Turing Machines And Universes :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites In 1936 an American (Alonzo Church) and a Briton (Alan M. Turing) published independently (as is often the coincidence in science) the basics of a new branch in Mathematics (and logic): computability or recursive functions (later to be developed into Automata Theory). The authors confined themselves to dealing with computations which involved â€Å"effective† or â€Å"mechanical† methods for finding results (which could also be expressed as solutions (values) to formulae). These methods were so called because they could, in principle, be performed by simple machines (or human-computers or human-calculators, to use Turing’s unfortunate phrases). The emphasis was on finiteness : a finite number of instructions, a finite number of symbols in each instruction, a finite number of steps to the result. This is why these methods were usable by humans without the aid of an apparatus (with the exception of pencil and paper as memory aids). Moreover: no insight or ingenuity were allowed to â€Å"interfere† or to be part of the solution seeking process. What Church and Turing did was to construct a set of all the functions whose values could be obtained by applying effective or mechanical calculation methods. Turing went further down Church’s road and designed the â€Å"Turing Machine† – a machine which can calculate the values of all the functions whose values can be found using effective or mechanical methods. Thus, the program running the TM (=Turing Machine in the rest of this text) was really an effective or mechanical method. For the initiated readers: Church solved the decision-problem for propositional calculus and Turing proved that there is no solution to the decision problem relating to the predicate calculus. Put more simply, it is possible to â€Å"prove† the truth value (or the theorem status) of an expression in the propositional calculus – but not in the predicate calculus. Later it was shown that many functions (even in number theory itself) were not recursive, meaning that they co uld not be solved by a Turing Machine. No one succeeded to prove that a function must be recursive in order to be effectively calculable. This is (as Post noted) a â€Å"working hypothesis† supported by overwhelming evidence. We don’t know of any effectively calculable function which is not recursive, by designing new TMs from existing ones we can obtain new effectively calculable functions from existing ones and TM computability stars in every attempt to understand effective calculability (or these attempts are reducible or equivalent to TM computable functions).

