stages
The first thing you need to do is set yourself. After this, you need to write it down and specify the conditions for achievement. To do this, you need to answer yourself a few questions:
- How long does it take to implement the plan?
- Who can help?
- How much material resources will this require?
- What obstacles will you encounter on the way to solving each problem?
You should start with those goals that arouse genuine interest. Otherwise it will be very difficult to do anything. After achieving several goals, you can realize that many distractions have completely disappeared.
Pragmatism is characterized not only by the ability to plan, but also by the ability to eliminate all distractions. This problem often occurs in people who perform certain actions without outside supervision. At the same time, people can get distracted even when a lot depends on the result of their actions.
A pragmatic person is not distracted by anything, as he only looks at the goal. But what to do if it doesn’t work this way? Several techniques can be used:
- Rationalization. This method is suitable only for those who can change their behavior after realizing its reasons. It is necessary to understand what exactly distracts you from your intended actions and when this happens. You should also be aware of the negative consequences of behavior that involves being distracted by unimportant things, because pragmatism is a personality trait that completely excludes the influence of extraneous factors.
- Deception of consciousness. For those who are accustomed to being guided by emotions, a method that involves a little deception of their own brain is suitable. Subconsciously, any person strives for relaxation and pleasure. To get started, you can “agree with yourself” that you will do a small part of the work and then rest again. Seeing that there is very little work, the subconscious mind will “allow” it to be completed without seeking any other activity.
Using the second method, you may notice that you don’t even want to, because you begin to understand that there is nothing complicated about it. After a while, you may feel that you don’t want to be distracted or rest (unless your body requires it). Starting to rest after the work has been done will make you feel more satisfied than if you avoided responsibilities. At the same time, information will remain on the subconscious level about what actions led to such satisfaction.
The combination of these methods with competent planning can turn even an uninitiative person into a person who is pragmatic.
Pragmatism... What a mysterious word, isn’t it? You don’t know what a pragmatist is, who is meant by this word? In this article we will understand this concept. As you might guess, pragmatists are a special category of people. We'll talk about them in more detail later.
When did pragmatism appear?
The philosophy of pragmatism originated in the early 70s of the 19th century. The founder of pragmatism was Charles Sanders, a scientist and philosopher from America. He illustrated the basic ideas of pragmatism in two of his articles: “How to Make Our Ideas Clear” and “Fixing Beliefs.”
This philosophical school of thought became firmly established in the United States in the twentieth century. The term “pragmatism” itself comes from the Greek “action”.
The concept of pragmatism
One of the definitions of pragmatism characterizes it as the ability to plan and implement chosen life guidelines, while abstracting from everything unnecessary and distracting that is not related to the goal. This is the talent of doing everything according to plan. This property is very useful for people who are accustomed to achieving their goals.
According to another interpretation, pragmatism is understood as extracting personal benefits from the current situation, the ability to set specific goals in life and find real ways to implement them. As you can see, these two points of view on the concept of “pragmatism” are almost identical, and this allows us to draw conclusions that pragmatists are goal-oriented people.
Pragmatism can be compared to entrepreneurship, and it is unfortunate that both of these concepts often attract a torrent of criticism from society. A society that is trying with all its might to suppress initiative in people, the desire to act and achieve something, greatly succeeds in this, raising more and more weak-willed people. However, in any society, from time to time, by a happy accident or by the will of fate, pragmatists are born. So who are they?
Who are pragmatists?
It is clear that many do not understand the very concept of “pragmatics”. This is because pragmatic people stand out noticeably from the crowd, and bright personalities are often envied or simply not understood.
A pragmatist will never become a follower (unless it is necessary for his own good), he himself will be the absolute master of his destiny, strictly pursuing his goal, and no one will dictate to him! And the system of views and values he himself has built will help him in this. The main principle of pragmatists is - don’t take on the next thing until the old one is finished!
A pragmatist evaluates every thing practically, based on its usefulness and significance. He is guided by common sense and reason, he believes only in what he has seen himself, denies intangible phenomena.
How does a pragmatist think?
Pragmatists are often compared with analysts, which is fundamentally wrong, since they are completely different concepts. The pragmatist, unlike the analyst, does not carefully collect facts and check their reliability. He puts new experimental ideas into practice. He doesn't like to fuss with paperwork - he is focused on instant results. Having received a new difficult task, a pragmatist will not think about which way to approach it, but will immediately get to work, because he is sure that everything will work out for him. After all, only those who do nothing fail.
Pragmatists are people who are always active, so that sometimes you wonder where they get so much energy from? By temperament they are choleric. They generate ideas at lightning speed and in large quantities.
So, did you also want to become a pragmatist? Then read on and learn!
How to become a pragmatic person?
Now that you know what the word “pragmatic person” means, it’s time to give you some tips to help you become one.
1. To cultivate the thinking of a pragmatist, think about your planned activities and goals and do not be afraid to discard everything unnecessary and unimportant, since it delays your success.
2. Get into the habit of making plans even for the most distant future. Even if these are completely fantastic dreams, they will help you understand what you really want from life and build a course of further actions to achieve them - think strategically.
3. To learn to think strategically, make a list of your half-forgotten, unfulfilled, but still relevant desires. Choose one of them and make a plan to implement it. Here you will have to answer several questions:
- How much money will it take to make your wish come true?
