Ink
This year I am pleased to see two creative writing pieces in the magazine. There’s always a certain vulnerability when you put creative pieces in public, and I commend the courage of Julia and Jane in doing so. Two submissions, including Jane’s poem, are a response to the Auschwitz visit that took place early in the New Year, a trip that seems to have had a real impact on those who went.
There are also a number of articles that have been submitted successfully to essay competitions, such as the John Locke essay competition and the King’s College Entrepreneurship Lab essay competition.
The students certainly recognise the importance of going above and beyond the syllabus, and this magazine represents only a small proportion of a huge array of academic extension activities with which the students engage, and which enrich their subject knowledge. Thanks are due to my colleagues on the staff who encourage the students in their endeavours, and who always go the extra mile to help.
HumAnIty - A Study Of Ethical Issues Within Artificial Intelligence
6 Where Are The Limits Of Computability? An Arms Race Of Functions
If China Becomes The Leading Superpower, What Does That Mean For The People Who Live There, And What Does That Mean For Everyone Else?
Learning Wisdom From Failure
Was Personal Ambition More Important Than Revolutionary Principles In Napoleon’s Consolidation Of Power, During The Years 1799 To 1804?
A Trip To Auschwitz
All Doom And Gloom? A Reflection On The Wasteland By T.S. Eliot
Invisible Threads Between Cultures: Van Gogh And Japonisme
The Economics Of Healthcare Systems
Esther Greenwood: A First Glance Into Sylvia Plath’s Enigmatic Protagonist
Have Empires Throughout History Shaped The Societies We Live In Today?
Tackling The Gender Disparity In Football Officiating: A Call For Change
How Does Collaboration In Computer Science Support Social Impact And Innovation?
Amidst The Stars: The Discovery Of Exoplanets
Are Economically More Developed Countries Morally Justified In Interfering With The Development Of Economically Less Developed Countries On The Grounds Of Climate Change?
Why English Is So Weird: A Discussion Of The Phonological History Of English
Bowler
Medley
Platt
William Baker Head of Sixth Form
Cover painting by Ailith Howes: A Level 2023
Clemmie Dodson
HumAnIty - A Study Of Ethical Issues Within Artificial Intelligence
Caitlin Stevens
Upper Sixth
Over the last decade, engineers and computer programmers have made significant progress in creating what is known as, “machine learning algorithms”. These programs allow technological devices to adapt and grow from the situations they are placed in, enabling them to develop by themselves and decide the best choices to make in a particular scenario. This phenomenon has greatly expanded the abilities of machines to aid humans in dayto-day life. Mobile voice assistants, such as Siri or Alexa, make use of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) development to become as responsive as possible to the user. You can ask them almost any question, and the immediate response will collate all the results received, either from an internet browser, or whichever service the user requires. Another common example of machine learning can be found in almost all social media services, where an algorithm takes into account which topics you engage with the most, and proceeds to display large
amounts of similar content as you continue to scroll. This is one of the many reasons why social media and “mindless scrolling” can be so addictive.
Despite the many helpful aspects of these “intelligent” machines, there are many ethical issues surrounding them, including those concerning privacy, autonomy, and morality. It is a commonly-known fact that a computer cannot think for itself; it simply follows the lines of code designed for it by a software engineer. As with many matters of ethics, AI ethics are constantly debated, and there can never be a unanimous decision as to what the best action is to take regarding these problems.
The first major issue with AI is that machine learning algorithms always have a chance of developing bias, including the type that is discriminatory against a particular minority of people or other subjects. One high-impact example of
this occurred within the Amazon hiring algorithm, when, due to machine learning, the algorithm began only to accept the applications of those who identified as male, due to the more frequent previous success of male applicants. This is perhaps due to the higher proportion of males in the industry than females at the time when Amazon used this algorithm. As of 2017 it is no longer used, mainly due to the bias that often occurred. The primary reason for AI bias is that it is not protected from human prejudice, and this was displayed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government made use of AI to help allocate predicted grades to students sitting exams. It led to students of ethnic minorities or a state-educated background being underpredicted as a result of the data the algorithm received, which drastically affected their chances of being accepted into university programs due to the dependence on predicted grades. Machine learning algorithms make use of data from
internet browsers and other platforms to form their “opinions” on certain subjects, as algorithms cannot think for themselves. As a result, moral issues such as racism and sexism are easily - and mostly unintentionally - adopted by programs. However, there are some instances where malicious bias skewing has occurred. One example of this was in 2016 when Microsoft released a Twitter chatbot named “Tay”. Less than a day after its release, the messages and tweets it received from users and internet trolls turned it from a useful service into a corrupted racist. Due to the onslaught of contradictory opinions Tay received, it began to spew out tweets that were not only filled with controversy, but also sometimes disagreed with each other entirely. A notable example is its description of feminism as both “a cult” and “great” almost within the same sentence. The bot adopted both the best and worst traits of humanity simultaneously, leading it to provide a very inconsistent service.
Another problem within these systems is often caused by the sheer complexity of their models. Machine learning algorithms are programmed in such a way that their adaptations become only possible for humans to understand if they possess extraordinary expertise within the field. There are some instances where the correlations made by algorithms have a direct effect on subjects, without any justifiable reason. One example of this is prevalent within the judicial setting. It has been proven that jurors are more likely to render a “negligence” verdict due to AI analysis of the court case than they would
be without the use of algorithms. The issue with this is that as AI algorithms become further developed, they may begin to have more dramatic effects on the outcomes of such critical functions as criminal trials, to the point where it may bring about an entirely wrong verdict, claiming the innocent to be guilty or vice versa. This could have a significant impact on societal safety, leaving some wanted criminals at large purely based on incorrect pattern recognition by an algorithm. Of course, programmers can minimise the window for error, but usually, this can only occur after an incident uncovers a weakness within the system. It is almost impossible to prevent every issue without knowing the scope of possibility.
The bot adopted both the best and worst traits of humanity simultaneously
impossible to place everyone under the hammer of consequence. At the same time, this accountability deficit leads to a more severe impact on the victims of incidents caused by AI, as until there is a determined perpetrator, sufficient compensation can never truly be reached. Denial of autonomy can be found in many different forms, such as direct interference, coercion, cognitive heteronomy, and misrecognition, and all of these can affect people’s lives in sometimes irreversible ways.
There have also been instances of machine learning algorithms affecting the autonomy of subjects. AI is commonly used to predict - and sometimes even determine - the outcome of situations and events, from gambling to highsecurity measures. The purpose of AI is to use automated procedures to mimic human cognitive functions, for them to execute actions only otherwise doable by trained and experienced specialists within a field. However, this makes it far more difficult to determine fault when a gross error occurs - who can be held responsible for the mistakes made by a computer program? The first assumption is to blame the programmer, but when it is often teams of tens or even hundreds of people creating these algorithms, it is
Despite the common use of AI to provide security to users and systems, one of the greatest issues produced by these algorithms is the invasion of privacy. There are so many different ways in which AI can damage the personal privacy of its subjects, whether inadvertently or not. Software that makes use of machine learning algorithms is not immune to the threats of cyber-attacks, and a data breach can be devastating to whoever is operating the algorithm, as it is likely that large amounts of confidential data are being stored within the many databases held by the program. Furthermore, the way AI functions, can sometimes lead to it gaining access to private details without a user’s consent, and algorithms can end up disobeying national and global data protection laws. Programmers and companies can find themselves in legal trouble due to the actions of AI, which are often out of their
The 2018 Data Protection Act helps to maintain the privacy of Internet users.
control. There is also the chance of AI being used in a more malicious sense to manipulate subjects and their data without their knowledge. This can lead to the targeting and profiling of certain “types” of users, and this can infringe upon the subjects’ abilities to lead their lives without influence from external sources. These sorts of problems are almost inevitable as long as AI systems are implemented, but programmers must take the necessary precautions to avoid the impact that these issues can have, no matter the scale.
I believe it is also wise to make a note of the psychological effects AI can have on humans. There are many types of AI used to simulate social interactions, appearing in the forms of interactive “chatting” games or toys and services, which can respond to any prompt from human speech. As these algorithms become more realistic and “life-like”, there is the possibility of degradation of a user’s social ability when it comes to communicating with other humans. This is because communicating with a machine can never be quite the same as talking to someone in a real-world setting, and although the line between the two is becoming increasingly blurred, there will always be subtle differences, which could bring about a greater social impact. Human emotional capabilities, such as empathy, trust, and true understanding are impossible to recreate using AI due to the simple truth that the computer cannot “feel” its own emotions. No program can replace real friends because you cannot form a relationship with something unless the emotions go both ways. Another way in which machine learning algorithms can affect social connection is through “hyper-personalisation”. AI is used to track everything you look at on social media, and it creates tailored advertisements to keep you interested. Social media becomes so addictive because of the large amounts of content which the algorithm confirms you are interested in through the way you
interact with the platform. The companies use these algorithms to give users a small rush of dopamine from being exposed to a lot of likeable posts, leading them to come back for more day after day. This certainly sounds exploitative, and although some platforms have means of attempting to
Jurors are more likely to render a “negligence” verdict due to AI analysis
reduce addictive tendencies, the companies make more money by having more uptime from users across the world, so it is unlikely that these algorithms will ever be significantly changed.
One other issue that seems less noticeable on the surface is that the outcomes produced by AI algorithms can be unreliable or simply dissatisfactory. This can be caused by the way the data is managed and produced, the design of
the algorithm, and the way the algorithm is used. If a program produces an unreliable or erroneous outcome that is then applied to other situations, there could be consequences affecting people on an individual or much larger scale. Negligence and cutting corners can cause many mistakes, ranging from personal misunderstanding to leaks of confidential government data and operations, which could lead to irreversible political tension in some extreme cases. Extra care must be taken by all programmers to maximise the reliability of these algorithms, even if that comes at a cost of its sophistication or complexity. Safety and quality should be the primary concerns of all those who endeavour to create AI, no matter its form and purpose. One current example of this is the new-found “genius” that is ChatGPT and its variants. Microsoft Bing’s implementation of this service has been discovered to “argue” with users over matters as small as the current date and time, with the AI being incorrect throughout the discussion.
In summary, there are many problems surrounding AI, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for programmers to evaluate and address all of these issues simultaneously. However, I do believe that part of the responsibility of a programmer is to ensure that the users of the algorithm are adequately protected and respected, and that they are made aware of the program’s purposes and how that could affect them. It is - most critically - necessary that programming teams create plans of action to deal with errors and mistakes if and when they do occur, and the awareness of these issues must be disclosed to customers all over the world.
Microsoft Bing's automated chat service argues with a user.
Voice-controlled assistants such as Siri can fulfil almost any request they receive.
Where Are The Limits Of Computability? An Arms
Race Of Functions
Alfie Greggs
Lower Sixth
For the past 81 years we have lived in a world containing electronic computation devices, and for roughly the last 40 we have lived in a world dominated by them. The development and progress of computing technology presents perhaps the fastest advancement of technology in all of human history. Throughout this period, the technology from five years in the past has often been considered primitive, and five years into the future – unthinkable. With this rapid development of technology now reaching unfathomably complex levels, clashing with the fundamental laws of the universe, and achieving seemingly impossible goals, the question remains: just where are the limits to the advancement of computation? Where is the boundary of what a computer can achieve? These are the underlying questions this article will answer.
The first step to answering this question is to clarify it: what is meant by “limits”, and what is meant by “computability”?
Computability is a problem that can be, “solved in principle by a computing device”.
The answers to these questions are not complicated ideas. When I refer to “limits”, I consider this to be the very physical limitations imposed on computation by the fundamental laws of reality; this is not the boundary of our current technology, but what – provided our species’ current understanding of the universe is somewhat accurate – is the line at which further advancement is intrinsically prohibited by nature. Whilst this is not a particularly exciting idea, it is necessary for scientific progress: it maps out what we are able to achieve, and what we need to work around. By “computability”, I will use the definition provided by the SEP (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy), which states that computability is a problem that can be, “solved in principle by a computing device”. By “computing device”, I mean, “a functional unit that can perform substantial computations… without human
intervention”, as per the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Finally, “computation” is the action of both mathematical and non-mathematical calculation.
Beyond these definitions, the more important question is: in what sense are we considering the limits of computation?
The first limitation this article addresses is a physical one, comprising the restrictions of classical, quantum, and relativistic mechanics on the size, speed, and efficiency of computing devices; this is where I will discuss the inevitable collapse of Moore’s Law in the coming years. The second limitation – the main focus of this article – is on the inability of any classical computer to solve certain problems in a reasonable amount of time, or at all. These problems stem from evermore complex and increasingly fast-growing mathematical systems - an arms race of functions against computation, in a sense.
It would be helpful to note here that this article will deal exclusively with classical computing. Although special variants – seen
in the quantum computing hype – have the same purpose, and much of the same core components (RAM, motherboard, secondary storage, etc), they function in entirely different ways. This leads to huge variations in where the limits of computability lie: some much sooner, some much further away.
The Atomic Limit
In 1965, businessman and engineer, Gordan Moore, made the astounding prediction that the number of individual components contained on a single computer chip would reach 65,000 by the year 1975. This equates to an increase by a factor of two, every two years. When this prediction became uncannily accurate during the mid-1970s, Moore refined his hypothesis into what is now known as Moore’s Law: the number of transistors in a single computer chip will roughly double every two years. Simultaneously, the cost and calculating time will be halved, and the processing power and data capacity will be doubled. This premise has led to decades of computational advancement in what can be thought of as a ‘golden age’ for computing, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby the investment of time, money, and ingenuity to achieve a continuation of Moore’s Law, has paid off more than sufficiently through the progression of technology and the extension in capabilities.
However, as transistors are designed to be ever smaller (they are now composed of only a few hundred atoms each), the inherent size of atoms prevent the shrinking of transistors; it should be quite clear to see why a transistor requires a minimum number of atoms to exist. It is now quite possible to fit 2.6 trillion onto a single computer chip, and with this scale and density quantum mechanics causes further issues. Electrons running through the near-atom thick wires can jump to neighbouring wires through the process of quantum tunnelling, causing the whole system to break down as binary values lose the capability of being controlled. It is now widely accepted that Moore’s Law will terminate at some point during the 2020s. Incidentally, it is these same quantum mechanics that may provide a solution to this limitation.
The Function Limit
What I consider to be the primary limit to computability – and indeed so too by the entire branch of philosophical mathsorientated computer science, referred to as computability theory – is the unfathomably
fast-growing functions conceived as a direct challenge to our understanding of what is computable. In fact, even since before the first functioning computer was assembled, this field has been dedicated to defining, and challenging, what is computable. Using an arsenal of obscure mathematical operations, complex logical programming, and philosophical parameters, computer scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers have worked tirelessly to outwit technology. In 1936, these scientists claimed their first victory over computability. To this day, it is by far the most famous example of a problem impossible for a standard computer to solve, and its creator - the most famous computer scientist to have lived.
code. Now it needs to be stated that any computation or algorithm is equivalent to the operations of some Turing machine, as per the Church-Turing Thesis. A Turing machine is an abstract mathematical concept of a computer precursor that manipulates a tape of binary values, according to a table of instructions. This allows for simplification and generalisation of computers. Turing proved this by imagining the following scenario: let H be a program that will always state whether a program will halt, and let O contain H and perform the opposite of H’s output. If a halting program is inputted into O, then O will continue running forever; likewise, if a non-halting program is inputted, then O
This predicament is called the “halting problem”. What makes the halting problem so special is the fundamental impossibility this scenario preposes. Even an infinitely powerful computer would offer no gain to finding a solution. Other functions produce numbers so vast, that supercomputers the size of planets would be unable to accurately calculate them before the heat death of the universe. These boundaries are more than mere physical limitations provided by the size of atoms in our universe, but inherent properties of existence and reality.