American Cultural History

There are many transformations that affected American life from 1940s-1970s various changes and developments occurred during these decades that influenced the culture of people in regards with sports, ,movies and the impact of reality TV to the people. First is in terms of sports, World War II has a great impact on sports since it able-bodied met between 18-26 years old who were expected to serve the military. There is a shortage on baseball bats and bowling pins but the professional sports is still encouraged to continue to improve the troops morale.In 1941, 2 platoon football was allowed and no substitutions are allowed except from injuries until fee subs was allowed in 1942 and the Army Navy game was played in Annapolis. In 1948, football was considered as the game of strategy. Basketball was not affected that much by the war. In 1946 the Basketball Association of America was founded which sooner merged with National Basketball League in 1949 and formed the NBA. Boxing was also in big money during these times because of gambling.Golf Associations were also founded in 1946 (Womens Professional Golf Association) and 1949 (Ladies Professional Golf Association). Moving to the 1950's people began to love sports even more and popularity is gained not based on social status but on the athletes capability. Television gave sports more fans and College football was widely followed. Professional golf was also popular and produced golf stars like Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. In 1952 and 1956 Olympics is organized and the cold war between countries became very fierce.In 1960'2 Olympic games was held three times and produced gold medals and world records for Americans Otis David in 400m and Glenn Davis in 400m hurdles and the famous Muhammad Ali who won as light heavyweight boxer gold medalist. Palmers continuous championship in golf was also in 1960s. Television opened major changes to sports since business goes hand in hand with sports and exploits more profits in the s ports market. Professional athletes demanded to be bid and the right to market themselves to the highest bidder. This also made way for athletes to be product endorsers and print models.Movies during the 1940's were heydays since movie propagandas are more on essential industry for morale. Plots of movies has fairly narrow and predictable sets of morals and where villains are one dimensional like Germans and Japanese. Disney's animated career was also produced like Dumbo in 1941 and Bambi in 1942. Better role for black actors was also being fought during this decade. In 1952 3D cartoons made debut with Bwana Devil Cinerama and colors are use as special effects to lure audiences. in 1956 people began to realize that movies are too expensive and opt to stay home and just watch television.by 1960, musicals became movies like Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. the famous Marilyn Monroe died in this year and made her movie fans sad, Movies has themes in politics and comments on racial issu es like the Movie Dr. Strangelove. Sex becomes more explicit and occasionally non-traditional and Violence was also promulgated in this time that resulted MPAA to develop a new film code. 1970 is a big comeback for movies after Television's dominance blockbuster movies were produced in Dolby Sound and win the people's heart into watching movies again.Science-fiction films like star wars made top grossing films ever and disaster movies fascinates people as well. As the war ended in 1940, 5,000 black and white TV sets can be found in American homes and made people be entertained and informed at the same time. one popular radio show was broad casted on Tv entitled the Original Amateur Show and the slapstick comedy Texaco Star theater was also launched. Children's TV kicked off in 1947 in Kukla, Fran & Ollie which was followed by Howdy Doody Show.In 1950's television dominated the mass media and captured people's interest to stay in their homes and watch televisions as past time. More y oung people opt to stay at home for longer hours and watch TV rather than go out and go to school. People accepts that what they see on TV because it is an eye witness to the events that happens greater reliance on TV news is accepted by viewers as credible sources of information. In 1954 the black and white TV became colored in broadcast and th American family loves soap operas and variety shows.The second prime time cartoons The Flintstones was offered in 1970 and appealed both to young and adult. The Andy Griffith Show serves as the epitome of prime time family tv while situational comedy like The Beverly Hillbillies arises as Sitcom. humor was revived in Laugh in during the late 1960s. The television leads to social satire issues and other controversial issues like abortion, race and homosexuality. It mirrors reality and how people treats such issues. TV miniseries that shows greater appreciation of whites was shown in Roots.The American contemporary family was portrayed in The Brady Bunch and gave us a glimpse of reality about American families. News are relatively publicized to feed information to people like the Watergate scandal produced by Corporation for Public Broadcasting and also made Sesame street to cater children's entertainment. The television set has become one of the common source of knowledge and entertainment nowadays. Since it was made available by the late 1930's it has become a common household communication device up to the present times.As innovation continues, this electronic device disseminates information and has strongly influenced the viewers in many aspects. Through continuous innovation in television programming, people learned to appreciate what has been shown in their TV screens and eventually lead to imitation and social influence when dealing with other people. Reality is necessarily manipulated when events and people are relocated into news or prime time stories. The media can impose their own logic or assembled materials in number of ways including emphasizing certain behaviors and people and stereotyping.Television can distort people visually through camera perspective and other techniques. Rhetorically, people can be portrayed with different labels. One of the most obvious ways in which media content structures a symbolic environment is simply giving greater attention to certain events, people, groups and places than others. The reality television has also attracted criticisms from those who feel that the occurrence of this genre of television has come at the cost of scripted programming.But whatever many critics and people would say, still, reality television shows impart social values, attitudes and behaviors to its viewers. People cannot avoid the truth. It will come in both positive and negative sides of life. As far as our society is concern, this is the balancing nature to reach progress and continue to evolve along with its people and culture. Reality Television is the visible evidence of p rogress and a medium of change to any kind of society but it could also bring the negative aspects in the society.To adapt it or not, it is still the real world that we are living in and the real mind that goes on deciding. People could imitate behaviors that they saw; those behaviors would be reinforced and therefore learned. Real, Whether reality TV ultimately fades into television history or continues to evolve with the medium as a unique genre, for over fifty years it has offered interesting, often controversial entertainment. Reality TV, debates the social, psychological, and ethical impact of reality TV as they explore and gives us fascinating aspects of American entertainment culture.

Christinaity In Middle Ages Essay - 1143 Words

Christianity in the Middle Ages Christianity played a major role throughout the Middle Ages in society and politics. The Middle Ages, classified from 600 AD to 1350 AD, was significantly effected by Christianity because of the impact it had on the daily lives of people of the time. The beginning of the Early Middle Ages, after the Fall of Rome in 476 AD and the period known as the Dark Ages, the reorganization of the empire brought a desire for faith and religion, primarily Christianity. This trend of Christian importance was apparent until 1350, when the Black Death caused the end of a systematized era. The church is often viewed, during this period of time, as a center of corruption, greed, and evil, with materialistic popes and†¦show more content†¦He was young and incapable, and gave the papacy a bad name by acting sinfully. The people lost respect for the church, and could no longer view it as the ideal way of life. These views were altered in the High Middle Ages when the papacy became increasingly p owerful in a prosperous time. The centralization of the church enabled Christianity to revitalize the spirit and faith of the Church. The church was organized by several reforming movements of the cluny, monastery, and papacy. Corruption was cleansed by new clerical laws, in addition to the canon law, that banned simony, clerical marriages, and immorality in the church. The succession of popes became more favorable because the expectations of the pope were heightened, as he was seen as a leader of faith having the grandest morals. Pope Gregory VII brought hope to the people by wanting to establish quot;right order in the world,quot; and this stimulated people to regain faith in Christianity. Christianity influenced art, literature, and education. Art and architecture were ways to demonstrate Christian belief through divine cathedrals, paintings of biblical scenes, and portraits of popes. Charlemagne initiated the increase of literacy importance by instituting schooling in monastic c ommunities. Changes in education during this time period were the foundation of cathedral schools, interests in ancient texts, and the education of the common people with the

