Michael Bleaney Planners and enterprises (5 other sources to choose Lab Report

Michael Bleaney Planners and enterprises (5 other sources to choose from) - Lab Report Example According to Stigler (1951, 187) Adam Smith explains this concept with his famous example of pin-making. If one person were to make pins, he would probably be able to make just one pin in a day. However, if the pin making process is divided into 18 stages and in all 10 workers split these tasks among themselves, each doing just one type of job, together they were able to produce 48000 pins. This is because as the task is divided each labor becomes proficient and specialized in that task as he is concentrating on just one type of work and therefore the human mind discovers the most efficient way of doing that task. Thus with division of labor, there is an increase in the production, skill and efficiency of time giving rise to the invention of machines. However, Adam Smith recognizes the disadvantages of division of labor and says that with specialization, when a man spends his whole life performing a few simple tasks he becomes stupid and ignorant. At the same time however, he also says that division of labor causes inventions and technological advancements. The contradiction is that when the division of labor makes the worker and in turn society as a whole stupid, then how can there be technological advancement and inventions in the same society (Stigler 187-188). Many economists according to Stigler (1951, 189) have held this against Adam Smith and have found his theory to be contradictory. However, upon closer scrutiny we see that when Smith said that the workman who spends his life doing a few simple tasks has no opportunity to implement his understanding and innovations as his work is too mechanical. He has no need to attempt to remove difficulties that never occur. He thus automatically loses the habit of exerting and generally becomes stupid and ignorant. Thus according to Smith his deftness at his own particular work is at the expense

Exploring Ancient Mysteries Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Exploring Ancient Mysteries - Assignment Example This is referred to as the theory of Tafla (Lacovara, 2004). The characteristics of Tafla to a significant extent make the Tafla Theory logical. Without the intervention of machinery, the pyramids could have been built using the clay which is slippery when wet and relatively very strong when dry (Lacovara, 2004). The theory suggests that Tafla could have been used to move two ton blocks with ease. Thus, in the construction of the pyramids, a huge crew could have managed to move two ton blocks up the side of pyramids made of Tafla ramp. It could be easy to shape the corners of the pyramids by swinging a pole placed at each corner of the pyramids. Alternatively, due to the massiveness of the pyramids, they may have been built founded on four ramps originating from each corner of the pyramids (Lacovara, 2004). In a lesser scale, the NOVA experiment has been used to display the construction of the pyramids with regard to the Tafla theory (Lacovara, 2004). Another account regarding the mystery of the erection of the pyramids at Giza is by a Greek historian, Herodotus. Herodotus says that the construction of such massive monuments required a profoundly large crew to provide labour (Petrie, 2003). Cheops and Chephren, with their great oppression to their subjects, managed to the labor providers using power. The financing of the labour and all the other requirements of the completion of the construction of the pyramids also came from their subjects. Since ruling was hereditary in Egypt, oppression of subjects probably never changed from Cheops regime to Chephren’s. One hundred thousand laborers worked in either the eastern or the Arabian Desert as well as ferried the stones mined to the western side for three months at a time (Petrie, 2003). Beside this activity, there was also the construction of the cause way and the subterranean chambers in the preparation for the actual construction of the pyramid