The argument that the halting problem poses is that it is impossible for a Turing machine to always decide accurately whether a program will terminate, purely based off the input parameters and arbitrary
will halt immediately. Should the program of O be inputted into itself, then for whatever H outputs, O will perform the opposite, thus contradicting the decision made by H. The result is that either H provides an incorrect answer (therefore proving it to be inaccurate), or continues to run indefinitely itself. This paradox thus disproves the existence of a true H through contradiction. In a somewhat refreshing way, the halting problem proves there is more to thought than mere computation and therefore gives hope that computers can never truly replace humans.
Through a more general lens, abstract logic computability theory has explored the boundaries of computation and formulated precise mathematical understanding
Figure 1, the set notation for Rayo's Number
Figure 2, as all branches of the first tree are contained within the third, the forest dies
of proof and solvability, consequently directing further mathematical study and technological advancement. Beyond the first example of the halting problem, research in this field has been largely through complex mathematical and logical systems of calculations, mathematical paradoxes, axioms, and the scale of integers. This article will discuss four such calculations, these being Rayo’s Number, Graham’s Number, the TREE function, and the Busy Beaver function. They are all defined through complex and somewhat philosophical quasimathematical expressions.
Rayo’s Number: Agustin Rayo defined this value in 2010 using second order set theory, and as such, poses a challenge to understand. However, in semantic form it is the smallest number bigger than every finite number that can be formed using first order set theory with 10100 symbols or less, where first order set theory is the collection of standard mathematical symbols.
Graham’s Number: Whilst in itself an integer value, it is actually a specific output of Graham’s function. To explain this function, we must first consider the order of operations. The most basic is succession, order 0: where f(n) = n + 1. The next three are addition [f(n) = n + a], multiplication [f(n) = n x a], and exponentiation [f(n) = na]. These three operations, orders 1, 2, and 3, comprise the entirety of standard calculations in all of maths, where each order is formed from the previous order when a = n.
However, this is not the limit of operation orders – the next is tetration, (order 4) [f(n) = an], and then pentation, (order 5) [f(n) = ¬an]. At this point, it is worth introducing what is known as arrow notation: starting from exponentiation n↑a, each further arrow represents a further order of operation. Graham’s function starts with the value g1, defined as 3↑↑↑↑3, and proceeds to g2, defined as 3↑↑↑↑↑…3 with g1 arrows between the two threes. In general, gn = 3↑↑↑↑↑…3 where the number of arrows equals the value of gn1. From this, Graham’s Number is defined as the value of g64.
The limitation originates from the inability for all computational problems to be solved algorithmically
TREE function: Again, I will describe the TREE function semantically, although as before it can be defined through set theory. It is more complex to understand than the previous two numbers but as a basis TREE(n) can be thought of as the number of unique ‘trees’ that can be formed from n types of node. In more detail, a tree is a collection of connected nodes, which may branch off any number of times, but may never form a loop. A forest is the series of trees formed and the value returned is the maximum size of the forest, depending on the input. The first tree in the forest
is composed of up to 1 node, the second up to 2 nodes, the third, 3 nodes, and so on. However, the entire forest dies if any previous tree is contained within another tree, specified as when all the nodes of said previous tree can be found within the later tree sharing the same nearest ancestor. See Figure 2 to better understand this. For example, TREE(1) starts off with a single type 1 node, but so must tree 2. Therefore, the largest living forest size is 1 tree: TREE(1) = 1. TREE(2) starts off in the same way, but with the extra type of node, tree 2 can now be two type 2 nodes connected, leaving tree 3 as one type 2 node. As a smaller tree cannot contain a larger one within itself, this is still allowed. This gives a forest size of 3. Beyond TREE(2), the TREE numbers break free of the early restrictions and can soon contain huge numbers of nodes, and as such their magnitudes can no longer be comprehended, yet remain finite in value.
Busy Beaver function: The final function I wish to discuss is the Busy beaver function [BB(n)]. To describe this function, imagine an infinite binary string of 0s with a single Turing machine acting on it. The Turing machine is in a specific state, containing six pieces of information: whether to flip the bit, which direction to shift along the binary string, and which state to transform into –these values exist separately for whether the bit read is 1 or 0. The number of states is n, and the value returned is the largest finite number of 1s produced when the process terminates, where halting is a separate possible state. What makes this function particularly notable, is the clear link to the halting problem, demonstrating that it is fundamentally impossible for a normal computer to compute values for the function beyond a certain point, never knowing whether the current set of states returns a finite value or will just keep cycling for all eternity. Furthermore, to prove if a specific n-state machine halts would involve disproving cornerstone mathematical theorems, such as Goldbach’s Conjecture or the Riemann Hypothesis. The Busy Beaver function is not computable, as it cannot be defined as a finite series of operations, and the removal of this restriction is what makes it the fastest growing fully defined function in existence.
For reference to the size of these numbers, even if the symbols of Rayo’s Number were
Agustin Rayo
to be written down at a rate of one symbol per Planck time, the smallest possible division of time, the universe is not likely to last long enough for the writer to finish – and that does not even begin to make a dent on writing out the number. And, if a person was to imagine Graham’s Number, the energy required to store every digit in the human brain would be greater than the energy density needed to cause space-time to collapse into a black hole. Even the proofs that these numbers are finite or too long, can’t be explained; instead, this branch of mathematics relies upon proofs of proofs for theorems. In fact, there is a point at which, certain theorems lose their ability to even be proved, preventing definite solutions ever being found to certain conjectures.
Now consider all these as functions ([Graham(n) = gn], Rayo(n) = largest number using n symbols). None of these numbers are computable beyond a very low boundary, whether this is because they are impossibly large, undefinable, clash with other theorems, or are simply paradoxical in nature. Yet if you were to order them in rate of growth, using abstract logic it can be seen that TREE(n) overtakes Graham(n) when n = 3; BB(n) overtakes TREE(n) when n = 748; and Rayo(n) overtakes BB(n) when n = 7339. In a facetious way, the Busy Beaver chops down the TREE. They form a brief insight into the boundaries of computability and pose the question: what is the purpose of computability theory? For all intents and purposes these numbers can only be operated on using abstract non-finite
mathematics, such as ordinals. What they exhibit is a challenge to the very nature of computation, encouraging new ways of thinking. They bring about awareness of obstacles facing the advancement of technology and mathematics, allowing research to begin into innovative methods to bypass these restrictions. They confront our perceived limitations of computer science and describe limitations on technology, such as artificial intelligence, by allowing types of problem to be identified and characterised on solvability.
Artificial Intelligence Complication
For a slightly more applied example, I will discuss how the limits of computability affect the potential of AI technology. Artificial intelligence can be broken down into two main subsets: deep learning and neural networks, with neural networks themselves forming a subset of deep learning. Neural networks mimic the structure and function of the human brain, hence the name, and are by far the most advanced form of AI at the time of writing. As AI gradually infiltrates all areas of our daily lives, it inevitably finds itself in highrisk situations, where trust in the neural network needs to be absolute. In order for the AI to be considered trustworthy, it must demonstrate that it will reliably return an accurate decision, regardless of the input data. To explain this, I will introduce the concept of stability. Stability can be thought of as the degree to which the neural network alters from a slight modification to its input
data. The network is reliable if it is stable, and stable when consistent despite small changes.
The limitation originates from the inability for all computational problems to be solved algorithmically, a paradox discovered by Turing and Gödel. Fundamentally, there are a multitude of stable neural networks that can produce accurate outputs to corresponding problems, but there exists no such algorithm or mathematical method to formulate these networks. What is produced instead are periodically accurate, yet unstable, networks. In the same way as before, no matter the quality or quantity of the training data, the time or processing power allowed for computation, the task remains insolvable. Furthermore, for similar reasons, neural networks cannot yet describe their confidence in a decision and it is extremely difficult to convince one that it has generated an error. This all leads to limitations regarding the ability of the AI, and as a result, whilst effective networks can be produced with relative ease, they cannot be trusted as to always give reliable outputs. From this, future decisions need to account for the potential lack of stability when installing AI into high-risk roles, and research can be focused on better understanding artificial intelligence including finding new non/ quasi-mathematical ways to formulate suitable neural networks. And all this can be achieved in part through computability theory.
If China Becomes The Leading
Superpower,
What
Does That Mean For The People Who Live There, And What Does That Mean For Everyone Else?
This essay achieved a commendation in the John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize
Max Bowler
Upper Sixth
“I fear that Americans are not psychologically prepared for the day when America will become number two ” (Kishore Mahbubani, “When China Becomes Number One”).
The idea of a superpower other than the US is a concept very much ‘foreign’ to Westerners. For 30 years, America has not needed to defend its position as top of the food chain. American hegemony is the academic consensus, best outlined by John McCormick in his 2007 work, European Superpower; “It seems that no mention of the US as a super-power is any longer complete without the adjectives ‘sole’, ‘only’ or ‘lone’” .
The world's leading superpower will always be the state with the ability to project the most strength and influence globally. Today, the rise of China is watched eagerly by governments and academics, with its explosive economic growth turning the former communist state into the world's second-largest economy .
These economic growth rates and the rapid increase in the standard of living in China makes it an emerging power with much potential. In this essay, I will evaluate both the domestic and international impacts of China becoming the world leading superpower. I will focus on how China’s economic plan will raise the living
standards of the Chinese, as has already been happening for the last thirty years. In addition, I will examine whether the authoritarian approach of the Communist Party of China (CCP) will persist once China claims the top spot, or whether democracy will be phased in.
From my (a western) perspective, China’s rise disrupts the status quo of the previously uncontested US-EU dominance. The state of foreign relations and affairs will surely change, as history proves each time a nation rises to the top. I will examine China’s foreign policy, and how that will impact international relations in the future. China has become the engine for the modern Western economy, with its near monopoly on manufacturing, the essay will explore how China becoming the leading superpower will affect the global economy.
Domestic impacts of China as the world superpower Economic
The way in which China becomes the leading power will determine the impact it has on both its population and internal affairs.
China’s economic growth is the heart of the country’s emergence as a global power
and is the most obvious route for China to become the world leader.
The speed of the Chinese economy's post-communist transformation is remarkable. Since 2000, its GDP has sustained an average growth rate above 9% . Comparatively, the US has sustained meagre growth of 2.13% . This prolonged period of sustained growth has filtered through to the Chinese consumer. Crucially, the average Chinese worker has enjoyed a greater growth in GDP per capita, measured in Purchasing Power Parity - PPP). Since 2000, the US GDP per capita PPP has risen just 26.9%, while the Chinese have seen theirs increase by 510% .
This increase in China’s consumer income is equal to the increase in China’s total GDP, indicating that Chinese households are fully reaping the rewards of their surging economy, rather than large corporations being the main recipient.
Simultaneously, poverty is being eradicated at the same rate as China’s growth. The World Bank measures poverty in gross terms; it was less than US$2.15 a day in 2017 (PPP). According to their data, the Chinese poverty rate has shrunk from an overwhelming majority of 72% in 1990, to 0.1% in 2019. This has led to China being propelled from a Human Development Index score of 0.484 in 1990, to 0.768 today.
Like so many other metrics, this growth outperforms the current world superpower, the United States.
These are just a handful of the countless statistics that suggest the Chinese economy is en route to overtake America’s, and that this economic growth does have a profound impact on China’s population. This is the academic consensus; China will, in the 21st century, become the leading economy. This is the first step to becoming the leading superpower.
The evidence suggests the Chinese individual is in a better position to reap the rewards of China’s economic growth than Americans were at the start of the USA’s rise in the early 1920’s. This should eventually lead them towards a level of prosperity not seen even in 20th century America.
The position of the Chinese is the result of:
a) Their income growing much faster
b) This income is being distributed fairly amongst the entire Chinese society. Largely because wealth inequality is lower in China than America. (Which is unsurprising for a formerly communist state).
Most importantly, the standard of living is improving at the same rate as the
economy. For the Chinese population, their nation’s route to becoming a superpower is primarily economic. If China continues this economic path to become world superpower, then the standard of living for the Chinese population should become worldleading as well.
Political
China must utilise their strengths to exert their influence
The Chinese state is widely considered to be one that wields immense power and control, at least compared to Western domestic governance. On the democracy index by the Economist, China ranks 156th in the world1, putting it lower than Yemen, a failed state, engulfed by civil war, with no government control over most of the country.
The trend between democracy and economic prosperity is clear; democracies are wealthier (they have a higher GDP per capita) than autocracies or failed states.2 China goes against this trend, with a 156 democratic ranking despite a GDP per capita ranking of 71: a substantial difference.
The Chinese state clearly believes economic growth and building wealth is a priority over democratic rule. Scholar, Yongnian Zheng, outlines the Chinese
point of view in his work, ‘Development and Democracy: Are They Compatible in China’ . He concluded that, “While the state legitimizes the ‘fifth modernisation’ [democratisation], economic growth is doubtless the state’s most important goal.” Zheng does not believe that the Chinese Communist Party rejects democratic rule ideologically, but sees the prosperity of the people as the priority over the rule of the people.
For the Chinese population, we can expect greater income and wealth growth before democratic rights are granted. From the perspective of the Chinese individual, the continuation of political authoritarianism is a matter of personal opinion. While some would forgo some economic growth in return for a more democratic society, an equal number would prefer to see their income take priority. The CCP seems to fall on this side of the fence.
What is clear is either Chinese democracy will begin, or the economy will continue to flourish.
Global impacts of China as world superpower
How influential will China be?
Alongside the internal and economic changes within China, which determine the extent of its hard power, Beijing can put these economic capabilities to diplomatic use. Joseph Nye originally used the term ‘soft power’ to describe the influence a state can exert, without coercion or force (‘hard power’). Rather than pressure their allies, soft power is the ability to persuade allies through attraction.
However, Nye argues throughout his work, ‘Soft Power’ , that the attraction and diplomatic power can only be influential if the state has enough hard power (considerable economic, military, and institutional reputation, all of which could be used to coerce others). In the case of China, the use of subtler economic power to attract allies through investment is preferred over threats. Like Nye’s argument, China must utilise their strengths to exert their influence. As the economic powerhouse they now are, their economy is the primary tool for building alliances.
Nowhere is this clearer than through China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI). This is an investment program that
supplies developing countries with infrastructure financing. An article in the ‘Indian Journal of Asian Affairs’, by Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, outlines the influence this program has; “The One Belt and Road Initiative can help expand China’s economic connections and foster China’s economic influence”.