Analysis of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay

Analysis of Young Goodman Brown nbsp; Young Goodman Brown by Nathanial Hawthorne is a short story that is very interesting, as well as entertaining. This essay will first provide a brief summary of the story, followed by an analysis of the importance of symbolism. The nature of evil will then be discussed as it relates to the control of the mind of a once naive and innocent goodman Brown. The climax of the story will be analyzed and the evil within this passage will be discussed and related to the final downfall of goodman Brown. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; As Young Goodman Brown begins, we are introduced to goodman Brown and his wife Faith as they bid farewell to one another on the†¦show more content†¦As goodman Brown states, `shes a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, Ill cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven.(pg.577) The fact that goodman Brown claims that she is an angel put here on this earth demonstrates the fact that he doesnt want to associate Faith with the evil he may see in mankind. He uses Faith throughout the story in ironic ways. For example, `Faith kept me back a while(pg.577) can be taken to mean that goodman Brown is late meeting Satan because of his wife or because of his actual faith in the good in himself and mankind. This happens again when goodman Brown cries out, `Faith! My Faith is gone!(pg.581). He could be referring to his wifes encounter with Satan or he could be indicating that he has lost his faith in God or in mankind. A second symbol is Satans staff. It is portrayed as being crooked and black like a serpent. A serpent is thought of as being an evil creature so it is appropriate that Satan be carrying such a staff. It is also symbolic that every living thing Satan touches withers up and dies. This demonstrates how this evil apparition can suck the beauty as well as the life out of anything with which it comes in contact. The dark forest itself symbolizes the dark and evil nature of goodman Browns journey. Finally, the fact that the story takes place in Salem village is ironic in the sense that the Salem witchcraft trials took place there. The town, itself, has a history of being filledShow MoreRelated Formal Analysis of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay examples845 Words   |  4 PagesA Formal Analysis of Young Goodman Brownnbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown is an interesting short story that creatively tells two stories at once.nbsp; One story is of a man leaving his wife one night and venturing into the woods, and the other is of his struggle with his religious faith.nbsp; In reading this story, it is beneficial for one to look at it from a formalistic point of view.nbsp; Formal analysis makes the reader look closely atRead MoreAnalysis of Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown a Story708 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Young Goodman Brown (Order #A2103550) Christs death and resurrection can be considered only the beginning of his ministry for afterward he instructed his remaining apostles to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Mt 28:16-20 [New King James Version]) Sixteen centuries later a group of Christians called Puritans would attempt to fulfill this Great Commission by spreading the good news of Christ andRead MoreAn Analysis of Theme in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essays860 Words   |  4 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne, in his short story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† details the frailty of human morality when he has the story’s protagonist (Goodman Brown) journey through the forest on All Hollows Eve to witness/participate in a witches’ Sabbath just to see what evil/sin is all about. During Young Goodman Brown’s journey, his faith is shaken as he witnesses those he respects the most also journeying to and p articipating in the witch’s Sabbath. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstratesRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown from a Moral Standpoint1352 Words   |  6 PagesHawthorne discovered that his ancestors were founders and Puritan leaders of the Salem witch trials. 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NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S â€Å"YOUNGRead More Ambiguity in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay1743 Words   |  7 PagesAmbiguity in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚         There is no end to the ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†; this essay hopes to explore this problem.    Peter Conn in â€Å"Finding a Voice in an New Nation† makes a statement regarding Hawthorne’s ambiguity:      Almost all of Hawthorne’s finest stories are remote in time or place. The glare of contemporary reality immobillized his imagination. He required shadows and half-light, and he sought a nervous equilibriumRead More A Critique of Puritanism in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essays635 Words   |  3 PagesYoung Goodman Brown: A Critique of Puritanism   Given Nathaniel Hawthornes background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that Young Goodman Brown is a critique of   Puritanism.   Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from puritanism by only one generation.   His grandfather had been one the judges who presided over the Salem Witch trials.   Some of the principle motifs that run through Hawthornes works are hidden sin, the supernatural, and the influenceRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1492 Words   |  6 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story of Young Goodman Brown, the author uses symbolism and allegories in order to showcase the Puritan faith as well as man’s conflict between good and evil. This analysis will breakdown the techniques that the author uses to critique the puritan society, and to show the difference between how people appear to be in society and the true colors that they are hidden inside of them. There has been a lot of great authors in our time, but none more interesting than NathanielRead MoreThe Moral Complexity Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1681 Words   |  7 PagesThe Moral Complexity Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is about a Christian man, the title character who walks through a dark and dreary forest, witnessing some people in his community he thought were godly walking deeper into the â€Å"path of evil.† He has to make a decision whether to keep walking towards the satanic meeting or go back home. The characters Hawthorne chooses have some relation to either the trials or the Christian way of life. Back in the middle 1900s, the society relied heavilyRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown964 Words   |  4 PagesOne: Reader-Response Criticism Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is a short story in which the author attempts to convey several different messages or themes throughout the literary piece. Themes in literary works can sometimes be better understood by analyzing the piece with a specific literary criticism technique. A few of these literary criticism techniques include Marxist, Formalism, and Reader Response just to name a few. Given Hawthorne’s style of writing and this short story in