- Who can help implement it?
- What barriers are there to its implementation?
- What do you need to know and be able to do to achieve what you want?
This way you will break your global dream into small, very specific and achievable goals. At the same time, do not forget the “golden” rule of pragmatists, which states that all invested efforts must pay off, and with dividends.
Is pragmatism necessary in life?
Now you know who the pragmatists are, and it’s up to you to decide whether to join their ranks or not. In any case, the determination and concentration of pragmatists deserve respect, and it will be useful for every person in certain life situations to adopt, at least temporarily, the character traits of a pragmatist.
Pragmatism– this is not only extracting personal benefit from the environment and current conditions, but also the ability to set specific life goals, ideas and find rational ways to implement them. An important property of pragmatism is the ability to rank your priorities, choose the most important ones and consistently implement them. Pragmatism akin to enterprise, and both of these are often criticized by public morality. “You want a lot, you get little” is a statement that has become almost folk wisdom, but this approach brings up weak-willed and inert people who do not strive for the best. A pragmatic person himself becomes the master of his own destiny; he builds his own system of views and principles to quickly obtain practically useful results. The main law of pragmatism is not to take on the next action until the previous one is completely completed. Only high-quality implementation of each makes it possible to move forward towards the intended goal. To cultivate pragmatic thinking, try to think about your goals and planned activities. Don’t be afraid to discard the non-urgent and unimportant - they only slow you down on the path to success. Learn to make plans even for the distant future: any, even the most fantastic ideas and incredible dreams will do, but they will help you figure out what exactly you want to achieve. To learn to think strategically, write a list of your cherished desires, half-forgotten, unrealized, but still relevant. Then choose one of these ideas and make a plan to implement it.1. What material resources will you need to achieve it?2. What people can help you realize your plans?3. What obstacles will await you on the way to your goal? Consider ways to overcome them.4. What skills do you need to have to make your dream come true? Thus, you will clearly be presented with a practical task, divided into smaller stages, which you will have to consistently implement. But remember that according to the “golden” rule of pragmatism, any effort invested must necessarily pay off in appropriate dividends.
Word " relevance“,” “relevant” is heard quite often in various areas of life. Thus, students are asked to indicate relevance topic of their thesis, current news is shown on television. Particularly important relevance regarding information that becomes outdated so quickly these days.
Instructions
Relevance - the importance, materiality, topicality of something for the present moment in time. The word itself comes from the Latin actualis - actual, real. Synonyms for relevance include vitality, urgency, importance, timeliness, and modernity. There are such stable ones as “hot topic”, “hot question”, “hot task”, etc. A current topic is always interesting, in demand, and touches thoughts and feelings. The actual problem is the one that must be solved first.
If we try to explain the essence of this word as simply as possible, then we can say that for someone who wants to eat, food is important, and for someone who is in a hurry to work, the availability of transport is important. The concept of relevance is important in the field and production. So, a popular brand is relevant, i.e. corresponding to the key motivations and needs of the target audience. This brand is in demand. IN relevance associated with the concept of constant movement and eternal variability of existence. Wherein relevance reflects the current reality and captures it before that reality changes again.
Word " relevance"is often used in relation to art, any work - a painting, a book, a movie. If the work is relevant, that it responds to current issues and needs of society. It often becomes a part of its era. This is the difference between relevance and fashion: fashion is a whim of society, it goes away as unnoticed as it comes. Current issues are those that concern people at the moment on a conscious and subconscious level. On the one side, relevance- obviously temporary. But some works remain relevant for centuries due to the fact that the topics they raise are equally important for people in any era. In such cases, about “passing the test of time.”
From the point of view of the technical side of the procedure, ranking is based on a specific algorithm for assigning ranks to each of the objects that are part of the set under consideration. Thus, the most common algorithm is based on the principle in which an object with a maximum attribute value is assigned the highest rank, and an object with a minimum attribute value is assigned the lowest rank. In this case, the highest rank is considered to be 1, and the lowest is the number corresponding to the number of objects in the analyzed set. So, for example, if height is considered a ranking criterion in a group of 15 boys, then rank 1 will go to the tallest boy with a height of 192 centimeters, and rank 15 will go to the shortest boy with a height of 165 centimeters.
Moreover, if two or more objects are characterized by the same attribute values, they are assigned equal , each of which is equal to the arithmetic mean of the sum of the ranks under consideration. For example, when ranking based on test results in a group from , you may encounter a situation where one of its members received a grade of 5, one received a grade of 3, and three received a grade of 4. Thus, an excellent student will receive rank 1, and a C student will receive rank 5. In this case, students who received a grade of 4 will be assigned the same rank: it should be calculated as the arithmetic average of the ranks that will be divided between them, namely ranks 2, 3 and 4. Thus, the average rank of these students = (2 + 3 + 4) / 3 = 3.
Ranked Lists
In practice, in modern Russia, the construction of ranked lists is most actively used by educational institutions, which in this way order applicants wishing to enroll in a given university or other institution. In this case, the ranking criterion is the sum of points that each graduate received in all exams that are mandatory for admission.Based on this indicator, ranked lists of applicants are built, in which the highest positions are occupied by young people who scored the highest total number of points, and the lowest are those who scored the fewest points. Based on these lists, which are also sometimes called applicant ratings, admissions are subsequently made.