From a Western perspective, the influence China is gaining through this initiative threatens the status quo. This program of an emerging economy financing other emerging economies to help them develop is a very forward-looking approach. We may not see the impact of this for some time. There is academic speculation on both sides of the argument; some see it as a significant soft power asset, whereas others deem it poor value for money. Jan Voon and Xingpeng Xu, in the ‘Asia-Pacific Journal of Economics’6, argue that states receiving BRI financing will have a deeper economic relationship with China, but Chinese influence will be limited if Chinese manufacturing and a Chinese workforce are substituting the economy that is trying to grow. I doubt this, as the new infrastructure will be a method of gaining popularity for the (mostly) dictatorial governments that are targeted under the BRI.
China’s influence will grow regardless of the BRI. Every emerging power seeks to assert influence as far as possible, just like every other nation when rising to the top: Britain, the United States, and now China. The BRI is unique in that
it deliberately targets the undeveloped nations for political influence, rather than looking to exploit economic resources (like the previous superpowers did). China could prove to be very popular in emerging economies around the world. This soft power is a long-term investment in influence, rather than a method of neoimperialism.
Economic Interdependence
Being the second largest economy, China is a focal point for much of global trade. Much of this is an interaction between China and the developed world. Goods for western, high-consumption lifestyles must be sourced, and this is the market China has targeted. Manufacturing is the heart of the Chinese economy. China has a huge trading deficit with the United States, with the US exporting $124bn of products to China but importing a further $437bn of Chinese products . This makes China the United States’ biggest goods single trading partner, with trade amounting to $559bn in 2020.
This is a similar story for the EU, with China as the main supplier for European products. Currently, there is a $385bn import of Chinese products, with that growing to over $600bn post-pandemic .
Neither faction finds this ideal; the US finds itself to be the biggest contributor to its greatest economic competitor, while China has found its growth dependent on
US-EU trade, with over 35% of its exports going to the West.
This may seem like a mutually beneficial relationship, but with the emergence of non-Western economies (such as the BRIC or MINT nations) expected in the future, China will be able to reduce its dependence on the West more than the West can reduce its dependence on China. This could become a bargaining chip for China in the future, and in turn could have a significant impact on negotiations over contentious disputes, such as the sovereignty Hong Kong or Taiwan, where Western political protection exists. The West cannot find itself at severe disagreements with China, for fear of losing the trade upon which its economy is dependent.
Conclusion
Chinese optimism looking forward is very much justifiable. Living conditions will continue to rise, potentially alongside democratic rights. The Chinese economy should propel China into the ranks of the most developed nations. For the rest of the world, it depends with which side they are affiliated, as the West’s power will be slowly eroded by China on the global political and economic stage. States may seek to align themselves with China, further weakening the West. Both the academic consensus and the data suggest the mid 21st century as being the beginning of the Chinese era.
Learning Wisdom From Failure
Submitted
to the King's College Entrepreneurship Lab Essay Competition
Jago Howes
Upper Sixth
Samuel Smiles – “We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”
Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk - these are just a few names of worldrenowned entrepreneurs that have each attained their individual successes. With a combined net worth of $617.7 Billion, it is hard to believe that they have encountered much failure. However, it is failure that they are indebted to for their riches, as, without it, they would likely not have equivalent wealth of an entire country’s GDP. As people, they all celebrate extreme differences in not only themselves, but also their companies - in fact, it’s hard to find any aspects of similarity between any of them (perhaps aside from lavish mansions and grandiose private jets). And yet, they all share one thing in common… you guessed it – failure.
It is no coincidence that prominent entrepreneurs have countless quotes on their successes and failures; they have all learnt the invaluable lesson – failure teaches us far more than success – a concept that is reinforced by none other than Bill Gates:
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”. More often than not, entrepreneurs experience numerous failed ventures before
creating a successful business model. As a concept, I believe that failure is one of the most valuable tools to an entrepreneur, as it highlights what went wrong, whilst simultaneously encouraging thought on how to get it right next time. It also plays a part in making us more resilient, something that is ultimately crucial to long-term success. Failure only allows the experience of success to come to those who are unwilling to admit defeat in the
face of disaster. This is why you rarely encounter a successful entrepreneur who is not passionate about what they do, or sees entrepreneurship as a ‘hobby’. If you were to research conventional characteristics of entrepreneurs, the sort of skills that commonly appear are determination, tenacity, discipline, resilience, adaptability, and empathy. All of these characteristics are taught, not by a teacher at school, not by your boss, but by experience; in particular, the experience of failure. Natalie Ellis, CEO of BossBabe (a firm that has successfully supported over 100,000 ambitious women within the business sector), demonstrates this perfectly as, “one of [her] first ever business partnerships broke down so badly that [she] had to bring in lawyers to help decide who would keep the business and who would be bought out”. However, she went on to admit that the process had made her even “stronger” as a businesswoman, and that it has allowed her to realise that, “actually, I am enough.”
Many hold the common misconception that entrepreneurs, such as Bill Gates, started Microsoft as their first and only venture.
However, they could not be more wrong. In reality, Microsoft was the birthchild of the lessons Gates learnt from the failure of his original company – Traf-O-Data6. This revolved around a technological system that fed traffic information back to people for whom it had value, such as government authorities or engineers. Great idea, right? Wrong. The concept ultimately failed, forcing the business into liquidation. Yet, unlike the majority who may lose motivation in the face of disappointment, Gates saw the experience, skills, and mindset that he had gained from Traf-OData’s failure as an opportunity to set up Microsoft, the company that he is now most renowned for, with Paul Allen merely a few years after Traf-o-data’s downfall. Gates’ story is similar to countless other successful entrepreneurs. He accepted failure, understood what he did wrong, and started again. Failure was the key he needed to unlock his multi-billion-dollar empire.
Another example emanates from Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who, when constructing Amazon’s business model, made some crucial and seemingly obviously problematic mistakes. Firstly, Bezos had a keen vision to store toys in factories in preparation for the Christmas season. Therefore, he permitted the purchase of over 100 million toys, which were to be stored in Amazon warehouses. However, by the new year, half of those toys remained unsold, forcing Amazon to give the majority away due to a lack of storage space. This extreme miscalculation of demand from Bezos led to a substantial setback in not only his company’s success, but also his morale. In addition, when Amazon first launched, consumers exploited a software glitch, allowing
them to buy a negative number of books, meaning the company supplied these consumers with free credit. Whilst it may be challenging to believe that a business that literally handed money out may ever be successful, Amazon is now the premier platform for online shopping, dominating US e-commerce sales with nearly 50% market share, worth a revenue of $514 billion in 2022. So, how does a company go from losing money, to earning $4,722 every second? It’s simple really – Bezos learned from his initial mistakes and committed to a policy of continuous improvement, constantly learning from errors and adapting as a result.
Whilst it is possible that learning from success can be beneficial, the fundamental issue is that when we succeed, we don’t
tend to take time to consider what went right and more importantly, wrong. The undeniable fact is that the most valuable asset that all these entrepreneurs have obtained is their ability to accept failure and understand how they can change in order to benefit from future success. As people, we must eliminate the shame entailed with experiencing failure. We see the concept of failing as something to be embarrassed about and forgotten, whereas, when embraced and harnessed, it becomes apparent that failure is undeniably fundamental to triumph. My final thought is this - as a society, we must understand that, “failure is success in progress” (Albert Einstein), and that failure is not the end of the road, but merely the beginning of a successful journey.
Natalie Ellis, CEO of BossBabe
Was Personal Ambition More Important Than Revolutionary Principles In Napoleon’s
Consolidation Of Power, During The Years 1799 To 1804?
Napoleon consolidated his power fundamentally through his own personal ambition, which is reflected in the various authoritarian changes that he made to government. The extent of these authoritarian changes can be carried through to the somewhat enlightened religious and educational reforms. Though these reforms played a significant role in granting Napoleon more support, they appeared to benefit the people and provided a restoration of the revolutionary principles, thus undermining the impact that personal ambition had on consolidating Napoleon’s power. In summary, personal ambition was more important than revolutionary principles in Napoleon’s consolidation of power, as it meant that he could dominate the apex of power and seize total control over France.
Primarily, Napoleon immensely consolidated his power through the authoritarian changes that he made to the government. The establishment of a sham democracy meant that the power of the elites became completely emasculated, as Napoleon immensely reduced their influence within the constitution by creating the Senate and Council of State, and replacing the Council of Ancients and the Council of 500 with the Legislature and Tribunate. This display of personal ambition consolidated Napoleon’s power, as he could create the illusion that there was an elaborate constitution, which in reality was only pretending to be democratic. Additionally, to gain further control over the government, Napoleon carried out plebiscites in 1800, 1802, and 1804 to appear to be providing an enlightened democratic society for the people, although this façade was undermined by the underlying autocratic features that granted Napoleon the power of Senatus Consultum. This meant that he could override anyone and appoint the members of the Senate and Council of State, which ultimately fed into his aim to possess total control over France. Furthermore, Napoleon’s personal aim of creating an indirect democracy that he could dominate, was carried out by the further changes
Clementine Dodson
Lower Sixth
made to the constitution, which resulted in Napoleon being declared Consul for 10 years in 1800, Consul for Life in 1802, and Emperor in 1804. These reforms had a monumental impact on the political system, as they diluted the strength of the nobility and ultimately cemented Napoleon’s power even further. This led to the creation of an autocracy that significantly consolidated Napoleon’s power, as he could appear to be restoring stability to France. In spite of this, Napoleon was a liberal authoritarian, who harnessed the loyalty of the people through his policies of amalgame and ralliement.
These reforms diluted the strength of the nobility and ultimately cemented Napoleon’s power
Personal ambition proved to be more important than revolutionary principles in Napoleon’s consolidation of power in the area of religious reforms, which proved to enhance his support and elevate his authority over the Catholic Church. The
1802 Concordat enabled Napoleon to bring about a united France by ending the religious schism, leading to a further boost of his power. The concordat also granted Napoleon vast amounts of authority as it meant that the Pope was forced to recognise the new regime, church lands were not handed back, and the clergy were appointed and paid by Napoleon himself. This meant that the influence that the Pope had over the Catholic Church became completely emasculated, as Napoleon was able to successfully exploit Catholicism for his own personal gain. Furthermore, the creation of the Organic Articles in 1802, established religious toleration of Jews and Protestants, which, once again, helped to consolidate Napoleon’s power as it led to an increase in support and widespread devotion towards him. However, elements of the religious reforms did serve to uphold revolutionary principles and contributed to Napoleon’s consolidation of power. The reforms largely benefitted the people; in 1799 Churches were declared open on any day of the week, followed by Sundays being proclaimed as a day of rest in 1800. This
Napoleon famously depicted crossing the Apls by Jacques-Louis David
The first distribution of the Legion of Honor
abolition of the revolutionary calendar led to a unified France that ultimately ended the prevalent religious schism. The religious reforms enabled freedom of worship and granted religious toleration, which aligned with the revolutionary principles, thus securing further support for Napoleon, as he was perceived in a heroic light by the people. Overall, even though the somewhat enlightened religious reforms furthered amalgame and ralliement and provided Napoleon with more control over the Catholic Church, they largely benefited the people and upheld revolutionary principal. Therefore, the revolutionary principles proved to be more important in consolidating Napoleon’s power, as he gained an immense amount of support and brought peace and stability to France.
Napoleon’s religious reforms, proved to enhance his support and elevate his authority over the Catholic Church
As previously mentioned, personal ambition was more important than revolutionary principles in aiding Napoleon’s consolidation of power. The refined education and social reforms proved to grant Napoleon the loyalty of the people, further bolstering his support. In reality, the education reforms provided France with an obedient and well-trained set of officials, who would uphold the Napoleonic regime. This consolidated
Napoleon’s power, as it meant that the government were in a position to obtain direct control over the whole system itself. To implement this, 45 lycées were opened from 1802 for boys largely from the middle classes, with an objective to to establish loyalty and respect from a young age. Moreover, the lessons in the lycées were often planned centrally, and teachings were dictated in accordance with the needs and demands of the government. This, again, consolidated Napoleon’s power as he could effectively indoctrinate the young and preserve the Napoleonic regime. Napoleon cemented his power even further by the establishment of the Legion of Honour, which not only created a meritocracy but also ensured that the Granite en Masses could essentially be part of a hierarchy. This strengthened Napoleon’s power as it gained a group of able men who helped further Napoleon’s authority and support him. 15,000 out of 32,000 awards were given to the military, so again, Napoleon had great power in the army and control over its appointment of leaders. However, many aspects of the somewhat authoritarian educational and
social reforms appeared to be enlightened and benefit the people. The presence of revolutionary principles is evident in the fact that Napoleon had 300 schools established with a common curriculum, to aid the improvement of living standards. He also allowed church schools to educate, which upheld the idea of religious toleration and ensured that Catholicism was recognised as the main religion in France. Overall, there was a more meritocratic system, which granted greater social mobility. In summary, Napoleon was able to gain more power and support through his education and social reforms, even though these contained aspects of revolutionary principles; his personal ambition here (to possess control over the entire system), proved to be more important in consolidating his power.
To conclude, personal ambition was more important in consolidating Napoleon’s power than revolutionary principles, as it furthered his policies of amalgame and ralliement and also ensured that Napoleon could create the illusion that he was an enlightened autocrat, when in reality he established a sham democracy and method of control. This effectively prevented the existence of any major opposition, and meant that Napoleon had a system that supported him and upheld his ideals.
In January of this year I, along with 15 lower sixth students, travelled to Poland to further our education on the horrors of the Holocaust. The trip was a part of a wider project, run by Mrs Butler, in conjunction with the Holocaust Educational Trust, which aimed to spread awareness of the genocide exercised by the Nazis in the 20th Century. The main reason for our trip was to visit the Auschwitz camps – both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz Birkenau. This unique experience was an opportunity I could not pass up. The actions of the Nazis and their collaborators in the Second World War has always been an interest of mine, and experiencing a site of mass murder has certainly enhanced my perspective of what occurred as a result of Nazi conditioning all over Eastern Europe, and particularly in the Polish town of Oswiecim.
Upon arrival, it quickly became apparent why the Nazis had strategically selected the location of Auschwitz. A mere hour west of Kraków lies the unassuming town of Oswiecim. The town was at the confluence of the main railway routes of the Third Reich and was conveniently surrounded by forests and marshes, which reduced the dangers of prisoners escaping, enemy surveillance, and attack. The establishment of Auschwitz meant murder became systematic. With the implementation of gas chambers and mass shootings in surrounding forests, the murder of millions of Jews (over 1 million at Auschwitz alone) became more efficient, cheaper, and eventually occurred on an industrial scale.
Having arrived in Oswiecim, the atmosphere immediately changed as it quickly became apparent what had occurred in this seemingly ordinary town. We visited the site of the Great Synagogue to initiate our visit and understand Jewish history in Oswiecim. Following this, we visited Auschwitz I. This camp was constructed to provide a supply of labourers for deployment in SS-owned enterprises, and to serve as a site to murder thousands of innocent people. Having arrived at the camp, we met our tour guide, Patricia, and began our tour. That morning, we learnt first-hand of the experiences that the prisoners were put through. The Jewish experience in Auschwitz was conveyed by a series of exhibitions, including a harrowing
A Trip To Auschwitz
Lower Sixth Camilla Cregeen
display of the suitcases left behind, a vase of remaining ashes, and displays filled with the victims' shoes – last seen by their owners outside a gas chamber. Perhaps the display that was the most shocking to me was that of the prisoner’s hair. An entire room was dedicated to housing the hair, shaved from the victims to completely strip them of their identity upon arrival. The exhibition spanned the entire room and was a shocking reminder of the individual human lives lost in this genocide. However, these displays only provided a snippet of the Nazis antisemitic crimes, as they disposed of the majority of evidence when the danger of liberation got closer. That said, they still provided an invaluable insight.