The College Regulations Regarding Plagiarism And Academic...

le. 2) I have read and understood the College regulations regarding Plagiarism and academic offences and this work conform to the requirements set out in those documents. The effect of smart phones and internet usage on our socialization. The paper is going to explore whether frequent use of Smartphone and internet has affected social interaction. Using qualitative and quantitative methods of research. Use of focus groups and face to face interviews is going to be used. It is important to note that as much it facilitates communication and interaction. Use of Smartphone s and Internet it has also driven people away from authentic relations. Introduction As the world is changing in terms of technology so does the effect of technology†¦show more content†¦But this has ceased to exist after the introduction of Smartphone s and the internet. People prefer to chat in the many social media offered on the internet and accessed by their Smartphone s, play games, listen to music and even blog than strike a conversation with a person sited next (Tuckle, 2011, 23). As much as people are communicating more, a threat of communication becoming more of quantity than quality is emerging. As much as the use of Smartphone s and internet has expanded people socially and geographically, it drives people from authentic relations. Too much use of Smartphone s and web results in declining people social circle. It is a fact that the more time people spend on their Smartphone s and the internet the less time they has with their families, friends and other people in the society. Hypothesis In order to answer this crucial question it is good to point to the fact that Smartphone s and internet are not good or bad. How it is used and who it is used with is the major problem. The fact that it connects people with the world around them but is also a tool that closes people off and affects the way they interact with the people around them and the society at large. Frequent users of Smartphone s and internet tend to be less likely to interact with strangers in public as this affects their social interaction. Literature review Research from different scholars has