Walking through a gas chamber was also a distressing experience. Located immediately next door to the chamber, was the house where the Camp Commandant, Rudolph Hoss, lived with his wife and five children. Mere paces from the family home, was the chamber, standing as it did 80 years ago. Walking through the structure brought afflicting feelings. We looked up to see holes in the ceiling, where gas canisters were emptied on the unaware victims, who were simply told they were having a shower after their long journey. The Nazis even went to such lengths as to add false shower heads. In these chambers, the Nazis could kill up to 800 people in just half an hour, making their execution of the Final Solution disturbingly efficient.
Auschwitz Birkenau was very different to the first camp. Immediately we were shocked by the normality of the surroundings of the death camp. This site of genocide lay a few hundred meters away from a main road and was a painful reminder of how life goes on around such horrors. The camp consisted of a series of barracks and gas chambers, however, the majority of these had been burnt down when the Soviet line got closer to the camp. When news of this hit, the Nazis worked to rapidly destroy any evidence of the horrors they had been executing. Birkenau also contained crucial
machinery of mass extermination, to fulfil its sole purpose of murdering as many prisoners as possible. Walking around the camp, there was certainly an eerie atmosphere. Despite there being hundreds of people on tours, conversations were minimal as tourists were shocked beyond words by the sinister systems of the Nazis.
In addition to our invaluable trip to the camps, as part of the project, we were lucky enough to hear first-hand accounts from two women who survived the holocaust. Having now been to Auschwitz, I have been able to put these testimonies into perspective and my knowledge has certainly grown since beginning this project; I now feel the importance of preventing modern day genocides. Since the holocaust, genocides have continued to occur in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Darfur to name a few. Despite the increasing awareness and education surrounding the holocaust, humanity has not seemed to learn its lesson; since 1945, 20 million people have died in genocides all around the world. This is clear evidence that further action must be taken. As a part of this, if given the opportunity, I would urge you to visit Auschwitz, as not only has it enhanced my knowledge of this devastating genocide, but it has also changed my perspective on how we live our lives and how much work needs to be done in third world countries, to prevent such horrors reoccurring.
All Doom And Gloom? A Reflection On The Wasteland By T.S. Eliot
Violet Moffat
Fifth Year
Since its publication in 1922, The Wasteland has been studied, celebrated, and critiqued for its fragmented images and descriptions of a post-World War One society, portraying the disillusionment of a whole generation. The American-English poet, playwright, and literary critic, Thomas Stearns Eliot, drew on varying artistic, literary, and psychological references, helping to create the remarkable 434-line poem that has been hailed as one of the greatest Modernist pieces of literature ever written. Its five sections, calling on writers such as Dante and Shakespeare for inspiration, can reveal truths of the 20th century writer and the terrifyingly intense bleakness of modern life in the wake of The First World War.
This poem has been said to represent perfectly the apathy and futility of the 1920s, ravaged not only by the war, but also the Spanish Influenza, leaving millions dead and countless more scarred. But we should consider if Eliot only suggests that this society was a hopeless wasteland, or
whether he reveals deeper meanings about the present existence of the world. Or maybe, as Eliot puts it, the poem was ‘just a piece of rhythmical grumbling’.
One thing that has caused The Wasteland to be such a celebrated work of art is its explored concept of the fragmented identity. Eliot sought to challenge the complacency of the 19th century Romantic poets, such as Wordsworth, who presented a comfortable sense of self within their poems. Eliot, however, displeased with the comfortable certainties of Romanticism, did not use one individual speaker, rather using a Modernist array of fragmented images and voices.
In Part I of The Wasteland, The Burial of the Dead, Eliot makes a political reference in German about ‘Russin’ (Russia), ‘Litauen’ (Lithuania), and ‘Deutsch’ (Germany). Following the end of the war, Russia, Lithuania, and Germany slowly lost their ground to a mutual alliance. Through this, it is a possibility that Eliot was suggesting a
breakdown of modern society, perhaps even a sense of alienation from one another. The concept of alienation is certainly reinforced by the use of a foreign language, which Eliot distributes throughout his piece. This creates an individual form of isolation for the reader.
Something that makes Eliot’s use of fragmented images particularly interesting is that, whilst there is not one definitive speaker, the various disjointed images all draw on a similar idea: a mechanical life, devoid of meaning. Through this, Eliot also challenges the familiarity of the reader. For example, in The Burial of the Dead, he begins with the infamous line, ‘April is the cruellest month’. This image immediately challenges the common literary trope of spring breeding new life and joy. Eliot challenges the reader’s perception of normality, and their very understanding of literature. This invites the reader to work harder to engage with the poem, leaving them open to new perceptions and ideas.
Whilst Eliot may present an intimate form of disconnection from the reader and their understanding of literature, this is not to say that he intended for the reader to be disconnected from The Wasteland itself. He uses varying images of time, describing an ‘hour’ and ‘a year ago’. However, within this jagged sense of time, the reader must find their own order, creating an intimate understanding of the piece.
We know how famous The Wasteland is for its many disjointed and disconnected depictions, leaping from famous queens to the streets of the East-End of London, however, arguably one of Eliot’s most fascinating ideas that he chose to explore, is the concept of death. Indeed, mortality unites all spectra of history and culture, across all beliefs and societies.
To understand one of the reasons why death is so central to our comprehension of the text, however, we must consider its wider social context. The world of the 1910s and 1920s had never seen such widespread suffering, death, and destruction. Is it surprising that so many felt trapped in a godless, futile existence? It, therefore, is no surprise that Eliot would choose to comment on it. The poem’s first literary reference includes an extract from Petronius Arbiter’s Satyricon, where the mythological character, Sybil, is granted eternal life, yet crucially, she is not granted eternal youth. She sits rotting in her own physical wasteland, and she says, ‘I want to die’. For Sybil, her only chance of escape, and her only chance of peace, is death. It is possible that Eliot uses this reference as a symbol of the metaphorical prisoners of his poem.
Something that critics question when studying Eliot’s piece, is whether he presents death as desirable. In Part II of the poem, A Game of Chess, Eliot repeats the word ‘Goodnight’, and develops it into ‘Goonight’. This is a possible reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Ophelia spoke this after going mad and before drowning herself. Through this literary reference, Eliot likens the madness of Ophelia to the dull and almost absurd reality of the 20th century. In this context, Eliot presents death to be desirable. Death presents a hope of spiritual rebirth, or at least an end to the apathetical existence, in which the inhabitants of The Wasteland find themselves.
What, however, can we say about the involvement of Eliot’s personal life as an influence for his exploration of mortality within The Wasteland? In 1915, Eliot
married Vivien Haigh-Wood. Described as a vivacious woman, she suffered from both physical and mental illnesses throughout her life. This led to a strained relationship between the pair, which was made more severe by the fact that Eliot was believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder. Eliot even said himself that the nature of their relationship bred the intensity that we find in this poem. He said, ‘To her, the marriage brought no happiness to me, it brought the state of mind out of which came The Wasteland’.
The nature of their relationship bred the intensity that we find in this poem.
The lack of what we may perceive to be normality between the pair, may help to explain a hyper awareness of mortality between individuals within The Wasteland. This is exemplified by Lil in A Game of Chess, whose discussion about pleasing her husband is constantly interjected with the sentence, ‘HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME’. This continual interruption serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of her role within her own marriage, as she grows older, time runs out, and the desire between herself and her husband lessens.
Eliot’s different focuses on women throughout his poem, along with the development of feminist theory over the last century, has caused many critics to discuss his exploration of lust and sex within the poem. This includes a possible social commentary on the role of sexual desire, and particularly the place of women within this, in a modern world.
In A Game of Chess, Eliot talks of ‘The change of Philomel’, alluding to the tale in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where the character of Philomela was raped by her brother-in-law, Tireus. He then cut off her tongue, so that she could not speak of his grievous crime. The gods took pity on her,
turning her into a nightingale. But Eliot comments that while she sings with her ‘inviolable voice’, her songs fall on ‘dirty ears’. This could be not only a physical representation of the prevalence of sexual violence within modern society, but also a symbol of the silencing of women. We can never be sure of exactly what Eliot’s intention was with this reference. Does it make The Wasteland a feminist poem? Or is it just a comment on the place of mindless sex within the 20th century? The alarming image of the painting of this story, sitting above the ‘antique mantel’, seems to reinforce this interpretation. It sits as a vigil over the inhabitants of The Wasteland, a constant reminder of the reality of inchoate relationships, and the futility of trying to renew them into meaningful relationships.
Indeed, one of Eliot’s most famous descriptions of contemporary sex falls within part III of the poem, The Fire Sermon. Viewed through the eyes of the Ancient Prophet, Tiresias, a ‘typist’ encounters a ‘carbuncular’ man who ‘assaults’ her and leaves her with a ‘patronising kiss’. This image, interpreted as one of rape, is a distressing symbol of the violent nature of sexual desire. The lack of naming of the ‘typist’ or ‘man’ indicates a wider representation of society, and the reality that we are all vulnerable to the gruesome consequences of lust, in replace of meaningful love. Even the ‘kiss’, a symbol of romance and intimacy, has become ‘patronising’, distorted, and empty. Further, it seems interesting that Eliot would choose Tiresias to describe this encounter, as he
T.S. Eliot
is eclectic, he observes, yet takes no action. If this is a strategic effort made by Eliot, it signifies the powerlessness of renewing meaningful relationships. Lustful desire, and the despair that it leads to, has become entrenched in the modern world.
Eliot was very transparent in the inspiration he found for his works. He was influenced by the poems of the 19th century French poet, Charles Baudelaire, in some of his earlier pieces. However, later in life, he called upon the works of the 17th century metaphysical poet, John Donne, who we may find a particular inspiration for The Wasteland.
It was not only Eliot who found a deep fascination with Donne’s poetry, but also many other modernist writers. Donne was renowned for, as the Critical History of English Poetry puts it, ‘his harshness… intellectual energy, wit, and daring similitudes’. The almost radical remarks found in his poems were welcomed as a contrast to the ‘smoothness and simplicity’ of the Romantics. Donne wittily and philosophically explored the concept of physicality and spirituality. This may help us to understand some of Eliot’s descriptions of sexual encounters as being purely physical and thoughtless.
Arguably, one of Donne’s most powerful explorations of physicality and spirituality falls within his 1617 poem, A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy’s Day. This is a piece that emphasises the lack of mysticism in a physical world defined by temporary, spiritually empty lust. We may even liken his description of the physical world as
being exhausted and dead, to the context of Eliot’s wasteland.
Interestingly, without the presence of love in the physical world, Donne describes himself to be in a state of absolute nothingness, he is ‘none’ without it. This position of emptiness indicates that there is not an absence of something that will renew or reappear, and one can question whether Eliot draws on this in his poem. Indeed, many of the encounters we find in the poem seem to be hopeless.
However, it also implies that being aware that we are mortal is an important factor within this.
Eliot signifies the powerlessness of renewing meaningful relationships.
We also see the influence of metaphysical poets within The Wasteland in Eliot’s exploration of time. Metaphysical poetry is well-known for its exploration of abstract concepts, such as time. This is often understood as a construct designed by civilisation, and, throughout the poem, its structure and its continuity lose their integrity. This, in itself, could reflect Eliot’s view of his contemporary society.
Where we may see the greatest metaphysical influence on the poem about time is within Eliot’s exploration of the infamous concept, ‘carpe diem’, from the Roman poet, Horace’s Odes, which means ‘seize the day’, or ‘pluck the day’. This, along with the concept, ‘momento mori’ (remember that you are mortal), was an idea that many metaphysical poets commented on and suggests that we should savour and make the most of the present moment.
In Part IV of the poem, Death by Water, Eliot asks the reader to ‘consider Phlebas’, who was once as ‘handsome and tall’ as us. It seems to serve as a reminder of our mortality, that we too, like the Phoenician sailor, will age and die. But this is not necessarily a negative viewpoint; it is perhaps a subtle indication that we should be aware of our mortality, and its fleeting nature, so that we do not fall into the monotonous existence of the inhabitants of The Wasteland.
To express a complex exploration of spirituality and spiritual enlightenment following death, it was not only the metaphysical poets whom Eliot called upon for inspiration, but also Dante, and his 14th century epic poem, The Divine Comedy. In his essay, ‘What Dante means to me’, Eliot explores his relationship with the medieval poet, speaking of how Dante’s poetry was ‘the most persistent and deepest influence on [his] verse’, and this seems to be true when we examine The Wasteland.
Eliot sought to ‘establish a relationship between the medieval inferno and modern life’, within his poetry. Even the epic quality of the poem alludes to The Divine Comedy, a spiritual journey through hell (inferno),
purgatory, and paradise. Placing The Wasteland within this epic context helps us to understand what we may perceive to be its largely sporadic structure. The very name of part I of the poem, The Burial of the Dead, and indeed its content, centres around a dead world and an ‘unreal city’, depicting a society that we may liken to both contemporary and medieval descriptions of hell.
Moving into the middle sections of the poem, such as A Game of Chess and The Fire Sermon, we can compare Eliot’s description of a mundane urban existence, such as the repetitive reproductive cycle of Lil, who’s very being appears to be defined by sexually pleasing her husband, to the inescapable Catholic belief of Purgatory, where souls wait to be spiritually enlightened and taken to heaven.
Whilst this may be perceived as a gloomy reflection of the modern world, it is interpreted that even from the very beginning of The Wasteland, Eliot references Dante in an attempt to suggest a hope of a spiritual rebirth, or an escape from the current existence of The Wasteland. He asks the reader what are the ‘branches’ that ‘grow’ out of the ‘stony rubbish’. It is understood that Eliot is suggesting an endeavour to find a reason to suffer through the ‘dead’ existence of the 20th century. He perhaps beckons the reader to embark on this endeavour also. This seems to have been influenced by the second canto of Dante’s Inferno, where he is present in a similar setting, a woodland, and reflects on the empty nature of his own existence. If this is to be true, it makes Eliot’s relationship with death in The Wasteland more complex. Does he suggest that perhaps death is not the only hope of a rebeginning?
On first glance at The Wasteland, we are immediately presented with so many depictions of a broken society, with no hope of renewal. It all sounds rather hopeless. However, as we have already touched on, it can be interpreted that Eliot provides the reader with subtle hints, perhaps not of renewal, but of a rebeginning of some sort. This is exemplified by how the poem as a whole, challenges the reader’s preconceptions about literature. It creates a new sense of understanding, and Eliot seems to ask the reader to accept the ambiguity of its existence.
We may see this concept developed further in the fifth and final section of the poem, What the Thunder Said. Eliot appears to
talk of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says, ‘He who is living is now dead’. The challenge of the Christian belief that Christ shall not die, that he shall rise and be renewed, presents the idea of an inevitable death on a divine scale. It is overwhelming. The section as a whole is extremely intense, and this idea of a dead existence is inescapable. Every line is engulfing and unstoppable. For example, Eliot describes an ‘empty chapel’, filled with ‘dry bones’, indicating that symbols of renewal may still sit in the rotting wasteland, yet they have now become futile.