Importance of Professional Communication

Question: Discuss about the Importance of Professional Communication in ensuring Patient Safety. Answer: Todays health care system is characterized by multiple interfaces and patients interaction with several medical practitioners who have different levels of education and occupational training. During the patient stay in the hospital, he or she will interact with different healthcare employees including technicians, nurses, and physicians(Ulrich Kear, 2014). To attend to the patient satisfactorily, effective communication and team collaboration are very critical for all the health care system employees. Lack of proper communication can put the safety of the patients at risk. This is because ineffective communication may result in misinterpretation or lack of crucial information. Additionally, improper communication within the healthcare system creates a high probability of medical errors. These errors can contribute to either severe injuries or unexpected patient's death(Ulrich Kear, 2014). The majority of the stakeholders have ascribed these errors to poor communication in the healt h care system. In the following discussion, this paper aims to explain the importance of professional communication to ensure patient safety. The essay achieves this by using excerpts from various journal articles as references. Patient safety involves measures applied by the healthcare organizations and individuals to protect healthcare recipients from any harm. The safety of the patients is not only confined to the physical protection, but it also comprises ensuring the cultural, emotional and psychological safety of the patients. The implementation of patient safety within an organization is an act that calls for the attribute of trustworthy. This helps healthcare organizations to reduce the occurrence of the adverse events and their impacts in case they occur. As discussed at the beginning of this paper patient safety is one of the critical issues facing the health care system today. Therefore, contemporary health care organizations demand health care professionals be endowed with high communication skills to manage tensions and complexities existing in these organizations effectively. Communication in any given context does not only entail the provision of information, advice or instructions. According to Dunne (2005) as cited by Levett-Jones (2016) communication is a two-way process that involve all elements of communication to be shared either verbally or non-verbally and the message being sent be understood as intended. However, this is not the case in the majority of the health care organizations. Many of the health professionals perceive that effective communication involves providing patients with timely, clear and unambiguous information. Even through this is a good approach to communicating it does not meet the criteria of effective communication. To avoid this premature closure, communication should comprise the elements of both listening and talking (Levett-Jones, 2016). For example, when health professionals listen to their patients they are unlikely to rush to the erroneous conclusions before obtaining all information from the patient. Good communication between the medical practitioners and patients should be appropriate, timely, accurate and inclusive (Levett-Jones, 2016). Many health care stakeholders attribute quality health care to appropriate communication. This argument is well exhibited in the survey conducted by New South Wales Health in 2009 among the Australian patients and their families to determine their preferences while undergoing through the health care system. From the analysis of the survey, New South Wales Health inferred the importance of communication was very fundamental for the patients to express their concerns(Levett-Jones, 2016). For example, patients surveyed argued that they preferred health care professionals to act at their best to help them in managing pains. Patients were also concerned on how medical results are explained, and they suggested that they should be communicated understandably. Effective communication is also crucial in impacting patients' outcomes in several ways. According to Harms (2007) as explained by Levett-Jones (2013) effective communication and conformance to medication programs enhances pain management and helps in reducing stress and anxiety. Similarly, Goleman (2006) noted that effective communication improves patients psychological status, functional status, self-esteem, mood, and self-management. Mickan Rodger (2005) noted that effective communication results in reduced costs, enhanced health care coordination, reduced time of hospitalization and symptoms resolution. Again, Mickan Rodger observed that appropriate communication improves the wellbeing of the patients and enhance patient satisfaction. Other scholars such as Vats and Abbott found that good communication reduces deaths resulting from surgical operations as well as post-operation complications. On the other hand, poor communication contributes to patients harm, increased risk of e rror, non-compliance, lack of trust, misunderstanding, confusion, anger and hostility(Levett-Jones, 2016). The contemporary health care organizations poor communication can be addressed using patient-centered care. This recognition of this aspect is greatly changing patient-safe communication among the health professionals and healthcare organizations. Patient-centered care approach views patients as integral part of the healthcare staff (Levett-Jones, 2013). This approach has been highly embraced by the patients and their families. Patient-centered care entails observing critical aspects such as transparency, choice, respect, autonomy, dignity, empathy and an urge to assist other achieve the life they want. In fact, it is a holistic approach that emphasizes on embracing patients' illness, knowledge, and skills on their status and their experience (Levett-Jones, 2013). The modern health care organization are largely appreciating effective communication through involving patients in the communication and letting them express their feelings and experiences. Documentation care is another technique used to improve communication in the health care system. This is a document that describes all pertinent interactions between the health professionals and the client. It gives information about the care and services to the patient(Hall, 2016). Apart from documentation care, management information systems are also used to manage the patients data. These two systems support confidential, secure, accurate and timely patient-specific information. These are the two systems which are widely being used by the nurses and midwives to document patients' information. Effective communication, patient-centered care, documentation care and management information systems would futile in the improvement of the healthcare systems without observance of the nursing ethics(Australian Nursing Midwifery Council, 2015). Studies indicate that ethics are very influential in ensuring quality nursing care for all people irrespective of their cultural diversity. When supplemented with effective communication, nursing ethics guides nurses in recognizing the rights of all people and makes them aware that they have a moral duty to protect patients dignity. This is achieved through recognizing and respecting critical human aspects such social, political, economic, cultural and civil rights. References Australian Nursing Midwifery Council. (2015). Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. Dickson ACT: Australian Nursing Midwifery Council. Hall, H. R. (2016). Fundamentals of Nursing and Midwifery. Retrieved from Wolters Kluwer Health: https://www.ebrary.com Levett-Jones, T. (2013). Critical Conversations for Patient Safety. Australia: Pearson Australia. Retrieved from https://www.ebrary.com Levett-Jones, T. (2016). Critical Conversations for Patient Safety. Australia: Pearson Australia. Retrieved from https://www.ebrary.com Ulrich, B., Kear, T. (2014). Patient Safety and Patient Safety Culture: Foundations of Excellent Health Care Delivery. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 41(5), 447-455.