When we read the last lines of the poem, however, the subtle indications are of a hope of rebeginning, a hope of escape from a meaningless existence on earth, exceeding a desire for death. Eliot describes the ‘fragments’ that he has ‘shored against [his] ruins’, perhaps alluding to the poem’s use of fragmented images. Interestingly, he then says, ‘Why then Ile fit you’. Whilst it can be difficult to interpret exactly what Eliot is trying to suggest, this seems to be a moment of positivity and reflection.
Modernist literature and art have drawn on themes of estrangement and loss, often feeling very hopeless, such as Edvard Munch’s, ‘The Scream’, but the very production of these pieces is a reaction against that. Out of the madness, comes art. Maybe, in this context, we are brought back to the spiritual journey of Dante in The Divine Comedy, where he finally reaches ‘paradise’. The reader reaches the end of
the poem, and there is hope.
The very last line of The Wasteland is ‘Shantih Shantih Shantih’, a Sanskrit phrase, which translates to ‘inner peace’. This implies that there is a possibility of a different attitude to the futility of the modern existence. One does not have to let the mundanity define them, and there is a possibility of being at peace with one’s own existence.
The phrase still feels extraneous and confusing to most English-speaking readers, yet, unlike the foreign, European languages used prior to this moment in the poem, the language of Sanskrit is more poetical and ritualistic. Indeed, the words ‘Shantih Shantih Shantih’ are whispered at the end of Hindu prayers, named Upanishads, often reflecting on the nature of the self. This offering of personal hope and peace, in a form alien to the reader, delivers the prospect of a different perspective to life in an entirely new direction.
Having followed the perilous journey of The Wasteland, we are left with the cathartic realisation of how we can act to prevent ourselves from becoming like the inhabitants of the poem. However, ‘Shantih Shantih Shantih’ could also translate to ‘the peace that passeth understanding’. In that sense, we are still left questioning the meaning of the poem and whether The Wasteland, and indeed the world itself, is truly all doom and gloom.
Gustave Dore Illustration From The Divine Comedy By Dante
Invisible Threads Between Cultures: Van Gogh And Japonisme
Jasmine Tilney
Lower Sixth
When we consider art history from a British perspective, it all initially appears very Eurocentric and western. As a five-yearold, with a mixed ethnic background, being introduced to art in primary school, I didn’t see myself in much of it. There was Monet to Warhol, then moving up into year 7, Cezanne to Matisse. But a problem that I have found in general art history is that we highly value western artwork and undervalue its wider influences. Crosscultural exchange is so prevalent in what has built art today, but is often overlooked. “Invisible threads are the strongest ties”, as Nietzsche, the German philosopher once said.
An artwork that exemplifies this idea, is named ‘Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin’ by Vincent Van Gogh. He paints himself with a shaved head and Asian eyes in the manner of a Buddhist monk, embodying the fusion of Eastern and Western influences that consumed him.
Van Gogh struggled to survive as an artist throughout his life, and created a support system of other post-impressionists in an artist collective at a house he rented, named, “The Yellow House”. He invited Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard, and the three painted self-portraits as a group exchange, with Van Gogh dedicating his to Gauguin. Together, the painters fought against poverty and uncertainty, as Van Gogh noted that Gauguin’s work, “gave me absolutely the impression of its representing a prisoner. Not a shadow of gaiety”, in a letter to his brother, Theo.
Van Gogh’s use of colour throughout his career is mesmerising, as shown in this painting, and particularly in his choice of background; the green was particularly bold and striking for its time. Looking to the subject, he uses post-impressionist colour techniques to create volume in his painting, rather than the traditional technique of chiaroscuro. We see a range of colours,
from the purple in his temple to green on the far side of his face. Brushstrokes define the prominent bone structure of the face, where the skin seems laid on top, tight and delicate. He carries a haunting expression, perhaps a memento mori, reflecting the artist’s emotional torment.
Whilst Van Gogh’s techniques tell us a lot about his personal life, the “invisible threads” of Japanese influence, such as woodcut prints, show us how he looked at the world. If we were to compare all three self-portraits, we would find all artists use abrupt composition, where the subject is cut off to the left, in contrast to the more central position in more traditional portraits. Japanese artwork carried balance of the foreground and background, instead of just the subject. Secondly, their forms are held within bold outlines, and Van Gogh uses these more graphic marks as a vessel for expression, a technique seen in lots of his later work. Depth is represented in flat
Vincent Van Gogh, 1888, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gaugin
images, like the ukiyo-e woodblock prints, where the printing process required the simplification of ranges of tone into colour blocking, to create an almost cartoon effect.
As Japanese art so heavily affected the direction of his work, he began to embody their values as he tried to look through the same lens as Japanese artists. Maybe he longed for the seeming simplicity of Japanese life in contrast to his own, and so, perhaps, in a way to fulfil that desire, he painted himself Japanese. “I envy the Japanese the extreme clarity that everything in their work has. Their work is as simple as breathing”, Van Gogh describes in a letter to Theo, in September, 1888.
Japonisme came around from an event called the ‘Treaty of Kanagawa’, signed in 1854, where the US essentially forced Japan to open its trade at gunpoint. As Japan’s art was imported more, the Western world, and people like Van Gogh, became enthralled by it. Van Gogh was first introduced to Japanese prints in 1885, whilst working in a Belgian port city that was full of Japanese wares. A year later, he moved into his brother’s apartment and found a German art dealer, from whom he bought about 660 Japanese prints.
He first traced the artworks, for example, the Courtesan (after Eisen), which he took from a Parisian magazine with a Japanese dedicated cover. He moved to Arles a year later, and during this time painted his self-portrait. After a year, the Japanese influence was less obvious, but was instead imbedded into his technique, leading to the invisible strings tied to Japan in his most famous artworks.
Van Gogh was never able to make a visit to Japan to experience the culture and its people for himself. This opens questions not only about the artwork, but also the morality of its creation. Could he ever actually understand the meaning behind Japanese art? Should he be able to take those ideas into his own artwork? Does Japonisme partake in ideas such as Orientalism and cultural appropriation?
One of the three ways that the philosopher, James Young, identifies acts of cultural appropriation to be, though not always, morally offensive, is, “the hegemonic culture’s misuse of parts of non-hegemonic culture, which is sacred or private”. Initially, I thought the painting matched this description well, as the immediately striking thing to me was his eyes. He took something as sacred as the depiction of a monk and compared their image to his own.
Vincent Van Gogh, 1887, Courtesan (after Eisen)
These thoughts about Japonisme aren’t unique. Monet’s ‘La Japonaise’ is a painting of his wife in a kimono, which may be questionable, but worse, in 2015, when the Boston Museum of Fine Arts displayed it to visitors, they were encouraged to “dress up” in a replica of the kimono beside the painting for photos. The presentation was clumsy, and so protesters accused the MFA of orientalism and cultural appropriation.
This creates a conversation about cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation, and more specifically, whether this Japanese influence is really a beautiful example of mutually respectful cultural exchange. Western art went on to influence Japanese art, with European political newspaper comics influencing Manga, for example. Additionally, is this cultural exchange, or cultural appropriation, a driver of the development in art, and does that drive affect the morality in the exchange of ideas?
That said, when Van Gogh’s letters were translated into Japanese and his paintings shared with the wider world, Japanese people made pilgrimages to his grave to pay respects to him and his work. He respected their work and so they respected his.
Sometimes, we can forget that all cultures are interlinked and developed from one another, and sometimes the influences are not credited as much as they should be in relation to the actual artwork. For example, Japanese art is overlooked as a contributor to why post- impressionist art developed as it did, and how this has impacted western artwork, even to the modern day.
This idea of intermingling of cultures can go further than that of Van Gogh and Japonisme – chinoiserie, or the influence that African art had on cubism, for example; then to fusion cuisine, fusion music, even fusion fashion.
If we were to look at our society as a whole, if art fails to represent us, then we may not find interest in it. And that’s why many of us may start out with drawing pictures of ourselves, our families, or our interests. Children are inherently selfish and work by instinct, relying completely on their mothers, so they only think about themselves at a young age until they learn the skills of empathy. This infantile behaviour persists into adulthood, as many
of us enjoy art on a deeper level when we see ourselves in it. We understand the subject more personally and so can relate to it. Therefore, we should have a wider scope of representation in art that we are exposed to in our earlier years. It not only means that the minority feel like they have a place in society, but also that person in a small, contained, predominantly white village, may understand that they live in a bubble and that people of colour have a place in their lives, as they have a place in the art that they look at. The acceptance goes both ways. It would help a younger me, for example, when I asked for a skin-toned pen to colour in with, not to be given the pink.
Exposure to a wider variety of art would not solve all of these problems completely, but might help to aid a shift in understanding about each other and ourselves, and the crosslinks of culture that society and art contain. I find it amazing that within something as so seemingly Eurocentric, both parts of myself (English and southeast Asian) can now relate to it. Van Gogh’s confusion in identity mirrors mine, as he struggles to find himself in the mixing pot of western and east Asian influences. Human experience is an amalgamation of different cultures full of “invisible threads”, and whether we realise it or not, moral or immoral, there has been great progress from these overlaps.
It is important for us to learn more about these ties of Eurocentric art and the rest of the world, as seen in how beautifully Van Gogh interprets Japanese art into his own work.
Emile Bernard, 1888, Self-Portrait with Portrait of Gauguin
Paul Gauguin, 1888, Self-Portrait with Portrait of Emile Bernard
The Economics Of Healthcare Systems
In 2021, the ONS reported that expenditure on the NHS was £280 billion. This is paid for mostly by the taxpayer. Despite the funding, it is clear the NHS is under strain. 7.6 million people are on England waiting lists, which is 3.5 times more than in 2009, despite over 80% more funding. In this essay I will be investigating costs, quality, accessibility, and potential solutions of economies.
Many agree that privatisation of some sort must occur. There are two options here. One is to make patients pay for some care. We are running a budget deficit of 5.1%, and NHS money may be better spent in other sectors. Parties have different views, but as an economist, there is of course no right answer. Scarcity, by definition, means we cannot fund everything; choices have to be made. The other type of privatisation is to outsource services to third parties. This is already being done, with the proportion of the NHS budget spent on private providers rising from 4% in 2008 to over 7% today.
With the NHS being the sixth largest employer in the world, another cost is inefficiency. Are they lazy? No, but with 1.45 million staff, output per worker is likely to suffer, as management cannot cope. Furthermore, the NHS is state funded. Given that it cannot go bankrupt, there is limited financial obligation to effectively manage staff and increase output. However, the NHS is mostly free at the point of delivery, which seems to me to be a moral obligation. Health of the nation will likely increase and output will follow. Some argue that instead, money should be
Lower Sixth Toby Medley
spent on levelling up, so there would be no need for free healthcare anyway, but crippling medical bills will of course affect the poor more than the rich.
The NHS spends 4% more, year on year, for the problem to only get worse and worse. Unsurprisingly there are many factors at play here; medical technology is improving, which costs more; the population is growing and getting older, and so unsurprisingly, demand is rising; supply is falling too, due to a shortage of workforce, including 4000 fewer EU doctors since Brexit, and unattractive working conditions; finally, Covid has resulted in the rise of waiting lists from 4.5 to 7.6 million today.
Compare the NHS to the US system, which works through insurance from individuals, and through employers, taxes, and at point of service. Taxes provide ‘Medicaid’ for the poor, but medical debt still accounts for 46% of personal bankruptcies in the States. This private funding method therefore also has issues. Globally it performs poorly in infrastructure, responsiveness to the pandemic, and quality of care.
Now let’s compare this to Singapore. Coming first in the Legatum prosperity index, it uses a compulsory savings plan for individuals to pay for their healthcare. While this encourages responsibility, it ignores the fact that 10% of the population is on low income, and so have little to put aside. Therefore, Singapore has another two programs. It has an optional and affordable insurance scheme, as well as providing healthcare for those eligible in financial need. This funding system, as well as tight government regulation, is arguably responsible for the 50% lower cost per person compared to the US.
Singapore is comparable to the UK at around $5000, however, Singapore is not struggling with such large waiting lists. It is easy to suggest every country should follow Singapore’s lead, however, although a seemingly perfect solution, it must be noted that Singapore is a very rich country, and so using this system in developing countries may not have the same effect. The same could be argued for rich nations who have a much larger population, or those which have more people on low income.
When comparing accessibility, the UK’s system is the most equitable, with free access to everyone, while the US system is reliant on private insurance but leaves 26 million without access. Singapore has less access than the UK, but far better than the US. In terms of cost, even if the Singaporean system cannot be scaled up, a system based on individuals taking responsibility for their own spending is perhaps the best way to lower costs.
Eleanor Burton (GCSE)
Sam Field (A Level)
Lucy Mackay (A Level)
Millan Sempill (A level)
Georgie Stratton Brown (GCSE)
Charlie Angel (A Level)
Bella Gaunt (GCSE)
Bo Texier (A Level)
Elsie Ashby (Fourth Year)
Abbie Svarovska (A Level)
Esther Greenwood: A First Glance Into Sylvia Plath’s Enigmatic Protagonist
As one of the main early exponents of confessional writing and poetry, Slyvia Plath often writes semi-autobiographically in The Bell Jar, suggesting the character of Esther Greenwood is the literary incarnation of Plath. Through this parallel, Plath presents many of her views concerning death, the patriarchy, feminine opportunity (or lack thereof), and the intricacies of human interaction.
The Bell Jar explores the past of Esther, an intelligent, perceptive, and cynical woman, during her time working in New York within the fashion industry. An intimate relationship between Esther and the reader is established from the outset. Esther bares her experiences to the reader, no matter how personal or disturbing, and details
William Cannon
Upper Sixth
her thoughts and judgements unsparingly, often with cynicism and discomforting honesty. Through the writing of The Bell Jar and the story of the protagonist Esther, Plath gives an insight into the workings of her own mind. Having experienced severe trauma at an early age, Plath’s mind is somewhat disturbed and reveals a fascination with death – including a fixation on self-harm and suicide – which runs throughout the novella. Plath delves deeper into such preoccupations in related poetic work, such as Lady Lazarus, a poem detailing her process of death and rebirth; a ritualistic cycle to which she resorts in order to sustain herself. A similar coping mechanism is displayed in Cut, which includes vivid descriptions of self-harm,
and displays the extent of her depressed state.
An aspect of Esther’s character that is made clear is her formidable, restless intellect. She receives her job as a reward for the “essays and stories and poems and fashion blurbs” she entered into a “fashion magazine contest”. The irony of the contest is, that the prize is to award these women the opportunity to work within a stereotypically limiting feminine field. Despite the talent that the participants might possess, patriarchal ideas confine women to exist within strict ideals of traditionally feminine jobs. We, as readers, also notice moments in which Esther and Doreen themselves inhabit or embody patriarchal discrimination, conveying the
Lady Lazarus (Art by Aleksej Daniel Djermanovic 2006)
view that women only needed intelligence if they lacked sexual appeal: Doreen states, “Jay Cee had brains, so her plug-ugly looks didn’t seem to matter”, an idea that Esther echoes as she describes her boss as looking “terrible, but very wise”. Esther’s own intelligence seems ineffective in challenging the overwhelming pressure on women to look a certain way, and her own perceptions are subsequently infected with such unjustifiable patriarchal structures.
Esther seems to have a flawed definition of intellectual achievement, comparing herself against a variety of seemingly meaningless successes and overlooking the rarity of her natural intelligence. For example, when she visits the UN building, she feels “dreadfully inadequate...for the first time in [her] life”, because “the one thing [she] was good at was winning scholarships and prizes”. These misallocations of praise and feelings of inadequacy from Esther could be read as a sign of neurosis: she cannot recognise the brilliance of her own intelligence and instead chooses to focus on the lack of specific achievements in her life that others have, despite the things she lacks being learnable things, such as being able to play tennis or knowing a large number of Russian idioms. This is an element of Esther’s character that is perhaps surprising to the reader, given we are more used to her perspicacious cynicism, and it also creates a foundation for her relatively close-minded view of feminine opportunity, as shown by the story of the fig tree.
The story of the fig tree becomes a motif after Esther identifies significantly with the presentation of intimacy, shown within the tale of a relationship between a Jewish man and a Catholic nun. Plath uses her connection with the story to build upon Esther’s aspirations and visions for the future – Esther transforms the fig-tree into a metaphor: each fig representing a different possibility for her as a woman. The notion of intimacy and love, despite difference, symbolised in the original version of the fig tree, is swiftly morphed into a somewhat depressing reality when overshadowed by the confines of the patriarchy. The limitation of the fig-tree, which is home to futures, such as “a husband and a happy home and children”, “a famous poet”, “a brilliant professor”, and many others, is the fact that “choosing one meant losing all the rest”; an idea indicative of the limited opportunities for women to fulfil their potential in 1950s America. A prevalent misogynistic perception of the period is portrayed through the withering of the figs as “[she] sat there”: this metaphor correlates to the vibrant
eclecticism of imagined opportunity, in contrast to the limiting reality. The seconds during which Esther is “unable to decide” which fig to pick, correspond to the years of her life going by. It is through this depiction that Plath illustrates the societal preconception that the value of women and possibility for feminine success, withers dramatically with age – Esther has evidently been indoctrinated into this way of thinking, as she seems to accept it as reality. This does not mean however, that her contempt for incompetent men is any less – she retains a very cynical, satirical, and emotionally intelligent approach to the men with whom she interacts.
The way in which Plath approaches the subtleties of human interaction in The Bell Jar is unique, true to life, and exposes many different facets of the dynamic between men and women during the period. Throughout the novella, there are many instances of Esther – within her inner monologues – commenting bluntly on the physical imperfections of entitled men,
who normally escape the scrutiny of beauty standards applied so rigidly to women, thereby exposing their systemic hypocrisy. She describes the man who approaches her at the bar with Doreen, as a “short scrunty fellow”, and in a moment of irony, Plath draws attention to the “plump, bald master of ceremonies” at the dinner of a fashion shoot. The pejorative comments Esther makes throughout the novella towards masculinity and male entitlement are representative of her frustration at the liberation and superiority of opportunity that men of the period had over women.
Through the medium of fiction, Plath displays a yearning for equality of sexual opportunity. The patriarchal views are embodied, although perhaps in an exaggerated form, through the views of Eric, the supposed gentleman stating that “he’d go to a whore if he had to and keep the woman he loved free of all that dirty business”. Plath “couldn’t stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a
Sylvia Plath by Rollie McKenna (National Portrait Gallery 1959)
double life, one pure and one not”, and she therefore subscribes to the idea of reducing the stigma around sexually active women. Esther, being a virgin, longs for the opportunity to have her first sexual experience. Constantin seems to be a possible source of this type of relationship and Esther seeks to find a way to initiate it. As is the case with Plath’s writing, however, a moment of romantic bathos ensues, and the tension and expectation Esther builds up dissipates in a dull fashion. There are signs that Plath, and Esther, are not completely ready for a relationship, given her fear of intimacy. Esther fears that her lover “would sink into ordinariness” and she “would find fault after fault” in them. Many readers feel that this seemingly neurotic fear of losing love could be attributed to her subconscious desire to replace her father (who died when she was only ten years old). Plath struggles to separate the memory of her father from her sexuality, and subsequently avoids intimate relationships with men for fear of tarnishing what she has left of him with a potentially disastrous romantic experience. This is perhaps most evident in her poem, Daddy, in which she discusses how she “made a model of” her father when choosing Ted Hughes as her husband.
The Bell Jar sheds light on what the life of a woman with extraordinary levels of emotional and academic intelligence would have been like, within the context of 1950s America. Esther’s character, read as a fictionalised embodiment of Sylvia Plath, is faced with severe trauma: the death of her father, her mother’s failure, her own multiple suicide attempts,
and mental health issues – adding an intricate and impactful complexity to her character, which creates unique dynamics when paired with other personalities within the novella. Esther’s search to find likeminded women, a man that she respects and to whom she is willing to “lose her virginity”, and a solution to her uncertain future seems to be unachievable until she encounters Dr Nolan. Dr Nolan, a professional and empathetic woman, represents both an independent role model and an alternative mother figure, who provides practical guidance (the diaphragm) and empathetic guidance on her journey to becoming a sexually adult person. Equally important in the novella’s conclusion, is the death of Esther’s childhood friend,
Joan. Joan’s funeral, during which Esther transforms her refrain, “I am, I am, I am”, from its association with death to an assertion of life and identity, can almost be seen as a sacrifice, clearing the way for Esther’s rebirth. In the final moments of the novella, we see Esther on the verge of being released from mental health detention, her shoes “cracked but polished”, indicative of her triumph at overcoming her suffering and entering a new more truthful life. Plath resists a banal ending of simple human fulfilment, instead offering an ambiguous image that is truer to the human experience, positing a route to feminine independence through suffering and rebirth: a world in which women “rise...and...eat men like air”.
Plath and Hughes in Concord, Boston (Smith College 1959)
Plath's Vandalised Grave (Margaret Clough 2008)
How Have Empires Throughout History Shaped
The Societies We Live In Today?
Submitted to the Northeastern University London essay competition. Placed in the top 12%
Benedict Platt
Lower Sixth
A very human urge to conquer, spread influence, gain wealth, and explore has driven the creation of empires in many different forms, from the Akkadian empire of the 24th to the 22nd centuries BC through to the vast British Empire of the nineteenth century. This myriad of empires has enabled the spread and exchange of ideas, cultures, languages, goods, and people through assimilation and conquest, and has shaped our societies today. Few places on Earth have not, at some time, been part of an empire. Many of these empires have been long since destroyed, but that does not mean that all traces of their influence have disappeared from our societies. In Britain, we drive along straight Roman roads drinking our coffees originating in Africa and popularised by the great European empires, and snacking on South American chocolate first discovered by the Spanish in Mexico and spread worldwide through their trading empire. Empires have brought good and evil, and glory and shame, and their legacies, “shape people’s understanding of their position in the world long after the colonizer’s flag has been packed away.”
Some of the legacies of empires are more tangible than others. The Empire of New
Kingdom Egypt was the richest and most powerful empire between 1539 and 1069 BC, and the popularity with modern day tourists of its sacred sites, such as the Great Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza, generates vital tourist income for modern Egypt.
More subtly, this Empire and its great pharaohs have inspired works of art and literature over many centuries, which are still admired or read today, and in particular its ideas have made their way into the Biblical psalms, and so into the homes, of many Jews, Christians, and Muslims today.
English is the first language today for 350 million people
One of the most obvious impacts of empires on society today is the ubiquitous nature of the English and Spanish languages: England is a small country on the edge of Europe and yet, thanks to its enormous empire, English is the first language today for 350 million people and the second language for around 450 million people; Spanish is the first language for around 450 million people thanks to the Spanish empire and its South American conquests. The widespread use of English has all sorts of impacts on society today; for example,
the ability of many Indians to speak English fluently has been an important contributory factor in India’s rapid commercial growth. That commercial growth is vital to India’s ability to support its rapidly growing population, because, although India possesses many valuable natural resources and was at the time of the great Mughal Empire one of the richest nations on Earth, when India became independent from Britain in 1947, its economy was weak. This is typical of many countries that have belonged to great empires, for example, many African nations. Empires are built in a search for wealth, and that wealth is typically used to benefit the colonizers far more than the colonized. This provokes fierce contemporary debate, as some people believe that wealthy countries today who have benefitted in the past from their empires, should now compensate their former dominions for the wealth taken from them.
Fierce controversy today is equally caused by what empires have “given” to their
lands, as well as taken. Religion and forms of government are two of the most controversial exports of empire, and sadly lie at the heart of many of the most violent conflicts today. A series of empires have drawn and redrawn the map of the Middle East and imposed their own religions. From the mass deportations used by the Empires of Assyria and Babylonia in the first century BC in an attempt to quell uprisings, through the many conquests by the Roman, Carthaginian, and Ottoman empires (to name but a few), to the creation of Israel, facilitated by the British Empire, which governed that area of Palestine after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, the Middle East has been a melting pot of different cultural and religious influences, all of which have contributed to the explosive tensions creating such tragedy today. Religion, though, is not always an unpopular export. Ironically, Christianity today is stronger in many of Britain’s former colonies than in Britain itself.
culture and politics, what we write, and how we see the world and our place in it” . Rome popularized ideas of liberty and citizenship, and created a “vocabulary of modern politics from “senators” to “dictators””. Its impact is geographical and physical as well as intellectual. The Romans chose London as the capital city in their province of Britannia. The layout of Roman imperial territory has shaped the political geography of modern Europe and other regions too. The success of films such as Gladiator, show the appeal even ancient empires can wield in today’s society.
The Roman Empire first spread such concepts as, “innocent until proven guilty”.
The vast Roman Empire first suppressed Christianity, and then spread it. The legacy of the Roman Empire though extends far beyond religion. “After 2,000 years, it continues to underpin Western
The geographical imprint of old empires scars modern maps today. During the nineteenth century “Scramble for Africa”, European nations divided African territory up between themselves, often simply on the basis of which European country got somewhere first. These artificial borders (sometimes simply drawn as straight lines) took no account of ethnicity, traditional tribal friendships, or enmities, nor of the need for the local population to migrate seasonally. This false imposition of borders and the imposition of Western forms of government, such as democracy (which was often alien to societies that were used
to very different forms of tribal rule), are two important contributory factors to the instability, poverty, and violence experienced in many areas of Africa today.
Concepts such as democracy, developed in ancient Athens and initially spread by the short-lived naval Athenian empire, then exported by the formal nineteenth century European empires and the less formal, but no less powerful, twentieth century American empire, underlay many modern political systems globally. Legal frameworks around the world similarly bear the imprint of empire. The Roman Empire first spread such concepts as, “innocent until proven guilty”. The British legal system, with its principles of common law, has been adopted and adapted by many former British colonies, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully. Under British rule, democratic principles and western concepts, such as free speech and freedom of the press, co-existed successfully alongside Chinese cultural and philosophical traditions from the great Chinese empires of the past. The tension between that unique blend of cultures inherited from the British empire and Chinese rule in Hong Kong society today, creates deep conflict.
Team sport is a less contentious and more universally popular export of
the British empire. Cricket, rugby, and most notably, football, provide pleasure to billions around the world, whether participating or watching, and these games were popularized by the British Empire. The popularity of these sports, generates significant wealth in British society today, which is a fortuitous by-product of empire. Empire-building was inextricably linked to the search for wealth.
At its peak, the British Empire governed about a quarter of the world’s population and a quarter of its land surface, and was the biggest Empire ever to have existed. Many reasons drove the expansion of that empire, but the quest for wealth from trade was key. Great trading routes, such as the Silk Road, had existed for centuries, and many empires fought over control of such routes. The goods traded have changed our world. Many people all over the world will start their day with a cup of tea or coffee, perhaps sweetened with sugar, and this practice is inextricably woven into the
trading history of the European empires, particularly the British Empire.
Tragically, people were frequently traded alongside sugar, spices, textiles, and precious metals. The slave trade forcibly moved millions of people, particularly from Africa, to the Caribbean, the Americas, and Europe, helping to shape the ethnic diversity of today’s societies. Spanish and Portuguese settlers moved to South America in such numbers, and the indigenous populations of great empires, such as the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas, died in such numbers, that South American society today is a complex mix of indigenous and European cultural influences. British colonization of its empire has left enduring legacies in many countries, and waves of immigration by people from those former colonies have led to the rich cultural diversity in many urban British areas today. This influx of people and goods has greatly enriched the diversity of our lives, in changing what we
eat, how we dress, our hobbies, and our mindsets. Post-empire globalization is, of course, a key part of this, but it was the formal empires of previous generations that started this process and shaped the main directions in which it flows.
In conclusion, empires, both ancient and modern, have had a profound and lasting influence on the rich cultural diversity of societies today. The legacy of empire is often controversial, but it is apparent in governance structures, cultural traditions, language, sports, architecture, and many other aspects of our current lives. Even the time taken to write and read this essay is measured in accordance with a number system devised by Babylonian astronomers and then spread by the ancient Babylonian empire. It is impossible to imagine modern society without this multi-layered and multi-faceted heritage of empire, which, for better and for worse, has created the societies we live in today.
Tackling The Gender Disparity In Football Officiating: A Call For Change
In the contemporary landscape of football, a glaring issue has taken centre stage - the gender disparity among football officials. Stereotyping remains a significant hurdle, as sexist and hostile attitudes persist, fostering the misguided notion that only men are fit to officiate men's games. Regrettably, this bias is permeating down to the younger generation.
A promising avenue for change lies in education. By exposing children to diverse officiating roles, we can foster an environment where negative views towards female officials are less likely to take root. This approach not only promotes equality but also serves as an inspiration for young girls to pursue officiating roles in sports. Nonetheless, the challenge remains in educating children who may be too young to fully grasp these complex issues, particularly when surrounded by family members holding sexist views.
The emphasis should remain on selecting the best officials, irrespective of gender
Lucy Thomas
Lower Sixth
Another formidable obstacle is the lack of visible role models. Increasing the media coverage of female officials is proposed as a remedy to this problem. Improved visibility allows more girls to witness the achievements of female officials, potentially sparking their interest in pursuing a similar career path. For example, in January, Rebecca Welch, became the first female to referee a premier league football game in January. Unfortunately, in Rebecca Welch’s journey to this point, she endured adversity and misogyny, this included two football fans being arrested due to their verbal abuse. Despite this, Welch is a successful and inspiring role model to younger generations of girls who wish to referee. However, the cost associated with increasing media coverage raises questions about resource allocation, as some argue that funds might be better spent promoting
female footballers because this is where the demand is higher.
The lack of opportunities for women in officiating roles calls for a strategic partnership with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to oversee the management of the Women's Super League. The emphasis should remain on selecting the best officials, irrespective of gender. This approach could inadvertently lead to a scenario where a few highly talented officials dominate, potentially limiting the broader representation of other officials. In essence, addressing the gender disparity in football officiating relies on education, media visibility, and strategic partnerships, however, as discussed, these all have their own set of challenges. As the football community grapples with this issue, a collective effort is required to pave the way for a more inclusive and diverse future in the realm of female football officials.