Soldier`s Home Essays - Krebs, Soldiers Home, Ernest Hemingway

Soldier`s Home He knew he could never get through it all again. "Soldier's Home" "I don't want to go through that hell again." The Sun Also Rises In the works of Ernest Hemingway, that which is excluded is often as significant as that which is included; a hint is often as important and thought-provoking as an explicit statement. This is why we read and reread him. "Soldier's Home"is a prime example of this art of echo and indirection. Harold Krebs, the protagonist of "Soldier's Home," is a young veteran portrayed as suffering from an inability to readjust to society--Paul Smith has summarized previous critics on the subject of how Krebs suffers from returning to the familial, social, and religious"home"(71). Moreover, as Robert Paul Lamb notes, the story is also about "a conflicted mother-son relationship"(29). Krebs' small-town mother cannot comprehend her son's struggles and sufferings caused by the war. She devotes herself to her religion and never questions her own values; she manipulates her son. She is one of the Hemingway "bitch mothers" who also appear in "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" and "Now I Lay Me." Her sermons to her son lack any power to heal his spiritual wounds. She has determined that Krebs should live in God's "Kingdom," find a job, and get married like a normal local boy (SS 151). Although Hemingway locates the story in Oklahoma and excludes it from the Nick Adams group, the husband and wife relationship observed in"Soldier's Home"is also similar to those in "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" and "Now I Lay Me," revealing the mother's dominance of a troubled marriage. Krebs' noncommittal father is obviously dominated by his wife; she makes the decisions. Her advocacy of marriage for Krebs is ironic: not yet recovered from his various psychic wounds and trapped by the sick marriage of his parents, marriage is the very commitment he must avoid. Furthermore, a careful reading of "Soldier's Home" reveals yet another story discernible beneath the main one. Krebs' indifference towards the girls in the town seems to reflect his disillusionment not only with the war and his parents' marriage, but also with another experience--Krebs' breaking up with a lover: Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk. But here at home it was all too complicated. He knew he could never get through it all again. (147-48) Here is a significant ambiguity: "it all" may well connote the whole process of being and ceasing to be a lover, and "again" suggests that Krebs has been through this process before. Descriptions of Krebs' lack of involvement with the local girls occupy one fourth of the story. These descriptions converge around the word "complicated," repeated four times in this context. The girls live in "a complicated world" (148); "They were too complicated" (148); "it [to talk to a girl] is too complicated" (149); and "He had tried so to keep his life from being complicated"(152). The latter quotation suggests that the most difficult problem is not the complicated realm of the girls, but Krebs' fear of the complexity that might result from any approach he might make. Once he talks to a girl, he must get through a complicated sexual encounter all over again. Conversations, for Krebs, make the male/female sexual relationship complicated. His aversion to such relationships, we are to infer, derives from previous experiences with women that have perhaps reinforced his observations of his parents' marriage. As many have noted (see Smith 71-72), one of the photographs discussed in the story's opening paragraphs suggests an unsatisfactory experience with German girls. Krebs and another corporal, both in poorly fitting uniforms, stand with two German girls Who are "not beautiful"beside a Rhine that "does not show in the picture"(145).[1] The picture suggests an irony: the American soldiers, once enemies, date German girls with whom they share no common language. Because the American soldiers do not have to talk, and because the German girls are probably prostitutes, relationships between them are uncomplicated. Without any need for conversation, the soldiers simply satisfy their lust on the prostitutes' bodies. Just as he emphasizes the German girls' lack of beauty, Hemingway also erases the Rhine to show the lack of romance in such relationships. In "Soldier's Home," he juxtaposes two worlds: the simple one Krebs shared with the German girls, and the potentially complicated realm of the hometown girls. "A Very Short Story," written between June and July 1923, helps shed light on this aspect of the later "Soldier's Home," composed in April 1924. An equally