Rebecca Welch, the first woman to referee in the Premier League
How Does Collaboration In Computer Science Support Social
Impact And Innovation?
Shortlisted Entry to the Oxbright essay competition
Collaboration is a vital component of computer science. With the ever-increasing complexity of computers, algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI), it has long since been impossible for a single human being to construct any consequential software. To reach the advancements in computer science that we have today – advancements that have revolutionised medicine, green energy, global connectivity, education, and the fight against crime – it has been necessary for a significant number of people to work together, with each person specialised and significant themselves. To continue delivering meaningful change, in all fields, not just computer science, it will be necessary for continued collaboration.
One of the clearest examples of collaboration in computer science, as detailed by Saurabh Bagchi (2023), is the practice of “black boxing”. Similar to the concealed black box of aircraft, this is where code is compartmentalised into obscured sections, which only receive an input and produce an output. This follows the same principles as specialist economic systems, where current computer science technology is too complex for one person attempting to construct an entire program, such as a neural network. Instead, teams of people work together, with each person specialising in one particular aspect, whilst having no interaction with the code produced by other members of the team, in case it would act as a source of confusion or distraction. It is this principle that has allowed for the revolutionary advancements in computer science.
Interestingly, as technology has advanced, this interaction has also begun to exist between people and AI. This can be visualised with complex AI systems, where the user has no knowledge of its
Alfie Greggs
Lower Sixth
functioning, only its output. Cynthia Rudin and Joanna Rudin (2019), argued against this hardline approach, stating that even “leading scientists” are “misled” by the lack of transparency, opting for “not-so accurate” methods instead.
However, as detailed by Eric A. Vance and Heather S. Smith (2019), “Communication is... key to effective interdisciplinary collaborations”, and therefore a different approach to AI needs to be taken to engage people and develop effective, long-term reliance on computer technology, emerging from a sense of trust and authenticity in the intention of the programming. This is seen with the rise of ChatGPT and similar
technologies. These technologies are arguably the most advanced AI in the world at the time of writing, and can support their users through a wide range of tasks, from “advanced reasoning” and “creativity”, to “visual inputs” with image manipulation and “speech recognition”, [OpenAI (2024)].
But this collaboration is not a one-way process. These AGIs (Artificial General Intelligence) actively “learn from human feedback” [OpenAI (2024)], through a process known as deep learning – a subset of machine learning that uses artificial neural networks to “emulate the human brain” [IBM (2024)], to optimise their outputs.
In summary, as technology advances, we are seeing AI become increasingly integrated within society. Naturally, this will lead to a new, unprecedented dynamic of collaboration between man and machine. Whilst there is concern over malicious intent, if AI developers such as OpenAI keep true to their mission statement: “to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity”, then the future truly is open.
Life Amidst The Stars: The Discovery Of Exoplanets
Lower Sixth William McIntyre
Extraterrestrial life may be microsocopic
Since the dawn of humanity, many have obsessed over the idea of extra-terrestrial life – there could be lifeforms out in the vast coldness of space just waiting to be found.
The first known record of speculation surrounding life among the cosmos was from 15th century scholar, Nicholas of Cusa, who stipulated that, “Life, as it exists on Earth... is to be found in a high form in the solar and stellar regions”.
Astronomy, the broad field of scientific study involving everything outside Earth’s atmosphere, has progressed dramatically: from the ancient Babylonians recording planetary periods, to the cutting-edge telescopes of modern-day, we are closer than ever to being able to discover life. The first step? Find an exoplanet, which is a planet outside the Solar System, with similar conditions to Earth, therefore having the potential to harbour life.
The Shopping List for Life
Life on Earth is carbon-based, which is handy as it is the fourth most abundant element in the universe. Carbon’s ability to form four chemical bonds means it can create a huge variety of molecules, hence, an entire branch of science, called organic chemistry, is dedicated to it.
An exoplanet is a planet outside the Solar System, with similar conditions to Earth.
Another obvious key player is water. This unseeming little covalent molecule is required in a vast array of biochemical reactions, which is why dehydration becomes fatal before starvation. Life as we know it needs water.
Other elements are essential ingredients in biochemical processes, such as the creation of genetic material and energy storage mechanisms. For example, the entire kingdom of life called Eukarya (which includes animals, plants, fungi, and more), uses the reactions of the phosphates, ATP and ADP, to store and release energy within
cells, hence phosphorus is essential. Life as we know it depends on a huge list of ions, minerals, and more.
Theories surrounding silicon-based life have been proposed, since silicon has similar chemical properties to carbon, yet we currently cannot fathom what such life would look like. Its commonality in the universe shows promise, and researchers successfully coaxed microbes into creating silico-organic compounds in the 90s.
Extremophiles are another possibility to consider: microorganisms that thrive in the harshest conditions. For example, colonies of microorganisms from a lesser-known kingdom, Archaea, have been discovered languishing in deep-sea vents. They have adapted to both immense pressure and temperature. A similar, more popularised example of extremophilic behaviour is seen in tardigrades, colloquially called ‘waterbears’. These tiny creatures have proved themselves hardy enough to survive a vacuum. Life can be incredibly resilient.
Now we’ve clarified what interstellar life could consist of, the next step is to find a planet to examine. Let’s look at a historical titan in the world of astronomy, whose invaluable research deciphered the mysteries of planetary movement.
Kepler and his Laws
In the early 17th century, Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, sought to expand upon Copernicus’ then-controversial idea of heliocentrism (the concept of the planets orbiting the Sun instead of the Earth, deriving from the Greek helios - Sun), in which he postulated that planets travelled in circular orbits. Kepler himself wanted to see the divine shape of a circle revealed itself in the celestial plane, yet his research proved otherwise.
After studying reams of astronomical measurements, passed down to him by his predecessor Brache, Kepler released his masterwork, ‘Astronomia Nova’, in 1609, which contained his First and Second Laws.
The First Law: planets move in elliptical orbits, with the Sun as a focus.
An ellipse is an elongated or ‘squashed’ circle. Two points equidistant from the centre represent the foci (plural of focus); the sum of the lines drawn from any point on the ellipse to the two foci equals a constant length – this mathematically defines an ellipse. In a planet’s case, the Sun is at one of these foci.
How did Kepler deduce this quirk of a planet’s movement?
It links to his Second Law: a planet in orbit will sweep out the same sector area for a given time period from any point in the orbit.
A bit wordy, so referring to the diagram is recommended.
Imagine you have an oddly shaped (elliptical, even) pizza with one round slice
of off-centred pineapple. Annoyingly, everyone wants slice with an equal area, and everyone wants a bit of the pineapple. How would you slice it? The closer to the pineapple you cut, the longer the crust length would need to be to compensate. Just substitute in the Sun for the pineapple and you have Kepler’s 2nd Law. The law itself was based on observations, but optimally explained using Newton’s Law of Conservation of Momentum (which Kepler, interestingly, couldn’t have known).
This is what Kepler observed in the measurements: planets sped up at certain points in their orbit, indicating they were closer to the Sun at certain times – which lead to the idea of an elliptical orbit.
Kepler’s Third Law, published later in his career, is simply a formula linking the planet’s period (the amount of time it takes to circle its sun) to its distance from the Sun:
where T is the period, G is the gravitational constant (a universal number), Ms is the mass of the sun, and d is the planet’s average distance from the Sun (since it is not constant due to the elliptical nature).
These three rules can be used to calculate key data about discovered exoplanets, based on astronomical observations. Regardless, how do we see planets that are light years away from Earth in the first place? There are three major methods.
Interstellar Hide and Seek
A transit occurs when a celestial object passes in front of a star from our perspective. One example of this would be a lunar eclipse from Earth’s perspective. When this happens with a planet orbiting a distant star, highly sensitive telescopes can detect a decrease in light intensity from the star, indicating a planet is present in front of it. Since this decrease is proportional to the cross-section of the planet relative to the star, it can be used to estimate a planet’s size. The Kepler Space Telescope, named after the great astronomer, utilises a photometer to detect exoplanets in this way; over 2,500 confirmed ‘Kepler-n’ exoplanets have been discovered so far.
The second method, used in conjunction with the ‘transit method’, is known as the ‘wobble method’ and relies on the planet’s gravitational attraction working in tandem with the star’s.
Newton’s Law of Gravitation states, “that any object with mass has a gravitational field”, so a planet pulls on its sun during its orbit. For bodies many magnitudes smaller than their star (such as the Earth), this has little effect; however, a significantly sized planet can noticeably rock a star back and
forth. It’s analogous to swinging a huge ball and chain around you, whilst being rocked to-and-fro yourself.
Amazingly, this rocking motion affects the frequency of light that astronomers observe from the star – this phenomenon is called Doppler Shift. It’s the same effect when an ambulance siren increases in pitch as it moves towards you and decreases as it moves away; waves such as sound or light are stretched when emitted from an object moving from the perspective of an observer – to put it another way, altering their frequency.
Astronomers can use this information (adjusting for the universal expansion effect) to determine the planet’s mass, due to the aforementioned principle known as Conservation of Momentum. Effectively, it states that the stars mass multiplied by its velocity equals the planet’s.
The third, most exciting, method is direct imaging, wherein we observe the exoplanet itself. All planets reflect light off their surface emitted by their sun, and various image-processing techniques can filter off the excess light. The only issue – planets closer to the sun (which tend to be the rockier planets) are usually lost in the intense glare. Therefore, only huge gas giants have so far been pictured using this technique. A relatively recent venture, the James Webb Space Telescope, was launched into orbit partially for this purpose in 2021. Over 200 planets have now been directly imaged using this method.
In directly observing planetary light, scientists use spectroscopy, an analysis method that studies bands of light reflected off the planet, to identify different elements in its atmosphere (since different elements
Kepler's 2nd law
These exoplanets were directly imaged by the James Webb telescope
absorb different wavelengths of light).
A planet’s density can be estimated now the mass and size is known, assuming the planet to be spherical:
(where ρ is density, r is the radius of the planet, and Mp is its mass)
Scientists can now estimate a planet’s chemical composition based on its density, to compare with known planets, such as Earth.
For example, Kepler-78b was discovered to have an almost identical makeup to Earth. Unfortunately, on closer inspection the planet orbited too close to its sun, meaning any hopes of life were literally instantly vapourised – this is yet another factor to consider.
The Goldilocks Zone
A seemingly miraculous property of Earth is its orbital position from the sun, which supplies the perfect conditions for water to remain a liquid. Not too hot; not too cold. Hence, the colloquial name, ‘Goldilocks Zone’, referring to the fussy fairy-tale character’s perfect bowl of porridge. It is measured in astronomical units (au), where 1 au is the distance between the Earth and the Sun – approximately 150 million kilometres. This habitable zone in our Solar System is relatively lenient: between 1 and 1.7 au. Although this is an estimate, and of course varies depending on the star’s size and temperature.
Using data about the planet’s periodic cycles from long-term monitoring, a rearrangement of Kepler’s Third Law can be used to calculate the planet’s average orbital distance from the star, d
This can help determine if life on a particular planet could flourish. Or perish.
Using a plethora of methods and analysis, astronomers have confirmed almost 60 habitable exoplanets, which are recorded in the Habitable Exoplanet Catalogue. Although, one question remains: how can we check?
Galaxies far, too far away
The Universe is large and mostly empty; in fact, based on observations of Doppler Shift (the previously mentioned phenomenon linked to waves emitted from moving objects), it’s becoming even more so. Our closest star system, Alpha Centauri, is 4.4 light-years away. That’s the distance a wave of light in a vacuum would travel in 4.4 years. Since lightspeed is ‘the universal speed limit’, and current transport technology is a fraction of it, this is an unfeasibly long way to travel to confirm our theories.
Nevertheless, as always with the scientific world, there could be a way. A collaborative between Stephen Hawking and Meta-CEO Mark Zuckerberg named Breakthrough Starshot is currently developing nanosatellites; solar sails would propel these miniscule analysis machines towards Alpha Centauri at 20% lightspeed. They could complete the trip in 20 years. Sparse information would be received back on Earth, but it’s data nonetheless!
Finally, turning our sights closer to home, there may be possibility for life on the metaphorical doorstep – on Jupiter’s smallest Galilean moon, Europa. Composed of silicate with a water-ice crust, it has
been under great scrutiny by astronomers worldwide for decades. Its incredible smoothness has encouraged hypotheses surrounding a possible ocean beneath its icy crust.
In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope observed life-facilitating water vapour emanating from within this Moon-sized ice ball. Now NASA has started operations on its Europa Clipper mission: a spacecraft, scheduled to launch in October 2024, will circle the moon to collect further data. The next step? A lander, to drill beneath the ice. This rather sci-fi sounding venture won’t happen for at least a decade – progress takes time!
Europa is likely the best chance we have for extra-terrestrial life in the Solar System. Whatever may come, we can all decide on one thing – to appreciate the uniqueness of Earth and its diverse cornucopia of life. An oasis in the ever-expanding desert of space. Perhaps, focusing more on our green planet than possible green men in the sky is the wisest choice, for now.
Thanks for reading – if this has sparked an interest, NASA has hundreds of brilliant articles on their website for further information.
A false-colour image of Europa taken by NASA's JunoCam (2022) reveals potential carbon dioxide concentrations
Are Economically More Developed Countries Morally Justified In Interfering With The Development Of Economically Less Developed Countries On The Grounds Of Climate Change?
Written
as a Speech for the Economics Insight Competition
The question of whether countries should interfere with the inner workings of others can only legitimately arise if the issue being addressed is both severe and imminent.
Climate change is both.
NASA currently predicts that by the 22nd century, global temperatures will have risen by up to 4.5 degrees, setting off a deadly chain reaction of melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and ultimately the loss of habitat and lives.
Economic developments have placed a huge toll on the environment. The First Industrial revolution, that impacted Great Britain, Continental Europe, and the United States of America, released an estimated 2.3 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (worth roughly 18.4 trillion dollars at today’s CO2 offset prices). Repetition of even a small part of this process today within lesser developed countries would have a massively negative impact on the global climate crisis; something that, now more than ever, the world cannot afford.
It's also clear that less developed, preindustrial countries are continuing to suffer economically. They contribute significantly less CO2, but have a much lower living standard. For example, pre-industrial Egypt reported a Gross National Income of $4,100 dollars per person in 2022; this is dwarfed by post-industrialised Japan, whose workers earned an average of $42,000 dollars.
So, should more economically developed countries take steps to interfere in the affairs of less developed ones? Initially, the ethical answer seems clear; imposition is inherently imperialistic, an approach that has never been smiled upon through history. The impending disaster of climate change, however, is a problem like no other; one that will affect the whole planet. It’s often the case that less-developed countries are the most susceptible to the consequences of climate change. The Caribbean islands were impacted by 21 tropical storms in 2021. These storms are disasters, resulting in the costs of reparation and worse, the associated loss of life.
Matthew Stevens
Lower Sixth
Typically, economics is based on rational decisions, not values, however, in some circumstances the latter is unavoidable, and the climate change debate is one such case. Some neoclassical economists believe that by allowing individuals to make independent rational decisions, trade and market exchange will naturally lead to beneficial social and economic outcomes. However, more recent theories, such as the one set out by economics professor, Paul Collier, in his recent book, ‘The Future of Capitalism’, addressing morality in economics, suggest that when time is of the essence, Government interventions can lead to superior results.
The debate centres on whether less developed countries should be allowed to increase their wealth by industrialising in a similar fashion to the more developed countries before them, or should more developed countries interfere and prevent them from following this industrialisation route, recognising that such an interference would potentially transform everyday life.
Rather than interfering in an uncompromising manner, a more symbiotic approach could be adopted, such as ‘technology transfer’. Developed countries could formulate agreements that allow the transfer of skills and the necessary investment to enable poorer countries to bypass the ‘industrial revolution’ phase, providing direct access to capabilities,
such as solar panels, smart grids, electric vehicles, and green steel. Clearly, significant work would be required at a global level to understand who should provide what to whom, but there are forums where this could be addressed – such as The World Economic Forum, or The Conference of Parties, or ‘COP’, meetings.
Along with the transfer of technology, a system of payments could be implemented, building on the recent $400M dollar pledge from the EU, US, and UK to poorer countries regarding climate change. It could be argued that along with the advantageous environmental uses for this money, these payments could also act as a form of reparation for the morally unfair current economic situation whereby more developed countries provide little or no support to others, essentially hindering their industrialisation.
To conclude, regardless of what level of financing might be deemed reasonable by each side, one thing is certain: as the point of irreversible climate damage looms, predicted by the World Economic Forum to be as early as 2027, more economically advanced countries must interfere (or perhaps engage constructively) with less economically developed countries, to save themselves, the poorer countries, and ultimately our planet.
Why English Is So Weird: A Discussion Of The Phonological History Of English
Laurence Horwood
Upper Sixth
Language is a complex thing. Countless languages all interweave with countless words, idioms, and grammatical rules, evolving over thousands of years since prehistory. Each one has its own unique idiosyncrasies and difficulties – English not least of all, as it is one of the harder languages to learn. Why is this? To start with, its grammar is complicated and relies heavily on intricate word order, rather than on inflections like other languages, such as Latin. What inflection and rules of pronunciation English does have, are so irregular, with so many exceptions, that even the methods of teaching these rules in school, struggle. This essay will look at the way these irregularities have arisen throughout history: where the unusual spelling patterns and irregularly inflected words come from.
Then a phenomenon occurred, somewhat dramatically called the ‘Great Vowel Shift’
vowels: e and o, which could each be long or short. And the alternations between these, known as ablaut, explain many of English’s irregular verbs, as we will see later. Essentially, e is the default (e-grade), and changes to o (o-grade) or disappears entirely (zero-grade) in certain positions. Often, it is linked to a different syllable being stressed, but generally the cause it is not exactly known.
in English most of the inflectional suffixes have been lost, and we have sing, sang, sung, song.
Our journey begins five thousand years ago, in a grassland area east of Ukraine, called the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. Various tribes of nomadic herders lived there at this point in the early Bronze Age, and are known to have kept domesticated horses, used wagons, and worked metal. They spread out far across the surrounding continents, largely displacing the farming peoples who inhabited them previously, and their languages were forms of what we call Proto-Indo-European, or PIE, the ancestor of nearly every surviving language of Europe and the western half of Asia.
These languages were never written down, and so we do not know exactly what they were like. However, by comparing similar words in their descendants, such as Latin, Sanskrit, Slavonic, and Ancient Greek, a language has been reconstructed that probably reflects their common ancestor. Like its children, it inflected its nouns for case and number, and its verbs for person, number, tense, voice, and mood, all using suffixes. Students of Latin complain about its six or seven cases – this had nine! And it had a wide variety of consonants, including many distinctions not made by English. While many consonants could actually take the place of vowels, PIE only had two true
When these nomadic peoples began to spread across Eurasia, their speech naturally began to diverge, producing, among many others, the major languages of India, the Slavic languages of eastern Europe, and the Celtic and Romance families. We will focus on the Germanic family, which is the root of German, Dutch, many of the tongues of Scandinavia (a few are from a different ancestor, Uralic), and of course English.
In Proto-Germanic, the ancestor of the Germanic family that was spoken two to three thousand years ago, verbs that came from PIE usually had the effects of ablaut in their past tense conjugations, although they were complicated by other processes, such as the laryngeal sounds h₂ and h₃, which tended to merge with vowels and turn them into a and o. But increasingly, new verbs were produced from other parts of speech, and the past tense forms for these were produced simply by inserting a d – hence the ending -ed in modern English. These are called weak verbs; the earlier, ablaut-related ones are called strong verbs, and although they came to be considered irregular and often turned into weak ones, they were originally the regular form, thousands of years ago.
An example of this is the verb to sing, as in Proto-Germanic it was *singwaną (e-grade), from PIE *séngʷʰeti; *sangw was the past (o-grade, as short o usually becomes a in Germanic), *sunganaz the past participle (zero-grade, as u appears before consonants used as vowels), and the noun was *sangwaz (also o-grade, and, fun fact, the *-az corresponds to Latin -us), although
Some plural nouns also do similar things, but the process that caused this came much later, happening as Proto-Germanic split into its descendants. Its name, umlaut, will be familiar to German speakers, for in German, it is shown using the diacritic of the same name, originally an e above the letter but now written as two dots. When a back vowel (a, o, u, pronounced at the back of the mouth) was followed by an i in the next syllable, it would move to the front, which in German produced ä, ö, and ü; however, in Old English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, they became e and y. As with strong verbs, umlaut is now considered irregular, and mostly superseded by the ending -s.
Many nouns do this; a good example is the Proto-Germanic word, *mann, plural *manniz. Due to umlaut the a became e in the plural, but the *-iz ending was then lost, and so we have the modern words man and men. Generally, in modern English, a turns into e, o into e or i, oo into ee, u into i, and ou into a long i (pronounced as “au” into “ai”). Why that last one? That is a symptom of another problem that occurred only about five hundred years ago.
By this time, the language spoken was what we call Middle English. Following the conquests by the Vikings and Normans, it had absorbed lots of vocabulary from Old Norse, its Viking cousin, and its distant relation, Old French, as well as from Latin. It had also adopted a fairly straightforward writing system based on that of Latin. That alphabet had its roots in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the Phoenician script, which various other systems also came from: including the Hebrew and Arabic abjads, and the Greek, Cyrillic, and Latin alphabets.
This alphabet was perfectly suited to Latin, but was not so for English, which had various extra sounds that had to be written as digraphs, such as: sh, ch, wh, and th (which, in fact, is two different soundscompare thy and thigh!). Back then, it also had another sound, like the German ch but voiced, which was written gh. Since then,
the sound has mostly become silent, and in many places has been respelled as a w or y –for example, most words ending in aw or ey would have previously been augh and eigh. And as if to compensate for its loss, the vowel before it became longer, or turned into a diphthong. The same often happens when other sounds are deleted, such as e at the ends of words: it used to be pronounced weakly, like in German, but both English and French lost it.
Indeed, many languages worldwide consider short and long vowels to be different sounds, including Arabic and Japanese, and historically Latin did too, as well as long consonants: a notable trio of words that demonstrate this are anus (“old woman”), annus (“year”) with a long n, and ānus (“ring, anus”) with a long a. PIE also had long vowels, and they survived even into Middle English, before being lost in what was probably the biggest and quickest change in pronunciation in the history of English.
By about 1400, English had five long vowels, a, e, i, o, and u, and seven long vowels, usually written a, ea, e/e, i, o/oa, oo, and ou. These were all pronounced similarly to the vowels in Italian (although u, in words loaned from French, was pronounced “eew”). But then a phenomenon occurred, somewhat dramatically called the ‘Great Vowel Shift’. Each long vowel shifted upwards in the mouth, so that, for instance, long a is now pronounced “ey”, oo is now similar to U in other languages (although it was later moved forward in most dialects), and i and ou, which were already as high as they could go, fell down and became diphthongs pronounced as “ai” and “au”. The original diphthongs ai and au ended up as “ey” and “aw” instead, and the French-derived u went from “eew” to “yoo” – although the Y sound often either dropped or merged with the previous letter, making “s” pronounced like “sh”, “t” pronounced like “ch”, in a process that has the wonderful name of yod-coalescence.
The shift was complete by 1700, along with a few other things, such as short u sometimes turning into the “uh” sound; this would have caused very few problems except that the writing system did not change along with it! Combined with gh dropping, or sometimes even becoming “f”, it had a part in producing the many strange pronunciations of augh, eigh, and ough. With the final e dropping, it produced the vowel-consonant-e patterns we are taught about in primary school phonics, where, for example, hide uses the long i resulting
from the loss of the e, changed into the “ai” sound by the Great Vowel Shift, as opposed to hid with a short i. None of this is helped by the fact that Middle English was notoriously inconsistent in its spelling anyway: almost every word has at least ten variants, and this continued throughout early modern English until after the first dictionaries were published around 1600.
The Brothers Grimm were also crucial in the study of the history of Germanic languages.
Changes like this, where each sound takes the place of the next, are called chain shifts; and another interesting one happened in ProtoGermanic, called Grimm’s Law, after the famous linguist, Jacob Grimm –although best known for their collections of folk tales, the Brothers Grimm were also crucial in the study of the history of Germanic languages. Each plosive [plosive?] consonant shifted down, so that the English f often corresponds to the Latin p, English p to Latin b, and English b to Latin f, the result of an earlier bʰ. For example, the English word have might be expected to be related to the Latin habeō, “have, hold” - but no! It is a cousin of capiō, “take”, instead. The kʷ of PIE, which appears as qu in Latin, became hw in Old English, and is now written wh - so the question words of English are the same as those of Latin.
But surely this can’t account for all the irregularity? What about go and went? They look far too different to be related. As a matter of fact, they are not related: the form went was in fact originally the past tense of a different verb, wend. This verb only survives now in the phrase “wend one’s way” but it seems it was common
enough in Middle English for its past tense to replace the older form yode, in a process called suppletion, where one word borrows forms from another. But yode doesn’t look much like go either; it seems that it, too, appeared by suppletion in Proto-Germanic, where the word was *gāną, past tense *ijjē, which then gained the -d suffix. And modern German has yet another form, ging and the participle gegangen, which is - also suppletive, from *ganganą. It seems the original is lost to history.
Perhaps the strangest verb for this is be. Its forms come from at least three different roots: be and been from PIE *bʰéwHti, originally meaning “become”; was and were from *h₂wéseti, “dwell”; and am, are, and is from the actual word for “be”, *h₁ésti, although they too vary due to ablaut. In fact, *bʰéwHti would have also been a Latin verb, *fuiō, except its forms were chopped up and divided between two others: fīō became the passive form of faciō, “make”, while fuī was given to sum “to be” as its perfect tense. And to make matters even more complicated, Spanish then decided to make fui the past tense of “go” as well as “be”, simultaneously!
So, these are a few reasons for the irregularity of nouns and verbs in English, due to strong verbs, umlaut, suppletion, and the historical spellings involving long vowels and digraphs. Hopefully this explains some of the difficulties of English, and gives an insight, although limited, into the complexity of language.
Statues of The Brothers Grimm in Hanau, Germany
Peace
This entry into the Rotary Young Writers’ competition achieved first prize in the age group first round, and highly commended in the district round
A simple slither of sun peeks out delicately from behind the horizon, sending gentle shafts of light scattering in all directions. Its beams filter through a small gathering of clouds, which rest peacefully close by, highlighting certain areas with a golden tinge as the rest remain a deep crimson red. Beyond this vibrant exhibition the sky is still asleep, its dark figure enveloping the dawn below like an ever-changing shadow. One by one, the surrounding stars dim to a pinprick, before lightly fading away into their backdrop.
This is the place where he feels most alive – the only place in his crumbling mind that he has not yet forgotten. Time and time again he returns here, though he knows not why. Through the fog of it all, he simply remembers that this place is special to him – that it meant something in years gone by. Yet, settling himself down on a musty wooden bench, the old man takes comfort in knowing that this is where he belongs.
Meanwhile, a murmuration of starlings has gathered overhead – an inky mass filled with thousands of little dotted heads. They
Julia Nicholls
Lower Sixth
seem to move as one, swooping and diving across the sky like acrobats on a stage. As they perform this daily ritual, they sing to each other – sharp trills that ring out over the water, in perfect harmony, until they reach the old man’s ears. He appreciates the sound, the gentle twinkle of the music, that reflects the beauty of nature all around him. As he closes his eyes to enjoy it further, his mind wanders to a faraway land.
A soft breeze starts to whisper secrets in his ear, whistling through the sky above until it reaches him, and tenderly wafting the wisps of white hairs so that they dance in unison on his head. It is as he is looking out across the sea, in silent contemplation, that the old man first notices the dog sat beside him. Hanging from its mouth is a walking stick, retrieved from where it must have slid down into the sand, forgotten, several hours earlier.
It is such a tender show of affection, and the old man is so moved, that tears start to line his weathered eyes, filling the gentle creases with emotion. Reaching out a shaking hand, he softly scratches
the dog’s golden ears, smiling despite his tears, and is filled with an overpowering sense of comfort and relief. The dog, sitting patiently by his side, looks up at him, content to have found a companion, but unaware of just how much it means to the old man. For, to him, the dog symbolises more than just friendship. In its eyes, the old man glimpses youth, and hope, and sunshine on a cold day. It symbolises all the things that the old man had lost sight of in his age and loneliness, but which he is reminded of once more.
As the last simple slither of sun slides behind the horizon, and the dark figure of the sky envelopes the surrounding stars, the old man resettles himself on the musty wooden bench. Looking out to sea, with the nameless dog resting at his feet, he smiles, and takes comfort in knowing that this is where he belongs.
Six Million Stars
In memory of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Written following a trip to Auschwitz
Jane
Lang-Horgan Lower Sixth
She will grip his small, trembling hand, There are only four more people to go.
The icy air gently caresses their weary faces, Skin white, plagued with crimson red. The wind whistles through those quiet carriages, Vacantly observing once more.
They see there are only three more people to go. He scuffs his nice shoes on the dusty stones, Mother tightens her hold, pulls him quickly along: Come on, the queue is moving, Don’t cough so loudly, They’ll hear.
Only two more people to go, my child. He holds on to his companions, Can’t let Mr Teddy get lost; Those glassy eyes stare at the lifeless figures, He witnesses their sorrow in silence, He does not intervene.
One more person. Don’t breathe in the sickly smoke, It is death incarnate.
Keep moving, stay silent.
The boy and his mother are silenced, then They stare into the eyes of another human soul. People will always try to see some glimmer of humanity Behind that impassible, monstrous gaze. Five seconds for the fated, grave decision.
A single order is made.
But as they walk away, off to eternity together, The boy will clutch his teddy, scuff his shoes, And stare up at the comforting, warm night sky above them. He sees other souls up there wave their glittering hands, Their eyes twinkle, they reach out to him
And their familiar singing rains as stardust Down upon the boy’s shining, pale skin.
The mother will grip his small hand, And stare straight ahead, along the path they must take. Soon they will be dancing with those eternal stars, She is sure of it.
The Attempt to Kill Hitler: 4th July 1944 Bomb Plot
Claire Brockdorff
Open to all Fourth and Fifth Years
Monday 2 December 2024
4:15-5 pm
Lecture Theatre